The Internet and online business especially are becoming more and more popular by the day in todays world simply because people are starting to see the true benefits of the web, consumers are starting to trust the web more, and more importantly, the start up costs for a online business are next to nothing compared to the offline world of business start ups.
The only set back most people run into when wanting to start one of their own online business is How and Where to get started.
I did a search under the keyword term "home based business" and the search results returned 575,000,000 results for that keyword alone.
That's a pretty intimidating number for someone wanting to start their own home based business on the web wouldn't you say?
These were the same obstacles I was up against when I first ventured into the online world of business.
So, I saved you the hassle and put together 3 of the quickest ways for ANYONE(that's You) to start their own online business with next to no investment required and can get started in less than 24 hours.
Are you ready? I hope so.
Business Model #1. Affiliate Programs.
Affiliate Programs are simply programs set up by the business owner for others to sign up for and promote for the business owner for a agreed upon commission(usually between 10 - 75%).
The great thing about Affiliate marketing is it doesn't cost you a single penny to get started, you don't have to worry about refunds or customer service that come with owning your own product.
All you have to worry about is generating the traffic to your affiliate link and collecting your commission cheques.
This is the quickest way to get started online... Period!
Here's a few Affiliate Directories to give you a start:
Associate Programs - http://www.picmoney.com
Refer It - http://www.adsenselover.com
Business Model #2. Resell Rights.
Resell Rights are simply products that have already been created and are available to anybody who is willing to pay for the Resell Rights to market them.
The upside to this is you get Ready-To-Go websites with PROVEN sales letters that convert. The best part of all is... you get to keep 100% of the $Profits$.
The draw back is you can't claim those products as your own. The original creator of the product maintains full rights. You just get to keep all the profits.
Not such a bad trade off wouldn't you say?
Business Model #3. Private Label Resell Rights.
Private Label Resell Rights are simply products that are ready to be branded with your name to it.
What I mean by that is you get full rights to the product or products and are able to claim them as your own even though you didn't create them yourself.
This is the fastest way for anyone to start a online business who really doesn't have any experience or knowledge on how to create their own products.
The other really cool thing about Private Label Resell Rights products is they come with Ready-To-Go websites which then again saves you time and money in having to create them yourself.
Well there you have it, 3 Quick Ways To Start Your Own Online Business In Less Than 24 Hours.
The easiest way to locate any of the above via the search engines is by entering something like this into there search engine web form:
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Ten Tips for New Small Businesses
Suggestions to help get your business off to a smooth start and keep it going for the long haul.
Save up as much money as possible before starting.All too often, people go into business without any savings, exclusively using loan money from friends, banks, or the SBA. They except to be able to start paying the loans back right away with their profits. What these business owners don't realize is that it can take months or years to make a profit. And once a lender discovers a business isn't as profitable as expected, the lender is likely to call in the loan or refuse to renew it for another year. Often new business owners then have to take out home equity loans or use credit cards to pay off their loans (which puts their home and credit rating at risk). For more information, see Business Financing FAQ.
A better plan is to save up as much of the needed investment money as possible, including your living expenses for the first year, or even two. Odds are that your business won't be profitable for one to two years. Even if you get plenty of business coming your way -- and your customers pay you on time, which isn't always a sure thing -- you'll want to be able to invest most of that money back in the business for space, equipment, advertising, and insurance needs.
Start on a shoestring.Think small. Don't rent premises if you can work somewhere else, and don't hire employees until you can keep them busy. (You can hire independent contractors or temps in the meantime.)
People who start their small business on the cheap, often in a garage, den, or some other scavenged space, and create their first goods or services with more sweat than cash, have the luxury of making their inevitable rookie mistakes on a small scale. And precisely because their early screw-ups don't bury them in debt, they are usually able to learn and recover from them.
