By: Adriana Copaceanu
The gifting market is a $253 billion market, meaning that almost 1% of the money spent on retail is to buy a gift. This is great news for the gift professionals everywhere. With several major gifting holidays, and many other gifting occasions throughout the year, opportunity is knocking at your door.
But how do you get started?
Here are some basics needed to start a gift basket business:
First, you need to do your research:
-who is your competition?
-who is your target market?
-who are your potential customers?
Write a business plan: this will help you put your goals and ideas into a clear format, and serve as a place to go back and check how you are doing.
Write a marketing plan:
-how are you going to attract your potential customers?
-will you profit from corporate clients, foot traffic, or a combination of ways?
Once you’ve done the above, choose a business name, get your business llicense and Tax ID.
Take time when you choose your business name: when you first start, you may want to have your name included in your business name, or even a "cute" name, but later on, as you get corporate customers, you'll realize that your name has a great impact on how your customers perceive you. If your market is "new moms", by all means use some name they can relate to, but if you plan on getting corporate clients, give it a professional name.
Next step would be to get insurance for your business: yes, it's costly. But not having one could be devastating to your company's financial future, or, if you are set up as a Sole Proprietor, your family's financial future. Business insurance is very important, and one of the costs of doing business.
You are now ready to order your inventory, and start your first prototypes.
Next, get a business phone line. And it's important that only you or one of your trained staff answer the phone. Many of us start in our homes, to be home with our kids, and that is wonderful. But if your kids are screaming in the background, don't pick up the phone: while another mom could understand your predicament, the busy assistant of a large company will probably not want to put up with that.
Once you are all set for business, you'll want to get a website, so that your clients can order on line if they choose to do so. In the last few years web design costs came down a lot, so it's not as expensive as in the past.
These are just the first few steps to get you started. Have fun and never stop learning.
Article by:
Adriana Copaceanu is an experienced gift professional who loves helping others. For tips on taking your gift basket business to the next level, visit Gift Professional Resource Center and www.giftbiz101.com.
Monday, July 31, 2006
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Start Your Home Business And Make Money Right Away - Without Any Talent, Experience Or Skills
By Michael Senoff
For whatever reason, people hesitate starting a home business and making money at home because they don't think they're "qualified." They think they need more education. They think they are missing something and not sure if they are "ready."
But the thing is, you can make money at home (or anywhere else for that matter) without knowing a thing about business, selling, marketing, or running a company.
How do I know?
Because it happens to people with no skills, talents, money or experience all the time.
In fact, most of the really successful business owners out there are not good at everything their business does. They delegate and outsource. They find people to do the things they can't or aren't good at, and just focus on the one or two things they are good at.
I think the ultimate example of this would be -- and I hate to use this example, but it's apt -- Hugh Hefner, the guy who owns Playboy Magazine.
He creates his magazines and doesn't do any of the writing, selling, photography or anything. He just kind of walks around in a robe with women all day. He's the personality behind the operation. And that's what he does. He leaves everything else to others more capable than himself.
And by surrounding himself with talent, instead of trying to "be" the talent, he built the Play Boy empire.
Now, I'm not saying you have to get into a raunchy magazine business or anything like that. My point here is, you can start your home business whenever you want. If you don't know what you're doing, simply find people to do the stuff you can't or don't want to do and just focus on the one or two things you can do.
These days with the Internet and the many dirt cheap service provider auction sites, you can outsource just about anything you want -- the sales, bookkeeping, marketing, copywriting, all of it.
So if you are wanting to start a home business, don't let fear of not knowing enough about business or lack of real world experience stop you.
Michael Senoff is a sought-after Internet marketer, interviewer and business coach with more than 50,000 students on four continents. He is also an expert on showing people how to create their own high ticket information products from scratch using just your telephone. For a 100% FREE REPORT that reveals how you can take your own ordinary book, e-book or even a concept and turn it into a information product you can sell for up to $3,900 or more go to:
http://hardtofindseminars.com/Audio_Marketing_Service.htm
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Senoff
For whatever reason, people hesitate starting a home business and making money at home because they don't think they're "qualified." They think they need more education. They think they are missing something and not sure if they are "ready."
But the thing is, you can make money at home (or anywhere else for that matter) without knowing a thing about business, selling, marketing, or running a company.
How do I know?
Because it happens to people with no skills, talents, money or experience all the time.
In fact, most of the really successful business owners out there are not good at everything their business does. They delegate and outsource. They find people to do the things they can't or aren't good at, and just focus on the one or two things they are good at.
I think the ultimate example of this would be -- and I hate to use this example, but it's apt -- Hugh Hefner, the guy who owns Playboy Magazine.
He creates his magazines and doesn't do any of the writing, selling, photography or anything. He just kind of walks around in a robe with women all day. He's the personality behind the operation. And that's what he does. He leaves everything else to others more capable than himself.
And by surrounding himself with talent, instead of trying to "be" the talent, he built the Play Boy empire.
Now, I'm not saying you have to get into a raunchy magazine business or anything like that. My point here is, you can start your home business whenever you want. If you don't know what you're doing, simply find people to do the stuff you can't or don't want to do and just focus on the one or two things you can do.
These days with the Internet and the many dirt cheap service provider auction sites, you can outsource just about anything you want -- the sales, bookkeeping, marketing, copywriting, all of it.
So if you are wanting to start a home business, don't let fear of not knowing enough about business or lack of real world experience stop you.
Michael Senoff is a sought-after Internet marketer, interviewer and business coach with more than 50,000 students on four continents. He is also an expert on showing people how to create their own high ticket information products from scratch using just your telephone. For a 100% FREE REPORT that reveals how you can take your own ordinary book, e-book or even a concept and turn it into a information product you can sell for up to $3,900 or more go to:
http://hardtofindseminars.com/Audio_Marketing_Service.htm
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Senoff
Friday, July 28, 2006
Virtual Retail Boom Creates Unique Shipping Challenges
(NewsUSA) - Who could have predicted that online buying and selling would become the giant international business that it is today?
Everything from electronics, cars, clothing, collectibles, sporting goods, toys, antiques, books -; you name it -; can be found at online auction sites like eBay. According to the online auction giant, eBay is the most popular shopping destination on the Internet.
Why are online auctions all the rage? From collectible toy trains to custom-built furniture, you can find a variety of extraordinary items not found at your local mall.
And for those putting their large, bulky or fragile goods up for bids, selling is easy compared to figuring out how to get the items shipped to their new owners.
Seeking solutions to these and other shipping hassles, many online auctioneers are turning to professional packing, crating and shipping services, such as Pak Mail Centers. They can ship anything, anywhere in the world.
Pak Mail can handle any shipping challenge, according to the company. From items both small and precious, to entire truckloads, your items will arrive at their destinations in one piece and on time.
There is also an extended menu of services, including custom-built, wooden shipping crates for bulky and valuable items. Items that have been successfully shipped include an antique Japanese sword, an elephant skeleton and even artificial limbs.
Pick-up service is available at most locations. Pak Mail can also provide estimated shipping costs, which allows an online seller to know ahead of time how much cost to factor in for shipping when listing an item for auction.
For the do-it-yourself shipper, Pak Mail Centers also carry a large selection of packaging supplies. For more information, call 800-778-6665 or visit www.pakmail.com.
Everything from electronics, cars, clothing, collectibles, sporting goods, toys, antiques, books -; you name it -; can be found at online auction sites like eBay. According to the online auction giant, eBay is the most popular shopping destination on the Internet.
Why are online auctions all the rage? From collectible toy trains to custom-built furniture, you can find a variety of extraordinary items not found at your local mall.
And for those putting their large, bulky or fragile goods up for bids, selling is easy compared to figuring out how to get the items shipped to their new owners.
Seeking solutions to these and other shipping hassles, many online auctioneers are turning to professional packing, crating and shipping services, such as Pak Mail Centers. They can ship anything, anywhere in the world.
Pak Mail can handle any shipping challenge, according to the company. From items both small and precious, to entire truckloads, your items will arrive at their destinations in one piece and on time.
There is also an extended menu of services, including custom-built, wooden shipping crates for bulky and valuable items. Items that have been successfully shipped include an antique Japanese sword, an elephant skeleton and even artificial limbs.
Pick-up service is available at most locations. Pak Mail can also provide estimated shipping costs, which allows an online seller to know ahead of time how much cost to factor in for shipping when listing an item for auction.
For the do-it-yourself shipper, Pak Mail Centers also carry a large selection of packaging supplies. For more information, call 800-778-6665 or visit www.pakmail.com.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Dropshipping: A Step Beyond Affiliate Marketing
By Matthew Bredel
As I continue to grow as an affiliate marketer, I strive to learn new and more diverse opportunities to make money online. Remember that the one of the most common suggestions of online entrepreneurs is to create multiple streams of incomes from many different campaign and programs. Further, understanding the multiple types of online money making programs helps you find the “niche” that will ultimately make you the most money.
For some, affiliate marketing may seem a bit intimidating: It is driven a lot by reviews, reports, advertising, promotion and sales. In affiliate marketing, you, the online entrepreneur, are just a middle man: You direct people to your site (or landing page) and it is your job to convince them to buy from another website. If you achieve your goals, you will receive a portion of the sales, lead or click that came from your site. There are a few downfalls to this:
1) You have no control over the selling site.
2) You must rely on their ad-copy as much as your ad-copy to ultimately make the sale
3) You lose sales tracking ability the minute the buyer leaves your site. Tracking sales to ad campaigns is very difficult.
4) You are competing against other affiliate marketers.
5) Relatively speaking, compensation can be low and out of your control.
For example, I currently promote a product that the website founder likes to change the price and the commission of the product very regularly. Some weeks I make close to $30 per sale, other weeks, less than $8 per sale (for the SAME product!). As an affiliate marketer, what I am to do? I either must grin and bear it or drop them as an affiliate.
So what other options are there to help reduce these issues? The closest program to affiliate marketing that reduces or eliminates the affiliate marketing issues is dropshipping. With dropshipping, you are actually selling the product; you are no longer the middle man. This is similar to buying wholesale and marking up the price for each product, but with a little twist! With dropshipping, you only purchase the product AFTER someone purchases the product from you. In addition, the product is never in your hands; it is shipped directly to the end customer.
For example, let’s say you want to sell ipods. First, you would find a dropshipper that sells the product (at a below market value to you). Second, you create a website, an eBay auction, Amazon Shop, etc. When someone makes a purchase, you return to the dropshipping site, place the order for them, include their address information and the sale is completed. Your earning is the price difference between the final customer cost and the wholesale cost + shipping cost + dropshipping fee. Let’s say that your wholesale cost of an ipod is $150 and you sell it for $200. The dropshipper charges you $18 for shipping and $2 for the dropship fee. Your profit on the sales is then $30.
What are the advantages over affiliate marketing?
1) Control of the final landing page and how the product is presented.
2) Less competition
3) Ability to set your own price and earnings
4) Ability to track your sales to completion
5) Less time required (in some cases) creating an avenue to sell the products (through eBay and Amazon, for example)
6) Potential higher earnings per sale (relative to affiliate marketing)
What are the disadvantages over affiliate marketing?
1) You are now required the action of purchasing each product after a sale
2) Setting up payment methods (though companies like Paypal make this pretty easy…they just take a percentage of the sales)
3) Direct contact with the customer
4) Finding the right product at the right price with the right dropshipper can take some time and negotiating.
5) Higher risk of fraud and poor dropshipping companies.
As similar as the two programs are, they are quite different in what they have to offer you. Affiliate marketing usually requires a bit more front-end work, but once the commissions start coming, the maintenance is fairly minimal. As for dropshipping, you can get set-up and going relatively quickly. With superstores like eBay and Amazon, dropshipping requires no custom landing pages and minimal promotion. This, however, requires a little more work throughout the existence of the campaign. The per-sale-action ultimately requires more work in the long run. Both work very well, but it is up to you to choose which one works best…maybe it is both!
Matthew is a 31 year old online entrepreneur and engineer currently living in San Diego, CA.
Visit http://www.TheWebReviewer.com for more money making articles, resources and reviews on today’s hottest online money making ventures.
For more details on Dropshipping programs, visit http://Dropshipping.TheWebReviewer.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matthew_Bredel
As I continue to grow as an affiliate marketer, I strive to learn new and more diverse opportunities to make money online. Remember that the one of the most common suggestions of online entrepreneurs is to create multiple streams of incomes from many different campaign and programs. Further, understanding the multiple types of online money making programs helps you find the “niche” that will ultimately make you the most money.
For some, affiliate marketing may seem a bit intimidating: It is driven a lot by reviews, reports, advertising, promotion and sales. In affiliate marketing, you, the online entrepreneur, are just a middle man: You direct people to your site (or landing page) and it is your job to convince them to buy from another website. If you achieve your goals, you will receive a portion of the sales, lead or click that came from your site. There are a few downfalls to this:
1) You have no control over the selling site.
2) You must rely on their ad-copy as much as your ad-copy to ultimately make the sale
3) You lose sales tracking ability the minute the buyer leaves your site. Tracking sales to ad campaigns is very difficult.
4) You are competing against other affiliate marketers.
5) Relatively speaking, compensation can be low and out of your control.
For example, I currently promote a product that the website founder likes to change the price and the commission of the product very regularly. Some weeks I make close to $30 per sale, other weeks, less than $8 per sale (for the SAME product!). As an affiliate marketer, what I am to do? I either must grin and bear it or drop them as an affiliate.
So what other options are there to help reduce these issues? The closest program to affiliate marketing that reduces or eliminates the affiliate marketing issues is dropshipping. With dropshipping, you are actually selling the product; you are no longer the middle man. This is similar to buying wholesale and marking up the price for each product, but with a little twist! With dropshipping, you only purchase the product AFTER someone purchases the product from you. In addition, the product is never in your hands; it is shipped directly to the end customer.
For example, let’s say you want to sell ipods. First, you would find a dropshipper that sells the product (at a below market value to you). Second, you create a website, an eBay auction, Amazon Shop, etc. When someone makes a purchase, you return to the dropshipping site, place the order for them, include their address information and the sale is completed. Your earning is the price difference between the final customer cost and the wholesale cost + shipping cost + dropshipping fee. Let’s say that your wholesale cost of an ipod is $150 and you sell it for $200. The dropshipper charges you $18 for shipping and $2 for the dropship fee. Your profit on the sales is then $30.
What are the advantages over affiliate marketing?
1) Control of the final landing page and how the product is presented.
2) Less competition
3) Ability to set your own price and earnings
4) Ability to track your sales to completion
5) Less time required (in some cases) creating an avenue to sell the products (through eBay and Amazon, for example)
6) Potential higher earnings per sale (relative to affiliate marketing)
What are the disadvantages over affiliate marketing?
1) You are now required the action of purchasing each product after a sale
2) Setting up payment methods (though companies like Paypal make this pretty easy…they just take a percentage of the sales)
3) Direct contact with the customer
4) Finding the right product at the right price with the right dropshipper can take some time and negotiating.
5) Higher risk of fraud and poor dropshipping companies.
As similar as the two programs are, they are quite different in what they have to offer you. Affiliate marketing usually requires a bit more front-end work, but once the commissions start coming, the maintenance is fairly minimal. As for dropshipping, you can get set-up and going relatively quickly. With superstores like eBay and Amazon, dropshipping requires no custom landing pages and minimal promotion. This, however, requires a little more work throughout the existence of the campaign. The per-sale-action ultimately requires more work in the long run. Both work very well, but it is up to you to choose which one works best…maybe it is both!
Matthew is a 31 year old online entrepreneur and engineer currently living in San Diego, CA.
Visit http://www.TheWebReviewer.com for more money making articles, resources and reviews on today’s hottest online money making ventures.
For more details on Dropshipping programs, visit http://Dropshipping.TheWebReviewer.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matthew_Bredel
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Top Ten Telecommuting Questions Answered
By: Leslie Truex
Intrigued by the idea of working at home in a job? Millions of people each year surf the Internet to find the perfect work-at-home job only to be overwhelmed by the number of scams and work-at-home schemes. One of the first steps to finding a legitimate work-at-home job is to understand what telecommuting is all about. Below are the answers to the top ten telecommuting questions.
1) What is telecommuting?
Telecommuting describes the situation in which a person works off-site for all or part of the workweek. In essence, he commutes via telephone or other telecommunication equipment such as a modem. He may telecommute from home, from a satellite location or mobile office. He doesn’t do assembly work, email processing, envelope stuffing, or ad placing.
2) How many people telecommute?
The number of telecommuters is difficult to compute. The International Telework Association and Council reports the number of employees who telecommuted at least 1 day per month increased from 23.5 million to 24.1 million in 2004. That number is over 137 million worldwide (Gartner Group). Further, employers offering telecommuting increased 22% in 2004 according to Lori Rosen, CCH workplace analyst in HR Networking: Work-Life Benefits.
The difficulty in determining the number of telecommuters is partly due to the ambiguity in defining the status of some workers. For example, many people who work at home are “hired” by a company but are contract workers not employees. Are they counted as telecommuters? How about freelancers who are also "hired" or contracted by companies to perform specific tasks? Whether or not these groups of people are counted in the over all population of telecommuters can significantly affect the resulting number of telecommuters. However, experts agree that the numbers of people who are working at home for a company are increasing steadily each year as the concept of telecommuting grows in acceptance.
3) What companies allow telecommuting?
Telecommuting can be found in companies and organization (including government agencies) of all sizes. AT&T is a pioneer in the telecommuting phenomena. Other organizations include Aetna, Gale Research, Journal Graphics, the Federal Government, many state governments, and even small privately owned companies. In essence, its everywhere.
4) What jobs are best suited for telecommuting?
While telecommuting jobs have expanded to include a large spectrum of job types, the jobs best suited to telecommuting are those in the technical field especially in computer programming and writing. However, telecommuting jobs can also be found in research, customer service, accounting, journalism, transcription, marketing and PR, sales, law, social work, nursing, and many other areas.
4) Do telecommuter’s get salaries and benefits?
Salaries and benefits are part of many telecommuting programs. They can be found mostly in situations in which an employee has made arrangements with his employer to work at home, and in highly skilled or professional jobs. Many of the telecommuting jobs found on the Internet are freelance or contract-based work in which the employee is paid on the amount of work completed. However, contract work doesn’t necessarily mean sales nor does it mean inconsistent income. There are many contract jobs that are steady in terms of work and compensation.
5) Do you have to pay for telecommuting jobs?
NO! Legitimate employers never charge to hire you. NEVER! Any place that tells you otherwise is selling you something. Telecommuting jobs are like any other job. You are hired because you have shown you have the skills and experience for the job. You wouldn’t pay your current boss for paper clips or to add you to payroll! The only time money may be involved in a work-at-home job is for equipment (not all companies supply the equipment – but you should be careful of any company that tries to sell you it’s equipment) or if you use a fee-based job database to locate work. Further, any job announcement that suggests you can sign-up to work isn’t a real job. There is always an application process.
6) Where can telecommuting jobs be found?
There are two ways to get a telecommuting job. The first is to consider your current job. Are there tasks at your current job that you could do at home? If so, create a Work-At-Home Proposal outlining your work-at-home plan and how it will benefit your company. The second way is to do a work-at-home job search. The best places to find these jobs are on career oriented websites. Many of the fee-based telecommuting job databases are very good and cut down search time significantly. But always do research before forking out money to a telecommuting service.
7) Do I need special skills?
Special skills, particularly in computer programming, will make it faster and easier to find a work-at-home job. But there are work-at-home jobs in many fields that don’t require any special degrees or skills. Basic skills you should have include writing, organizing, Internet use, research, and problem solving.
8) Do I need special equipment?
Maybe. Many telecommuting employees do not provide equipment or materials. A company is most likely to provide needed equipment if you are a full-time employee moving from an onsite position to a telecommuting one. In other cases, companies may reimburse the cost of some expenses such as materials and travel. In many cases, companies don’t supply or reimburse for anything. In this case, your expenses may be tax deductible, which is like getting reimbursed.
At the very least, you should have a fast computer with programs needed to do the job, a high-speed Internet connection, and possibly a second phone line and fax.
9) Is telecommuting suited to parents?
Telecommuting offers many benefits to parents but that doesn’t mean telecommuters can get by without childcare. Many companies require a written telecommuting agreement with childcare arrangements specified. Working at home with children can be difficult, as children need much attention and care. Even when they are engaged in an activity, they can be a distraction. If you plan to work at home, it would be wise to research different child care options such as pre-schools, co-ops, and play groups that could give you some uninterrupted time to work.
10) Does telecommuting work for everyone?
No. While telecommuting offers many benefits such as flexibility and no commute time, it does have its disadvantages. Working at home requires much self-discipline to avoid distractions such as the dishes and television. It can create resentment at the office especially if the office staff is unable to contact the telecommuter or ends up picking up extra work not being finished by the telecommuter. One of the biggest complaints by telecommuters is the isolation experienced by working at home. Telecommuters are left out of the formal and informal office social systems unless they make an effort to keep in touch with the office.
Telecommuting continues to grow as more and more businesses see the cost effectiveness of allowing people to do work from home. But to find telecommuting work requires the same amount of diligent effort and professionalism as needed in a traditional job search. Your best bet for finding legitimate telecommuting jobs is to understand telecommuting and the companies that use telecommuters.
Article by:
Leslie Truex is a stay and work-at-home mom and author of “Jobs At Home: A Complete Guide to Finding and Creating a Work-At-Home Job” which provides detailed telecommuting information and hundreds of job resources. Learn more and get her FREE 5 day Jobs At Home email course at www.jobsathomesuccess.com
Intrigued by the idea of working at home in a job? Millions of people each year surf the Internet to find the perfect work-at-home job only to be overwhelmed by the number of scams and work-at-home schemes. One of the first steps to finding a legitimate work-at-home job is to understand what telecommuting is all about. Below are the answers to the top ten telecommuting questions.
1) What is telecommuting?
Telecommuting describes the situation in which a person works off-site for all or part of the workweek. In essence, he commutes via telephone or other telecommunication equipment such as a modem. He may telecommute from home, from a satellite location or mobile office. He doesn’t do assembly work, email processing, envelope stuffing, or ad placing.
2) How many people telecommute?
The number of telecommuters is difficult to compute. The International Telework Association and Council reports the number of employees who telecommuted at least 1 day per month increased from 23.5 million to 24.1 million in 2004. That number is over 137 million worldwide (Gartner Group). Further, employers offering telecommuting increased 22% in 2004 according to Lori Rosen, CCH workplace analyst in HR Networking: Work-Life Benefits.
The difficulty in determining the number of telecommuters is partly due to the ambiguity in defining the status of some workers. For example, many people who work at home are “hired” by a company but are contract workers not employees. Are they counted as telecommuters? How about freelancers who are also "hired" or contracted by companies to perform specific tasks? Whether or not these groups of people are counted in the over all population of telecommuters can significantly affect the resulting number of telecommuters. However, experts agree that the numbers of people who are working at home for a company are increasing steadily each year as the concept of telecommuting grows in acceptance.
3) What companies allow telecommuting?
Telecommuting can be found in companies and organization (including government agencies) of all sizes. AT&T is a pioneer in the telecommuting phenomena. Other organizations include Aetna, Gale Research, Journal Graphics, the Federal Government, many state governments, and even small privately owned companies. In essence, its everywhere.
4) What jobs are best suited for telecommuting?
While telecommuting jobs have expanded to include a large spectrum of job types, the jobs best suited to telecommuting are those in the technical field especially in computer programming and writing. However, telecommuting jobs can also be found in research, customer service, accounting, journalism, transcription, marketing and PR, sales, law, social work, nursing, and many other areas.
4) Do telecommuter’s get salaries and benefits?
Salaries and benefits are part of many telecommuting programs. They can be found mostly in situations in which an employee has made arrangements with his employer to work at home, and in highly skilled or professional jobs. Many of the telecommuting jobs found on the Internet are freelance or contract-based work in which the employee is paid on the amount of work completed. However, contract work doesn’t necessarily mean sales nor does it mean inconsistent income. There are many contract jobs that are steady in terms of work and compensation.
5) Do you have to pay for telecommuting jobs?
NO! Legitimate employers never charge to hire you. NEVER! Any place that tells you otherwise is selling you something. Telecommuting jobs are like any other job. You are hired because you have shown you have the skills and experience for the job. You wouldn’t pay your current boss for paper clips or to add you to payroll! The only time money may be involved in a work-at-home job is for equipment (not all companies supply the equipment – but you should be careful of any company that tries to sell you it’s equipment) or if you use a fee-based job database to locate work. Further, any job announcement that suggests you can sign-up to work isn’t a real job. There is always an application process.
6) Where can telecommuting jobs be found?
There are two ways to get a telecommuting job. The first is to consider your current job. Are there tasks at your current job that you could do at home? If so, create a Work-At-Home Proposal outlining your work-at-home plan and how it will benefit your company. The second way is to do a work-at-home job search. The best places to find these jobs are on career oriented websites. Many of the fee-based telecommuting job databases are very good and cut down search time significantly. But always do research before forking out money to a telecommuting service.
7) Do I need special skills?
Special skills, particularly in computer programming, will make it faster and easier to find a work-at-home job. But there are work-at-home jobs in many fields that don’t require any special degrees or skills. Basic skills you should have include writing, organizing, Internet use, research, and problem solving.
8) Do I need special equipment?
Maybe. Many telecommuting employees do not provide equipment or materials. A company is most likely to provide needed equipment if you are a full-time employee moving from an onsite position to a telecommuting one. In other cases, companies may reimburse the cost of some expenses such as materials and travel. In many cases, companies don’t supply or reimburse for anything. In this case, your expenses may be tax deductible, which is like getting reimbursed.
At the very least, you should have a fast computer with programs needed to do the job, a high-speed Internet connection, and possibly a second phone line and fax.
9) Is telecommuting suited to parents?
Telecommuting offers many benefits to parents but that doesn’t mean telecommuters can get by without childcare. Many companies require a written telecommuting agreement with childcare arrangements specified. Working at home with children can be difficult, as children need much attention and care. Even when they are engaged in an activity, they can be a distraction. If you plan to work at home, it would be wise to research different child care options such as pre-schools, co-ops, and play groups that could give you some uninterrupted time to work.
10) Does telecommuting work for everyone?
No. While telecommuting offers many benefits such as flexibility and no commute time, it does have its disadvantages. Working at home requires much self-discipline to avoid distractions such as the dishes and television. It can create resentment at the office especially if the office staff is unable to contact the telecommuter or ends up picking up extra work not being finished by the telecommuter. One of the biggest complaints by telecommuters is the isolation experienced by working at home. Telecommuters are left out of the formal and informal office social systems unless they make an effort to keep in touch with the office.
Telecommuting continues to grow as more and more businesses see the cost effectiveness of allowing people to do work from home. But to find telecommuting work requires the same amount of diligent effort and professionalism as needed in a traditional job search. Your best bet for finding legitimate telecommuting jobs is to understand telecommuting and the companies that use telecommuters.
Article by:
Leslie Truex is a stay and work-at-home mom and author of “Jobs At Home: A Complete Guide to Finding and Creating a Work-At-Home Job” which provides detailed telecommuting information and hundreds of job resources. Learn more and get her FREE 5 day Jobs At Home email course at www.jobsathomesuccess.com
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
How to Start Making Money Online in Minutes Without a Website
By: Angie Fleszar
With the addition of affiliate programs, making money online has never been easier. Affiliate programs are easy because they allow people with no computer experience, and no business experience, to jump online and start making money almost instantly on the Internet.
An affiliate program is something many Web sites use to attract new visitors. Companies allow you to sign up as their affiliate and promote their product for them. Should you help them sell anything, they pay you a commission for your sales. They track their sales typically by using a cookie they set on the Web visitor's browser when they first arrive at the Web site. As an affiliate, if you send a customer to the main site, even if they return at a later date and purchase, as long as they still have the cookie on their computer, the sale is tracked to you. That's right, you can make money online without having to process any orders, employ anyone, deal with customer service issues, or any other time consuming tasks.
If you're familiar with affiliate programs then you probably already know that the whole key to making high commissions is through getting quality traffic, and a lot of it, through your affiliate link. How you go about this is going to be different for whatever product you're promoting. I strongly believe one of the most lucrative ways is through pay-per-click advertising. The nice part about PPC advertising is that you can carefully pick your keywords for pennies and promote only programs that can pay you in dollars. The best way to turn a profit with affiliate programs usually requires some type of budget to buy advertising. You cannot be afraid to spend money to make money.
