Friday, March 30, 2007

Soundcheck on Video blogs and podcasts....

Well, I have decided that maybe video blogging and doing podcasts is not for me, at least not quite yet. It's not that I don't have ideas for it, I have a lot of good ideas, it's just that I think I sound awful on the recordings I have tried out so far.

So, I think that I'll work on my voice skills a little bit, play around, maybe talk to my friend that is a music teacher (::grins sweetly in the direction of Philly :-D ::), and think about doing video blogs and podcasts when I sound better on playback than I do at the moment. Trust me, I don't have a good recording voice and it kind'a breaks up into pauses when I am trying to talk. Ewwwww!!!!

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Sales lead management for any sized business

Imagine being able to get the same lead management capability as the big guys, but only paying for what you use. Sound too good to be true? AIMpromote is an on-demand lead management system that lets you take advantage of the full features of their lead management and website analytics software, but only pay based on overall usage.

What does this mean for the small business owner? A lot. You can save a substantial amount of money by being charged based on your usage and still getting the same sales lead management as the big guys. And, right now you can get a free 14 day trial to test the AIMpromote system out and see for yourself if it is right for your business.

AIMpromote really does provide you with the right sales lead management to fit any sized business, and grows with your business. In fact, one of their goals is to help you grow your business quickly and help you close more sales by helping you to avoid losing them to accidental neglect.


This post is a paid advertisement for AIMpromote

FireTitles in Firefox - one of the handiest add-ons I have found

The most useful feature for anyone that works at home online has got to be the Firefox add-on FireTitle. The FireTitle add-on allows you to create a specific name for the main window in a set of Firefox windows. Each window allows you to have multiple tabs open inside of it.

So, for example I can open three browser windows and use FireTitle to name them let's say... "Novel Research", "Character Research", and "Procrastination" Each of those can have more than one tab inside of them, but those three names are the names I see on the taskbar at the bottom of the Windows screen. So we have...

Novel Research
  1. Website on Dragons
  2. Website on surviving in a swampland environment
  3. Article on how to start a fire with a flint and steel
Character Research
  1. Website for searching model and actor pictures to find visual representatives for characters
  2. Website on phobias to find something to make the character more human
  3. Article on how to make characters talk more naturally
Procrastination
  1. eBay
  2. A game website I found when looking for a good site on dragons
And so forth. As you can see I can use the tabs feature in Firefox to separate what I am up to onto different browser windows, and then use the FireTitle add-on to help me keep those different windows straight in the taskbar. I would give you a link to where you can find FireTitle, but it's in the add-ons pages that you get to from following the link in Firefox's "tools" menu and the last time I went there I came back with 20+ add-ons that I had to have for my computer. ;-) Addictive place, you've been warned.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

How To Turn Sites Into Money video series [paid post]

I've been looking at the eBooks and such for a while now, and there are a lot of useful ones out there. Another useful resource is what seems to me to be the growing trend of creating informational videos for distribution over the Internet. I was watching a series a couple of days ago on working with a programming language.

One that just caught my eye is the How To Turn Sites Into Money videos by Jean Philippe Schoeffel and Ben Shaffer. This is a step by step walk-through on the creation of a website that Jean Philippe Schoeffel created and promoted for his portfolio.

Selling for under $50 the videos show you how to get your website set up in a niche area that you select, provides information on social networking, social bookmarking, and blogging with Wordpress, how to analyze site and AdSense stats, how to build a newsletter and attract visitors, and more. This series is also available for resale rights ($200 - $300 depending on the rights purchased).

I haven't checked these videos out, so I can't tell you if they are a value or not, but they certainly look like they are worth further investigation to me as the owner of multiple domains planning to buy more domains in the future.



The preceding post is a paid advertisement for Visitor Sense Videos

Are you paying too much in taxes?

This is just sort of a helpful tax season fyi for the low income families out there.

I was walking through the front room a little while ago and caught on the radio something about Rush Limbaugh saying that something like 17 states allow low income families to not pay taxes? I'm sure I heard wrong on that, since I have to pay them and I am a below low income single caregiver that can't work, but whatever, the point is that there are a lot of people out there that are living in a state that allows reduced taxes for low income families. Be sure as you figure out your taxes this month that you look into the specific laws that pertain to your state as well as the laws of the Federal government in general, apparently you might be able to save a substantial amount in taxes.

I'm working on my taxes, kind'a, I have the tax book behind me and the forms on the desk in the basement, but it's not easy to sort through things and determine just what I owe and don't owe in taxes and what is taxable and what's not etc. It's all very chaotic and figuring out where I fit into the scheme of things is something that calls for lots of Excedrin.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Free Icons for websites and programs at Icon Planet

I'm not ready yet to say just why I would be so crazy as to add in C++ as a programming language I can speak, but I do have good reasons for it and all my websites and blogs will benefit from my insanity.

Something that every programmer can appreciate are kewl ready made icons such as the great XP Icons available at Icon Planet. Check out these great images they have -



Any of those would be great in a program - love the burning CD, and the globe. The old fashioned microphone would be great for a podcast deal, wouldn't it?

Don't like what they have to offer? You can get custom made icons for your projects so that you can build your program designed how you want it to look. Imagine getting customized icons to fit your page layout that you can use on a down-loadable RSS reader.

