1. Remember your ABC

Probably the most important rule to remember is good written communication. This only happens when you say exactly what you want to say using an appropriate tone. Your message must meet these important specifications:

Accurate

Check all the facts carefully, include all relevant details and proofread carefully.

Brief

Keep your sentences short, use simple expressions and don’t use technical language.

Clear

Use plain and simple English. Write in an easy and natural style that you are comfortable with. Avoid formality and familiarity.

2. Be considerate & courteous

Courtesy doesn’t mean old-fashioned expressions such as, “your kind consideration” or “your esteemed order”. It means showing consideration towards your correspondent and being empathetic, which means showing respect for the readers feelings. By writing in this style, it allows a request to be refused without hurting their feelings and losing hope of future business. A friendship won’t have to be ruined because of a refusal.

It also means:

• Reply promptly to all communications, answer on the same day (if possible).
• If you are unable to answer on the same day, write a brief not on why. This creates goodwill.
• Understand and therefore respect the persons point of view.
• Try not to reply as if your correspondent is incorrect.
• If you feel certain commitments are unfair, make sure to be tactful so you don’t cause offence.
• Do not reply to an offensive email in the same tone.

3. Use an appropriate tone

If your email is to achieve its purpose then you will need to write in the appropriate tone. This reflects the spirit in which you convey your message. Even when replying to complaints you must try not to come across as rude and offensive. Failure in writing in the correct tone may lead the reader into thinking you were being aggressive, tactless, rude, sarcastic etc..

For example, instead of saying, “We cannot do anything about your problem”. Say, “Unfortunately we are unable to help you on this occasion because…”.

4. Write naturally and sincerely

Try to show some genuine interest in what your reader and their problems. Your message should sound sincere when your read it back. Make sure to to write the email in your own style, write naturally as if your were having a real conversation.

Some examples would be, instead of saying, “I have pleasuring in informing you”. Say, “I am pleased to tell you”. Also instead of saying, “We do not anticipate any increase in prices”, say, “We don not expect prices to rise”.

5. Use the KISS principle

Nowadays business people have many documents to read. A message that is short and straight to the point but remaining courteous will be much appreciated. KISS stands for:
Keep
It
Short and
Simple

This means replacing complex words with short ones. For example:

• Regarding – About
• Purchase – Buy
• Terminate – End
• Dispatch – Send
• Visualise – See
• Require – Need

Research has been conducted, to find out the degree at which the length of sentences affect the readers understanding upon reading it first time:
7-10 words – 95% people understand
15-20 words – 75% people understand
27 words – 4% people understand

6. Use modern terminology

Using old-fashioned phrases and words will add no benefit. It’s unnecessary, long-winded phrases are likely to give a poor impression of the writer and may lead to confusion. A good business letter will have no unnecessary words and will convey a clear and accurate message.

For example, “We are in receipt of your letter of 12 June”. Instead say, “Thank you for your letter of 12 June”. Also instead of, “Enclosed herewith you will find”, say, “I enclose..”.

7. Include important details

Make sure when your being concise and to the point you don’t must important details. For example – Instead of saying, “My flight arrives at 2.00 on Tuesday” say, “My flight BA 121 from London Heathrow should arrive at Singapore Changi Airport at 14:30 on Tuesday 12 June”.

8. Be consistent

Consistency is not just important in the way your email is conveyed but important in the message itself.

For example – Instead of saying, “I confirm my reservation of a single room on 16/7 and a double room on 17 Oct” say, “I confirm my reservation of a single room on 16 July and a double room on 17 October”.

9. Use an active voice, NOT passive

“Voice” is a grammatical term that refers to whether the subject of the sentence is acting or receiving the action. Using an active voice can seriously improve your writing style. Active voices makes your writing more interesting and alive!

Here’s an example:

Passive Voice: The guitar was played by John – Bad!
Active Voice: John played the guitar – Good!

To avoid using passive sentences watch for sentences that start with the action, ex: “the guitar”, rather than the actor, “John”. Sentences that start with the action are often passive. Also watch out for various forms of the verb “to be” such as, is, are, was, were, will, be, have been etc..

Another example:

Passive Voice: The new system was developed by our employees – Bad!
Active Voice: Our employees developed the new system – Good!

10. Use CLEAR communications

Finally, when writing your message, check to see whether it meets the CLEAR objects:

Clear
Logical
Empathetic
Accurate
Right

I hope you enjoyed this post!

