Working at Home Parent -

Working From Home - Telemarketing

2008-01-12T06:08:00.000-08:00

More and more people every day are looking for ways of working from home. Working from home has never been so popular and the choice of types of employment seems endless. You might decide to start your own home based business and work long hours to achieve a dream of supporting your family from the profits of the business. Perhaps you simply want a job you can do at home, maybe just for a few hours a week to bring in a little extra money.

Up until a few years ago, work from home opportunities were rare and poorly paid. This type of work from home slavery still exists but technology has caused a dramatic increase in the number of genuine work from home opportunities available, both for the home based business entrepreneur and for the stay at home mom who wants a job she can fit in around the kids' schedule.

If you have a professional qualification such as being a Lawyer or Accountant you can quite easily set up a home based office. If you have a practical qualification such as being a hairdresser, beautician or nail technician you can build up your own mobile business. If you have no particular qualifications but possess a talent for something such as carpentry or sewing or welding, you can make things at home and sell them at craft fairs and art exhibitions. If you have no particular qualifications or talents but possess some imagination and drive, you can carve out your own niche by identifying a need in your community and providing a service to fill it.

If you have no qualifications, no talent, no skills, no imagination, you could become a telemarketer. The only attributes a telemarketer needs are :

1. A phone

2. A friendly manner (optional in some circumstances)
3. The ability to memorise and recite a script
4. The ability to tell lies in a convincing way
5. A conscience on psychopath level
6. An inner radar enabling you to identify the least convenient time to phone people 7. the ability to talk for a long time without pause
8. Tenacity
9. A thick skin.

Recruitment advertising might mislead you by stating that a clear speaking voice is a requirement but I can tell you from experience that this is not so. Provided you can make your scripted speech without being sidetracked by questions from your prospective customer and have no qualms about the size or number of the lies necessary to close a deal, you will easily find employment in the field of telemarketing.

If you think this sounds mean, just think for a moment about telemarketers. You know, the people that make unsolicited phone calls to you when you are in the middle of bathing the baby or having dinner or when you are up a ladder trying to hang wallpaper. You dive for the phone trying not to drop a slippery baby or trying to swallow your food without choking or trying to control the gummy wallpaper that wants to stick to you, the ladder and everything else around you. You manage to pick up the phone without suffering a serious accident and find yourself listening to a complete stranger who wants to sell you something you don't need and don't want.

While the baby howls, your dinner gets cold or the wallpaper dries in creases, this person talks at you relentlessly and seemingly without the need to take a breath. Only when the dripping soap suds or congealing food or the fact that your hand is glued to the phone finally drive you to interrupt, will there be a pause. This pause, however, is nothing more than a brief mini-second's respite before the script is resumed. You won't get the chance to say enough to turn the soliloquy into a conversation. You see, telemarketers are trained to capitalise on the fact that most people are polite. Most people in this situation don't like to interrupt and won't hang up the phone until the caller has finished speaking and goodbyes have been said.

The only ways to end a call from a telemarketer are to agree to purchase whatever he is offering you or to hang up the phone while he is still reciting his script. If you are too polite to hang up, you might as well just agree to purchase right away. There is absolutely no point trying to reason with a telemarketer; if you say you don't want to buy his elephant because you can't stand grey, he will ask you to tell him your favourite colours and then he will swear a solemn oath that the elephant he is offering you is yellow with pink polka dots. A tempting offer! By giving him that tiny bit of information about your personal taste, you have given the telemarketer his hook: he is offering you something in a colour-scheme you said you like, how can you reasonably refuse?

Even though the baby might be blue with cold or the dinner completely solid or the wallpaper glued to your shirt, don't accept the offer. A yellow with pink polka dots elephant might sound like a real novelty and acceptance might seem like a way to end this miserable phone call. The thing here is that, when you receive it, that elephant will be of the grey variety. I don't like to say this but telemarketers lie and, the more incredible the lie is, the more they will protest that the offer they are making you is genuine and too good to be true. Well, they get it half right: it will undoubtedly be too good to be true.

Author Bio
Elaine Currie runs a work from home directory at her Plug-in Profit Site at: www.Huntingvenus.com. You could too.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content

Become a Stock Photographer

2006-06-27T10:36:00.000-07:00

Some Stocked Photos suppliers are seeking for talented and experienced photographers and artists:

You can earn a lot when you shoot nice photos!!!

Jupiter Images
Big Stock Photo
Stocked Photos

About Working from Home

2006-06-18T13:49:00.000-07:00

by Colin Thomson

Why do so many people want to work from home and what is it that inspires so many to follow this avenue of earning an income? These are questions that I asked myself also when I first considered Home Based Business and contemplated the possibility of joining this growing community of people.

From my experience having been involved in working from home on and off for 8 years, I have found 2 main reasons.

Firstly, there is the financial aspect. People want to earn greater incomes and be rewarded appropriately for the effort they put into their chosen profession. Many people are not rewarded properly for their work output and when comparing themselves to the output of others, are disillussioned and depressed about the whole matter.

Secondly there is the time aspect. Most people seem to have to commit most of their life to an occupation that they really don't like and certainly don't enjoy. Time is spent travelling to and from work, especially in the larger cities, way beyond what anybody would reasonably expect to do. More is being demanded from employees today in the time that you are at work, to the point where you get home and go to bed through exhaustion.

You could summarise this by saying people basically want financial freedom to devote more time to families and to the things they would like to do more often. A Better Lifestyle.

These are very real and great desires, but I have learned that working from home brings rewards way beyond anything I ever thought possible!!

Life really is about relationships, with your God, with families and with those you meet on a day to day basis. Without relationships, of any sort, you will lead a very boring and depressing life. With home based business comes the added bonus of meeting many different people, in many different circumstances, in ways that really bless you and sometimes infuriate you!!!

You must learn and appreciate quickly that people are your greatest assett in life and indeed in Home Based Business also. Without day to day contact with others, your business will not grow. You may think that you can work the internet and grow a home based business devoid of contact with people, but at the end of the day, who is pushing the mouse and hitting the keys on the keyboards? You are still working with people. You still need to develop relationships with those whom you choose to work with. Without genuine relationships, your business will fail.

Can I suggest to you that to gain financial freedom and time to enjoy life more fully, you need to remember that people are your greatest asset. Whether you work online only or in network marketing, you need people. You need their input into your life and into that of your business.

You need to learn to treat people with greater respect, for who they are, for what they know and for how you may ''help each other'', not what can ''I'' get out of them!!

Look at successful business people or leaders that you know and learn from them, notice their good points and build those points into your own life, rather than noticing their bad points and just criticising them!! Learn to build people up, rather than knocking them down. Treat people as Jesus said to do, like you would have them treat you. There is untold wisdom in those very words alone!!!

In Network Marketing, in Home Based Business, your first step is to align yourself in an opportunity that you feel passionate about, one which you agree with morally and that you can relate to fully. The next step is to then become a disciple to your leaders, to your upline. You need to be teachable, able to adapt to change and with your own life experiences added, success begins to come, as you follow instructions and see your business grow.

As you grow as a person, as your business grows, you will notice that the 2 go hand in hand. I have seen many times over that those who succeed, are those willing to embrace change; and the major change occurs in themselves. Always remember this, if nothing else from this artcile; You are the sum total of all the decisions that You have made in your life. If you are not happy with your lot, then you need to do something about it, not anybody else, YOU need to change something.

As your business grows, as you grow into a stronger more able person you will see your downline grow. You will notice that you are teaching those you sell your product to, about correct usage, to gain the benefits they desire. You will notice that you are training those that become distributors in your organisation. You will notice that the Disciple has become a Discipler.

You will notice that when you fully commit yourself to any endeavour, especially Home Based Business, that you become ''richer as a person'' first, and then as you grow with your business, the rewards come, the financial freedom and the greater income begins to arrive at your door.

The greatest goal is to enjoy life and enjoy it to the full, again a great promise, made by a very wise man, who came to give us that life.

----------------------------------------------------
Colin Thomson works from home, part time, with his wife Cath in the Health and Nutrition Industry. They enjoy the fruit of leading a lifestyle that they have fashioned for themselves and will continue to do so, as they help others improve their health and financial situations too. www.cthomsonshomebiz.ws

A Successful Niche Matches Your Skills and Knowledge

2006-06-06T10:46:00.000-07:00

When you’re trying to choose the precise niche that your business will fill, the best strategy is to make sure that you know what you’re doing with the product, so that you’ll feel much more comfortable in your niche and you’ll enjoy what you’re doing. The best successes are always achieved by those who like their work. Therefore, the first step that you can take for defining your own niche is to make a list of all the things that you like to do best. This may have to do with your current job, a job you used to have, a hobby you enjoy, an art form, a sport, or anything else that you happen to enjoy in life.

Begin by writing down your areas of interest, and then look at each parts of that list separately so that you can break it down into more focused sections. To help to inspire you in building your list, think about the following questions and get your mind moving. Write down everything at first, not really thinking about whether or not it really has potential. The key to this step is simply to get the ideas flowing and see what you come up with, getting it all down on paper. You never know; the idea you write down right now might not seem like much, but when you read it over later, it might stir much bigger thoughts.

• Would you like to be in this field every day as your job?

• Do you already have any skills or knowledge in that category?

• What type of person would be interested in the type of product that would come from that category?

• Would you enjoy working with your niche market target?

Once you’ve come up with your primary list of interests, use the above questions to go over it and narrow it down to those that have the highest chances of bringing you success. Give yourself a bit of time to mull over those topics that remain, and choose one of them that appeals to you the most.

Use that topic and begin writing down all of the basic things that you would require to learn or obtain in order to achieve success within that category. Put all of these things into a logical order, and then break them down into smaller parts which are then arranged in their own logical orders.

Once you’re done, you should have a much clearer idea of what you’ll be able to offer your prospective customers, and if you have the ability and motivation to work toward success in that specific category from your original list. To help determine if your successes are likely, go over your current list and ask yourself the following questions:

• Do you have any special knowledge about this topic?

• Do you have any skills that are related to this topic?

• Are you able to come up with a product that would help or please people in some way within this topic?

• Is there anything that you can offer in this topic that is outstanding and not already present in today’s marketplace?

Make sure that you’re always writing your ideas down. With all of the thinking and brainstorming you’ll be doing, you’ll be surprised how fleeting ideas are if you don’t get them down on paper. Even if some of them look rather odd when you write them down, when you delve into them, they might have a lot more potential than you first thought.

Once you have some substantial ideas in front of you, consider showing them to your friends and family. Listen carefully to their thoughts and opinions and let them inspire you for further ideas and details. You might be surprised at what the people around you might think of that may never have crossed your mind.

Another great resource is the internet. Do some research around your topic and prospective product(s), finding websites of general interest and potential competition. This will give you some great ideas about what’s out there and an understanding of what people are really looking for. It will help you to better polish your idea or develop a whole new one that you think is better.

Copyright 2006 Mark Nenadic

Mark Nenadic Mark is the director and face behind FifteenDegrees-North http://www.15dn.com , where you will find articles and resources to help with SEO, marketing and Web design.

Learn how to find your niche!

Sit Back, Relax, and Get Paid for What You Think

2006-06-06T07:49:00.000-07:00

You can work whenever you'd like, morning, noon, night .. midnight if you'd like .. it doesn't matter. Simply log in and select surveys to fill out, get paid for your time. Work for 30 minutes or three hours, it doesn't matter ..you set your own hours.

PaidSurveysOnline.com and its partners bring you fresh opportunities to express your opinions, participate in online focus groups, try out new products, be heard AND be paid to boot. How would you like to sit in the comfort of your own home, fill out surveys online, and participate in online focus groups and get a nice big paycheck at the end of the month.

This is a perfect opportunity for stay at home moms, students, or someone that just doesn't have time for a commute to a dead end, part time job. OR, for anyone who wants to sit in their pajamas and work at home.

paidsurveysonline.com

eFax

2006-06-06T02:23:00.000-07:00

Since 1995, eFax® has offered leading-edge faxing solutions that save money, increase uptime, and maximize productivity. eFax Corporate's competitive solutions cost less than what you pay to maintain separate dial-up lines for standalone fax machines.

Sign up for a free trial number

How To Set Up Your Squeeze Page

2006-05-11T09:52:00.000-07:00

By Karl Stadler

We are all working our buts off, or so we think, trying to make a living or an extra income on the internet. Many of you are affiliate marketers promoting someone else's products, through your web pages, websites or PPC campaigns.

I am quite sure that you have heard by now that you have to use squeeze pages in your marketing efforts. You may, or may not, have given it a look or a thought, but few have implemented this marketing tool.

Why?

It is extra work, you are very busy just getting your ads to work never mind tracking, doing split testing and priming every other ad to get the best results for your money. Which of course is the way to do it.

But think for a moment, if you could half this work, take 25% off your costs, and still make 25% to 50% more profit, would you be interested?

That is the beauty of squeeze pages also known as landing pages. At the beginning you will have to put more time and effort in creating and refining them, but once you've got it all up and running you can certainly expect more profits.

The basic purpose of a squeeze page is to gather email addresses and build your list. The list is where the money is, all successful internet marketers will tell you that. By building a list through squeeze pages you will gain the knowledge of who the people are that are interested in a specific type of product or service.

So the next time you market a new product in this line, you already have interested people who can easily become customers.

Now you see, the squeeze page is an essential tool in any marketers arsenal of marketing armory.

Now let's look at the elements of a squeeze page.

The all important heading. It has the same purpose here as on a sales page, you have to catch the attention of the reader to read on.

A sub-heading leading your prospect into the page. A short sales message containing 5 to 10 benefits of the product you are promoting. A submission form where he or she can enter their details. After submission they are taken to the sales page.

So,. how am I going to write a sales letter on my page asking for a name and email address?

The best way of going about this is to offer something for free, a report, ebook, some useful software, subscription to a newsletter, anything relating to the product you are selling.

Lets look at an example of a squeeze page for a new keyword analyzing software program.

In Search Of That Perfect Keyword Phrase Getting All The Sales?

How would you feel if I told you now you can:

Find out how many others are using the same word you are aiming at. Know what they are paying in an instant. What you should bid to rank first. Know which phrases have the best sales conversion rates. And which keywords are just going to cost you money.

Get yourself in the FIRST place in the race for sales, and easily beat the top guns at their own game.

Just fill in your details to receive weekly tips on keyword analysis and how it can increase your sales. You will then immediately be redirected to 'Name Of Your Product'.

A very valid argument is that if I have a squeeze page that is not well written, a person landing on the page might just leave the entire site and could have purchased if he or she was sent straight to the sales page.

There is however a way around this problem. If you feel uncertain about your writing or asking someone to give you their email address, just add a button with text below the form saying something like 'click here to go directly to the product page'.

Be assured though that by building your list will ensure more customers and sales for your products. It will also give you the opportunity to get to know and communicate with your subscribers.

Don't obliterate them with product emails every day, only send them quality products addressing their specific needs, that you either use yourself, or know is good, and write a small review on how it has helped you solving a certain problem.

Long term good relations with your subscribers will turn into good long term good relationships with paying clients.

Karl Stadler is a author and internet marketer. You can view or download a video showing step by step how to create and implement squeeze pages here http://www.yourenterprize.com/squeeze-page-video/squeeze.htm

Dear Internet Friend,

2006-05-11T09:48:00.000-07:00

The system you are about to learn earns awesome cash from any computer connected to the Internet, anywhere in the world. In one month, I earned more than an entire years work! Other months I make only half of that, but that's okay, it's still more than my old full-time office job.

Right now, you are probably thinking to yourself that this sounds like another Get Rich Quick Scam. I totally understand. Get Rich Quick schemes are just that, scams. They don't work!

This is not a get rich quick program, but an actual home business that you setup following my detailed instructions. Even if you've tried all the other online business opportunities out there and failed, and think that every such website is just trying to scam you out of your money, I'd like the privilege to PROVE to you that what I'm about to share with you is COMPLETELY different because it works.

In fact, I'm going to share with you how I make over $30,000 per month using Google AdWords ... and have taught over 1000 other ordinary people, just like you, how to make a great living without leaving their homes, (and when they do leave on vacations, they still make money even while on vacation).

Read on and learn more

Overcoming Call Reluctance

2006-04-30T05:17:00.000-07:00

by Michael Beck - Copyright 2006 Exceptional Leadership, Inc.

Everyone in marketing faces it at one time or another - reluctance to pick up the phone and make calls. Logically, it makes no sense to feel that way. We believe in our product or service. We have a script that’s either been given to us or one that we’ve carefully written out. We have a list of prospects that are at least somewhat targeted. We know that when someone says “No”, it’s not directed at us. And still… the phone weighs a ton.

OK. You decide that the pain of being broke is greater than the pain of “cold” calling, so you commit to making calls each and every day. Or at least commit to try. Or try at least some days each week. For a while anyway…

We’ve all been through all of this before, and guess what? IT DOESN’T WORK! We’re still reluctant to make the calls we know we need to. So what’s the deal? Are you just “bad” at calling? Is it that calling only works for some but not most of us?

The answer, of course, is that calling can work for any one of us. It’s a matter of finding the right “key”(s) to open that door of calling success. We need to address why the typical “cold” call isn’t effective. We’ll start with the obvious issue. Calling strangers causes most people some amount of anxiety. Why does it make us feel so anxious and apprehensive? I’ve found that there are four reasons that cause people to feel anxious about calling. If any one of them exists, anyone would feel anxious about making a call. Here they are:

1) We feel that we sound like a telemarketer. Somewhat unprofessional and/or insincere.

2) We aren’t sure how to effectively start the call.

3) We aren’t sure how to effectively steer the conversation.

4) We aren’t sure how to comfortably and professionally end the conversation.

Let’s look at each one of these issues separately and find out how to put them behind us.

1) We feel that we sound like a telemarketer

What makes a telemarketer sound like a telemarketer? Think about it for a moment. You know the drill – we’ve all received telemarketing calls both at home and at work. What is it about that call that marks it as a telemarketing call? There are several factors that make us cringe at these calls. First off, telemarketers are either overly friendly to start with or they sound completely disinterested. Both make the caller sound insincere. Secondly, telemarketers talk and rarely ask. The call is all about their product and service and not about the person who received the call. Thirdly, they usually plow through their script, not allowing us to get a word in edgewise. And fourth, it’s always evident that they’re reading a script to you rather than speaking to you as a person. Those four factors generally mark the call as a telemarketing call.

How do you keep people from viewing you as a telemarketer? Simple. Don’t do those things!

a) When you call, don’t be overly enthusiastic and don’t be disinterested or matter-of-fact in your tone. Speak in an appropriate, natural tone and manner.

b) As you get into your conversation, ask questions. Be consultative. Remember, this is about your prospect, not about you.

c) & d) Practice your script so it is as conversational as possible. I always write out my script so it reads as naturally as possible. It’s usually not perfect writing but it is always natural and easy to say.

2) We aren’t sure how to start the call

The thing that annoys most of us when a telemarketer calls is that they dive right into some sales pitch without even knowing whether we have the time or interest in hearing about what they have to say. The most effective way to be viewed as a professional is to act like one. As an example, here is the way I start my marketing calls:

“Bob? Good Morning. This is Michael Beck. How are you today? (pause) Bob, I’m an executive coach (pause – I want to make sure they understood what I just said) and have worked with insurance managers for a number of years. Do you have a few minutes to chat?”

As simple as the above exchange is, it serves a number of important purposes:

a) In short order, I’ve told him who I am and what I do.

b) I said his name two times. (People love to hear their own name. Read “How to Win Friends and Influence People”)

c) I began to establish credibility. (“I’ve worked with insurance managers for a number of years.”)

d) I asked permission to take some of his time.

3) We aren’t sure how to steer the conversation

We ended the start of our phone call with a question: “Do you have a few minutes to chat?” There can only be three answers to that question – “Yes”, “No”, or “What is this about?”

* If the answer is Yes, you’re off and running.

* If the answer is No, you could say you’ll call back or ask when a good time to call back would be, but why not use the opportunity to get more information? Since you’ve already told him who you are and what you do, why not ask: “Would you like me to call back?” The answer will either be Yes or No! Either way you should be happy. Either you’ll know not to waste your time trying to reach a disinterested prospect or you’ll have a somewhat pre-qualified prospect on your list!

* If the response is, “What is this about?”, have a short explanation of why you’ve called prepared, something like: “I wanted to share some of what I do, find out what your initiatives are, and see whether what I do could help you reach your goals faster and easier.”

Pretty straightforward isn’t it? …

If you approach the meat of your conversation in a way to see if you can help your prospect, rather than sell them something, it’s quite easy to have a stress-free, effective conversation.

No matter what the goal of your call is, at some point the discussion needs to draw to a close with a “trigger” question. “Can we set up an appointment to go over this in more detail?” or “Here’s what we should do next…”

4) We aren’t sure how to end the conversation

How you handle the end of your conversation will determine you well you protect your attitude. We ended the middle of our conversation with a question (see a pattern here?). There can only be three answers to your question – “Yes”, “I need more information”, or “No”

* If the answer is Yes, again you’re off and running.

* If the answer is a request for more information, have a simple process ready to provide prospects with additional information and/or credibility-building materials, get a commitment for a follow-up call, and set it up as an appointment in both your calendar and theirs. Don’t leave the follow-up as a vague process. Inotherwords get a phone appointment and avoid endless voicemails and phone tag.

* If the answer is No, my preference is to thank them for their time and candor, ask them if they’d like me to give them a call back in 6-12 months, and then hang up!

Let me close with a couple of perspectives that have served me and others well over the years.

One perspective is that if you find that any one prospect means a great deal to you, it’s a sure sign that you aren’t finding enough prospects. Put in more effort. Then everything else takes care of itself.

The other perspective that I have found helpful pertains to rejection, and is illustrated in this story:

Imagine you have a recipe for fantastic chocolate chip cookies and bake them to perfection. They’re absolutely delicious! You take a tray of these cookies around to people, asking them whether they would like one. The first person takes one and loves it. The next person you offer the cookies to declines - they are full, don’t like chocolate, or don’t want sweets. Here is the key question: “Does the fact that the second person didn’t want your cookies affect the quality of the cookies or the skill of the baker?” Clearly the answer is no. Their decision doesn’t have anything to do with the cookies or the baker. Their decision was about what’s going on in your their life, not yours.

When you create an effective phone process – knowing how to get into and out of conversations – and understand that a “No” truly is not about you at all, calling becomes more comfortable and it becomes easier to make many more calls. The result? Financial Success!

------------
Michael Beck, “The Insurance Coach”is an Executive Coach and Recruiting Activist, and helps insurance professionals succeed faster and easier. He can be reached at 866-385-8751 or mbeck@theinsurancecoach.com Visit his website to learn more: http://www.TheInsuranceCoach.com You can subscribe to his newsletter here: http://www.theinsurancecoach.com/Subscribe.htm

Sell Your Knowledge: Turning Your Hobby Into Profits

2006-04-30T05:14:00.000-07:00

by Antonio Thornton

Everyone has a hobby of some kind - most people have several. There are people who collect stamps; people who make scrapbooks or create graphic designs with their digital photos; people who love horseback riding, hiking or bicycling. Maybe you do something that you don't even know is considered a "hobby". Technically, anything that you engage in for fun that is outside of your occupational activities is considered a hobby- so chances are you have lots of hobbies!

Have you ever considered turning one of your hobbies into a business? You may be surprised at how virtually any hobby can be converted to profits, and without tremendous overhead or ridiculously high start up costs. What's even better, you aren't required to have a specific product to sell! In fact, you can make your knowledge your product to sell.

If you participate regularly in some sort of hobby, you are bound to know quite a bit about it. If you make scrapbooks of your family and friends, then you probably have extensive knowledge about where to get the best deals on your scrapbooking supplies, and how to create special effects on your photo album pages. Maybe you have magazines and websites that you refer to all the time for inspiration. You have the personal knowledge of what it took to get started in the hobby. For example, scrapbooking requires that you have access to supplies like paper, stickers, glue, photo albums and scrapbooking tools. Someone who has just learned about scrapbooking and thinks they want to start the hobby will need to figure out what they need to get started. You could offer this knowledge as your product to sell. Think people won't buy it? Think again.

If you've ever used a search engine to look up information, you know that it's time consuming to sort through all the data to find exactly what you're looking for. Often, you're given tons of information that doesn't seem all that reliable, and you have to determine what you can use and what you need to avoid! When you make your personal knowledge of a hobby your product to sell- you're helping everyone who wants to find that information without spending hours searching for it!

You do not need to have a physical product to sell in order to make a profit. In fact, having an inventory or having to create physical items from materials offers a lower profit margin than selling information.

Information products are among the top items to sell for a variety of reasons. They offer a low cost to get started, meaning you start earning a profit after just a couple sales. Informational products include eBooks, online courses or email courses, software, audio files, web sites- basically anything that can be downloaded from the internet. You aren't required to have an inventory and you can set up your business model to allow you to earn money by the work other people do for you.

So now, maybe you're thinking that this is all well and good- but you still don't have a product to sell! You haven't written an eBook, and maybe your writing skills leave little to be desired. Creating online or email courses are time consuming, and to create software you need special training. You can still sell your knowledge. Create a "package" of items that someone would need in order to get started in a particular hobby, and promote it as the "everything you need to know" about starting the hobby. Contact someone who has written an informative eBook on the topic; find someone else who has made an online video or radio show regarding it, and request permission to sell the items in your package. If they have affiliate programs, you can probably sign up for the affiliate programs and earn commission that way. Include your list of great providers for supplies or information that you refer to regularly, and anything else you know a person needs in order to get started in the hobby. This is a product to sell: selling your knowledge.

