Online Home Based Business Blog

Currently in your local bookstore are a number of newly released books that can provide rich insight and glorious financial understanding of a variety of hot business topics. From the stock market to the supermarket, these books have hit a vein in the American public by enlightening them to subjects that heretofore seemed elusive and confounding. Here are a few of these successful books, and a little bit about why you might want to pick them up when you have a little extra money.

Mobs, Messiahs, and Markets by William Bonner is a look at societal groupthink and why it’s so important to forge your own path when it comes to investing in the stock market. Taking a rather bold and unusual stance against such “safe” investments as mutual funds, Bonner and his coauthor take a look at mass thinking and why it so seldom resembles sound investment strategy.

Results That Last: Hardwiring Behaviors That Will Take Your Company to the Top by Quint Studer will be released sometime in October and promises an interesting look at what makes a business successful in the long run. Studer argues that a businesses success has little to do with products or service and everything to do with positive and exciting leadership. While a good product or innovative service may be the ticket to the top for a short while, it is Studer’s intention to demonstrate that the companies that last the longest and stay at the top do so through strong management and his book provides proven leadership strategies.

Your Portable Empire: How to Make Money Anywhere While Doing What You Love by Pat O’Bryan is a tome dedicated to showing the average everyman how to create an online business that requires little day to day work to produce a flow of passive income. Without reading the book, it seems to be mostly geared toward the production of a website and the sales of informational e-books, and the salesmanship and strategies toward making these e-book websites a success.

The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss is a fascinating book by a Princeton lecturer who has found and put to use a number of secrets for living in the now, and not waiting for retirement to enjoy relaxation. Its strategies include how to retrain your supervisors into putting a higher value on results and production than actual presence, and how to trade a fulltime career for several short “work bursts” sprinkled with mini-retirements. A must have for those tired of living for the clock.

These are just a handful of the interesting books at the top of the bestseller’s lists. There are many more for those patient enough to peruse the stacks, read the reviews, and avoid judging a book by its cover. Read, and be filled up with knowledge.

One of the topics that is often discussed on forums and message boards around the internet is the topic of online business.   A number of people will tell you exactly what they think about online business and to people that have been successful in it, the majority of what they say is positive.  This is because there is a bias in the positive direction when it comes to online business because many of the people in online business sell products specifically about how to make money online.   Therefore, there is an inherent conflict of interest in the things they tell you.  One topic not often considered is the topic of how it might be disadvantageous to get involved in online business.   There are definite disadvantages to online business and some of them are discussed below.
 
Firstly, there is the distraction factor.  Online business usually entails working from home and therefore you can find any distraction at home in order to take you away from working on your online business.  The television, the stovetop, the microwave, the bed and the backyard are all distractions that can result in people getting dropped from online business and losing their sense of concentration.   Concentration is key in online business and ultimately it is going to be what drives people forward to succeed.
 
However, the offline distractions are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to online business.  Because a lot of online business work is tedious and boring, it is easy to get distracted.   Have you ever heard people playing online games in the workplace because their job is boring at times?  Well, consider how that could easily be you if you are working at an online business.   You’d be sunk before you even started and that is not going to be good for anyone; least of all you.
 
In addition to distraction, there is also the competitive nature of online business.  If you want to get involved in a particular niche, chances are there are already going to be people there ahead of you.   And with the internet, larger people can crush smaller people a lot easier than big businesses can crush small ones.  Competitors think nothing of discrediting each other and ultimately everyone is only interested in selling their products and making money.   It is a cut-throat world on the internet and people that aren’t aware of this could get crushed so fast it would make their head spin.
 
So, as you can see, there are a number of disadvantages to online business.  This is not to say that it can not be lucrative; far from it in fact.   The internet gives you a great chance to reach people you would never have been able to reach otherwise and it is primarily for that reason that you need to be aware of all of the disadvantages inherent to online business; to understand both the good and the bad.

If you’re looking to go far in the world of business, few things will help you achive your goals like an MBA degree. There are thousands of universities where you can get said degree, but if your have the funds and the grades, you might want to think about going to one of the top schools in the country. Here, we’ll take a look at a few of these top business schools and see why any graduate of their program is going to find the road to success just a little less bumpy.

One of the top ranked business schools in the country, consistently, is Harvard. It’s not an easy school to get into by any means, but neither are any of the schools that constantly rank high in any of the surveys that count. They have a very stringent admission policy, and you won’t be getting in with a C average, no matter who your father is. With a degree from Harvard you can practically write your own ticket, and from anecdotal data, graduates seem to know this. Chief complaints from recruiters seem to intimate that Harvard MBA grads are cocky and have a sense of entitlement, which may be off-putting to some companies.