You can get free sample icons from them too, so you can test out the icons and see their quality before you buy. Prices seemed fairly good to me, and right now they have a huge sale on their entire icon line so the prices are even better. Icons are sorted into groups such as beverages, banking, education, medical, etc, so you can get just the styles that you need. You can even buy them individually for more exacting matches.

I saw a few that I want to go back and look over after I have this C++ stuff sorted out and can build the programs that I want to create.



The preceding post is a paid advertisement for IconPlanet

Adding a new skill: C++ programming

Who says I am not insane? I've decided that it is time for me to add C++ programming to my skills, like my first program? Well, okay, second one, I of course had to do a Hello World as the first, but then I changed it and added count downs to make it blastoff instead. ;-)

Don't worry if it makes no sense to you, it won't unless you are a programmer than it's ultra simplistic stuff.

(I tried to share it, but it does bad things to Blogger to drop C++ code into it LOL! I'll get it translated into codespeak later and share it.)

basically what I have done there is to tell the computer to count from 1 to 5, print blastoff and count back to 5 - like so on the screen:

5
4
3
2
1
Blastoff!
1
2
3
4
5



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He who talks to inanimate objects shall be called a programmer

(very old programmers quote my dad told me years ago - my dad predates C by at least 20 years :-D)

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Long Distance Moving Companies

Okay, maybe it has not yet been scientifically proven yet, but anyone that has moved can tell you that moving causes headaches, lower back pain, sleeplessness, stress, and mass confusion.

The process usually begins with picking a moving company. The industry is known for having its share of disreputable workers. Movers that will for example, take possession of your belongings and head across the states with them, pause somewhere along the way to load up someone else's belongings and dump part of your load out to make room for someone else's things. This happened to a friend of mine, the movers left a piece of her furniture about halfway along on a move across three states and blew her off on having done so when she called them on it.

You don't want movers like that for your next move. You want reputable movers that have been licensed and insured. Service Network has created a quick and easy moving company matching system to help customers be matched with the right Long Distance Moving Companies. They report to have assisted over 50,000 customers move just this year alone with a quick and easy process that connects customers to quality moving companies that have been through a strict application process and have pre-negotiated with Service Network for discounts of up to 65% on the customer's move.


The preceding post is a paid advertisement for Service Network

Videoblogging for business

I have published an article here by Kanicen Nichathavan on videoblogging. I can see a lot of ways in which video blogging could be of use to people with home businesses. Perhaps keeping a blog as you are knitting the hats you sell? Making beaded earrings to sell over eBay? Showing the work that goes into making the blown glass or pottery pieces that you sell?

The possibilities are as varied as the kinds of work at home jobs we might undertake and producing a video journal is relatively easy for people to do now days.

I have been pondering it for family caregiver subjects, and think I would likely go with a service like YouTube for distribution of the videos.

How to Start Video Blogging?

by: Kanicen Nichathavan
(Reprinted with permission)

Videoblogging is the next generation of posting ideas and products over the internet. Everybody knows about textblogging. Now they use videos for a better way of expression. This form of communication may entail a lot of resources, but it is all worth it. If pictures say a thousand words, videoblogging exceeds that by far.

A videoblog requires larger disk spaces on websites, a faster server, and a whole new set of programs to support it. Videoblogs can be fed through RSS. This is technology of syndicating your website to other RSS aggregators.

Videoblogging works with people on the internet expressing their selves. Now if you put this on a business prospective, you are up to a lot of benefits. Think of it as a powerful tool in making showing your prospective customers your line of products or your services. It’s just like showing a commercial all for free. And if you videoblog through RSS, then most probably you are getting your target market.

People like to see what they are going to buy. Some would like to see proof and be sure that they are getting their money’s worth before shelving their dimes on it. All of us know the influence of a thirty second commercial. The effect of videoblogging is similar to that. You show your product, people watch it. If they like it, they buy it. If you present it good enough, they’ll buy the product even if they don’t need it.

Now on the web, things are pretty much static, unlike in television in which all are moving. If you post something that is mobile, it would most likely catch attention. Now imaging your product parading in all it’s royalty through videoblog. You’ll get phone call orders in no time.

If your business is just starting up, you can create a videoblog right at your own home. All you need is your web camera, microphone, video software, and lights. For as long as you know how to use your camera, then you can create a videoblog.

Invest in a good web camera. The higher its resolution is the better the output. And you like to present your goods in the optimum way so get the best one possible. Make a short story, or just capture your goods in one go. Just make sure you are getting the best profile for each. Get those creativity juices flowing.

Lights are important in a production. Make sure you illuminate entirely the area you are going to use to create videoblog. The brighter the area, the crispier the images will be. You can also use lighting effects for added appeal to the presentation.

Should you require sounds for your videoblog, you need a microphone. Record you voice as a voice over for promoting the product and its benefit to consumers. Sounds are as important as videos on a videoblog. It is advisable to make your sound effects as enticing as the video.

Your video editing software can be any program. You need this to finalize your work. You can add sounds, delete some bad angles, or insert some still pictures in there too. Some programs are user-friendly and can be used even with zero knowledge on video editing. Even simple video editing programs should do the trick. Select your background carefully too. The light affects the presentation so make sure that the background and the light complements each other.

Videoblogging is a great tool but it also has it downside. It may slow down the computer so other may steer clear of it. Download time may also be time consuming especially if customer is still on a dial- up connection.

