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Small Business Home Based Ideas for Writers

Small Business Home Based Ideas for Writers
So you have decided to take the plunge a home-based business. Good for you! It will be nice to be able to wake up every day, grab a cup of coffee and walk into your office. No more rush hour, no more cubicle, and a chance to make it on your own. Sounds great doesn’t it? But there is one small snag before you can open shop. You need to know just what sort of business you should be running.

There are a myriad of opportunities for your small business requiring very little initial investment. If you are stumped for business ideas, here are ten quick ideas for you to consider.

Branch Out From Your Current Job

If you are already a professional, but want to get out on your own, this is often the best way to go. Architects, air conditioning repairmen, computer professionals, and plumbers are all in demand. You simply need to start up your own little section of these burgeoning fields. All it takes is the required tools and a willingness to put your name out there. Advertise in the paper, on the Internet, and in the yellow pages. If you are a landscape designer, you probably have a drafting board already. If you are a motorcycle mechanic, it is a safe bet that you already have the tools you need. Make them go to work for you in your own business.

Handyman/Home Repair

If you enjoy fixing things around the house, you can easily parlay this into self-employment. Not everybody knows how to patch drywall, grout a ceramic floor, or install a new countertop. Chances are, most people don’t even want to know. However, people do want these things done. And you are just the person to do it.

If you have worked on houses before, now is your chance to make it pay off. Advertise your reasonably priced services in the newspaper and the yellow pages and people will call. The best part is that, when you have done a great job at a good price, your customers will refer you to their friends. Word of mouth is very big for those who work on houses.

Landscaping

You already own a lawn mower. You have a hedge trimmer and an edger. You have a large collection of lawn and garden bags. You have a pickup truck that can haul them around. And you like fresh air, sunshine, and working in the yard. Well, now you can get plenty of all three.

In case you hadn’t noticed, there are many people who do not enjoy mowing their lawns. Make their day by offering your services to them. Do some market research and figure out how much you should charge for your services. Get some quotes for your yard from other landscape companies. Figure out the area of your yard and translate that into the price you should charge. Then, you are ready to start. Put fliers on the neighborhood door handles and wait for the calls.

Computer Consultant

In case you have been in, say, a small plastic bubble on the bottom of the ocean for the last fifteen years or so, you may want to know that computer work is in high demand. For all the talk of the dot-com bust, the shrinking technology sector and outsourcing, computer professionals are in high demand. If you know how to program, how to repair or upgrade a PC, or how to configure a network, you can turn your knowledge into your own home-based business.

As well, web site design is an exciting opportunity for those with little programming experience, but loads of experience with the graphic arts. All you need to do is learn the very simple HTML formatting language and study other web sites for their design ideas. Languages such as PHP, ASP, Java, and JavaScript would be useful, but they are not necessary for a great deal of web design work.

Fixing/Restoring It

You already get a kick out of repairing electronics, refinishing furniture, or rebuilding Chevy small-block engines. You have all the tools that any good repairman would own. You can turn your hobby into money by starting your own small business.

There are a lot of people out there who want their toasters fixed, their vintage record player working again, or their car’s body repaired for a decent price. If you can do any of these things, you can put yourself on the map with an ad in the paper and the yellow pages.

By working out of your home, you can keep your overhead down and your profit high. Be careful though. If you are doing something such as automotive repair, your neighbors won’t be happy if there is a line-up of wrecked cars in your driveway. Check your zoning codes on work of this nature.

However, if you are working on smaller items, even appliances, you can easily do this work without the neighbors being too much the wiser. So start advertising and make your small business go!

Giving Lessons/Tutoring

If you have a special skill, such as playing the piano, playing tennis, dancing, or sewing, you can give lessons from your home. There are plenty of boys and girls, and even adults, who want to learn to swim, type, or speak Spanish. So translate your abilities into some dinero. You have skills that other people want to learn. They are a great place to start a home-based business.

Likewise, if you are a former teacher who wants to see the faces of young students again, tutoring may be a rewarding pastime. If you can, and if you are allowed, talk to your former teaching colleagues to see if they have any students who are interested in receiving extra tutoring.

Cleaning/Maid Service

Another option for a home-based business is a cleaning service. You already clean your own home, why not help somebody else with theirs? With a few of those household cleaners and chemicals, you can start up a nice little income. You need to be thorough, detailed, and willing to scrub everything to a shine. But with some effort, time, and patience this business opportunity can quickly pay dividends.

Arts & Crafts

If you happen to enjoy candle-making, soap-making, or designing teddy bears and decorative hats, you can make start up a small business selling your creations. Be prepared, this will probably not start out and be very lucrative. However, with some time and patience and a few church sales and flea market visits, your skills will improve, your eye for the market will sharpen and you can sell many of your original designs. The work can be fun, and some extra money won’t hurt either.

Artistic Pursuits/Graphic Design

Another business opportunity that may take your fancy is in the pursuit of the arts. Whether you happen to paint, perform graphic design, take photographs, illustrate, or write calligraphy, you can start a business that caters to the needs of those who want something not merely done, but done prettily. Wedding invitations require a calligrapher and photographers. Books need illustrators. Businesses need logos that are attractive to the eye. Living rooms can be livened up with a painting. You can use your special, unusual skills and turn a leisurely pursuit into a home-based business.

Communications/Writing

If you happen to enjoy writing, you can turn your writing and proofreading skills into your own cottage industry. Perhaps you can start writing articles and send them to the magazines you enjoy. Or you can spend your time translating foreign language texts. As well, good proofreaders, book indexers, and researchers are needed by both writers and publishing companies.

Sell your skills in these areas to people who need this sort of work done. As well, if you are a writer, you may even want to sell your typing prowess to those folks out there who can’t bang out 40-80 words a minute at the keyboard. Perhaps the local high school or university could bring some business your way.