Located in New York City, Columbia Business School is another of the top business universities in the country. If Harvard’s admission policies are stringent, Columbia’s are nearly impossible, and they have one of the lowest admission rates in the United States among business schools. Among others, Warren Buffet obtained his MBA from Columbia, and went on to become the second richest man in the world. Your like success is not guaranteed.

The University of Chicago Graduate School of Business is also one of the most successful and prominent schools in the country. Unlike the other schools of its caliber, the school’s business program is somewhat flexible, allowing the student to create their own program within a broad set of requirements. This separates Chicago from Columbia and Harvard, in that these schools require that the student traverse a stringent path towards graduation, with little wiggle room. It has been the number one ranked business school by BusinessWeek for two years running.

To maximize your success in the business world, you need to have an MBA degree. With a higher percentage of students than ever going on to complete graduate school, the competition is too tough in today’s American to leave yourself at such a stunning disadvantage. While the above schools (and there are others) will give you a decided leg up, just about any MBA degree will help make your career course a little brighter, and raise the glass ceiling a little higher.

One of the reasons that people get into business online is because they believe that it is ultimately advantageous for them to do so.   The question really then becomes one as to whether or not these people are correct in their assertions.  Well, there are certainly some advantages to online businesses, so let’s take a look at a few of the big ones and see if they apply to you.
 
First and foremost, there is the comfort aspect of an online business.  The comfort aspect comes from you being able to work from your own home in your own chair, frequently in your pyjamas should you so choose to do so.   This means that you don’t have to go anywhere and can do everything and earn money from the comfort of your own home.  It is definitely something to consider and something that a lot of people have been successful with.   There are many people that claim that their online success has come from being helped by that comfort factor.
 
Secondly, there is a convenience factor to go along with that comfort factor.  In addition to being in your own house, you actually don’t have to leave it that often to get materials or other things.   All of the components of your business are virtual and therefore controlled directly from your computer.  Whereas customer service representatives or anyone else along those lines need to frequently leave their computers in order to do things for their customers, you as an online businessman will probably not be hampered by that same need.   Convenience is a big reason why some people are able to succeed in online business.
 
In addition to those two advantages, another one to consider would be cost.  When you are starting up a business for a specific type of venture offline, there are going to be massive start-up costs associated with it that will warrant you taking out a loan and ultimately taking a big financial risk.   However, if you are online you can start up your business for free.  If you want to be professional about your business online, you can even do that without spending more than $100 or so in start-up costs.   It is a very cost-effective way to do business and one that has helped a number of people that didn’t have the stomach for offline business ventures.
 
These are the three biggest advantages inherent to online business.  When it comes right down to it, all three of them can make a profound difference in a person’s life and therefore for that reason deserve to be given consideration.   There are downsides to online business as well and these downsides need to be carefully considered before you decide to embark on an online business venture instead of an offline one.

When studying business and trying to get one of your own off the ground, one of the most important lessons you can learn comes not from a textbook but from observation. Nothing shows the young entrepreneur what works and what doesn’t by studying the most successful businesses and what they have done to reach their lofty heights. That doesn’t mean you should copy their business model from stem to stern, but the examination of their practices may give you some good ideas about how to launch, maintain, and progress with your company through the life of your career.

The first company the wise entrepreneur should look at is Nike. The company is the largest sportswear provider in the world. It doesn’t matter what you’re trying to sell, though, be it sneakers or computers, there are lessons to be learned from Nike’s history and their continued success in the American marketplace. These lessons range from successful logo and motto (there are few among us who cannot identify the Nike swoosh or the motto “Just Do It”), to the determined drive that the company put forth in making sure they permeated the entire sports and fashion world. While Nike may be best known for sneakers, an enormous part of their profits and business model comes from sweatshirts, t-shirts, shorts, pants, hats, and jackets. Anything you can feasibly put the swoosh on, they’ve tried it. And through doing this, they’ve established themselves as the dominant force in the sportswear marketplace.

Apple, Inc, is not only a wonderful company to look at when one considers those companies that are successful and have made a strong name for themselves in the marketplace, but they are a great example of a company that mastered the art of the comeback. At the start of the eighties, it was basically Apple and IBM in a race for first place. Thousands of homes all over America had Apple personal computers on their desks. But just a few scant years later, the PC was king, Microsoft was everything, and Apple was forgotten. Though they maintained a place in the marketplace with mildly successful software applications, they didn’t break through again until the late nineties with a product called the iMac. This computer was revolutionary in virtually no way, other than its marketing campaign and its exterior design. With its translucent, colorful shell, the iMac went on to become a major success, and give Apple its first profitable days in five years. This was of course followed by the enormously successful iPod and iPhone, and today Apple is in a better market position than ever before.

