Social Media Personality Profiling For Business

It’s the epidemic that’s defined the 21^st century. Everyone has it, it’s shared amongst us and spreads like wildfire…yes, social media has pervaded all aspects of our day to day living. Everyone knows the scare stories about how over-exposure to the internet can be damaging to our health and personality, but let’s turn it round and think about how different personalities can affect social media. Everyone’s different – just take the fascinating Myers-Briggs personality test from the clever folk at Quistic. For business owners and social media managers, it may be interesting to think about specific personality attitudes and learn how certain stressors and energisers can help guide marketers in best engaging with their target audience.

borderlinepersonalitytypes.com

According to a recent article by Penelope Trunk, founder and CEO of the personality and career experts Quistic, everyone is motivated by one of three core desires: achievement, affiliation, or competence (or in simpleton’s terms: winning, relationships/affiliation, and craft). Think about what drives you: if you can understand and identify yourself amongst these three key motivators then you can better place yourself to succeed in business. The Myers-Briggs test places one’s personality on a sliding spectrum of 16 possibilities but somewhat worryingly, if, like myself, you are an ENFJ personality type it appears that you find “thinking is often your weakness”; however, it also advises to start writing a blog to further career prospects, so perhaps it’s bang on.

Certain City banks are already using personality profiling to better engender brokering partnerships and deals – if a client is particularly data-focused they will match them with a similarly data-minded broker, or match more ‘blue-sky-thinking’ companies with their own optimists. Understanding how to improve communication across different personalities is a useful and insightful business move.

simplyzesty.com

You might think that marketers should be sensitive or empathetic or have a keen eye for detail or a creative spark or an appreciation for deadlines; in fact, they need to be all of the above, and more. A split personality is perhaps encouraged in the marketing world, and even more so in the social media marketing world. You have to be able to tap into the different mindsets of your varied audiences, understand which channels will best speak to which personalities and create content that appeals to a variety of character types. Your strategy needs to speak to multiple personalities, thus you need to be able to adopt multiple personalities.

Everyone knows that social media is a great way to market your business; obviously you understand what your business is about, but do you really understand your customers? For all you social media managers, and there are a lot of you – five million‘social media experts’ at last count on LinkedIn – here are a few personality traits that you might wish to nurture when marketing a business online. The thinkers at Hubspot suggest that in order to better engage with your business’ customers, you should become: 

The informant – tell your brash reader what they need to know. And don’t beat about the bush.

The inquirer – appeal to the quieter members of your audience by asking them questions, and encouraging a climate for engagement with considerate content.

The helper – for the busy-bodies who are never satisfied you must provide top-notch customer service and answer questions and complaints directly.

The thought provoker – show the curious members of your target market that you are open to dialogue and debate, and that you are the go-to-expert for knowledge in your specialism.

The class clown – appeal to the jokers with some classic slap-stick humour.

The entertainer – this applies to everyone. Everyone likes, and needs, to be entertained. So be interesting.

The go-getter – and for those personality types that your business hasn’t yet tapped into…go and get them on board.

behrouz.jafarnezhad.com

It’s no longer enough for a business to market itself along outdated ‘buy me now’ call-to-action commands; with the advent of social media marketing, the emphasis is clearly on the social aspect. Everyone loves a good story, and this works to any good marketer’s advantage. Your blog and social media personality should be in sync, as this shapes how customer’s view your business’ character and will affect which personality types are more naturally drawn to your company. People come to expect a certain tone from your business, so keep your online personality consistent across the multiple channels. Social media is pre-disposed to helping you nurture and expand your business – people buy things from people they trust and respect, so let your honest and knowledgeable personality come to the surface.

Obviously social networking engages the interests and activities of more narcissistic individuals as opposed to those less motivated by peer approval; introverts and extroverts use online communities differently according to their need to be people-oriented and outwardly social. Nearly 60% of extroverts use Facebook,Twitter and LinkedIn for professional purposes, while 47% of introverts shared the sentiment; although there is clearly a difference in the figures, it’s good news for marketers as it shows the popularity of social media in general. Studies into how different personality types use the internet consistently show that, despite minor fluctuations, on the whole all personality types are using social media for business and professional purposes.