These are just a few of the business opportunities available to those who wish to work from home. In fact, the possibilities are almost endless. You can get tons more information from our website.

You could buy and sell antiques, provide day care to working mothers, or a dog kennel for people who travel. You could sell house-painting services, wedding cakes, patent searching, permit filing, and event planning. The possibilities are endless.

Find the home-based business that is right for you and you will find that it can be both rewarding a lucrative. See what people need, what people want, and what they are willing to pay for it. Then, the rest is up to you!

Have a way with words?  If you dream of writing for a living, but feel stifled in your everyday job, there are some top home based businesses for writers that you should consider.  The demand for good writing is very high, so finding one of the top home based businesses for writers that fits your needs just takes a little digging.

One of the five top home based businesses for writers is being an advertising writer.  If you have a flair for writing that sells, then being a copywriter may be your niche.  Advertising agencies, private companies, non-profit agencies and more are all looking for someone to sell their products and services through ad copy, making copywriting one of the top home based businesses for writers.

The second of the five top home based businesses for writers involves creating a resume writing service.  Not all job seekers have what it takes to create an effective resume, and having a talented resume writer on hand can be a blessing to them.  If you find that you have a knack for putting together resumes that get people in the door, then you should take advantage the second of the top home based businesses for writers.

E-book writing and publishing is another of the top home based businesses for writers.  In our technology soaked society, you can immerse yourself in the e-commerce boom by writing fiction or non-fiction e-books.  The sheer number of topics available is endless.  More and more people are looking to purchase their literature on the net, which makes writing e-books another one of the top home based businesses for writers.

Business writing is also one of the top home based businesses for writers, and it can be one of the most lucrative home based businesses.  Companies are always looking for writers to create brochures, annual reports, sales letters, direct mail pieces, instruction manuals and more.  The fact that there are all kinds of businesses out there means that this is one of the top home based businesses for writers just out of the sheer volume of writing available.

Finally, freelance article writing is another of the top home based businesses for writers.  When people think of freelance writing, they most often think of magazine writers, but there are a number of people who will use freelance writers to create articles for their websites, e-zines, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, and more.  The sheer volume of periodicals both online and on paper make this one of the top five home based businesses for writers.

Still, no matter what type of writing you love, you need to remember that your writing is your business, and you want it to be one of the top home based businesses out there.  Make sure you stay abreast of current trends and hone your writing skills before you take advantage of any of the top home based businesses for writers.   In order to sell your work and build your reputation as having one of the top home based businesses, you need to produce quality work on time, every time.

April 12, 2014 Today's Business, , , , , , , , , , , 2 Read more >

Secrets in Building A Home Based Business

Secrets in Building A Home Based Business

Have you been scouring through all those home-based business opportunities on the Internet looking for the perfect niche? Have you invested in a couple of them and realized that the home-based business you picked was not what it seemed at first? Have you watched dozens or even hundreds of multimedia presentations while visions of dollar signs danced in your head?

If you’ve answered “yes” to any of the questions above, you may be facing some difficult decisions regarding starting a home-based business. Do not part with another cent of your hard-earned money until you thoroughly read this article about what some home-based business sellers do not want you to know.

Every day millions of people dream about owning their own home-based business. What’s not to dream about? The opportunity to work the hours you desire and make an extraordinary sum of money is an intoxicating idea. In fact, it can be downright addictive. In response, thousands of new home-based business opportunities spring up every day that promise investors easy riches and the lifestyle that comes with ultimate success.

Most new business opportunities are quick to tell you about all the great things about their particular business model. Flashy websites, well-crafted audio presentations, and difficult to ignore graphs and charts are all part of the equation. Lost in the throes of all the excitement is that many people that buy into these programs do not consider the downside. Let’s take a look at some of the downsides that many of these businesses conveniently forget to mention.

Most home-based business opportunities leave out the fact that you will have to SELL…SELL…SELL! You should ask yourself if you like selling? Most business opportunities require you to be an expert salesperson. That’s what business is all about. Contrary to what you may believe, selling is an art. The person who may have gotten you to join in the first place might actually be making a lot of money, but again they may be a great salesperson blessed with a golden tongue (they sold you didn’t they?). So unless you really like to sell, you should be careful about the business you invest in. The art of selling is not something that everyone can do. It takes a type of dedication that has to be immune to rejection and the ability to persevere through difficult times. The fact is that most people hate selling so much that they never really succeed in their home-based business.

Did you really think the product your home based business offers will just “sell itself”? Many of the home-based business opportunities bandied across the World Wide Web indicate that their products do in fact, sell themselves. This is a definite warning sign. Very few ideas sell themselves, and in the rare occasion that an idea is so extraordinary that it would sell itself, it usually takes an inordinate effort to get the word out. A huge mistake that most first time home-based business owners face is not having enough cash to invest in advertising.

Advertising, of course, is the medium through which a product or service gathers name recognition. A basic rule in advertising 101 is that in order to be effective advertising must be consistent. It must also target a specific group of people that are likely to buy. You wouldn’t target a sports product to those who detest sports, would you? Contrary to what many home-based business sellers might tell you, very few buying decisions are impulsive. This means that a potential customer might have to see an advertisement for your product or service dozens of times before they decide to make a purchase. So if you business plans is to just invest a few hundred dollars on advertising with the hopes of gaining thousands of dollars to reinvest—think again! In order to get sales rolling you need to make a bigger commitment than that. Think about the vast amounts of money that change hands for a thirty second Super Bowl commercial. If you don’t think advertising works, then it’s already too hot in the kitchen!

