Since 2001, the Internet research company E-tailing Group conducts a mystery shopping survey to assess online merchants in terms of customer service. They judge the top 100 etailers based on a specific set of customer service criteria that they believe an etailer must possess. Whether you are running a big ecommerce operation or a small etailing business, below are the customer service traits that a top etailer must have: 800 or toll-free number keyword search answer email question within 25 hours, correctly with a specific answer four or five days to receive package six or fewer clicks to checkout real

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Your success in self-employment will depend in large part to your financial savvy. The way you view and handle money can influence the way you run your business — and can even spell the success or failure of your entrepreneurial venture. Knowing how to handle money properly becomes more important in the light of the financial instability of self-employment. An entrepreneur’s income gives the term “ebb and flow” a higher meaning. Particularly during the first year, money may come in fits and starts, where you may have it one minute and gone the next. As your income fluctuates weekly, monthly

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Although podcasting is new, it is well on its way to becoming a mainstream communication medium. Podcasting, simply put, is audio files that are delivered via RSS. Many people believe that podcasting is solely for the distribution of music files, but really, nothing could be further from the truth. This emerging method of audio file distribution has opened an array of marketing and communication opportunities to businesses. Currently, most who are familiar with podcasting are technically savvy, but it is clear that podcasting will be more than a passing fad as many businesses are adopting podcasting and employing it in

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Does starting a business with a small amount of money sound too good to be true? No! There are many home based entrepreneurs who have successfully started their own businesses with little money. We’ve interviewed entrepreneurs who bootstrapped their businesses for as low as $500, yet they are now raking in money from their businesses. The lesson? Do things right! Of course, the ideal scenario is to start a business with enough money to enable you to move more aggressively and expand your business faster. But even if you do not have money, that should not prevent you from starting

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Congratulations! You decided to leave the corporate rat race to start your own business. After a careful analysis of your skills and know-how, you are convinced that you want to be your own boss and have what it takes to succeed. But do you know where and what to start? The first thing to remember is that there is no surefire formula for starting a business. What works well for some may not be the best choice for you. In the same token, the enterprise that you can turn into a financial success may not augur well for others. Your

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If you are thinking of running a direct mail campaign to promote your business and increase your sales, one study that you may want to look into is Vertis’ Customer Focus® 2005: Retail Direct Marketing study. The study offers a number of findings that can help you understand what type of direct mail campaigns can generate action from the recipients of your mailings. Some of the interesting findings of the study include: Interesting packaging is extremely important in getting your direct mail opened. The study found that 63 percent of adults consider the packaging first and foremost. A special offer

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Andrew Fischer of Omaha, Nebraska made waves (and plenty of publicity) by offering his forehead as an advertising space for 30 days on ebay. His auction, wherein he offered a non-permanent logo or brand name be tattooed on his head for 30 days, attracted 113 bids to close at $30,100! And of course, with the sweet smell of success, can copycats be far behind? A cursory check on eBay shows that there are more than two dozens of auctions from people selling their forehead as an advertising space, albeit none of the success of Mr. Fischer. Bids range from $0.99

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Regardless of what type of business you are in, you need to get the word out there that your business exists. As such, you need to develop promotional and marketing strategies for your business. The possibilities for promotions can be as varied as your imagination. However, home-based entrepreneurs with shoestring budgets need to identify the strategies that give the most bang for the buck. Whether your target market is based on a limited geographical area, or your business reaches worldwide, here are some low-cost promotional strategies that you can develop for your business. Read full article by Lyve Alexis Pleshette

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If you are looking for a little cash to jump-start or expand your business – and rich Auntie Lorie has already closed her doors on you – then you might want to look into a microloan program. The Small Business Administration (SBA) introduced its Microloan Program in 1992 to provide for startup or growing small businesses. Under the program, qualified borrowers may be approved for loans for use as working capital, inventory purchase, procurement of supply, fixtures, machinery and equipment. The loans are distributed through non-profit community-based lenders or intermediaries, and not at SBA directly.What’s the catch? First, the loan

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Loans are an important source of start-up funding for small and home-based businesses. However, obtaining loans from banks, government programs and other financial institutions is not always easy. Sometimes, the process feels like going through a needle, more so if you have the following characteristics: 1. You have poor personal credit history. Poor credit could make it difficult or temporarily impossible to achieve your dream of getting bank financing for your startup business. Banks and other lending providers look for good personal credit history when reviewing business loans. In fact, it is one of the first things that a bank

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