By Kevin S. Taylor, MBA

Most Internet entrepreneurs, professional web developers, and designers have one purpose in mind. Simply stated, their goal is to design a website allowing someone to share knowledge, ideas, and products with others. Whether the purpose for the website is to promote collaboration, provoke thought, or simply share information, there is a substantial risk to publishing proprietary information without proper protection. Wise webmasters know the old adage to “not be pennywise and pound foolish!”

A web site is undoubtedly the product of many hundreds or thousands of hours of work and generally a substantial financial investment. Websites contain valuable intellectual property that needs to be protected. Many times the concern is not a normal user copying and pasting material to some friends. More often, it is your competitors taking verbiage verbatim to use on a website that may eventually procure some of your own would-be clientele.

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The eight-fold path to building and maintaining an online business is simple and short.

By Kevin S. Taylor, MBA

1.  Demand and Supply
A common mistake most agents make in the marketing business is trying to sell a product for which the demand barely exists.  The idea behind marketing is to first find the market for a product before starting its supply.  People only search online for products they actually want, and selling something online that the average customer is not searching for is as good as not making a sale at all.  Thus, to begin with, one needs to find a group of individuals with a dilemma they need to make sense of and resolve it for them.

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So, You Want to Make a Million Dollars Online?

Chapter 1: Business Owners Can Prosper
Part III: Sell Advertising Space on Your Website

By Kevin S. Taylor, MBA

If a smart company has been working with a good Search Engine Marketing company like Las Vegas Web Design firm Expert Website Services, the company should notice a regular increase in traffic to its website. Well, isn’t it time to convert that rise in visitors into cash? In this day and age, websites can become true money growing trees. Once there is documented traffic to ones website, and the company can ensure a consistent number of guests, its time to convert the present company to money.

Wondering how? The answer company advisers should be giving you is Advertising! That’s right. Advertising always pays well and people are always looking for prime spots to advertise from. A website that attracts quite a bit of traffic is like a busy traffic intersection where many travelers gather for at least for a few minutes.

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So, You Want to Make a Million Dollars Online?

Chapter 1: Business Owners Can Prosper
Part II: Resell Products From Other Companies

By Kevin S. Taylor, MBA

Developers and entrepreneurs are on a move from traditional marketing like telemarketing, printing, and direct mail, to more effective reselling of products and products’ rights. The latest trend is to sell arguably tangible items using the World Wide Web.

Electronic resale items with simple duplication methods along with instructions and rights to reprint, reproduce, or resell have become another facet of e-commerce and has sparked continually improving digital rights management. Some of these items may include computer software, Kindle or electronic reader-ready books, manuals, articles, and a plethora of other items that can be retrieved by downloading without having to physically ship an item.

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So, You Want to Make a Million Dollars Online?

Chapter 1: Online Business Owners Can Prosper!

Part 1: Inexpensive Business Opportunities Online

By Kevin S. Taylor, MBA

Estimated Completion Early Summer 2010

Who wouldn’t want a little income on the side? Why not even a steady income? Not only are many businesses conducted on the Internet prospering, they are runaway successes!

Often, internet businesses go by the term e-commerce or e-business. The terms are often used interchangeably and differences in definition are not significant for us. E-commerce or e-business can be any transactions between a) business to business, b) customer to customer, and c) between business and customer.

Your home run business can immensely profit and thrive under e-business methods. E-business methods can be inexpensive, easy to master, and pretty effective. A number of small businesses around the world are seeing increased profits simply by using e-mail, networking with other computers and by logging onto other websites.

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How to Automate and Syndicate Posts from a Blog to Various Social Media Websites Such as Twitter, Facebook or Linked In

By Kevin S. Taylor, MBA & Michelle Poe

It is most important to start this post by emphasizing that any social media marketing campaign should start with a social media policy and plan that clearly stipulates what social media portals will be used and what automation techniques should be used used to accomplish the best results for any given objective. Companies such as Las Vegas Social Media and Web Development Firm Expert Website Services and collateral marketing design firm Triple 4 Creative, who have top of the line experience in consulting with companies to figure out exactly how a particular company would best benefit from social media based on a number of factors should be consulted BEFORE approaching any of these automation techniques. To do so first would simply be putting the proverbial cart before the horse and could be catastrophic for the company involved. Approaching social media without the proper policies and monitoring techniques in place invites public relations danger that could easily be avoided with a few hours worth of consultation. That being said, we will proceed to discussing the ease in which automation can be implemented. Of course, a company cannot get by with avoiding social media altogether either. That is because your stakeholders are mentioning you whether or not you are there to see it or control it. This is another important reason to have social media policies and a control mechanism in place. Please feel free to call either me or Michelle from Triple 4. Either one of us would be happy to discuss this with you.

