Thursday, December 31, 2009

Easy Ways To Make Money With Event Photography


By Peter Wong

One of the many ways you can make money as a photographer is to specialize on events. Christenings, weddings, and lots of other events where people make memories can be lucrative business. The great thing is that all you need is a good digital camera, tons of memory cards, and some business cards.

How to do it

The key trick is in choosing your market slice. You must choose a slice of the market where people want to keep memories alive in print. It must also be an event that is hard to capture for a not professional so that they will need your services.

One idea is to go to kids sports events. Get permission from the coach to click pics for the parents watching and then start clicking away. If you turn up with a great big telephoto lens like the ones used for pro coverage of events, you will be taken seriously. Make sure you get all the children doing great action shots and then hand out flyers to all the kids' parents watching with your web address. If you can get hold of the parents email address so you can email them the URL of you site then upload the pics to your web site that day and email everyone. If you have a simple shopping cart set up you can make money in a few hours as people pop in to see the pics and buy them for $20 or more a pop.

You can do a similar thing with weddings. Take all the normal pictures as part of the wedding coverage but then get your URL printed on the wedding invites and all the other wedding materials and also get an email list of all the wedding guests, offer the couple a nice 20% discount for doing this and then take lots of extra pics at the wedding of the guests doing all the things they do. Upload all the pics to your site and send the emails. You will then make a lot more money than the 20% discount it cost you because then 30 or 40 people will be also buying your pics at $20 or more a shot straight from your site. Also charging them more for higher resolution shots is a great bonus income as well.

The trick is to find a niche where you can excel by being the best photographer in the room, and offering an easy way for people to buy your photos.

Dog shows, fashion shows, horse shows, car shows, livestock competitions, rock shows, - the list goes on. Keep your eye out in the events section of your local paper to see what is happening. Always ask for permission to shoot pics and if you need to offer the people 10% of the income if feel you need to so you can get easy access.

About the Author:

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Rebate Processor From Home - How Does It Work

By Sarah Rohde


If you're ever wondered what it actually means when someone uses the term "rebate processor from home", then you are clearly in the right place.

Below will be explained what being a rebate processor from home is all about, and if there really is an "amazing" fortune to be made by processing rebates, right from your own home.

Now one of your questions may be, what exactly is processing rebates, and how can I make money being a rebate processor from home.

Rebate processing is simply filling out rebates for companies. Becoming a rebate processor at home is simple however spots are limited. For your benefit, we put together a few facts and did some research on our own

When we finished our research, the results completely blew our minds away.

In just the first 2 days, we made a total $613, which comes over to over 300 days a day. Oh, did we mention we only worked 2 hours a day? You do the math, 2 days X 2 hours = 4 hours of work for over $600, comes out to over $150 an hour, do you make that much at your day job?

The job of being a rebate processor from home really comes down to just 2 simple questions.

#1. Do you have access to the internet and a computer?

#2. Is it your goal to make a lot of money do simple work?

If you happened to answer yes, then a rebate processor from home is an excellent way for you to make an income from the comfort of your own house. All you have to do is process the rebates for companies and they pay you out excellent money. So what are you waiting for?

Just a reminder that the spots are very limited considering this is the #1 work at home job available. If you want to get in before its too late, I would definitely act now.

About the Author:

Link Building: Advantage & Disadvantages From Paid and Free Methods

By Pete Miguel


Indeed it is true that there are plenty of options to choose from when you want to build links pointing toward your website. Some methods may need you to pull out cash from your pocket while some methods are absolutely free to implement. Of course if you are just a beginner or still consider yourself a newbie in the arena of owning a site, you would surely opt to acquire links thru free ways, this gives you the chance to become more familiar with things.

If you have slight knowledge already about link building, then you know for a fact that there are quite a number of ways to get links for free. The only catch is that time is deeply involved in these free methods. Even if you already get too familiar with the process of acquiring links, you will still find building links to be very tedious.

For starters or beginning internet marketers, free methods of building links into their websites is surely recommended at first, but once you get your feet wet and start to comprehend the whole process of link building, then it is advisable that you eventually shift into paid options of acquiring backlinks to your website.

It is really easy to find link builders when you search the internet. You will find individual link builders and you will also find companies or big websites exclusively offering link building as their services. If you are good at researching stuff thru the search engines then you can easily find a good one fit for your exact needs. In fact even if you are just browsing, you may eventually find advertised websites from these link building providers.

While it is indeed true that there exists a lot of link building services out there, the type of services they offer actually vary in many ways, so you should be extra careful at choosing the providers you would like to hire. Some link building services just don't seem that reputable just by looking at the kind of services they offer - while there are some link building service providers I have already tried and have proved to be worth the money I paid for.

Most people would choose paid services to get links for their sites instead of doing it themselves mainly because they want to save time. Well of course, if you are not tight on budget and you have little of money to spend, buying a service is definitely the better option for you. While many people would like to just keep their hard earned money and just go the free route, a lot don't realize that they really aren't saving money after all because the process is eating up a lot of their time. Time is very precious, in fact time is expensive by the single minute.

Unfortunately though for a few website owners, even if they wanted very badly to find a good link building service to do it for them, they just couldn't afford it. Well, that is absolutely understandable especially for newbies who haven't even tasted earning a single dollar from the internet yet. For a start, you should just patiently build your links the free way, but be extra wise in choosing the methods in acquiring links. While there are ways to get links fast and easy, there are also ways where you will easily spend an hour without noticing in exchange for just a single link or two.

There are ways where you can build links by the dozen every half an hour or so. The only advice I can give for link builders is that instead of acquiring as many links as you could in a single day, build links consistently every single day instead. That makes it easier for you and not to mention, will be much more effective for your website's rankings.

About the Author:

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Pet Sitting Jobs


Want to make some extra money for Christmas? A lot of people travel for the holidays leaving their pets behind and in need of a good pet sitter. Consider pet sitting to make some buckamoos :) ..........

jobmonkey.com - If you love pets and enjoy the freedom of a flexible schedule, pet sitting jobs can be a great way to make money.
But becoming a professional pet sitter takes more than just liking to hang out with cats and or dogs all day. There are also business skills required in order to be successful.

Most pet sitters care for people's pets either in their own or the pet's owner's homes. Stays can range from half an hour to overnight. Most pet sitters will feed, clean up after, walk and or play with, and occasionally take pets to the veterinarian (when necessary).

