Terminology

If you are a new entrepreneur there are a some words you should learn here in the Terminology section. Some can also be new, online verbage or internet slang being used so be aware. By NO means does this list include every business term, that would be impractical. We will however include free links for you to utilize if you are searching for something specific or are just curious about learning more.

This page is an ever growing referrence for you to use. We encourage you to send a comment or email if you feel something should be added.

Contributing members are a life-blood of information and will be treated with respect when giving suggestions, just like our mentors who wish to contribute their skills found here at the site. Our goal for this site is to be able to grow along with our users, and even be ahead of the game to give you the edge that is needed in business. Current content, including business language, is vital for us to stay ahead so you can too!

A

ACCOUNTS PAYABLE: Trade accounts of businesses representing obligations to pay for goods and services received.

ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: Trade accounts of businesses representing moneys due for goods sold or services rendered evidenced by notes, statements, invoices, or other written evidence of a present obligation.

ACCOUNTING: The recording, classifying, summarizing, and interpreting in a significant manner and in terms of money, transactions, and events of a financial character.

Adsense (Google): Text and image ads that are precisely targeted to page content. The webmaster earns a percentage of the price per click paid by the advertiser.

Adware: Also known as "Spyware", is a program hidden within free downloaded software that transmits user information via the Internet to advertisers.

Adwords (Google): Google's Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising program.

Affiliate Marketing: A revenue sharing arrangement between online merchants and distributors (affiliates) in which the affiliate earns a commission for producing a sale, lead or click for the merchant's site.

Affiliate Program: Any arrangement from a merchant paying a commission to an affiliate for generating clicks, leads, or sales from links located on the affiliate's site.

Affiliate Link or URL: Special code in a graphic or text link that identifies a visitor as having arrived from a specific affiliate site. These “links” are how the Merchant qualifies your leads to be able to pay you.

Assumptions: The act of assuming/undertaking another's debts or obligations.

Auction: A public sale of goods to the highest bidder.

Automatic Data Processing: Data processing largely performed by automatic means. Pertaining to data processing equipment such as electrical accounting machines and electronic data processing equipment. Autoresponder: An email program that sends replies automatically, without human intervention. This is a MUST HAVE for business owners due to the large amounts of emails that tend to be created by visitors.

B

Banner Ads: Advertising in the form of a graphic image which can be in a multitude of sizes to fit the advertisers needs.

Blog: Acronym for 'web log', a blog is basically a journal that is available on the web. “Blogging” is the act of creating and updating a Blog and is extremely useful for most Affiliate Marketers.

Breakeven Point: The breakeven point in any business is that point at which the volume of sales or revenues exactly equals total expenses - the point at which there is neither a profit nor loss.

Browser: A program that allows you to access and read hypertext documents on the World Wide Web.

Business Plan: A comprehensive idea and document which clearly describes the business developmental objective of an existing or proposed business. The plan outlines what and how and from where the resources needed to accomplish the objective will be obtained and utilized.

C

Capital: Assets less liabilities, representing the ownership interest in a business.

Cash Discount: An incentive offered by the seller to encourage the buyer to pay within a stipulated time.

Cash Flow: An accounting presentation showing how much of the cash generated by the business remains after both expenses (including interest) and principal repayment on financing are paid. Cash flows can be calculated for any given period of time, normally done on a monthly basis.

Character: A letter, digit, or other symbol that is a part of the organization, control, or representation of data used in computer systems.

Charge Off: An accounting transaction removing an uncollectible balance from the active receivable accounts.

Click-Through: When a user clicks on a link and arrives at a Web site.

Click-Through Ratio (CTR): Percentage of visitors who click through to a merchant's Web site.

Cloaking: Hiding of page content or affiliate linking code. As an Affiliate Marketer, this is something that you should be doing!

Collateral: Something of value - securities, evidence of deposit, or other property - pledged to support the repayment of an obligation.

Commission: Also known as a referral fee, the income an affiliate is paid for generating a sale, lead or click-through to a merchant's web site. Each Merchant sets up a commission structure differently, so be aware.

Conversion: When one of your visitors makes a purchase on the merchant's site this is considered a “conversion”.

Corporation: A group of persons granted a state charter legally recognizing them as a separate entity having its own rights, privileges, and liabilities distinct from those of its members. The process of incorporating should be completed with the state's secretary of state or state corporate counsel, and usually requires the services of an attorney.

Cost per Click (CPC): The amount you pay when a surfer clicks on one of your listings.

Costs: Money obligated for goods and services received during a given period of time, regardless of when ordered or whether paid for.

D Data Element: The basic unit of identifiable and definable information using letters, numbers and symbols.

Debt Capital: Business financing that normally requires periodic interest payments and repayment of the principal within a specified time.

Deferred Loan: A Loan whose principal and or interest installments are postponed for a specified period of time.

