There’s no question that the marketplace is loaded with vendors offering solutions to increase website conversions. With an increased drive toward true alignment of search marketing and site optimization for online shopping, it would seem that a majority percentage of people arriving on a website would buy.

But they’re not.

In fact most organizations rarely have better than a 1% conversion rate for all unique traffic. What’s worse is that many of these organizations have less than 1% unique traffic conversion. Yet, marketing directors and other leaders responsible for online sales in organizations whose names you probably know, continue to burn through massive online budgets, running large infrastructures and managing large teams for what amounts to an anemic performance.

Increasing conversion is the only thing that matters online.

You’ve really got to sit down and ask yourself why these organizations think the only way to increase revenues is to increase traffic. This is insane. For starters, traffic is not infinite. In fact, most website traffic will never come back to your site. The majority of good prospects are lost to no decision at all.

If you think your traffic is going to come back and buy from you, you’d better think again.

* In a study released by BizRate and The NPD Group, more than 10,000 consumers were surveyed. Respondents indicated what occurred after they abandoned the shopping cart:

* 39% did not purchase the item at all

* 26% purchased the product from a competitor

* 17% made their purchase offline

* 18% returned to the site to make the purchase at a later time.

The next largest group of departing site traffic is driven into the arms of the competition. When you consider how poorly sites convert, you’ve got to wonder why people continue to burn cash and other valuable resources on traffic without looking closer at this problem.

Instead, marketers should first re-focus on making the site convert better, THEN turn up the tap on traffic. The etailing Group found in a study that 47% of e-commerce directors didn’t even know their abondoment rate.

Embarassing.

What’s worse, consider the following facts:
* 35% of online shoppers find navigating sites difficult (Yankee Group)
* 20% of online shoppers find technical glitches frustrating (Zendor)
* 61% of people who abandon may not come back (Zendor Study)
* 55% of online shoppers are reluctant to provide their credit card information online (Yankee Group)
* Consumers, on average, spend more than 19 hours deciding where to buy online for a given purchase. (ScanAlert)

The fastest way to long term conversion improvements.

One of the best ways to increase site traffic without wholesale changes to navigation and graphics is with real human beings. Deploy a service that offers live chat to site visitors when they arrive based upon some entry criteria like the keywords they used to find your site in the first place. Chat is anonymous and non-confrontational for site visitors who genuinely would appreciate some help.

Staff that chat system with trained sales agents who know your products and can properly qualify based upon the most common needs of your visitors. Be careful not to overload those agents with too much traffic or you’ll burn your brand with yet another version of poor customer service. Offer people the ability to speak with your agents on the phone during that sales cycle and conversions will go up even higher.

Then measure those results.

Is it that easy?

Probably not, but you won’t know if you don’t try. And with websites converting less than 1% of traffic, it would be hard for things to get much worse. Realistically though, you WILL increase conversions.

If you do it right, conversions will DOUBLE. What would that mean for your revenues?

People like to buy from people.

A sale is not just a transaction…it is a transfer of positive energy from one person to another. It is one person helping another make a solid buying decision. Imagine going to the mall and no one being in any store to help you. That would seem weird wouldn’t it?

So why do we think it’s normal to abandon decades of learning and retailing best practices from with on-line stores? Forget about new navigation and fancy graphics for now. Leverage something that will always be more powerful: the human element.

Then outsource it.

About the Author

Brooks helps organizations convert existing traffic into revenue without increasing advertising spend.
http://www.onlinesalesaccelerator.com

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This article has two purposes, all designed to help you write the ebook of your dreams.

First, we’re going to focus on ways to get your reader involved in your book. The more ways you can get your reader to feel like you are speaking directly to him, the more special and connected he will feel. That translates, for you, into A READER FOR LIFE.

The second purpose is dedicated to helping you find good resources for information that you might need in a hurry to expand a point, finish a thought or illustrate a concept.

You never know when you will come up blank when you are scooting along, typing as fast as you can, so full of ideas that you cannot get them down fast enough. You hit the enter key to start a new paragraph and, bang, you don’t know what to say next. It happens to every writer sooner or later…I hate it when it happens to me.

Let’s do it!

There’s several ways to bring your reader into your ebook as they read along. In order to increase their feeling of belonging or being part of your circle of friends, you have to give them a reason to believe what you are saying to them.

The first way to do that is to write like you are talking to your best friend or your mother. Keep your tone warm and friendly, even if you are writing about something that’s not very pleasant. Your reader will definitely respond if you can make him feel like you are sitting down with him and sharing coffee and cookies. How do you do this?