There are a couple of other ways to make money promoting affiliate programs that cost nothing. You can create a free blog at Blogger and write about subjects that relate to the products you're promoting. You can also write informative articles and submit them to places which will index them and include your affiliate link. And another popular and free way is to hang out in forums that relate to your target demographic and post to highly active threads. If you answer people's questions honestly and provide a value to the forum, people will not only read what you post, they will click on your signature and see the Website you're affiliated with. These are a great free ways to get traffic to your affiliate link. They take a little more time and patience than writing a two line PPC ad, but are completely 100% free.
Some affiliate networks and Web sites require you to already have a Web site to join. If you're just starting out and don't have a Web site you can use to promote your affiliate link, start with signing up with places, such as, Clickbank. If you promote products for a company like Clickbank, not only do you not need a Web site to join, but you can market thousands of products they sell and only sign up once. This means you can have an affiliate link for any of the products they have, open an account with a PPC search engine (e.g. Google) and be in business in only a matter of minutes. Most people new to online marketing have no idea how quickly they can sign up as an affiliate, open a PPC advertising account, and immediately start getting traffic through their affiliate link.
If you pick a network like Clickbank they'll provide you with details regarding which products sell better than others. This is where many people make the mistake of signing up for one of the top ten affiliate programs and try to go out and market it. There's a reason why a product is the highest selling product at the time, it's because everyone is already promoting it. When there is a massive amount of competition, it means that you'll sell less product and make less money per sale. I've found that the most lucrative programs to promote are the ones that are several pages deep into Clickbank's catalog. The less competition, the easier and quicker you'll start to see sales. Clickbank is only one out of hundreds of affiliate networks. You can search almost any store you can think of along with the word "affiliate" and chances are they have some kind of affiliate program. Also, run a search for affiliate programs and affiliate networks and you'll stumble onto a ton of companies that want you to promote their site.
Your opportunity to start making money on the Internet immediately has never been easier. Affiliate programs allow entrepreneurs to share in the profits of large corporations and other web based businesses with little effort. With the large amount of affiliate programs available today, and the rapid growth of the Internet, there has never been a better time to get involved in online marketing.
Angie Fleszar is a partner at The Real Straightshooter, INC. at www.therealstraightshooter.com . Angie has helped many pursue their goals of running an online business and still remains one of the industries most highly paid super affiliates.
With the addition of affiliate programs, making money online has never been easier. Affiliate programs are easy because they allow people with no computer experience, and no business experience, to jump online and start making money almost instantly on the Internet.
An affiliate program is something many Web sites use to attract new visitors. Companies allow you to sign up as their affiliate and promote their product for them. Should you help them sell anything, they pay you a commission for your sales. They track their sales typically by using a cookie they set on the Web visitor's browser when they first arrive at the Web site. As an affiliate, if you send a customer to the main site, even if they return at a later date and purchase, as long as they still have the cookie on their computer, the sale is tracked to you. That's right, you can make money online without having to process any orders, employ anyone, deal with customer service issues, or any other time consuming tasks.
If you're familiar with affiliate programs then you probably already know that the whole key to making high commissions is through getting quality traffic, and a lot of it, through your affiliate link. How you go about this is going to be different for whatever product you're promoting. I strongly believe one of the most lucrative ways is through pay-per-click advertising. The nice part about PPC advertising is that you can carefully pick your keywords for pennies and promote only programs that can pay you in dollars. The best way to turn a profit with affiliate programs usually requires some type of budget to buy advertising. You cannot be afraid to spend money to make money.
There are a couple of other ways to make money promoting affiliate programs that cost nothing. You can create a free blog at Blogger and write about subjects that relate to the products you're promoting. You can also write informative articles and submit them to places which will index them and include your affiliate link. And another popular and free way is to hang out in forums that relate to your target demographic and post to highly active threads. If you answer people's questions honestly and provide a value to the forum, people will not only read what you post, they will click on your signature and see the Website you're affiliated with. These are a great free ways to get traffic to your affiliate link. They take a little more time and patience than writing a two line PPC ad, but are completely 100% free.
Some affiliate networks and Web sites require you to already have a Web site to join. If you're just starting out and don't have a Web site you can use to promote your affiliate link, start with signing up with places, such as, Clickbank. If you promote products for a company like Clickbank, not only do you not need a Web site to join, but you can market thousands of products they sell and only sign up once. This means you can have an affiliate link for any of the products they have, open an account with a PPC search engine (e.g. Google) and be in business in only a matter of minutes. Most people new to online marketing have no idea how quickly they can sign up as an affiliate, open a PPC advertising account, and immediately start getting traffic through their affiliate link.
If you pick a network like Clickbank they'll provide you with details regarding which products sell better than others. This is where many people make the mistake of signing up for one of the top ten affiliate programs and try to go out and market it. There's a reason why a product is the highest selling product at the time, it's because everyone is already promoting it. When there is a massive amount of competition, it means that you'll sell less product and make less money per sale. I've found that the most lucrative programs to promote are the ones that are several pages deep into Clickbank's catalog. The less competition, the easier and quicker you'll start to see sales. Clickbank is only one out of hundreds of affiliate networks. You can search almost any store you can think of along with the word "affiliate" and chances are they have some kind of affiliate program. Also, run a search for affiliate programs and affiliate networks and you'll stumble onto a ton of companies that want you to promote their site.
Your opportunity to start making money on the Internet immediately has never been easier. Affiliate programs allow entrepreneurs to share in the profits of large corporations and other web based businesses with little effort. With the large amount of affiliate programs available today, and the rapid growth of the Internet, there has never been a better time to get involved in online marketing.
Angie Fleszar is a partner at The Real Straightshooter, INC. at www.therealstraightshooter.com . Angie has helped many pursue their goals of running an online business and still remains one of the industries most highly paid super affiliates.
Monday, July 24, 2006
Work at Home Moms and Stress
By: Nicole Dean
How stressed are you really? Take this quiz to find out. Mark as many of the items below that you identify with.
_ Calgon! Take me away!
What would you give for a vacation right now? If you named a body part, then you’re feeling too stressed.
_ I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.
Is this how you feel in the morning when the alarm goes off?
_ Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz…oh what a relief it is.
Are you experiencing stomach aches, headaches, or other physical signs of stress?
_ Take my kids, please!
Are you enjoying your children, or are you ready to sell them on eBay?
_ To the Moon, Alice!
Is your love life giving you warm fuzzies or cold pricklies?
_ I can’t believe I ate the whole thing!
Are you overeating to try to feel better about yourself?
How’d you score?
1-2 – Not too bad. You’re feeling kind of overwhelmed, but it looks like you’re handling things fairly well. Take some extra time for yourself during the holidays to stay in balance.
3-4 – You’re walking a fine line right now. Add another stressor to your life and you risk heading toward big time stress. It’s time to tackle it now.
5 – 6 – Uhhh…. You’d better keep reading.
Stress Reeks Havoc
Even low levels of stress can exacerbate or possibly cause these physical illnesses: Heart Disease, Stroke, Susceptibility to Infections, Gastrointestinal Problems, Diabetes, Muscular and Joint Pain, Headaches and Migraines
As well as these psychological conditions: Memory and Concentration Difficulties, Sleep Disturbances and Depression
And, yes, some days I feel like I’m suffering from all of those! That’s when my body is trying to tell me, “Nicole – you’re way out of balance!”
So, if you’re just not feeling as well as you should, then really reassess your stress levels and visualize what that stress is doing to your health.
Spending Time on Yourself is NOT Selfish. Working Yourself Sick Is.
I know, I know. You’ve heard it 100 times before and you’ll hear it another 100 times. You know why? Because it’s true. You need to have balance in your life. And, believe me, I battle this on this a daily basis, so I know it’s hard to find balance when you are driven to succeed at being a WAHM. But, even when your ‘to do’ list seems insurmountable, you still need to take care of your health (both physical and emotional).
But, you know what? You can do it. Start by choosing a hobby. Scrapbooking, guitar playing, belly dancing, reading, pampering, wood working, gardening, poker. Just find something outside your work that makes you happy.
Yadda yadda. I can hear you brushing me off. Hang on a second and keep reading….
Think of the example you are setting for your children. If you have little interests outside of being a WAHM and are feeling stressed and unhappy, your children will follow in your footsteps.
Strive to treat yourself as you’d hope your children would treat themselves. You’re teaching them every day how to grow up to be happy adults, but the words will mean nothing if the example isn’t there. Try to have a night out with your sweetie or with some girlfriends every few weeks. They deserve a happy Mommy.
Meds: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Doctor-prescribed medication and self-medication are two methods of stress management.
Neither of these options is good or bad. Just like everything in life – take it in moderation. If you enjoy an glass of wine after a long stressful day, then enjoy it guilt free. (cheers!)
If your doctor prescribes a medication that you need to get through a difficult time, then by all means you do what is best for you.
Or, if you enjoy herbal remedies, teas and aromatherapy for relaxation, then go for it!
However, one of the common effects of stress is over-medicating or self-medicating. So, if you find yourself relying heavily on alcohol or medication (either doctor prescribed or self-prescribed) or you begin taking illegal drugs, then talk to your doctor about it as soon as possible. You deserve to enjoy your life – not miss out on it.
Sometimes we have to be Sneaky
Sometimes the best thing for your business is to get away from it for a bit. Seriously, I have my best inspiration when I’m NOT at my computer – which is a little scary since my businesses are online.
Treat yourself to 15 minutes to yourself – even if you have to tell your husband you’re having ‘bathroom issues’ in order to get undisturbed time. (shhhh… I’ve done this.) I wonder how surprised my husband would be to find me sitting on the floor of the bathroom wrapped in a blanket, reading a book? I know, it’s too much information, but I’m trying to show just how important it is to have that time to yourself. I’m not promoting deception in marriage, but if you have to stretch your time in the bathroom, don’t feel guilty about enjoying the freedom.
So, make an effort today to start stealing moments of happiness. Life is not a dress rehearsal, enjoy every second that you can!
Article by:
Nicole Dean is the mostly-sane Mom behind www.ShowMomTheMoney.com. Are you a Work at Home Mom looking for ways to get more traffic? Take the Web Traffic School tutorial - Free! www.WebTrafficBasics.com
How stressed are you really? Take this quiz to find out. Mark as many of the items below that you identify with.
_ Calgon! Take me away!
What would you give for a vacation right now? If you named a body part, then you’re feeling too stressed.
_ I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.
Is this how you feel in the morning when the alarm goes off?
_ Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz…oh what a relief it is.
Are you experiencing stomach aches, headaches, or other physical signs of stress?
_ Take my kids, please!
Are you enjoying your children, or are you ready to sell them on eBay?
_ To the Moon, Alice!
Is your love life giving you warm fuzzies or cold pricklies?
_ I can’t believe I ate the whole thing!
Are you overeating to try to feel better about yourself?
How’d you score?
1-2 – Not too bad. You’re feeling kind of overwhelmed, but it looks like you’re handling things fairly well. Take some extra time for yourself during the holidays to stay in balance.
3-4 – You’re walking a fine line right now. Add another stressor to your life and you risk heading toward big time stress. It’s time to tackle it now.
5 – 6 – Uhhh…. You’d better keep reading.
Stress Reeks Havoc
Even low levels of stress can exacerbate or possibly cause these physical illnesses: Heart Disease, Stroke, Susceptibility to Infections, Gastrointestinal Problems, Diabetes, Muscular and Joint Pain, Headaches and Migraines
As well as these psychological conditions: Memory and Concentration Difficulties, Sleep Disturbances and Depression
And, yes, some days I feel like I’m suffering from all of those! That’s when my body is trying to tell me, “Nicole – you’re way out of balance!”
So, if you’re just not feeling as well as you should, then really reassess your stress levels and visualize what that stress is doing to your health.
Spending Time on Yourself is NOT Selfish. Working Yourself Sick Is.
I know, I know. You’ve heard it 100 times before and you’ll hear it another 100 times. You know why? Because it’s true. You need to have balance in your life. And, believe me, I battle this on this a daily basis, so I know it’s hard to find balance when you are driven to succeed at being a WAHM. But, even when your ‘to do’ list seems insurmountable, you still need to take care of your health (both physical and emotional).
But, you know what? You can do it. Start by choosing a hobby. Scrapbooking, guitar playing, belly dancing, reading, pampering, wood working, gardening, poker. Just find something outside your work that makes you happy.
Yadda yadda. I can hear you brushing me off. Hang on a second and keep reading….
Think of the example you are setting for your children. If you have little interests outside of being a WAHM and are feeling stressed and unhappy, your children will follow in your footsteps.
Strive to treat yourself as you’d hope your children would treat themselves. You’re teaching them every day how to grow up to be happy adults, but the words will mean nothing if the example isn’t there. Try to have a night out with your sweetie or with some girlfriends every few weeks. They deserve a happy Mommy.
Meds: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Doctor-prescribed medication and self-medication are two methods of stress management.
Neither of these options is good or bad. Just like everything in life – take it in moderation. If you enjoy an glass of wine after a long stressful day, then enjoy it guilt free. (cheers!)
If your doctor prescribes a medication that you need to get through a difficult time, then by all means you do what is best for you.
Or, if you enjoy herbal remedies, teas and aromatherapy for relaxation, then go for it!
However, one of the common effects of stress is over-medicating or self-medicating. So, if you find yourself relying heavily on alcohol or medication (either doctor prescribed or self-prescribed) or you begin taking illegal drugs, then talk to your doctor about it as soon as possible. You deserve to enjoy your life – not miss out on it.
Sometimes we have to be Sneaky
Sometimes the best thing for your business is to get away from it for a bit. Seriously, I have my best inspiration when I’m NOT at my computer – which is a little scary since my businesses are online.
Treat yourself to 15 minutes to yourself – even if you have to tell your husband you’re having ‘bathroom issues’ in order to get undisturbed time. (shhhh… I’ve done this.) I wonder how surprised my husband would be to find me sitting on the floor of the bathroom wrapped in a blanket, reading a book? I know, it’s too much information, but I’m trying to show just how important it is to have that time to yourself. I’m not promoting deception in marriage, but if you have to stretch your time in the bathroom, don’t feel guilty about enjoying the freedom.
So, make an effort today to start stealing moments of happiness. Life is not a dress rehearsal, enjoy every second that you can!
Article by:
Nicole Dean is the mostly-sane Mom behind www.ShowMomTheMoney.com. Are you a Work at Home Mom looking for ways to get more traffic? Take the Web Traffic School tutorial - Free! www.WebTrafficBasics.com
Friday, July 21, 2006
Generating Income From the Web is As Easy As 1-2-3
By Chris Robertson
Surf the Internet for a half hour, and you'll run across dozens of websites that are clearly generating income from the Web. If you're seeking ways to generate an income from home and are looking to generate Internet income, there are thousands of opportunities from which to choose. The trick, of course, is to find a way to launch a legitimate online home business that will allow you to reap the financial rewards you desire. That process can seem daunting, especially if you've never owned your own business or aren't particularly tech-savvy.
Generating income from the Web is easier than you might think. When considering starting your own legitimate online home business, consider the following:
Find a business you believe in: If you believe in your product or service, you're more likely to spend the time necessary to develop your business. Successfully generating income from the Web isn't difficult, but it does require some of your time. When you find something you believe in, the ability to generate Internet income becomes that much easier - both because you'll invest your time and because you'll be excited to market your product or service to others.
Find a support system: Don't waste your time re-inventing the wheel. Start by finding a website that allows you to browse through proven, legitimate home business opportunities. Once you find an opportunity that's a good match with your interests, make sure they have a comprehensive training program and a full support structure in place to help you every step of the way.
Get technical support: There are any number of ways to generate an income from home without having to have specialized technical knowledge. Find an enterprise that offers to set up your moneymaking website for free, and that is available should you have any technical questions or concerns.
Read, read, read: Scour the Web for the site that provides the best home business opportunities, and read everything you can about generating income from the Web. The best sites will have numerous articles, helpful tips, and general guidance. They should also have a free newsletter to which you can subscribe that is filled with Internet home business tips and website marketing secrets.
Have a plan: In order to get to your destination, you have to have a roadmap. Understanding why you're generating income from the Web will help you stay the course so you'll see the fruits of your efforts. Take some time to outline your goals and the steps you will take to reach them. Use techniques like visualization to imagine yourself wealthy, or create a bulletin board with pictures of what your online home business will allow you and your family to have. Surround yourself with inspirational quotes and motivational objects while you are generating income from the Web, and you'll surely be successful.
Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web. Learn more about Generating Income From the Web or Majon's Business and Entrepreneurs directory.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Robertson
Surf the Internet for a half hour, and you'll run across dozens of websites that are clearly generating income from the Web. If you're seeking ways to generate an income from home and are looking to generate Internet income, there are thousands of opportunities from which to choose. The trick, of course, is to find a way to launch a legitimate online home business that will allow you to reap the financial rewards you desire. That process can seem daunting, especially if you've never owned your own business or aren't particularly tech-savvy.
Generating income from the Web is easier than you might think. When considering starting your own legitimate online home business, consider the following:
Find a business you believe in: If you believe in your product or service, you're more likely to spend the time necessary to develop your business. Successfully generating income from the Web isn't difficult, but it does require some of your time. When you find something you believe in, the ability to generate Internet income becomes that much easier - both because you'll invest your time and because you'll be excited to market your product or service to others.
Find a support system: Don't waste your time re-inventing the wheel. Start by finding a website that allows you to browse through proven, legitimate home business opportunities. Once you find an opportunity that's a good match with your interests, make sure they have a comprehensive training program and a full support structure in place to help you every step of the way.
Get technical support: There are any number of ways to generate an income from home without having to have specialized technical knowledge. Find an enterprise that offers to set up your moneymaking website for free, and that is available should you have any technical questions or concerns.
Read, read, read: Scour the Web for the site that provides the best home business opportunities, and read everything you can about generating income from the Web. The best sites will have numerous articles, helpful tips, and general guidance. They should also have a free newsletter to which you can subscribe that is filled with Internet home business tips and website marketing secrets.
Have a plan: In order to get to your destination, you have to have a roadmap. Understanding why you're generating income from the Web will help you stay the course so you'll see the fruits of your efforts. Take some time to outline your goals and the steps you will take to reach them. Use techniques like visualization to imagine yourself wealthy, or create a bulletin board with pictures of what your online home business will allow you and your family to have. Surround yourself with inspirational quotes and motivational objects while you are generating income from the Web, and you'll surely be successful.
Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web. Learn more about Generating Income From the Web or Majon's Business and Entrepreneurs directory.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Robertson
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Newsletters Can Help Your Small Business Keep Customers
By: Kelly Biedny
One key to keeping clients coming back for more is to make sure that they don't forget about your small business and the services it provides. This doesn't mean barraging customers with junk mail or spam, but by balancing your marketing efforts to provide value. One great way to do this is with newsletters.
Newsletters can be electronic or paper or a combination of both.
Print Newsletters
For established customers, a quarterly or monthly newsletter is a great way to keep you business fresh in their minds while providing valuable information related to your area of expertise. For example, my investment advisor sends out a quarterly, four-page traditional type newsletter filled with great tips that are relevant to the time of year. I love getting it because the information is great; and for him, well he's my go to guy when it comes to financial questions. His newsletter is not only establishing him as an expert, but also helping to build the relationship with me, his client.
The newsletter can be as large or as small as you want, the important thing is to provide valuable, relevant information that your customers will want to receive. You can write the pieces yourself, or there are several resources online for free reprint articles on tons of subjects. You can also hire someone to write the pieces for you – it's more affordable than you may realize and unlike reprint pieces, these will be attributed to you (no references to other businesses with the same expertise).
Electronic Newsletters
An electronic newsletter is similar to a traditional one in content, however, there are considerations. CAN-Spam laws need to be taken into consideration when sending the newsletter as do delivery options. There are many services available that will help to make sure your newsletter is compliant with anti-spam laws as well as manage your list and delivery options and I strongly recommend using one.
I don't recommend sending more than once a month unless you have valuable information your customers will want to know. Also remember, people get LOTS of email, so over-sending is one way to ensure your e-mails will end up in the trash or your subscribers will UN-subscribe.
Which is Better: Print or Electronic?
The answer to this question is dependent on your market. In some cases a combination of the two can work affectively as well. You will have to determine what your customer demographics are and which option would be most effective for your small business.
My mantra is "Communication, communication, communication," and newsletters are just one more way to get your message to your customers. By sharing your valuable knowledge with your customers you are reinforcing the value of your small business and supporting the relationship you have with your customers. I encourage you to take the first step and start thinking about ways a newsletter can work for your small business.
Article by:
For resources on newsletters, visit www.kleobell.com/library/newsletters_customer_retention.cfm at Kleobell Creative Business Solutions. Kelly Biedny, owner of Kleobell. Her areas of expertise include image development, communication/marketing, web development and project management. For more valuable information on helping your small business become THE source of products or services for your customers, check out Kleobell's Resource Library - www.kleobell.com/library/.
One key to keeping clients coming back for more is to make sure that they don't forget about your small business and the services it provides. This doesn't mean barraging customers with junk mail or spam, but by balancing your marketing efforts to provide value. One great way to do this is with newsletters.
Newsletters can be electronic or paper or a combination of both.
Print Newsletters
For established customers, a quarterly or monthly newsletter is a great way to keep you business fresh in their minds while providing valuable information related to your area of expertise. For example, my investment advisor sends out a quarterly, four-page traditional type newsletter filled with great tips that are relevant to the time of year. I love getting it because the information is great; and for him, well he's my go to guy when it comes to financial questions. His newsletter is not only establishing him as an expert, but also helping to build the relationship with me, his client.
The newsletter can be as large or as small as you want, the important thing is to provide valuable, relevant information that your customers will want to receive. You can write the pieces yourself, or there are several resources online for free reprint articles on tons of subjects. You can also hire someone to write the pieces for you – it's more affordable than you may realize and unlike reprint pieces, these will be attributed to you (no references to other businesses with the same expertise).
Electronic Newsletters
An electronic newsletter is similar to a traditional one in content, however, there are considerations. CAN-Spam laws need to be taken into consideration when sending the newsletter as do delivery options. There are many services available that will help to make sure your newsletter is compliant with anti-spam laws as well as manage your list and delivery options and I strongly recommend using one.
I don't recommend sending more than once a month unless you have valuable information your customers will want to know. Also remember, people get LOTS of email, so over-sending is one way to ensure your e-mails will end up in the trash or your subscribers will UN-subscribe.
Which is Better: Print or Electronic?
The answer to this question is dependent on your market. In some cases a combination of the two can work affectively as well. You will have to determine what your customer demographics are and which option would be most effective for your small business.
My mantra is "Communication, communication, communication," and newsletters are just one more way to get your message to your customers. By sharing your valuable knowledge with your customers you are reinforcing the value of your small business and supporting the relationship you have with your customers. I encourage you to take the first step and start thinking about ways a newsletter can work for your small business.
Article by:
For resources on newsletters, visit www.kleobell.com/library/newsletters_customer_retention.cfm at Kleobell Creative Business Solutions. Kelly Biedny, owner of Kleobell. Her areas of expertise include image development, communication/marketing, web development and project management. For more valuable information on helping your small business become THE source of products or services for your customers, check out Kleobell's Resource Library - www.kleobell.com/library/.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Starting a Collection Agency or Your own business, What you need to know
By: Michelle Dunn
You should also be ready to spend a lot of time getting people interested in your business. If you have worked in the industry for other people, new clients will know you have experience and be more comfortable placing accounts with you. If you don’t have any experience, you need to build credibility so potential clients will know you can do the job and do it well. One way to learn more about the industry for free is to join www.credit-and-collections.com which is my free list and website for business people in the credit & collection field. I created this list to share ideas, information, and offer an opportunity to Network. This list is for small and large business owners, entrepreneurs and anyone in the credit & collections field. The website offers a free e-book with letters, forms and information on starting your own agency or business. There are many people on the list who have been in the collection industry for over 35 years and some who are trying to start an agency. There are credit managers, business owners and entrepreneurs. You can ask a question and get many answers which are invaluable information. When I started my collection agency in 1998, I could not find the answers to my questions, which is why I created this list and the website. It has been around now for almost 10 years and we have over 750 members. I learn something from this group every day.
What is a Collection Agency? A collection agency is a service business. Bill collectors act as agents for clients who could not get paid for products or services that they provided their customers. A business places past due accounts with an agency, and the agency tries to collect for them. The agency collects what is due on the bill and keeps a commission on what they collected, and then sends the clients the rest of the money. Some agencies charge a flat monthly fee and offer different stages or types of collection efforts. You will want to search the internet for agencies and request their information so you can see what they charge, what services they offer and how they present themselves.
Agencies can collect for hospitals, physicians, lawyers, retailers, service providers, credit card debt, loans and many other types of businesses. Any business that extends credit or accepts checks may have a need for a collection agency. Collection agencies normally provide asset searches, skip tracing, credit reporting, debt collection services, demand letters, public record searches and various other services which might include a letter service or accounts receivable outsourcing. What you decide to provide is entirely up to you. Some agencies only offer one service, while others have a huge list of services they provide.
You will have to write a business plan. If you are going to borrow money to start your agency or start any business, you will need a business plan to show the bank. Usually a business plan is made up of:
An Executive Summary
A Business description
Marketing Strategies
Competitive analysis
Operations and management plans
Financial statements.
I have an example of a Business Plan and a Marketing Plan in my book, How to make money collecting money, Starting a Collection Agency. These can be customized to fit your particular business. You should also include a cover or folder for your business plan. Include a title page and a table of contents. This will be very professional and impress any bank you may present it to. You should LOVE collection work. You either love it or hate it! If you love it, you will be passionate about making your business work. You will need to have communication and investigative skills. As in any business, you will need to be organized, have empathy, persistence, customer service skills and master the art of negotiation.
Your will want to have your marketing plan in place before approaching a bank for a loan. This way you can include your marketing strategies in your business plan. A marketing plan normally consists of:
A description of your target market
Description of competitors
Description of your services
Your marketing budget
Pricing strategy
You will need to market your agency or business to obtain clients. You first need to know who your potential clients are and who you want as customers.
You can look in your local yellow pages and newspapers. Any business that extends credit may need the service of a collection agency. This could include banks, oil companies, contractors, florists, printing companies and more. If you want to collect on bad checks you can also target any business that accepts checks as a form of payment.
You then need to decide what methods you want to use to market your business. Do you want to use direct mail, ads in local papers or magazines, a website? What is your budget? Once you know your budget, you will know what you can afford and then you have to decide what will give you the biggest return for your money. To do this you need to research your potential clients, ask them if they use an agency now, and ask them how they heard about that agency and if they are happy with the service. Ask them, if there was one thing they could change what would it be? Then you can offer that as part of your service. Remember when marketing any business, you must follow up. If you don’t follow up, the potential client may think you are not really interested, or that if you aren’t persistent with them, you may not be with debtors.
It is a good idea for anyone who is thinking about starting their own business, whether it is a debt collection agency or any other business to join Associations in their field. The best association I joined when I started my agency was The American Collectors Association. You may also want to join your local chamber of commerce or rotary club. There are also many online venues where you can network and learn at little or no cost. You may want to hire a consultant to ask a few key questions before you decide on the type of business you want to start or for tips on working from home with children, and appearing professional or renting office space and hiring employees. When you join Credit & Collections, you can purchase deeply discounted consulting from me on Starting a Collection Agency or Starting a Home Based Business. Maybe there is someone in your local area that has a business similar to the one you would like to open that would consider being a mentor. Remember, research, networking and patience are very important. I cannot stress this enough. Ask questions and ask for help, if you don’t know. I just love when someone emails me to ask me a question about starting their business or agency. I love it because it is so exciting! I remember when I was starting my agency; I had to create Credit & Collections to have a group of people to ask questions. I didn’t start the group because I knew everything about the industry, I created it to attract all the people I know knew more than I did and I wanted to learn from them. I know how exciting and scared I was to start my agency so I know the excitement and dread the people who email me are feeling. I know they can do it, because I did and I am happy to help anyone succeed. I am proud of all I have done and want more people to feel empowered and successful.
Starting any business is exciting and frightening. You can do it. Remember to be diligent, do your research, work smart, ask questions and you will be successful.
Article by:
Michelle Dunn has over 17 years experience in Credit and Debt collection. She is the founder and president of Never Dunn Publishing, LLC, is a writer, publisher, consultant and the Editorial Advisor for Eli Financial Debt Collection Compliance Alert Newsletter. Michelle started M.A.D. Collection Agency in January 1998 and ran it successfully until she sold it in December 2004 to write and consult full time.
