Business Management: Anchored on Ethical Values

 How to Manage a Business

The internet has brought many benefits to mankind, but it has also brought with it a whole lot of problems. The internet has given the world the ability to connect with one another on a global scale. There is an abundance of information, entertainment, and knowledge that can be obtained with just few clicks. The internet has also made it very easy for companies to take advantage of people. Some may steal personal information, give false information and false hope and use some tactics in order to get you to buy on something. Now that the internet is the world, businesses with high focus on human resources could get into a more sustainable and stable place in their own niches. It is really very important for business owners to be ethical, honest and fair at all times. If you are a business owner and would want to thrive, focus on how you treat people fairly and you will see growth unstoppable, otherwise, self-centeredness leads to ineffectiveness and useless efforts.

What is an ethical company?

An ethical company is a company that is committed to the social and environmental responsibility, and also takes care of their employees. A company that is ethical does not run on greed, but rather on the best interests of the business and the people in it, as well as the people who are willing to join the human resource or workforce. A company that is ethical will listen to their employees and respond to their needs. An ethical business will be committed to the social and environmental responsibility geared toward their clients, their workforce, and those they mingle with whether online or offline.

How to make ethical decisions?

The main goal of a business is to make profits, but the company should also have a strong ethical culture, which can help to keep the company in line with its values. There are a few methods that can be used to help make ethical decisions, but the best one is to have high value ethics at all times in any point regardless of any unstable situations the company or business is experiencing. Ethical decisions works best when fairness is not taken for granted. In order to have a company culture that is focused on making ethical decisions, it is important to have a set of values that are shared amongst and around the workforce.

How to deal with unethical companies?

The best way to deal with an unethical business is to report them to the Better Business Bureau. The Better Business Bureau is a place where consumers can file a complaint about companies that are not following the law. If you are unsatisfied with your purchase, the BBB will help you to find a resolution. They will also help you to file a complaint about any unethical practices. The BBB keeps a close eye on companies and will contact them if there are any irregularities. In addition to the BBB, you should also contact the company's Board of Directors. The Board of Directors is responsible for overseeing the company and they will be able to help you with any complaints.

Conclusion

Managing a business can be a daunting task, but it is also one of the most rewarding task. If you have ever been a manager, you know that there is a lot of work involved. You have to make sure that your workforce are doing their job to the best of their abilities. You also have to ensure that your they are doing their work in a timely manner and that they are working as a team. You also have to make sure that your company is running smoothly and that the business is making profits. Business management then, should be founded with high ethical and strong core values such as fairness, integrity, commitment, honesty and excellence.

"You can measure a man by the opposition it takes to discourage him." - Robert C. Savage

"A certain amount of opposition is of great help to a man. Kites rise against, not with the wind." - John Neal

Content Marketing: How to Drive High Quality Traffic to Your Website

The internet is a great place to market products and services.  In this article, we will discuss about content marketing and why content marketing is an effective way to generate high quality traffic to your website. I will also provide some tips on how to drive high quality traffic to your products or services.

1. What is content marketing?

Content marketing is a powerful marketing strategy that allows you to create and distribute content that is relevant to your niche. The content can be about anything, but focuses mainly within your niche. The contents can be in the form of articles, videos, audio files, or any other type of media. With content marketing, you have the ability to build a large audience that is interested in what you have to say through written texts, audios, infographics and videos or a combination of these. The content will then be shared across social media platforms and other websites. This sharing will help drive traffic to your website or blog, channels and pages and ultimately to your products or services.