Most home-based business sellers promise you that once you sign up there is very little work involved. It’s amazing that after all these years people still believe that you can get something for nothing. Can you imagine going into a job interview and expecting not to do any work? Do you think that you will be paid to just sit back on a white sand beach in some tropical paradise and drink margaritas all day while your bank account continues to grow and the good times continue to roll? If you’ve got that mindset, it would be wise to shed it in favor of a more logical approach. Of course, without proper advertising, you are not going to get very far. If you are spending your time trying to close unqualified leads then you are not going to have much time to lie on the beach and soak up the rays.

One of the ways you can get around some of these important considerations is to look for a home-based business that automates the sales process. Without automation tire-kickers and time-wasters will rob you of your valuable time. If the sales process is automated, you may be onto something. Think about the time you will save if you don’t have to track down each client and negotiate a deal. If you are on the edge of investing in a home-based business, be sure to ask if the business opportunity you are about to invest in has trained closers that work with you to close the coveted sale.

Passive income is the golden word in which most home-based businesses sell the dream of ultimate prosperity. In our society people continuously dream about having the freedom to do whatever they want, whenever they want. Passive income is income that you basically do not have to do very much for in the present. That is, it has been established already. While passive income is generated in the present, it is a result of PAST efforts. The foundation was previously constructed by people who had to work diligently and productively in order to reach their goals. Think about someone who owns a rental property and makes a nice income every month from rent. That property did not simply materialize out of thin air. The owner did not rub a magic lamp three times and receive three wishes for his efforts. It looks like the property owner has done nothing for that income but the truth is that they had to do a lot of work and build their savings in the PAST in order to be able to have enough money to buy that rental property.

Do not get sold on the idea that purchasing a home-based business will give you immediate passive income. This is a pipe dream that can cost you both time and money. Whatever endeavor you wish to pursue takes dogged determination, resiliency, and getting your hands dirty in order to succeed. You have to work and pay your dues before you can generate positive cash flow. This article is not trying to dissuade you from pursuing the dream of a home-based business – not at all! In fact, there are hundreds of thousands of people who have succeeded in starting their home-based business. What is being suggested is the fact that wealth and prosperity do not come easy. If they did, then wouldn’t everyone be working from home by now?

Starting a home-based business is a plausible investment. However, it takes hard work at first, but if you stick with it and demonstrate the ability to work through difficult times, you will be rewarded in the end. This brings up the last success factor that most home-based businesses neglect to tell you. Their advertisements show you flashy cars, luxurious homes, pearly white beaches, and vast landscapes that are usually the playgrounds for millionaires. The truth is that pursuing a home-based business takes a serious commitment of time and effort. Very simply put, you get out what you put in. A business opportunity is just like a car. If you continue to pump fuel into it, make sure it is properly maintained, and get the oil changed every couple of months, it will perform at its peak for a long period of time. On the other hand, if you let it run dry you’ll be waiting for a tow truck on the highway to oblivion!

The goal of attaining passive income is very possible if you pay your dues and do a little bit of hard work. Never forget that the time you put into your home based business is an investment. It is more than likely that your business will not take off the first day, week, or month after you start it. However, with persistence and a never-say-die attitude, you will probably experience success faster than others.

If you have the drive to make your home-based business a successful and thriving reality, visit our website for a free 6 Minute Movie. If you are interested in a home-based business that has an automated sales process and helps you close the sale then visit our website for a free no hassle presentation without pushy sales staff that pressure you into action.

This could be a watershed moment in your life. It could be a time where your fortunes do indeed change for the better, so it makes sense to carefully consider your options. After you view the free 6 Minute Movie on our website, you will have a better idea of what is entailed in the automated sales process, and how you wish to proceed with your dream of a realistic, successful, and quality home-based business.

April 12, 2014 Today's Business, , , , , , 1 Read more >

Finding More Virtual Business

Finding More Virtual Business
If you’re going to go fishing, you have to know where to fish, right? There are several types of job posting sites of which you need to be aware. Each type has its pros and cons. Below; I will show you the different kinds of sites available to freelancers and then discuss the good points and bad points of each.
Paid sites on which clients post their own jobs:
Don’t automatically discount an online job service just because they charge for the service or because you have to “bid” on jobs. I had to learn that the hard way. When Jim and I started seeking more freelance work, I wouldn’t touch those paid sites with a ten-foot keyboard. I figured they must be a scam. Jim says, “Hey, why didn’t you go to this one?” I said,
“I’m not going to pay for job postings! And I’m certainly NOT going to bid against other freelancers to get work!”

After more encouragement, on Jim’s part, I finally checked it out, coughed up the $125 for three months of service, built my profile, and started bidding. Hey, this is business, not a hobby.

In business, there’s competition and you need to be ready for it and deal with it. Now, I’m not saying you should go out and sign up for every paid service that exists – that doesn’t work either. What you should do, though, is pick one or two paid bidding sites. My favorite is eLance.com. They’re expensive and I don’t like using the site for long-term clients. However, it’s a good place to find clients. What you do with them after you’ve earned their business, is, uh, well, none of my business ;-).

Paid sites where the site pulls postings from other sites (uses non-original postings*):
For the freelancer, these sites are not very useful for finding work. If the posting isn’t original, meaning that the client didn’t post the job or the opportunity, you can bet that client is getting so many responses that they’re ignoring the majority of them. This type of site doesn’t do much for you in the way of job postings. They may offer some other good information, but the job postings are likely sub-standard.

Free sites where clients post their jobs
These sites share the same pluses as paid sites with client job listings. Most of the same things apply, except they’re free! One drawback for clients, however, may be the perceived value of the site and their service. Many people feel that if you don’t have to pay for it, it must not be very good. So, it’s possible that you won’t find as many good clients and/or job listings on this type of site. However, if the postings are original and credible, it’s worth a shot.

Free sites where the site pulls postings from other sites (uses non-original postings*):
This type of site gets a double-whammy for uselessness — Unless of course, they can offer you some other kind of information to help you in your job. But, again, if they’re not using original job postings, and are pulling from other sites, their jobs and clients are likely so saturated with responses rendering them useless in finding work.

