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How can an entrepreneur or small business to differentiate their products or services from all others? After setting your destination and determine your marketing message, what else can you do to stand out of thousands (even hundreds of thousands) of websites that offer a similar product or service? We all know that we have to offer to their customers and potential customers multiple ways to communicate with you. It can provide a contact form, 800 # and your contact base for those wishing to call, email, fax or even send message .. And if you could easily offer their customers a way to chat with you online? Online help can be the perfect tool for customer service to help you keep your customers and clients to your website long enough to answer his call to action. Why not try? It’s free (or $ 20 for the software installed by a professional).

Open-Source Live Help Software – Free and easy installation

Most of you already use open source software like WordPress or Joomla, but if you do not study online help software, which may not be familiar with Crafty Syntax Live Help. Like any other open source software, Crafty Syntax Live Help (CSLH) is free to use and is not really that difficult to install. Although talks on the main page is “programmed in PHP with MySQL database, do not be intimidated. WordPress is programmed in PHP and SQL used too and is the most popular software links available at present.

Most hosting providers offer a web control panel like cPanel. If you have access to cPanel, you may have access to Fantastico De Luxe, which makes installing programs like WordPress and Help Crafty Syntax Live is easy to install. You will be asked some simple questions. Keep track of your answers and should be good to go. Crafty Syntax has a video tutorial on their site that guides you through the process. (As always, backup your site before installing new software.)

Why More Live Help?

So why would you want to add live help to your website? As I said before, it is important to distinguish themselves. If you do not want to compete on price, you must find a way to add value. Add live help to provide that something extra. Maybe you have a product or service to the need to promote or support. Why not be available to speak to live in the first place? Online support can be particularly useful for sales of consultation in which you want to check the potential customer through the process of making a purchase decision.

After you install the online help, you connect with. You can even create other “operators”. If you do not want to talk, do not connect and your visitors will be invited to leave a message. Remember to donate to Crafty syntax if you can. Astute syntax even install their software for you for as little as $ 20.

Are you using the live help on your site? Could you advise others to use it? What other suggestions and ideas you can share the different ways we can stand out from the rest?

How great can it be to sit around at home, your favorite coffee shop, or even out in the middle of a park and be able to work?  This is something that is possible and with only an internet connection and a laptop can be done easily by anyone!  Some of the top 5 ways to make money online are so simple that they are often overlooked.

First, you can search around for a place to sell your skills.  If you are great at typing this is perfect because there are literally thousands of data entry jobs that are available.  The problem that you need to over come to make money today is to look for legitimate offers that actually pay.  This means that most likely you will need to apply with a company.  However, this does not mean paying a fee to get jobs.

Second, there are places where you can upload video reviews of products.  These are great, you get paid for the review itself, plus you can make money today from the page views that each video receives.  This is definitely worth a mention because in just a few minutes a day you can make a lot of money by the end of the month.  This is definitely worth of being on our 5 ways to make money online list.

Third, if you enjoy talking or writing look into blogging.  While this is not something that will allow everyone to strike it rich there are several bloggers all around the world who make comfortable six figure incomes just from the advertising they receive by blogging!  This is an incredible field of money if you are talented and manage to find a hot topic and can write well.

Fourth, writing can be submitted to various places online.  There are some great websites that accept content written by people where you can make some great money.  Some places pay for only page views, while others pay for pieces upfront.  This means that if you are able to be paid from page views your income is practically unlimited!  Search around, there are numerous companies around online that will allow you to make money today.

Fifth, the last stop on our 5 ways to make money online list is being a virtual assistant.  Think a secretary that works online!  This is something that is great for people with good research and people skills.  Your time is spent answering e-mails, doing research, compiling reports and assisting your boss with anything they need all from your home.  Some bosses require phones; most just require project management software and a computer with internet connection.

A lot of successful websites depend on returning visitors to account for a major part of their traffic.

Once you have a visitor it is well worth keeping him or her coming back.

Returning visitors are easier to convert into paying customers because the more often they return to a site, the more trust they have in that site. The credibility issue just melts away.