2. Why content marketing is effective

A lot of people are turning to content marketing specifically video marketing because it is one of the most effective way to generate traffic to their products or services. There are many different types of content marketing – it can be organic or paid. Why content marketing is effective? The most important thing to remember is that the goal of content marketing is to help people find solutions to their problems thus giving them value. Providing a solution like explaining in the “How to…” in a videos can be compelling. Even providing solution through infographics in a “Steps on how to…” can give audience a high-value creative and time-saving descriptive images through simplified content solution. Another content is through texts or articles.  Article marketing cannot be undermined because of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Quality articles drive great traffic to blogs and websites if these articles are SEO optimized at all angles – meta descriptions, alt texts, keywords on-page or off-page links, etc. Writing articles with a combination of other media like graphics, videos and audios will give a fantastic result. For example, people are searching video content for a certain niche, the videos in your content may show up in Facebook, Tiktok, Youtube, etc. When they are looking for audio, there is also a big chance that the podcast will be shown to your targeted audience. And when they are looking for graphics or illustrated content, your infographic content may be shown through Pinterest as well.

3. How to drive high quality traffic to your website

The best way to drive high quality traffic to your website is to put a lot of effort into your SEO. It would also be best if you put a lot of effort into your content like putting keywords into the right places – titles, tags, headlines, meta descriptions, etc. The content should be unique and not just copied from other websites. You should also put a few links to your best content pages where it makes sense. When you include your keywords in the web pages' title tags, posts and meta descriptions, be sure to use a combination of low competition and long tail keywords. This helps the search engines find your pages much more effortless. You should also include your keywords in the content images and video titles. Avoid too much links pointing outside your website if necessary. If you cannot avoid putting links for your affiliate products or services, make a pillar page or pillar post within your blog or website dedicated for this purpose, where you can use this page to put all the necessary links. Be sure to set to a  “nofollow” attribute for best result.

Share your contents to social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, etc. Use paid advertising if you would like to optimize and scale. I will make a separate post about paid advertising soon.

4. Conclusion.

The best way to drive high-quality traffic to your products and services is to create a blog, a page or pages, channels, boards or a combination of all of these. Then use them to promote your products and services. Once you have created your blog, pages, channels and boards, you should make sure that it is optimized for search engines. SEO optimized contents will surely find a “sweet spot” in the search engines' algorithms. So be sure to name your images, videos and audios with the right keywords. Contents with the right meta descriptions, titles and headlines will rank higher in the search engines. I hope this article helped you understand much better about content marketing and gave you solutions on how to drive high quality traffic to your products and services. If you apply these techniques, then you will surely find and see to yourself that content marketing is indeed, easy and not difficult at all.

"Work joyfully and peacefully, knowing that right thoughts and right efforts will inevitable bring about right results." - James Allen

"We go where our vision is." - Joseph Edward Murphy

 

FAQ: Related Questions on Starting A Business

        Starting a business can be hard work, but it doesn't need to be. There are lots of resources out there to help you start your own business, and you can find them by searching through Google and other platforms and by observing business models and most importantly your determination to start and build one. Before you start any business, you need to decide what products or services you will provide.  Start by thinking about your interests, passion, hobbies and skills. You will have to determine what items you will sell or what services you will provide.

        These are the questions that need to be answered clearly so that you will be able to plan clearly and implement those plans effectively.

1. What is your passion?
2. What are your talents?
3. What are your interests?
4. What are your skills?
5. Who is your target audience?
6. How will you get your audience?
7. How will you market your business?
8. What are your goals with the business?
9. What will you do when things get stressful?
10.How will you handle revenues?

1. What is your passion?        

        Our passion is our inspiration. Our passion is what drives us to live everyday with so much zeal. These are what we value, that which make us stand out and inspire us to do something different or better. It's what makes us happy on a daily basis. The answer to this question will be part of a strong foundation of your business. For example, you like cooking a lot and is your passion. With this, you can provide a catering business, a food blog and vlogs, etc.

2. What are your talents?

        This is the million dollar question. The answer is related to different types of people with different types of talents. Everyone has talents that are unique to themselves. You can be an expert on something or you can be a multi-tasker gifted with diverse talents. Whatever your talents are, enhance and use them. Explore what you are good at and what you can bring to the table. Your talents are your superpower that will help you bring your best to your business as well as to your personal life. For example, you are a talented guitarist. You can use that talent in bringing a new guitar application, start an online course on guitar lessons and the like.

