Archive for September, 2007

by Sergris
An inefficient use of your money could mean the end of your home business. We offer some ideas to save money in your home business however; you must constantly search for new ways to reduce expenses. Your business exists to make a profit and to achieve this you can either increase your income or reduce your costs. Ideally you should do both, but cutting down your costs is much easier.

Here are a few money-saving tips for your home business:

Swap Services - You can exchange a product or a service for someone else’s product or service. NATE (at www.nate.org), is a clearinghouse allowing business owners to swap just about anything with anyone across the country.

Buy Ahead of Time - Buy items you know you’ll need when you find them at a good price. Make a list of the items you need and purchase them when you see them on sale. You’ll save time and money.

Get a Cheaper Long Distance Service - Look for the lowest long-distance fees. You can go to http://trac.org to learn more about saving money on long distance or search online for long-distance service comparison sites.

Use Priority Mail - The U.S. Postal Service’s Priority Mail flat-rate for envelopes is $4.05 and $8.10 for boxes. They usually arrive in two days and cost less than competitors’ two-day rates.

Send a Fax or E-mail Instead of Mail - Besides getting instant delivery, you’ll save on postage, envelope, paper, and mailing time.

Get Free Software - Go to www.download.com where you can download hundreds of software products for free on a trial basis. You can also get freeware and limited versions of the full product.

Get Free Forms - Instead of spending time creating them yourself, or buying them at your local office supply store, you can download, customize and print lots of free forms online at www.entrepreneur.com/formnet.

Use Toll-Free Numbers - When you need to call a vendor, supplier or customer, call (800) 555-1212 to see if they have a toll-free number, or go online at www.tollfree.att.net/tf.html.

Buy Used Equipment - Most of the time you don’t need the latest equipment for your home business. You can also function efficiently with used equipment, furniture, tools and other related items.

Shop at Dollar Stores - Dollar stores have a variety of merchandise such as cleaning supplies, tools, stationary items, etc. Plan trips to dollar stores and save big on your business budget.

These are just a few examples of ways to help you save money in your home business. Try to make this an ongoing habit to help you stretch your money, especially at the beginning and during though times. Always keep an emphasis on building a strong financial base rather than spending money on things you don’t really need.

Sergio Ferreira has been writing articles related to family issues and home business for 10 years. His web site provides information on how to avoid scams, how to choose the best legitimate business opportunity, articles and resources to help others succeed in their home business. Please visit: http://www.legitimate-home-based-businesses.net

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by Sergris
In order to succeed, you must to find out what you love most and turn your passion into a home based business. It’s also essential that you select an activity where you can develop your own natural abilities.

These are the key elements behind highly successful people. They love what they do for a living, and they’re very good at it. You need to apply the same principles and let that passion be your guide to build your home based business. Decide on a work from home that gives you a sense of destiny and will keep you self-motivated.

Imagine a right-handed person trying to be an excellent tennis player using his left hand. What are his chances? However, in the business world most of us are right-handed people wanting to be successful using our left hand. You must take advantage of the unique abilities God gave you, and select a work at home business where you can excel.

Some people discover their passion early in life, others later on, and others either ignore the clues of their own potential, or never bother to uncover it. Do you need help finding your passion? After all, how can you create a home business based on your passion, if you don’t know what your passion is?

How Do You Know What Your Passion Is?

First you need to let your intuition guide you. Concentrate and think deep inside what you really want, not what someone else wants for you. The following questions will help:

To Find Out What You Love To Do
What are your hobbies? What activities make you happier and give you the most satisfaction? If you only had a few years to live, what would you have to achieve to feel that your life was worthwhile? What type of work at home would bring fulfillment to your life?

To Find Out What You Are Good At
What activities have you excelled in the past? What are some of your qualities and skills? Which of your talents could you use to make the world a better place? What type of work from home would expand your individual skills?

When your home business is based on your passion, you’ll be ahead of your competition. Your advantage is your unique set of skills and this will make you stand out in your field, for your own benefit and the benefit of others.