Staffing agency sites:
Sites like these can be good ones to pursue. Usually, what this type of site or company does is locate its own clients and work and “share” the work with their freelance pool. In fact, this is exactly what Team Double-ClickSM does. The problem, however, is that if they’re good (they pay in a timely manner, work with good clients, and otherwise treat their freelancers well), they fill up quickly and either refuse additional freelancers or have a long waiting list. Persistence is the key here. If you can get in touch with a real human being (not their computer), sometimes it helps to send follow up notes to see if they have changed their acceptance policy.

Sites using non-original postings:
Unfortunately, the fact that a site doesn’t post original job listings isn’t something they advertise. This makes it much more difficult for us, as freelancers, to know whether they’re for real. Most clients don’t post their job openings on multiple sites – they will choose one or two and stick with them. The best way to ferret out the sites who are using others’ postings is a rather time consuming one. You have to surf. Make a mental note (or written if need be) of the sites you visit and the postings you see on them. Then you have to refer back, either by memory or to a log that you create, and watch for patterns. If you run across a posting and remember seeing that same posting elsewhere, it’s a good bet that the site is “borrowing” postings to beef up their site.
The other thing you can do is to send the companies an email before you pay for their service. Interview them, so-to-speak.

Ask the following questions:

Do you borrow job postings from other sites?
If so, how many of your job postings are original? Ask for a percentage.
What does my $29.95 get me – exactly?
How many new postings do you receive per day?
What areas do you post jobs in, ex: IT, Administrative?
Should one of your clients not pay me for the work I do, what is your support policy?
When does my membership expire?

These things will help, but again, there’s no guarantee. You’re a freelancer, which means you’re in business for yourself and there are always risks when you’re in business.

April 8, 2014 Today's Business, , , , , , , , 0 Read more >

Small Business Low Cost Marketing Tips & Techniques

Small Business Low Cost Marketing Tips & Techniques

Do you need to get more clients?  Are you trying to get your first client?  Is your marketing budget equivalent to the cost of a Happy Meal?   The following tips and techniques are not by any means hidden secrets, but they are some of the most overlooked ways to market a small business today.

1.  Know your target audience.

As silly as it sounds, many small business owners kick off a marketing campaign without regard to whom they want to target.  If you send out a coupon for NASCAR tickets to the first 1,000 people in the phone book, some will undoubtedly be thrilled and will do what’s necessary to earn the tickets  (akin to dropping 1,000 mailers from an airplane — some will hit the target).  But just imagine the response rate if you sent out the same 1,000 NASCAR ticket coupons to only those people who attended a NASCAR event in the last year.   You’ve gone from wildly shooting to steadily aiming your campaign, thus increasing your response rate and decreasing your cost per customer.

2.  Publish an e-zine (or newsletter).

Publishing an e-zine or print newsletter (even as short as a page) is a great way to keep in touch with your customers and clients.  You can produce one online using a program such as Constant Contact for little to no money and can even set your e-zines up in advance using easy-to-understand templates.

3.  Have a website and keep it updated.

All businesses, no matter your size or field, need a website these days.  You can get a domain name for as little as $2.95/year and, using templates, have a basic design done in a few hours.  Once your customers, clients, and potential customers and clients have visited your website, they will find fresh, quality content in the form of new e-zines, articles, blog posts and tips.  This will keep them, and the search engine spiders, coming back for more.

4.  Opportunity is calling.

While not usually viewed as a marketing technique, answering the phone and follow-up is critical in this day and age of limited valuable time and impersonal service.  Have you ever called someone only to not get a call-back or sent an email and waited days for a response? More clients and prospects become lost revenue these days due to inadequate, or non-existent follow-up.   If you receive a phone call from a prospective client or from an existing client, call him back as soon as possible or, better yet, immediately!

5.  Get involved online.

Find out where your target audience hangs out and participate in those online discussion groups and forums.  Yahoo Groups is a great place to find a wide variety of discussion groups.  Several business owners also belong to Ryze — an online networking forum. By consistently offering your help to others, you will position yourself as an expert that others will turn to when the time is right for them.

6.  Get involved offline.

Getting involved with local organizations can help to build your reputation as a “doer”, a “go getter” or just a really dependable individual (all things which will help your business). Just remember that you are representing your business in everything you do and act accordingly.

7.  Word of Mouth/Referrals.

We’ve all heard the saying that a happy customer tells somewhere between 1 and 3 people about her experience while an unhappy customer tells up to 12 people about hers.  Keep your customers happy,   ask for feedback as to what you could do better, and once you know they’re happy, then ask for a referral.  People generally are willing to help those they like.

8.  Use postcards.

Whether you are an online-only business, a brick & mortar establishment or a hybrid, you can effectively use postcards to market your business.  Postcards are easy to do, inexpensive to mail and have a high readership.  Many people associate postcards with personal notes from friends and family and don’t even think before they turn it over to read the message.   With this method, you have already gotten into the hands of many people that wouldn’t take the time to open junk mail.

9.  Have others do it for you or with you.

Never underestimate the power of cooperation and reciprocal agreements.  Is there a vendor that has a related, but not directly competitive, target audience to yours?  If so, form a strategic alliance where you recommend his products/services and he recommends yours.  For example, a movie theater and a restaurant could share customer information and play off each other for promotions.

While many of the above tips and techniques will arouse the “DUH” response, it’s constantly surprising to me how many businesses – small and large – overlook these basic items in their day-to-day marketing and operations.