 3. What are your interests?

        Your interests will inspire you to further expand your business. This will make you move out of the box. It may be that you are a talented cook but your interest is dancing or singing. Have you gone to a restaurant where the cook are dancing and singing while cooking? Oh, you must visit one!

 4. What are your skills?

        Skills are learned through different ways and once you have learned them, these are hard to forget. Your skills can become your expertise. For example, you are a highly skilled diver - of course divers surely know how to swim. But not all swimmers are divers yet they could learn how to dive as well and could become expert divers, too. How then will this help you in your business? Well, map out your business plan and see how you can use your skills to serve more or do more products.

5. Who is your target audience?

        When you have identified your talents, interests and skills, your target audience can now be easily identified or defined. For example, you want to offer diving lessons to either these three audiences: 1. expert swimmers without diving knowledge 2.  those who do not know how to swim nor dive 3. newbie swimmers and learning how to dive. You will have different approaches and tools for all these three audiences and from here, you can start how to plan your pool, equipment, etc.

6. How will you get your audience?
7. How will you market your business?

        These two question will be answered better and answers will be implemented more effectively through observing and analyzing the market. It can be that you promote via social media platforms, word of mouth, etc.  

8. What are your goals with the business?

        You should plan and set your business goals clearly in order to be successful.

9. What will you do when things get stressful?

        You may be thinking that this one question is weird at this point. Well, I tell you it is not. Your answer to this question must be straight forward and clear as well depending on situations. Some questions like, what will you do when you see that sales are low while “fix expenses” are fluctuating, too. Should you close? Should you raise prices? Should you lessen employees? These questions are answerable by “yes” or “no” NOT “maybe”, because if it is, you’ll get a sure answer to this question as well - are you profiting from your business now?

10. How will you handle revenues?

        Where do you want your profits to be used? A portion may be invested, a portion will be used for expansion, etc.

Conclusion        

        So whether you want to start an traditional business or an online business, these basic questions will be of much help. I hope you enjoyed reading my blog on this topic. Feel free to browse our shop here.

"Better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing perfectly." - Robert Schuller

"Beauty is also to be found in a day's work." - Mamie Sypert Burns

 

Work At Home Ideas

         As the workforce shifts from office to online, people are working from home more often. Whether you're a full-time office worker in a cubicle, or a freelancer with a laptop, your office is probably in your house.

            This is one of the many reasons why the idea of working from home has become a popular concept. But with the increase in technology, many people are finding themselves working from home too much. It's difficult to balance work with personal time and that can cause stress. Luckily, there are ways you can work from home without burning out.

         For a successful and productive work from home experience, you need to have a plan. Plan what time of the day you will focus on working from home. In that way, you may be able to manage your time doing other chores while at home. It is important to have a plan for when you are working from home so that you can stay productive and happy.

Work from home tips

         If you are looking for work from home ideas, you have come to the right place. There are a lot of work from home ideas that you can try out. You can find a job, start your own business, or find a way to make money online.

            There are a lot of different ways to make money online and it is important to choose the one that is right for you. It is also important to think about how much time you are willing to put into your work. Some work from home ideas can be done in a short amount of time, while others can take a lot of time.

            You should also consider what type of work you want to do. Some work from home ideas are better suited for people who are creative, while others are better for people who are technical. Here are some of the best work from home ideas that you can try out:

1. Work from home as a virtual assistant.

2. Work from home as a virtual salesperson.

3. Work from home as a freelance writer.

4. Work from home as a freelance artist

5. Work from home as a blogger

6. Work from home as a vlogger

7. Work from home as a web designer

8. Work from home as a copy editor or proof reader

9. Work from home as a tutor

10. Work from home as an online seller

11. Work from home as a photo editor

12. Work from home as a video editor

13. Work from home as an affiliate marketer

14. Work from home as an encoder

15. Work from home as a publisher

16. Work from home as an advertiser

17. Work from home as a transcriber

18. Work from home as a social media manager

19. Work from home as a digital product developer

20. Work from home as drop shipper

 Work from home tools

The following tools can help you do your work effectively:

1. A reliable internet connection
2. A laptop computer or desktop computer
3. A good headset
4. A good chair
5. A good desk or table
6. A reliable printer
7. A printer stand
8. A good lamp or desk lamp
9. A conducive working environment

Conclusion

        I hope you enjoyed this blog about work from home ideas. I wanted to share some tips for those who are considering starting a work from home business. There may be some ideas here that will help you on your path to success. If you have any further questions, please reach out to us or leave a comment below. Thank you for reading, I would love to hear from you!

"Writing is thinking on paper." - Willian Zinsser

"When the will is ready, the feet are light." - Unknown Proverb

Affiliate Marketing: The Online Education Niche

The Online Education Niche 

The Shift

The situation of the world where we are in right now (as of this time) allows many of us to adapt to so many changes – from traditional business stores to opening online shops; from commute lifestyle jobs to home-based jobs; from classroom set- up to home schooling; from mall shopping to online shopping, and the like. These shifts made many excited while these also made others anxious and bored. What about you? Life must go on… And, it must be in a deeper, higher and wider perspective no matter what. Now, learn to adapt and adjust. 

Online Education

Over the past three months, I was not able to write articles or blog posts for this site because we (my family) were busy in digital product creation for one of our online shops in the education niche. My husband and I are not teachers but while we are helping our child to understand some of her lessons, some Google ads are popping up while we search for subject areas related to the lessons which we hardly remember. This has led us to create digital product(s) that have now been posted in an online education digital platform where it is now making some few sales. I will post our online shop link in the “SHOP” page when we reach our 100^th product milestone.

The online education niche is rising these days especially in the South-East Asia. Entrepreneurs, designers, influencers, business owners specially the affiliate marketers and coaches are looking into the potential of online education platforms. For marketers, target audience is easy to identify and this makes marketing worthwhile products and services easy, as well.

Products and services you can promote:

1.       Educational Games

2.       E-books / Books

3.       Planners / Journals

4.       Courses

5.       Training

6.       Membership sites

7.       Tutoring sites

Micro niches:

1.       Instrumental Music

2.       Graphic Arts

3.       Music Composition

4.       Visual Arts

5.       Creative Writing

6.       Informational Texts

7.       Expository Writing

8.       Classroom Management

9.       Critical Thinking

10.   Life Skills

11.   All subjects – including but not limited to: English, Science, Math, etc.

Types of Products and Services:

1.       Physical Products

2.       Online Services

3.       Digital Products

4.       Combination of physical and digital products

The Need

Educational resources are almost everywhere. Yes, this is true. But you will see how many more quality materials and resources are so much needed this time. If you can find or create worthwhile educational resources or materials for learners, please do so and share. It will help a lot improve students’ engagement in learning and studying and inspiring other educators do the same.

21^st Century Educational Technology

With the help of advanced technology, dissemination of ideas and resources can now be made real-time in places where internet is available. Teachers or educators who are adapting and adjusting to this so called “technology-enriched environment” are clambering and scrambling to meet the demand.

Product Creation

You can share your knowledge and ideas in the educational environment even if you are not a teacher/tutor/educator by creating products and services for them to use in their teaching – whether teaching online or in a classroom setting. How to do that? Well, you can make resources which can be printed for distribution or resources that can be used digitally without the need for printing. You may give them for free or you can sell them in online marketplaces of educational materials.

Printable Products vs Digital Products

Not all learners and teachers are comfortable in using some applications available online. They need printed resources so they can focus and not disturbed with popping ads or not tempted in clicking almost every button to satisfy their curiosity. As a product creator, you can make both versions and make it compatible with what they need whether printable or digital materials.