This is the first and most important step to a successful legitimate home business. So please, don’t start a business opportunity based on the wrong reasons: The money you think you’re going to make, because you hate your boss or your job, someone else is either doing it or asked you to do it. Discover what you love as well as your talents, and then make your home based business the product of your passion!

Sergio Ferreira has been writing articles related to family issues and home business for 10 years. His web site provides information on how to avoid scams, how to choose the best legitimate business opportunity, articles and resources to help others succeed in their home business. Please visit: http://www.legitimate-home-based-businesses.net

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by Sergris
From all the Data Entry ads you’ve seen, only a few of them are legitimate. You need to be careful because most of these companies promise you “big bucks” and that their programs work but they really don’t. In this article we’ll provide you with a few ideas so you don’t end up being another victim of a scam.

Data Entry means that you’ll be submitting ads for Google or Yahoo that draw clients searching for content. The companies pay you a commission through ClickBank whenever someone buys the product or service. These programs will cost you from $45 to $100. Other companies will ask you to prepare correspondence, reports, transcriptions, spreadsheets, lists, records and databases.

Here are a few ideas to help you find genuine data entry jobs:

• Search the BBB’s site to make sure the company you are considering is legitimate.

• Log into Consumer Protection sites (such as www.consumerreports-online.org and www.consumer-rated.com) and look for reviews of the company or program you’re considering.

• Make sure the company or program offers you a money back guarantee.

• Join webmasters forums (such as www.forums.digitalpoint.com). They’re constantly looking for data entry workers.

• Check with Craig’s List. They have a big section for writing jobs.

• You can get more information on data entry jobs at dataentryjobsonline.info.

The following are a couple of reputable companies offering reliable data entry jobs online:

Online-Data-Entry-Jobs.com - You’ll receive information on how to make money online doing article typing, response typing, data proofreading, and data collection plus a directory of over 200,000 other types of work from home jobs. They’ll give you detailed instructions and all the tools for each program. You can do the programs from any part of the world. The membership is $49.95 with a 30 day money back guarantee.

Work-at-Home-Data-Entry.com - You get to promote website programs on the Internet. They’ll show you how to sign up for affiliate programs and guide you through posting data entry submissions on search engines like Google. You’ll earn commissions on any ads that you promote form a list of over 11,000 companies. It has a good support team to help you with their program tutorial and guidance. The fee is $47 but they promise to refund 100% of your membership fee if you don’t earn $300 or more per day.

You can be successful doing this type of work, but the first step is to go with a company that provides legitimate jobs. It’s a low risk opportunity to work in the comfort of your home and pick your own schedule especially if you’re a housewife, student or retired person. Yes, you can make a decent living doing data entry if you spend the time, follow the directions they provide, develop good skills and are persistent.

Sergio Ferreira has been writing articles related to family issues and home business for 10 years. His web site provides information on how to avoid scams, how to choose the best legitimate business opportunity, articles and resources to help others succeed in their home business. Please visit: http://www.legitimate-home-based-businesses.net

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by Sergris
Yes, there are many home businesses you can start with very low capital. However, even though you’re not risking a lot of money to get started, you could face some major drawbacks if you don’t prepare yourself. You could waste a lot of time, lose your patience and be so disappointed that you may completely give up the idea of a home business.

Before you start there are many issues to consider. The first one is selecting the right type of business. This is the most determining factor for your success or failure.

Here are some examples of home businesses that require $100 or less:

Mystery Shopper - Companies pay shoppers approximately $10 to $30 to complete assignments. Sometimes you get reimbursed for expenses. Many times they allow you to bring your children along. The more companies you sign up with, the more likely you get regular assignments. You don’t need to put money upfront except when you’re required to make purchases, but you get reimbursed after 30 days. To avoid scams, you should only sign up with companies that belong to the MSPA (Mystery Shopping Providers).

Selling Discount Health Plans - These could be medical, dental, vision, or prescription plans. Your main market would be people with no insurance and can’t afford regular medical services. You start making direct sales and later on enlisting other people and you get a percentage for every sale they make. AmeriPlan is the #1 company on the market and their starter kit is $95 which includes a free coverage plan for you, household members and a free website to advertise your business. You get 30% commission on each enrollment.