But don’t let those stop you. Let videoblogging be an alternative for you, though it is best to still keep the text and pictures present in your presentation to accommodate all possible viewers of your site.

Nowadays, the more creative you are in presenting your product to the market, they more you are likely to succeed. Videoblogging offers an interactive way of selling. You involve the customers. You instill in them the advantage of your goods. And at times, those are enough to make a sale.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


About The Author

Kanicen Nichathavan is the owner of Kanicen's Blog, Kanicen's Blog welcomes everyone who intends to share knowledge, interesting products, ideas and those who want to start Internet Online Business. You will find all kind of Internet Marketing Tools and resources. For Newbie and Internet Marketers this blog will be the best option for lowest prices of all kind of Internet Marketing Tools at http://www.kanicen.com.

You too can be a rocket scientist - SpaceX launches Falcon 1

Want the ultimate work at home job? How about working on private space flight? The Falcon 1 launched yesterday (Wednesday) and attained a near low Earth orbit altitude of around 200 miles before it succumbed to oscillations that apparently caused the shut down of its engine at just shy of its planned 205 to 425 mile altitude.

Launched by Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) the rocket was by all accounts a success despite the fact that it failed to attain the desires altitude and SpaceX has a good outlook for the successful launch of two satellites later this year.

Missed out on the ground floor of the computer business when they were being built in garages?
Here is the chance to get even and start working on rockets that can launch payloads into low Earth orbit. Just remember - you need permits for purchase of rocket fuel and special clearance to launch something that goes above a certain altitude (I'm not sure what altitude that is, and will leave it to anyone with an interest in rocket science to research).

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Mortgage Refinance [paid ad]

Did you know that it is possible to lock in a lower interest rat that can help you save money over the life of your loan?

Through a process known as Mortgage Refinancing a home owner can refinance their current mortgage with a new loan that has a lower, fixed, interest rate.

In its most basic terms, refinancing is getting a new mortgage that allows you to pay off your existing mortgage. The most common reason for getting a Mortgage Refinance loan is to lower the interest rate so that you have lower monthly payments. Other reasons include building equity in your home faster, improved credit rating, and drawing on equity already in the home.

Wherever you are looking for information on mortgages, from California Mortgages to Florida Mortgages, you should be able to find information specific to your area and even city to help you make the best possible selection on your mortgage refinancing decision.




The preceding post is a paid advertisement
for Personal Home Loan Mortgages

The fine line between work and home

There is a line drawn somewhere between work and home. A defining point that I can't quite place my finger on that seems to shift back and forth between being between me and the things I should do around the house and far out past my reach where I can't tell if I am working or at home.

It seems like some days are better suited to working at home than others. Even some hours, particularly some hours, are better suited than others. I can get my best work done early in the morning, but I have to stay up late at night working on things around the house. I can not actually make money until late morning to mid afternoon, but that is the time when I am most on call for my real work as a full-time caregiver.

It is all a finite balancing act of juggling several pieces of delicate china and a couple of bowling balls. You know that if you can keep them all straight and in the air you'll have a lot of fun, but if they come too close to one another or one is dropped... you either break something or end up with your foot in a cast.

Maybe people that work at home are innately insane to want to juggle work and home life, but then, maybe they have the best jobs out there. Only each person that works at home can answer that and I have a feeling it changes we often as the location of that defining line that lies between work and home.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Real Estate Management Software

Management of real estate such as warehouses and retail stores is not easy. You have to balance various aspects of leases including the terms, dates, clauses, location, payments, and more. You need to manage the structure of payments for things such as base rental costs, real estate taxes, and parking.

And that is just, as they say, the tip of the iceberg. There are ways to make things like real estate management easier, though, stuff like Real Estate Management Software that can help you track all of the information and even get alerts via email, pager or cell phone so that you can stay on top of payments and reports when you need to.

Being in business is hard enough, make sure that you look into the tools that can help you manage and run your business more smoothly.




The preceding post is a paid advertisement for Siterra

Just because it is work at home does not mean you are not working

You need a workplace mindset for the work at home job. I've been working at getting a work at home business up and running, and one thing that I have found out is that you can not work like you are at home. You need to have the same kind of commitment to your work at home job as you world have for a job that you went to an office and sat and worked for someone else at an hourly pay.

Your employer would not accept your spending half the work day standing at the water cooler talking to the other employees or on your cell phone, so why do you tolerate standing on the back lawn talking to the neighbors or walking around the house talking on the phone to people that are not related to your work?

You need to have the discipline to ask your friends to please call you after your work day is over. Set the phone to take calls on the house line and you focus on only what calls come in on the business line. If someone calls the business line just to chit chat politely end the call as quickly as possible so that a client can have the chance to get in touch with you.

I have found that I get a lot more work done when I am not lounging at the computer in my PJs and robe. Get dressed and hype yourself up for a day of working, then spend that day working. Take a lunch break when you have it scheduled for, but otherwise place 8 hours a day five days a week into the proper running and management of your home business.

In six months to a year you will notice a substantial change for the better.

Big Web Links - the search engine that lets you buy your way to the top [advertisement]

Who says money can't buy you popularity? There is a new search engine out that says that paid placement is the wave of the future. The Big Web Links Directory is a search engine that lists websites for a fee of $29.90 (which gets your website listed on their search engine). For this you get two permanent links: one in the specified category, and one on a dedicated page. There are no recurring fees, you site is votes up in the listings based on how much your readership contributes to its popularity. $1 or more can help a website raise up toward the top.