Types of E-learning Platforms

1.       Student Management System (SMS)

2.       Assessment Software

3.       Virtual Classroom Software

4.       Video Conference Software

5.       Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC)

6.       Learning Management System (LMS)

7.       Online Tutoring Platforms

8.       Online Marketplaces

Think of how you can contribute to the online education community – it’s worthwhile, indeed!

“Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.” -Abigail Adams

“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.” -Henry Ford 

Affiliate Marketing: Shopee Shops with Trending Products

Shopee Shops with Trending Products for Affiliate Marketers and Shoppers

If you are an affiliate marketer in the Philippines or Southeast Asia who is looking for an affiliate marketing programs and products to advertise, then continue reading. This article was written to give you an idea about the Top 10 evergreen niches that you can tap in the affiliate marketing world. And yes, these are Shopee shops with trending products.

So, here we go. This list is classified according to Product Category.

Shopee Shops: Food and Beverages 

Staple needs are now being prioritized by those who have kids and senior citizens in their houses and even those who are working and studying at home. The new normal compels most people to give priority and importance of having healthy food and beverages always available. This product category does not need heavy marketing at all because the products are very in demand yet consumable.

 

Shopee Shops: Vitamins and Minerals:

Vitamins and minerals make our bodies strong and these help boost our immune systems fight diseases. Today, there is a big demand on food supplements. People are now becoming more aware about the importance of healthy lifestyle and diet. While some are researching for healthy recipes to cook for their families and love ones including their selves, some people would like to supplement those lacking vitamins in their recipes with food supplements readily available anytime. Do not just promote, be sure to take your vitamins and minerals as well.

     Shopee Shops: Mobile Gadgets, Laptops, Computers

     The shift from commuting to and from offices to working at home have made more people set up their home offices and study areas for their children thereby increasing the demand for gadgets, laptops, computers, printers and the like. Some started blogging and vlogging in order to build their income streams. As an affiliate marketer, we must see to it that the products we promote are of high quality and durable. Aim to help customers find their needs or best suit their needs and solve their needs.

     Shopee Shops: Furniture 

     To complete the set of home offices and study rooms, the demand for furniture like office tables, office chairs, study tables, study chairs, file cabinets, etc. have also increased. Although furniture is hard to market before the pandemic started, the ease of marketing this category is now unfolding. I have seen some who are buying such products through my affiliate links without even marketing them. So I have included this category in this list.

     Shopee Shops: Home Appliances 

     Some people were laid off from their jobs (and if you are one of them, take heart!) while many have chosen to leave the city life and chose to resign from their jobs and moved to their provinces to start small businesses. Many have set up food business lines, food packaging, food delivery and franchises, etc. These have increased the demands for more freezers, refrigerators, cooking utensils, food storages and food packaging and the like. And if you are good in cooking and baking, why not plan to start this kind of business to add up to your income. As the saying goes, “Love what you do, do what you love.”

      Shopee Shops: Garments and Textiles

     Since the rise of online shopping in the Philippines, manufacturing and selling or reselling of “ready-to-wear” products have also increased since people from the corporate world also have shifted using casual wears instead of wearing their coats and ties. Garments and textiles industry is one of the largest categories where ages 0 to100s can be targeted as your market. If you choose this niche, or if you are in this niche, make sure to buy and try the products first or get some samples first before selling them. This way, you can figure out how to best describe them to your own customers if you are selling them online. But if you are selling them with some stocks on hand, you don’t need to.

     Shopee Shops: Farm Products

     Farm products are some of the untapped demand industry yet is now beginning to unfold especially in the Philippines. Today, people in the urban areas are now setting up their urban farms, vertical gardens, container gardens, etc. So, the demand for farm products like seeds, plant cuttings, animal feeds, plant containers, soil enhancers, fertilizers and other planting materials and farm inputs are now becoming popular. For me and my family, this is our favorite product category because it is very easy to identify the market and the market needs or market demand and so it is very easy to grow customers from anywhere in the Philippines.

