You don't have to win the whole world: you just have to become huge in your own niche.  It all comes down to branding.  

What would a person be without a name?  Forgettable! 

They say that 85 percent of small businesses fail: what are some of the reasons?

• Inadequate ongoing training for employees – therefore: inconsistent results.
• Inadequate funding – IE the money was spent on the wrong things.
• Inadequate Branding & Marketing – Insufficient demand was generated before the money ran out.
• Charging to little for goods & services – Lack of Confidence.  With the right marketing you can get what its really worth!

Humans are herd animals.  Whenever you deliver the goods to your customers: they naturally start talking about their good experience.  But what if they have their conversation and can't remember the name of your company?  Or: a listener goes later to look for you on the web: but can't find you in Google?  Or: you have a weird spelling that no-one would get?

We have a great article on creating a total recall name at http://www.RealDreamBrands.com/

This name should be turned into a visual statement: a clean powerful logo that focuses on your dot com name.  Just one glance can create a lifetime impression.  Just seeing your dot com name on the back of your car will enable people to find you: even if they don't have time to write down your number.

If people have seen your logo just once: even if they are not conscious that they saw it: the brain still makes a record.  In the future they are far more likely to select your offer over others due to internal familiarity.

There are casual logo programs that build an attractive design for next to nothing.  And this is not a total waste.  However: it pays to get into the motivations of your market – and visually capture some of that energy and meaning in your logo design.

A great logo-design can be embroidered on shirts, placed in Yellow pages ads, on business cards, back window vehicle decals, trade-show graphics, eBay listings, Craigslist ads etc.

This is the beginning of building your brand on a shoe-string.

When starting business: why blow money on anything that isn't central to the process of making money?   You need a location: but with powerful marketing – your website COULD become your store front.   Even a local business could substitute a convenience-oriented web shopping experience for prime real estate.  The physical location could be a little bit off the beaten track: if 90% of the shopping process happens online.

Powerful marketing can include targeted color post card mailings: which drives the customer to a multimedia webmercial.  Create an emotional connection for your Church,  Custom Gift Baskets, Childcare Center, your Home Improvement Services or a Cosmetic Surgery Practice.

Show case what is DIFFERENT about your product or service.

But for those with highly specialized markets: the web offers unparalleled ability to help your exact target markets find you in the search engines & social media sites.

Let's say you are an author or a product manager.  You are releasing a new book or product.   By pre-positioning on your website: you can already have a built-in market for your release.

Custom Social Media Website features offered by CashBoxoptional Hosting.com enable you to build authority & credibility in your niche.  Create and maintain a following through our Web 2.0 blogging, forum and newsletter features.

Save money & build customer relationships with online customer support.   Don't force your customers to pick up the phone!   Once questions have been asked and answered in your forum: many users prefer to check there first!

As you grow beyond the bounds of your starting position in your home office, basement or garage you may decide to outsource telephones and order fulfillment to specialty houses.

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In the past business was done on the golf course and people met each other in places like work, school, church, associations etc.    With virtual social networks you can make contacts and find opportunities without the traditional limitations.

Millions of dollars went into creating these mega online social networks:   However now it has come within reach of anyone to run a private social network on their own website.

Our social networking platform is available from $1599 setup and includes the ability to post an article or news item and instantly launch a forum discussion thread.   You can be the moderator or invite guest commentators.   Your visitors can sign up for an account and create a profile.   You select what information they can include – such as demographics, personal bio and even a user photo.

We offer the ability to feature a business directory, opt-in newsletter and even your own Craigslist-style classifieds.

Establish a private social network that is dedicated to your own niche or topic.  By doing so you become positioned as an authority in your market.  

The more often people come back to your web site, the more likely they are to trust you and buy what you recommend.  

Repeat visitors are at least 10 times more likely to do business with you than a first-time casual stop-in.   It's critical to your long-term to success to have features that motivate the user to bookmark your site.   By creating curiosity and engaging their long-term interest, you can create a permanent relationship.   Every dollar you spend on marketing your web site then begins to earn interest. 

Having a targetted social network provides benefits and opportunities for end-users.   Many times the bait is an opportunity to learn from each other and from you.   By offering valuable information as your "kicker",  you begin to establish your brand as an expert authority and resource in your market.

For those firms with a pre-established client base – this is a mission critical means of KEEPING your own people interested & engaged.   Otherwise they may ultimately be lured elsewhere.   It's also a huge customer service tool.

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As the latest Wired Magazine explains, anyone with an idea can develop, manufacture and market their invention: without ever leaving their own garage.

Nowadays you can even skip the investors.

