What Are Your Goals For Your Home Business?

Studies have shown that regardless of a person's background, their experience, age, or country of residence, all successful Home Business Entrepreneurs have one thing in common. They have all set specific goals and pursue them with laser-like vision to their completion.

Let's engage in a little exercise...
Suppose we were speaking person to person, and I asked you what your goals are for next year and insisted that you answer, what would be your reply? Would you be able to reply? Or would you find it difficult to give me a straight answer?

Let’s take this exercise a little further. How would you define the word 'goal'?

My dictionary defines a goal as the end toward which a person’s effort or his enthusiasm is directed. It is his purpose.

Seems straightforward, right? But the meaning is still hazy...
Using this meaning, your goal can be:
(1) Success in your home business” or
(2) Become top in your niche or
(3) Invest in your list

All these goals are excellent, but still unclear, obscure and difficult to measure. Unless your goals are well defined, firmly fixed, and measurable, they will always net you substandard results.

Okay, we are going to revise each of the three goals above, but this time we are going to use language that is a little clearer and more precise so that we will be able to trace our progress in relation to each one of our goals.

1. Success in our home business:
We will target ourselves to make $4,500 plus per month within the next sixty days. We will then expand our operations so that we are earning $15,000 per month for the next three months. By the end of the our first year our income should not be less than $155,000.

2. Become top in our niche:
Our goal is to be in the 20th position in all the major search engines by the end of January. By the end of May, we should be in the number 10 position, and be in the top 5 by August, so that by December we would have achieved our desired target of being in the number one position ...ready to reap huge rewards during the heaviest shopping period of the year!

3. Invest in our list:
Our targeted "list" goal is to explode our present list to 50,000 by June 30. Then we can start running our websites as a full time home business. We will set our minimum, targeted cash flow prediction from our websites, to at least $6,000 per month.

While each of these statistics quoted have been chosen strictly to demonstrate my point, I am sure you get the idea. The second set of targeted goals is much clearer and specific than the first. It is much easier to track each stage and measure the progress as you go through your business year.

Challenge yourself during this year. Go ahead and set your targets. Be specific, set realistic goals and single-mindedly head for your finish line! Let this year be your year of astounding home business success!

About the Author:
--------------------------------------------
Home Business Entrepreneur Janice Sharman has helped lots of ordinary people start profitable Home Businesses. For FREE information on how you can start a successful Home Business email: janice@profits4sure.com and join the thousands of successful
Home Business Entrepreneurs.

Why Should My Locally Based Business Have a Web Site?

By Jennifer McGroary

According to The Kelsey Group * "70% of U.S. households now use the Internet as an information source when shopping locally for products and services... Findings also suggest the Internet is poised to surpass newspapers as a local shopping information resource."

Think about the last time you were searching for information about a product or service, where did you look first? The Yellow Pages or the Internet? Today more consumers are going online to search for information rather than turning to the yellow pages.

In the past there wasn’t really a need for businesses with local client bases to have a web site. Now things are changing. Recently there has been a change in the way search engines return the results for searches. Some of the high-ranking search engines, such as Google and Yahoo, are now gearing towards local search results allowing more precise and accurate listings.

The result is that now, as a local business owner, there is a greater chance than ever to get your business listed at the top of the search engines for searches in your local area and for the keywords that you want. That means that the local customers that are looking for what you offer, will now find you! (That is, if you have a web site!)

In addition to the fact that your site will now be found easier on the search engines, there are plenty of additional reasons to have a web site for your local business.

Even if you own a small business (1-20 employees) and most or all of your customers or clients are based locally, you can still benefit. For example:

Get An Edge Over Your Competition

- Allow your customers/clients to learn more about you at a time that is convenient for them. Your expanded online business is open 24/7.

- Build relationships with them via e-mail newsletters, articles and interactive tools on your site.

Gain and Build Credibility

- List testimonials of satisfied clients or customers to enhance your credibility in the eyes of potential customers.

- Show reviews of your products or services.

- Show pictures of you, your location, staff, etc. – Show them that you are a real person that they can trust.

- Provide essential background information about you and your business.

- By posting articles that you have written, you help prove to your potential customer/client that you are qualified to help them solve their problem.

Save Money on Operational/Marketing Costs

- Expand your hours without the additional operational costs. Your site is open 24 hours a day/7 days a week. Customers/clients can learn about you and your business when it is convent for them.

- Free up time answering repeated information such as hours, directions, rates, FAQ’s, etc. List all that information on your site and you’ll save money on customer service questions.

- Save money on printing costs. Brochures about your business are expensive and are only good until you need to change something, such as hours or product information. Then you have to spend all that money over again to reprint! (Not to mention, re-mailing!) Your web site is a full color, updateable, expandable, limitless brochure. You have the flexibility and the availability to add or update it instantly; change content, colors, add a new picture, etc.

- Free e-mail marketing - Compare that to direct marketing mailings that can cost you a small fortune. (If your first mailing doesn’t get the response you were looking for, you have to spend all that money again to re-print and re-mail your direct marketing piece.) If your first e-mail newsletter that you send doesn’t get the response you like, just make some changes and resend! Absolutely no additional costs involved.

More Convenient For You

- Answer client’s questions at a time when it is convenient for you. No more interrupted phone calls with questions that are answered on your web site.