Protect your personal assets.When you go into business for yourself, you are usually personally liable for all judgments and debts that the business incurs. This includes business loans, taxes, money owed to suppliers and landlords, and any judgments against the business as a result of a lawsuit. If you don't protect yourself, a creditor can go after your personal assets, such as your car and your house, to pay for these debts.
While you can protect yourself against lawsuits by buying business liability insurance, this won't help you with business debts. If you will be running up big debts, consider forming a corporation or limited liability company (LLC). Just one person can form either of these types of businesses.
Understand how -- and if -- you will make a profit.You should be able to state in just a few sentences how your business plans to make a substantial profit. For starters, you need to know your costs: how much you'll spend purchasing inventory, paying the rent, compensating any employees, and covering what is likely to be a surprisingly long list of other costs. Then you can figure out exactly how much you need to sell each month, for how many dollars, to cover those expenses and have an adequate profit besides. These numbers are all you need to create a "break-even analysis."
Make a business plan, no matter how short. Understanding your profit numbers and creating a break-even analysis is the first step in making a business plan. For most small companies, the key portions of a business plan are the break-even analysis, a profit-and-loss forecast, and a cash flow projection. (Projecting your cash flow is key and will make or break your company: Even if your business is getting plenty of work or selling its products, if you're not getting paid for 90-180 days, you're not going to survive unless you've planned for it.) With a cash flow spreadsheet in place, as well as a profit-and-loss forecast, you can tinker with your business idea and improve it before you start -- and continue to use them after you start.
Creating a business plan also allows you to determine what your projected start-up costs are (how much money you'll need to save) and what you marketing strategies are (how you'll reach customers to make sales). If you can't make the numbers work on paper, you won't be able to make them work in real life.
Get and keep a competitive edge.Building a competitive edge into the fabric of your business is crucially important to long-term success. Some ways to get this edge are by knowing more than your competitors, making a product that is hard or impossible to imitate, being able to produce or distribute your product more efficiently, having a better location, or offering superior customer service.
One way to hold on to your competitive edge is to protect your trade secrets -- confidential information that gives you a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Examples of trade secrets include customer lists, survey methods, marketing strategies, and manufacturing techniques. To protect your trade secrets under the law, you need to take steps to keep the information confidential. This includes marking documents "Confidential," using passwords to protect computer information, using nondisclosure and/or noncompete agreements, and limiting access to employees with a reasonable need to know the trade secrets.
Another way to keep your competitive edge is to react quickly to bad news. Once you see that your business faces some kind of adversity, you need to come up with a plan to deal with it immediately. This may involve moving your offices, introducing a new product or service, or developing a better way to reach customers.
Put all agreements in writing.The laws of your state require you to put some contracts and agreements in writing:
Contracts that will last longer than a year.
Contracts that involve the sale of goods worth $500 or more.
Contracts that transfer the ownership of copyrights or real estate.
Even if not legally required, it's wise to put almost everything in writing, because oral agreements can be difficult or impossible to prove. This includes leases or rental agreements, storage agreements, contracts for services (such as consulting or electrical work), purchase orders or contracts for goods worth more than a couple hundred dollars, offer letters of employment, and employment policies. Get in the habit of getting and giving receipts for all goods, services, and deposits, regardless of how much.
Hire and keep good people. Your goal should be to hire and retain truly excellent employees -- not just reasonably competent ones. A highly competent and truly enthusiastic employee is at least two and sometimes even three times as valuable as a person of average skills.
To create a stable and happy workforce, it's essential not only that your employees (and independent contractors) believe they are being fairly treated, but that your business is worthy of respect. Employees and contractors who like their work will represent you well on and off the job. And customers will more likely be loyal to an upbeat business -- and are more likely to recommend it to their friends.
Pay attention to the legal status of your workers. When you hire workers as independent contractors, make sure they shouldn't really be taxed as employees. The IRS can impose substantial penalties against you for not withholding taxes and paying taxes for a worker who is really an employee. The IRS and other agencies are likely to think that a worker is an employee rather than an independent contractor under any of these conditions:
The worker works full-time or nearly full-time for you.
