Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Do I Need An Advanced Degree In Business?

Because the business landscape is so competitive these days - and because there are fewer jobs out there than there used to be - lots of people are discovering that it is nearly necessary to have a degree in order to find a job, but a lot of people are also discovering that they not only need a degree, but they need an advanced degree in order to land the job they want; while an advanced degree can certainly come in handy, however, it will also cost another couple years and several thousand more dollars - and because of this, it will be important that you understand whether an advanced degree is the right choice for you.

You should realize that much of your training for any job will come at the job itself, which means that much of what you learn in college - both in graduate and undergraduate studies - will go out of the window as soon as you get hired; for the most part, your formal studies will give you a foundation of knowledge and information that will help you in your career, and they will give you that all-important degree, but what they will rarely give you is the tools you will need for the job itself.

If you are wanting to someday work as a manager at a large corporation, there is a good chance that the time and money you spend earning an advanced degree will be well worth it, as you will greatly increase your chances of getting one such job.

On the other hand, however, a lot of people continue on in their schooling beyond their undergraduate studies, in spite of the fact that their desire is to one day start a successful business of their own; if you have thought that you want to start your own business after school, you should realize that going further into debt (and spending more time) to earn that graduate degree will probably not help you much at all!

The question of whether or not you need an advanced degree in business cannot be answered with a simple "yes" or "no," as the answer varies from situation to situation; once you figure out what you hope to do after college, you will be better equipped to determine whether you need an advanced degree - and then, you can begin chasing these goals you have!

Making Your Way Online As An Entrepreneur

If you are a small business owner or working in some sort of entrepreneurial capacity, you probably took this step in your career because you wanted to eventually be able to work fewer hours while making more money than you were making before; while this is certainly something any small business owner or entreprenur can attain, however, this tends to end up being the opposite of reality for most entrepreneurs and small business owners - and this is largely because they do not know the steps they need to take in order to dominate online.

The first step you need to take in order to dominate online as an entrepreneur is that you use search engine optimization to dominate search engines; some people simply use SEO as a means to gain a bit of extra exposure on search engine rankings pages, but when you take the time to learn all the ins and outs of SEOs, you can cause your site to gain a top ranking, and to gain tons of new traffic as a result!

In addition to learning the ins and outs of SEO in order to take full advantage of its power, you will want to use social media to get people to swarm to your site; social media is a great way to connect with people you would otherwise never be able to come in contact with - and these connections can often lead to a great boost in profits for you.

And finally, you should understand that your website will not be much good to you - unless you have this site optimized for sales; do not be shy to make it obvious that your site is in place in order for sales to be made, as this will enable you to make a lot more sales to the people who come your way!

Realize that small business and your entrepreneurial efforts are games that can certainly be won - and you can be the one to win in these games once you understand how to take the right approach, and when you implement this right approach in your efforts!

The Meaning of SEO in Internet Marketing

by: Terence Nason

If you are by now running an Internet marketing campaign or are pertaining to to go aboard on an Internet marketing campaign, one notion you cannot afford to hold back on is search engine optimization (SEO).

SEO is one of the mainly accepted buzz expression in Internet marketing but sadly most Internet marketers simply do not know enough about SEO to build this approach work for them.

Even those who are knowledgeable about SEO may have difficulty executing their SEO strategies to produce the desired effect.

Advertising is a very important part of running any type of business. You need to advertise to reach new customers and market your products or services.

Whether you run your business online or not you probably already realize how important it is to advertise but if you are running your business online you should understand there is a great deal of free advertising available in the form of optimal search engine rankings.

Well known search engines such as Google rank websites according to complex algorithms which are designed to determine which websites are most relevant for particular search terms.

Therefore taking the time and effort to optimize your website for relevant search terms may result in you being rewarded with high search engine rankings for these terms. This is important because most Internet users rely heavily on these rankings.

It is not uncommon for Internet users to only review the first few results when they search for a particular term. This means if your website ranks high enough to appear on the first page of the search results you will likely enjoy increased website traffic.

However, if your website doesn't make it to the first page or even the second page, it is unlikely you will receive a great deal of website traffic from visitors who use search engines.

Now that you understand why search engine rankings are so important you might wonder how to achieve these rankings.

The easiest way to optimize your website is to hire a SEO specialist to do the work for you. The world of SEO is complex and continually evolving making it difficult for most business owners who do not specialize in SEO to keep up with the changes in the industry.

Therefore, business owners who attempt to optimize their website by themselves may have difficulty keeping up with competitors who hire a SEO consultant to optimize their website.