 

March 12, 2014 Today's Business, , , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Read more >

Gaining Quicker Home Business Profits

Gaining Quicker Home Business Profits

Now let’s be honest, way too many people believe the Internet is a place to become rich very quickly without any effort or sweat. They think that once you publish a web site, that you have a home business. Please do not expect riches and results from an online business started with that thought approach. Home business owners giving up or suffocating are clear indications that they did not read this article.

But there is good news, and the good news is that starting an online business is really worth every second if approached from the right angle and if you got what it takes to do it right. Imagine being your own boss as your first bonus, and then use your intelligence and motivation to make it work. The Time factor (lack of it) will always be a issue when creating your business, given the fact we all have jobs, families and all kind of distractions. But that easily solved. Manage your time dedicated to your business simply by using only the proven techniques, strategies, and today’s technology. Don’t go round the world for a shortcut.

Can you imagine what it would be like to be able to sit down at your computer and find your home business already built in a box? All you have to do is activate it. On the internet you can use anything from content sites and article sites, and you can easily find ready to go e-books, all kinds of software, online business products and even complete web sites, ready to be activated by you to give you the opportunity to build a home business with. However, they don’t include the marketing techniques and strategies that any home business badly requires.

Marketing is a broad business subject that encompasses a range of activities including advertising, public relations, sales, and promotions. Generally, you will find that people tend confuse sales with marketing, when in fact the two are quite different. Marketing is all about getting a product or service into the market, promoting it, influencing behavior, and encouraging sales turnover. Sales, quite distinctly, is the actual transaction of getting a product or service into the hands of your customers. As you can probably gather, neither can be successful without the other.

With so many messages being propelled towards all of us these days, it is more critical than ever for a business to get their product noticed. This means marketers have evolved to being creative. Marketing is not an exact science and managers who know little about it are afraid that the marketing staff within their firm is often wasting valuable money. The truth is that marketing is an investment that always pays off; it just may come back in ways that are not necessarily measurable. So even though one campaign may bring moderate results, another will bring astonishing profits.

Take a tour of sites like Profits Yesterday, Surefire Wealth, and Simpleology. Here you will find many ideas and solutions for your home business. But none will be successful overnight. Success will come to you, but it will take considerable amount of effort, motivation, and determination to achieve results. And it all starts with YOU and a great business idea.

Do not under estimate your most valuable asset. The skill and knowledge you already have. Online Business takes passion and patience and the chances are that through your job got you many years of experience that you can easily share for profit. Get a copy of the book “Make Your Knowledge Sell”, and see for yourself just how your knowledge can make lots of money.

Many products and services which are killers for a home business are already out there and affiliate sales already exist. Take advantage of this by joining sites that sell content and ideas you can modify to suit your specific business needs. These days you can start your home based business in a few hours, but above most things, have a very good marketing plan before you start. Then use all information available on content sites and article sites to get the job done right.

But my most valuable advice to you in all cases is, make an ACTION PLAN because without it you are looking at the fastest way for your home business to fail. “Crawl before walk” is a well known phrase, and also the answer for faster home business profits.

To Your Success,

Brian Camilleri

March 5, 2014 Today's Business, , , , , , , , , , , 1 Read more >

20 Quotes To Inspire Yourself in Being Your Own Boss

20 Quotes To Inspire Yourself in Being Your Own Boss
It has been said that it takes 21 days of consistent action to change a behavior or create a new habit. Often times we want something different but old tapes continue to play in our head that keep us from reaching our goals and dreams. This can range from trying to drop 10 lbs to gaining the courage to start your work at home business. 20 Quotes To Inspire Yourself in Being Your Own Boss

The truth is going from an employee to an entrepreneur can be a little scary. However one of the ways to reduce fear and increase success is to lean on the wisdom and experience of others who have been successful in life.

Some may be famous and others not. Nevertheless, the wisdom if you choose to listen can help you create a paradigm shift in thinking which the foundation to massive success. I have always loved to listen to the champions that have gone before.

Here are 21 quotes that I have thought about often and used to inspire me to down size my boss and it can do the same for you. 20 Quotes To Inspire Yourself in Being Your Own Boss

1. Once in a while it really hits people that they don’t have to experience the world in the way they have been told to. —Alan Keightley

Were you told to go to school and get a good job? I was. While I know my mother meant well and thought she was preparing me tobe able to have access to the pearly gates of success she could not know how things would change.

However, I knew that I wanted more? How about you? Remember, you don’t have to settle for 60 hour work weeks, 30 minute commutes, your kids in day care or relocating for the promise of career advancement. You don’t have to be part of the grind…the rat race. 20 Quotes To Inspire Yourself in Being Your Own Boss

2. You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. — Mike Murdock

Are you afraid to get started? It may seem overwhelming but if you focus on simply daily actions the big goals take care of themselves.

3. No one lives long enough to learn everything they need to learn starting from scratch. To be successful, we absolutely, positively have to find people who have already paid the price to learn the things that we need to learn to achieve our goals —. Brian Tracy

Get help right out the gate. Find a mentor, coach, mastermind or become a part a community that will help to support you in your success. You want to become a life long learner. Attend seminars and boot camps in your specialized area knowledge. When you learn from people who have been successful and you model their activities you will get their results. 20 Quotes To Inspire Yourself in Being Your Own Boss

4. By stretching yourself beyond your perceived level of confidence you accelerate your development of competence. — Michael J. Gelb

The only way to gain confidence in a certain area is to take action. It is in the action you will start to have small victories which will increase your level of success.

5. If you don’t program yourself, life will program you! —Les Brown

Don’t let other people make decision for your life. If you have no plan on you will create wealth during your working years your employer will. Have no retirement plan? You don’t the government to be your strategy. Remember, it’s your life and it’s now or never.

