Forum Moderator Business

Forum Moderator Business Overview

As the internet continues to become a fantastic hub for social networking, it also becomes a viable location to build a business around this phenomenon. The benefits of starting an online business are numerous, and have been covered in several previous posts. In regards to the social aspects of the internet world, the most common is still the forum format.

These forums are locations that have increasing numbers, and because of the sheer volume, a website and forum owner finds themselves in need of moderators. This is the kind of a job that enables a person to work at their pace on their time. This provides a great opportunity for an online home business for you social types.

Forum moderators are often in demand, as many sites are growing rapidly with the surge of online jobs, businesses and other internet opportunities. Communities are built around a forum, so the forum needs to remain a source of valuable conversational and informational exchange.

Moderators assure this by eliminating any non-productive conversations, limiting or eliminating any form of negativity between members, keeping out the spammers and promoting a comfortable virtual atmosphere where people freely exchange ideas specific to the goals of the forum.

This keeps the forum running smoothly, and enables the members to speak freely while knowing what they speak about is in tune with the goals of everyone on the site.

Increasing membership is also an aspect many forums expect from a good moderator. This is easily done by simply being a part of the venue daily, and watching for the more valuable threads, which should be bookmarked. This simply means to sign up with a social bookmarking site, like Stumble or Digg, and select the thread. Once it is up on the screen, the moderator, you, would submit the link to the social bookmarking site.

This will enable people to see what a great forum you are working for, and they will stop in and bring their expertise and experiences with them. There are many other simple ways to promote a forum, that the members themselves will do when there are active and quality moderators on the site. Word of mouth, even online, is the most powerful for of all promotion.

Spam is also a major issue in these forums. At times, people will sign up simply to advertise and bring no value to the site or the forum. After logging in on a daily basis, it will be evident, which posts these are, and how quickly they need to be deleted. To keep them out of view of the active members, a good moderator is going to be watchful of these in every part of the forum. If at all possible, it is also important to remove the spamming members to avoid encouraging them to further diminish the forum and the value it holds for the members.

Getting Started

With the variety of sites online, there is an incredible array of potential venues for forum moderators. This makes the position of forum moderator ideal for a home business.

To find clients, first and foremost, visit forums that you'd have an interest in. You don't to moderate a forum on fly fishing if you're not interested in fishing at all. So check out forums on subjects that interest you. You can find a ton of forums simply by doing a Google search for "forums" or specific subject matter.

The forum owner will often post an ad or comment asking for a moderator. You can then reply to the thread or send the owner an email, outlining your services, schedule availablility and fees. Don't forget that you can't moderate a forum 24/7. You'll have to set a schedule. Because of this limitation, you can optimally only moderate one or two forums at a time.

Setting Your Fee

Now setting your fee can be a bit tricky. You may want to do some research, but I think a good rule of thumb would be to charge a daily, rather than an hourly ratel. Small and home business owners, who make up most of the forum owners, are a little leary of hourly rates... If you can manage to moderate 3 or 4 forums (which you can do with a high-speed internet connection and good computer), then you can bid a little less for the job and get a step up on your competition.

You could reasonably charge $50 a day, for an 8 hour shift. This doesn't sound like much, I know, but you're just watching people post comments online. If you moderate 4 or 5 forums, then you can easily make $200 to $250 a day.

Once you start building a reputation and your business, you could add additional equipment -another computer- and perhaps hire a part-time employee and increase the number of forums you moderate.

Final Word

A home forum moderator business not only gives you the freedom to work at home doing something you enjoy, but will also open doors to other opportunities for similar services. Once your established in a few forums, and once you build your reputation, you'll soon find that all kinds of different income sources open themselves up before you.

So, if you enjoy hanging out in forums, chatting and socializing online, then perhaps a home forum moderator service business is just the type of business for you.

That's it for todays home business idea. Hope it gave you some great ideas. And don't forget.... have fun.

Until tomorrow,

Terry

Paid Membership Site Business

Membership Site Business Overview

People are willing to pay for online content. In fact, the "Online Publishers Association" said that pay-for content is emerging as a hot revenue model. Business content, personals/match making, and entertainment are the hottest niches. But even smaller niches, like DVD authoring, sports coaching, marketing services, and dieting are producing profits.

Can you build an income selling subscriptions for online content with your own membership site? Selling online content by way of a password protected website has become big business. Not only is it fast to set up, but the start-up and running costs are minimal. Work from home entrepreneurs and big businesses alike are tapping into this new-found revenue source.

Less than nine percent of online users currently pay for online content. This means the market is wide open for the savvy entrepreneur. Paying for content in 2004 was more than 5 times what it was in 2005. And those numbers of more than doubled in the last six years. That’s a whopping 500% growth! Those who capture the market first in their niche will have the obvious advantage and it’s an international market, so anyone can play.

One of the great things about starting a membership site is you can take your hobby, specialized knowledge or profession and turn it into a profitable business. Your challenge will be finding exclusive content. You can start it part time but it will likely develop into a full time business.

Planning for and setting your site up for autoresponders, automated sign-ups, credit card processing, automated cancellations, etc is all part of a successful membership website. Starting and running a membership site can be a lot of fun and very exciting, however you need to know what’s involved in setting one up, and then managing it effectively.

This whole process can seem a bit daunting. However, as complex as this seems, many companies offer a low cost, easy-to-use software solution. This makes it possible for almost anyone to start and market a membership site at a very low cost.

Various Types Of Membership Sites

There are basically two types of membership sites. There are free sites and there are paid for sites. The two types of membership sites have one thing is common. Their memberships are made up of people who share a common interest or have a common need.

You can, of course, buy a domain, set up a website and not charge for memberships but choose who to admit and who not to admit. This is done when the profit is intended to come from sales to members after they join the site. There are free network sites that might be used for this purpose.

Paid-for membership sites are set up by businesses or individuals with the objective of making money by supplying hard to find information, access to specialized data or lists, or instruction in various fields. Membership sites are owned and operated by people who either own the sites or who are hired by the site owners to monitor and administer them. The topics for paid for membership sites are even more varied than the free sites and certainly more specialized.

Choosing Your Niche or Suject Matter

If you choose to start a membership site about…say….dogs. Just dogs in general won’t attract many members. You'll need to choose a specific breed….and possibly even narrow it down further. Instead of Poodles, your theme should be; Tiny Toy Poodles, Miniature Poodles, or Standard Poodles, for example. Millions of people are dog lovers and the theme of a specific breed of dog should do well.

If you're really into video or computer games, start a membership site devoted to one specific game… not just video games or computer games in general. People all over the world and from every walk of life get really involved with a specific video or computer game and love to talk to others about the game and give each other hints.

There are thousands… maybe millions… of people who love certain crafts and hobbies. However, those who love to quilt aren’t interested in woodworking so your membership site should be about a specific craft or hobby.

Professionals like to talk to other professionals in the same field. Each professional field speaks their own language and find the same things to be interesting, informative or funny. So if you start a membership site for professionals, you should get a good response.

A membership site with the theme, ‘Resell Rights’, should do well, also. This kind of site will need to be kept updated on a regular basis.

Whatever the theme of your membership site is, it should always be your main focus. Every piece of written content, audio content or video content should be about the main theme of your membership site. Little side trips into very closely related fields is alright now and then, but even very closely related subjects should never detract from the main focus of your site.

When you choose the theme for your membership site, you should choose it because it's something that you know a lot about and/or are passionate about.

No matter how many distractions you have, you must still keep new, fresh, relevant and timely content on your website that pertains to the theme of your site.

Your ezines and newsletters need to be filled with helpful and useful information. Be sure to continually check for new products that would be helpful to your membership. New products come out daily and you don’t want to fall behind.

You need to make full use of your autoresponder to keep your members informed and to keep them focused on the objective, as well.

Your blog, forum or message board topics can become unfocused and off-topic very easily. They must be monitored daily…maybe even several times each day.

Benefits of Owning and Operating Your Own Membership Site

Most people realize that there's a lot of money to be made on the internet. What many people don't realize is that it doesn’t take a lot of money to get started with an online venture and begin to cash in. This is certainly true with a membership site. Here are some of the solid reasons why you may want to consider a membership site as your home based online business:

1. There is great potential to create a passive revenue stream. Sometimes referred to as residual income, your membership site can be structured to include a monthly membership fee. That means once you sign someone up, they stay a member month after month. Ultimately, you make a great deal of money from each member who registers with the site.

This really is an easier way to make money than choosing to sell individual products. With products, you basically start all over again every time you pitch a unit to a new customer. This is not true with a membership site. Once you sell someone on joining the site and paying the monthly membership fees, you can turn your focus away from selling and toward ways to keep your site interesting.

2. You have a lot less administrative work to do when you run a membership site. Because people are effectively buying over and over again each month automatically, record keeping is a lot more simplistic. Plus you do not have to put as much effort into sales efforts.

Think about it this way. When you sign up forty new members in a given month at $10.00 per month, that is an additional $400.00 you will earn each month. Over the course of a year, that comes to $4,800.00. Essentially, you do nothing after that initial effort to sign them up. The money just keeps coming.

Now, think about how much money you could make if you signed up 400 new members EVERY month. You can easily build up enough of a membership base to life the life you want –without having to work a second job!

3. Not only do you earn residual income with your members, there is also the chance to earn a few more extra dollars by making backend products available to them. While this is a secondary source of income, it is something you can cultivate when and as you choose.

Because the task of building your customer list is an ongoing thing, your target audience for those backend product offerings is constantly increasing. That is a sales environment that just doesn’t happen in a lot of other situations.

Would you like to be able to market your products directly to what amounts to a list of qualified prospects instead of having to dig for leads? Of course you would!

With the right type of products, you can easily create a steady income above and beyond your residual income.

4. You don’t have to do all the selling yourself. There is always the opportunity to set up an affiliate program. You immediately have hundreds and maybe thousands of people selling for you.

Setting up an affiliate program is not complicated. There are plenty of resources to help you pick a format that is right for your membership site and your budget. As long as you make the compensation worth the time of the affiliates, you can stand to make a great deal of money for yourself.

5. Time. Don’t you often feel that there is not enough of it? How much of your time do you devote to working in a dead end job, for other people?

How many times have you felt like your efforts were not appreciated, much less properly compensated? How much better would your life be if you didn’t have to deal with that sort of thing? With your membership site making money, you can tell your boss goodbye and start using your time for other important things, like family.

6. You create financial security. There’s not much of that these days. But with your membership site making money with monthly membership fees, and the other income you get from selling backend products to your members, you can look toward a secure future. Think of that that means when it comes to planning for your retirement years.

7. You get to do things you never could before. Want to vacation in Florida? How about a ski trip to Colorado? With your membership site up and running, affiliates doing the selling and a steady stream of income showing up in your bank account each month, you have what you need to go wherever you like.

These and many other advantages could be yours. While it takes some hard work on the front end, you have the joy of seeing your efforts pay off.

Take a moment and think about what you would do if you never had to worry about money again. Consider how you will feel about yourself when your work pays off in a big way?

Getting Started

Whatever you call them - member only, membership, subscription, or mentor websites, they all have one thing in common. They are bringing in steady and constant cash flow for their owners, month after month, from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars. The array of the topics of these websites is endless.

Some of these paid membership sites provide mentoring or coaching, others publish useful articles or information in a particular field or product. Still others publish the results of tests and studies or product reviews. Some membership sites provide specialized service or act as a meeting place for people with a common interest and then there are those that provide step-by-step instructions for such things as painting or music.

All these sites have one thing in common: to access the website (or the best information on the site) you have to pay for it! Which begs the question…why would anybody pay for information on the Internet?

The answer is simple. People buy information that they could probably find for themselves if they looked long enough and hard enough, because they want to save time or because they think the information will be better or more specialized or because the information just isn’t available to them unless they pay for it.

Just a few short years ago it was almost unheard of to charge for access to a website and almost no one was doing it. Today, however, it's the norm and not the exception. Actually we have internet dating sites to thank for this huge money making opportunity.

It takes some work and certainly the right tools to set up a members-only website but the rewards (monetary as well as personal satisfaction) can be huge.

Setting Up Your First Membership Site

So far, you've identified the niche or subject matter for your membership site (I hope). You've also taken stock of your aims, goals and abilities and decided you have what it takes to operate the site. You've also determined that you're willing to make the commitment necessary to be a success. This is where you get down to the process of designing and setting up your site.

There are several important considerations that will have to be addressed, regardless of what market your membership site will serve. Take a look at each one of them.

Deliverables – What Kind and How Often

If you want to have members who pay for the privilege of using your site, you have to give them something for their money. What you supply in exchange for that monthly membership fee is known as deliverables. There are basically two kinds:

1. Deliverables that are constantly available as long as membership is active. This may include posting privileges to a message board or sending a private message to another member.

2. Deliverables that are provided on a consistent basis, but are not automatically available. These may be products that you develop and release from time to time as part of the membership program. They may also be products you offer at a discounted rate to members only. Ebooks, audio files and video files are some examples of these types of deliverables.

Many membership sites have a combination of both types of deliverables. Doing so helps to keep the site fresh, and also makes the member feel like he or she is getting something over and beyond simple membership.

How many and what type of deliverables is up to you. Deciding on your slate of deliverables should include careful consideration of the following:

• What market is the membership site aimed at?
• What are the other sites engaged in that market doing?
• What would I like to see as a member of this type of site?
• What can I include and still keep the membership fee competitive?
• What can I add that the other guys are not doing?

Your answers to these questions will play a big role in how you design the function of the site.

Pick a Domain Name

You may think this is no big deal. But it's more than a formality. Your choice of domain name is what your site will be known by. It's how people will find your site when they do searches. It's what people will tell their friends when they urge them to visit the site. In short, your domain name needs to possess these essential characteristics:

• It must be easy to remember – this is for both repeating the web address to friends and for members to easily remember the URL even when they aren't at their own computer with its bookmarks.
• It must be keyword optimized . You thought your page content was the only place to think about keywords? Think again! Your domain name also should be optimized to show up high on searches.
• It must be relevant. You may think it would be cute to call your dating site something like “pinkcanary.com” but do you really think people will take the time to find out what your site is all about? Choose a name that at least hints at the subject matter of the site.
• It must be easy to verbalize. Not all your members will email a link to your site to their friends. Some will mention it in passing in casual conversation. For this reason, the name should be easy to say as well as easy to remember. “Artichokehearts.com” is always easier to say than “tenwaystoprepareartichokes.com”. And it is also easier to remember the next day.
• You have to like it. After all, it is your business. Make it a name you can proudly pass on to others when you invite them to visit your site.

Membership Site Script

This is simply the software you need to create the site with all the bells and whistles you have decided is needed to stand out from the rest. As you look around, keep the following in mind:

• You may or may not find one script that has everything you want. Be prepared to have to purchase more than one. (But for sure, there are some great “all-in-one” solutions.)
• Don’t buy anything until you look around a great deal. The idea is to get as many features in one software package as possible.
• Read reviews of various scripting software. It helps to know if others found the software easy to use and versatile enough to allow them to set up their sites without jumping through a bunch of hoops.

I've provided a couple of different membership site scripts in the Additional Resources section below. There are many, many different ones available ranging in price from $0 to $1,000. I've used both the multi-membership manager script and the instant membership site creation software. Which is right for you will depend on the type of site you're planning to build and your own technical abilities.

Choose a Payment Processor

Since you do want to get paid for your efforts, you need to put something in place to process payments. It is good for you and also good for your members. When they want to join, they want to do it now, not later.

Different payment processors work different ways. That means you need to decide what payment methods are acceptable:

• Debit Cards
• Credit Cards
• Checking Account Deductions
• Online Payment Services

When it comes to credit cards, you also want to decide which credit cards you will accept. Generally, the more you accept, the easier it is for your members. Online payment services like PayPal are very popular today. In fact, you may want to set the processor to allow this option and dump the funds into your own PayPal account.

There are many types of scripting software packages that will include a payment processor. Make sure it is a good one before you buy the software and you can take care of two concerns at once.

Mailing List Manager

Ideally, you want one that will allow you to maintain separate lists. This is helpful in several scenarios:

• You can create an opt-in listing for prospects. With this feature, your members can suggest email addresses of their friends that they think would be interested in the site.
• You can maintain mailing lists for several levels of membership. If your site functions with a free limited
  membership, then two or three levels of paid memberships, you want to house a list for each level. This allows you to send out periodic promotion emails that are targeted to each level in your membership base.
• If you go with affiliates as a way to build up your membership, you can also create a mailing list just for the
  affiliates. This can come in very handy.
• An opt-in newsletter list is also a good idea. That list can be composed of members from any membership level. They just have to let you know they want to be included in the mailing.

A good mailing list manager opens up a lot of doors for effectively using your membership list. Make sure you can maintain at least a dozen different lists at any one time.

Regular Publishing Schedules

The people who have paid to join your membership site depend on you to provide relevant and timely information. It is their right to expect that information to be updated on a regular basis because they may be depending upon it to make decisions. When a person joins your membership site they should be told what your publishing schedule will be so that they know when they can expect to get fresh information. Adhering to that announced schedule is vitally important.

Deciding what your publishing schedule will be for your website is important. Keep in mind the kind of information you will be supplying to your membership. Information that changes hourly will require a RSS feed. Information that needs to up-dated on a daily basis will most likely require a content management system. For weekly publishing of content, you can do that yourself but a content management system can make it a lot easier.

When you are planning your newsletter, you need to decide how often your ezine or newsletter will be sent out to your subscribers. Basically, you need to create a schedule and stick with it. But how often should you publish? How much is too much and how often is not enough? When it comes to frequency, the usual choices are daily, weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly.

Daily - that means 365 newsletters a year. You could wear out your welcome even with your most devoted members.

Weekly - that is still a lot of work…52 letters a year…a little over 4 a month. Would your members appreciate that much mail from you?

Bi-weekly - Publishing an e-zine twice a month is just often enough to keep you fresh in your subscribers' minds but not so often that they become annoyed with you.

Monthly - doesn’t seem often enough. Your members may forget about you and where your website lives on the Internet.

Conclusion

Owning and operating your own membership site opens up a great deal of potential for you. There is the chance to do something you enjoy while also devoting time to a subject that you care about. Best of all, you can make a lot of money and have time to do the things you’ve always wanted to do.

Just remember that your site needs to be a great one. It has to offer something that is not offered by everyone else. And you have to market it properly or you will never attract members. Spend some time today finding resources that will help you make the best membership site in your hungry market. You could be up and running in less time than you think.

Additional Resources

Multiple Membership Site Script
Instant Membership Site Software

Controversial Memberships (free ebook -instant download)
Membership Site Profits (free ebook -instant download)

Okay, that's today's home business idea. If starting a memership site is something you might like to do, I wish you all the best. And as always, don't forget to have fun building and running your business.

Until tomorrow,

Terry

Custom Stenciling Business

Custom Stenciling Business Overview

Specializing in custom stenciling is a fantastic low-investment business you can start and manage right from a home based office. In the past few years stenciling has once again become a popular interior decorating art medium. The uses vary from decorative wall borders to creating beautiful patterns on cabinet doors to sprucing up that old vase or fruit bowl.

Deciding to start a custom stencil business can prove to be a lucrative venture. Stencils are an easy way to create one of a kind designs on just about any surface from walls to clothing by placing the stencil on an item and filling in the design with paint or other textures. There are many designers and decorators across the country who could be potential clients of your business.

Getting Started

To get started all you have to do is practice. There are many how-to books and videos available that'll teach you specific secrets and methods about creative stenciling. I've included a few tips below, but you'll want to do some research and studying in addition to the few tips I've given you.

1. Create a business plan. This a necessary tool to help you chart how you will market your unique stencil designs, debt financing, and classes needed to keep your design skills sharp as you start a custom stencil design business.

2. Consider an online business when you start a custom design stencil business. You can show off your stencil design using an online gallery and it'll be easier to maintain than a physical store giving you global appeal. You might even want to think about creating a Yahoo Stores. You can customize it to showcase your work, and sell your stencils and/or services.

3. If you're unsure of your current abilities, you may decide to outsource work by hiring additional stencil designers or a web designer. However, if you feel confident enough to do it all yourself, you can save a lot of money on start-up costs in the beginning.

4. Establish an effective marketing plan to bring in specific stencil business. When you start a custom design stenciling business you could consider setting up an affiliate-marketing program to encourage complementary, established businesses to promote your custom stencils for a small commission. Mom and pop home decor shops and small business shops that sell paint could be ideal.

5. Obtain the necessary software, screen printing machines or other equipment needed to create custom stencils for your business, if you don't want to take the time and expend the effort to create them by hand.

Equipment & Materials

Basic materials that will be required include:

• paints & textures
• various sizes of paintbrushes
• additional paint applicators
• predesigned stenciling templates
• masking tape
• rags, sponges etc.

Of course if you have creative flair, you can design your own custom stenciling templates, which I'll give you some tips on how to do in a minute.

Warnings & Considerations

• Consider consulting an attorney and accountant to keep taxes, contracts and other legal matters in order.
• Take advantage of any business courses offered online or at your local community college to help you succeed when you start a custom stencil business.
• Avoid listing standard prices for your services. Your business is offering custom designed stencils. Since every design is custom made it would be difficult to set standard pricing.

Take Your Custom Stenciling Business Online

Stencils are an inexpensive and easy way to transform just about any surface, from walls to clothing. They're also a great tool for teachers and parents looking for creative ways to spend time with their kids. If you can draw or are patient enough to learn how, you could easily start an online stencil business. Again, Yahoo Stores makes this very, very easy and affordable.

What You'll Need:

• Website
• Design software
• Stencil cutter

1. Select a software design program for your stencil store, if you don't want to draw your stencil designs by hand. If you've never worked with a program before, start with GIMP or Paint.net. Both of these programs are free. GIMP has more features than Paint.net, but Paint.net is easier to maneuver. Another option is to purchase a program like Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, CorelDraw and Corel Paint Shop Pro. While all four can be used for a variety of applications, Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro are geared towards photo editing or painting using raster graphics, whereas Ilustrator and CorelDRAW are more for drawing.

2. Enroll in an art class that teaches stencil design. Contact your local community college or art school to find a course.

3. Select a memorable domain name for your business. Then purchase your domain and website. Look for a web host who can provide instant, 24-hour customer support and helpful tutorials on how to set up your website. Look for a web host who can offer you free Google Adword or Yahoo credits, Facebook integration, free templates, plenty of bandwidth, storage space and email addresses and marketing tools such as newsletters, coupon generators and data feeds.

4. Design your stencil site. If you don't want to use a free template but you aren't familiar with Hyper-text markup language (HTML), consider hiring a web designer to help you. Ask around at your art class. You may be able to hire a student for much cheaper than you would a professional. On your site, detail the many uses for stencils. Provide pictures of walls, floors, flower pots, canisters, signs and vases that have been decorated using your stencils. Offer helpful videos. Allow customers to create their own stencils for a fee.

5. Purchase stencil brushes, stencil sheets, tubes of acrylic paint, paint kits, stationary and books to sell on your site along with your stencils, as well as custom cardboard packaging materials. Purchase a laser cutting machine that will work on the materials you intend to sell, such as glass, wood, acrylic, metal or plastic. Features to consider are the work area your cutter will accommodate, the desired thickness of your stencils and the production rate.

6. Find your niche and begin creating your stencils. Create stencils for use in home décor, as cake toppers, or for commercial use. Design intricate stencils for use as borders or exquisite décor. Incorporate letters, numbers, animals, plants, vegetables, fruits, flowers, prints, patriotic symbols, baskets, hearts, stars, space, holiday and seasonal themes, colonial, French country or Victorian designs.

7. Contact local paint and craft stores about selling your stencils in store, in exchange for a percentage of the profits.

Warnings & Considerations

• Once your business takes off and you've leased a location, consider holding art classes to help supplement your income.
• When first starting out, you may be able to store the majority of your equipment and supplies in a large garage. However, as your business expands, it may be a good idea to rent space, particularly if you intend to hire employees.
• Consider starting a blog where you give stenciling advice and offer a handful of free, printable stencils. Put links to your online store on your blog.

Tips On Stenciling

Stenciling is a very arduous task. It requires a lot of hard work and determination. It also requires concentration and focus. Unlike other art forms, stenciling is a very personal art form where in an individual gets to choose his or her design and make her own design too.

Stenciling started with the stenciled patterns in caves. It proliferated with the advancements and initiatives of the Japanese and Chinese. Other cultures like the Europeans and Romans helped in the spreading of the art form.

There are many forms of stenciling. These include wall stenciling, graffiti stenciling and furniture stenciling. Stenciling is used in decorating and expressing yourself. You'll need to ehance your knowledge of stenciling before starting your home based custom stencilling service. Here are some tips that can help in ensuring a quality results.

1.) Use a proficient tool – choose your equipment carefully. Brushes for stenciling have short and firm bristles. They are also round. These characteristics of the brushes will prevent paint from seeping into the edges of the stencil.

Other equipment recommended are sponge and small roller.

2.) Start working from the outside towards the middle. This method will stop the paint from seeping under the edges.

3.) Don't put too much paint on the brush. This'll create a messy output. Dip the brush into the paint lightly. Dab the brush with a piece of paper or cloth if there's an excess of paint.

4.) Apply coats individually. Dry the first coating first before applying the second one. Apply paints thinly. It's better to have a first and second coating than a thick one.

5.) Tape the stencil to avoid it from slipping down or to avoid spaces between the stencil and the surface. Tapes with low tacks are the best materials to use for this procedure.

6.) Use colors to make your stencil design beautiful. Cover the areas with tape when you don't want them to be included in a particular color that you are applying.

7.) Practice everyday. Practice applying the paint and using your brush. Study your design carefully and practice it on other surfaces.

8.) Clean regularly. Clean the surfaces where you'll be working. Clean the brushes that you'll use. Cut your stencil cleanly. Keep your stencil free from any paint. Paint on the edges will damage the outcome of your design. Clean your brushes in between the application of different colours and layers. After cleaning your brushes and stencil, let them dry before using them again.

9.) Keep the stencils flat. Put it between two pieces of cardboard, book or anything that will hold the design flat.

These are some of the things that you should keep in mind before beginning any project/job.. There are other things to do but these few tips are the most fundamental and basic.

Stenciling is a great art. It gives the artist a lot of choice when it comes to design, equipment and materials. Yet, it is only great if you perfect the art and spend time learning it.

How To Make A Stencil

Want to know how to make a stencil? It's fun to create a pattern from a picture you love and have the ability to reproduce it again and again. It's easy too!

Let's say you found the perfect image and want to make it into a stencil. Well, there are many ways to make a picture into a stencil, and depending on the image, various ways to best create a stencil. So, let's explore a couple of options.

First you need to decide if your image will work best as a Single Overlay Stencil or a Multiple Overlay Stencil. If your image is intricate or complex, say like a multi-petalled rose, you may want to use several layer to get the best effect.

However, if you have an image of three balloons that you'd like to turn into a stencil, a single layer would suffice.

So, what do you want your stenciled image to look like? Do you want a silhouette or ghost of the image? Are you looking for a simple picture with one or few colors that has little detail? Or do you want a final image that has more of a hand painted look?

It might help to look at your image in a different way. How much detail is in the image? And how much detail do you want to keep for your stencil? You need to try and visualize your image as if it were broken down into layers – maybe by colors or maybe by shadows versus light areas. Needless to say, the fewer the details the better the image for creating a stencil. At least, when you are just starting out.

The best images for how to make a stencil have high contrast with few variations. What does that mean? Well, in order to create a stencil you need to break it down into sections and the more color variations and shaded areas the more complex your job.

How To Make A Stencil - Single and Multiple Overlay Designs

I should tell you this, Single Overlay Stencils are less work when it comes to stencil painting but can be a little harder when it comes to designing. Take a good look at both options before deciding and then take another look at your image.

Okay, let’s say your image is a black and white photo. That’s pretty easy and takes a lot of the guess work out of it for you – it will work best as a Single Overly Stencil.

So, you've taken a good look at your image and decided that you want to keep the detail and you really desire the hand painted look. Great! A Multiple Overlay Stencil will get your where you want to be. You'll be making stencils with Multiple Layers which is the next step of learning how to make a stencil.

After you've designed your own stencil and really put some work into it you'll want to preserve it for future use. Or maybe you want to use it multiple times. Click here to get some stencil making tips and techniques for preparing your stencils for permanent use. There are a couple of options to do this. You can use a verathane coating, a wax coating, or cut your stencil into a thin sheet of mylar or acetate instead of paper for multiple use or permanent stencils.

When looking for a material to make stencils you’ll want a product that can accept ink without smudging or pooling.

Remember that a glossy finish will not accept ink and will cause paint to run (and seep under your stencil). So I would highly recommend a product that has a matte finish on both sides.

For all of its usefulness, acetate does cause a few headaches — ink that won't stay, a yellow or grayish cast as it ages, edges that curl.

Grafix Dura-Lar is the acetate alternative. It combines the best features of Mylar® and acetate, and offers a variety of products so that you can purchase the film that suits your needs precisely. It is always consistent in color and overall clarity, and won't discolor with age. Dura-Lar is archival quality, safe for overlaying artwork, and it lays flat. It will remain dimensionally stable for as long as you need.

When learning how to make a stencil you'll find that there are many options for the materials to use. In fact, I've heard of people using report covers or clear transparencies. Again, I'm trying to give you as many ideas so that you can experiment and find what works best for you!

Blick Art Materials has a large supply of stencil making materials including the Dura-Lar acetate alternative products.

You can find acetates in rolls or sheets, colored or clear, matte or glossy and even adhesive backed. Experiment until you find the one that works best for you.

Here are a few tips for cutting out your stencil. Rotate the stencil with one hand while you continue to cut in as straight a line as possible, steadily and gently pulling the blade towards you. This will keep your wrist in a more comfortable and natural position and give you more control so you don't make mistake cuts. Twisting your wrist to cut along a winding line is more difficult.

A Final Note

A home based custom stenciling service is best marketed by way of referral or word-of-mouth advertising. It may take a little longer to establish a client base this way; however, the extra time will enable you to gain valuable stenciling practice and experience for your new home based custom stenciling service. If, on the other hand, you take your business online, then you have many more options and avenues for building your custom stencilling business.

This is a very creative business, and one that requires patience and expertise. Learn it well before taking on any large project -like someone's livingroom or an office building. The more you practice the better you'll get, and the better you get the more enjoyment and satisfaction you'll dervice from your home based custom stencilling business.

Additional Resources



Dick Blick Art Materials

Stencil Creation Equipment

I hope you found this business idea and overview helpful. Remember, whichever business you choose, don't forget to have fun with it.

Until tomorrow,

Terry

Pros And Cons Of Starting A Business

Are you interested in starting your own home business? If you are, you may already have your mind made up. However, if you're still toying with the idea of starting your own home business, you may be wondering whether or not your dream is one that should stay a dream or one that could actually become a profitable reality.

To get a good idea as to whether or not you should start a small business, you may want to examine the pros and cons of doing so. These pros and cons may help make it easier for you to decide whether or not a small business is right for you. A few of the most important small business pros and cons are touched on below.

Perhaps, the biggest pro or plus side to starting your own small business is the fact that you will be achieving a dream of yours. There are many individuals who have a dream to start their own business, but many rarely end up doing so. One of the reasons for that is fear. Many are afraid of failure. Yes, you and your small business venture may fail, but many say the ride was worth taking, no matter how good or bad the outcome turned out to be.

Another pro or plus side to starting your own small business is type of businesses that you could start. For instance, did you know that you could open up your craft store, run a payroll processing company, start a dog grooming salon, or start your own hair salon? When it comes to starting your own small business, you will find that the possibilities are literally endless.

In connection with the types of businesses that you can start, did you also know that those businesses can be run in different ways? For instance, if you are interested in opening up a dog grooming salon or even a hair salon, did you know that you could rent your own commercial building space or even run the business out of your home for a while? Also, depending on the type of business you run, you may even be able to have an online store. In fact, it is not uncommon for many small business owners, who sell products, to have storefront retail stores, as well as online retail stores. Once again, the possibilities are basically endless.

Although there a number of pros or plus sides to starting your own small business, you will also find that there a number of downsides or cons to doing so as well. One of those downsides is the fact that there are not really any guarantees. Sometimes even the best small business plans fail. There a lot of factors that go into determining whether or not a business can be a profitable one, like the ability to reach the targeted market, startup costs, monthly expenses, and location. While there are steps that you can take to help improve your chances of success, there are still no guarantees.

Another one of the cons or downsides to starting a small business is the startup money needed. Yes, there are some businesses that have smaller startup costs than others, but almost all small businesses do have startup costs. The good news though is that if you don’t have the required funds, you may be able to obtain financing for your small business project. The only thing is that you need to have good credit to do so. So, if your credit currently isn’t in good standing, you may want to think about working on it now. The sooner you get your credit repaired, if it needs to be, the sooner, you can start opening up your small business.

The above mentioned pros and cons are just a few of the many associated with trying to start your own small business. In all honesty, you may want to think about creating your own pros and cons list. If the pros outweigh the cons, starting your own small business may be something that you should look into doing.

It's my sincerest hopes that these tips are helpful to you.

Until next time.

Terry

Yahoo Store Online Business

Yahoo Store Overview

Today many people have discovered the ease and quality of online shopping. In addition to the growing number of online shoppers, people are also finding that they can run a successful home based business by selling products online. One of the most popular shopping communities online is Yahoo Shopping.

The Yahoo store is an online store front where people can host their own websites to sell merchandise over the web safely and securely with the most trusted website in the world. Yahoo stores are becoming more and more popular because of the world wide popularity of Yahoo.com.

Yahoo is a global network that receives an average of over 3.4 billion page views a day. Yahoo is the second most visited website in the United States and the number one most viewed website in the world. Yahoo.com had attracted over 1.5 billion annual visitors by the year 2008 and the number of visitors has continued to rise. Just imagine the potential your online store could have if it were being hosted with the most popular website in the world.

Yahoo uses the Ecommerce Wizard software which allows you to add or remove products and details. A business owner may also decide to showcase up to 50,000 items in their store-front. The wizard also includes a great program for web design allowing you to customize your storefront to your liking, however you're able to use other programs of your choice, and even hire a web designer. Using Yahoo as your ecommerce partner is a smart decision because Yahoo.com is the most visited website in the world.

If you're unsure about joining the online shopping community look at all the things Yahoo has to offer. First off, signing up for and creating a store front with Yahoo Stores is as easy as 1,2,3. At Yahoo you can design and build your own website from scratch using Yahoo’s design software called Wizard. Wizard is offered for free or you can design your website using your own website creation software like FrontPage or Dreamweaver. Yahoo even has professionals to build your website for you for an extra fee or you can have your own web designer build your Yahoo store website and upload it to the yahoo hosting service provided.

You can manage up to 50,000 products on your Yahoo store and quickly add and remove items using their step by step wizard programs. If you have an existing web storefront you can easily upload the product database to yahoo and have it up and running in no time.

Yahoo also offers a Merchant Starter Plan for $39.95 a month. The plan includes useful features such as the Wizard software. Wizard offers web design and stock control programs. When making transactions Yahoo uses the secure services of Pay Pal allowing customers to purchase items with popular credit cards or check and money order forms.

Since you're in control of your own store front you can sell whatever comes to mind such as candles, clothes, movies, etc. When stocking your store front you should research popular items and how much the contenders are selling them for; this way you can sell items people are looking for and at attractive prices while competing with the others.

Setting Up Your Yahoo! Store

Yahoo offers a prompt application process that gets your store accepting money from merchant accounts right away. Support for existing merchant accounts is available if your existing merchant account is compatible with FDMS. After you've built your website, uploaded your items and have signed up for your merchant accounts you'll be ready to start making money. You control the prices of your merchandise and you can offer promotions such as coupons, gift certificates, discount pricing, and volume pricing.

With Yahoo Stores, you'll even receive inventory alerts when the quantities of your products are low. You'll be able to manage your yahoo store and categorize your merchandise by color, price, size and any other variable you choose. You can also include trackable links for your affiliate programs.

Yahoo stores also helps you achieve sales by posting your products in their product catalog. The product catalogs are in XML and can be read by shopping directories. Marketing your Yahoo store is easy with Yahoo’s search engine friendly web pages. You get automatic submissions to Yahoo and Google.

You can view your orders several different ways. You can view your orders by email or online or you can also receive your new orders by fax. Yahoo’s easy interface makes it easy to process and ship your orders to the customers.

Automatically email customers to announce order status changes. Yahoo also makes shipping easy by printing out shipping labels and invoices to help you stay organized.

Additional Features

Yahoo Shopping services include price matching which allows consumers to find the desired items at the perfect price by seeing what the others have to offer. When you match prices as the merchant, consumers will be attracted to your web store. Once again the services Yahoo offers are catered to the quality and interest of you and the consumer; when popular items are running out of inventory you will receive email alerts urging you to re-stock your store front.

By running your business online you'll receive orders from all over the world. Yahoo grants you the freedom of using any shipping service you like such as: UPS, USPS, Fed-Ex, and more. Some services such as UPS offer online tools to review and track orders. Keep in mind that tax rates will vary by country, province/state, and postal/zip code.

If you need assistance with your business Yahoo offers a 24/7 technical support line. Yahoo also offers customer service for the consumer. There are many places on the web to partner with for ecommerce but none favor the merchant and customer the way Yahoo does. Yahoo’s services are only of the highest quality and concern for their partners and shoppers. I hope you make the wise decision of creating and running a Yahoo Web-store. Once you’ve built your store-front you will see results at a fast pace, almost instantly filling orders and restocking your inventory.

Other ecommerce sites like Ebay are reasonable but they are nothing like Yahoo Stores. Yahoo offers many options and services that Ebay doesn’t. Yahoo even allows you to use your own domain name. When choosing an ecommerce partner you should review all of the offered services and options.

Yahoo will assist the online merchant with all things necessary to run a professional and successful online store-front. Why choose to use E-bay when you have Yahoo Web-store with Yahoo Shopping. If you aren’t satisfied with the services that other ecommerce sites offer you can easily switch over to the Yahoo Shopping community. Whether it’s your first time running a home based business or you want better service Yahoo is the best choice.

Another added feature that Yahoo Store offers is guided marketing resources and services that will help launch and grow your online business. Not only do they offer marketing services and resources, they also offer web analytics for tracking and testing your web store traffic so you can see what is working and what is not working in your marketing efforts.

Web analytics is probably the single most powerful tool for maximizing your marketing and advertising budget as it allows you to track and test your visitors actions, lets you know where your traffic is coming from, allows you to run split tests, track changes in trends, and this ultimately allows you to increase your conversions and maximize your ROI in your marketing and advertising budget.

Some other added perks and features are display advertising network across Yahoo network (combine with PPC campaigns), free marketing features, and a grand opening email when your store goes live.

Deciding to use Yahoo Web Stores is probably one of the best decisions you will ever make when you choose to open a web business as they are a well known ,one stop shop , ecommerce solution. Yahoo Web Stores literally puts the “E” in easy when it comes to creating a fully functional ecommerce website. So whether you're looking to expand your business -and take it online- or just looking to build an extra stream of income, Yahoo Web tores is your all in one ecommerce solution.




Deciding what to sell in your Yahoo Store

So you’ve signed up for the Merchant Starter Plan offered by Yahoo to start your own business, you have used the Wizard software to enhance your storefront, and you’ve set up payment processing. There’s just one thing keeping your business from advancing! You haven’t a clue of what to sell.

As owner of a Yahoo Web-store in the Yahoo Shopping Community you are able to sell any items of your choice including: clothes, house ware, car-parts, novelty Items, and more. When first selecting items you may just want to start off with a few items that are convenient for you to sell. As your store-front begins to gain business you will want to review what others are selling and for how much. You may also want to see what the hot selling or popular items are. The popular selling items are what you should try to sell in your store.

The prices of similar items that the cmpetitors are selling for is what you will have to make difference with. The better deal you give a customer on a popular item the more business you will obtain. Some might like to maintain a certain theme or interest to their store, if your store-front is for special or certain items the same suggestions apply. For example, if your store is set towards the younger consumer you will want to keep up on what items involve their interest. If you sell home items such as cndles it is wise to select the most popular scents for your inventory.

However, if you do not want to spend a lot of money on big items to sell you might be interested in selling only certain items ranging from party supplies to vitamins. If your store-front is only dedicated to party supplies than you will only need to sell related items such as napkins, masks, games, hats, etc. Also when selecting items you may only want to sell items that can be easily shipped. For example the heavier or bigger an item is the more it will cost for you to ship it.

If you spend too much money on shipping it might not be possible for you to earn the money back from sales. Sensible items to sell if you are budgeting might include cell phone and I-pod accessories. The strategies and tactics that regular shop owners use are the same that you should use for yours even though your business is online.

When looking for items to sell in your store-front keep in mind of the factors that could encourage satisfying sales.

Selling popular items at competitive prices is a sure way to gain and keep customers. While wanting to sell popular items you might not have a supporting budget, therefore it is possible for you to sell accessories to these items such as phone cases, headphones, docking cradles, and more. The items you sell in your store will determine the amount of traffic and customers you receive. Setting up your Yahoo Store was easy and deciding what to sell should be just as easy for you. The most important aspect of your business is the items you sell.

When selecting items rmember to review the pricing of competitors and what items consumers are going after. Once you have reviewed the Yahoo Shopping Community stats you should consider the items you will want to possibly sell.

Once you have your items selected and in inventory you are now ready to start business and earn money. Remember that you are able to sell anything you want in your web-store. If you are running a specialty shop, you should keep up on the newest items and information in relation to your stores theme and demographic. Also remember that selling popular items doesn’t always mean you need to spend a lot of money.

Many people are looking for accessories that match with their personality and style. With the popularity of electronic items such as I-pods and computers, people are looking for ways to make their possessions custom and personal. So if you aren’t able to sell certain items you might be able to earn just as much money by selling accessories and add-on’s for those popular items.

Pricing And Inventory

When pricing your items it is suggested that you should price your items lower than what others charge to keep up competition and maintain a steady flow of consumer traffic. Since customers are able to match pricing, and your prices are better than opposing merchants they will be attracted to your store-front. So keep in mind that reasonable pricing equals more customers, and more customers equal more money.

When a customer fills in an order it is up to you to make sure he or she receives the products. Yahoo Web-store allows you to use any shipping or mail service of your choice ranging from UPS, FED-EX, and USPS. If you would like to check the status of an order UPS offers online tools. To make sure you don’t put too much money out in sending an order you can.

You have the option to set your shipping rates depending on weight, price, location, and more. Because your store is online at Yahoo Shopping you are able to ship orders internationally, however keep in mind that tax rates will differ by country, state, and zip. When popular items are low on stock you will receive immediate e-mail alerts so you may re-order merchandise. It is also a wise decision to keep your inventory organized. You are able to organize your stock by color, size, weight, and other variables.

When keeping inventory it can sometimes be a hassle, but with Yahoo Web-store it is easy. When popular items are low on stock you will receive immediate e-mail alerts so you may re-order merchandise. It is also a wise decision to keep your inventory organized in relevant categories with very detailed descriptions. Yahoo web store allows you to organize your stock by color, size, weight, category, keywords, and other variables.

Keeping your Yahoo store organized using very detailed and keyword specific descriptions. Other ecommerce sites like Ebay are reasonable but there’s nothing like Yahoo Web-store. Yahoo offers many options and services that E-bay and other leading competitors don't offer or have. Yahoo even allows you to use your own keyword specific domain name, remember to use a very relevant and keyword specific domain name. When choosing an ecommerce partner you should review all of the offered services and options.

Why Choose Yahoo Stores

The first thing to look for in your online store provider is great customer service and the opportunity to work with a reliable and trusting company. You want to be able to contact your store customer service team if a problem or question arises and you want them to have a fast response time to answer your questions and give you the correct advice.

Before you sign up with an ecommerce store provider you should check out the “Customer Support” page to see if they offer the sufficient contact information. When you call them do you talk to a customer service rep about your questions, or do you get the run around while arguing with pre-recorded voice. When you contact your online store provider your questions need to be answered within a reasonable amount of time.

Yahoo guarantees great customer service and they are eager to answer your questions regarding your yahoo store. Yahoo Stores have a 24-7 toll free customer support hotline and 24-7 email support as well. If you are unsure of the whole process they also offer Getting Started guides to help you on your way to success with yahoo stores.

Every internet server is going to have downtime, it is unfortunately unavoidable. The hard part is finding a service that is willing to accept the fact that they will have downtime and work with you to make sure that you aren’t dissatisfied with the services. You don’t want to have your online store hosted with a server that is always down because while the server is down you will not receive any sales and customers will not even be able to look at your website.. If a server is offering 100% uptime they are not being truthful to their potential customers.

Yahoo Store offers 99.9 % uptime and a local and remote site backup. Also included is a free BSD(UNIX) operating system. With Yahoo stores all of your personal information is secure and confidential. They offer IP blocking to help keep out potential negative customers. You have full access privileges to your site administration, and you also have many configurable risk tools to help flag fraudulent orders to keep you and your customers safe from identity theft. Yahoo stores offer extensive protection for your website including password protection and domain name locking.

Manage your yahoo store with Yahoo’s Web Analytics real time reporting to stay on top of you sites top traffic and sales sources and shopping cart drop off analysis. Yahoo Stores give you advice on the best keywords to use for your website but telling you which keywords get you most traffic to your webpage and which keywords don’t. Stay in touch with your customers with up to 1,000 email addresses and unlimited email storage space.

Yahoo Stores are the most trusted online stores available. They offer everything needed to start and operate your business from the ground up. Start your business the right way by getting involved with Yahoo Stores and make money online by selling your items from home.



Good luck with your new Yahoo Store. And don't forget to have fun while setting it up and running it.

Wishing you the greatest success,

Terry

Nail Art Technician Business

Overview Of Home Based Nail Art Technician Business

Nail Art / Design Technicians only became part of everyday self-care a few years ago. Up until then, most people were perfectly happy doing home manicures and having a professional manicure at a salon for important social gatherings or business functions. With the advent of acrylic nail extensions and gel nails and tips the professional manicure became more accessible and thus much more mainstream and now we even have "specialist" nail technicians that can create amazing works of art on your fingernails.

As well as acrylic and gel nail extensions, there are nail tips and all kinds of artistic embellishment available. The elegant extended fingernails can be studded with rhinestones, dotted with glitter or painted with seasonal pictures. As I mentioned above, there are even nail techs that specialize: some specialize in airbrushing your nails, some are experts at applying fine metal foils, and I've even seen techs that specialize in sculpting nails. It's no longer simply a matter of choosing a colour for your nail polish.

Nail art has become so popular now that you can find a huge assortment of nail art supplies and embelishments at your local Walmart or drugstore. When I first began putting art on my nails, I had a hard time finding decorations and had to be creative and make a lot of my own. But now when I go to the beauty department of a store, I can find rows and rows of items for creating nail art.

There's enormous potential for earning money with your own home nail art technician business. You only have to pass by a nail salon a few times to see how busy they are at all times of the day. If you want to try out nail extensions for yourself, and check out the business and your competition, you'll find there's a long waiting list for appointments. As a home based nail art technician, you'll have more independence and flexibility in respect of the hours you work than you would if you worked in a salon belonging to somebody else.

Getting Started

There's quite a bit of debate as to whether you need to be certified or not, and I think to add to the issue, some provinces/states and cities require licensing while others don't. However, I think, if you're offering ONLY nail design services, there's some lieniency in licensing and/or certification requirements. I would recommend, though, if you aren't a certified nail technician already, that you take some courses. There are some health issues and concerns that you should be aware of.

As the demand for nail technician training has increased, the number of centers offering training courses has also increased but they are not all Government accredited educational institutions. When choosing a nail technician training center (before paying anything to them) make very sure the training will lead to a recognised qualification and not just a worthless diploma invented by the owner of the training center.

If you've never seen what fungal nail infections look like, do a search on the nternet and have a look at some pictures. You'll quickly understand why clients would sue you for damages. It would be highly irresponsible to risk inflicting this sort of damage on anyone, so it might be a good idea to take a proper training course. Also, to avoid such things, always, always use top quality materials. Remember, business is about competition, so you want to offer the best service you possibly can. A good reputation will be your key to building a loyal customer base who will recommend you to their friends and family.

A nail technician is intimately involved in the most important and exciting events of people’s lives: from weddings to special occasions, and even to helping someone land that perfect job. Because of this, you need to perfect your tecniques before you actually start charging clients. I know I wouldn't want to be the one to wreck a bride's nail job on her wedding day!
Looking for nail technician training

Equipment Requirements

The basic equipment required for the home based nail technician isn't necessarily expensive and can be purchased online. However, as I mentioned before (and it's worth mentioning again) use quality products. Using high quaility products doesn't just protect you, it also impresses your clients. You want them to have a great experience, and enjoy their nails. Having to get their nails touched up every few days isn't going to do much for your business. Word of mouth can make or break your budding home based nail art business.

Here's a list of the primary tools you'll need to start with:

• A nail file machine and emery boards
• Many different colours of nail polish
• Acrylic and gel nails, tips and extensions
• A wide variety of embellishments -different coloured rhinestones, sparkles, decorations, etc.
• Paraffin wax
• Cotton balls and tissues
• Nail polish remover (non-acetate)
• A storage container for all your supplies (a tackle box will do)
• A portable table (optional but useful even if you're not taking your business mobile)

This isn't an exhaustive list by any means, and if you're like me, you won't be able to stop buying little decorations and new polishes whenever you get the opportunity.

Pricing

Part art, part science, pricing your services is one of the most important and delicate tasks you’ll undertake in your home based nail art technician business. And no two technicians approach it quite the same. As well, there are other factors to be considered in the equation. The area you live and will be working in. Technicians in major metroploitian areas can get away with charging much higher fees. While small town techs have to consider their client-base and what their area can support. Also, how many other salons or technicians are in your area? Is there a lot of competition? Will you have to do a lot of advertising? I've seen rates range from $50 for basic nail extensions, to $25 a nail for the full service -nail application, paint and art.

You might want to set a base price for the nail/extension applications, and then add to it depending on what type of art your client wants.

A Few Final Pointers

Creativity and application are what makes you stand out in a nail technology business. You'll also need to be in tune with new technologies and the latest trends in nail fashion. As a home based nail art technician business owner, you're going to need excellent communication skills and be willing to go the extra mile to provide exceptional services to your clients.

The increasing demand for nail technicians makes it easy for anyone who specialises in the business to have as many clients as they can handle. By offering a nail design service from home, you can offer three things that'll put you ahead of the salons:

1. Flexible hours. You can offer evening and weekend appointments for people who are at work during the day or want to get their nails done when their partner is at home to look after the children. You can also offer an emergency repair service.

2. Discounted rates. Fancy fingernails are not cheap to maintain but your overheads will be far lower than those of a salon owner. You can, therefore, compete with the salons on price and still make a good profit.

3. Mobile service. To put yourself even further ahead of the salons, you can offer a mobile nail technician service. This will be a valuable service for people such as mothers who don't want to take young children to a salon, disabled people who find travelling difficult and anyone where transport would be a problem or parking a nuisance.

Here's an idea just for my readers. I used to do this myself and I ALWAYS got positive comments and big reactions: To create an even more interesting design, pierce one or both baby fingernails (or any nail for that matter). You can purchase little charms for fingernails, and they have a little circular tip attached. Use a darning needle (make sure it's sterile), or if you can find something better, by all means, use it, and pierce the outer part of the baby fingernail. Then insert the tiny charm through the hole you just made with the darning needle. Do this after you've created the art because it's a pain to try to paint around the piercing.

This is an unbelievably creative and fun business to get into. If you're already a nail technician, or if you enjoy doing your own and friends and familys' nails, then this would be a great home business for you to start.

Additional Resources

Nails Magazine




Well, that's it for today's idea. Don't forget, no matter which home business you decide to start, have fun with it.

Until tomorrow,

Terry

Virtual Assistant Business

A virtual assistant is a contractor who supports businesses, legal offices, medical facilities and large corporations. This professional usually works from home and performs a variety of different tasks that can include internet research, writing, editing, bookkeeping, marketing support, spreadsheet preparation, transcriptions or any other internet or secretarial service. According to Entrepreneur magazine, the virtual assistant industry is becoming very popular among men and women who want to achieve a work/life balance that allows them to attend to family as well as work responsibilities. Becoming a virtual assistant requires little in the way of start-up costs, but does require a thorough knowledge of computers and technology devices.

Virtual assistants are also a popular option over hiring a regular employee because they’re considered independent contractors who have their own office equipment and pay their own taxes, therefore saving potential clients a lot of money in overhead costs.

If you’ve done administrative work in previous jobs, starting a VA business could be right up your alley.

Getting Started

Choose a name for your business and register it with the proper agency. Select two to three business name options, and check with your appropriate state agency to make sure the name is not being used by any other business. Purchase a domain name that reflects your VA business. All professionals in this field should have their own website because it reflects their professional attitude toward their work.

If you want to be a good virtual assistant, you need to set the hours right away and the hourly pay. You also have to set up a spreadsheet of your hours worked so that you have all the necessary documentations down to the minute if the client questions your work or pay. Most clients are easy to work with, but some will take advantage of your time. You have to discuss everything up front before agreeing to do the work.

Some client put high demands on the assistant. Some clients feel that the assistant should be at their beckon call no matter what time of day it is or what day it is. Before agreeing to work with anyone, you have to set your hours and stick to it. If you let a client contact you any time of the day, you will open a door to burn out or become frustrated. Some clients expect a person to be able when they need them and this causes problems with your home life.

Equipment Requirements

Since you're reading this, I can assume you have the primary tools needed to start your home based virtual assistant business, but to be thorough, I'll list the equipment you'll need... plus there may be one or two items you don't have and didn't think about:

• A computer with high speed internet access
• email program
• office suite software
• phone
• printer, scanner or fax machine
• a website to promote your services
• a desk
• comfortable chair
• a quiet space to work

Income Potential

Virtual assistants can make good money depending on what the job duties are and the client.

It was reported by virtual assistant trade organizations that the average full-time VA working in the US would gross about $39,452 annually. Now that isn’t a bad income.

According to the George Washington University forecast of emerging technology, Virtual Assisting will become a $130 Billion Industry in 2008. Thanks to our growing technology, and the fact that it’s easier to just source out work to a VA due to the fact that a business doesn’t have to pay for any benefits when they out-source, this type of service will only get bigger and more in demand.

Finding Clients For Your Home Based Virutal Assistant Business

Finding legitimate virtual assistant jobs can seem like a frustrating task. With so many scams on the web, it seems like there aren't any real opportunities available. But these positions do exist; you just need a few tips to find them.

Having persistence and dedication will put you on the path to landing virtual assistant jobs in no time.

Check out virtual office temp's website. They specialize in connecting companies that need virtual assistance with qualified candidates. The company doesn't charge any application or membership fees. All you need to do is register to receive weekly virtual assistant jobs.

Bid on virtual assistant jobs on Guru.com. This is a bidding website that allows you to bid on jobs. Check out the category titled "Admin (legal, medical, and accounting support" for virtual office assistant jobs. You can bid on projects in your area with a free membership, or purchase a membership (costing about $30 a month) which allows you to apply to virtual assistant jobs all over the world.

The WAHM job board is a great resource for finding companies that need virtual assistance. The WAHM job board is updated daily with legitimate virtual administrative assistant and virtual secretary jobs.

Target local businesses in your area. You can easily find virtual assistant jobs for yourself if you have a good strategy. Employers that are downsizing are looking to hire contract workers. Approach companies in your area about virtual assistance on a contractor basis.

Sign up and complete your profile on freelance websites like Odesk, Freelancer or Elance. Freelance websites will help you find clients, especially if you do not have any. Attach a copy of the resume to the freelance profile. Take any available tests that will help demonstrate your proficiency. View different work categories to look at job opportunities you are capable of completing. Bid on jobs to get work experience. Wait for a job offer and complete the project in the time specified. This way, you will get a positive recommendation from the client.

Last Word

Prepare a good marketing strategy and business plan for your hiome based virtual assistant business. Remember that your business will take time and work. Many virtual assistants often work between 14 and 18 hours a day in their start-up phase. Even after establishing their company, many owners still work long hours, including weekends and holidays. However, as a VA, you can set your own work schedule and work nights, early mornings or during the hours that best suit your lifestyle. And at the end of the day, it'll be you that makes ALL the decisions.

Additional Resources




Until tomorrow,

Terry

How To Build Credibility For Your Home Business

Merriam-Webster defines ‘credibility’ as: “the quality or power of inspiring belief”

The lack of credibility is the downfall of so many new businesses, both online and off. Credibility isn’t just important, it's vital to the success and growth of your business. If you operate an online business, then the very nature of the internet precludes blind trust. We can’t see or touch others. We can’t read body language or facial expressions. The only way we have to judge the credibility of others is by what they say about themselves, what others say about them, and how valid and, yes, CREDIBLE the information is that they publish on their websites or post to blogs and forums.

So what is your credibility worth?

In answer to the above question... It's worth EVERYTHING. Without credibility you won’t get far in the world of business and especially ebusiness.

So How Do You Build Credibility?

Note: Most of what follows pertains to building credibility for an online business. However, these days there's a fine line between online and offline business. More and more businesses are developing an online presence and taking advantage of the opportunities online marketing offers for their growth and success.

You'll need to build, or have built for you, a website that's very professional looking, easy to navigate and loaded with useful information about your business's specialty. Once that's done, the following ten tips will help you build your credibility and, as a result, your home business.

1. Narrow Your Niche

Have you ever heard the old saying, “pick your battles?”

Essentially what that means is that you should choose to fight a battle that you at least have a chance of winning. When you first start your business you need to keep your focus on one primary product or service. You probably won't have the resources to to do otherwise. So, instead of providing landscaping, lawn care, snow removal and tree trimming in your new lawn and garden care business, narrow down your focus, your niche. Stick with just lawn and garden care for the first while, until you get established, build a reputation and, of course, build creditbility.

No matter what niche market you're thinking of going after, you can whittle it down even further. By doing this you improve your chances of being recognized as an expert and gaining credibility in that market.

An excellent real life example of narrowing a niche down to a more detailed market is that of Red Bull. Coke and Pepsi dominate the soft drink industry, and have for years, but the energy drink market didn’t have much of anything when Red Bull first launched its product.... and it succeeded. It succeeded because it limited the competition it had to face for market share and developed its brand as THE energy drink, thus gaining credibility.

2. Free Reports

A free report on a targeted niche subject can be written and ready to be delivered to your prospects in a matter of hours. You already know your subject matter so you can scratch the many hours of research that would be necessary if you were writing a report on a topic that you knew nothing about. You already have all of the information that you need right there in your head.

You don't have to make it a long report. A report of ten or twelve pages is long enough, especially when it's being given away. Your goal is to demonstrate that you have the skills and knowledge to provide the service or product you're offering.

3. Ezines

Publishing your own ezine is a great way to build your credibility. Yes, you can publish your own ezine even if you don’t have a list yet. Just like there are article directories on the Internet, there are also ezine directories. You can write your own ezine and submit it to any or all of the ezine directories where other website owners and ezine publishers have access to it. And, of course, you can publish your ezine on your website for your visitors to read or download and start building a list at the same time.

Putting an ezine together does take time. However, unless you have a ton of money to spend on paid advertising to build your credibility, you'll have to take advantage of free options, which only cost you in time.

4. Paid Advertising for First-Hand Exposure

I'm the first to admit that paid advertising can be very expensive and out of the question for many new home based business owners to consider. However, some paid advertising is almost a must in order to build your credibility.

You need first-hand exposure, fast, in order to effectively build your online credibility and paid advertising is one of the best ways to gain that exposure. Google Adwords is a fairly affordable method for increasing your visibility and recognition, and there are literally hundreds of ebooks and article on how to use and profit from Adwords. If you do have the funds, you could hire an online advertising firm to place advertising for you. Or go to Google and type the words: ‘paid internet advertising’, into the search box. You'll get a ton of hits.

5. Article Writing

Writing articles on your niche topic is one of the best, fastest and free ways of gaining online credibility. Netizens consume information almost faster than it can be produced. The market for good articles is almost unlimited. If you can write decent and marketable articles, it's one of the surest ways to speed up the development of your personal and business credibility.

You can write and submit articles to article banks and directories. The articles will, hopefully, be picked up and republished by other website owners and ezine publishers. These articles, which contain your website address, contact and copyright information, will add links for the search engine spiders to count and help improve your PageRank (PR) in search engine results. They'll also give you needed exposure in your quest for credibility and allow you to share your expertise.

If you've never written an article before, don't worry. Like almost everything else, there's tons of information available online to help you figure it out. As well, EzineArticles.com provide their contributors with tips, resources and even an ecourse to help you get the most out of your articles.

6. Forums

Forums are still one of the most popular kinds of sites on the net today. Probably only surpassed by social networking sites like FaceBook, Twitter and MySpace. The reason is simple. They're places where people have the freedom to express their opinions and communicate with other people around the world about almost any topic imaginable. And, people do in fact use forums to do that very thing.

Forums are places on the internet where people with the same or similar interests or common problems gather. You can find forums for almost any subject by using your favorite search engine, typing in keywords followed by the word ‘forums’ and get lots of hits.

By finding and posting to forums that are related to your niche, you have a pool of potential paying customers to talk to about your product or service that can help them with their problems, concerns or interests. And by helping people solve their problems or answer their questions, your positioning yourself as an expert.

There are rules, however, for posting in forums. Blatant advertising is strictly prohibited in almost every forum. You are allowed to add a short signature to your posts, where you can promote your business or product, but out and out promotion will get you kicked out quick. You need to establish yourself as a welcomed member of the group. This takes time, but after you become accepted, what you have to say will be accepted as an offer of help and not seen as an advertisement. You can share your expertise on the subject and be seen as a friend helping a friend rather than as a business trying to sell something.

7. Podcasting

Wikipedia describes a podcast as a series of digital-media files which are distributed over the internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players and computers. The term podcast, like broadcast, can refer either to the series of content itself or to the method by which it is syndicated; the latter is also called podcasting.

The host or author of a podcast is often called a podcaster.

Podcasting is one of the easiest ways to establish your online credibility because people like and trust people they know. There's no better way of getting to know people than by talking to them and podcasting easily accomplishes this goal.

The beauty of podcasting is that podcast listeners aren't interested in listening to the cliché morning drive radio personality type. They want real people. If you can talk about what excites you, what you're passionate about, and what you're an expert in, then you can do well podcasting.

8. Teleseminars & Webinars

Webinars and teleseminars automatically establish you as the expert. When you teach what you know, you’re automatically qualified as an expert in your field. Whether you’re a real estate agent, a salesperson, a small business owner or an author, when people are willing to learn from your experience, you establish credibility.

Teleseminars are basically seminars that are given over the telephone. Your guests will not need leave their homes; which means they don’t have to make extensive arrangements, or pay expensive travel costs to attend. They simply call a telephone number and enter a special access code to listen in to the seminar, hence, the term “teleseminar.”

Webinars are interactive in the sense that information doesn’t just go in one direction (from presenter to listener), but rather in a “hands on” format that enables the host and guest speakers to intermingle with their attendees in a virtual setting.

9. Ecourses

Ecourses are a timed-released format of delivering valuable information via email. The course segment emails consist of shorter pieces of information that can be consumed in generally 1-2 minutes. Using autoresponder technology, the lessons can be delivered with a specific interval of time in between and delivered automatically, with no regular human attention needed beyond the setup of the eCourse. Because you're getting in front of the prospective client each time s/he receives a new segment of the ecourse, the ecourse permits the prospective client to get to know you before hiring you, thus making the it the perfect relationship builder and credibility builder.

For the purposes of building and establishing your credibility, the ecourse should be offered free of charge and used as a tool to demonstrate your knowledge, skills and expertise in your chosen field.

An ecourse is pretty simple to write. Come up with a topic that is appropriate for your target market. Each lesson becomes a simple article. Write 5-10 lessons, and you have a terrific ecourse ready to show off your brilliance and vast knowledge :-). Or, if you like to write Top 10 lists, create one of those and make each bullet point become one of your lessons for the ecourse.

10. Testimonials and Product Reviews

By using past customers’ unsolicited testimonials and/or product reviews you can easily establish your trustworthiness and credibility.

What you say, personally, about your product or service doesn't have as much pull or believability as was your clients or customers have to say.

What carries a lot of weight -as far as credibility goes- are the opinions of other experts in your field. But what carries the greatest weight is what the customers themselves say.

This means that you can get instant credibility if you present the unsolicited testimonials of your satisfied customers. These testimonials should be accompanied with the email address or website and full name of the customer. If you provide excellent service or an outstanding product, testimonials will come unsolicited. When you receive one, just email the individual and ask if they would mind if you published their comments. Most people will be happy to oblige.

I hope you found this article interesting and helpful.

Until next time,

Terry