3 HIGHLY STRATEGIC BUSINESS TACTICS!Written by Larry Dotson
1) AFFILIATE MARKETINGWhen you sell a product, give your customers option of joining an affiliate program so they can make commissions selling your product. This will multiply sale you just made. Don't forget to also sell back end products to your affiliates. You could create an affiliate members only e-zine and include ads to other products you sell. Usually your best customers are your own affiliates. 2) REPRINT/REPRODUCTION RIGHTS Sell reprint/reproduction rights to your products. You could include an ad on or with product for other products you sell. You could make sales for reproduction rights and sales on back end product. In addition to selling your reprint/reproduction rights it helps brand your business quicker. It spreads your name or business name without spending your profits.
| | THE PRESENT TENSE- HOW CAN IT BE MADE PERFECT?Written by Joseph Tope
According to reliable news service reports, dot com companies are currently failing at rate of about one per day; some 9,000 jobs were lost in Internet industry over course of 2000, with most of losses occuring in latter half. It is anticipated that at least 30 additional mid-size and large e-commerce firms will shut their doors by end of first quarter of 2001, and it is entirely possible that pace of closings will accelerate over remaining portion of year. At one time, start up companies based on ingenious idea had only to knock at doors of venture capitalists in order to secure ample funding; however (after fall) nervous investors now insist that traditional, stodgy performance standards such as return on equity and capital turnover rates be satisfied before committing their cold cash. Near term prospects for profit, a subject not even mentioned prior to last six months or so, have suddenly come (once again) to fore as an important basis for buy, sell and hold decisions. It has recently become very noticeable that even great names associated with viable e-commerce sites are bucking against stiff price resistance and buyer skepticism as they shyly present themselves in resale market. Blockbuster names such as Orange.com can still command megabucks in auction ring, but they are beneficiaries of rare, serendipitous niche positioning. The blush is most definitely off bloom for domains being offered in $500,000 plus range; further evidence of slowing can be taken from fact that mid-cap names ($50,000-$250,000) are experiencing considerably longer dusty shelf stays than a year ago.Given above difficult market conditions, why am I advising that present time provides a good setting for undertaking sale of dot com web sites and names? Several of my colleagues are advising that now is time to hold on to good, solid dot coms and to await turnaround that they anticipate will occur when dot com inventory scarcity reaches critical stage. Surely, they reason, dot com names put aside for investment purposes will significantly appreciate in value as possibilities for valuable generic and creative brand names grow slimmer and slimmer. While I agree to a certain extent with validity of above counsel, I do not hesitate to suggest that holding dot coms in anticipation of future appreciation is fraught with a fair degree of risk and that there are compelling reasons why present is a good time to place dot com names and businesses up for sale. ˇSignificant dilution of value of dot com names will likely begin in earnest as dot tv, dot biz and other newly authorized top level domains come on line. ˇThe presently unsettled conditions of Internet market are encouraging some investors to conclude that there are good bargains to be had, and, in my opinion, it is primarily bargain hunting that will fuel resale market over course of 2001. Those who are banking on scarcity to build value recognize that present offers a tempting buying opportunity. ˇDot com names are proving their worth in early competitive skirmishes with other TLD's; dot com is maintaining its strength and still appears to be place to be, but not only place. ˇIssues revolving about ownership and trademarks are liable to heat up as entrepreneurs rush in to replicate high profile names in new TLD's. The AntiCyberSquatting Act will go far toward disallowing blatant, deliberate rip-offs of valuable dot com domains; however it appears that full protection will be afforded only those domain owners who have registered their names as trademarks. The decision in Sex.com case makes it quite clear that there is a faction in judiciary which views domain names as something less than property, and this in face of commendable efforts of World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Unfortunately, All of policing in world on part of WIPO will not be enough to protect entire universe of entrepreneurs unless court recognizes in a timely fashion that domain names do, indeed, constitute intellectual property. Unscrupulous parties who can come up with novel and alternative uses of valuable names which have not been trademarked may just be able to slither in beneath limbo. All of these matters will, of course, be normalized and settled in law given time; however, why wait to sell if you can see a way to avoid predictable complications and possible lessening of value?
|