6. There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them. —Denis Waitley

No matter what your current conditions are you have the opportunity to change them. However, this only can happen if you take total responsible for the direction of your life. If you don’t like where you are forgive yourself and focus on solutions. Don’t focus on problems or why you think something can’t happen. Start to ask powerful questions the answers will start to appear. 20 Quotes To Inspire Yourself in Being Your Own Boss

7. Everything you need you already have. You are complete right now, you are a whole, total person, not an apprentice person on the way to someplace else. Your completeness must be understood by you and experienced in your thoughts as your own personal reality. — Dr. Wayne Dyer

8. Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. Who are we NOT to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in us all. —Marianne Williamson

When I first heard this quote it brought tears to my eyes. What talent or gift do you have that you are allowing fear to rob you from achieving? Doing what you were called to do it is bigger than you. You are unique and sharing your gift with someone could make a difference in their life. Are you playing it too small? Are staying in a job that doesn’t stretch you? What can you do to make a difference?
9. You’ll see things “you never knew you never knew.” — Disney’s Pocahontas

The journey and pursuit of freedom allows you to see the world in a different way than others. As you grow you will naturally see opportunities that others can not see. Jason Oman author of Conversation with Millionaires calls it “Money Goggles.” Even if you were in a pitch black room you will have infrared vision in the area of creating opportunities to make money.

10. A different world cannot be built by indifferent people. —Peter Marshall

You can’t have what you want in life by being indifferent. Successful people are passionate and sometimes radical in pursuit of their dreams. Don’t allow yourself to be in environments that discourage you. 20 Quotes To Inspire Yourself in Being Your Own Boss

11. What is it that you like doing? If you don’t like it, get out of it, because you’ll be lousy at it. You don’t have to stay with a job for the rest of your life, because if you don’t like it you’ll never be successful in it. —Lee Iacocca

Why would you ever spend most of your waking hours doing something that you don’t like? The key to success is finding something you love to and set the standard for excellence.

12. Simply making consistent investments in our self-education and knowledge banks pays major dividends throughout our lives. — Jim Rohn

The self-education I have pursued after college has been my greatest return on investment. There is something to be said when you develop skills that you know will support you in any economy. Specialized knowledge applied with all out massive results will yield hefty financial and emotional rewards. 20 Quotes To Inspire Yourself in Being Your Own Boss

13. Finding your purpose may be a lifelong pursuit or you may have discovered it when you were 5 years old. There’s no absolute timeline for anyone. That’s a good reason never to give up, to keep on discovering things every day. — Donald Trump

If you have not discovered your life’s purpose don’t be hard on yourself. Start to ask yourself questions and enter into a discovery process. Allow yourself to dream without concerns of how you will get it done. Every time you think you have found the answer did a little deeper with more questions. Rarely are your true goals, purpose and desires on the surface of your soul. Often times they have been put away for safe keeping to protect yourself from disappointment. Keep discovering new things until your purpose is crystal clear.

14. What material success does is provide you with the ability to concentrate on other things that really matter. And that is being able to make a difference, not only in your own life, but in other people’s lives. —Oprah Winfrey

When you get the money out of the way your world expands even greater. Oprah exemplifies this principle. She now looks for ways to help others in everything she does. Whether it is giving more support to your family or contributing to a worthy cause, having freedom as a work from home entrepreneur will allow you make your mark in the world. 20 Quotes To Inspire Yourself in Being Your Own Boss

15. The world cares very little about what a man or woman knows; it is what the man or woman is able to do. — Booker T. Washington

So what can you create and add value to the world? I love this quote because it demonstrates very clearly that what matters are results at the end of the day. Don’t get caught up in theories. Make sure you are constantly taking action that moves you towards a specific goal.

16. There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long-range risks of comfortable inaction. — John F. Kennedy

Are you so afraid to fail that you just can’t get out of the box? Don’t be. Many people have “failed” their way to million dollar empires. It is better to do something and be wrong then to do nothing at all. When you choose to do nothing someone else usually makes a decision that impacts you and you ending up doing something you don’t want to do. 20 Quotes To Inspire Yourself in Being Your Own Boss

17. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for circumstances they want. –George Bernard Shaw

There is no such thing as luck. You create the luck by working and preparing for the opportunity. When you start to put yourself out there the universe gives back. Make sure you are clear of your intentions and then go and make it happen.

19. It’s not the hours you put in your work that counts, it’s the work you put in your hours. — Sam Ewing

You have the same 24 hours in the day as Bills Gate and Oprah. Don’t sabotage yourself by saying, “Well they can do it because their rich.” Unless you inherit wealth there is a price that everyone has to pay. You don’t have to work all day at your work from empire. However, you must consistently put time in if you want success. 20 Quotes To Inspire Yourself in Being Your Own Boss

20. You must do the thing you think you cannot do. — Eleanor
Roosevelt.

One of the greatest gifts you can give yourself is to do something you think you can not do. It doesn’t have to be something huge. A simple action of courage goes a long in adding to your confidence in every area of your life.

21. You will never leave where you are, until you decide where you’d rather be. — Dexter Yager

Until you know your purpose you will be at risk for staying in a job that slowly eats away at you. Why? You simply don’t have a strong enough goal to leave your current job. When the goal is strong enough you will search to find the answers. 20 Quotes To Inspire Yourself in Being Your Own Boss

 

December 20, 2013 Today's Business, , , , 1 Read more >

Creating a Web Based Business The Works: Part 7

Creating a Web Based Business The Works Part 1Creating a Web Based Business The Works: Part 7

Creating a Web Based Business The Works: Part 7. You are most likely coming here as a follow up to my Part 4 of 5 articles on creating an online business. I hope you found part (1) one through part (4) informative and helpful.