Use simple words and short sentences. Refer directly to your reader by using personal terms, like “you” and “we and “our” when you are discussing some problem or activity you both share. Those three words bridge the gap between you and your reader. If you look over the lessons, including this one, you will see that I do it all the time.

Another way is to give your reader a reason to believe you. When you make a statement that is startling, controversial or not well known, provide proof of the accuracy of your statement. Below, you will find links to several deep pools of facts that you can use to back up your statements. I included the search term I used to find these resources.

If your customers even suspect that you are not telling the truth, they will drop you like a hot potato. You will be able to tell that this is happening by the many requests for an immediate refund. It will be a no-brainer.

This entire scenario can be avoided if you back your information up with facts they can check themselves. Provide the link to the site you used to find the fact.

Now, your reader feels like your friend and believes what you, say, which is building your credibility. Think about it. If you sold 25 ebooks and you used these techniques, you would have 50-75 customers willing to buy other products from you. Happy customers tell their family and friends.

One technique that works pretty well is to answer objections up front…before they even form in your reader’s mind. You’re the one writing the material; you’ll know what might bring up a credibility killing objection.

If you’ve researched your topic, like you’ve read more than once in these lessons, you will already know what your reader might object to. Determine the most common objections to your premise or statement and answer them before your reader thinks of them, and they will.

An easy way to do this involves asking questions. This simple technique has two purposes. It will draw your reader into your ebook and keep him there, while preventing him from latching onto objections. Make your questions personal, like you are standing next to your reader and asking him.

Here’s some examples of questions that will make your reader stop and think about what you just asked him:

1…”Did you ever see an 8-foot tomato plant that produced two-color fruit?”

2…”What do you think your teenager does when you are in the shower?”

3…”Are your neighbors really who you think they are?”

4…”Do you have bedbugs?”

See what I mean? Number 4 gave me the creeps and I wrote it.

If you are trying to head off possible objections before your reader thinks of them, use questions like these:

1…”Do you think that’s impossible?” Let me explain.

2…”Have you ever seen this? Well, let me tell you ____.

3…Do you believe _______?” I do, here’s why.

4…”Does that sound like a fantasy?” Here’s why it’s true.

I’m sure you can see the actual benefit of using these techniques and how they will improve your own methods of presenting information to your readers. Try it! You’ll like it! So will your readers.

Let’s move on to a priceless store of peripheral information that, if used sparingly and when it is needed, will make your ebook shine and your writing process easier.

Sooner or later, you will need a quick resource for new ideas or to get your ebook out of a hole you just dug for it with your very own fingers.

QUOTES: (search term: quotes or quotations)

(FYI: Quotes can generate hundreds of ideas for new ebooks, besides help break a roadblock in your creative processes or add interest to your page.)

ARTICLE DIRECTORIES: (search term: “article directories” with quotes)

Article directories are stocked full with resources to start your brain waves cooking or to improve the way you think about a subject.

Remember that ideas cannot be copyrighted. If you read an article and it gives you an idea, run with it.

Your arsenal of tools and ideas is full of real sources to check and actions to apply on your way to finishing your ebook. Your success is just around the corner. I can feel it. Can you?

About the Author

Paula Brett is an internet marketer and eBook author. You can sign up to her FREE 7-day product creation eCourse at http://www.OperationEbook.com - you can visit her blog at http://www.PaulaBrettBlog.com

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If you look up “clinically proven process for depression” on any search engine (be sure to include the quotes as this will eliminate the medication sites) you will find the only clinically proven process for depression just as you would have ten years ago. The majority of people who suffer from this debilitating disorder have been so programmed with the use of medication for depression that a process that actually fixes the problem at the source has been all but ignored since its introduction into psychiatric care in 1990.

Depression is the primary symptom for almost all behavior disorders. Go to a psychiatrist or psychologist with symptoms of depression and you have just signed up for a prescription for an anti depression medication, many of which are linked to suicide. This is probably the most profound example of attacking the body to try and change the mind. This is not to say that a prescription to an antidepressant should never be done. It just does not make any sense as a first step when there is a clinically proven process for depression.

In May 2007, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended a new warning label for all antidepressant medications. The current black box label includes a warning about the increased risk of suicidal thinking and behavior in children and adolescents. The FDA wants to expand this warning to include young adults from ages 18 to 24. Children and young adults should also be monitored for the emergence of agitation, irritability, and unusual changes in behavior, as these symptoms can indicate the depression is getting worse. The risk of suicide is particularly great during the first one to two months of treatment. Does medication make any sense with this type of warning especially when there is a clinically proven process for depression that gets to the very root of the problem?