Although there are obviously nuances and dynamics to be considered when marketing on social media, and those marketers who can most intricately manage these will be rewarded, overall the vast majority of your target market – be they introverts or extroverts, shy or narcissistic, thinkers or feelers – are using and responding to social media for professional purposes, and  it follows that it is a useful and successful channel for marketing.

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10 Tips to Increase Your Sales Page Conversion

If you are selling something online then you need to pay attention to the conversion rate of your sales page. The conversion rate can vary wildly and is totally unpredictable but even an one percent increase in conversion rate can make the difference between losing money or making profit.

What is Conversion Rate?

In online marketing conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who take a desired action (for example: make a purchase or click an ad).

You can think of conversion as pouring traffic into a funnel where they get filtered on different levels and at last the remaining portion gets converted. Usually a large portion of the traffic will leave the sales page right after they land. A majority of the remaining traffic will abandon the sales page when they see that it does not fit their need or they want to do research or compare the price with other sites. The small remaining portion of traffic consists of customers that have already researched the products or were referred from another site and are looking to make a purchase.

Tips to Increase Sales Page Conversion

It is a good idea that you optimize your sales page with keywords related to the product you are offering. This way the traffic being driven to your sales page is targeted traffic for the product(s) you are selling. This will in turn lead to a higher concentrated pool of customers “With their minds set on purchasing”. The following tips on various sales page elements should help you increase the conversion of your sales page:

1. Headline

Headlines are an important step in getting the traffic to your post. The headline is what catches the visitor’s attention and draws them into visiting and reading the post. Headline starting with “How to…”, “Ways to…” “Top 10”, “Most popular” have a higher chance of catching the visitor’s attention. Some other headlines that can be just as effective for increasing conversion rates are:

• What you should know about…
• Here’s a Quick Way to….
• Little Known Ways to….
• The Secret of….
• Profitable tips for….

2. Purchase Button

Research has shown that using a larger “Buy” button is one of the most proven ways of increasing the sales page conversion rate. This is why the “Belcher button” is the most used button for sales pages. The creator of this button Perry Belcher tested every design element of the button in over 10,000 transactions and was able to increase conversion rates by 35% to 320%. Here is an example of the belcher button:

Belcher Button

You can find the belcher button here.

3. Font

The font of your sales page is very important. Always use a font which is easy to read and fits your sales page design. Here are some example of good sales page fonts for you:

• Arial
• Verdana
• Tahoma

The size of the font should be between 12-14pt. This way the font size is neither too big nor too small to read comfortably.

4. Image

You should use images relevant to the products you are selling on your sales page (this way the customer does not get confused as to what they are purchasing). This will make your sales page look more professional and creditable. This will also create trust with your visitor and they will be more likely to purchase the product(s) you are trying to sell.

5. Product Details

You should provide a detailed description of the product including why it will be useful for the user and how it can solve a problem that the customer maybe having. The sales page should explain the product in a nice well written flow of text, so that after the visitor reads about the product, he is completely convinced that the product is just what he is looking for.

6. Focus

The sales page should focus only on the product you are trying to sell to the user. It’s a good idea not to include any inflated content which may cause distraction. For example: you are trying to sell an e-book and your sales page has all the information about why your e-book will be useful to the user. Now, while the visitors are reading, if they see ads/image banners on the sidebar they can easily get distracted and click on the ad which will take them away from your sales page.

7. Targeted Traffic

Getting more traffic is always good for a website as there is a higher chance that this traffic will buy your product but you don’t want to bring in just any traffic to your site. Bringing in non-targeted traffic to your site is just a waste of your server bandwidth, as this traffic has no interest in buying your product(s). You really want to focus on bringing targeted traffic that is looking for a solution to a problem that your product will solve .

