Productz: a dynamic WordPress theme that lets you promote multiple goods and services on your front-page and do your products justice.Very clean.

RT – Theme: a very clean theme for start-ups or anyone selling digital products (such as DVD training programs). It has 10 color schemes and takes advantage of short-codes too.

eBook Theme: have just finished your first e-book? You can always try selling it on Amazon and other online sites. Or you can use this theme to sell it directly to those interested (or just promote your book).

Apz theme: a very good theme for those of you who have developed your very first iPhone application. It can give your product a more professional look and feel.

MyProduct: another dynamic theme that can work for small corporate sites, startup portals, and mini-sites for your products.

These WordPress themes make it easy for product developers to go live with their product portals without breaking the bank. They won’t make your product successful on their own but can help you save time and effort promoting your products online.

With that in mind, here are 4 exciting social/business card services that can help you better promote your business and take it to the next level:

Card.ly: an exciting social networking card service that lets you create a card based on your online profiles on Facebook, Twitter, and … It’s free and very flexible as well.

Retagger: if you happen to be a power player in the social media, you are going to love this social card generator. Lets you integrate most of your online presences and share them with the world through your e-card.

BusinessCard2: a simple to use service that lets you create your business e-card online. You can share your external links and even embed the card as well.

CardBoard: it’s a business card directory that lets you post your business card online under the right category. Just in case you want to get your business card out there.

What’s your favorite online e-card service?

To prepare your business taxes, you are going to need a decent accounting software as well as a good office suite. It would also help if you have a legal reference to go with those. With that in mind, here are 5 software kits that let you prepare your business tax more effectively:

TurboTax Business Federal + efile 2009: designed to help you prepare your business tax fast. It helps you maximize your business deductions too. It’s not perfect so don’t get too aggressive with your write offs.

Quicken Home & Business 2010: Quicken has helped me a lot with my business. It helps me keep track of incoming and outgoing funds. Of course, it’d be nice if we could get the updates for free once in a while. But the software is constantly improving, so you’ll have all you need to keep track of your business transactions.

Microsoft Office for Mac 2008 Business Edition: you can’t run a business without an Office Suite. You can always use Google Docs, which is a free service. I am personally not ready to make the jump. That’s why I still use Microsoft Office.

Home & Business Lawyer 2010: it doesn’t replace a lawyer or an accountant. But it gives you an easy way to find out answers to some of your legal questions without having to go to you lawyer. Quicken Legal Business Pro 2009 is a good alternative here.

Business Plan Pro Premier: my favorite piece of software on the market. It works with Quickbooks and lets me keep track of my business’ progress. May not be a tax software per se, but it fits in the big picture if you happen to be using Quickbooks.

Your turn: which one of the above software kits are you using in your business?

One of the best ways to make money online is by taking advantage of the hottest trends in the tech market and get a jump start over your competitors. iPhone development is one of the hottest avenues for entrepreneurs to make money online. And with the latest decision by Apple to allow in-app purchases for free apps, there are more ways to adopt a freemium business model and start making a living off of those so-called “free apps.” Starting an iPhone business is very similar to any other business. You will need to have a plan, an idea that works (though you could use simple apps to start a business as well), and execute your plan in a manner that would give you business the best chance to succeed.

There are many developers who start writing their apps without testing their market and conducting a comprehensive business analysis. You can be the best developer in the world, but if you don’t approach your development venture as a business, it’s going to stay your hobby. Every-time you want to develop a product, you need to do your research, identify your audience, their potential need, and ways to market your product. You also need to be prepared to offer after-sale support to keep your credibility with your customers.

