Currently there are over 30 million blogs on the internet and thousands more being created each week. Assuming ownership of one blog per person, that’s a minimum of 30 million people slinging around their personal opinions on all that exists under the sun. This is a good thing. The free exchange of thoughts and ideas is what prevents the world from becoming a stagnant pool of dictatorship with the appropriate green scum floating on top. However, to steal a line from the movie Spiderman, ‘With great power comes great responsibility’. Blogging has become a way for the voice of the people to be heard. We must be careful, though, not to abuse our power through thoughtless acts that hurt the credibility of bloggers and blogging. One place that continues to be our Achilles heel is when good posts go bad. In the United States, libel and slander are the two categories of defamation. In many states, courts have begun treating them the same as the only difference between the two is that libel is a false written statement about a person, place or thing that harms his/her/its reputation while slander is the verbal act of the same offense. Whether blogged on the internet or whispered offline to your mother, the common denominator is that what is said is false. Since I’m psychic, I already know what you are thinking. ‘The First Amendment of the US Constitution protects me. As long as it is the truth, I can say whatever I want.’ Well, sort of. As crazy as it sounds, truth is not the silver bullet defense for every case of libel or slander. A judge may require that besides being true the information relayed is in the public interest to know. So reporting that the CEO of a major corporation had been caught pilfering money from the employees’ retirement fund would probably get dismissed from civil court whereas telling the world that your neighbor has smelly feet could get you into more trouble than you want. Even if it were true, why would it be in the public interest to know that your neighbor’s feet could clear out Yankee Stadium? Now, the First Amendment does protect your right to an opinion. If you think that the Mr. Squiggly Toddler Toy is a piece of crap, you are certainly free to tell anyone within earshot as long as you make it clear that it is your opinion on the subject. Likewise, if a person puts forth a negative sentiment with regards to their experience with you and it is clear to any reasonable person that it is their opinion, your legal recourse against them is severely limited. Parody and satire are also protected. If they weren’t, Saturday Night Live and South Park would have never made it past the first episode. And criticism of a public performance such as a symphony, a play and even a book is protected under the Fair Criticism and Comment clause. Now the internet contributes some interesting layers of complication to the whole blogging shebang. Instead of being contained in a localized area, libel has the potential to cross international borders and not every country handles these cases the same. One of the major problems courts around the world are having to deal with is the one of jurisdiction. If I live in the US and I libel someone who lives in the UK where exactly does the case take place and who’s laws do we go by? Several cases have set a scary precedent that leans towards being able to sue anywhere around the world for libel published on the internet. Then there is the issue of third party liability. Say you are a responsible blogger who is careful about her posts to avoid a troublesome libel accusation. One of your readers posts a libelous statement on your blog. Can you be held responsible for that person’s actions? Well, so far the law has only made provisions for internet service providers stating that they cannot be held responsible for how their customers use their services (as it pertains to defamation). Likewise, blog service providers such as Google and Six Apart would likely be immune to any lawsuits arising out of a person’s use of the service. Whether or not you would be held responsible may come down to if you moderate your comments. If you allow comments to be posted automatically, you may be protected under Section 230 of the US Code (for US Citizens). It may be a different story, however, if you approve comments before posting them. It could be argued that your posting of the comments equates your agreement to them. To date, no one has shown up in court to argue this, hence the fact that we are kind of forced to make it up as we go along. Defamation is a tricky issue and one that needs to be tread carefully if one is to avoid landing in court. Here are a few tips to help keep you out of trouble. Note: I am not an attorney. I don’t even get to play one on television. If you and your blog deal with some highly controversial issues or you’re just not sure how much trouble you would get into if you published that post about your best friend’s boyfriend, I recommend getting in touch with a lawyer to get the best advice. 1. Change the names. By far the easiest thing you can do is to change or to avoid using the name of the person you are talking about and to strip away as much identifying information as possible. If a reasonable person can visit your hometown and quickly identify the “mealy-mouth cow” you blogged about online, you might want to do some editing. 2. Make use of a disclaimer. Kevin S Brady has an excellent one on his website. Even something as basic as “By making use of this blog site, you agree that the opinions expressed are the property and responsibility of their respective owners” may provide some defense in the event of a lawsuit. (Check with a real attorney please). 3. Consider writing your rant as a parody or satire. Extreme exaggerations that no reasonable person would believe are not considered defamation because, quite frankly, they are unbelievable. Be careful though, this type of writing takes a certain je sais quoi, and could easily backfire on you. Have a reasonable person proofread your entry to make sure it passes the believability test. 4. Watch your language. Be sure to use wording that makes it clear that this is your opinion about the subject. Statements like, “That Mr. Squiggly Toddler Toy is a piece of crap” makes it sound as though you are stating a fact when in all actuality you are making a personal judgment about the toy. Something like “I think that Mr. Squiggly Toddler Toy is a piece of crap” or “That Mr. Squiggly Toddler Toy fell apart after the first use” are safe bets. At least as far as the law is concerned. 5. And last but definitely not least, don’t tell false tales. Now this may seem like common sense but how common is common sense these days? Really. If you feel the need to resort to lying about a person, you may want to seek professional help in examining why you want to do that. ‘Cause chances are, it’s not to protect the public. Blogging is a great way to meet people and stay current in the world and doing so responsibly will only make the experience better. Stay safe, stay sane and most of have fun.

