Kievgid

Flight of the Conchords - Business Time

By: EdMorrissey

About the Author:

www.reachd.com Rodney Bartlett interviews Google’s Matt Cutts at Pubcon 2007 in Las Vegas. Matt had some excellent tips for small business owners and answered a few great questions.

By: wwwreachd

About the Author:

Kanye West - Family Business

By: troon4

About the Author:

When you first begin to think if a Work From Home Business is right for you, you will find surprising things happen every day.  They not only happen in secret faraway places, they happen all around you.  Beyond the physical world that you can see, beyond your thoughts and emotions, there exists another world. A world of pure potential; a place where anything and everything are possible. 

SOME PERSONAL HISTORY

Just 2 years ago I was working in Corporate America just like you.  I played around on the internet, selling on eBay and was successful with that - I became a Power Seller, only eBay is like working for Corporate America - they have tons of rules to follow and if you want to keep your Power Seller status you need to follow the rules.  Although, I realized that every business has rules - I even have rules in my own business that I must follow in order for me to be profitable and successful.  I have a few ebooks on my site that you may be interest in if eBay is the business you would like to be in.  It is still a very profitable business for me and can be for you. 

In 2007 I retired from my corporate job to nanny my twin grandbabies Lauren and Hudson.  They are the joy of my life. There is nothing better than being a grandmother. I continued to sell my items on eBay to subsidize my nanny income.

Then one day the light came on - although eBay has been very good for me, I wanted to add another stream of income to my work at home business.  I have read in many books that multi-stream income is very profitable.  I knew Lauren and Hudson would start to school one day and not need a nanny, so I began to look for other opportunities- on the internet in addition to eBay.  I firmly did not want to go back into corporate America, I still had my grandbabies and knew that I would soon become the taxi driver to and from the t-ball field, gymnastics, and I certainly did not want to miss their school programs, I couldn’t get myself tied down with a 9-5 job.  I knew that I could make money on the internet, but was not sure where to start

Every day while the grandbabies napped, I would get online and explore different ways of using the Internet to make money. I tried a couple of different internet marketing businesses.  I wasn’t going to give up, not only did I believe that there was something out in that far away place that would work for me, I had a burning desire to have a home based business.  I wanted something that would make a good living, subsidize my retirement and evidently replace my nanny pay; I wanted something that I could do working at home. After all, I had been in the computer business, in one form or another for 21 years, I was educated, I had a good home support system and I wasn’t looking for the million dollar job, just a steady income.  I didn’t want to set my sights so high that I could not attain the goals I was working towards.

In the first year, I spent a ton of money buying eBooks, membership sites, special reports, opt-in leads, and joining every affiliate program that promised success. Soon my mailbox was so full of business opportunities that I finally just hit the “DELETE” key. 

That’s when the light got brighter and I knew that I needed a website.  I needed to get all the top affiliate programs that I did make a profit from into one place. I needed to get organized and stop spending money advertising each of my individual affiliates in single ezine ads.  I needed a website when I could include the top performing affiliates then I could advertise those chosen few on my website.  I had a “Plan”.  Well, that took some learning.   I stayed up night after night trying to learn to build a website.  I bought tons more ebooks, fortunately I was an affiliate of   Clickbank.com. I still had high hopes of making money online.  I knew the internet was a world of pure potential, a place where anything and everything was possible, after all, I had worked with computer most of my adult life and I turely believed that I coul make money on the internet.

In my second year of working part-time to build a home based income, I came across an ad while I doing Pay Per Click and landed on a page for a company named Success University.  I read through the ad and what immediately caught my attention - Make money giving away FREE Professional Development Courses.  This was right up my alley; it was a win-win situation.  I could continue my education and promote the produce to encourage others to continue theirs.  I related to Success University, so I added another affiliate to my list of many.  I really did need a website to manage the many money makers I had become affiliated with.  You can find all the details about Success University on my website www.workathometodayonline.com

MY FIRST REAL WEBSITE EXPERIENCE

Though I have a family member who is a designer of corporate websites, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to bring him into all this, after all I was in the learning phase, doing this part-time. Continuing my journey on the internet for possible work at home opportunities,  I came across a program Plug-In Profit it was a professionally pre-designed website that actually included the vast majority of my affiliates, I did some research on it and found that is was being used by many people that had successful home based businesses.  I actually got the website for FREE, and only had to pay a small amount per month for hosting fees, and it came with a great support team to help me out while I learned to use it.  I was able to personalize it so that it had the look and feel that I wanted to portray for my business.  Now that I have my first real website up and running www.workathometodayonline.com/  I was working my “plan”, I could advertise all my affiliates on my own website…Life is good.  Affiliate programs ROCK!