Today I am going to cover marketing your website. You can have the best website in the world, but if you have no visitor then you make no money. Here are a few ways that you can get people to your site. Creating a Web Based Business The Works: Part 7

FREE:

* Fliers
* Business Cards
* Bulletin Boards
* Online Forums
* Online FREE Classifieds

Paid Advertising:

* (PPC) Paid Per Click Advertising
* Ads in News papers
* Radio / T.V. ads
* Paid ads on web site that maintain a high level of traffic
* Paid ads on search engines
Okay, now that I have shown you a few ways to advertise lets get you in the right mind set. You need to imagine the conversation that is going on in your potential customers head when they are coming to your site from any of the above techniques. I am going to assume you are building a work at home directory site such as mine, but you can apply these techniques to any type of online business. Creating a Web Based Business The Works: Part 7

If for example they are looking for a Home Based Business then you will want to take them to your landing page for Home Based Businesses. You will have the directory for all of your sites at the top and sides sprinkled with other Work At Home, Online Paid Surveys, Rebate Processing and others, but 85% of your page should be Home Based Business Opportunities. Creating a Web Based Business The Works: Part 7

It is important to have your best converting Home Based Businesses in the hot spots on your site. If you are going to have a newsletter, which is a great way to keep in touch with your customers, you should have that in a hot spot location. You want to take them directly to the specific things they are searching for. The more they have to search around the less likely you are to converting them into a customer. Even worse the less likely they will book mark you site for later usage. Creating a Web Based Business The Works: Part 7

Let’s assume you are using (PPC) Paid Per Click advertising. This is where you will pay a search engine, for example, 18 cents to display your ad to anyone who types in the phrase “work at home”. It’s very important to make the key word match the landing page. The next step is to ensure you the text on your web page ads reflect the product and / or service that they are going to be looking at. It makes no sense to send someone who is looking for paid surveys to a program that has absolutely nothing to do with paid surveys. Sure you will maybe get one customer out of 500, but that will more than likely cost you more than you will make. If a visitor likes your site he will look around on his own, but it builds confidence in your site if he is taken to what he expects to see. Creating a Web Based Business The Works: Part 7

There is so much to cover I am going to begin an advanced series, which I think will help clarify and fine-tune your site even further. Creating a Web Based Business The Works: Part 7

See you in the advances series!

Please feel free to read both this article or one of my many others by visiting my link in the resource box below. I always enjoy getting emails pertaining to my articles or my site. Your feedback is important to me. Creating a Web Based Business The Works: Part 7

 

 

December 13, 2013 Today's Business, , , , , , 1 Read more >

Creating a Web Based Business The Works: Part 3

Creating a Web Based Business The Works Part 1Creating a Web Based Business The Works: Part 3

You are most likely coming here as a follow up to my advanced series articles on creating an online business. Today we are going to cover some additional advanced tips to enhance your web site. Creating a Web Based Business The Works: Part 3

Now that you have your ads running nicely, you will need to monitor traffic that visits your site. A few important factors to keep in mind are as follows:

* How long does a visitor stay on your site?
* What percentages of your visitors browse your site?
* What conversions are you getting from each landing page?
* Unique visitors versus repeat visitors

I want to repeat the cycle that is very important to understand. You want your keywords to bring visitors to the specific landing page that highlights what they are looking for. Put your self in their shoes. Imagine what you would be looking for if you typed a particular keyword in a search engine such as Google and give it to them. If they want to look around after that wonderful, but our goal is to get them to what they want quickly. No one wants to have to look around to find what they want. If we see and ad, we want to get information pertaining to what was in the ad when we click on it.

I would suggest monitoring your keywords on a regular basis ensuring that the traffic being brought to your site is relevant. You may need to use some negative keywords to minimize (PPC) Paid Per Click advertising cost. For example if you have a keyword called work at home, you could get traffic from someone typing in assembly work at home. You can simply put assembly in as a negative keyword and that would prevent them from being directed to your site and you being charged for the click. You can easily see the fine-tuning process that needs to continue on a regular basis. Creating a Web Based Business The Works: Part 3

On a regular basis you will need to fine-tune the following areas:

* Keywords, adding, removing and using negative keywords
* (PPC) Paid Per Click, monitor and keep bids to a minimum
* Conversion rate on campaign ads
* Move best converting programs to hot spots
* Ensure you have a newsletter so you can keep track of your visitors
Over the years I have found many online tools that make this process easier. In the beginning I spent a lot of time doing this on a regular basis, but either way it was time well spent. Creating a Web Based Business The Works: Part 3

I hope you have enjoyed my article series on this topic. There is so much valuable information that is to be learned. I learn daily when working with my site, however having owned business before I can tell you it’s worth it. My time spent working has decreased, money increased and I enjoy life much more. I wish you the best. Just remember it will take time and effort to build a successful online business. Creating a Web Based Business The Works: Part 3

Please feel free to read both this article or one of my many others by visiting my link in the resource box below. I always enjoy getting emails pertaining to my articles or my site. Your feedback is important to me. Creating a Web Based Business The Works: Part 3

 

December 13, 2013 Today's Business, , , , , 0 Read more >

Creating a Web Based Business The Works: Part 2

Creating a Web Based Business The Works: Part 1Creating a Web Based Business The Works: Part 2

Creating a Web Based Business The Works: Part 2. You are most likely coming here as a follow up to my articles on creating an online business. Today we are going to cover some advanced tips on comparing ads so that can help you get a better conversion rate.

