One of the keys to succeeding in information product creation is to break the process up into discrete steps. This frequently isn’t an instinctive reaction for the typical information marketer. Especially on the internet where small sized learning products are the norm.

However, it is extremely important to your ultimate success. In fact, I would go so far as to say that if you don’t do this you probably won’t succeed… even when you are starting out let alone as you move forward.

Your product creation system should do this for you if only to help you to understand the overall task.

But why?

In this article, I’m going to ignore chunking and focus on the practical aspects. That’s not to say that chunking isn’t important. It is. It’s important to understanding and to learning the process. But while you can use the same chunks as you move forward, long term your focus needs to be on the operation of the system not the understanding of it. Unless of course you are constantly training new people!

So why is chunking important to long term use of the product creation process? (Yes, I know systems design uses a different term for this process but I’m not teaching you systems design. So I’m going to use the word learning content designers use.)

The first reason that having individual discrete tasks is important is one of schedule estimation. Frequently it is very difficult to estimate how long the total task of creating a product will take. After all, the size and type of the products matters as does the number of products in your product funnel. And those are just the most obvious elements. However, estimating a discrete task is often much easier. The total can then be estimated as the total of the discrete tasks.

Secondly, scheduling a large task can be problematic. However, by segmenting the task into a number of discrete tasks, you gain a much greater flexibility in scheduling. Not only that but as your business begins to add people you are able to schedule multiple people to the product creation.

Finally, segmenting a large task into smaller discrete tasks allows you to have much better control over the product creation. This affects two different areas — status and quality.

By segmenting your process into discrete tasks you are able to schedule and record the progress at much more detailed level. As a result you are more in control of the status of the product creation. You know what everyone is doing. When they should complete it. And how much it should cost. You also know exactly what has been done.

You also improve your overall quality. Instead of waiting until everything is done you can check quality as you go. This allows you to immediate react to low quality products without absorbing their costs. This means that you have less rework and your rework costs less. And if the product is not going to meet its quality requirement you will know about it in time to stop the development, change the requirement or fix the product.

Running a successful home based business can be challenging because as entrepreneurs we are constantly pushing the boundaries and breaking barriers.But there are at least three key challenges that you will encounter as a home based business entrepreneur and in this article you will discover the best home based business success secrets that can fit.The option of building a successful business out of your home can make “work” seem far less disheartening, matching convenience and controlled comfort with much less overhead.Plus the added bonus is that the income potential is much higher as a business owner and you will not be trading time for a wage but instead creating leverage in your life and home based business. You can drive your kids to school in the morning and wake up at the time you want. And if you are thinking that running a home based business is too solitary, be sure to realize that home based business does not mean homebound.In fact, you will find that many home based business companies do very well without any kind of retail office space, because they don’t depend on traffic off the street, but rather spreading their message out into the world for new customers to enjoy. So let’s dive in to what it takes to thrive with a home based business even during the recession while everyone else is crying in their soup.Here are the three most daunting challenges and how to overcome them:1- Lack of Focus: This is by far the biggest problem I see among novice home based business owners. See as entrepreneurs we naturally have a sort of “Shiny Object Syndrome” where we get easily distracted by time-sucking projects that often do not contribute to the bottom line. It’s imperative that you focus primarily on high-value activities that contribute to the businesses bottom line. One way to maintain higher control over this is by using a timer to work, and do pre-determined activities in 33 minute blocks. Then take 5-10 minutes break and resume with another 33 minute block of focused work. This strategy demands focus on high value activities and allows for time to rest and regenerate.2- Mindset Shift: Many times as entrepreneurs we suffer from the shiny object syndrome referenced earlier and this can cause both a victim and consumer mindset. Both of these mindsets erode your ability to run a successful home based business because they are destructive. As a successful entrepreneur you will adopt a mindset of make it happen or else and focus your efforts on activities that add to the bottom line. Adopt a mindset of a marketer and business owner as if you had invested $100,000 into your home based business, rather than buying each and every offer that pops up in your inbox.3- The Right Formula: The last challenge in this article is having the right formula to success. Now, understanding the numbers of your business is very important because in order to reach your income projections you have to understand how many leads and sales it will take you each month and each week. Understanding the numbers is crucial in determining how to adjust over the course of the weeks and months of the year. Also, my advice in finding the right formula is to be selling something that can make big commissions so that it requires far less sales to hit your targets. This Top Tier model has allowed me to effectively double my existing online business just by adding one model.Now, I hope you will do what is necessary to create a successful home based business because I guarantee that it’s worth it in the long run.