She owns and runs www.Credit-and-Collections.com
You should also be ready to spend a lot of time getting people interested in your business. If you have worked in the industry for other people, new clients will know you have experience and be more comfortable placing accounts with you. If you don’t have any experience, you need to build credibility so potential clients will know you can do the job and do it well. One way to learn more about the industry for free is to join www.credit-and-collections.com which is my free list and website for business people in the credit & collection field. I created this list to share ideas, information, and offer an opportunity to Network. This list is for small and large business owners, entrepreneurs and anyone in the credit & collections field. The website offers a free e-book with letters, forms and information on starting your own agency or business. There are many people on the list who have been in the collection industry for over 35 years and some who are trying to start an agency. There are credit managers, business owners and entrepreneurs. You can ask a question and get many answers which are invaluable information. When I started my collection agency in 1998, I could not find the answers to my questions, which is why I created this list and the website. It has been around now for almost 10 years and we have over 750 members. I learn something from this group every day.
What is a Collection Agency? A collection agency is a service business. Bill collectors act as agents for clients who could not get paid for products or services that they provided their customers. A business places past due accounts with an agency, and the agency tries to collect for them. The agency collects what is due on the bill and keeps a commission on what they collected, and then sends the clients the rest of the money. Some agencies charge a flat monthly fee and offer different stages or types of collection efforts. You will want to search the internet for agencies and request their information so you can see what they charge, what services they offer and how they present themselves.
Agencies can collect for hospitals, physicians, lawyers, retailers, service providers, credit card debt, loans and many other types of businesses. Any business that extends credit or accepts checks may have a need for a collection agency. Collection agencies normally provide asset searches, skip tracing, credit reporting, debt collection services, demand letters, public record searches and various other services which might include a letter service or accounts receivable outsourcing. What you decide to provide is entirely up to you. Some agencies only offer one service, while others have a huge list of services they provide.
You will have to write a business plan. If you are going to borrow money to start your agency or start any business, you will need a business plan to show the bank. Usually a business plan is made up of:
An Executive Summary
A Business description
Marketing Strategies
Competitive analysis
Operations and management plans
Financial statements.
I have an example of a Business Plan and a Marketing Plan in my book, How to make money collecting money, Starting a Collection Agency. These can be customized to fit your particular business. You should also include a cover or folder for your business plan. Include a title page and a table of contents. This will be very professional and impress any bank you may present it to. You should LOVE collection work. You either love it or hate it! If you love it, you will be passionate about making your business work. You will need to have communication and investigative skills. As in any business, you will need to be organized, have empathy, persistence, customer service skills and master the art of negotiation.
Your will want to have your marketing plan in place before approaching a bank for a loan. This way you can include your marketing strategies in your business plan. A marketing plan normally consists of:
A description of your target market
Description of competitors
Description of your services
Your marketing budget
Pricing strategy
You will need to market your agency or business to obtain clients. You first need to know who your potential clients are and who you want as customers.
You can look in your local yellow pages and newspapers. Any business that extends credit may need the service of a collection agency. This could include banks, oil companies, contractors, florists, printing companies and more. If you want to collect on bad checks you can also target any business that accepts checks as a form of payment.
You then need to decide what methods you want to use to market your business. Do you want to use direct mail, ads in local papers or magazines, a website? What is your budget? Once you know your budget, you will know what you can afford and then you have to decide what will give you the biggest return for your money. To do this you need to research your potential clients, ask them if they use an agency now, and ask them how they heard about that agency and if they are happy with the service. Ask them, if there was one thing they could change what would it be? Then you can offer that as part of your service. Remember when marketing any business, you must follow up. If you don’t follow up, the potential client may think you are not really interested, or that if you aren’t persistent with them, you may not be with debtors.
It is a good idea for anyone who is thinking about starting their own business, whether it is a debt collection agency or any other business to join Associations in their field. The best association I joined when I started my agency was The American Collectors Association. You may also want to join your local chamber of commerce or rotary club. There are also many online venues where you can network and learn at little or no cost. You may want to hire a consultant to ask a few key questions before you decide on the type of business you want to start or for tips on working from home with children, and appearing professional or renting office space and hiring employees. When you join Credit & Collections, you can purchase deeply discounted consulting from me on Starting a Collection Agency or Starting a Home Based Business. Maybe there is someone in your local area that has a business similar to the one you would like to open that would consider being a mentor. Remember, research, networking and patience are very important. I cannot stress this enough. Ask questions and ask for help, if you don’t know. I just love when someone emails me to ask me a question about starting their business or agency. I love it because it is so exciting! I remember when I was starting my agency; I had to create Credit & Collections to have a group of people to ask questions. I didn’t start the group because I knew everything about the industry, I created it to attract all the people I know knew more than I did and I wanted to learn from them. I know how exciting and scared I was to start my agency so I know the excitement and dread the people who email me are feeling. I know they can do it, because I did and I am happy to help anyone succeed. I am proud of all I have done and want more people to feel empowered and successful.
Starting any business is exciting and frightening. You can do it. Remember to be diligent, do your research, work smart, ask questions and you will be successful.
Article by:
Michelle Dunn has over 17 years experience in Credit and Debt collection. She is the founder and president of Never Dunn Publishing, LLC, is a writer, publisher, consultant and the Editorial Advisor for Eli Financial Debt Collection Compliance Alert Newsletter. Michelle started M.A.D. Collection Agency in January 1998 and ran it successfully until she sold it in December 2004 to write and consult full time.
She owns and runs www.Credit-and-Collections.com
Monday, July 17, 2006
Starting a Home Based Business
By: Chaele McMillan
I started working from home 8 years ago. I remember people acting like I did not have a real job. Now we are living in the year 2006 and the attitudes of owning and running a business from home has changed! I believe more and more moms and dads are finding that working at home is a wonderful opportunity and can be very successful. Are you thinking about working from home? Here are a few tips that might help you decide is this the best option for you.
HOME BUSINESS - 1 YR
Article by:
Michaele McMillan who is a work at home mom. She has committed and recommitted herself working from home and being there for her family. She is happily married and has three children. You can visit her site at www.momstateuniversity.com
I started working from home 8 years ago. I remember people acting like I did not have a real job. Now we are living in the year 2006 and the attitudes of owning and running a business from home has changed! I believe more and more moms and dads are finding that working at home is a wonderful opportunity and can be very successful. Are you thinking about working from home? Here are a few tips that might help you decide is this the best option for you.
HOME BUSINESS - 1 YR
1) Can you afford it? If you are looking at a company that is advertising that you will make 10,000 in 3 days... keep looking. There are wonderful companies out there but there are scams also. Make sure you are picking a decision that you can still provide for your family. If electricity is getting cut off or you can’t afford to feed the kids it is time to look for outside employment. If you want to make a dream come true working from home you can start part time. This will help you realize the time and money you have to sacrifice.
2) Make a schedule and goals. Stick to it. You need to have a plan. Working from home can take long hours. Make a schedule for work and play! Family time is an essence is a successful business.
3) Get a HUGE support group. Work with your up line if the company offers one. If you are starting a business from scratch depend on your friends and family for support. You will need it. Also network. There are wonderful support groups online. I recommend Orkut, Yahoo Groups, Ryze. If you join Ryze I recommend The Perfect Image and Show Mom The Money Networks.
You will be faced with challenges and it will be nice to get the support from other WAHPS.
I wish you the best in your home based business. You will be blessed with many blessings. Make sure you dedicate yourself for long term and don’t give up when you are having a bad day!
Article by:
Michaele McMillan who is a work at home mom. She has committed and recommitted herself working from home and being there for her family. She is happily married and has three children. You can visit her site at www.momstateuniversity.com
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Tax Traps To Avoid When Incorporating a Business
By Stephen Nelson
As a general rule, you can incorporate your business with no tax cost as long as you contribute all of your business’s assets and liabilities to a corporation you control.
A sole proprietor who incorporates his or her business, therefore, should be able to incorporate tax-free. So should a partnership. And a limited liability company that makes an election to be treated as a C corporation or as an S corporation should also be able to make these “incorporation” elections tax-free.
But all rules, including general rules, can be broken. And when it comes to incorporating your business, three big tax traps await unwary business owners, managers and entrepreneurs.
Incorporation Tax Trap #1: Goofy Liabilities
If a shareholder transfers liabilities to a newly minted corporation and there’s no business purpose to support all of the transfers or if the liabilities are transferred to avoid taxes, then all the transferred liabilities are treated as boot. And that can be a disaster because the boot can be taxed.
In general, liabilities incurred in the normal course of a business’s activities should easily pass the “business purpose” and “no tax avoidance” tests. But if you transfer personal liabilities to a corporation (like a personal credit card balance), you’re in trouble. Similarly, if you transfer business liabilities that were really used to fund personal expenditures (like a business credit line drawn down to pay for a daughter’s college tuition), again, you’re in trouble.
Incorporation Tax Trap #2: Excess Liabilities
If a shareholder contributes both assets and liabilities to the new corporation and the liabilities exceed the shareholder’s adjusted basis in the property—even if all the liabilities are legitimate business debts--the shareholder recognizes gain on the excess of the liabilities over the adjusted basis. And this is another easy trap to fall into.
For example, if your only business asset is a truck you bought and completely wrote off, its basis is zero. If you financed the truck with a $15,000 bank loan and none of the loan has yet been paid off, the liabilities exceed the adjusted basis of the truck by $15,000. In this case, incorporating triggers a $15,000 gain. Ouch.
Incorporation Tax Trap #3: Lack of Control
One other thing. You need to be in control of the business after you incorporate.
Often, control should not be a problem. If a sole proprietor incorporates her business, becoming a one-woman corporation, she’s obviously still in control.
If a three-man partnership incorporates and after the incorporation, the business still has only the same three owners, the old partners still control the new business. So, again, no problem.
In situations where an incorporation means new owners are brought into the business, you need to measure whether the old owners own 80% of all the corporate stock in the new entity. If they do, no problem. If they don’t, big problem: The incorporation is treated as if the old owners sold the old business’s assets to the new corporation for the fair market value of the stock received. If the adjusted basis of those assets is less than the fair market value of the stock, the incorporators will pay income taxes on the difference.
Closing Caveats
Two closing caveats: Incorporating a partnership and particularly a limited liability company that’s been treated as a partnership can create some tax complexities that are way, way beyond this short article.
Also, the rules for incorporating a business in a tax-free manner are complicated if you’ll later move pieces of the business outside the US. For these reasons, if your incorporation plans involve a partnership or foreign operations, consult with a knowledgeable tax practitioner.
LLC formation expert & CPA Stephen L. Nelson is the author of both Quicken for Dummies and QuickBooks for Dummies and an adjunct tax professor for Golden Gate University’s graduate tax school. Contact him at http://www.llcsexplained.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephen_Nelson
As a general rule, you can incorporate your business with no tax cost as long as you contribute all of your business’s assets and liabilities to a corporation you control.
A sole proprietor who incorporates his or her business, therefore, should be able to incorporate tax-free. So should a partnership. And a limited liability company that makes an election to be treated as a C corporation or as an S corporation should also be able to make these “incorporation” elections tax-free.
But all rules, including general rules, can be broken. And when it comes to incorporating your business, three big tax traps await unwary business owners, managers and entrepreneurs.
Incorporation Tax Trap #1: Goofy Liabilities
If a shareholder transfers liabilities to a newly minted corporation and there’s no business purpose to support all of the transfers or if the liabilities are transferred to avoid taxes, then all the transferred liabilities are treated as boot. And that can be a disaster because the boot can be taxed.
In general, liabilities incurred in the normal course of a business’s activities should easily pass the “business purpose” and “no tax avoidance” tests. But if you transfer personal liabilities to a corporation (like a personal credit card balance), you’re in trouble. Similarly, if you transfer business liabilities that were really used to fund personal expenditures (like a business credit line drawn down to pay for a daughter’s college tuition), again, you’re in trouble.
Incorporation Tax Trap #2: Excess Liabilities
If a shareholder contributes both assets and liabilities to the new corporation and the liabilities exceed the shareholder’s adjusted basis in the property—even if all the liabilities are legitimate business debts--the shareholder recognizes gain on the excess of the liabilities over the adjusted basis. And this is another easy trap to fall into.
For example, if your only business asset is a truck you bought and completely wrote off, its basis is zero. If you financed the truck with a $15,000 bank loan and none of the loan has yet been paid off, the liabilities exceed the adjusted basis of the truck by $15,000. In this case, incorporating triggers a $15,000 gain. Ouch.
Incorporation Tax Trap #3: Lack of Control
One other thing. You need to be in control of the business after you incorporate.
Often, control should not be a problem. If a sole proprietor incorporates her business, becoming a one-woman corporation, she’s obviously still in control.
If a three-man partnership incorporates and after the incorporation, the business still has only the same three owners, the old partners still control the new business. So, again, no problem.
In situations where an incorporation means new owners are brought into the business, you need to measure whether the old owners own 80% of all the corporate stock in the new entity. If they do, no problem. If they don’t, big problem: The incorporation is treated as if the old owners sold the old business’s assets to the new corporation for the fair market value of the stock received. If the adjusted basis of those assets is less than the fair market value of the stock, the incorporators will pay income taxes on the difference.
Closing Caveats
Two closing caveats: Incorporating a partnership and particularly a limited liability company that’s been treated as a partnership can create some tax complexities that are way, way beyond this short article.
Also, the rules for incorporating a business in a tax-free manner are complicated if you’ll later move pieces of the business outside the US. For these reasons, if your incorporation plans involve a partnership or foreign operations, consult with a knowledgeable tax practitioner.
LLC formation expert & CPA Stephen L. Nelson is the author of both Quicken for Dummies and QuickBooks for Dummies and an adjunct tax professor for Golden Gate University’s graduate tax school. Contact him at http://www.llcsexplained.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephen_Nelson
Friday, July 14, 2006
Work At Home: Accomplish Your Goals In Five Easy Steps
By: Constance Weygandt
It is key for anyone who works from the home to have a plan and write it down. You can do this in a daily planner or even in a notebook. If you are a visual person make a chart of your goals. Here are five important steps to help you attain your goals.
1. Visualization – Picture yourself five years from now. Where is your business? Do you have employees? Do you want employees? How much money are you making? How many hours a day do you spend on your business? What percentage of your time is leisure time, etc…?
HOME BUSINESS - 1 YR
It is key for anyone who works from the home to have a plan and write it down. You can do this in a daily planner or even in a notebook. If you are a visual person make a chart of your goals. Here are five important steps to help you attain your goals.
1. Visualization – Picture yourself five years from now. Where is your business? Do you have employees? Do you want employees? How much money are you making? How many hours a day do you spend on your business? What percentage of your time is leisure time, etc…?
HOME BUSINESS - 1 YR
2. The Five Year Plan – Be there in that place in your mind, five years from now. Employ as many senses as possible in you vision. After you see your five year plan, in detail, go to your journal or planner and write it down. If you are charting your plan, make a large circle in the center of your chart and put the details of your five year plan in the center of the circle.
3. Your One Year Plan – Ask yourself what you will need to accomplish this year in order to be where you see yourself in five years. For instance, if you want to be making $250,000 in five years, what is the minimum you will have to make this year? How much money will you need to spend on your business to make that happen?
4. Your Monthly Plan – This step is where people often fall down. They have their five year plan and their one year plan and are even good at making lists but don’t chart or write a monthly plan. A monthly plan keeps you on track. What steps do you need to take, this month, to meet your annual goals. If necessary, look at your yearly plan and divide those actions into twelve manageable goals.
5. Make Lists – Make a daily list of actions needed to be taken, in order of importance, and check them off in the same order. Focus all of your attention on one action at a time. When that is completed move to the next item on your list. On a weekly basis, refer back to your monthly plan and see how far you’ve come to attaining those goals. Plan your new lists accordingly.
If you take at least twenty minutes on this exercise, you will be successful. In writing down your goals, you send a message to your brain for these goals to become a reality. The mind-body connection is one of the most powerful tools you have for the success of your business.
Article by:
Constance Weygandt is an author, speaker, balance mentor and successful entrepreneur. For more helpful information on working at home or for information on the perfect home based business, visit her at www.newworkathomejobs.com
Thursday, July 13, 2006
The Entrepreneurial Edge
By: Kristie Tamsevicius
Some would say that big business has it made; I on the other hand believe that there will always be a special place for the little business guy. Entrepreneurs have an edge over their bigger competitors. So while the Amazon’s of the world are struggling to break even from their multi billion-dollar overheads, the smaller Dot coms are already realizing profits. What advantages do the “little” guys have in the marketplace? Below is how to “think like a startup” and realize greater success.
HOW TO KEEP THE ENTREPRENEURIAL EDGE
1) STAY IN TOUCH WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS
Ever heard of the 80/20 rule? The old adage says that 80% of your business will come from 20% of your customers. In business, the customer is king. It’s far easier to sell to an existing customer than to find a new one. So, once you get a customer, you need to service the heck out of them.
So how do you make your customers feel like they are number one? By letting them know that they are top priority. This means answering your own phone, replying quickly to email requests. It means staying in regular communication with your customers. Keep up a good rapport. Send an occasional email asking them what’s new. Mail birthday cards or a customer anniversary card. Gestures like these can build close, long lasting customer relations and goes a long way to building customer loyalty.
In addition to building stronger customer relationships, keeping in touch with your customer base can enable dot coms to offer one to one marketing. By identifying your customers needs and buying habits, you can personalize product packages and service offerings to meet your customer’s individual needs.
2) LISTEN TO THE BEAT OF THE STREET
If small business owners want to keep their head above water, they need to closely monitor their environments. By “listening” to the pulse, you can think proactively rather than reactively. This means spotting things when they are coming so you can act quickly and take advantage.
Web stats - Do you look at your web stats regularly? Or are you guilty of being too “busy” to make time? Unless you regularly look at your web traffic reports, they probably will read like a foreign language to you. By looking at your web reports regularly, you’ll be able to spot trends. What pages are your visitors going to? What is the hits-to-sales ratio? What can you do to improve that number?
Feedback - Another way to “listen to the beat” is to get feedback from your customers. Try to be on a first name basis with your customers. Ask them how they are doing and if there is anything you could assist them with. The answers you’ll receive will be worth their weight in gold.
Industry news - Keep up with the industry by reading everything you can get your hands on. When you work in “living room central” it’s easy to let yourself be isolated from the world. You can’t rely on your favorite soap operas to keep you informed about the current trends in business. So put down your munchies and flavored coffee and make a concerted effort to stay “in the know” by subscribing to print magazines and online newsletters
3) FLEXIBILITY
When I think about flexibility, the childhood rhyme “Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack jump over the candlestick” comes to mind. In order to keep from being burned, small businesses need to be nimble and quick. This means having the flexibility to act quickly in response to changes in the marketplace. Like a surfer riding a wave, you have to be in just the right place at the right time to ride the crest of the wave and get the best ride. Likewise, if small businesses monitor closely what’s going on in the marketplace, they can act quickly to take advantage of current events and trends in the marketplace.
They say what gets measured, gets managed. Keep a close eye on your monthly financials. Listen to your customers. Measure the effectiveness of your advertising. Then when you see a difference ask yourself, “was that good or bad” and ACT!
4) TAP INTO THE FIRE AND LET IT FUEL YOU
Simply said, small business owners want it more. Because of this, they will try harder and go the extra mile. That’s why big companies like Wal-Mart and Saturn have made their employees part owners in the company. They have seen that people will work harder for themselves than for anyone else.
The best secret to success as an entrepreneur is to find something you are passionate about and create a business around that. When you do something you love you’ll never “work” a day in your life. Entrepreneurs have that fire in their belly. Find a way to tap into that internal fire and let it fuel you to success.
5) VALUE
While big companies will often be able to offer the lower prices, small businesses will always be able to pile on the value. By offering better service, adding bonuses, giving and discounts on related products, the entrepreneurs can add more bang for the buck.
6) CREATIVE SPARK
What’s great about the entrepreneurs is that they aren’t afraid to try something new. When I think of “creative spark”, I think of my son, when he was three years old, eyeing a package of cookies up on top of the refrigerator. He doesn’t know that it is up really high and that climbing up there is dangerous. He only sees the cookies and starts stacking chairs and climbing until I find him sitting on top of the fridge with a big smile and a mushy cookie face. Similarly, entrepreneurs don’t “know” if something will work or not and fearlessly forge forward with their eyes on the prize. This innovation helps them to tap into new products, techniques, and processes.
SUMMARY
They say, when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. When the market starts putting the heat on your business, ask yourself, are you staying “sharp”? Do you still have the entrepreneurial edge? By thinking like a start up, you will find that you will have the staying power to compete with the big boys on the block. And you’ll find that kind of hard-earned success is “oh” so sweet!
Article by: Kristie Tamsevicius, is the author of "I Love My Life: A Mom's Guide to Working from Home"! Thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs have used her step-by-step home business system to earn money working from home.
Get a free ecourse Home Business Success Secrets at www.Webmomz.com
Some would say that big business has it made; I on the other hand believe that there will always be a special place for the little business guy. Entrepreneurs have an edge over their bigger competitors. So while the Amazon’s of the world are struggling to break even from their multi billion-dollar overheads, the smaller Dot coms are already realizing profits. What advantages do the “little” guys have in the marketplace? Below is how to “think like a startup” and realize greater success.
HOW TO KEEP THE ENTREPRENEURIAL EDGE
1) STAY IN TOUCH WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS
Ever heard of the 80/20 rule? The old adage says that 80% of your business will come from 20% of your customers. In business, the customer is king. It’s far easier to sell to an existing customer than to find a new one. So, once you get a customer, you need to service the heck out of them.
So how do you make your customers feel like they are number one? By letting them know that they are top priority. This means answering your own phone, replying quickly to email requests. It means staying in regular communication with your customers. Keep up a good rapport. Send an occasional email asking them what’s new. Mail birthday cards or a customer anniversary card. Gestures like these can build close, long lasting customer relations and goes a long way to building customer loyalty.
In addition to building stronger customer relationships, keeping in touch with your customer base can enable dot coms to offer one to one marketing. By identifying your customers needs and buying habits, you can personalize product packages and service offerings to meet your customer’s individual needs.
2) LISTEN TO THE BEAT OF THE STREET
If small business owners want to keep their head above water, they need to closely monitor their environments. By “listening” to the pulse, you can think proactively rather than reactively. This means spotting things when they are coming so you can act quickly and take advantage.
Web stats - Do you look at your web stats regularly? Or are you guilty of being too “busy” to make time? Unless you regularly look at your web traffic reports, they probably will read like a foreign language to you. By looking at your web reports regularly, you’ll be able to spot trends. What pages are your visitors going to? What is the hits-to-sales ratio? What can you do to improve that number?
Feedback - Another way to “listen to the beat” is to get feedback from your customers. Try to be on a first name basis with your customers. Ask them how they are doing and if there is anything you could assist them with. The answers you’ll receive will be worth their weight in gold.
Industry news - Keep up with the industry by reading everything you can get your hands on. When you work in “living room central” it’s easy to let yourself be isolated from the world. You can’t rely on your favorite soap operas to keep you informed about the current trends in business. So put down your munchies and flavored coffee and make a concerted effort to stay “in the know” by subscribing to print magazines and online newsletters
3) FLEXIBILITY
When I think about flexibility, the childhood rhyme “Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack jump over the candlestick” comes to mind. In order to keep from being burned, small businesses need to be nimble and quick. This means having the flexibility to act quickly in response to changes in the marketplace. Like a surfer riding a wave, you have to be in just the right place at the right time to ride the crest of the wave and get the best ride. Likewise, if small businesses monitor closely what’s going on in the marketplace, they can act quickly to take advantage of current events and trends in the marketplace.
They say what gets measured, gets managed. Keep a close eye on your monthly financials. Listen to your customers. Measure the effectiveness of your advertising. Then when you see a difference ask yourself, “was that good or bad” and ACT!
4) TAP INTO THE FIRE AND LET IT FUEL YOU
Simply said, small business owners want it more. Because of this, they will try harder and go the extra mile. That’s why big companies like Wal-Mart and Saturn have made their employees part owners in the company. They have seen that people will work harder for themselves than for anyone else.
The best secret to success as an entrepreneur is to find something you are passionate about and create a business around that. When you do something you love you’ll never “work” a day in your life. Entrepreneurs have that fire in their belly. Find a way to tap into that internal fire and let it fuel you to success.
5) VALUE
While big companies will often be able to offer the lower prices, small businesses will always be able to pile on the value. By offering better service, adding bonuses, giving and discounts on related products, the entrepreneurs can add more bang for the buck.
6) CREATIVE SPARK
What’s great about the entrepreneurs is that they aren’t afraid to try something new. When I think of “creative spark”, I think of my son, when he was three years old, eyeing a package of cookies up on top of the refrigerator. He doesn’t know that it is up really high and that climbing up there is dangerous. He only sees the cookies and starts stacking chairs and climbing until I find him sitting on top of the fridge with a big smile and a mushy cookie face. Similarly, entrepreneurs don’t “know” if something will work or not and fearlessly forge forward with their eyes on the prize. This innovation helps them to tap into new products, techniques, and processes.
SUMMARY
They say, when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. When the market starts putting the heat on your business, ask yourself, are you staying “sharp”? Do you still have the entrepreneurial edge? By thinking like a start up, you will find that you will have the staying power to compete with the big boys on the block. And you’ll find that kind of hard-earned success is “oh” so sweet!
Article by: Kristie Tamsevicius, is the author of "I Love My Life: A Mom's Guide to Working from Home"! Thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs have used her step-by-step home business system to earn money working from home.
Get a free ecourse Home Business Success Secrets at www.Webmomz.com
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Start Your Own Business From Home - But Make it a GOOD One
By David Carter
There are more people starting, or thinking of starting their own businesses from home, than ever before and there are good reasons for that. Firstly: economic. If you can set aside a spare room in the house, or even an outhouse for your enterprise, you will save considerably, as opposed to renting fresh premises away from the home. Secondly, there is the security issue. You are far less likely to have stock or equipment robbed or vandalised at home, than you might elsewhere.
And anyone who has sat in traffic jams going nowhere day after day, or fought their way through increasingly congested motorways, might think that making their way from the kitchen to the spare room, to start work, must be akin to paradise. No travelling, no time lost, no fare bills, not even the need to get togged up in a suit if you don't want to. And you have the freedom to work the hours that suit you, rather than for an ever-demanding boss elsewhere.
But if you are going to start your own business from home, make sure it is a GOOD one, a PROPER business. Just because you are operating from home, you must not lack professionalism, nor is it an opportunity to waste time and money experimenting on hopeless ideas. You would have to have the brain of a clockwork rat to imagine that some of the so-called business opportunities doing the rounds right now will enable you to establish a decent business. A business that will provide you with a good income, a business that must support you and your family. Build yourself a PROPER business from the ground up.
The Internet is crammed to the gunwales with folks trying to sell business opportunities of every crazy type. You have to ask yourself this, if these ideas are all so wonderful, why are the sellers not carrying them out themselves, rather than trying to sell a manual for 49.95, or whatever the figure might be. The answer of course is because those same sellers are making more money selling the book, rather than putting the idea into practice. Either that, or worse still, the proposition simply doesn't work anyway. It happens.
I was invited to join a business venture not so long ago, and part of their blurb read: 1.6 million people already involved, and rising fast! Seeing as all those 1.6 million souls had the same rights to sell the same products as I had, what did that say? Saturation point was not far away, that's what. Who wants to try selling the same things to an ever-diminishing customer base against an army of competitors trying to do exactly the same thing? Not me thanks. Get yourself a PROPER business. And that means being imaginative. You must be different from the competition. You must have an angle, or an idea that not everyone else has. Think about it. You need a USP. A Unique Selling Point. That way you will increase your chances of success enormously. If you can't offer something different, however slight the difference might be, the chances are, you will fail.
99% of all businesses are about selling, either goods or services. It matters not whether you are a tattooist, a masseur, running a magazine, a stamp dealer, or deal in priceless precious stones, you must find customers, and you must SELL. So don't start out by saying in a slightly wimpish voice, I am not very good at selling. Running a business is about selling, so get used to the idea. If you don't want to sell, go and become a traffic warden, or a lollypop person, and that's no disrespect to the lollypop people.
Do you think Sir Richard Branson or Sir Alan Sugar started their businesses by saying: I am not very good at selling. Of course they didn't, more likely their philosophy was: Let's get out there and knock 'em dead! That is unquestionably the right attitude, and the attitude that you must adopt too if you truly desire to be successful.
What is the point of starting a business anyway? From home or anywhere else. The answer is: to make money. Without money, cash that comes through real SALES, that word again, your business will wither and die. If you are thinking of starting a business, be serious about it. Tell yourself, it IS going to be successful, and you will do whatever it takes to achieve that. After all, who wants a business that will lose money, become a drain on your resources, or become a worry, or a burden? No one that's for sure, so make sure your business is a PROPER business, with real customers, and genuine sales, with money coming in the front door, and profits being made. Profit is not a dirty word. It is a beautiful word.