This is, of course, a system that is balanced in favor of the fellow with the larger advertising budget, but the search engine's FAQ page assures us that a high traffic website or blog, with just a dollar from some of its visitors, can outmaneuver even the highest advertising budget to get high ranks on the site through reader contributions.

They will even take care of promoting for you, all you need to do is send your visitors to their site.



The preceding post is a paid advertisement for Big Web Links

Avast kicks out viruses Norton can't even see

I uninstalled Norton today and got Avast going at 100%. It was not at all surprising when the first thing Avast did was inform me that it had found adware. I told it to leave Alexa alone and it went on scanning. A moment later it paused again to let me know that it had just discovered a virus buried deep in the computer and wanted to recommend a bootup scan of the entire hard drive. No surprise there either, I told it to go for it.

I like Avast, I trust it a lot more than I do Norton. The last time I made this switch on one of my computers Avast detected almost twenty viruses and keyloggers that Norton had not known were there. Makes me feel real safe with Norton. ::snort::

Avast has two different versions, one for business use and one for home use. The home use one does not have as many bells and whistles, but it is free for home users. So far the best configuration I have found is:


There is a third one too, that I use a lot, but I can't remember name off the top of my head right now.

Monday, March 19, 2007

Fireplaces and fireplace mantles

I was helping my dad to bed last night and he paused to tell me just how much he loves the fireplace that I got for him. I've talked about it before, it is one of those electric fireplaces that has the look of a real fire. My mom and I are planning to get a few more so we can put one in the office and one in her bedroom.

I've been watching the fireplaces they have at DESA as a source for the next fireplace we buy. They have fireplaces and fireplace mantels with free shipping. From beautiful unfinished fireplace mantles to a build your fireplace section that walks you through the selection of firebox, mantle, and accessories to build the fireplace that you want for your home.

One of the things that I love about the electric fireplace I have now is the fact it can be used as an emergency source of heat. Such as last night the house heating system ran out of fuel and the fire place's little heater kept a three bedroom house warm all night with temperatures under -15 F.



The preceding post is a paid advertisement for DESA

Hotlinking is against the law

I've been looking around the Internet and discovered that there are people that are hotlinking images from one of my websites. This may not seem like a big deal, but did you know that when you get a website and start paying the various fees on it, one of those is for a set amount of bandwidth? If you go over that set amount in a month then either the website goes down for the remainder of the month, or your hosting provider charges you for the extra bandwidth.

This is money out of your pocket so that others can have your images on their websites. Or in forums, or blogs, or...

Check your logs periodically to see who links to you, backtrack to their sites and see if it is an actual link that will send you traffic, or if they are stealing bandwidth from your site to save on their own site fees. People have used my images on their websites, on their blogs as their picture, within blog posts, and on forums.

There are a lot of people out there that when they find such theft will post pornographic material in its place. I know of one fellow that switched images on his own site and got a nasty email from someone saying that MySpace was being hacked by someone claiming to be the guy and he should look into it or if it was really him -- the email then faded into threats.

All the guy did was change his own picture on his own domain. Not his fault it changed the picture on all the places that had stolen the image and his bandwidth.

Don't hotlink. If you don't know what a hotlink is run a Google search and find out before you post any image anywhere on the Internet.

Friday, March 16, 2007

Trump University Speaker Series

Discover what it takes to succeed in business. Randal Pinkett, Sean Yazbeck, and Kendra Todd have all proven that they have what it takes to succeed and in a free event (limited to the first 200 callers) they will share their hard-earned lessons with you so that you can apply them to your own career.

This is a live teleseminar in the Trump University Speaker Series and features former Apprentice winners Randal Pinkett, Sean Yazbeck, and Kendra Todd. Don't miss out on this chance to learn strategies in Sales and Sales Management, Real Estate, and Entrepreneurship that you can apply to your small business to make it grow.


To work or not to work on vacation

I've been discussing vacations with my friends lately, and me and V are pondering a road trip. The trick is, road tripping means that since I work at home I have to make a decision - do I take a few weeks to a month off from earning anything, or do I take my job on the road with me?

It would be possible to work at night when we stop at motels, at least if they have Internet access, but would that be relaxing? Working at home means being able to set your own hours and schedule, but you need to be certain that you actually stick to that once you have decided to do it. It also means knowing when to toss the schedule out the window and just go on vacation and let life take care of itself.

So, I guess I'll be looking into what the consequences would be of not working. Will mainly depend, I think, on how long we decide to road trip for and if we even do go road tripping.

Monday, March 12, 2007

Cell phones at Wirefly

It can be difficult to shop for a wireless plan. There are a lot of different plans to choose from and picking the wrong plan can end up costing you a lot of money. Wirefly has the tools to help you do your research. Tools such as the Wireless Wizard that can help you pick the right plan and save hundreds off retail price on your cell phone.

And Wirefly has an eBay store too, with a score of 98.9% positive feedback on 2,320 customer ratings. So if you are in the market for a new wireless phone, shop around and be sure to check out Wirefly's cell phones - on their website or at their eBay store.