The worker doesn't work for anyone else.
The worker provides services that are an integral part of your operations.
You control how the worker does the job and provide detailed instructions and training for the worker.
One way to help avoid trouble is to have the worker sign a written service contract, or independent contractor agreement.
Most employees you hire will be "at-will" employees -- subject to being fired at any time and for any reason (except for illegal motives such as discrimination). It's important to preserve your at-will rights because they protect you from having to prove that you have a valid business-related reason to terminate an employee. Don't make any promises to prospective or current employees that you are offering a permanent job or that they will lose their job only if they perform poorly, because this will limit your ability to terminate the employee for other reasons, such as personality conflicts or finances.
When hiring an at-will employee, have the employee sign an offer letter that makes it clear that the employment relationship is at will. Except for high-level executives, you shouldn't have employees sign an employment contract -- this can limit your ability to alter the terms of employment as your business needs change and subjects you to higher legal standards.
Pay your bills early and your taxes on time. In the real world, where a reputation for keeping one's word is a hugely important asset, a good strategy is either to pay your bills up front or pay them early. You gain trust, build a positive credit profile, and have a built-in safety net if things go badly. These benefits outweigh any interest you might earn by holding onto your money until the last possible minute.
Most importantly, pay your payroll taxes on time, especially the portion that you withhold from your employees' paychecks. The IRS and state tax authorities can hold you personally liable for these taxes, plus stiff penalties, if they're not paid. This is true even if you operate your business as a corporation or LLC or if your business goes bankrupt -- you will still be personally and legally on the hook to pay back payroll taxes.
Save up as much money as possible before starting.All too often, people go into business without any savings, exclusively using loan money from friends, banks, or the SBA. They except to be able to start paying the loans back right away with their profits. What these business owners don't realize is that it can take months or years to make a profit. And once a lender discovers a business isn't as profitable as expected, the lender is likely to call in the loan or refuse to renew it for another year. Often new business owners then have to take out home equity loans or use credit cards to pay off their loans (which puts their home and credit rating at risk). For more information, see Business Financing FAQ.
A better plan is to save up as much of the needed investment money as possible, including your living expenses for the first year, or even two. Odds are that your business won't be profitable for one to two years. Even if you get plenty of business coming your way -- and your customers pay you on time, which isn't always a sure thing -- you'll want to be able to invest most of that money back in the business for space, equipment, advertising, and insurance needs.
Start on a shoestring.Think small. Don't rent premises if you can work somewhere else, and don't hire employees until you can keep them busy. (You can hire independent contractors or temps in the meantime.)
People who start their small business on the cheap, often in a garage, den, or some other scavenged space, and create their first goods or services with more sweat than cash, have the luxury of making their inevitable rookie mistakes on a small scale. And precisely because their early screw-ups don't bury them in debt, they are usually able to learn and recover from them.
Protect your personal assets.When you go into business for yourself, you are usually personally liable for all judgments and debts that the business incurs. This includes business loans, taxes, money owed to suppliers and landlords, and any judgments against the business as a result of a lawsuit. If you don't protect yourself, a creditor can go after your personal assets, such as your car and your house, to pay for these debts.
While you can protect yourself against lawsuits by buying business liability insurance, this won't help you with business debts. If you will be running up big debts, consider forming a corporation or limited liability company (LLC). Just one person can form either of these types of businesses.
Understand how -- and if -- you will make a profit.You should be able to state in just a few sentences how your business plans to make a substantial profit. For starters, you need to know your costs: how much you'll spend purchasing inventory, paying the rent, compensating any employees, and covering what is likely to be a surprisingly long list of other costs. Then you can figure out exactly how much you need to sell each month, for how many dollars, to cover those expenses and have an adequate profit besides. These numbers are all you need to create a "break-even analysis."
