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Running a virtual corporation is an amazing feat. Most of your customers will never meet you face to face or step into your office. The only aspects of your company the general public will encounter are your web site, and your product. Everything else happens behind the scenes.

Successful virtual corporation owners know that the bigger and more professional you come across to clients, the more impressed and likely to recommend you to others they will be. Word of mouth is the most powerful method of advertising in existence, and maintaining the virtual illusion is the key to generating powerful buzz that will elevate your corporation to success.

Why you must look bigger than you are

The power of professionalism cannot be understated. When consumers visit your web site, it is as vital to impress them with appearances as it would be for a brick-and-mortar establishment to maintain a clean, professional atmosphere. Because of the ease and accessibility associated with setting up web sites, anyone can put one up—and as a result, there are millions of sites that appear sloppy and amateurish, and therefore do not succeed.

With many low-quality web sites, it’s easy to tell at a glance that the business or company behind it is a small operation with limited capabilities. There are also quite a few prosperous companies run by only one or two people whose web sites convey a grand-scale impression. These businesses are successful in large part because of that image. Consumers will be far more comfortable dealing with a slick, well-organized web site for Essential Auto Parts, Inc., than with a clunky, poorly laid out site rife with pop-ups and banner ads entitled Uncle Bubba’s Parts-R-Us. In a virtual corporation, appearances really are everything.

You don’t have to rush out and hire a web designer or lease a warehouse and hire fifty employees to give your corporation a virtual facelift. Some simple adjustments and knowledge are all you need to make your small business look like a million bucks online.

Creating the illusion: How to give your small business a big presence

Like magicians, virtual corporations require certain tricks to present themselves as prosperous, thriving businesses. Most of these are easy to implement; and though they are small, the changes they will bring to your company are enormous.

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Know the issue - not just your opinions about it. Be able to back up your opinions with reasons and research. If you are asking for a promotion, know the demands of the job in question. Know and be honest about how much of the job you are already qualified to do and how much additional training you will need. If you may not be as qualified as someone else applying, be prepared to negotiate for a smaller-than-offered salary until you are fully trained - remember the training is worth a lot to you. Be enthusiastic and focus on your strengths - don't boast but give an a simple and accurate listing of the strengths you feel make you a good candidate for this job. The strengths you cite can and should include specific job related skills, your present accomplishments on the job, your interest in the field (not just this job), your enthusiasm, your ability to work as a team member, another personal traits that will be an asset on the job.

Always enter into negotiations with a calm and reasonable manner. Don’t let emotion and emotional outbursts have a place at the negotiating table. You must be in control of yourself if you want to get your point across. People are more likely to listen to your views if you present them in a calm and reasonable manner. Present your ideas with conviction but don’t try to intimidate others or be demanding. State your views simply, completely, and orderly. When you are expressing an opinion rather than a fact, use a qualifying "I think" or "In my opinion." When others are expressing their views, listen carefully and ask questions if something isn’t clear. Don't disagree until you are sure you understand their position. When you do disagree, do so in a pleasant non-threatening way.” I see what you mean, but . . ." or "I can understand why you think that, but . . ." are a couple of good ways to begin a statement of disagreement. Be courteous and leave them a chance to save face.

Be prepared to face people who are not calm and reasonable. Don't let them get to you. Remain calm and reasonable and even be a little sympathetic. Let’s say you have entered into negotiations with your boss for a raise and he blows up with, "I can't afford to give you a raise. This business isn’t exactly a gold mine. Don't you realize how tough times are?" Remain calm. Put yourself in his shoes. Try to find something you can agree and sympathize with. For instance, look sympathetic and agree, "I know you have a lot of expenses and you work hard to keep this business going. It must be really difficult for you sometimes." This will probably not be the response he expects. It will probably take the wind out of his sails. Most likely he will calm down, and since you are sympathetic to his problems, he'll be more willing to listen to you. If you remain calm, reasonable, and sympathetic, he will calm down. When he is calmer, discuss with him the reasons you are a valuable asset to him. Don't threaten but calmly and reasonably discuss the bargain a small raise is. With that small raise, he'll be keeping a happy and fully trained employee who knows the company. When you consider the expense of finding and training another individual, giving you a raise is a bargain for your boss.