This was actually when I felt I had really taken the leap into my first Home Internet Marketing business.  The timing was great, I knew that I would only be keeping the grandchildren for about 6 more months and they would then begin their venture out and socialize with other children in an educational learning center - so having the nanny income allotted me a few months to get up to speed with my new work at home business - after all my eBay Store and my new website would be my only means of income.

BEYOND THE PHYSICAL WORLD WE LIVE

Through the many experts available through the free courses at Success University, I have learned that they all started the same place I did.  Although, they are further down the path to financial freedom than I am; they now have money, contacts and have gained a lot more experience than I have. However I had to realize I have not been out in the business world for 2 year, where I could talk to people about my business venture and get input, remember I have a set of now 2 year old twins - my grandbabies, they go to our church school  program 2 days a week, for half a day, but that did not afford me the time I needed to research the vast amount of information to start an home base internet marketing business and build an website, the one thing that I did learn about the “experts”  was that they were not always high earners, when they started they all had to travel the same secret faraway places that I have traveled.   At some point they all had to stay up night after night until they learned the secret of success.

I hope that if you decide to try a home base internet marketing business, that you can get started, and be profitable faster than I did.  However, due to my determination the many nights with loss of sleep and the strong desire to work from home was worth the rewards I have finally received.  I continued to believe that surprising things happen every day, I believe that beyond your thoughts and emotions, there exists another world.  A world of pure potential, a place where anything and everything are possible.  The world of the internet! It is a very powerful world!

THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE WAS PRICELESS

I learned from one of the very best that in order to enter that world of pure potential, that world where anything and everything is possible, you must do a few things differently than the rest of us did. You must be able to master your own learning potential.  From the start you must not only have the desire to start a home based business and work outside corporate America, quit the 9-5 shift, be your own boss, control your own time - You have to have a plan to accomplish all this - you have to have a plan to succeed! I didn’t have a plan - I only knew I wanted to have a home based internet business. I like most people started out running for the finish line without a real plan. When I began to see this is more work than I wanted to put into a home base business, I was ready to throw up my hands and walk away, give up my dream; I was disappointed and disgusted. However, instead of allowing this to be a walking away point, this only convinced me that this struggling online entrepreneur had simply taken a wrong turn along the way and was traveling the wrong road.  I needed to turn around, retrace my steps and figure out where I made the wrong turn - when did the light start dimming?

One of the biggest problems I had as a new internet marketer was throwing a website out there and checking the hit counters every day.  This became very depressing to the point that I wanted to give up! I soon realized that even though I had this website, no one is going to look at or even know about it because I didn’t advertise it. I didn’t realize that just because I bought a domain name, got it registered and had a website that I was going to make money. OH, I have to advertise it, create links so search engines would find it.  I found a few free advertising sites like Traffic Swarm  on the internet - wrote an ad and waited for results - and I received a few emails from my Auto Responder.  This gave me the hope I needed.  I then moved to larger advertisers like Topsurfer and paid for “Solo Ads” advertising, again, I received more and more emails from my Get Response Auto Responder.  In time, I began to learn how to make my advertising work for me.  I learned that most affiliate programs will earn very little money on their own. I learned that I needed to become aware that there are tools available like SEO that will get you high ranking in the search engines.  All of the tools I used to assist with promoting my home based business taught me how to work with my affiliate programs to make them profitable and work for me.  I also learned that I had to give in order to receive -

BE A WINNER

To be a winner and succeed, from the very moment the seed is planted in your mind to have a home based business, you must begin by reading everything you can get your hands on. Don’t just read the hype, don’t believe or invest in all the ads you come across while you are clicking for points to pay for your free advertising.  Ask people for their opinion, get some advice from others who have reviewed or are currently using the same programs you are researching. You can learn from their mistakes and their successes.  Don’t be afraid to ask for help.  There is a wonderful group of PIP experts available to help you at PIPS Power Group.

