How To Know It’s A Scam
January 21, 2008
Copyright © Christopher Baxter
http://www.Stunning-Options.com
Hi there,
There are so many opportunities on the internet offering to set people up in their own home based internet business that it can be difficult to separate the real, legitimate opportunities from the ones that only want your money. Knowing what to look for hidden within the offers can mean the difference between finding a legitimate business to operate and ending up helping someone else make money while losing your own.
With most fraudulent offers in internet business there are four red flags that need to be thoroughly investigated before signing up to work for the website. Understand that not all of the companies that make these claims are out to take your money, but these are four things that many… less than honest… companies have in common:
1. Large upfront investment
2. The chance to make big money with little work
3. Do not clearly state what you will be selling
4. Lack of available contact information
While it is not uncommon for businesses to want a fee to become a representative for their business, you have to consider the amount demanded from you before you can start selling their product or service. You should also have a clear picture of what you will get in return for your investment. It is common for the term ‘training’ to be listed, but many times the training consists of links to other sites where you are expected to learn about the company’s business model.
The training may also focus on how to recruit others into the business, offering to pay a “bounty” for bringing in new people. A company that focuses on bringing in more people instead of selling the product may be on the border of being illegal.
Anyone who has ever been involved in a business knows it takes work. One of the most common pitches is the promise of a big payday without having to work more than an hour or two a day… or even a week. There is no such thing as a free lunch and those who try to convince you otherwise are not being totally honest. That disclaimer about income may not be representative of the potential earnings, should beg the question about why even bother to list it. Just remember that an ‘earnings disclaimer’ mentioning that one may, or may not make money using the system and that the system is dependent on the amount of work put into the business is different and may still be a legitimate business.
If you have been reading an online based business opportunity for several minutes and have no idea about the product or service you are being asked to sell, it could be an indication of a scam. Many keep it a secret until you have spent your money and find out there is no way you can sell this to others with a clear conscience. Know what the product is, and how much it will cost, before considering the offer any further.
Look for contact information. If the only means of contacting the company is through an email address, it could be they don’t plan to be around long enough to answer any questions or complaints. Money back guarantees are also only about as good as the contact information. Email addresses and post office boxes are not good contacts. Although, many legitimate companies or businesses only use email, easiest test would be to email and ask a question, if you are met with no response then chances are it is a scam.
Up ‘n Up
Christopher Baxter
To learn more about the ideas expressed above, get your free eBook HERE
About the Author:
Christopher Baxter is a 28 year young Entrepreneur with a number of online and offline businesses, some failures and some success stories. Christopher enjoys sharing his knowledge with others all of the time and is always willing to help when and where he can.
—————————————————————–
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.Stunning-Options.com
—————————————————————–
Etiquette for Online Business Communication
January 1, 2008
Copyright © Christopher Baxter
http://www.Stunning-Options.com
Hi there,
Living in South Africa, one gets exposed to some seriously questionable work ethics and the worst service on the planet. Ok, well, I’d immagine so, if it can get any worse, then I’d be amazed, but here is how I think business should be run and how I run my business.
Etiquette for online business is virtually the same it is for offline business:
* Always be polite
* Always show respect
* Always listen/read intently
* Always go out of your way to satisfy any and all customers’ needs
* Always be willing to negotiate
* Never fabricate information to mislead or suit one’s own business interests
These are no-brainers although; unfortunately many of those involved in business (both those who run businesses and the general public) do not always follow them. This is either because they do not know, misinterpret or simply do not care. In the end however, despite desperation or personal gain, using appropriate behaviour will always ensure better service and reception.
Of the most important and critical forms of business etiquette is that of communication. How, when, where, for what reasons and the identity of those with whom one interacts all play a significant part in which practices one uses through communication.
Of course, one should always be polite. This rule is universal and absolute (probably one of the few ‘absolutes’ there is in the business or any other type of social interaction). Being polite means that you care about servicing, not to mention looking professional, to the other person involved in the transaction. Politeness is the true sign of a civilized mind. This makes others feel comfortable and even draws their interest into the venture and maintains it throughout the duration of the said transaction. It also reflects respect for that other person. Without a doubt, politeness and respect are indeed most important and non-disputable. These are both virtual laws to be obeyed by everyone at all times!