Because pet sitter clients are usually on vacation, at work, or otherwise indisposed, there is a huge trust factor in this job. Often, you will be inside people's homes when they are not there, which is where being licensed and bonded will go a long way toward assuring your clients that you, in fact, mean business.

Liability insurance is also recommended and typically covers injury or damage to a customer's pet or home. Some pet sitters also purchase insurance that protects them against bodily injury, caused either by the pet they are caring for or another animal they encounter, or general injury.

Beyond that, you are working on the go as most pet sitters are relatively physically fit, possess excellent time management skills (to make it from appointment to appointment throughout the day on time), and are creative enough to entertain bored animals.

While there is no formal education required to become a pet sitter, there are some ways you can make yourself more marketable, such as becoming trained in animal CPR, obtaining a business license, and registering yourself with the Better Business Bureau where you are located.

There is also a professional organization for pet sitters, Pet Sitters International (PSI), which was founded in March 1994 by Patti J. Moran, author of Pet Sitting for Profit.
Among the many benefits of PSI membership is the Pet Sitter Locator feature on their website, which is a pet-sitter search tool that gets more than 30,000 searches per month.

To become a PSI-Accredited pet sitter, there is an in-depth program offered that includes emphasis on pet care, health and nutrition, additional services and business and office procedures. There is also a continuing education component to keep accredited pet sitters abreast of any developments n the field of pet care.

Anything and everything related to pet sitters is covered in the curriculum, including caring for birds, barnyard pets, ferrets, horses, livestock, rabbits and reptiles, as well as the obvious (cats and dogs). Other topics include animal diseases; first aid and health; canine, feline and exotic pet behavior; parasites; medical terminology; sanitation; senior pet care; and nutrition. The courses also cover basic grooming, dog walking, overnight sits and pet loss/grief counseling.

On the business side, coursework delves into client consultations, customer service, disaster planning, legal issues, insurance and bonding, marketing, office procedures and safety.

The nature of pet sitting jobs allows you to make your own hours and set your own pay. In order to remain competitive, it's best to find out what others in your area charge, but most pet sitters can expect to make at least $10 per visit, and depending on how long the visit takes and what is involved, upwards of $25 per visit. Depending on how many hours a day you care to work and how many clients you have as well as how large your territory is, you stand to make a decent living as a pet sitter.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

How To Start Your Own Home Based Business

By Jack Morrison

Many persons ask us today whether there are any good home based businesses around. Everyone would like to go for the most positive home based business. There are a lot of options around for making the work at home business opportunities. However you ought to be totally keen for the new home business and also complete your undertakings on time.

Some of the most positive home based businesses in the past were child day centers, personality development courses, handwriting improvement classes and catering seminars. With the internet insurrection the full idea of home based businesses changed abruptly. Today more and more people are venturing into home based situation as they can actually make a lot of profits from it.

Let's discuss what are the most successful home based business around. One business that has hooked the earth by storm is the reseller business. In case of reselling business over the internet you can order wholesale goods to be delivered to your home and then sell the supplies in the native marketplace for a gain. Similarly there are affiliate programs where you market the merchandises of one or more corporations and help to sell the commodities on a commission basis. In case you do well beyond your boards you also get extra commission.

Next in line as the most successful home based business is the auction sites business. In this case you join an auction site and sell merchandises through the auction sites for commission. In case of auction sites the supplies are sold to the topmost bidder. In case you are one of those risky sort then you can invest your money in online shares and debentures. You can also bet your money on the costs of commodities and metals like gold. Gold is one of the most valued and hunted after metals around and the values of gold are always on the rise (and low also occasionally) in the future. The more correct your projection about the rise or fall in prices the more you can earn from your bets. Next in line for most effective home based business is filling in surveys. Companies are fervent to know the customer's feedback to their products and services and also what the clients look ahead from them in the future. A survey takes about 10-15 minutes to fill up and it can get you good money.

The home businesses mentioned above are one of the most positive home based businesses for you. It is now upon you to take which type of home based business would you like to go for.

About the Author:

Monday, November 2, 2009

Candle Making Crafts: How To Make Money With Your Passion


By Patrick McTigue

People that start to make great candles often consider whether they can make money with their candle making craft. The answer to that is a resounding yes. Candle are super popular, are consumable and people are always looking for a new and different candles.

A critical point to remember is that your candle making craft must be something that stands out in the eye of the consumer. Yankee and Old Virginia Candle Companies own the market on the standard, ready made scented candle in a jar. Unless you have access to a factory, 50+ employees, and a research department, you probably aren't going to compete in this market. This doesn't mean you can't make a significant profit in your new candle business, only that you must be creative and provide unique and exciting creations.

For example, in Lynchburg, Virginia, corporate home of Old Virginia Candle Company, there is an artisan who makes enough money with her candle making craft that she advertises on television and receives orders from all over the country. Her specialty is a technique in which she makes large scented candles in a mold and while the wax is still pliable, she shaves into the candle creating unique curled wax along the candle's sides. This is the type of eye you must have in your own candle making craft.

Another factor that you must deal with as a beginner is accepting a smaller profit per candle. You simply can not expect to be able to price yourself into the market with your candle making craft right off the bat. You will not be able to charge prices that rival the bigger more established companies. The key is to not go overboard and sell yourself short. This seems like a tough balancing act, but it's really not. Just like when you were coming up with the best wax and wicks to use, do your research. See what your small business competitors are doing and make sure you are in that range.

Here is a great tip that you should definitely do. Go to the local Walmart and determine what poorly made corporate candles sell for. Then stop at a craft shop and see what Yankee sells a candle like you are going to make for. Your candle making craft candle should sell somewhere in between this price points. After you've found the range in which other small candle makers are selling their candle for you have a place to start your pricing analysis. You want to spend the time and sit down and figure out the wholesale cost for the candles that you plan to sell. Stay as far away from the low end of the price research as you can feel comfortable with. Remember, you do not want your hand made candles to be compared to Walmart prices, because they will seem cheap and people will associate that with poor production.

