Can blogging pay the bills?

clipped from: www.longtail.com

An interesting tidbit from Guy Kawasaki's wrap-up of his first full year blogging. The key part is bolded. Note that his blog has been consistently between the 35th and 45th most popular in the world, according to Technorati. Here are some of his stats:

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• 2,436,117 page views for an average of approximately 6,200/day. 21,000 people receive RSS feeds via Feedburner and 1,457 receive emails via FeedBlitz.

• 21,000 people receive RSS feeds via Feedburner and 1,457 receive emails via FeedBlitz.

• Total advertising revenue: approximately $3,350 = $1.39 cpm. (This assumes that I can get Google to pay me. I’ve tried several times during the year to get my snail mail PIN so that I can get paid, but I’ve never received it. I don’t mind Google getting the float...)

Starting A Turnkey Internet Business

Getting turnkey Internet business software is easy. There are many turnkey programs and software that you can find in the market today.

What is a turnkey business?

A turnkey business is a business that includes everything you needs to immediately start running the business. If you are one of those people who are engaged in online business and are having trouble keeping track of your online transactions, you should look into the possibility of getting turnkey Internet business software to help you organize things at your end. There are lots of websites dedicated to helping you fine turnkey business software. The worst thing that you could do when starting up a business is to repel customers by having a very poor system of taking and delivering orders to your clients. In most cases, customers who have experience a lot of difficulties during their first transactions with your company will not really come back again to do business with you.

Losing a lot of clients on your first few months of operations could be very bad for your business so make sure that you set your systems up properly. Once you have figured out what your business need at the moment, look for software that would be easy to use. Look for that menu driven software that are so user friendly that it would only take a couple of minutes for you and your clients to figure out how to use it. Do not choose that software that is so elaborate that you will easily get lost in it. Remember that you are getting turnkey Internet business software to help you organize everything in a manner that would be easy for you and your clients to figure out.

Getting turnkey Internet business software is easy. There are many turnkey programs and software that you can find in the market today. However, you should take note that not all-turnkey software may be suitable for you and your business. If you really want to run your business with relative ease, you should first evaluate what you need before you start hunting for turnkey Internet business software. Make sure that you know what your business need at the moment by conducting an evaluation of your present systems.

Now, one of the best ways for you to find the right software to use in your business is to ask for referral from friends and relatives who are also into online business. If you have a friend or relative who is using certain business software to help him or her organize things, you should ask him or her to show you how things work. Study that system and find out if it is applicable to your business too. Never get software without really getting enough information of how it works. You must always remember that software would cost you some money and if you don't want to waste your money on something that you can't really use at all, you better do your homework.

You could visit different forums and ask question of others.
You might be surprise what other people might be using to keep their business going.

Home Business Guide

3 Step Guide to create a web site today!

If you want to make a web site yourself, here are the ingredients. You need :

1. a Domain name,

2. some Web space,

3. Web building toolsFirstly, a domain name.Every web site has a domain name and you will soon have one of your own too. Registering a domain name is very easy today. There are lots of providers and domain names have become really cheap. I recommend you to follow

4 rules for choosing a good domain name. You can read these rules on our web site.Secondly, every web site needs some space to be settled on.Therefore you need a Web Hosting Provider. That s a company that rents you space for some small fee. My experience shows that the smallest plan would be more than enough for most people. Again, if you don' t want to get scammed by some fresh hosting companies who will run away with your money, check out the recommended hosts with established reputation and best prices around. They are all listed on our site.And lastly, If you want to build a house you need proper tools. No difference here. You need a building software that will assemble your photos, text, and links. If you select your Hosting provider wisely you can get a domain name, web space and building tools for one low price. Some hosts will even give you free domain for life.Don't worry if you don t know what all these means. All you have to know is that building a web site is easy because I will explain everything to you step by step.When you are ready - go to Easy Site Guide for detailed info so you can create your web site today!


Are You Ready to Work Full Time from Home?