Half the fun of running your own business is developing it, and spending some of your newfound wealth on new equipment, premises, stock, vehicles, and whatever else you need to make your business grow. But that will only happen, if your enterprise is built on sound foundations, and with a little clear thought. Deep down you will know what is going to produce a long-term venture, and what is not. Think success, and you are half way there. It takes effort, of course it does, but you will get there, you really will.
David Carter's new website offers a very useful free Ebay misspelling tool, it carries the latest articles regarding online auctions and home business, rotating articles that are updated frequently throughout the day, it is crammed with home business ideas and information, and is a useful tool in itself for anyone trading, or thinking of trading from home. Catch it at http://www.trackerbiz.com You can contact David on any matter at supalife@aol.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Carter
There are more people starting, or thinking of starting their own businesses from home, than ever before and there are good reasons for that. Firstly: economic. If you can set aside a spare room in the house, or even an outhouse for your enterprise, you will save considerably, as opposed to renting fresh premises away from the home. Secondly, there is the security issue. You are far less likely to have stock or equipment robbed or vandalised at home, than you might elsewhere.
And anyone who has sat in traffic jams going nowhere day after day, or fought their way through increasingly congested motorways, might think that making their way from the kitchen to the spare room, to start work, must be akin to paradise. No travelling, no time lost, no fare bills, not even the need to get togged up in a suit if you don't want to. And you have the freedom to work the hours that suit you, rather than for an ever-demanding boss elsewhere.
But if you are going to start your own business from home, make sure it is a GOOD one, a PROPER business. Just because you are operating from home, you must not lack professionalism, nor is it an opportunity to waste time and money experimenting on hopeless ideas. You would have to have the brain of a clockwork rat to imagine that some of the so-called business opportunities doing the rounds right now will enable you to establish a decent business. A business that will provide you with a good income, a business that must support you and your family. Build yourself a PROPER business from the ground up.
The Internet is crammed to the gunwales with folks trying to sell business opportunities of every crazy type. You have to ask yourself this, if these ideas are all so wonderful, why are the sellers not carrying them out themselves, rather than trying to sell a manual for 49.95, or whatever the figure might be. The answer of course is because those same sellers are making more money selling the book, rather than putting the idea into practice. Either that, or worse still, the proposition simply doesn't work anyway. It happens.
I was invited to join a business venture not so long ago, and part of their blurb read: 1.6 million people already involved, and rising fast! Seeing as all those 1.6 million souls had the same rights to sell the same products as I had, what did that say? Saturation point was not far away, that's what. Who wants to try selling the same things to an ever-diminishing customer base against an army of competitors trying to do exactly the same thing? Not me thanks. Get yourself a PROPER business. And that means being imaginative. You must be different from the competition. You must have an angle, or an idea that not everyone else has. Think about it. You need a USP. A Unique Selling Point. That way you will increase your chances of success enormously. If you can't offer something different, however slight the difference might be, the chances are, you will fail.
99% of all businesses are about selling, either goods or services. It matters not whether you are a tattooist, a masseur, running a magazine, a stamp dealer, or deal in priceless precious stones, you must find customers, and you must SELL. So don't start out by saying in a slightly wimpish voice, I am not very good at selling. Running a business is about selling, so get used to the idea. If you don't want to sell, go and become a traffic warden, or a lollypop person, and that's no disrespect to the lollypop people.
Do you think Sir Richard Branson or Sir Alan Sugar started their businesses by saying: I am not very good at selling. Of course they didn't, more likely their philosophy was: Let's get out there and knock 'em dead! That is unquestionably the right attitude, and the attitude that you must adopt too if you truly desire to be successful.
What is the point of starting a business anyway? From home or anywhere else. The answer is: to make money. Without money, cash that comes through real SALES, that word again, your business will wither and die. If you are thinking of starting a business, be serious about it. Tell yourself, it IS going to be successful, and you will do whatever it takes to achieve that. After all, who wants a business that will lose money, become a drain on your resources, or become a worry, or a burden? No one that's for sure, so make sure your business is a PROPER business, with real customers, and genuine sales, with money coming in the front door, and profits being made. Profit is not a dirty word. It is a beautiful word.
Half the fun of running your own business is developing it, and spending some of your newfound wealth on new equipment, premises, stock, vehicles, and whatever else you need to make your business grow. But that will only happen, if your enterprise is built on sound foundations, and with a little clear thought. Deep down you will know what is going to produce a long-term venture, and what is not. Think success, and you are half way there. It takes effort, of course it does, but you will get there, you really will.
David Carter's new website offers a very useful free Ebay misspelling tool, it carries the latest articles regarding online auctions and home business, rotating articles that are updated frequently throughout the day, it is crammed with home business ideas and information, and is a useful tool in itself for anyone trading, or thinking of trading from home. Catch it at http://www.trackerbiz.com You can contact David on any matter at supalife@aol.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Carter
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Answers to Your E-Commerce Problems!!
By: dcary
Businesses need efficient technology and strong marketing in order for e-commerce to be successful. The goal is to increase your business by making it easier for customers to shop, and if your website’s lack of technology and marketing make it difficult for them, they may as well drive to the mall.
Before we look at e-commerce solutions, we need to first figure out some of the problems with e-commerce. There are many complaints from customers when it comes to purchasing items online. A few include a disorganized site that is difficult and confusing to navigate; lack of information on the website including failure to tell customers about special deals or prices; the inability to pay with the customer’s native currency or the inability for the customer to even understand the language in which the website is written; and frustrating and confusing shopping carts and check out procedures.
Well then, what are some e-commerce solutions? Having a professional looking website will attract customers and make them feel confident in buying from you. You want your website to be organized and easy to navigate, and if you have an informational website that is search engine friendly; shows promotional deals; encourages up selling in a friendly way (such as showing related items or showing items that customers purchased who also purchased the item you are purchasing); is accessible in the most languages and accepts different types of currency; has a user friendly shopping cart and single page checkout, then you won’t need many e-commerce solutions!
Remember, when your business is e-commerce, you want to take all possible steps to make sure you and your product are presented professionally, friendly, and easily accessible.
Article by:
Dianna Lives in Australia Works from Home in Internet Marketing Does not have to Commute!!! Nor Listen to her BOSS!!! My Blog: diannacary.blogspot.com My Domain: www.diannacary.com
Businesses need efficient technology and strong marketing in order for e-commerce to be successful. The goal is to increase your business by making it easier for customers to shop, and if your website’s lack of technology and marketing make it difficult for them, they may as well drive to the mall.
Before we look at e-commerce solutions, we need to first figure out some of the problems with e-commerce. There are many complaints from customers when it comes to purchasing items online. A few include a disorganized site that is difficult and confusing to navigate; lack of information on the website including failure to tell customers about special deals or prices; the inability to pay with the customer’s native currency or the inability for the customer to even understand the language in which the website is written; and frustrating and confusing shopping carts and check out procedures.
Well then, what are some e-commerce solutions? Having a professional looking website will attract customers and make them feel confident in buying from you. You want your website to be organized and easy to navigate, and if you have an informational website that is search engine friendly; shows promotional deals; encourages up selling in a friendly way (such as showing related items or showing items that customers purchased who also purchased the item you are purchasing); is accessible in the most languages and accepts different types of currency; has a user friendly shopping cart and single page checkout, then you won’t need many e-commerce solutions!
Remember, when your business is e-commerce, you want to take all possible steps to make sure you and your product are presented professionally, friendly, and easily accessible.
Article by:
Dianna Lives in Australia Works from Home in Internet Marketing Does not have to Commute!!! Nor Listen to her BOSS!!! My Blog: diannacary.blogspot.com My Domain: www.diannacary.com
Monday, July 10, 2006
Signs your Work at Home Opportunity Might be a Scam
By: Doll5272
Signs it is not a legitimate business:
1-Emails asking for envelope stuffers or Typing
In all the emails I have received and investigated they either want to you PAY for the information to get started, or they pay is simply a joke. Hey I would love to make hundreds of dollars stuffing envelopes who wouldn't but Mom's beware these are not legitimate businesses.
2-Advertisements with Mispelled text:-
This should be an obvious sign this is PROBABLY not a legitimate business. Most businesses would make sure their ads and pamplets were proofread and very professional looking.
3--Not a good job description:-
If you come across an ad with NO Description or a very vague description OR a description of someone offering you HUNDREDS of DOLLARS with little no EXPERIENCE my advice RUN! Because the truth is it will probably cost you get the information to look into the company and you will NEVER get your money back by working for them.
4--Contact Information:-
If you come across a website where there is NO Contact information or only an email address be skeptical most businesses that are legitimate will offer customer support including phone numbers or ways to reach them.
5--Lastly if it sounds too good to be true it probably is:-
I know it is hard as WAHM to find a legitimate business as you want so much to earn your own income to help your family out! Just put your anteneas on and be weary of anything asking you for money to sign up UNLESS you are getting a legitimate kit and talk to other employees of the company.Do you research so you not two months down the road broke and feeling disappointed in yourself!
Article by:
Angela Wenke is the owner of Marketplace Craft Fair at www.marketplacesquare.org/index.php/ and WAHM Break Cafe a Mom's retreat and hideout at www.marketplacesquare.org/index.php/
Signs it is not a legitimate business:
1-Emails asking for envelope stuffers or Typing
In all the emails I have received and investigated they either want to you PAY for the information to get started, or they pay is simply a joke. Hey I would love to make hundreds of dollars stuffing envelopes who wouldn't but Mom's beware these are not legitimate businesses.
2-Advertisements with Mispelled text:-
This should be an obvious sign this is PROBABLY not a legitimate business. Most businesses would make sure their ads and pamplets were proofread and very professional looking.
3--Not a good job description:-
If you come across an ad with NO Description or a very vague description OR a description of someone offering you HUNDREDS of DOLLARS with little no EXPERIENCE my advice RUN! Because the truth is it will probably cost you get the information to look into the company and you will NEVER get your money back by working for them.
4--Contact Information:-
If you come across a website where there is NO Contact information or only an email address be skeptical most businesses that are legitimate will offer customer support including phone numbers or ways to reach them.
5--Lastly if it sounds too good to be true it probably is:-
I know it is hard as WAHM to find a legitimate business as you want so much to earn your own income to help your family out! Just put your anteneas on and be weary of anything asking you for money to sign up UNLESS you are getting a legitimate kit and talk to other employees of the company.Do you research so you not two months down the road broke and feeling disappointed in yourself!
Article by:
Angela Wenke is the owner of Marketplace Craft Fair at www.marketplacesquare.org/index.php/ and WAHM Break Cafe a Mom's retreat and hideout at www.marketplacesquare.org/index.php/
Friday, July 07, 2006
Effective Marketing of Your Home Based Business
By: Tammy DePew Smith
I have worked from home since 1999. In that time I have met many wonderful people who have a dream of being home with their family while achieving success with a home business. One of the key elements in the success of a home business is the right marketing/promotion of that business.
There are two avenues of promotion for your business – offline and online. Online promotion can be more cost effective, and less time consuming, than offline advertising. They both can be very effective means of promoting your business, you just need to find the way that works best for you.
Here are a few marketing tricks and tips that I have learned over the past 6 years.
Offline Marketing:
• Invest in a vinyl sign for your vehicle. Why not take advantage of all of those trips to the grocery store, or your children’s school? Let your vehicle become a walking, uh, driving billboard for your business.
• Purchase business cards. There are many affordable online business card sites. Leave your cards everywhere you go. Make a goal to hand out at least 10 cards every day.
• Create bright, colorful flyers, take an afternoon and post your flyers all over town on community bulletin boards. Along the way, stop in to local businesses, briefly explain your business and leave a flyer and business card.
• Join your local Chamber of Commerce and attend network meetings. This can be great exposure for your business.
Online Marketing:
• Build a user friendly Web site, research which keywords would be best for your site by doing a search on Wordtracker.com Worktracker.com helps you find the keywords most relevant to your type of business and the words most likely to be used in a search engine inquiry.
• Advertise your site every chance you get. There are many free sites where you can place free classified ads. Or, you might choose to invest some money into advertising and purchase banner or text ads on other well-known sites. It’s best to do a little research before purchasing ads, however, as you want to make sure to advertise on sites that receive a lot of traffic.
• Network, network, network. Join every group you can find time for at Yahoo Groups and on Ryze. I have made some lucrative joint ventures with individuals I have met on Ryze. These are also excellent sources of free advertising, just be sure and observe each network and groups ad posting policy.
A successful home based business is within your reach. It just requires patience, and the willingness to learn all you can about marketing and promotion of your business.
Article by:
Tammy DePew Smith is the designer and owner of www.wahpromotion.com, a marketing resource site dedicated to promoting small businesses. Resources include marketing articles, marketing tips, a bi-monthly marketing newsletter, and weekly marketing chats.
I have worked from home since 1999. In that time I have met many wonderful people who have a dream of being home with their family while achieving success with a home business. One of the key elements in the success of a home business is the right marketing/promotion of that business.
There are two avenues of promotion for your business – offline and online. Online promotion can be more cost effective, and less time consuming, than offline advertising. They both can be very effective means of promoting your business, you just need to find the way that works best for you.
Here are a few marketing tricks and tips that I have learned over the past 6 years.
Offline Marketing:
• Invest in a vinyl sign for your vehicle. Why not take advantage of all of those trips to the grocery store, or your children’s school? Let your vehicle become a walking, uh, driving billboard for your business.
• Purchase business cards. There are many affordable online business card sites. Leave your cards everywhere you go. Make a goal to hand out at least 10 cards every day.
• Create bright, colorful flyers, take an afternoon and post your flyers all over town on community bulletin boards. Along the way, stop in to local businesses, briefly explain your business and leave a flyer and business card.
• Join your local Chamber of Commerce and attend network meetings. This can be great exposure for your business.
Online Marketing:
• Build a user friendly Web site, research which keywords would be best for your site by doing a search on Wordtracker.com Worktracker.com helps you find the keywords most relevant to your type of business and the words most likely to be used in a search engine inquiry.
• Advertise your site every chance you get. There are many free sites where you can place free classified ads. Or, you might choose to invest some money into advertising and purchase banner or text ads on other well-known sites. It’s best to do a little research before purchasing ads, however, as you want to make sure to advertise on sites that receive a lot of traffic.
• Network, network, network. Join every group you can find time for at Yahoo Groups and on Ryze. I have made some lucrative joint ventures with individuals I have met on Ryze. These are also excellent sources of free advertising, just be sure and observe each network and groups ad posting policy.
A successful home based business is within your reach. It just requires patience, and the willingness to learn all you can about marketing and promotion of your business.
Article by:
Tammy DePew Smith is the designer and owner of www.wahpromotion.com, a marketing resource site dedicated to promoting small businesses. Resources include marketing articles, marketing tips, a bi-monthly marketing newsletter, and weekly marketing chats.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
3 Reasons Why Internet Millionaires Make Money
By Jennifer Carter
Have you ever wondered “What would I do if I had a million dollars”? Would you be interested in learning from successful millionaires rather than taking your chances by buying a lottery ticket?
There are three success traits that you will find are the secrets behind successful millionaires.
Firstly, if you want to learn from the millionaires themselves, you will find a simple and easy to follow recipe for success. The best way to make a million dollars is to find a successful way to make one dollar – and do it again!
That’s right, most successful millionaires, and especially those who internet millionaires who make money, have done it by finding a successful formula and doing it again and again.
Take Brandon Dupsky, who reputedly earnt over $8 million by selling on eBay in 2005. He found a way to sell items of junk from his basement and applied that formula successfully to expand his business. Simple but clearly effective!
One of the reason's why he is so successful is because he didn't let his lack of knowledge stop him but started educating himself.
Secondly, another common trait amongst successful millionaires and the names of famous entrepreneurs, is that they find someone who believes in them and encourages them that they can succeed. They also are not deterred by apparent failure. For example, Edison tried and failed over 2000 times to find the right filament for his carbonized incandescant lightbulb.
Thirdly, they stopped dreaming, talking and wondering if it was possible and simply got started!
You can find out more on setting up your own successful home based internet business by signing up for a free 7 day course.
This article was submitted by Jennifer Carter, writer of How to become an Internet Millionaire.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jennifer_Carter
Have you ever wondered “What would I do if I had a million dollars”? Would you be interested in learning from successful millionaires rather than taking your chances by buying a lottery ticket?
There are three success traits that you will find are the secrets behind successful millionaires.
Firstly, if you want to learn from the millionaires themselves, you will find a simple and easy to follow recipe for success. The best way to make a million dollars is to find a successful way to make one dollar – and do it again!
That’s right, most successful millionaires, and especially those who internet millionaires who make money, have done it by finding a successful formula and doing it again and again.
Take Brandon Dupsky, who reputedly earnt over $8 million by selling on eBay in 2005. He found a way to sell items of junk from his basement and applied that formula successfully to expand his business. Simple but clearly effective!
One of the reason's why he is so successful is because he didn't let his lack of knowledge stop him but started educating himself.
Secondly, another common trait amongst successful millionaires and the names of famous entrepreneurs, is that they find someone who believes in them and encourages them that they can succeed. They also are not deterred by apparent failure. For example, Edison tried and failed over 2000 times to find the right filament for his carbonized incandescant lightbulb.
Thirdly, they stopped dreaming, talking and wondering if it was possible and simply got started!
You can find out more on setting up your own successful home based internet business by signing up for a free 7 day course.
This article was submitted by Jennifer Carter, writer of How to become an Internet Millionaire.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jennifer_Carter
4 Reasons Why Small Businesses Succeed (or Fail)
By Bob Normand
The American system of business management is admired and emulated around the world. The American system is characteristic of two positive traits in the American psyche: (1) enthusiasm for making things better for the future and (2) openness and willingness to change in order to achieve that end.
No society in the world is more prolific at creating new businesses than the United States capitalistic system. Often, however, as small businesses owners and managers, we are so busy starting new ventures and fighting daily fires that we don’t take the time to learn basic, successful management principles. These principles have been tested and proven by our larger companies over years of trial and error. They are readily available as a resource to the small business owner.
Many entrepreneurs are technical experts in the product or service they offer. The entrepreneur, however, often starts a business without any formal training or experience in the best management practices and principles. By “management” here we mean the business of successfully managing the non-technical side of the business, the “back room” activities. It is the “business of running the business”. As a result of inadequate or inattentive management, many small businesses fail in the early years. They fail not because of a weakness in their product or service concept, but because the business was not properly organized or managed.
Once a small business has emerged from the start-up phase, or grown to a certain level, management techniques must change or the business will inevitably run into trouble. Although situations vary widely, for many small businesses management crises start in the range of $1-3 million in annual sales or 5-15 employees. When management issue becomes critical, the owner or manager of a small business must evolve or change from a manager of things to a manager of people and from a technical expert to a strategic thinker.
Change is never easy, particularly for talented entrepreneurs who have ingrained habits developed over time. But failure to grow as a manager is a major, perhaps the major reason why a business will falter, stagnate or even collapse under its own weight.
But what have successful business owners developed have is missing in troubled businesses?
First of all, owners of successful businesses have developed personal characteristics that they were not necessarily born with and that reflect in their business organization:
• Invariably they have a positive attitude towards their business and life in general.
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Mark Twain
• They are committed to their effort.
“The only place you’ll find success before work is in the dictionary.”
May B. Smith
• They are patient.
“Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage." Victor Kiam
• They are persistent.
“Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” Thomas Edison
Secondly, the owners of successful businesses have developed a business blueprint called a Strategic Business Plan that clearly describes their business concept, their mission and their philosophy of business. In this document, they have set personal and corporate goals and set out specific time lines and strategies to achieve them.
Thirdly, successful business owners think of their employees as “associates”, a favorite descriptor used by Sam Walton and a more meaningful idea of a management/employee relationship. Successful owners view their associates as their most valuable asset and resource. Associates are gathered into an Organizational Structure that functions as a well-oiled machine. This structure, including all its policies and procedures, encourages associates to perform to their utmost capabilities and gives them the freedom to achieve, rewarding those who excel in proportion to their contributions and disciplining those who deviate from acceptable behavior. Positions, tasks, duties and responsibilities are defined and communicated routinely and performance is measured regularly. Training, job enrichment programs and incentive compensation plans are designed to encourage each associate to excel.
Fourth and last, the owners of successful businesses have developed Operational Support Systems. These may be financial or non-financial, manual or automated. The objective of these systems is to support and make efficient all the activities of the organization. Well structured, they also relieve management of many day to day routine activities, giving owners more time to be strategic thinkers. The information provided by these tracking systems provide critical information on sales, cash flow and other financial performance data so that senior management can take timely action as change occurs. Red flags appear early, before problems become unmanageable.
IN SUMMARY, THE FOUR KEYS TO SUCCESSFUL SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT ARE: (1) Owners have developed habits and traits that are Positive, Committed, Patient and Persistent. (2) A living Strategic Business Plan is in place. (3) An Organizational Structure has been developed that encourages people to be their best and allows them to do so. (4) Operational Support Systems are used that track performance and relieve senior management of daily detail yet supply them with critical data to manage the business.
Let’s go a littler deeper into what is meant by a Strategic Business Plan.
Successful businesses operate within a planned framework. A Strategic Business Plan is written for a minimum of three years or two years beyond the current budget year. The plan describes the company’s mission, analyzes corporate and marketing strengths, evaluates weaknesses and how they will be overcome. It identifies target markets and pricing strategies and describes strategic alliances that exist or will be pursued. The plan describes positions on any other issues seen as critical to the long term health or viability of the business.
“Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail”
Effie Jones
Now let’s look a little deeper at what we mean by Organizational Structure.
The basic building blocks of organizational structure for a business are:
• An Organizational Chart, Job Descriptions, Task and Duty Lists, a Job Performance Evaluation System, an Employee Handbook, a Policies & Procedures Manual and an Incentive Compensation System.
When all of these organizational components are in place and being utilized routinely, the organization will have structure and purpose. Employees will feel they know where the company is going and what their role is in helping it get there. They will know the boundaries of what is expected as acceptable behavior and they will be aware that outstanding performance will be rewarded.
Now let’s look a little deeper at what we mean by Operating Support Systems.
Usually the most involved system for a small business is the Accounting System. This may be a relatively simple system such as QuickBooks® or Peachtree®. These systems are pre-designed and user-friendly and are particularly good for non-manufacturing businesses that simply buy and resell items. Also, they manage customers, vendors, accounts receivable and accounts payable very well. Finally, they have the capability of generating excellent managerial and financial reports, virtually in a minute or two.
No matter what the type of business, some type of accounting software package is needed that can capture daily transactions in a real-time environment and be easily operated by in-house personnel. In today’s fast paced business world, relying on an accountant to provide periodic statements of company performance several weeks or even months after the fact is not an acceptable strategy.
Other systems small businesses should have in place (typically these are automated Excel®-based systems):
• Cash Management, Annual/Monthly Budget with Variance Report, Labor Burden Tracking System, Job or Product Pricing System, Incentive Plan Distribution System, Break-Even Calculator and a Weekly Sales Reporter.
Even if you have none of these developed, the task is not as daunting as it may seem at first. Plug-in systems are available from a number of sources at modest cost and include backup training and support (one such source can be found at www.isbminc.com).
A business that has these four critical components in place stands a much higher probability of success than businesses that are not so equipped.
© Institute for Small Business Management, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Robert A. Normand is Executive Director of the Institute for Small Business Management (http://www.isbminc.com) and author of "Entreprenewal!, The Six Step Recovery Program for Small Business" (http://www.entreprenewal.com). Mr. Normand has served as principal management consultant for more than 100 businesses ranging from $500,000 to $50,000,000 in annual sales and has owned and operated several small businesses of his own in diverse industries. Mr. Normand’s small business philosophy is premised on the belief that small business management skills can be developed by busy entrepreneurs using readily available information, tools and procedures not found in business schools or formal degree programs. He can be reached by telephone at 941-330-0889 or by mail at 3751 Almeria Avenue, Suite A4, Sarasota, Florida 34239.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bob_Normand
The American system of business management is admired and emulated around the world. The American system is characteristic of two positive traits in the American psyche: (1) enthusiasm for making things better for the future and (2) openness and willingness to change in order to achieve that end.
No society in the world is more prolific at creating new businesses than the United States capitalistic system. Often, however, as small businesses owners and managers, we are so busy starting new ventures and fighting daily fires that we don’t take the time to learn basic, successful management principles. These principles have been tested and proven by our larger companies over years of trial and error. They are readily available as a resource to the small business owner.
Many entrepreneurs are technical experts in the product or service they offer. The entrepreneur, however, often starts a business without any formal training or experience in the best management practices and principles. By “management” here we mean the business of successfully managing the non-technical side of the business, the “back room” activities. It is the “business of running the business”. As a result of inadequate or inattentive management, many small businesses fail in the early years. They fail not because of a weakness in their product or service concept, but because the business was not properly organized or managed.
Once a small business has emerged from the start-up phase, or grown to a certain level, management techniques must change or the business will inevitably run into trouble. Although situations vary widely, for many small businesses management crises start in the range of $1-3 million in annual sales or 5-15 employees. When management issue becomes critical, the owner or manager of a small business must evolve or change from a manager of things to a manager of people and from a technical expert to a strategic thinker.
Change is never easy, particularly for talented entrepreneurs who have ingrained habits developed over time. But failure to grow as a manager is a major, perhaps the major reason why a business will falter, stagnate or even collapse under its own weight.
But what have successful business owners developed have is missing in troubled businesses?
First of all, owners of successful businesses have developed personal characteristics that they were not necessarily born with and that reflect in their business organization:
• Invariably they have a positive attitude towards their business and life in general.
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Mark Twain
• They are committed to their effort.
“The only place you’ll find success before work is in the dictionary.”
May B. Smith
• They are patient.
“Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage." Victor Kiam
• They are persistent.
“Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” Thomas Edison
Secondly, the owners of successful businesses have developed a business blueprint called a Strategic Business Plan that clearly describes their business concept, their mission and their philosophy of business. In this document, they have set personal and corporate goals and set out specific time lines and strategies to achieve them.
Thirdly, successful business owners think of their employees as “associates”, a favorite descriptor used by Sam Walton and a more meaningful idea of a management/employee relationship. Successful owners view their associates as their most valuable asset and resource. Associates are gathered into an Organizational Structure that functions as a well-oiled machine. This structure, including all its policies and procedures, encourages associates to perform to their utmost capabilities and gives them the freedom to achieve, rewarding those who excel in proportion to their contributions and disciplining those who deviate from acceptable behavior. Positions, tasks, duties and responsibilities are defined and communicated routinely and performance is measured regularly. Training, job enrichment programs and incentive compensation plans are designed to encourage each associate to excel.
Fourth and last, the owners of successful businesses have developed Operational Support Systems. These may be financial or non-financial, manual or automated. The objective of these systems is to support and make efficient all the activities of the organization. Well structured, they also relieve management of many day to day routine activities, giving owners more time to be strategic thinkers. The information provided by these tracking systems provide critical information on sales, cash flow and other financial performance data so that senior management can take timely action as change occurs. Red flags appear early, before problems become unmanageable.
IN SUMMARY, THE FOUR KEYS TO SUCCESSFUL SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT ARE: (1) Owners have developed habits and traits that are Positive, Committed, Patient and Persistent. (2) A living Strategic Business Plan is in place. (3) An Organizational Structure has been developed that encourages people to be their best and allows them to do so. (4) Operational Support Systems are used that track performance and relieve senior management of daily detail yet supply them with critical data to manage the business.
Let’s go a littler deeper into what is meant by a Strategic Business Plan.
Successful businesses operate within a planned framework. A Strategic Business Plan is written for a minimum of three years or two years beyond the current budget year. The plan describes the company’s mission, analyzes corporate and marketing strengths, evaluates weaknesses and how they will be overcome. It identifies target markets and pricing strategies and describes strategic alliances that exist or will be pursued. The plan describes positions on any other issues seen as critical to the long term health or viability of the business.
“Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail”
Effie Jones
Now let’s look a little deeper at what we mean by Organizational Structure.
The basic building blocks of organizational structure for a business are:
• An Organizational Chart, Job Descriptions, Task and Duty Lists, a Job Performance Evaluation System, an Employee Handbook, a Policies & Procedures Manual and an Incentive Compensation System.
When all of these organizational components are in place and being utilized routinely, the organization will have structure and purpose. Employees will feel they know where the company is going and what their role is in helping it get there. They will know the boundaries of what is expected as acceptable behavior and they will be aware that outstanding performance will be rewarded.
Now let’s look a little deeper at what we mean by Operating Support Systems.
Usually the most involved system for a small business is the Accounting System. This may be a relatively simple system such as QuickBooks® or Peachtree®. These systems are pre-designed and user-friendly and are particularly good for non-manufacturing businesses that simply buy and resell items. Also, they manage customers, vendors, accounts receivable and accounts payable very well. Finally, they have the capability of generating excellent managerial and financial reports, virtually in a minute or two.