Finally, if you are going to sell some candles from your candle making craft efforts, you are going to have to have a place to sell them. You will probably be best served to sell to family and friends first. This will allow you to get some of your candles in people's home, and this will help you spread the word about your new business. You can also set up a booth in a farmer's market or put some of your stock in consignment shops in your area. You can sell your candles on the Internet as well. There are free sites to do this like Etsy, but this will probably give you small results due to limited exposure. If you build your own website, this will help you a lot. This must be factored into your costs, both your time and the advertising required. You will know what your budget and time constraint are, so just do what is reasonable for you to handle. You can make good money selling your candles. You just need to plan your work and work your plan.

About the Author:

Sunday, November 1, 2009

What Quality Content Can Do For Your Website


By Michael Fleischner

Websites are comprised of various forms of content. Even though many people consider content to be simply text on a page, there is more to consider. When speaking about content, consider all of the page elements that communicate to your website browsers. This includes more than simply words on a web page. Quality content includes words on a page as well as pictures, images, and video. In today's world, it can also mean forums, RSS feeds, and other engaging content.

The development of rich, engaging content is paramount to attracting and keeping website visitors. Whether you are using professionally written content or are simply allowing your website visitor to comment or provide reviews on a given topic, engaging content is important.

When websites contain powerful content, they experience a significant number of benefits both short and long term. Quality content not only engages browsers but provides search engine optimization that results in higher rankings and organic traffic. If you want a steady flow of traffic to your website, focus on quality content.

Producing quality content that is easily seen by search engine spiders can result in much higher search engine rankings. Be sure that your web content involves your audience and creates a dialog with them. The bottom line is that you may have the best optimized content in the world, but if it's hard to follow you can loose your audience in a heartbeat. Think about where you want your visitors to travel on your site. Your content should draw them to where you want them to go.

Each time a visitor has a positive experience on your website you are building loyalty. The more loyal an individual becomes, the better chance you have of converting them into a customer. Web site visitors will also be more inclined to refer others to your website. If content is valuable and created effectively, it can serve as a magnet for browsers interested in your particular products or niche.

If your content is engaging and meaningful, you will attract links to your website and not just your home page. Deep linking can improve your rankings dramatically and are largely based on external links. Provide quality content and watch those links grow naturally.

When websites continue to focus on engaging content, they will find that they receive more links from third party websites and higher search engine rankings. This produces a significant increase in website traffic over a sustained period of time. Once you have the right amount of traffic, your opportunity for increased sales can grow significantly. Make the investment in quality content and reap the rewards.

Successful online businesses produce quality content on a daily basis. This is one of the reasons why they are successful. Not only does quality content engage your browsers, but it creates an environment that people want to visit often. Add the benefit of improved rankings and you can see why good content is so important.

Before you start authoring new content for your website consider the value of what you are going to produce. Take a few extra moments to deliver something of quality and appreciate the rewards. It takes very little to create engaging content and it is essential for online success.

About the Author:

Top 10 Most Useful Websites For Small Businesses


By Virginia Chou

No matter how small a business is, today it is very common that the small business owners have their own website for the business. It is a good chance for the business to grow. Small business website is not necessarily a sophisticated website. A simple website will do.

Here I am listing some of small business websites useful to promote your business.

Craigslist: Craigslist is a prevailing tool featuring classified ads about almost anything and everything. Craigslist provides local classifieds and forums for jobs, housing, for sale, personals, services, local community, and events almost everything, whatever you can think of, not only this but also discussion on local current events. This is a website where you can advertise to buy and sell things.

Twitter: Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length. Twitter is an amazing tool that can expand your reach to customers and potential customers. It can allow you to stay in touch and connect with thousands and thousands of people instantly. It can help drive your brand and communicate with customers in a way that you've never been able to before, and so much more.

Google: Google offers a wide variety of products aimed at small business owners, and many of them are free or very low-cost. Google is the top most global website in the world which enables users to search the Web, Usenet, and images. Features include Page Rank, caching and translation of results, and an option to find similar pages. The company's focus is developing search technology.

Adsglobe.com: Adsglobe is the most popular free classified ad posting site in India, USA and worldwide. Adsglobe serves variety of users ranging from individuals to all types & sizes of business entities addressing their unique advertising, marketing or selling needs. Adsglobe has very good alexa ranking. Adsglobe is featuring free online classified advertisement site with sections devoted to Real Estate/Rentals, Jobs, Autos, Merchandise, Local Events, Yellow Pages, Dating/Personals, Services, Pets and Travel where users can search or post free ads. They also allow users to search in most of the world cities and towns which is a unique feature that can be a huge plus for collectors, job seekers or others needing large search query

Amazon: Amazon.com seeks to be Earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. The new e-tailer Business Center will be targeted at helping entrepreneurs find the products they need to service their small- and medium-sized businesses. Amazon's new offering will include quick and easy access to small- and medium-business products. Site has numerous personalization features and services including one-click buying, gift certificates, wish lists, travel, and photo processing.

Wikipedia: Wikipedia is a popular Web site that allows users to create entries in a massive online encyclopedia, can be collaboratively created and maintained by thousands of users worldwide. Any article contributed to Wikipedia becomes free content that may be used, edited, copied and redistributed by users. All materials contributed to Wikipedia must be verifiable by other users.

Facebook pages: Anyone with a Facebook profile has had the ability to add something called a Page to extend some content beyond the profile page. This was a smart thing for businesses to do as you could control the content and fans could subscribe to the content. The functionality, however, was pretty limited and these pages were more like static web page brochures than anything else.

Alibaba.com: Alibaba.com Limited is the global leader in business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce and the flagship company of Alibaba Group. Alibaba.com makes it easy for millions of buyers and suppliers around the world to do business online through three marketplaces: a global trade marketplace for importers and exporters, a Chinese marketplace for domestic trade in China, and, through an associated company, a Japanese marketplace facilitating trade to and from Japan.

Importers.com: Importers.com is America's no.1 destination for online Business-to-Business (B2B) trade. They provide a searchable, online directory of more than 200,000 international companies, plus internet resources and tools that make it easy to buy and sell products online. All importers and exporters register for free on this site. They help buyers and distributors find new international suppliers. Buyers save thousands by importing products at wholesale prices. They help manufacturers and wholesalers promote their products worldwide. Suppliers save thousands by finding new buyers online.

EBay: EBay offers small businesses a way to buy or sell practically anything to anyone, anywhere. EBay is The World's Online Marketplace, enabling trade on a local, national and international basis. With a diverse and passionate community of individuals and small businesses, eBay offers an online platform where millions of items are traded each day. International person to person auction site, with products sorted into categories.