Important Pay Per Click Considerations For Business Promotion Pay Per Click publishing holds unlimited potential for increasing your profits. The format of PPC publishing is quick and simple. However, to use pay per click effectively you need to be aware of several issues. If you fail to plan ahead, you may not only not reach your target goals but you could also waste a great deal of money in the process. There are few key points one must keep in mind in order to reap its maximum benefits. First of all, it is imperative that you have a comprehensive marketing plan and strategy. This will give you a better understanding of your goals and allow you to create the most appropriate plan of action. The plan must encompass all aspects of your project. Second, it is essential that you keep in mind the fast pace of Pay Per Click publishing. It may be in your best interest to engage the services of a professional. Today, there are many people whose focus is exclusively PPC publishing. Their services are usually most equitable. Otherwise you definitely need to educate yourself on pay per click strategies before you start spending money. Another key point to remember is that the fast pace of PPC publishing demands your consistent attention. Close monitoring of your set-up alerts you to potential situations which could require changes to maintain optimum benefit from your project. The quicker you are aware of what is happening, the more quickly you are able to respond. Finally, keep an eye on the other guys. While you do not want to copy their work, you can benefit from their experiences, both good and bad. Not only is it acceptable to adapt successful ideas from others to benefit your own endeavors it is the key to being competitive. It is also prudent to use their misfortunes to prevent your own by making changes to your plans to prevent following in their misfortunes.

Computers and Consumers – Understanding & Avoid Identity Theft The Internet has given over a billion people, worldwide, a way to instantly find information. The number of threats to a consumer’s security increases as the consumer connects with more computers, companies, and people online. The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), the nation’s consumer protection agency, says that all Internet users should understand the importance of online security and should take measures to protect themselves. Why the Need for Security & How to Protect Yourself The Computer: Part of a computers sophistication lies in its ability to connect with other computers over the Internet in order to bring you information. When it is connected with other computers, it opens itself up for the transmission of information, which can create vulnerability for the computer. Hackers can connect to the computer, scan it for open ports, and gain access to unauthorized information about the computer user. Most computers have an Intrusion Detection System (“IDS”) that monitors the computer for suspicious activity. When suspicious activity is detected, the IDS sends an alert that an intrusion has occurred. An IDS alone will not protect your computer from incoming hackers and viruses. Computer users also need to protect themselves with firewalls, which create a barrier between hackers and the computer and help to prevent access to unauthorized information. The Computer User: The computer user can also accidentally open doors that will lead to a security breach, such as when the user is using the Internet to make purchases. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. e-commerce sales for the year 2007 were $136.4 billion. Although the Internet has made shopping a whole lot easier, it has also increased the number of instances of identity theft. A study conducted by the US Department of Justice reports that 6.4 million households experienced some kind of identity theft in 2005. Consumers also open themselves up to increased junk e-mail called SPAM when shopping online. Thankfully, there are ways to minimize your risk when shopping online. Be careful where you post your personal email address. Consumers using the Internet increase their chances of receiving SPAM e-mail each time they provide their e-mail address to make a purchase. As mentioned earlier, hackers can access consumer information by scanning ports that are not secure. Consumers can help protect themselves by only providing information that is necessary when making the purchase. There are companies designed to help protect consumers from e-commerce identity theft and SPAM. When providing payment information, consumers should always make sure the site is secure. An easy way to determine whether a site is secure is to look at the web address bar at the top of the screen. The http, which precedes the address, should change to https when checking out on a shopping site. The ‘s’ indicates that the consumer is shopping from a secure page. Finally, a consumer should avoid using ATM/debit cards to make purchases, as the breach of this information could lead to unauthorized access of the consumer’s bank account information. Use a credit card instead. Most credit card companies will work on behalf of their client, should a hacker steal their credit card information. In many cases, the consumer will only be responsible for $50 of the transactions. When a consumer shops wisely on the Internet and acts in conjunction with private Internet security sites and the FTC they will decrease the chances of being one of the six million households affected by identity theft.