Everyone can agree that your health and well-being is dependent on your doctor’s expertise, so it’s important to choose the physician, psychologist or psychiatrist who is best qualified. What does the best qualified mean in regard to your mental health? In terms of the only clinically proven process for depression it means beginning with an answer to the most fundamental question about the state of depression or any emotional state and that is: “What brings about an emotional state and or behavior?” If your physician, psychologist or psychiatrist cannot answer this question how qualified are they? The answer is simple. If they cannot answer this question they are guessing, this is why medication for depression is so widely prescribed. The reality is there is not a physician, psychologist or psychiatrist who can answer this question because none of these groups even asks the question. You simply cannot fix it if you do not know how it works and you do not know how it works if you cannot answer the question.

There is complacency if not outright resistance within the community of psychology toward this clinically proven process. The first study of this process in 1992 has had virtually no impact on how depression was treated then or now. The medical and mental health communities have all but ignored it and continue with dispersing medication with a seemingly high tolerance if not acceptance toward people who commit suicide while depressed or while on depression medication.

The most disturbing suicide statistics of late are the average of eighteen military personnel who are committing suicide every day as reported by NBC on December 13, 2007. NBC also reported that 20% of active duty soldiers are reporting serious mental health problems including depression and post traumatic stress. All the while the medical and mental health communities are content with not even posing the question that will lead to a resolution to this problem and that is: “What brings about an emotional state or what determines human behavior?”

Question 15 of the clinical study was: Do you have thoughts that life is not worth living and you would be better off dead? There was a 95.7 percent improvement in regard to this question and no one was prescreened for depression before the study.

The hope here is that people who have a friend, relative, child or know someone in the military who can be helped by the only clinically proven process for depression will now take action on their own.

About the Author

Kelly Burris has set the standard for, Life Coach Training and Life Coach Certification with the only clinically proven process for depression. Kelly’s two current books are THE Burris Life Coach for Adults and THE Burris Life Coach Ages 7-17. These two new books are the foundation of this program process. Please visit www.KellyBurris.com for the clinical study and more information about this powerful program process.

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HMRC enquire into approximately 75,000 self assessment tax returns each year which often results in extra tax being payable because business turnover has been understated or non allowable business expenses have been claimed, resulting in interest and penalties on the extra tax for that year and sometimes previous years.

What is Business turnover?
Sales turnover is the amount the business earns before deducting business expenses including receipts of any kind for goods sold or work done such as commission, tips, payments in kind, fees and insurance proceeds. The turnover to be included in your financial accounts is the date it was invoiced or earned and not the date it was received.

What is excluded from Business Turnover?
Sales turnover excludes sales of fixed assets such as premises, vehicles and plant and equipment. Also exclude business start up allowances which are entered separately on the self assessment tax return. Money introduced to the business is excluded being capital introduced and not sales turnover.

What business expenses are allowable?
All running costs incurred solely for the purpose of the business may be deducted as allowable business expenses including goods bought for resale, employee wages, premises rent and overheads, administration costs, vehicle running costs. Interest on loans and overdrafts can be claimed as business expenses excluding the capital element of repayments. Higher business expense levels accurately recorded can keep taxable profit below the higher tax rate.

Can the cost of buying and repairing plant and machinery be claimed?
Repairs and maintenance costs are allowable business expenses. The purchase cost including improvements and replacement costs are not allowable business expenses, these costs being subject instead to capital allowances. Depreciation is not allowed and replaced by Capital Allowances for the purposes of calculating the tax payable.

What are Capital Allowances?
Capital allowances are designed to write off the cost of purchasing a fixed asset over the life of the asset rather than in the financial year in which it was purchased. Capital allowances on the majority of assets are based upon a higher rate of allowance in the year of purchase, First Year Allowance with the balance of the cost being written off at a lower rate, Writing Down Allowance. The full cost of any asset may be claimed as an expense in the year it is sold or scrapped less the total of accumulated capital allowances that have been claimed against taxable profits. Any sales proceeds over and above the written down value after Capital Allowances is added back to net profits and becomes taxable. Cars are subject to writing down allowances but not First Year Allowances unless they are classed as commercial vehicles. DIY Accounting has small business software templates that automate the calculation of capital tax allowances.