No matter what the type of business, some type of accounting software package is needed that can capture daily transactions in a real-time environment and be easily operated by in-house personnel. In today’s fast paced business world, relying on an accountant to provide periodic statements of company performance several weeks or even months after the fact is not an acceptable strategy.
Other systems small businesses should have in place (typically these are automated Excel®-based systems):
• Cash Management, Annual/Monthly Budget with Variance Report, Labor Burden Tracking System, Job or Product Pricing System, Incentive Plan Distribution System, Break-Even Calculator and a Weekly Sales Reporter.
Even if you have none of these developed, the task is not as daunting as it may seem at first. Plug-in systems are available from a number of sources at modest cost and include backup training and support (one such source can be found at www.isbminc.com).
A business that has these four critical components in place stands a much higher probability of success than businesses that are not so equipped.
© Institute for Small Business Management, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Robert A. Normand is Executive Director of the Institute for Small Business Management (http://www.isbminc.com) and author of "Entreprenewal!, The Six Step Recovery Program for Small Business" (http://www.entreprenewal.com). Mr. Normand has served as principal management consultant for more than 100 businesses ranging from $500,000 to $50,000,000 in annual sales and has owned and operated several small businesses of his own in diverse industries. Mr. Normand’s small business philosophy is premised on the belief that small business management skills can be developed by busy entrepreneurs using readily available information, tools and procedures not found in business schools or formal degree programs. He can be reached by telephone at 941-330-0889 or by mail at 3751 Almeria Avenue, Suite A4, Sarasota, Florida 34239.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bob_Normand
Affiliate Marketing And the Learning Curve
When you put up your first website you have to admit that you are pretty green to the ways of the Internet World. You think that once your website is up, and you have put your links in place, you will be in the money. I, and I am sure many, would love that to be true. Just think how many Super Affiliates we would have. I will give you a small sampling of what to truly expect.
The Begin of the Begin
You will be excited at first, and you will have a sense of pride in your accomplishment. Granted, it is no small feat to getting a website up and online. But this is just the beginning of your Internet Marketing experience.
Once you have your website up, you should be asking yourself -- where do I begin, or, what do I do now? If you are short of cash, which, in most cases people in the beginning are -- you can begin by:
1. Writing articles
2. Optimizing your site for the search engines
3. Putting Adsense on your site
All this takes time and work. But, when you first begin, you do have time to optimize, to write articles, and to put adsense ads on your site. Why? It has been said that for the next six months or nine months, Google, and possibly, the other search engines, may put you in the Sandbox. Some say the Sandbox exists, some says it does not. Whatever it is called, you will see a degree of dormancy in your site.
My own thinking is that there may be a pre-set time of six months before you see a rise in your unique clicks I know I did. I feel that there may be several reasons for this:
1. Its a great way to protect the Internet community against unscrupulous sites I figure that these sites have a lifespan of six months before people give them the boot. It only takes one person to feel the blunt of a scam, before talk in the online forums begins.
2. Websites go up and go down daily. The search engines are looking at saving themselves time and money. If you are still on line after six months or nine months, youre paying your dues, and they may figure you are serious about maintaining a business online.
What Do I Do During That Six or Nine Month Period
First, and foremost since I have supplied you with this information do not get frustrated and throw in the towel. Granted, at first the only clicks you may see is your own, but that will change.
Second, start positioning yourself, so when your dormancy with the search engines ends, you have the quality content, and the quality products to begin to fly. That means, writing articles, getting your name out to the masses, and learning to utilize Adsense.
And when you have spare change, try your hand at advertising on Adwords.
In the beginning your learning curve is just out of the starting gate take this time to read, buy appropriate ebooks, experiment and research. All are important to moving your learning curve to the expert level.
To conclude, a website is just a small part, but an important part, of becoming an Affiliate Marketer. The other important elements, is persistence, hard work, and marketing. And finally, if you still have the passion after the initial exhilaration of becoming an online entrepreneur wanes then youll make it.
About the author:
Vickie J Scanlon has a BBA degree in Administrative Management and Marketing. Visit her site at: http://www.myaffiliateplace.bizfor free tools, quality articles related to affiliate marketing, ebooks, how to info, affiliate opportunities all aimed toward the affiliate marketer and the marketing process.
The Begin of the Begin
You will be excited at first, and you will have a sense of pride in your accomplishment. Granted, it is no small feat to getting a website up and online. But this is just the beginning of your Internet Marketing experience.
Once you have your website up, you should be asking yourself -- where do I begin, or, what do I do now? If you are short of cash, which, in most cases people in the beginning are -- you can begin by:
1. Writing articles
2. Optimizing your site for the search engines
3. Putting Adsense on your site
All this takes time and work. But, when you first begin, you do have time to optimize, to write articles, and to put adsense ads on your site. Why? It has been said that for the next six months or nine months, Google, and possibly, the other search engines, may put you in the Sandbox. Some say the Sandbox exists, some says it does not. Whatever it is called, you will see a degree of dormancy in your site.
My own thinking is that there may be a pre-set time of six months before you see a rise in your unique clicks I know I did. I feel that there may be several reasons for this:
1. Its a great way to protect the Internet community against unscrupulous sites I figure that these sites have a lifespan of six months before people give them the boot. It only takes one person to feel the blunt of a scam, before talk in the online forums begins.
2. Websites go up and go down daily. The search engines are looking at saving themselves time and money. If you are still on line after six months or nine months, youre paying your dues, and they may figure you are serious about maintaining a business online.
What Do I Do During That Six or Nine Month Period
First, and foremost since I have supplied you with this information do not get frustrated and throw in the towel. Granted, at first the only clicks you may see is your own, but that will change.
Second, start positioning yourself, so when your dormancy with the search engines ends, you have the quality content, and the quality products to begin to fly. That means, writing articles, getting your name out to the masses, and learning to utilize Adsense.
And when you have spare change, try your hand at advertising on Adwords.
In the beginning your learning curve is just out of the starting gate take this time to read, buy appropriate ebooks, experiment and research. All are important to moving your learning curve to the expert level.
To conclude, a website is just a small part, but an important part, of becoming an Affiliate Marketer. The other important elements, is persistence, hard work, and marketing. And finally, if you still have the passion after the initial exhilaration of becoming an online entrepreneur wanes then youll make it.
About the author:
Vickie J Scanlon has a BBA degree in Administrative Management and Marketing. Visit her site at: http://www.myaffiliateplace.bizfor free tools, quality articles related to affiliate marketing, ebooks, how to info, affiliate opportunities all aimed toward the affiliate marketer and the marketing process.
An Introduction To Home Business Opportunity
By Kevin Stith
A home business opportunity is a chance to make money in the confines of your own house. There are many people who would like to work but are not comfortable or don’t have the time to be working outside the home. A lot of housewives look for means to occupy their time when they are not working around the house and taking care of the children. There are several ways on how they could earn money and at the same time not neglect their duties at home. Baking and selling baked goods is one good way to start earning from the home. Making gift items can also be a profitable way to be creative around the house. There are books that could give ideas on what businesses could be done at home and one could choose which one will be best for them according to their skills, capability, resources and available time.
If there is a problem about cash, there are ways to have the money to have capital for the business. A good way to start making money for a home business is just by clearing up the house of excess furniture, clothes and other items that are no longer in use and holding a garage sale. You could use the proceeds to start the business you wish to pursue.
There are also business opportunities offered by legitimate companies and websites that would allow you to earn money at home like buying and re-selling products (software, e-books with resale rights and the like). This would allow you to set the price of the product you are going to sell and earn money easier.
Any business requires patience and hard work, whether conducted in or out of your home. It is also important to keep in mind that you have to love what you are doing in order to be productive.
Business Opportunity provides detailed information on Business Opportunity, Internet Business Opportunity, Home Business Opportunity, Small Business Opportunity and more. Business Opportunity is affiliated with Business Valuation Software.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kevin_Stith
A home business opportunity is a chance to make money in the confines of your own house. There are many people who would like to work but are not comfortable or don’t have the time to be working outside the home. A lot of housewives look for means to occupy their time when they are not working around the house and taking care of the children. There are several ways on how they could earn money and at the same time not neglect their duties at home. Baking and selling baked goods is one good way to start earning from the home. Making gift items can also be a profitable way to be creative around the house. There are books that could give ideas on what businesses could be done at home and one could choose which one will be best for them according to their skills, capability, resources and available time.
If there is a problem about cash, there are ways to have the money to have capital for the business. A good way to start making money for a home business is just by clearing up the house of excess furniture, clothes and other items that are no longer in use and holding a garage sale. You could use the proceeds to start the business you wish to pursue.
There are also business opportunities offered by legitimate companies and websites that would allow you to earn money at home like buying and re-selling products (software, e-books with resale rights and the like). This would allow you to set the price of the product you are going to sell and earn money easier.
Any business requires patience and hard work, whether conducted in or out of your home. It is also important to keep in mind that you have to love what you are doing in order to be productive.
Business Opportunity provides detailed information on Business Opportunity, Internet Business Opportunity, Home Business Opportunity, Small Business Opportunity and more. Business Opportunity is affiliated with Business Valuation Software.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kevin_Stith
Blog Internet Advertising: How Bloggers Are Leaving A Fortune On The Table
By Christopher Kyalo
Many bloggers are losing a fortune by ignoring blog Internet advertising and instead concentrating all their efforts on Adsense only.
There is nothing wrong with Adsense or somebody making a huge effort to maximize on their Adsense earnings, the only problem is that any blogger who concentrates all their efforts there is leaving a lot of other blog Internet advertising money on the table.
It is a lot easier than you thought selling blog Internet advertising on your blog, no matter how small your traffic is. And what's more Google Adsense have absolutely no problem with you displaying others ads on your site, as long as they do not look like Google Adsense ads. Especially the text link ads.
Naturally the next question you are asking is why anybody would want to advertise i8n your low traffic site. In other words how on earth you are going to secure blog Internet advertising for your site.
The secret behind successfully selling blog Internet advertising is very simple. You will need to understand the power of niche advertising and niche marketing.
Here's the perfect illustration of what I want to say here. A client selling pianos may be looking for a site with very heavy traffic so as to maximize on their chances of making as many sales as possible from their ad. However the same piano seller will get very excited if a very low traffic blog that focuses on persons looking to buy a piano, got in touch with him. That's the real secret behind blog Internet advertising.
Visit the writer's blog to read the rest of this article and to get more blog business opportunity Ideas. Or hire a low cost writer who will change the destiny of your blog.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Christopher_Kyalo
Many bloggers are losing a fortune by ignoring blog Internet advertising and instead concentrating all their efforts on Adsense only.
There is nothing wrong with Adsense or somebody making a huge effort to maximize on their Adsense earnings, the only problem is that any blogger who concentrates all their efforts there is leaving a lot of other blog Internet advertising money on the table.
It is a lot easier than you thought selling blog Internet advertising on your blog, no matter how small your traffic is. And what's more Google Adsense have absolutely no problem with you displaying others ads on your site, as long as they do not look like Google Adsense ads. Especially the text link ads.
Naturally the next question you are asking is why anybody would want to advertise i8n your low traffic site. In other words how on earth you are going to secure blog Internet advertising for your site.
The secret behind successfully selling blog Internet advertising is very simple. You will need to understand the power of niche advertising and niche marketing.
Here's the perfect illustration of what I want to say here. A client selling pianos may be looking for a site with very heavy traffic so as to maximize on their chances of making as many sales as possible from their ad. However the same piano seller will get very excited if a very low traffic blog that focuses on persons looking to buy a piano, got in touch with him. That's the real secret behind blog Internet advertising.
Visit the writer's blog to read the rest of this article and to get more blog business opportunity Ideas. Or hire a low cost writer who will change the destiny of your blog.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Christopher_Kyalo
Creating Sitemaps For Google, MSN and Yahoo! - The Easy Way
By Philip Nicosia
If you own or maintain a website or intend to own one, wouldn’t it be great if you get frequent visitors who find satisfaction in getting exactly the information they need from your page?
While that satisfaction largely depends on the contents of your website, how you get to be accessed by website users is the
most critical factor of website development. For if your website can’t be reached universally, you defeat the very purpose of the internet: that is, to make information available to any website user from across the world.
How you get to be accessed is actually a matter of presentation style, organization, and most importantly, how fast and extensive search engines get to lead users to your website. Unless your pages are indexed in the search engines they can’t send you the free visitors you are all looking for.
Fortunately, the search engines want your content too and there are a number of ways you can help them, which they encourage you to do - by creating sitemaps of your website. Sitemaps created for the various search engines will enable these search engines’ spiders to crawl faster, more systematically, and more extensively into your website’s pages.
By doing so, you get the maximum exposure you can. Such exposure will boost your pride in having your pages viewed, read, and used by more and more visitors the way you intended them to. On the financial aspect, the more visitors your website gets, the higher your website’s potential advertising value.
Now with the vast expansion of websites on the internet, it has become necessary to create different types of sitemaps, each
having its own complexity in setting up.
HTML Sitemaps
Creating an HTML sitemap linked to and from your home page is something savvy webmasters have been doing for years and
perhaps is the simplest to create. This sitemap is simply a list of pages contained on your site and enables the search engines spiders to easily find your pages, especially the ones that are linked deep in your website that they may have trouble finding otherwise.
TEXT Sitemaps
A text sitemap is simply a list of the URLs of your site in the form of a text file. These can then be submitted to search engines such as Yahoo! to notify them that all the pages exist and by doing so invites
their spider to visit.
XML Sitemaps
Google launched
Google Sitemaps as a way for webmasters to give them information they could use to better crawl their sites. This involves creating an XML Sitemap for which they provided their Google Sitemap Generator. This can
be the most complicated to set up using the tools provided by Google as you need to be running Python on your server. It’s perhaps the most important one too given the current dominance of the search engine.
Setting up all three types of sitemaps may seem a daunting task but luckily there are websites that take the strain out of this and you can create all three within a matter of minutes.
Whichever search engine or for whatever search purpose, sitemaps are clearly the fastest and most efficient way to navigate this digital highway. The best thing about it is, with these easy-to-use sitemap generators, you don’t have to be a computer geek to help keep this internet traffic moving.
Philip Nicosia is the webmaster of XML-Sitemaps.com, a site specialising in
sitemap software that generates XML, HTML
and TXT sitemaps for webmasters.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Philip_Nicosia
If you own or maintain a website or intend to own one, wouldn’t it be great if you get frequent visitors who find satisfaction in getting exactly the information they need from your page?
While that satisfaction largely depends on the contents of your website, how you get to be accessed by website users is the
most critical factor of website development. For if your website can’t be reached universally, you defeat the very purpose of the internet: that is, to make information available to any website user from across the world.
How you get to be accessed is actually a matter of presentation style, organization, and most importantly, how fast and extensive search engines get to lead users to your website. Unless your pages are indexed in the search engines they can’t send you the free visitors you are all looking for.
Fortunately, the search engines want your content too and there are a number of ways you can help them, which they encourage you to do - by creating sitemaps of your website. Sitemaps created for the various search engines will enable these search engines’ spiders to crawl faster, more systematically, and more extensively into your website’s pages.
By doing so, you get the maximum exposure you can. Such exposure will boost your pride in having your pages viewed, read, and used by more and more visitors the way you intended them to. On the financial aspect, the more visitors your website gets, the higher your website’s potential advertising value.
Now with the vast expansion of websites on the internet, it has become necessary to create different types of sitemaps, each
having its own complexity in setting up.
HTML Sitemaps
Creating an HTML sitemap linked to and from your home page is something savvy webmasters have been doing for years and
perhaps is the simplest to create. This sitemap is simply a list of pages contained on your site and enables the search engines spiders to easily find your pages, especially the ones that are linked deep in your website that they may have trouble finding otherwise.
TEXT Sitemaps
A text sitemap is simply a list of the URLs of your site in the form of a text file. These can then be submitted to search engines such as Yahoo! to notify them that all the pages exist and by doing so invites
their spider to visit.
XML Sitemaps
Google launched
Google Sitemaps as a way for webmasters to give them information they could use to better crawl their sites. This involves creating an XML Sitemap for which they provided their Google Sitemap Generator. This can
be the most complicated to set up using the tools provided by Google as you need to be running Python on your server. It’s perhaps the most important one too given the current dominance of the search engine.
Setting up all three types of sitemaps may seem a daunting task but luckily there are websites that take the strain out of this and you can create all three within a matter of minutes.
Whichever search engine or for whatever search purpose, sitemaps are clearly the fastest and most efficient way to navigate this digital highway. The best thing about it is, with these easy-to-use sitemap generators, you don’t have to be a computer geek to help keep this internet traffic moving.
Philip Nicosia is the webmaster of XML-Sitemaps.com, a site specialising in
sitemap software that generates XML, HTML
and TXT sitemaps for webmasters.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Philip_Nicosia
Customer Service 101
By Jackie Barnes
There are thousands of books, courses, and articles written to improve basic customer service skills. Today is one of those days I was reminded why.
Here's a few tips.
Make the 1st words out of your mouth, "I am sorry." This is not a legal plea of culpability. It is an expression of regret over the negative experience had by someone else.
Never pass up a perfectly good opportunity to keep your mouth shut. God gave you 2 ears & 1 mouth for a reason. Listen. As Covey says, seek first to understand THEN to be understood.
Watch your body language. Unfold those crossed arms. Make eye contact. Open yourself up literally & figuratively. Now is not the time to multitask. Studies show that if you give a complainant your undivided attention, you will spend less time in the long run with a more successful outcome than had you tried to finish your paperwork & answer an email while dealing with the problem.
Take notes on the issue. This speaks volumes. The issue is important enough for you to write down. An additional benefit is the need to get to your office where you have pen & paper which helps escort an irate customer away from the traffic flow of others.
Outline a plan of action. Follow the plan & follow up with the person to demonstrate success BEFORE they follow up with you.
And finally, as a mouse might reflect upon their relationship with Tigger Charles the cat, never, ever, make someone mad who has the power to eat you alive. This translates to a preventative approach to customer service- don't hack 'em off in the 1st place. Apart from humans, the whole animal kingdom lives by this concept. Certainly those of us with opposing thumbs can manage to grasp this fact.
For more tips and techniques, book a training for your workgroup or organization this month by going to http://www.miceseminars.com. If you do so, in honor of their relationship with the feline world , MICE will make a donation to Abandoned Animal Rescue- see the Community Event page on the website for more details. We hate to say it, but it really is the cat's meow.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jackie_Barnes
There are thousands of books, courses, and articles written to improve basic customer service skills. Today is one of those days I was reminded why.
Here's a few tips.
Make the 1st words out of your mouth, "I am sorry." This is not a legal plea of culpability. It is an expression of regret over the negative experience had by someone else.
Never pass up a perfectly good opportunity to keep your mouth shut. God gave you 2 ears & 1 mouth for a reason. Listen. As Covey says, seek first to understand THEN to be understood.
Watch your body language. Unfold those crossed arms. Make eye contact. Open yourself up literally & figuratively. Now is not the time to multitask. Studies show that if you give a complainant your undivided attention, you will spend less time in the long run with a more successful outcome than had you tried to finish your paperwork & answer an email while dealing with the problem.
Take notes on the issue. This speaks volumes. The issue is important enough for you to write down. An additional benefit is the need to get to your office where you have pen & paper which helps escort an irate customer away from the traffic flow of others.
Outline a plan of action. Follow the plan & follow up with the person to demonstrate success BEFORE they follow up with you.
And finally, as a mouse might reflect upon their relationship with Tigger Charles the cat, never, ever, make someone mad who has the power to eat you alive. This translates to a preventative approach to customer service- don't hack 'em off in the 1st place. Apart from humans, the whole animal kingdom lives by this concept. Certainly those of us with opposing thumbs can manage to grasp this fact.
For more tips and techniques, book a training for your workgroup or organization this month by going to http://www.miceseminars.com. If you do so, in honor of their relationship with the feline world , MICE will make a donation to Abandoned Animal Rescue- see the Community Event page on the website for more details. We hate to say it, but it really is the cat's meow.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jackie_Barnes
Ebook Publishing - It's Easy To Become a Published Writer
By Robin Henry
Introduction - Ebook Publishing
There has never been a better time to earn money as an ebook publisher publishing online, despite the growing number of people entering the field. There are millions of people coming online every year and an almost insatiable demand for information about everything from acne to zulus.
If you are interested in joining the ranks of those of us who sell "information", it's fairly inexpensive to get started and can be very rewarding. There is a rich harvest of information on the Internet about how to research, write and publish ebooks for profit. This short article attempts to summarise the process and show you where you can find useful resources to help you on your way.
My Experience
I began publishing ebooks in 1998. I had always been interested in writing and while surfing the Internet found Ken Silver's excellent ebook, "How to Make $100,000 A Year In Your Spare Time Creating Profitable How-To Manuals" which got me started. I figured that if Ken (and others, some of whom probably had less ability than me) could make money selling ebooks, so could I.
Today my original title, How To Write Winning Training Proposals still sells weekly and I'm making strong returns on my packaged titles, Winning That Government Job and Writing Responses to Selection Criteria. My most recent title, Guide to Letter Formatting and Writing is making me a small, but increasing amount of income each month as I fine tune the advertising campaign and it becomes more visible to buyers.
My ebook income arrives 24 hours per day, seven days per week and costs very little to generate. When I get up in the morning I check my email and there are usually several emails from my credit card transactions provider indicating sales. Even after all these years, it still gives me a buzz to see them.
What You Need to Be an Ebook Publisher
What you need are:
a topic that is of interest to readers, usually something that solves a problem
a word processor or some other text editing software to create the document
a text to PDF file converter or an HTML compiler program to prepare your product for delivery
an Internet presence ... even a one page sales page will do with your own domain name
an e-commerce provider who will process your transactions and send you a monthly cheque
a method of advertising on and off line
It's really very straightforward. You don't need to be a techno-whizz kid to do it.
Finding a Suitable Topic
There are numerous ways to identify suitable topics. These include identifying search terms that are commonly searched and comparing the number of searches with the supply volume. Other sources of useful information are such places as Ebay where you can research popularly purchased products or services.
Word Processing Software
Almost everyone with a computer has a capacity to create text files. Programs such as Notebook that comes with Microsoft Windows etc will do the job nicely.
There are also numerous shareware programs available for text editing.
Text to PDF File Converters
Some PDF creation programs are free and several are available on payment, including Adobe's own program, Adobe Professional. Any of these can be downloaded online which means you can get them working within 15 minutes or so. HTML compilers are popular among some quarters, but are more problematical than PDF, so I don't recommend them.
An Internet Presence
It's getting cheaper to get a domain name that is perhaps, also your site's keyword eg, www.computer-spares.com. And hosting for Internet sites is also very cheap. You get yourself a domain name and then a site host and, with the assistance of one of the free HTML software programs, you can create your sales site literally within hours.
An E-commerce Provider
Sign up with an e-commerce provider that allows you to sell information products and receive cheques or credit cards and you are in business. This also is relatively inexpensive with a once only setup cost and continuing costs directly related to sales. Some of these are far better options than local banks and financial providers who charge monthly fees for merchant accounts, especially when you are starting out and don't have a lot of monthly sales.
Summary
While it takes some time to write an ebook, when you have one, you can get it online and ready to sell within three or four hours. Once on line you can then focus on the separate topic of attracting traffic to your site and making your book visible to those who will buy it.
So, what are you waiting for? More information? My "So You Want to Be an Ebook Publisher" has more info
here.
Copyright 2006 Robin Henry First published May, 2006
Robin Henry is an educator, human resources specialist and Internet entrepreneur. He helps home-based businesses and individuals improve performance by applying smart technology and processes and developing personally. He runs his business Desert Wave Enterprises from his home base at Alice Springs in Central Australia, although at present he is on temporary assignment in the United Arab Emirates.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robin_Henry
Introduction - Ebook Publishing
There has never been a better time to earn money as an ebook publisher publishing online, despite the growing number of people entering the field. There are millions of people coming online every year and an almost insatiable demand for information about everything from acne to zulus.
If you are interested in joining the ranks of those of us who sell "information", it's fairly inexpensive to get started and can be very rewarding. There is a rich harvest of information on the Internet about how to research, write and publish ebooks for profit. This short article attempts to summarise the process and show you where you can find useful resources to help you on your way.
My Experience
I began publishing ebooks in 1998. I had always been interested in writing and while surfing the Internet found Ken Silver's excellent ebook, "How to Make $100,000 A Year In Your Spare Time Creating Profitable How-To Manuals" which got me started. I figured that if Ken (and others, some of whom probably had less ability than me) could make money selling ebooks, so could I.
Today my original title, How To Write Winning Training Proposals still sells weekly and I'm making strong returns on my packaged titles, Winning That Government Job and Writing Responses to Selection Criteria. My most recent title, Guide to Letter Formatting and Writing is making me a small, but increasing amount of income each month as I fine tune the advertising campaign and it becomes more visible to buyers.
My ebook income arrives 24 hours per day, seven days per week and costs very little to generate. When I get up in the morning I check my email and there are usually several emails from my credit card transactions provider indicating sales. Even after all these years, it still gives me a buzz to see them.
What You Need to Be an Ebook Publisher
What you need are:
a topic that is of interest to readers, usually something that solves a problem
a word processor or some other text editing software to create the document
a text to PDF file converter or an HTML compiler program to prepare your product for delivery
an Internet presence ... even a one page sales page will do with your own domain name
an e-commerce provider who will process your transactions and send you a monthly cheque
a method of advertising on and off line
It's really very straightforward. You don't need to be a techno-whizz kid to do it.
Finding a Suitable Topic
There are numerous ways to identify suitable topics. These include identifying search terms that are commonly searched and comparing the number of searches with the supply volume. Other sources of useful information are such places as Ebay where you can research popularly purchased products or services.
Word Processing Software
Almost everyone with a computer has a capacity to create text files. Programs such as Notebook that comes with Microsoft Windows etc will do the job nicely.
There are also numerous shareware programs available for text editing.
Text to PDF File Converters
Some PDF creation programs are free and several are available on payment, including Adobe's own program, Adobe Professional. Any of these can be downloaded online which means you can get them working within 15 minutes or so. HTML compilers are popular among some quarters, but are more problematical than PDF, so I don't recommend them.
An Internet Presence
It's getting cheaper to get a domain name that is perhaps, also your site's keyword eg, www.computer-spares.com. And hosting for Internet sites is also very cheap. You get yourself a domain name and then a site host and, with the assistance of one of the free HTML software programs, you can create your sales site literally within hours.
An E-commerce Provider
Sign up with an e-commerce provider that allows you to sell information products and receive cheques or credit cards and you are in business. This also is relatively inexpensive with a once only setup cost and continuing costs directly related to sales. Some of these are far better options than local banks and financial providers who charge monthly fees for merchant accounts, especially when you are starting out and don't have a lot of monthly sales.
Summary
While it takes some time to write an ebook, when you have one, you can get it online and ready to sell within three or four hours. Once on line you can then focus on the separate topic of attracting traffic to your site and making your book visible to those who will buy it.
So, what are you waiting for? More information? My "So You Want to Be an Ebook Publisher" has more info
here.
Copyright 2006 Robin Henry First published May, 2006
Robin Henry is an educator, human resources specialist and Internet entrepreneur. He helps home-based businesses and individuals improve performance by applying smart technology and processes and developing personally. He runs his business Desert Wave Enterprises from his home base at Alice Springs in Central Australia, although at present he is on temporary assignment in the United Arab Emirates.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robin_Henry
Getting Down to Business at Home
By Dassana Jayalath
If you spend a lot of time at home, unable to work in a full time job because of your domestic responsibilities, you may have given some thought to starting a home based business. But how would you go about it? What changes would you need to make to convert your home so that it could also be your office?
Most people whose work is based at home set aside a special room or a special area for working in. This will help you to keep your work materials organised and it will also make it clear to other people when you are and are not working, reducing the chances of you being disturbed halfway through an important task. So what will you need in your workspace? Some people get by with just a laptop and a cupboard, but it's much easier if you have a comfortable desk to work at and somewhere to store files. Even a modern computer-based business can generate a lot of paperwork, and it will be important for you to keep paper copies of all important documents, especially legal and financial materials. Ideally, these should be in a secure place - lockable drawers may reduce insurance costs. If your business is going to be dealing in cash, you'll also need a safe in which to store your petty cash box.
Because you're going to spending a lot of time in your home office, you'll need to make it as pleasant as possible. Make sure you have a comfortable chair which isn't going to hurt your back when you spend long hours working. Make sure you can get some daylight and fresh air, which help to reduce stress. You will almost certainly need a computer and you'll also need access to a telephone. Having to run in and out of your office to make and receive phone calls can be extremely disruptive. You should think about getting a dedicated phone line for your business, especially if you have children who might otherwise answer the phone to customers.