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Domain Name Registration Made Simple

By Kevin S. Taylor, MBA

Some business owners find it confusing  to understand the difference between their website domain name and their hosting account. Simply stated, it is the hosting account that makes your website available on the Internet. It is the domain name that people use to access your website. For instance, our company’s domain name is expertwebsiteservices.com. Domain names are registered and renewed by a domain name registrar and tracked by a central database.

A domain name can be renewed in 1-year increments for up to 10 years at a time. A person only owns the domain name for as long as they maintain current domain name registration.

If a domain name is allowed to expire then your website and email will no longer work.

An expired domain name may still be available for a short period of time. However, a substantial administrative fee is often required to renew a domain name once it has expired. In some cases, a domain name may not be renewable after it expires.

Expert Website Services recommends registering or renewing domain names for the maximum amount of time whenever possible. This avoids the potential for a domain name to accidentally expire. We also provide a substantial discount to customers renewing for multiple years.

We provide domain name registration and domain name renewal services as a convenience to our customers. Although, we make every effort to contact the registered owner of a domain name before it expires, the notification attempts are not always successful. Over time, people change their contact e-mail addresses; or, e-mail gets caught in spam filters. Expert Website Services does not automatically renew domain names for customers unless the customer has requested automatic renewal and valid credit card charge information is on file.

In addition, some companies check on the length of time a domain name is registered for in order to feel confident that the company is stable and plans to be in business for years to come. Google also used the length of time a domain name is registered as a sign of credibility. So, renewing a domain name for multiple years can also help to improve your websites search engine placement.

The following is a presentation summary from a live presentation given at the Internet Merchants Association. The author is posting it as per request from conference participants.

Creating and Maintaining a Web Site that will Blow Away the Competition

As Presented at the Internet Merchant Association Conference 2010

By Kevin S. Taylor, MBA

Abstract

Whether you are planning your first e-commerce web site or redesigning an existing one, there are many important conventions and standards to consider. Keeping your site up-to-date and current is no small feat.

This article will discuss the ‘must-haves’ for every e-commerce site.  This presentation will help you to generate an Internet and Social Media Marketing plan for your site that will blow away the competition!

Introduction
Building and Maintaining Relationships with Customers
Numerous experts have made it clear that the entire purpose for being in business is to procure new customers and keep existing customers. This information relates to any Internet business; whether the company’s web presence is a full blown e-commerce style website or a more basic brochure-style website.

The profits and growth of a company are all contingent on this one variable. So, whether the business is a brick and mortar retail establishment that wishes to extend its reach into the international market; or, a one-man shop with nothing more than a shingle on the Internet, the primary focus should be procuring new customers and maintaining relationships with existing customers.

A company’s website will be the gateway to its Customer Relationship Management. So, it is imperative to understand how to communicate with your customers the way that the customers want to communicate, rather than the old style of e-commerce where a company would develop an Internet presence and expect miraculous profitability. A clear understanding of this dynamic can position a company’s online presence leaps and bounds ahead of the competition.

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PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Re: Successful Completion of Authorize.Net Certified Web Hosting Program for Expert Website Services LLC

On April 16, 2010, Authorize.Net issued a communication of congratulations to Expert Website Services for successfully completing all requirements for the Authorize.Net Certified Web Hosting Program, demonstrating compliance with the highest performance and security standards of the Authorize.Net Payment Gateway.

According to Authorize.Net, this certification not only increases the security and reliability of the solution, but entitles Expert Website Services to be listed and Promoted in the Authorize.Net Certified Web Hosting Directory on the Authorize.Net Website. This positions Expert Website Services among merchants as one of the nations top preferred solutions providers.