Lets assume for sake of argument that your site is created, published and you are running (PPC) ads. I recommend running these all the time, but especially in the beginning to get your site converting well. In fact when I signed up with my host they gave me advertising credits, which really helped out. Creating a Web Based Business The Works: Part 2

This is very important! If you are running ads and you are not getting clicks then it means your ads are not standing out in the crowd. Believe me there are plenty of people on the Internet and you should be getting clicks. You want think about the products and services you are offering on your site when writing your ads. What type of ads would interest you if you were looking for these items.? Creating a Web Based Business The Works: Part 2

As I mentioned before specific keywords bring up both your ads and others. You want your ads to spike their interest enough they will want to take a look. Creating a Web Based Business The Works: Part 2

Okay, when writing your ads I want you to write two ads for each campaign. What does this mean? It means for each ad type you are going to be running two similar ads with the same keywords. On most search engines like Yahoo you can create an ad campaign, which then has your ads in it. You simply create your first ad inside the campaign, add your keywords and your finished with ad number 1. Now, I want you to go back into the ad campaign and create another a slightly different ad. It will automatically use the same keywords. In Yahoo, you will need to then go back to the campaign level, click on the ads and then click on optimize ads button. Please select no and submit. What will happen then is each of your two ads will run, each showing (50) fifty percent of the time. After some time has passed you will be able to tell by the conversion rate, which one is performing best. Simply modify the worst one with some new text and check it again after receiving more hits. You are always improving on your ads therefore your conversion rates only get better. You will need to let them run so that you get at least 50 – 100 clicks before changing. Creating a Web Based Business The Works: Part 2

After getting someone to click on your ad, you want to take him or her to the specific landing page that offers exactly what he or she are looking for. Always remember the steps we talked about from beginning to end. It’s very important to tie them all together nicely. A potential customer wants to click on an ad they think will take care of their needs and go to exactly the product or service they the ad referred to. Creating a Web Based Business The Works: Part 2

Please feel free to read both this article or one of my many other articles this topic by visiting my link in the resource box below. I always enjoy getting emails pertaining to my articles or my site. Your feedback is important to me. Creating a Web Based Business The Works: Part 2

Okay, enough for today. See you in Advanced part III. Creating a Web Based Business The Works: Part 2

 

 

December 13, 2013 Today's Business, , , , , 1 Read more >

You need a Raise – Get an Assistant

You need a Raise – Get an Assistant.

You need a Raise - Get an Assistant.You need a Raise – Get an Assistant. Are you so busy taking care of the urgent that you never get to the important? Do you consider the thought of getting some help but then think “I can’t afford it” or “No one can do it as well as I can”?

If so, you’ve got a lot in common with most other small business owners.

Owning your own business is a great achievement and requires you to wear a lot of hats: owner, marketer, finance manager, widget maker/service provider, etc. Wearing all these hats eventually leads to a state of burnout or overwhelm and the love, the passion for what made you start your own business in the first place drowns in all the details.

If you want to grow your business AND maintain your sanity, there are two things you need to accept:

1. It’s not just okay to delegate, it’s essential to your survival.

2. A virtual assistant or online business manager (whichever description you prefer) is an investment in your business – not just an expense.

Consider the following scenario:

You own a small business as a marketing guru who makes $150/hour. Your website crashes and you spend the next five hours calling your webmaster, testing different links, doing what you can to get it back up and running. The five hours that you just spent fixing your website COST you $750. You need a Raise – Get an Assistant.

If you had a virtual assistant whom you pay $50 an hour and she solved the problem in four hours (she would be 100% focused on this task and has likely encountered similar issues with other clients), the cost would be $200.

The word “cost” is based on a simple premise. If you are fixing your website, you are not making money. You could otherwise be engaged in billable tasks or you could have completed the new client proposal that brings you a $10,000 client – neither of which is possible if you are fixing the website.

Make sense?

Over the next week, keep a time log and track everything you do. Then sit down and make a list of all those tasks that you either shouldn’t be doing (not worth your time given the sacrifice) or hate doing. Here are a few things that immediately come to mind: You need a Raise – Get an Assistant.

* Maintaining your website * Bookkeeping – both invoicing clients and paying bills, providing accountant with data, reconciling bank statements, preparing your expense reports, etc. * Submitting articles to article sites * Creating and distributing prospect letters * Maintaining your mailing lists – online and offline * Reminding you about birthdays, arranging for cards and gifts to be sent * Spending hours on the phone with any type of support vendor (Microsoft and Comcast pop into my head here) * Handling all your travel arrangements – business and personal * Scheduling meetings, conference calls, etc. * Providing you with website and sales reports * Designing presentations for client meetings (e.g., formatting in PowerPoint) * Ordering office supplies, promotional items * Placing advertising – online and offline * Managing client mailings – promotional, holiday, sales, etc. * The list goes on.  You need a Raise – Get an Assistant.. .

Each person’s list will be unique to him. You may love the clarity of mind you get stuffing envelopes but run at the thought of reconciling your checking account.

And don’t stop at the above. What are those personal things that you’re doing that you could contract out so you can focus on growing your business? A teenager would be great for any of the following:

* Grocery shopping * Housekeeping * Laundry assistance * Mowing the lawn

Don’t think you can afford an assistant?

The first thing to remember is that virtual assistants charge you only for the time they are ACTUALLY WORKING on YOUR projects and you will most likely not need someone full time. You need a Raise – Get an Assistant.

You would pay a traditional employee a salary, sick time, vacation time, holiday time, provide a desk and office space, pay for training, pay payroll taxes, provide software and equipment and do all this for someone who likely considers what you are offering as a J O B that he needs to go to every day.

With a virtual assistant, you are paying an independent contractor who owns her own business and charges only for time she works on your projects, has her own office and equipment, pays her own taxes, is already trained in multiple software applications and who loves what she does.

Virtual assistants are self-motivated and focused on getting things done FOR YOU. This will greatly free up your time to focus on marketing your business, attending to your larger clients and generally growing your business. You need a Raise – Get an Assistant.

Given the above can you afford NOT to hire an assistant?

The key is to start at a level where you feel comfortable: both financially and delegation-wise. Anything that you can give to someone else will give you more time to do what you do best and grow your business!

Are you ready to get started? You need a Raise – Get an Assistant.

November 12, 2013 Today's Business, , , , , , , 0 Read more >