Traffic from social networking sites tend to be less targeted where as traffic from search engines are highly target so focus on getting search engine traffic more.

8. Testimonials

Consumers tend to believe others rather than the business owner’s hype to be truthful. Customer testimonials are a powerful form of endorsement. If you have any customer testimonials then include them on your sales page.

9. Price

Research has shown that using a price which ends with 5 or 9 after the decimal point increases the conversion rate (I don’t know why). For example: the following three amounts are all equivalent but the 1st and the 2nd one are suppose to convert more:

• $19.95
• $19.99
• $20.00

Read the Maximize Revenue 101 article to learn more on how the price change can affect your sales conversion.

10. Limited time offer

One of the most widely used limited offer tactic on a sales page is to mention the quantity you have left to sell for that product. This way you create the fear that you may run out and they will miss out on buying the item if they wait too long. This helps converting the customers who like to sit on the sideline. You can also offer limited discount coupons.

If you can include a few or all of these elements on your sales page, you are bound to see an increase in sales conversions. Don’t forget to share your tips in the comment area below.

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Social media is for all businesses

Big businesses have embraced social media, and some of the most successful marketing campaigns are a product of established firms taking risks on various social networking sites. Small businesses can also get in on the act though, and they can compete with the big guns for customer interest. All it takes is a good strategy, a little creativity, and in no time your company will be well equipped to take your products and services onto social media.

Source: minoamarketing.com

Persist with an idea

Be consistent with your grand idea by knowing exactly how many times you are going to tweet or post during the day, and this ensures that you don’t overload or deny your customers of important information. Tweeting too much will force your customers to tune out from your ideas, but tweeting just enough will keep your audience engaged and interested in what will come next. Updating 4 or 5 times a day is appropriate, but make sure it is at the same time of the day/night to ensure consistency.

Customer service is key

As interest in your business increases, there will be questions, or concerns communicated by customers, for you to respond to. In order to maintain a good relationship, it is crucial to respond as quickly as possible.Many people opt to complain via social media these days, but you must be consistent and respond on thesocial media platform. This will increase your reputation, and help humanise your company. Good customer service is key, and this is especially true over the Internet where everything is displayed in front of the eyes of millions.

Consider all networks

Each different social media tool will appeal to different kinds of people, so utilising each platform is essential for the success of any online strategy. It is advisable to research which platforms link in with your business as investing time in networking sites that will give minimal success can be a waste of time. The essential social media sites are Google+, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, so remember to be heavily active on these as they will bring in the most customer interest.

Source: topdogsocialmedia.com

Research

Researching your competitors can be of great benefit in the long run, as you can learn from their mistakes. Get an idea of the social media tools your direct competition is using and see whether they are seeing benefits from it. This can save a lot of time conducting trial and error research, and time is money in the world of high modernity. You may see ideas that you wish to advance or implement into your strategy, so taking note of the competition is imperative.

Track your process

Having a thoroughly thought out strategy will do no good if you are not tracking your progress on a regular basis. The area that are worth tracking consistently are the follower growth, page views, post likes or shares, and impressions. Tracking this progress will ensure that you are reaching set goals, and will hopefully show that what started off as a small company, is now a huge player due to the success of a social media strategy.

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How To Start A Great Social Media Campaign

Examples for making your cause go global

Recently we have seen, both on the news, and on our computer screens that social media is making more and more of a significant impact on our way of life with people using it for an ever increasing number of purposesother than simply catching up on the days events, chatting and shopping.

Source: greatfinds.icrossing.com

Social media is being used in more of an influential way that ever before — this includes social media campaigns. Launching a campaign on social media is no doubt one of the best ways to get the message spread on a global scale. Provided you can use social media in the right way, of course.

Here are some quick and handy tips to help you get your head around the vitals and the basics to spreading the word online, along with just some of the campaigns that have inspired on a global scale over the past few months. Hopefully these will help guide you on your way to campaign success.

Pick A Cause You Believe In!