Disclaimer: A disclaimer states the terms under which the site or work may be used and gives information relating to what the copyright owner believes to be a breach of his/her/their copyright. In some cases you may wish to permit certain activities, in others you may wish to withhold all rights, or require the user to apply for a license to carry out certain actions. This comes into play with PLR’s especially.

Domain Name: The unique name that identifies an Internet site. When you create a website, you will need your OWN Domain Name.

Download: Transferring a file from another computer to your own. This can be in any number of forms such as eBooks, software, MP3 recordings, etc.

E

Email: Electronic mail, a message sent to another Internet user across the Internet.

Email Signature (Signature File): A brief message embedded at the end of every email that a person sends. Usually it includes a URL link to your website or affiliate site.

Enterprise: An enterprise can consist of a single, independent establishment or it can include subsidiaries or other branch establishments under the same ownership and control.

Entrepreneur: One who creates, researches and takes on all risks of a business.

Equity: An ownership interest in a business.

Establishment: A single-location business unit, which may be independent - called a single- establishment enterprise - or owned by a parent enterprise.

eZine: Short for “electronic magazine”. Most online business owners utilize eZine’s for Free marketing of their sites.

F

Financing: New funds provided to a business, by either loans, purchase of debt securities, cash advances or capital stock. . Forum: Online community where visitors may read and post topics of common interest. Another Free marketing tactic used by many online business owners.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): Lists and answers the most common questions asked on a particular subject within a site.

G

Google One of the more popular search engine database systems to locate information.

Google Adsense: Text and image ads that are precisely targeted to page content, from which the webmaster earns a percentage of the price per click paid by the advertiser. Google Adwords: Google's Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising program.

Guaranteed Loan: A loan made and serviced by a lending institution under agreement that a governmental agency will purchase the guaranteed portion if the borrower defaults.

H

Hardware: A term used to describe the mechanical, electrical, and electronic elements of a data processing system.

Home Page: Your primary HTML page, the first page anyone would see in your Web site. Sometimes referred to as a "landing page".

Hypertext Markup Language (HTML): The primary "language" used to create World Wide Web documents (web pages).

I

Incubator: A facility designed to encourage entrepreneurship and minimize obstacles to new business formation and growth. These shared services may include meeting areas, secretarial services, accounting services, research libraries, on-site financial and management counseling, and word processing facilities.

Innovation: Introduction of a new idea into the marketplace in the form of a new product or service or an improvement in organization or process.

Interest: An amount paid to a lender for the use of funds. Internet Service Provider (ISP): The company or “provider” that your computer uses to gain access to the Internet.

J

Javascript: A programming language designed for writing programs that can be safely downloaded to your computer through the Internet.

Job Description: A written statement listing the elements of a particular job or occupation; , purpose, duties, equipment used, qualifications, training, physical and mental demands, working conditions, etc.

Joint Venture (JV): A general partnership typically formed to undertake a particular business transaction or project rather than one intended to continue indefinitely.

K

Keyword: The word or phrase that a user may enter at a search engine (Yahoo, Google, Msn, etc.) to find information.

Keyword Density: The ratio between the keyword being searched for and the total number of words appearing on your web page. If your keyword only occurs, say, once, in a page that has twenty thousand words, then it has a density of 0.005 percent.

Keyword Selector Tool: Displays how many times a certain keyword was searched for during a given month.

L

Lease: A contract between the owner (leassor) and the tenant (leassee) stating the conditions under which the tenant may occupy or use the property.

Lifetime Commission: An affiliate program that pays a commission on EVERY product or service that the customer buys from the merchant, once you've sent the referral.

Link: A link is typically a word within a sentence that, when clicked, will take the viewer to another particular page or site. Affiliates will use “links” to direct prospects or customers to a desired site.

Liquidation: The disposal, at maximum prices, of the collateral securing a loan and the voluntary and enforced collection of the remaining loan balance from the obligators and/or guarantors.

Loan Agreement: A binding agreement to be executed by borrower, containing pertinent terms, conditions, covenants, and restrictions.

M

Markup: The difference between invoice cost and selling price.

Merchant: A business that markets and sells goods or services.

Merger: A combination of two or more corporations wherein the dominant unit absorbs the passive ones, the former continuing operation usually under the same name. In a consolidation two units combine and are succeeded by a new corporation, usually with a new title.

Meta Tags: Information placed in the header of an HTML page, which is not visible to site visitors.

Multi-Level Marketing (MLM): Also known as Network Marketing, MLM involves the sale of products through a group of independent distributors who also sponsor other people to do the same. Some companies restrict how many “levels” you can have.

N

Net Worth: Property owned (assets), minus debts and obligations owed (liabilities), is the owner's equity (net worth).

Newbie: Someone who is new to the Internet or a specific program. Niche Marketing: Focused, targetable market segment within a larger group. Example would be Tennis Supplies within Tennis.