Every home based business requires storage space, not only for files but also for incoming and outgoing mail and for the materials you're working with. The more organised you can be with this from the very outset, the less time you will waste chasing up or replacing lost items. Don't be tempted to take work with you into the living room or kitchen as you do other household tasks - if everything is based in one place you are far less likely to run into difficulty.
When your business is based at home you'll need to find ways of separating your professional and domestic lives. You will probably want to avoid having clients turn up at the door. You may wish to consider getting your mail sent to you via a P.O. box. Many small businesses have their head offices officially based at their solicitors' offices, thereby gaining more prestigious business addresses and preserving their privacy.
A home based business means that you can adjust your hours to fit around your other activities, but it also means that you can find yourself under a lot of pressure to work when you really ought to be relaxing or spending time with your family. You will need to be disciplined about breaks as well as about work if you are to prevent your work from intruding too far into your personal life. Properly managed, however, this can be a very rewarding way to work. You'll never have to worry about commuting again, and you can start work in the morning as soon as you feel ready, taking breakfast with you if you want. Nobody will interfere with the way you like to organise your day, and as your business grows you will know that it is all thanks to your own hard work.
Dassana Jayalath is the editor of WebSuperTips newsletter. Visit http://www.WebSuperTips.com/newbie.html get your copy of ecourse worh $97 (while the free offer last): Newbie's Guide To Profitable Internet Home Business
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dassana_Jayalath
If you spend a lot of time at home, unable to work in a full time job because of your domestic responsibilities, you may have given some thought to starting a home based business. But how would you go about it? What changes would you need to make to convert your home so that it could also be your office?
Most people whose work is based at home set aside a special room or a special area for working in. This will help you to keep your work materials organised and it will also make it clear to other people when you are and are not working, reducing the chances of you being disturbed halfway through an important task. So what will you need in your workspace? Some people get by with just a laptop and a cupboard, but it's much easier if you have a comfortable desk to work at and somewhere to store files. Even a modern computer-based business can generate a lot of paperwork, and it will be important for you to keep paper copies of all important documents, especially legal and financial materials. Ideally, these should be in a secure place - lockable drawers may reduce insurance costs. If your business is going to be dealing in cash, you'll also need a safe in which to store your petty cash box.
Because you're going to spending a lot of time in your home office, you'll need to make it as pleasant as possible. Make sure you have a comfortable chair which isn't going to hurt your back when you spend long hours working. Make sure you can get some daylight and fresh air, which help to reduce stress. You will almost certainly need a computer and you'll also need access to a telephone. Having to run in and out of your office to make and receive phone calls can be extremely disruptive. You should think about getting a dedicated phone line for your business, especially if you have children who might otherwise answer the phone to customers.
Every home based business requires storage space, not only for files but also for incoming and outgoing mail and for the materials you're working with. The more organised you can be with this from the very outset, the less time you will waste chasing up or replacing lost items. Don't be tempted to take work with you into the living room or kitchen as you do other household tasks - if everything is based in one place you are far less likely to run into difficulty.
When your business is based at home you'll need to find ways of separating your professional and domestic lives. You will probably want to avoid having clients turn up at the door. You may wish to consider getting your mail sent to you via a P.O. box. Many small businesses have their head offices officially based at their solicitors' offices, thereby gaining more prestigious business addresses and preserving their privacy.
A home based business means that you can adjust your hours to fit around your other activities, but it also means that you can find yourself under a lot of pressure to work when you really ought to be relaxing or spending time with your family. You will need to be disciplined about breaks as well as about work if you are to prevent your work from intruding too far into your personal life. Properly managed, however, this can be a very rewarding way to work. You'll never have to worry about commuting again, and you can start work in the morning as soon as you feel ready, taking breakfast with you if you want. Nobody will interfere with the way you like to organise your day, and as your business grows you will know that it is all thanks to your own hard work.
Dassana Jayalath is the editor of WebSuperTips newsletter. Visit http://www.WebSuperTips.com/newbie.html get your copy of ecourse worh $97 (while the free offer last): Newbie's Guide To Profitable Internet Home Business
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dassana_Jayalath
How to Print US Postal Service Postage, UPS Selling Labels, Invoices, Packing Slips, & Address Label
By Donny Lowy
For US Postal service postage or UPS selling labels printing you should have a Paypal account. The size and weight of the item package should also be known. Go to the ‘sold view’ and click the checkbox near the sold item to be printed. Click on the ‘print’ button. Then select the checkbox near the US Postal service postage or UPS shipping label and click continue. Now log on to your Paypal account and then select US Postal service or UPS. In the next opened page enter the shipping and packaging information. Clicking on the ‘print’ button will print the required document.
When you want to print individual invoices, packing slips or address labels, go to the ‘sold view’ and click on the checkbox near the sold item for which you want to print an invoice, packing slip or address label. Next click on the print button. The print page will be opened, here, select the type of printout whether invoice for your own records, packing slip or address label or, in combinations, like invoice / packing slip combo etc. There would be a pop-up window with a scroll bar for previewing the page to be printed. After reviewing, click on the ‘print’ button to get the printout. If you want changes in your next printouts you may edit on the corresponding sales record and save, then repeat the steps for printing.
Donny Lowy runs http://www.closeoutexplosion.com an online wholesale and closeout business that supplies eBay sellers, retailers, and flea market vendors.
He also manages http://www.wholesalecloseoutforum.com an online wholesale and closeout forum.
Donny can be reached at 718-389-5502
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Donny_Lowy
For US Postal service postage or UPS selling labels printing you should have a Paypal account. The size and weight of the item package should also be known. Go to the ‘sold view’ and click the checkbox near the sold item to be printed. Click on the ‘print’ button. Then select the checkbox near the US Postal service postage or UPS shipping label and click continue. Now log on to your Paypal account and then select US Postal service or UPS. In the next opened page enter the shipping and packaging information. Clicking on the ‘print’ button will print the required document.
When you want to print individual invoices, packing slips or address labels, go to the ‘sold view’ and click on the checkbox near the sold item for which you want to print an invoice, packing slip or address label. Next click on the print button. The print page will be opened, here, select the type of printout whether invoice for your own records, packing slip or address label or, in combinations, like invoice / packing slip combo etc. There would be a pop-up window with a scroll bar for previewing the page to be printed. After reviewing, click on the ‘print’ button to get the printout. If you want changes in your next printouts you may edit on the corresponding sales record and save, then repeat the steps for printing.
Donny Lowy runs http://www.closeoutexplosion.com an online wholesale and closeout business that supplies eBay sellers, retailers, and flea market vendors.
He also manages http://www.wholesalecloseoutforum.com an online wholesale and closeout forum.
Donny can be reached at 718-389-5502
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Donny_Lowy
I Want to Start a Window Washing Business
By Lance Winslow
Many people would like to start their own business but they do not have a lot of money. There are some businesses, which do not cost very much money to start such as a window cleaning or window washing business. Obviously, it does not take very much to start a window washing business because there's not a lot of equipment to buy.
For instance you need a really good squeaky, which cost in the neighborhood of $40-60 or a couple of them and a dual hole bucket. Also it makes sense to use distilled water or have some type of water softener at your home to make ultra-purified water to use and some good soap.
Of course it takes time to develop the finesse that you often a witness as you watch veteran window cleaners move the squeegee very rapidly across the window but that will come in time.
The most important thing in starting a window washing business is getting a good set of clientele and believe it or not many small-business retailers, which work in strip centers or small shopping centers or constantly bombarded by people selling window washing services trying to get their accounts and thus it is highly competitive. Residential customers are also quite good and that is less competitive, but it is mostly referral based.
Once you get in good with customers in a gated community or higher-end clientele and do excellent work you will find yourself with the full schedule. Perhaps you might consider getting into the window washing business. The risk is low and the costs are much less than other businesses and you can run the business from your home. Consider this in 2006.
"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow
Many people would like to start their own business but they do not have a lot of money. There are some businesses, which do not cost very much money to start such as a window cleaning or window washing business. Obviously, it does not take very much to start a window washing business because there's not a lot of equipment to buy.
For instance you need a really good squeaky, which cost in the neighborhood of $40-60 or a couple of them and a dual hole bucket. Also it makes sense to use distilled water or have some type of water softener at your home to make ultra-purified water to use and some good soap.
Of course it takes time to develop the finesse that you often a witness as you watch veteran window cleaners move the squeegee very rapidly across the window but that will come in time.
The most important thing in starting a window washing business is getting a good set of clientele and believe it or not many small-business retailers, which work in strip centers or small shopping centers or constantly bombarded by people selling window washing services trying to get their accounts and thus it is highly competitive. Residential customers are also quite good and that is less competitive, but it is mostly referral based.
Once you get in good with customers in a gated community or higher-end clientele and do excellent work you will find yourself with the full schedule. Perhaps you might consider getting into the window washing business. The risk is low and the costs are much less than other businesses and you can run the business from your home. Consider this in 2006.
"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow
Make Money with Your Own Blog
By Joan Masterson
Well, basically, setting up a blog means that you are creating a little space of your own on the Internet where you can make posts about anything that interests you. Of course, if you are going to be blogging on a variety of topics, the best way to make money with it would be to have different blogs for different topics otherwise your blog will be just one big jumbled mess that nobody would want to read about.
So what topics should you blog on? Well, I would suggest blogging about your own interests or favourite hobbies. There are always people out there who could learn from your specific experience.
Let's say for instance your favourite passion is your love for dogs. You could blog about anything pertaining to dogs. Do you know how to potty train a dog in a week? Lots of people would love to know how to get their dogs not to do their potty work inside the house :) Or do you have a recipe for a dog biscuit that your dog absolutely adores? There are lots of people who absolutely adore their dogs - I am one! And they do a lot of searches on the topics of dogs, cats, puppies, kittens etc. So why not make some money out of sharing your own knowledge to help those people? Share your tips with them and they will just love you for it!
So, how would you make money out of having a blog even if you don't have a product to sell? One word: Adsense. Adsense is a program offered by Google that pays webmasters and blog owners to display Google ads called Adwords on their sites, and if you have a blog that gets many visitors, they will click on the ads which means that you will earn money from it. To learn more about how to apply for and start using Adsense on your own site, visit : Google Ads
Some tips before you apply for the Adsense program:
1. You have to have an existing blog or an existing site.
2. Your website has to have at least 10-15 pages of relevant content. If you have a blog that you want to apply adsense to, you have to have at least 5 or more posts on your blog.
3. Your blog or site must have a clean, easy to use interface. No under construction pages or broken links, or too many animated gifs, or pop ups.
4. You don't have to have a professionally designed website or blog. The simpler your site is the better for the search engines to spider, and the better it will be for your visitors to navigate.
How to get a blog? You can either have blog that you can host at your own website, like Wordpress Wordpress is an easy to set up php script that is free for download.
Alternatively, you could use any of the free blog services like: Blogger to set up a blog that will be hosted on their server.
So to recap: Select a topic that you would like to blog about, set up a blog, make a couple of posts a day on your blog, wait about 5 days, then apply for the Google Adsense program.
Once you have been approved for Adsense, you should submit your blog or website to the major search engines. If you don't know the major search engines, do a search for "free website submission". You will find that there are a lot of sites that will allow you to use their services for free to submit your site or blog to various search engines.
Their are various blog directories that you should also list your blog with. Once again, do a search for blog directories, and submit your site to all the the ones that you can find.
Tell others about your blog, your family and friends etc. Ask them to tell others about your blog. That way you will start getting instant traffic. Just a word of caution: do NOT ask family and friends to click on your adsense ads, and under no circumstances should you click on any of the ads yourself - that is a sure fire way of getting banned by Google and you will have lost a valuable income source!
Now that you know how to start your own blog, you have no excuse not to make money online! Happy blogging!
Joan Masterson is the owner of http://www.womenatwork.co.za - and http://www.set-4-success.com - sites that offer free work at home resources and information.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joan_Masterson
Well, basically, setting up a blog means that you are creating a little space of your own on the Internet where you can make posts about anything that interests you. Of course, if you are going to be blogging on a variety of topics, the best way to make money with it would be to have different blogs for different topics otherwise your blog will be just one big jumbled mess that nobody would want to read about.
So what topics should you blog on? Well, I would suggest blogging about your own interests or favourite hobbies. There are always people out there who could learn from your specific experience.
Let's say for instance your favourite passion is your love for dogs. You could blog about anything pertaining to dogs. Do you know how to potty train a dog in a week? Lots of people would love to know how to get their dogs not to do their potty work inside the house :) Or do you have a recipe for a dog biscuit that your dog absolutely adores? There are lots of people who absolutely adore their dogs - I am one! And they do a lot of searches on the topics of dogs, cats, puppies, kittens etc. So why not make some money out of sharing your own knowledge to help those people? Share your tips with them and they will just love you for it!
So, how would you make money out of having a blog even if you don't have a product to sell? One word: Adsense. Adsense is a program offered by Google that pays webmasters and blog owners to display Google ads called Adwords on their sites, and if you have a blog that gets many visitors, they will click on the ads which means that you will earn money from it. To learn more about how to apply for and start using Adsense on your own site, visit : Google Ads
Some tips before you apply for the Adsense program:
1. You have to have an existing blog or an existing site.
2. Your website has to have at least 10-15 pages of relevant content. If you have a blog that you want to apply adsense to, you have to have at least 5 or more posts on your blog.
3. Your blog or site must have a clean, easy to use interface. No under construction pages or broken links, or too many animated gifs, or pop ups.
4. You don't have to have a professionally designed website or blog. The simpler your site is the better for the search engines to spider, and the better it will be for your visitors to navigate.
How to get a blog? You can either have blog that you can host at your own website, like Wordpress Wordpress is an easy to set up php script that is free for download.
Alternatively, you could use any of the free blog services like: Blogger to set up a blog that will be hosted on their server.
So to recap: Select a topic that you would like to blog about, set up a blog, make a couple of posts a day on your blog, wait about 5 days, then apply for the Google Adsense program.
Once you have been approved for Adsense, you should submit your blog or website to the major search engines. If you don't know the major search engines, do a search for "free website submission". You will find that there are a lot of sites that will allow you to use their services for free to submit your site or blog to various search engines.
Their are various blog directories that you should also list your blog with. Once again, do a search for blog directories, and submit your site to all the the ones that you can find.
Tell others about your blog, your family and friends etc. Ask them to tell others about your blog. That way you will start getting instant traffic. Just a word of caution: do NOT ask family and friends to click on your adsense ads, and under no circumstances should you click on any of the ads yourself - that is a sure fire way of getting banned by Google and you will have lost a valuable income source!
Now that you know how to start your own blog, you have no excuse not to make money online! Happy blogging!
Joan Masterson is the owner of http://www.womenatwork.co.za - and http://www.set-4-success.com - sites that offer free work at home resources and information.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joan_Masterson
Marketing a Home-based Online Business
By Gisela Santibanez
Many people dream of working at home running a home-based online
business, and many people take the step of starting a home-based online
business. The problem is, home-based online businesses, like other
businesses, don't always succeed. It takes effective online business marketing
strategies and methods to make a home-based online business work.
The biggest obstacle home-based online businesses face is the vast
number of online businesses to compete with. Large well-known businesses
can afford top- of-the-line marketing and advertising, while most
home-based online businesses
are limited by a marketing budget. Home-based online businesses more
often than not go unnoticed, but it doesn't have to be that way.
Home-based online businesses must resort to different methods of marketing and
advertising.There are effective ways of marketing a home-based online
business that can make a home-based online business a financial success.
Effective online marketing doesn't necessarily mean expensive online
marketing. There are effective methods of marketing a home-based online
business that don't cost a small fortune, and these methods are
available to home-based online business owners who have a strong desire to
succeed.
One method of marketing a home-based online business is through free
online newsletter publishing. Any home-based online business owner can
publish a free online newsletter and gain a large database of subscribers
and customers. It doesn't take special writing skills to write and
publish an online newsletter. If a home-based business owner is
knowledgeable in a subject related to their business, they can most definitely
gain customers through publishing an online newsletter. Home-based
business owners can publish online newsletters and add links to their business
website and individual products or services. Marketing possibilities
through an online newsletter are virtually limitless.
Another good method of marketing a home-based online business involves
exchanging links with other home-based online businesses. There are
websites that help home-based online businesses with marketing by finding
appropriate link exchange partners. Home-based online businesses
looking for effective marketing methods can benefit greatly by exchanging
links with other home- based online businesses. Link exchange members gain
increased online traffic, and this in turn can bring in more customers
and a substantial increase in profits.
Gisela Santibanez
http://www.StartYourOwnBusinessOnline.com
http://www.MakeInternetBusiness.com
http://www.MakeInternetBusiness.com/blog
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gisela_Santibanez
Many people dream of working at home running a home-based online
business, and many people take the step of starting a home-based online
business. The problem is, home-based online businesses, like other
businesses, don't always succeed. It takes effective online business marketing
strategies and methods to make a home-based online business work.
The biggest obstacle home-based online businesses face is the vast
number of online businesses to compete with. Large well-known businesses
can afford top- of-the-line marketing and advertising, while most
home-based online businesses
are limited by a marketing budget. Home-based online businesses more
often than not go unnoticed, but it doesn't have to be that way.
Home-based online businesses must resort to different methods of marketing and
advertising.There are effective ways of marketing a home-based online
business that can make a home-based online business a financial success.
Effective online marketing doesn't necessarily mean expensive online
marketing. There are effective methods of marketing a home-based online
business that don't cost a small fortune, and these methods are
available to home-based online business owners who have a strong desire to
succeed.
One method of marketing a home-based online business is through free
online newsletter publishing. Any home-based online business owner can
publish a free online newsletter and gain a large database of subscribers
and customers. It doesn't take special writing skills to write and
publish an online newsletter. If a home-based business owner is
knowledgeable in a subject related to their business, they can most definitely
gain customers through publishing an online newsletter. Home-based
business owners can publish online newsletters and add links to their business
website and individual products or services. Marketing possibilities
through an online newsletter are virtually limitless.
Another good method of marketing a home-based online business involves
exchanging links with other home-based online businesses. There are
websites that help home-based online businesses with marketing by finding
appropriate link exchange partners. Home-based online businesses
looking for effective marketing methods can benefit greatly by exchanging
links with other home- based online businesses. Link exchange members gain
increased online traffic, and this in turn can bring in more customers
and a substantial increase in profits.
Gisela Santibanez
http://www.StartYourOwnBusinessOnline.com
http://www.MakeInternetBusiness.com
http://www.MakeInternetBusiness.com/blog
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gisela_Santibanez
My Secret Recipe For Home Business Success.
A few months ago I decided to jump into an online marketing business. I thought that it couldn't be all that difficult to make money online. The genius in me thought that I would be able to figure this marketing thing out. After all it wasn't exactly rocket science.
I've spent hours promoting my web site. I began dropping my links, and submitted my advertisements, here and there, trying to sell products to earn a commission. As the days turned to months, I was quickly getting little, or nothing for my efforts. Frustrated, and disgusted with the results that I was having, I was ready to throw in the towel.
The methods that I used to promote my business did not produce the results that I wanted to see. But just the same I kept right on doing those same things over, and over again. In order to produce the results that I desired, I had to change. Of course, to change, I had to learn a different way of doing things. That also meant that I had to be open to learning new ideas.
So for me it was right back to school learning the basics. The only problem was, I never really started there to begin with.
The most basic ideas can have a profound affect on your success. Heres a rule that I now live by. It is a rule that is very basic, but has been very helpful with keeping me on track, and it has given me something to always shoot for.
I have discovered the importance of writing down my goals, and yes it has to be written down. If you do not write them down it might get forgotten, or lost, that translates into wasted time. A written goal on the other hand can pave the road to success, and here is how. I write down a short-term goal like this one. I want to make $100 dollars this month. I then write underneath what I need to do to achieve that goal. In this case I would have to sell X amount of products, or services to make that $100. Then I jot down the individual steps that I need to take to sell that quantity of products, or services.
Example: My Goal is to make $100 dollars this month.
I need to sell 15 of this product.
Step 1: Advertise by pay per click!
Step 2: Learn how to use pay per click!
Step 3: Tell my prospects about my product. Ect
By doing this very simple exercise you create a road map, a checklist to follow. Now we have a direct path that will lead us to accomplishing the goal that we set out for ourselves. The concept is very basic, and it works every time. As you walk through each step you come one step closer to achieving that goal. By achieving that goal you have just witnessed success.
There are more things that will need to happen before you see absolute success, but writing down your goals it is a good place to start. You may want to brush up on your online marketing skills. I found a single web site that has made it much easier for me to sell products on-line. Thanks to my new resource I am getting taught the A,B,Cs to online marketing. You see the other things that need to happen for anyone to see success is being taught the fundamentals. The fundamentals are the foundation of which everything is built on.
Not too long ago I was on the fast track to failure because of the way my mind was programmed. I had FEAR, The Fear Of Money. I was so afraid of losing money, the fear was stopping me from making money. This same fear is guilty, for stopping countless people, from even trying to make their vision become a reality.
I know that in this business I am not alone when it comes to fear. So if you have home business, and you experience this fear you will have to reprogram the way you think. This fear will most certainly hold you back from making your piece of the Internets wealth.
Instead of fearing losing money promoting your business, and products. "Concentrate more on the making money part"! The thought of making money sounds, and feels better much than the thought of losing money.
Think what steps do I need to take to sell this product, or service. How can I tell everyone about my web site. I suggest doing a little research there are many ways to attract people to a web sit. I like writing articles, using pay per click services, sending emails out with funny jokes signed with love and please visit my web site at http://www.com. Have faith in your products. If you have good products they will sell themselves with a little help from you ad page.
Remember if you build it they will come. If you dont they wont
Most importantly honor you vision. Donald Trump said if you want to be successful "love what you do!" We are always good at things that we love to do. Thats why it is important to love it, or leave it!
About the author:
Michael Ditch lives in Vermont, with his wife and baby girl. Michael is originally from Buffalo NY; His wife is from Okinawa Japan. Michael first met his wife of almost 9 years while, he served over seas in the Marine Corps. He has recently started up his own home business. http://www.intern5kincome.com
Circulated by Article Emporium
Niche Marketing - Home Business Training
By Ken Mathie
So, you want to be a home business owner. But you have never sold or marketed a thing in your life. Contrary to all the hype on the Internet, it is not as easy as they claim to run a home business, and unless you are properly trained you are in for a world of hurt and hard knocks. So just where do you get this home business training and what kind of training do you need?
Well, we are back to the search engines again. Simply type in "Home Business Training" in the search box and you will find about 4 million results. Yes, home businesses are a major part of the Internet today and training sites are a dime a dozen. This is both a blessing and a curse.
The blessing is, there are lots of sites to choose from. You can do plenty of comparison shopping and don't have to settle for the first one you run into, though the ones at the top of the search list are probably your better choices. You can go through the benefits of each site and decide for yourself which one will help you the most. Because of this, these sites are going to do what they can to compete for your business, which means putting together some really great content. This is nothing but great for the consumer, you.
The curse is, there are lots of sites to choose from. The maze that you are no doubt going to have to wade through can be overwhelming to say the least. In order to make an informed decision you're going to have to sift through a mountain of information. Some of it may not even make sense to you. So you're going to have to email some of these sites and ask questions. Just deciding on what site to get your business training from can take days or even weeks.
Once you have found a site that you're happy with, just what is it that you're going to have to learn? Plenty, and while it would be impossible to cover it all in a book, let alone an article, we will try to cover some of the main things.
For starters, you're going to have to learn certain things that would apply to running any business, like tracking income and expenses, applying for a tax ID number, getting certain items like PO Boxes, safety deposit boxes for your things that you don't want going up in flames in case of a fire, getting a business phone, etc. Setting up a business, even before you start one is time consuming and involves a number of things.
Not all of this information are you going to find in one place. This is where we come to what are called online training courses. These are specialized courses that concentrate on one area of a home business. And because there are so many areas, the number of courses are numerous to say the least.
Learn more…
HBNezine... Home Biz News & Tips... Receive weekly up-to-date powerful strategies to outsmart, out market and outsell even your toughest competition. Learn how to drive traffic to your website and explode your sales. You don't want to miss this ezine... A must read! Receive 4 FREE gifts when you subscribe!
mailto:HBNezine-3@smartprosystems.com
http://www.homebizniche.com/hbnezine.htm
Copyright 2006 – Ken Mathie. Editor HBNezine...
You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made, the author's name is retained and the link to our site URL remains active.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ken_Mathie
So, you want to be a home business owner. But you have never sold or marketed a thing in your life. Contrary to all the hype on the Internet, it is not as easy as they claim to run a home business, and unless you are properly trained you are in for a world of hurt and hard knocks. So just where do you get this home business training and what kind of training do you need?
Well, we are back to the search engines again. Simply type in "Home Business Training" in the search box and you will find about 4 million results. Yes, home businesses are a major part of the Internet today and training sites are a dime a dozen. This is both a blessing and a curse.
The blessing is, there are lots of sites to choose from. You can do plenty of comparison shopping and don't have to settle for the first one you run into, though the ones at the top of the search list are probably your better choices. You can go through the benefits of each site and decide for yourself which one will help you the most. Because of this, these sites are going to do what they can to compete for your business, which means putting together some really great content. This is nothing but great for the consumer, you.
The curse is, there are lots of sites to choose from. The maze that you are no doubt going to have to wade through can be overwhelming to say the least. In order to make an informed decision you're going to have to sift through a mountain of information. Some of it may not even make sense to you. So you're going to have to email some of these sites and ask questions. Just deciding on what site to get your business training from can take days or even weeks.
Once you have found a site that you're happy with, just what is it that you're going to have to learn? Plenty, and while it would be impossible to cover it all in a book, let alone an article, we will try to cover some of the main things.
For starters, you're going to have to learn certain things that would apply to running any business, like tracking income and expenses, applying for a tax ID number, getting certain items like PO Boxes, safety deposit boxes for your things that you don't want going up in flames in case of a fire, getting a business phone, etc. Setting up a business, even before you start one is time consuming and involves a number of things.
Not all of this information are you going to find in one place. This is where we come to what are called online training courses. These are specialized courses that concentrate on one area of a home business. And because there are so many areas, the number of courses are numerous to say the least.
Learn more…
HBNezine... Home Biz News & Tips... Receive weekly up-to-date powerful strategies to outsmart, out market and outsell even your toughest competition. Learn how to drive traffic to your website and explode your sales. You don't want to miss this ezine... A must read! Receive 4 FREE gifts when you subscribe!
mailto:HBNezine-3@smartprosystems.com
http://www.homebizniche.com/hbnezine.htm
Copyright 2006 – Ken Mathie. Editor HBNezine...
You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made, the author's name is retained and the link to our site URL remains active.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ken_Mathie
Niche Marketing - Why It's So Important
By Kathryn Beach
"Say your target customers are everyone, and you will sell to no one."
If your website is not producing as much revenue as you'd like, chances are you're guilty of not targeting your audience sufficiently.
Today’s business environment is so competitive that a small business's best bet is to focus on developing niche products where there is less competition from large firms.
Take the online book market. Amazon.com dominates the field, so smaller start-ups are wise to focus on books in specific niches. There are sites for best sellers, out of print books, used books, Oprah's Books, teen books, 3-D popup books, e-books, Christian books, and so on and on. Imagine a small company trying to compete with Amazon's huge inventory and variety. Then imagine that same company aiming for more depth in a much smaller field.
Another reason for niche websites is because you want to get listed in the top 100 sites on any particular search engine. By making a website based around a highly focused niche you reduce considerably the number of competitors that you have. This makes it easier to rank well in the search engines (first 3 pages, or top 100 sites). Without a high Website ranking it is not possible to attract free search engine traffic and hence free visitors.
If you’re an affiliate that thinks big and joins dozens of programs, you’re in for a bit of a shock. Your site is indistinguishable from a myriad others, no one knows it exists, and you’re very lonely. Am I right?
You need to promote what you join, and it’s impossible to promote that many programs effectively. You won’t succeed at any of them, you’ll lose interest, and your business will disappear.
Instead, you need to focus on one thing that you love and create a lot of good content.
Everyone who has a website is constantly trying to improve their search engine rankings by carrying out optimization and getting inbound links etc. However one of the easiest ways is to create content that no one else has- unique content. Unique content written for an extremely focused niche market is a sure ticket to promotional success.
If your website contains your main keywords as well as a variety of related ones, used in a natural way throughout your pages, you will outperform your competition with fewer, less targeted pages. Using all these keywords throughout your pages also makes your content more interesting, rational, and satisfying. Imagine that...the question isn’t whether you simply occupy a niche, but how much obscure secret stuff you know about it, how much of an expert you are about it, how passionate you are about it, and if your site is interactive and fresh.