This post was sponsored by Wirefly

Save for medical

One of the annoying things about working at home is that you don't get medical. When you do have a problem you have to get into the money that you usually have set aside for other things - such as paying bills.

And health insurance can be expensive to get, and confusing on what it covers, so because of that I would highly recommend anyone that is working from home to set aside a savings to be used for emergency medical expenses such as falling down a flight of stairs or getting a cracked tooth (hopefully not related in cause).

Get safety glasses for work and recreation at Optics Planet

Working at home can mean many things, from being a writer like me, to creating one of a kind doll creations, wedding planner, even carpentry and wood crafting.

If your work includes things such as sanding, using a grinder, or working with glass such as making stained glass windows, then you need to invest in a good pair of Safety Glasses as part of your home office "must have"'s. Optics Planet has a great selection of safety glasses to choose from and have knowledgeable customer service to help you and provides secure online shopping with free UPS on orders over $29.95.

And don't forget to check out their recreational products too. From safety glasses for sports to binoculars for recreational use they have a wide range of optical products at great prices.



The preceding post is a paid advertisement
by the PPP advertiser Optics Planet

Friday, March 09, 2007

Marketing

One of the sometimes overlooked things that everyone with a home business needs to be conscious of, and dedicate time to, is marketing. Whatever your business is, you need to consider marketing or you will never have customers.

There are a few instances where you can just kick back and let the customers come to you, such as online auctions, but even then your business would benefit greatly from a little marketing.

Do you make hand made pottery? Find a few websites that would be right for linking to your auctions and ask them if they would trade links with you. You will put a link to their site on your "About Pottery" website if they will link to the page on your About Pottery website where you have links to your eBay store. Put links in your e-mail signature and in the signature of all of your forum identities for any forums you are on.

Print up a t-shirt and wear it. Maybe a cute saying like:
"Throwing pottery is more fun when it's wet." over a picture of your pottery table and a pot being made, your website address www.aboutpottery.com (dunno if that's a real site ot not, I just need a example here)

I once did some marketing for my writing website by making some book marks with pictures of famous authors on them and a quote by them about writing under the author's picture. On the back of the bookmark I put my website URL, then laminated the bookmarks and kind of accidentally left them in assorted books on writing as I returned the books to the public library. I have no clue how much traffic that got me, but the book marks were kept by the people that next checked those books out.

Payday loans - cash when you need it

Working at home is uncertain. You never know what emergencies may arise that call for having money right at that time of the month that you are penniless. Many people feel stress when they do not have the money they need when they need it, and most will resort to taking possessions to a pawn shop or try to borrow the needed money from relatives.

There is an alternative. Options such as payday loans uk can offer small cash loans against money that the borrower will be getting and allow the borrower to repay the loan amount when they get their paycheck.

Payday loans are not intended to be long term loans, nor are they intended for large sums. They are low value loans that are intended to be paid back quickly.


The preceding post is a paid advertisement for epayday UK

Pricing - a delicate balance

It is a delicate balancing game trying to determine what the fairest price for your goods or services is. How will you know that you are not underselling or overpricing? This is where researching the competition comes in handy.

You have seen those people with the large three ring binder that are going through a store and checking prices on things. Some of them may, admittedly, be store personnel doing spot checks, or shoppers looking for the best deals, but did you know that a decent percent of them are actually employed by the competing stores to check the prices of a store so that they can match prices?

By keeping an eye on what the competition is doing with their prices, it is easier to know what you can or can not charge for something that you are offering. I'm not saying you should break out the Nancy Drew wig and Sherlock Holmes jacket, there is no need to treat it as a undercover operation. Some simple research and maybe leg work will give you an idea of what you should be expecting to be a reasonable price.

Sell things online? Great, the research can be done in your pajamas. Check out competitor's websites or what they have up at auction sites etc to find out what the market is like, then work out your price accordingly.

Don't forget to factor in your expenses and a little for your time, you don't want to offer such a low price that you are loosing money making a product you are selling too low.

The Beehive

I was looking around for information on business plans and found a website called the Beehive (www.thebeehive.org) that has a free business plan builder tool. You need to register to use the tool, but then after you have registered you can keep your business plan stored there and refer back to it or edit it as needed. I have not yet built a business plan through them, but I have it on my to do list.

Walt Disney World Tickets

Planning to vacation in Orlando Florida this summer? Attracted by the idea of getting a room overlooking the Magic Kingdom and treating the kids to a once in a lifetime adventure that includes as much fun and excitement as you can pack into six days and seven nights?

Don't forget to get Walt Disney World Tickets and tickets to any other attraction on your family 'to-do' list. OrlandoFunTickets.com has discounted tickets to everything Disney has to offer and guarantees the lowest prices.

You can get Disney tickets for different days and from one to ten days, so your family can enjoy your vacation how they want to.

The preceding post is a paid advertisement for OrlandoFunTickets

Taxing... so taxing

If you're insane, like me, then you are doing your own taxes this year. Or maybe it is a simple matter of, like me, you can't see paying someone a hundred to two hundred dollars to save you twenty bucks on the $50 you might or might not owe to the IRS.

I've got all the books I could from my local library, and printed stuff off from the IRS website on my printer. It is a headache trying to figure out what applies and what does not apply, but if I don't learn to do my own business taxes, should I really be planning to be in business long term?
For me it is all part of being in business. I consider tax time to be a time to run a refresher course in small business management. I go over my business plan and consult my tax information and look at what I have bought for my business, what it has cost me vs what I have made and I determine if I am on the right track or if I need to reevaluate everything I have been doing.

