Do Small Business Start Up Strategies Work?

Small business start ups can help you to take back control of your financial future. Developing a small business is not only possible, but is an excellent strategy to use in 2011.  Having your small business become successful is not beyond your reach. There are people doing it all the time.

Backcountry.com, a strong, successful company based in Utah, began in 1996 by two-time Olympic Nordic ski jumper Jim Holland, and writer-entrepreneur John Bresee.

They started their business in their garage, with $2,000, a website and no inventory. Now the company sells  premium outdoor gear online and has become a major player in the outdoor gear niche.  Today they have over 700 employees and sell products from over 1,000 different brands.

Jill Layfield, the new CEO of Backcountry.com reports that growth in their business has gone from a high of 3,000 orders in a day to new high of 40,000 orders in a day. Her advice to business startups is to stay hungry and stay nimble.

Starting a new business is not without struggles, challenges and hurdles. Amy Cosper, editor in chief for Entrepreneur.com says that the biggest mistake small business start ups make is not financially planning properly. Funding the startup business is one of the biggest hurdles you will have. Lines of credit are disappearing. Banks are not loaning money. However, if you do have a good business plan and can communicate it effectively, the money is there and you can find it.

The second mistake is not having a clear picture of what your business really is. “If you cannot tell me your business idea in two sentences or less, you really have to rethink it.”

Cosper’s best advice is to really know the market you are going into and understand the competitive landscape and the financial modeling. “The biggest pieces of advice I have to give you is to never take no for an answer and follow your gut. It’s more gut than it is spreadsheet.”

Entrepreneurs need to realize that there really is no ceiling on the amount of money they can make. Income ceilings exist in salaried jobs, but entrepreneurial risk takers enjoy the sweetness of life without the politics of others “opinions” about your job performance.

Unemployment Tips, Filing For Unemployment

National statistics indicate that the unemployment rate nationwide has gotten close to 9.9%. That is approximately 15.3 million people that are unemployed. This figure is up .2% from January, February and March of 2010. Chances are that you or someone close to you is suffering from unemployment. You may need some help learning what you need to do while you are looking for your next job.

Filing For Unemployment

To start with you will need to determine if you are eligible for unemployment. Getting unemployment compensation can help you pay your bills while you are searching for a job. Since each state has different requirements check with your state office. Sometimes you can file a claim online or over the phone. It’s not difficult to do.

Top 20 Sites To Help You Find A Job

Jobs are listed online and can be accessed through many sites. Some of these sites have been recommended by PC Magazine and other reliable sources. Spend some time seeing which site is going to help you the most.

1. Monster.com – Search jobs, post resumes, read advice
2. Job.com – Listings by top jobs in your area, estimate salaries, take a job match test
3. Hot Jobs – Yahoo service, pulls data from multiple feeds
4. Net Temps – Access to over 5000 professional recruiters
5. Indeed – 905,823 new jobs in the last week
6. CareerBuilder – Has 23 million visits a month
7. All Job Search – Links to other sites to search
8. Simply Hired – Uses Google search which provides relevant results
9. USA.gov – Federal government jobs
10. College Recruiter – Entry level jobs and internships
11. Craigslist – Classified job postings
12. Hound.com – Paid service for job hunters, but free for job listers, tens of thousands of dollars are spent on bandwidth just crawling sites for information for you
13. Execu-search.com – Search page provides multiple categories to do one search
15. Oodle.com – Searches the US, Canada, India, Ireland – Lists popular searches, Search jobs, cars, real estate, rentals, items for sale
16. MediaBistro.com – For media professionals
17. TweetMyJobs.com – A Twitter job board that provides instant notification of open positions
18. Job-Hunt.org – Lists job resources by state.
19. Fortune 500 Companies – Job-hunt.org searches Fortune 500 Companies
20. SnagaJob.com – Hourly jobs posted. Good for temporary work and teenage jobs

Career Planning Resources

If you are in the beginning phases of preparing yourself for a career then you may want to check out the best fields of study. You can ask around locally or you can check your newspaper, but the best way to find out what careers are flourishing, you need to search online. College majors that have good employment possibilities were reported by the collegiate employment research institute at Michigan State University. The majors included E-commerce, entrepreneurialism, environmental sciences, information science, information systems (management and computer), interactive computer design, statistics, nursing, and social work. If you have been pursuing one of those degrees you are on the right track.

The United States Department of Labor has compiled the Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition source of career information, designed to provide valuable assistance to individuals making decisions about their future work lives. The Occupational Outlook Handbook can be ordered online.

State Resources For the Unemployed

Each of the sites listed below will provide detailed information on occupations and labor markets within their states. Many of these sites can help you find companies that are hiring.

For example, if you use the Utah site link, you’ll find a resource center provides a lot of interesting information for people seeking jobs in Utah. This site reports that in March, 2010, unemployment in Utah hit an all time high that has not been seen in Utah for twenty six years.

On the brighter side, the site will give you interesting possibilities of places to look for work. Oracle Corporation, a business-software giant is building a $300 million data center in West Jordan, Utah. According to the City of West Jordan, the building may be completed as early as October 1. They anticipate hiring 100 people. The State of Utah provided the company with a $15 million dollar incentive to build in Utah.

Do some research for the resources available to you in your state.

Let us know what successes or failures you’ve had with them by leaving a comment here.

Alabama

Labor Market Information Division, Alabama Department of Industrial Relations, 649 Monroe St., Room 422, Montgomery, AL 36131Telephone:

(334) 242-8859

http://dir.alabama.gov

Alaska

Research and Analysis Section, Department of Labor and Workforce Development, P.O. Box 25501, Juneau, AK 99802-5501.

Telephone: (907) 465-4500

Internet: http://almis.labor.state.ak.us

Arizona

Arizona Department of Economic Security
P.O. Box 6123 SC 733A
Phoenix, AZ 85005-6123

Telephone: (602) 542-5984

Internet: https://www.azdes.gov

Arkansas

Labor Market Information, Department of Workforce Services, #2 Capital Mall, Little Rock, AR 72201.

Telephone: (501) 682-3198.

Internet:

California

State of California Employment Development Department, Labor Market Information Division, P.O. Box 826880, Sacramento, CA 94280-0001.

Telephone: (916) 262-2162.

Internet:http://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov

Colorado

Labor Market Information, Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, 633 17th St., Suite 600, Denver, CO 80202-3660.

Telephone: (303) 318-8850.

Internet: http://lmigateway.coworkforce.com

Connecticut

Office of Research, Connecticut Department of Labor, 200 Folly Brook Blvd., Wethersfield, CT 06109-1114.

Telephone: (860) 263-6275.

Internet: http://www.ctdol.state.ct.us/lmi

Delaware

Office of Occupational and Labor Market Information, Department of Labor, 19 West Lea Blvd., Wilmington, DE 19802.

Telephone: (302) 761-8069.

Internet: http://www.delawareworks.com/oolmi/

District of Columbia

DC Department of Employment Services, 64 New York Ave. NE., Suite 3000, Washington, D.C. 20002.

Telephone: (202) 724-7000.

Internet: http://www.does.dc.gov/does

Florida

Labor Market Statistics, Agency for Workforce Innovation, 107 E. Madison St., MSC 110 – Caldwell Building, Tallahassee, FL 32399-4111.

Telephone: (850) 245-7105.

Internet: http://www.labormarketinfo.com

Georgia

Workforce Information and Analysis, Room 300, Department of Labor, 223 Courtland St., CWC Building, Atlanta, GA 30303.

Telephone: (404) 232-3875.

Internet: http://www.dol.state.ga.us/em/get_labor_market_information.htm

Guam

Guam Department of Labor, 504 D St., Tiyan, Guam 96910.

Telephone: (671) 475-0101.

Internet: http://guamdol.net

Hawaii

Research and Statistics Office, Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, 830 Punchbowl St., Room 304, Honolulu, HI 96813.

Telephone: (808) 586-9013.

Internet: http://www.hiwi.org

Idaho

Research and Analysis Bureau, Department of Commerce and Labor, 317 West Main St., Boise, ID 83735-0670.

Telephone: (208) 332-3570.

Internet: http://lmi.idaho.gov

Illinois

Illinois Department of Employment Security, Economic Information and Analysis Division, 33 S. State St., 9th Floor, Chicago, IL 60603.

Telephone: (312) 793-6521.

Internet: http://lmi.ides.state.il.us

Indiana

Research and Analysis—Indiana Workforce Development, Indiana Government Center South, 10 North Senate Ave., Indianapolis, IN 46204.

Telephone: (800) 891-6499.

Internet: http://www.in.gov/dwd

Iowa

Policy and Information Division, Iowa Workforce Development, 1000 East Grand Ave., Des Moines, IA 50319-0209.

Telephone: (515) 281-5387.

Internet: http://www.iowaworkforce.org/lmi

Kansas

Kansas Department of Labor, Labor Market Information Services, 401 SW Topeka Blvd., Topeka, KS 66603-3182.

Telephone: (785) 296-5000.

Kentucky

Research and Statistics Branch, Office of Employment and Training, 275 East Main St., Frankfort, KY 40621.

Telephone: (502) 564-7976.

Internet: http://www.workforcekentucky.ky.gov

Louisiana

Research and Statistics Division, Department of Labor, 1001 North 23rd St., Baton Rouge, LA 70802-3338.

Telephone: (225) 342-3111.

Internet: http://www.laworks.net

Maine

Labor Market Information Services Division, Maine Department of Labor, 45 Commerce Dr., State House Station 118, Augusta, ME 04330.

Telephone: (207) 623-7900.

Internet: http://maine.gov/labor/lmis

Maryland

Maryland Department of Labor Licensing and Regulation, Office of Labor Market Analysis and Information, 1100 N. Eutaw, Baltimore, MD 21201.

Telephone: (410) 767-2250.

Internet: http://www.dllr.state.md.us/lmi/index.shtml

Massachusetts

Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, Division of Career Services, 19 Staniford St., Boston, MA 02114.

Telephone: (617) 626-5300.

Internet: http://www.detma.org/LMIdataprog.htm

Michigan

Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives, Department of Labor and Economic Growth, 3032 West Grand Blvd., Suite 9-100, Detroit, MI 48202.

Telephone: (313) 456-3100.

Internet:

Minnesota

Department of Employment and Economic Development, Labor Market Information Office, 1st National Bank Building, 332 Minnesota St., Suite E200, St. Paul, MN 55101-1351.

Telephone: (888) 234-1114.

Internet: http://www.deed.state.mn.us/lmi

Mississippi

Labor Market Information Division, Mississippi Department of Employment Security, 1235 Echelon Pkwy., P.O. Box 1699, Jackson, MS 39215.

Telephone: (601) 321-6000.

Internet: http://mdes.ms.gov

Missouri

Missouri Economic Research and Information Center, P.O. Box 3150, Jefferson City, MO 65102-3150.

Telephone: (866) 225-8113.

Internet: http://www.missourieconomy.org

Montana

Research and Analysis Bureau, P.O. Box 1728, Helena, MT 59624.

Telephone: (800) 541-3904.

Internet:

Nebraska

Nebraska Workforce Development—Labor Market Information, Nebraska Department of Labor, 550 South 16th St., P.O. Box 94600, Lincoln, NE 68509.

Telephone: (402) 471-2600.

Internet: http://www.dol.nebraska.gov/nwd/center.cfm?PRICAT=3&SUBCAT=4Z0

Nevada

Research and Analysis, Department of Employment Training and Rehabilitation, 500 East Third St., Carson City, NV 89713.

Telephone: (775) 684-0450.

Internet:

New Hampshire

Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau, New Hampshire Employment Security, 32 South Main St., Concord, NH 03301-4857.

Telephone: (603) 228-4124.

Internet: http://www.nh.gov/nhes/elmi

New Jersey

Division of Labor Market and Demographic Research, Department of Labor and Workforce Development, P.O. Box 388, Trenton, NJ 08625-0388.

Telephone: (609) 984-2593.

Internet: http://www.wnjpin.net

New Mexico

New Mexico Department of Labor , Economic Research and Analysis, 401 Broadway NE., Albuquerque, NM 87102.

Telephone: (505) 222-4683.

Internet: http://www.dws.state.nm.us/dws-lmi.html

New York

Research and Statistics, New York State Department of Labor, W. Averell Harriman State Office Campus, Building 12, Albany, NY 12240.

Telephone: (518) 457-9000.

Internet: http://www.labor.state.ny.us

North Carolina

Labor Market Information Division, Employment Security Commission, 700 Wade Ave., Raleigh, NC 27605.

Telephone: (919) 733-2936.

Internet: http://www.ncesc.com

North Dakota

Labor Market Information Manager, Job Service North Dakota, 1000 East Divide Ave., Bismarck, ND 58506.

Telephone: (800) 732-9787.

Internet: http://www.ndworkforceintelligence.com

Ohio

Bureau of Labor Market Information, Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, 420 East 5th Ave., Columbus, OH 43219.

Telephone: (614) 752-9494.

Internet: http://ohiolmi.com

Oklahoma

Labor Market Information, Oklahoma Employment Security Commission, P.O. Box 52003., Oklahoma City, OK 73152.

Telephone: (405) 557-7172.

Internet: http://www.ok.gov/oesc_web/Services/Find_Labor_Market_Statistics/index.html

Oregon

Oregon Employment Department, Research Division, 875 Union St. NE., Salem, OR 97311.

Telephone: (503) 947-1200.

Internet: http://www.qualityinfo.org/olmisj/OlmisZine

Pennsylvania

Center for Workforce Information & Analysis, Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, 220 Labor and Industry Building, Seventh and Forster Sts., Harrisburg, PA 17121.

Telephone: (877) 493-3282.

Internet: http://www.paworkstats.state.pa.us

Puerto Rico

Department of Work and Human Resources, Ave. Muñoz Rivera 505, Hato Rey, PR 00918.

Telephone: (787) 754-5353.

Internet: http://www.dtrh.gobierno.pr

Rhode Island

Labor Market Information, Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training, 1511 Pontiac Ave., Cranston, RI 02920.

Telephone: (401) 462-8740.

Internet: http://www.dlt.ri.gov/lmi

South Carolina

Labor Market Information Department, South Carolina Employment Security Commission, 631 Hampton St., Columbia, SC 29202.

Telephone: (803) 737-2660.

Internet: http://www.sces.org/lmi/index.asp

South Dakota

Labor Market Information Center, Department of Labor, P.O. Box 4730, Aberdeen, SD 57402-4730.

Telephone: (605) 626-2314.

Internet: http://dol.sd.gov/lmic

Tennessee

Research and Statistics Division, Department of Labor and Workforce Development, 220 French Landing Dr., Nashville, TN 37245.

Telephone: (615) 741-1729.

Internet: http://www.state.tn.us/labor-wfd/lmi.htm

Texas

Labor Market Information, Texas Workforce Commission, 9001 North IH-35, Suite 103A, Austin, TX 75753.

Telephone: (866) 938-4444.

Internet: http://www.tracer2.com

Utah

Director of Workforce Information, Utah Department of Workforce Services, P.O. Box 45249, Salt Lake City, UT 84145-0249.

Telephone: (801) 526-9675.

Internet: http://jobs.utah.gov/opencms/wi

Vermont

Economic and Labor Market Information, Vermont Department of Labor, P.O. Box 488, Montpelier, VT 05601-0488.

Telephone: (802) 828-4000.

Internet: http://www.vtlmi.info

Virgin Islands

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor, 53A & 54AB Kronprindsens Gade, St Thomas, VI 00803-2608.

Telephone: (340) 776-3700.

Internet: http://www.vidol.gov

Virginia

Virginia Employment Commission, P.O. Box 1358, Richmond, VA 23218-1358.

Telephone: (800) 828-1140.

Internet: http://www.vec.virginia.gov/vecportal/index.cfm

Washington

Labor Market and Economic Analysis, Washington Employment Security Department, P.O. Box 9046, Olympia, WA 98507-9046.

Telephone: (360) 438-4833.

Internet: http://www.workforceexplorer.com

West Virginia

Workforce West Virginia, Research, Information and Analysis Division, 112 California Ave., Charleston, WV 25303-0112.

Telephone: (304) 558-2660.

Internet: http://workforcewv.org/lmi

Wisconsin

Bureau of Workforce Information, Department of Workforce Development, P.O. Box 7944, Madison, WI 53707-7944.

Telephone: (608) 266-7034.

Internet: http://worknet.wisconsin.gov/worknet

Wyoming

Research and Planning, Wyoming Department of Employment, 246 S. Center St., Casper, WY 82602.

Telephone: (307) 473-3807.

Internet: Wyoming Labor Markets

Free Personal Finance Tools Create Smart Data

Gathering data and making meaningful use of it has made 30 year-old Aaron Patzer, a rich man. Aaron Patzer is the founder of the website, Mint.com which is a free personal finance site that has over 1.5 million users. It allows people to track bank transactions, credit card transactions, investments, and loan transactions online.

The site helps you find better prices on things you buy, guides you to the best credit card rewards and minimizes finance charges. It has helped people find $300 million in savings, managed $50 billion in assets and helped track $200 billion in purchases.

Security for this type of financial analysis is of utmost importance to  Mint.com. They have bank level security. They also have a “read-only” connection to financial institutions so no money can be moved and no one can drain your accounts. They have low-balance and spending alerts to help you manage your accounts and prevent identity theft or fraud.

What inspired him to create this type of site?

He found that he was spending most of his time working and had little time to track his own finances. Frustrated with how Quicken, Intuit’s financial software, worked, he decided to create his own program. He designed a way to make tracking his finances easier, quicker, and more automated. He created a business model that allowed people free use of the money management tools. From the data aggregated, they could offer suggestions on ways to save money, lower interest rates on credit cards and make better financial decisions

How did he fund the website?

Aaron had to raise venture capital money to fund the project and it was not always easy. He experienced highs and lows. Sometimes he thought his idea was the greatest thing since sliced bread and other times he questioned himself with his attempt at tackling such a big project and competing with Intuit, a $10B company. For comfort in the low phases, he often thought of a quote “Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we might oft win, by fearing to attempt.” Shakespeare

How does the software work?

Aaron Patzer received a license from the company, Yodlee, to use the technology that powers 85% to 90% of all the online consumer finance sites. The communication between you and your bank uses this technology.

Then, he did what he is good at. He began to work on algorithms that would take the financial data and make it useful. One algorithm was patented and contains 105 steps to have transactions labeled with appropriate categories. Other algorithms helped to make recommendations on ways that the user could save money. He now holds 11 patents on algorithms.

How did the site become so popular and successful?

When the site was first launched it won awards from The Motley Fool for the best money management tool. TechCrunch40 awarded them the hottest start up company of the year and they really began to take off. Over the next few years they received 47 awards from well know companies like, CNNmoney.com, Time.com, PC magazine, Kiplinger, the World Economic Fund, LifeHacker.com and Business Week.

What does Intuit think of Mint.com?

Intuit’s executives watched Mint.com for over a year. They became so impressed with the features of the site that the CEO of Intuit, Brad Smith approached Aaron and offered to buy the company. On November 2, 2009, Intuit purchased Mint.com for $140 million, offering Aaron the chance to be in charge of Mint.com and all Quicken online, desktop and mobile offerings, which he agreed to do.

Aaron Patzer, earned his bachelor’s degree in computer engineering, and computer science, and electrical engineering, at Duke University as well as a master’s degree in electrical engineering and algorithms from Princeton University. Some of his first work after graduation was working on a cell microprocessor, used in the PlayStation 3 and it uses three of his patents.

What is Aaron Patzer’s advice to entrepreneurs?

His best advice to other entrepreneurs is to “observe the world around you – everything you do, and especially everything you hate to do – solve a real problem and the world is yours.”

Is There A Future For The Check Printing Business?

The check printing business has gone through hundreds of years of refining.  In the 1600′s, England began using checks as a way to eliminate the problem of carrying sacks of money. Checks did not become a popular way of conducting money transactions until the early 1900′s. By 1913, checks were widely used in the United States and by 1915, W.R. Hotchkiss had created Deluxe Check Printers, a leader in the check printing business  now called Deluxe Corporation.

As personal checks  became more and more popular, an overwhelming problem  developed.  The process by which the checks were sorted to the correct account number was painstakingly slow and expensive.

By 1952, there were approximately  8 billion checks a year that needed to be processed. On one day alone, there could be 69 million checks requiring sorting.

Dr. Kenneth R. Eldredge of the Stanford Research Institute to the American Banking Association, came up with a solution to the problem. His solution is well known today as MICR technology, which he patented in 1961. The patent number 3,000,000 was given to him. The patent office held this number for someone who would create a significant invention and they felt that this invention was significant.

MICR stands for magnetic ink character recognition.  Dr. Eldredge used a special type of ink toner that had iron oxide in it. When the check  was passed through a magnetic machine, the iron oxide particles  became magnetized. These created patterns which were then recognizable by the magnetic reader. This allowed for matching checks to checking account numbers.

A special font was selected to use with this technology. That font can be seen in the bottom left hand corner of any bank check. The first font was called “E-13B.”  The font has ten numbers and four symbols. This has been revised five times so the letter E was used to represent that. The 13 was  used to represent .013-inch which was the design of the font. The B represents the second revision to the system.

By 1963, a standard had been set by the banking industry. The American National Standard Institute (ANSI) recognized the MICR technology and the chosen font as the one to be used on all printed checks.

Many revisions have been made over the years, but this original technology paved the way for the check business.

In the 1980′s the check business was predicted to be on the decline because of the use of electronic fund transfers. Thirty years later, the check business is still hanging in there.

Deluxe Corporation, recently acquired Custom Direct checks for $98 million.  Deluxe reported sales of $1.34 billion dollars in the past 12 months. They are anticipating the new purchase of Custom Direct will  increase their revenues by $60 million. They have successfully positioned their company as a leader in checks sold directly to consumers and not through financial institutions.

Although technology makes electronic funds cheaper than processing printed checks, the check printing business is still thriving in 2010. With fierce competition between VistaPrint, Walmart, Checks In The Mail, Carousel Checks and Harland Clark, it seems that Deluxe Corporation is currently the leader in this industry.

Basic Affiliate Marketing Tips

Affiliate marketing? People look at you quizzically when you tell them that is what you do to make money. Most people have no idea of what affiliate marketing is. They just can’t wrap their minds around the idea even when you explain it to them.

Most will ask how they would start affiliate marketing and how they would choose a product to promote?  This is a common question that has an easy answer. Research your desired niche products and see what kind of demand is there. Use the Google keyword tool to choose a niche that has a lot of monthly searches – over 40,000 searches a month is good enough to get started. Make sure you have enough interest in providing your customers with as much helpful information as you can. If you have no interest, you can still promote the products, it just won’t be as fun.

Next, you will need to apply to become an affiliate through an affiliate marketing company. There are several major affiliate companies that are very highly recommended. One is Clickbank, which offers thousands of information products that people can download after purchase. Some of these products are software products that have a recurring charge and hence brings you a monthly payment without getting a new customer. Other products are solutions to various health problems. Some will teach you to learn a new skill. Some will actually tell you what the best selling products are.

A second company to check out is Google Affiliate Network. Google has combined their affiliate network payment schedule with their Adsense payments. So if you are already getting money from Adsense this is a good fit for you.

Google has thousands of merchants. When you log in to their site, they’ll give you statistics that are important to understand. There is a figure called EPC – and this means earnings per click. There is a 3 month EPC and a 7 day EPC. You’ll see that the higher the numbers, the better chances you have of selling their products. They list these statistics for each merchant. They also show you the merchant’s payout rank. So you’ll be able to see which merchants are paying the most to affiliates. Choose your merchants wisely with help from these statistics.

A third company to check out is Shareasale. They have hundreds of merchants with thousands of products. They will deposit your earnings directly to your checking account on the same day every month. Shareasale is run by Brian Littleton, who is experienced in every aspect of ecommerce. Shareasale has many merchants to choose from and they provide easy ways to make an web page that will display products on your site. They also have some video selling options available.

Affiliate marketing is challenging, but worth all the effort you put into it. You can be your own boss and set your own working hours. Be warned though, you’ll probably work twice as hard as you ever have worked. That’s what happens when you get to follow your passions. It hardly seems like work.

Starting a New Business

More and more individuals have been venturing into the world of business and marketing. This is because there have been many available opportunities and avenues to start a new business. But before diving in to the business world, there are quite a few things you should consider and learn.  Starting a business will become as stress-free as possible once you know all the dos and don’ts.

First things first, you must be very clear on the type of business you are to set up.  Success begins when you have clear goals and know how to take actions to achieve these.  Before starting, you must write down your business idea clearly. This is to help you with strategic planning.  Different types of business have different types of strategic approaches and marketing strategies in order to become successful. You should also set your goals based on your skills.  Let’s be realistic here.  Being successful in business also depends on your skills and attitude.  If you think your expertise is not adequate, then you can ask for help and assistance from business professionals.  Furthermore, to have a booming business, ask for sufficient finance.  And one thing more, choose a good spot to start your business.  Upon considering all of these, things will go on smoothly.

There are other things you need to get started legally and officially.  You cannot just put up a shop and sell products without having some permits. Above all, you need a business permit/license to start.  This is a universal truth, whatever state or country you live in, a business permit must be obtained.    In the US, business licenses are issued by the state, so expect some differences in requirements and guidelines per state. You can get a business license online or go directly to the county clerk’s office.  It is suggested you go directly to the clerk’s office and Occupational License Department to get answers to your questions right away.  Sometimes, there are areas or zones where certain business establishments are not allowed.

Another thing you need to do is to register your business name with the Internal Revenue Service.  You may also need an Employee Information Number or a Federal Tax Identification Number. This can be obtained online at www.irs.gov. Also, you to have an estimate gross receipt to determine the approximate taxes and other business fees to be paid. These things may appear tedious but after getting everything done legally, you won’t be facing any more problems regarding your business.

A resale certificate or a wholesale license is also needed.  Any business establishment that sell products need a reseller’s permit.  Having this permit allows you to collect sales taxes.  For more information on how to get a reseller’s permit, you can go to http://www.businessnameusa.com.  You may also want to visit http://www.business.gov for more details on starting a business.

Here are some useful links you might want to visit to help you with your business plan and strategic planning:

http://www.themanager.org/pdf/Businessplan.PDF

http://www.sos.mo.gov/business/corporations/startBusiness.asp

http://www.state.nj.us/njbusiness/starting/

http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/

Ebay’s Largest Store Owner

Have you ever wondered who owns the biggest ebay store? The powerseller, Buy, has 867,112 successful transactions and is listed on eBay as the largest store there. Upon further research through the help of Google Maps, you can see that the address listed for this seller is in California and is located in the buy.com building.

The powerseller, Buy,  is actually a  leading e-commerce company that has been in business over 10 years and has over 11 million customers.

They carry millions of products in categories ranging from sporting goods, computer hardware and software, cellular, electronics, movies, music, books and more.

At their website, they even list their most searched for items: 16GB Flash Drive, 1tB external hard drive, 32gb flash drive, Cordless phone, Ipod touch, Micro SD Card, USB flash drive, cordless phones, external hard drive, iphone, iphone 3g,iphone 3gs, ipod classic, ipod nano, micro sd,  microsd, netbook, netbooks, nintendo ds, ps3 refurbished,  sansa sd card, sdhc, slingbox, webcam, wii, wireless router,zune, zune hd.

The www.buy.com website is ranked by Alexa.com, a web monitoring site, as number 238 in the United States. The lowest numbers indicate the most popular sites. There are some bad reviews about this site on Alexa, but eBay seems to have nothing but positive feedback for them. Apparently their customer service is outsourced to India which causes problems for United States customers.

Buy.com has been listed by Internet Retailer as one of the top 100 retailers on the internet. Apparently the top 100 retailers are responsible for 55.3% of retail web sales.

Amazon.com is the leading retailer on the net with $19.2 billion dollars in sales. Internet retail selling is here to stay. People are becoming more and more comfortable ordering online. How comfortable are you with online ordering?

View Buy’s Ebay Listings

10 Tips For Making Money on Craigslist

By now you have probably heard of one of the nets’ most dominant classified ad websites; Craigslist. It makes no difference whether you are purchasing goods or selling goods, Craigslist is vital for any entrepreneur looking to make good money. First before you choose to surf the net and make money on Craigslist, you need to understand that there are a few critical guidelines to follow to help you become successful.

Why? If you don’t have the proper knowledge about Craigslist rules you might be blacklisted or banned. What am I going to share with you are the things you must know in order to learn how to make money on Craigslist and to use it in the right way.

Step 1 – Categories

You must advertise or sell items in the correct category. In case you don’t know, items posted on Craigslist are easily sorted by search engines and people surfing the net can view your listings when they are placed in the proper category.

Step 2 – Headlines

Create attractive headlines. This will be the main appeal of your ad and this will be the first thing that will attract the attention of your buyers. Write attention grabbing words and list a reasonable price for the items you are selling.

Step 3 – Use Photos

Post pictures. Listings that have pictures are easily getting noticed. Add as many pictures as possible to give the buyer a good understanding of what you have for sale. Pictures are worth 1000 words.

Step 4 – Respond Promptly

Don’t procrastinate your responses to inquiries. Respond to your inquiries as soon as possible. Remember that all inquiries are from potential buyers. Lastly be sure to follow up with your customers so that you can sell quickly.

Step 5 – Don’t Duplicate

Please don’t duplicate your ad. Craigslist can easily notice the same ad being posted multiple times and might consider it as a spam. You can be blacklisted permanently if you don’t stick with the guidelines.

Step 6 – Get Notified

Stay current with the new listing information you are interested in by using software such as AdNotifier.com. This program sends you automatic updates and messages every time a new ad is advertised in your category.

Step 7 – Resell Products

Purchase low cost items and resell them. This is so big since the resale industry is fast growing. If you have the skill for buying goods and reselling them at reasonable prices then Craigslist is a good match for your needs to start a business.

Step 8 – Use Links

You may create links in your ads. Like perhaps a link at eBay or your personal website easier to create access to your item. This will increase your chances for additional sales and possible upgrades.

Step 9 – Use HTML

Maximize the use of HTML in your ad to direct buyers to your link. This will help the buyer to get additional information about your products and services. Craigslist uses basic HTML which is not too difficult and can be learned at w3schools.com.

Step 10 – Use RSS Feeds

Use RSS feeds to stay current. When you find the search results that you are most interested in, scroll to the bottom of the page and in the right corner you will see the words RSS. Just click on that and you will get the link that you can bookmark to easily see what is current on that search. The nice thing about this is that you can see all of the ads in that category without opening up individual links.

Spend some time learning how Craigslist works. This means you’ll want to investigate what is selling in different parts of the world. Read other people’s ads and get some ideas of what you might want to do.

Of course nothing is easy at first. You need a lot of patience and hard work for your business you grow. I hope that these guidelines will help you with your money making endeavors.

Here are some good articles about Craigslist that you might enjoy.

• Interview with Craig Newmark, Founder Craigslist – Craig Newmark talks to us live at the Inman Real Estate Connect conference in NYC about what’s up with Craigslist these days. Craig discusses why they started charging for rental ads in New York, how he fights spam listings and what his …
• Craigslist Vs eBay | I’ve Paid For This Twice Already… – I had a comment last week on one of my older posts about selling items on Craigslist asking me what I thought about Craigslist and …
• How to use Postlets to Improve Your Craigslist Posts – There are quite a few features that Postlets offers, some fee-based and some free. com does most of the work for you. However, in relation to my previous post, I’ll also show you how you can create the illusion of an embeded YouTube property video.
• Save Money on the Web – I’ve mentioned before that I’m a software engineer living in Silicon Valley. Such an occupation forces you to stay alert with all the technology advantages in.
• Wired.com: Our Craigslist – The cover story for the September 2009 issue of Wired takes a look at the current state of Craigslist and the challenges it faces as it continues to evolve. In a sidebar, the magazine’s amazing art director Scott Dadich invited several …

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