Another aspect of good etiquette involved in online communication is promptness. Constant and forthright recognition and response shows a respect for the other person’s time .Yes, busy schedules sometimes make it difficult to get back to others right away. This is why proper pacing is essential in public relations of all kinds, whether involving shoppers, potential clients who would provide sponsorship, colleagues, executive personnel or those in the legal field. All of these deserve timely responses. A term of three business days is the acceptable amount of time in which to reply to anyone.
Up ‘n Up
Christopher Baxter
To learn more about the ideas expressed above, get your free ebook HERE
About the Author:
Christopher Baxter is a 28 year young Entrepreneur with a number of online and offline businesses, some failures and some success stories. Christopher enjoys sharing his knowledge with others all of the time and is always willing to help when and where he can.
—————————————————————–
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.Stunning-Options.com
—————————————————————–
The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Print Marketing
December 20, 2007
Copyright © Christopher Baxter
http://www.Stunning-Options.com
Welcome,
When you run a business a lot of your focus will be on marketing. Three traditional methods that have been used by businesses for years includes newspapers, magazines and the yellow pages. However, many businesses are starting to turn their attention towards internet and other forms of technological marketing. So some may wonder if there are still benefits to using these forms of print marketing.
When it comes to newspapers there are several advantages to consider. With newspapers you can reach a large group of people while also targeting a specific geographic area. Newspapers allow you to have flexibility in deciding what size ad you want to place and where you want it printed in the newspaper. This means you can make your ad as large as necessary in order to communicate what you are trying to sell.
You are not limited by your newspaper ad, readers can return to your message again and again so you can have continuous exposure. You will usually have free help from the newspaper in creating and producing your ad copy. Newspapers are adapting to the changing market conditions and offering quick turn-around. Therefore, running an ad today can result in customers viewing your ad within one to two days.
Magazines provide a way for businesses to have a more focused marketing option. However, it is also a more expensive alternative to the newspaper method of advertising. Businesses choose this method of marketing if they want to reach a highly targeted audience. By using magazines you can advertise to your audience through publications that focus on your specific audience or has topics of interest to your audience. Since you have a high reader involvement with the magazine you will have more attention placed on your advertisement. Magazine ads are better for color reproduction and full-color ads, this means that even small ads will stand out in a magazine.
The oldest tradition of print marketing is the yellow pages. Today there are several different forms of yellow pages that allow people to promote and advertise their business. In addition to the general yellow pages that the phone companies give out you can also use specialized directories that are targeted towards specific markets. There are even internet directors now that you can use for advertising your company.
With yellow page advertising you can have wide availability since nearly everyone will use the yellow pages at one time or another. It is a non-intrusive way of marketing. It is an action-oriented method of marketing since your audience will actually be looking for what you provide. Yellow page ads are reasonably inexpensive and your responsive can be easily tracked and measured. Finally, yellow page marketing offers increased frequency.
Up ‘n Up
Christopher Baxter
To learn more about the ideas expressed above, get your free ebook HERE
About the Author:
Christopher Baxter is a 28 year young Entrepreneur with a number of online and offline businesses, some failures and some success stories. Christopher enjoys sharing his knowledge with others all of the time and is always willing to help when and where he can.
—————————————————————–
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.Stunning-Options.com
—————————————————————–
The Mechanics of the Sale
December 20, 2007
Copyright © Christopher Baxter
http://www.Stunning-Options.com
Hi there,
To be a successful salesman in any field, one must understand the psychological principles that go into making a sale. Without an understanding of what makes people buy what they buy, and eschew what they don’t want, we can never hope to be more than a journeyman seller. Here are some things to consider as you enter the sales profession. These lessons are not just about sales, however. They relate to everything we do as human beings. How we interact with others, how we can gain influence over people. It’s not magic tricks. It’s just simple psychology.