Consulting Services - Are you really good with computers, gardening, photography, etc.? What other people’s problems could you solve and charge for it? When you can teach other people how to do it, or do it for them effectively, you can be in business. Start by word of mouth and/or networking. Have some business cards made and promote your business on the Internet.

Private Tutor - If you excel in an academic subject, this may be your niche. You could teach students once a week, even during summer. Math and languages are in demand but this could be the case with your subject. Find out what’s the going rate in your area. You could give a discount for more than one child during the same trip. Promote your services by word of mouth, business cards and small ads in parenting magazines, school newspapers and home school groups.

Online Surveys - This is probably the easiest of the home businesses. Some big companies use online surveys to know more about their customers. Only a few of these online survey companies are legitimate, such as: Baker Street Solutions, 20/20 Research, Bellwether Surveys, and American Consumer Opinion and SurveysNeeded.com. This is an easy source of extra income for housewives, students and senior citizens.

Affiliate Business — This is one of the home businesses with more potential, but it requires more effort. You sell or recommend products and services of existing merchants. First you sign up with an affiliate company and the company gives you links, graphics and locations so you can market their products or services. You send leads to their site and receive a commission for each transaction a visitor to your site makes. Almost any major company has an affiliate program. Affiliate management companies such as Commission Junction, Clickbank and LinkShare Network represent hundreds of major retailers and service providers. Some of these companies require you to have a website.

You can place free classifieds at sites all over the world to get visitors to your site. (go to homebizlink.com/freeclas.htm and see their free classified sites).

These are just a few of the many home businesses you can start by investing a small amount of money. Learn as much as you can about the one you choose through workshops, magazines, the Internet and from successful people in your field. If you provide services, you can also offer them for free to friends and family members in exchange for reference letters. These letters are worth their weight in gold.

Before you get discouraged, remember that you’re starting home based business which has a much lower risk than with a traditional brick and mortar business. However, it has the potential to provide you with the same or even a larger income than your current job. It’s up to you!

Sergio Ferreira has been writing articles related to family issues and home business for 10 years. His web site provides information on how to avoid scams, how to choose the best legitimate business opportunity, articles and resources to help others succeed in their home business. Please visit: http://www.legitimate-home-based-businesses.net

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by Sergris
Although starting an Internet business usually doesn’t require a large capital, bad money management could cause the failure of your business. Don’t neglect this crucial area, especially if you don’t have any previous experience managing money. Remember that making money, not loosing it, is the main reason why you’re in business.

You probably don’t want to spend hours doing complicated record keeping, but you need to spend a little time setting up and following a system to manage the money coming in and the money flowing out. This would give your home business more financial stability and help you avoid future problems.

Money management is essential to the success of your work at home business, so it should be one of your top priorities. Here are some basic practices that will help make this area easier and more effective:

Software — A software program is the easiest way to keep track of your work at home finances. You can track all of your checks, schedule payments and create a budget (Quicken by Intuit is ideal for a one or two-person business). Determine your business needs and choose the most appropriate software to match them.

Invoices - Word-processing programs like “Microsoft Word” or “Lotus AmiPro” provide you with templates to create your own invoices.

Business Account — Open one at a bank with your registered DBA. Don’t mix your business money with your personal money. To find a good bank, ask for references from other business owners. Depending on the frequency, you should update all your bank transactions once a week or once a month.

Cash Flow — It’s the lifeblood of your work at home business. To maximize your cash flow, you should collect on services or products when you deliver them. The easiest way to collect the money you are owed is by making credit card payments available to your customers. Occasionally, you may need to extend credit however, check out if your client is credit-worthy, and make a habit of following up on overdue payments without delay.

Create a Budget — A budget is a record of your planned income and planned expenses for a fixed period of time. You plan your finances and then track if you’re operating according to your plan. Compare your planned income and expenses with the actual income and expenses each month. Before making each purchase, ask yourself if it will help you improve your business or set you back.

