Yes your sales really can be improved and it will cost you nothing. That’s not completely true it will cost your your time, but the results are worth it.

It doesn’t matter what kind of business you run, online, offline, lots of employees, or self employed. This concept works for everybody.

The amazing thing is most businesses don’t do it and it’s guaranteed to increase your sales.

What is it? Testing!

Testing is pure profit information; lets’ think this through for a minute.

Let’s pretend that you don’t own a business you are just a salesperson for one. You are making phone calls and face-to-face presentations with prospects everyday.

So when you have these meetings are you keeping track of the results? Most sales people just go on to the next call thinking about what an idiot that last prospect was for not buying.

The first thing you must have when you test is what I call the “MWR”, which stands for “most wanted result”. This is the main goal of the sales call. It’s the what do you want the prospect to do next.

When you track that you will at least know if you hit your goal at the end of the call.

Next you need to have a scripted presentation. I can hear you now, “oh no I hate scripts, it’s not natural, it’s not me, it doesn’t let me flow with the prospect. That my friend is a load of crap and if that’s how you feel, you are holding yourself back.

You need a script because you need a place to start from to accurately measure your results. If you are saying something different to every prospect you talk to how are you going to know what works and what doesn’t?

The way you get around all of your objections is to have a script down so cold that it doesn’t sound like a script. If you get off the script you can easily move your prospect back to it.

With a script it’s real easy to test. You have your main points that you want to cover with your prospect. You’ll be saying the same thing to every prospect so you can now record how many calls you made and how many times you got your MWR. This will give you a percentage ratio of your results.

After you have some good solid numbers you can begin to improve your results. You do this by making very small changes to your script as you keep tracking the results.

You may find out as you listen to your prospects that they have the same questions or objections so you start to answer them in your script. If your MWR increases leave it in, if your MWR goes down take it out or change what you are saying or how you are saying it.

You need to do this all of the time until you get to the point where you just can’t get better results, then just keep using your best script over and over again.

You can do this with anything written or verbal that your prospect reads or listens to.

Here is an idea for you. Do you have a receptionist for your business? How does she answer the phone? How does she handle different call situations? Have you trained that person what to say and when to say it? If you are just letting her wing it you are losing business.

The bottom line is you need to have a plan and test everything you do in your business. Most things in a business that are not sales and marketing related use a formula or a system to get done. Why don’t you use a sales and marketing formula?

Test everything!

Whether you are writing an ebook, putting together an HTML newsletter, or setting up a personal web site, you may find that you need good, quality artwork, either illustrations (clipart) or photos.

There are generally two problems you may encounter when you look for clipart or photos online. The first problem is finding something that you can legally use. If you do not know that you have the permission to use a piece of art, then you probably do not. You can use work that you have purchased the right to or have been given the right to use. You cannot use your favorite cartoon character or a professional photograph of your favorite singer.

The rule of thumb in looking for graphics online is to look for royalty-free clipart and photos. This means you may use the work without paying a continuing royalty fee for use. You may receive the right to use the artwork free of charge, you may pay a fee to access such artwork (say $15.95 a month for unlimited downloads), you may pay for the right to use that particular piece, or you may agree to link back to the creator’s site in exchange for the royalty-free use of the artwork.

The second problem with finding clipart and photos online is that good royalty-free art may be more expensive than you would hope. This is changing rapidly as sites like StockXchange, iStockPhoto and Dreamstime make it easier for photographers to sell their work and for consumers to find clipart they need.

The key to finding exactly the right art for your project is to have a very good idea of what you are going to need before you start. Think about color, shape, size and resolution (whether it will be printed or posted online makes a difference).

While you cannot predict exactly what you want without looking at some art and having an aha moment, you can know in general what you are looking for. When you find the right art for your project, try to get a low-resolution file (sometimes called a comping image), to try in your layout. This image cannot be used in your project and will have a very large visible watermark on it but it will allow you to see firsthand how it will look.

Especially if you have selected a fairly expensive image, this is a crucial step in deciding whether you have found exactly the right image for your project. It is surprising how often the “perfect” image looks positively awful once it is placed.

The most important thing may be to realize that you are not going to find the “perfect” image and just go for what you believe works. You may find something that looks great, but your are tempted to keep looking to see if anything else can be found that is better. The advice is don’t!

Decide what you need, find something that fits the bill, and move on with the rest of your project. Otherwise you may spend a waste a lot of time searching for something that may not exist. The biggest obstacle to finishing a project on-time and on-budget is trying to go from great to perfect, when great is usually good enough.

With decreasing prices on hosting and domain registration, along with user-friendly site building programs, it is easier than ever to have a website. While this is good news for anyone who wants to establish an internet presence, more websites on the internet means more competition for the attention of internet users. As a result, if you want to make money from a website, you must know how to monetize your traffic.