- Have you ever been in the middle of a consuming project or just came up with a great idea, but before you could write it down the phone rings? You answer it, spending the next 15-20 minutes answering questions that could have easily been answered on your web site. You hang up and realize, you can’t even remember the great idea that you came up with or have lost your momentum working on the project you started before the phone rang.

Ok, you’ve decided that having a web presence for your business will help increase your profits - What do you do now???

First decide what you want your site to do for you. In other words, what is your “Most Wanted Response”? What do you want your customers to do when they visit your site? Some examples are:

- Learn more about you/your business.

- Call you to set up an appointment.

- Make a purchase.

- Give you their e-mail address.

Second figure out what information you need to have on your site in order to achieve your “Most Wanted Response.” Examples –

- List information about you and/or your business.

- Show before and after pictures of your services.

- List articles related to your product or service that will help establish credibility with the potential customer/client.

- Post hours and directions to your location.

You can use any combination of these examples or you may have some of your own you wish to incorporate. Your site can be as little as a 1-2 page brochure site with a newsletter sign-up or as big as a multi-page online catalog listing all of your products or services.

Next you will need to have someone develop the site for you. There are two ways to accomplish this.

1. You can do it yourself or 2. Hire someone to do it for you.

If you feel confident enough to design the site yourself, go for it. There are great tutorials and information on how to learn to design and build a web site. Just do a search on the top search engines for Do-it-yourself web site tutorials.

Perhaps you would still like to build it yourself, but would like some personal guidance? The second option you could pursue is a Web Site Consulting Program in which a consultant will walk you through the steps to take to build a web site and upload it to the internet.

If you don’t have the time or the desire to learn how to do it yourself, you can hire a web designer to do it for you. What ever option you decide, don't wait too long to get started...

A potential customer/client is searching for a business/information using Google or Yahoo. Who’s site will they find? Yours or your competitors???

* The Kelsey Group is the leading provider of strategic research and analysis, data and competitive metrics on Yellow Pages, electronic directories, small-business advertising and local search. Beginning in 1986, the company has built a reputation as the leading analyst firm covering the directory publishing community, providing advisory (The Kelsey Report® and Interactive Local Media), publishing (Global Yellow Pages™ and Local Media Journal™) and consulting (more than 300 individual assignments).

Copyright 2005 Jennifer McGroary

Jennifer McGroary is a WAHM who has been operating her own home-based web design and consulting business since 1999. Jennifer helps local small businesses, family-owned, & home-based businesses maximize their profits without spending money on advertising. To learn more, visit http://www.cssites.com

Having Content Is Not Enough

By Hari Wibowo Platinum Quality Author

We have heard of such a phrase where 'content is king'. This applies to online marketing. The reasoning is that by offering useful information to the web community, google will rank it higher. Having lots of relevant content will in essence propel your website ranking and this will drive more visitors to your site.

I agree that having plenty of relevant content is crucial to drive visitors into a web site. However, to succeed in online marketing, we need the four 'P' and not just one P. Content is the product aspect of the four P. Let's picture this. You have added relevant contents to your site and you don't do anything else other than continually adding content.

That will work. Google spider will eventually visit you site and rank it higher if your content is relevant. But it won't work as well as having the other three P's in your marketing campaign. For example, instead of posting the content on your website alone, you can think of submitting to various article directories available. There are about hundreds of directories of this nature. This is the 'place' or distribution aspect of the four P's. Instead of one source, your potential customers can then find your content through hundreds of distribution channel around the web. When you are starting up, you have low visitor counts. Using this distribution method, you can attract up to hundreds times more visitors than if you had just posted your content on your site.

The best thing is that these article directories are free. All you need is your time. You can also pay a small fee to organization that will help you submit one article to hundreds of article directories. There are also article directories that specializes on certain field, which I prefer. Your visitor counts will be lower if you submit to these niche directories. However, these are a very interested visitors, rather than just casually-browsing visitors. Furthermore, general directories are having a lot more subcategories than niche directories and visitors will have a harder time finding your content.

My suggestion is to prioritize. There are hundreds of article directories, both general and niches. Your priority should be to submit to niche categories first and then to general article submissions when time permits. This way, you will get more interested visitors to start with. Once they are on you site, you will have an easier time selling your products or services.

Distribute your finance/investing content for free at our article submission service. Meanwhile you can list your site for free at our web directory service.

Myths and Misconceptions About Starting an Online Business

As we draw to the end of 2005 most of us take stock of how we have done over the year. Let me say thank you to all the people who have aided my success in 2005 and hope they will continue to do so in 2006. May 2006 be filled with successful opportuinities for all of us! Enjoy the article below...

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Janice Sharman

Myths and Misconceptions About Starting an Online Business
Copyright © 2005 MHG Consulting

Are you trying to start an online business? Are you overwhelmed with the many online business programs available or concerned that you'll lose money by investing in them? While many offers sound too good to be true, there are some very good ones available - but how can you be sure? Learning to read 'between the lines' will better prepare you for what's really involved.

Why do most people fail with their online business? In the first 3 months usually?

It is because they fail to plan and plan to fail.

You need to determine what you want to sell first, it doesn't even have to be your own product. Find some good resale right products that you can sell just like your own.

Expect to succeed! Put the time, effort and whatever money is needed and test your promotions. Always test to find out what works and what doesn't. That is another subject for another day.

Here are some common phrases used to promote online businesses and what they really mean:

#1 - Simple & Easy

Simple and easy depends on who's speaking. A doctor may tell you it's only a 'simple procedure' but that doesn't mean that you should attempt it yourself.