Hence, keep your visitors coming back to your site with the following methods:

1) Start a forum, chatroom or shoutbox

When you start a forum, chatroom or shoutbox, you are providing your visitors a place to voice their opinions and interact with their peers — all of them are visitors of your site. As conversations build up, a sense of community will also follow and your visitors will come back to your site almost religiously every day.

2) Start a web log (blog)

Keep an online journal, or more commonly known as a blog, on your site and keep it updated with latest news about yourself. Human beings are curious creatures and they will keep their eyes glued to the monitor if you post fresh news frequently. You will also build up your credibility as you are proving to them that there is also a real life person behind the website.

3) Carry out polls or surveys

Polls and surveys are other forms of interaction that you should definitely consider adding to your site. They provide a quick way for visitors to voice their opinions and to get involved in your website. Be sure to publish polls or surveys that are strongly relevant to the target market of your website to keep them interested to find out about the results.

4) Hold puzzles, quizzes and games

Just imagine how many office workers procrastinate at work every day, and you will be able to gauge how many people will keep visiting your site if you provide a very interesting or addicting way of entertainment. You can also hold competitions to award the high score winner to keep people trying continuously to earn the prize.

5) Update frequently with fresh content

Update your site frequently with fresh content so that every time your visitors come back, they will have something to read on your site. This is the most widely known and most effective method of attracting returning visitors, but this is also the least carried out one because of the laziness of webmasters. No one will want to browse a site that looks the same over ten years, so keep your site updated with fresh bites!

Do you have a mailing list?  When was the last time you had a look at how profitable the list is for you and made sure everything was up to date?

You’re likely one of the many people who’ve set up their list, got busy, and then forgot about it for a while.  There are many things you can do right now to start making more money with your mailing list.

1. List Checkup – Go through every single message you have in your autoresponder series.  This may take you a while to get through if you have a lot of messages set up, but it’s worth it.

Recently I switched my website format over to a wordpress site and deleted a lot of the pages from the other design.  I had my autoresponder setup to refer to articles on my older site and with the update these were out of date and needed fixing, so I had to go back in and change the links.  If your series of messages are too long and it’s just too much to handle by yourself hire a VA to help.

2. Opt-in Location – Do people know about your list?  Don’t assume everyone will find you because you have an opt-in box in one or two locations on your website.

When setting up your list and describing it you’ll want to make sure that you deliver exactly what you offer then and beyond.  A bullet-point list works well to let people know what your list offers without requiring too much of their attention to get them to read.

Many people make their list stand out by offering up a free ebook or report for signing up to the list.  Other ideas are offer up an audio or a video.  Whatever you offer make sure it is of high valuable and something that makes signing up for your list irresistible.

3. Add landing pages – You should be using double opt-ins to make sure your list has really requested to sign up.  After the initial sign-up you will be able to direct them to a landing page.  Make sure that landing page they come to grabs their attention and tells them to confirm, you could use something like this:

IMPORTANT: Please check your email inbox and confirm your subscription so that we can send you the information you requested.

Use that landing page to make an offer on your own product or offer an affiliate product.  Or if you have a service based-business and want them to get to know you better then direct them to your articles page.

Once they confirm in their email you will be given another opportunity to create a specific landing page.  Use that page to make another offer, or lead them to your website to read more information or articles.

You’ve got people’s attention once they get to your landing page and they HAVE to go somewhere once they’re done – it might as well be somewhere you can suggest to them so that you benefit from it.

4. Promote – Think of the places where you promote your list. Is it just in one little box on your website?  There are many other places that you should be using to promote your mailing list.

Write articles that you submit to directories that have a bio leading to your opt-in page.
Make a special offer in your signature on forums (if they allow it)
Add a signature to your emails that tells people why they need to sign up for your list
Blog about your list and why they should join it

5. Contact as often as possible – You’ve heard this before but it’s time for a reminder.  If your prospects don’t hear from you on a regular basis then they will forget about you and why the signed up in the first place.