About the Author:

Monday, October 26, 2009

Take Charge of Your Future with Your Own Carpet Cleaning Franchise


By Greg Lucas

Times are tough right now and millions upon millions of people are out looking for work. If you are one of them, the only way that you may ever find work again is to start your own business. When you are stepping out on your own like this, you need to make sure you that you are going into a niche that benefits from this type of economy. Having your own carpet cleaning franchise is exactly that opportunity.

People all over are looking to save money in their daily budget. While people used to replace their old carpets every 5 years or so like clockwork, now they are trying to stretch it out and get 7-10 years out of them. To do this, they are going to need to get them professionally cleaned. This is why the carpet cleaning industry is absolutely booming right now.

Small businesses are very en vogue right now. Traditional jobs are being cut and the only way to survive is to throw away the idea of being a typical 9-5 worker and find something on your own that you can do as a home based business that will turn a profit. While there will be some initial investment, you will find that having your own carpet cleaning franchise is fairly inexpensive to start and can be very lucrative if you are dedicated to it.

Since you are looking to go into a franchise, it would behoove you to look into their guidelines as far as what they require and their cleaning standards. You are going to need to make sure that you get the training and can line up the financing that you are going to need to get this venture off the ground properly. Once you have your business plan and financing together, you can get the ball rolling.

The business itself is fairly inexpensive to run. You can work out of your home, so there is really no need to get an office. However, you are going to need a van and cleaning equipment and supplies to work with. You are probably going to be required to buy most of this stuff from the franchise itself as they want to make sure that certain products are being used.

While you will benefit from their national advertising, you are still going to want to advertise locally and you will need to earmark money exactly for this. Most small business owners will set up a variety of sites that will each detail the different aspects of their company along with one site that features everything. This is so that you are getting exposure is every niche of the business.

When you've taken care of all the details and have finally started your carpet cleaning franchise, remember that reputation is everything. Make sure to treat your customers the way you would want to be treated. A happy customer is a repeat customer and the value of word-of-mouth advertising is priceless. Keep these simple steps in mind and your new business is sure to be a success!

About the Author:

Sunday, October 25, 2009

How to Become a Fashion Consultant


By Pamela Kazmierczak

Do you regularly find yourself reading up on the latest fashion trends? What about fashion advice, do you like to give it to those that you know? If you do, did you know that you may be able to make a living as a fashion consultant? You can and if you would like more information on how you can go about doing so, you will want to continue reading on.

Before you automatically decide that you would like to become a fashion consultant, you may want to take the time to examine exactly what one is and what one does. In case you decide to further research making money as a fashion consultant, you may want to know that a fashion consultant is also commonly referred to as an image consultant and vice versa.

While different fashion consultants operate their businesses in different ways, many focus only on clothing and clothing accessories. Those who are having a difficult time trying to pick out an outfit for a special event or a new job, often turn to a fashion consultant for professional advice.

One mistake that many individuals make when wondering if they can make money as a fashion consultant is by thinking that it is too difficult. Yes, you may not be able to predict what the next new fashion trend will be, but you can help those who are interested in improving their fashion sense now. You can easily do this because you should have a number of resources at your fingertips.

For instance, you could regularly read popular and well-known fashion magazines, read online fashion magazines, watch fashion shows online, or you can even attend live fashion shows. There are actually a number of different ways that you can stay up-to-date with the latest in the fashion industry.

One of the most commonly asked questions by those who are looking to make money as a fashion consultant is how to get clients. When it comes to getting clients, fashion consultants use a number of different marketing approaches. There are many who choose to advertise their fashion consultation business in their local newspapers.

You may also want to think about having your own online website. When having an online website, you will want to outline a few popular fashion tips or fashion trends, to show that you do have a little bit of fashion knowledge. You may also want to outline the types of fashions that you specialize in, if you wish to do so. For instance, if you wanted to focus on workplace fashions, you will want to outline that important fact.

Speaking of workplace fashions, if you want to focus mostly on workplace fashions, you have a certain group of individuals that you want to target. This group of individuals is what is known as your targeted market. All fashion groups, including gothic fashions, 80s fashions, and 90s fashions have a targeted market. In keeping with workplace fashions, you may want to think about buying advertising space on a career searching website or another career focused website. Those who are looking for jobs are likely to need or want assistance with picking out a new wardrobe. Specifically targeting those who are likely to be your customers, is a surefire way to make your business a success.

While many professional fashion consultants have success running a local business, you may also want to think about running an online fashion consulting business as well. While it may be a little bit difficult to do, it is more than possible. Expanding your business to cater to online customers is another one of the many ways that you can go about improving your customer count and your profits. By having a photograph emailed to you, as well as other important information, you can easily consult with a number of clients through email or over-the-phone.

As you can see, there is quite a bit of work that goes into being a successful fashion consultant, but the same can be said for any other career. If you truly have a love for fashion, you may want to think about starting your own fashion consulting business. With low startup costs, why not at least give it a try?

About the Author:

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Ten Steps to a Successful Home Business Start Up


By Laura Hess

Home business start up success or failure often relies on the most fundamental operations. These fundamentals are often the details that get overlooked. And while there is no shortage of advice for home business start ups on the internet, one of the challenges for anybody who wants to start a home business is finding a reliable source for that information. To make it easy for you, I have compiled the Top Ten Easy-to-Follow Steps to help you realize success with your home business start up:

1. Plan, Plan, Plan - Take time to make plans for every potential circumstance that may arise. List everything from natural disasters, to unexpected financial problems, to potential family problems. Then make a plan you can follow to get you through any difficult time.

2. Have Enough Capital - Don't start your home business with wild ideas of overnight success. That isn't going to happen. You'll need funds to draw on as your home business grows. Make sure you have the capital to sustaining you in your life and to contribute to your home business as it is growing.

3. Develop Time Management Skills - Being a successful home business owner means managing your time wisely and well. Initially you will be spending extra time making your home business a reality. Make sure, that, that you don't sacrifice personal and family time during that start up period.

4. Organize Your Space - You can't run a home business effectively if you're wasting time looking for an important receipt under stacks of loose paper and post-it notes. Take time to organize your home office and make sure you can function efficiently and effectively.