Many online businesses ARE simple to operate. If you understand how it works you will be amaze^d at the simplicity - but getting to that point will require time and experience. You may just need to try a few to get a 'feel' for the business before deciding which one is easiest for you.

Those who have learned from experience can look back and see how simple it COULD have been if they'd known what to do all along. Finding a trustworthy guide can be a great assistance to your business efforts.

#2 - Anyone Can Do This

Sorry - starting a business of any kind is stressful and requires a learning curve. If you are attempting an online business out of desperation or the belief you will make easy money you will face enormous obstacles. On the other hand, if you are truly seeking a business you can learn, work at and make a living from, you will find something online that fits your needs.

Studies of successful business people concur that those who make it have common qualities of persistence, patience and desire. These qualities are essential when trying to start an online business - do you have them?

#3 - Turnkey

The term 'turnkey' use to mean that a business was set up and ready to go. You will find the term in business classifieds where the new owner can just step in and start running the business. Unfortunately some marketers use the term to suggest a business is fully automated - that there is no work involved.

There is always work involved. If the business really is turnkey than you will begin work right away because it has already been set to go. If you want an automated business you will have to do the work to make it automated. Either way, nobod^y is going to give you an automated, turnkey business that makes money - they had to do the work, so why would they share it?

#4 - It Won't Cost Anything

You absolutely CAN set up an online business with no money, but be prepared that a combination of no money and lack of experience will stifle your efforts immensely.

Most individuals who start or run a business with no money have learned how to make use of the best FREE techniques through experience. They have paid their dues by trying businesses that cost money. They have spent time in and around their industry or market and they've been able to see where they can cut costs.

If you are prepared to spend a LOT of time researching before starting your business you may be one of the few who does it right the first time. For most people though, expect to pay something towards your online business education before seeing results - you just can't buy experience.

Online business obviously has its share of work involved, but finding the right one has enormous payoffs many people are willing to sacrifice time and money to achieve. Running your own business is satisfying and can give you more time to do what you really want to do in life.

Creating a successful online business is within the grasp of nearly everyone who is prepared to stick to it. Face the task of starting your business with realistic expectations while continuing to dream big and you may just surprise yourself!

Dan Farrell is the owner of "Newbie's Guide To Online Fortunes" with 100's of niche business ideas and essential startup business tools. http://www.localbusinesstools.com/newbie

Working at Home Isn't The Day at the Beach Office Mates Imagine

By JARED SANDBERG

John Higgins's workday is filled with constant interruptions. That's because the packaging-company executive usually works from a home office, where his "co-workers" include his wife, Kelly, his four-year-old son, Jack, and his five-month-old black Labrador, Plato.

One recent morning, the pup got hold of a roll of toilet paper and minced it into many, many pieces. Mr. Higgins, who is his own workplace janitorial service, had to clean up the mess.

But that wasn't the last diversion during our 40-minute phone conversation. Mr. Higgins was interrupted a total of four times if you count the time he heard his son's voice coming closer and feared the boy would barge in, as he usually does, with his latest action figure. "Uh-oh, here we go," said Mr. Higgins in a hushed tone. "Here he comes." (False alarm: The boy went into the garage.)

His wife did come in several times, though, first to chat, then to ask who was on the phone, and then again because Mr. Higgins was supposed to be watching Plato, who had subsequently shredded a bag of sheet moss. Ms. Higgins was apparently as unhappy about her husband not supervising the dog as she was the day before when he had to stop stringing Christmas lights because a client phoned.

"My wife thinks I'm retired," Mr. Higgins, 44 years old, complained.

Many people seem to think that jobs that can be done at home aren't real jobs. Never mind that home-office dwellers are their own cafeteria staff, shipping-and-receiving clerks and janitors. They never get credit for cutting an employer's costs, or saving commuting time to do more work. Instead, managers believe that if they aren't there to witness someone working, it can't be happening. They envision homebound workers getting away with something, like lounging in their bathrobes and watching "General Hospital."

It's as if they believe that the people working under their noses don't waste a tremendous amount of time talking about last night's college basketball game, making bids on eBay, or reading only like-minded blogs while on company time. The misconceptions are yet another indication that vacuous symbols of productivity, rather than productivity itself, are all that really count.

But the greater irony for home-office workers is that their homebound colleagues don't always welcome them either. Would Ms. Higgins, for example, prefer to have her husband working at home or the office?

"Definitely not here," she says, laughing.

Chris Goldschmidt's marketing-consultant job has been so devalued since working at home that he gets new responsibilities that aren't in his job description. His neighbor, for example, once figured that because he was home, he could take her to the airport. Even worse, the whole time he was driving her, "She'd be on the phone to other people," he says.

His family doesn't show much more respect. "Just now my mother called wanting to know if we were going to draw names for Christmas presents," he says, noting that she would never call him at a corporate office with that kind of question. His wife's cousin even hinted to her how strange it is that her husband works from home. "If you work out of the house," says Mr. Goldschmidt, "I won't say it's morally suspect, but it's darn near close."

Conditions at home can be more dungeon than castle, and in contrast to turf wars at the office, you can't escape the enemy at night. Contract manager Bill Hall started working from home in mid-August, setting up shop in his basement, which has two small casement windows stingy with light. His son, a high-school senior, gets frustrated that he can't blast his music or the enemies in his videogames the way he used to. And while Mr. Hall squeezes in tasks like doing the laundry, loading the dishwasher and reorganizing the refrigerator, that 110% effort isn't always appreciated.