O Obligations: Defined as "amount of orders placed, contracts awarded, services received, and similar transactions during a given period which will require payments during the same or a future period."

Outbound Links: The use of HTML within a site to re-direct a customer to another area or site.

P

Partnership: A legal relationship existing between two or more persons contractually associated as joint principals in a business.

Patent: A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor, issued by the Patent and Trademark Office.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC): As an affiliate model, you would only receive a commission when a customer actually clicks a link to a merchant's web site.

Pay-Per-Lead (PPL): An affiliate program in which an affiliate receives a commission for each sales lead that they generate for a merchant web site.

Pay-Per-Sale (PPS): Programs in which the affiliate receives a commission for each sale of a product or service that they refer to a merchant's web site.

Profit: The amount of money you earn from your sales.

Privacy Policy: A privacy policy establishes how a company collects and uses information about its customers' accounts and transactions.

Proprietorship (Sole): The most common legal form of business ownership; about 85 percent of all small businesses/entrepreneurs are sole proprietorships. The liability of the owner is unlimited in this form of ownership.

R Real Simple Syndication (RSS): An XML-based format for syndicated content to link with.

Reciprocal Linking: The process of exchanging links with other website owners to increase search engine popularity. Recurring Commissions: Earned commissions both on the initial sale and subsequent purchases of the same product or service.

Referring URL: The URL a user came from to reach another site.

Residual Earnings: Programs that pay affiliates for each sale a shopper from their sites makes at the merchant's site over the lifetime of a customer.

Return on Investment (ROI): This is the amount derived from subtracting your net revenues from your total costs. Revenue: Total income for your sales.

S

Search Engine Optimization (SEO): The process of choosing keywords and keyword phrases relevant to your site or page and utilizing those keywords within pages so that the site ranks well when those keywords are searched upon by customers.

Small business Development Centers (SBDC): The SBDC is a university-based center for the delivery of academic, government and private sector services for the benefit of small business and the national welfare. It is committed to the development and productivity of business and the economy in specific geographical regions.

SPAM: The term "spam" is Internet slang that refers to unsolicited commercial e-mail, usually advertisements. This is something that our Team advises entrepreneurs NOT to do!

Spyware: Known as "Adware", a program hidden within free downloaded software that transmits user information via the Internet to the sender.

Super Affiliates: The top 1 or 2% of affiliates that generate approximately 90% of any affiliate programs earnings.

T

Targeted Marketing: The process of distinguishing the different groups that make up a market, and developing appropriate products and marketing mixes for each target market involved. Utilizing this information assists in creating your “Niche” for your product or service.

Text Link: A link not accompanied by a graphical image and utilizes words only.

Third Party Tracking Software: Software located on a server you utilize that tracks and records visits to your Web site.

Tracking Method: The method by which an affiliate program tracks referred clicks, leads or sales.

Tracking URL: A web site URL with your special code attached to it. Visitors arriving at the site can be tracked back to you through your special code, or ID.

Turnover: Turnover is the number of times that an average inventory of goods is sold during a fiscal year or some designated period. The turnover, when accurately computed, is one measure of the efficiency of a business.

Two-tier: Usually an Affiliate program structure whereby affiliates earn commissions on their conversions as well as conversions of other webmasters they refer to the program.

U

Undelivered Orders/Goods: Goods or services outstanding for which the liability has not yet accrued. For practical purposes, obligations incurred for which goods have not been delivered or services not performed.

Unique User: A unique visitor to your Web site. Upload: Transferring a file from your computer to another computer.

Uniform Resource Locator (URL): The address of a site on the World Wide Web. Example, www.starting-a-business-legacy.com is a URL.

V

Venture Capital: Funding provided to new or existing businesses that exhibit above-average growth, potential for expansion and the need for financing to maintain or expand the growth of the business.

Viral Marketing: A marketing technique that induces Web sites or users to pass on a marketing message to other sites or users.

Virus: A computer virus is defined as a set of commands, created intentionally, that will do some level of damage to a computer.

W

Web Host: A business that provide storage, connectivity, and services necessary to serve website pages and files.

Web Site: A collection of HTML pages containing information on products, information or services

Word Processing: The efficient and effective production of written communications through the combined use of systems management procedures, automated technology.

Worker’s Compensation: State-mandated form of insurance covering workers injured in job-related accidents. In some states the state is the insurer; in other states insurance must be acquired from commercial insurance firms. Insurance rates are based on a number of factors, including salaries, firm history, and risk of occupation.

World Wide Web (WWW): A section of the Internet containing "pages" of information, including text, photos, graphics, audio, and video. You can search for documents by using one of the many search databases..

Y

Yahoo: One of the most popular and (perhaps) the most comprehensive of all search index databases on the World Wide Web.