What Online Content Will People Pay For? : MarketingProfs

by Barbra on August 17, 2010

Since the Internet began, some 40 years ago, most of its content has been free to access. Today, that is still the case.

However, paid content is one of the fastest-growing areas of Internet business, generating more than $15 billion in revenues in 2009 in the US alone.

The question that thousands of experts, bloggers, publishers, and content creators want answered is, “If there is so much free content on the Web, what content will people actually pay for?”

Having been involved with launching more than 1,000 paid-content websites over the last few years, many of which are now very profitable businesses, I’ve concluded that the following are attributes that enable them to charge for their content.

1. They offer unique and exclusive information

The No. 1 reason that people pay for content is because they can’t get the information they need elsewhere for free. Successful membership websites tend to be run by people deeply immersed in their subject, and they have access to certain sources, background knowledge, and informed opinion that creates sustainable advantage and value.

  • B2B: BeerNet (www.beernet.com) provides news, rumors, and job listings targeted at the ultra-niche US beer distributors. The target audience is less than 2,500 individuals, yet the site, through subscriptions and ancillary revenues (selling reports, running events, etc.), generates a seven-figure income.
  • B2C: HerbMentor (www.herbmentor.com) is a site about—you guessed it—herbs. The thousands of members from around the world learn and share information about herbs that can be used for health, nutrition, and cooking.

2. They “promise” wealth and success

Many of the most successful paid-content websites provide advice on how to make money. That includes investing, gambling, and business opportunities.

  • B2C: BlogSuccess (www.blogsuccess.com) is targeted at people who want to make money from blogging. Jack Humphrey, who runs the site, has prospered as a blogger, and members want to learn how he has done it.
  • B2C: The Motley Fool (www.fool.com) is one of the oldest investment- research and investment-advice websites. It offers a choice of seven different paid-membership investment services, ranging from $149 to $299 per year.

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Goodbye Frontpage: It Was Nice Knowing You

by Barbra on August 8, 2010

Last week my hosting company made an upgrade to their servers. Ever since, I have not been able to make changes to my how to write a bio website in Microsoft Frontpage .

After numerous support tickets with my hosting company, this is what I found out:

Microsoft has not made any new versions of the “FrontPage server extensions” since 2002, and in 2006 they announced that they will not make any new versions in the future.

Microsoft has replaced FrontPage with other programs, including “Microsoft Expression Web”. That program does not use the FrontPage server extensions and it should work fine on most  servers since it can upload your files using FTP.

Because the old server extensions are not fully compatible with modern Web servers, it is becoming more and more difficult for hosting companies to support these special features as time passes. Because of that, my company now strongly recommends that customers avoid using FrontPage for new Web sites.

This is because Frontpage will stop working at some point in the future. And it looks like it does not work correctly on my server right now.

Note: If you still want to use FrontPage you can try to configure it to upload files using FTP.

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Bio or Resume? When to Use a Bio Rather than a Resume

by Barbra on August 7, 2010

What’s the difference between a professional bio and a resume – and when do you use each one?

A bio is a short summary of the most impressive highlights of your background, whereas a resume gives a comprehensive picture of your education and work experience year by year.

Both describe your background but the intended purpose, level of detail and presentation are different.

When to use a bio versus a resume

Bios are basically used as promotional material. A bio or career biography tells a short story about you in a couple of paragraphs. It’s a summarized version of who you are and what you’re all about.

A bio is normally found in a business owner’s profile or about the author in the flap jacket of a book. It’s intended to be a succinct, compelling overview of the person. In a paragraph or two, the most impressive facts are provided to give a picture to the reader. The description is written in the third person and may include years of experience, some well-known companies, recognized commercial awards, marital status, number of children, place of dwelling, and other pertinent details.

One way to think about it is that a bio is a little advertisement for you and your business. It summarizes just the most impressive highlights of your background. In contrast, a resume gives a complete summary of your experience, education, and skills – normally in chronological order.

When to use a resume instead of a bio

A resume is normally required when applying for a job. A resume shows past history and provides in detail, the working experience, job positions and responsibilities, education with colleges attended, skill certificates achieved and trainings completed.

Whereas a bio is usually formatted in paragraphs, resumes are normally formatted in bullet form and chronological order. You need to account for any missing years that may have occurred due to sickness, travelling, family responsibilities or time out of the workforce. In a pinch, you can omit certain areas in your resume if you wish and only reveal them in person when you have an interview.