If you are planning to start your iPhone business, here are a few things you need to pay attention to:

• Market Analysis: before starting your application business, make sure you know your market. Study the best cases, identify the best tools for your app development, and do research on your market to find out who your competitors may be in your niche. Even if you don’t have a clear idea what you want to develop, as long as you know your niche, you should have no trouble identify a list of your potential competitors.
• Idea: there are a lot of people who have developed simple apps that have gone viral. Your idea doesn’t need to be earth shattering. Applications such as iFart went viral, but they were not too complicated in concept. Keep it simple.
• Prospects: closely tied to the above steps. You want to make sure you know who your ideal audience is. Not everyone’s going to like your app. But as long as you can figure out who may be interested in your app, you can pin down her needs and offer more value.
• Business Model: there are many different business models you can adopt for your app business. Some people make money from free apps (with advertising). You can also offer a freemium app (asking people to upgrade for premium features). Either way, make sure you decide on your business model and avoid confusing your customers.
• Product Development: if you are planning to develop your app by yourself, you want to make sure you stay on the top of the latest technologies and best cases out there. The SDK is changing all the time, and you need to keep up if you want to develop an app that people want to download and share with others.
• Team Building: closely tied to the previous step, if you just want to run the business, you want to do your due diligence to hire people who can get the job done.
• Strategy: there are a lot of people who would pay for bundles if you can offer them more value. If you can bundle up your app with a complementary product, you can provide more value to your customers.
• Promotion: there are plenty of free ways to promote your app. Whether it’s creating mini-sites for your app and optimizing it for search engines, using Google Adwords and other advertising services to push your apps, or just creating YouTube videos to help others decide whether your app is worth it, there are plenty of ways to push your app. I have to admit, offering a freemium app is the best way to promote your app. At least offer a lite version of your app.
• Branding: business 101 really. If you plan to stay in this business for long, you need to brand your business, and you need to work on building credibility with your customers. That would also mean you won’t get away with sub-par apps.
• Business 101: recruiting, idea protection, business management, and planning are all the basics that everyone needs to master to run a real business more effectively. Running an iPhone app business is not that different from any other business.

The business of iPhone development is going to get even hotter in the upcoming months. Starting an iPhone application business is not too difficult, but it does take a bit of work. There are a lot of people who can write apps, but not too many who can go viral and make real money from their apps. Paying attention to the above items should give you a better chance of making it in this industry. Of course, you want to stay tuned for the second part of this series for more details.

Whether you are an online business owner or own an offline local business, you can use the power of the Internet to your advantage to drive leads to your business and increase your profits. You can have the best local, national, or international product in the world. But if people don’t know about what you are offering, they are not going to come to you for your business. Every business owner wants more Internet traffic, but not everyone goes about getting online traffic the right way. There are thousands of ways to get traffic for your business. You just have to decide which traffic source matters to you the most, and whether it’s worth your effort to pursue non-traditional traffic generation sources.

If you are a business owner and looking for more traffic for your business, here are 25 ways you can go about increasing the size of your audience:

1. SEO: search engine optimization is the cheapest way to get traffic. You got to have a search engine optimized website however (SEO resource).
2. Pay per click: getting traffic from Google Adwords or Yahoo! search marketing is one of the best (but expensive) way to get traffic (resource).
3. Twitter: is quickly becoming a great source of traffic for businesses.
4. Facebook: another great social network to get traffic to your website.
5. Social News Sites: sites such as Digg and Reddit can be effective traffic drivers as well (submission service).
6. Directories: should be a part of your SEO efforts (submission service).
7. Blogs: displaying your content on other blogs can help too (resource).
8. Facebook Ads: you can advertise on Facebook to get more traffic as well (Fads)
9. Article Marketing: pushing your products with articles can help too (EzineArticles).
10. LinkedIn: a great way to reach to your target audience and gain their business.
11. YouTube: doesn’t need any introduction. Great for going viral.
12. StumbleUpon: advertising on StumbleUpon or just getting your site voted by the community can drive big traffic to your site.
13. ClickRiver: advertising on Amazon can be another decent way of driving traffic (CR).
14. Giveaways: giving away things is one of the best ways to go viral online (just give away an iPhone 3G S or another hot gadget).
15. Free service: you can also put up your service up for grabs to go viral.
16. Information: giving away information for free can help as well (e.g. reports).
17. Newsletter: building a killer newsletter gives you access to targeted leads (Aweber).
18. Podcast: what a better way to get some following going with a killer podcast.
19. Video-cast: creating a video show on the web can help your business generate leads.
20. Blog: still one of the best ways to drive traffic to your business. Easily set up your site with WordPress.
21. iPhone: building an iPhone application for your business helps too.
22. Offline Marketing: you can always give away business cards, brochures, pens, and … (offline marketing).
23. Blog Comments: commenting on other blogs can build your traffic gradually.
24. Forums: your signatures on niche forums can build your traffic gradually as well.
25. Affiliate Program: creating your own affiliate program is another cool way to build traffic (idev).