Among the benefits of this prestigious certification is the commitment of Authorize.Net to communicate with Expert Website Services in advance about new Authorize.Net Payment Gateway products, service features and related system upgrades so that Expert Website Services can continue to provide its merchants with a superior website and web hosting solution. The combined efforts between Expert Website Services and Authorize.Net will ultimately contribute a great deal to the success of their customers.

Expert Website Services LLC is already an Authorize.Net Certified website Developer and Preferred Reseller.

2010 Board of Directors, Better Business Bureau of Southern Nevada. Photo courtesy of the Las Vegas Review Journal

From the Chairman of the Board

Kevin S. Taylor, MBA

Serving as Chairman of the Board in 2010 presents an equal share of both challenges and opportunities. I am fortunate to have this opportunity in such a strong community with a responsive and sound organization. This year, a variety of committees are working hard to strengthen the BBB’s local presence. As an organization, we are urging consumers to Start with Trust® by checking with the local BBB before doing business with a merchant or while considering new vendors. We are also asking Accredited Businesses to display their Accreditation mark proudly so consumers can shop with confidence.

In 2009, the BBB of Southern Nevada expeditiously handled 21,540 complaints about local businesses. Many of these businesses were not accredited by the BBB. With recent state budget cuts resulting in the closure of the State Department of Consumer Affairs, the BBB anticipates a much higher number in 2010.

I would encourage local business owners to give preference to BBB Accredited Businesses because these establishments agree to conduct business in an ethical manner. Accredited Businesses are much faster and amenable to resolving any disputes that may arise. As a consumer, checking with the BBB should always be the first step in conducting any business.

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Blogging Offers Profitable Results for Small Business Owners

This is part one of the Expert Website Services Social Media Series

By Kevin S. Taylor, MBA

Many small business owners struggle with finding new, innovative ways to increase online exposure and improve their online positioning. The Internet is a dynamic, changing vehicle in which savvy business owners can do very well implementing and managing their own marketing strategies. However, in order to do so, one must continually learn and use the latest technological tools for personal and professional promotion.

The Internet has changed. The way people are doing business has changed dramatically in the last several months. Successful Internet marketers understand and embrace this new paradigm consisting of interactive collaboration. The old-style static websites relying on search engine traffic is essentially passé. Today, online consumers are looking for more content-rich collaboration rather than the older model website that was primarily static. This is what is referred to by some as Web 2.0 and the Social Media Revolution.

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By Dr. Ivan R. Misner, Ph.D. and Kevin S. Taylor, MBA

Word-of-mouth marketing is often considered one of the oldest and most powerful forms of advertising.  In fact, most business people understand that it works, they just don’t know how it works.  The rapid takeover of social networking as a way to spread the word even faster makes word-of-mouth marketing an imperative part of any business marketing plan.

Some people think word-of-mouth is something that “just happens” — like the weather — and they let it take its own course. But if you want to be successful at developing word-of-mouth for your business, you should be as organized and thoughtful about it as you are about other types of advertising and marketing.  In fact, if you take this approach, eventually, you can get almost 100% of your business exclusively through word of mouth!  The key to creating a successful word-of-mouth program as part of your daily activity, lies in developing a formal plan for systematically meeting people and cultivating relationships with them.  Here are 15 ways for you, or the sales people who work for you, to get your own word-of-mouth marketing program off the ground:

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By Kevin S. Taylor, MBA

Still today, the Internet continues to increase in both popularity and population. There are more users going online every day. The Internet opens global market opportunities for companies to sell their products to an online audience. This can provide businesses a perfect environment for tremendous growth, not only demographically, but also geographically.

There are many ways to strengthen the effectiveness of your Internet Marketing campaign. Consider the following Internet marketing tips and etiquette for doing online business effectively rather than offensively.