Once you've earned money from this type of information product business, you can invest in the creation of your own products if you want, or start offering more informational products that allow you to sell your knowledge!

------------
Antonio Thornton started with $37 and turned his "nerdy" computer hobby into a $500,000.00 per year business. Get the free Hobby For Profit Audio and discover how to turn your hobby into profit today! http://www.hobby4profit.com/freeh4p

Where do you want to start today?
Books on writing and edititing

Are You Doing Well As An Network Marketer?

2006-04-30T04:45:00.000-07:00

There are some key things you need to grasp before you embark on finding that 'perfect opportunity' that is going to make you rich!!

Do you know what your strengths are?

Do you know what you are good at?

Do you know what your abilities are in relation to your creative streak?

Are you teachable?

Do you have a strong desire to succeed in this life?

How hungry are you for success?

How important is self employment to you that you will do what it takes to get there?

These are questions you need to answer before you go looking for a Home Based Business on the Internet. If you go to a search engine or to a traffic exchange and simply click on sites all day you will get lost in cyberspace.

Decide what you would like to become involved in for the rest of your life. Can you write good stories? Do you love the health and nutrition industry? Do you love the outdoor life? Do you love Information Technology?

Once you know the answer to all of the above then sit back down at your computer and type into a search engine those words that are relevant to who you are and where you want to go. Don't get caught up looking at every opportunity because marketing is all about attracting you to look at this or that particular opportunity.

When you find something you like investigate further, call someone, email them and find out:- 1. realistic earning potetnial and 2. will you get upline support and training.

In any business we need to be taught, in life we need to learn skills to get by.

Business is exactly the same. Internet marketing requires a good team ethos and with that success will come.

Ensure, when you find an opportunity that you feel good about it, then commit to it. Get it into your mind that you will give this a go for at least a year through thick or thin. Persist, be patient, be determined, be teachable, experiment and never give up. Don't be distracted by another opportunity that looks easier or has a better website!

Stick to your guns and prove to yourself that you have the potential to succeed as a Home Based Business Person.

Colin Thomson works the Internet part time around his family with his wife Cath. He has found an Opportunity that he is very exciting and gives me great pleasure. www.cthomsonshomebiz.ws

10 Tips On Working At Home With Young Children

2006-04-26T10:43:00.000-07:00

By Angie Hewerdine

Working at home can be stressful, especially with small children in the house. Where is the balance between work and home when home IS work? Here are some suggestions to help both you and your kids make the most of each day at the home office.

1. Try to get up at least an hour before the children. This gives you some quiet time to assess your daily priorities, stretch your body and mentally and physically prepare for the day ahead. This is YOUR time. It is of the utmost importance. Meditate at least 10 minutes in the morning. Visualize your day going smoothly.

2. Make sure that your children have your full attention when they first wake up. Give them hugs and kisses. Make them breakfast. Enjoy some snuggling and laughter. These are precious times that will not always be here. Give your children the gift of being present in the mornings.

3. Develop a routine with your kids. Do it basically the same every day, but don't put yourself on the clock. Set up a selection of fun things to do that will keep them busy and tell them beforehand that you are going to be working.

4. If you can afford it, hire a nanny or a school aged mother's helper to come into your home for just a few hours a day to play with and attend to your children. This gives you total solitude at least for an hour or two, even if only a few times a week.

5. Don't devote a set block of time to your work each day. Instead, have certain objectives, such as "I will work for 4 hours today." Work during nap time. Sneak a few minutes during lunch or whenever the children are happily playing.

6. Allow for some flexibility, but don't just abandon your work if the kids are not cooperating. You can be creative. Take them outside for a while. Let them be active with you and they will most likely give you the downtime you need to get some work done later on.

7. Let the kids help with small tasks. Let them staple, paper clip and help you "sort" or cut. They may not actually be assisting you with your work, but they will enjoy it and it makes them feel important, as if they are helping Mom with her work. Be sure to thank them for their help.

8. Try to save things that can be done after hours, such as internet work, filing, paperwork, checking emails etc. for when they have gone to bed. You will find that an hour of quiet working time will enable you to catch up on your day.

9. Stay in the present moment. If a kid needs a hug or some juice, don't put them off or push them away. Remember the reason we wanted to work at home in the first place? So we can spend more time with our families. Give the hug...get the juice. Do it lovingly and be grateful for the opportunity.

10. Enjoy the journey! Life is too important to waste being stressed out about your business. Our children, their happiness and comfort are far more important that our business. The little things will take care of themselves when we are in the frame of mind to enjoy what we are creating for ourselves.

Angie Hewerdine is a successful home business owner with a driving passion for helping other people change their lives. She has assisted many in realizing and achieving significant personal and financial goals. You can learn more at http://www.TheTimeForChange.com or call 1-800-491-4758

Fire Your Boss Before He Fires You

2006-02-20T07:57:00.000-08:00

By Andrew Shim

These days, people tell me I m a lucky man and that they envy me. My wife and I run a home catering business and I have a couple of websites that are making money. I get to work at home, have lunch and horse around with my kids every day and generally do what I please, when I please I m my own boss and in many ways already successful. It wasn t that way two years ago though. If you had known me then, you would have thought I was a ship headed for the rocks a nervous wreck on the brick of a mental breakdown!

Many of us can remember when our Dads worked all their life for one company but I learnt the hard way that employment for life is a thing of the past. Organizations today are constantly evolving to keep up with changes. If they can t keep up, they either get left behind or close shop. It all boils down to the survival of the fittest, and surviving means having to take drastic measures which very often means cost-cutting or down-sizing. It s a painful fact of life. Statistics today show that up to eighty percent of the working population will experience down-sizing either directly or indirectly during their working life. Being affected directly obviously means being laid-off and indirectly means having to perform the functions of two or more staff that have been laid-off.

A couple of years ago, the company I worked for was in a financial crisis. Cost cutting and down-sizing was taking its toll on everyone - myself included. When things started getting really bad, my wife and I decided we had to take control of our own destiny. We started a home catering business. I continued to work for my company while we ran our home catering business in the evenings. When we had built a steady base of customers, I felt it was time to leave my company. It felt like a heavy burden was lifted off my chest when I handed in my resignation letter. It felt so good to fire my boss!

Over the course of time (after I left), investigations by the authorities uncovered an accounting scandal in my previous company. This news resulted in it s stock falling from 1.58 to 8 cents! At the time of writing this article, the company has almost reached the end of the road as it continues to struggle with depleting resources, dwindling staff-force and public scorn.

I recently received news that six of my ex-colleagues were given 24 hours notice to leave the company. Despite the hopeless situation of the company, none of them expected to be laid off in that manner, probably because they were very senior staff. What happened to them could easily have happened to me (or to anyone) if I continued to put my hope in a sinking ship.

What saved us was our decision to start our own home based business. That do-or-die situation forced us not only to survive, but to triumph! I d like to encourage you to take that same step of faith! No matter how insignificant your business may seem to be or how little money you make at first, the most important thing is the realization that you CAN take control of your life. You DO NOT need to rely on a job that you hate! Don t continue to be a victim of today s volatile job market or continue to put yourself at the mercy of someone else s greed. What s worse, DON T work yourself to death making someone else rich!

You may not think you need a home based business right now but remember this if there ever comes a day when you ARE in danger of losing your job, YOUR home based business WILL give you the option of firing your boss before he fires you! So here s to never having to lose sleep over your job cheers!

Andrew Shim is the owner and editor of http://www.PositiveMoneyIdeas.com a website which offers FREE IDEAS for those interested in starting their own freelance or home based business and http://www.PositiveTones.com a FREE resource website for Positive Living. He and his wife run a successful home catering business.

Accepting Online Payments - Cost vs. Convenience

2006-02-20T07:49:00.000-08:00

By John Tedeschi

If you rely on online marketing to promote and market your business, you know that you must accept credit card payments online to be successful. Immediacy and convenience are the hallmarks of online transactions. When you're making a decision about which online payment solution to use, you will ask yourself the following question.

Should I pay a bit extra for a professional solution or should I pinch pennies and hope that a free solution will do?

This is a fair and legitimate question for all online businesses especially those that are new and financially constrained. We all want to save money.
The question can be restated and better answered as Is it worth it to pay more to have branded payment pages, customized thank you notes and receipts, a level of automation in post-sales processing, and ease in reporting?

The answer, I believe, is yes it is definitely worth the extra expense because of the time and effort that you will save by not having to perform the non-revenue generating tasks that managing and dealing with a merchant account or a generic payment processor entails.

How much time does it take to answer calls from clients that are unsure what to do when they get to your free generic payment page, or track down payments from clients that didn't pay because they couldn't understand the generic payment page instructions (enter your account name etc.)?

How much time does it take to manually cut and paste email addresses or send thank you notes and receipts to clients? How much time does it take to change pricing or the language on your do it yourself payment page?

The non-revenue generating tasks required to manage a business are necessary but should not become the main activities of the business. If you are a service professional, i.e., a coach or consultant, your time should be spent in line with the 80-20 rule. That is; 80% of your time should be spent on revenue generating activities and 20% on other activities such as the administration of the business.

Think about it in terms of how much your time is worth. For every hour that you spend dealing with non-revenue generating activities, multiply it by the value of an hour of your time. The answer to this math problem is how much money you are losing by performing these tasks yourself. If the number of hours you spend on administrative tasks exceeds 20% of your work week you are cheating yourself out of revenue. And, aside from the lost revenue potential, you will soon find that administrative busy work is a drain on your motivation, energy and ultimately the success of your business.
If paying an extra 10 a month for a professional, managed online payment processing solution helps you to;

Reduce the time you'll spend searching for client payment information,
Automate post sales follow up and receipt delivery to clients,
Quickly get new payment pages up and receiving payments,
Reduce calls from clients making payments,
Look more professional and trustworthy,
Not have to pay a web developer for a secure site and
Save money by not paying gateway fees, statement fees and other variable merchant account fees

Then using a premium online payment processor isn't just worth the extra 33 cents a day, it's a necessary cost of doing business right

Can an online payment processor actually save you time instead of creating extra tasks? Go to http://acceptiva.com/news.html to learn more.

Working On Internet To Earn Money Online - Big Time Revenue And Dizzying Success Stories

2006-02-13T11:45:00.000-08:00

This feature is for all those who have surfed the internet ATLEAST once! Some of you might be going online frequently and must be aware and impressed with the kind of information that's available online. You may also have a fair idea about the power of internet and the role that it has begun to play in our day-to-day lives.

Through this article, I want to tell you about the possibilities of earning money online using the same powerful internet. I have been working online since 2003, and want to share my experience with those of you who might be looking at or are open to using the internet to earn money online.

If you are ready to work on the internet, remember you can work at home. Imageine not having to step out of your homes to earn money! This is the biggest convenience of working online. This convenience has yet another advantage added to it. That, you can work online and continue with your day job. I mean a 9-5 job and working at home on internet can go side by side. Its a quiet job that can be done from a corner of your room.

Apart from it, I will share some other important aspects of working online to help you gain a better insight into the industry.

Nothing is mandatory here. I mean you don't need special qualifications or experience to start working online. All the skills required to work online can be learnt on the internet free of cost. Read, understand, interact with experts by visitng the relevant forums (free again!), execute and succeed. Patience, focus and perseverence are unwritten rules of succeeding online. Potential to earn money online is unlimited. UNLIMITED.

You don't require any money to start working online. On the contrary be wary of people asking for a fee or deposits to start earning money and working online. The basic requirements are that you have a computer at home and access to internet.

There are many ways to work online. You-could-write to you-could-sell! Find answers to all your questions before joining an opportunity. Safest is to talk to people who are already using that opportunity to earn money. What you should do, depends upon what would you like to do. Please understand that 'working online' career is going to last you a lifetime, so it's better to do something you enjoy.

Also keep this logic in mind: whether you decide to sell something that's hot and happening or sell a book written by you on any subject, or decide to have a website and sell combination of both.. its going to take time.... and since the time period and amount of effort is going to remain the same, my advise is run with what you enjoy..... you will be able to spread a word around more effectively and your level of confidence will be higher if you are passionate about what you do.....

Remember you are working online to earn money because of the conveniences. Similarly people will buy your stuff because its convenient for them to do so. If dog food that sells cheaper in the corner shop, than on your site including the shipping cost, I might as well buy it from the store next door! At the same time, if I can order a giftbasket from an online site because of their unique, well laid out theme and neat packing rather than the corner shop even if it required me to shell out a few pennies extra I will do it! Keep this logic in mind. Niche.. is also an important part of the game.

Don't jump at opportunities that promise overnite riches.. short term gains don't mean a thing. Yes you can take these chances side by side, along with a stable and steady work going on. I won't advise it actually.

The dot-com days are over. Internet business is thriving. Big time revenue, dizzying success stories... everything is happening on the internet. Don't lose or let the opportunity pass you by...

About the Author:

The author is Purva Mewar webmaster of two Work at Home Business websites http://www.yesearnfromhome.com and http://www.work-at-home-earn-extra-income.com

Have Your Own Business As Pet Sitter

2006-02-07T07:58:00.000-08:00

Pet sitting can be a rewarding job but can also be tiring. If you are interested in making your own business as a pet sitter, here are answers to most frequently Asked Questions about this career.

1. What does a pet sitter do? What he/she is responsible for?
Pet sitters care for your pet just as a baby sitter cares for your children. While most pets do not demand the same amount of supervision and care that a child does every pet has a certain amount of physical requirements as well as social needs. What is necessary for your pet will depend on the personality as well as species you are looking to have cared for.

In addition, pet sitters perform a variety of tasks. They may simply check the food and water supply of your animal. Dogs may require a walk while cats and caged animals may need their litter boxes cleaned or the papers changed. If you have an exotic animal or bird you should look for specialized services that can adequately meet the needs of your pet.

With pet sitters, your pet will be allowed to stay in its own environment without the stress of travel or new accommodations. Pet sitters will follow the schedule your animal is use to and the diet it is accustomed to. Pet sitters also provide the one-on-one attention your pet will be missing when you're away.

2. What does a pet sitter cost?
You can expect to pay at least $15-25 for a daily visit of 30 minutes - possibly more if you require the sitter to walk your dog. Usually the cost for multiple animals is only a few dollars more per animal. If you need the sitter to stay overnight you will probably pay $50 or more. Holiday visits (during the day or overnight) will have an increased rate.

Please note that rates will vary according to region and specialty. Some pet sitters will visit twice a day or include other tasks, such as collecting the mail, with their pet sitting services.

3. How do I find a pet sitter?
You may find a pet sitter listing in your phone book or online. You can also ask friends, groomers and veterinarians for referrals.

It is wise to only hire pet sitters who are bonded and insured since they will not only be responsible for caring for your pet but must be trusted in your home and with your belongings. Even when trust is not an issue the sitter will be responsible for being respectful of your home and properly securing your home when leaving.

4. What do I have to do to become a pet sitter?
It depends on where you live you may have to have a business license to operate a pet sitting business. It is also important to acquire bonding and insurance, not only for the possibility of negligence but to assure customers of your professionalism.

While you do not need experience to start your own business you will need to research businesses in the area and talk to groomers, vets and others about the market. It is important to be organized and take your business seriously - others are depending on you. Use contracts to establish the tasks and costs agreed to and keep paperwork and schedules organized.

About the Author: Susan Wong maintains many interesting contractor websites, including Roofing Contractor Secrets, and Eczema Solutions.

Everyone Says, Work At Home, And Make Money Online… Please Tell Me How To Work At Home?

2006-02-07T07:52:00.000-08:00

Absolutely right! Go to any search engine and type “make money online” or “work at home” or “home based business” and billions of sites come up. And they are all full of same stuff…. Work at home; earn a living online, but nothing beyond. Lots of times we do come across an idea or two, but we don’t get a hang of what’s being talked about.

In a layman’s language, let me explain what the options available are. But before that the logic and reasoning. Researchers in USA have found that more than 50% of the work that people do in the office can be done from home. It could be administrative or software related. Point No. 2. Most homes have a computer at home these days. And internet is being used widely. People are ordering things online. The practice is growing by the day. Lawyers enroll in forums, students take a degree online, women shop…. The list is endless.

Coming back to the topic, when so many people are buying online- let’s be selling! This is one way to work at home to make money online. Selling through your website. Have a website (register a domain name and build a website around it). Pick a product, idea or service, or as many of them as you want and sell them on your site. When people buy from your site you get commissions. From real estate to jewelry to an ebook, everything is sold and bought on the internet.

Another way of working online is by becoming a freelance writer. If you have the ‘creative urge’, go ahead and become a contributory/freelance writer and make a living online. Short stories, kids stuff or simply articles on variety of subject from aircraft to motherhood!! People across the web, buy content to use on their sites or ezines, you know!

If routine or monotony does not bore you, go ahead and start proofreading, taking up typing assignments online. Reading emails. If you have some experience in medical transcription, go ahead and join sites that give you MT assignments and pay you for it.

Once you are familiar with internet world, you can become moderator in the forums. Or a Search Engine Optimizer. The kind of money a good Optimizer charges is mind blowing. This is slightly advanced vision, but no harm to keep it in mind. The most popular way that people earn a living online is by doing surveys and participating in discussion or focus groups online. People are very happy do this online survey thing. You must check it out too.

These are basic jobs you can do from home. There is a larger variety of it on the net for all kinds of people. For newbie’s the choices are as mentioned above. As people get acquainted they explore newer avenues, better opportunities, and more money, needless to mention. It’s a whole new world of opportunities waiting to be explored. There is real money, real work, and real logic in working from home!

About the Author: The author is Purva Mewar, webmaster of two Work at Home Business websites, http://www.yesearnfromhome.com and http://www.work-at-home-earn-extra-income.com

Teleworking take-off

2006-02-03T12:11:00.000-08:00

For nearly 20 million Americans, going to work can mean a short stroll down the hall, or taking a laptop to a coffee shop. US firms are increasingly organising growing numbers of teleworkers around networks instead of buildings, thus cutting costs and boosting productivity.

Typical telework has changed over the past 30 years. Anybody whose work is portable, in healthcare, retail, and even manufacturing, can work outside the office a few days a week without missing a beat.

Source: Personneltoday.com

Working from home gains in popularity worldwide

2006-01-29T04:24:00.000-08:00

More than 82 million people worldwide worked from home at least one day a month in 2005, up from 38 million only five years earlier, according to Stamford, Conn.-based technology research firm Gartner Inc. Gartner expects the number to reach 100 million by 2008.

Clickbank Affiliate Super Tips

2005-12-30T02:07:00.000-08:00

Just received a note from my friend William Charlwood.

He writes:

"Harvey Segal has condensed a lot of his knowledge into a book called ClickBank Affiliate Super Tips and it tells you, amongst other things

# The fastest way to ClickBank profits
# The number one method of promotion
# How to beat your PPC competitors (people advertising on Google
etc. alongside your own ads)
# The last ClickBank affiliate gets the commission. How to
make sure it's you
# Affiliate link theft - what you can do about it
# How to get paid for introducing others to ClickBank

Personally I think one of the best tips is about how to compete effectively against other people who are also promoting the same product. The information can give you a significant edge and it applies to any affiliate program - not just Clickbank products.

I use it myself for programs I'm involved in.

Thanks

William Charlwood"

Click Here for the book William is talking about.

Mystery Shopper 007

2005-12-20T02:53:00.000-08:00

by Jon Castle

As a mystery shopper you are kind of like a spy. Just as James Bond gets briefed on his next top-secret assignment at some high-tech cave complex beneath a tropical island, you, the mystery shopper, are briefed in advance over the telephone or emailed at your own secret location -- your home. While James Bond gets shot at, you get free mugs of beer placed in your hand, steak put on your plate, and you have to deal with several more hazards that come with the job -- like dodging golf balls while teeing off on an 18-hole golf course. That's because your job as a mystery shopper is to shop. That's the best part about being a mystery shopper -- companies will pay you to buy their products and services. Imagine getting a back massage as part of your job. Sounds like tough work doesn't it?

Attentive companies are hiring mystery shoppers to get an impartial consumer evaluation on the quality of their customer service. Customer service is arguably the mot important factor contributing to a company's continued success. Every business has customers and if these customers aren't satisfied they can easily take their money somewhere else. There are several ways a company can screw up when it comes to customer service. A mystery shopper can inform a company about current business practices that might need adjustment or about employees whose attitudes need an even bigger adjustment. Companies use this feedback to improve the overall customer experience.

If you would like to mystery shop you have to be prepared to write a small evaluation report or complete a survey that grades the level of customer service you received from your client companies. In regards to that, you better have a decent memory and pay good attention to detail. You're probably not going to be allowed on the job with a laptop or a giant note pad and pencil. You will have to leave your, "I'm a Paid Mystery Shopper" t-shirt at home as well. Remember, as a mystery shopper, you are going in undercover.

You have several ways to get assignments:

1. Free lists of companies that hire mystery shoppers: You and everyone's uncle is going to apply for the same limited jobs because everyone else has the list. Good luck getting a call back.

2. Go business to business and offer your services: But be prepared for rejection, an empty gas tank, and sore feet.

3. Sign up with a professional mystery shopping referral company: The jobs come to you. Easily the best way to get assignments.

Mystery shopping is still a developing field but more and more companies are reaping the benefits of improved customer service through mystery shopping programs. Most mystery shoppers do it on the side for fun, free stuff, and supplemental income. Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to get out there and sign up with as many mystery shopping companies as you can afford. This message will self destruct in five seconds (not really).

Copyright © 2005 Jon Castle

Resource box: We are each a single drop of rain strafed by the wind to merge with other droplets and thereby form an ocean. For unconventional home business wisdom, home business opportunities, and more please visit Jon Castle's website, http://www.AmericanHouseDad.com.

Contact the author

Become a paid mystery shopper

The Affiliate Business Blueprint Affiliate Program "Tool Box"

2005-12-19T02:14:00.000-08:00

The Secret to A Steady Income Online Without Creating Your Own Product

Niche Marketing - How to Contact Your Audience

2005-12-18T09:53:00.000-08:00

Author: Mike Law

Whether you are following the advice of top Internet Marketers or if you just happened to have a business that caters to a very specific target audience, you must be able to find them, and they must be able to find YOU.

One of the joys of niche marketing is the luxury of tapping into a favorite hobby, occupation or expertise and building a business around it.

If you are expanding an existing off-line business by setting up a webpage you may find your most valuable contacts right in your store. Make some brochures or cards that announce your online presence, or ask customers if they'd like to sign up for your online newsletter.

Now you can contact your customers about new products, industry news or specials with no postage costs or time consuming envelope stuffing.

Invite your subscribers to recommend the site to friends who are interested in the topic. Even better, have a place on your website to 'tell a friend'. Your visitor will enter their own e-mail address and name as the sender of the message to avoid spam complaints. Warning - do not start emailing the invitee unless they sign up personally for your newsletter.

Niche sites will really benefit from a newsletter. Create a small free gift, such as a special report or how-to manual that they will receive with their subscription. By providing valuable information related to your topic you will gain the trust of subscribers. By contacting them at least several times a year - up to once a week if possible - they will always be reminded of your website when looking for information or products in your niche.

Create a website that has informative content. Incorporate the keywords (words or phrases visitors type into their search engines) into the content to improve your place in the search engines.

Write articles that will set you up as an 'industry expert'. If you don't feel capable of writing them yourself you can hire a ghostwriter. End the article with your name, a comment about your business and a link to your website. Submit your article to relevant websites or ask if website owners would like to use your contribution. Be sure they agree to keep your name and website link intact.

You may find discussion groups that cater to your market. Involve yourself in their conversations and attach a signature with your website address if the policies permit. Do not advertise on these groups, however you may be able to offer your free item when the situation allows.

Try to determine where your market is. Are they parents? Retirees? Home owners? Pet lovers? If you are selling art supplies you may find hobby sites will cater to your audience. If you sell information for do-it-yourself projects you should show up in home decorating as well as financial sites ('Save Money on Home Building Projects!' for example).

Always look for new opportunities and offer your best, the rest will follow!

Copyright 2005 Mike Law

About the Author:

Bought to you by http://www.wealthontap.com/
Work at home opportunities and Internet marketing tips and tricks. Learn how to make money from the comfort of your own home and receive complete mentoring to fully maximize your earning potential.

10 Key Strategies For Success In A Home Based Business

2005-12-18T09:43:00.000-08:00

When you finally decide to work from home in an Internet based business, you will need to follow certain steps to be successful.

Following are the basic steps in setting up for home business success.

1. Attitude

This is the key to your business.

Treat your business like a business.

This is critical no matter if you work part or full-time. One of my friends is a work at home mom. She has always put her family first whilst at the same time developing her business. She says, "I work part-time, but I have a full-time attitude."

Put another way, "If you have a hobby attitude you will have a hobby income, if you have a business attitude you will have a business income."

You can be successful working part-time and you can be successful working full-time but it is highly unlikely that you will be successful working in your "spare time".

2. Working Environment

A space that you can call your own, free from distractions for your scheduled time.

A comfortable chair and organized desk. Stationery supplies as required. For example:

- pens
- highlighters
- stapler
- hole punch
- sticky tape
- note book(s)
- a simple filing system
- ring binders
- manilla folders

Consider the value of a broadband connection. Your time is valuable and a broadband connection can allow you to get more done in a given time frame.