Studying companies such as Apple and Nike (and thousands of others) is important for a variety of reasons. Not only can these companies relate terrific stories of how to succeed in today’s world, but they can be mightily inspirational for the up and coming entrepreneur. Books are plentifully available, and recommended for anyone wanting to compete in today’s America.

Nothing makes working from a home office more frustrating than not being able to find anything when you need it. While most business owners see themselves as being busy all the time, some of your time has to be spent in staying organized. If not daily, at least once a week you have to set aside time to put everything in its place. Most mechanics have a rule that there is a place for everything and everything needs to be in its place.

Many people have to find the time to do things over, but seldom have the time to do it right the first time. Usually because they can’t find a file, they will have to recreate it, which will take a lot more time than the five seconds it might have taken to put it in its right place to begin with. Being able to find the staples when your stapler runs out can save a precious few minutes you will spend going through the desk drawers, or worse going to the store to buy more, knowing you have a new box somewhere in the office.

The amount of office supplies you maintain in the home office will depend on the business as well as your budget. Regardless, don’t let your desk become a storage area for your supplies. Use an old dresser of bookcase on which to keep your office supplies, while keeping only a small stash on your desk or in the desk drawers. When you put supplies in a storage area, make sure the tags are visible for easy identification.

To keep your office running smooth, consider your desk the focal point of the office. All of the equipment that is frequently used needs to be within easy reach of your desk chair. If you have to get up every few minutes to answer the phone, grab a fax or check the printer, you are wasting several precious minutes everyday reaching for things. Files that you are currently working on should be in easy reach, whether in a file cabinet next to your desk or in an upright file holder on your desk or adjacent table.

Ideally, you can pull al the files you intend to conquer that day and have them ready to work on at any time during the day. Files you are not going to touch should be put in their proper place so they can be easily found when they are needed.

While it may seem easier, especially for caffeine addicts to have their coffee pot near their desk, it is a bad idea overall. First, too much coffee can be bad for the health as well as a contributing factor to extra bathroom breaks. However, the primary reason is the potential for a damaging coffee spill by drinking coffee at your desk. Everyone needs to take a break from their work periodically, and having the coffee pot in a separate room can force you to take a few minutes to clear your head.

While on the surface this may seem like a good idea. After all you will both share the same goal of making money for the family, you are used to each other’s little quirks and if the business is based out of your home, the cost of getting to work can be a great savings on the family budget. However, two people learning to live together as man and wife can be tough enough without spending all day, everyday together. Before joining hands and taking the plunge into the work at home pool, you will need to take a hard look at some of the potential obstacles.

The first item on the list of possible problems is the fact that you will be spending almost every waking hour with your spouse. While compatibility in a relationship can hold it together just fine, you must determine if that compatibility can withstand another eight hours a day. Making the change from business partner to husband and wife every day can be a tough transition. You will not be able to leave all of your work problems at the job and home problems at the door.

Make sure your goals for the company are in line with those of your spouse. By sitting down and discussing the goals of the business you may learn that your idea of what to expect from the business may be contrary to what your spouse is looking to achieve. You may want to eventually expand and franchise the business while your spouse wants to simply make enough money for the family to live comfortably. If your goals are not aligned, your business will probably fail and so might the marriage.

One of the most important aspects of entering into a business partnership with a spouse is having clearly defined roles in the business. Determine up front who will perform what function such as accounting or who will handle incoming orders and packing for shipping. Look at the strengths and plan individual roles that best complement the strengths of each partner. It is not a good thing for one partner to believe that while you are the boss at work, they are boss at home.

Resist the urge to let customers know your business partner is also your spouse. While this may seem unimportant, it can possibly cause a customer to hold back if they have a complaint against your partner. You also need to deal with business issues in a professional and constructive manner. You should never personally attack your partner for a business decision. Instead, address the situation and ways to fix it instead of addressing your partner.

Never mix work and family issues when on the job. You need to have a set schedule for work and the rest of time can be spent on family issues. Trying to mix the two will almost guarantee failing at both.

As the internet matures, so do the attitudes of people buying more and more online. Many companies exist that will ship merchandise to nearly any address specified, without being the same address as the buyer. This opens the door for selling opportunities for just about anyone with the initiative to do a little work online and keep track of their earnings.

One of the problems with having a retail website, is you become the buyer, seller and shipper all at once. When you offer merchandise for sale online you are opening the door to a global audience and will need to have an inventory of merchandise that you offer for sale. Constantly sending out apologetic emails informing buyers their choice is either discontinued or on back order will not win many repeat customers and will eventually leave you with nothing but a nice looking website.