It's now almost two years since I started dabbling on the internet, trying to make money online. At that time it was a bit of an experiment, kind of like a hobby - something that I did partly for the enjoyment and partly in the hope that I would make enough money to leave my day job.Now, 20 months later my hobby has turned in to a business and it is generating enough income from for me to happily go part time at work.Should I decide to do this I'll be taking the huge step from working on my business in my spare time to earn some extra money, to working half the week for myself. I will then be depending on the money from my own business to pay my mortgage and bills.If I manage to achieve the same success working from home during the day as I have over the last year working a few hours here and there in my spare time I'll be well on my way to becoming a full time home business entrepreneur.I know this sounds fantastic, but what if something goes wrong? If I eventually work full time for myself I'll be giving up a regular full time salary, not to mention company pension, sick pay and bonuses. For this reason I decided to ask myself a few questions. I've put together a list of 5 questions that you need to ask yourself before you leave your day job

1. Do you have a financial cushion? Before you give up your full time or part time job, make sure you have some money in the bank in case something goes wrong. Preferably you should make sure that you have no credit card debts or loans and have at least 3 months salary in the bank just to allow you to get back on your feet if the worst happens.

2. Are you making enough money? Sounds obvious, but remember to add up your current outgoings to see if your online income will cover everything. Remember to take into account tax payments and allow for the fact that you'll no longer receive paid holidays, health insurance, sick pay and a company pension. If you have a big purchase coming up in the near future, such as a new house, you may want to postpone your full time online career until you've secured your mortgage.

3. Are your income streams diverse enough? Are you making all your money from one source? If you're currently making all your money selling similar items on Ebay or earning an income from a small number of affiliate programs or making money from a single program such as Google Adsense, you could be putting yourself at risk. What if the market for the products you are selling disappears? The affiliate programs you are promoting shuts down? You need to take a close look at the sources of your income. Ideally your income should be coming from numerous sources e.g. selling your own products, promoting different affiliate programs, using multiple websites in different niches.

4. Do you have a business plan? Since you are considering taking such a big step you need to have a business plan. This should include a description of your company and the products and services you provide, the analysis of your market, strategy and implementation along with a financial plan.

5. How will you cope with working alone? If you enjoy working with other people every day, it's likely that you may find the transition to working alone quite difficult. You should consider possible strategies to cope with this change. For example you may want to make sure that part of your business involves working with other people - perhaps providing a service locally or consulting. Or you could fill the vacuum of not meeting people at work by joining a club or taking a part time training course. Making an effort to stay in touch and meet up with friends and former colleagues regularly will also help.If you consider all these factors before quitting your day job, this should give you the best chance possible of becoming a successful full time internet marketer.


7 things that make affiliate marketing the best home based business.

As I have often stated in my previous articles that for me the best home based business opportunity is affiliate marketing . I mean no disrespect to business opportunities like ebay and direct selling. Those are genuine opportunities but for me affiliate marketing wins hands down and below I explain why.

1. Flexibility - I can work at six in the morning or ten at night for ten minutes or for two hours. There is nothing about the business that compels me to work at any particular time of the day if I do not wish to. This flexibility is extrememly vital for people with busy schedules like working mothers and college students.

2. No Inventory : Businesses like direct selling and ebay require the holding of a certain amount of inventory. This can tie down valuable funds and quite often people have to sell slow moving inventory at a loss to improve their cashflow

3. No postage: You do not have to worry about posting items and whether they will reach the recipient or not. This can be a big problem with ebay and direct selling for people who do not have easy access to postal facilities.

4. People Contact : There is no direct people contact. This in itself is not a bad thing but if you are shy person then this can be a huge advantage.

5. Low investment : Investment levels are very low for affiliate marketing as compared to Direct Selling and Ebay. You can start with Beating Adwords or the Super Affiliate Handbook, both of which cost around $50. Advertising on Google and Yahoo is essential for long term success but in the short term, there are plenty of free advertising options around.

6. No Credit Card Costs : In direct selling, setting up a credit card facility is almost a must. This can prove to be quite expensive and in your first year you can expect to pay around $1000 in set up costs and fees. There is no requirement for this in affiliate marketing.

7. No Seminars: Attending long and boring seminars is a must with direct selling in order to keep up to speed with products and organizational issues. Although there are seminars for affiliate marketing, these are not compulsory as a lot of the material can be found on the internet particularly if you are signed up with a good resource.So, there you have it, 7 features that clearly distinguish affiliate marketing from other home based business opportunities and give you some things to think about if you are still in search of your ideal home based business opportunity.