One of the major decisions I finally made after wasting tons of money on software packages to learn how to setup a website was to use a pre-built program that was designed for me to succeed.  It included many of the affiliate programs that I was already familiar with and that I was having success with.  If you plan to step into a pre-designed and complete turn-key online money-making venture, I encourage you to examine the Plug-In Profit site that I used to set up my turn-key website www.workathometodayonline.com/ .  I choose the Plug-In Profit site product because I did my research on it; I was ready to admit that I could not go it alone and the fact that it featured many of the products I was already marketing, and they have the best customer support team on the internet. 

If you decide to go the journey on your own, then I definitely recommend you do all of the necessary research, planning and preparation that is needed for your success, it could be a long road, for me almost 2 year to find the right road to follow.  For me to be successful I knew what I wanted to do, I just had to turn my “dream” into an “action plan” and then figure out how my website would generate a real income for me.

FOLLOW YOUR DREAM

Another thing that I learned late in my journey was to study your competitors and learn what is working for them and what did not work for them. Then determine your money plan.  Even though you may think of this as a home business, you will still need to have a business plan, and a marketing plan. Utilize professional assistance like I did with Plug-In Profit , they did an excellent job in pulling all of my affiliate sites together.  I choose them because they have, what I believe is the best on the web customer support and a user forum Warrior Pro, where you will connect with hundreds of PIP users and a support team that has the answer to any question or problem you may have with your website.  While creating your plans, make a determination as to which domain name you think would be best, and then register it along with a hosting account, I use Host4Profit, but you will find several choices if you search the internet.  I knew that I wanted to promote Success University; they have a ton of professional development courses, the same ones I taught when I worked in corporate America so I could relate to this company.  Clickbank, my first affiliate, was my main sources of research when I was going through this learning experience - they have hundreds of thousands of eBooks on any subject you can think of, I certainly didn’t have time to go to the book store.  SFI - is a great company and I continue to promote and purchase products for use in my home.  Stone Evans, designer of the Plug-In Profit system and Author of “Dotcomolgy - The Science of Making Money Online”, was a great source of information, you can receive this for Free on my website, along with the excellent courses on Marketing, Real Estate, Motivation, Goal Setting, Time Management, just to list a few at Success University, topics on everything I needed to know to start my home based business.  Success University has  hundreds of courses and audio video that will assist you in continuing education.  This program can be used for your personal growth or your personal gain.  They are located in 108 countries so there are no language barriers ther.   Then there is the internet where you can search and find a ton of educational material  that will take you step by step through the same process to start your home internet business. I have a dream, now I have an action plan to make that dream come true. 

When you are ready to open for business, don’t be afraid to spend the money to bring your dream alive. Just do your research and spend it in the right places.  Look beyond the physical world that you can see, out there, beyond your thoughts and emotions, there exists another world - the Internet.

I wish you the best if you should decide to follow your dream. Stay in touch, and let me know how it goes for you.  I am always interested in reading a success story - post it on my website for the world to read. 

 I desperately wanted a Work At Home Internet Marketing Business, so that I would never have to reenter the world of corporate America again.  I wanted to insure I would be available to spend all the time I wanted with my twin grandbabies Lauren and Hudson.   No Rules, No 9-5 Shift, No eBay inventory.  After working part time for 18 months I have a successful Internet Marketing Business with earnings that allow me to continue to spoil my grandchildren….The Loves Of My Life - Lauren and Hudson!

Be a Believer - Dreams do come true.

www.workathometodayonline.com/;

where ordinary people are making ordinary money working from home on the internet.



By: Mary Poindexter

About the Author:

One of the biggest concerns for small and medium size businesses (SMEs) is juggling time and company finances, particularly as the economy slips further into a financial downturn and priorities shift. Business owners are always looking for new ways to give themselves a little bit of financial breathing space that won’t unbalance either their business or their books. Using a business credit card could be one weapon that could help to minimise the day to day problems that many businesses encounter, giving them the chance to reappraise their cash flow and give them more control over their daily finances.