Related posts:

1. Twitter Marketing Each user can post a short, 140 character blog about...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

1. Choose your Niche & be focused

Probably the most important part of your entire ecommerce store will be what you decide to focus on. Nowadays with so many ecommerce stores selling every item under the sun, it’s important that you focus on a specific topic. If you tried selling many different kinds of products you will be selling to a mass market, which opens yourself up to high levels of competition. The only way to survive in such a market would be with a huge marketing budget and cheaper products than rivals.

A much better approach is to specify in a particular niche such as jigsaw puzzles. This allows you to focus on a range of high quality jigsaw puzzles, targeting a small community of enthusiastic people interested in jigsaws. By doing this you vastly narrow your competition, allowing you to become this best in your niche. Once you have conquered the jigsaw niche you are able to expand into other niches which are relevant to jigsaws, such as other kinds of puzzles or board games.

2. Branding & Domain name

Another important factor you need to address when setting up your ecommerce is the brand name/image. This involves your ecommerce store name & domain name. There are two approaches you can take when choosing your store/domain name. The first is a relevant name telling the customer exactly what you do. For example a jigsaw company called, “Quality Jigsaws”, www.qualityjigsaws.com. This is the best approach as long as you have no interest in selling a variety of products or expanding in the future.

If you are interested in the future expansion of your store then a short catchy name that has a more general meaning is appropriate. For example “Amazon.com” & “Topshop.com”.
Managing to obtain a good .com domain name is becoming extremely difficult. I suggest using Godaddy’s bulk domain search. This allows you to try up to 500 different domains at the same time, then register the free ones. Another method of obtaining a good domain name is by registering expiring domain names. A good website designed specifically for this is pool.com.

3. Customer Experience & Service

When a potential customer visits your ecommerce website they need to be drawn into it and your products. This is accomplished by having a nicely designed website with clear navigation and functionality. Make sure your website is friendly in its design, sometimes the simplest designs are the best. However you will need to find a balance because you will need a lot of functionality to compete with most modern ecommerce stores, as explained later in this post.

Customer service is also critical to ensure future success. Unhappy customers aren’t likely to purchase your products, they are also likely never to return. The key is to have a good customer experience, which in turn will lead to sales and repeat customers. This can easily be achieved by simply responding to customers enquiries promptly and politely. Also when a products been purchased make sure to stick to delivery dates, as well as offering refunds when necessary.

4. Functionality – Choosing your software

Nowadays ecommerce stores have become incredibly technical with massive amounts of functionality. Your online shop should be equipped with such features as advanced product management, customer accounts, order management (with multiple payment types), shipping and tax options, data security and integrity, search engine options (custom meta keywords & URLs) and advanced visitor and sales tracking/analytics.
There are many different types of shopping cart available. Some are free and others cost. I don’t think this should factor into your decision, as choosing the right software could prove critical. When deciding also take into account how easily customisable the front-end of your store is. If it’s incredibly difficult to design then you’re likely to stick with their basic template.
For free ecommerce software I recommend using Magento. It has more functionality in its admin panel than any other free software I’ve seen. It also has a multitude of templates that can be used for the front end, eliminating the design aspect.

If you are willing to spend money on software then I strongly recommend Avactis. This is what I’m using. It has all the functionality you could possibly want, plus the front-end is very easily customisable. They use a system whereby they turning every front-end feature into a PHP function. All you have to do is call the function. For example, show_ categories(); will display the categories you’ve added in the admin panel. It’s quite similar to WordPress in this respect, making it very easy to create beautiful designs with all required functionality built around it.

5. Adwords vs Organic – Methods of Obtaining Traffic

Once your ecommerce store is ready to go the next challenge is obtaining substantial levels of traffic, making your efforts worthwhile. However it’s not all about traffic, you can buy traffic cheaply, although I don’t recommend it as it’s not quality traffic. If you were to have 10,000 people visiting your site via sources non-related to your niche then you’re likely to make no sales. If you were to have 100 visitors to your site, that are specifically looking for products your selling, then you are likely to make at least a few sales.

Therefore it’s important to target your niche. I find the best two ways of gaining quality visitors is ranking high for targeted keywords in Google (organic) or using Adwords.

Adwords

Adwords is a tool created by Google (pay per click advertising in their search results). When starting your store it’s unlikely you will rank highly for any keywords in Google, this will take time, content and links. However by using Adwords you can target specific key terms to appear in the search results. Although you must beware, by using Adwords it costs you every time someone visits your website. So it’s important that you have a high conversion rate. This way you will be making enough sales to pay for Adwords and make a profit. For example you have 100 visitors via Adwords. Each click costs you 25 cents. Therefore 100 visitors costs $25. Let’s say you make $20 profit per item sold. With an average conversion rate of around 3.4% you will make 3.4 sales which equals $68. Now subtract the Adwords cost and you have made a profit of $46.