There are many challenges and problems each of you must face in life. This has no bearing on your neighbors or family. You will often people that express a concern toward helping you. As good as this may sound , time is in your hands. You can only help yourself. That is if you really care enough to do so. Trials and problems are simply facts of life. If you think that you can just accept them and wish that life would just be more meaningful and enjoyable , you are fooling yourself. Develop yourself a plan to help you in overcoming the many challenges and difficulties you must face in your daily life. Everyone is responsible for only one life, and that is their own. Take control over your life and quit reacting from day to day on situations you encounter. Self management has a great turn around in place for you if you will take the time to learn the proper skills. Haven’t you ever dreamed of being happy and confident about your life? Often , people just realize it was just a dream. No action is ever taken in making it a reality. These are the people that don’t seem to let anything bother them or discourage them. They have learned the necessary skills from self management to conquer time management. Self motivation and self discipline work hand in hand with time management. You have to know you need it in order to overcome the many obstacles in your life. Personal and working life has many obstacles. Do you feel you can manage your life with a sense of purpose? How does it make you feel? Stop looking around for reasons why you haven’t been able to accomplish your goal. It may be as simple as saying you have been wasting your time. You are the only person that can take control of the way you spend your time. This is true when it comes to your attitude also. Keep a positive attitude , and do away with everything that is keeping you from getting to where you want to be. Practice has been known to make perfect. Why not practice your positive thinking into developing yourself a vision? Then you can focus your time and energy into making your vision become a reality. If you are to become successful , often it requires you to change in many ways. Be productive in your decisions where time is involved. You are the only one that can benefit from spending your time wisely.

All over the world ubiquitous broadband Internet access is bringing countries closer together. It surprises many when they find out that in China the average citizen has access to much faster download speeds and at a much lower cost than the average American. Of course the Chinese have to deal with the fact that they are viewing a censored Internet, but even that is getting better everyday. In Europe a person would be hard pressed to find a place they COULDN’T connect wirelessly to the Internet, while in the US users must go to a specific coffee shop or airport to do the same thing. It appears that the United States is behind the curve in offering affordable Internet access to its citizens, and short of socialized services, so what can be done? U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) introduced the Wireless Innovation Act of 2007 early this year to try and close the gap between the United States and other countries in the area of broadband Wireless Internet penetration within the consumer market. This very closely resembles the Wireless Innovation Act of 2006 sponsored by John Kerry (WINN) which failed to pass the previous year but has been reintroduced as well. Specifically the bill is intended to “make use of spectrum in the gaps or ‘white spaces’ between broadcast channels two and 51 when the transition from analog to digital television is complete in two years. With the capacity to transmit data over longer distances with less power, this prime spectrum, now reserved primarily for television broadcasting, could support a wide range of innovative wireless devices and services that aren’t useable in other frequencies”, says Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) who is also co-sponsoring the bill. WINN ’07 could be the ticket the country needs to increase the consumer market penetration of broadband wireless Internet, which would of course bring about new products and services both obvious and unknown. This type of legislature is designed to take fast, decisive action and correct an obvious problem. This of course means it will be delayed. So where are our ground breaking bills now?: H.R.1597 – To require the FCC to issue a final order regarding television white spaces. Sponsor: Rep Inslee, Jay [WA-1] (introduced 3/20/2007) Latest Major Action: 3/21/2007 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. S.234 – A bill to require the FCC to issue a final order regarding television white spaces. Sponsor: Sen Kerry, John F. [MA] (introduced 1/9/2007) Latest Major Action: 1/9/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. It is clear the decisive bill isn’t exactly tearing its way through the hallowed halls of the House and Senate. Of course bills take time to pass, and there is a lot of pork to be added to this one yet so we still have time. So why exactly is this bill important to the United States if its just going to let its citizens surf the Internet more easily? John Kerry said, “The bill would serve communities large and small, enabling the delivery of broadband that will connect business owners with their customers, students with dynamic new learning resources and first responders with victims in crisis.” With that in mind, the bill seems a bit more relevant to the county as something more than an entertainment device.

