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A Guide on Successful Product Creation and Internet Marketing

Product creation in Internet marketing is getting stiffer and stiffer nowadays owing to tough competition between Internet-based businesses. Putting up a new product requires plenty of brainpower and finances along with an ability to take risk. With that, even if you have the product well-set already, you have to position it strategically in the Internet landscape for others to notice. You should get the interest of Web users and turn them to actual customers. Aside from the usual physical products, many different products that thrive well on Internet marketing include E-books, membership sites, and video lectures.

The long and difficult process of product creation begins with ideas. They are easy to get – compared to the effort that comes with analyzing the market for that idea. Before the idea turns to a product, businesses often spend money, even amounting to millions of dollars, to ensure the success of the new product that emerges from an idea. Businesses undertake many types of market research and surveys before releasing their products to the public. Now, you may think that because your business is small, you can’t afford research or you don’t have to do research; you can and you should. The Internet allows you to disseminate materials needed for your market study to many people at once without your having to spend a cent.

It is a common maxim in business: Look at your destination first before mapping out your journey. So what are the goals you intend to accomplish with your product creation ventures? The everyday travails of your business may make you forget the end in sight. On the other hand, prepare to entertain new developments that come to your mind in your product creation. Your conception of a product may have started this way, but a few tweaks here and there along with some market research results and it ends up another way. Take it as the result of a creative process, not as a failure to reach your goal. After all, your product creation activities are intertwined with a long-term goal that you should strive to sustain at your utmost: profit generation. So if your less profitable initial idea evolves to a more profitable product, be thankful!

With your product made up already, start doing some aggressive Internet marketing. A product purchase typically comes after more than five times a customer is exposed to an informative call-to-buy message. Thus it is important to get the contact details, like the e-mail address, of potential customers who are on the brink of a sale. Use the results of your market research to determine the demographics to which you should concentrate your marketing efforts.

With consistent product creation, you can make an inventory of your products that you can market in due time. Just keep making products – the moment you succeed in making and marketing a product, customers are surely wanting more from you, so give it to them. Keep them on your side through constant product creation.

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Road Map to a Home Based Business For Women

Whenever we think of a computer geek, we tend to imagine a young man in thick dark rimmed glasses peering into a computer. However, women have also made gigantic strides into the world of technology. Closer to home and keeping technology in mind, a home based business for women is probably the next emerging trend. The male dominated ranks of “Internet Gurus” is starting to fill up with women, with increasing numbers of women owning websites dedicated to providing the necessary tools that are conducive to online success. More than men, women are embracing the internet community and the numerous advantages of a home based business for women are especially enticing to women.* Stay at home practical benefits:The freedom of choice can become exhilarating, although a drawback can be complacency. Time management and fervent dedication to a goal are essential qualities that should be mastered early on. Being able to stay at home can sometimes be doubly beneficial to women over 50 since they can perform chores such as providing home day care for children (either for their family or for financial gain) and still have the time and stamina to manage a home based business for women. Since practically all fields of interest can be open to women in the online world, the initial step should be to review personal expertise in a specific field and stick with it once the decision is made.One of the biggest mistakes that beginning online marketers make is not to let a certain direction have the opportunity to take hold. Just flitting from one promising opportunity to the next can easily lead to wasted time and money. The emotional benefits of staying at home are not to be understated either. Brainstorming the merits of a certain home based business for women with loved ones can lead to enhanced closeness and helping others make money is a gratifying experience in itself. Not having to answer to a demanding boss is a dream finally come true.* Financial benefits:Beyond the obvious value of making money from a home based business for women, the immediate financial benefits come in the form of reduced travel expenses, dry cleaning or meal expenses associated with working outside the home, clothing, shoes or cosmetics expenses, to name a few. Having the extra time to peruse newspapers or the internet for special deals on needed items will also result in additional savings.* Tax advantages:Having a formal home based business for women will make you eligible to deduct a percentage of your home expenses, such as mortgage, utilities, property taxes, homeowner’s insurance, repairs or improvements, and finally depreciation. For this purpose, having a tax professional, such as an accountant, conduct a formal evaluation would be money well spent since these types of tax deductions tend to raise your IRS audit score.* Skills enhancement:Running your own home based business for women will force you into learning new skills as you become the sole decision maker and will have to be knowledgeable about all the aspects of running a successful business. Remember, you are the CEO. Working from home typically involve low or very low overhead costs, thus budgeting for your business will be less stressful. Online work budgeting commonly consists of training course and marketing costs that are strictly controlled by you.Overall, a home based business for women can be of terrific value, just keep in mind that this is WORK; juxtaposed to the brick and mortar world, this work can sometimes be combined with pleasure.

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Advanced Thinking Concepts for Investing in a Property Management Firm in Uganda

As the Ugandan economy continues developing, the property market will grow. Many of the property sector investors however will probably not have time to manage the properties themselves on a day to day basis. They will increasingly rely on property management firms.