3. Schedule

Develop a schedule that works for you, your family (or "significant others") and your business. When you allot a block of time for work then use that time for work. Equally important is to schedule time for your other commitments - family time, self education ( reading, listening and viewing), "health time" (exercise, cooking and eating), and leisure time. During these other times don't work. After all if one of the reasons to work from home is to spend more time with your family then you don't want your working at home time to consume your family time.

You are working for yourself and your schedule (by your choice) is your "boss". When you have people calling you or dropping around unexpectedly or maybe out-of-town visitors may want to catch up with you then you need to make a choice. Are you committed to your own business success? What will be your choice in these situations? Only you can decide what is important to you.

In a family environment you may need to negotiate with your partner and children to have your business time agreed upon, during which you will not be interrupted. Put this schedule prominently somewhere so all family members are aware of your work schedule.

4. Describe Your Business

Be able to describe your business concisely; a powerful one or two sentence description that someone can repeat in describing your business to others. A unique and memorable tag line can also be invaluable for promoting your business.

5. Know Your Product or Service

Once you have selected your product or service to sell, it may or may not be something that you use yourself but you need to know your product intimately. If you are selling ebooks then know the content and its value. If you are selling software then use it know it "inside out". You will develop a reputation of providing quality information and because of your product knowledge you can become the preferred supplier.

It is not practical to use certain products (for example a woman may choose to sell man's shoes or vice versa) in which case the seller won't be a product user, however the seller can still know the benefits and features of the product intimately.

6. Administration

Use good record keeping practices.

This may involve a consultation with a tax advisor who can let you know about the optimal way to set up your financial records and what records need to be kept. Your advisor will also recommend record keeping systems and you can find out what software may simplify this aspect of your business. Additionally your obtain advice on the best arrangement for your bank accounts. You will most likely be advised to have a separate bank account.

You will also need to keep track of your various logins, usernames and passwords. A very handy little software tool for this is Treepad available as either the free Lite version (without password protection) or the commercial Plus or Biz versions. http://www.treepad.com

There are other useful tools for this also from a simple paper notebook to free and commercial password keepers. One popular solution is Roboform that will remember your login details and can automatically fill out your login and other registration forms. http://www.roboform.com

7. Computer Protection

Your computer is the lifeline to your business dealings and must be protected including the data that is stored.

You need a virus scanner, personal firewall, anti-spyware and anti-adware and preferably an email scanner with the ability to delete suspect of spam email from the server before it is downloaded to your computer.

Some suggestions are:

AVG Anti-Virus: http://www.grisoft.com
Spybot S&D: http://www.safer-networking.org
Microsoft Anti-Spyware: www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx Adaware: http://www.lavasoft.com/
Mailwasher Email Scanner: http://www.mailwasher.net

8. A Domain Name

You will most likely need a domain name for your business and one cost effective registrar is GoDaddy, http://www.godaddy.com.

9. Payment Processing

You will need a way to process credit cards; that may be using services such as: - PayPal https://www.paypal.com - Storm Pay http://www.stormpay.com - 2 Checkout http://www.2checkout.com - Clickbank http://www.clickbank.com or others.

This is the most economical way to get started. Once your business picks up you may need to look into your own merchant account for credit card transactions.

Consideration may also be given to other forms of online currency such as eGold http://www.egold.com

10. Email accounts

Once you have your own domain you can use an associated email account. This can further assist in the promotion of your business and promotes a more professional business image.

As a final comment on continuing in your Internet business, conduct your business ethically, provide extraordinary service and be proud to put your name to the products or services that you are selling and you will be on track to developing a sustainable long term Internet business.

Geoffrey Young

About the Author:
Geoffrey Young develops e-marketing solutions for people looking to start a home based business. http://www.CoolJobAtHome.com

Do you need more traffic to your website?

2005-12-16T01:37:00.000-08:00

Who doesn't!

In a recent survey over 91.3% of subscribers said they wanted to know how to get MORE traffic to their websites and their affiliate links. They also said they wanted to know how to get that traffic FAST *and* they didn't want to (or couldn't) pay for it.

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In fact, since you're a subscriber of mine, chances are you've seen this system used several times. You've probably bought one or more ebooks, software, or at the very least clicked an affiliate link either directly or indirectly because of the system.

So what is it?

First let me tell you what it's NOT:

~ It's NOT pay-per-click search engines

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~ It's NOT complicated search engine tactics

~ And no, it's NOT classified ads or banners either

In fact, it's not any crazy traffic "scheme".

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In fact, this system is so effective it gives you an almost unfair advantage over your competitors who are out there spending big bucks to get traffic. You see, it's just like the Pied Piper making them come visit your websites or click your affiliate links... almost against their will.

The great thing about it is it doesn't matter if you have a website or not. Even if the only way you can make money online right now is to promote other people's products as an affiliate, this system will work for you immediately.

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Nitro Tax Helper

2005-12-10T11:54:00.000-08:00

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How To Turn Testimonials Into Traffic

2005-12-10T10:30:00.000-08:00

Testimonials are *very* hypnotic because they can influence the readers to visit your web site without sounding or looking like an ad. People have trained their brains to ignore ads because they usually see hundreds of them everyday.

Most businesses or web sites usually allow the writer of the testimonial to include a small signature file (your little ad) at the end of the testimonial.

People don't associate testimonials with blatant ads, instead, testimonials are seen as a personal and honest recommendation for someone else's product, service, web site, or freebie -- and with no financial gain in giving that recommendation. That's why testimonials can bypass the conscious mind and go straight into the subconscious mind.
How To Turn Testimonials Into Traffic

The Top 10 Ways to Market your Business or Professional Practice

2005-12-10T07:50:00.000-08:00

Every business and professional practice MUST be in the public eye. You need customers! Folks need your goods and services -- it's a mutual alliance for mutual benefit! But if potential clients and customers don't know you exist, or can't find you, you will go bankrupt! They won't benefit from your services, and you won't make any money. So, marketing is a necessity. Advertising is one form of marketing, but it's terribly expensive. Here are the Top 10 alternatives:

1. Contact 5 past customers or referral sources to thank them for their business and ask them to evaluate the quality of your service. Let them know they are the most important part of your research and development program. Listen to their suggestions!

2. Re-do your business cards, brochures or letterhead. Up-date your slogans, be certain your use of colors, textures and headlines is appropriate and represents precisely the image you want to convey. Hire a graphic designer. Don’t skimp on your first impression!

3. Announce a new program, new products, new hours, new personnel or new policies. So long as it is real and improves the quality and level of your service, this is news that customers, clients and the media will want to know about.

4. Attend and participate in networking opportunities. From business open-houses to neighborhood picnics, to greeting people you’ve done business with when you see them around town, always look for ways to remind people of who you are and the services and benefits you provide.

5. Cooperate with other organizations to achieve name and brand recognition you couldn’t achieve on your own. Sponsor a local softball team, join with a radio station to sponsor a contest, or participate in a charity golf tournament. Partnerships can bring huge rewards!

6. Offer a seminar, class or workshop. Local news media will often cover an interesting topic, and it’s a great way to make people aware of your services. Charge little or no admission, have great handouts and materials, and get a crowd together.

7. Use direct mail. Typically, we think of this as "junk mail" going to thousands of people, but more often it’s a matter of using your word processor to write a personal letter to 200 past customers, colleagues, or even competitors. Make it interesting, personal, and remind them of your special niche or unique services. Include a coupon or certificate. Make sure your direct mail is not "junk"!

8. Form an alliance with your suppliers, colleagues or (even) your competitors to offer a "combo" package that neither of you could offer alone and share the marketing expenses. Attorneys and accountants can offer compelling packages. A massage therapist might pair with a Chiropractor, a gym, or a weight-loss program. Who can you team up with?

9. Review everything a potential customer sees or hears when they do business with you. How do you answer your phone? Do your signs needs re-painting, is your lobby attractive and comfortable? Is your desk a mess? Do you take pride in your appearance and take time to make clients comfortable? It’s all in the details!

10. Re-submit your web page to at least 5 search engines this week. Each search engine has it’s own rules and you don’t want to flood them, but it is wise to up-date your listing at least every few months. (And, if you aren’t on the web, well, that’s tip #11)

Phil, Mary, and the Staff at
Resources for Success!™

© Copyright 2003 by Philip E. Humbert. All Rights Reserved. This article may be copied and used in your own newsletter or on your website as long as you include the following information: "Written by Dr. Philip E. Humbert, writer, speaker and success coach. Dr. Humbert has over 300 free articles, tools and resources for your success, including a great newsletter! It's all on his website at: http://www.philiphumbert.com

So, Can You Really Sell eBooks On eBay And Make Cold Hard Cash?

2005-12-10T06:56:00.000-08:00

by Ian David Major

Selling eBooks on eBay, and making any worthwhile profit from doing so, is becoming more and more difficult.

Gone are the days when you could sell someone else's books on eBay, and it's becoming considerably more difficult to sell ebooks that you might have written yourself or via Public Domain Publications.

Many people seem to think that ebooks should be freely available (because so many good ones are)and there are some excellent ebooks for sale on ebay but rarely do they sell for more than a few pennies.

So purchase ebooks from eBay by all means, there's just no money in trying to sell ebooks on eBay.

There's also the problem of who owns the copyright to the ebook you are trying to sell.

This has become so much of a headache that eBay has come up with it's own policy to try and deal with this situation.

HERE'S AN EXCEPT FROM EBAY'S VERO POLICY.

* eBay's Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) Program

* eBay's VeRO Program was developed to facilitate cooperation between eBay and rights owners protecting their intellectual property rights.

* Highlights of the program include:

* Expeditious removal of listings reported to eBay by over 5,000 intellectual property rights owners

* Specific, detailed warnings designed to deter the listing of potentially infringing items before a listing is posted on eBay

* Voluntary daily monitoring and removal by eBay of listings offering potentially counterfeit or otherwise infringing items

* Voluntary daily monitoring and removal by eBay of listings that violate eBay policies designed to prevent the listing of infringing items on eBay

* Ability to save searches and have the results emailed to you through Favorite Searches

* Suspension of repeat offenders

* Continuing efforts to identify and prevent previously suspended users from reregistering for eBay

* Cooperation with rights owners seeking personal information on alleged infringers.

* However, because eBay is not an expert in your intellectual property rights, and cannot verify that sellers have the right to sell the millions of items they post on eBay each day, we need your help in identifying listings which do not appear on their face to infringe your rights.

To read the policy in it's entirety go to:-

http://pages.ebay.com/help/ confidence/ia/protecting_intellectual_property.html

KEEP IT SIMPLE AND STRAIGHTFORWARD

Now there is a way around this that is easier to achieve than most people believe.

The easiest way of making sure that you don't fall foul of eBay's VeRo Policy is:

* Create The Products Yourself

The easiest way of overcoming peoples beliefs that your ebook should be freely availablen is.

* Don't have your ebook look like an ebook!

So when is an ebook not an ebook?

When it is perceived by the visitors to your eBay Sales Page as something else.

For example, if you bundled together your ebook with a printed version of the book, and or an Audio CD or Video DVD, your product would have a much higher perceived value.

SO.

* You create a printed version of your ebook contained in a nicely printed folder.

* You take a digital photograph of the cover of your printed version, surrounded by the audio CD and or Video DVD and use this as your Gallery Picture when you start to create your purchase It Now, eBay auction page.

* You use the same picture or pictures throughout your eBay Auction sales page.

People are used to seeing software generated ebook covers on eBay but by using the above method your product will not be perceived as an ebook.

* In your sales page include the information that the entire package can be digitally downloaded by the customer if they wish.

Do this and you will be one of the very few sellers on eBay using this technique and take my word for it, this technique is very powerful indeed.

Now this might sound like a lot of work or seem over complicated, yet when you come to think of it, most PCs and Laptops come complete with hardware and software for creating Audio CDs and DVDs? and if you don't have this kind of equipment you can get it on eBay relatively cheaply.

SO HOW DO YOU DO IT?

With this technology it is fairly simple to create Audio CDs and Video DVDs.

* You could record or have somebody else record your ebook onto Audio CD or DVD and provide it as an audio product within your product bundle. Many people find it easier to learn by "listening" than by reading.

* If the subject matter of your book included information on how to use a particular type of software for example, you could use a video capture program such as "Camtasia" (http://www.techsmith.com) to capture the sequence of steps that would need to be gone through in order to use the software effectively.

* If your ebook covered a practical subject like gardening for instance you could use a Camcorder to take actual "videos" of the various aspects of gardening, copy them to DVD and make it part of your "bundle". Many people find it easier to learn by "seeing" than by reading or listening.

Remember that your product bundle can be downloaded by your customer (assuming you have set your product up this way) but don't be afraid to provide them with the printed version of your book along with the Audio and Video DVDs if that's what they prefer.

Your ebook presented in this way will represent a much higher value than the traditional way of selling ebooks on eBay and therefore you can ask a much higher price than you would otherwise.

If all this sounds a little daunting to you I suggest that you carry out some research into what you've read here.

More information on how to create Books and Videos to sell on eBay can be found at the end of this article.

SO, CAN YOU REALLY SELL EBOOKS ON EBAY AND MAKE COLD HARD CASH?

Sure you can.

By following the methods described here, selling ebooks on eBay really can pay off Big Time and you wont have broken any of eBay's rules.

------------------------------------------------------------
For more information on how to create Books and Videos to sell on eBay visit:- http://www.ebay-articles.com/ Sell-Books-and-Videos-On-eBay.html
Ian D Major is the creator of www.eBay-Articles.com, the one stop resource for information, reports and articles that will help you use eBay to your best financial advantage.
eBay-Articles are freely available. To subscribe and get Articles, Reports and Bonuses delivered to your inbox weekly, just visit:- http://www.ebay-articles.com

Five Crucial Components Of A Business Plan

2005-12-10T06:51:00.000-08:00

by Cavyl Stewart

The format of a Business Plan is something that has been developed and refined over the years and is something that should not be changed. Like a good recipe, a business plan needs to include certain ingredients to make it work.

When you create a business plan, don’t attempt to recreate its format. Those reviewing this type of document have expectations you must meet. If they do not see those crucial decision-making components, they’ll see no reason to proceed with their review of your business plan, no matter how great your business idea.

Executive Summary Section

Every business plan must begin with an Executive Summary section. A well-written Executive Summary is critical to the success of the rest of the document. Here is where you need to capture the attention of your audience so that they will be compelled to read on. Remember, it’s a summary, so each and every word must be carefully selected and presented.

Use the Executive Summary section of your business plan to accurately describe the nature of your business venture including the need that you plan to fill. Show the reasons why people need your product or service. Show this by including a brief analysis of the characteristics of your potential market.

Describe the organization of your business including your management team. Also, briefly describe your sales and marketing plan or approach. Finally include the numbers that those reviewing your business plan want to see – the amount of capital you seek, the carefully calculated sales projections and your plan to repay the loan.

If you’ve captured your audience so far they’ll read on. Otherwise, they’ll close the document and add your business plan to the heap of other rejected ideas.

Devote the balance of your business plan to providing details of the items outlined in the Executive Summary.

The Business Section

Be sure to include the legal name, physical address and detailed description of the nature of your business. It’s important to keep the description easy to read using common terminology. Never assume that those reading your business plan have the same level of technical knowledge that you do. Describe how you plan to better serve your market than your competition is currently doing.

Market Analysis Section

An analysis of the market shows that you have done your homework. This section is basically a summary of your Marketing Plan. It needs to show the demand for your product or service, the proposed market, trends within the industry, a description of your pricing plan and packaging and a description of your company policies.

Financing Section

The Financing section must show that you are as committed to your business venture as you expect those reading your business plan to be. Show the amount of personal funds you are contributing and their source. Also include the amount of capital you need and your plan to repay this debt. Include all pertinent financial worksheets in this section: annual income projections, a break-even worksheet, projected cash flow statements and a balance sheet.

Management Section

Outline your organizational structure and management team here. Include the legal structure of your business whether it is a partnership, corporation or limited liability corporation. Include resumes and biographies of key players on your management team. Show staffing projection data for the next few years.

By now you’re probably thinking that you don’t need Business Plan just yet. Well you do, and there is business plan building software that can help you through this immense project. These software packages are easy to use and affordable. Use one today and produce a professional-quality Business Plan – including all critical components – tomorrow!

----------------------------------------------------
Copyright © 2005 Cavyl Stewart. Get more software tips, strategies and recommendations to help you create your business plan by signing up for my Exclusive 100% free, 100% original content ecourse: "How To Failure-Proof Your Business Instantly." To sign up please visit: http://www.find-small-business-software.com/ ec_failure_proof_your_business.php

How to Make Your Hobby a Paying Homebased Business

2005-12-09T07:08:00.000-08:00

It's great to have a challenging and interesting hobby such as origami, papier-mâché sculpting, fine art – painting and/or sketching, rockhounding, photography, or jewelry making. It's even more exciting to have a specialty in one of these fields that no one else has, and then to turn your special talents into a successful home-based business. It's gratifying indeed to be able to take two or more of these and combine them into a paying proposition.

That's exactly what Loring Windblad of Sierra Vista, AZ, did.

But these aren't isolated stories. Men and women across the country are joining the ranks of entrepreneurs converting hobbies into moneymaking propositions. It's important to note that none of these women originally planned to start a business. On the contrary, interest by others in their hobbies convinced them to sell their work.

LORING WINDBLAD'S CUSTOM-BUILT COMPUTER BUSINESS

Loring Windblad spent 20 years in the US Army in Electronics, and retired from that position on January 1st, 1976. But in the course of those 20 years additional skills were picked up including teaching (electronics), typing (over 100 wpm), general writing and technical writing (electronics and communications, lesson plans, etc), photography and even SCUBA diving.

Years and miles later (read on below, also) found Loring in Canada playing in a major bridge tournament but also renewing acquaintance with his first love, whom he met in 1952. Strange things happened and they got married in June of 1990 and began their own business in July of 1990. The business took on a form of its own, evolving from humble beginnings into a Desktop Publishing and Graphic Design endeavor by September, when they purchased their own computer – and landed their first big job starting October 1st.

That same Friday night, September 30th, was portentous in several ways. Loring played his baseball games for his computer baseball league and then shut the computer down at midnight and went to bed. When the computer was turned on at 8 am to start the new job, nothing happened. Dead. No computer working. Obviously a dead power supply? No? Actually yes. The computer was two weeks old, under total warranty, but nothing could be done warranty wise over the weekend. So Loring called around to every computer business in the area and found one open on a Saturday morning, drove there, found a power supply that looked exactly like the one in the computer at home, made a deal to "rent it" for a week until a replacement could be gotten on warranty, took it home and put it in the computer.

It worked! The job began, a few hours late but on the day it was supposed to begin. And a new career was launched, even though we didn't know it at the time.

Calling upon his 20 years of experience plus lots of long talks with the Custom Computer Builder who had sold them their first computer, Loring slowly learned about computers and how to build them. Then, in 1992, a friend of a friend wanted a new computer. Loring "custom built" a computer for him, a brand new 486 CPU "screamer" type. The client was well satisfied. Time passed. Friends later in the year wanted computers, so Loring built them new computers. By 1994 Loring was building 5-6 custom computers a month, most months, in the "high profit" days of computers when they paid $400 or more profit per computer.

One of the biggest things was finding wholesale suppliers for a new computer builder to purchase quality components from. With a little help from their original computer salesman, i.e., making careful notes on everything he told them, June and Loring developed a list of possible suppliers, then applied for re-seller status. And sure, there were periods when no computers were sold as well as months when 6-8 were sold. It was obviously a struggle, but a good one.

Networking became a way of life. June joined all the women's networking groups and Loring joined all the missed networking groups. Both made presentations and work came in, both desktop publishing and new computers. From 1995 to 1998 Loring sold an average of 25-30 computers a year. However, by 1998 the profit margin was falling out of computers, the days of $400 were gone. By 1999 the margin was down to $100 a computer and when you are servicing a computer for 3 years warranty service on a total of $100 it starts getting pretty old pretty quick.

The sales kept up for a while, but by 2001 new technology, low profits and pending retirement for June and Loring caused a re-think of priorities. By the end of 2002 building custom computers was a thing of the past and a new era of life – retirement – was upon us. But the trip to and through building computers has been a fascinating one.

LORING WINDBLAD'S PHOTOGRAPHY VENTURE

Way back when Loring first met June he learned that June knew how to not only take pictures but to develop and print those pictures in her basement darkroom. Never one to take a back seat when he could be learning something new, when Loring a few years later went to Vietnam in the Army he took up photography, including learning how to develop and print his photographs. This was 1965 to 1967. And in 1966 Loring helped to establish and run the unit photo hobby shop in Vietnam.

When Loring returned to the US he became an electronics instructor at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, and he quickly made contact with the Post Photo Hobby Shop and got a part time job, thus learning more about photography for himself but also helping to teach others the fine art of photography.

Loring's next posting was to Panama where he continued with the local Post Photo Hobby Shop as a Photo and Color Printing Instructor for 2 ½ years, and also picking up work as a free-lance photographer. Loring soon began photographing such things as kids visiting with Santa, then developing and printing and delivering the photos, Then action work such as youth Karate matches, Pop Warner football games, Little League baseball games, and both team and individual photos. And, of course, weddings. All these photo endeavors paid surprisingly well, and Loring was soon not only very busy but making enough money to more than support his photography needs. And teaching helped keep Loring up with everything in the photography field so soon everyone with a question about cameras and photography was coming to him.

Being around military bases there was always opportunity for youth sporting event photography. And wedding photography. From 1970 thru about 1977 Loring did a pretty brisk business in photography, made a lot of friends and took a lot of pictures. And made a pretty good "extra income" that not only paid for all his cameras and supplies but provided a lot of extra money supplementing his income.

But it was hard work and long hours and Loring's son, silver smithing and rockhounding were getting in the way. The transition was made leaving photography behind and embracing a new business – jewelry making and silver smithing.

LORING WINDBLAD'S SILVER-SMITHING BONANZA

Loring was always a rock collector. This gave him an eye for rocks that were different everywhere he went. As a soldier in the US Army he managed to live in France for four years, Panama for five years, and Southeast Asia (Vietnam) for 2 years, as well as extensive periods from coast to coast across the United States including California, Georgia, New Jersey, Kansas and Arizona.

Loring was divorced while he was in Vietnam when his son was three. Eight years later, in August of 1975, his ex- called and said, "I can't handle your son any more. You've got to take him!" Without getting into gory details…."Well, ok", and his son came to Arizona to live with him.

Loring, Jr., was an excellent artist and got straight A's in art in school. He was now in a new environment and Windy, as a way of keeping his son's interest up in the arts and new things, began taking Jr. and his friends out on camping and sightseeing trips in the Arizona desert. Loring also was taking Geology courses with the local Junior College, and began imparting that knowledge to his son and his son's friends while on their outings in the desert and mountain country of SE Arizona, the Basin and Range country.

Rockhounding gave the desert jaunts with his son extra meaning. Identification of various kinds of rocks and geological formations soon were followed with explorations of the old turquoise mines and an education in the copper-related gemstones of turquoise, malachite, azurite and chrisocolla. Use of the Army's lapidary hobby shop led to cutting slabs of the stones, revealing hidden patterns, then cutting the stone slabs into cabochons enhancing the pattern intricacies.

What are cabochons without jewelry? Silver smithing classes followed and then Junior turned his cabochons into some jewelry pieces for his mother and sister. Then came wax carving and lost wax casting, running the full gamut of classes and skills available. In order to keep expenses down Windy located wholesale outlets which supplied him with components to assemble jewelry such as chains, pendants, findings, etc.

After two years, Junior decided it was time to move back with his mother and Windy was left with all sorts time, of jewelry skills and pieces of original jewelry building up, some pieces rather unique. He turned to the local flea market and soon established himself as a regular jewelry maker, attending almost every weekend. Sales increased, and soon Windy began his jewelry business, The Stonewerkes, Southwest Originals in Wood and Stone. He was attending weekend flea markets and Art in the Park and Craft shows all over Arizona to sell his products. And he built up a chain of 8 businesses in two states which also handled his jewelry on consignment.

Loring actually took his "rockhounding" hobby turned jewelry business a large step further. He subscribed to all the commercial and trade magazines as well, and then combined his talents as a photographer and as a writer, photographed his silver smithing and lapidary projects, wrote photo-journalism articles on "how to" silver smithing projects and then sold them to the magazines.

Loring says "You never know when what you do as a hobby can end up being a very profitable business. Over the past 40 years I have had the rare pleasure of turning three hobbies into professions: photography, electronics and now rockhounding. And using other skills such as technical writing and typing in those endeavors. From humble beginnings…."

Copyright © 2004 http://www.organicgreens.us and Loring Windblad

About Loring: Loring Windblad is a published author, columnist, freelance writer and successful HBB entrepreneur over the past 40 years. His latest HBB involvement is with Organic Greens.
http://www.organicgreens.us
Contact the author

How to Use Pay per Click Ads Without Ruining Yourself

2005-12-09T07:06:00.000-08:00

by Torgeir Sunnarvik

Pay Per Click Ads may seem to be a very expensive way of selling your products. But if it's done the right way, it can be a money making machine on auto-pilot.

Let's say that you have bought one of the many ebooks with reprint rights that you can find online. Then you use the tools that you receive with the ebook to set up your own web page on your own domain. It's very easy and often done in just one hour or two.

After your sales page is online and you have checked that everything is working fine, you should go to Overture and open an account. Then you start to make your keyword list. For that you can use Overture's own keyword tool. It's quite good because you can see how many times each keyword has been searched for the previous month. That gives you a clue of how popular the keyword is, and it predicts how many clicks you can get for that keyword.