Can expenses incurred for both business and personal purposes be claimed?
No. HMRC only allow such expenses if the business expenses element of the cost can be separated from the personal element. If you claim the travelling expenses to buy business goods they can be claimed for tax purposes but would be disallowed if you also showed evidence of personal items being purchased on the same journey. Using your home phone is an allowable business expense if you claim specific identified business calls in which case you would also be able to claim a similar proportion of the rental cost.

Can vehicle costs be claimed when that vehicle is also used for personal use?
Vehicle running costs and expenses such as fuel, excise duty, insurance, repairs and breakdown membership may be claimed as business expenses if the vehicle is used solely for business purposes. Travel from home to work is not business use and disallowed. Vehicle running costs, and capital allowances on vehicles, are split between claimable costs and a disallowed cost depending on the proportion the vehicle is used for business and personal use. Parking fees for business purposes may be claimed, parking fines and penalties for motoring expenses are not claimable as business expenses for tax purposes. An alternative to claiming vehicle running costs and vehicle capital allowances would be to claim mileage allowances which at the time of writing are 40p for the first 10,000 miles and 25p per mile thereafter a feature of which the DIY Accounting small business software automates

Can Business trips be claimed?
Travelling expenses and modest lunch expenses may be claimed. Hotel and reasonable costs of subsistence may also be claimed. A subsistence allowance can be claimed if staying with friends or family as an alternative to an hotel. The cost of lunch may not be allowed when staying away overnight. Lunch with clients is regarded as entertainment and is not allowed. If you are accompanied on a business trip by family only your cost is allowable and specifically only if the trip was purely for business purposes. Expenses on combined business and personal trips are not allowed to be deducted as business expenses on tax returns.

Can home costs be claimed?
If part of your home is identifiable as solely for business purposes then running costs can be claimed. The cost allowed is the proportion of the total area of the home the business area occupies. For example, excluding shared facilities of kitchen and toilet if the home has three bedrooms, living and dining room and one bedroom is used solely as an office then 1/5 of home costs could be claimed. The costs to claim would be heat and light, insurance, general and water rates and mortgage interest excluding repayment amounts. Where mortgage interest is claimed the revenue might also claim as a capital gain the increase in value of that proportion of the home, such Capital Gains Tax being subject to tapering relief over time.

How do I treat business goods taken for my own use?
Any business goods taken for personal use should be added to sales at normal selling prices including items supplied to family and friends at less than normal prices. He cost of providing services for family and friends is not allowable as a business expense.

Can I deduct my salary or drawings as a business expense?
You cannot deduct your own wages, personal national insurance or drawings from the business as a business expense as these are distributions of the business income after net taxable profit has been calculated and not allowable expenses before tax..

Can I deduct my partners wages?
Yes partners wages can be deducted as a business expense although there are rules which would be applied in such circumstances to ensure the amount paid is both real and reasonable. The business would need to operate a PAYE scheme for that employee, deducting income tax and national insurance, the work carried out must be real not invented and the rate paid reasonable for the nature of the work and the time spent. Evidence may also be required that the amounts were actually physically paid to that partner, for example in the form of a cheque.

Should Tax Credits be included?
No these are excluded from business profits although the level of credit received may subsequently be changed in the light of the actual business profit earned compared with the amount declared when the Tax Credit was applied for. HMRC do check that the net taxable profit shown on the tax return is the same as that declared when the Tax Credit was claimed.

Can I claim expenditure incurred prior to trading commencing?
Yes business expenses incurred up to seven years prior to trading commencing can be claimed. The actual date of the expenditure should be recorded although all pre-trading expenditure is treated as having been incurred on the first day of trading.

Are pool cars taxable?
Company cars are taxable as a taxable benefit while pool cars are not taxable. To qualify as a pool car, private use should be incidental to business use, the vehicle should not normally be kept at the employee home and the vehicle must be available and used by more than one employee.

About the Author

Terry Cartwright, qualified accountant, designs Accounting Software that automates the self assessment tax return for self employed as an essential part of Small Business Software and Payroll Software that automates the revenue payroll tax returns

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Starting a Home Based Business is an exciting time in your life!! You are full of hopes and dreams of success! You have heard presentations on how easy this is going to be and how much money you are are going to make. You have most likely read oodles of testimonials about overnight success. While fun to think about, if you are going to succeed, you need to come right back down to earth and start engaging your mind in a thought process that will lead you to this success. Spend some time thinking about what you want from this new business venture, and what you are willing to do to get it. In other words, how badly do you want your success? Is it just a dream, or is your desire to succeed a burning passion?