Usually the more specialised your niche the higher the conversion rate. Average is around 6%. This is why it’s so important that the design entices your visitors to make a purchase. Imagine a 6% conversion rate and paying $200 a month for Adwords. You will be making a profit of $960! However this doesn’t work for all Adwords campaigns. It depends on the cost of being at the top for a high traffic keyword. It’s best to run some initial experiments to see how it plays out.

Organic

Organic traffic from Google will be a lot harder to get. This will require hard work and patience. Below are a few tips on how you can improve your organic traffic:

• SEO Friendly URLs (productname_001.html)
• Link building (Buying links or naturally obtaining them)
• Landing pages with lots of content about specific keywords your targeting
• Page title, Meta keywords & description filled with the key terms your targeting

I’m not going to divulge into SEO to much as there are hundreds of eBooks and articles out there. But the above list is a good start. The trick to being successful in Google consists of 3 words; content, relevance and links.

Conclusion

To conclude this article I would like to remind you that it’s most likely going to take you time and a lot of work to make a success out of any online business. But keep in mind the above tips and I hope it helps you in becoming an online success!

Related posts:

1. 8 Essential Tips to Becoming Rich Online This article will look over a few essential tips to...
2. Essential Checklist’s For Successful Website Launches Your website is designed, the CMS works, content has been...
3. Twitter Marketing Each user can post a short, 140 character blog about...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Before we can start, we need to define rich. What dictates the amount of money required to be classed as rich? This can be personal opinion and a question you should answer on your quest for wealth. What level of money are you satisfied with?

Beneath shows a table I found displaying levels of wealth, based on tax-paid cash-in-hand or assets that can be swiftly reduced to cash. This takes no account of assets that take time to realise, for example property, land, shares etc.

Levels of Wealth

(Note: The table  above is unrealistic as these levels of wealth places you in the top 0.001% – 0.0001% in the world. It depends on what you class as rich.)

1. Getting Started.

Ok, now we have established a marker/target at which you will feel content, below I have mentioned a few methods of becoming rich online:

Starting an E-commerce store.

This is a good way to become rich online, as it has great potential compared to normal retailers. Online shops open your business up to larger markets. You are able  to offer goods cheaper as you have no store running costs. In fact your running costs will be substantially lower than store fronts. Also by setting up an online store you are subjecting yourself to less risk, therefore it’s the perfect platform for small businesses looking to grow. For more information about starting an e-commerce store, click here or read further articles online.

Offer specialized online services.

Instead of selling products online, you can sell your services. This can include anything from selling web design to marketing properties online, then taking a commission. Google, for example, offers a method of searching content from all over the internet. They make the majority of their money through advertisers (Adsense & Adwords). Another example is membership websites. They offer services that customers are willing to pay for regularly. Ex: Match.com. This provides members with a method of meeting and dating people for a monthly fee.

Whatever you decide to do, the internet is a great place for starting as it’s a growing market:

Once you have decided upon something you believe will work, spend time researching and developing your idea.

Below are 8 essential tips I believe will help you become rich online. They are certain qualities and knowledge you may require to becoming rich no matter what your method/idea is.

2. Analyse what you need. Desire is isn’t enough, compulsion is necessary.

I believe it’s crucial to analyse what you want to achieve. To do this you must  set specific targets you want to meet. Your targets should follow the SMART rule. Meaning each target should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-related. By setting yourself goals you are outlining want to want to accomplish therefore motivating yourself further. An example could be setting a monthly number of page views to your online business. To make this a SMART target it also must be a realistic number that can be achieved in a set time, for example 1 year.

Desire to be rich is not enough, you must make it a necessary objective that you need to achieve.

3. Avoid negative influences, Never give up.

Another essential tip is to cut loose from all negative influences in your life. Anyone who puts you or your work down, without constructive criticism, is a waste of time and self esteem. By removing these people, you will start to feel more confident and have further belief in yourself. For example, if someone tells you that your website is rubbish, don’t give up. Many people just want to put you down, don’t listen and keep trying. However, there is a point at which you should recognise failure. If this time comes, don’t lose motivation and confidence, get up and start again.

4. ‘5% Inspiration and 95% Perspiration.’

Great ideas alone are very unlikely to make you rich. There are many people who have become extremely rich without having a single ‘great idea’. The trick is not to focus on your idea but to concentrate on your execution. This unfortunately requires a large amount of work and dedication to making your idea succeed. Just remember that ideas can’t be patented.