At CashBoxoptional Hosting.com we help you build market share on nickels and dimes.  From your own brand name identity that can be recognized for its distinctive value proposition: to delivering your own infomercial on the web:  affordably creating an emotional connection with your product or service.

We train you on a wide range of affordable online marketing techniques such as social media and Search Engine strategies that you can implement to bring in the exact people who NEED what you sell and are willing to pay for it.

Provide valuable information in your blog and interact with your customers by hosting your own discussion forum.

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We have a big place in our hearts for people with Big Dreams and limited means.  Take a little time to read our articles and you will see how you can start launching your ideas today with even a tiny amount of resources.  

We take world class tools and bring them within reach of small business start-ups.  Now you can be on a level playing field with the big players.

CashBoxoptional Hosting is part of a community of websites that are designed to empower YOUR dreams.

Read Bootstrapping: When All You've Got is a Dream!

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Let's say you placed a low cost classified.   You could even place a free ad on website such as Craigslist.   As long as the ad includes your dot com name – the customer can progress from a low cost black and white text ad to visit your web site.   Once they have arrived at your online business location: you can shape their perceptions and create desire with a high-impact presentation.

Simply handing out business-cards, a small print ad in the Yellow-pages, or sending post-cards to targeted mailing list becomes far more powerful when they propel your potential customer to a media rich web page.  

Some businesses can be benefited by including a full-featured webmercial as part of their website.  Its like having a TV commercial with sights and sounds that create an EMOTIONAL connection with your product or service.

For local companies that take the effort to get noticed on Yahoo, Bing and Google – the pay-off can be big.   Regional search engine listings are much less competitive than global listings.   Your business might be the only one who took the time to get listed.   Many savvy consumers start searching on the Internet whenever they have a need.   They do this before they go and lift up the heavy yellow pages phone book.  It's easier because they can even start looking right from their desk at work.  These customers may also have bigger pocket books and spend the most money.

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Many design-seekers have been enticed by the opportunity to take their web development business off-shore to Asian providers who work for pennies on the dollar.  Although it might seem to be a winning proposition there are many pitfalls to watch out for.

A strange phenomenon happens whenever too-many opportunities exist in a market: which is that the level of professional integrity begins to drop.

With both off-shore and local web developers here are some of the impasses that we have encountered. 

• Designer promises the sun, moon and stars: then disappears part way through the project.  Web designers are a strange breed with emotional issues.  For whatever reason they are unable to continue your project due to personal circumstances.
• Designer can't be found later when you need to make updates to your site.
• Designer holds onto your dot com name and demands exorbitant ongoing fees.  This is especially hard when you have poured marketing resources into your website and now have search engine ranking.  You already printed business cards and bought yellow pages ads.  Read our article on web designer complaints about this and how to prevent it.
• Design provider refuses to answer questions on specifics and only wants to know what your budget is.  I see this a lot with off-shore providers who are interested in not-savvy customers with deep pockets.
• Design provider offers an unbelievably good rate. But the beautiful examples on their website are higher-ticket designs.  The good-rate gets you something really basic and ugly.  But then they are so nice & persistent you don't want to back out and end-up paying for the expensive design.
• You get a gorgeous website with no search engine value: so Nobody can actually find you.  Watch out for websites totally done in Flash!

These issues tend to drain your reserve of the critical financial resources you need to float your enterprise.

Ignorance is not Always Bliss

Customers usually think they can go out and find a couple examples of what they like and expect a project to come in at budget.   The client has no idea of what goes into making these features happen, or how specific you have to get in order to make them into a coherent working reality.

Web designers world wide comment about the "Throw it over the Wall" attitude many clients have.  They don't like to know what is going on behind the scenes.

Smart providers have learned to practice the car dealer mentality when interacting with the public who often is coming from an informational disadvantage.  They will tell you ANYTHING can be done at your target budget: however in practice, the end website comes in at least 2.5 times over the originally intended budget.

Many developers prefer a scenario where the client thinks that web design is an open-and-closed process.  The goal is to kick out thousands of sites as fast as possible and be finished with each project so they can move on quickly to the next one.

However your website design should be a part of your overall marketing picture.  Finding all the ways to maximize your benefit is an ongoing process that requires a web development partner who sees the big picture & where your business fits in.

The Empowering Approach. 

At CashBoxoptional Hosting.com we refuse to give you those pat answers.  Instead we quote you a realistic upfront fee.  The web design process becomes an educational experience for the end user.  We train you as we go to add your own content.  You learn to do so in a way that is friendly for search engine marketing.

As a result: you have the tools you need to continue evolving your web site with the skills you learn: even if your starting budget is small.

We invite you to talk to us on the phone or post some questions in our forum for some realistic feedback on how to maximize your value proposition to the world.

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