You can, however get hooked up with wholesalers who maintain a large inventory of merchandise and allow you to sell it on your website. When an order comes in, it goes directly to the wholesaler who will pack it and ship it as well as handle all the finances. You make money based on the profit from the sale of the item. For example, you advertise a DVD player on your site for $59.99 plus tax plus shipping an handling. A customer buys it and submits the order. Once payment is received and the item has shipped. If you are getting that DVD player from the wholesaler for $40, you will be paid the difference of $19.

Many drop-shippers work with online auction sellers who simply list the merchandise on their auction site and the wholesaler takes over the shipping of the merchandise. For auction merchandise there is a risk to the seller in that if a listed item doesn’t sell, the seller is still responsible for any listing fees for putting them item on the auction.

Additionally, once an item sells, the seller is charged a final value fee, which is a percentage of the price at which the item sold. Consequently, the seller has to sell the item at a price higher than the unit cost, plus listing fees plus the final value fee before they make any money. Selling straight off your own website may not elicit as much business, but by the buyer paying shipping and handling charges, everything paid over the unit price is your to keep.

You can also choose to buy small inventories of merchandise you believe will be in high demand and list in the item’s description how many are available. Being honest with potential buyers on the front side that only so many are available may improve the chance of a sale, as well as diminish disappointment when you run out.

Once the kids to back to school and mom has a little more time on their hands they may begin to consider ways to bring in some extra cash. Spending time on the internet searching for work at home opportunities can often be rewarding, provided you understand that there are many scams being offered, many targeted for the stay at home parents looking to make money.

Working at home is an inviting concept and many opportunities exist that present a legitimate means of finding work. Unfortunately, there are plenty more where the only ones who make money are those offering the opportunity. Beware of headlines such as “Learn how to crack the code to internet riches,” and “I was a victim of 37 scams until I stumbled across this opportunity.”

When looking through offers for an internet business opportunity you need to ask yourself some serious questions about the offer. Many will carry a similar theme indicating they have found a way to make bundles of cash online and want to share the secret. You need to ask yourself, why? Here is perfect stranger, willing to share with me the secret they use to make millions of dollars online. Of course this secret is not going to be free, and sometimes it is available for a limited time price of just $19.95 and you will receive their complete information package of how you can make money.

Why aren’t they sharing this information with family and close friends so they can have an entire family of wealthy relatives? Why are they offering this opportunity to strangers? Possibly because their family and friends were suckered into their last get-rich-quick scheme.

One of the most prolific scams online is signing up to be a secret shopper. There are many companies that do use secret shoppers to visit stores and restaurants and turn in a review to the company informing them how a particular unit is performing. To claim this company can hook you up with many companies where you can get paid up to $40 an hour doing things you love to do and keep everything you bought, is nothing more than a scam.

Yes, these companies have the names and addresses of the companies that use secret shoppers and that is what you will be buying. Once you send in your payment, which varies from $19.95 to $39.95, you will receive a list of companies that use secret shoppers and instructions on how to fill out their online applications. If the company is looking for more shoppers they might contact you for a future interview. Most of these offers carry no guarantee that you will ever be chosen to be a secret shopper, let alone get paid $40 an hour for going to a restaurant.

One of the most common causes of failures of work at home businesses is the fact the person operating the business should never have started in the first place. Not everyone has the dedication and, more importantly, the discipline needed to run their own business out of their home and will quickly find that setting their own hours and being at home all day, everyday is the rosy picture painted by the stories about self-employment.

Running your own business involves someone to handle sales, production, orders, billing and all of the other departments necessary to keep a business operating. When you first start out in a home business, the people that do the work will most likely be you and it will not take long to realize just how many hours are required to get everything done.

Then there’s the promise that often comes with home business opportunities about having the time and money to spend on vacations and having more time with the family. While the business is in its infancy, that is just not going to happen. There will be time spent with the family, but usually it is while you remind them that you are working and need to be left alone. The biggest adjustment when you start a home-based business is having family and friends understand that while you are at home, you are still working.

If your new business can be done completely from home, it is better to have a separate office area in which to work. An area that is off limits to other family members during your business hours, during which you can concentrate on the task at hand without interruption. One suggestion made by successful home business operators is to get a watchdog to sit at the door of your office to keep interruptions to a minimum. While this tip is given in jest, it is important to make sure your home office is treated as though you were working for someone else.

With most work at home businesses, you can set your own hours and, if possible, it will make your home life easier if you establish work hours around your family’s schedule. If there are hours when no one else is home, that should be time in which the bulk of your work is done.

You have probably heard the stories about people working at home in their pajamas and while this opportunity may be available, it probably isn’t a good idea. You will need to establish your work schedule, just as you would if someone else was writing your checks and then work your schedule. Your clients or customers are paying you to deliver a product or service in a timely manner and you will have to present professionalism to yourself as well as potential customers. By being at work when you are scheduled, you can get the promised work done on time and gain new clients based on your reputation.