   Shopee Shops: Digital Products 

     Do you know that online shoppers also look for discount vouchers for future use? Yes, digital products has unlimited potential and will write a separate article on this. 

    Shopee Shops: Pet products

     Nowadays, in order to fight boredom people get busy with pets just like being busy in their gardens. They like to have some pets with them – as their emotional challenger or they simply love taking care of pets. . The pet grooming products, dog foods, cat foods, etc. have increased with a huge percentage as compared few years ago.

      Shopee Shops: Educational products and office supplies 

     Do you wonder why the demand for office supplies has increased which is ironic with many offices closing temporarily? The shift from work commute to work at home lifestyle including online classes for students, have made the demand for papers, bond papers, pens, ball pens, coloring booklets, printing materials, etc. increased tremendously and that is one of the reason. Another is, most local stores buy office supplies on wholesale for them to sell these office supplies at retail. 

     BONUS

     Shopee Shops: Electronics

     You can browse anything and you will see electronic products pop up anywhere and anytime in your screen at any time.

The list above is the most trending product categories in evergreen niches. As an affiliate marketer you must identify your advertisers (affiliate marketing program owners) as well as know more of your target audience in order to be successful in the affiliate marketing world. If you will notice, these shops have a high credibility score as well as product ratings. Some are new while others have spring forth ages ago.

“A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.” -Francis Bacon

“It's choice - not chance - that determines your destiny.” -Jean Nidetch

“Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan.” -Tom Landry

 

 

 

Affiliate Marketing: Top Ten Shopee Mall Shops (Lazada Shops) to Promote

List of Top Ten Shopee and Lazada Mall Shops to Promote

This is a list of most recommended Shopee Mall Shops to promote. These shops have strong credibility and have gained customers’ trust over the past few months, years and decades.

So if you are an affiliate marketer in the Philippines looking for affiliate products to promote, check out these shops with their links to Shopee and Lazada:

1. The SM Store - The SM Store is owned by Mr Henry Sy, Sr., it started as a shoemart in Carriedo, Manila, Philippines in 1958 and expanded as store chain nationwide, now is one of the most successful businesses in the Philippines. It has expanded from shoe store to almost all lines of businesses – banking, investments, holdings, land development, etc.
   
   
2. Watsons – Watsons is a health care supply chain store in some parts of Asia and Europe. It has almost 8000 stores and 1500 pharmacies in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, mainland China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, Russia and Vietnam. Its headquarters is located in Hong Kong.  Watsons is one of the best choice to promote as an affiliate marketer because of its credibility.
   
   
3. Human Nature – Human Nature is a health and beauty product manufacturer.  Human Nature sells their products through membership and dealership packages. Its advocate is to promote Philippine natural products and aims to help the masses by selling their quality products at very affordable prices.  As an affiliate marketer, you have two options, you can promote their products displayed in Shopee or Lazada or become a dealer and have your own online dealer store.  Whichever you prefer, best results come by willingness to succeed – apply your talents and put extra efforts to reach your goals.
   
   
4. Belo Essentials –Belo Essentials is a very well known brand of beauty products. Belo Essentials is owned by Maria Victoria "Vicki" Gonzalez Belo-Kho, a Filipina dermatologist and television personality. She is the founder, CEO, and medical director of Belo Medical Group. Belo Essentials products are some of the most sought brands by Filipino men and women, as well as some foreign nationals who come to visit the Philippines.
   
   
5. Puritan’s Pride Philippines- Puritan’s Pride Philippines is a one of the most recommended brands of health and wellness products. Puritan’s Pride’s headquarter is located in New York, U.S.A. Puritan’s Pride carries lines of vitamins, minerals and food supplements for adults. Their products is very easy to market and promote because the company is trustworthy and has strong credibility not just in the Philippines but around the world.
   