When you search for keywords you should first look at your sales page, for words that are relevant for the product that you are promoting. Write all the words down or save them in a txt file. You can also put in spelling mistakes in these keywords. There are always a lot of searches with spelling mistakes. And these keywords have often no bids. This site offer a tool to find spelling mistakes: http://www.seochat.com/seo-tools/keyword-typo-generator/

Now it's time to put all the words into Overture's keyword tool. If you use the tools that are available when signing up for an account, you should be able to see how high the bids are for each keyword.

The words that have the highest number of searches are most likely to have the highest bids, too. I have seen keywords that have bids for $40 and even higher for each click. What you want to find are the keywords that have high searches and low bids. If you are lucky you can find words that have no bids on them yet. Then you have the opportunity to have your ad on the first position for only $0,10 per click. This is the lowest bid on Overture. The minimum bid per click can vary among the companies that offer pay per click ads.

By the way, that amount is what you should bid on all your keywords. Try to find as many keywords as possible. It's better to have 5000 keywords that you have low bids on, than to have a few keywords with higher bids. That way, you will have a better chance to earn money.

Remember that you get 1000 visitors for $100 if you bid only $0,10 per click. So, if you are selling a product that costs $25, and you sell around one unit per 100 visitors, you will have earned $250 after getting 1000 visitors to your website. You will have earned $250 for every $100 spent on your keyword ad campaign.

You should also think about saving money when you write your ad. Don't try to lure people into click your ad by writing about free offers or any hype of that kind. You might get a lot of visitors that way, but they will leave your site when they see that they have to pay for your product. They are only using up your money without helping you to make a single sale.

Instead you should write exactly what you are offering, and what price you are asking for the product. That way you are getting targeted visitors that know they have to pay the price you set in the ad in order to get the product you are offering. To top it off, you can offer them a test drive. If it's an ebook you can put one chapter of it onto a auto responder in 5-7 emails. Then send the messages once a day to the people who sign up for the test drive.

Now you can sit back and see what results you get. Let the ad go for a month and see how many clicks it takes before anyone buys from you. If it's not bringing back enough money, you should try to figure out what's wrong. Is it the ad or is it your web page? Anyway, try to fix it and let the ad go for another month. When you have a reasonable return of investment (ROI), it's time to let the ad continue its run, without any more work on your part. Now, your ad is running on auto pilot. Just remember to check it once a month to see if the ROI is dropping. If it's not bringing in enough money, you can then find another product, and do the same thing all over again.

Copyright © 2005 Torgeir Sunnarvik, Norway

About Torgeir: Torgeir Sunnarvik is the owner and webmaster of http://www.everypleasures.com/. His site offers free downloadable ebooks, ebooks with resell rights.

Tax Advantages of a Home Based Business

2005-12-09T06:22:00.000-08:00

by Loring A. Windblad

You ask, "Okay, I'm starting a small homebased business, not a huge million dollar International Conglomerate! But should I incorporate or keep it a proprietorship?" Actually, there are arguments in favor of either decision. This argument will be in favor of the proprietorship.

The first thing is that you need to know there is a totally different set of laws, regulations and tax law that governs proprietorships and corporations. And for the small business entrepreneur the tax advantages offered during the first 5 years are enormous. After 5 years you are expected to begin showing a profit but this is not necessarily "written in stone". Let's take a closer look at some of the advantages of a proprietorship.

If I were to show you how a one-time $439 USD investment could gain you from $1000 to $2500 in tax refunds and write offs per year would you be interested in learning more? Okay, here goes.

If you are a blue or white collar worker, a doctor, lawyer or other professional, can you write off on your taxes the gas and other travel and parking expenses you accumulate driving to and from work? Your lunch expenses? Your home office? Travel and vacations? Any part of your household utilities expenses?

The answer is NO - you cannot write these expenses off your income tax.

If you start a business, a proprietorship, working out of your home, call it "your name consulting" or whatever seems to fit best, you are now able to write off all of the following:

Automobile mileage
Gasoline
Other car maintenance
% of automobile depreciation*
Home office (as a % of your home)
% of home utilities expenses
& of your home telephone bill
Entertainment expenses
Vacation expenses
Meals
*100% of a Leased Car
And more, these are just the bigger ones.

There are, of course, conditions. You cannot go on vacation and simply "write off" all of your vacation expenses. You must "share the information" about your product or service with others while you are on vacation --- more than just "passing out business cards --- and you must also keep records of every contact you make. This will also help you with follow-ups.

These contacts, with whom you are sharing the details of your business service or product, are the contacts that will validate your write off. You should have at least two a day while on vacation. Who? The barber, your golfing partners, beautician, people you meet in the store or casually just about anywhere? All you have to do is talk to people, share your information and you have succeeded. You will be surprised, also, by how many will want to join you? But you must keep records of these contacts.

The same goes for your gasoline, insurance, depreciation and repairs and maintenance write-offs. You must keep accurate records of mileage. Your start mileage, destination(s), people contacted or business conducted, and finish mileage. Then, at the end of the year, you need to compute what percentage of your automobile use (based upon business and total mileage) was business. That is the percentage of total automobile expenses you are able to write off.

For the telephone you have a different situation altogether. You must get a business line. This can be accomplished one of two ways. Either by a cell phone or by a second phone line installed. There are several arguments for both but the most telling one is the convenience of the cell phone. With a separate "business phone" you are able to write off the entire expense.

But with the cell phone you must keep track of all personal calls. The advantage of the cell phone is that you have it with you and can advise your clients that you are on the way, running late because, etc. And keep in touch with your home base while you are out and pick up any messages which may have been left at your home number.

This applies, also, to your home. You are allowed to write off all home expenses in the amount that your business office at home is a percentage of your total home space. So if your home is 2000 sq. ft., and your office is 200 sq. ft., you may write off 10 percent of your total household expenses. This includes rent or mortgage payment and all utilities.

If you keep your meticulous records, take your "working vacation" every year and "do your business" all the time, you stand to save from $1000 to $2500 on your income taxes every year, for at least the first 5 years.

If you can start your business for under $1000, and keep your business going for under $1000 a year, you are in a plus situation where your business is actually making you a profit --- even though it is technically a loss --- every year for at least the first five years.

Copyright © 2004 Windy Dawn Marketing and Windy Windblad

About the author: Loring Windblad is a published author, columnist, freelance writer and successful HBB entrepreneur over the past 40 years. His latest HBB involvement is with Organic Greens. http://www.organicgreens.us.

Wealth: A Dream Or A Will?

2005-12-08T15:14:00.000-08:00

By: Gabrielle Guichard

Do you dream of getting rich or do you want to be rich?

There is nothing wrong in dreaming of getting rich; except that you will get the dream, not the real thing.

There are three steps to wealth. I am reaching only the first one (so far), and I will speak only about what I know.

The first step to getting rich? A family income of $50.000. It may be more or less, depending on your location.

Why is it the first step? Because from that point you will be able to invest money, that is to say: to make money work for you. Until then, you have to work for money.

Work? Yes! Do not tell yourself anything you would not tell your kids. You know that people who get a degree, or higher diplomas, earn more than people who have never attended college, and more than people who went to college but failed to graduate. There is a lot at stake for you to stay at an elementary level and keep saying: "I know X who was a failure at school and nevertheless he has made it!" The lazy path provides 99.99% of its lovers with debts and broken dreams. The few who actually succeed struggle for 30 years. It would have taken less time and efforts to follow any course!

Choose carefully the domain of knowledge you want to master. It has to meet 3 requirements:

-- You like it. If you cannot stand the idea of meeting the critically ill all day long, drop studying medicine, even if a cancer specialist earns a lot. You do not want to be rich to afford antidepressants.

-- It is of high demand in growing companies: for you to grow as high and quick as the company.

-- Either it is difficult to master or it can be blended with other specialized scope of activities: the narrower the niche, the higher the income.

Avoid the mistake I have made for years: do not work for almost nothing for the only reason that you like what you do. I liked to teach, was a good teacher and knew nothing about the other two requirements. I still like to teach, and I still am a good teacher. The very difference is that now I teach adults who are craving to learn French because they do have a project: to reach the first step of wealth. In their case, they need to master French and to blend it in their specialized scope of activity.

And you? What are you going to choose? Mining and Chinese? Refining and Arabic? Art History and Italian?

The first choice is rather simple: to dream of getting rich or to want to be rich.

About the Author: Gabrielle Guichard is a French teacher who helps you to learn French online on http://www.HowToPronounceFrench.com

21 Hot Niche Minisite Profit Ideas

2005-12-08T00:06:00.000-08:00

by: Dr. Mani Sivasubramanian

How To Use The Power Of HOT 'In-Demand' Niches To INSTANTLY Get More New Business Than You Can Handle!

Everyone's talking about profiting from "Niche Marketing" - but no one's telling you exactly HOW to do it! Now you'll discover how to tap the incredible wealth lying hidden in hot, in-demand niches - in 21 different ways.

Idea #1 - SELL AD SPACE

When you build a website around a niche - a 'niche minisite' - you'll attract a very specific audience to it. Advertisers and marketers will pay a premium to place their ads in front of this viewership if it is targeted to their needs. Selling ad space - at much higher price than generic run-of-the-mill ad space - is a proven strategy to profit from niches.

Idea #2 - POST PAY-PER-CLICK ADS

Pay-per-Click (or PPC) ads are ones where you, the niche minisite owner, get paid whenever anyone clicks on them. By placing targeted PPC ads on your niche website, you'll find it easy to get enough clicks from visitors to make a tidy profit. Two new services make it easy for you to get started:

* Google Adsense - http://www.Google.com/adsense/
* SearchFeed - http://www.SearchFeed.com

Idea #3 - SELL BOOKS, CDs & DVDs

The Web is an information-centric medium. People reach your niche minisite in 'research mode'. And by directing them to resources offering more information, you can sell them many different products. Books, CDs, DVDs and videos are just some of the many information products you can sell to visitors - and earn a profit.

Idea #4 - SELL PICTURES AND POSTERS

If you build a niche minisite around a visually appealing theme, you could offer extra value to your visitors by providing links to places they can buy pictures or posters. Niche marketing attracts passionately enthusiastic prospects who want all they can find on a particular topic. Give it to them - and you've built a very lucrative business!

A great resource to find posters and pictures on a variety of topics is AllPosters.com

Idea #5 - BUILD YOUR LIST

You've heard it before - "The Power Is In Your LIST".

Building your own in-house list of targeted prospects becomes incredibly effective when you apply intelligent niche marketing. Offer something of interest to your audience - an ebook, a set of tips, a collection of articles, an audio or video tape, a poster, book, anything at all. Promise to give them more of the same.

In return, ask them to share their contact details - email, phone number, address. Over time, you'll build a big list of prospects, all interested in the subject of your niche minisite.

Idea #5 - GIVE AWAY SAMPLES OR TRIAL COPIES

Niche minisites are a great way to 'trial market' a new product or service. You could offer your visitors a sample or review copies of your new release, in return for feedback, a testimonial, or any other service. It's an easy, inexpensive, low risk method to test your product's impact in the marketplace.

Idea #6 - SELL YOUR OWN PRODUCT

One of the highest profit systems for niche minisite marketing is to sell your own product or service through it. Build a niche website around your product, and offer it for sale to visitors. Or focus your niche minisite around a problem, mention how your product solves it... And then sell it to them!

Idea #7 - SELL A SERVICE

Niche minisites designed around a theme can promote services - your own or someone else's. You could use a direct selling model, or a 'softer' approach where your site subtly highlights the benefits of ordering the service.

Idea #8 - SELL NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIPTIONS

Can you create regularly updated content which your target audience perceives to be high value? Then you can sell newsletter subscriptions to your niche minisite visitors and profit from this content.

Has this whet your apetite for more niche minisite marketing ideas? You can get the other 13 ideas by sending any email to nicheideas@EzineMarketingCenter.com

All success,

Dr.Mani Sivasubramanian
Build YOUR Niche Minisites NOW...
http://www.InstantNicheMinisites.com

About The Author

Dr. Mani Sivasubramanian has been building profitable niche minisites since 1998. He recently launched "INSTANT NICHE MINISITES" - a Web-based tool you can use to 'point-and-click' your way to creating niche marketing websites.
http://www.InstantNicheMinisites.com

Unique Niche Markets

2005-12-08T00:02:00.000-08:00

by: Dan Brown

1. Your niche could be that you offer free delivery. This may cost a little money, but, you will gain the extra customers to make up for it.

2. Your niche could be that you offer a lower price. If you can't afford to offer a lower price you could always hold the occasional discount sale.

3. Your niche could be that your product achieves results faster. This niche is very effective because people are becoming more and more impatient and want results fast.

4. Your niche could be you've been in business for a longer period of time. People think if you've been in business longer you have more credibility.

5. Your niche could be that your product tastes, smells sounds, looks, or feels better. When you target the the senses you're triggering basic human attractions.

6. Your niche could be your product is light or compact. People may want to take the product on a trip or don't have much room where they live.

7. Your niche could be that you've won a business reward. When you win a reward tell your customers or visitors about it. This increases their trust in your business.

8. Your niche could be that your product lasts longer. People don't like taking the time and spending more money buying replacement products all the time.

9. Your niche could be that your product is easy to use. People don't want to buy a product that they have to read a 200 page hard-to-understand instruction manual.

10. You niche could be that your product has better safety features. People want to feel safe when they use your products.

11. Your niche could be that your product was made by hand. Most people believe that products made by hand have better quality.

12. Your niche could be that you stand behind all your products. People want to know that you back- up any claims you make about your product with either guarantees, warrantees and free replacements.

About The Author

Dan Brown has been active in internet marketing for the past 4 years. Dan currently is working with the Zabang search engine introducing their new affiliate program which is due out Nov, 2005. http://www.zabangaffiliate.com/

danapoint@gmail.com

How To Easily Make A Fortune From "Niche" Markets!

2005-12-07T23:45:00.000-08:00

by: Bryan Kumar

I knew this day would come...

...the day when most of the "how-to marketing" crowd would be forced to find other niches in order to survive. Those who saw the signs early on and were smart enough to find their own niches, went on to create small fortunes in the process - usually with just a single product. And now it's your turn...to stake your claim, to grab your share of the online fortune...

If you knew today that you could easily find your own niche with very little competition, make a lot of money selling to it, and maybe even become the leader of that niche, would you do it? I hope you said "yes" because that's what this report is about...

Niche marketing is not a new concept. It's been around for almost forever. Those who picked the right niches and ran with it have done very well. Most new comers to the marketing scene make a big mistake...they tend to start by selling "how-to market" products simply because they see everyone else doing it. And while there still is money to be made in the "how-to market" area, it's not nearly as easy as it was just a few years ago. These days, the competition is fierce and growing fast!

If you are just starting out, or even if you have been trying to sell marketing-related products for a while, you will find that it is much easier to achieve success promoting products in other "special-interest" categories.

And, even if you are doing well with marketing-related products right now, I'd still advice you to find other hot untapped niches and work on building that right away.

Instead of struggling to sell to a market that's highly competitive, why not pick hot niches that have little competition, and rule those niches! Can you imagine the income potential hidden within those untapped niche markets?

Finding Your Niche

When trying to figure out which niche to go after, the questions you want to ask yourself are...

What do I love to do the most? What am I most passionate about in life?

What subjects do I have strong emotional feeling towards?

What am I naturally good at or have an instinct for? (Provided it's something you enjoy doing!)

If I were to wake up in the morning and choose to do one thing, what would that be?

What would express my creative intention and bring out the best in me while doing it?

How can I benefit myself and others if I were to express my creative intention?

To some, the answers may come very easily. And for some of us, it may require a little bit of soul-searching and self-discovery to get there.

If you're having a hard time finding the answers, just get your mind going in that general direction by pondering on the above questions, especially before you go to bed at night (and until you fall asleep.) The power of focus is such that it will get your mind working in the background (while you're sleeping) to bring the answers to you.

For now, you can simply start by asking...

"What are my favorite hobbies, interests, activities, etc."

Or...

"What are some things I don't know yet but have a burning desire to learn more about?"

Start a list and add all your favorites to it.

Turning Problems into Opportunities

Realize that it's not just your passions, hobbies, and interests you should be taking note of. Also take a closer look at your biggest problems and challenges. You see, life has an interesting way of trying to put us onto the right path...if we would only stop and pay attention. Often times, the major problems and challenges in our lives arise only to direct us, to nudge us towards the right path, the path that we're supposed to be traveling on. Yet many of us get so wrapped up in the problem itself that we're constantly fighting and pushing away while never being able to see what it's trying to tell us.

Many of your greatest pains and challenges are simply opportunities in disguise. Some of our greatest inventions came out of problems and challenges the inventors were having in their lives. They decided to focus on the solution instead of giving all their energy and thought to the problem. During the great depression, while most people were suffering and going through tough times, others found ways to "solve problems" and then helped others cope with those problems. They became very rich in the process.

You can do the same today. Start looking for the answers and solutions to those major problems/challenges in your life. If no one else has yet provided an effective solution to the problem, you may just be the person to do it. Problems are everywhere you look, on every corner you turn. Just look around you. People are miserable, they're irritable, they're mad! Often times, one of the problems you're having in your life is also something that many others are having as well. Find the solution to it and become the expert that everyone else will look to for answers.

The best way to become rich is to create value in others' lives. Start with your own problems and find ways to make others' lives easier. Open their eyes to what's really going on around them, offer solutions to their problems. In return, they will reward you with money!

The Most Popular Subjects

If you're still having a hard time trying to figure out which niche market to go into, continue to do the 'focusing' exercise given earlier, and then, take a look at this...

Here's a list of some of the most popular subjects people are paying for...

Dating, Seduction, Sex Advice, Relationships

Losing weight, gaining muscle, looking more attractive

Health & fitness, cures/reliefs from specific diseases & ailments

Spying, online privacy and security

Safety, personal security, and protection of self and loved ones (self defense, home security, scam prevention, etc.)

How to use computers and the Internet

Mental influence, persuasion, and dominance

General self-help, self improvement, personal development, and success

Hobbies and special interests: cooking, magic, UFO's, metaphysics, becoming more competitive in sports, activities, etc.

Making money, aside from marketing information: investing, stock market, futures trading, real estate tips, and other related financial information

And of course, having more control and freedom in their lives!

People are always looking to improve themselves or some area of their lives. They are always trying to find solutions to problems. There are sites catering to some of the above categories that are already generating thousands of dollars every month. I have personally sold products on some of the above categories and done very well. Yet, we haven't even begun to tap the true profit potential in these areas yet because there's very little competition in most of these areas, especially when compared to the "how-to marketing" area! The potential to make money from the above special-interest categories is huge - and it's wide open!

Moreover, as more and more people get accustomed to buying digital products, you can easily imagine making insane amounts of money through these topics well into the future. You could pick any one of the above subjects that you personally have an interest in and run with it. In fact, there's no law stating that you have to pick just one subject! If you're interested in more than one of the above subjects, you can offer products in several categories.

Oh, by the way, you don't have to stick to the same niche all your life either. If you decide later on that you want to shift your focus towards something else that you're a lot more interested in, you can easily do so! Remember that you're never stuck! Just as you're not stuck in the 'marketing' products area right now. You have the power of choice! You can do what makes you happy! Isn't that how life should be?

While I've given you a very useful list of categories above to pick from, remember that the secret to niche marketing success starts with picking something you are personally interested in or curious about! You can always do some research and find out if you can make money from the subject you chose. (Just go to yahoo.com or amazon.com to find out how popular your subject is.) But you have to start by picking what you are interested in.

Creating Your Product

I am always telling people to get into the online "information selling" business. It offers the highest profit margins and the least amount of production work. Even if you have a business that deals with tangible products or a service, you can still create a short informational report on the subject and spread it out to a lot of people very quickly.

Your main goal is to get your informational product out there fast and to as many people as possible.

The best way to do this is to offer a short, low-cost front-end informational product.

It is much easier to get someone to buy a product that's under $20 verses a product that's over $50, especially if that person has never done business with you before.

In other words, get them to take a small step to start with (i.e. purchasing a lowcost product.) Then, continue to get them to take bigger and bigger steps towards the desired outcome. Once you start building a customer base, you can sell whatever related product to them that you want, including products that are much larger and have much higher price tags.

So...after you have decided on a subject, use your existing knowledge bank or read up on the subject…and start creating your product!

If you don't know how to put the book together or which sections/chapters to include, just go to the library and look at some books on the subject. You can also look for existing reports and articles online on the subject to get some ideas.

Getting Your Product Out There

When your product is ready, create a one page sales letter highlighting the juiciest benefits of the product. Get a domain name and get a webhost to host your site. (I use this site: http://www.prodesk.com/hosting/ They also offer an opportunity to get your site hosted for free)

Next, get set up to accept credit cards! This is very important. (I use clickbank Clickbank to process my credit card and online check orders.)

Then, test the sales letter cheaply (without spending too much), and then start a massive marketing assault!

Use the best, most effective, and most high-leverage techniques available to you, and don't hold back!

You could run a massive publicity assault and become the king of your niche in a very short period of time!

Pick up the phone and start calling every radio station and newspaper publisher in your area. Radio stations especially are always looking to fill up time with guest speakers. You can be the "expert" they're looking for to talk to, about your favorite subject! It's an easy way to reach thousands of potential customers.

You can find other business owners in related markets (not directly in competition with you) and form joint ventures with them. Offer them a good percentage of the profits in exchange for them endorsing your product to their existing customers.

Remember...those who take action get to enjoy the results. Those who don't want to take action will make all kinds of excuses to justify their inaction..."The product already exists" or "There's too much competition" etc.

The doer simply gets on the phone, calls radio stations, strikes up deals with other marketers and never looks back!

Speed Up the Process!

Creating a short informational product is not difficult. You can create one in under a month - sometimes within a week! The website design, graphics, and sales page can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks to complete.

You can usually have everything done within a few weeks.

However...to really speed up the process, just find an existing quality product and purchase the resell rights to it. The resell rights usually come packaged with the appropriate web site graphics and sales page. This can save you a lot of time and have you making money immediately, since a lot of the work is done for you.

All you have to do is put the files up on your site and start your marketing assault.

You can also create your own products in the background while you're making money with the reseller product, so you don't waste any time.

My 'special-interest' site at http://www.about-secrets.com is designed to do just that.

The reason these products sell so well is because they appeal to people's sense of "curiosity" - human beings are curious creatures. And they love "secrets!" My entire site is built around that theme. It offers them "secrets" along with solutions!

You can take any of these products (or several of them) and be just as successful. In fact, you can be much more successful with them since I don't push them nearly as hard as I could.

Final Thoughts...

Well, there you have it...a simple yet powerful plan to pick a niche and turn it into your own personal fortune. As you can see, it really isn't rocket science at all.

Now it's all up to you. How would you like to profit from this easy-to-plug-into system

Any one of these products could create profits for you well into the future.

However, you are not limited to selling just one of them. In fact, you can offer several of them, as a package. I've done that very successfully in the past. Or you can offer them as front-end products while you create your own hot products to offer as back-ends!

Your choices are only limited to your own imagination.

And, no…I'm not the least bit worried that you'll become my biggest competition. It's like I mentioned earlier…there is plenty of room to grow in these niches. We haven't even begun to scratch the surface yet! Go check the site out now...

I wish you all the best with your newfounds!

To your success,

Bryan Kumar

Free Special Bonus Report! How to Profit From The Internet in 24 Hours or LESS... Guaranteed! Just Go To This Site: http://www.bryankumar.com/24reportak.htm

Copyright © 2003-2005 by BryanKumar.com. All rights reserved.

About The Author

Bryan Kumar has been teaching others how to profit from the Internet quickly and easily, using informational products, since 1996. His ebooks and reports have received rave reviews from some of the best marketing minds online. Bryan is best known for taking the most powerful marketing strategies and concepts, and simplifying them so it's quick and easy to implement. You can learn more about him at: http://www.BryanKumar.com.

Working At Home Opportunities Are Everywhere - Thanks To The Internet

2005-12-07T23:23:00.000-08:00

by: Bill Knight

Want to know something? You can change your life anytime you want. Thanks to the Internet and all it offers, you can work for yourself. You can work from home and you can be your own boss and pay yourself whatever you want. Let me tell you more.

It's a fact that thousands of people are making money online selling just about anything and everything to anyone and everyone. It's fast becoming both the accepted way to buy and certainly the easiest way to sell. And the markets just keep getting bigger and bigger every day.

Just look at eBay for instance. What a prime example of successful niche market trading. With around 115 million users worldwide, eBay has made it possible for around 430,000 people to earn a full-time, online income.

At any given time there are more than 25 million items for sale on eBay. And this year the online auction phenomenon expects to trade 1.8 billion items, worth more than $20 billion. It's truly staggering!

On top of that, consider how many individuals with their own small business websites are making a good living. It surely runs into hundreds of thousands. The point I'm trying to make is, anyone with half a mind can do it. And if it's what you want to do, then why not?

Okay, so there's a big market for eBay items. But with 950 million active Internet users worldwide, there's also many other markets for many other products. This needs some serious consideration...

What are the best and most profitable products to sell online?

What do you think they are? CDs? DVDs? Books? Well, all these items certainly do sell very well online, but you would have to keep some stock (very costly) or arrange to open an account with a wholesaler who will drop-ship the products direct to your customers.

But, drop-shipping can be problematic, because you have no control over the process and things can and do go wrong, which could give rise to a lot of disappointed and unhappy customers. Result? You lose credibility and you lose sales. Worst still, you could lose your business!

