Exposed! 5 HUGE Myths of The Online Business Model

The online business is an industry that didn’t exist a few years ago, yet today there are thousands upon thousands of people trying to make their living online. I’m sure you’ve all seen adverts for online marketing schemes proclaiming that you will make millions in minutes if you sign up today, but the internet marketing business isn’t easy. In this article I am going to dispel a few more of the popular myths surrounding online business.Myth 1 – Online Marketing is Free! If only this were true! Online marketing is not free. There are elements of it that can be very cheap, and yes some things are free. However, I can guarantee that anyone who has had success in online marketing will have spent money on their campaigns and in some cases a considerable sum of money.Learn to use Social Media to your advantage, build up a following and make the most of free traffic to your blog, but in order to really get targeted, driven traffic overnight you will have to invest in advertising.Myth 2 – You need to be an IT Geek!Maybe in the early days of the internet the people who got ahead were the ones who could write the code and get the site set up. Even now, we need our internet geniuses to come up with new innovations – just look at Mark Zuckerberg! But the online business is constantly evolving, and for that you need a business brain and marketing mindset. Great business don’t become great just because their site is based on a brilliant algorithm, they become great because of the business that has monetized it.Myth 3 – You Can Plan a Viral Campaign! Everyone wants a viral campaign. It’s practically the holy grail of the online business. Unfortunately though, it’s almost impossible to predict what will spark the imagination of the world at large and deliver you millions of hits! You can research a great idea, invest in advertising, put it all together and release it with a great PR stunt across all of social media, with adverts to draw people in, but if people don’t pick up on it and share it with their friends over and over again then you may have wasted a lot of time and effort for no gain.If something doesn’t go viral, it’s not a failure. Instead, if you plan each of your marketing campaigns to reach out to the right audience for that product you will start to achieve steady, consistent results and a great reputation.Myth 4 – You Can Set Up The Online Business Then Leave It Alone! The internet changes every minute of every day due to people uploading new content. As a result, the online business world changes constantly. Things that may have worked wonders in 6 months ago can be old news today, so you always have to be on your toes to identify the next big thing. Industry leaders in online marketing will know to tweak their landing pages and funnels all the time to see what brings them better results – the advantage they have will be an established business with regular income allowing them to spend more on research.For people who are new into the internet marketing world it’s crucial not to throw good money into a campaign until you know it can give you a good return, and then never assume that campaign will continue to deliver long term.Myth 5 – I Can Get Rich Quick! If you go into any business with the Get Rich Quick attitude, without doing your research and setting a real business plan for how you will get rich, then the chances are you will fail. There are loads of internet schemes promising that you can’t fail, but unless you are willing to invest time and money into what is a REAL business, then you can’t possibly get a return on investment.While there are undoubtedly people who have made money overnight, it’s not the majority. Online marketing is a great industry to be part of, but as with any business, you have to be prepared for hard times as well as good times.

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Factoring and Accounts Receivable Financing Expert Tips

There probably isn’t a day when Canadian business owners and financial managers don’t hear about factoring and accounts receivable financing as a method of financing their business in Canada. Despite its growing popularity and, we can say, relative importance in the Canadian business financing marketplace this financing mechanism is still somewhat understood.What information do business owners need to know in order to assess if factoring, also known as invoice discounting, is a viable transaction? Also, are there mistakes and pitfalls to be avoided when considering this financing strategy?Let’s examine the answers to some of those questions. You can be forgiven for trying to figure out why factoring has increased in prominence from a time when no one had almost ever heard of it! The answer to that popularity is more simply and obvious than you might think, and its simply that Canadian chartered banks are finding it increasingly more difficult to fund accounts receivable (and inventory of course) to the extent that their customers need this financing.When you have a situation where the actual need for financing is acute, and the benefits and flexibility seems significant it is not hard to see the rise in popularity of such a financing mechanism.First of all, 99% of the time, factoring provides your firm with a greater level of borrowing based on your accounts receivable levels. Quite of 90-100% of you’re A/R under 90 days can be financed.So is it all good news? Not necessarily, as we are always meeting with clients that have chosen the wrong type of funding or factoring, and, even worse, find them locked into contracts they cannot get out of. That is uncomfortable for any size firm as you can imagine.As with any newer type of financing the playing field is complex. You can be forgiven for not knowing how many factor firms are out there, how they run, what their own limitations are, and, even to a certain extent, do they in fact themselves have the funding to survive, let along finance your firm. For that reason we cannot over emphasize the need to work with a credible, experienced and trusted professional in this area.Lets talk about some of the nuances, we can call them potential ‘pitfalls ‘also, of picking the wrong factoring partner. For a starter if you choose a firm who itself is not well capitalized, as we said, you might find that the financing commitments made to you cannot be honored. Canadian business has never had to think that the Canadian chartered banks could be ‘out of money ‘but the Canadian landscape is somewhat littered with small and medium sized factor firms that do not have the financial wherewithal to support their funding commitments in all places. That just re – enforces our idea that a trusted industry expert will guide you to the best partner for your firm.Other issues, again, we can call them pitfalls, to look for include:- being locked into a contract- having the total factoring cost, or pricing, not reflected properly in your term sheet- advance rates which don’t make sense relative to the price you are paying for discounting invoices- excessive notification and intrusion with your customers, which is very prevalent in the U.S. model of factoring (Many Canadian factor firms are branches of U.S. firms)So let’s recap. It’s simply that factoring is growing in popularity. It works because it is providing funding where banks often cannot. If you don’t understand who you are dealing with and the various nuances of this type of financing it becomes a burden, not a solution. Investigate this great financing mechanism, but ensure you know what you are getting into. Talking to an expert always helps – that’s just common sense

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