Article: A product will usually sell in one of three ways: repeat buys (meaning the customer enjoyed it the first time and went back for more); word-of-mouth (rave reviews from trusted influencers); and advertising. If the quality and usefulness of your product is already high, there's not much you can do to affect repeat buys and word of mouth. That's where advertising comes in. Advertising is a way to build interest in a product by selling a dream of how to use it. Order business cards and distribute them to everyone you know or meet. Create business pages on social media sites and invite your friends and family to follow you. Encourage them to invite others, and make frequent status updates to keep your followers up to date on your business. If you joined a direct-sales company, review your materials for promotional ideas customized for your brand of products. PPC stands for "pay per click," where you (the advertiser) pay the website on which your ad appears (the publisher) anytime a customer clicks on the link. Increasingly, however, many people are finding it difficult to generate leads with PPC. Social networks, like Facebook and Twitter, offer promotional content or advertisements as well. Social networks like these may be good at branding, but they don't necessarily translate into swift sales. Try both of these methods for yourself, but don't make them your entire advertising budget. Unless you truly want to sell products from your physical home (not recommended), you'll probably want to put the product up for sale online. There are several upsides and several downsides about selling online: The advantages: Lower startup costs. You don't have to pay nearly as much for an online domain as you do for a retail store. Listing items on eBay is relatively cheap. Farther reach. Even if you're in New York, you can reach customers from all over the world. Seamless marketing and convenience. Market online, and allow customers to buy with a click or two from the comfort of their living room. The disadvantages: Security issues. Credit card or other payment information can be breached, making for angry customers. Difficulty and time associated with delivering goods. It may be difficult and take weeks to ship a product to Tanzania, for example. If you plan to do online sales, create a website that customers can shop from. Link your PayPal account to the website. Make sure that the layout and design of the website make it dead simple for customers to buy the product. People who are familiar with their product and website layout often find it much easier to understand than people with no knowledge of the product or website. It's becoming increasingly easy to build your own sales channel online. Many online services now exist, like Shopify, that let you pay for someone else to build and maintain your sales tools for you. The less commission you need to give eBay on each sale, the more money stays in your own pocket. There are a lot of things that do into selling on eBay, the internet's biggest auction place. But the main idea is simple: Create a listing, decide how you want to sell it, and then ship it when the listing is sold. Here are some other things to keep in mind: Pictures are important! Take attractive, useful, clear pictures. Your products will sell more if people feel like they can understand them through pictures. Choose an auction format or fixed price format. Auction format works best for rarer items that people are likely to fight over, while fixed price format works best for more common items where the supply outstrips demand. Be kind and courteous to everyone even jerks in order to keep your feedback rating high. Your reputation may well be the selling point if a competitor lists an item like yours at the same price. . Selling on Amazon is much like selling on eBay, except that the auction format isn't available on Amazon. To sell on Amazon, all you need to do is create a profile, list your item (along with descriptions, condition, and price), and then ship the product once it's sold. As on eBay, pay attention to your ratings and feedback. If you want to start selling a whole range of products on Amazon, you can develop your own storefront that's brand-personalized and allows customers to easily search for several items at a time. . Etsy is a digital marketplace designed for crafts. Unlike eBay and Amazon sellers, who sell anything and everything, Etsy sellers focus on handmade crafts with a personal touch. So if you have a talent at crafting something like a fabric coaster, platinum jewelry, or folk art, Etsy might be just the place you're looking for. Whether you want to supplement your online income or rely on your personal charm, selling door-to-door is still a viable way of hawking products. It's certainly not easy, and it's not for the faint of heart, but with a bit of know-how and a lot of determination, it can bolster your bottom line.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Advertise your new business and the products you are selling. Experiment with, but don't rely solely on, PPC or Social. Arrange a way for customers to access and buy your products. Consider creating your own website. Sell your product on eBay. Sell on Amazon Sell your product on Etsy If you're adventurous, consider selling door-to-door.
Article: Because MRSA is so infectious, it's important that everyone in the community take be careful about hygiene and prevention, especially when there's a local outbreak. Use lotions and soaps from pump-bottles. Dipping your fingers into a jar of lotion or sharing a bar of soap with others can spread MRSA. Don't share personal items like razors, towels, or hairbrushes. Wash all bed linens at least once a week, and wash towels and washcloths after each use. Because MRSA spreads so easily, you must be especially aware of risks in crowded situations. These might include shared areas of a home or crowded public spaces like nursing homes, hospitals, prisons, and gyms. Though many common areas are regularly disinfected, you never know when the last cleaning was or who may have been in the area before you. It's wise to place a barrier down if you're concerned. For example, bring your own towel to the gym and place it between yourself and the equipment. Wash the towel immediately after use. Make good use of antibacterial wipes and solutions provided by the gym. Disinfect all equipment before and after use. If showering in a shared space, wear flip-flops or plastic shower shoes. You are at increased risk of infection if you have any cuts or have a compromised immune system (like with diabetes). Throughout the day, you come into contact with all sorts of shared bacteria. It may be that the person who touched a doorknob before you had MRSA, and touched his nose just before opening the door. It's a good idea to use hand sanitizer throughout the day, especially when in public. Ideally, the sanitizer will contain at least 60% alcohol. Use it at the supermarket, when receiving change from cashiers. Children should use hand sanitizer or wash their hands after playing with other children. Teachers who interact with children should follow the same standard. Whenever you feel you may be exposed to potential infection, use hand sanitizer just to be safe. A diluted bleach solution is effective at fighting the MRSA bug in your home. Incorporate it into your housekeeping routine during community outbreaks to decrease your risk of infection. Always dilute bleach before cleaning with it, as it could discolor your surfaces. Use a 1:4 ratio of bleach to water. For example, add 1 cup of bleach to 4 cups of water to clean your household surfaces. Studies have not been able to show that vitamins and natural therapies can improve our immune systems enough to ward off MRSA. The only study that seemed promising, in which subjects were given "mega-doses" of vitamin B3, had to be disavowed because the dosage itself was unsafe.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Educate yourself on MRSA-preventing hygiene. Take extra care in shared or crowded spaces. Use hand sanitizer. Wash household surfaces with bleach. Don't rely on vitamins or natural therapies.