Your new home based business is simply a vehicle to help you reach your goal, so you need to ask yourself, ‘where is it that I want to go with this? What is it that I want to accomplish?’

Did you know that you can never leave where you are today until you decide where you want to go? So ask yourself these questions…

1. How do you want to change your life??…
2. Do you want to increase your cash flow so you have more time to spend with loved ones?
3. Do you want to improve your own health or the health of others? (If your business includes nutritional products)
4. Do you want help other people improve their lives by helping them create more income?
5. Do you want to get out of the rat race of a job or career that you no longer love?
6. Do you want to create passive or residual income that is greater than your expenses? (Hey folks .that means you can retire)
7. Do you want to supplement your current retirement income, or build your income for your coming retirement years?

Ask yourself, what is it that you truly want deep down inside? It may be a combination of things. But first and foremost, you must be totally honest with yourself. Answer this question ‘What do I want out of my life?’

Once you have figured out your goals and dreams, then it is time to ask yourself how badly do I want this? Is this something that I believe in? What am I willing to give up in order to achieve this goal or reach this dream? Is this something that I am willing to work hard for? Is this something that I need in my life?

I truly believe that to be successful in a home based business or in any venture, you must have a burning desire to succeed! Like Tim McGraw (the Country Western star) sings in his song How Bad do you want it?…

“Son what does it take
To reach out and touch your dreams?”
“Are you hungry?
Are you thirsty?
Is it a fire that burns you up inside?
How bad do you want it?
How bad do you need it?
Are you eating, sleeping, dreaming
With that one thing on your mind?
How bad do you want it?
How bad do you need it?
Cause if you want it all
You’ve got to lay it all out on the line .”

And I think this is really true!!

But wanting to succeed is just the beginning because just wanting it real bad isnt going to get you there. Youve got to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! Youve got to find a way to get there! You know, another saying is .To get what youve never had, youve got to do what youve never done!

So Why your new home based business, and why now? For me, it is because it will help me to become the master of my own destiny. It will supplement my future retirement years and I will be able to spend more time with the people I love.

Have you ‘dreamed’ enough? Have you ‘found a passion’? If so, IT IS TIME TO GET TO WORK!!

Internet marketing combined with the power of network marketing is an incredible business model. This power is created not just by your own individual efforts, but rather by the combined efforts of everyone on the team.

Lets briefly review How Money Works. Many of you may have heard of Robert Kiyosaki who is a firm believer in Network Marketing. He believes that money should work for you, and not the other way around. If you are an employee of a company or are even self employed, you exchange your time for money. If you dont work, you dont get paid. With the Network Marketing business model, we are able to build a business over time that will bring residual income. In other words, even if we are not working, the business keeps working for us and our money keeps coming in. As a matter of fact, Robert Kiyosaki and Donald Trump wrote a book together called Why We Want You to be Rich and in that book they recommend Network Marketing for people who want to change their lives. What a fantastic endorsement for this business! But you have to go one step further. You have to make sure you find the right company!!

So make sure you have done your research in this arena!! Not only should the company have a good history, there must be a lot of room for growth!! Make sure the company is financially sound and able to support its growth as it expands. Otherwise, there could be an implosion! Then, you MUST believe in the products. If not, your business is a farce. You can’t believe in a business just for the business model. Third, the compensation plan must be fair, easy to understand, and provide an incredible opportunity for those who work diligently and intelligently! Make sure that there is a growing market for the products or opportunity that you are involved with. Long term is the key!! Finally, make sure you are able to plug into a system that is easy to follow, and that will help lead you to your success! This is where technology and the internet come into play!

And LEARN, LEARN, LEARN!! Look forward to getting up and doing something every day that will take you one step further to your goals! They may not be easy to reach, but they are attainable if you have clarity of purpose, passion for success, a realistic business plan and the will to continue until you succeed. You cannot fail if you do not quit!

I hope I have inspired you to begin building a business that will take you on your path to success!
All success begins with belief. It boils down to this… What do you want out of your life, and how bad do you want it? Put your plan together, and GO OUT THERE AND GET TO WORK!!!

Here’s to YOUR SUCCESS!!

About the Author

Jolene Seelig, Life Style Mentor and Successful Entrepreneur, is helping many become the next success story. Whether you’re looking to create an extra few thousand dollars per month, be an ex-corporate executive, or the next millionaire Mom, Jolene can assist you to create a second stream of income and greater peace of mind. visit : Entrepreneur

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