An example of silly internet business idea’s that have made people rich, can be found here.

5. Stay focused and keep looking for the ball marked ‘Money is Here’.

What I mean by the statement above is to constantly be keeping an eye out for where the money is at. You need to be focused and up to date with recent news and events in your niche. When the opportunity arises, be sure to grab it and make the most of it. A related internet example is the sudden increase in popularity of social media websites, over the past few years. If you owned a social media website in the beginning, the chances of success would dramatically increase compared to if you started now.

A good idea is to read and subscribe to online blogs and articles relevant in your niche. By doing this you open yourself up to new information and opportunities.

Employ Talent better than you and Delegate.

Another essential tip to becoming rich, is to find and hire talented employees. Delegation is key, allowing you to help your employees help you get rich! The trick is to spot motivated employees, that ask smart questions, don’t waste time gossiping and want your job. These kind of people should be promoted and therefore, given more responsibility within your organisation. This leads to higher morale among your workforce, increasing productivity.

6. Sell before you have to, or when you get bored.

There are two points at which you should sell your business/project; selling before you have to and if you get bored. The reason being is because selling a project when you need to, means you’re likely to be desperate and under pressure. This leads to bad decision making and results in you either selling a project/business that you didn’t want to, or receiving less money that originally planned. By selling in advance you free yourself up, less problems arise and you will feel more comfortable.

Selling when your bored is an entirely different matter. If you have been working on a particular project for a long time, you are likely to become bored. This results in a lack of enthusiasm and commitment, which in turn will have a negative impact on your business. By selling your business/project you are enabling yourself to devote more time on new and exciting projects. An example could be running an old website you no long have any interest in. By selling this website you have more time and money to begin other, more exciting projects.

7. Don’t fear anything or anyone. Go and get rich.

Confidence is vital, along with the belief that you can succeed. Don’t be afraid of anyone or anything that gets in your way. The right attitude is important and can be obtained through optimistic thinking.

Don’t be scared of failure. This prevents you from even trying in the first place. If you do fail, learn from your mistakes and move on. Treat becoming rich as a game. Don’t take it to seriously and have fun.

8. Conclusion.

I hope you enjoyed this article! The internet provides the perfect opportunity for anyone, willing to learn, to become rich. Just remember, once your rich, make sure to give it all away!

There are many other important tips that I did not mention here, simply because there are too many.  If you are really serious about becoming rich you should go out there and learn more! There are plenty of resources online and offline.

Have any tips of your own? Share your knowledge by writing in the comments below! I love learning new things and I definitely want to be corrected if I am wrong.

Please subscribe to our RSS Feed, and follow us on Twitter.

Related posts:

1. Tips to Creating a Successful Ecommerce Store Ecommerce is the buying and selling of goods through the...
2. Twitter Marketing Each user can post a short, 140 character blog about...
3. Essential Checklist’s For Successful Website Launches Your website is designed, the CMS works, content has been...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Each user can post a short, 140 character blog about anything they want. Also users can “follow” fellow tweeters, allowing them to see regular updates of what they are doing and when.

To me, tweeting about whatever seemed like utter nonsense. To see what all the fuss was about, I signed up. At first I felt the same way, but looking from a business’s perspective I found that twittering could be extremely useful because:

• It allows you to communicate with your market and make connections with customers & potential customers. A good way of achieving this is to set up a twitter account for the CEO of your company. You can post personal messages and messages relating to the business, letting the customer get to know you personally. This may fill customers with greater confidence and trust in you.

• You can post recent updates such as specials/deals. No matter what your business does you can use Twitter to announce recent news and events to a large target audience. The advantage of using Twitter for this kind of marketing is that its fast, effective and free!

• You can easily promote blog articles, videos and online goods. It’s really easy to post links to websites on Twitter.  A good idea is to post quality links to relevant articles relating to your business. For example you can write a decent article promoting your products and provide a link on twitter.

To do the above you will  need to sign up to Twitter and get a following. This requires promoting your Twitter account. The most popular way of doing this is by having a link to  your Twitter account on your website reading, “Follow us on Twitter”. Another way of promoting your Twitter is simply by following other people; you would be surprised how many people may follow you back!

Related posts:

1. Free WordPress Theme: Newsmag Basic In this post we are proud to release, Newsmag Basic...
2. 8 Essential Tips to Becoming Rich Online This article will look over a few essential tips to...
3. Tips to Creating a Successful Ecommerce Store Ecommerce is the buying and selling of goods through the...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.