Before considering property management in Uganda as an investment option, the investor needs to however be aware of the following:

THE CONS

1. Legal hurdles.

You should be aware that in Uganda, owing to the poor land tenure system, combined with administrative inefficiencies and corruption, property purchase and construction is often fraught with legal difficulties. It is not uncommon for individuals to obtain illegal planning permits for construction of properties in say gazetted zones like wetlands and forest reserves. Subsequently rectifying this irregularity has often resulted in long drawn out legal processes and the owner and thus the property manager often lose revenues during the non occupancy of the disputed property.

2. Reputation.

Property management firms like any other businesses need to exhibit a high degree of integrity for potential clients to handover the properties. In Uganda there have been some high-profile court cases involving property managers, including one of a leading property management firm whose managing director conned a potential purchaser of advance monies paid. There was a significant reputation loss. If you are considering investing in this sector, you should therefore ensure you maintain the high standards of professional ethics such as separating client and office monies as well as maintaining good accounting records, otherwise your reputation can easily be dented.

3. The property market bubble.

Whilst the global credit crisis continues depressing property values in places such as the USA and the UK, In Uganda this is not particularly being felt for a myriad of reasons. In the commercial sector, malls and shopping centres continue to spring up in the capital city Kampala and its suburbs to cater for the growing middle class and increasing population as a result of rural- urban migration which is currently estimated at 3%-5% per annum.

In the residential sector owing to a general shortage of housing there is always demand for property and as such the property values continue to rise. The shortage of housing is primarily because just like many cities across sub Saharan Africa, rural-urban migration to Kampala has resulted in significant population growth not matched by construction and thus causing a shortage of housing, particularly for the low and middle level income earners.

The main risk of the property bubble in Uganda would arise from political instability which would lead to collapse of the sector.

4. Competition

The competition for property management in this sector is as follows:

At the top end of the market are international property management firm affiliates like Knight Frank. In addition there are ISO certified companies like Amalgamated Property Consultants (APS) as well as large and reputable property management companies such as Crane Management services which is under the Ruparelia Group of companies.

At the lower end of the market are property brokers who also double as property managers for their clients. These typically cater for low-income earners’ housing.

In my model, I advocate that the property management investor will need to develop their niche as follows:

1) A firm that is an affiliate or franchise holder of an international property management firm. In Uganda, as far as I know, international property management firms like CBRE and Colliers have no local representation except for Knight Frank. There is therefore an opportunity for the investor to ensure that their firm gets affiliation to these international firms. This will give them instant brand recognition and the perceived quality and reputation already associated with the international firms. In addition they will benefit from the referrals if clients of the international firm seek a local representative in Uganda. I can expect that this affiliation has contributed to the success of Knight Frank Uganda.

2) A firm that has some brokers on its payroll. Brokers in Uganda tend to act independent of any firm, are semi illiterate and lack sufficient working capital to deal with potential clients.If the firm therefore guarantees them a daily allowance say of shs. 10,000 to cater for meals, transport and communication for their activities, they are likely to refer future business to the firm, particularly if they are unable to handle it themselves.

THE PROS

Excellent return on capital

In my model I expect that the investment will be returned in about 6 months. The reason for this is manifold:

a) The property manager’s advertising will emphasise property management as their core business. This is such that the firm can develop inside knowledge of the sector as well as establish itself as a reputable leader in the sector. When they have developed a good reputation, clients can then entrust them with property sales, which tend to be more lucrative than property management.The property management side is therefore in business terms called the “loss leader”.

b) A significant part of the marketing budget will go to the brokers rather than traditional avenues of marketing like TV and newspaper advertisements. This is because the Ugandan real estate sector is highly informal and as such a significant portion of the illiterate/semi illiterate but wealthy persons will usually revert to the brokers who just like them are often illiterate/semi illiterate. It therefore becomes critical to have these brokers as a linkage to such clientele.

In my model, I expect returns will be as below:

Capital Investment(A): Shs 35, 149, 155

Profit per year (B): Shs. 58,803,380

Return on Investment/Capital (years to get capital back) (A/B): 0.6 years

FINAL WORD

The basics you must get right before investing:

1. Property management software. You must invest in good software to provide you with real-time client accounts and reporting. This will give the client the assurance as to your integrity. I cannot recommend a particular software but a Google search should yield one.

2. Maintain a good contact data base. Property management requires liaison with several bodies including city council authorities, land authorities, utility suppliers, repairs and maintenance personnel, lawyers and brokers. I expect that a good property management software system will have a robust Database Management System at its heart. I will reiterate, include a good lawyer and accountant on this contact database.

3. Become an affiliate of an international property management firm. If you cannot afford one with an international firm such as CBRE or Colliers then go for a locally reputable firm like APS.

For over 8 years I have worked with several clients providing audit, accounts, tax and advisory in sectors ranging from agriculture, mining, entertainment, financial services and technology. My client portfolio in Uganda, The Bahamas and The Channel Islands, United Kingdom has equally been diverse and this experience has given me a “well rounded” view of business including several clients in the Real Estate/Property market.