Make a business plan, no matter how short. Understanding your profit numbers and creating a break-even analysis is the first step in making a business plan. For most small companies, the key portions of a business plan are the break-even analysis, a profit-and-loss forecast, and a cash flow projection. (Projecting your cash flow is key and will make or break your company: Even if your business is getting plenty of work or selling its products, if you're not getting paid for 90-180 days, you're not going to survive unless you've planned for it.) With a cash flow spreadsheet in place, as well as a profit-and-loss forecast, you can tinker with your business idea and improve it before you start -- and continue to use them after you start.
Creating a business plan also allows you to determine what your projected start-up costs are (how much money you'll need to save) and what you marketing strategies are (how you'll reach customers to make sales). If you can't make the numbers work on paper, you won't be able to make them work in real life.
Get and keep a competitive edge.Building a competitive edge into the fabric of your business is crucially important to long-term success. Some ways to get this edge are by knowing more than your competitors, making a product that is hard or impossible to imitate, being able to produce or distribute your product more efficiently, having a better location, or offering superior customer service.
One way to hold on to your competitive edge is to protect your trade secrets -- confidential information that gives you a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Examples of trade secrets include customer lists, survey methods, marketing strategies, and manufacturing techniques. To protect your trade secrets under the law, you need to take steps to keep the information confidential. This includes marking documents "Confidential," using passwords to protect computer information, using nondisclosure and/or noncompete agreements, and limiting access to employees with a reasonable need to know the trade secrets.
Another way to keep your competitive edge is to react quickly to bad news. Once you see that your business faces some kind of adversity, you need to come up with a plan to deal with it immediately. This may involve moving your offices, introducing a new product or service, or developing a better way to reach customers.
Put all agreements in writing.The laws of your state require you to put some contracts and agreements in writing:
Contracts that will last longer than a year.
Contracts that involve the sale of goods worth $500 or more.
Contracts that transfer the ownership of copyrights or real estate.
Even if not legally required, it's wise to put almost everything in writing, because oral agreements can be difficult or impossible to prove. This includes leases or rental agreements, storage agreements, contracts for services (such as consulting or electrical work), purchase orders or contracts for goods worth more than a couple hundred dollars, offer letters of employment, and employment policies. Get in the habit of getting and giving receipts for all goods, services, and deposits, regardless of how much.
Hire and keep good people. Your goal should be to hire and retain truly excellent employees -- not just reasonably competent ones. A highly competent and truly enthusiastic employee is at least two and sometimes even three times as valuable as a person of average skills.
To create a stable and happy workforce, it's essential not only that your employees (and independent contractors) believe they are being fairly treated, but that your business is worthy of respect. Employees and contractors who like their work will represent you well on and off the job. And customers will more likely be loyal to an upbeat business -- and are more likely to recommend it to their friends.
Pay attention to the legal status of your workers. When you hire workers as independent contractors, make sure they shouldn't really be taxed as employees. The IRS can impose substantial penalties against you for not withholding taxes and paying taxes for a worker who is really an employee. The IRS and other agencies are likely to think that a worker is an employee rather than an independent contractor under any of these conditions:
The worker works full-time or nearly full-time for you.
The worker doesn't work for anyone else.
The worker provides services that are an integral part of your operations.
You control how the worker does the job and provide detailed instructions and training for the worker.
One way to help avoid trouble is to have the worker sign a written service contract, or independent contractor agreement.
Most employees you hire will be "at-will" employees -- subject to being fired at any time and for any reason (except for illegal motives such as discrimination). It's important to preserve your at-will rights because they protect you from having to prove that you have a valid business-related reason to terminate an employee. Don't make any promises to prospective or current employees that you are offering a permanent job or that they will lose their job only if they perform poorly, because this will limit your ability to terminate the employee for other reasons, such as personality conflicts or finances.
When hiring an at-will employee, have the employee sign an offer letter that makes it clear that the employment relationship is at will. Except for high-level executives, you shouldn't have employees sign an employment contract -- this can limit your ability to alter the terms of employment as your business needs change and subjects you to higher legal standards.