When we buy something, there are a few steps we go through in every transaction. To begin with, we have to desire something. We have to feel some need, or want for the item in question. Without this initial interest, we merely pass along, leaving an item on the shelf, or on the car lot, or in the hands of the salesperson. A person must have an initial interest to even consider making a sale to them. Of course, this interest can be generated, but it is better if there is a certain amount of motivation there from the beginning. Cold calling is one of the least successful business practices, and for good reason. Yes, a skilled cold caller can make a living simply through the law of averages. But a person with a desirable product, a person with a product that draws people in–at least a little–will find a much easier road.
After we experience that initial interest, we then make a decision to purchase the item in question. This is not a final decision, but rather a warm up decision, and it can change, depending on the price and commitment to the product. Yes, we feel this is something we want or need, but there are still some questions. At this point, we may look to our friends, family, or business associates to reassure us that the purchase is a wise one. We may choose to heed or disregard that advice, but it is important that we seek it.
Finally, after making the purchase, we want to feel some sort of reassurance afterwards. This is where many salesman falter. They don’t follow up if they don’t feel there is any further sales opportunity with the customer. This can leave the customer feeling alienated, and even as if they’ve been taken. In most states, there are laws that give the customer a certain window of time during which they can change their mind on a purchase. If you as the salesperson do not follow up with your customer, the chances are that much greater that they will back out, leaving all of that hard work you did to make the sale out in the yard to rust.
Up ‘n Up
Christopher Baxter
To learn more about the ideas expressed above, get your free ebook HERE
About the Author:
Christopher Baxter is a 28 year young Entrepreneur with a number of online and offline businesses, some failures and some success stories. Christopher enjoys sharing his knowledge with others all of the time and is always willing to help when and where he can.
—————————————————————–
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.Stunning-Options.com
—————————————————————–
Promoting Your Website
December 20, 2007
Copyright © Christopher Baxter
http://www.Stunning-Options.com
Hello,
Do you feel that you have a product or service that others will love to have? Perhaps having an online website is a great way to advertise your personal business. This will help others to know what products and services that you offer are, and how these products can improve their daily lives.
One of the easiest and most effective ways of promoting your website is to advertise it on several search engines. A search engine scans your website for meta tags or keywords that are related to a searchers request. Using several different key words can help more searchers hit upon your site. Applying to several search engines will increase the number of onlookers to your site, as this is the type of online searching that is used most frequently. Advertising your site online opens your site to customers at all hours of the day and night. People all over the world can browse your site and purchase items, even while you are asleep.
Printing business cards that include all of the necessary information, including your website can also draw in new clients. Shopping online is a growing trend and you do not want to be left out. Giving out business cards to potential clients or even leaving them at places such as public bulletin boards in nearby shopping centers. It may also help to include your web address to your office stationary and fliers. If this is not an option, you can print small labels on your home computer and add them to various advertisements that you send out. Add your web address as a tag line on your emails too, so that people you come into contact with will have the option to browse your site.
You may want to consider paying to have links to your site, posted on other web sites. These sites should be ones that are related to your business, but not sites that are competition to your site. Email the site that you would like to have a link from, and explain that you would like to be considered for placing an ad on their site. You may be asked to pay a small monthly fee for the link to your site, but it can be well worth it if it increases traffic to your web site, and helps to increase the financial stability of your business.
Do not forget to advertise in local area newspapers also and include your website in the ad. Many potential customers may be interested in your company, but are not sure exactly what types of products and services that you provide. Letting them browse your site before they contact you can cut down on the time that you spend on those that are not interested in what you have to sell, and allows you to focus on those that are interested in your products.
Up ‘n Up
Christopher Baxter
To learn more about the ideas expressed above, get your free ebook HERE
About the Author:
Christopher Baxter is a 28 year young Entrepreneur with a number of online and offline businesses, some failures and some success stories. Christopher enjoys sharing his knowledge with others all of the time and is always willing to help when and where he can.