There isn't much point in launching a campaign in a half-hearted way or launching your message with initial good intentions if you, and more importantly your web audience, can't follow it up and pass the message on. It has to come from something you truly do believe in. Authenticity is the key to success and with helping your message gather some gusto in the online world. A campaign that seems to be all self serving will be less likely to succeed.

Define The Goal Of The Campaign!

Make sure, before you start up, that you know your campaign and your intended message inside out (and back to front) and make sure your potential sharers, 'followers' and 'likers' do too. Your aims and goals must be clearly defined for users. Imagine yourself in their shoes reading about your campaign for the first time. If it's not 100% clear to you, then the likelihood is it wouldn't be clear to them either and that won't bode well for the spread of your message and for the cause.

Show What The Campaign Means To You!

Show your passion for the cause right from the get-go. Most successful campaigns are ones that can resonate on a human level all around the world and is a message that can be related to on a big scale. If people cannot 'see' what message you are trying to portray and empathise on a more human level then you are not set up for the most success.

Let Others Share Their Story!

Once you have your message and goals set up, your next priority must be the social platforms for which you are hoping to spread the message. You must think about this carefully before just going on a social media rampage with your campaign, you must provide users with the tools to share their stories too and therefore think about the platforms that will allow them to do this is the most convenient and effective way possible. It's all very well and good to have your campaign up and running, but it won't have success if others can't relate and share their stories, opinions and experiences too.

Select The Right Media Tools!

Select the right platforms that reflect the campaign. An excellent and successful tool is the humble hashtag. Hashtag's are now popping up on more social networks than just Twitter and they can be duplicated and written quickly. This means that it lends itself quite nicely to the notion of sharing and will no doubt add some fuel to your campaign fire.

Source: ok.co.uk

#thumbsupforstephen

We have all heard of the inspirational story of Stephen Sutton. His long battle with cancer has raised awareness, over £4 million pounds for the Teenage Cancer Trust, and proves just how effective social media can be. He first set up his Facebook page back in 2013 and started to share his story. The world soon caught wind of this persevering teen, who's trademark was a thumbs up, and began to share and donate for the cause and soon the hashtag #thumbsupforstephen was born. It was at this point his story went global and he became a household name and a hero across the nation. Celebs even got behind the teen and started to fund raise and help wherever they could and his story was soon trending on the Twittersphere. His social media campaign has helped raise a huge amount for a good cause and proves that when done in the right way, social media can work wonders.

Source: headlinebeauty.blogspot.com

#nomakeupselfie

The selfie. It's had its fair share of criticism, hasn't it? But in April this year they were on everyone's Facebook timelines, Instagram feeds and Twitter feeds. Why exactly? Well they were all in the name of charity and fund raising. Yes, the selfie was used as a campaign to help fund cancer research. Everyone had a different view on this new campaign with some taking the challenge and adding their own spin on it. All you had to do was get the makeup wipes, do your best fishy pout and upload to join the fund raising bandwagon....oh, and text the cancer research number to ensure your donation of £3 to the cause of course. While the campaign sparked and spread quicker than a bush fire, the #nomakeupselfie soon started to filter away. A reminder, perhaps to keep mindful of tip numbers 1 and 3. Make sure the campaign doesn't veer off into a bout of narcissism and keeps the initial goal in sight.

Julie Bundy

Hi my name is Julie! Fresh out of university studying journalism, I love to have a good laugh and I believe in always keeping an open mind. In my spare time, if you don't catch me between two pages of a book, you'll most likely find me in front of the computer or the TV! I also like to make cakes if I have the time (and the ingredients!)... or as my friends like to call them, Bundy Buns. Make sure you follow me @julieatsmf.

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Selling Confidence: How Optimism Can Bolster Your Sales Team

A sales team needs optimism to succeedin the face of rejection. Credit: Half-full glass image viaShutterstock View full size image

Sales is like acting: You may have something great to offer, but no matter how hard you try, some people just aren't going to like it. Just as actors don't nail every audition, a salesperson won't close every deal or chase down every lead. Dealing with this kind of rejection day after day can really wear your salesteam down — if they don't have the right mindset.