An online business should be as simple to run as possible. So let's forget about stock and packaging and packing and shipping. It's too time-consuming and too tedious. Think! INSTANT DOWNLOAD.

And what are the best products to sell via this method?

I'm going to tell you categorically, that the best products to sell on the Internet are without doubt...information. In the wider sense of the term, information products include books, reports, courses, tutorials, music, films and software. Whether they educate or inform, they all fall into this same category.

There's a huge, never-ending market for information products and the very best part is, you can deliver them to your customers electronically. It's like the Internet was invented for sharing information. In fact it was! Only now, you can sell information products for big profits.

About The Author

Bill Knight is an International freelance copywriter and marketer, based in the UK. He specializes in creating compelling web page sales letters and informative web page content. http://www.license2profit.com.

This article is copyright and may be republished for any purpose together with full acknowledgement to the author. http://www.knight-writer.co.uk.

Start a Secretarial Service

2005-12-07T03:37:00.000-08:00

http://www.startasecretarialservice.com

Book Review: How to Get Rich in Mail Order

2005-12-06T05:18:00.000-08:00

If you are selling information by direct mail - manuals, brochures, designs, books - this is must have book. Most of the examples are from Melvin Powers own experience.He shows you what worked and what did not work for him, and it is up to you to extrapolate his experiences to your own situation.

If you think you want to get rich into the mail order business, take it from someone who has been there and done that: Melvin Powers. Do not begin without this book!

Start a House Cleaning Business for the Holidays

2005-12-06T04:06:00.000-08:00

Did you know that we have just passed the slow season for the House Cleaning trade? And we've just entered the best time to start a house cleaning business due to all the new holiday customers that are available.

If you've been thinking about starting your business then you absolutely have to get off the fence and start doing something about it now! Professional house cleaning is the one business that you can start now and make immediate money. Timing is everything and the perfect time is now!

I get really charged up during this time of the year because there are so many exciting things going on:

# Plans are being made

# There's shopping to do

# Parties are being scheduled

# Relatives and friends are renewing ties

With all this busy activity, many people just find it too overwhelming to keep their house tidy and actually are like you; they're on the fence thinking about finding someone to clean their house.

But they've heard "stories" about a lot of cleaning companies; who can they trust? Even their friends are leery to provide them with a credible referral. Horror stories about damage from spilled chemicals, vacuums that have burned their carpet, even theft of their personal items.

These people are looking for reliable professionals and they have very specific criteria. You can be one of those house cleaners to fit their criteria.

But you're still sitting on the fence wondering if starting your own business is the right thing to do. I'll be the first to ask you "why not"?

# Are you concerned about what could go wrong?

# - Will you miss a steady paycheck?

# - Are your family and friends questioning your judgment?

Only you can decide to finally go forward and take a chance. But I wouldn't recommend you do that without knowing all the issues that exist in building and running your own house cleaning business.

It used to be the lone cleaner that people were looking for. Now that house cleaning customers have become more educated on what their options are, they want a professional service that has policy and procedures.

How do you start when you're just a lone cleaner? There are ways to present yourself so these educated house cleaning customers will accept you and give you the job. And that's the key to your success.

Why would you NOT start your dream business right now with all the companies that are outsourcing to India, China, the Philippines and more countries every month? Your job is not longer protected. And retirement is becoming a thing of the past. Your future working for someone else has never been in more jeopardy than right now.

If you want to realize your ambitions, stop listening to everybody else, and stop listening to your negative and contrary thoughts. Start thinking positive and take a calculated risk. Make sure you have covered your risk by finding and applying the best information available. There are ways to guarantee your success; you just have to be willing to find them and make your commitment.

Holiday customers are waiting for you; why are you still on the fence?

About the Author
Gail Metcalf, California
Support@HouseCleaningPro.com
Learn more about house cleaning business
Gail Metcalf has been self-employed over twenty years; in computer software consulting and building and selling two businesses. Additionally, she spent six years in IT Management with a US Insurance company. She built her cleaning business from the ground up with techniques and procedures she developed. Learn more with The House Cleaning Pro Turnkey System and the Pro Tips and Tricks. Site Map available on The House Cleaning Pro website.

Eliminate the Fear of Cold Calling and Rejection

2005-12-06T03:51:00.000-08:00

I've never met a salesperson who did not experience a fear of cold calling at one time or another. Almost all of them have their reasons for being reluctant to make cold calls, and most of them have no idea what really causes it. Their are two basic reasons for the fear of cold calling. Both are easy to cure if you know how.

1. The Experience of Repeated Failure

Most salespeople set out to contact a large number of people who have an apparent need for their products and service.Their objective is to convince every one of them to grant them an appointment.

Let's assume that you contact 50 people a day and average 2 appointments. In your business, that may be a very good result. Nevertheless, you have the experience of repeated failure because you tried to convince all of them and you failed to meet your objective of 48 out of 50 calls.

The Cure - Change Your Objective. Your new objective is to make appointments only with High Probability Prospects - and to disqualify everyone else. Make fifty calls and be clear that you'll only make an appointment if the prospect wants what you're selling. If the prospect doesn't want what you're selling, terminate the call quickly and courteously. You now have the experience of succeeding in your objective 50 times out of 50 calls.

2. Fear of Rejection.

Most salespeople have a prospecting "pitch" which is designed to interest, entice, excite, convince and persuade people to give them appointments. They have a string of questions to get the prospect involved and interested in meeting them. Every question that they ask increases the prospect's sales resistance. Thus, negative reactions to their methods grow very quickly.

Most prospects react to any prospecting pitch defensively. Their sales resistance is aroused as soon as they hear your warm greeting and your friendly,enthusiastic, professional pitch. The more skillful you are in keeping them talking and listening, the more they become wary and annoyed. Eventually, many of them become non-communicative, or too busy to talk, or abrupt, or sarcastic, or otherwise negative. All of these reactions cause most salespeople to feel rejected.

Almost all sales managers and trainers tell you that you're not being rejected, that the prospects are merely declining the offer of your products or services. Why then do almost all salespeople feel rejected? Are you too sensitive, too thin-skinned?

Think about it. Who do you trust? Is it the sales manager who wants you to keep on going until you become insensitive to the rejection? Or do you trust your own perceptions, your feelings of rejection? Are all other salespeople who feel the rejection also wrong? No, you feel rejected, personally rejected, because you are being rejected. That rejection is caused by the normal defensive reactions that everyone has against being persuaded to do something they don't already want to do. If you want to eliminate rejection you must change the way you prospect.

THE CURE - See 1, above.

THE RESULTS - No more fear of cold calling and no more wasted time with low probability prospects.

©Jacques Werth, High Probability® Selling - All rights reserved.

Jacques Werth, author of "High Probability Selling," is an internationally respected Sales Trainer and Sales Consultant. HPS graduates are excelling as Top Producers in over 70 industries. Visit http://www.highprobsell.com to read more articles, preview the book, and learn more about High Probability Selling.

How to Make Your Cold Calling Effective

2005-12-06T03:49:00.000-08:00

4 examples of effective dialogue in cold calling

How can we make cold calls “work” when we’re talking to someone we haven’t met, about something they may not need? Well, it’s really simple. First we look at how to relate to them rather than hoping they’ll relate to us and our solution.

When we approach cold calling with a question about what their needs are, potential clients respond much more readily to the idea of talking with us.

To help you with this, here are a few examples of dialogues within four very different industries.

Example: Staffing

In the staffing or recruiting industry, the goal is to call a company and identify whether they need help finding new staff.

The old cold calling approach is, “Hi. My name is… I’m with XYZ Staffing Company, and we offer these services. I’m just calling to…” And by that time, the person pretty much says, “We’re not interested,” right? With this new cold calling approach, the idea is to think about the problem you’re solving. The problem you’re solving is helping them find good people.

So I would start the conversation with, “Maybe you can help me out for a second?” And they usually say, “How can I help you?”

I reply, “I’m just calling to see if your company is still looking at finding good, quality employees to hire?”

The response to that is likely to be, “Well sure. Who’s this?” This is a normal response which we want to be ready for. I would simply say, “My name is Ari and I’m with XYZ Staffing Company and we help companies identify and find good people. I’m just calling to see if your company is in a situation now where you’re looking to hire and find new people.”

Example: Software

Let’s say you’re in the software industry, and that you sell software to improve the productivity of an organization. What you want to do is focus on the problem that you solve specifically.

What most software salespeople do in cold calling is say, “Hi, we sell software to help improve productivity.” But that doesn’t really identify the problem it solves. You have to focus specifically on an issue.

So, for instance, the software might solve a problem with lost paper-based documents. That’s a very specific issue.

In this case, I might call and say, “I’m just calling to see if your company is having issues with lost paperwork because of manual paper-based filing systems.”

See how specific that is? It’s very directed to the problem in their world. This is in contrast to, “I want to see if your company is looking to buy some software or looking to improve productivity,” or something similar.

Example: Advertising

Advertising is a very good example. Typically, what most advertising sales folks start with is an introduction. They talk about their advertising product or services that they offer.

But with our problem solving approach, the question becomes, “What does advertising solve for people?” The first thought usually is that it gets people leads. It gets more branding.

Let’s go deeper than that. What do leads do for companies? Leads provide sales, right? So if I sell advertising, I might call and say, “Maybe you can help me out for a second. I’m just calling to see if your company is open to new ideas of generating leads for your business.”

From this place, the discussion unfolds around their world, and not your advertising.

That’s the real shift in making cold calling relevant to their world.

Example: Collections

Another example is the collections industry. Typically, collection agencies call companies to see if they can be hired to collect invoices that are unpaid. They usually talk about their services as opposed to making their cold calling focus on the problem.

The client is looking to bring in more revenue from invoices that aren’t paid. So an approach might be, “Maybe you can help me out for a second?” The reply is once again, “Sure, how can I help you?”

“I’m just calling to see if your company is still having issues with unpaid invoices.” And the response probably will be, “Well, yeah, we are. Who’s this?”

You can then respond in a very relaxed tone, “This is John. I’m with XYZ Collection Agency. I’m just calling to see if you’d be open to some new ideas on how to better solve that problem.”

These are some examples of how to make your cold calling relevant to the other person and his or her needs. Practice this, and you’ll find that your cold calling conversations become more relaxed. You’ll no longer have to shift into an artificial “salesperson” role.
EzineArticles Expert Author Ari Galper

Ari Galper, founder of Unlock The Cold Calling Game, makes cold calling painless and simple. Learn his cold calling secrets even the sales gurus don't know. To receive your 10 free audio mini-lessons visit http://www.Unlock-The-Cold-Calling-Game.com

The Get Rich Quick Mentality

2005-12-06T03:45:00.000-08:00

Building any kind of business takes time, money, energy and focus. Obviously some businesses take more or less of each ingredient. Internet businesses are no different than a traditional brick and mortar business, except for the fact that they can cost substantially less to get started. That's why they are so attractive to a lot of people.

For some reason however, the internet is fill with get rich quick schemes and scams and all though many are not schemes or scams, they just don't work. With that said, there is a whole segment of internet entrepreneurs that want to make as much money as they can as fast as they can.

As if you haven't noticed, the get rich quick mentality is rampant on the net, and it's getting worse everyday. There is a vicious cycle that just seems to perpetuate itself and I'm not sure which came first, the hucksters or the prospectors. In other words, the people selling get rich quick or the people searching for it. It seems as though there are opportunity seekers out there who are asking to be scammed.

What has perpetuated this kind of thinking is a lack of vision in the internet businessperson. It doesn't matter what kind of business you are involved in, you have to take the time to do the necessary work to make your business successful. Sure, lots of people are able to make decent sums of money rather quickly on the net, but these kinds of businesses won't last. In a few months, many of the people that are getting rich quick today, will be on to something else because they were only able to make money for a limited amount of time with their latest deal.

Wouldn't you rather have a business that you can build on, that you can make grow and that will last for a long time and produce income for years for you and your family instead of having to rebuild your income every year? This is the most important point I am going to make in this article - You absolutely must take the time to build your business correctly on the net or you will never make a substantial amount of money for the log run.

The opportunities on the net are limitless and more and more people are shopping online every year however, you can't just throw up a few pages of meaningless content and expect to get ranked at the search engines and start making gobs of money, even though there is lots to be made.

Anyone with a brick and mortar business will tell you that they usually don't make any money for the first 2 to 5 years in their business. So how does this timetable translate for an internet business?

Some people think they are going to put up a web site or blog and start making money in a month or a few weeks. I'm sorry to tell you, that just isn't going to happen. Depending on the kind of business you are focusing on expect to put in 6 months to 1 year of seriously hard work before you see any substantial results in your web venture.

Also, you need to become a student of your business and internet marketing in general to make sure your business succeeds. When I was working as a graphic artist, I spent a few thousand dollars a year going to seminars in the graphics industry, I subscribed to magazines and I was always hanging out in the local book store reading the latest books about photography, PhotoShop or graphic arts in general. This was all at my own personal expense because I wanted to be the best graphic artist I could be. You need to treat your net business the same.

There are people who want to be in business for themselves on the net but somewhere they get the idea that all the information they need to get started should be free. They are afraid to spend a dime to learn the correct way to build a web business or they want someone to do all the work for them by giving them unlimited free advice.

You will have a profitable net business only if you invest in it with your time, money for the necessary tools, work and education. There are thousands of get rich quick deals out there clogging up search engines waiting to take people's money. Do yourself and the rest of us a favor, don't add another one to the mix. Start a real business on the net, instead of just trying to get rich quick.

Alan LeStourgeon runs the successful web site, Home Based Business Opportunities and Resources where he teaches people how to build web businesses and how to be a profitable affiliate.

Telephone Sales Basics for Start-ups

2005-12-04T11:34:00.000-08:00

Everyone picks up the telephone to do business. Yet the word "telemarketing" has many negative connotations for people. However, telemarketing is merely a term for conducting business over the telephone. Whenever you pick up the phone at work to make or receive a call you are "a telemarketer." Over the years telemarketing has evolved into the following applications:

1. Business to Consumer

2. Business to Business

Within these classifications, there are two separate functions: inbound and outbound. Inbound is generally thought of as customer service, and outbound is used for sales or surveys. CSR is telemarketing shorthand for Customer Service Representative. TSR is telemarketing shorthand for Telemarketing Sales Representative.

In order to increase response rate, many firms use a combination of direct mail and telemarketing.

Generally the telemarketing call follows the mail piece. If the client or prospect requires additional information, a follow up first class mail piece, fax or email is sent.

A soft sell works best for long term buyer -seller relationships. Each prospect call begins by letting prospects know the organization might be able to solve problems/fill needs. We then ask a series of questions to determine what their situation is and how the products can best help them. The offer is made and we ask for agreement - also known as the close. Rep's are expected to overcome objections and show how close a match the products are to the prospect's needs.

The steps in a sales presentation:

1. Opening

2. Offer

3. Trial Close

4. Objections

5. Close

Most Telemarketing units use a "script", a written, planned presentation. Actually, all salespeople use planned presentations; but as no one can see the telemarketer, these can be written down. A good script is used as a guideline as opposed to a verbatim speech. The presentation should inject some of the rep's personality and be flexible enough to personalize each call.

During the course of an "average" day a Telephone Sales Rep will:

• Dial the telephone 200 times

• Reach voice mail 80 times (out of 200)

• Reach a decision maker to make a presentation 20 times (out of 200)

Telemarketing is no longer the stepchild of company's marketing efforts, in many cases telemarketing has become the focal point for dynamic expansion. As the cost of field sales endeavors continues to rise, more and more firms are using telemarketing to cost effectively increase their business. In 1988, US News and World Reports published a report citing 8 million telemarketing jobs by the year 2000. At a time when most telemarketing employment seemed to be part time (targeted for housewives, students and retirees)or hard sell boiler rooms, this number seemed tremendous.

Today when most telemarketing positions, particularly in the business to business arena, are being held by experienced full time professionals, perhaps 8 million just scratches the surface.

Jo Ann Kirby is president of KRG Communications Group. She has 20 years experience in sales, telephone sales and sales management and an extensive background in training and development. Her background also includes extensive b2b telesales management experience. Jo Ann has been published in The Toastmaster, NAPPS Network and Commerce magazines. More can be found at http://www.krgcommunications.com

A Home Based Business -- Who, Why, When and Where To Start?

2005-12-04T05:46:00.000-08:00

Everyone loves a Home Based Business Opportunity. I love mine and you cannot be an exception I guess! So let us start from the beginning and explore as to Who, Why, When and Where you could start this Business Opportunity using the Internet.

Who?

Anyone with a desire or urge to start a Home Based Business can venture into this field. All you need is a computer and who has not got one or access to one these days? An elementary knowledge of the working of a computer and the Internet is sufficient to get started. Many things can be picked up as you progress. This is what most of the people do.

The beauty of this Internet Home Business is that Age and Sex, Race and Religion are no barriers. It is sans borders. Entrepreneurs living in any part of the world can participate in thousands of Affiliate programs that are either Regional or Global in nature.

There are many programs that are Free to join! In fact there are several Affiliate programs that provide Entrepreneurs with Free Websites and Tools too. You could have your own personal website if you are prepared to spend a few dollars.

Why?

This is a pertinent question indeed! Some of the reasons for starting a Home Based Business are:

1. A desire to earn an Additional income to supplement the monthly income.

2. A desire to run your own home business and not depend on your Boss's pay packet

3. Dissatisfaction with your present Boss or your employment.

4. Being out of work or laid off.

5. Circumstances forcing you to be with the family or aging parents.

6. A Childhood ambition to have your own business.

When?

You can start a Home Based Business at any age. It can be at twenty, fifty or even at seventy. What matters most is that you have to be sufficiently motivated and have the urge and desire to do it.

Allocating two hours a day for your cherished dream should not be difficult to start with. In fact about twenty hours a week would be useful and advantageous. I am aware of people who have retired from active work but are keeping themselves gainfully occupied by doing an Internet Home Based Business.

To be successful in life you should have a Plan, more so for your Internet Business Opportunity. Draw up a short term and a long term plan for what you intend to achieve. Initially draw up a Plan for the first three months to start with and try to stick with it, come what may.

While you are at the computer, Pop ups and other advertisements can and will divert your attention from your objective. Do not run after the goose that is going to lay the golden egg for you and waste your valuable time.

Top Marketers are brilliant people who spend much time and money in researching how to divert your attention and I can tell you, they are not going to fail! I should know! I have been in the marketing business for several years though not in the internet field. Hence you should remain completely focused on your work.

Where?

Unlike in a brick and mortar business, to operate a Business from home, the Home Based Business Entrepreneur needs no separate building. Your physical place of business will be your very home and no high start up fees is necessary. The computer can be set up wherever you like so that it is convenient to work with and free from noises and distraction.

Your success will to some extent depend on the support you receive from the members of your family. The spouse can be of great assistance by reading and researching resources and articles and doing a lot of other preliminary work, which can substantially reduce the number of hours you have to spend on the computer. In other words your spouse can be your partner in your Home Based Business.

The greatest benefit of this Internet Business Opportunity is that it works twenty-four hours (24/7) a day and is Portable. Wherever you travel, within the country or to any part of the world your Business travels with you. You have to carry your laptop along, that's it. Otherwise find access to a computer. It is as simple as that.

Why wait? Start working on your Home Based Business seriously. Work at Home, Work from Home or Work away from Home and reap the benefits the Internet Revolution has showered on you, the Internet Entrepreneur.

Copyright © 2005 Kanaga Siva

Kanaga Siva has been a Marketing Manager and Business Manager and has a wealth of experience in Marketing. He now operates his own Home Based Business. For Articles, Resources, Tips and Ideas to start a Home Based Business from anywhere in the World, visit his website, http://www.business-fromhome.com

Mystery Shopper 007

2005-12-04T05:24:00.000-08:00

As a mystery shopper you are kind of like a spy. Just as James Bond gets briefed on his next top-secret assignment at some high-tech cave complex beneath a tropical island, you, the mystery shopper, are briefed in advance over the telephone or emailed at your own secret location -- your home. While James Bond gets shot at, you get free mugs of beer placed in your hand, steak put on your plate, and you have to deal with several more hazards that come with the job -- like dodging golf balls while teeing off on an 18-hole golf course. That's because your job as a mystery shopper is to shop. That's the best part about being a mystery shopper -- companies will pay you to buy their products and services. Imagine getting a back massage as part of your job. Sounds like tough work doesn't it?

Attentive companies are hiring mystery shoppers to get an impartial consumer evaluation on the quality of their customer service. Customer service is arguably the most important factor contributing to a company's continued success. Every business has customers and if these customers aren't satisfied they can easily take their money somewhere else. There are several ways a company can screw up when it comes to customer service. A mystery shopper can inform a company about current business practices that might need adjustment or about employees whose attitudes need an even bigger adjustment. Companies use this feedback to improve the overall customer experience.

If you would like to mystery shop you have to be prepared to write a small evaluation report or complete a survey that grades the level of customer service you received from your client companies. In regards to that, you better have a decent memory and pay good attention to detail. You're probably not going to be allowed on the job with a laptop or a giant note pad and pencil. You will have to leave your, "I'm a Paid Mystery Shopper" t-shirt at home as well. Remember, as a mystery shopper, you are going in undercover.

You have several ways to get assignments:

1. Free lists of companies that hire mystery shoppers: You and everyone's uncle is going to apply for the same limited jobs because everyone else has the list. Good luck getting a call back.

2. Go business to business and offer your services: But be prepared for rejection, an empty gas tank, and sore feet.

3. Sign up with a professional mystery shopping referral company: The jobs come to you. Easily the best way to get assignments.

Mystery shopping is still a developing field but more and more companies are reaping the benefits of improved customer service through mystery shopping programs. Most mystery shoppers do it on the side for fun, free stuff, and supplemental income. Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to get out there and sign up with as many mystery shopping companies as you can afford. This message will self destruct in five seconds (not really).

Copyright © 2005 Jon Castle

We are each a single drop of rain strafed by the wind to merge with other droplets and thereby form an ocean. For unconventional home business wisdom, home business opportunities, and more please visit Jon Castle's website, http://www.AmericanHouseDad.com.

The Hows And Whys Of Credit Card Processing

2005-12-03T07:30:00.000-08:00

Credit card processing allows an Internet enterprise so much latitude in accommodating a wider array of potential customers. Credit card processing, in fact, should be one of the primary considerations in building an online enterprise.

If you always wanted to know about credit card processing, then this article is for you. We will discuss the many benefits that can be gained by incorporating credit card processing into your online business, as well as the steps that you’d need to take to have a credit card processing system firmly entrenched in your business’ operations.

The Whys Of Credit Card Processing

Aside from the aforementioned latitude in accommodating credit card-paying customer, credit card processing would also allow you to organize your business into a well-oiled machine. With credit card processing, you would be able to automate the workings of your venture when it comes to accepting payments.

Additionally, by including credit card processing into your business, you’d be able to make things convenient for your potential customers. With credit card processing, they won’t have to send money checks, place checks by phone, or send money orders to purchase your products. Because of the credit card processing system you will have in place, all they have to do is to give the details of their plastic cash. The credit card processing system would verify this, and if all is well, the transaction would be executed smoothly.

Credit card processing is also an important component in automating your online business. Automation of course, is what you will need to earn 24/7, even when you’re offline. Credit card processing makes this possible as it will take care of payments without the need for constant supervision and intervention.

The Hows Of Credit Card Processing

The heart of credit card processing is, of course, a merchant account. A merchant account is a service that you would have to enroll with to avail of a credit card processing system that would take care of your orders. There are many kinds of merchant accounts offering to take care of your credit card processing needs. Some of them require a monthly fee to maintain a credit card processing account, while others only demand a onetime fee for the total enjoyment of such credit card processing services.

Price, however, should only be secondary to quality of service when it comes to credit card processing systems. Always bear in mind that the bread and butter of your online business, that is the payment, rests on the shoulders of what should be an effective credit card processing system. Make the choice of the best credit card processing service one of your main considerations when building your online venture.

Jeff Usher researches and writes articles on all aspects of Internet Marketing and eCommerce. For further information on the subject of this article please visit:

http://www.more-merchant-account.info

Online Loan Officer Training - become a loan officer/broker

2005-12-03T05:23:00.000-08:00

The course How To Originate Mortgages was developed from compiled information obtained from actual underwriting guidelines set by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, VA, FHA, HUD and information gathered by some of the most experienced underwriters and processors in the industry today! This program has trained thousands of loan officers for the nations largest mortgage companies and brokers.

This same training is now available to you through our self study course. Now you can get all three programs for one low price in an easy to understand step by step format. The program will show you how to get started and succeed in the mortgage field. Thousands of people a day are looking to start a new career in the mortgage field, but how?

You have heard all of the hype of record low interest rates and the high demand of loan originators Now you can learn how to originate FHA, VA, and Conventional mortgages all in one easy to understand format.

The Step by step process throughout the book shows you how to originate; purchases, refinances, cash out refinances, streamlines and much more from an industry leading loan originators perspective! This book is available now instantly with just a click of a button, not to mention more affordable than ever. Want to get started right away? The book is in PDF format so that you can download the e-book instantly right to your computer, you can print out the book anytime by page, section or in it's entirety.

http://www.workhomecareer.com

How To Build A Money Making Weblog

2005-12-03T05:15:00.000-08:00

If you are putting hours into writing content for your blog, you may want to make a few bucks (or more) to help pay for hosting charges and other costs associated with running it. Some bloggers find that they can make more than just small change, but most not enough to quit their day job. In any case, here are a few of the more popular methods.