A business credit card (unlike a personal credit card) can offer SMEs greater financial flexibility and provide an alternative to expensive loans or debilitating overdrafts. If your company only needs a relatively small ‘fighting fund’ to cover daily expenses or the occasional payment to suppliers, a business credit card could be the answer. By choosing a card that best suits your company’s needs, you can reduce the amount of ‘empty money’ you pay on overdraft interest payments or loan interest charges. Business credit cards are easily managed and can certainly help a business to survive a lean month by ensuring suppliers are paid on time, thus keeping open other lines of credit essential to the operation of the business. If managed carefully it can also improve the credit rating of a business - something that, in the current climate, where banks are reigning in on business loans to minimise their exposure to ‘bad debt’, puts a business on much firmer ground.

In 2004, the Warwick Business School carried out a study of 2,500 businesses that looked into financial options for SMEs. The study found that business credit cards were the financial option of choice for 55% of small and medium sized businesses. 53% of SMEs had overdrafts, 27% used hire purchase agreements or leasing contracts and only 3% cited equity finance as their primary financial source. This study, although carried out before the current recession kicked in, is still applicable today and business credit cards are still an integral part of business life. The major benefit of a business credit card is that it gives a company a separate source of income from their main cash flow. It can also provide them with an extended, interest-free credit period when dealing with suppliers. This ‘grace’ period between payment to a supplier and the money being removed from the company’s assets via credit card payment can sometimes mean the difference between survival and closure for many small businesses.

Time management is another crucial factor, and business credit cards can also be a boon to a business in this aspect. SMEs waste valuable time (and money) by carrying out labour-intensive administrative and accounting processes. By employing a business credit card as part of an overall fiscal strategy, the time spent on complicated accounting (particularly when dealing with expenses such as travel and accommodation) can be reduced, as the statements provided by the card supplier will give a complete breakdown of monthly expenditure on all cards. This lets the accountants monitor expenses, supplier payments and other transactions quickly and easily. It also ensures that personal expenditure and business costs are kept separate, again allowing the business to chart ‘cash in’ and ‘cash out’ much more easily.

Most business credit cards allow multiple users to access the same account by issuing additional cards for employees. This gives SME owners the reassurance that employees have a payment tool that can be collated into a single account. Pre-set limits also control the amount of spending additional card holders can make, ensuring that the company does not inadvertently overspend and allowing owners to monitor individual employees’ spending. With the advent of online banking this monitoring can be carried out instantly, giving a business owner the chance to stop any overspend in its tracks. Statements can also be a useful cost-cutting tool, giving a business a window on their expenditure and if necessary making fundamental changes in their organisation to reduce overheads such as travel expenses.

There is a wide range of business credit cards available, so it pays to shop around to find the best offer that suits your particular business needs. Some cards offer ‘reward schemes’ with offers on petrol or accommodation, so if your business involves employees travelling extensively this option could save your business money in the long term. Others offer attractive APR rates or interest-free periods, which may be more suitable for a new business trying to find its financial feet. By choosing carefully, a business credit card can be an integral part of an overall financial policy that benefits a business both in the short and long term, particularly in a chilly economic climate.



By: Hannah Callen

About the Author:

British business has changed in the last few years, becoming part of the online revolution and the advent of E-business and Internet financial management. The high street has been the real victim in this groundshift towards more virtual business and despite the continuing worry about recession, financial downturns and the ongoing ‘credit crunch’ businesses have seen their markets expand globally, thanks to the relentless march of cyberspace. Banking hasn’t been left behind either, and it’s now rare to find any financial institution that doesn’t offer an online banking service. This can only be of benefit, both to customers and to businesses alike.

The original thinking behind online financial management was more environmentally altruistic, as it was seen as a means to remove the ‘paper-based’ system of old. The public was initially reluctant to become part of this revolution, their concerns fuelled by reports of identity theft, online credit card scams and other cybercrimes. Better security systems have replaced the first generation protocols and using the Internet is now a safe and secure method of managing your finances for both personal and business customers. Small and medium sized companies (SMEs) have particularly benefited from a more modern approach to doing business online.

Business credit cards have proven to be a perennially popular way of giving SMEs an additional source of funding, with 23%* of business owners using them to inject additional capital into their companies. The flexibility of an online credit card management strategy has made it even easier to keep a close eye on the day to day finances of a business, as online management gives a real-time snapshot of the company’s transactions and expenditure 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Traditionally, a business credit card user would have to wait for the monthly statement to assess how the cards were being used. If an overspend had occurred, it was too late to prevent it escalating. With online banking a card owner can put a stop to any overspend before it happens, making the overall financial position of the company that little bit more secure. This is particularly important where there are multiple users on a single account, and pre-set spending limits also makes this a more controllable system of financial management.