"One of the most crucial skills you can help your sales team develop is the ability to effectively manage adversity and overcome rejection through the power of positive thinking," said Larry Caretsky, president of customer relationship management software providerCommence. "With rare exceptions, a salesperson faces more losses than wins. As a sales team leader, you'll need to find a way to keep your group motivated and focused on overcoming the many obstacles they'll face in the course of cold calling and pitching proposals."

Inspiring optimism in your sales team isn't always easy, but you can do it with the right techniques. Caretsky shared three tips for helping your team take the "glass half full" approach to its work.[Customer Loyalty: 5 Tips for Sales Reps]

• Retrain worn-down employees. Constant rejection when making a few dozen calls a day can take its toll on even the most optimistic person. The first sign that sales representatives are struggling comes when they claim that the product is too expensive or does not provide the functionality customersare looking for. Those salespeople then expect rejection from every additional call. This may mean they require more training on what differentiates the product from the competition. If this is the case, it's best to get those representatives off the phones and into a training session, where you can fine-tune their approaches and rebuild confidence.
   
• Meet one-on-one with your sales staff. It's important that your sales team recognizes the direct connection between their attitudes and their results. As a leader, you can help by assessing individual performance and talking through how each person's perceptions affect his or her results. Different techniques will appeal to different individuals, so it's best to take a personalized approach.
   
• Encourage team members to share success stories.Gather the team and have all salespeople share stories about how they overcame obstacles and reversed setbacks. By learning how other team members succeeded after initial adversity, sales professionals can learn to be more optimistic in their own thoughts. You can also review one of the most impressive wins your team had for the quarter and outline what enabled that sales representative to win the deal. This is a great way to build confidence in the company's product and service, and do some team building at the same time.

"We're not 100 percent in control of our circumstances, but we can control the attitude with which we confront them," Caretsky toldBusiness News Daily. "A prospect can tell in just a few minutes if you are confident and passionate about what you are selling and if you are prepared. Your confidence often breeds confidence in the prospect, which more often than not leads to winning the sale. By choosing to see the glass as half full, we can position ourselves for greater success."     

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Aweber Tutorial #1 - Basic Set Up of Your First Auto Responder

Just to show you how easy it is

Five Types of Social Media Influencers

What makes a good influencer?

“Influence” is a concept difficult to evaluate since it refers to both subjective and objective values, resulting in a measurement of:

• commercial and financial success
• reputation and credibility
• quality of affiliations and contacts
• charisma and the impact of personality

For each of these values, the notion of influence may vary from person to person.

In fact, in the age of social media, the definition is changing as how to identify influencers. Today, thanks to online applications, all social media users now have the opportunity to stand out and in turn become leaders in respect to their interests.   As a result, marketers and public relation professionals are forced to reassess their approach to define the notion influence on social networks.

Influencers on social media are either passionate individuals who turn out to be specialists or professionals involved who use Web 2.0 tools as part of their work. They take advantage of their presence on social networks for personal gain or as representative (or ambassador) a brand, company or organization. They produce and sharing relevant content, appealing to the interests of a community. This can result in regularly prompting discussions and interactions that might have influence on behaviors.

(Please watch: INFLUENCERS – How Trends And Creativity Become Contagious)

The Five Types of Social Media Influencers

There are different types of influencers. Depending on the objectives, not all types of influencers can be matched with all types of personalities.

Klout’s matrix of influence offers no fewer than twelve different types of influencers that include: the specialist, the activist, the socializer, the observer to the broadcaster, curator to the thought leader.
Many users do not give great importance to this matrix.

Lisa Barone, co-founder of the firm Outspoken Media (New York), in contrast, proposes a simpler list in Small Business Trends: The Five Types of Influencers On The Web.