—————————————————————–
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.Stunning-Options.com
—————————————————————–
Job Opportunities Adrift In Cyberspace
December 20, 2007
Copyright © Christopher Baxter
http://www.Stunning-Options.com
Hi there,
Those who truly believe they can make a living working on the internet may be right, but finding the right opportunity on the internet will take research and common sense. Most job opportunities listed on the internet are examples of how people make money working online. Convincing others to send money to receive information about how to find work on the internet is one of the biggest opportunities there are. However, since that’s what you were doing when you stumbled across that job prospect, you probably already know how it is done.
Common sense is probably the most important thing you have that will save you time, money and disappointment. When reviewing job opportunities take an objective look at the promises and claims being made about the job and consider the possibility of being able to meeting the claims actually being made.
For example, many internet positions promise that working only a few hours a day can yield an income equivalent to a year’s salary every month. Think about that for a minute. You are being told that you can sit at your computer, in your pajamas for three or four hours a day and make a six-figure income. Consider the odds of this being a real possibility before sending the sponsor of the ad money for a list of jobs making these claims.
One of the biggest so-called job opportunities on the internet today is advertisements for secret shoppers. The ad talks about thousands of companies who use private individuals, “just like you” to go shopping, eat at restaurant and go to the movies and report back to them. Pay is promised to by upwards of $40 an hour for doing things you like to do and you get to keep everything you bought. Who wouldn’t want to become a secret shopper.
You realize that you can’t possible do this job eight hours a day, five days a week, but heck at $40 an hour, working only 20 hours a week is a pretty good paycheck, so you fill out the “application” and enclose your fee and wait for the assignments to come rolling in.
Usually what happens next is you receive a list of companies that at one point registered to use secret shoppers. However, they all have their own criteria and you will have to apply to each company before they will consider using you in their secret shopper program. That is if they still use them or if the company is still in business.
A few applicants actually get hired by a couple of companies as secret shoppers and find out that part time work can be eight to ten hours a month, if not less. Yes, you usually keep what you buy, as the legitimate companies will reimburse you for the purchases, provide you comply with all the procedures they set down for you to follow. Failing that, you have just experienced a shopping trip and it was all on your dime.
Up ‘n Up
Christopher Baxter
To learn more about the ideas expressed above, get your free ebook HERE
About the Author:
Christopher Baxter is a 28 year young Entrepreneur with a number of online and offline businesses, some failures and some success stories. Christopher enjoys sharing his knowledge with others all of the time and is always willing to help when and where he can.
—————————————————————–
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.Stunning-Options.com
—————————————————————–
To Pay or Not to Pay for Advertising
December 20, 2007
Copyright © Christopher Baxter
http://www.Stunning-Options.com
Hello There,
When you are looking for the best way to market your home business there are tons of possibilities, but some may end up costing you more than others. Whether you want to market yourself through the internet or through the mailbox there are certainly some methods of marketing that will be more cost-effective.
If you have just begun your home business it probably isn’t reasonable to expect to advertise yourself on a local billboard. However, it is much more reasonable to post an advertisement in a local newspaper or church bulletin. Or you could print fliers or postcards at home. You could also post links to your website on certain forums online.
The only way you will really find free advertising is through word-of-mouth and some online posts. Every other form of marketing has small costs that must be allowed for. To print fliers you must purchase the paper and printer cartridges. To send postcards you must purchase the cards first and then pay for shipping. To post an ad in a newspaper or bulletin you much pay for the ad space. Even online, some sites will charge you to post your ad.
Depending on how much you are willing to pay for advertising, your sources for marketing may be limited. However, it is important to try multiple methods of advertising before deciding on the first one that shows a return. Most importantly is to remember that if the return you are earning from an ad is not enough to pay for the cost of the ad itself, it isn’t worthwhile. One way to determine whether or not one of your methods of marketing is profitable is to survey your customers. When they go to make their purchase, simply ask how they heard about you.
Once you have taken a survey of your customers it will be much easier to see which marketing solutions are showing the highest return. You can save yourself some money by cutting down on the advertisements that are not showing such a high return. The money you are saving can then be reallocated to marketing strategies that you know are working well.