Several ways by which you can make money with your weblog include Google Adsense, Amazon Associates, various other affiliate programs, advertising, and donations. Keep in mind that the success of these programs is highly dependent upon your content and the level of traffic you get to your site.

Read on: How To Build A Money Making Blog

Turn voice mails into a cold calling journey of discovery

2005-12-02T13:16:00.000-08:00

Most people who still use the traditional cold calling mindset look at voicemail as a dead end. They say to themselves, “Oh well, I may as well leave a message and hope he calls me back.”

This almost never happens, and we know it. But we’re often so relieved not to have to talk with someone, that we leave a message anyway. We avoid dealing with another person’s potential negative response to us and we avoid being challenged by the receptionist as well.

By the time the day is over, we might feel good because we’ve played the “numbers game” and made a lot of calls. But our productivity has been minimal. And over time that can make us feel frustrated by our experiences in cold calling.

With the new approach to cold calling, voicemail is an opportunity for discovery. It leads us beyond voicemail. Voice mail becomes a starting point for you begin the process of locating the person you’re trying to contact.

Our objective is not to pursue people to make a sale in this new way of cold calling. It is to uncover the truth of their situation and to be okay with the outcome, whether it’s a “yes” or a “no.”

So we can begin to feel more comfortable hitting “0” when we get someone’s voicemail. Because we then have an opportunity to go back to the receptionist and begin a dialogue based on asking for help.

Here’s how the dialogue might go:

“Hi, maybe you can help me out for a second? I’m trying to get hold of Mike and I got his voicemail. Would you happen to know if he’s at lunch, or on vacation, or in a meeting by any chance?”

Here, you aren’t just asking to find Mike. And you’re also providing possible solutions to finding Mike. This helps the receptionist feel as if he or she is part of the problem-solving process.

The receptionist is likely to offer one of two responses. The first is, “Yes, he’s in a meeting (or at lunch or on vacation) and I’m not sure when he’ll be back at his desk.”

This answer has just given you a lot more information than you would have if you had just left a voicemail. Now you know your contact’s whereabouts in real time and you can call back at a more appropriate time.

The second response is, “No, I don’t know where he is.” In this case, you would reply, “That’s not a problem…” This low-key statement diffuses any possible pressure that the receptionist might be feeling about not being able to answer your question.

You can then continue with, “Would you happen to know anyone whose desk or office is near him or who works in his area who might know where he is?” Again, you’re offering another option for solving the problem. In many cases, the receptionist will then transfer you to a colleague of your contact who can help you determine his or her whereabouts.

The receptionist may also reply, “No, I don’t know anyone in his area.” You then say, “That’s not a problem…” and offer, “Would you happen to have a paging system or his cell phone number by any chance?”

If the receptionist replies, “Sorry, we don’t have those,” then at that point you can say, “Thank you very much. I really appreciate your help. And then hang up, and call back another time.

Does the idea of paging potential clients or calling them on their cell phone make your stomach clench up? Are you thinking that you can’t cold call people that way because they might reject you?

That fear is only to be expected if your agenda is to sell something to the person. In other words, if you’re still using the traditional sales mindset. But once you master the new cold calling perspective, you’ll feel comfortable calling anyone, any time, using any mode.

As long as you’re 100 percent focused on your potential client’s world, you’ll find that people will be receptive to you. You can easily navigate throughout an organization with the type of dialogue described above, because you’re asking for help in a relaxed manner and you never put anyone on the spot.

Suppose that your efforts to locate your contact in this way fail. At that point you can leave a voicemail, but it should always be your very last option. Here’s an example of an appropriate cold calling voicemail:

“Hi John, maybe you can help me out for a second? I’m not sure if you’re the right person or not, but I’m trying to reach the person responsible for reporting problems about unpaid invoices. My name is John Edwards, my number is…”

Try this way of approaching the situation of voice mails, and you’ll be surprised and pleased at how often it becomes a highway instead of a dead end.

Ari Galper, founder of Unlock The Cold Calling Game, makes cold calling painless and simple. Learn his cold calling secrets even the sales gurus don't know. To receive your 10 free audio mini-lessons visit http://www.Unlock-The-Cold-Calling-Game.com

Get Clients Now!: A 28-Day Marketing Program for Professionals and Consultants

2005-11-29T06:09:00.000-08:00

If you have recently started your own small business and are wondering how you can ramp up on your knowledge of sales & marketing, the book Get Clients Now!: A 28-Day Marketing Program for Professionals and Consultants gives you a fantastic start. Most entrepreneurs are experts at something that has a need in the market (and hence they start a company to fill that need profitably), but are typically beginners at everything else that a successful startup business demands.

The book starts by explaining the 6 different marketing strategies that are available to most businesses and their effectiveness. These six strategies are - 1. Direct contact and follow up, 2. Networking and referral building, 3. Public Speaking, 4. Writing and Publicity, 5. Promotional Events, and 6. Advertising in that order. The next two chapters focus on the marketing/sales cycle and setting your own goals. The book then launches into outlining 'The System' - their 28 day marketing program that is geared towards increasing your bottom line. The last part of the book focuses on strategies for specific problems you may be running into with implementing the system. The whole book is just 10 chapters in about 200 pages. Very efficient and effective in getting results.

There are a lot of worksheets throughout the book that the reader can use. This book is most effective when you use it with the help of a business coach. There is a lot more to becoming successful in sales & marketing than just understanding the basic theory. Even though the book does a great job of arming you with detailed knowledge and incredible confidence, you still need someone with experience to guide you through this process to get the best results.

This 28 day program will be slightly different for everyone who follows it because of the unique situation you may be in. But if repeated several times, you will see better and better results. The best part about the book is that it demystefies sales & marketing and gives you a systematic approach that you can follow. It is as simple as that.

Start your own software directory and earn money for every sale you make

2005-11-21T09:45:00.000-08:00

Creating your very own software directory could cost you thousands of dollars if you paid someone to create it for you. If you were knowledgeable enough to do it yourself, it'd take you thousands of hours and many more hours and possibly years to build up the database.

Luckily, Exefiles did all the work. And now they have a limited time offer to allow you to have your very own software site:

http://www.exefiles.com

2005-11-15T01:17:00.000-08:00

GoldenSurvey

2005-11-13T01:48:00.001-08:00

GoldenSurvey is a Market Research Service that matches people like you with the marketing companies that need your help, and who are willing to pay you for your time. They have a massive database of almost four hundred companies that need consumer feedback as soon as possible. They need your opinions on any number of products and services.

By joining GoldenSurvey, you'll have immediate access to our database, and you can start right away on getting a paycheck every month, just for filling out online surveys.

Golden Survey

2005-11-13T01:48:00.000-08:00

Hometyping

2005-11-07T08:32:00.000-08:00

You could earn a steady income each and every week working in the privacy of your own home. All you'll have to do is type and fill in online forms and submit them daily. You can log into your online account to see how much money these companies have paid you daily.

Hometypers

Do You Have Bad Credit? Don't give up.

2005-11-07T02:12:00.000-08:00

YoureApproved.org has been created to help those who have bad credit find the credit they deserve. Personal loans, business loans, credit cards and mortgages are all within your reach with them.

Their list of lenders and credit card companies are willing to give you another shot. They realize that good people can have bad credit.

Bad Credit Approved

How to Start a Professional Organizing Business

2005-11-07T01:58:00.000-08:00

Just released: New Becoming a Professional Organizer Start-Up Guide Kit contains all the necessary information and resources you need to successfully launch and grow your own professional organizing business.
Click Here How To Turn Your Passion For Organizing Into A Fast Profit.

Get paid for your opinion

2005-11-06T04:01:00.000-08:00

You can work whenever you'd like, morning, noon, night .. midnight if you'd like .. it doesn't matter. Simply log in and select surveys to fill out, get paid for your time. Work for 30 minutes or three hours, it doesn't matter ..you set your own hours!

PaidSurveysOnline.com and its partners bring you fresh opportunities to express your opinions, participate in online focus groups, try out new products, be heard AND be paid to boot. How would you like to sit in the comfort of your own home, fill out surveys online, and participate in online focus groups and get a nice paycheck at the end of the month.

This is a perfect opportunity for stay at home moms, students, or someone that just doesn't have time for a commute to a dead end, part time job. Or, for anyone who wants to sit in their pajamas and work at home.

Niche Marketing Secrets

2005-11-06T03:30:00.000-08:00

# Turn your hobby, special interest, or expertise into a niche market worth over $12,000 a month in your spare time.
# Identify hidden hot markets loaded with passionate hungry buyers (we'll show you how to find the Internet markets that everyone else is overlooking).
# How to set up your website to bring in hoards of targeted traffic and get the business you want:

Niche Marketing Secrets

Become a Garden Designer (home-study course)

2005-11-04T11:25:00.000-08:00

Some people love their garden; and they'll make the most of it by adding a water feature, for example (right). For others, the garden is a place to use; somewhere to get outside and enjoy life.

Do you like to work in your own garden and put your first step to a career as a garden designer? Doing the garden design course of the Institute of Garden Design is then a good idea!

You can choose from two different versions of the course. One is written in US English (and has topics that meet the needs of people in North America and related countries). The other is a UK and Europe edition. That way, you get the course that's right for you.

A Home Based Business -- Who, Why, When and Where To Start?

2005-11-04T08:46:00.000-08:00

by Kanaga Siva

Everyone loves a Home Based Business Opportunity. I love mine and you cannot be an exception I guess! So let us start from the beginning and explore as to Who, Why, When and Where you could start this Business Opportunity using the Internet.

Who?

Anyone with a desire or urge to start a Home Based Business can venture into this field. All you need is a computer and who has not got one or access to one these days? An elementary knowledge of the working of a computer and the Internet is sufficient to get started. Many things can be picked up as you progress. This is what most of the people do.

The beauty of this Internet Home Business is that Age and Sex, Race and Religion are no barriers. It is sans borders. Entrepreneurs living in any part of the world can participate in thousands of Affiliate programs that are either Regional or Global in nature.

There are many programs that are Free to join! In fact there are several Affiliate programs that provide Entrepreneurs with Free Websites and Tools too. You could have your own personal website if you are prepared to spend a few dollars.

Why?

This is a pertinent question indeed! Some of the reasons for starting a Home Based Business are:

1. A desire to earn an Additional income to supplement the monthly income.

2. A desire to run your own home business and not depend on your Boss's pay packet

3. Dissatisfaction with your present Boss or your employment.

4. Being out of work or laid off.

5. Circumstances forcing you to be with the family or aging parents.

6. A Childhood ambition to have your own business.

When?

You can start a Home Based Business at any age. It can be at twenty, fifty or even at seventy. What matters most is that you have to be sufficiently motivated and have the urge and desire to do it.

Allocating two hours a day for your cherished dream should not be difficult to start with. In fact about twenty hours a week would be useful and advantageous. I am aware of people who have retired from active work but are keeping themselves gainfully occupied by doing an Internet Home Based Business.

To be successful in life you should have a Plan, more so for your Internet Business Opportunity. Draw up a short term and a long term plan for what you intend to achieve. Initially draw up a Plan for the first three months to start with and try to stick with it, come what may.

While you are at the computer, Pop ups and other advertisements can and will divert your attention from your objective. Do not run after the goose that is going to lay the golden egg for you and waste your valuable time.

Top Marketers are brilliant people who spend much time and money in researching how to divert your attention and I can tell you, they are not going to fail! I should know! I have been in the marketing business for several years though not in the internet field. Hence you should remain completely focused on your work.

Where?

Unlike in a brick and mortar business, to operate a Business from home, the Home Based Business Entrepreneur needs no separate building. Your physical place of business will be your very home and no high start up fees is necessary. The computer can be set up wherever you like so that it is convenient to work with and free from noises and distraction.

Your success will to some extent depend on the support you receive from the members of your family. The spouse can be of great assistance by reading and researching resources and articles and doing a lot of other preliminary work, which can substantially reduce the number of hours you have to spend on the computer. In other words your spouse can be your partner in your Home Based Business.

The greatest benefit of this Internet Business Opportunity is that it works twenty-four hours (24/7) a day and is Portable. Wherever you travel, within the country or to any part of the world your Business travels with you. You have to carry your laptop along, that's it. Otherwise find access to a computer. It is as simple as that.

Why wait? Start working on your Home Based Business seriously. Work at Home, Work from Home or Work away from Home and reap the benefits the Internet Revolution has showered on you, the Internet Entrepreneur.

Copyright © 2005 Kanaga Siva

About Kanaga: Kanaga Siva has been a Marketing Manager and Business Manager and has a wealth of experience in Marketing. He now operates his own Home Based Business. For Articles, Resources, Tips and Ideas to start a Home Based Business from anywhere in the World, visit his website, http://www.business-fromhome.com

21 Secrets of self-made millionaires

2005-11-03T12:54:00.000-08:00

Dynamic. Inspiring. Authoritative. Brian Tracy has been celebrated by over 2 million people in 23 countries. One of America's premier speakers on the subject of human potential and personal achievement, Tracy is the author of almost two dozen business-related bestsellers.

Now, he shares his field-tested techniques in Brian Tracy's 21 Secrets to Success, a full-length 8 compact disc audio compilation of his most popular motivational works. Whether you're a novice entrepreneur looking for capitalization to quickly build sales and cash flow, or seasoned manager hoping to hire, nurture, and retain the most valuable personnel, you'll find these recordings to be the provocative way to organize your time, prioritize your key tasks, and realize your full potential.

Success Secret #4 "Do What You Love to Do." Get your FREE CD and find out the other 20 secrets of self-made millionaires.

Why would a company pay for your opinion?

2005-11-03T11:07:00.000-08:00

Most companies conduct what is called "Market Research" where they ask consumer questions about current products, services, and other items. They want to know what the average consumer (YOU) think about their products, and what you would like to see in new products.

This research is extremely important to companies, as it's their only way of finding out how to make better products and how market those products effectively. Companies spend Billions on marketing and engineering of their products. Market research allows companies to not waste these billions on making a product that will not sell or an ad that may hurt the companies image. And this is where you come in.

Read more: Top Dollar Surveys

Make Money This Holiday Season; Don’t Just Spend It

2005-11-03T05:13:00.000-08:00

By Liz Folger

What if you could make more money than you spend this holiday season? Sounds like a pretty good idea, you say? If you’d like to be on the making money end during the holidays, now is the time to start preparing. Below I’m going to give you several money-making ideas. Pick the one or two that interest you the most and have fun!

CRAFTS

It doesn’t matter if you’re into woodworking, sewing, painting, pottery, or creating handmade paper. More than ever, people enjoy giving that one-of-a-kind special gift. You can sell your wares via the Net, at holiday bazaars or craft shows, or even consignment style. Once you become known for your crafts, word-of-mouth will keep you very busy.

RUBBER STAMPING

One idea is to create your own line of holiday cards with rubber stamps. Melissa Duquette has found this to be a profitable business. She explains, “The card season is upon us and everyone will soon be searching for the perfect holiday card to send to family and friends. This is your opportunity to break out into business and create unique hand-stamped holiday cards. Or why not offer a class teaching this great hobby? Rubber stamping can be worked into so many different businesses.”

I’ve been to a rubber-stamping party where we were able to create our own cards. I had a great time hanging out with my friends and making my own unique cards. If you are into rubber stamping, seriously consider having a rubber stamping card party. You would supply everything needed, and could charge either a flat fee or charge per card made.

T-SHIRTS

Kim Moya runs a T-shirt business and finds this a way to make extra cash during the holidays. She says you can create inexpensive holiday sweatshirts, and long- and short-sleeved T-shirts. And she doesn’t stop at T-shirts, but also includes tote bags, felt and cloth ornaments, advent and traditional calendars, aprons and many other items that you can purchase wholesale and sell at retail prices!

FLEECE BLANKETS

I don’t know about you, but I love fleece blankets. I was really excited when I found out I could make these awesome “Snuggly” blankets without having to sew a stitch. Cinda Louden has been making these types of blankets for a while now and explains, “These blankets are made out of Polar Fleece material. They are soft, warm, cozy, durable, and wonderfully ‘Snuggly.’ There's no sewing or needlework involved; all you do is cut and tie. Making Snugglies is a great way to start and create a business, make a little extra cash, or just make them for gifts. It's all up to you!”

SANTA LETTERS

Tamaira Sandifer, the owner of Fun Mail For Kids, has been creating Santa Letters for a while now. “I thought, what child wouldn't like to get a letter in the mail full of goodies just for them from Santa Claus. Once I informed family and friends about starting Fun Mail For Kids, the letters practically sold themselves. Last year brought in approximately 680 requests, which is pretty phenomenal since I don't do much advertising.” Tamaira says that running this type of business is fun because it allows her to do something she really enjoys. “So it doesn't really seem like work,” she says.

ONLINE AUCTIONS

The hype of eBay has not gone away, but has only grown. When among a group of people, I can usually find someone who has either bought or sold something in an online auction. Colleen Wallace has made it her business to sell merchandise online. “The holiday season is the best time of year for me. People are always looking for unique and interesting gifts to give their loved ones. What better place to find something different than the online auctions,” says Colleen. Start thinking about what you might have that you could sell online. Colleen has found that the items that sell well are those that can be used for stocking stuffers, are limited editions, or are signed items.

BAKING

Then there are the people who cannot stop baking during the holidays. Are you the type of person who finds that at the close of the season, all of your neighbors’ refrigerators and cookie jars are bursting at the seams because baking is just your thing? Believe it or not, this is not the favorite activity of some people.

Stacy Robinson has found that A Holiday Home Boutique is a fun way to network with others who provide a holiday-related product or service. Each vendor displays her product or information about her service, and friends and neighbors are invited to come to shop and share fellowship.

“As a cake decorator, I sell gingerbread houses, as well as display and serve a holiday-themed decorated cake - which the hostesses love because this becomes part of the refreshments! Visitors to the boutique get a chance to taste and see my cakes, and I take orders for holiday party cakes. I also display a few ‘dummy cakes’ to showcase my designs for birthdays, weddings, etc.”

The niche market that has been Stacy’s holiday bread and butter since 1991 is selling gingerbread houses to real estate agents. She leaves a gingerbread house with order information in large real estate offices for a few days. She also offers free delivery to the real estate office, or delivery for a fee to their home-buying customers and other colleagues, such as mortgage brokers, closing attorneys, etc.

Additional Resources:

Ebooks are available on each of the subjects listed above, and each ebook contains more information on starting that particular business. They include:

* Bizy’s Guide To: Making Snugglies! A Step-by-Step Guide to Making and Starting Your Own Fleece Blanket Business - By Cinda Louden

* Bizy’s Guide To: How to Create a Profitable Cake Decorating Business “From Scratch” - By Stacy Robinson

* Bizy’s Guide To: Making Money With Online Auctions - By Colleen Wallace

* Bizy’s Guide To: Starting Your Own Personalized Letter Service For Kids - By Tamaira Sandifer

* Bizy's Guide on How to Start and Operate A Home-Based T-Shirt Business - By Kimberly Banfield Moya

* Bizy’s Guide To: Starting a Rubber Stamping Business - By Melissa Duquette

You can purchase any of these ebooks at: http://bizymoms.com

Looking for verified (mailing list) databases or business records?

2005-11-01T11:16:00.000-08:00

World Information Data, Inc. is committed to providing the world's best US business records.

They gather business data from multiple sources and telephone-verify the information so you get nothing but the best, most accurate information. They include nearly every single business, no matter how small, how large, or how newly established.

Their Sources:

- 6,200 Yellow Page and Business White Page Directories
- 18 Million phone calls to verify information. Every business is called one to four times a year.
- County Courthouse and Secretary of State Data
- Leading business magazines and newspapers
- Annual Reports
- 10Ks and other SEC filings
- New business registration and incorporations
- Postal service information including National Change of Address, ZIP+4 carrier route and Delivery Sequence Files

Select business prospects by:

- Location - ZIP Code, Neighborhood, City, Metro Area, County, Area Code, State.
- Type of Business - Yellow Page Heading, Major Industry Group, SIC Code or Professionals (doctors, US Business Data, etc.)
- Business Size - Number of Employees, Sales Volume
- Business Credit Rating
- Location Type - Corporate Headquarters, Headquarters of a Subsidiary, Branch
- Phone ,Fax Numbers , Website Address.
- Key Decision Makers/Executive Names

What can you expect from their business database?

World Information Data, Inc.'s information is continuously updated from new directories, and is also telephone-verified. They charge just 1.4 cent per recently verified record It's the cheapest price in the world for such high accurate information. You can also request free 100 records to test the data.

Mymommybiz.com

2005-11-01T10:14:00.000-08:00

The Largest Work at Home Mom Site on the Internet,

with ideas to:

Start a Personalized Santa Letters for Children Business
Start your own Personalized Candy Wrappers Business
Start your own Personal Trainer Business
Start your own Errand Service for Seniors
Start your own Mystery Shopping Business
Start your own Baby Gap Clothing Business
Start your own Children's Clothing Design & Sewing Business

http://www.mymommybiz.com

10 Explosive Ways To Elevate Your Sales

2005-11-01T03:12:00.000-08:00

by Ken Hill

1. Publish an ezine.

Your ezine will provide you with a powerful way to continue to keep your marketing message on your visitors' minds. Get more of your visitors to subscribe to your ezine by stressing the benefits your ezine will provide to them, and by providing a bonus for subscribing to your ezine.

Also get more of your "almost subscribers" to join your ezine by making a sample issue available on your site by autoresponder or by publishing an archive of your past issues on your site.

2. Have an about us section.

This section will help you to better tell your visitors what you can do for them.
It will also allow your visitors to get know you a little better, which will help you to increase your visitors' trust in you.

3. Publish lots of testimonials from your past customers.

Your testimonials will help you to build up your visitors' trust and confidence in your product. Include your testimonials on your site and also include a couple of testimonials in each issue of your ezine to strengthen your subscribers' trust in you and your product.

4. Offer a money back guarantee.

Your guarantee will show that you stand behind your products or services and help you to alleviate any doubts or concerns your visitors may have about purchasing from you.

5. Provide an affiliate program for your visitors and customers to join.

View your affiliate program as a partnership between you and your affiliates and provide them with resources they can use to successfully promote your products and earn commissions. For instance, you could provide them with sample ads, sample recommendations, and ebooks that they can rebrand with their affiliate URLs.

You could also make your articles available for them to publish in their ezines or on their websites with their affiliate URLs in your resource box.

6. Add a bonus for purchasing from you.

Your bonus could be ebooks, a resource that your visitors can use to promote their businesses, or you could provide your customers with a consultation with you.

7. Give your visitors a deadline for getting your bonus or for purchasing your product at a discount. Your deadline will bolster your sales by giving your visitors an urgency to buy your product.

8. Include bulleted lists within your copy that detail all the benefits your visitors will get from purchasing your product.

Add a call to action such as "click here to order now" after your bulleted lists.

9. Answer your visitors' questions quickly and in a professional and friendly way.
Some of your visitors may have a lots of questions about your service. Be sure to offer detailed answers to them.

10. Write articles.

Writing articles is an excellent way for you to get more traffic to your site.
Writing articles will also help you to get more new subscribers to your ezine as your articles will give your readers a sneak peak at the quality content that they can
expect from you.

Article by writer, Ken Hill. For more articles and a great tutorial on ezine publishing visit Ken's site today at: http://www.netpromarketer.com

Ineffective communication WILL cost you money AND clients!

2005-11-01T00:57:00.000-08:00

Think of all the situations when you will need to communicate in writing - whether by email, fax or traditional letter. Perhaps you need to mail a potential or actual client, a creditor or debtor, or your bank manager!

In almost every business situation you can imagine, there is a cost to failure in communication. A debtor ignores your requests to pay, your sales letters do not convert, a potential client thinks you're unprofessional and does business with a competitor, a prospective employee may be swayed by a more attractive offer letter from another firm ... the potential costs are endless.

Every business letter you'll ever need

Do it yourself - make a website

2005-11-01T00:05:00.000-08:00

The Internet is a great medium through which you can improve image of your business. It is all in your hands: design a professional web site, add helpful content, make it easy for your customers and potential customers to get instant information about you and your business and your company will immediately take a step up in the image department.

No matter how small your business is, with the right tools and a bit of effort you can make it look and work much more efficiently on the Web. And with a little knowledge of HTML you can do it yourself!

Website Templates
Flash Website Builder
The Complete Business Package
or:
Start your own Web Template Business

Your Website on My Forehead

2005-10-31T23:29:00.000-08:00

by Jon Castle

People are so focused on promoting their websites on the web these days that many are overlooking the original marketing medium -- the offline world! Many tried and true methods of advertising exist for brick and mortar businesses that could just as easily be applied to online businesses. These methods have been developed over hundreds if not thousands of years -- what cavemen used to sell I have no idea -- but the point is still valid. Business promotion existed long before the internet. So what methods of marketing in the "real" world can an online business owner apply to the cyber world?

One extremely effective method is brand marketing through merchandise. Think about it...before the web existed, how did businesses like real estate companies market their brands? One way they did it was to give stuff away -- a marketing trick that is still being applied effectively today. How many pens, pencils, and magnets do you have lying around the house, stuck to the refrigerator, placed behind your ear -- wherever -- that bear some company's logo or name? If you have ever worked in an office environment doubtless you would have noticed several different slogans on a hodgepodge collection of pens (some that might even still work) and pencils collected over time from seminars, informational fairs, trade events, etc. Brick and mortar businesses are doing it, so why aren't you?