5. Stay Focused - Distractions come from family responsibilities, chores, TV, and the warmth of your own bed. All can take you away from the tasks you need to focus on for your home business - especially during your start up phase. Eliminate as many of your distractions as you can. You need to maintain your focus for success with your home business start up.

6. Know the Tax and Legal Options - If you get in trouble, it's too late and the IRS is not terribly forgiving when it comes to ignorance for tax codes. Do your research and talk to a professional so you'll be prepared for tax time.

7. Advertising - You can't afford to wait for your customers to come to you. You need to get out and get your home business known. Advertising is an investment so make sure you know what you're doing. (And the are many low and no cost ways to advertise.) Spend wisely but spending money now to effectively advertise your home business can pay big dividends in the future.

8. Have the Equipment You Need - The right equipment is a must if you are going to have home business success. Make a list of all the things you think you'll need, ie, a computer, home office phone, FAX machine, etc. Some of them will be 'must haves' and some will be on your wish list. Start with the 'must haves' and shop around for the best deal. Expand as your business allows and supports the additional expenditures.

9. Insurance And Risk Management - Some disaster will happen - big or small. Don't wait till after the fact when you stand to lose everything. Talk to your insurance agent and find out what you need to protect your business and your personal assets. Make insurance part of your home business start up plan.

10. Keep a Positive Mental Attitude - Success is not an overnight thing. For home business success you will need to have dedication, be prepared to hard work, and expend a lot of effort to make your home business a reality. When you feel discouraged, call on your support team. Avoid the people in your life who bring negativity in about your home business start up. Your attitude may well be the single most important factor in your home business success.

About the Author:

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Consider Buying A Franchise Business











By Paul Lennon

Do you dream of being your own boss one day? A franchise business could be the option for you. If you are a hard working individual with ambition, becoming a franchise business owner could be the wisest investment you ever make. A franchise involves buying into an existing business and selling the products or services of an already established company. The franchisee operates the business on a daily basis with guidance of the parent company.

When a business grows they would normally fund the expansion themselves, but sometimes they may choose to expand by franchising the business. This is has benefits for both parties concerned. The franchisee funds the expansion and provides resources to operate the new branch of the company. The franchise company also charges the franchisee to buy into the company and will take a commission from future profits this is approx ten percent but can vary.

When compared to starting up you own business from a clean slate there many advantages to be had. Compared to new businesses which with the failure rate is a lot higher, with a franchise the risk is reduced. The reasons for this are firstly you are buying into a business with a proven track record. Also the franchise will provide you assistance to get you up and running, sometimes providing a franchise consultant. Also not many businesses make a profit in their early stages, but with a franchise this is different.

Nothing is too good to be true and everything has its negative points, the same is true with buying into a franchise business. You do not have total control over your business as the franchisee will have to follow a set of rules or guidelines made by the franchisor. Also depending upon the brand into which you are buying there are never any certainties your business will succeed. Fees and commissions will always be there, but this is to be accepted as part of running a franchise. Also where you may have received assistance in the early stages of your franchise, this might not the case later on once your business is established. That said a, with careful consideration buying a franchise can still be an appealing way to start a business.

Regardless of the business, you should never invest in a business without doing some thorough investigation first. Be certain to use all the resources you have available to you and try to find out how other franchisors within the franchise have faired before you part with you part with your investment.

First and foremost, you must weigh up the pros and cons of buying a franchise business. If the pros outweigh the cons, then you need to add in the costs. If it's still worth it, you can move on to learning local and federal franchise laws. Do your research. You should not only research the various companies you can invest in, you should research their backgrounds and try to find out as much information as you possibly can about them. Seek professional advice and then plot out your business plan. Finally, if everything works out like you want it to, then you can finance your franchise.

Location is paramount when it comes to starting any business, this fact is even more applicable when the business relies on local custom. If you are not setting up the business in an area where you are familiar then be sure the do some research. Does the area need what you are selling or the services you provide? How much competition will you have in the surrounding areas?

Now you know some of the basics of buying a franchise business, perhaps you will decide it is an endeavour you would like to try. If you do your homework and buying a franchise business looks like it would work for you, you should go for it. Once again, it could be the best decision you ever make.

About the Author:

Work-At-Home Franchise Concepts

* 1-800-Water-Damage
* @ Work Medical Services
* @ Work Personnel
* A Special Touch Cleaning
* Action International
* Adventures in Advertising
* All Over Media
* Americare Alliance
* Archadeck
* Aussie Pet Mobile
* Brightstar Healthcare
* Budget Blinds
* Carpet Network
* Cert A Roof
* CertiRestore
* City Publications, Inc.
* Cleaning Authority
* Closet & Storage Concepts
* Closet Factory
* College Nannies & Tutors
* Creative Colors International
* Crestcom
* Designs of the Interior (DOTI)
* Ductz
* Executive Forums
* Express Personnel Services
* Fibrenew
* FiltaFry
* Fish Window Cleaning
* Floor Coverings International
* Foliage Design Systems
* Friendly Mobile Computer
* Furniture Medic
* Gamez on Wheelz
* Gecko Hospitality
* Gotcha Covered
* Gotcha Covered: A V2K Company
* Grins 2 Go
* Handypro
* Happy Healthy Products
* Heits Building Services
* Home Care Assistance
* Homewatch Caregivers
* Hydro Groom Mobile Pet Wash
* i9 Sports
* Jantize America
* Kitchen TuneUp
* Lawn Doctor
* Liquid Capital
* MATCO
* Miracle Method
* Money Mailer
* Mr. Handyman
* National Home Buyers Assistance (NHBA)
* Nationwide Floor and Windows
* NaturaLawn of America
* OpenWorks
* Our Town America
* Personalized Management Associates
* Pet Butler
* Pop-A-Lock
* Profit-Tell
* Protect Painters
* Puroclean
* RSVP Publications
* Sandler Sales Institute
* Save It Now
* ServiceMaster Clean
* SmartView Window Solutions
* SparkleWash
* Spectrum Home Services
* Stained Glass Overlay
* Stratus Building Solutions
* The Alternative Board
* The Grout Medic
* The Interface Financial Group
* The Maids
* The Pampered Chef
* Today’s Window Fashions
* Tutor Doctor
* Two4One
* United Marketing Solutions
* Vehicle Tracking Solutions
* Young Rembrandts

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Free Vs Pay to Join Paid Survey Sites - Which One is Better?

