By Timothy Arends

You have probably already realized that if blogging for business were not effective, then so many business owners and managers would not already be using it. Not only this, but more and more business owners move to the world of blogging every day.

Obviously, blogging has proven its value for almost every type of business, and it is picking up speed as more business owners recognize its benefits. It helps, however, if blogging is defined so as to understand why so many business owners have found value in it.

Defining the “Blog”

A blog is actually a special type of webpage in which posts are regularly updated and are arranged in the order of date posted. The term “blog,” a blend of the words “web” and “log” did not spring up spontaneously. In fact, the term was coined by Pyra Labs, the company that created the service Blogger, now owned by Google.

Such pages were originally called weblogs in 1997 by Jorn Barger. They started gaining popularity in 1999 when third-party companies began developing specialized blogging software and tools to make the procedure easier. Since then, the number of people involved in blogging has grown from just a thousand to over a hundred million bloggers.

Business Blogs

There are two kinds of blogs: personal and business. Personal blogs are like a combination of personal diary and journal and consist largely of opinions, while research links may be present on a more scholarly blogs. Business blogs are used as a communications tool for promoting a business to potential customers as well as to existing clients.

Blogging For Business Promotion

While good for marketing products and services, blogging for business is also a venue for communicating the special features of one’s product, for sharing one’s expertise as well as one’s business portfolio, and for boosting site traffic and connecting with potential customers.

Blogging Can Help Smaller Businesses

Smaller enterprises which may have just recently started seeing the benefits of blogging can expect the following:

• Easy to Use The process of blogging is simply a jotting down of your thoughts and a linking to various online resources and publishing these to your blog. Blogging software comes on every Mac in the form of iWeb, which is part of the Apple’s iLife software suite. This is a very capable, although basic, blogging tool. The trend more recently has been to use one of the online end-user-friendly blogging tools for Mac or PC such as Movable Type, Blogger.com and Typepad.
• Low-Cost Blogging for business is easy on the wallet, a cost effective alternative to expensive advertising and marketing campaigns. Such campaigns can eat so deeply into your marketing budget that little is left over for profit.

Not only is blogging inexpensive, but it is easy to set up even for business owners who feel they do not have the time or resources to learn how to do it. No knowledge of HTML is required and a web developer is hardly necessary. Just share your thoughts with your customers and potential customers and you will have a cheap and effective means of getting your business visible online.

You might get the impression that the Mac is the forgotten stepchild of the Internet marketing industry. But did you know that some of the top names in Internet Marketing use Macs? Visit InternetMacMarketing.com and get a  FREE 75-page ebook that covers everything you need to know about running your Internet business using a Mac, iPhone and iPad.

Image by epSos.de

If you’re building a business from scratch, maintaining a balanced diet and exercising regularly probably don’t top your never-ending to-do list. But they should, because healthy businesses need healthy owners. You probably don’t have time to create gourmet meals every night or exercise for an hour every morning, and that’s OK. But you should still take care of yourself. Here are some simple ways you can make good decisions throughout the day to help you and your business stay healthy and thrive.

1. Be consistent in exercise. It’s best if you can give 30 minutes or more to daily exercise, but something is better than nothing. Consistency is key. Decide to take a 15-minute jog every morning before you shower, for example, or get in the habit of sitting on an exercise bike while you watch TV at night. If you make exercise part of your daily routine, it will be harder to miss.
2. Eat regularly. As obvious as this might seem, many entrepreneurs don’t get the nutrition they need. Skipping breakfast may get you to work more quickly, but eating just after you wake up jumpstarts your metabolism and allows you to burn more calories throughout the day. A nutritious lunch will help you work through the afternoon, and having dinner at a consistent time each night will help keep your body well. Bring healthy snacks to work, including fruits and vegetables. Healthy snacks make it easier to fit needed nutrients into your diet and eliminate empty calories.
3. Find ways to get passive exercise. You don’t have to get dressed in shorts and running shoes to get your blood moving. Take the stairs to your office or walk with your kids to the park. Find ways to get a few extra steps in every day. Finding these opportunities can help you get more oxygen throughout your body and give you more energy to put into your business.
4. Catch some rays. If your work keeps you inside, you’re probably not getting proper exposure to sunlight. Getting out in the sunshine helps improve your mood and plays an important part in overall health. Take your lunch break outside or walk to a meeting in another building. This will help you feel happier and be more productive when you’re in the office.

One drawback to using dropshippers is the lower profit margins you earn compared with other business models. Dropshippers often add fees to the order, especially when they are not the manufacturer. The dropshipper is usually a middleman between you and the manufacturer. And the more people involved in the sale, the less profit there is for you.

Since you are not buying products in bulk, when you dropship, your wholesale price is not as low as it would be if you bought items in large quantities. So you should take all the fees into account and determine profitability. Before you even worry about whether there is demand or how much competition there is for your product niche, you need to make sure the profit margin is high enough to make it worth pursuing further.

When working with a dropshipper you can typically expect around a 30% profit margin on the products you sell. This varies depending on the product niche and the retail price. Higher priced items typically have a lower profit margin. But a smaller percentage of high-priced items still makes you a healthy profit.

In order to keep a website profitable and worth the time it takes to manage it, you need to make at least $15 average per sale. According to the dropship model and the suggested average profit, if you were to focus on single sale items to achieve that profit benchmark you would need to sell products that average $50 retail or more. That’s because 30% (the average per item dropship profit) of a $50 item is $15. The Professional Marketing International business consultants suggest that this doesn’t mean that all of your products have to cost $50 and more, but it does mean that your average transaction amount needs to be at least $50 in order to have a self-sustaining website that can generate income for your business.

Wishing you a successful new year from PMI!

Everyone here at Money Making Academy would like to wish you a Happy Holiday weekend! It’s the perfect opportunity to spend time with those that matter to you most. Travel safe!