Internet marketing includes a number of different ways to make money.  It can also be a weapon in your arsenal of marketing tools for your business whether that business is online or offline.

Let’s say that you have a pet supply store located in a shopping center.  And you have an online presence through a website.  Nothing complicated, the website is to help potential customers find you, get to know you, know your store a bit, and the kind of products it offers. Just to keep things uncomplicated the store doesn’t offer online shopping.

Now how could your own product creation help your sales?  One way is to develop a short report on some aspect of pet care that relates to the products that your store offers.  The report doesn’t have to be long, about 10 pages would do it.   Make sure the report has lots of content and very little sales pitch.  Have a nice cover designed.

Offer the report at your website in exchange for visitor names and email contacts through an online form. But don’t stop there.  Print out the cover of the report and mount it on fiber board next to the checkout area of the counter.  Have signage made that says “Get Your Free Copy, just provide your name and email address.”  Include a couple of blank index cards for your customers to write that information on in case they don’t have a business card.

Include all those contacts on a mailing list for your store.  Send each one an email with a link to the free report, or include the report attached to the email as a pdf document.  What you’re doing is collecting a list of customers that you can regularly contact and remind them about your store, special offers, and discounts.

Product creation can be taken one step further.  Let’s say you have developed your own recipes for dog food.  Package the recipes with some helpful tips and sell it through your website.  You could even establish a separate website that does nothing but sell the recipe e-book for you.  Since the e-book is digital there’s no printing costs, inventory to maintain, or shipping costs.  Even though you probably have your own merchant account to process credit cards at your store, there are online processors that can take care of that process 24/7 without any involvement from you once it’s set up.

Product creation can add to your profit margins – it’s not just for online businesses.

Articles have been used for marketing for years before the Internet was even born.  Companies would hire a publicity director to work with hard copy publications in placing press releases in those publications.  The press releases would contain information about new products, changes in management, awards or any other newsworthy company event. It’s a win-win situation. The company gets increased exposure to potential customers through the readers of the publication and the publication gets good content.  The Internet has taken article marketing one step further and leveled the playing field.

Article marketing is simply writing short, 350 to 700 word, essays and placing them in online article directories.  The essay ends with an author resource box which includes a live link or two to the author’s website or blog.

The author receives free exposure and a link back to their site and the directory gets good content.  Often times other sites, blogs, and ezines will pick up the article and use it on their site.  Since the author resource box has to be included it’s a win-win situation.

The biggest mistake people make when using articles to market their website is not using relevant keywords in the title of the article and in the body.  For example “Blast the Fat Off” is a great title for a weight loss article but nobody, well almost nobody, uses that phrase “blast the fat off” when searching for weight loss and that’s how most articles are found.  If no one finds your article, no one will read it, and no one will click on your link. A better title would be “Tips to Lose Weight Fast and Blast the Fat Off.”  People do use “lose weight fast’  or “tips to lose weight fast” when they search.

The point of using articles is to get a high ranking in the search engines for the article based on the keywords being searched.  People click on the article, read it, and then click on the website in the author resource box to find out more.

The second biggest mistake made when using articles for marketing is a boring author resource box.  Every article directory allows a short bio, credit box, or author resource box.  Don’t put Jane Doe is the author of “Making Money Online”  Her website is http://www.JaneDoeMakesMoneyOnline.com  Use something like “If you’d like more tips on how you can earn money online visit Jane Doe at http://www. JaneDoeMakesMoneyOnline.com

The third mistake is boring articles.  You have about seven seconds to snag a reader’s attention.  That’s about how long it takes to read the title of the article and the first few sentences.  Use that time wisely.

Articles can be a powerful weapon in your Internet marketing business

Being a parent is a full time job.  Working at home is a full time job.  Here are a few home office ideas to make your life a little easier for both jobs.

Establish an office in your home even if you have a laptop, a wireless connection, and cell phone.   Designating a space where you work focuses your attention and your family’s attention that you are at work.  It would be great to have an off limits room for your office but not many homes have a spare bedroom.  Your home office doesn’t have to be huge, even a closet will do.

The basics you’ll need are a flat surface to use as your desk, a storage area for important work related papers, and office supplies.  It may seem silly to have duplicates such as stapler, scissors, paper, ink, etc., when those supplies are also in the family room, but you’ll save time knowing you have what you need close at hand. Don’t share these supplies with the family or you’ll defeat your purpose.

Your office area should be pleasant, well lighted, comfortable, and organized.

You spend time in your home based business, there’s no reason where you work can’t be pleasant.  Add accessories, your favorite colors, perhaps even a fresh flower or two to your desk.  Spray paint is the best friend of the budget decorator.  A couple of cans in your favorite color and that mismatched set of furniture can be like new again.

Don’t overlook lighting.  It’s best to have lighting from several sources to help eliminate glare and shadows.  Position the lights so they don’t reflect off the computer screen when you’re sitting in front of it.

An important piece of office equipment is your chair.  You might think that borrowing a chair from the dining room would be adequate, but if you spend any length of time at all in front of your computer you need a chair with back support.  A comfortable, adjustable, office chair can be found for under $100 and is money well spent.

An organized office leads to  higher productivity and less stress.  Organization is even more important if your office space is tiny.  Keep only what you use every day in your office.  For example if you have to shred documents for security purposes but only do it once a month or so, keep the paper shredder in the garage not taking up valuable space in your office.

Use these home office ideas for your home based business.

The economy is frothy, the credit crunch is on and the job market is drying up.  Perhaps it’s time to consider a job that lets you work from home.

Working from home has a number of advantages over a company job: flexible hours, no commute, upside earning potential, and immediate rewards.

Flexible Hours

Since there’s no time clock to punch you work when you want.  If your home based business is Internet related you can also work wherever you want as long as your laptop has a wireless Internet connection.  There’s no more wasted time in useless meetings or  chatting around the water cooler. Work when the children are in school or late in the evenings, it’s up to you.  Your work schedule fits you, not the other way around.

No Commute

Working at home means no commute unless you count walking from the kitchen to your upstairs office.  Even though gas prices have come back down to a somewhat reasonable level you’ll still save gas and wear and tear on your car, insurance because your mileage is less, or money spent on public transportation.   And of course the time spent during the commute.  The average commuter spends over an hour each day getting to and from work. That’s time you could put to better use.

Upside Earning Potential

Most jobs are paid by the hour.  If you don’t put in the time you don’t get paid.  Even salaried positions expect a minimum of a 40 hour work week and sometimes more. It doesn’t matter how hard you work, or necessarily the quality of your work, you get paid by the hour.  In most work at home jobs you’re paid by the results, not how long it took you to achieve those results.  Your motivation is focused on increasing your productivity and therefore your upside earning potential.

Immediate Rewards

Offline jobs pay a couple of weeks after you’ve completed the work.  If you need extra money now even if you work overtime you won’t get paid for it until the next paycheck, which could weeks away. A home based business can be set up so you’re paid almost immediately after completing the work.  If you need extra cash within the next couple of day for example, work a bit harder and longer, and you can earn that extra money.

A work at home job can mean more than just a steady paycheck.  It gives you flexibility, saves money and allows you to be paid on your results.