By Harry Constantine

If you are interested in taking online surveys and getting paid, you must have done some research and it must have shown you various types of survey websites.

There are many free get-paid survey web sites which allow you to become a member for free and take paid surveys right away. There are also some paid survey web sites which claim to pay you a lot more and also guarantee you work for a long period of time.

There is no proof so far regarding paid survey web sites continuous flow of work. If you are short of funds and would like to get some expertise in surveys, free get paid survey web sites are a great option. It may happen though that the paid survey membership websites could provide you with surveys more regularly than the free get paid survey websites.

There is no dearth of free get paid survey sites online, this is why these websites are so successful and every day there are thousands of people trying their luck at taking surveys. Since they're free to join websites, even if there is not much survey traffic you would not feel bad. However, this is not the thing with paid membership web sites, here if the surveys do not keep coming in you may end up losing some money rather than earn any. There are many people who have lost their money this way.

Free get paid survey websites are safer since they do not ask you for any money at all, instead their money comes in only from the companies which would like to be surveyed among public. Free get paid surveys however, may not offer you larger sums of rewards. It is the paid websites that often lure people with offers of $100 per survey, rather than the free sites.

About the Author:
No Boss, No Noisy Alarm Clocks, and Definitely No Schedules!
You make your own decisions. There are no deadlines and nobody telling you how much to work. You get to decide how much you work, part-time, full-time or OVERTIME. Earn an extra $500-1000 per month or more working full time every month making a better than average income doing what you want, when you want. Get out of the rat race today! You get to decide because you have the freedom of working for yourself. For more information click here--->$

The Basics of At Home Medical Transcription


By Susan Eliot

At home medical transcription seems very appealing to a number of people. Getting to stay home with your kids is just one advantage. Some people who choose to do at home medical transcription do not even have children. They just like the fact that they are their own boss and no longer have to remain a slave to the clock.

Whatever your reasons are for wanting to do at home medical transcription, they are definitely going to be worth it in the end. Working from home is not as easy as you might think, however. You have to be able to actually get up and do the work if you want to have success with your medical transcription career. Setting your own schedule is usually the best way to go.

Before you start planning your day, you will need to make sure you get the proper education. The majority of at home medical transcription employers will not hire people who do not have the proper certification, experience, and/or training. But once you have obtained the proper training, you should have no difficulties finding employment.

On average, a basic at home medical transcription course takes approximately two years to complete. While you are in the process of learning everything there is to know, you will be working on improving your typing skills, grammar and punctuation, listening to dictation, and best of all, transcribing medical reports.

Initially, at home medical transcription seems like the ultimate dream job, and it is for many individuals. But it takes time and patience before you can become an expert at what you do. There will be deadlines to meet and work to be done once all of your training is complete. You will most likely be working with physicians with various accents from Australian to Indian.

Some physicians will not speak as quickly as others, and some will seem almost impossible to understand. You may find yourself rewinding the dictation a hundred times before you are actually able to understand what they are saying. When this happens, do not get discouraged. You are going to be in the process of developing your ear for quite some time during training as well as the first year or so after you begin work. Doing at home medical transcription will eventually be worth all of the time it takes to get the hang of it.

The median salary for someone who does at home medical transcription is around $45K. Medical transcription has also been one of the proven top paying at home careers. Some people who are a bit more experienced are making anywhere from $45K to $100K per year. It all comes down to what you are willing to put into it.

More than anything else, at home medical transcription should be something you can see yourself doing. If you are not someone who likes to spend hours sitting in front of a computer, then at home medical transcription may not be for you. Like all other careers, medical transcription also has a downside. Seclusion and difficulty staying focused at home are just some of the disadvantages. The good thing is that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages and that is what makes this career such a smart choice.

About the Author:

The Essential Keys To Passing The Exam!
Get Them Here--->$

Ad Tracking - How to Make The Most Of Analytics And Statistics

By Anne Torres

Now that you've got your site up, you only love that rush of traffic you've been getting so far. Your marketing plan looks very effective with your hits increasing consistently. Now you think you've hit it bull's eye with your infallible marketing strategies and dependable tracking software.

The question is, is all that traffic helpful? Regrettably, maybe not. That's because not all traffic will give you sales. The kind of traffic you need is the one that converts to a sale and to build up on this, you need to differentiate between good traffic and bad traffic using your statistics and a web traffic analyzer.

Telling good from bad traffic begins with visitor tracking or hit counters. An ad tracking software or service will bring you more information than this such as where your visitors are located, which web pages they frequent, the length of their visit and the forms and images they download. If you know how significant analyzing your traffic is, you'll value all this information that will be made available when you track your ads.

For example, knowing where your visitors are will give you an idea how to effectively customize your services. If you're getting very little traffic from your international or out-of-town clients, you might want to lower your shipment rates to make them more interested. In terms of Internet marketing, knowing from which search engine your visitors are will give you an idea how to adjust your strategies to improve your ranking on the search engine where you're presently not that successful.

If you know which pages are viewed the least, you can improve their design or add more engaging content to make them perform better. If you home page rarely gets clicked, which means you barely get visitors to check out the rest of your site, then it's clearly not doing its job.

Therefore, good traffic is traffic that converts into a sale while bad traffic is that which does not bring anything that the site or company it represents can benefit from. It doesn't mean, however, that a visit that does not convert into a sale is automatically bad. One thing that may be considered is whether a visitor is there for the first time or for a certain number of times. If a first visit does not result in a sale and is not repeated, then it's probably bad traffic. But if a visitor has been in and out of the site without necessarily purchasing anything, it could be that he is still considering his options. This traffic obviously has good potential for turning into a sale and could, therefore, be considered good.

About the Author:

Sunday, September 27, 2009

3 Ways to Make Money from Home


You are a world-class expert. Yes, you are, just like Stephen Hawking is a world-class expert on the Big Bang and Martha Stewart is a world-class expert on making festive party favors out of tissue paper.

Your personal interests, life and work experiences and education add up to real expertise in a number of subjects. Do you tinker with cars? Read Shakespeare for fun? Beat your buddies at chess? Lecture your friends about proper diet, or Web design, or Star Wars collectibles?

