As you can see, we now have a shiny new logo!

Before you head into the whole article, we would like to ask you to comment on this post when you are done reading, telling us what you think about the new logo, the story behind Imnica, and our plans for the future.

Let’s start at the beginning…… The name…. Imnica.

MANY people have asked us where the name came from, as well as what does it mean. They wanted to know if it is an abreviation for something, etc……

When I started marketing online, I did as many people do, and started building a brand around my name. I eventually decided against this approach, and decided that I wanted to build something that could be passed on to family, grow exponentially, NOT be tied to my name, etc.

With this in mind, and the main focus of the company being Online Marketing, I wanted to make sure I get a proper .com domain name. I also needed to make sure I get something that is not too long, nor too difficult to remember.

I went in search of domain name suggestion tools, that would also check if the .com is available for it. I eventually found this brilliant free site at: http://www.makewords.com/ which allows you to sellect a language, and set some other parameters, and then suggests some domain names, as well as check on the .com availability.

Here is the sad part……… I sat on this site, refreshing the suggestions for close to 5 hours!!!

The SECOND the domain imnicamarketing.com came up, I KNEW I got it! I called my wife to have a look, and she concurred. SOLD!

So, there you have it…… Imnica does not stand for anything, it does not mean anything, it just came about from me searching for a short, easy to remember .com domain name.

Right so, why the new logo then?

Well the old logo was done by myself, who is a self professed graphics neophyte, on the same day I got the domain. I REALLY suck at graphics, but, I REALLY wanted a logo to go with the new site. So, I sat down for a couple of hours, and did the old one.

As Imnica is growing not only in size, but in scope, I wanted something that would really reflect the professionalism of the company.

So, I went to the best place I know of to get logos done: http://www.designoutpost.com/ and placed a project on there to re-do the Imnica logo.

All the submissions were awesome, and it was really tough to pick one, but, in the end, I picked one that was simple, did not force the customer to think what it means, and was professional.

The result is the logo you now see on all our pages.

I would really like to hear what YOU think of the new logo! Let us know by commenting on this post.

So, the next question we get a lot is: What does Imnica do?

Imnica is an Internet Marketing company. We produce products, services and coaching which teaches people how to, as well as help people, market their products and services on the Internet.

To date, our primary focus has been individuals.

Moving forward, we will do many more products and coaching, focused on individuals, but, our services business will shift focus to businesses.

Why the shift in focus for the service side?

Well, the services we provide are generally more relevant to businesses to start with. We also need to increase our prices for our services to sustain our continued growth.

Imnica is not a one man operation anymore. We have bills to pay, salaries to pay, etc.

So, summing the future up…… Consumer focused products and coaching, and business focused services.

Will we be abandoning consumer focused services altogether?

NO! We will just be adding more business focused ones!

I hope this post has given you some insight into Imnica as well as it’s products, coaching and services, and we would LOVE to hear what you think!

Please comment in the form below!

Due to the large, and growing, customer base online, more and more businesses are starting up online every day. Many of these are existing offline businesses making the leap, while others are brand new to business and see the promise the Internet affords. There is nothing wrong with selling a product or service offline, but to reach an ever-expanding market it’s hard to beat the Internet.

When looking to build a business online, it is more important to consider where you are going, as opposed to where you are coming from. There are many similarities between online and offline marketing, but there are some differences. For one thing you can reach anybody that has access to an Internet connection. This large audience is a mixed blessing.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to running an Internet business.

Like any business you will benefit from writing up a plan of what you are going to be doing. Will you be doing it alone? Outsourcing certain tasks? How much money do you have budgeted for advertising? Who is your primary market? How will you reach them? What are you short-term goals? Long-term? And so on. Write this information down as it will be the seed of your business plan.

People are drawn to the Internet because of the vast number of people that can be reached. However, this can be a downside if you are trying to be everything to everybody. Focus on your target market, and you will connect with them online. The more specific you are in reaching your desired customers, the less money you will spend compared to trying to reach everybody.

Track as much information as you can. Even adding Google Analytics to your website can give you loads of useful information. For example, you can find out what country each visitor is coming from, how long they stay on your page, and how they got to your page. With a little creativity you can use this data in many different ways to improve your bottom line.

You can get more information on Internet businesses for free, or pay for it. Online, price is no guarantee of quality one way or the other. Don’t let that prevent you from taking in more knowledge however. Besides e-books, you can learn a lot from marketing forums, and blogs such as this one.