In the recent years, the popularity of online video websites has skyrocketed. Online video websites are websites that not only allow internet users to watch the videos that are hosted on their site, but many also give internet users the opportunity to create their own videos. If you are interested in making your online video, like a large number of individuals are, there are some important factors that you should keep in mind. One of those factors is your safety http://www.domainnamess.info What is nice about online video websites is that you can create just about any video you want. A number of popular video websites have rules and restrictions on the content that is allowed; however, it is understandable. These restrictions often prohibit videos with threats and pornographic materials. Even with these restrictions in place, there are still a wide variety of different videos that you can make, but you are still advised to be cautious when doing so. As previously mentioned, most video sites allow you make and share a video on just about whatever you want. Online, you will find videos that promote particular products, videos that are considered unscripted taping, how-to videos, and personal videos. When it comes to personal videos, internet users tend to include information about themselves or a funny story. Although this may make for an interesting video, for safety reasons, you need to be concerned with what you are recording and posting. Video websites are video by millions of internet users, often on a daily basis. This means that there is a good chance that people that you do not even know will be able to find your video and watch it. Since you do not know who will be watching your video, you have no idea what they are like or what their mental status is. You should treat your online videos as if you would when talking to a stranger; you need to be careful with how much information you provide. If you are making a homemade video, with a personal touch, there is a good chance that you will be the one in front of your camera. In most cases, it is safe to show your own face. Millions of internet video makers have done so, but it is a different story to include your personal information. In the event that you want to introduce yourself, you are advised only to use your first name. You may even want to think about creating another name to use just for your video, sort of like a pen name. Depending on who watches your online video, it could be risky to put a name to your face. In addition to your full name, you never should give your address out. That also includes your city or your state. With motive and means, someone who watches your online video could easily obtain your full address just by knowing the city or the state in which you live in. The same should be said for your phone number. With a legitimate phone number, someone could easily get your address online. Essentially, if there is something that you do not want a stranger to known about you, do not put it in your online video. Even though you should not include your personal information in one of your online videos, there are a still a number of individuals who do. These individuals do this for different reasons, but many are looking for online friends or someone to date. You are advised against using online video websites, such as Google Video or YouTube, for those purposes. If you are looking to find a new friend or a partner, you are advised to rely on online dating websites. Many of those websites have special security measures in place that are designed to keep you safe. Online video websites do not. By keeping the above mentioned points in mind, you should be able to use online video websites without any problem. As long as you are cautious about the videos you post, the experience should be a pleasurable one.

Do you want to make a fortune on the Internet? Sure, we all do. People use the Internet to work from home everyday, and many of them earn a living from it. But is it really possible to make a fortune on the Internet? Well, that depends on what your idea of a fortune is. If working from the Internet allows you to pay your bills, put food on the table, gas in the car, and clothes on Little Johnny’s back, then yes, it is indeed possible to make a fortune on the Internet. However, if you are thinking in numbers closer to the upper hundreds of thousands, millions, and even billions then the likelihood of being able to make a fortune on the Internet is probably not too great. Not impossible, mind you (think Michael Dell of Dell Computers, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Pierry Omidyar of Ebay, and David Filo of Yahoo!, all are worth billions of dollars today), just not too great. Many websites claim to be able to help you make a fortune on the Internet. Be careful with these. Usually they are scams that try to get you to purchase materials and equipment for something that won’t be successful, if it even exists. They’ll throw ridiculously high numbers at you, promising you can make that amount if you follow their plan. Some websites, however, are very clear in their definition of what a fortune is. For example, if you visit a website that claims you can make a fortune on the Internet buy completing online surveys at twenty-five dollars each, you’re probably safe. They are honest about the money you would make, and you are smart enough to know that unless you complete thousands of surveys a month, you aren’t going to be able to make a fortune on the Internet using this plan. But if you need some extra cash for the holidays, go for it. Your dream to make a fortune on the Internet is similar to the dreams of so many others. And, though it’s not an impossible dream, it’s not an easily possible one, either. Have patience, do research, and most importantly, come up with something bigger than Yahoo!

The key to online marketing is quality content. To get ahead of your competition, you have to be prepared to write well. The ability to write well is an advantage in terms of social media marketing and search engine marketing. In addition to written content, Video and audio are effective online marketing methods. The best online marketers are experts at getting other spread the word about their products or services. Dedicate yourself to provide remarkable content to empower others to help you get the word out about your business. Take advantage of the inherent viral make up of Internet. Write Articles You can significantly increase your visibility when you write articles in your area of expertise. Be sure that your articles are informational. Don’t waste anybody’s time with commercials disguised as articles. The key to successful article writing is to provide value. People will notice when you have something of value to say. Articles deemed valuable are; posted on article directories; e-mailed in newsletters, embedded in e-commerce site. In most cases, the author receives a link to his website. The links help in a couple of ways. One, they generate traffic to the site. Second, links help to improve your search engine results. The more links you have pointing to your site the better. Search engines view links to your site as a vote of confidence. The more links you have pointing to your site the more valuable your web site becomes. You can contact website that might benefit from your articles, and offer your articles. Just ask that a link to your website and a one-line description of what you offer be included with the article. Articles offer an effective “viral” approach that can produce hundreds, or even thousands, of links to your site over time. Practical Example: As you become a prolific author of articles related to your service you build reputation. Through your articles, you enable you customers to find your website indirectly. A business owner may find one of your articles while searching for marketing advice online. After she reads your article, she may click the link to your site from within the byline. Because you have already provided her with value, she is more likely to become a customer. Start a Business Blog Your business blog is one of the best ways to get others to link to your site. A blog is less formal than an article and more conversational. You have the power to make your industry interesting to your readers through conversational writing. The blog is not about you. It is about providing value for your customers. If you offer outstanding content and regular industry comment, people are likely to link to it, increasing your site’s link popularity. Remember, links are good. Practical Example: When you blog you are elevating your status to expert level. People are rather buy from experts than sales people. Provide valuable content to your visitors, and they will spread the word. If you have a blog about fly fishing, your readers are more likely to buy from you than another business that simply lists fly fishing equipment on their site. In addition to becoming customers, they will recommend your business to others, in essence become your unpaid expternal salesforce.