"The kitchen has been my area for so long that I don't want him playing around up there," says his wife, Patty Feher. She cites some of the same afflictions the rest of us suffer working at an office building: encroachments on privacy and lunch theft. "There's a leftover you're planning on having for lunch, and he's already had it," she says.

And even though pets often make better colleagues than humans, no boss walks all over you more than a cat. Tom Seaton, chief creative officer at the interactive media company Bandalong Entertainment, had his laptop completely messed up recently when his cat, Jesse, hit buttons indiscriminately as she slept on it.

Because his day starts at 7 a.m. and continues until the wee hours, Mr. Seaton also often finds himself stuck in a rut at home, forgoing human contact and good hygiene. "For me to get out of my boxers by noon is a good thing," he says.

Meanwhile, his two mutts, Hannah and Max, variously stare at him, demand a little belly rubbing, or engage, just like your office colleagues, in belly-aching. "You have to type with one hand and pay attention while they're whining," he says.

CUBICLE CULTURE

Temptations abound when working from home

Survey finds that one-quarter of workers spend less than one hour on office work


Nearly one-third of employees work from home on occasion, but some of them do very little work, according to a recent survey.

Employers and employees are taking advantage of improvements in workplace technology, which allows workers the freedom to work from virtually anywhere, including their homes, said Rosemary Haefner, vice-president of human resources at CareerBuilder.com. While working from home may improve work/life balance, it can also create a challenge to stay motivated.

The CareerBuilder.com survey, Out of the Office 2005, found nearly one-third of workers say they work from home on occasion. But 25 per cent admit they spend less than one hour on their office work when working from home. More than half spend less than three hours and only 14 per cent put in a full eight hours.

There are many factors contributing to the work-from-home productivity gap. Twenty-two per cent of those surveyed say their children grab most of their attention while working from home.

Personal calls, surfing the Internet, watching television, running errands, doing housework or sleeping are other distractions that respondents reported kept them from working.

Haefner recommends the following tips to make working from home productive:

Keep to the same schedule
Start your day as if you were going into the office. Get up at the same time, change out of your pyjamas, and stick to your normal morning routine. Lounging around in bed will open the door to procrastination.

Location, location, location
Don't tempt yourself by working in front of the TV or near the radio or in front of the refrigerator. Pick a location that is quiet and structured, where you can complete your projects.

Plan out your day
Create a list of specific goals for the day and cross them off as you complete them. This will assure that what you wanted to accomplish actually gets done.

Give yourself a lunch hour
Designate a certain time for personal calls, errands, housework, exercise and any other non-office related activities. Consider setting a timer to let you know when it is time to return to your work.

Take a break
Taking some time to play with your children, eat a snack or walk the dog will not sink the ship. Just keep the breaks to a minimum.

hrreporter.com,
December 19, 2005

Your Home Business: Turning Pennies into Dollars

Copyright © 2003, Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy
http://www.pluginprofitsite.com/main-4993

Henry Ford taught us that to simplify the manufacture of
automobiles, that the best way to do so was to install the
assembly line. That one change revolutionized the auto
manufacturing industry permitting the industry to build cars at
a cost whereas the average person could afford to buy one.

The lesson we should take from this is that having the ability
to improve the process of getting the job quicker and cheaper,
without compromising the quality of the job being done, will
help catapult the person who simplified the process to the top
of his/her field.

Pennies saved in your home business can turn into dollars at the
end of the day, and dollars can quickly multiply into hundreds
or thousands of dollars over time.

Doubt me if you will, but let me ask you a question. Do you
think a saving of two fifths of a penny could make any real
difference in the profit margin of a home business? Of course
the right answer is "it depends on how many transactions are
done in a year, utilizing the savings of the two fifths of one
penny."

You only have to think back a couple of decades to really
appreciate this question. Do you remember the nut that lived and
died in a Las Vegas hotel room? You know the one who was a
billionaire, and was so worried about germs that he died of
starvation? If you guessed Howard Hughes (1905-76), pat yourself
on the back.

Now Howard did not make all of his money on his two fifths of
one penny. He did however make a ton of money from his two
fifths of one penny. It seems Howard owned a can manufacturing
company. And one day, Howard's team figured out how they could
make one minor change in the design of their food can to reduce
the amount of tin necessary to make a single can.

As the story goes --- if my memory serves me correctly --- the
reduction in tin usage equaled a saving of two fifths of one
penny per can. Howard --- being the really smart businessman
that he was --- decided that he would not be so greedy as to
keep all of the savings for himself. What Mr. Hughes did do was
to keep half of the savings for himself, and give the other half
to his customers. The incredible thing about Mr. Hughes decision
is that by saving his customers an extra one fifths of one cent
per can, he managed to take more market share away from his
competition --- netting his company an additional and
substantial portion of the total market share in the canning
industry.

Let us return our thoughts to your home business. Have you ever
gotten the feeling of excitement --- when you read something or
thought of something --- that you could not wait to implement
this new idea? This could be one of those moments...

In every home business, there are certain processes that we do
over and again. Sometimes it may be possible to trim the time or
expense of a process which in turn will add pennies or dollars
to your bottom line. If it is a process that you do hundreds or
thousands of times per month, then your savings will multiply
into hundreds or thousands of dollars in monthly savings.