A list which corresponds very well to the five main types of influencers that found on social media:

• The networker (Social Butterfly): one who has the biggest contact list and found on all platforms. He or she who knows everybody and everybody knows him or her.
• The opinion leader (Thought Leader): one who can become the best ambassador of a brand. He or she has built a strong authority in his or her field by based on credibility. Their messages are most often commented on and retweeted.
• The discoverer (Trendsetter): one who is always the first to use a new platform.  Constantly on the lookout for new trends, they become the “hub” in the sector.
• The sharer (Reporter): one who distributes information to the bloggers to journalists through the specialized webzines. He or she usually amplify messages.
• The user (Everyday Customer): one that represents the regular customer. He or she does not have a network as large as the networker, but his or her network remains equally important.

According strategies and objectives with the campaigns in social networks, certain types of influencers are a perfect fit. To be efficient, it must be determined what type of influencer you want to reach.

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10 Marketing Tricks From the Pros

Marketing is the lifeblood of any startup – without it, the company will be sure to sink. So for entrepreneurs looking to boost their productivity with simple tricks, I set out to find answers.

I recently asked some of the smartest and most experienced marketing people I know for their No. 1 marketing hack. While all provided extremely effective solutions, I was amazed at how simple some of them were.

Here is a list comprised of the top ten, categorized by marketing experts.

Social Media
1. Boost your posts. “Give your social media content a boost. Businesses are finding it more and more difficult to get their message heard. By the latest estimates, Facebook is showing only 6 percent of a business' content to their fan base. So give your content a paid boost. If you have more than 100 likes on your page, a 'boost' button will appear at the bottom of each post. Use it. For less than $30, you can get your message out to thousands of unique users.”
-Rob Wellman, CEO of Social5

Related: Is Your Marketing Message Getting Muddled?

2. Load up on data, and do it quickly. “Facebook advertising can deliver the cheapest CPM's in online marketing with the ability to test ad efficiency in real-time. Use the power editor "duplicate" tool to create hundreds of ads and change one element per ad. Give these a small budget, and you'll quickly see what works and what doesn't without breaking the bank. Double down on the ones that work, and kill the ones that don't.”
-Kyle Ivins, co-founder Envolve Agency

3. Retweet and engage “Don’t just tweet out stuff about your company. Engage with other companies, your customers and thought leaders in your market. Retweet their tweets and add your thoughts. Respond to tweets that aren’t directed at you and give your thoughts on those. Followers will start flowing your way.”
-Jason Barber, co-founder Friendemic

Advertising

4. Explore pay-per-click advertising. Google isn’t the only show in town when it comes to pay-per-click advertising.

 “Google has the most volume when it comes to their ad network. But they’re far from the only option. Bing provides great results for businesses targeting the baby boomer generation. You can also look into Google Search Partner Networks for other opportunities for higher ROI.”
-Jacob Baadsgaard, CEO Disruptive Advertising

5. One ad per keyword. “If you’re running a campaign with a dozen keywords and only have one ad, then you’re throwing money away. Create specific ad groups that target single keywords. Then create two to three ads for that one keyword. See which ad works best, then run with it.”
-Scott Cohen, CEO of 180Fusion

Related: 7 Marketing Truths Every Business Leader Should Know

Public relations

6. Don’t brag, give real value. “The greatest secret in media and public relations right now is that the press (and your potential customers) are most interested in the value added information that will help them succeed in a given area—not in hearing promotional information from you. By thinking of your readers’ needs first—not your own self-interests—you will receive business traction and audience engagement beyond your dreams.” 
-Cheryl Snapp Conner, Snapp Conner PR

7. One sentence “Here’s a pro tip that’s extremely obvious, but often completely ignored by entrepreneurs everywhere: You should be able to explain your startup in one sentence. That’s it. No exceptions.”
-Harrison Weber, Journalist and News Editor for VentureBeat

SEO

8. Poach your competitors’ mentions. “Create a Google Alert for your competitors’ brand names. Find out where they are being mentioned and in what context. Then, see if there’s opportunities to be mentioned alongside of them. Many times journalists and editors will write about one brand and be open to including a similar brand for parity.”
-Nathan Tanner, Foxtail Insights