One of the best ways to break into a Web-based business and to start to make money online with little training, equipment or financial outlay, is to sell goods on one of the major online auctions. You don’t need a business license, you don’t need a large inventory of goods, and you don’t need a lot of staff. If you want to know how to make money online NOW, gather the things that have been hiding away in your attic, your garage and your closet, and sell them on the Web. All it takes is Internet access, an e-mail address and a fairly good digital camera and you’ve started your Web based business. You can make money online with your own crafts in this manner, too. Perhaps you bake great cookies, or decorate cakes for special occasions. Perhaps you design one of a kind doll clothes or weave great rugs or do your own beautiful quilting. Maybe you’re an accomplished painter or sculptor. Perhaps you write and design your own unique brand of children’s books. All of these ventures lend themselves well to the start of your online business. If you choose the right online auction site the price you pay to the site to make your money online will pay for the fabulous job the well-known merchandise auction provider does in marketing your goods on the Internet. On the largest merchant auction site in the world we looked at the various opportunities for an individual to create her or his own Web based business. Not only does the site offer several ways to do that but it also provides a step by step tutorial about how to make money online. Of course, if you don’t continue to make money the auction site doesn’t either. You can start your own online business as an individual selling one item just to get your feet wet. The site will do the Internet marketing for you and guide you in the entire listing process. If you find that this seems to be the right work from home online opportunity for you at any point you can make the jump to an online merchant with your very own online store, the ability to showcase your goods, e-mail alerts for your Internet marketing and a discount for bulk sales.

If you happen to be a home business owner who employs even a few people, then you are definitely the leader of the pack! You, too, are part of the variety on a team. How well you work together with your employees will tell how successful you are. Are you a leader who teams with success? True teamwork not only takes time, but it takes the willingness to contribute to the team’s greater good and simply not look out for number one. It has to begin with a sincere desire to work on the group’s behalf. Be sure to examine your motives. When you have a successful team, you will find that all of the teammates reap the rewards. Ineffective teams are often composed of some selfish team members who only watch out for their own personal goals and not the goals of the team as a whole. As the leader of the team, you should strive to instill the following qualities into your members so that your team will be effective: 1. To have a shared vision of the team’s mission and its goals, 2. There should be a willingness to incorporate one’s individual talents for the team’s betterment. 3. There should be open communication lines between you as the team leader and members of the team and among the team members themselves. 4. There should be an appreciation of individual differences within the team. 5. Team members should be recognized and rewarded for their efforts. Lines of authority alone are not a guarantee of loyalty, dedication and the shared sense of team play. Also, it is a fact that talent does not always guarantee success. Successful teams come about because there is a blending of talent, the melding of minds and mindsets, and there is also the ability to be able to focus on the bigger picture. Members of the team need to feel the following: 1. To be heard 2. To feel that they are important 3. To be appreciated, valued and recognized 4. To have the opportunity to express their own individuality These attributes can all occur on teams that are well led without having to sacrifice team spirit. It is wrong to think that even the best team leaders strive to treat everyone the same way. Since all of the members of a team are individuals, not everyone needs or wants to be treated just like everyone else. Some team members are self-motivated while other need support and reassurance. When you have developed personally as a team leader, then you can take steps to pass on personal development to your team members. Remember that teamwork develops over time. Your team can strengthen itself daily through experience and relationships that develop with other team members over time. When you, as a team leader, give time and attention to these tips, you will find that your group will soon be teaming with success.