Imagine what running a home business was like BEFORE the
computer...

Before the personal computer, we had to hand type all letters
and invoices. Now, we can setup a letter or invoice that we send
out quite often, and we can save it in our word processor so
that when we need to use it again, we can print it quickly and
efficiently. There is no longer a need to type the document
again from scratch.

The computer has simplified our business communications and has
provided us the opportunity to reduce our costs of doing
business.

Think about all of the other processes that the computer has
enabled us to do for far less expense than what we could in the
past.

In this case, the computer is a tool that permits us to save
time and money.

So, my challenge to you is to begin examining the processes in
your own home business and look for ways in which you can save
yourself time and money. It is far better for you to contemplate
on this matter than it is for me to do so for you. Simply put,
you know your business better than anyone on the planet does.
Therefore, you are in a better position than anyone to find
those extra dollars that will decrease your costs and increase
your profits.

The extra pennies and dollars you could extract from your
business could spell the difference between success and failure
for your home business enterprise.

Resource Box:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy can help you launch your very own
money making website today that's 100% ready to take orders and
pull in massive profits for you right now ... guaranteed! Visit:
http://www.pluginprofitsite.com/main-4993
-----------------------------------------------------------------

King Kong Size Link Building Tips

By Mark Walters Platinum Quality Author

After recent changes in search engines ranking mechanisms, relevant link building has become one of the most important ways of Search Engine Optimization. Now it is almost as important as having a web site loaded with good content.

Why do you need link building?

It's simple: the more relevant links to your website the more important your site appears to search engines and that should lead to better your page ranking. Search engine spiders are restlessly traveling through the Internet, constantly evaluating existing web pages - the keywords they use and the number of relevant links to your website. Because now relevant links are deemed more important than keyword density, some one way and relevant link building strategy is necessary if you hope to get to the top 10 or at least top 100 of web pages in your category.

While you have to create your own link building strategy that will fit into your situation, there are a few general tips. If you follow them, you will avoid many common link building mistakes and you can hope for greatly improving your website ratings in just a few weeks.

1. Use short URLs

When you submit your link to other sites that have a theme relevant to yours, make sure that offer a short URL. You can speed up the link building process by almost 50% if only you would use shorter URLs. Most webmasters will agree on adding a axbxcxex.com link, but won't accept a link that will look like axbxcxexg.com/articles/general/index.php/id=brnd. Even if your link building strategy relies on submitting deep links, they need to be as short as possible.

2. Be careful with redirect links

No site owner likes redirects. If you want to make your link building easy and fast, you should avoid them every time it is possible. They are often used to avoid long URLs, but it's often a deadly mistake. Instead of redirects, you may consider simplifying your website map and making the URLs shorter. While it may be easier for your web site builder to have long addresses, every sophisticated link building strategy calls for making them as short as possible.

3. Keep the same URL over time

Don't change your URL unless you have really good reason to do that. If you do change, you will have to do all that link building again from the beginning. Even if you redirect from your old web address to the new one, you have to consider the possibility that many webmasters delete redirect links from their websites. As a result, you can expect that you will lose about 25% links just because you've changed your website URL.

Just what are the searching engines looking for in the way of relevant links? No one knows for sure, but common sense tells us that links from a gardening site to a dirt bike site are not complementary.

Put yourself in the shoes of someone searching for gardening information on the internet. They come to your gardening site and feel they've found helpful information. Oh look, they think, there's a link there by pansy graphic. I'll just click that and get more good information. Yeow, what does a girl in a bikini sitting on a dirt bike have to do with gardening? … And there goes your credibility with your viewer and the search engines.

It appears that the value of links is swinging to a reasonable number if good quality links rather than a thundering heard of indiscriminant links from anywhere.

Mark Walters offers everything you need to build a powerful linking strategy at http://www.LinkingUniverse.com

Working at Home

I used to work for a corporation. I refer to it as The Dark Age.

Most of the time I'd stare out the window, praying for earthquakes, floods, meteors. In a building across the street sat another window gazer. Sometimes we'd catch eyes and peer at each other till the pain grew too rich and we both drew the shades.

I should have turned back on the first day of work, when my boss led me to a filing cabinet and said, "Welcome aboard, Jason. Your job is to figure out what the hell happened here."

But I kept the job on account of my loathing for interviews. Something happens to your sphincter when you're forced to reassess your market value.

Why did you leave your last job? What can you bring to our company? Who do you think you are?

My interviews were especially trying because they'd say things like, "I see you've been doodling Ziggy here on your application ..."

So I stared out the window knowing that someday, before the fluorescent lighting did me in, I would work at home. Not the "working at home" that managers do when they take the day off, but something full-time that brought me delight. Complaining perhaps.

Then one day I was summoned by Ann Gitch, whose last name conveniently rhymed with her true nature, and she asked why I had missed so many meetings. I had her imagine how much work we could get done if we weren't always sitting around talking about how much work we could get done, and she asked how I would like my final paycheck.

That day a dream was born.

People fantasize about working at home, free from The Man, but it's really uphill and snowing both ways. When you have computer issues, for instance, you don't call IT and go outside to play; you have to fix it ... yourself. A computer crash is when you finally throw the damn system out the window.

You have to buy your own benefits. In case that's not enough, you have to BUY YOUR OWN BENEFITS. My new medical plan is not to bleed for any reason for the rest of my life.