In December 2008 a detailed analysis of the Top 50 Real Estate Companies’ Websites, recognized by Real Trends Report “The 500 Largest Brokers in the U.S. (Ranked by Closed Transactions sides for 2007).” Real Trends is a leading source of analysis and information on the residential brokerage industry.

The main objective of the analysis was to highlight the SEO practices of major Real Estate Companies as well as emphasize with real examples, the importance for all Real Estate Companies to place SEO at the top of their marketing agenda.

What is SEO?

SEO (SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION) is the process of making a website and its content highly relevant for both search engines and searchers. SEO includes technical tasks that make it easier for search engines to find and index a website for the appropriate keywords. Web SEO helps a website gain top positioning for relevant words and phrases. If a website is not found on page 1 or 2 of a search engine, then that website will not enjoy website traffic, online exposure, and online profitability.

After viewing countless websites every month, ranging from small sites to large multi-page web-sites, while doing a variety of SEO research to try to identify what’s working and what’s not cutting it for Real Estate websites, there were a few issues that come up frequently. These Optimization factors were divided into 7 SEO CATEGORIES.

Note: The categories that are discussed in this report only touch the surface of what is required to gain top Search engine placement. Like Real Estate, the SEO world is constantly changing and it takes a true professional to keep up with new SEO trends, tools and practices..

Measurements

This study evaluates the websites of the Top 50 Real Estate Companies as recognized by a re-port published by Real Trends entitled “The Largest 500 Brokers in the U.S. – Ranked by Closed Transactions Sides for 2007″

The following factors were considered:

Traffic Ranking
Number of Search Terms a website ranked for
Google Page Rank
Number of Pages indexed by Google
Meta Descriptions
Page Titles
Website Validation Errors
Real Estate Landscape

Real estate is about building relationships. Nowadays, these relations start online. The need to embrace the Internet is evident in most industries, but for Brokers and agents, optimization and the Internet is paramount and a core factor for success. Having an online, visible and prominent website voice and an online platform to showcase your listings and make your services known to sellers is crucial.

According to the 2007 National Association of REALTORS® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 84% of all homebuyers used the Internet as an information source.An astounding 84% of ALL buyers identified the Internet as a source in their home search. This percentage amount included 87% of first-time buyers, 82% of repeat buyers, 79% of new home buyers and 85% of buyers of previously owned homes.

With a plethora of Real Estate Websites to choose from, can home buyers and sellers easily find your site?

In today’s challenging market and economic downturn, every dollar spent needs to have relevance. Advertising and marketing costs are on the rise and what used to work no longer does. Media today has become fragmented and gone are the days when companies launched a campaign on TV and reached masses of consumers. Traditional media vehicles such as newspapers, magazines and TV, simply do not make the phone ring like they used to. This is because consumers today are bombarded with thousands of marketing messages every day and they have almost become immune to traditional media. People use the internet as their resource.

Studies indicate that the Internet has become the go-to source for home buyers and sellers. The Internet provides a 24/7 source of information and buyers and sellers can browse and look for WHAT they need, WHEN they need it, without having to be distracted by hordes of other irrelevant marketing messages.This means that you need to position your Company and Agents’ website for top rankings in the search engines.

Top Real Estate companies have relied on name recognition, but with a host of major companies to choose from, clearly only a few would get “top-of-mind” awareness. Subsequently, even the most established companies need to optimize their websites to constantly maintain their market position.In a world dominated by the Internet, what matters most is not having concrete processes for your marketing and sales funnels but a SEO Real Estate optimized website that potential clients will find in the first place.

Real Estate Companies are overwhelmingly neglecting SEO, and thus missing out on a massive opportunity to boost their profits and thrive in today’s market and economic situation.