The Key to Long Term Success

Countless books, articles, studies and research has been conducted, written and detailed carefully over the centuries on how and why certain groups of people become a great success in life as well as being financially independent during the course of their working lives. Some of the various factors involved include family lifestyle and background, education history, intelligence, influential contacts etc. As we dwelve deeper into all the aspects of personal success development, it would finally dawn upon us that the single most important key is the attitude - more so the attitude of the individual's mind.

Famous Harvard sociologist, Dr Edward Banfield termed this all-important factor "long term perspective". By this he means that the particular successful individual took the pains during the course of his early years to develop a well-planned and systematic layout of what he intends his future would look like. The more detailed he his and the more thought-out his plan of execution, the more successful he will be. In simple terms, the successful person takes the future into consideration with every decision he makes in the present.

Take a look at the legal and medical profession, for instance. The years of gruelling hard work and study, assignments, practical work, apprenticeship has groomed the individual to a level of competence where he is capable of earning a very good living on his own. This long-term perspective has been ingrained in them consciously or unconsciously and has made these sets of professionals one of the most respected in any society today.

How does one start to create such "long-term perspectives"? A simple and sure-fire way is to have a solid set of priorities in your daily life, be it for work, family or social circles. Will what you are doing right now have a significant impact on your life in the future? There is a co-relation when it comes to priorities and success, and it is simply measured by the actions and activities which you are doing in the present. Take for instance, an employee who takes extra night classes on her own to improve her personal confidence in speaking is acting on a long-term perspective. A husband who comes home after a long hard day at work, sits down, chats with his wife and plays with his children is placing a lot of emphasis on family life. He views the importance of quality family time for a rewarding future.

Having a long-term perspective on success also requires one to follow a strict set of guidelines on personal discipline, particularly delayed gratification. With a mind-set of having a little less of enjoyment at the present moment, you will be rewarded in the long run with personal satisfaction and greater success.

Which Internet Business Model is the Right One?

There is a story of a man who was walking down a side alley and fell into a deep uncovered man-hole. As he struggled to get out, he yelled out, "Hey out there, help me get out of here!" A man passing by heard his plea, looked down, and threw him a long stick and left. As the man continued to struggle, a woman passed by and threw him a rope, but still didn't manage to get him out.
A few moments later, his friend walked past and was surprised that he landed up in the man-hole. His friend, Mark, immediately jumped into the dark hole and asked, "What are you doing here? It's dark and difficult to get out. I've been here before, and I can show you the way to get out."
In many ways, starting your online business is like being in the dark hole if you first did not know the facts, do the research, and choose the proper business model to start with. A lot of people, most out of mere sincerity, will be giving you lots of ideas for your business. As there are many profitable business models to choose from, let us explore some of the most popular, tried and tested formulas in the internet marketing industry.
The first business model is the catalog or retailer model. Here, your website functions as an internet or online store where you market items on a particular theme. It will feature product photos, anything ranging from either books, CDs, automotive tools, household items etc. with their descriptions and prices. Your role here is primarily that of a retailer.
The next business model and a highly popular one is the affiliate model. In this model, you become an associate or affiliate selling other people's products, and getting a commission out of every sale. A lot of new internet marketers use this path to gain momentum in their online quest. An example of an affiliate site is Amazon.com where you will be able to source for tons of products to market and profit from. Representing good quality products with a rewarding program and an amazing sales letter on the principal's website is the key and will provide you with good reach for success in this area. This is a highly competitive model and hundreds, if not thousands of marketers are marketing the exact same product as you are.
Becoming an e-Bay seller is the next popular option for a lot of online marketers. As e-Bay is the most trafficked auction site on the Internet today, there are opportunities to do very well here, if your product is highly sought after and very unique. it can be anything from personally written poems to torn and worn jeans to lego sets. The list is endless and is only limited by your imagination.
Perhaps the most used model of all is the Killer Sales Letter model. This requires you to set up a single landing page where you feature your single product with a long,persuasive and compelling sales letter enticing the reader to click on your 'Buy Now' button while they are at your site. As you can imagine, the most important task here is to have an exceptionally well-written sales copy, because this will literally make or break your sale. Killer copywriting skills is indeed very crucial for you to taste any success in this Internet Business Model.
This next Internet Business Model focuses on YOU, as I call it the Expert Model. Basically you will be selling your services as a professional in your particular field, be it in the training, medical, legal, chiropractic, dental, photography or other professional area. Well-written articles on your field of expertise with continuous updates on your newsletters and discussion forums on your website will entice your visitors to seek your consultation and services. As you cannot be at two places at one time, you will then be able to source out other professionals in the same field to become your Associates whereby they can partner you in servicing your clients, thus creating more profits for you.
There are more than ten other effective Internet Business Models which are available and very profitable; however, the models listed above are the ones which has proven very effective for me in my internet business venture. I highly recommend all new and current internet marketers to get a copy of Low-Cost High Profit Internet Business Models as it contains all the top business models available today, as well as providing the pros and cons of each, how to market each particular model and a step-by-step guide to creating your own unique internet marketing campaign.

Online Customer Service

The radio industry took 38 years to gain an audience of 50 million listeners, the television industry reached that figure in half the time, and guess what, the Internet took just a mere four years to surpass that mark! Absolutely incredible. So what has this got to do with Customer Service? Everything, especially so if you are in the online business or your company has a huge web presence. As internet use is almost doubling every 100 days, the opportunity for you to utilize the web to boost and enhance sales and service to your customers is both astounding and unprecedented. So how can you ensure that your online sales and service are web-wise and customer-friendly?
1. Make it easy for customers to find you online. Visibility online takes the form of directory listings, search engine listings, backlinks or links that point people to your site, and several other forms of online marketing. Do you have your company website address on your name card? It's a form of offline advertising and incredible effective in getting traffic to your site.
2. Keep your site navigation simple and clear. A page which takes 2 minutes to load the flash and graphics will turn away lots of potential customers. The web is about speed and convenience, so you want to take full advantage of them having clicked your link and making it easy for them to get the information they want in the shortest time possible.
3. Give reasons for customers to visit your site. Offer tips through newsletters or email, create some resource sites where your customers can connect with companies which compliment their business, publish articles providing the type of information which your customers would be interested in, have a FAQ (frequently asked questions) section where they can access to, a 'Contact Us' form for complaints or suggestions, create a chat or forum for your customers to interact with each other, or set up a teleconference call on a subject of interst to your customers.
4. Answer all your emails promptly and professionally. Nothing is more annoying than posting a support question online to the help center and never receiving a confirmation receipt email from them; worst still when the entire query goes unreplied after two to three weeks. Take note that answering customer emails promptly and professionally is as important as picking up your company phone within three rings.
The time-tested principles that apply to traditional methods of serving customers face-to-face and by phone are just as relevant to the electronic media of email and e-commerce. Being user-friendly, offering quality products and services, standing behind what you sell, and being responsive to customer inquiries and problems are very critical in providing excellent service online.