But the worst part about working at home is that people -- and by this I mean my wife -- think you're at home when you're really at work. The two can look alike. In my field, closing your eyes to consider which is funnier, "pee" or "urine," is a legitimate business need. When it looks like I'm nodding off altogether, I'm on the brink of genius.

Unfortunately, my wife doesn't see it that way. When she finds my eyes closed, she figures that it's time for me to take out the trash. If I protest, she uses those five words that will haunt me through the afterlife: "It'll only be a minute." Everything takes only a minute. That's why I have no minutes left.

Here is what this column would look like had I written it in real-time:

I used to work for a corporation --

Hang on. My wife needs me. It'll only be a minute.

Most of the time I'd stare out the window --

I don't know, Love. I'm writing.

I should have turned back on the first day --

They're clean! You washed 'em this morning...

I've stopped shushing my wife, finding that "yes" satisfies 89% of all questions. Of course, my wife isn't dumb. She waits for me to get extra-busy and then asks for jewelry and vacations. One day I agreed to immigrate her mother to the U.S. So it goes.

Another pitfall to working at home is that no matter which way you turn, you're always ten feet from the kitchen. If you listen closely, you can actually hear it calling: Jaaason... Cream FILLing, Jason... This presents a pickle for someone with an active lifestyle like keyboarding. Mmm. Pickles.

It's true that people who work at home can wake up whenever they want. Alarm clocks are meaningless. But then so are holidays, weekends, overtime, and did I mention BENEFITS? You work 60 hours a week to make 40 hours' pay, and your mom still asks you when you're going to get a job.

My hygiene has suffered as well. I haven't shaved in days, and I've got everlasting bedhead from the ear muffs I wear to block out my wife. I spend entire days working in swim trucks, not because I intend to swim but because the elastic grows with my waist. I have also come to talk about myself in the third person ... while alone!

Getting the mail is the highlight of my day, mostly because the mailbox is outside. I read the junk mail right there on the sidewalk, half-expecting to find my own picture: Have you seen me? I'm the man who thought he wanted to work at home.

But the thing that really gets me is --

What, honey? I can't hear you. I'm wearing the ear muffs. NOW?

Sorry. I'll be right back. It'll only be a minute.

© Copyright 2005 by BrocktonMass.com.

Just a Pinch of Reality... Please

By Theresa Cahill

In all honesty, haven't we all, in our heart of hearts, wished that that "magic wand" would somehow drop into our laps and make us instantly famous, instantly successful, instantly rich... especially online?

Come on, admit it, it sure would be nice! :)

However... While we're waiting for that to happen, let's serve up a tiny dose of reality.

Pure and simple, your success or failure online is going to hinge upon your ability to read and follow through on what you read.

Everywhere you go, you are required to read something. Be it as simple as the "DON'T WALK" - "WALK" sign to something as complex as internet marketing. Yet are you reading ALL you need to be reading?

Here's a prime example:

You're surfing along and see something intriguing online. The headline promises you great things. You skim, stopping at the bullets and highlighted areas. You reach the bottom. In that instant, you do one of the following:

1. Pause, say "naw," and keep moving.

2. Impulsively buy. Yep, out comes the wallet, plunk goes your money, bam - you're done. In other words, you blindly spend and hope for the best.

3. You explore the site a little, but truly do not fully understand what's being offered. Yet you go ahead and pay for it anyway.

4. You explore the site as thoroughly as possible. You get more than a "feel" for the product or service. You know how it works. You find and understand the guarantee. You look for the site contact information and signs that the purchasing method is a solid, reliable, secure system. You gain a solid understanding of what you are about to buy. Feeling confident, you go ahead and make your purchase.

Now, Method 1 requires no explanation. Didn't need it, didn't want it, won't buy it - move on.

However, if we are honest with ourselves, a majority of us could (and just might) admit to being guilty of Method 2. Yes, at some site, somewhere, when you arrived, you formed your own opinion as to what was there, gained a vague, muddy understanding of what was provided - yet went ahead and paid for it anyway! (I guess we count on those confirmations to help "set us on the right course?")

Then there's the conscious act of using Method No. 3. Choosing this method means:

a. You are truly rushed but purchase anyway. Maybe someone told you about it, or you believe you understand it enough already. Not spending too much time, you buy.

b. You do have the time to read, but don't make good use of it. Sometimes we see ourselves as a bit busier than we truly are. If this is the case, slow down - especially if you are about to part with your cold hard cash or charge up that credit card.

Method 3 is almost more dangerous than Method 1 or 2. By it's very act, it also implies that you believe you DO know what you are buying - when in reality you truly don't have enough information to be making an informed decision.

At the very least, you would have to agree that both Methods 2 and 3 are chancey at best - both totally unreliable ways to spend money, anywhere.

Method 4 is, of course, the obvious approach you need when purchasing programs and services, online or off. Using this method, you understand as completely as possible what you are spending your money on, what the company provides, what guarantees, if any, you receive, etc.

And, Number 4 comes in handy if you need to contact customer support. Potential back and forth emails to and from the company debating what was offered, promised, etc., - virtually eliminated! Because you made an informed decision, your emails can get right down to discussing your own issues, without preamble.

Without relying on our ability to read first and act later, we all put our wallets at risk each time we log on. Find the time to read first! Bookmark and return, make yourself a sticky note "I put this here to read." TAKE, MAKE or FIND the time to read first!