If you don't want to market your website on writing utensils or magnets you have several alternatives. Other products that work well for marketing include coffee mugs, travel-and-go cups, mouse pads, bumper stickers, key tags, and stress balls. Let's not forget another great place to show off your website -- on your body! No, I'm not talking about taking drastic measures like tattooing your company URL on your forehead. Clothing advertisements are the name of the game. Clothing is a wonderful way to advertise your website, especially if you have a funny slogan or eye-catching logo. You can have your website address printed on hats, shirts, umbrellas, tote bags, and all sorts of wearable accessories. The best thing about advertising on clothing is that the advertisement is mobile -- it goes wherever you go. The next time you get dressed to go out why not wear something that promotes your business? Don't forget that you can give away things as well -- imagine a hundred walking billboards for your website!

There are plenty of companies that will apply your brands to products. The cost is cheap and the rewards can be high, so what are you waiting for? Look through your local phonebook or do an internet search for companies that print to merchandise and then go get branding!

Copyright © 2005 Jon Castle

Resource box: We are each a single drop of rain strafed by the wind to merge with other droplets and thereby form an ocean. For unconventional home business wisdom, home business opportunities, and more please visit Jon Castle's website, http://www.AmericanHouseDad.com.

Success Ideas

2005-10-31T01:56:00.000-08:00

Sometimes one simple idea can catapult a small business or company to success. Other times it might take a string of ideas that link together to build a strong, stable business.

Read on: Succes Ideas

Creating Crosswords

2005-10-31T00:28:00.000-08:00

Are you good in English and do you solve all crosswords in a minute?

Maybe you can become a Crossword Maker and sell crosswords to all kinds of magazines.

Crossword Compiler has everything you need to create great educational, professional, and fun crossword puzzles. The program can make a vocabulary puzzle from your own words in seconds, or fill in one of the many supplied grid patterns from a word list.

There are several different puzzle styles to choose from, and many tools to help you create great grids and clues in a snap. You can print out and export your puzzles in many ways, including interactive online crosswords for your web page. The program combines ease of use for the casual user with many advanced features for the serious constructor. This is the software used my most of the puzzle makers for the New York Times and other papers, and is widely used by professionals, teachers and hobbyists from around the world.

Crossword Compiler
WordWeb Pro
Crossword Maestro
Anagram Genius

Selling your art online

2005-10-30T07:35:00.000-08:00

Brett Raven:

"You may ask if it is even possible to make a living selling art on Ebay. Yes, you really can make a living! Today, there are tens of thousands of merchants and sellers who use Ebay as their sole means of making a living. Many of them are pulling down professional earnings that would make any accountant happy.

Can you really make enough to live on? Yes, you definitely can. I'm living proof. I've been selling art on Ebay since 1999. I have supported myself, my wife, and 3 kids on what I was making. I was the sole money-maker for about 3 years. Since then, I have gone into other ventures along with selling on Ebay, but as recently as a year ago I was actually supporting a whole family! I have made as much as $5000 in one month just selling my art work.

How did I do it? It wasn't easy. It takes a lot of ambition, self-motivation, persistence, and a ton of discipline."

Read more about: Selling Your Art Online

What is Your Motivation - Goal Setting for Your Home Business

2005-10-25T08:18:00.000-07:00

by: Timothy Spaulding

If you are a home based business owner probably the largest obstacle you must overcome is finding motivation. You work at home and need to get online to work on your website, marketing, research, etc. But there are many other things going on that vie for your time. What do you do to ensure you are devoting adequate time to your home based business?

My main tool for motivation in my home based business is goal setting. This takes some planning, but if you spend a little time you can develop challenging, yet attainable goals. Why set goals? Goal setting allows you to determine where you want to go with your business. Setting targets gives you a basis for creating a defined plan and to identify those activities that are non-value added.

Goal setting is an activity used by successful business people, top level athletes, students and high achievers in all walks of life. Setting a goal and then reaching that goal gives a great sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.

There are several types of goals. You first establish your long term goals. These could be set for three to five years out. Profitability, net annual income, increase in business volume, ROI, size of customer base could all be used for long term goals.

Next is the creation of medium term goals related to the long term goals. These would be in the one to three year range. This is followed by short term goals that you want to achieve in the next several months. Finally, you develop an action plan that will lead to meeting the short, medium and long term goals.

The lifeblood of an online home based business is visitors to your website. So one of the goals should relate to how many visitors you are getting. Granted, there are ways to generate thousands of hits, so the goal must reflect "targeted" visitors. If you are new to online marketing you can set a smaller target. Set goals for one month, three months and one year. When you have met your 1 month target reevaluate the longer term goals and adjust them if necessary. Just be sure to validate or revise your action plan to keep moving toward the next target.

If you are not meeting your goals review the steps you are taking. Look for new and creative ways to market your home based business web page. Don't limit yourself to online marketing. Business cards, newspaper ads, flyers, etc. are all great options.

If your home based business offers a product the goal could be obtaining a certain number of orders per week or per day. It could be sales or unit volumes. If you are an affiliate marketer your goal could be recruiting a certain number of affiliates per day or increase in your downline.

Once you have generated an adequate quantity of data, i.e., unique visitors per day and units of product sold, you can determine how much you sell per unique visitor. A new goal could be to increase the sales per visitor.

Make sure your goals have a time aspect, such as 500 visitors daily by the end of the next three months.

Setting achievable goals and then attaining them is a great motivator for a home based business owner. Once you get in the habit of setting and reaching goals your enthusiasm for your home based business will grow and your success will be assured.
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About The Author

Timothy Spaulding is the owner of the Work At Home Business Resource Center at http://www.workathome-awesomeopportunities.com and Home Made Profits at http://www.homemadeprofits.net providing opportunities to work at home and make money online with your own home business.

A Business Plan is very important

2005-10-25T07:57:00.000-07:00

The importance of a comprehensive, thoughtful business plan cannot be overemphasized.
Much hinges on it: outside funding from a credit institution, credit from suppliers, management of your operation and finances, promotion and marketing of your business.
Your business plan will also help with the ultimate achievement of your goals and objectives.

"The business plan is a necessity. If the person who wants to start a small business can't put a business plan together, he or she is in trouble," says Robert Krummer, Jr., chairman of First Business Bank in Los Angeles.

See: How to write a business plan .... made easy

Start and Run your Own Catering Business from Home

2005-10-25T07:50:00.000-07:00

How'd you like to Start and Run Your Own Catering Business?
Are you passionate about working with food? Do you live to help others?
Now you can realize your dream by Starting Your Own Catering Business!
This new Comprehensive Start-Up Guide Kit contains all the necessary
information you need to successfully launch and grow your
own Catering Business.
http://www.startingacateringbusiness.com

Make Headlines: How to Grab Media Attention for Your Business

2005-10-25T07:41:00.000-07:00

What makes the news? That question might best be answered by asking, “What isn’t newsworthy?”

Your CFO’s 25th birthday isn’t likely to make the papers -- unless she was told at the age of 18 that she had a year to live, and she’s now perfectly healthy and running marathons. And your local Webmasters Group’s monthly meeting probably won’t be front-page news -- unless you’re announcing that one of your members has just won national recognition for innovative site design.

In other words, it’s what makes your story stand out from thousands of others like it that helps it win media attention. Sometimes, of course, a story is so big it doesn’t seem to need any help landing in the paper. We see those on the front pages all the time: war news, major crimes, record-breaking heat waves, medical breakthroughs and so on.

Just as often, though, news articles or features -- also known as human-interest stories --make it to print because someone involved with the story worked to promote it. He or she contacted the reporters and editors responsible for filling the news pages and sold them on the idea that this would be a great story for their readers. These are the stories about the customer service rep who’s just celebrated her 10th year of providing free computer tutoring to local schoolkids, or the customer Website that just help reunite a brother and sister who have not seen each other in 45 years.

How can you tell if your story is newsworthy? If you can answer yes to any of these questions, you’ve got something worth promoting:

# Is this a first of some kind? Maybe your new hosting business is the first in town to offer storefront as well as online sales. Or maybe one of your part-timers is the first local high school graduate to go four years with perfect grades and perfect attendance.
# Is this a milestone? Has your father, who keeps your business’ books, just turned 100? Or did you bring sales to record-breaking levels during the past year?
# Does this affect the community? It could be that your business and others are launching a campaign to clean up a blighted playground nearby. Or maybe you’re donating Web space to help the park district stay online despite its budget crisis.
# Is this a story of someone defying the odds? Maybe doctors told you 10 years ago that your son would never be able to attend a mainstream school, and he’s just designed an award-winning software program that you’re marketing to public libraries. Or maybe the Web design service you started at home while raising three young children has just won the city’s top small-business award.
# Is this about someone who decided to fight City Hall? You have to be careful here: Lots of people get turned down for city fence permits every month – it’s no big deal. It doesn’t mean they can take their fight to the local newspaper, even though a few always try. A legitimate little-person-against-the-big-guy story requires some unusual characteristics. Maybe your office’s proposed addition meets all the city’s building requirements and should have been granted a permit, but your co-owner has been feuding for years with your next-door neighbor -- who happens to be the mayor. Make sure there’s a real case to complain about before pitching a story to the local editor.
# Does this story pull the heartstrings? Is this a hero story, maybe about your VP of marketing, who pulled a drowning dog from a pond while he was on his way to work one day? Is it a sad story where readers might be encouraged to offer their help: maybe about an out-of-town business colleague whose entire collection of Christmas presents for his family was stolen from his hotel room?
# Finally, is this simply something people should, or want to, read about? The easiest test here is to ask yourself, “Would I read this story if it didn’t involve me or anyone I know?” Is this a story that will make people want to visit a special event? That will make them laugh? That will make them angry? That will make them proud?

To help decide if your story is newsworthy, run it past some of your relatives, friends or co-workers. Not everybody has to like your idea, but you’ve got a better chance if at least a few of them find it interesting. Be honest with yourself and make sure the positive folks aren’t just being polite. Remember, the people you know probably all read newspapers, listen to the radio and watch the TV news – they’re your potential audience.

One more note: understand that, while all newspapers and media editors consider these questions when deciding what gets attention, bigger publications and media outlets always have more story ideas to choose from than small ones do. Smaller local weeklies, community-access cable channels and hometown radio stations often provide the best opportunities for publicity, so target them first. Many times, the larger outlets will pick up later on interesting stories that have already received attention from small-town publications and stations.

About the Author
Shirley Siluk Gregory is senior analyst with the ebi Group, an analyst organization that specializes in market research and data resources for Web hosts and other technology companies targeting the small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) market. Check out the ebi Group’s Website at ebigroup.com or email Shirley at shirley@ebigroup.com.

How To Search For Home Jobs

2005-10-25T05:31:00.000-07:00

Finding home-based and telecommuting jobs takes a little more effort than finding traditional employment. With a little persistence and determination you can find the job that's right for you.
by Brett Krkosska - All Rights Reserved
Managing Editor
http://www.homebiztools.com
Finding home employment can seem like a game of hide-and-seek.

Searching the Internet for these jobs can give you the impression that the jobs are everywhere and you just haven't been given the key to find them.

Well, it's true. You do need the key. I'll show you the key and how to use it.

Job Databanks Match Companies with Telecommuters

In order to find those elusive home jobs you've got to search correctly. A game of hide-and-seek can always be won if you look in the right places.

Job databanks are the right place to look. Because of the popularity of these databanks, many of the most sought after jobs can only be found within their listings. It only makes sense that if a company has a job to fill, they will post it where qualified applicants congregate!

Many job sites now charge for access to their listings, but you'll find the convenience of browsing listings from one central location is priceless. Plus, many sites offer additional services with membership such as resume posting, job notices via email, forums, and other support services.

The telecommuting trend is in full swing. Companies are increasingly turning to the use of telecommuters as a way to maximize productivity and increase profitability. They meet their objectives with a pool of qualified folks to choose from. The top job search sites specialize in matching qualified people (that's you!) with the right company.

Effective Searching Methods

To start with, you must utilize the search engine at job sites using the correct keywords. Since different sites use different search criteria, it's a good idea to read the small print beside the search box which tells you how to search. Once you know this you can plug in the right keywords.

Some job search sites are general in nature, and list both traditional workplace jobs and telecommuting jobs. When searching these sites, it saves time to plug in the right search terms.

On the whole, most search engines allow you to search for an exact phrase by using quotation marks. For instance, typing in "data entry" will return results that match this phrase.

To help you zero in on just telecommuting jobs, here are some keywords that I have found to work well: "work at home", "work from home", "telecommuting", " telecommute", "telecommuter", "home based", "home worker", "freelancers", "contract job","contract freelance", "remote worker", "telework", "online", "Internet", "virtual office", "home office", "virtual worker", "off-site", "offsite".

Search The Job Banks

Search the online job banks for home employment opportunities. You can find these job sites by going to any major search engine and typing in "employment" or "jobs". Here are some of my favorite sites:

HomeJobStop.com
TeleworkRecruiting.com
Job.com
WorkTree.com
HotJobs.com
CollegeRecruiter.com
JobSearchEngine.com

CareersFromHome.com
BrassRing.com
CareerShop.com
Net-Temp.com
Monster.com
Jobvertise.com
WantedJobs.com

Search Local Job Sites and Newspapers

I live in a county of 400,000 people and we have 4 online job sites serving this area.

Send to a friend / Reprint on your siteYou can find these job sites by going to any major search engine and typing the name of a city or state. For any city with a sizable population you'll find numerous links leading you into the local job market. Just because jobs are offered in a local market doesn't mean there aren't home employment opportunities. It's worth browsing the ads!

While you're at it, search local and national newspapers for jobs. Online newspapers have numerous classifieds and links to job sites. Again, use a search engine or try these sites to find national and local online newspapers:

ABYZ News Links
NewsPapers.com

Search The Industry

Using a search engine you can hunt for companies doing business in your field of interest. Use keywords which describe the type of work you're looking for. Things like "data entry", "web design". etc.

When you find a company, go to their employment or opportunities section. Submit your resume on positions for which you are qualified and can be done remotely.

But what if the ad doesn't specify whether or not the duties of the position can be performed at home? And how receptive is the employer to hiring you as a telecommuter? You won't know unless you send them your resume. If you're qualified, send it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

Your Resume Can Make or Break You

You only have one chance to make an impression with employers and recruiters. Your resume is it.

Your resume is you. It absolutely has to be the best it can be. If you already have a resume, update it with your current skills and experience. If you need to make one, learn how to write it professionally or hire someone to do it for you.

You'll be searching for a job till the cows come home if your resume is sloppy and poorly written.

I'm not sure when cows come home, but let's assume it's a long time.

You should also prepare a cover letter. In some cases your cover letter is even more important than your resume. It serves as an introduction and gives the recruiter insights into your credentials, your interest in the company, and what you can offer. To have an real impact, your cover letter should address a specific person whenever possible.

One final word...

Be persistent. Search and post your resume every day. The jobs are out there. Now go get 'em!
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Brett Krkosska provides how-to advice on small business and home-based work issues. His site, http://www.HomeBizTools.com, helps small businesses reach their fullest potential. He is also the publisher of Straight Talk, a fresh and original newsletter that offers a unique perspective on today's business issues.

How To Build a Business With Attitude

2005-10-25T05:26:00.000-07:00

With the proper attitude you can turn a mediocre business into a dynamo, or start a new business with style right out of the gate. Here are five key ingredients to building a business with attitude.

Copyright © 2005 Brett Krkosska
Managing Editor
http://www.homebiztools.com

Starting and running a new business can be frustrating. There are times when you wish round pegs would fit into square holes. And occasionally you wonder why round pegs don't fit into round holes. Things don't always go as planned.
More often than not the problem lies with neither the pegs nor the holes.

As my father used to say, "You're not holding your tongue right." In other words, you need to look at things from a different angle - get the pegs straight up and down so they fall right into place.

Here are five key ingredients to building your business with a determined, purposeful, and successful attitude... an attitude of increase.

1. Release Your Old Attitudes About Money

Money, in and of itself, has no value. You can't float on it, you can't shower with it, you can't eat it, and you can't drive it. If you tell it to roll over, it just ignores you.

Starting a business with the goal of making money is meaningless. Your business is more likely to do what money is good at doing by itself: Playing dead.

Okay, this is obvious stuff, right? You already knew that. You want money to buy a boat that floats, a shower head that pulsates, and a fast car to get the really good Chinese food.

Unfortunately, wanting money for those reasons still isn't good enough.

We can agree that money is a tool by which you purchase or provide something of value, but now we need to go a step further. We need to get in sync with the golden calf of economics: Growth.

Growth comes from giving without receiving, and if you're selling, giving more use value than you receive in cash value. But, wait a minute? Whom are we talking about? Your growth or the other guy's?

Yours, of course. Well, both actually. You see, what this does is create in your mind an attitude of increase. Hoarding money or providing minimal use value creates a mindset of stagnation and decrease.

Some of the wealthiest people the world has known understood this principle well. Andrew Carnegie gave tens of millions in money, gifts, and services during his lifetime. Early in his life, John D. Rockefeller was gifting more than half his paycheck while making less than five dollars per week. An attitude of increase was firmly set in their minds. The more you give the more you get.

2. Practice an Attitude of Gratitude

What's really going on when you thank someone? What is the attitude you are expressing? It's an attitude of receiving with appreciation. Receiving. That word has a nice tone, don't you think?

Gratitude is the compliment of giving. Giving clears the path for growth, and gratitude brings the good stuff to you-- and keeps it coming. It's all part of the attitude of increase.

The great part about gratitude is you can even do it alone. Give yourself a pat on the back for everything that brought you to this exact moment. Heck, congratulate yourself on having the good fortune of finding this great lesson about being grateful. And in all modesty, might I add how grateful I am you're reading it!

Practice sincere gratitude several times throughout your day. In this way you are able to stay connected with an attitude of increase and recognize abundance as it comes your way.

3. Create An Attitude of Daily Success

When you awake each morning, decide on at least one thing you can do that day to further your business aspirations. Write it down and declare it out loud.

Next, give thanks for the opportunity to create a successful day. It's your first act of gratitude for the day and sets the tone for a winning attitude. And don't forget to implement your attitude of giving throughout the day. Give your customers an extra 10% discount, or if your business isn't off the ground yet, give the dog an extra doggy treat. The important thing is to keep the flow going.

Creating daily success takes practice and hard work. Start small to build up confidence with a series of quick successes, then keep raising the bar. But who's afraid of a little hard work? The rewards are fantastic. As the great 19th century orator Henry Ward Beecher once said, "It's easier to go down a hill than up it but the view is much better at the top."

4. Expect The Unexpected

What happens when you practice an attitude of increase? The unexpected happens. The clarity of purpose you defined at the beginning of the day is ever-present around you. The gratitude you express regularly along with the growth value bestowed upon others screams to the world, "Winner!"

Now you are free to notice, from among the thousands of pieces of information entering your brain each day, those things which encapsulate your purpose. Opportunities appear out of nowhere. Unexpectedly, it would seem. Expect it. You are plugged into an attitude of increase.

5. Winners Start Out With Winning Attitudes

Why do some people create lives of abundance and success, while others lament about the cruel hand life dealt them?

You are what you think. You can only achieve what you believe is achievable.

By accepting as fact a success that has yet to come, you allow your future self to effectively define your present self. Successful people are successful before they become successful. This happens instantly in the moment you define and announce your focused, unwavering intent. Success is automatic.

The world delivers to those who ask. And of those who ask, it is those who expect to be answered who will receive. Do not say you want the thing you desire, for your request is already answered. To want is not to have.

Do not say you will have what you desire, because that is the same as wanting.

Instead, have the thing you desire. Make up your mind it is already yours. Believe it is so because it is so. You have an attitude of increase. There is no other outcome.

All right, do you have your attitude on? Great! Here are some hexagon shaped pegs and some trapezoid shaped holes. Let's see your stuff!
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Brett Krkosska provides how-to advice on small business and home-based work issues. His site, http://www.HomeBizTools.com, helps small businesses reach their fullest potential. He is also the publisher of Straight Talk, a fresh and original newsletter that offers a unique perspective on today's business issues.

Working at Home Isn’t All Fun and Games

2005-10-25T04:01:00.000-07:00

I enjoy telling people that I “work at home.” I can see that wistful look in their eyes, and I can hear it in their voices when they say, “That must be nice.” And then for about five minutes, they do a little daydreaming about what it would be like to “work at home.” I never explain to them about the measure of self-discipline it takes, and how great are the temptations to take a “break” and reorganize my sock drawer when I find myself faced with working on a project that is less than interesting (or worse yet, “not as profitable” as other projects). Why burst their bubble? Let them daydream awhile….

Working at home can be all the wonderful things that those people daydream about. Setting my own hours, working at my own pace (project deadlines permitting), running to the market at 1 o’clock on a Wednesday afternoon when there’s nobody there---these are just a few of the plusses of working at home. For parents (whether it is the mom or dad, or both working at home), being able to adjust their working schedule to school schedules, being able to take the kids to the orthodontist or to soccer practice, working at home is a definite plus. For people who don’t work at home and who want to work at home, it is probably hard to think of even one minus. But the fact of the matter is, the minuses do exist---in abundance.

It is not my purpose here to ruin all your hopes or plans to establish yourself as a work-at-homer. In fact, I do encourage you to follow that dream and be your own boss. However, I want you to take just a few minutes to take stock of your situation and once and for all decide if working at home really is in your best interest.

First, and obviously, you have to have a job skill that is amenable to the at-home environment. If you trim poodles on the weekend and think you can turn it into a full-time at-home business, then look around. Do you live in a two-bedroom apartment on the second floor and just do your neighbor’s poodle once a month (but you do it really well)? Or do you live in a four-bedroom ranch house with a three-car garage that can be made over into “Donna’s Clip Joint” and happen to live in an urban neighborhood where everyone has pets? And even if you do, what about all the permits that you will need? Will you be able to pursue this type of work at home, and do so legally?

The most applicable work-at-home job skills involve the use of a computer, the Internet, phone, fax, and other small business/office machines. You can hardly drive from home to the grocery store without seeing those signs nailed to telephone poles: “Got a Computer? Earn up to $2000 at home!” Of course, you can, but can you?

For the sake of argument, let’s presume then that you have a computer and an assortment of small business machines, and that you do indeed have some skill that you believe can be marketed. Let’s focus on you for a minute: Are you self-disciplined? Are you organized? Do you have the proper workspace where you can work undisturbed? Are you able to face a workday where you have no supervision or guidance? Can you work at home, day after day, without having the people contact that you would typically find “on the job”? When you have overlapping projects, will you be able to cope with the necessary prioritizing so that you get the time-critical job done on time without jeopardizing the next job in line?

The list of questions goes on. And this doesn’t begin to address the “what ifs” that go hand-in-hand with working at home. What if you don’t have any work this week? What if work doesn’t come in the week after that? What if you get sick and can’t finish a project on time? What if your client doesn’t pay you on time? What if your client doesn’t pay you at all?

Financial gurus recommend that we all should have three months’ wages tucked away in a “bail out” savings account so that in case of illness or work stoppage, we can “bail out” our sinking checking accounts and pay the bills, pay the rent, buy groceries. Let’s face it, how many of us really have three months’ salary bankrolled? Most of us are lucky if we have one months’ salary in a demand savings account that’s hooked to our checking account that gets dipped into on a more regular basis than we’d like to admit. If that is the case, then are you really in a position where you can handle the uncertainties of establishing and maintaining a work-at-home business?

This isn’t to say that even if all these things are true, that you shouldn’t make the move to be your own boss and work at home. I’m a perfect example. I did have the fortunate circumstance that I had a husband working full-time and earning “decent” money (not a fortune, not more than enough, but “enough”). He believed in me and gave me great support while I established my business. It took me more than five years to get to the point where I can count on having work just about every day (based on a five-day, 50-week “normal” annual work schedule). During that time, I had periods when I didn’t work for five weeks or more (and even still, my primary client goes through a month-long “dry spell” while their organization holds its annual meetings). It took me over three years just to finally break the “one client” barrier (I now have five “regular” clients). The point here is that I did it; I built my own at-home business, and I now think of myself as “successful.” I don’t earn a fortune, but I “make a living at it.”

I don’t think that anyone could ever honestly tell you that there is one no-fail method of how to become your own boss and establish a “successful” at-home business. The variables are endless and there is no way to provide you with a formula for how you go about setting yourself up as an entrepreneur. In the end, becoming successful and realizing your dream of working at home depends on you, and you alone. You must have a marketable skill; you need adequate workspace and supporting equipment; you must have the personal demeanor that lends itself to this type of work environment; and you must have confidence in yourself.

With these things, you can be a success. You’ll be able to tell people, “I work at home”…then stand back and watch them daydream.

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Jan K., The Proofer is freelance proofreader and copyeditor. Visit http://www.jansportal.com for more information about Jan’s proofreading and copyediting services and Jan's other free resources. Please visit Mom's Break (http://www.momsbreak.com/) for free printable crafts and projects. © Copyright 2005. All rights reserved.

ADVERTISING ON WEB- DO's AND DONT's

2005-10-25T03:55:00.000-07:00

Advertising your business in the correct manner is a sure shot key to success. Advertising helps you to reach out to a larger number of people from other websites. You definitely cannot expect these many people to come to you on their own.

But Advertising is very, very COSTLY! And if you don't watch out, you may actually be going broke after paying your advertising bills, if your ads do not generate revenue. So, you should make sure you get value for your money.
With my own experiences in this field, I have drawn up some questions for Webmasters who are new to the field of Website Marketing. Take a good look at them EVERY TIME you make your advertising plan.