The algorithms used by search engines can be rather complex and include a number of different factors. Some of the common factors in the equation include keyword density, META tags, titles, inbound links, website traffic and content.

Keyword density refers to the number of times a particular keyword is used in the content of your website. The theory behind this concept is that website which use a keyword often are likely extremely relevant to that keyword, however, overuse of that keyword may result in penalties to the website if the search engine deemed the keywords are not being used appropriately.

META tags are pieces of HTML code which some search engines use in evaluating the content of a website. Placing keywords in these tags can be beneficial in some search engines.

However, care should be taken to avoid placing irrelevant keywords in these tags as this may result in your website being penalized.

Inbound links are also used by some search engines to rank websites. Inbound links refer to links on other websites which point to your website.

In evaluating the worth of these inbound links, some search engines consider the rank of the website providing the link to your website. This means you should ensure the website providing inbound links to your website are high ranking websites to receive the most benefit from these links.

Finally, the content on your website can do a great deal to bolster your search engine rankings. Most SEO firms retain a staff of writers who are skilled at providing quality content which is also optimized for relevant keywords.

If you hire a SEO firm who does not providing copywriting services you should invest in hiring a professional writer yourself. This will help to ensure the copy on your website is not only valuable to your visitors but also considered valuable to search engines.


To Your Success,

Terence D Nason
CEO and Founder of 1StopMoney4U.com
Author of SEO Simply Laid Down and How To Set Your Mind Free
http://www.1stopmoney4u.com



Terence D Nason
CEO and Founder of 1StopMoney4U.com
Author of SEO Simply Laid Down and How To Set Your Mind Free
http://www.1stopmoney4u.com


Tips For Using Twitter To Increase Your Business Presence

Twitter is seemingly everywhere these days - in the news, on the Internet, and even in casual conversation; furthermore, it seems that we hear whispers of all the ways Twitter can help us improve our business, but many of us - as hard as we try - cannot quite comprehend how using Twitter will help us grow our business. Of course, it's not as though the concept of Twitter is especially difficult to grasp - after all, it's nothing more than short messages of 140 characters or less (a lot like a facebook status update, but with fewer characters), but the problem is more that it is difficult to understand the right way to use Twitter in order to make it a good tool for business.

When you are attempting to use Twitter in order to promote your business, one of the big mistakes you will want to avoid is using this tool strictly to promote your business; while this seems like it would be the natural thing to do (after all, if you're there to promote your business, you might as well do so), it can actually be extremely counter-productive, as most regular users of Twitter use the site as an escape from the drudgery of their workday responsibilities - and one of the things they are least likely to do is follow a company whose tweets contain nothing but business-specific information on products and tools and other business-related things!

Instead, you should aim to also mix in items that will entertain or cause enjoyment for your followers - for instance, tweeting trivia questions about your business, or profiling a specific employee, and (with permission, of course) tweeting trivia information about them - and you can even consider using Twitter to give products away for free to your followers.

The Importance of Customer Loyalty to Your Business

The true strength of any successful business is customer loyalty and any business owner will attest to this. Benefits that emerge from customer loyalty are endless and will effectively determine a businesses success. Many people then ask how they can increase this loyalty. There isn't one answer, but rather a combination of different methods that can help build customer loyalty. Many of these facets an how to employ them are included in a book released by the Harvard Business Review which details their importance.

Harvard Business Review on Increasing Customer Loyalty.

Making sure your customers are coming back and bringing new customers with them is the main ideas behind customer loyalty. Executing this ideas is not simple even though the idea itself is. To start on the path towards this kind of success make sure that your employees enjoy their jobs. Employees who are happy will be much more willing to spread this pleasure on to your customers. Your customers will then get the feeling that something good is happening at your business.

Turning negative situations that arise into positive ones is another step to take. It is a skill that is rather easy to learn, but training your employees will definitely be necessary. When a customer has a problem there is tremendous opportunity to deepen the relationship. Start by exceeding the customer's expectations for a solution, never say no to them right away, and make sure that they know an exception is being made specifically for them. Customers who emerge from this situation satisfied will refer in addition to remaining loyal.

The Harvard Business Review has done extensive research and has found that there are certain steps that can be taken to increase customer loyalty. There is much more detail on the subject available in the book beyond the details listed here. Many of their suggestions are based on customer service, but customer loyalty is rooted in other arenas as well. You are able to come up with a comprehensive customer loyalty plan by reviewing all these topics.