Pay your bills early and your taxes on time. In the real world, where a reputation for keeping one's word is a hugely important asset, a good strategy is either to pay your bills up front or pay them early. You gain trust, build a positive credit profile, and have a built-in safety net if things go badly. These benefits outweigh any interest you might earn by holding onto your money until the last possible minute.
Most importantly, pay your payroll taxes on time, especially the portion that you withhold from your employees' paychecks. The IRS and state tax authorities can hold you personally liable for these taxes, plus stiff penalties, if they're not paid. This is true even if you operate your business as a corporation or LLC or if your business goes bankrupt -- you will still be personally and legally on the hook to pay back payroll taxes.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Best dozen love quotes
1. At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet.
2. If you have it [Love], you don't need to have anything else, and if you don't have it, it doesn't matter much what else you have.
3. Only fools fall in love, I guess I am one of them.
4. Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.
5. We don't believe in rheumatism and true love until after the first attack.
6. In dreams and in love there are no impossibilities.
7. They do not love that do not show their love. The course of true love never did run smooth. Love is a familiar. Love is a devil. There is no evil angel but Love.
8. Like the measles, love is most dangerous when it comes late in life.
9. True love begins when nothing is looked for in return.
10. It is better to have loved and lost than never to have lost at all.
11.Love is a given, hatred is acquired.
12. A man falls in love through his eyes, a woman through her ears.
2. If you have it [Love], you don't need to have anything else, and if you don't have it, it doesn't matter much what else you have.
3. Only fools fall in love, I guess I am one of them.
4. Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.
5. We don't believe in rheumatism and true love until after the first attack.
6. In dreams and in love there are no impossibilities.
7. They do not love that do not show their love. The course of true love never did run smooth. Love is a familiar. Love is a devil. There is no evil angel but Love.
8. Like the measles, love is most dangerous when it comes late in life.
9. True love begins when nothing is looked for in return.
10. It is better to have loved and lost than never to have lost at all.
11.Love is a given, hatred is acquired.
12. A man falls in love through his eyes, a woman through her ears.
Dozen quotes about success
1. The whole world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going.
2. There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs.3. There are many paths to the top of the mountain, but the view is always the same.
4. There are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there.5. There are some defeats more triumphant than victories.
6. Tough times never last, but tough people do.
7. There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, learning from failure.
8. There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality; But winners are those who turn one into the other.
9. There'll be two dates on your tombstone/ And all your friends will read 'em/ But all that's gonna matter is that little dash between 'em...
10.There's no substitute for hard work.
11.To be successful, you must decide exactly what you want to accomplish; then resolve to pay the price to get it.
12.To climb steep hills requires slow pace at first.
WHAT IS LOVE?
There are countless beautifully written essays, letters and poems that describe "love" in touching and eloquent ways. There are an equal number of cold and scientific research studies on "love". Yet today most people are probably more confused than ever!
I apologize if my description lacks the eloquence of other writings. However you need to be able to understand what love is. You need to be able to think intelligently about love. And you need to recognize love when it exists. And you need to recognize when "it" really isn't love at all!And so I give you a simple concept. Don't underestimate this definition. You must totally grasp and be able to think with this definition. Your future happiness may well depend on it!Ready?
Love is "an intense, affectionate concern for
another person." [American Heritage]
I apologize if my description lacks the eloquence of other writings. However you need to be able to understand what love is. You need to be able to think intelligently about love. And you need to recognize love when it exists. And you need to recognize when "it" really isn't love at all!And so I give you a simple concept. Don't underestimate this definition. You must totally grasp and be able to think with this definition. Your future happiness may well depend on it!Ready?
Love is "an intense, affectionate concern for
another person." [American Heritage]Please note it is a concern and not a desire or need. You may also have a desire but that desire is not love. A need is not love. It is not about self. Love has to do with the other person.
Just remember that it is "An intense, affectionate concern for another person."
Just remember that it is "An intense, affectionate concern for another person."
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