* Where are you placing the ad? Are you selecting the right kind of medium? It won't pay to place ads on websites when you have a business of an essentially local nature. A newsletter or an ezine catering to the needs of locals of your area will be a better choice. And better still, do not advertise on Websites and Newsletters just because everybody else is doing it. Ask yourself strictly- Do I really need to advertise online? Perhaps you will get better results by sponsoring a local event or a press release.

* What kind of ad are you placing? A Banner, a button, text? A banner ad may be the best when it is to be placed on the top of middle of a page. But, when your ad is going to be placed on a page which has too many other banner ads, a simple text ad will bring you more attention.
Even attractively designed buttons on the side-menus generate a lot of clicks.

* Who is going to read it? Is this the TARGET AUDIENCE you wish to reach out to? It is very important to obtain the demographics of people visiting a certain website or reading a newsletter or ezine. By Demographics, I mean classification of visitors/subscribers according to their age, sex, occupation, interests, hobbies etc. That way, you can be sure that the people who will see your ad will buy your products/services. For e.g., for someone who is selling an e-book on Candle-Making, the best place to advertise will be Websites related to crafts & hobbies, WAHM's, online gift-shops etc. And the last thing you should ever do is place your ad for 'a dollar a week' at a website which has no records of its visitors to offer. I am sure you can spend that dollar on something better.

* What does your ad say? Is your message to the point? A stylish banner saying 'BOB's Place' can never persuade ME, at least, to click on it. On the other hand, if it says 'BOB's Place- The ultimate choice for Free Webmaster Tools', I'll definitely find myself clicking on it to see what he has to offer. In short, viewers do not have all the time in the world to surf the net by clicking on whatever they see. And those who do, are mostly those looking for Free Stuff, who will NEVER spend a penny. You don't want to attract them, do you? It would help if you add a plain description of what your website is about, or a special holiday offer, or what's different about your product etc. In any case, please DO MENTION your product or service.

* Is your ad compelling enough? Would it make YOU click on it? Does the content make you curious enough to care to click on it to find out more? The best way to do this is to research. How do I do that, you ask? Well, it's very easy actually. For at least a week, whenever YOU click on an ad, save the text or the graphic to your hard disk. At the end of the week, go through them and try to find out WHAT made you click them. Was it the way they created a suspense, was it the Prices or was it unbelievable Offer they made? Then, gather together, what you liked best and try to mould it to suit your product/service. Don't lift words off somebody else's ad. Just pick up the idea behind it and get creative and form the outline of your own ad.

A few other things to keep in mind are to use Well-Made graphics ONLY. There is nothing worse than a badly done banner that affects your goodwill and it will be worthwhile to spend money on a good banner that you can use forever. Another thing is to ALWAYS compare prices of various websites or ezines keeping in mind what THEY offer you. Keep in mind the traffic, demography and click-through rate before you decide who's offering the best deal. More often than you think, you will realize that a website who is charging $10 more than the other is probably giving you TWICE the number of viewers for your ad! So, play smart and get the best value for your money.
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Lata Tokhi is the Founder and Editor of Dot Com Women, a premier women's website and fast-growing online community, and Celebrating Christmas, a resource for celebrating Christmas in style. Visit her websites for lots of homemaking and business ideas, free downloads, free Ezines and message boards for women to network and share.

Questions To Ask Yourself Before You Take The Plunge Into Starting A Business

2005-10-25T03:46:00.000-07:00

by Gloria J. Little

So you truly believe that you are able to have a business. Why, because others have one? Or because you think you would be good at it. So did I until I failed for the first three times. Then, I got a clue. Business doesn’t just happen!!!

Before you make that move into what may be the worst idea you have ever had in life, take the following test for success. Be honest with you because it is you who will be made or broken in the process.

1. Are you organized or do you have to try to remember where your house keys are on a daily basis?

2. Do you have personal drive or do you have to be persuaded to change the channel on the TV?

3. Are you a leader or do you have trouble getting your pet to go outside?

4. How is your health? Do you get a cold when there is a 1-degree change in the weather?

5. Are you able to maintain for long hours? Or will your place of business close at noon, because you are so tired?

6. Are you mentally UP for the challenge?

7. Are you prepared for the risk involved?

8. Are you prepared to wait several months for your first prophet?

9. What is your reason for wanting to start a business?

10. Is your business your passion?

11. Who are your customers outside of your immediate circle of influence?

12. What are the demographics of your customer base?

13. Do you have the expertise you need in the business you want to start?

14. How are you going to sell what you have at a price that will return an adequate profit for you?

15. Can you obtain the necessary funds you will need to start and keep the business running without getting into a cash flow problem?

16. Do you think and plan ahead?

17. Do you have a business plan?

18. Do you know the difference between marketing, promoting and advertising?

19. Who is advising you?

20. Start writing out your plan.

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Balancing Work and Home

2005-10-24T00:23:00.000-07:00

Work is addicting...and more so when your computer is your office or shop! And while you spend hour upon hour to network with other netpreneurs and provide online customer services to your clients, you tend to neglect a dozen odd household jobs.

Hours seem to fly by when work online. As for your household duties, with great effort, you just take care of the most basic ones like fixing dinner, driving your kids to school etc.

Cleaning, Organizing, Buying Groceries, paying your bills, going to the post office etc. are postponed till the last hour. So how do your balance your work along with your home?

There are two important steps to do this. First, make yourself realize the fact that you HAVE TO take some time out for your home and there is no excuse in the world to avoid that.

Secondly, start organizing your available time. Here are some quick steps to help you balance your work as well as your home.

1. Divide available hours between your home and your work diligently.

2. Set timers when you are working online.

3. Maintain a 'To Do' list or a diary.

4. Picture yourself going through the troubles of paying your bills later than allowed.

5. Set aside some time for all those jobs which require you to go outside. For e.g. going to the market, post office, bank etc. Try to coincide these with each other. Say, for example, you could take care of these after driving your kids to school.

6. Make up your mind and start some kind of organizing/ decorating/ renovating activity around your house. These are so addicting that once you start, you will enjoy yourself a lot.

7. Similarly, take up your favorite hobby in the afternoon. You will love the change and enjoy getting creative.

8. Plan weekly activities. Take up cleaning once a week. Go for outings once a week. Call upon a friend once a week. This will help you maintain your social life as well.

9. Surf the net for information related to a hobby. This will get you started with that hobby and also give you the much needed break from work.

10. Surf the web with your hubby or children. Show them websites of their interest. That way, you will also get to spend more time with them.

Just like the old saying - 'You Eat to Live, You do not Live to Eat', I'll say
'You Work to Live, You do not Live to Work'. It's no use being successful on the cost of your home and your family.

The 'Dot Com Women' of today are not women who stay online for hours with a guilt feeling on the back of their minds. They are women with a strong desire to succeed in their personal and professional lives. And you are one of them! That's why you chose to read this, isn't it?

Good Luck with your efforts to striking a balance between your work and your home!

Lata Tokhi, Founder and editor of Dot Com Women women's website and online communityAbout the Author

Lata Tokhi is the Founder and Editor of Dot Com Women, a premier women's website and fast-growing online community, and Celebrating Christmas, a resource for celebrating Christmas in style. Visit her websites for lots of homemaking and business ideas, free downloads, free Ezines and message boards for women to network and share.

2005-10-23T08:52:00.000-07:00

By Steve Lentini

Success in life and in any endeavor is not an accident, nor is it the result of the "best laid plans". I have witnessed and experienced what looked like the best plans go awry. I have seen great leaders who had the best teams suffer humiliating defeats. If the best plans and great teams fail and success not an accident, like I suggest in the opening sentence to this column, what then are the seeds of success? How can we plan, add the best people we can find and then guarantee success? How, as individuals can we insure that we succeed in our business or career endeavors?

The answers to these and many other questions will hopefully provide insight on "just how do we insure success anyway"? That is, of course, if I succeed. Let's look at my "Ten Strategies for Success at Anything©".

1. Study nature.
We do not have to go far to see great examples of how to succeed. Get outdoors and observe Mother Nature at work. Plant a garden, go to a farm, take a walk in the woods or sit by the ocean. There is a natural system at work everyday that will guide us if we pay attention. By studying nature, we have a system to follow that does not require that we get an MBA or a PhD. Nature provides us with a common sense approach to success that always works. An MBA or PhD are certainly good training and yet, are not guarantees for success. There is abundance all around us and if we spend some time studying how nature produces this abundance, we too can "seed for our own abundant and prosperous future.

2. Plan your harvest.
Like Steve Covey suggests "Start with the end in Mind". Start by thinking about what you want to harvest. Would a farmer just randomly plow and prepare the ground without planning what the crop would be? If fruit was the desired harvest, would plowing a whole field be required to plant fruit trees? No, of course not. You would dig a whole for each tree and not waste time plowing the field. Plan your harvest and then build the plan. It will save you time. Working backwards, it will be easier to prepare the ground for what you want.

3. Research your crop.
Would a farmer plant orange trees in Alaska? Research your idea. There is no shortage of ideas in our world. They are not all good ideas.

4. Plant your seeds.
After doing the research and deciding to take the risk, plant the seeds. Your seeds are your thoughts, words and actions. Picture your results often. Use visualization daily to see your abundant harvest. Think positive thoughts; push all doubt out of your mind. Act as if you already have your harvest. Spend some quiet time feeling, what it would feel like, to have that abundant harvest.

5. Have faith.
After your seeds are planted, relax and have faith that things are happening. Henry David Thoreau once said "I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there and I am prepared to expect wonders." Sprouts will appear. Does a farmer fret and worry after planting a field? Does nature worry? Nature provides automatic seeding. Seeds are produced by the billions and billions each day. They are carried by the wind, birds, animals, etc. After you plant your seeds, persist through the doubt. Would a daffodil quit because the ground in early spring was too hard? Or because it was too cold, would it decide to stay in the bulb or seed stage? If so there would not be so many spring flowers. After you have planted your seeds, your idea, have faith. Push through the hard ground.

6. Stay in the field after the sprouts appear.
Farmers do not relax after the sprouts appear. They weed, feed, cultivate and prune to ensure a fruitful yield. After your idea begins to take hold, stay at it. Do not take your attention away from it. Do not be distracted. Nature does grow wild and when a fruit tree grows wild, what happens after a while? It will gradually produce less and less fruit. Branches called "suckers" grow that do not produce fruit. They choke out the productive, fruit bearing branches by reducing the available light and food. What you focus on expands. Pay attention after the sprouts appear. Weed out the naysayer and negative nabobs. Remove employees who refuse to "go with the flow". Feed those who do support you by praising and acknowledging them often.

Resist the urge to "rush to harvest'. Would you plant a tomato seed and then stand over it shouting "ok, now give me a tomato"! No, of course you would wait; because you understand that the tomato has a cycle. Well, our ideas, plans and careers have a natural cycle also. Be patient and stay on course, stay committed to do what you said you would do. Do not give in to the first discouraging event or setback. Keep your word no matter what and resist the "rush to harvest"

7. Allow yourself to be pollinated.
Nature has a whole system of "support staff" to ensure success. Bees pollinate plants, birds spread the seeds, manure fertilizes the ground, dead animals and plants enrich the soils. There is no General Manager of the Universe. Each player in nature knows its role and they each do what is theirs to do. Surround your self with coaches, advisors and others who are dedicated to your success. Nothing happens in a vacuum. Stay in relationship with committed others to your idea and cause. Get good people on your bus and get them in the right seat*. Once they are in the right seat, give them the room to "do what is theirs to do. * from "Good to Great", by Jim Collins

8. Track and measure the harvest.
Would a farmer continue to plant a field or a seed that produced less than the desired harvest? You cannot not manage what you do not measure.

9. Eliminate what did not work.
Nature is constantly eliminating what does not work. Maybe that is why dinosaurs disappeared. Nature quickly leaves behind what does not work. Use the tracking and measuring in step 8 to eliminate and plan for preparing the ground for what is next.
10. Take a rest. Like Nature uses winter, take a rest to reflect and study. Rest refreshes the ground and reenergizes the earth to continue producing abundantly. Take a hint from Nature, rest and restore.

In closing, success is not that difficult if we use the gift that nature provides. Prepare, plant the seed, pay attention in the fields, hire a coach and allow yourself to be pollinated, track the harvest, eliminate what did not work, resist the rush to harvest and take a rest.

Steve Lentini is the founder and President of the Centre for Human Development. An entrepreneur, author, speaker and coach, he brings his over 30 years of business experience to individuals and companies all over the country. He can be reached by telephone at 802-433-6090 or 978-257-0610. Email at steve@prosperityinstitute.com or by writing him at the Centre for Human Development, 3471 Chelsea Road, Williamstown, VT, 05679 or write to the Massachusetts office at 50 Bassett Road, Lynn, MA 01902.

Free Money - Myth or Miracle?

2005-10-23T03:57:00.000-07:00

By Herbert R. Williams

This may come as a surprise... but there really is FREE money for the asking - if you know how to ask.

The problem is not how much is available, not your qualifications to receive the money, not that your not entitled to the money but, no one tells you how to go about getting it. There are virtually thousands of web sites you can surf that will sell you all kinds of lists and books (most, woefully outdated) that make it sound like getting your free money is a "piece of cake". It's not, but it is possible and done all the time. Read on and I'll try to give you the basics on what must be done to get your "piece of the pie".

Step #1: Have a goal. Be able to articulate what you want and when you want it. Put your dreams on paper so you can share them with others. Abstractions will not work. Your ideas must be real so that others can visualize them and feel them with you.

"I want to open a kennel'" is not the same as " My community needs a place where dog owners can trust their pets to someone who will watch over their needs while they are away".

Step #2: You must have a budget. How much will the project cost to start. How much working capital will I need to back me up whileI'm building the business? How much will I need while I'm growing? What will my expenses be, both short term and long term? What will my projected sales be for the first three months, 6 months, year
and three years in the future.

Step #3: You must have a complete business plan. Your business plan should include your budget, your location, your competition, how you plan to advertise and get business. Also include the services you plan to offer, the market you expect to
pull from and any other details about your business that would be important to an investor.

Step #4; Research the grants and grantors available for your type of venture.
They are listed by, public, non-profit, state, city, county type of project, grantor, how much is available, when available, contacts, phone numbers and addresses.

If this all seems like a lot of work, it is. Don't let it discourage you. When Pete T., a good friend of mine, thought about applying for a grant for an auto repair shop he asked me if there were any resources that were available to help him apply for a
grant. I immediately went to the web and started searching and boy was I surprised. When I 'googled' the word 'grant' more than 157,000,000 pages popped up. There is plenty of help out there.

If it sounds a little daunting, don't be discouraged. Start on your project NOW. The biggest deterent for you getting some FREE money for your project will be procrastination, putting off till tomorrow, what you can and should do today.

Put your ideas on paper, check you figures and start your project. There is FREE money for you, it's not a myth.

Herbert R. Williams is the webmaster for www.money-from-grants.com
which is the ultimate resource for private and public grant directories on
the Internet. Copyright (c) 2005

Affiliate Programs: Can I REALLY Make Money?

2005-10-22T01:46:00.000-07:00

As an Internet marketing consultant, I often hear the question, "Can I REALLY make money online with affiliate programs?"

To me, that question speaks of the asker's skepticism, so let's put aside any question of whether money is REALLY being made online before we look any further.

Thousands of merchants have put resources into developing affiliate programs so that others can promote their products in exchange for a commission, which is usually a percentage of the product's price. If there wasn't money to be made, Sony, Dell and those thousands of other merchants wouldn't waste their time and money building affiliate programs.

I personally know at least a hundred people who make marketing on the Internet their full-time occupation. If there wasn't money to be made, that wouldn't be possible.

I am one of those people. The secondary title of my ebook about affiliate marketing is 'How I Made $436,797 Last Year Selling Other People's Stuff Online'. Although I dislike that subtitle and its crass approach, it IS the truth, and it IS effective proof that money can be made online. The statement is backed up on the Super Affiliate Handbook homepage with a picture of part of my income tax statement from 2002 which shows my earnings.

See it for yourself at: http://SuperAffiliateHandbook.com

So, having dispelled any question about whether there is money to be made online, let's proceed to the REAL question. Let's take the emphasis off the word 'REALLY' and place it where it belongs - on YOU.

Can YOU really make money online?
Sure you can! IF you REALLY want to.

Desire is the first key to success. But here's where it gets a little tricky. If your desire is for money, as opposed to what money can buy, your work will be made much harder, if not impossible.

'Huh? Why is that?' you may wonder.

Money is a concept. In and of itself it does nothing for you, unless you are very fond of small rectangular pieces of colored paper.

If you focus instead on the good that money will bring to your life, such as free time and all the fun ways to spend it, then you'll give positive direction to your efforts.

Think about it.. what can that money buy you? The kids' education, a new car, a new house, a second honeymoon... how about a sailboat?

Dream a little - dream a LOT, but create some desire, and a REASON to work hard for what you want to achieve.

And that's the second key to making money online - Work.

Too many people still hold onto the notion of 'get rich quick'. I've got news for them - there's no such thing. You can get rich a little quicker on the 'net, but the truth is that nothing worth having comes without a price. You must invest some time and money.

Not much money, but some. Compared to starting any other business, the amount of financial investment required to start an affiliate marketing business on the Internet is negligible.

If you don't have one or two hundred bucks - or can't beg, borrow or steal that amount - then maybe you can get a part-time job and save up to start your online business.

No matter how you slice it, you won't find another opportunity anywhere that has the potential for this much reward for so little outlay. This IS one of the least
expensive businesses you can start.

Last but not least - can you stick with it over the long haul?

Persistence is perhaps the MOST important quality shared by all entrepeneurs. That's why you hear about those who make a million, lose a million and then make another million. They go up, then down, then up again, but they never gave up.

You can't let the ups and downs get to you. Not everything is will go your way all of the time. You'll have to make some effort and it won't always be easy.

But, if you keep your goals foremost in your mind, learn what you need to know and invest your resources wisely and with persistence, you virtually can't help but succeed.

That's how you REALLY make money online!

Article by Rosalind Gardner, author of the best-selling "Super Affiliate Handbook: How I Made $436,797 in One Year Selling Other People's Stuff Online". To learn how you too can suceed in Internet and affiliate marketing, go to:
http://NetProfitsToday.com

© Copyright Rosalind Gardner, All Rights Reserved.

FIVE STEPS TO FINDING A WORK-AT-HOME JOB

2005-10-21T11:46:00.000-07:00

Work-at-home jobs have become more prevalent with the growth of the Internet. Hundreds of jobs can be found on any given day. So it’s always a surprise to me when I receive email from people asking if telecommuting is a myth. It’s not a myth. In fact, approximately 15 million people telecommute in some form. The key to finding work-at-home jobs is know how and where to search, taking the time to learn about companies, and submitting a quality resume.

Step One: Learn about Telecommuting

Despite what scammers would have you believe, you don’t sign-up to work at home nor will you get paid to stuff envelopes or assemble miniature dollhouses. One of the first things people need to understand about work-at-home jobs is that they require skill and experience just as any job would. You may get paid to type but most likely you will also be responsible for doing the research, synthesizing and organizing the data, and then typing it. You might find a job doing data-entry but you may need experience in keying or you may be responsible for gathering the data, entering it and creating queries.

Another fact about telecommuting is that you don’t have to pay for a work-at-home job. Legitimate employers never charge to hire you, ever. Learn that rule and don’t forget it. Because anyone who says you can have a work-at-home job for any amount of money is selling you something and it isn’t work.

Step Two: Inventory Your Skills

In step one you learned that work-at-home jobs require skills and experience so step two is to inventory what you have to offer. When listing your skills and experience, don’t limit yourself to jobs. Include any thing you have learned or can do that is related to a hobby or interest or volunteer experience as well. Skills that translate well into a work-at-home job include researching, writing, computer-related skills, phone and communication skills, and sales experience.

Step Three: Search for Work

The key to finding work-at-home jobs is to search where people post jobs. Employers are not looking for home workers. They are looking for qualified people to fill a position. It is the position they advertise and they advertise it on job-related sites. That doesn’t mean that scams are not posted in job sites but for the most part you can be sure that work-at-jobs won’t be posted in search engines.

You need to realize that most likely you won’t find your perfect job on your first search attempt. People complain to me all the time that they find hundreds of jobs they don’t want to do or can’t do. I always ask how many jobs listed in the Sunday classifieds would they be interested in doing? Probably only a handful out of hundreds. Why should a work-at-home search be any different? It shouldn’t and isn’t. A work-at-home job search requires the same amount of effort and diligence.

Step Four: Submit a Quality Resume

“I want to work at home. I have a computer and can type.” Would you hire someone who sent you this? Probably not. Why? Well for one, there isn’t enough information to determine if this job applicant can do the job. And two, the job applicant hasn’t put forth a great deal of effort in getting the job. I am surprised sometimes how informal people are when trying to find a work-at-home job. This sort of note would never be sent in a traditional job search but for some reason people do it all the time in a work-at-home job search. The fact is that you must submit professional quality resumes and applications. Your written submission is the first and only chance you have to make an impression. The competition for a work-at-home job will be fierce. You need to set your submission apart from the rest. Here are some tips:

Learn about resumes and cover letters

Submit your resume to a person.

Follow the directions indicated in the job announcement.

Gear each resume to the job you are applying to.

Step Five: Don’t Give Up

I believe everyone can work at home. But it’s not easy. It requires a great deal of effort and often a willingness to venture into something new. Many people give up too early or when the effort becomes too much. If you have been looking for more than six months, you need to re-evaluate your efforts. Are you looking in the right places? Are you willing to consider a variety of jobs? Have you been submitting quality resumes and applications? Have you been working on your goal on a regular basis for six months? (Wishing to work at home for six months isn’t the same as actively looking for a job for six months).

You can turn your work-at-home dream into a reality. By following the five steps above, you can bring yourself that much closer to finding a telecommuting job.

======================================

Copyright 2003-2005 Leslie Truex, Work-At-Home Success, Jobs At Home. Leslie Truex has telecommuted for online companies as well as offline in the areas of education and social work. She is the author of Jobs At Home: A Complete Guide to Finding or Creating a Work-At-Home Job http://www.jobsathomesuccess.com which provided step-by-step details for finding and obtaining a work-at-home job including over 150 telecommuting job resources.

Happy Ebaying!

2005-10-20T10:23:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest challenges for many moms today is deciding whether to work outside the home to earn an income or stay home with their children. Many moms are forced to make difficult decisions and sacrifices every day. For example, just imagine one mom sitting at her desk at work, missing her children, while another mom is at home with her children, but worried about paying the bills.

Wouldn't it be nice to earn an extra income from home, and still be able to spend quality time with your children? Sounds like a great idea to us!

Over the past decade home-based businesses have sky-rocketed, mainly due to the extraordinary emergence of the Internet. The Internet can take you places that you could never imagine. The Internet provides you with every resource, right at your fingertips. The desire and convenience of working from home has become a favorable alternative and more moms are becoming work-at-home moms faster then ever before.

There are some incredible home-based Internet business opportunities available for enterprising Moms. Although, we have tried several other business ventures, we have become partial to a Home-Based eBay Business.

"TOP 10 MOM REASONS WHY WE LOVE eBAY"

10. Relatively Easy to Learn - All you need is Basic Computer Knowledge, eBay sics, eBay Tips, Techniques, and Secrets, and you can start eBaying in no time!

9. No Direct Sales - No Face-to-Face Sales, No Cold Calling, No Demonstrations, No Catalogs, No Phone Calls, No Door-to Door Sales, and No Pushy Sales Tactics.

8. Instant Customers - Millions of people shop on eBay. Get Instant Traffic and a Receptive Audience Ready and Willing to Buy...with eBay the World is at Your Command.

7. Giant Yard Sale - Get rid of all of the "Junk"...Oops, we meant to say "Treasures," accumulating in your closets, attic, or garage. Don't throw them out, sell them on eBay!

6. Make Friends - Thousands of Moms buy and sell on eBay. Make some New Friends through the eBay Mom Groups and Message Boards. eBay is filled with incredibly Nice, Helpful, and Knowledgeable People.

5. Impress Yourself - Tap into your Talents, Skills, Hobbies, and Passions and turn them into a profit-making eBay machine. Set realistic, practical, and achievable business goals for yourself and turn your Dreams into a Reality.

4. Inexpensive Start-Up - Starting an eBay Business is relatively inexpensive. Start small with low risk, and grow your eBay business into a profitable "Work-from-Home Mom Biz."

3. Your Own Schedule - Moms are busy...eBay is flexible! There is No Clock to Punch...work at your Own Pace and according to your own Schedule...then go to work in your Pajamas and Slippers!

2. Family Affair - Moms...make money from the Comfort and Chaos of your very own Home. Let the Dads and Kids join in and work at your Corporate eBay office...otherwise known as "The Kitchen!"

And the Number One Mom Reason Why We Love eBay...(Drum Roll Please!!!!)...

1. Have Fun Making Money - eBay is Addictive, it is so exciting to see people from all over the country and the world bidding and buying Your Items!

Having an eBay business is not only about making money...the real benefit is having the freedom to spend more time with your family, work from home and become your own boss.

So...whether you decide to become the next eBay Powerseller Mom, or you sell just enough on eBay to pay for your child's piano lessons...eBay is a fun, flexible, and profitable Home-Based Business for motivated, determined, and enterprising Moms.

Happy eBaying!