Monetizing your traffic simply means creating a website that allows you to make money, even if it is only a small amount, from everyone who visits your site. Relying solely on the sales of a product or two is no longer a viable option for generating internet income because there are too many websites that offer great products. In addition, some site visitors arrive looking for information, not a product. By monetizing your traffic, you can earn even from those who are not planning to buy.

So how do you monetize your traffic?

Affiliate Programs

The most common, and possibly easiest, method of monetizing your traffic is through affiliate programs. An affiliate program is a program in which you register as an affiliate through another website. You are given advertising codes, which contain your unique affiliate ID, to place on your website. In exchange for sales, visitors, or a combination of the two, the other website pays you a commission.

Affiliate programs are easy to find. Most major online retailers now have affiliate programs, and internet marketers typically offer affiliate opportunities for their products. There are also companies, like Commission Junction and LinkShare, who allow you to register with their site and then select from hundreds of affiliate programs offered by various merchants. Going through those companies allows you to use only one affiliate ID for all of your affiliate programs, as well as allowing you to check into one central location to see how all of your affiliate efforts are doing.

Contextual Advertising

In addition to affiliate programs, contextual advertising is an excellent way to monetize your traffic. Contextual advertising is advertising, both text and banner ads, offered by third-party advertising services. The ads displayed on your site are matched to the contents of your site, so they are “within the context” of your site.

Contextual, or context, ads are offered by several companies. The most popular context ad program is Google AdSense, but there are other programs like Yahoo!, BidVertiser and AdBrite. Advertisers pay the companies to advertise their website, and those ads become the context ads on your site. Whenever a visitor clicks on an ad shown on your site, the advertising company pays you a commission.

Other Methods

There are other methods of monetizing your traffic that are becoming more popular. Text Link Ads, for example, are similar to AdSense in that they are text ads placed on your site. The difference between text link ads and contextual advertising, however, is that you are paid for having the ads on your site based on the amount of time they are present, rather than based on the number of visitors who click on the ad.

Another method of placing contextual ads is through services, such as Contera Link, who analyze your site and create hyperlinks from key words or phrases. This is an excellent option for monetizing, especially if you are hesitant to interrupt the look of your site with ad bars. These ads also work well with blog sites.

Finally, many people are aware that interesting, informative articles are the best way to attract visitors. Not everyone realizes, however, they are also an excellent method for monetizing your traffic when used in conjunction with other methods. Articles can be written in the form of product reviews, as well as a discussion of a specific problem and the best solution that you have found for that problem. Those articles actually work as a soft-sell technique, warming potential buyers up to the idea of clicking on an advertisement, affiliate link, or product purchase button.

With a little creativity, it is not difficult to find even more ways of monetizing your traffic. Regardless of the method you choose, even if you decide to use them all, remember to incorporate them into the overall look and feel of your site. If you have content that draws in visitors, and your site is organized and well laid out, any of these methods of monetizing your traffic will help you earn profits from your website.

The top word for the year 2005 was “podcasting,” as selected by the New Oxford American Dictionary. According to one dictionary, podcasting is “the web-based broadcast which works with software that automatically detects new files and is accessed by subscription.”

There are two explanations of the etymology of the word, “podcasting.” One explanation is that it is a combination of the words “iPod” and “broadcasting,” because early listeners generally downloaded audio broadcasts to their Apple iPod mp3 devices. The other explanation is that the root of the word comes from the acronym for “personal on demand,” which would be pod. Personal on demand broadcasting becomes podcasting.

Podcasting began as a means to distribute music files, but soon website owners realized that podcasting the spoken word was an important way to increase the amount of useful content on their website. For example, all of the major news agencies that distribute countless pages of written information now also offer their subscribers portable audio content as well.

Podcasting is produced from two separate actions. The first action is to design, create, and record an audio show that is to be broadcast later. An audio file is created and is made available on the podcaster’s website in order for listeners to download the file directly to their listening device or to listen to the file as it streams from the website. Additionally, the smart podcaster will make the audio file available through a subscription-based feed. The subscription is generally free, but some podcasters charge a small fee for the subscription. The web feed stores the audio file so that a listener can have access to the file at any time they choose.

The second action is for the listener to periodically check for new content from their favorite shows. The listener can either search for new content or download it to their digital audio device or they can enlist the help of a podcatcher or feedreader. The feedreader will search for new content from the listener’s favorite shows and notify the listener when new content is available. The obvious advantage to this system is that the listeners will receive new content without ever having to search for it themselves.

Audio podcasting is an important way for a website owner to distribute their content to their audience. Many people would rather listen to audio content than to read the same content. With the use of portable audio devices, the website content can be enjoyed at a time and place that is convenient to the listener. The website owner will be able to increase the amount of visitors to their website by being able to offer podcasts as an additional source of information.