To sum up, a bio or biography tells a story about you, whereas a resume gives “just the facts”. A bio is a promotional document; a resume is used when applying for a job. Both describe your background but purpose, level of detail and presentation are different. Between the two, the bio is less formal and more interesting to read than the resume.

Do you need to write a short bio? Does it seem like just one more task on your long to-do list? That’s not unusual. Most busy professionals find it hard to find the time to sit down and get their professional bio written. Here’s a helpful tip: you can get a fill-in-the-blanks bio template written specifically for your type of job. You’ll have it all done and complete within the next 20 minutes.

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Subdomain vs. Subdirectory: What’s the Difference

by Barbra on August 1, 2010

Domain name, index file, add-on domain, subdomain, subdirectory – the terminology related to website structure can be mind boggling. Here’s an explanation of the Domain Name System (DNS) that will help you sort this out.

First thing to understand is that the Internet’s domain name system has a tree structure or hierarchy, with each node on the tree being a domain name.

A folder contained inside another folder is called a subdirectory (aka  subfolder) of that folder. Together, the folders form a hierarchy, or tree structure.

What’s the difference between a subdomain and a subdirectory?

A subdomain is a domain that is part of a larger domain. For example, vegetablegardening.mywebsite.com is a subdomain of the mywebsite.com domain.

You’ll notice that a subdomain (vegetablegardening) comes before the  main domain name (mywebsite.com).

In contrast, a  subdirectory (aka subfolder) comes after the main domain name.

So a subdirectory (aka subfolder) would  look like mywebsite.com/vegetablegardening.

Which is better for SEO?

For purposes of search engine optimization (SEO), Google treats a subdomain as a separate entity. So if the main domain (mywebsite.com) is just doing great – lots of page rank, backlinks, and authority, none of that will be of any help to vegetablegardening.mywebsite.com.

Subdirectories will benefit when other parts of the same domain are doing well; so that mywebsite.com can “pass through” some of its page rank and authority to mywebsite.com/vegetablegardening.

This is one of those things that SEO experts like to debate over – so be prepared for different opinions on this.

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Top 7 Home Business Advice Articles

by Barbra on July 16, 2010

cat on table with tulips

#1 perk of owning the blog: being able to post pics of your cat!

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been writing this home business advice blog for nearly 4 years.  A lot has changed in the blogging and online business world in that time.

Perhaps that’s what  motivated me to respond to the challenge that Darren Rowse of Problogger issued today: publish a post that is a list of 7 links to posts that you and others have written that respond to the following 7 categories.

  • Your first post
  • A post you enjoyed writing the most
  • A post which had a great discussion
  • A post on someone else’s blog that you wish you’d written
  • Your most helpful post
  • A post with a title that you are proud of
  • A post that you wish more people had read

Here goes:

  1. My first post was published October 30, 2006 and it was titled Logo Design: Make it Easy on Yourself
  2. The post I enjoyed writing the most would have to be How to Set Up an Aweber Autoresponder. I enjoy writing how-to articles that help other people do practical things. Nothing is more satisfying to me than getting a comment from a reader that says “Thanks – I was having trouble figuring that out and now I can do it!”
  3. A post which had a great discussion was my article on How to Make a Trackback on a Blog. Again, the how-to articles seem to be the most popular on HomeBusinessWiz. This article has 26 comments and counting. Although maybe it’s more accurate to say that this post has the most comments, not necessarily the most discussion (important distinction).
  4. A post on someone else’s blog that you wish you’d written. That’s easy: anything from My Husband is Annoying, which I find hilarious.
  5. My most helpful post: Judging from the feedback I’ve received, my most helpful post from the past four years of blogging about home business tips is How To Set Up a Business Paypal Account.
  6. A post with a title that I’m proud of is Lawyer, Accountant, Candlestick Maker: Does Your Home Based Business Really Need Them?
  7. A post that I wish more people had read is My Favorite Coaching Questions, because they are questions that would dramatically improve anyone’s business communication skills.

I enjoyed this challenge – it was fun to look back over the 300 articles I have written in 4 years of writing this blog.

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10 Money Saving Tips for Home Business

by Barbra on July 10, 2010

pink post it note

The less you spend, the more you earn!

As a home business owner, I’m always looking for money saving tips. The less money I spend on operating costs the more left over for me! Here are 10 money saving tips for your home business.