It’s all in the Name Whether you have a local brick and mortar business or work from home at an online business, you’ll need Internet marketing to grow your bottom line. There are several key factors in learning how to make money online, none of which require you to be technically proficient. Internet marketing takes time, effort, patience and sound choices of market, target audience and advertising methods. Some of your Internet marketing savvy comes from trial and error. Whether you work from home as owner of a Web-based business or you manage a large corporation learning the ins and outs of Internet marketing is crucial to your company’s profits. The first step of Internet marketing is creating your business Web site. To do this you must first register your domain name. It’s important that your domain name be closely aligned to your business name and clarify what it is you do – or be intriguing enough for consumers to want to go there to determine all you offer. Your Web address should be short, and as much as possible it should be something that consumers who know your business name can guess at. Internet marketing is about ease and instant gratification. Consumers don’t want to work hard or spend a lot of time finding out about you and your firm, or trying to find it on the Web. Whether you have an online business or a brick and mortar location, the basic Web site rules are the same. The best Internet marketing tactic to use, and the first step in how to make money online, is to own your domain. Don’t tag onto a platform that advertises its name too. http://www.geocities.com / http://mamacooks.com is not nearly as successful an Internet marketing ploy for Mama Cooks, LLC, as is http://www.mama-cooks.net. However, www.mamacooks.com is so much better, and so much easier to guess at and find than www.mama-cooks.net. It’s especially bad for a retail site to use a hyphen, and while .net is not terrible it’s the kiss of death if there is a http://www.mamacooks.com out there already and you opt for .net as a result. Eight times out of ten consumers will end up talking to, and doing business with your competitor without ever getting to your Web site. In a nutshell, Internet marketing for your online business starts with an effective Web site, and that Web site starts with a terrific domain name.

In the second of a two-part series, the author explains how to fund your business from within, via customers, consulting, and cost control. Sometimes it’s best to bootstrap before seeking a structured financing round with outside sources. In this column, I’ll talk about financing your business without going to someone else for money — via customers, consulting, and cost control. Customers One of the most traditional ways to fund your company is to have your customers fund your growth. Wow, what a concept! In the days of the high-tech Internet boom, entrepreneurs all but forgot what spurred a lot of the biggest businesses around: selling products to customers and funneling the revenue back into the company’s operations and development. This is a great way to maintain control of your company and generate positive cash flow. Take this example: One of the startup companies I worked with had a client that needed its sales executives to be more effective at managing its third-party resellers. The startup company had a sales-force compensation product that, with a few enhancements, would have solved the customer’s problem beautifully. Trouble was, the startup didn’t have the funding to take on this project. Solution? We negotiated with the customer who agreed to fund the product development. We knew that, in time, the startup could sell this enhanced product to other companies, so it was worth what initially appeared to be a distraction. The customer paid $200,000 for the product enhancements and agreed to license it on an annual basis. The startup agreed to give the customer an exclusivity period, meaning that it wouldn’t sell the product to a short list of direct competitors for 90 days. Dollars and Sense Customer-funded product development deals have come in handy many times. The biggest deal I’ve seen was an $800,000 infusion to a startup from a chip manufacturer to fund the development of technology that the manufacturer planned to license. To make this type of deal happen, you usually need a couple of customers first so that the funding customer has confidence in your ability to deliver. You also should have sophisticated board members or advisers to help you negotiate the deal if you haven’t done one before. If you must offer an exclusivity period, start with three months. If you have to increase that to six months to get the deal done, make sure it makes business sense. Get a guaranteed order size (and make it big). And, of course, have your attorney involved in the entire process so he or she can make sure product-ownership is abundantly clear. You own it, and the customer licenses it for a period of time. You will also want to make sure you’re filing patents for any key technology you develop. Consulting If you can offer consulting services to fund the cost of operations and product development, do it. Your knowledge can be a valuable commodity. In the first example I mentioned above, the startup provided consulting on how to compensate both internal and external sales forces, how to track sales quotas, and how to administer payments. Many startups have self-funded this way. Later, when the company was ready to release its first product, it was already in a great financial position. It had existing sales, happy customers, and a nice cash cushion. It had maintained full ownership and control of the company due to not needing outside investors. Now it could choose to take on equity or debt financing, and the company would have a higher value than if it had chosen external financing. Cost Control Whenever you can cut costs without reducing your ability to develop and sell products or services, do it. Potential financiers will want to know your “burn rate”—the rate at which your company is consuming cash on a monthly basis. Knowing this helps financiers evaluate the current and projected amount of cash your company will require for general operations. If, for instance, your company has significant infrastructure expenses or complicated manufacturing, your financing needs will be larger and your deal will be scrutinized more closely. In this case, you will have to justify every significant expense and offer ideas for reducing them. When I say “every significant expense,” I mean it. Don’t neglect the obvious. Full-time employees are expensive. Several roles can be filled by either part-timers or by hourly contractors. For sales and marketing needs, several companies I know have hired unemployed actors on an hourly basis. Actors are great at reading scripts and infusing their voice with enthusiasm. If managed properly, they can generate and qualify sales leads over the phone. Take the ones with the strongest selling skills, the ones who are comfortable asking for sales orders, and have them do telephone or Web-based sales. Give them a quota. In my previous companies, we used contract salespeople and paid them commission only—20% to 25% on their sales. Contractors may not be as committed as employees, but you can offer incentives to increase their loyalty. Pay them bonuses based on results, refer other clients to them, and know what your contractors care about and help them achieve their goals. If you are a key source of business for them, they’ll have a lot at stake in maintaining the relationship. Check out Web sites such as http://www.elance.com, http://www.craigslist.org, and http://www.teamdoubleclick.com to find contractors with varieties of skill sets. Ask around, too. Through friends, we found a guy based in India for graphic design, marketing materials, and Web site design work. He does terrific work at a reasonable price. Drop a Line No matter which of the three Cs you rely on — and I’ve tried them all (often at the same time) — internally bootstrapping your business will help you keep control and will certainly put you in a powerful position. And if you do seek external financing later, you will do a better job negotiating knowing you can always walk away and fund yourself on your own terms.