It's not tax time, it is spring cleaning for my business. Time to dust off the cobwebs that have built up on the business plan and double check the methods of organization I have been using and maybe even splurge on a few things to make the office tidier in the name of cleaning things up for doing the taxes.

We work at home, we don't need no stinkin' business plan.... do we?

Your business means a lot to you, it is the way in which you earn the money to support your family and to do the things that you and your loved ones want to be able to do. You work hard to make your business work, but have you created a business plan for it?

What's that you say? You don't plan to borrow money and you are not looking for investors so you don't need a business plan? ::shakes head:: No, wrong. You need a business plan if you are in business. The business plan is not just to tell others about your business, it is to keep you on track when it comes to your business. Take just a moment to get a pen and sheet of paper. In one paragraph write what your business is and what it offers for others. How does it make you money?

Can you clearly define your business? Good. Now, define it in a single sentence. No run on sentences, just a single concise sentence that says what your business is in clear enough terms you could write it in a fortune cookie and someone else would know what you do.

A business plan helps you to keep your vision in a range that you can manage your business effectively. It also helps you to see where you want to be in 5 years and 10 years and what needs to be done to get to those points.

Check the Small Business Administration website and other websites that have information on business plans and write one up. It does not have to be fancy, but it should help you understand your business and plan for the future and things such as marketing your business and expected growth for it.

Working your way toward an Orlando vacation

Plan your vacation now and start working toward your goal so that when the time comes to take that week off, you will be ready and have earned the vacation time. When you work at home and run your own business, you have to plan for your vacation times and determine what your able to afford. can you up the amount of work you do in a week or work a few extra days in the weekends leading up to your vacation so that you can, in effect, have a paid vacation where you have earned the money ahead of time so you do not have to worry about taking time off and not earning the money or getting the work done while on vacation.

Now is also the time to be considering where you want to go for your vacation. How much is it going to cost you? Where will you stay? What kind of transportation costs will there be?

OrlandoVacation.com would like to suggest Orlando, Florida as your destination. Whether you are looking for some of the top-rated golf courses to relax on or want to enjoy the fun offered by some of the area's 52 theme parks, including Walt Disney World, you can find it on an Orlando vacation.

You can get Disney World packages if you would like to spend some time exploring the Magic Kingdom, or maybe you would like to rent a luxurious vacation condo and take a peaceful drive to the beach then drive back into town for a dinner show such as the Arabian Nights or Pirates Dinner adventure.

Whatever your dream vacation includes, you are as close to it as a few hours extra work a week if you plan ahead and work toward that goal.



The preceding post is a paid advertisement for OrlandoVacation.com

48 Days to the Work You Love - Podcast and radio show

I'm listening to podcasts tonight, the current podcast that I am checking out is '48 Days to the Work You Love' hosted by Dan Miller.

Mr. Miller is a career-based life coach and the author of the book 48 Days to the Work You Love.

This podcast is a radio show as well as a podcast and is one that should be at least looked into by anyone that is working. It runs from around 45 minutes to 2 hours with most of them being in the 45 minute range.

If you have iTunes look up this podcast and check it out to see if it is something you think you might benefit from listening to.

Google Page Ranking

I have been looking into what is required to get higher page ranks in Google. It is a confusing chaotic mess, but basically it is all in how many people are linking to your site.

If you want to have a high page rank on your site, then you need to have people with high page ranks linking to your site. It's as simple as that. Ideally you would have several links from a slew of PR10 sites, but come on, how many of them can you honestly expect to get ahold of?

I think the best method is to write good quality content that people will want to refer others to. When you have good content it does not take any money out of your pocket for advertising, just a little old fashioned hard work. With this method you can get links from a lot of little sites, and that my dear reader can be as good or better than a few links from high PR sites. Get enough little fellows and they can tip the scales quite nicely.

But don't expect miracles. It takes patience. From what I have seen Google updates page ranks quarterly and at random times.

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Invest in your future

When you work at home you want to be sure that you are thinking about your future. It is unwise to assume that it will just take care of itself. You need to think of your retirement and set up plan for having the funds you will need when you retire.

One option is in investments. While there are a lot of risky investment opportunities out there, one that can be trusted is investment in precious metals such as silver and gold.

The Monex Deposit Company can help you with the purchase of silver and other precious metals as investments. Whether you are looking to invest in ingots or coins, the professionals at Monex have over 30 years of experience and are ready to help you with your investments and can arrange either for personal delivery or secure deposit in an independent bank or depository.


The preceding post is a paid advertisement for the Monex Deposit Company

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Working at home is not as easy as it sounds

With the flood of signs on street corners that tell you "Work from home! Easy money!", advertisements in magazines and newspapers, advertisements on television and countless ads strewn across the Internet - how do you know what work at home job is right for you?

How can you really make easy money working from home?

I get my brothers and sisters and anyone else I know constantly asking me "Sandy, how can I do that?" They see me make some money and all they know is that I sit on my butt in front of the computer all day when I am not helping my parents (I'm a full-time caregiver first, a writer second). I tell them exactly what it is that I do, and it has not yet failed. Every time I tell them how I make money, they get this disappointed look and go, "Oh... that sounds hard..." and are no longer interested.