Email marketing

9. Trim your subjects. "Get an immediate lift in email marketing revenue by reducing your subject lines to only one word. Choose that word carefully. It should induce irresistible curiosity, while staying relevant to your message. With the right word, your open rates will skyrocket. Do some testing to really dial it in."
-Tyler Dixon, Marketing Director for SpinGo

Outdoor advertising

10. Think outside the box. “Get creative when working with a budget and with advertisers. A client of mine recently secured a ‘pay for performance’ billboard on one of the busiest stretches of an interstate. They only pay the billboard agency if a sale results from that billboard. You’d be surprised what you can get accomplished if you only ask.”
-Matt Frisbie, CEO of ChiefMO

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How to start your own internet business

If you've ever had an idea for a product or service that you think could net you a fortune, you may well have considered setting up an internet business with the aim of sitting back and watching the money roll in.

After all, in 2006, consumers spent £30.2bn on online goods and services, according to IMRG, the industry body for global e-retailing. Over the past 10 years, the growth of the internet has resulted in the high-profile successes of many internet-related businesses. Just a few weeks ago, for example, price comparison service Moneysupermarket.com became the second-biggest internet float in the world since the dot.com implosion, after that industry behemoth, Google.

The internet has certainly revolutionized the way we live our lives, and offers a place where individuals can compete with global organisations. But just how easy is it to get started?

Your business plan

The starting point for any new venture is to create a business plan, says Tony Cohen, the head of entrepreneurial business at Deloitte.

"You need to know your target market, know your competition, attract funding, secure good resources, build consumer loyalty – especially blogger coverage – and forge alliances with strategic partners," he says. "Preparation and research are key."

Jeffrey Macklin from FDUK, a company that provides part-time finance directors to start-up businesses, says the objective of the business plan is to tell a simple yet compelling story that leaves the reader wanting to meet the management team and find out more about the proposition. "It should be as succinct and accessible as possible, and around 20 pages at most," he says.

Finding a market

One of the most important elements of setting up an online business is finding out if there is a market for your idea.

"It's all about finding a niche," says William Berry, a self-made internet millionaire. "Hampers, for example, are a niche of food retailing, but there are already market leaders in this area, so you either need to aim for a niche which doesn't already have a market leader, or attempt to become even more niche – by offering Christmas hampers, say. "

Financing

There are many different financing options available to aspiring entrepreneurs. For many businesses, raising funds may involve several sources.

Bank finance in the form of a loan or overdraft is usually cheaper than selling shares or equity in your business, says Macklin. But he adds that equity investment is ideal for those businesses that do not want to increase their level of borrowing, or are unable to provide the necessary security.

If you're considering equity investment, two options are so-called " business angels" and venture capitalists. Business angels are wealthy individuals who look to invest in growing companies wanting to raise between £10,000 and £250,00. They will also offer contacts and advice. Venture capitalists will only invest – usually a minimum of £2m – if they can see a significant return in three years, say.

For internet start-ups with a sound business proposition but without the necessary security to obtain conventional lending, the Small Firms Loan Guarantee is another option, according to Steve Jennings, director of business banking at Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank. He says cash-flow analysis is vital.

"A common error businesses make is to ask for too little financial support in the hope of getting at least some of the funding they need," he says. "But this is potentially a recipe for disaster."

Your website

Websites will set you back varying amounts. "The cost is relative," says Berry. "While a basic one could cost as little as £500, a really good one that dominates the market could cost up to £20,000."

If building your own website is not an option, try searching for web designers online, or ask friends and colleagues for recommendations, says Nick James, a small-business consultant and the founder of Nick-James.com, an online club for entrepreneurs. Keep the site clean and simple: people will buy from you if they trust the site and can find what they want.