Then you're an expert, and there's a place online that can help you turn that avocation into hard cash.
More from Minyanville.com:

• Ten Annoying Tips for the Unemployed

• Think Like a Beginner to Become an Expert

• Shrinking Your Way to Growth

There are at least three types of Web-based businesses that can help you earn cash in your spare time -- and a fourth type you shouldn't go near.

All three of the legit types supply the online base, the software and the marketing muscle you need to get started. You supply the expert "content," to use the hideous neo-media word for what we call "facts" in plain English.

This is not the get-rich-quick scheme you may have been looking for. The people who make real money through any of these schemes are working hard for it, really know their subjects and are good at communicating.

The money they earn is based on hard numbers. Page views and user ratings are modern equivalents to piece-work counts in a factory.

But if you can't find a full-time job, can't work regular hours or outside your home, or want to moonlight to supplement the 9 to 5 grind, one of these might be for you. For more strategies on how to moonlight, see Ten Ways to Moonlight.

A look at some of these online businesses suggests they are being used by young and out-of-work professionals to build up their resumes and hone their skills until the economy recovers. And, of course, many managers are using the services to get the job done until they can afford to add headcount.

All the sites claim to conduct a vetting process for contributors, and quality control over contributions, but their criteria are positively loosey-goosey compared to the personnel departments of a major corporation.

After all, their system of paying based on actual usage and client ratings ensures that only really good contributors get paid, and bad ones sink into the unplumbed depths of the database.

1. The Open Network

An open network offers a ready-built home for freelance writers to post articles on an infinite variety of useful or interesting subjects.

Associated Content, one of the largest and best known freelance networks, syndicates and custom-creates Editorial content, in text, video, image and audio forms.

It claims to be adding 5,000 articles a week to a database of more than 1 million articles on a vast range of subjects -- from curious facts about Abraham Lincoln to tips on easing your dog's separation anxiety.

That database was built by freelancers, who are paid a measly $3 to $15 per story but make an additional small sum based on user clicks, starting at $1.50 for every 1,000 page views. You can get a raise on that rate for page views as your output and audience grow.

The key to racking up page views is to write about something that interests everybody, like love or money. Or, write about a subject that interests many people intensely -- like parenting or World War II.

2. Answers On Demand

On-demand services connect people with an immediate need for information with experts who can supply that information. It's a one-on-one service, conducted over chat or via email for a fee.

LivePerson.com boasts 30,000 experts who are "ready to chat" on subjects from personal growth to small business solutions.

Some experts are lurking online, ready to jump in to answer your question, and others can be scheduled ahead for a one-on-one. The fee is set by the expert, anywhere from 50 cents to $5 per minute, about 45 percent of which goes to LivePerson.

Advice about "personal relationships" is clearly a money-maker here, although you can find a Web designer, a homework coach or a cosmetologist when you want one.

The vetting process includes licenses for professions that require them, like doctors and lawyers. All experts' resumes are available to prospective clients.

But once online, the experts live or die by client ratings which are, in the great tradition of the Internet, brutally honest. And in this world of pay-per-minute, the reviews cover typing speed as well as communication skills.

JustAnswer.com has an even simpler system. Got a problem? Just describe it, and indicate how much you're willing to pay for an answer. One of the experts will get back to you fast.

Experts run the gamut from veterinarians and attorneys to mechanics and computer repair people.

A quick glance through current questions reveals that many people are baffled by their electronic equipment, their cars and their puppies. Also, many students want somebody to write their term papers for them.

A new site out of Nashville, called Moontoast, wants to carry the concept to the next step and arrange actual face-to-face video and audio confrontations between expert and client. (Scary!)

Expected to launch soon, the site is bankrolled by country music stars and inspired by a musician's need to hear information, not just read it.

3. Crowd-Sourcing

This is the ultimate piece-work for the digital age.

"Crowd-sourcing" takes a big, ugly, often repetitive task and hacks it into small bits to be assigned to many people.

Say you are publishing a restaurant reservation directory, and every phone number has to be checked. How do you get it done? Try "crowd-sourcing" it.

MechanicalTurk.com, owned by Amazon, currently has almost 700 projects up for grabs, each divided into hundreds or thousands of "human intelligence tasks." Each task pays literally pennies -- from 1 cent to maybe 20 cents.

A lab needs information on 98 Web sites, for 10 cents a pop. Somebody is collecting data on 50 baseball players, for 9 cents each. Zappos wants people to edit product reviews for a nickel each. You might even see positions for big-time names like Google or Yahoo.

You grab a task, complete it and submit it for approval. As soon as it's approved, your payment gets transferred from the requester's Amazon Payments account to yours.

If you can stand it, you could sit at your computer all day banging these things out.

An experienced professional could get very bitter writing abstracts of technology news for a nickel each. But an under-employed college grad might greatly prefer it to flipping burgers, and it looks better on a resume.

More rarefied versions of crowd-sourcing are available at specialized freelance sites. DesignBay.com offers designers the chance to submit their work in online "contests" for posted projects. The odd jobs, most paying a couple of hundred dollars, come in from around the world, from small businesses and individuals who need logos or fliers, banner ads and posters.

Crowd-sourcing hits its low point in sites that pay people to "play around on the Internet." Put bluntly, they're falsifying usage data by goosing the number of unique hits on Web sites or banner ads.

CAUTION: The Age-Old Scam

Old scams never die. They just move onto the Internet.

If an ad promises you can make $50,000 a week clicking on Web sites, they're lying.

If a company wants you to pay upfront for a kit, or a book, or anything else, don't do it.

There are plenty of legitimate businesses in this game, and they make their money by helping you make money.
source: finance.yahoo.com/

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Beginners Guide to Beekeeping for Business or Hobby for Backyard Buckamoos


By Calvin Wapasa

There are some principles that you need to know when starting out on a honey bee keeping project either as a hobby or business. These principles will help you get maximum profits from your projects. The principles of how to be a successful beekeeper are designed around the honey bees themselves.

1. Choosing suitable bees is a critical point for your project. You have to conduct thorough research on the different type of bees and the right type of bees good for your area. The easy way to do this is to ask the other beekeepers in your area. These beekeepers can tell you through their experience which type is right for you.

2. You put your bees in the hive and honey is formed there as well. Choosing the hive depends on the type of bees, the area you live, the amount of time you are willing to invest and the money you are willing to spend.