The greatest disadvantage of working with drop shippers is lack of control. Once you sell the product, they will take care of everything for you. At least, you hope so. Do your homework prior to committing to a drop shipper. Search online for reviews and comments about the company. Visit blogs and forums and try to find out as much as you can. It requires a lot of work to set up your site for a drop shipper. Make sure you only invest your time in a company that is reputable. If you run across a company nobody has ever heard of before look for another one. Let other resellers go through the growing pains with a new drop shipper. Check back with the company six months or a year later. Your reputation rides on partnering with a drop shipper. You can only be as good as they are. If they have poor fulfillment, you have poor fulfillment. If they offer low quality products; slow service; inaccurate shipping; awful customer service, you will hear about it. Your customers have no idea that terrible shopping experience is not your fault. To them the drop shipper is invisible. In addition to the lack of control, profit margins may be unattractive while working with a drop shipper. Because the barrier of entry is low, be ready for plenty of competition. There are a lot of people online who are quite happy with the low investment model of working with drop shippers. Consequently, many online businesses that solely rely on drop shippers finding themselves working forever-narrowing profit margins. When it’s all said and done, you may find yourself in a less than desirable situation with little or no profit after the sale. Your best bet is to find a drop shipper that is the manufacturer. The more successfully you eliminate the middlemen from your supply chain the more success you will have. There are many of manufacturers who will drop-ship for you. A great place to start your search is in a business database such as the Thomas Register Directory. The listing is available online at wwwthomasnetdotcom. Building your business around drop shippers could prove to be risky business. Instead, consider making such suppliers just one dimension of your sourcing strategy. For example, if customers consistently ask for something related to your product line that you don’t carry; a drop-shipper may be a convenient option. This is a win-win situation for you and your customers. Working with drop shippers may help you test sell a product before making it part of your own inventory. If you can consistently sell a product through a drop shipper, it may be time to make it part of your in house inventory.

One of the most demanding parts of owning a home business is marketing. This is especially true of an internet home business. So it is essential that a business owner understand the basics of marketing. If there is not a good marketing campaign then a home business will never be successful. It is through marketing that a business finds its customers. It is rare for a business to truly get an established customer base without good marketing. One of the first parts of creating a marketing campaign is finding a target market. The target market will be made of people who will be most likely to need or want the product. It is important to find the target market because this will help the business owner in a lot of the marketing aspects. The next thing for a business owner to do is to create marketing materials. This is where the target market will come in first. These marketing materials should speak to the target market. They should address their needs and tell them why the product is what they need to buy. After the business owner has their marketing materials they need to start placing their advertising so the public will see them. Again the target market comes into play. This time the business owner will need to brainstorm on where would be the best place to put their advertising that the target market will see it. Knowing the target market can help. For example, if the target market is moms then websites about parenting may be a good place to put some ads. Marketing does not have to be complex. It really is not that hard when it is broken down. The whole thing is to find a market and target them with specific ads located where they will be most likely to look. Copyright © Wonder Nyatanga http://www.ProfitEnaires.com