   
6. Oppo – Oppo Philippines is one of the most trusted brands of mobile phones in the country. Their products are of high quality, user-friendly and budget-friendly. Aside from these, their products are trendy and very durable. Most millenials are using this brand because the features fit well in this digital age. If you are an affiliate marketer who is very picky in promoting products, this brand will not fail you.  Oppo Philippines has proven its worth in the country as well as across the globe.
   
   
7. Vivo – Vivo products are user friendly and budget-friendly just like Oppo. Vivo has taken the lead in their X, V, and Y series.  Their products have a very high market demand and most get easily sold out. So if you are the kind of an affiliate marketer who promotes and describes all details in your product promotion, try to shift to a better strategy of promoting the store as a whole than by promoting individual products. OR, try to promote individual products with a countdown timer just not to fail customers who wishes to take more time before purchasing the product(s). Vivo is an excellent brand for on-the-go customers.
   
   
8. Zeus ph  - Zeus ph offers the latest curations from Nike, Vans, New Balance, Puma and today's top sports brands sourced from their official Philippine partners of well known brands. ZeusPH caters high quality products and customers service with utmost level. Zeus ph is a booming avenue of various trusted brands known across the globe.
   
   
9. Unilever Home Care – Unilever Home Care is a company that carries different well known brands worldwide. The business give high value to their advocacies to raise standards of living, protect and regenerate nature, to promote positive nutrition, wellness and health, etc. Unilever Home Care brands are very easy to promote and advertise because the reputation of their brand partners have been proven ages ago until today. So, if you want to aim for a long-term customers keep promoting their products. Why? Their products are mostly consumables. When loyalty and trust of customers to the brands they carry have been established, it is very easy to earn commissions repeatedly.
   
   
10. Quaker Philippines – Buy and taste then advertise -it is included in my TOP TEN!

The Need to Plan Your Advertising Strategy

Affiliate marketers who would like to build their online presence, credibility and authority do not act in haste – they plan their strategies.  If you heard this: “A/B Testing”, that is commonly used in order to save time and costs, it is what I am emphasizing with much details. A/B tests are best recommended when you use paid advertising. It is good to analyze statistics or data in order for you to optimize your profits and minimize your costs to the lowest level possible. 

You may be asking why I have listed these top ten shopee mall shops for marketing and then in the last part of this article jumps to A/B testing? The reason is this: choosing products to promote is very easy, choosing the right audience is easy, choosing potential customers from your audience is never easy – so you have to test which ads will work best. I remember what my former professor said (or asked), “What is the difference between Chinese businessmen and Filipino businessmen?” There was silence in our class since more than half of our class are Filipino-Chinese, some are full-blooded Filipinos while more than one-fourth are full-blooded Chinese but are Filipino citizens! Then, the silence was broken when one of my classmates raise his hand and answered, "It depends, Miss." 

Now, whether you belong to the class or not, you must be in the right place to see the best perspective.

"In business, you don't get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate." - Chester L. Karrass

Publishing: Low Content and No Content Publishing Business

Low Content and No Content Books

No content and low content publishing at Amazon Bookstore is another great business idea that you can start anytime and continue to earn royalties as long as the e-books or books are available in the Kindle Bookstore.  So, what are no content and low content books?  No content and low content books are products categorized as books with minimal contents like coloring books, children’s books, journals and diaries, prayer guide journals, diaries, quotation books, etc. while no content books are products without any content at all like, notebooks, sketchpads, ruled notebooks, math notebooks and the like.

No Content and Low Content Books: How to publish

This article written previously will guide you how to create an account at KDP, "Earn Passive Income by Publishing E-books".  The simple steps are very easy to follow.  Then after account creation at Kindle Direct Publishing Platform,  you have to the following steps:

The No Content or Low Content Publishing Steps

Here let us focus on Low Content Publishing although the same steps are followed when publishing No Contents books. This list is my own procedure which you may follow if you wish or set this as a guide as a beginner in the KDP publishing world.