Commerce is a wonderful thing! But, make your most important task online that of reading, then acting. You'll be a whole lot happier, and your bank account that much fuller!

© Theresa Cahill - All Rights Reserved. Feel free to distribute this article. Please keep it intact and with the resource box included below.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Theresa Cahill, a two decade veteran of marketing, is the owner of http://www.mywizardads.com and invites you to take a look at the services of MWA and download fr.ee helpful information and more at http://www.mywizardads.com/sitemap.html

Doing What Comes Naturally in your Home Business

Copyright © 2005 Ron LeBlanc

No, this is not going to be a racy article, but it is a valid comparison of the topic at hand. For those who are native English speakers, that phrase in my title usually has to do with reproduction. That’s a topic I want to discuss with you in your home business.

When I got started thinking about my home business, I came from a technical background. I got to thinking about all the complex ways I would leverage my skills and setup a marketing system for my home business that would be ….well in my opinion, genius.

I got to figuring out all of how I was going to put this system together, and then it dawned on me as I was listening to a trainer in the home business area. This trainer was making the point that when attracting people to your home business, they have to see at least two things right from the beginning: The first is abbreviated like a radio station – WIIFM – or What’s in it for Me?

The second thing people want to see is that they can do it too! It hit me at that point that if I was working on some great marketing system that took a lot of the skills I have been blessed with, then it would require someone with at least as much technical skill as me to reproduce what I had done.

That’s why I picked the title. Reproduction is vital to many home businesses that are leveraged or networked. Whatever system you use for your home business, if you want others to join in and have success, then they have to be able to reproduce what you have done.

Whatever system you have for marketing your business opportunity has to be reproducible. Not only is it not a good idea to use some very complex technical system, it is also a bad idea to invest some huge amount of money into marketing, and then expect to attract people into your home business that want to be able to do it with little money.

If you haven’t yet joined a home business opportunity, be aware of the process you go through when you learn about one and decide if it is for you. Look for one that has a very reproducible system for growing your home business. If you can find that, then you have more of a mass appeal to many people from all walks of life and economic statuses.

No matter how good a product is, or how great a compensation plan offered, make sure every part of this home business opportunity is reproducible by the type of people you are looking to as your market. From marketing to enrolling to training – the best system is easy to use, and won’t scare people away or discourage them. Keep looking, there are many reproducible businesses out there!

Ron LeBlanc, PE spent 20+ years in science and engineering when woke up to his true potential and began working from home. He lives in Boulder, CO and works out of his home. He enjoys helping other people learn to do home based businesses. Get his tip-filled newsletter and some special offers at http://www.be-do-have.com

Increase Your Sales By 25% By Implementing One Small Change

By Bill Platt

How much would you be willing to pay to learn how to implement a guaranteed 25% increase in your online sales? Given the current sales situation on your website, how much would that 25% increase in sales add to your bottom line? $250 per month? $500? $25,000?

The good news is that I am not going to charge you for this information. I am just going to give it to you.

Granted, it may require some work on your part to implement this little jewel, but you already spend untold hours searching for new business, right? While implementing this suggestion might require a few hours work on your part, it will continue to pay its dividends through the long-term future.

If instead of building your own site, you employ a web designer to do your HTML work for you, this suggestion will cost you a few dollars to get the additional website work done.

Let me reiterate. This step will result in a 25% increase in your sales. As far as I am concerned, your web designer should do as you desire him/her to do, or he/she should be replaced with someone who will. If I am paying someone to do a certain type of work for me, then they should do it as I require it to be done.

As you begin to undertake this task, you may discover that you may need to find another web designer. Even when you are paying money for web design work, many of you will find your web designer fighting with you as to whether this step is important to your success or not.

Let's put this into perspective. Your web designer knows how to build websites. Knowing how to build websites does not necessarily lead to knowing how to market a website or how to sell products.

You will shortly understand why web designers fight this suggestion with assertions that it will not make a difference for your online sales. No matter how strongly they may argue their point of view, 25% is a big chunk of business to give up to let them have their way.

Nearly every web designer I have ever talked to uses software to build the websites they build. If you are building your own website, you likely use software as well.

There are many packages these folks use including: FrontPage, Dream Weaver, Home Page or dozens of other variations of this software.

While the software may be efficient for building What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) web pages, quickly and easily, these software packages have many disadvantages as well.

One disadvantage is that the software creates dirty HTML, which in effect is the act of placing too many HTML tags in the code. Often times, dirty HTML is best understood by looking at the code with an educated eye and seeing sets of HTML tags where they are unnecessary.

Though this is ugly for editing and can take additional seconds for your viewer to download, that is not the real source of the problem we seek to repair. But, do remember this point as we move on. Dirty HTML is "ugly for editing."

It is now time for some Bill Gates' bashing.

Back in 1996, Bill Gates finally pulled his head out of the sand and realized the future for the software market was on the Internet. In a mad dash to catch up, Microsoft created Internet Explorer to compete with Netscape Navigator. Until this point, Netscape dominated the Internet browser market.

As part of Microsoft's strategy for gaining market share, they soon began to offer their browser for free to compete with Netscape's $25.00 price tag. And secondly, but most dastardly, Microsoft began to create their own set of HTML codes. They wanted to be sure their browser could do things that the other browsers could not, and they wanted to make sure that web pages would not be completely compatible among the different browsers.