Yet another example of "build it and they will come."
Over 360 MILLION keywords are searched for daily, so there's plenty of room for everyone's niche!
Hop on over to Affiliate Marketing Tips where you'll find an expanding universe of small business promotional tools and tips you can use right away to build your business using smarter marketing. Plus a free Opt In Master Course to help you build your list, and so much more.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kathryn_Beach
"Say your target customers are everyone, and you will sell to no one."
If your website is not producing as much revenue as you'd like, chances are you're guilty of not targeting your audience sufficiently.
Today’s business environment is so competitive that a small business's best bet is to focus on developing niche products where there is less competition from large firms.
Take the online book market. Amazon.com dominates the field, so smaller start-ups are wise to focus on books in specific niches. There are sites for best sellers, out of print books, used books, Oprah's Books, teen books, 3-D popup books, e-books, Christian books, and so on and on. Imagine a small company trying to compete with Amazon's huge inventory and variety. Then imagine that same company aiming for more depth in a much smaller field.
Another reason for niche websites is because you want to get listed in the top 100 sites on any particular search engine. By making a website based around a highly focused niche you reduce considerably the number of competitors that you have. This makes it easier to rank well in the search engines (first 3 pages, or top 100 sites). Without a high Website ranking it is not possible to attract free search engine traffic and hence free visitors.
If you’re an affiliate that thinks big and joins dozens of programs, you’re in for a bit of a shock. Your site is indistinguishable from a myriad others, no one knows it exists, and you’re very lonely. Am I right?
You need to promote what you join, and it’s impossible to promote that many programs effectively. You won’t succeed at any of them, you’ll lose interest, and your business will disappear.
Instead, you need to focus on one thing that you love and create a lot of good content.
Everyone who has a website is constantly trying to improve their search engine rankings by carrying out optimization and getting inbound links etc. However one of the easiest ways is to create content that no one else has- unique content. Unique content written for an extremely focused niche market is a sure ticket to promotional success.
If your website contains your main keywords as well as a variety of related ones, used in a natural way throughout your pages, you will outperform your competition with fewer, less targeted pages. Using all these keywords throughout your pages also makes your content more interesting, rational, and satisfying. Imagine that...the question isn’t whether you simply occupy a niche, but how much obscure secret stuff you know about it, how much of an expert you are about it, how passionate you are about it, and if your site is interactive and fresh.
Yet another example of "build it and they will come."
Over 360 MILLION keywords are searched for daily, so there's plenty of room for everyone's niche!
Hop on over to Affiliate Marketing Tips where you'll find an expanding universe of small business promotional tools and tips you can use right away to build your business using smarter marketing. Plus a free Opt In Master Course to help you build your list, and so much more.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kathryn_Beach
Should You Work From Home?
By Felicia A. Williams
Whether you've just had a baby and don’t want to leave your precious bundle of joy or you’ve been commuting hours a day for years, many people fantasize about working from home. Let’s face it, commuting from your bedroom to your dining room via the fresh pot of coffee in the kitchen sounds like heaven.
The decision to work from home is a big one and there are several things to consider before you hand in your resignation letter:
1. Why do you want to work from home and does it make sense?
Commute Time and Cost: Do you currently have a two-minute or two-hour commute. In addition to the time spent commuting, how much does it cost? Monthly commuter tickets can be expensive, not to mention the wear and tear it puts on your car if you drive to work. Last check, gas prices were still climbing.
Job productivity: Do you find that countless administrative meetings are taking you away from getting things accomplished? Will you be more productive working from home?
Physical Wear and Tear: If you are one of the unlucky ones and have a long commute, how do you feel by Wednesday or Thursday morning? Is your energy level the same as it was on Monday, or do you spend the rest of your time counting the hours until Friday at 5:00?
Family: Who spends more time with your kids, you or your day care provider?
Creativity: Do your creative juices flow better when you’re in your cubicle dressed in business attire or do you find that sitting on your back porch in your jammies with your laptop creates a stream of creativity that is hard to stop.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are other topics to consider like:
Am I cut out for the work from home lifestyle?
How will it affect family dynamics?
How much money do I need to make?
What type of business should I do?
I've decided on my business what do I do now?
Alternatives to Working From Home
Where can I get more advice?
Felicia Williams is a Freelance Writer and owner of the family-oriented website http://www.tidbitsandstuff.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Felicia_A._Williams
Whether you've just had a baby and don’t want to leave your precious bundle of joy or you’ve been commuting hours a day for years, many people fantasize about working from home. Let’s face it, commuting from your bedroom to your dining room via the fresh pot of coffee in the kitchen sounds like heaven.
The decision to work from home is a big one and there are several things to consider before you hand in your resignation letter:
1. Why do you want to work from home and does it make sense?
Commute Time and Cost: Do you currently have a two-minute or two-hour commute. In addition to the time spent commuting, how much does it cost? Monthly commuter tickets can be expensive, not to mention the wear and tear it puts on your car if you drive to work. Last check, gas prices were still climbing.
Job productivity: Do you find that countless administrative meetings are taking you away from getting things accomplished? Will you be more productive working from home?
Physical Wear and Tear: If you are one of the unlucky ones and have a long commute, how do you feel by Wednesday or Thursday morning? Is your energy level the same as it was on Monday, or do you spend the rest of your time counting the hours until Friday at 5:00?
Family: Who spends more time with your kids, you or your day care provider?
Creativity: Do your creative juices flow better when you’re in your cubicle dressed in business attire or do you find that sitting on your back porch in your jammies with your laptop creates a stream of creativity that is hard to stop.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are other topics to consider like:
Am I cut out for the work from home lifestyle?
How will it affect family dynamics?
How much money do I need to make?
What type of business should I do?
I've decided on my business what do I do now?
Alternatives to Working From Home
Where can I get more advice?
Felicia Williams is a Freelance Writer and owner of the family-oriented website http://www.tidbitsandstuff.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Felicia_A._Williams
Submitting Your Site to Yahoo!
By Philip Nicosia
If you have your own website then it is common knowledge that you should submit your website to the search engines to enable people to find you. One of the most popular search engines is Yahoo! so it makes sense to have this high on your priorities.
In line with other search engines such as Google, Yahoo! are keen to know about your site. Their goal is to discover and index all of the content available on the web to provide the best possible search experience to their users.
In days gone by you would simply submit your sites homepage and let their spider find the rest of your pages. Now, they encourage you to submit your whole site in one go with a number of options for doing this.
You can now submit RSS or Atom feeds with your complete website details or a simple text file containing a list of all your urls.
The text file is by far the simplest method for most webmasters as all you have to do is create a file named “urllist.txt” and enter all your urls.
An example of a text list is:
http://www.mysite.com/
http://www.mysite.com/page1.html
http://www.mysite.com/page2.html
http://www.mysite.com/page3.html
and so on.
There are obvious advantages to submitting your whole site to Yahoo! in one go. You no longer have to rely on their spider picking up your pages especially ones deep linked into your site as this way they know from the start where they are.
Once you have created your urllist.txt file, upload it to your sever and then submit the file to Yahoo!
To do this you will need a Yahoo account if you don’t already have one but it is completely free to set up.
Whilst having your pages included within a search engine’s index doesn’t guarantee you will get visitors, you can be 100% sure that you won’t get visitors if your pages aren’t in there.
XML-Sitemaps.com provides a free online sitemap generator for creating Yahoo! sitemaps, Google sitemaps and HTML sitemaps.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Philip_Nicosia
If you have your own website then it is common knowledge that you should submit your website to the search engines to enable people to find you. One of the most popular search engines is Yahoo! so it makes sense to have this high on your priorities.
In line with other search engines such as Google, Yahoo! are keen to know about your site. Their goal is to discover and index all of the content available on the web to provide the best possible search experience to their users.
In days gone by you would simply submit your sites homepage and let their spider find the rest of your pages. Now, they encourage you to submit your whole site in one go with a number of options for doing this.
You can now submit RSS or Atom feeds with your complete website details or a simple text file containing a list of all your urls.
The text file is by far the simplest method for most webmasters as all you have to do is create a file named “urllist.txt” and enter all your urls.
An example of a text list is:
http://www.mysite.com/
http://www.mysite.com/page1.html
http://www.mysite.com/page2.html
http://www.mysite.com/page3.html
and so on.
There are obvious advantages to submitting your whole site to Yahoo! in one go. You no longer have to rely on their spider picking up your pages especially ones deep linked into your site as this way they know from the start where they are.
Once you have created your urllist.txt file, upload it to your sever and then submit the file to Yahoo!
To do this you will need a Yahoo account if you don’t already have one but it is completely free to set up.
Whilst having your pages included within a search engine’s index doesn’t guarantee you will get visitors, you can be 100% sure that you won’t get visitors if your pages aren’t in there.
XML-Sitemaps.com provides a free online sitemap generator for creating Yahoo! sitemaps, Google sitemaps and HTML sitemaps.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Philip_Nicosia
Taking Off Without a Business Plan
By Don Osborne
Would you board a plane with no particular destination in mind?
If so, then feel free to build your small business without a business plan because you'll end up where ever the pilot chooses to take you.
As much logic as "airline travel without a destination" has, it probably won't convince you to create a business plan for getting you to where ever you want your small business to take you. There's something about human nature that defies logic. Perhaps, reading articles like this on business planning will cause you to think about the value of a plan for your small business. Or not.
You might want to start by writing or typing out your thoughts about the best ways to get your small business to its chosen destination. Don't dwell on any one thought just get them on paper. As you move your ideas onto paper you'll spot areas you'll need to explore in more detail. At least you'll be taking off with a sense of direction.
As you fill in the details of your business plan you'll gain more confidence in reaching your destination. Now, as you board the plane, you'll be in a better position to tell the pilot where you want to go. As in your business, it's OK to hire people with more expertise than you have and even ask them for advice, but it's up to you to select your ultimate destination and the best business plan for getting there.
Don Osborne authors The Profit Puzzle course to help you plan, finance, start up, run, grow, sell your small home based business ideas. The web site's small home based business directories link articles, books, courses, products, services, web sites, blogs, and software covering objectives, management, finance, personnel, marketing, operations, production and resources. For your free course and directories: http://www.profitpuzzle.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Don_Osborne
Would you board a plane with no particular destination in mind?
If so, then feel free to build your small business without a business plan because you'll end up where ever the pilot chooses to take you.
As much logic as "airline travel without a destination" has, it probably won't convince you to create a business plan for getting you to where ever you want your small business to take you. There's something about human nature that defies logic. Perhaps, reading articles like this on business planning will cause you to think about the value of a plan for your small business. Or not.
You might want to start by writing or typing out your thoughts about the best ways to get your small business to its chosen destination. Don't dwell on any one thought just get them on paper. As you move your ideas onto paper you'll spot areas you'll need to explore in more detail. At least you'll be taking off with a sense of direction.
As you fill in the details of your business plan you'll gain more confidence in reaching your destination. Now, as you board the plane, you'll be in a better position to tell the pilot where you want to go. As in your business, it's OK to hire people with more expertise than you have and even ask them for advice, but it's up to you to select your ultimate destination and the best business plan for getting there.
Don Osborne authors The Profit Puzzle course to help you plan, finance, start up, run, grow, sell your small home based business ideas. The web site's small home based business directories link articles, books, courses, products, services, web sites, blogs, and software covering objectives, management, finance, personnel, marketing, operations, production and resources. For your free course and directories: http://www.profitpuzzle.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Don_Osborne
The Balanced Direct Sales Mom
By Annette Yen
If you're already in direct sales, you know that it's not always easy to keep the
priorities straight. Particularly when your business is just starting, but also when
you get things going at a good clip in your business, direct sales can take on a life of its own and quickly cross the boundaries of happy home life. Here are 10 quick tips for helping to keep the Mom part of your life at the forefront while still running a successful Direct Sales business.
1. Plan - Sit down with your calendar and write out everything non-direct sales
business related first. Decide which of those things are non-negotiable no matter how many people want to do parties on that day. And then keep them non-negotiable! Write in kids events, date nights with hubby, vacations, birthdays and birthday parties and plain old "just because" family time.
2. Power Hour - One of my favorite speakers in the direct sales field is Belinda
Ellsworth. Her power hour is a tremendous way to manage your business life. It's simple too! Here's the quick rundown: Take 4 manila folders. Mark 1 as recruiting, 1 as booking, 1 as customer service and 1 as downline management. Decide on an hour in your day when you are going to work the phones for your business. Take your folders, set a timer and work each folder for 15 minutes only. When the 15 minutes is up, move to the next folder. As you interact with customers, recruits and downline put the information in these folders until the next time you sit down for your power hour. You will be amazed at how much work you can really accomplish when you are focused for that hour of time.
3. Office door - Use it! After you are done with your power hour or email time or whatever, walk out of the room and CLOSE the door! Or if you're working with the laptop (see below) turn it off and close the laptop.
4. Get a laptop. A laptop with wireless Internet is a great tool for moms. You can get them pretty inexpensively now too. While the kids are doing their homework, pop open the laptop, sit WITH them and do your emails then. When they're done with the homework, close the laptop and be done with your work as well.
5. Freedom Friday - Decide on one day in each week where you will be "off". This can be Friday or any day, but decide on it and then actually do it. Commit to it with your kids, put it on your calendar and enjoy it. You'll love it and the emails can wait! Once your customers and downline understand that this is your day off, they will respect it.
6. Use the "open date card "concept. Determine which days of the weeks you'll be doing parties and write those down on a separate booking calendar or individual party date cards. When you are at your parties and getting future bookings only book parties on the dates that you set in advance on that calendar or on the cards. If someone needs a different date than you have available, find her another consultant (preferable in your downline!) to take the party.
7. Automate - Use the tools of the Internet to automate as much of your business as you can. Use an auto-responder for your recruit email packets and your downline training. Have a voicemail message available with a 10-minute presentation on your business that potential recruits can call before they call you with questions. Do conference calls with your downline so that you can address issues with the whole group rather than one on one with each of them, etc.
8. Involve your kids - Make your direct sales business a family affair. Employ your children to help with putting labels on catalogs, filing your paperwork, packing up your supplies for your parties, making the bank deposits, etc. As they get older their work responsibilities can increase too. You can even pay them tax-free and write it off as a legitimate business expense. Talk to your accountant about this great home business benefit.
9. Hire a maid. If your business is really on a roll and you need to spend more time on business, don't take that time away from your family, take it away from other parts of your life, like the housecleaning instead. Hire a maid to do the big
housecleaning jobs and use the time you would normally be doing that to hang with the kids. It'll be worth every penny.
10. Have fun - remember that your kids are only young once. They need you to be mommy FIRST and businesswoman second, even if your family does need the extra money your Direct Sales business brings in. Work smarter, not harder and enjoy your kids while you can.
Annette Yen is a successful direct sales consultant and mom to two lovely daughters.
Find more details about the ideas above at her website: http://www.directsalestools.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Annette_Yen
If you're already in direct sales, you know that it's not always easy to keep the
priorities straight. Particularly when your business is just starting, but also when
you get things going at a good clip in your business, direct sales can take on a life of its own and quickly cross the boundaries of happy home life. Here are 10 quick tips for helping to keep the Mom part of your life at the forefront while still running a successful Direct Sales business.
1. Plan - Sit down with your calendar and write out everything non-direct sales
business related first. Decide which of those things are non-negotiable no matter how many people want to do parties on that day. And then keep them non-negotiable! Write in kids events, date nights with hubby, vacations, birthdays and birthday parties and plain old "just because" family time.
2. Power Hour - One of my favorite speakers in the direct sales field is Belinda
Ellsworth. Her power hour is a tremendous way to manage your business life. It's simple too! Here's the quick rundown: Take 4 manila folders. Mark 1 as recruiting, 1 as booking, 1 as customer service and 1 as downline management. Decide on an hour in your day when you are going to work the phones for your business. Take your folders, set a timer and work each folder for 15 minutes only. When the 15 minutes is up, move to the next folder. As you interact with customers, recruits and downline put the information in these folders until the next time you sit down for your power hour. You will be amazed at how much work you can really accomplish when you are focused for that hour of time.
3. Office door - Use it! After you are done with your power hour or email time or whatever, walk out of the room and CLOSE the door! Or if you're working with the laptop (see below) turn it off and close the laptop.
4. Get a laptop. A laptop with wireless Internet is a great tool for moms. You can get them pretty inexpensively now too. While the kids are doing their homework, pop open the laptop, sit WITH them and do your emails then. When they're done with the homework, close the laptop and be done with your work as well.
5. Freedom Friday - Decide on one day in each week where you will be "off". This can be Friday or any day, but decide on it and then actually do it. Commit to it with your kids, put it on your calendar and enjoy it. You'll love it and the emails can wait! Once your customers and downline understand that this is your day off, they will respect it.
6. Use the "open date card "concept. Determine which days of the weeks you'll be doing parties and write those down on a separate booking calendar or individual party date cards. When you are at your parties and getting future bookings only book parties on the dates that you set in advance on that calendar or on the cards. If someone needs a different date than you have available, find her another consultant (preferable in your downline!) to take the party.
7. Automate - Use the tools of the Internet to automate as much of your business as you can. Use an auto-responder for your recruit email packets and your downline training. Have a voicemail message available with a 10-minute presentation on your business that potential recruits can call before they call you with questions. Do conference calls with your downline so that you can address issues with the whole group rather than one on one with each of them, etc.
8. Involve your kids - Make your direct sales business a family affair. Employ your children to help with putting labels on catalogs, filing your paperwork, packing up your supplies for your parties, making the bank deposits, etc. As they get older their work responsibilities can increase too. You can even pay them tax-free and write it off as a legitimate business expense. Talk to your accountant about this great home business benefit.
9. Hire a maid. If your business is really on a roll and you need to spend more time on business, don't take that time away from your family, take it away from other parts of your life, like the housecleaning instead. Hire a maid to do the big
housecleaning jobs and use the time you would normally be doing that to hang with the kids. It'll be worth every penny.
10. Have fun - remember that your kids are only young once. They need you to be mommy FIRST and businesswoman second, even if your family does need the extra money your Direct Sales business brings in. Work smarter, not harder and enjoy your kids while you can.
Annette Yen is a successful direct sales consultant and mom to two lovely daughters.
Find more details about the ideas above at her website: http://www.directsalestools.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Annette_Yen
The Secrets To Maximizing Your Residual Income
By Steve Winata
The American Heritage Dictionary defines the word ‘leverage’ as: “Positional advantage; power to act effectively.” It has been known and proven over and over that the key to creating fast growing residual income regardless of the product on sale is through a method called Network Marketing. Despite its notorious reputation in making people feel skeptical after failing so many times, still it is responsible for making extraordinary streams of income for many ordinary people. Thus you always see more and more companies utilize this method.
What is their number one secret?
Besides not easily giving up and joining a reputable company with a proven compensation plan, they recognize the power of leverage. OPR or Other People’s Resources, that is. Unless you are a superhuman needing no eat or sleep, you can only work so many hours with so much energy. A network with your taking positional advantage will put leverage into motion. The greater the network is, the more OPR be put into work.
However, most people have been fed up with MLM or confused with the real Network Marketing. Although there are many good MLM companies, few provide all their members with equal opportunities to be insanely successful, not to mention a line of high-demand, hot selling products which needs minimum or no inventory or maintenance.
In order to make a serious yearly residual income (more than $100,000 per year), you need a combination of a leveraged system and quality products. You need to make money not only from your efforts but from those you bring in. Leveraging is how every self-made millionaire got where they are today. You will never become wealthy by yourself. It's impossible. It takes others to help you achieve wealth. As an example of the leveraging power there is a simple system called “2 UP” that has started to be recognized as one of the most powerful income building system.
Products are also one of the main factors in determining your network marketing success. Your products need to be unique either in quality, price and/or demands compared to the competitors. Another factor is active training from the people who own or run the company. The training will have to help not only seasoned marketers but especially newcomers to succeed so that every member feels confident and not being left behind.
Last but not least, the Internet makes it possible for leveraging to come to its maximum potential. The World Wide Web has played a very important role in reaching out to the mass in a very affordable way. Every serious network marketer has to eventually rely on its power as Internet is becoming a part of more and more people’s lives and activities, not to mention ways to earn a living…. very nice living.
To see an example of a company that combines everything explained above, go to http://www.InstantCommission.info.
Copyright 2006 - ReapersNet Marketing. Steve Winata is the president of Arizona-based ReapersNet Marketing company with a mission to help real people with real motivation make real income online. He currently recommends www.InstantCommission.info.
Steve Winata is the president of Arizona-based ReapersNet Marketing company with a mission to help real people with real motivation make real income online.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_Winata
The American Heritage Dictionary defines the word ‘leverage’ as: “Positional advantage; power to act effectively.” It has been known and proven over and over that the key to creating fast growing residual income regardless of the product on sale is through a method called Network Marketing. Despite its notorious reputation in making people feel skeptical after failing so many times, still it is responsible for making extraordinary streams of income for many ordinary people. Thus you always see more and more companies utilize this method.
What is their number one secret?
Besides not easily giving up and joining a reputable company with a proven compensation plan, they recognize the power of leverage. OPR or Other People’s Resources, that is. Unless you are a superhuman needing no eat or sleep, you can only work so many hours with so much energy. A network with your taking positional advantage will put leverage into motion. The greater the network is, the more OPR be put into work.
However, most people have been fed up with MLM or confused with the real Network Marketing. Although there are many good MLM companies, few provide all their members with equal opportunities to be insanely successful, not to mention a line of high-demand, hot selling products which needs minimum or no inventory or maintenance.
In order to make a serious yearly residual income (more than $100,000 per year), you need a combination of a leveraged system and quality products. You need to make money not only from your efforts but from those you bring in. Leveraging is how every self-made millionaire got where they are today. You will never become wealthy by yourself. It's impossible. It takes others to help you achieve wealth. As an example of the leveraging power there is a simple system called “2 UP” that has started to be recognized as one of the most powerful income building system.
Products are also one of the main factors in determining your network marketing success. Your products need to be unique either in quality, price and/or demands compared to the competitors. Another factor is active training from the people who own or run the company. The training will have to help not only seasoned marketers but especially newcomers to succeed so that every member feels confident and not being left behind.
Last but not least, the Internet makes it possible for leveraging to come to its maximum potential. The World Wide Web has played a very important role in reaching out to the mass in a very affordable way. Every serious network marketer has to eventually rely on its power as Internet is becoming a part of more and more people’s lives and activities, not to mention ways to earn a living…. very nice living.
To see an example of a company that combines everything explained above, go to http://www.InstantCommission.info.
Copyright 2006 - ReapersNet Marketing. Steve Winata is the president of Arizona-based ReapersNet Marketing company with a mission to help real people with real motivation make real income online. He currently recommends www.InstantCommission.info.
Steve Winata is the president of Arizona-based ReapersNet Marketing company with a mission to help real people with real motivation make real income online.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_Winata
Top 3 Tips For Protecting Your Domain Name
By Niall Roche
Do you have a business website? Do you ever plan on having a website for your business? Are you even remotely interested in having a website for your business? If you've answered yes to any of these questions then it's important that you pay special attention to what we're about to discuss here. It won't change your life but it might just save you a gigantic headache and potentially thousands of dollars.
If you plan on either building your own website or having one built for you then you're going to need a domain name. Owning your own .com is a nice feeling and something that has a certain sense of pride to it. When you register your domain (or it's registered for you) there are three critical elements to this:
1. Who actually owns the domain. Make absolutely certain you have 100% legal and financial control over your domain name.
2. The number of years you want to register the domain for. Make sure your domain is registered for at least 5 years.
3. Always, always, always set your domain to automatically renew.
On point one here you want to be absolutely certain that nobody outside of your business has any legal or administrative control over your domain name - for any reason. It's just good business sense to retain 100% control of a company asset.
On point two it's important to register your domain for 5 years for one very simple reason - in case you forget to pay the renewal fees next year. It can happen all too easily too! If you forget to renew your domain ownership then somebody else can register that domain instead. As a matter of fact some individuals wait for just such an opportunity to arise. They'll pay for a service to inform them of the moment your domain name becomes available again on the market. They'll then register the domain themselves and either sell it on the open market or offer it back to you for several thousand dollars. This happens every single day.
Oh and what was the personal experience? Recently I was leaving my home office to drop off some toys to the childrens ward of our local hospital. Before leaving I quickly checked my email and found that I'd forgotten to pay the renewal fees for my domain. DOH! I came within moments of losing my most important domain name. All my email addresses, site logins and a whole pile of other things are tied into that domain. To lose control of the domain would have been catastrophic to me.
If your domain is important to you (and it should be) then take the steps to protect. Register it long term and always have it set to autorenew - never hurts to be cautious with these things.
This article was provided by HomeOfficeBuddy.com where you can learn lots more about home office design and other related home office topics.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Niall_Roche
Do you have a business website? Do you ever plan on having a website for your business? Are you even remotely interested in having a website for your business? If you've answered yes to any of these questions then it's important that you pay special attention to what we're about to discuss here. It won't change your life but it might just save you a gigantic headache and potentially thousands of dollars.
If you plan on either building your own website or having one built for you then you're going to need a domain name. Owning your own .com is a nice feeling and something that has a certain sense of pride to it. When you register your domain (or it's registered for you) there are three critical elements to this:
1. Who actually owns the domain. Make absolutely certain you have 100% legal and financial control over your domain name.
2. The number of years you want to register the domain for. Make sure your domain is registered for at least 5 years.
3. Always, always, always set your domain to automatically renew.
On point one here you want to be absolutely certain that nobody outside of your business has any legal or administrative control over your domain name - for any reason. It's just good business sense to retain 100% control of a company asset.
On point two it's important to register your domain for 5 years for one very simple reason - in case you forget to pay the renewal fees next year. It can happen all too easily too! If you forget to renew your domain ownership then somebody else can register that domain instead. As a matter of fact some individuals wait for just such an opportunity to arise. They'll pay for a service to inform them of the moment your domain name becomes available again on the market. They'll then register the domain themselves and either sell it on the open market or offer it back to you for several thousand dollars. This happens every single day.
Oh and what was the personal experience? Recently I was leaving my home office to drop off some toys to the childrens ward of our local hospital. Before leaving I quickly checked my email and found that I'd forgotten to pay the renewal fees for my domain. DOH! I came within moments of losing my most important domain name. All my email addresses, site logins and a whole pile of other things are tied into that domain. To lose control of the domain would have been catastrophic to me.
If your domain is important to you (and it should be) then take the steps to protect. Register it long term and always have it set to autorenew - never hurts to be cautious with these things.
This article was provided by HomeOfficeBuddy.com where you can learn lots more about home office design and other related home office topics.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Niall_Roche
Treating Yourself as a Business
By Alyson Mead
If you have a Virtual Assistant or other home-based business, chances are you work from home, and may not consider yourself as much more than a person working for him or herself. But if you are dedicated to the idea of building your customer base and making more money over time, you may need to shift your perspective slightly, and treat yourself as more of a business. Having a business mindset does not mean that you have to be stiff and boring, or wear a suit to work every day. But it can mean having a bit more dignity and respect for yourself. Carrying yourself in this manner may mean that you also receive respect from others in turn, and that you can save a lot of money for things you're already doing, while racking up some serious points. American Express is a company dedicated to small business. Witness their Small Business Gold Card. They understand that sometimes, a business faces obstacles, especially at the beginning, when money tends to be tight. The fee is free for the entire first year, and you can earn up to 100,000 points in that time period. Also, there's no pre-set spending limit, which is great for those times when you just can't predict what you're going to bring in. We also love our Discover Card, which helps us earn points for goods and services we're going to buy anyway. The Platinum Card, which can be applied for below, has no annual fee, a full 5% cashback bonus on Get More purchases and a 1% cashback bonus on all other purchases. Cash back? As in, more money for my personal pocket? Bring it on! If you're going to treat yourself as a business, and may not have the best credit record now, you need the services of Improve Your Credit Scores. Founder Stephen Snyder can teach you how to pay less for your home, lower your car payment, and get approved for all the best credit offers at the lowest interest rates. And if you're building a business credit, you need to know how to do this! But a business isn't all about spending, though some days, it may feel that way. Treating yourself as a business is also about saving ... for your retirement. No one's putting money into your personal IRA but you now, so it's best to get some structure in place, and put money into your retirement account before it leaves your hand for some new shoes, or tickets to that playoff game. Sharebuilder has the best program, bar none, for small businesses. It's all done online, from registration through management and deposits, so there's nothing you need to do except join! You can tailor your 401k, depending on the number of employees you have, or open one just for yourself. You can also offer profit-sharing, or just give yourself a place to entrust your cash. Plus, with an optional payroll package, you don't even need to integrate the 401k into your accounting system. They'll do it all for you, which is the best way of all, don't you think?