Cash Reserve — Every business has ups and downs, so you need to protect yourself from the “slow” times. A cash reserve will give you a cushion to survive these tough periods. Depending on your budget, you should have a cash reserve equivalent to at least 2 or 3 months of spending.

Money management boils down to exercising discipline. Either you control the money or the money controls you. Good money management will greatly improve your chances of success and bad money management could spell business failure. You have many helpful resources and articles on the Internet to help you on this topic. Best of all, they’re FREE!

Sergio Ferreira has been writing articles related to family issues and home business for 10 years. His web site provides information on how to avoid scams, how to choose the best legitimate business opportunity, articles and resources to help others succeed in their home business. Please visit: http://www.legitimate-home-based-businesses.net

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by Sergris
Although there are some legitimate business opportunities to make money online, most of them are scams. All over the Internet and in your e-mail you see plenty of appealing ads promising that you can make thousands of dollars a month. However, the only ones pocketing large amounts of money are the scammers placing the ads.

When you fall prey to these con artists you not only loose your hard earned money, but also valuable time and effort and might even give up the idea of finding a legitimate income opportunity.

These are the most common work at home scams:

Envelope Stuffing - Instead of receiving the expected envelopes, you get promotional material asking you for cash to send you details on money-making plans. These plans usually include instructions asking you to place the same ad in newspapers or magazines. You must constantly recruit other people doing and offering the same plan.

Assembly or Craft Work - You have to pay hundreds of dollars for instructions and materials and many hours of work assembling toys, or crafts for a company that has promised you to buy them. However the company decides not to pay you because your work is not “up to their standards”. Now you’re left with merchandise you can’t sell. The company makes money selling you the starter kit, not selling the assembled items.

Online Home Business - This is one of the top rip-offs on the Internet. You send money in exchange for information about starting a home business. They promise to provide you with all the training and materials you need. Instead, you get a useless guide about data entry, word processing or other related work. Sometimes the company sends you a disk with free government web sites or other home business opportunities that require more money.

Medical Billing Service - You invest from $2,000 to $8,000 for everything you need to start your business. They promise you medical billing software and a list of potential clients in your area. However the software you receive is just a variety of forms and collection letters that anyone could create. The list of companies they send you are not clients but names and addresses from a phone book.

These scams take advantage of your desire to earn a good income, get rid of your boss, set your own working hours, etc. Nevertheless, you must use your common sense and remember “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is”. Always verify the legitimacy of the company you’re considering by searching the Better Business Bureau’s site or other Consumer Protection sites.

Sergio Ferreira has been writing articles related to family issues and home business for 10 years. His web site provides information on how to avoid scams, how to choose the best legitimate business opportunity, articles and resources to help others succeed in their home business. Please visit: http://www.legitimate-home-based-businesses.net

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by Sergris
Before you invest in a business opportunity, protect yourself and take some measures to avoid home business scams. According to the FTC, people lose over $100 million a year due to work at home fraud which has increased each year for the last three years.

Why do so many people fall prey to work from home scams when the percentage of legitimate home based businesses is very small? One of the reasons is that most people tend to react emotionally instead of making an informed decision. In addition, many people need extra income and are looking for a quick or easy solution. Finally, most of these rip-offs require a small fee, small enough to take a chance.

Remember there is no such a thing as a get-rich-quick home based business. If it sounds too good to be true, chances are it’s a scam!

Don’t volunteer to be a victim and take these steps to avoid getting ripped-off:

1. Use your credit card instead of cash. It’s easier to get your money back if you are a victim of fraud.

2. Call directory assistance! If a company is not registered in the city they claim they’re located in, and under the exact name they are advertising under, don’t do business with them.

3. Avoid companies that accept only Clickbank and PayPal exclusively as forms of payment. All merchants that accept Visa and Mastercard usually must go through a rigorous pre-screening and background check before being allowed to accept these forms of payment.

4. Beware of exaggerated claims of potential earnings, profits, or earnings. No honest company can guarantee how much you will earn.

5. Get specific information from the company: Direct contact (not an answering machine), location, ask if they have a refund policy, customer support, resources and if possible references of active members of the business.