Stay tuned for the 2nd part of this series for more specific ways to drive traffic to your business.

I still remember the first time I signed up for PPC Classroom. It was an Internet marketing course that was designed to help newbie pay per click marketers increase their return on investments with their Adwords campaigns. What interested me the most about the program was not the content inside but the comprehensive launch plan set forth by the entrepreneurs behind this system. I admit that affiliate marketing was not only part of the equation but it was a big part of it. Launch Tree is a new course based on that very experience that shows you exactly how to use affiliate marketing to make lots of money fast.

Affiliate marketing may sound simple but it’s actually an art. Sure. You are giving folks a decent commission check to promote your product. But that doesn’t mean they would. Even if you are very successful with affiliate marketing, you may still be leaving money on the table. 90% off sales are made by 10% of affiliates. Reaching out to these affiliates won’t be easy. Top affiliate marketers are notorious for picking only high quality products to promote. So you want to position your product in a way that gives top affiliates the impression that your product is worth promoting. Not everyone’s going to get it right, but those who do get to make a lot of money. Here are a few ways to launch your product in the affiliate marketing channel like a pro:

• Deals with Top Affiliates: top affiliates are special. Unfortunately for you, they know it too. It’s essential for you to reach out to these guys and offer them more money to promote your products. These guys often have large lists and a large following. Don’t underestimate their power.
• Tools: don’t forget that the more your affiliate marketers deliver, the more money you make as well. Don’t be hesitant in giving them all the cool tools they need to become more productive. That includes providing your affiliates with ads, sample copies, e-mails, and …
• Training: not all affiliate marketers are super affiliates. You can still make money by going to those regular affiliates. These folks are ready to learn new tricks so don’t hesitate to teach them how.
• Content: creating new content to promote your product could be a hassle for a lot of affiliates. Put videos on YouTube and create sample blog posts to give your affiliates an idea how to promote your product.
• Prizes: giving away cool gadgets to your affiliates to appreciate their performance can be a great way to skyrocket your sales. I have seen merchants that give motorcycles to their best affiliate. But they also offer smaller prizes to keep their smaller affiliates encouraged.
• Cross-selling: affiliate marketers care a lot about the money that they’ll be paid. It’s always encouraging for affiliates to know they can earn more dollars if you manage to sell complimentary products in your back-end. It’s all about treating your affiliates as partners. They’ll appreciate it.
• Leads: pay per action is a decent pay model, but the folks behind Launch Tree have had a lot of success with a hybrid model. They not only give prizes for qualified leads but also pay commission per each action.
• Relationship: many large corporations treat their affiliates as secondary employees. You’ve got to treat your affiliates as your business partners. If you look out for them, they look out for you too.

As you can see, there is a lot of factors that you need to consider to launch a successful affiliate program. It’s not all about the money. Affiliates work hard, and they appreciate every little help that you give them. The folks behind PPC Classroom certainly got it! If you are interested to know more about how to launch your own successful business, you should check the videos on Launch Tree. It’s a case study on a project that generated millions of dollars in revenue. And you can bet affiliates played a big part in it!