Top 10 Home Business Opportunities for 2007

Small business Home Business resources to help you start, manage and grow your home business. Business ideas, business plans, marketing tips.

Part 1: The Best Business Opportunities for Starting a Small Business

The Best Business Opportunities for 2007

1) Nutraceuticals

Consumers want more than just nutrition from their food – they want health benefits, too. We don’t just eat tomatoes because they’re tasty, but because we know they’re filled with lycopene which helps fight prostate cancer. The market for nutraceuticals and functional foods, says Agriculture Canada, is “large, global and growing”. In 2004 Canada's functional food market was estimated to be worth $2.7 billion.

2) Agritourism

Agritourism is another rapidly growing industry; there’s more interest in farm vacations and farm-related activities than ever before. If you have a farm, it’s easy to get in on this best business opportunity. Add a picnic site and playground to your farm and open a booth for on-site sales or create an event such as a hay ride or artist’s retreat. There’s also a great opportunity for tourist agencies in creating agritourism packages. The fastest growing part of the industry? Winery tours.

3) Human Resource Professionals

One of the predicted problems of the future is already here – a labour shortage. In fact, the CFIB (Canadian Federation of Independent Business) calls this the number one problem facing SMEs this year. Headhunters, recruiters, employment agencies - turn this top problem into a top business opportunity by being the person or people able to solve staffing problems for small and medium-sized businesses.

4) Personal Memoirs

I don’t think many of us spend much time thinking about writing our life stories. But the life stories of our parents or grandparents – now that’s another story. Many of us would appreciate having a record of our loved ones’ lives before it’s too late, but don’t have the time or talent to do it ourselves. Enter the memorialist, who will interview the subject and craft those stories into a handsomely bound book. Memoir companies also prepare all kinds of other personal stories, from pregnancy memoirs through pet histories.

5) Renovation Management

You already know that trades people are going to have another superlative year as the renovation boom continues. Conversely, this means that many consumers are going to have bad years (or at least extremely stressful, irritating ones) as they struggle to get through whatever renovation they have planned. If you’re a super-organized person who can get the right trades people to show up to work on time and finish their work by set dates, this could be a golden business opportunity for you.

What other business opportunities are excellent choices for those interesting in starting a business or investing in one this year? Here are five more of what I consider to be the best business opportunities of 2007:

6) Care Consulting

A parent has gotten to that certain age and stage where he really shouldn’t be living on his own anymore. But what are the options available and how much do they cost? Busy children don’t have the time to investigate them all or even know where to find out. Providing the answers and helping with the arrangements is an excellent business opportunity.

7) Baby gear

We may have a low birthrate but we sure do love to lavish attention and money on the children we do have. From cute togs through designer strollers, baby gear is big business.
While the obvious business opportunity here is the retail storefront, there are all kinds of permutations that could also be profitable, such as an eBay business or a consignment store for used baby gear.

8) Doggie daycare/hotels

And then there are the non-human children, also known as pets. Many of us obviously feel that our pets should be treated just as well as people and are willing to spend the bucks to ensure that this is so. Cash in on this best business opportunity by opening a doggie daycare that lets busy dog “parents” work without guilt or by opening a doggie hotel that offers pampering for traveling pooches. Fashion inclined? Go to the dogs and create a line of doggie duds that owners won’t be able to resist.

9) Financial planners

I know I listed this as a best business opportunity last year, too, but this is such a growing market. Boomers seem to have an almost insatiable appetite for financial advice, perhaps because so many of them are about to retire and have a real need to get their financial houses in order. Financial planners, retirement planners and investment advisers who are good at what they do will find that this year is very good to them.

10) Personal Catering

Business opportunities abound for meeting the catering needs of busy professionals and families. Relieving people of some of their daily meal preparation chores while ensuring that they have nutritionally healthy but tasty meals is sure to be a hit. Think along the lines of what the daily housekeeper used to do. You could offer pre-packed lunchboxes or a week’s worth of entrees delivered, for instance. And then there’s catering for special occasions.