6. If the company refuses to give you a refund or gives you an evasive response, tell them you plan to notify law enforcement officials

7. Check the company out with the Better Business Bureau. //lookup.bbb.org

Besides taking these steps, if you want to learn more about work at home fraud contact:

• Your local Better Business Bureau. //lookup.bbb.org
• U.S. Postal Inspection Service. www.usps.com/postalinspectors
• Scambusters, at www.scambusters.org
• Your local or state consumer affairs agency
• Federal Trade Commission at 202.382.4357
• National Fraud Information Center at 1-800-876-7060

Legitimate home business opportunities will not pressure you and allow you to go at your own pace, review the company, and decide if the opportunity is right for you. NOTE: Even legitimate opportunities may suggest that you invest money, but will not cancel you if you don’t.

You can help protect others by referring this page of steps to avoid home business scams to anyone considering a home business.

Sergio Ferreira has been writing articles related to family issues and home business for 10 years. His web site provides information on how to avoid scams, how to choose the best legitimate business opportunity, articles and resources to help others succeed in their home business. Please visit: http://www.legitimate-home-based-businesses.net

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by Michael Harrison
If you are wanting to strike out, be independent and achieve personal success there is surely no better way than to start by selling on ebay. Don’t get me wrong I am not an ebay expert but I can testify a lot of what you read and hear is true.

In the UK it’s estimated each household contains around £3,500 worth of unwanted items that could be sold on ebay. Since I started actively disposing of our surplus stuff (about 12 months ago) that is roughly what my sales are, and I’m still thinking of things that have got possibilities for sale.

After years of trying to make money online what really bucked me was that I started generating cash flow immediately. This was a great encouragement and I rapidly became able to buy what I wanted or needed, direct online with the PayPal account that was being credited with the proceeds of my ebay sales. This is better than constantly using the credit cards.

What’s more as ebay develops it continues to create great opportunities for those of us that use it. Only recently I discovered you can now list digital items for sale on ebay. Digital items that can be downloaded from a store. Your store.

You can also use ‘dropshippers’ to deliver your chosen products worldwide. If you don’t know what dropshippers are don’t worry you soon will.

As always when learning of something new I have a need to find out more. For a little while I had been thinking of the possibility of opening a store so that eventually I could start to market my own digital products.

In any such situation the best way to find out is to find a book or manual that covers what you are trying to understand. This I did and the product I’m recommending comes right in the area of an ebay item that can be downloaded and used as a tutorial for how to set up a store fast, you can also use it as a tool to get your business up and running because it can be your first digital product.

By following all of the easy to use guidelines you can be selling from your own store on ebay in roughly a week. The great thing about doing this is that you are rapidly creating positive cash flow to support your new business so that you don’t have to fund your business from your own pocket.

I strongly recommend you take a look at How to Work from Home with ebay today at the resource box link. This is low priced product that could start you on the way to success from home working with ebay, so get with it, understand this great opportunity and good luck.

Article by Michael Harrison, Author, Publisher and Business Consultant. If you have found these tips helpful you can find more at http://tinyurl.com/yqzd52Information for career and business minded people. Subscribe today http://www.be-your-own-business-expert.com/Bulletin.html Access our archives when you subscribe.

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by Jim Keayes
Your list is the backbone of your business… no list, no business! To build a list you need traffic… visitors to your website who subscribe to your list.

Traffic makes the Internet world go around!

To get traffic your visitors first need to find you in some way. When they find you there needs to be an opt-in box on your webpage that will allow them to subscribe and an autoresponder that will organize these respondents in to a list you can phone or email.

A high ranking on the search engines is one way to do this. If your listing shows in the first three pages of a Google search, then this is prime real estate… you have arrived. You will almost certainly have people clicking your link and visiting your webpage.

Here are some ways you can make this happen:

You can write articles on topics relevant to your business and publish them on article directories.

The article directories have extremely high Search Engine rankings because of the frequency and diversity of their new postings… the spiders love new material and lots of pages on a site.