It will take some time to find the best marketing solution for your home business. Ultimately the best return may come from a combination of methods, so it is very important never to limit yourself to a single avenue for advertisement. The best solution will be the one that that brings in the most revenue at the lowest cost to you. To get an idea of which advertisements are helping you the most, take a poll from your customers of how they found you. This will really show you how to manage your advertisement costs.
Up ‘n Up
Christopher Baxter
To learn more about the ideas expressed above, get your free ebook HERE
About the Author:
Christopher Baxter is a 28 year young Entrepreneur with a number of online and offline businesses, some failures and some success stories. Christopher enjoys sharing his knowledge with others all of the time and is always willing to help when and where he can.
—————————————————————–
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.Stunning-Options.com
—————————————————————–
Choosing Products for an E-Commerce Site
December 18, 2007
Copyright © Christopher Baxter
http://www.Stunning-Options.com
Hello There,
One of the popular home businesses today is that of maintaining an E-Commerce site. Depending on the products that you sell or promote, you can have quite a lucrative business in this area without having to do anything more than promote your site. You don’t need inventory, and you don’t have to ship any of the products—that is done for you. It’s so easy that someone who has never run a business before will quickly learn how to operate one of these sites.
In the majority of cases, you contract with a company that already has an E-Commerce site, and they provide you with a “mirror” site of theirs with your own codes and URL. You are responsible for promoting the site, but you will not be handling the shipping or maintaining of inventory. For someone who has a busy lifestyle and has things they like to do without being tied down to a desk, this is a perfect business. You don’t have to sit at your computer waiting for someone to buy something because it will be automated for you, including the installation of credit card links. The only thing you will have to do is promote your site so that you will have a steady flow of visitors in order to ensured constant traffic and sales. You will receive a commission from those who purchase products from your site. Of course, this is not the only type of E-Commerce site.
You may also choose to use your personal or business website to post links and banners from companies with whom you have agreed to be an affiliate such as Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and thousands more. In exchange for posting their banners on your site, they will pay you for click throughs that create a sale. Of course, these are not as profitable as an E-Commerce site as described above unless you generate a great deal of traffic as some of the companies only pay perhaps ten cents a sale. On the other hand, some others such as ClickBank pay much higher. Of course, if you have the time to promote your site, you may generate enough traffic to make it worthwhile.
Promotion is the key issue with an E-Commerce site whether it’s a mirror site or affiliate programs. The amount of money you make is directly related to how much time you spend promoting your site and how visible your site is. With good promotion, your site will be highly visible and allow you enough visitors to afford you a reasonable income. How much you make depends on the scope of your site and your target audience, so it’s not something you can guess ahead of time—you have to do the work first and reap the benefits later.
Up ‘n Up
Christopher Baxter
To learn more about the ideas expressed above, get your free ebook HERE
About the Author:
Christopher Baxter is a 28 year young Entrepreneur with a number of online and offline businesses, some failures and some success stories. Christopher enjoys sharing his knowledge with others all of the time and is always willing to help when and where he can.
—————————————————————–
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.Stunning-Options.com
—————————————————————–
Article Writing for the Good of Your Business
December 12, 2007
Copyright © Christopher Baxter
http://www.Stunning-Options.com
Hello,
Breaking into a newspaper can be a difficult prospect. Every day, reporters and editors are pitched from a broad range of sources for ideas that range widely from the extremely newsworthy to the ridiculous. With all of this competition for what it a very limited amount of space, the chances of getting your story before the subscriber’s eyes can be slim. To circumvent this problem, you can concentrate on a certain type of story. A story that speaks to a certain audience but isn’t necessarily timely. This type of story is called a feature and it can be the greatest thing that ever happened to your business.
A feature is designed to be a fully developed, in depth look at a certain topic that doesn’t need to correspond to the big news of the day. Under ideal circumstances, the story could be published today, tomorrow, or a year from now with the same effect. Unlike a press release, which gives the outlines of a happening that invites a reporter to dig under the surface to find the story, a feature is to be used just as it was sent in. Of course, after acceptance a newspaper has the right to edit it to fit the space available or leave out the content seen as superfluous.