1. Piggyback promotions
• Include business information such as flyers or coupons with invoices or online newsletters.  This is a great money saving tip that is also quick and easy to do.  Remind your customers of your special deals right at the time that they have you in mind. Be sure to provide an easy way for them to pick up the phone or click the “Buy Now” button.

2. Save money with joint ventures
• Share mailing costs, distribution methods and contacts with other businesses in your area. Do a Google search for “home business + your town” to get lots of contacts.

3. Establish a referral marketing plan
•  Exchange referral information with other businesses in your area. Ask your customers to participate in referral based sales – perhaps offer a discount for every five referrals they provide that result in additional sales.

4. Set up a Paypal business account to provide an easy way for customers to pay you online.

5. Cancel unneeded subscriptions
• Check your credit card statement to see what recurring subscriptions you are paying for. Cancel any that you are not using regularly.
• Cancel magazine subscriptions. You really don’t have time to read them, anyways, do you?
•  Do you really need a land line, a fax line and a cell phone, or could just a cell phone do the trick? Do you even need the cell phone? Could an online phone service like  Skype suffice? Big monthly savings opportunity here.

6. Cut back on office supplies and equipment
• Buy stamps for mailing instead of using a postal meter. Renting postal meters is expensive and unless you do mass mailings on a regular basis, is not cost efficient.
• Obtain free business forms online. The Internet has hundreds of sites that offer free, customizable forms for many universal transactions.
• Download free software before you purchase a program. Most software providers have trial versions available at no cost. Use caution when downloading from sites that do not display security locks on their pages.
• Buy used equipment. Attend auction sales or warehouses dedicated to selling refurbished computers, copiers, phones or other items. Often you can find items in extremely good condition at a fraction of the cost of new. Similarly, used office furniture outlets often have very good buys on gently used chairs, desks, etc. Check out online classifieds such as Kijiji and Craigslist, as well as the classified section of your local newspaper as well.

7. Review your insurance rates regularly
• Take a look at your insurance coverage instead of just automatically renewing it each year. Shop around when policies are up for renewal. But never cancel an insurance policy until you are absolutely certain new coverage is in place.
• Re-assess your medical insurance. Be sure you have up to date information on past claims payouts as well as the loss ratio of paid claims to premiums.
• Raise your deductible. This will result in premium reduction , which can provide substantial savings over time.

8. Watch your credit
• Do credit card comparisons, especially if you maintain unpaid balances. Shop around for the best interest rate.
• If you pay balances off monthly (and we hope you do!), look for a card that has no annual fee.
• Avoid cash advances. Interest charges on cash advances are higher and are calculated from the moment you access funds.

9. Take advantage of all tax breaks
• If you operate your business from your home, deduct items such as mortgage interest, utilities, home maintenance expenses, lawn care and house cleaning services.
• If you travel for business, save all fuel and food receipts.

10. Cut utility costs
• Ask utility providers if they have a special rate available for businesses.
• Comparison shop for a telephone service provider.

What’s your most creative money saving tip for home business? Please share in the comments section below. Thanks!

This article is intended for information purposes only and should not be construed as legal or financial advice.

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How to Write an Author Bio

June 4, 2010

Even though writers have a natural ability to put words together, most writers find it excruciatingly difficult to write their own author bio. This article gives practical guidance on how to write an author bio.
Let your author bio brand you
Here are some points to consider when writing a short author [...]

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Creating an Info Product: What You Need to Know

April 17, 2010

Last week, I was talking with a colleague about information products. My colleague works with managers who are struggling with software development projects help get those projects back on track.
He’s great a what he does, loves his work and has tons of great ideas for creating information products. But he hasn’t made much [...]

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Paypal Business Accounts: Standard or Pro?

April 5, 2010

When setting up a Paypal Business Account, you will be asked what kind of account you want. There are about six different options, but the two most common for small businesses are:

Website Payments Standard
Website Payments Pro

Which should you get?
I have “Standard” and it meets all my needs for accepting online payments quickly and easily. It [...]

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Rapid Mass Traffic: How Does It Work?

March 28, 2010

I got a promotional email today from someone who presumably is an affiliate of the Rapid Mass Traffic product. Normally I just delete these types of emails and unsubscribe from the list, but this email caught my attention. It was GOOD. Here’s how it started out:
Hi  Barbra,
I want you to be honest with me and [...]

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