You effectively get to ride on their back. I have had sites indexed in less that one day with only two articles posted on one directory. This is an amazingly powerful tool for getting traffic.

Why is that?

Because you get to put a resource box at the end of your article with your contact information advertising a free book or report. People who find your book description interesting will elect to subscribe to your list.

The second benefit is that these articles begin to grow exponentially (going viral we call it) as other Ezine publishers post your articles to their sites, complete with your resource box.

You can visit forum sites and make regular posts to appropriate threads.

When you post make sure to attach your resource box at the end of the post. If you become a regular visitor and other forum members find your posts valuable they will begin to click your link for your free material and will subscribe to your newsletter.

Sometimes they will forward your post to other friends and this technique goes viral too.

You may also want to consider exchanging links with some other reputable established sites whose content impresses you.

Back links add to your Search Engine ranking. Just try to make sure that the site you are exchanging links with has something that relates to your own site content.

Start a Blog

Just go to Blogger.com and start your own blog. It takes about five minutes. Post to your blog every day. Remember the spiders love fresh content. Post your articles and business commentaries and some personal information if you like.

Then visit other blogs in a similar space to your own and add comments to their posts. Ask them to visit your blog and post a comment and you have another backlink.

There are many more things you can do to expand you web presence and your prospect list.

I can help you if you would like.

I will teach you how to build your MLM Business Online? Rejection Free! I have just completed a new book: “The Perfect Online MLM Business”.Download it FREE here: “The Perfect Online MLM Business “And my other FREEbook: “The Secret Magic Of Article Writing To Start “.Jim Keayes is an expert Internet and MLM Marketer. Heteaches people to be successful online.

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by Sergris
Once you take the time to learn how an affiliate home business works and its great income potential, you’ll understand its tremendous growth. It’s one of the best ways to start a home business and if done correctly, it’s one of the most profitable ones. You can make money 24/7, 365 days of the year and it’s a great way to earn passive income.

This is not a “get-rich-quick scheme”, like any real business, you need time, effort and perseverance to succeed. You could do it wrong and waste a lot of time and effort unnecessarily. So take the time to learn this business and you won’t regret it.

Here’s the concept of an affiliate business: You send visitors to a merchant’s web site which you represent. If they purchase or fill out a form, the merchant pays you a commission. Basically you’re selling someone else’s products or services using an “affiliate program”. The company with the products provides you with a link to your site so they can track your sales and pay you commissions on each sale.

You can also sell your products and services and set up and affiliate program so other sites can make money by having your products and services on their site. Besides With an affiliate business, you don’t have to:

• Spend money to manufacture products,
• Carry inventory
• Process orders
• Ship products
• Provide customer service (phone or mail inquiries)
• Worry about getting paid when a client buys

You can start part time and it’s free to sign up as an affiliate. There are thousands of merchants (such as Disney, Verizon, Dell, etc.) who want you to promote their products

Although some of the companies don’t require a web site, most do. However, nowadays building a web site is very inexpensive.

Here are other sources of income that confirm the great income potential of an affiliate home business:

• There are information products such as Ebooks and downloadable Special Reports that can be sold or given free. These products can include links to affiliate programs that pay you a commission.

• You can also offer reprint rights. This means you can charge a one time fee for your products to another site giving permission to sell them for the same price to their visitors.

• Google Adsense is another way to make money when you have many pages because each time someone clicks on an ad, you get a commission.

• Also pay per click campaigns for your product or site. Through Google Adwords you build your own ads, choose keywords to help Google match them to your visitors, and you get paid when people click on them.

Learn all you can about affiliate marketing and build a good site with excellent content and topics related to your subject. Select the best affiliate programs with products or services related to your theme. Then use these and other sources of income so you don’t depend on one or two.

As you can see you’re only limited by your imagination and the growth of the affiliate marketing keeps increasing with newer possibilities. It requires hard work and commitment on your part, but what business doesn’t? The difference is the small risk compared to its huge potential.

For more helpful information on other home business related articles, tips, and resources, visit: http://www.legitimate-home-based-businesses.net

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