The Internet is still in its infancy. The promises of making fast cash without doing any work are prevalent. If you do nothing, you will get nothing (I’m sure that’s one of Newton’s Laws of Physics). To stay on task, create a daily schedule to help you along. If you treat your online business with due respect the success will follow.

It takes work to make any business profitable. An Internet business is no exception. Even if you run a successful offline business, you need to take the right steps to make the online portion work. I honestly believe there has never been a better time for people to start an online business. Use these tips to help you start it in the right direction.

There is a lot of concern over the sending of commercial email messages. Governments have passed laws that need to be followed by ethical marketers. Add to that, that you can be falsely accused of sending spam and you may decide an email marketing campaign just isn’t worth the risk. I will say that it is more risky NOT to run an email campaign if you really want to increase your online profits.

Much of the risk involved with email marketing comes from not doing things right. If you follow the “rules” you will come out ahead, and the few bumps you encounter won’t be felt at all. Let me ask you this, have you ever taken a “shortcut” while driving only to end up lost or way off course? We all have. It seemed logical to take the shortcut, but we really didn’t know the way – we just thought we knew. Email marketing can be the same way.

The overriding concept here is simple: be ethical. That’s it. Of course it wouldn’t be much of a post if that’s all I said. Here are a few ideas to keep you on course.

There is an ongoing argument amongst marketers about whether or not you should use single or double opt-in. Single opt-in means a person fills in their name and email address and starts receiving messages. Whereas double opt-in means people fill in the form, but they must respond to the first message you send to confirm they indeed want emails from you. Both sides have good arguments. As long as you don’t use false pretenses to get people’s information, either form of opting in will work.

Be honest when convincing people to sign up for your emails. Point out the benefits, explain why you’re better and what they get for signing up, but don’t resort to misrepresentation or hype.

So far we have looked at having people sign up using a form that you put somewhere. What about buying a list? This is almost always a bad idea and is asking for trouble. It’s one shortcut you should avoid unless there are extenuating circumstances. Never buy an email list that offers millions of names – ever. However, you may know someone personally who is selling their online business. Even then, you have to be careful. Make sure you really know them. Do they have a good reputation? Have you communicated with them previously? Also, be sure to request that the list seller notifies their list that it will be changing hands. This will give people a chance to opt out if they are worried about a new list owner. If all of these steps are in place, then buying a list could be an option.

Do not spam your list. This includes passing their information on to others, or sending unrelated offers to them. Keep any emails you send relevant to whatever they signed up for. It is okay to send them offers, as long as it’s within the bounds of any promises you have made.

Following these simple guidelines will help to minimize the risks associated with email marketing. You don’t have to rely on cheap tricks, in fact if you do things ethically you will have an easier time on the road to success.

A fact of business: things won’t always go the way we planned. Sometimes we’ll make mistakes.  Sometimes forces beyond our control affect our business.  And when these sorts of things happen, we’ll have unhappy customers on our hands.

The problem is that some business owners hope against hope that customers won’t notice …or at the very least they won’t care.  But of course that’s a pipe dream.  Of course customers will notice and they’ll care – and that means they could be on the verge of getting upset.

Instead of waiting for that to happen, your best bet is to be proactive.  Acknowledge the problem, and offer up a solution.  Don’t wait for your customers to complain first.  And don’t believe that they haven’t noticed (because they have).

If you wait, people have time to ratchet up their frustration level.  If your market likes to chat on niche forums or they have blogs, waiting means you give them time to grow upset and start talking about it on those popular forums and markets.

Have you ever seen someone complain about something on a forum?  At first it’s just one complaint. Then another customer jumps in …and another.  Next thing you know, you have an “angry mob” …and sometimes they’re out for blood.  If they get themselves worked up enough, whatever you do won’t be enough to pacify them.

Think of a herd of cattle.  When one gets spooked and starts running, they all start running.  And once you have a spooked herd stampeding, it’s awfully hard to stop them.  No amount of coaxing and soothing will slow the stampeding herd. 

The only way to deal with a herd like this is to make sure they don’t stampede in the first place.

And so it is with your customers.  If you want to prevent a public lashing that could very well get out of control, be proactive with solutions immediately after you’ve discovered a problem.  When you step forward first with solutions, the “herd” can’t stampede.