Play "Let's Make A Deal." Be prepared to deal. Don't expect to get everything you want. If you are willing to gracefully make some concessions, you will be more likely to arrive at a satisfactory deal. After all, a negotiation has at least two opposing sides. This means someone else has something they want, too - even if that something is simply to leave things as they are. Arrive at a compromise that everyone can live with. Remember, you are working at long-range goals, and you maybe negotiating with them again.

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Are you listed in the yellow pages? If you only have a line listing, consider including a small ad in the yellow pages. If you can afford it, it will pay dividends throughout the year.

Do you teat your regular customers better than your drop-ins? You should. If your customers don’t feel special when coming to you for products of services, why should they remain loyal to you? Have a customer appreciation day or a special invitation only sale for your regulars. Create a mailing list of your regulars. Send occasional post cards or greeting cards for special events or just to keep in touch. Learn to recognize them on sight and greet them by name when they visit you.

How long has it been since you really talked to one of your customers? Just as you appreciate when your Doctor takes time to talk to you, your customers will appreciate you if you take an interest in their needs. If you have a service business, have lunch or coffee periodically with some regulars – even if they only contact you once or twice a year. The personal touch in an impersonal world will be remembered.

How is your business doing compared to your competition? Every company, no matter what the size, has competition – even home-based businesses. Is their business growing or downsizing? Is their pricing or service better than yours? If so, what can you tell potential customers about the price difference? Think about how you can improve your service to meet or exceed your customer’s expectations.

Are your employees happy? Don’t ask them directly, but observe them throughout the day. Watch, listen and learn. Employees, who like their jobs don’t watch the clock for quitting time, aren’t habitually late, don’t have poor body language, don’t spend time on personal phone calls, and don’t look like they never smiled. Observe how they interact with customers. Not everyone is a match for direct contact with the public, so make sure you don’t have an employee who is driving business away.

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You may have captured 75% of your “user market” because you have a USP (unique selling position) i.e.; more flavors, more convenient packaging, longer shelf life, etc. But why can’t YOU also take care of the other 25% instead of your competitor?

To do that, requires a new way of thinking known as “Lateral Marketing”. Stop thinking about how you can keep the 75% in love with your product (Vertical Marketing), think about drawing in the 25% of the market that wasn’t your customer. This is done by innovative thinking. This may be seen as further “segmenting” the market-place, but at the same time it’s making it bigger.

Let’s say you sell soap. You’ve captured 75% of your market because of some formulary development that makes more suds with less product. The 25% that your competition is trying to capture would rather spend less for soap, than use less. Your method of also capturing that 25% is to start thinking “innovation” and not different product.

Lateral Marketing works within the original category of product and complements it, not competes with it. You could come up with soap with more bleach, with less foam, fragrance free, with more foam. You can innovate by size – selling in large economy packs, selling in individual packs, and do this without ever changing the formula of the product. This type of marketing works best for mature markets with no growth (after all, what new uses can you come up with for soap). It also can create markets from scratch, requires greater resources, and may redefine your company’s mission and business focus.

This innovative method of marketing doesn’t create “new” categories or markets, it always occurs “within” the category where the idea originated. If you’ve done everything right, you’ve garnered the 25% of customers that might have got away and it didn’t require a lot of overhead – you’re still producing soap!

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When you have an online company, it only makes sense to use all the online resources available.

The payments you accept should be credit card and pay pal, if you choose. Are you going to accept international orders.

If you are going to receive orders daily, which is the goal, you will want to use an online shopping cart that automatically accepts the credit card, approves it and delivers the autoresponder emails and in the end, the product itself.

What exactly is an online shopping cart?

It is a lot like a regular shopping cart, where you can add or remove items as you please. It calculates shipping and taxes and the total of the purchase and passes this information along to the merchant account by a secure site, which protects the customers’ information.

Choosing a shopping cart is crucial because if you choose the right one, it can double your sales.

Imagine trying to purchase a product and you are entering all your information when you order and the pages take forever to load.

Or worse, there are too many forms to fill out or you cannot find the pricing or product list easily. You would abandon that idea pretty quickly.

In addition, you will also need a reputable merchant account that can handle the amount of sales you are going to send their way.

You do not want to find a merchant account that requests a very high escrow fund, because this can be difficult to come up with.

Before you launch your product, you need to make sure you have a way to provide customer service.

You could hire a fulfillment house that takes care of customer service, orders, credit cards, and shipping all at once.

But, if you intend to have a lot of business, this is not very cost effective.

It would be much easier to take care of the customer service with paid employees and have a special fulfillment house only duplicate, package, and ship products for you.