There is nothing more ideal then being able to work for yourself in the comforts of your own home. At one point or another in any given day, most of us look at ways to make money online. After all, we know that it is a legitimate way to earn an income, many people are doing it, so why try to reinvent something, why not just copy what someone else is doing? What you need to be successful though is a proven income opportunity. To do this, you need to approach working online the same way you would find a job in the real world. A proven income opportunity is one that has an established track record of being successful. There should be a human being you can contact freely. Whether that is by teleconference, phone or a company representative they offer their contact information freely. There must be someone that if you have a question you can call and get an answer from them directly. Talk to them before you get involved with them. If they are not willing to go over their program with you prior to you joining then do not join them. If they are legitimate then they have nothing to hide. A true proven income opportunity will have more then just their sales page. There should be a real webpage that contains a press release, and when you do an internet search that page should pop up as number one in the search engine. A proven income opportunity should also have a lot of PageRank (PR) links that pertain to their niche. These two things tell you that they know what they are doing and that they themselves have put the work into their business. Proven income opportunities that are legitimate will also offer you training and support with a real person. You do not walk into a new job and not go through a training process. You need to look at working online in the same fashion. It only makes sense to be trained by someone who is already successful at what you want to do. The biggest proof that you are working with a proven income opportunity, is that you start making money. If you are following the plan that they gave you and not seeing any income in two to three months then you are not working with a legitimate company. If this is the case, drop the program and find something new. To be honest with you there are four types of proven income opportunities. These are providing a service such as data entry or virtual assisting, selling your own product, selling other people’s products and network marketing. Network marketing has been made big by the internet. It is a way for you to make a nice income with little work. The best part of network marketing is that it offers a way for you to make residual income. Again, do you research not all network marketing programs are created equal, and not all of them are legitimate. When people ask me why I work from home, and how can they do it. I simply tell them that they need to find a program that works for them. If you are not going to enjoy what you are doing online you are not going to make money at it no matter how successful the program is. My advice, figure out what you are good at, and what you really enjoy doing. Believe it or not, there is niche market out there for everyone find your and be successful.

There are many various multimedia advances happening to the good old blog. Although the blog is only a few years old, technology has kept right up there with it. Now, you have the ability to do a number of fascinating things with it. As the blog owner, this can mean huge potential dollars in marketing. If you are just a blog reader, you can now access your favorites online any time that you feel like it. There are several areas in which the blog has entered the multimedia world. Here are some of them to think about. * Text. Okay, so this isn’t anything new. It is the most commonly thought of type of blogging. Simple writings that are done on the blog. * Images. This takes it one step ahead. Now, you can send images to your fellow bloggers, your family or your friends. * Video. Even better, the blogs can now come packed with video from your digital camera or the cell phone that is video enabled. * Podcasts. The latest feature. It allows individuals to receive the information that they want, when they want it. Very marketable tool here. Podscasts allow you to receive both audio and video over the internet. But, just because you have the ability to use these various types of blogging, what happens to it? Does it just sit on your website in the hopes that someone will actually want it? The good news is that you can now send these multimedia advances to individuals on their Ipods or their mobile phones once they sign up for services at your site. This means instant notification when you update the blog and instant access no matter where they are located. In short, it translates into dollars through marketing. New advances in blogging are occurring all the time. Learn what is out there and available. Stay connected to your consumers, your fellow bloggers and your favorite blogs. The fact that you can do all of this from your mobile phone; just makes it even better. More than likely, you’ll have something to blog right now.

If you’re an online retailer — or any type of retailer — there’s probably no better reading material for you than industry publications. What other reading will help you source and market products and build your product lines around your customers’ needs? What’s a Trade Publication? According to Lisa Suttora, of http://WhatDoISell.com, “A trade publication is a magazine, newspaper, or even email newsletter that is written specifically for industry insiders.” You can find an extremely broad range of information in a trade magazine: • The product lines that are selling • Ways other retailers are successfully marketing their products • Trending reports that show the influences affecting both what’s being manufactured now and what’s going to be selling • Information on upcoming trade shows • Supplier contact information • The new products that manufacturers will be introducing • Manufacturers’ reasons for going in a particular direction: what’s influencing sales, which products consumers are buying — the factors that led them to create a product line Invest in Knowledge Every industry has a publication, and they’re only available to subscribers. Some are free; some go as high as $250 a year. But the information in them can save you a lot of trial-and-error in your product sourcing decisions. It may be worth spending the money up front rather than trying to guess what will sell well and ending up with costly quantities of left-over inventory. Try Googling the name of your industry and the term “trade publication” or “trade magazine.” What’s in It for Me? The advantage of reading trade papers is you’re not blindly sourcing products. You have a foundation for making good product sourcing choices. These publications forecast trends six to twelve months in advance, so you can see what will be selling next season and start sourcing it now. You’re able to establish your corner of the market before trends reach their climax and the market becomes saturated. Idea Sourcing Trade magazines help you diversify your product line. They show you numerous trends, and give you ideas and multiple ways to approach selling in your industry. Says Suttora, “You’ve got to look at all the ideas available for different kinds of products to sell. You can’t do that in a vacuum — you need a system to help you have creative ideas.”