Generally bee hives are made from two types of wood like cedar wood and pine wood; they both have a distinct some smell, especially cedar wood which has an impact on the honey aroma. To choose the hive type depends on your knowledge on how to raise honeybees, when starting out on beekeeping you may choose a hive that needs less maintenance even if it will cost them more.

3. The location of your hive is very important; it should be in an open area but away from strong air drafts. You should also have near by green fields or an open area in your backyard, so bees get their nector. If plantations are located between the hives then you must make sure that the plant insecticides used in the area will not harm your bees.

About the Author:

Friday, September 18, 2009

Online Real Estate Marketing The Easy Way

By Alexis Jameson

A couple of years ago we saw the real estate market crashed and burn. People were losing homes to foreclosure for non payment due to loss of job. Right now, times are starting to look up again and so is the market. Many people are coming out of the woodwork as realtors and making a decent living doing it. Online real estate marketing is one of the best ways for you to achieve online success!

You may not realize just how much people are utilizing the internet. More people today are looking at and buying homes over the internet. This is where you should be able to get into the action and profit! You simply need to sit down and conduct some research on online real estate marketing. From there you can get started with a website!

Anyone looking to succeed in this business needs to have the right website laid out and ready to go. This is what your clients are going to see before they even meet you. Make sure that you create a site that is designed so the client can get whatever they need. A contact page needs to be included when the client has nay questions or wants to get the process started!

Once you have your site created you can then use the right technique to get your keywords. If you have the proper keywords you will be able to get on the search pages that people first see. Your site will earn a lot of traffic and your online real estate site will simply flourish!

Make sure that you have are keeping your clients updated at all times. This could be through email lists or through newsletter. If you can plan out your own newsletter then you will be able to set yourself above the rest in the online real estate marketing world. Ensure that you have all of the proper information that your clients will need.

Another great online real estate marketing tool is videos. Google now offers a program that allows people to post video ads on their sites in order to earn some extra cash. For realtors you can add these videos to your site and watch the traffic flow right in!

In order to make a living with real estate, you need to make sure that you have the right online real estate marketing tools. There are plenty of tools that you can take advantage of. Make sure that you take a look around and see what you can find in order to make your site a whole lot better!

About the Author:

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Learn How to Make Money with Backyard Buckamoos


Let’s make some money by getting your hands dirty with BACKYARD CASH CROPS, which can be either a full or part-time job.  The way to make money is to find a special hard to find product and not your run of the mill tomato or pepper crop.  Learn how to run a road side stand selling common and specialized products.

I know you are thinking a lot of backbreaking work...well yes there is some work that is required but there are techniques you can use to reduce the amount of labor that is required once your garden is established.  First you need to decide how large and where you want your garden and then you can decide which crops you want to market for money. The potential that you can earn depends on your crop selection, quality and quantity of crop and how you are going to market your business. 

Different crops depend on different types of soil and weather conditions.  Some do best in direct sunlight with limited water while others like some shade and a lot of water, so you need to decide on the crops for the space you have selected and then buy the best seed, tree, vine, plant or bulbs available.   

The most labor that is involved is preparing the ground for planting, and then some labor will be needed to maintain your crops such as weeding, trimming, harvesting, packing and selling.  Some crops require less maintenance; however, this is a great business for the entire family.

Your start up cost will include not only the crop but you will also need a variety of tools to start. A shovel, hoe, wheelbarrow and fertilizer will be needed and will probably run you less than $200.  To prepare the ground the best to is a tiller or 5 horsepower rototiller. You may be able to rent one from a garden center, Lowes or Home Depot. 

Which are the best cash crops for a backyard garden?  If you have less than 1 acre focus on crops such as asparagus, strawberries, raspberries, herbs and other similar crops that can produce large amounts in small spaces. Be sure to research what type of soil is best for each crop.  Natural or organic fertilizers are great to improve your soil. Another great way to improve your soil is by composting. Composting turns leaves, grass clipping, food scraps and other organic material into rich soil.  There are soil testing kits available to help you determine what crops will grow best in your type of soil. Mulching is a technique to reduce labor, because mulching will eliminate weeds and will help keep the plants moist.

Specialized fruits to grow in your garden are kiwi, guavas, and Chinese dates. But, for most people just starting in the "cash crop" business, the four small fruits recommended are; raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and grapes are the most cost effective.

There are several different ways to make profits from flowers: selling flower bulbs, cut flowers, and flower plants and a small business can be built from a ½ acre or less.  The best flowers to grow are; roses, violets, wildflowers, carnations, chrysanthemums, snapdragons, canna, crocus, daffodils, iris, lilies, tulips and gladiolus.  Some can also be sold as cut flowers while others can be sold as bulbs. 

Herbs are becoming more popular therefore there is a growing demand and great opportunity to sell.  Since herbs are small you can produce a fair amount of income per acre as much as $12,000 - $15,000.  Herbs can be sold dried or fresh. Be sure to read up on growing and maintaining an herb garden as different herbs require different conditions.  There are three classes of herbs; culinary those used for cooking, fragrant some are used in teas and medicinal which are used as sleep aides.  The more successful herb growers plant and sell a wide variety of herbs, while other stick to herbs that are in big demand, like peppermint or catnip. Use the catnip to make catnip cat toys.
 

Fresh vegetables can produce $20,000 per acre and it is recommended to grow at least 8-10 of the most popular crops.  Asparagus can yield 2,000 per acre so it is great for a smaller garden.  Beans, Brussel sprouts, carrots, corn, lettuce, peppers and cucumbers are great to sell at you road side stand.  Other vegetables could include; onions, tomatoes and radishes.  You could also take these to your local farmers market and sell them on the weekend.  Specialized vegetables are organic vegetables, they require a little extra work, but worth it as these may be sold directly to restaurants, local health stores and food co-ops.

If you are setting up a road side stand in your front yard make sure your prices are 10% - 20% lower than your local market, unless they are organic.  This is basically a labor intensive business, relying on your skills in preparing the soil, planting, maintaining, gathering and marketing your crops.  A cash crop business can be very rewarding for the whole family, you are not only enjoying working outdoors, you are making some BACKYARD BUCKAMOOS!


Herb Gardens Are in Fashion Again. Be the Envy of Your Neighbors and Friends With a Garden Like This!
Perennial Border


Discover the Secret Ingredients to Create Your Masterpiece in 7 Days. Download more information here