And what is it I tell them? To make money I work. Hard. I love to write, I can't imagine not writing. When I am not working, when I want to do something for fun, I am writing. My job is to string words together into 50, 100, 200 sometimes 300 word articles on products that people want to have advertised. I work my fingers to the bone writing content for my websites, trying to build them up from scratch to websites that people will want to visit and then return to.

It's not easy. I have to work nearly every waking hour on it and often go without sleep until 4, 5 sometimes 6am or even for 48 hours straight on more than one occasion (more than a dozen actually). I have worked at improving my ability to write (you should have seen it back in 1998), I have worked to build up my websites and understand how to program in HTML and Java and several other languages with at least passing understanding of what I am doing.

I subscribe to several writer's magazines, buy writer's books on a regular basis and read them cover to cover, subscribe to a wide range of newsletters on writing, the Internet, marketing, website design and assorted other subjects and listen to podcasts from other writers about the profession of writing.

It is insane and difficult work, and then I get to start working. I get to find places that have jobs I can take on, have to complete those jobs to specification within the agreed upon time frame and I have to keep the customer happy. What happens if the customer is not happy? Best case I don't get paid for that particular job. Worst case, I never get any work from that person ever again. You don't want to go to the worst case. You won't be in business for long if you don't make the customer feel they have got their money's worth.

And that's what I do. I write voraciously and do my best to give the people I write for their money's worth. Do I always succeed? No. I'd like to say I can keep everyone happy all the time, but it has long been proven that you can please all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but it's just not possible to please all the people all the time.

I have managed to come out of ten years of working toward being able to earn a living writing with a few gems that I can take on into the future with me.

First: my God, has it really been ten years???? Time flies fast, faster when you are on a deadline.

Second: Any problem with writer's block can be solved by tossing the person that means the most to your lead character into a cold dark ocean filled with giant serpents.

Third: Working at home is the hardest job anyone can ever try to do. It is filled with stress and procrastination and long periods of not being able to afford to look for a real job. If you are going to work from home, do something you love above all else and forget what anyone says about not being able to turn that into a way to make money. Find a way, and keep at it and never loose your desire to keep doing what you love to do. Then you can make it succeed and then you will start making money. Maybe not enough to survive, but that will come. (I hope)

Fourth: Normal work hours and sleep cycles are for the people that want to work on a set schedule. If you are working for yourself set whatever hours work best for you as long as you can get the work that you need to get done in a day done by the end of that day (or at least finish it all up by the end of the week).

Fifth: Backup. Backup. Backup. Save. Save. Save. You will never be able to write that story as well the second time through, so make sure that you are not going to loose it after the first writing. Save often and back up what you have done just in case your computer decides that it does not want to go on another day.

Sixth: Stay home as often as you can get away with, it's great for catching up on missed work, but be sure that you can also get out and be with friends and family just as often. It is the moments that can never be recaptured that mean the most when the years are passed, not the extra ten dollars that you managed to make when you skipped out on lunch with your best friends.

Seventh: (Because seven is my lucky number I had to take this to seven) - Interruptions will happen. When you work at home you can not avoid or evade them, so learn to roll with them and hone your skills until you can easily come up on the other side of the interruption with only a marginal slip in your step.

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Dclickads - bringing advertisers and webmasters together

Dclickads connects advertisers with websites. Handling all of the advertisement placement, tracking and billing, Dclickads makes it easy for both the advertiser and site owners to buy and sell ads.

A new advertising network, Dclickads makes it easy for webmasters to increase advertising revenue by designating places on their websites where advertisements can be placed - areas that advertisers can purchase from the webmaster for the display of their ads.

Available ad types are: text link, graphic banner, and embedded inline. The ads are both pay per click and pay per impression ads, based on publisher preference.

For payment options the service accepts credit cards (Visa, MC, American Express, and Discover), however, they do not accept PayPal - even though PayPal is the only option they have for paying webmasters. Weird, but works for me. Payout is 30 days after advertisement has completed, see the Dclickads FAQ for more information.



This post has been sponsored by Dclickads

No affiliation to the website of the same name

I was meandering around the web contemplating making a permanent website home for this newsletter and found out that the domain name Work At Home Newsletter is taken by someone that just has a few Google ads and a signup form for their newsletter. I just want to make sure that no one thinks that it is the same as this blog.

I have no idea if they are any good or not, and don't want to risk my email address to an unknown site that will probably end up stuffing my box with junk mail.

Can I Really Earn A Living Working From Home?

The following article is reprinted with permission of the author.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Can I Really Earn A Living Working From Home?
By Brett Roberts

If I had a nickel for every time someone asked me this question……. Well, let’s just say I would have a lot of nickels. I am here to tell you that that there are legitimate home business opportunities out there. On the other hand, I have seen my fair share of so called “home business opportunities” that weren’t even close to what they were hyped up to be. I have tried many home businesses in my life. Some were profitable, some were not. In this article, I will try to start you off on the right path.

Owning a business and being one’s own boss is a dream of countless Americans, and with good reason. Not only does a business of your own let you reap the full rewards of your own efforts, but it also offers tremendous satisfaction and potential for large profits. With some careful planning, reasonable expectations and lots of hard work, you can succeed. Below are a few things that your MUST consider when starting a home business.

