When you have registered as an online affiliate with a merchant, you know that your next step is to start promoting the affiliate product. The promotion campaign is done by generating traffic to your affiliate web page. When you have worked hard to drive traffic to your site, you want to make sure it will convert the visitors into your customers. How do you do that? This article will share some common truth about good web site design for you to make money from your affiliate program.The first thing you have to consider for your web page is ease of access to information. Good site navigation planning, precise location indicators, clear linked text and a well organized structure all contribute to making information easy to find for a wide range of different users.You have to bear in mind that many of your visitors are new internet users thus inexperienced. It may be necessary to include explanations of the things you consider self explanatory. For example, an internet newbie may need an explanation of how to use a drop down menu. The goal here is to make is as easy as possible for people to use your web site. You do not want your visitor to get confused and leave your page causing you to loose your sale.For new or experienced internet marketers, one of the online business educations you will learn is on web site design. The objective of a good web page is to convert the visitors into a customer. We want to minimize any distraction or confusion for the user. In order to do that, it is a good idea to provide explanation for the different tools and menus on your web site. What we want is for the users to be comfortable navigating around our site until a point when they are ready to buy from us.
Using and Implementing Outdoor News Screens
News is an obsession for many people, whether it’s via newspapers, the internet, mobile phone, TV or radio, most of us devour regular news content throughout the day.
Because of this desire to read news content, many outdoor news screens are being installed in many different types of locations to entertain, inform customers. These news feeds are often intermixed with advertising content to provide a revenue source that can pay for the screens and news content.
Most news screens receive direct feeds from over the internet from news agencies like Reuters, Association Press (AP) or Press Association (PA), but local and more targeted news is offered by many local news organisations.
Weather and sporting news are also provided on these types of screen and provides a reason for people to look out for the screen, hence creating a captivated audience for advertisers.
Most news screens are placed in quite hostile locations, however, such as draughty bus stations or even ferry terminals where spray and excessive temperatures can be a potential problem. Many of these outdoor news screens are in outdoor locations too so they need to be protected from the weather and other outdoor elements.
The TV screens used for providing these news feeds tend to be standard commercial grade screens commonly used for digital signage and other out of home use, few of these screens are designed for outdoor use so they are protected using outdoor LCD enclosures.
Designed to accommodate nearly all major sizes of screen, the LCD enclosure provides all the outdoor protection these screens require to allow them to function outside. They ensure the screen is waterproof whilst also ensuring the internal temperatures of the enclosure are never too high or too low from the optimum for the device-regardless of the ambient conditions.
Richard N Williams is a technical author and a specialist in the digital signage industry helping to develop outdoor digital signage and protection for plasmas. Please visit us for more information about LCD Enclosures or other digital signage solutions.
Alternative Financing Vs. Venture Capital: Which Option Is Best for Boosting Working Capital?
There are several potential financing options available to cash-strapped businesses that need a healthy dose of working capital. A bank loan or line of credit is often the first option that owners think of – and for businesses that qualify, this may be the best option.
In today’s uncertain business, economic and regulatory environment, qualifying for a bank loan can be difficult – especially for start-up companies and those that have experienced any type of financial difficulty. Sometimes, owners of businesses that don’t qualify for a bank loan decide that seeking venture capital or bringing on equity investors are other viable options.
But are they really? While there are some potential benefits to bringing venture capital and so-called “angel” investors into your business, there are drawbacks as well. Unfortunately, owners sometimes don’t think about these drawbacks until the ink has dried on a contract with a venture capitalist or angel investor – and it’s too late to back out of the deal.
Different Types of Financing
One problem with bringing in equity investors to help provide a working capital boost is that working capital and equity are really two different types of financing.
Working capital – or the money that is used to pay business expenses incurred during the time lag until cash from sales (or accounts receivable) is collected – is short-term in nature, so it should be financed via a short-term financing tool. Equity, however, should generally be used to finance rapid growth, business expansion, acquisitions or the purchase of long-term assets, which are defined as assets that are repaid over more than one 12-month business cycle.
But the biggest drawback to bringing equity investors into your business is a potential loss of control. When you sell equity (or shares) in your business to venture capitalists or angels, you are giving up a percentage of ownership in your business, and you may be doing so at an inopportune time. With this dilution of ownership most often comes a loss of control over some or all of the most important business decisions that must be made.
Sometimes, owners are enticed to sell equity by the fact that there is little (if any) out-of-pocket expense. Unlike debt financing, you don’t usually pay interest with equity financing. The equity investor gains its return via the ownership stake gained in your business. But the long-term “cost” of selling equity is always much higher than the short-term cost of debt, in terms of both actual cash cost as well as soft costs like the loss of control and stewardship of your company and the potential future value of the ownership shares that are sold.
Alternative Financing Solutions
But what if your business needs working capital and you don’t qualify for a bank loan or line of credit? Alternative financing solutions are often appropriate for injecting working capital into businesses in this situation. Three of the most common types of alternative financing used by such businesses are:
1. Full-Service Factoring – Businesses sell outstanding accounts receivable on an ongoing basis to a commercial finance (or factoring) company at a discount. The factoring company then manages the receivable until it is paid. Factoring is a well-established and accepted method of temporary alternative finance that is especially well-suited for rapidly growing companies and those with customer concentrations.
2. Accounts Receivable (A/R) Financing – A/R financing is an ideal solution for companies that are not yet bankable but have a stable financial condition and a more diverse customer base. Here, the business provides details on all accounts receivable and pledges those assets as collateral. The proceeds of those receivables are sent to a lockbox while the finance company calculates a borrowing base to determine the amount the company can borrow. When the borrower needs money, it makes an advance request and the finance company advances money using a percentage of the accounts receivable.
3. Asset-Based Lending (ABL) – This is a credit facility secured by all of a company’s assets, which may include A/R, equipment and inventory. Unlike with factoring, the business continues to manage and collect its own receivables and submits collateral reports on an ongoing basis to the finance company, which will review and periodically audit the reports.
In addition to providing working capital and enabling owners to maintain business control, alternative financing may provide other benefits as well:
It’s easy to determine the exact cost of financing and obtain an increase.
Professional collateral management can be included depending on the facility type and the lender.
Real-time, online interactive reporting is often available.
It may provide the business with access to more capital.
It’s flexible – financing ebbs and flows with the business’ needs.
It’s important to note that there are some circumstances in which equity is a viable and attractive financing solution. This is especially true in cases of business expansion and acquisition and new product launches – these are capital needs that are not generally well suited to debt financing. However, equity is not usually the appropriate financing solution to solve a working capital problem or help plug a cash-flow gap.
A Precious Commodity
Remember that business equity is a precious commodity that should only be considered under the right circumstances and at the right time. When equity financing is sought, ideally this should be done at a time when the company has good growth prospects and a significant cash need for this growth. Ideally, majority ownership (and thus, absolute control) should remain with the company founder(s).
Alternative financing solutions like factoring, A/R financing and ABL can provide the working capital boost many cash-strapped businesses that don’t qualify for bank financing need – without diluting ownership and possibly giving up business control at an inopportune time for the owner. If and when these companies become bankable later, it’s often an easy transition to a traditional bank line of credit. Your banker may be able to refer you to a commercial finance company that can offer the right type of alternative financing solution for your particular situation.
Taking the time to understand all the different financing options available to your business, and the pros and cons of each, is the best way to make sure you choose the best option for your business. The use of alternative financing can help your company grow without diluting your ownership. After all, it’s your business – shouldn’t you keep as much of it as possible?