"Make sure you update your website's content constantly, as innovation, imagination and invention are essential if you are going to succeed in the longer term," he says. "Also make it easy for people to get in touch: your business needs to present a human face."

Marketing

One area where internet businesses often fail is marketing, according to Lisa Richards, a partner at accountants Smith Cooper.

"Too many people fall into the trap of developing their product or service and then expecting orders to come racing in," Richards says. "But with no 'shop window' through which to promote yourself, how are potential customers going to find you?"

Sites such as Google AdWords can be a cost-effective way of advertising, she says. These operate on a "pay per click" basis, so you only pay when someone clicks through to your website.

James also recommends emailing your friends and family with details of your site. "Look out for chatrooms and discussion forums, and let people know you're there," he adds. "Network with others and get referrals."

You may want to get a company to do search engine optimization (SEO) for you to ensure that you catch any potential customers searching for your type of product on the likes of Yahoo! and Google. "But try to get them to work on the results," says Berry. "SEO isn't that important if you have spent money effectively on online ads. A lot of people try to get to the top of search engines – and there can only be one."

Customer transactions

Make it fast and easy for customers to order, as a site with a difficult sales process is likely to lose customers, says James. "Fulfil every order as fast as you possibly can," he adds.

Websites should be easy to navigate so users don't get frustrated and leave without making a purchase. Security should also be a priority, and potential customers should be assured their details will be kept safe.

"How you treat customers matters," says James. "Talk to them as often as possible and help them to get to know you and build confidence in you and the services you provide. Ask them what they want from you and react to what they tell you."

Start small and have patience

Don't give up your day job too soon, as it will take time for your internet venture to grow – and in the meantime there may not be much incoming revenue. As a budding online entrepreneur, you'll need lots of energy, enthusiasm, determination and passion; but you also need to be realistic. "Success on the web is rare," warns Cohen. "While many businesses are launched, few make a profit, and most will never see a return on investment. That said, while starting up an internet business can be one of the toughest things you ever do, it can also be the most rewarding."

From baby steps to big success - A matter of development

Julie White, 38, of Milton Keynes, set up her own internet business, Truly Madly Baby, in 2005 after she had given birth to her son, Samuel.

The business has been a great success, and Julie can now boast a six-figure turnover.

It was after starting out working for Ann Summers as a party planner for home events that Julie identified a gap in the market for a "buy in your own home" service for baby products and accessories.

"I looked at what else was out there, and the types of products I might be able to sell, and then I got started designing my own online model," Julie says.

A few weeks after she started the company, she appeared on Dragons' Den, the popular BBC reality TV programme for budding entrepreneurs.

After making a strong pitch, she received two offers from the dragons. But in the end, she decided to turn both of them down.

Instead, Julie opted to go with a different backer, who offered her a £75,000 investment. After that, the business took off.

"I had experience of accounting and customer service from my previous career," she says. "But it was a very steep learning curve – and I made some mistakes along the way, but nothing too detrimental to the business. Overall, it's been a very positive experience."

Julie now has four employees on the payrole and some 260 consultants who co-ordinate the parties.

"There are now plans to extend into Europe," she says. "My advice to anyone thinking of setting up their own business is that if you believe it's good enough then you have to go for it."

Graham Hobson is the founder of the online digital printing website PhotoBox, which now has 2 million members.

He started it in 2000 after he noticed the lack of online storing and printing websites in the UK, compared to the vast number of similar sites in the US.

"I'd always worked in technology but I'm an accidental entrepreneur," he says. "I wrote a business plan, got financial backing and a partner to join me in the business."

Graham gave up his day job in 1999. The first three years, he admits, were "painfully slow."

"We expected it all to happen quickly, but in reality, it was about steady growth," he says. "We were naive about marketing in the beginning and had to learn a lot of lessons."

Viral marketing has helped PhotoBox, and last year it merged with Photoways, a French firm.

"If you want to set up an internet business, you have to convince all the people around you it's a good idea," Graham says. "Put in your own time and energy, but other people's money – and take as much advice from other people as you can."

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