Copyright 2006 AssistantGirls.com
Alyson Mead is founder of http://www.AssistantGirls.com She spent eight years as a book editor in New York, working for companies such as Scholastic, Macmillan, McGraw-Hill, Glencoe, Steck-Vaughn, Silver Burdett & Ginn, Prentice-Hall and others. She has published hundreds of freelance articles in journals such as Salon.com, ChickClick, MSN.com, In These Times and many more, and ghostwritten several book projects.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alyson_Mead
If you have a Virtual Assistant or other home-based business, chances are you work from home, and may not consider yourself as much more than a person working for him or herself. But if you are dedicated to the idea of building your customer base and making more money over time, you may need to shift your perspective slightly, and treat yourself as more of a business. Having a business mindset does not mean that you have to be stiff and boring, or wear a suit to work every day. But it can mean having a bit more dignity and respect for yourself. Carrying yourself in this manner may mean that you also receive respect from others in turn, and that you can save a lot of money for things you're already doing, while racking up some serious points. American Express is a company dedicated to small business. Witness their Small Business Gold Card. They understand that sometimes, a business faces obstacles, especially at the beginning, when money tends to be tight. The fee is free for the entire first year, and you can earn up to 100,000 points in that time period. Also, there's no pre-set spending limit, which is great for those times when you just can't predict what you're going to bring in. We also love our Discover Card, which helps us earn points for goods and services we're going to buy anyway. The Platinum Card, which can be applied for below, has no annual fee, a full 5% cashback bonus on Get More purchases and a 1% cashback bonus on all other purchases. Cash back? As in, more money for my personal pocket? Bring it on! If you're going to treat yourself as a business, and may not have the best credit record now, you need the services of Improve Your Credit Scores. Founder Stephen Snyder can teach you how to pay less for your home, lower your car payment, and get approved for all the best credit offers at the lowest interest rates. And if you're building a business credit, you need to know how to do this! But a business isn't all about spending, though some days, it may feel that way. Treating yourself as a business is also about saving ... for your retirement. No one's putting money into your personal IRA but you now, so it's best to get some structure in place, and put money into your retirement account before it leaves your hand for some new shoes, or tickets to that playoff game. Sharebuilder has the best program, bar none, for small businesses. It's all done online, from registration through management and deposits, so there's nothing you need to do except join! You can tailor your 401k, depending on the number of employees you have, or open one just for yourself. You can also offer profit-sharing, or just give yourself a place to entrust your cash. Plus, with an optional payroll package, you don't even need to integrate the 401k into your accounting system. They'll do it all for you, which is the best way of all, don't you think?
Copyright 2006 AssistantGirls.com
Alyson Mead is founder of http://www.AssistantGirls.com She spent eight years as a book editor in New York, working for companies such as Scholastic, Macmillan, McGraw-Hill, Glencoe, Steck-Vaughn, Silver Burdett & Ginn, Prentice-Hall and others. She has published hundreds of freelance articles in journals such as Salon.com, ChickClick, MSN.com, In These Times and many more, and ghostwritten several book projects.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alyson_Mead
What's the Big Deal About eBooks?
By Sharon Howarth
Until I went into business with a close friend, I had hardly any knowledge when it came to the subject of eBooks. Occasionally I wondered what they were, but didn't see why I really needed to have one, or even cared what they were. Now that I have entered the world of small business, I don't see how I could do what I do without them.
There are so many people who have come before me and wandered blindly into the business world, only to find pitfalls, and frustrations, that once worked out, they were gracious enough to share with the rest of us. They have taken what they've learned and turned it into easy to read how to ebooks.
There are many resources to be found online, and if you were to buy paper books, you'd quickly run into sagging bookshelf problems, and the "where'd I put that?" panic zone. Being able to download books and programs that can be utilized at any time when the question or need arises is just plain organized and practical.
There is also much more to ebooks than just business applications. eBooks can be a valuable tool for homeschooled children, and students everywhere. Mom's can download classic books, or recipes, or health information, or how to ebooks, and pull them up for each child when needed. no more sagging bookshelves or arguing over the same copy of a favorite book! eBooks tend to cost a great deal less than hardcopy books as well, and that is a relief to a homeschooling families budget.
Students can download books to laptops to take with them whereever they go for ease of study and reference, and travelers and businessmen can save ebooks on pda's to read on planes or in hotels, without having to take up any space in their suitcase. I have about 30 books on my pda right now! And if you just like the feel of paper in your hands, you can print off your ebook anytime you want, write all over it if your a student taking notes, and always have the original undamaged and fresh for the next time. All this for much less than the cost of a paperback book.
If you haven't had time to find out all the advantages you could have by downloading an ebook, I urge you to check it out. We have lots to choose from on our site, but there are many out there, some even for free. (though the free ones are usually in a text format, and have lots of extra stuff added to them about whoever is giving it to you for free...)
So don't take my word for it, check it out...
Sharon Howarth is an employee of HeyGeek! inc, working as an administrator and contributing editor for several websites, including http://www.ebooks.cc and http://www.greatstockphoto.com
She was a visual communications major in college, is a published poet, and has worked in technical theatre, for a television studio, and is an avid photographer.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sharon_Howarth
Until I went into business with a close friend, I had hardly any knowledge when it came to the subject of eBooks. Occasionally I wondered what they were, but didn't see why I really needed to have one, or even cared what they were. Now that I have entered the world of small business, I don't see how I could do what I do without them.
There are so many people who have come before me and wandered blindly into the business world, only to find pitfalls, and frustrations, that once worked out, they were gracious enough to share with the rest of us. They have taken what they've learned and turned it into easy to read how to ebooks.
There are many resources to be found online, and if you were to buy paper books, you'd quickly run into sagging bookshelf problems, and the "where'd I put that?" panic zone. Being able to download books and programs that can be utilized at any time when the question or need arises is just plain organized and practical.
There is also much more to ebooks than just business applications. eBooks can be a valuable tool for homeschooled children, and students everywhere. Mom's can download classic books, or recipes, or health information, or how to ebooks, and pull them up for each child when needed. no more sagging bookshelves or arguing over the same copy of a favorite book! eBooks tend to cost a great deal less than hardcopy books as well, and that is a relief to a homeschooling families budget.
Students can download books to laptops to take with them whereever they go for ease of study and reference, and travelers and businessmen can save ebooks on pda's to read on planes or in hotels, without having to take up any space in their suitcase. I have about 30 books on my pda right now! And if you just like the feel of paper in your hands, you can print off your ebook anytime you want, write all over it if your a student taking notes, and always have the original undamaged and fresh for the next time. All this for much less than the cost of a paperback book.
If you haven't had time to find out all the advantages you could have by downloading an ebook, I urge you to check it out. We have lots to choose from on our site, but there are many out there, some even for free. (though the free ones are usually in a text format, and have lots of extra stuff added to them about whoever is giving it to you for free...)
So don't take my word for it, check it out...
Sharon Howarth is an employee of HeyGeek! inc, working as an administrator and contributing editor for several websites, including http://www.ebooks.cc and http://www.greatstockphoto.com
She was a visual communications major in college, is a published poet, and has worked in technical theatre, for a television studio, and is an avid photographer.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sharon_Howarth
Why Work From Home?
By Ryan Ambrose
Now you may have read this and wondered if I've lost my mind. What do you mean, 'why work from home'? Doesn't everyone want to work from home? No more bosses and lots of money, right?
That's not the reason I attempted it. I started out of sheer frustration with corporate life after leaving my job. I wasn't listening to the useless drivel about how I was going to drive sports cars and live in mansions if I would only buy this system or that. There were no delusions of fantastic wealth or waterfalls of fluttering green cash clouding my judgement. In fact, I had little more ambition than to simply match my former salary, just without the restrictions of a corporate life.
Some of the more well-grounded, responsible people looking into make money this way are probably feeling the same disgust as I did. Among the more laughable work from home catch phrases are things like 'make tens of thousands of dollars in your first month' or the classic 'get rich quick and easy' bilge. Some may even wonder if there is nothing else on the net in regards to making money from home but scam ad copy.
I can tell you this is not the case. You can work from home, on your computer, and make money. The internet is a medium of income that products seven trillion dollars a year worldwide. There are ways that have been used by hundreds of thousands of people to successfully work from home. Which one you choose depends on your personal preferences and how much money you want to make. There are plenty of legitimate ways to accomplish the 'how' of working from home, if you'll learn them. Some people make six figures, and Ebay brags that some of its top affiliates make seven. So some time and mastery can put you in the upper middle class.
But 'why'? I'm asking this question for the benefit of people who have become hardened and even nauseous at the sight of another 'get rich from my system' ad off yet another generic work from home site. Why work from home, and if you don't mind, the responsible version please. No giant pictures of cash, no big mansions, no fancy cars, just the reality.
So, to break it down for those who just want someone to stop shoveling and make some sense:
-The freedom is real. No more bosses, alarm clocks, office politics, or tripe. You may have to deal with customers, and the legalities always exist, but they really are your hours, methods, and business theories. You can be your own boss, if you can develop the personal initiative and sufficiently motivate yourself to do what is required to make it a reality.
-You can earn enough to put you in the upper middle class. Earn enough to never have to work again? Probably not. Well off enough to take vacations and live in a nice house? Yes. Without a full-time effort? Again, yes, once you have your techniques perfected and all the up-front work is done. Zillions of dollars for a few minutes a day? No. But a sufficient income to enjoy life? Definitely.
-You can get the personal satisfaction at having built your own job and beaten the rat race. That's also very real. You're working from home, for real, with a real income, and perhaps even more real than the one you were making before you started. That actually happens, and has for others. It can for you.
That's the reality of it then. You really can work from home and make a living. You'll have to work, learn, and change your mindset, but it can be done.
Ryan Ambrose is the web master for Financial Self-Reliance, a site about how to actually make money online. The Self-Reliant Post, the site blog, can be found here.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ryan_Ambrose
Now you may have read this and wondered if I've lost my mind. What do you mean, 'why work from home'? Doesn't everyone want to work from home? No more bosses and lots of money, right?
That's not the reason I attempted it. I started out of sheer frustration with corporate life after leaving my job. I wasn't listening to the useless drivel about how I was going to drive sports cars and live in mansions if I would only buy this system or that. There were no delusions of fantastic wealth or waterfalls of fluttering green cash clouding my judgement. In fact, I had little more ambition than to simply match my former salary, just without the restrictions of a corporate life.
Some of the more well-grounded, responsible people looking into make money this way are probably feeling the same disgust as I did. Among the more laughable work from home catch phrases are things like 'make tens of thousands of dollars in your first month' or the classic 'get rich quick and easy' bilge. Some may even wonder if there is nothing else on the net in regards to making money from home but scam ad copy.
I can tell you this is not the case. You can work from home, on your computer, and make money. The internet is a medium of income that products seven trillion dollars a year worldwide. There are ways that have been used by hundreds of thousands of people to successfully work from home. Which one you choose depends on your personal preferences and how much money you want to make. There are plenty of legitimate ways to accomplish the 'how' of working from home, if you'll learn them. Some people make six figures, and Ebay brags that some of its top affiliates make seven. So some time and mastery can put you in the upper middle class.
But 'why'? I'm asking this question for the benefit of people who have become hardened and even nauseous at the sight of another 'get rich from my system' ad off yet another generic work from home site. Why work from home, and if you don't mind, the responsible version please. No giant pictures of cash, no big mansions, no fancy cars, just the reality.
So, to break it down for those who just want someone to stop shoveling and make some sense:
-The freedom is real. No more bosses, alarm clocks, office politics, or tripe. You may have to deal with customers, and the legalities always exist, but they really are your hours, methods, and business theories. You can be your own boss, if you can develop the personal initiative and sufficiently motivate yourself to do what is required to make it a reality.
-You can earn enough to put you in the upper middle class. Earn enough to never have to work again? Probably not. Well off enough to take vacations and live in a nice house? Yes. Without a full-time effort? Again, yes, once you have your techniques perfected and all the up-front work is done. Zillions of dollars for a few minutes a day? No. But a sufficient income to enjoy life? Definitely.
-You can get the personal satisfaction at having built your own job and beaten the rat race. That's also very real. You're working from home, for real, with a real income, and perhaps even more real than the one you were making before you started. That actually happens, and has for others. It can for you.
That's the reality of it then. You really can work from home and make a living. You'll have to work, learn, and change your mindset, but it can be done.
Ryan Ambrose is the web master for Financial Self-Reliance, a site about how to actually make money online. The Self-Reliant Post, the site blog, can be found here.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ryan_Ambrose
Work At Home Adsense Affiliates: Why They Are Having So Much Fun
By Christopher Kyalo
It is a proven fact that the number of work at home Adsense affiliates is on the increase. Most people who may not have known this, at least suspected it.
However what most may never have guessed about the sharply increasing numbers of work at home Adsense affiliates is that most of them are having the time of their lives even as they bring in the bacon without ever having to leave their front doors. Some of them hardly ever leave their bedrooms.
The single medium most responsible for helping this breed of new work at home Adsense affiliates have fun even as they make money is without doubt the blog. Blogs have made it possible for anybody with a PC and internet link to launch a global publishing empire based on their interests and hobby and what they love to do most. To start earning from this fun activity, the first thing they do is join a couple of affiliate programs including the popular Google Adsense affiliate program.
It has been proven time and again that people tend to do extremely well when they're involved in something that they love to do. So as these work at home Adsense affiliates have the time of their lives making posts and gathering information on their favorite past time, they tend to quickly pick up the traffic. One way of picking up blog traffic is by using your blog articles and content creatively.
The effect is that as targeted traffic grows, so does their income from their Google Adsense ads. And that is usually just the beginning of good things for the work at home Adsense affiliate.
Learn more about the best home business opportunity from a blogger who rakes in thousands of dollars... and growing from their home business. Also get the bloggers' amazing free report How I used only free articles marketing to get thousands of hits daily at my site.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Christopher_Kyalo
It is a proven fact that the number of work at home Adsense affiliates is on the increase. Most people who may not have known this, at least suspected it.
However what most may never have guessed about the sharply increasing numbers of work at home Adsense affiliates is that most of them are having the time of their lives even as they bring in the bacon without ever having to leave their front doors. Some of them hardly ever leave their bedrooms.
The single medium most responsible for helping this breed of new work at home Adsense affiliates have fun even as they make money is without doubt the blog. Blogs have made it possible for anybody with a PC and internet link to launch a global publishing empire based on their interests and hobby and what they love to do most. To start earning from this fun activity, the first thing they do is join a couple of affiliate programs including the popular Google Adsense affiliate program.
It has been proven time and again that people tend to do extremely well when they're involved in something that they love to do. So as these work at home Adsense affiliates have the time of their lives making posts and gathering information on their favorite past time, they tend to quickly pick up the traffic. One way of picking up blog traffic is by using your blog articles and content creatively.
The effect is that as targeted traffic grows, so does their income from their Google Adsense ads. And that is usually just the beginning of good things for the work at home Adsense affiliate.
Learn more about the best home business opportunity from a blogger who rakes in thousands of dollars... and growing from their home business. Also get the bloggers' amazing free report How I used only free articles marketing to get thousands of hits daily at my site.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Christopher_Kyalo
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Work At Home Data Entry Workers Are A Growing Number
By Daegan Smith
Work at home date entry workers are ever expanding in the nation’s labor force. According to the 2000 Census, over 4 million people over the age of 16 work at home. Data entry workers are a significant portion of that group. Many employers are experiencing the need to subcontract out work to self-employed workers since the number of data entry people is declining. Job prospects for work at home data entry workers should be excellent in the years to come.
Work at home data entry processors ensure efficient handling of information for companies with a small general work force. Some of the tasks that are sent out to work at home data entry business operators are typing text and entering data into their home computer and transferring the work via telephone or cable lines. All the equipment really needed to become a work at home data entry operators is a computer, basic software, telephone or cable connections, and a willingness to work.
Work at home data entry personnel perform other tasks than just typing. They also may edit current information, proofread text for accuracy and content, and update databases for clients. Some of the types of data entry jobs include medical records, court documents, and attorney’s legal briefs. Many work at home data entry operators charge their clients by the hour, others choose to charge by the job. Either way, working at home brings benefits that working elsewhere does not.
Work at home data entry positions are available in various employment website. This option is a great opportunity for stay-at-home moms and dads with little ones to watch out for. Anyone that wants to work at home can be a data entry operator. By being a work at home data entry operator, you can set your own timetable, work as much or as little as you wish, and be your own boss and control your own destiny.
Wanna Learn the Secret of Creating Passive IncomeOnline From a man who made $3,244,842.32 from the Internetin Only 27 months? => http://www.the1andonly.biz Presented by: Perfect Home Based Business OpportunitiesArticle Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Daegan_Smith
Work at home date entry workers are ever expanding in the nation’s labor force. According to the 2000 Census, over 4 million people over the age of 16 work at home. Data entry workers are a significant portion of that group. Many employers are experiencing the need to subcontract out work to self-employed workers since the number of data entry people is declining. Job prospects for work at home data entry workers should be excellent in the years to come.
Work at home data entry processors ensure efficient handling of information for companies with a small general work force. Some of the tasks that are sent out to work at home data entry business operators are typing text and entering data into their home computer and transferring the work via telephone or cable lines. All the equipment really needed to become a work at home data entry operators is a computer, basic software, telephone or cable connections, and a willingness to work.
Work at home data entry personnel perform other tasks than just typing. They also may edit current information, proofread text for accuracy and content, and update databases for clients. Some of the types of data entry jobs include medical records, court documents, and attorney’s legal briefs. Many work at home data entry operators charge their clients by the hour, others choose to charge by the job. Either way, working at home brings benefits that working elsewhere does not.
Work at home data entry positions are available in various employment website. This option is a great opportunity for stay-at-home moms and dads with little ones to watch out for. Anyone that wants to work at home can be a data entry operator. By being a work at home data entry operator, you can set your own timetable, work as much or as little as you wish, and be your own boss and control your own destiny.
Wanna Learn the Secret of Creating Passive IncomeOnline From a man who made $3,244,842.32 from the Internetin Only 27 months? => http://www.the1andonly.biz Presented by: Perfect Home Based Business OpportunitiesArticle Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Daegan_Smith
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Work at Home Options
By Audrey Okaneko
If you want to work at home, step one is understanding the options available to you.
Let's start with some basics. There are only TWO things you can do at home, yes, only TWO.
You can telecommute or you can run a business. That's it, TWO.
Telecommuting - This means you have been hired by an employer, and that employer is open to having you work at home anywhere from a few hours a week, to full time. Some folks will work mornings in office, afternoons at home. Afternoons at home, allows them to pick up their kids, start dinner etc, all while working also. Some folks work every other day in office. This allows them bring work in, drop work off, be available for meetings etc.
You are an employee. You are either paid per hour or per week.
The sentence I see most often posted is "I want to work at home, so I have more time with my kids". Find some folks who do telecommute. Their kids are in daycare, as they need to work. They also end up putting in more than 40 hours per week as they want to make sure they put in their 40 hours and make up for those trips to the store, the trips to pick kids up etc.
Telecommute positions are very tough to find. Most employers are not willing to have employees working unsupervised. Reason is, just look in office. Truly, how many employees give a job their all? How many work hard even when the boss is away? How many come in a few minutes early and leave a few minutes late on a consistent basis? Now let's compare that to how many make personal calls? How many take a few extra minutes on their lunch? How many stand around the water machine chatting? How many day dream and don't produce as much as they can/should? So, most employers are not willing to allow employees to work at home.
Again, speak to some folks who work at home. Ask them point blank what they did to get this job. Most will tell you that they had worked for a long time prior to this arrangement. They will tell you that they know their job inside out. They will tell you that they work over 40 hours per week. They will tell you that they do get "lonely" working all alone. And they'll tell you they do go into the office frequently.
There is no book of companies that allow telecommuting. I've seen many many ads for folks to buy a book that is supposed to contain the names of companies that allow telecommuting. Those employers who have allowed telecommuting, have done so with an existing employee. My sister telecommutes for HP. But she had her degree in computer science. She has had tons of company training and she worked there 10 years. So putting HP down in a book and telling you that they hire telecommuters is misleading at best, an out and out lie at worst. And you have to pay for that book.
A business - To start there are only TWO things you can sell. You can sell a product or you can sell a service. Look around YOUR town. What do the businesses in YOUR town sell? They all sell either a product or a service. A home business will be no different, you'll sell a product or a service. If you want to sell a service, look within. What are your skills? Are you proficient with a word processor? If so, you can consider selling your word processing skills. Remember, proficient means near perfect. I can use MS Word, but I could not sell it as a service.
Have you done bookkeeping or billing before? If so, this again, is something you can sell as a service. Are your kids older, in school all day? Consider an errand service. Heck, there are many days I feel I live in my car LOL. I always have books with me as I'm forever waiting for someone or something. Do a web search for errand services and view what others are offering and at what fees.
Are you an expert with a sewing machine? If so, offer tailoring and mending as a service. I am only 5'2" and both my kids are 5'. We need everything altered. I would love to bring it to someone's home versus having to go to the dry cleaner, change in their icky little bathroom etc.
Prefer to sell a product? You have a few choices, yes, only a few. You can make the product yourself. You can purchase from a wholesaler, or you can purchase from a direct sales company. That's it, only those few choices.
If you wish to make the products, again, look within. What hobbies do you have? What crafts can you make? Some folks sell hand sewn or hand crocheted items. Some sell homemade soaps and lotions. Some sell homemade jewelry. Are you able to do this?
You can contract with a wholesaler. Look up ________ wholesaler in a search engine. The blank is for whatever product you want to sell. There are wholesalers for just about everything imaginable. Want to contract with a direct sales company? Go to www.dsa.org They have a large database of their members. Their members range from cosmetic companies, to toy companies, to clothing companies and everything in between. You don't need to pay to access this database.
Now for some scams. Home assembly is a scam. There are exceptions. Occasionally a factory that makes items will advertise for local employees. You'll go to the factory, fill out the application, meet with them, and get hired. There will NOT be a fee. You'll drop off and pick up finished products. Assembly at home jobs found on the internet are SCAMS. Don't believe me? Find me just two people who do this and make money. Just two. From anywhere in the US. Just two ;)
Transcribing and medical billing are the next areas where the scam artists prey. These are both legitimate professions, however in order to be hired you must have education. The courses offered online may or may not be legitimate. What I can tell is they DO NOT find you jobs. What they do is send you listings from the yellow pages of your city, with doctors names and phone numbers for you to call. If you have a personal doctor, contact him/her. Ask for a consultation. Even if it's $100 for the consultation, that's $500 less than the software you might be considering buying. Ask your doctor about his/her medical billing. Do they use someone at home? Would they hire someone who had never worked in office before? See what YOUR doctor tells you. If this is a career you want to pursue, contact your local junior college, local trade college or local business college.
The final scams I want to mention are the process orders, and data entry at home. All those ads for mail from home, order process from home etc are all a variation of the same scam. You pay money. You get directions to place ads like the one you answered. You then receive a percent each time you scam the next person. You TYPE or PROCESS their ORDER. Nice play on words huh? If in fact, typing at home, assembly at home, processing orders at home were legitimate, don't you think we'd read more about folks doing this successfully?
So, while you do have many options of what to offer to others, there are also many scams out there waiting to take your money.
Audrey Okaneko has worked at home since 1983. She can be reached at audreyoka@cox.net or visited at http://www.scrapping-made-simple.comArticle Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Audrey_Okaneko
If you want to work at home, step one is understanding the options available to you.
Let's start with some basics. There are only TWO things you can do at home, yes, only TWO.
You can telecommute or you can run a business. That's it, TWO.
Telecommuting - This means you have been hired by an employer, and that employer is open to having you work at home anywhere from a few hours a week, to full time. Some folks will work mornings in office, afternoons at home. Afternoons at home, allows them to pick up their kids, start dinner etc, all while working also. Some folks work every other day in office. This allows them bring work in, drop work off, be available for meetings etc.
You are an employee. You are either paid per hour or per week.
The sentence I see most often posted is "I want to work at home, so I have more time with my kids". Find some folks who do telecommute. Their kids are in daycare, as they need to work. They also end up putting in more than 40 hours per week as they want to make sure they put in their 40 hours and make up for those trips to the store, the trips to pick kids up etc.
Telecommute positions are very tough to find. Most employers are not willing to have employees working unsupervised. Reason is, just look in office. Truly, how many employees give a job their all? How many work hard even when the boss is away? How many come in a few minutes early and leave a few minutes late on a consistent basis? Now let's compare that to how many make personal calls? How many take a few extra minutes on their lunch? How many stand around the water machine chatting? How many day dream and don't produce as much as they can/should? So, most employers are not willing to allow employees to work at home.
Again, speak to some folks who work at home. Ask them point blank what they did to get this job. Most will tell you that they had worked for a long time prior to this arrangement. They will tell you that they know their job inside out. They will tell you that they work over 40 hours per week. They will tell you that they do get "lonely" working all alone. And they'll tell you they do go into the office frequently.
There is no book of companies that allow telecommuting. I've seen many many ads for folks to buy a book that is supposed to contain the names of companies that allow telecommuting. Those employers who have allowed telecommuting, have done so with an existing employee. My sister telecommutes for HP. But she had her degree in computer science. She has had tons of company training and she worked there 10 years. So putting HP down in a book and telling you that they hire telecommuters is misleading at best, an out and out lie at worst. And you have to pay for that book.
A business - To start there are only TWO things you can sell. You can sell a product or you can sell a service. Look around YOUR town. What do the businesses in YOUR town sell? They all sell either a product or a service. A home business will be no different, you'll sell a product or a service. If you want to sell a service, look within. What are your skills? Are you proficient with a word processor? If so, you can consider selling your word processing skills. Remember, proficient means near perfect. I can use MS Word, but I could not sell it as a service.
Have you done bookkeeping or billing before? If so, this again, is something you can sell as a service. Are your kids older, in school all day? Consider an errand service. Heck, there are many days I feel I live in my car LOL. I always have books with me as I'm forever waiting for someone or something. Do a web search for errand services and view what others are offering and at what fees.
Are you an expert with a sewing machine? If so, offer tailoring and mending as a service. I am only 5'2" and both my kids are 5'. We need everything altered. I would love to bring it to someone's home versus having to go to the dry cleaner, change in their icky little bathroom etc.
Prefer to sell a product? You have a few choices, yes, only a few. You can make the product yourself. You can purchase from a wholesaler, or you can purchase from a direct sales company. That's it, only those few choices.
If you wish to make the products, again, look within. What hobbies do you have? What crafts can you make? Some folks sell hand sewn or hand crocheted items. Some sell homemade soaps and lotions. Some sell homemade jewelry. Are you able to do this?
You can contract with a wholesaler. Look up ________ wholesaler in a search engine. The blank is for whatever product you want to sell. There are wholesalers for just about everything imaginable. Want to contract with a direct sales company? Go to www.dsa.org They have a large database of their members. Their members range from cosmetic companies, to toy companies, to clothing companies and everything in between. You don't need to pay to access this database.
Now for some scams. Home assembly is a scam. There are exceptions. Occasionally a factory that makes items will advertise for local employees. You'll go to the factory, fill out the application, meet with them, and get hired. There will NOT be a fee. You'll drop off and pick up finished products. Assembly at home jobs found on the internet are SCAMS. Don't believe me? Find me just two people who do this and make money. Just two. From anywhere in the US. Just two ;)
Transcribing and medical billing are the next areas where the scam artists prey. These are both legitimate professions, however in order to be hired you must have education. The courses offered online may or may not be legitimate. What I can tell is they DO NOT find you jobs. What they do is send you listings from the yellow pages of your city, with doctors names and phone numbers for you to call. If you have a personal doctor, contact him/her. Ask for a consultation. Even if it's $100 for the consultation, that's $500 less than the software you might be considering buying. Ask your doctor about his/her medical billing. Do they use someone at home? Would they hire someone who had never worked in office before? See what YOUR doctor tells you. If this is a career you want to pursue, contact your local junior college, local trade college or local business college.
The final scams I want to mention are the process orders, and data entry at home. All those ads for mail from home, order process from home etc are all a variation of the same scam. You pay money. You get directions to place ads like the one you answered. You then receive a percent each time you scam the next person. You TYPE or PROCESS their ORDER. Nice play on words huh? If in fact, typing at home, assembly at home, processing orders at home were legitimate, don't you think we'd read more about folks doing this successfully?
So, while you do have many options of what to offer to others, there are also many scams out there waiting to take your money.
Audrey Okaneko has worked at home since 1983. She can be reached at audreyoka@cox.net or visited at http://www.scrapping-made-simple.comArticle Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Audrey_Okaneko
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