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The Internet offers potential business owners a versatile canvas  to implement any business plan imaginable. Its possibilities are now being explored by people from diverse places, cultures, professions, tastes and skills. The Internet provides a new, surreal galaxy where any entity is free to carve out a niche for itself. The possibilities are truly unlimited. Anyone may create a website as the ultimate instrument for effective communication of his or her opinions, skills, products, interests, ideologies, beliefs, theories and almost anything you wish.
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Most companies overlook the benefits of using a newsletter as a potential marketing tool. In fact, newsletters are a quite underrated. Churning out newsletters, without as much as putting a thought on how they can be utilized, is a sad waste of such a powerful instrument. Newsletters are a great way to inform and update new and existing clients respectively, on what your company has been up to.

There is so much you can do with newsletters: inform clients about—latest happenings in the firm; new product launches or upgrades on the existing ones; new company policies and regulations; news, events and achievements; and a whole lot of other information that your customers may find interesting!

Read the full article by clicking here!

Perhaps the easiest, yet the most difficult, online marketing tool is Email Marketing. How difficult can sending an electronic mail about your business to a target audience be? Not at all, right? Wrong! As easy as this may seem, email marketing is also the most easily abused form of direct marketing.

But first, let’s understand how email marketing works. Whether you are selling your product or services via an email or using emails to enhance your relationship with an old customer, you are resorting to email marketing. So, if you have a considerably simple product to sell that doesn’t need too much research by the customer before online purchase, email marketing can be your best friend.

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Talk about e-commerce web sites and the saying “Content is King” automatically comes up. Ever wondered why? Let’s look at it objectively. Web sites consist of more than one aspect—there are graphics and pictures that create the look and feel of the site, and then of course there is content. Why does the responsibility of the site’s success largely depend on the quality of the content? Well, here’s the answer.

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Someone from the administration department of your firm writes decent emails; so you have decided to hand over the responsibility of writing the content of your web site to her. Now, isn’t that a smart move? Well, we don’t think so! The ability to write decent emails is no guarantee that someone can do professional writing, like that for a web site. While you may be a good writer yourself, a professional writer has the skills and the experience to churn out appropriate content that will eventually help you better sell your products and services.

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Many online business owners have invested a great deal of time and money into developing an outstanding web presence. It is only after the site is built that most business owners understand the need for professional search engine optimization and marketing in order to realize a significant return on their investment (ROI). Sure, they get a few web hits with offline marketing endeavors and by passing out business cards with the domain name prominently displayed. However, for many industries, Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing (SEO and SEM) are the only way to bring traffic in droves.
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Everything you need to know BEFORE you begin building an e-commerce website …

The size of a business is not a deciding factor for its presence on the World Wide Web. In fact, the Internet, a wide region for millions of businesses to showcase and sell their products, evens out any differences in size, giving equal opportunity for each organization to display and distribute its services. A website that allows one to do business is an online store that is open 24×7 for customers to stop by and shop. Therefore, it is extremely important that individuals understand the various nuances that make a website suitable for e-commerce purposes. Even if a business is not creating its own e-commerce website, it is advisable to be familiar with what goes into making such a site a successful platform for commercial dealings. Here, one will find various aspects that will help create an e-commerce website in a simple, hassle-free manner.

Click here to read this article BEFORE you start building your website.

The Internet has become the largest marketplace in the world; and Internet marketing is one of the most widely used ways to sell products and services. However, most Internet marketers solely resort to online methods, whereas offline techniques prove to be equally effective yet a less expensive means.

Internet-based businesses often overlook offline advertising. Combining offline and online advertising together in your marketing campaign will result in a better, well-rounded approach to promoting. It also gives the opportunity to attract potential prospects and customers you might not otherwise get.

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More often than not, the formula for success at doubling sales online does not begin and end with the alluring website or being on top of search engines.

Of course, having a captivating website does help, but a good number of companies tend to think that their online appeal will do all their work for them. This unfortunately is a stereotypical error that undermines the power of human connection that helps bond potential customers to a company. Future clientele often look for the little element that makes them each feel independently important, genuine people with indisputable knowledge.

Often, the most disregarded aspect of online sales is customer service and eventually email communication. It’s simple really, no business would leave a potential customer waiting for more than 24 hours without replying to a query unless they were a large bank or some firm that just does not need the business. However, as unwise as it sounds, this is what most companies do, ultimately damaging their own chances at success by postponing emails to clients.

Read the full article by clicking here.