Low Content Publishing Step #1 Prepare the details of your low content book

You should have a clear title, sub-title and book descriptions ready. Why? This is where your basis on where to focus on working on the covers and interiors of your book. Amazon would like that the book front covers bear a word or phrases from your book title. When we (my family and I) first uploaded our first Low Content books, we did not know about this so the books were returned to “draft” mode for us to edit the covers and re-upload them.  So, if you would like your work to be smooth and avoid major edits, you should keep this in mind. Also, start to build your own brand which will give you a cutting edge in terms of advertising and product promotions.

Low Content Publishing Step #2 Research the keywords you will use and decide the categories of your Low Content books.

As a beginner, do not skip the keywords section because this is very important. Keywords are essential in finding your products across Search Engines as well as within Amazon.  If you do not know what exact keywords to use, go to the homepage of Amazon, choose books department then type in your niche in the search bar. You can see the search bar portion auto-filled with phrases while typing in – those are useful.  Now, decide what to use from there. Fill in all the 7 blank areas for keywords and make a research on what are the best keywords to use.

Then, decide two (2) categories for your books.  For me, this is essential to know at first before making the Low Content manuscripts and covers as these give me a clearer vision of the outcome of what the covers will look like. For example, on coloring books: you will decide if it is an adult coloring book, or kid’s coloring books. (these seats at different categories) diving deeper into niches, coloring book for adults – inspirational or motivational artworks and lettering. (these would again fall into another category) . Other publishers choose the categories after the manuscripts and covers of the books have been prepared. But, everyone has his own strategies how to manage things and make them work well with the right outcome.  Look and follow what will work best for you.

Low Content Publishing Step #3 Decide the size of the manuscripts

Since Low Content books fall under paperbacks, the size is definite. You should define what is the height and width and how many pages will there be. The minimum required number of pages for paperbacks in Amazon is 25 pages. I suggest that you make it a little bit higher.

TIP: Make an interior or manuscript that you can re-use even with just a little edits. Examples: Planners, Study Journals or any evergreen niches. With this strategy in mind and in place in your works, you  will save a lot of costs, effort and time which in the long run will make you more efficient and flexible.

Low Content Publishing Step #4. Work on your manuscripts and covers.

You can create your interiors or manuscripts yourself using Word document or Power point and export them to PDF. You may also hire somebody in Fiverr or Upwork to work on your manuscripts and covers. You may use Canva- free or pro in your interiors and covers, too. You can join Canva here

Design your covers according to your categories and titles. My family is helping me with these. My daughter, who is a grade schooler as o this writing, creates amazing cover designs in her free time when she is not doing her Lesson Modules or in her online class.  Most of her designs  have been uploaded to KDP and are now LIVE at the Amazon bookstore. She is so happy and my husband and I are so thankful  and glad as well.

Low Content Publishing Step #5. Publish your Low Content books

After the covers and manuscripts have been finalized, upload them to KDP, set pricing and publish.

Low Content Publishing Step #6. Advertise or Promote your Low Content books

To be found in amazon is neither easy nor hard especially if you have applied the best strategies and procedures but is the competition is very high especially these days, you need to step higher in order to be found. How do you do this? You advertise or promote your products. Social media platforms is one of the most effective way to advertise for free.

Resources and Tools

Here is a list of resources we personally use in our Low Content publishing business.

•        Microsoft Word - FREE
•        Microsoft Powerpoint - FREE
•        Microsoft Paint -FREE
•        Adobe Acrobat-FREE
•        Canva Pro
•        CreativeFabrica.

As a beginner, you may use all those resources mentioned to start building a passive income. Yes, there is a great passive income in Amazon. Here is a proof that building a strong foundation and clear goals for a business gives good results.

As of this writing, there are now over 200 Low and No Content books which are now LIVE at the KDP Amazon bookstore.  Some of these are already making income for us. Our goal is to add more low content books during the year and continue to add consistently in the next years to come.

"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments." -Jim Rohn