1. In order to succeed you must WORK. For some reason, most people think that they can just start a home business and the money will start flowing in. I am here to tell you that it doesn’t work that way. Be prepared to really work your business, just as if you had a 9 to 5 job, if you truly want to be successful.

2. Do your research. Don’t just try any business that is presented to you. There are many factors that you must consider. Will this business work for ME? Have I truly researched this opportunity to see if it is working for others? How much will it cost to get started? What are the different ways I can advertise my business? Do I have the time it takes to make my business successful?

3. When you are starting a business from your home, you should approach it the same way you would a new job. Be professional, organize and manage your time effectively. Be sure you have enough money. You may need to purchase office supplies, possibly equipment and you will have to advertise. You must also be certain that you have a cushion in case of an emergency or just to tide you over while you get things going.

4. Make sure you have a place from which to run your business. Find a spot in your home that can be yours and keep it that way. Don’t end up sharing the second bedroom or a corner of the kitchen. Besides cutting down on the distractions, you’ll fee more like you’re “at the office.”

5. Choose a business that’s right for you. While it is important to select a business you both like and know, it’s also important to choose one that you’ll be good at – and that has a better than average chance of success.

6. Don’t ever listen to anyone tell you that you can’t make a living from your home business. The benefits of having your own home business definitely beats the 9 to 5 daily routine of a normal job. You get to work at home, wear what you want, eat when you want and take a break when you want. I am hear to tell you that I would have it no other way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brett Roberts is an online entrepreneur who has been earning a living from home since 2004. He suggests you visit http://www.bestpassporttowealth.com for more information.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brett_Roberts
http://EzineArticles.com/?Can-I-Really-Earn-A-Living-Working-From-Home?&id=474523

Monday, March 05, 2007

Any work at home jobs you want spotlighted?

I'm switching gears on the work at home spotlight jobs now, and going to be looking into something else - as soon as I decide what to spotlight next. If you have something you would like for me to spotlight, let me know. I'd love to do the general leg work to help you sort out the basics of any work at home job ideas you have been considering.

Drop me an e-mail or leave a comment with suggestions.

Friday, March 02, 2007

The Triangle System - A Blogging Guide [paid advertisement]

Interested in finding out how to blog your way to the top? Did you know that blogging can help you to expand your business online?

There is a new book about blogging called "The Triangle System - A Blogging Guide", written by Brandon Cornett, this book shares Mr. Cornett's blogging and Internet marketing expertise to help you increase your search engine ranking with your blog.

With just 30 to 40 minutes a day, five days a week, you can reach your blogging goals. This is a PDF format e-book, and at the time of this writing is $31.99 (PayPal and credit cards accepted).

Mr Cornett says that he will show you, in this e-book blogging guide, exactly how he placed his site on Page 1 of Google for a phrase (a site that is rapidly approaching the top-three for that phrase.)



The preceding post is a paid advertisement
for The Triangle System a PPP advertiser

Sound engineer information

Okay, more links to sites that have information on sound engineers:

Broadcast and Sound Engineering Technicians and Radio Operators Occupational Outlook Handbook - U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Not sure what help this might be, but figured I would share it since I found it: About My Job: "Sound Designer / Sound Tech / Audio Engineer" - looks like just a brief article type ad for his e-book, but might be of interest.

This could be well worth looking over too: Bobby Nathan's, Keyboard Magazine, "In The Studio" Articles

That should give you plenty for looking at for a little while, I'll post this and go looking for more information.

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Gift baskets and flower arrangements delivered

Having a busy week and looking for a little pick me up? Or maybe your looking to say "thank you" to your hard working spouse (or?) that spends their days working from home? You can order flowers and even gift baskets for delivery to your home office.

Whether you are looking for a Los Angeles flower shop or looking to shop online, you should take a look at the FTD bouquets and gourmet gift baskets available from Digital Flowers. Order fresh flowers for your home office, or as a thank you gift for that extra special client - maybe as a thank you to your spouse for making sure that your kids have someone else to go to with questions during your "work hours"?



This post is a paid ad for the
PPP advertiser Digital Flowers

How much do Sound Engineers make?

In keeping with the request of my friend to look into the career of sound engineers, I have done a little digging on what they can earn. Here is some of what I have found out:

According to CareerCCC.org, a sound engineer can make between $15,100.00 and $54,792.00 with an average salary of $35,715.00

Schools in the USA says that the entry level salary is $18,540, with a maximum salary of $82,510. The average they list is $36,970.

Career Planning at About.com says that the median annual earnings of sound engineering technicians in 2004 was $38,110, and recommends using the salary wizard at Salary.com to find out the current rate in your area.

So it looks like a sound engineer can probably expect an annual salary in the range of $35,000.00

Coupons for Staples

Staples has got to be one of the best home office supply stores there is, with free delivery on orders of $50 or more, a free catalog that you can request, and great prices on the things that are needed every day in a home office.

CouponChief.com has great offers from Staples with e-mail and RSS alerts that you can sign up for to be alerted when they have new Staples coupons and deals.

Not a Staples shopper? How about Office Depot, Office Max, Target, or Franklin Covey? That's okay, because couponchief.com has great deals from all of your favorite stores in one easy location to make shopping around for the best deal as easy as possible.


The preceding post is a paid advertisement
for the PPP advertiser CouponChief
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