How often you contact them will depend on what your list is about but it’s often said that you must be making contact at least once a month if you want to be remembered.  Many topics will require you to contact your list once a week and this is perfectly acceptable to them because they asked for this information.

Increased turnovers, costly decreases in productivity and overall employee dissatisfaction are all ramifications of low morale in the workplace. Moral is a vital component of any organization or business for it to thrive and achieve success.

Here are five ways to improve workplace morale easily and inexpensively that will boost your team’s performance and lower levels of tension and stress.

Install a Humor Board
Most every office has several memo boards for important work-related information, some pleasant, some not so pleasant. Install a memo board in a neutral location that is specifically for people to post jokes, cartoons, funny pictures or amusing anecdotes. This way everyone can get a little laugh after arriving for work on a dreary Monday morning.

Adopt Flextime Schedules
If possible, work out a way for employees to have more flexibility in their schedules. You may be surprised at the amount of stress that can be alleviated by this one thing. With daycares and households with two working parents, and possibly only one vehicle, this small move can be monumental to some people. Work out a schedule or system for employees to leave an hour early or come in an hour late on certain days. Alternate days and times so that everyone gets an opportunity to benefit if needed.

Get Away From It All
Hold meetings and conferences at a location away from the office if at all possible. A restaurant or local park would be a welcome alternative to a stuffy boardroom on a clear, spring day. People may be more alert and more receptive to the specifics of the meeting in another less stifling environment.

Share the Wealth
Offer employees incentives to “coach” their co-workers on their lunch or break times. Incentives could come in the form of paid time off, gift certificates to stores or restaurants, movie tickets or even small, simple mementos to show appreciation. This is a morale booster in a few ways; firstly, new or confused employees can glean valuable information from their more experienced colleagues and secondly, it may make the “coach” feel better about their job, themselves and their performance.

Offer Contests and Awards
Special days such as “Ugliest Outfit Day” or “Best Disguise Day” or “Funniest Story Day” can be a way to lighten the mood for a bit and encourage communication between employees. Offer “awards” which can be simple prizes and certificates given to the winners to display.

Boosting employee morale doesn’t have to be expensive or involved. Even contagious cheerfulness on a regular basis can mean the difference between a dour workplace and a welcoming, productive one. Ask the employees for their ideas and listen to their thoughts. Work out a viable plan that will motivate them and make them more productive and happier at the same time.

Home businesses come in many different shapes, sizes and forms. These types of businesses provide individuals with an alternative to the office job setting and provide various freedoms to the business owners as well. In fact, there are five often-cited ways in which a home business can make one’s life easier overall.

Child Care Issues

Perhaps one of the most often cited features of a home business which can make one’s life easier is that by owning a home business, individuals are able to work while staying at home with their children. This makes the need for daily child care a nonexistent factor. Although some individuals who work from home still opt for putting their kids in daycare, having a home business does make doing without child care a possibility.

Transportation Issues

Another way which home businesses can make a business owner’s life that much easier relates to transportation issues. When owning a home business, one can conduct their daily business affairs from the convenience of their home office. This gets rid of the need for commuting to an office each day and putting mileage on the car, not to mention paying costly gas bills. It is also a time saver with regard to not having to commute to and from work which is also a highly regarded trait of owning a home business.

Tax Deductions

One who has a home business is also able to reap the benefits of multiple tax deductions and incentives which may be available to them. Using a home office enables a business owner to save money in the long run by seeing deductions on their annual tax returns. Although this only happens once a year, the rewards are often quite good for home business owners who operate their business out of their home office.

Being Your Own Boss

An additional incentive for home business owners is that they are their own boss. This is a wonderful thing to consider. No more bossy employers enforcing strict, unyielding schedules. Being your own boss is a sure way to make one’s life easier. One can work when they want to, take a break if they like and pursue their occupation in the manner which they see fit.

Reduce Overhead This Way

Lastly, an individual who runs a business out of their home will often find that their life is made easier by saving themselves money in the end. As opposed to those individuals who own businesses which are run out of separate offices, home business owners will see large reductions in overhead. Making use of the home as a workspace is a great way to make life easier on the individual and their wallet.