The idea was that if people needed Internet Explorer to see certain web pages, then surfers would decide to give up their Netscape browsers for the Internet Explorer browser.

Today, Netscape exists as the red-headed step child subsidiary of AOL. Netscape exists only as a bargaining chip in AOL's pocket when negotiating deals with rival Microsoft.

So, here we come to the point of this story. Prior to 1996, Netscape was loved the world over. Today, Microsoft's Internet Explorer basically owns the market and has done so since about 1998.

Folks who have come to the web since 1998 generally use Microsoft's Internet Explorer as their browser of choice. Folks who have been on the web since before 1996 generally stay with Netscape browsers.

Remember how Microsoft began to create their own set of HTML codes that would not be easily compatible with other browsers? Ah, we are to the meat of this deal.

Web designers and their web page creating software focuses on being compatible the dominant browser in the marketplace. What this means is that a great many web pages cannot be read or seen in Netscape browsers.

In a recent month, one of my domains had 6604 page views. Only 5285 of those page views were seen by Internet Explorer users. The remaining 20% were seen through another browser!

No matter the domain visited or the month viewed, these numbers seem to hold up to the test of time.

If your website is not viewable in non Internet Explorer browsers, then 20% of your current traffic may not be able to view your site and must move on to another site to find what they are seeking. They were at your site --- you have already successfully attracted their attention --- but they could only see a blank page when they arrived.

It is like taking a $100 bill and breaking it into twenties and then flushing one of your twenties straight down the toilet! Getting that $20 bill back is the same as increasing your income by 25%.

So how can we fix this quickly and easily? I have fixed many such pages in times past and in nearly every case, the problem can be quickly identified in the table HTML code. Yes, Microsoft does in essence use the exact same HTML as does Netscape, with a few extras thrown in.

Where Internet Explorer differs from Netscape is actually pretty clever. Netscape browsers require that all tables are presented with accurate opening and closing HTML table element brackets. Internet Explorer differs from Netscape by not requiring perfection in the HTML code. Leave off a closing table bracket and Internet Explorer will show the table perfectly. Leave off the closing table bracket in Netscape and Netscape will deliver a blank page!

Nearly every web designer on the planet utilizes table elements in their design. Remember the point about Dirty HTML? Now you know why web designers get very frustrated when you tell them that your web page must be cross-browser compatible. If a web designer wants my money, he had better be prepared to give me a cross-browser compatible web page so I do not have to lose access to 20% of my market because of incompatibility issues.

Do yourself a favor. Get a copy of a Netscape browser and make certain that your website presents its contents to Netscape users. If you cannot see your website in the Netscape browser, the time has come to fix your website so that it will.

If you do not believe that the 20% of us who use Netscape browsers are worth much to your bottom line, I have a suggestion. Fix you website because I asked you to and then start sending me the $20 bills that you have been flushing down the toilet.

Copyright Bill Platt - All Rights Reserved

Bill Platt is the owner of http://www.LinksAndTraffic.com

* When you are tired of the struggle of the link building process, it might be time to consider our "Links And Traffic" services.

* When you are ready to employ more Natural Linking Strategies in increasing your link popularity, "Links And Traffic" can help.

* When you are ready for your links to actually generate click-through traffic, we are here.

This is not a link rental system or a reciprocal linking scam. We Guarantee our results.

Eight Paths to Homebased Business Success

Building your business empire from home? These management tips will keep you on top of your game.

By Sarah Pierce

Leaving corporate America to run a homebased business is the ideal situation for many people: There's no boss breathing down your neck, no boring meetings to attend and no 45-minute drives in rush hour traffic. Working from home can be a rewarding experience, but it's easy to forget the basic rules of running a successful business when it's 10 hours of just you, your computer and the distractions of home.

To help you stay on track, we've contacted homebased business expert Rosalind Resnick, CEO of Axxess Business Centers Inc., a New York small-business consulting firm. Resnick is a former business journalist who has regularly contributed her expertise to Entrepreneur.com. She's put together eight helpful tips for keeping your homebased business running smoothly.

Structure your day. The problem a lot of homebased business owners have is that they no longer have a boss standing over them making sure they get their work done, or a tangible start and end of each workday. It's easy to let time slip by as you head to the refrigerator, catch a few minutes of TV, or dive into a project first thing in the morning, neglecting the other tasks you need to perform to keep your business running smoothly.
Create a structure that mimics what you had in the workplace. Structure your day so you have a start and finish time, with certain hours set aside for specific activities. A general rule is to spend the first hour of the day prospecting for new clients. Send your emails, write your letters and make your phone calls first thing so you don't forget to do it later.

Use Outlook or some sort of contact management software to serve as a visual reminder of what you need to accomplish that day. Live and die by your to-do-list. Try to have everything crossed off by the end of the day. Even my own children know that if they want me to do something for them during working hours, they have to put it on my to-do-list or it will never get done.

Stay connected. Carry an organizer wherever you go. If you're still using a day planner or similar dinosaur, consider upgrading to a Blackberry or other high-tech gadget. You don't need to go crazy and spend a lot of money, but invest wisely in something that will hold everything you need and allow you to instantly access it on the go. Another good idea is to not keep all of your information in one location, such as the hard drive of your home computer. Keep your data hosted on a virtual exchange server so you can access it anywhere that has an Internet connection. A big misconception about homebased business owners is that they stay at home all day, everyday. And as you know, that's just not always true.
Organize your family time. Once your professional life