The topics for a feature range as broadly as those for any other type of story. Health and home improvement are particularly good topics for a feature because they are subjects people are interested in on an ongoing basis. If your business lends itself to one of these topics, or to the topics of travel or technology, it would lend itself just as well to a feature story. These stories also have the advantage of being used in supplementary portions of a newspaper, such as the lifestyle section or one of the special Sunday sections. If you can get your feature in to one of these, it would be twice the bargain, as it has been shown that people have more time to pursue the paper on a leisurely Sunday than any other day of the week, meaning more eyes on your story and more time to digest the content.
In order to make your feature something a newspaper will want to publish, here are a few secrets of the trade to help you better sell your content. For one, you’ll want to have an attention grabbing headline. Lacking this, the editor will create one of their own designs, but will they have as much personal interest in getting people to read the story as you have? Likely not. The headline may in fact be the most important aspect of your story. Ask yourself some questions about the article, and find a headline that answers these questions in a way that summarizes the meat of the article. If you can make it clever and witty, so much the better. But don’t try to get too cute. No one likes that. Finally, the content itself should be written in a style similar to the other articles in the paper. Review an issue or two and create your article with those templates in mind.
Up ‘n Up
Christopher Baxter
To learn more about the ideas expressed above, get your free ebook HERE
About the Author:
Christopher Baxter is a 28 year young Entrepreneur with a number of online and offline businesses, some failures and some success stories. Christopher enjoys sharing his knowledge with others all of the time and is always willing to help when and where he can.
—————————————————————–
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.Stunning-Options.com
—————————————————————–
All Season Home Businesses
December 12, 2007
Copyright © Christopher Baxter
http://www.Stunning-Options.com
Greetings,
When you are first starting out you may have an idea or two of what you want to sell, but you might not have thought of the changes in the seasons and other important factors that can affect your sales, and ultimately the success of your business. Hence, it is important to consider whether or not you can really consider your business an all-season business or not.
One good example of a business that may struggle throughout the year except for one month is a costume store. During October and around Halloween, these businesses can make huge profits, but during the other eleven months, they may struggle just to keep the doors open. On the other hand, an example of a year-round business is an interior design business. People are always looking for new ways to decorate their homes, especially as the seasons change, so if you have the skills needed, this could really be the best decision you’ve ever made.
To decide whether or not your business can be considered year-round, think about the different activities, services, and products you partake of throughout the year. If your business idea falls into only one or two seasons or months, it is time to expand your plan, or modify it. For instance, if you wanted to open a business selling skateboarding gear, you should know that it is useless to try to sell skateboards while there is snow covering the ground. However, you could always expand your business plan to include both skateboarding and snowboarding gear so you are covering the entire year.
Once you have an idea of what it will take to market your business throughout the year, you can start to create a better plan for operating your business. Having all of your ideas set out from the beginning, it is a lot easier to plan ahead for possible downfalls and scenarios, and adjust for them accordingly. This will save you a ton of trouble when you otherwise might have realized at the last minute. It is much better to be prepared than to be caught blind and grasping for strategies to keep you above water.
In the end, knowing what it will take to keep your business productive through all twelve months is one major key to starting a successful business. If you have a plan ahead of time, and you budget for the costs of integrating all of your business plans into one, you will be much more successful during the months that your primary product may not be bringing in the dough. Make sure you think about all of the factors that can affect your sales throughout the year, not just the change in seasons, and make sure you have a plan to counteract their harmful effects on the productivity and growth of your new business.
Up ‘n Up
Christopher Baxter
To learn more about the ideas expressed above, get your free ebook HERE
About the Author:
Christopher Baxter is a 28 year young Entrepreneur with a number of online and offline businesses, some failures and some success stories. Christopher enjoys sharing his knowledge with others all of the time and is always willing to help when and where he can.
—————————————————————–
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.Stunning-Options.com
—————————————————————–
