Viewz From The Offiz

I don’t really like the use of testimonials in marketing because I tend to believe that they are all just made up. However, despite my feelings, I do know that testimonials can be a powerful tool for increasing sales. I think that you just have to use them correctly in order to increase their legitimacy.

Let’s say that you are in the business of selling products that are used for chronic pain management. Here are some tips that you would follow to include testimonials in your marketing:

1. Ask real customers to provide testimonials. Don’t ever make them up. Request to be allowed to publish the customer’s email address or website so that people reading the testimonial can verify that they are real.
2. Get testimonials for specific products. Don’t include testimonials that say you offer great alternative medicine pain relief. Instead, get a testimonial for specific products like medical magnets.
3. Make sure the testimonial includes details of how the products work. People who aren’t familiar with the product need to clearly see how the product worked for another customer.

These are just a few of the things that you can do to make sure that any testimonials that you use in your marketing will be viewed as legitimate.

Technorati Tags: medical magnets, alternative medicine pain relief, chronic pain management

It has become a habit for most of us to do our research online whenever we seek to learn about something. This is fine if you’re just looking for a simple answer to a basic question. However, if you are doing any sort of academic or professional research then you are going to want to go beyond Google to get more complete information about the topic that you are trying to research.

Don’t get me wrong; there is a lot of great information on the Internet. But you need to learn from different sources and mediums if you’re going to really understand a topic.

Let’s say that you want to learn more about how to provide in-home care to an aging parent who is about to move in with you. There is some great caregiver training online. In fact, there are some reputable caregiver training programs that offer online caregiver training to people seeking this information on the Internet.

But is that really enough to help you know how to care for an ill or aging parent? Probably not. You’ll want to speak with professionals who work with the elderly, review DVDs and books about the topic and generally just go more in-depth than what Google can give you to really figure out how to do this important job.

Technorati Tags: caregiver training, online caregiver training, caregiver training programs

I am self-employed and on the whole, I love it — I wouldn’t trade it for anything.  There are distinct pros and cons of owning your own business, however.  Here are a few to consider before you start your own business.

Pros:

• Being your own boss.  Well, you probably guessed this already.  Many people work best when they are self-regulating, and of course there is always the flexibility that being self-employed offers — in many cases, if you need to rearrange your schedule to make time for a doctor’s appointment or an event at your child’s school, you can!
• Having greater income opportunities.  When you own your own business, you don’t have to wait for a penny-pinching manager to decide to give you a raise.  In general, your income is a direct result of how hard you work to grow your business!
• Working from home…or wherever you please!  Not all small business owners can work from home, but many can.  If you can, count yourself lucky — this is one of the best advantages of being self-employed!

Cons:

• Long hours.  Most startup businesses require a lot of work before they become established.  During this initial stage, many small business owners don’t have the money to outsource certain tasks, and end up putting a lot of long hours in.  If you can make it through this, however, the result is usually quite rewarding!
• Lack of flexibility.  Yes, I know I listed flexibility as a pro — but sometimes small business owners find that there’s a lack of flexibility.  If you have a store, for instance, you will be bound to store hours.  You should keep this in mind when looking at franchise opportunities.  Are the store hours something you can commit to?
• Vulnerability to the market ups and downs.  As an employee, you have to worry about layoffs during periods where the market is slow — but at least then you get unemployment benefits.  As a small business owner, you will need to be able to ride the slow times as well as the busy periods.  For instance, people who run eBay stores face periods where everything sells really well, as well as periods where sales grind almost to a halt.  This requires the ability to plan ahead and always keep some emergency funds in the bank.

I love being self-employed, but realistically it’s not for everyone.  Consider the pros and cons carefully before making a decision!

Technorati Tags: owning your own business, start your own business, income opportunities, work from home, franchise opportunities, unemployment benefits, small business owner, eBay stores, self-employed