Product creation in Internet marketing is getting stiffer and stiffer nowadays owing to tough competition between Internet-based businesses. Putting up a new product requires plenty of brainpower and finances along with an ability to take risk. With that, even if you have the product well-set already, you have to position it strategically in the Internet landscape for others to notice. You should get the interest of Web users and turn them to actual customers. Aside from the usual physical products, many different products that thrive well on Internet marketing include E-books, membership sites, and video lectures.

The long and difficult process of product creation begins with ideas. They are easy to get – compared to the effort that comes with analyzing the market for that idea. Before the idea turns to a product, businesses often spend money, even amounting to millions of dollars, to ensure the success of the new product that emerges from an idea. Businesses undertake many types of market research and surveys before releasing their products to the public. Now, you may think that because your business is small, you can’t afford research or you don’t have to do research; you can and you should. The Internet allows you to disseminate materials needed for your market study to many people at once without your having to spend a cent.

It is a common maxim in business: Look at your destination first before mapping out your journey. So what are the goals you intend to accomplish with your product creation ventures? The everyday travails of your business may make you forget the end in sight. On the other hand, prepare to entertain new developments that come to your mind in your product creation. Your conception of a product may have started this way, but a few tweaks here and there along with some market research results and it ends up another way. Take it as the result of a creative process, not as a failure to reach your goal. After all, your product creation activities are intertwined with a long-term goal that you should strive to sustain at your utmost: profit generation. So if your less profitable initial idea evolves to a more profitable product, be thankful!

With your product made up already, start doing some aggressive Internet marketing. A product purchase typically comes after more than five times a customer is exposed to an informative call-to-buy message. Thus it is important to get the contact details, like the e-mail address, of potential customers who are on the brink of a sale. Use the results of your market research to determine the demographics to which you should concentrate your marketing efforts.

With consistent product creation, you can make an inventory of your products that you can market in due time. Just keep making products – the moment you succeed in making and marketing a product, customers are surely wanting more from you, so give it to them. Keep them on your side through constant product creation.

One of the biggest mistakes I see apartment and commercial real estate investors make is leaving their investment property in complete control of their property manager. Even the best property management companies will not look at things like the owner.

I have seen this literally cost investors thousands of dollars in lost cash flow and property value, so it is definitely a mistake you want to avoid.

In this article I want to discuss the importance of being an Asset Manager, rather than a Property Manager. First, let’s define these two terms:

Asset Manager
Focus is on maximizing return and property value for the investor(s).

Property Manager
Focus is on day-to-day management activities for a property.

“Think Like a CEO…”
If you want to maximize your returns as an investor, you must think like a CEO, and not a property manager. Your focus should be continually on how to maximize the return from a property and increase value.

I see a lot of investors that lose track of this, and leave things up to their property manager, thinking that is their job. It is not.

Here are the things you should be focused on as an Asset Manager:

1) Increasing Income
2) Reducing Expenses
3) Improving Property Value
4) In short, maximizing returns and property value.

Continually ask yourself questions, such as:

- How can we increase rents? Are all of our rents at market levels? Can we charge higher rent for preferred units, such as near a pool?
- Can we reduce our property taxes by protesting the assessed value? Can we reduce our insurance expense by changing companies? How can we reduce every single line item expense – even by a small percentage?
- How can we increase the value of the property? What improvements would maximize value?

None of these activities should be done at the cost of deferring maintenance or reducing the property value over time. As the CEO of your investment you need to see the big picture – whether it is a duplex or several hundred units.

Your property manager, on the other hand should focus on the day-to-day property operations to keep things running smoothly, such as:

1) Property Maintenance
2) Marketing and Rental of Units
3) Collecting Rents and Paying Bills
4) Enforcing Property Rules and Procedures

Good property managers will also perform activities that could be considered asset management, such as performing regular checks to verify market rents are maximized, testing marketing results, and finding ways to reduce expenses.

However, I would caution against leaving everything up to your property manager, because ultimately, it is your responsibility to increase your returns and property value.

Finding new home based business leads is sometimes ignored by some entrepreneurs. The reason for this is that they are too busy engaging in their day-to-day activities. As a result they no longer have time to build new customers. Just like any type of business, it will not survive if you do not look for new customers to patronize your products or services. Therefore, if you are looking for new clients and customers, you should spend significant amount of time marketing your business.Ways to find new customers and clients•Know your market. Do not just find home based business leads in any place. The product that you are offering may not be for everyone. Therefore, you should find a target market that allows you to gather new customers and clients to try your products and services.•Come up with a plan. Marketing needs strategy to become successful. Do not approach it without proper planning and carrying proper tools. Remember that new clients do not come to you if you do not disseminate information about what you are trying to offer. If you have an online business, you can look for new market by joining in a forum, commenting on a blog, and so on.•Create online presence. Even if your business does not offer products and services online, it is still recommended to have an online presence in order to gather new home based business leads. In this way, your business will be known, not just in your locality, but also to the whole world.•Ask your friends. Your family, friends and colleagues can also help you gather new clients and customers. They can refer other people to try out your services and products. To further encourage them to talk about your business to other people, you may offer them incentives like a trip to a spa or a discount when they choose to buy your product.•Analyze results. To find out if you have gathered significant number of home based business leads, you should have time to track results. This is to evaluate whether or not your marketing strategy is working. You should know which strategy allows you to obtain many clients. You should only use the one that offers the most efficient way to attract more customers.•Join a networking group. This allows you to meet new people and discuss your products and services. Networking is a great way to get home based business leads without having to spend a lot.Getting home based business leads is essential if you want your business to compete effectively.