Using an online financial management system incorporating business credit cards can also give businesses an outline of their average expenditure as projected throughout the year. It means that if a business owner notices an increase in travel costs for example, restraints can be put in place to curb overspends before they occur. Some business credit cards offer ‘reward schemes’ as part of their package, and these can be utilised to make further savings for the business, particularly in travel and accommodation expenses. This ability to be able to not only control immediate spending but to forecast potential costs throughout the year can potentially prevent a company nose-diving towards collapse as a result of overspend.

Time management is a vital factor for any business, and online business credit card management can help here as well. The time spent gathering in and sorting through receipts and separate paper statements can cost a company money, especially if they employ an external accounting service. Online management gives a business owner the chance to stay on top of the paperwork quickly and easily, reducing the time (and money) spent on bookkeeping and other administration. A clear breakdown of any transactions can be printed out at any time. It also enables a business to keep a close eye on payments to suppliers, ensuring that deadlines on invoices are met and keeping vital lines of credit open to the business.

The evolution of E-business and its resultant online financial management systems is making the way UK PLC does business more dynamic and controllable. In a global marketplace that never sleeps, having access to your financial information at any time of the day or night could mean the difference between your business keeping up with competitors or going to the wall. Any weapon in such a competitive marketplace needs to be utilised, and online management of business credit cards can leave business owners with more time to focus on the important aspects of their business - bringing in new customers or developing new products or services. It also gives them the peace of mind that, at the click of a button, they are in complete control of their business finances.

* Figures published by the Federation of Small Businesses 2009 New Year Message



By: Hannah Callen

About the Author:

The initiative of starting up a business is something very good. But the simple notion of starting up a business is sometimes plagued with certain thoughts of indecision or thoughts of canceling the whole idea of starting up a business. What is known is that a lot of people are afraid to get into business because they are troubled of loosing. This is because they might have previously experienced losses or might have seen others fail in business. It should be kept in mind that most of the failures often experienced in business are failures related to finances.

The fear of loosing should be something inherent in every business owner and particularly to those just getting into business. This fear is also experienced by those already established in business. But in most cases, they are very worried about sources of finance for their businesses.

One of the main ideas at the back of this article is to identify the various sources of financing a business as well as identify the various tools to take the business through to a stage of profit maximization. How can you seek for the finance necessary to run your business?

Loans

Loans are one of the commonest forms of securing finance for the business. Loans are commonly obtained through commercial banks and these will normally be made available to those who can show some convincing form of credit worthiness. However, the conditions over which loans are given will vary from one lending institution to the other.

One of the best ways to approach these lending institutions is to come up with a business plan which can be appreciated by the lending institution and also establish that your proposal has the least form of risk that can be thought of. Keep in mind that banks will prefer to put their money where they realize that risks are minimal or insurable than where risks cannot be insured. You must also make sure that you are a legal entity and that you have the necessary collateral to secure the loan.

Angel Financing

This is a type of scheme in which you will normally come up with a business program and present it to an individual or group of individuals who are willing and able to provide the necessary capital for the running of the business. It is common to find such groups working in a network today. You will also have to know about the various networks and how they function ahead of seeking financing from it.

Angel financing is also sought for and will be provided to businesses with very high risks. This will also warrant these financiers to demand for high returns on their investments. In most cases, what they stand to gain will be twenty or thirty times above the value of what they put in. This is a very expensive form of financing but it is probable that it can be made available to young business owners with businesses that have a high probability to expand. If you cannot get the required financing from a lending institution, you may opt for this form of financing.

Financing From Venture Capitalists

Venture capitalists are investors who gather money with the aim of putting it in businesses that are still at their inceptions or businesses that are experiencing insurmountable financial hurdles. Such business may lack the capital or personnel to direct the business and they may also be involved in businesses that have high prospects of making huge profits. However, those who provide finance under this type of scheme will want to have a considerable measure of influence over the affairs of the business. Business owners should therefore be wise enough on the amount of influence which they will accord to these investors.

There are other sources from which finance can be provided to the business. The business may decide to sell some of it shares to the public. It can also opt to sell what it acquired in the form of assets.



By: David S. Stratton

About the Author: