Jere answers:

Hi,
Good luck,
Marketing is a really challenging career and you have to love it if you want to make it as your life.
This profession takes all your criativity, imagination, organization and other skills as p.example finances.

A Day in the Life
A marketing executive directs the marketing of a company’s products or services. Marketing executives know the company’s product line, historical market, potential market, media costs, media response, and budgeting issues. Marketers often have to be intimate with a number of advertising media, such as radio, television, phone solicitation, mail campaigns, and promotional events. Their most difficult task is determining how best to take advantage of any or all of them to promote their product. In addition, “You have to know when to sell your own product, and when to mow down the other guy’s product,” said one New York marketing executive. Marketing takes three basic forms: Positive marketing (the benefits of your product or service), educational marketing (developing a demand for your product by educating people about their needs, such as mouthwash marketers talking about gingivitis), and negative marketing (revealing the flaws in a competitor’s product). Knowing when to do which and how is both the science and art that marketing executives practice. Most marketing executives spend significant time analyzing demographics, regional sales figures, and the competition. However, more than one marketer told us that in the end, marketing is all about “common sense.” Many said a general approach to the industry is useless each product has one specific trait, detail or role that is unique and valuable, and all the marketing executive does is apply common sense to the promotion of that trait. Another marketer put it this way: A marketing executive has to be able to recognize “unexplored potentialities” that can turn a low-selling item into a large-selling item, and a large-selling item into a mega-hit. The pressure is significant, but it has one advantage: Marketers always know how they’re doing, as tracked by an increase or decrease in sales. External events may drive demand for a product in one direction or another; it’s the marketer’s job to respond to these shifts and take advantage of them. Excuses for low sales don’t go over well. Marketers often work hand-in-hand with developers, advertisers, and production managers to ensure a product’s successful promotion. However, a number of marketers mentioned that although they are called in to consult on production decisions, such as product design, color, and even box shape, “many of the decisions are made without our consent anyway.” A marketer has to be creative, confident, and thick-skinned-marketing personnel get fired at an above average rate. Nevertheless, creative thinkers with the ability to analyze statistics and work out long-term logistical plans find sound homes in marketing divisions, where all their skills are needed to successfully launch a product or maintain a product’s sales.
Marketing executives have no formal educational requirements, but most employers require a college degree. Valued courses include marketing, statistics, advertising, psychology, sociology, business, finance, economics, and history. Communication skills are very important, so any writing experience is appreciated. Marketing executives need know their product line and its unique features, so special requirements may apply for those in science, mechanical, medical, or computer-based industries. Professional education is the norm in this occupation, with many marketers attending at least two seminars or lectures a year. Certification is available from a number of professional societies (such as the American Marketing Association and Marketing Executives International), but employers do not require it.
Marketing executives often are promoted to strategic planning positions. Others take their skills to advertising agencies, demographic research firms, or public relations firms. Many return to school for M.B.A.s. Upon completion of their degrees, many head up marketing departments or move into positions of management. A notable few work for consumer advocacy groups and are vocal participants in the debate over fairness in marketing and advertising.
Follow my blog and you’ll be able to start studying some tips from it.
Good Luck and all the best
Lucio
http://marketingeasy.blogspot.com

Jere answers:

Yes, postcard and general mail marketing is difficult to justify. 10% return mail/call rates are normal, and 10-15% of those close on average. (that relates to 1 sale for every 200 mailings! Ouch!)

-I think pounding the street is a very viable method to work B2B marketing. Closing ratios are higher.

-Industry magazines and newspaper advertising is a direct and effective way to advertise as well.

-Trade shows are another great use, and affordable means to market to other small businesses

Happy Socializing!

Jere answers:

Okay

Jere answers:

There are best practice standards with which any company that is a member of the Direct Marketing Association must comply. I gotta think that any legit credit card co. Is a member.

I’d call the DMA (site link below) and find out what you can do. Failing that, I’d call your credit card co’s customer service department and tell them that you’re going to chop up your card if they don’t stop. And if you’re feeling really adventurous, do some research and find out who the senior marketing person is and give them a call. If this person knew that this practice is going on, I’m sure they’d have a fit. They might even like to know that their telemarketing supplier is harrassing customers.

Good luck!

Jere answers:

As you probably know, there are a number of companies offering home-based business opportunities. Before I chose a home-based business, I decided it was important to do my due-diligence. I didn’t want to waste my time or money starting a business that was doomed before I began. Here is the criteria I used to evaluate the various companies at which I looked.

Is the company stable?

To determine whether or not a company was stable, I looked at the following:
Has the company been in business for at least 5 years?
Where does the company do business?
Does the company have a good reputation? (Check with the B.B.B.)
Is the company a member of the Direct Sellers Association?
Is the company publicly traded?
Does the company do at least 100 million in annual sales?
In my research, I discovered that the vast majority of home-based businesses are bankrupt within five years.

Generally speaking, the more countries a company does business in, the more stable they will be. It is a good indication if the company operates in the United States, Canada and at least one other country.

I also found that reputable companies were members of the DSA (Direct Sellers Association). Members of the DSA are held to strict ethical guidelines that would protect me and the consumer.

If a company is publicly traded, they are required by law to disclose all financial statements to the public. This information can be obtained by visiting the S.E.C.

Is the product unique?

Having a unique product or service was important to me because if the product was not unique, I would be forced to compete against other companies on price and convenience. By having a unique product, my customers would have no alternative other than to buy from me.

Is the product consumable?

This was my next question. Even if the product I am selling is unique but is not consumable, I would constantly have to find new customers. In other words, I would be unemployed until my next sale. With a consumable product, customers would continue to buy my products and I would continue to earn a residual income without having to find new customers.

Is there a demand for the product?

Having a unique and consumable product wouldn’t mean a thing if there wasn’t a demand for it. This is why I looked for a company that had a product that would be in high demand. In looking at market trends, I discovered that the 1 BILLION “Baby Boomers” are creating the largest trends in the world. As a result, I wanted to find a company that was marketing products that would appeal to this group of people.

Is there product validation?

I did not want to risk my reputation by selling a product that amounted to little more than “snake oil”, so it was important for me to know that the product was scientifically validated before I could feel comfortable selling or recommending it. Here I am narrating “Making a Difference” here:
http://www.GlycoStory.com/p.asp?c=251478337445

Educate yourself on the Cash Flow Quadrant on that sitehttp://www.glycobusiness.com/mannalive Very important to distinguish “what is Network Marketing compaired to other ways of earning money.

LLJames

Jere answers:

If you are just selling a few candles a day (like you make a few), then you can consider selling your candles on www.etsy.com too along with ebay. If you want to go for your own website, then you can sign up with a web host. They will give you free sitebuilders that you can use to build professional looking websites. You can integrate a shopping cart and paypal/credit card on your website so people can buy. Don’t forget to spread the word about your website so people can actually find it.

If you want to know how to setup your own website, have a look at:
http://hosting4beginners.webnode.com/how-to-host-a-website/

There are step by step instructions on it for that. You can sign up with any of the recommended hosts there (look at the prices etc).. You’ll definitely need limited speed, so what they offer should be 10 times more than what you’d need. Chat with the web host (I’d suggest Arvix/Inmotion – around $6 a month) and see if they will help you set up a shopping cart website – but mostly you can do it yourself once you spend the time with the sitebuilders.

Good luck! Happy candle-making! (and selling ;))

Jere answers:

Here is a rsource for you:
http://www.export-expert.net

Jere answers:

Using google adwords search engine marketing (SEM) is a very effective way to promote your business online. There are lots of useful information directly on google site where you can get started.
Http://support.google.com/adwords/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2497976&ctx=welcome-2642398

However, if you have a small budget and limited time; a knowledgeable SEM manager can optimize your existing campaigns at affordable prices. You can do Pay Per click advertising with any budget and there are many methods to run effective campaigns to produce the best return on investment (ROI). Be careful to make sure the campaigns you run are relevant to what potential leads are searching for, otherwise you can lose a lot of money.

Bottom line its best to consult a reliable SEM management companies and ask one of the SEM managers to look over your existing campaigns and give a free estimate of their rates.

Jere answers:

This idea isn’t going to work.

You need web traffic first in order to charge people money for listing otherwise no one will visit your site and the advertisers will get angry they didn’t get leads especially if you are charging x amount if you are reasonable it can be on a base to base case I guess you win or lose.

The model needs to be planned out on what exactly it is you want to achieve, many fail because they don’t understand what they need to do in a website.

Good luck, the hardest part is web traffic and marketing.

Jere answers:

Your website will need to comply with Distance Selling Regulations which set out clear terms about returns, refunds and cooling off periods.

It will be important to make sure that your site ranks well with the Search Engines so that people looking for designer handbags can find you. Choose your keywords carefully so that they reflect what people are searching for. Include colours in your keywords so that it narrows down the search.

What payment gateway will you use? If you’re using Paypal, make sure you register it as a business account, do all the verification steps and then you’ll be able to transfer the money to your business bank account easily.

Make sure that you can fulfil orders within the period you say on your site. This includes having good stock control and being able to acquire more stock quickly if you have a run on orders. You also need to strike a balance between carrying too much stock that doesn’t sell and not having enough to satisfy orders.

Good luck!

Jere answers:

According to the US Department of Labor (http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos103.htm):

“Employment in this field is expected to grow faster than average. Job prospects should be very good; technicians with a strong background in medical coding will be in particularly high demand. Employment of medical records and health information technicians is expected to increase by 18 percent through 2016—faster than the average for all occupations—because of rapid growth in the number of medical tests, treatments, and procedures that will be increasingly scrutinized by health insurance companies, regulators, courts, and consumers. Also, technicians will be needed to enter patient information into computer databases to comply with Federal legislation mandating the use of electronic medical records.

New jobs are expected in offices of physicians as a result of increasing demand for detailed records, especially in large group practices. New jobs also are expected in home health care services, outpatient care centers, and nursing and residential care facilities. Although employment growth in hospitals will not keep pace with growth in other health care industries, many new jobs will, nevertheless, be created.”

That said, Pinnacle is not regionally accredited. If you prefer a regionally accredited school, Colorado Tech, AIU, and Capella all offer this degree online.

Jere answers:

Essentially you’re talking about private lessons. What you need to do is present yourself as a small business and have a few cards printed up (online, very cheap) and maybe a small website to direct people to.

Make sure you call the hotels before you visit and arrange an appointment – if you turn up and no one is there then you have missed half a day.

Jere answers:

Programming is not for everyone and I would not get too concerned about your lack of skills in that area. I can do some scripting and out of my co-workers I would say only 10%-15% can do any programming.

Here is a list of some common non-Programming jobs:
Computer Technician – Works on computer hardware at user location or in service center. (entry level IT Job)
Service Center Coordinator – Schedules the repair of user community computers, orders spare parts, schedules staff, establishes priorities, maintains loaner laptops and non-US laptops for travel outside of US.
Help Desk Staff – answer questions and resolve problems for the user community. (entry level IT Job – Tier 1 support)
Storage Administrator – in charge of mass storage servers and devices.
Network Administrator – Works on routers, switches, hubs, cables, load balancers and all the other hardware that handles LAN and WAN network traffic. Also, may be responsible for IP phone service.
Systems Administrator or Systems Engineer- Works with servers, laptops and desktop computers to keep them free of problems and secure the data they contain. Responsible for Security group creation and memberships, server patching, anti-virus protection updates, password changes and any automated mechanisms that make these changes. These positions may be divided into server and desktop teams. Tier 2 support.
Enterprise Administrator – Handles Enterprise support and design issues. Tier 3 support.
Active Directory Administrator – Designs and administers Active Directory infrastructure, AD policies, access permissions, roles, group policies, separation of duties.
Exchange and Messaging Administrator – maintains mail systems servers, other mail related devices and the company messaging infrastructure.
Backup Administrator – Maintains backup devices and determines backup strategies so data that was deleted accidentally or intentionally can be recovered. Design and control how and when data is backed up, where the backups are stored and how long the backups are retained. They will test to be sure backups are valid and usable.
Disaster Recovery Specialist – Plans for disaster events so the company data and infrastructure can be brought back online as quickly as possible after a fire, flood, earthquake, terrorism or other disaster event. Plans for failover of services to alternate locations, if the primary location is not available.
Database Administrator – Maintains the company databases which may include customer and sales records, billing information, inventory and other data.
Computing Security Specialist – A company’s biggest asset is its data and the Computing Security Specialist will work to try to keep that data protected from loss. They may be dealing with and defending against viruses, hoaxes, malware, keyloggers, phishing attacks, internal attacks and domestic and foreign intrusion. Develops monitoring and interception systems, filters and strategies and works with appropriate government agencies.
Ethical Hacker – performs intrusion and vulnerability testing of systems. Works with Computing Security to insure intrusion prevention systems are working correctly.
Corporate IT Acquisition Specialist – Works with acquired outside companies to establish migration into the corporate computing infrastructure.
Data Center Administrator – Maintains the data center facilities where the company’s servers and other devices reside. They are responsible for physical security and may review badge reader and camera information to be sure that only individuals with proper access are getting close to the company’s servers and other critical devices. Also, maintain backup power devices (UPS or generators).

In a small business the list of jobs above might be performed by one or two people doing all these jobs. In a large Enterprise environment this could be hundreds of people.

Best wishes!

Jere answers:

This boils down to “How do I market my web jewelry store”. High competition is common and should be handled by any good online marketing campaign.

COMPETING:
1. It’s often best to find the a market niche and not try to compete in the over-crowded main market.
If you deeply understand your UVP (Unique Value Proposition), as you must, you’ll be able to narrow your market down to exactly what you do better than others. Then redesign your site or landing/sales page to fine tune it to the thinking of your niche prospects. If nothing about your store is better than the competition, you’re in the wrong business.

2. Excellent market research is the key. Obviously, you succeed by giving people what they want. But do you understand EXACTLY what they want better than your competitors? If so, you can beat them.

3. Determine who your top 4 competitors are and thoroughly inspect their sites until you know how they are succeeding. Copy and improve on their best methods and avoid their worst. Same for their keywords.

ONLINE MARKETING – GENERAL:
There are over 1 Billion web pages online vying for the first 3 Google pages.
The Search Engine Marketing (SEM) process goes like this:
Your Unique Value Proposition
Write down your UVP
You must state it clearly, in writing, in a very few sentences and just a few seconds.
It must quickly and clearly answer these 2 questions in the minds of your prospects:
1. “Why should I buy your product or service, (what’s in it for me) how will it solve my problem?”
2. “Why should I buy it from you and not your competition?”

Market Research (know your audience):
What is your best target market niche? Look for market niches, not full markets, to avoid competing with the big corporations. Which market niche is looking for your solution to their problem?
What are their problems, needs, fears, desires, frustrations?
What are they thinking?
What key phrases will they use in the search engines?

Competitor research:
Who are your most successful competitors?
What are they doing right that you should emulate?
What are they doing wrong that you should avoid?
What key phrases are they using?
What are their UVPs?
Which market niche(s) has/have the best fit to your UVP and also the fewest competitors?

Key phrase research:
Make a starting keywords list from your own experience, from friend’s suggestions and your research.
Using a good keywords tool:
Discover new key phrases derived from your list
Analyze your key phrases. Rank them according to the most searches per month Vs fewest competitors.
Use key phrases from 1 up to 4 words long (ignore “stop words, like “the”, “a”, “of”, etc.).Group them according to similarity.

Design your site with a separate landing/sales page for each keyword group. This gets each market niche member to the perfect page for their exact need. Don’t use your home page as your selling page.

Put your best 1 or 2 key phrases in the lading/sales page’s file name (e.g. “green-widgets.html”), in the page title, in keywords and description metatags (Google ignores metatags, other search engines may not), in only one H1 tag, in the anchor text of your links, in your navigation, in one or more H2 and h3 tags, in the alt tags of images, etc.

Also use your keys in body text. Keep your content readable by both humans and search engine bots. Don’t overdo the percentages of keywords Vs other content. Avoid pages that seem “keyword stuffed” or don’t read naturally.

Don’t use images, Flash or video instead of text, for your UVP. It’s fine to use those to support your UVP further down the page – only after the prospects read your UVP text.

Keep all distractions off your landing/sales pages. Those pages must only lead your prospect smoothly through your sales process and to actions you want. Along the way, reinforce your UVP by always showing the benefits of moving farther along in your sales process. Follow the best practices expressed on the MarketingExperiments.com web site. Check out their free webinars every other Wednesday.

If you can afford the typical $30 a day for a Google AdWords Pay-Per-Click campaign and know how, go ahead. Otherwise, only use PPC to run cheap, quick market analysis runs.

Use free Google services, like “Google Webmaster Tools” and “Google Analytics”

Subscribe to the best online marketing blog feeds and use the best online marketing forums.

Avoid “Guru-of-the-month” scams, where “guru” groups sell each other’s latest “get rich quick online” products to their sucker lists.

There are special considerations if you are marketing a blog:
You’ll need an SEO plugin. If you use the superior WordPress as your blogging tool, there are good SEO plugins. Do a Google search to find the best blog directories. There are social bookmarking plugins for WordPress.

Hoped this helped…
_jim coe

Jere answers:

I am not sure what, if any, nationality specific restrictions are imposed on the acquisition of a Visa to Russia. For U.S. Citizens, tickets are not necessary prior to the obtaining of a Visa… At least not for Business Visas; perhaps not for Tourist Visas either. Keep in mind that the designation of the Visa (tourist or business can be irrelevant to the purpose of the trip — eg. You do not need to have business activity planned in Russia to obtain a business visa; the designations are relevant to other elements of your plans — how long you plan to stay, how many times you would like to enter, etc.). You do need officialy residency arrangements before obtaining a Visa, but these are generally provided by agencies… Www.waytorussia.com provides good, detailed, information. Be aware, though, that some of the information on the site is out of date — eg. Some information regarding Visa registration; but they also have a new section on this issue that is NOT out of date, and that supercedes the old sections. The sections on obtaining Visas seem to be at laregely quite informative; I am not sure if all details are up to date. With regard to train tickets, I have been looking for some as well! It seems that Beijing-Moscow is more expensive than Moscow-Beijing. I suggest taking a look at this site: http://www.seat61.com/Trans-Siberian.htm
This was one of the most informative starting points that I found. One of the places that you can purchase tickets from for the China-Russia trip is CITS:
according to site:
You can book trains from Beijing to Moscow, Irkutsk or Ulan Bator by emailing support-en@cits.com.cn (you can check details on the CITS website, www.cits.net) or by calling CITS on + 86 10 6512 0507 or + 86 10 6512 0503).
I have sent the office e-mail, and the office was responsive. I have not yet booked tickets, but was given the opportunity. I am not sure of current availability, as the international route, it is said, sells out in advance often. You should heed the note regarding Summer Olympics-related closures. I do not believe Beijing-Moscow is available this year June-September. But, in May it is. You can also purchase through Russian travel agencies… WayToRussia (same site, as used above) uses several agencies — I have tried Svezhy Veter, and they are responsive. Again, I have not yet made the decision to actually book tickets. WayToRussia, by the way, provides an interface to a Visa support agency, which I have used. You can find Visa support agencies online as well… And you can get a sense of their reputeability. I do have the sense that the one WayToRussia uses is reputable (intelservice). You could also purchase Trans-Siberian tickets through other agencies… I believe Western ones may come to be more expensive, though, perhaps, their services appear or are more strongly associated with the context of group tours.
To add, $600.00USD does seem to approximately represent the cost of the Beijing-Moscow train trip (I assume Trans-Mongolian route; there is also Trans-Manchurian… Which of course may be similarly priced) on Second(or First?)-Class sleeper cars (four beds in room). Http://www.cits.net/citsonlineWeb/online/homepage_EN/transportation/2008_inttrain.htm.
Trains 3/4 are the Trans-Mongolian BeijingRussia trains; Trains 19/20 are the Trans-Manchurian trains. One of the numbers in each pair corresponds to Eastbound route, the other to the Westbound route (I believe the 3 is the Westbound in the first case).

Jere answers:

Quote: I don’t need home phone.

Old information on DSL relating to service found online:
Serch term used “Where can I find Internet access….”
DSL, while growing in popularity, has some downsides
By Sandra Hume, BuyerZone.com Tips and News Editor
December 13, 2000

Ah, broadband. What a nice idea. Always-on, dedicated Internet access at some of the highest speeds available outside of a line leased directly from the phone company. And your costs are fixed; whether you use the Internet for only a few hours a day or you want to be constantly dialed in, you pay the same price every month.
But as convenient as it is, going broadband via digital subscriber line (DSL) – the fast-growing, top broadband choice for small businesses – isn’t as easy as calling a provider and flicking a switch. In fact, many would-be customers have had to take routes other than DSL for their Internet access because the roadblocks faced were ultimately insurmountable.
The proliferation of DSL availability is an aftershock of two events: the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which ended the phone companies’ monopoly of their networks and an FCC ruling late 1999 that specifically required phone companies to share their wires with DSL providers.
Using these existing telephone lines, DSL service providers let customers surf the Internet at speeds up to 50 times faster than a standard dial-up connection with a 56 Kbps modem. Including equipment and installation, the service can run you anywhere between $200 and $800 per month.
But if you’re thinking about getting DSL, before investing any time or money into such an endeavor, keep in mind the troubles the service has faced.
Limited availability. As of now, the United States leads the charge in worldwide DSL access, and it’s available in all 50 states. Providers, however, are not available for all areas, particularly non-metro regions.
A matter of distance. Even if providers exist in your area, you may not live close enough to a central office – a little less than three miles – to get service.
Incompatibility and wait times. There may be a provider in your area, and you may be close enough to the central office, but unless the technology of the central office, the DSL provider, and your own office are compatible, installing and using a line may be impossible.
Because of such complexities, most customers can currently expect to wait at least a couple of months to have a DSL line installed. Wait times have been reported to be as long as two years, even in areas where the service is available. And in some instances where service was promised, unexpected holes in the DSL-readiness of central offices have led to much scrambling – and many disappointed customers.
If it works for you, DSL can be one of the most cost-effective solutions for Internet access today. Satisfied users swear by it. But unless you do your homework, your journey into the land of DSL could lead you through a maze you’ll wish you hadn’t found.
—————————————–End of news report———-
Reply:
Thanks for your post and I hope that I can help. You want to rent a farm house which adds to your problem by way of distance from built up areas, you don’t want home telephone service and you have no cable access in your area.

My question is; If you don’t have a land line or current POTS telephone service to your home and no cable service then how could you connect to the Internet otherwise?

Other than a wireless Wi-Fi hotspot by way of cell phone (think limited cell tower reception and costs of the service) do you know any other way to get Internet service to your home paid for or not? As of 2004 I was a telecommunications worker and I know that data lines from the telephone company are limited in some areas for telephone use alone because of many customers whom are installing two or more phone lines for home, business or family members personal use. The phone company will split the line to make more lines availible which cuts the bandwith even lower on the one twisted pair line. If you do know another medium other than copper lines (twisted or coaxial) or over-the-air (OTA) satellite or cell phone service then sell that method and make millions or billions for that service.

I searched the Internet using ask.com and a program called Copernic and both results showed the same thing. Free service by NetZero is free, slow, banners, lag, limited time of use is what you get. Other than the methods of getting Internet to your home mentioned as well as the best method of service which is satellite in your case, for basic Internet service you do need a dial up modem with a telephone land line so that statement that you don’t need it is mistaken. Sorry but that is the best answer that I can give.

Jere answers:

They could replace their PCs with Macs and avoid the 117,000 Windows viruses.
I’ve had two companies I have done business with on the internet get viruses/malware. As a result my credit card info was used for other sites and airline tickets.

Jere answers:

We own a small comercial printing company. If you want to act as a broker, you can hook up with one of these companies: 4over, Carlson Craft Business Solutions, Business Cards Tommorrow. All have web sites that are easy to find with a search. You will need to invest in a decent computer and desktop publishing software such as Corel Draw, Quark Express, or In Design to do the typesetting. You most definately will need to broaden your scope of product coverage from just business cards to also include envelopes, letterheads, forms, brochures, flyers etc. It would be helpful if you are a creative person, but if not, it won’t take long to get a good working knowledge of the of basic layout and design. All of the wholesalers I mentioned above have sales kits with printed samples and ordering over the internet. They also have comprehensive pricing tools so you will not have to “fumble” around trying to price your customer. You can go to my web addy at impressiveinkprinting.com to get an idea of product offerings and street pricing.
As far as producing them yourself, you must have a really, really, really good color laser copier that has a RIP (Raster Image Processor) which is also has an interface so that it will act as a printer for your computer. People get by with less, but their quality is the pits. You will need a business card slitter. I print cards 12 up, some people print them 10 up. Your slitter choice needs to accomodate one or the other. There is quite a bit more to learn….but this will get ya started!
Good luck!! Hope this helps ya!

Jere answers:

There are plenty of jobs that you can get for example a job as an IT business analyst (I found the below job description while I was looing for a job). Good luck in your search and with school and do not let ignorant people like the one before me discourage you or bring you down

Title: IT Business Analyst
Location: IL – Chicago
Division: Corporate
Department: Information Technology

——————————————————————————–

Description
Responsibilities:

Document and analyze business process
Work with business and support departments to identify solution for meeting objectives
Develop detailed user requirement and functional specification documents
Author and execute test plans to ensure successful implementation
Work with various business units, project management and application development staff
Requirements:

Bachelor’s in Computer Science, Business or related field
5+ years of related work experience
Extensive experience and understanding in the financial services industry; strong analytical skills and understanding of derivatives preferred
Strong process management and analytical skills
Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written (samples of written communications from prior engagements may be requested)
Experience in quality assurance testing
Familiarity with development languages, tools, databases and platforms (MS Access, SQL/Stored Procedures, Sybase, Internet technologies)

Jere answers:

Network Marketers have struggled to realize the near-infinite networking, lead-generating potential of the Web.

How can that be?

Network Marketing (sometimes called “Multi-Level Marketing” or “MLM”) is all about…

– recruiting/lead generation/relationship-building
– sales conversion
– ongoing consumption
– replicating yourself through downline motivation and training.

How in the world could the Internet not be the best thing since sliced bread for Network Marketers? Because it’s being done, all wrong, by all the wrong people.

Solution here…. Http://networkmarketing.sitesell.com/wotsnext.html

Jere answers:

Assuming you are in the U.S. No you usually do not need a business license. If you’re from another country, I cannot answer that, as I have no experience with other countries.

I’ve owned a number of online stores over the last 20 years, first in Maryland, now PA. Neither state requires a license. Think of a license as usually applying to businesses that have special requirements and that the government needs (or thinks it needs) to regulate, such as real estate licenses, banking licenses, etc.

Thank being said, it’s best to check with your state department of labor and licensing to make sure. You never know when some state somewhere might have a requirement that I’m not aware.

A quick look online or phone call should give you the correct answer.

Tony

Jere answers:

It is hard to find grants to start a business. Unlike the myths that some perpetuate, federal government and even private foundations hardly give grant money for a for-profit business. You may stand a greater chance of getting grant funding if you will start a non profit organization.

Nonetheless, you can go to the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) http://www.cfda.gov and Grants.gov http://www.grants.gov – these are two sites created by the federal government to provide transparency and information on grants. Browse through the listings and see if you can find any grant that would support a for-profit venture.

Even if you buy books on “how to get grants” or list that supposedly has information on grants — all of them are mere rehash of what CFDA has, albeit packaged differently. But still the info is the same – hardly any grants for starting a for profit business.

Even SBA does NOT give out grants. From the SBA website http://www.sba.gov/expanding/grants.html…

“The U.S. Small Business Administration does not offer grants to start or expand small businesses, although it does offer a wide variety of loan programs. (See http://www.sba.gov/financing for more information) While SBA does offer some grant programs, these are generally designed to expand and enhance organizations that provide small business management, technical, or financial assistance. These grants generally support non-profit organizations, intermediary lending institutions, and state and local governments.”

Here is a listing of federal grants for small businesses. See if there is any available for individuals for starting a business — THERE’S NONE.
Http://12.46.245.173/pls/portal30/CATALOG.BROWSE_BENEF_RPT.show

Most of the federal grants are given to specific target groups with specific requirements (e.g. Minority business owners involved in transportation related contracts emanating from DOT – Grant#20.905 Disadvantaged Business Enterprises Short Term Lending Program

Grants are also often given to non profit groups or organizations involved in training or other similar activities (grant 59.043 Women’s Business Ownership Assistance that are given to those who will create women’s business center that will train women entrepreneurs

For private grants, you may want to check the Foundation Center’s Foundation Grants for Individuals Online. It’s a subscription based website ($9.95 per month) but their opening blurb only says that the database is ideal for “students, artists, academic researchers, libraries and financial aid offices.” Entrepreneurs are apparently not one of them, so I take it they also don’t have listings of private foundations who give grants to would-be entrepreneurs.

Jere answers:

To start a non profit you need to file a 501(c)(3) which is the government non profit documentation. Unlike most businesses, to start a non profit you need to either register your company as an LLC or a corporation(all states require one or the other, some require incorporation). Your state also determines the steps that are required to register your business and what it will cost. Registering either of these legal structures will require going through the IRS, particularly incorporation. Both the 501 and registering your business can cost you a good amount so make sure that you have the money to invest.

There are so many great non profit organizations out there that my best advice would be partnering with one of these organizations and getting them to sponsor you rather than starting your own non profit. However, if you do decide to go ahead with your idea for starting a non profit then I would certainly advise getting professional assistance to make certain that you don’t end up making any mistakes that will cost you more. Do what you think will be best for you!

Http://www.RanksIntl.com

Jere answers:

From the US to the EU or Australia/New Zealand, the most fluid option would be to acquire an Employer Sponsored visa from the UK. Essentially you set yourself up with a job by applying online through an agency or directly with an employer, and they will walk through the process of getting the visa on your behalf. It is generally very fast (withing 12 weeks or so).

Your family would travel with you listed as dependents, which the employer would also sort. These visas do not confer the right of residency, but the time you spend working will count in your favour should you choose to apply for permanent residence or citizenship.

The other option is to go for a skills based visa. In Australia this is done under the skilled migrant program, in the UK (which being an EU member is a gateway to Europe) the HSMP program is its equivalent. It helps substantially if you are a University Graduate and HSMP confers permanent residency and the right to apply for citizenship after a period of time. It is speculated Ireland is the easiest country for Americans to obtain visas to, but I do not know the Irish application system or the truth in that rumour.

There are also numerous classes of visas which are open to those with money to invest in business or relocating an established business in Europe and Australia/NZ. They require fairly significant investments.

For most places you need a good bill of health and a clean rap sheet.

When I migrated I left my stuff in the UK until I had permanent residency and then shipped it, but that is entirely a matter of personal preference and planning. Some stuff I simply replaced.

For the uk & australia if you are curious you may want to take a look at the official government websites listed in sources.

Cheers

Jere answers:

You can go to the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) http://www.cfda.gov and Grants.gov http://www.grants.gov – these are two FREE sites created by the federal government to provide transparency and information on grants. Browse through the listings and see if you can find any grant that would support your purposes.

Even if you buy books on “how to get grants” or list that supposedly has information on grants — all of them are mere rehash of what CFDA has, albeit packaged differently.

Note though that these grants generally support non-profit organizations, intermediary lending institutions, and state and local governments. Most of the federal grants are given to specific target groups with specific requirements (e.g. Minority business owners involved in transportation related contracts emanating from DOT – Grant#20.905 Disadvantaged Business Enterprises Short Term Lending Program. Individuals especially for personal purposes are not eligible for federal grants.

Grants are also often given to non profit groups or organizations involved in training or other similar activities (grant 59.043 Women’s Business Ownership Assistance that are given to those who will create women’s business center that will train women entrepreneurs

It is hard to find grants to start a business. Unlike the myths that some perpetuate, federal government and even private foundations hardly give grant money for starting a for-profit business.

One possible exception is for companies developing or exporting agricultural goods, including food and forest product. Another exception could be the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs http://www.sba.gov/aboutsba/sbaprograms/sbir/index.html , which fund the research and development of technological innovation that meets specific government needs.

Jere answers:

If you join the military you’ll be 3-4yrs behind the person who went straight into the R.E. Business!

Find a busy office that has plenty of listings so the phones will be constantly ringing w/incoming calls, LEADS! Volunteer for floor time so you can take up-calls, LEADS! And conduct very professional Open Houses, an inexpensive way to find even more LEADS!

And remember you’re not in the R.E. Biz you are in the LEADS generating biz!!

Jere answers:

Well, my husband and I bought a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house with about 1150’ish square feet (NOT A FORECLOSURE) for around $90,00. It is about 10 years old and in good shape.

There is a house at the beginning of the road (we live in the cul-da-sac) that sold in 2007 for around $88,000 (I worked in real estate and had access to the MLS). It is about the same square footage as ours, less one bathroom. The person who bought it lost the house probably 6 months later and the bank was trying to sell it (in bad shape cause the morons trashed the place apparently) for around the same price! One of our neighbors said their son made a low ball offer on the place when it first went for sale because of the condition it was in and the bank laughed at it and rejected it.

Well, they probably should have accepted that because it sat on the market for about 6 months and they kept lowering the price and lowering the price and I am almost certain it probably sold for around $40,000. I got laid off from the real estate biz in December, so I am not sure. I do know that I kept close tabs on it because some friends of mine might have been interested and the lowest it went while working there was around $50-60,000.

So yeah, they probably won’t accept your “low ball” offer it just being put on the market, but it’s possible it may sit on the market for 6 months or more and going down in price periodically.

Jere answers:

Hi yeah I’ll agree with the other guy head to Bali.Take a pick from the web sites listed below for good accommodation and surf the real stuff in Bali

Jere answers:

Hello Stephen, It depends what kind of channel or certain type of show you wanna be in. You have to have that certain taste in acting and that special ”thing” they’re looking for. Most people start off in commercials. Research how to start acting in a commercial. I remember it was either last year or the year before, one of these TV shows were hosting a commercial contest acting biz for a few kids your age : Ellen or Dr. Phil. Hey good luck though! Just keep dreaming. You could make it out there.

Jere answers:

All guys SHOULD be able to peel it back. If they can’t by the time they’re 16, something may be wrong.

Http://www.newforeskin.biz/CI/CIchart.htm

Foreskin’s come in all shapes and sizes. This website should show you.

Jere answers:

Your Answer:
Everything and anything that falls under the Freedom of Information Act !! You don’t go to a dance without music, do you ? I would want to know everything possible !! Did you know your Internet service provider sells your information to marketing companies ? I.e. Time-Warner !!
You have no privacy today, might as well find out where you stand ? Bucket Trucks, are also used by the police agency’s at night, for surveillance on second story buildings, also !! Privacy ? You have none !! Read all in fine print !! Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, always !!

Jere answers:

Here is some simple SEO tips for a site based on displaying facts:

1. Presents the facts in a descriptive manner instead of just phrasing it in 2-3 words.

2. Include the potential search terms in your description. Many times you would skip some words since it is easy for humans to guess, but search engines can’t guess them

For example, see this sentence:

“A big Boeing airplane is 20 tons”

A human can easily figure out that you are talking about the weight of the airplane. But a search engine can’t find that out. If someone search for “what is the weight of a Boeing airplane”, your page will not show up in search results because there is nothing in the content that indicate you are talking about the weight.

If you rephrase the FACT like this, it will bring much more SEO benefits:

“Are you surprised wondering what would be the weight of a Boeing airplane? The biggest Boeing airplane weights about 20 tons.”

See how I inserted some of the keywords like “weight of Boeing airplane” which is the most possible search term?

By following some simple SEO tips, you can promote your site well.

Jere answers:

Although I am an attorney licensed to practice law in California, what follows is not to be construed as legal advice, nor am I in any manner undertaking to represent you in a legal capacity. (Ok…now that the boring disclaimer is out of the way…) The answer to your question depends upon a number of factors including (but not limited to these 3); 1) the jurisdiction in which your business operates; 2) the form of your business entity; 3) the contractual relationship that was formed between the company and the independent contractor. In California, for example, if you formed and operated your business as a limited liability entity (Corporation, LLC or Limited Partnership), you may be able to dissolve the business by filing a certificate of election to wind up and dissolve and a certificate of dissolution with the Secretary of State. You would publish in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where your business is located a notice of dissolution. This step gives vendors one year to file suit to try to collect, as opposed to the four years statute of limitations on written contracts.
If you did not organize as a limited liability entity, it is highly likely that you can be sued personally for the debt. If your contract verbiage provides that the parties to the contract are Company A, a California Corporation, and B Subcontractor, then your contract restricts recovery to the corporation, and the debt would not be recoverable from you personally, unless the prospective plaintiff is successful in piercing the corporate veil. This is generally accomplished by pleading that the business owner and the corporation or llc are a sham and under the alter ego theory if the court decides that equity favors the Plaintiff, you can be held personally responsible for the debt.

Jere answers:

A couple of assumptions:
1. Each customer would go through the same or very similar set of tasks
2. You would prefer to work with one Microsoft Project schedule as opposed to multiple files (and a Master plan)

Here is what I would suggest.
1. Create a summary task for each customer
2. Under each summary task, insert the set of routine tasks
3. Set up each customer as a Resource on the Resource Sheet
4. Assign the proper customer to the corresponding set of tasks
5. To see who should be working on what, you can use the Filter for and select the proper date range.

Be sure to maintain the % Complete column and keep dates in line with reality.

For additional tips with Microsoft Project, try this link:
http://www.pmconnection.com/modules.php?name=Web_Links&l_op=viewlink&cid=7

Jere answers:

I don’t think anything should be withheld by law. As long as the government is posting information that is inherently confidential (which they aren’t).

Frankly, I don’t think ease really stops anything if the person or company is determined, it certainly didn’t start any of this. There have always been surveys, our information has always been sold. Anyone having a problem with it should only enter into contracts with privacy clauses.

The problem with fighting to abridge free speech is that you open the door for ANYTHING to be censored. Who exactly decides what’s unnecessary? Embarrassing v relevant information? A gubernatorial candidate in my state plagiarized an article. That’s embarrassing, so it can’t be posted online? It’s damaging his reputation pretty severely. Would he be able to decide whether or not it can be posted? Would you?

See what I mean?

Jere answers:

Presuming you are talking about sales tax: Add the tax rate to the sales price and collect both. Make sure you keep the sales tax money separate and file the appropriate sales tax returns with your state tax agency.

Jere answers:

Hi, i’m 14 and have an online business. And yes, you are too young for all the legal stuff. I had my parent do all the legal steps: #1 Register you business at town hall, #2 have your parent create a business bank account, #3 make a paypal account. As far as i know you have to pay for a domain name. I created my website on google: http://sites.google.com/site/minkmelainestudios/ and webs in also good. Hope i helped 🙂

please answer my question: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AtvPbPWQig1T.ADKw5vNaAfsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20090906200651AAK62jM

Jere answers:

If you are filing business taxes as a partner in a partnership or member of a multiple-member LLC (which is taxed as a partnership), you will use Form K-1 to determine the net income of your business. Form K-1 information is obtained from the partnership tax return (Form 1065) which was previously completed and filed separately with the IRS. No taxes are paid on Form 1065; it is only an information return.

Schedule K-1 includes several pieces of information which must be included in the correct place on Schedule E – Supplemental Income and Loss. Then the total Schedule E information is entered onto your personal Form 1040 on Line 17. It’s best to have a tax preparer help you with this work, or to use a tax software program that will allow you to enter the information on a blank K-1 and have the information automatically placed in the correct section of your 1040.

Including Business Income in Schedule SE
Your business income is used to determine your self-employment taxes (Social Security/Medicare for self-employed). You must insert the information on your net income from Schedule C and your share of partnership income from Schedule K-1 on Schedule SE, to calculate your self-employment tax liability.

Jere answers:

Some costs of starting a business are IRC sec. 197 expenses and must be amortized over 60 months as start up costs (vs. Currently deductible) but you need to make the election on your return. You need to file a 1120-S whether you make money or not and the net flows to your 1040. I would recommend that you need to file your 1040 whether you owe any money or not because you start the 3 year audit clock running. If you don’t file, the clock doesn’t start.

Jere answers:

If you are a sole proprietor (self-employed), the answer is no. You file only your personal tax return and include everything on it – wages (W-2s), self-employment income, etc.

Jere answers:

Hello,
The huge collection of business plan is at nextiq.com
Hope the tip work.
Matt

Jere answers:

This is what ur looking for..i was looking for it as well
http://www.filestube.com/aU4zkypXGo3DuMBCkzcbW2/Ultimate-Business-Plan-Template.html

Jere answers:

According to the book “The ABC’s of Writing Winning Business Plans: How to Prepare a Business Plan That Others Will Want to Read — and Invest In” http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0446694150/powerhomebizguid by Garrett Sutton, below are some tips to make a winning business plan that can get funding:

– Money follows management. Investors look first at the people involved in the company. If you are just starting out and don’t have relevant experience, investors expect to see that you have an experienced team of advisors and employees helping you in the business.

– Make sure you “sell” the one reason your business will become profitable.

– State clearly the strategies you will employ to get the word out about your business. Your business plan must show how you will leverage the Internet, public relations, viral marketing, and other strategies to attract customers.

– Present realistic estimates of the time, energy and costs of building a successful business. Do not underestimate or overestimate revenues. While investors know your numbers are simply guesses, they want to see that your numbers are within the “range of reality.” Be careful of your financial statements: this is one area where you can easily lose credibility if presented poorly.

– Benchmark similar companies to show that you’ve done your homework and researched the market.

– Your Executive Summary is your calling card. If it is not a winner, investors may not even read your entire plan. Emphasize your own as well as your team’s track record in the Executive Summary.

– Before sending your business plan to lenders and investors, send it out first to a few in order to get feedback. You’d want to correct your plan if someone tells you that you’re way off mark, rather than have a potential investor tell it to you and lose the chance to get the funding you need.

Here are some resources that can help you write your business plan:

– SBA Business Plan Basics http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/planning/basic.html
– PowerHomeBiz.com Creating a Business Plan section http://www.powerhomebiz.com/startup/businessplan.htm
– Entrepreneur.com Writing a Business Plan section http://www.entrepreneur.com/bizplan/0,7253,,00.html

You may also want to review some sample business plans to see how it actually looks like:

– Bplans.com http://www.bplans.com/sp/businessplans.cfm
– MOOT Corp Business Plan competition winners
http://www.businessplans.org/businessplans.html
– VFinance – View hundreds of real business plans in pdf format. Http://www.vfinance.com/home.asp?bps=1&ToolPage=bps_main.asp

Jere answers:

Go to http://sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/plan/writeabusinessplan/index.html or http://www.score.org/template_gallery.html for instructions on how to write a business plan and sample business plans.

Jere answers:

According to the book “The ABC’s of Writing Winning Business Plans: How to Prepare a Business Plan That Others Will Want to Read — and Invest In” http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0446694150/powerhomebizguid by Garrett Sutton, below are some tips to make a winning business plan that can get funding:

– Money follows management. Investors look first at the people involved in the company. If you are just starting out and don’t have relevant experience, investors expect to see that you have an experienced team of advisors and employees helping you in the business.

– Make sure you “sell” the one reason your business will become profitable.

– State clearly the strategies you will employ to get the word out about your business. Your business plan must show how you will leverage the Internet, public relations, viral marketing, and other strategies to attract customers.

– Present realistic estimates of the time, energy and costs of building a successful business. Do not underestimate or overestimate revenues. While investors know your numbers are simply guesses, they want to see that your numbers are within the “range of reality.” Be careful of your financial statements: this is one area where you can easily lose credibility if presented poorly.

– Benchmark similar companies to show that you’ve done your homework and researched the market.

– Your Executive Summary is your calling card. If it is not a winner, investors may not even read your entire plan. Emphasize your own as well as your team’s track record in the Executive Summary.

– Before sending your business plan to lenders and investors, send it out first to a few in order to get feedback. You’d want to correct your plan if someone tells you that you’re way off mark, rather than have a potential investor tell it to you and lose the chance to get the funding you need.

Here are some resources that can help you write your business plan:

– SBA Business Plan Basics http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/planning/basic.html
– PowerHomeBiz.com Creating a Business Plan section http://www.powerhomebiz.com/startup/businessplan.htm
– Entrepreneur.com Writing a Business Plan section http://www.entrepreneur.com/bizplan/0,7253,,00.html

You may also want to review some sample business plans to see how it actually looks like:

– Bplans.com http://www.bplans.com/sp/businessplans.cfm
– MOOT Corp Business Plan competition winners
http://www.businessplans.org/businessplans.html
– VFinance – View hundreds of real business plans in pdf format. Http://www.vfinance.com/home.asp?bps=1&ToolPage=bps_main.asp
– Business Owners Toolkit Sample business plans and information on how to create a plan. Http://www.toolkit.cch.com/tools/buspln_m.asp
– PlanWare Planning software and information. Http://www.planware.org/
– Virtual Business Plan Walk through the design of a business plan. Http://www.bizplanit.com/vplan.html
-SBA Business Planning Guide http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/planning/basic.html
– Small Business Advancement Center http://www.sbaer.uca.edu/business_plan/businessPlan.pdf
– Sample Business Plan General planning guide created by the Canadian Business Service Center. Http://www.cbsc.org/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=CBSC_FE/display&c=GuideFactSheet&cid
– Business Plans Index – A subject guide to sample business plans and profiles for specific business types from Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Http://216.183.184.20/subject/business/bplansindex.html

Some recommended books are :

– Business Plans Kit for Dummies
– The Complete Book of Business Plans : Simple Steps to Writing a Powerful Business Plan
– Writing Business Plans That Get Results : A Step-By-Step Guide
– Business Plans For Dummies®
– Your First Business Plan : A Simple Question and Answer Format Designed to Help You Write Your Own Plan

Hope that the above resources help

Jere answers:

Check your IP address.

Jere answers:

I would have to agree with Courtney’s answer above. All the things listed are vital marketing tools in the changing world we live in today, especially since its an internet start-up. If the thought of internet marketing is overwhelming (which it really can be) don’t hesitate to check out my agency’s website. We specialize in everything Courtney listed above (and like he said, much much more!)

Hopefully that helps!

Katherine

Jere answers:

Jilly, there comes a time and point when managing your mailing list should be shifted to a third party provider. They make scrubbing your mailing list a DREAM and will save you hours of time. I have a suggested resource, http://email-marketing-services.topfiveawards.com/ , however, I don’t recommend Aweber in your case because Aweber requires you to re-email your entire list and require an opt-in which isn’t ideal.

Jere answers:

Check this website out for email and email marketing resources. It totally free!

Jere answers:

I have email addresses and can send out 5,000 per hour for you. What are you adverstising? Email me for more info emuschinski@yahoo.com

Jere answers:

If you’re looking for a work from home JOB (not a home based business), there are lots of companies who hire for call center type

positions. And don’t listen to the nay-sayers who say work from home and telecommuting jobs are all scams or that there aren’t real jobs.

There are. You just have to know where to look and how to avoid the scams.

Do NOT pay for a list of jobs or pay to get a job. There are a few of the legitimate companies that, after you have qualified for the job, ask you to pay for a background check if you will be handling sensitive information like credit cards. It’s usually $20-$30 and from legitimate companies is a legit fee to pay. Other than that, there is no reason or need to pay anything if you just want a job. Some of the call center jobs, you are an independent contractor (IC) and some you are an employee.

If you want to start a home based business, there will be fees involved and business expenses. There are many legit business opportunities out there in direct sales, multi-level and network marketing. There are great companies to work with, but having a business isn’t for everyone.

For info on jobs, you can check out this comparison chart from RatRaceRebellion.com – it shows a huge list of companies, their requirements, pay, where they are etc. Http://www.ratracerebellion.com/CS_Comparison.html

Also, check out the telecommuting forums at WAHM.com and WorkPlaceLikeHome.com

Jere answers:

“CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY is the study of human responses to product and service related information and experiences. Many responses are important, including beliefs and judgments, emotions, purchase decisions, and consumption practices. A broad range of product and service related information is also important, such as advertisements, package labels, coupons, consumer magazines, and word-of-mouth communications from friends and relatives. The goals of consumer psychologists are to describe, predict, influence, and/or explain consumer responses.

Consumer psychologists are educators, researchers, and administrators. They get direct feedback from their work and they see how it changes things. It is not easy to understand why some people buy and others do not. Nor is it a simple matter to discover the trends and predict where things are going in the next few years. The majority of business executives and managers are well educated and trained in their field, but few are also all that familiar with the behavioral sciences. This is where consumer psychologists step in. The consumer psychologist’s job is not easy. Once a Coke was a Coke. Today’s consumers have more than brand preferences. Some want regular cola, some decaffeinated, some sugar-free, and some both decaffeinated and sugar-free. And there is still more: New formula and Classic; cherry-flavored, too.”

Jere answers:

Creative Memories, Stampin Up, Passion Parties (adult toys), Scentsy (wickless candles).

Most of those require a start-up “fee” that usually pays for the first round of supplies and training material.

You have to put out a lot of your own money for advertising, products, parties, etc and then when you sell the products you keep a percentage and pay the rest to the company.

If you can sell a lot of products you can make decent money. You’d have to work pretty hard to make enough to really live on, and you could possibly end up paying more than you take in.

With Avon and Mary Kay you have to buy products and use them, have testers, and have knowledge of the products that you can demonstrate.

For creative memories and stampin up you have to buy products to make sample cards to advertise the materials.

You need business cards, flyers, you have to go door to door, get your friends involved..and trust me, nothing is more annoying than when my friends pester me to come to their scentsy party (I’m a military wife and scentsy and passion parties are like gold to some of them).

I wouldn’t say they’re scams per say, and they’re certainly more legit than Amway or Market America, but you’re essentially starting your own business and that requires a cost and time output before you even start seeing much of any income.

Jere answers:

Excellent question. Although very specialized. And not the cup of tea of all who read these columns. You have heard recently that Milton Friedman passed away (g-d bless his soul) he put the nation into the right course by his monetarist views. As an answer to your direct question — you obviously realize and are in agreement that “keep gold standard” is not very logical since gold is a finite material (i.e. It is not endless) and we need the monetary unit for indefinite growth given the explosion of our own populations and those of other countries (see china, etc.) once you understand those simple facts of life you realize that on no gold standard we need a good government that will keep the monetary supply in good check and balance too. If we have a government that overspends, and prints its way out in printing more money without the equivalent growth in the economy then we have trouble which leads to the ills of inflation, stock market bumps, and insecurity in the job market. Hope it answers your question. From a professor of economics.

Jere answers:

Hi LV,

Experience in both professional life and personal life is overall key. Ask yourself:

Is the location truly detrimental to you staying at the job?
Does the company have other locations closer to your preference?
Do I like this job enough to commute, or do I want to roll the dice and find something with a better location? Possibly something I might not enjoy as much…..

My .2 cents, is that you are upfront on your resume, by simply stating the location move reason and explain further to the companies that call you back and want “you for you.”

Obviously things happen and positions change, and no one wants to be looked upon as the flake who jumps around. But always remember that it is better to me forthcoming about yourself to a company, rather than worry about something ever coming back around to you even in the slightest.

Please feel free to email me direct if I can help:
Lou@attainmentlife.com
www.attainmentlife.com

Jere answers:

How effective the courses are really depends on the student. Online certification programs are not as highly valued by employers as are degrees from accredited institutions. Very few of the 3D animation schoolsl carry any recognized academic accreditation. Businesses are looking for the whole package, not just a splinter skill.

You want not only to learn the software, but how to be creative with it. You need to know how to create a story line. You need to develop your own flare.

You don’t want to be stuck with the XYZ package when the company you are attempting to get a job with uses ABC software. Some of the courses teach to only one or two packages of software.

ITT has created 90 campus throughout the U.S. Many gaming companies accept their grads.
So if you don’t want a full time college, this is a pretty fair second rate option.

You would be best served by getting a full education at an accredited state school. The cost is most likely 1/2 of the online course even if you had to go to an out of your state college to get the program you wanted. You get a rounded education and have access to your instructors.

Jere answers:

Those “certifications” are worth less than the paper they’re written on.

If a “certified” trainer is are not qualified to teach gym class to 2nd graders, then he shouldn’t be trying to teach adults how to work out.

Jere answers:

Starting an online money making business isn’t easy though and will require a lot of time and effort. The best part is that anyone can start their own home based business. If you have a computer, an internet connection and some free space somewhere in the house you can use as an office, then there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to make money online with an online website business.

When deciding to start an online website business, you should try to focus on the skills you already have. Think about the skills you acquired while working at your job. Now’s when you can start to make them work for you instead of for somebody else! Think about the things you were good at in school or college that you’ve never had a chance to apply in the real world. These skills could be the building blocks for your new online money making business.

If you really want to learn the world of online business, you have to click the link on the source box. It will give a big lift in building an online business that works and it is designed for amateurs and best of all you don’t have to pay a single penny if you watch the videos there. Good Luck.

Jere answers:

Allied Business School…
Www.appraiserlicense.com
I used this one, as well as several other appraisers I know … Fairly flexible and easy to work with. I started when I had just had my son 4 years ago, I love it! Good Luck!

Jere answers:

Make sure the school you choose is Regionally accredited! For example most if not all schools that include the cost of textbooks for on-line courses are NOT regionally accredited ie., Grantham University Ashworth etc..

Jere answers:

Good question. Lots of great offers out there, but the problem is that most are scammers just trying to get your money. I still feel the best way to get a start on the net is a eBay business or starting a simple website for a $0- $50 investment. It has its grief but its a good way to learn how to do business online. The key is to find a good supplier who doesn’t charge an arm and a leg monthy frees to sell their products. They should be happy that you want to sell their products… Who would charge you for being a free saleman for their store? Http://BuyatDiscounts.com on there “about us” page they have lots of free resources and free ebooks to help you get started. I have never seen a website or business care enough to give away information. There is hundreds of dollars of freebies on the site.

If you’re looking for a dropshipper/supplier then http://www.BuyatDiscounts.com is the best free dropshipper out there. Trust me… I paid the stupid scammers hundreds for every list in the world and none were worth a dime. I finally bumped into Buy at Discounts by accident online and was very happy with their service when I did work on eBay. Now I run my own website and I use them to supply my products. So my answer to you is… Yes its worth it because its a great learning tool. You may also want to check out the “about us” page at BuyatDiscounts.com or towards the bottom of the home page for more info on other services and home business ideas. Good luck and Email me if you have any questions.

Direct quote from their site:

You are sure to find all of the portable electronics you could possibly want here in our online store at a portion of the prices our retail competition charges! Find an extensive car audio and video selection, portable CD players, quality refurbished iPods, discounted Phillips mp3 player gifts, assorted clock radios, and new iPods to name a few of our products. Whether you are looking for inexpensive Nintendo Wii bundles, discounted Nokia cell phones, affordable Samsung cell phones, and Motorola cell phones, or if you want to buy DJ equipment; we offer everything you want here in our online store. If you are interested in finding a reliable and inexpensive dropship source, we encourage you to take advantage of our free dropshipping opportunity to ship all of the portable electronics you want.

Jere answers:

Green Monkey….
I have tried a few things and it is definitely a different world working at home for yourself versus at a job working under someone else.
The survey thing didn’t pay (I am still owed money from doing them) and even when they do it is very little money for the effort. This was my experience and there very well may be some companies that are better than others. It will just take some homework.
Like the other responder said, avoid things that require you to pay out hundreds or thousands of dollars to get started. This is pretty much a no-brainer for most of us because we simply don’t have that kind of money laying around. However, there is an understanding that to start your own business there will be a start up fee involved or some other form of payment (ie so many qualifying parties or customers).
What I usually recommend is that you look around and find what fits with your personality. Find something that you believe in and then run with it! Everyone should have their own home based business!
Click on the link in my profile to check out what I chose or email me directly!

Good Luck!

Jere answers:

You have to discover a niche that people will respond to in either advertisements or subscriptions. My understanding is newspapers are preparing for the online world as subscriptions decline. If your local community doesn’t have a paper but has a strong business community – that might be a niche.

Jere answers:

Because the game’s constantly updated and needs to be maintained with server costs and staff etc…
There’s very few online games that are free to play.
Not to mention it’s a business and if they can get your money, why wouldn’t they?

Jere answers:

Hi Grace,
Wow… This is a huge question. I don’t really know if 10 or 20 people’s answers here are the best guide for you to then launch into your online business.

I started my first online buisness a few years ago with the most well known world leader in teaching people how to start a successful online business. It’s actually almost best if you don’t have the perfect idea before you start, because all their online powerpoint tutorials teach you about how to brainstorm ideas to end up with the perfect fit for you… Where you know your entire plan and strategy for getting traffic and making financial return even before you start…. And you don’t even need to know how to design a website as you just point and click the mouse to choose colours, drag in photos, add forums, newsletters, writing… All with a click.

It’s worthwhile checking out, even if you just want to look at their free online movies and ebooks. But for $30 a month, it is possibly the very best investment you could ever make. I’ve never looked back and now family and friends have started their own online businesses too!

Have a look at:
http://first-day-of-the-rest-of-your-life.sitesell.com/websales200624

Jere answers:

Actually, you spread wealth by spreading knowledge. Howard Hughes can come back to life tomorrow and become a millionaire in three months because he has the know how. The best thing to do is to start up an extensive vocational training program. Deal with Life Skills, Job Readiness, and Group Job Search issues. Acquire a competent staff and have excellent job developers. Establish a twelve months post transition curriculum. This is where you help those who have become gainfully employed troubleshoot life’s obstacles. You should case manage in the areas of savings, crisis management, owning real estate, bills and dealing with creditors. Be sure to provide emotional and motivational counseling.

There are hundreds of job training program doing marvelous work in our communities, but most stop short of really helping the person maintain the very thing they helped him to obtain, a job. An extensive job training programs would revitalize the community beyond measures. I can go on for days, for this is my field of expertise. Whatever you do is more than what others are doing. May God bless you real good!

Contact me if you have other questions.

Jere answers:

Here are some of the best of the best of “old skool” classics:
The Message – Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
Fight The Power – Public Enemy
Nuthin But A “G” Thang – Dr. Dre
It’s Like That – Run-D.M.C.
Rappers Delight – Sugarhill Gan
Children’s Story – Slick Rick
Planet Rock – Afrika Bambaataa
Paid in Full – Eric B. & Rakim
Rock the Bells – LL Cool J
Walk This Way – Run-D.M.C. & Aerosmith
The Breaks – Kurtis Blow
They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.) – C.L. Smooth & Pete Rock
It Takes Two – Rob Base & DJ EZ Roc
Me Myself and I – De La Soul
The Show – Doug E. Fresh w/Slick Rick
The Bridge Is Over – Boogie Down Productions
Bring The Noise – Public Enemy
Award Tour – A Tribe Called Quest
Push It – Salt-n-Pepa
It Was A Good Day – Ice Cube
Summertime – DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
C.R.E.A.M. – Wu Tang Clan
My Philosophy – Boogie Down Productions
You Gots to Chill – EPMD
Dear Mama – 2pac
Set It Off – Big Daddy Kane
Scenario – A Tribe Called Quest
I Need Love – LL Cool J
O.P.P. – Naughty By Nature
Sucker M.C.s – Run-D.M.C.
Mama Said Knock You Out – LL Cool J
Ridin’ – Chamillionaire w/ Krayzie Bone
U.N.I.T.Y. – Queen Latifah
Passin’ Me By – The Pharcyde
Parents Just Don’t Understand – DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
Ain’t No Half-Steppin’ – Big Daddy Kane
La Di Da Di – Slick Rick & Doug E. Fresh
Bonita Applebum – A Tribe Called Quest
The Definition – Mos Def & Talib Kweli (Black Star)
Just A Friend – Biz Markie
Wild Thing – Tone-Loc
Get At Me Dog – DMX
Triumph – Wu-Tang Clan
Regulate – Warren G. W/ Nate Dogg
The Choice Is Yours – Black Sheep
Gangsta’s Paradise – Coolio
Ladies First – Queen Latifah w/ Monie Love
Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat) – Digable Planets
I’m Bad – LL Cool J
Lyte As A Rock – MC Lyte
The Humpty Dance – Digital Underground
I Got 5 On It – The Luniz
Paul Revere – The Beastie Boys
P.S.K. (What Does It Mean) – Schoolly D
Boyz-N-The-Hood – Eazy E
Roxanne, Roxanne – U.T.F.O.
Shook Ones, Pt II – Mobb Deep
Dirty South – Goodie MOB
Freaks Come Out At Night – Whodini
Big Pimpin’ – Jay Z
Tennessee – Arrested Development
Deep Cover – Dr. Dre w/ Snoop Doggy Dogg
t’s the Joint – The Funky Four + 1
Crush On You – Lil Kim
Roxanne Roxanne ~ Roxanne Shante
Life Is…Too $hort – Too $hort
Let Me Blow Ya Mind – Eve
6 In the Mornin’ – Ice T
Bust A Move – Young MC
Peace, Love & Happiness

Jere answers:

6 Million People Are Anxious To Pay You $6 each!!
That’s $36,000,000.00 Waiting For YOU!
This product that virtually sells itself. $6 BY SIX MILLIONS combines reprint rights and 100% commissions into one incredible package. All the details.Also as a free gift I will give you a free search engine site to advertise your new program for FREE!

Http://www.6x6million.biz/jeffchris86

http://www.SearchFeast.com/join?id=jeff68

Jere answers:

Who says you can’t outside of a few sleep overs i have been doing it all my life and i know a lot of single men and women who do the same thing!!!

Jere answers:

Any degree will help you get a job, and if you’re in honors classes, all the better! More education is always a good idea in reputable companies. An MBA will help you in some cases–it’s not an assurance that you’ll get a promotion, higher level, etc…, but it may help you beat out the competition in a job interview. The main thing is being able to sell yourself in a job interview, and education is only one part of that…you will need to show your abilities from all angles ie, working while going to school (to show you are able to balance priorities, have worked in the ‘real world’), or doing volunteer work over time (work experience plus social consciousness). Good luck!

Jere answers:

You have to be an adult to file LEGAL forms.
There’s much more to it than you think.

You need education in the fields of business, nonprofit management, psychology, and social services.
You also need life experience to teach you to deal with all of the types of people you’ll encounter.

There are thousands of organizations already doing the work that you want to do.
And they’re already competing for VERY scarce dollars.
Find a good one and volunteer.
Http://serve.gov/

Take relevant classes in high school and college.
Eventually, you can get a paid job with a nonprofit.
You could get a degree in nonprofit management.

A nonprofit is a corporation, just like General Motors, or Sears, or McDonald’s.
You file the incorporation documents with your home state the same way.
There must be an official address and place of business, by laws, a board of directors, board meetings, and minutes of those meetings.
They are required to file formal reports on their financial activities with the state AND the feds.

Now here is where the differences start.

The difference is that a nonprofit has no owner and no stock.
When the corporation brings in more money than it spends, the excess is called a “fund balance”, instead of a “profit”.
That fund balance can be re-invested in the corporation or held in savings for future projects or for lean times.
The board of directors makes those decisions.

Once the org incorporates, it must apply to the IRS for a tax exempt status.
Those rules are under section 501(c) of the IRS code.
Most charities are under (c)(3).
Labor unions are under c5.
There are about two dozen different categories.

That means that the ORGANIZATION does not pay taxes on its income.
The EMPLOYEES of the organization pay their personal taxes under the same rules as everyone else.

Individuals who donate money to c3 orgs can deduct it from their income taxes, if they itemize.
Donations to other categories – c4, c5, etc. Are not deductible.

There are thousands of state and federal rules governing activities, finances, and reporting.

For example, c3 orgs CAN NOT endorse political candidates and there are strict limits on the lobbying that they can do.
That’s why labor unions can endorse candidates and churches can’t.

State laws on soliciting donations from the public vary, but all states have them.

C3 and C4 orgs can be eligible for government grants for their work.
They can also solicit money from charitable foundations.

But then the foundations will come to their offices and tell them they’re doing everything wrong and refuse to give them any money unless they change everything they do.
And even then they might not give the money.

I hate foundations.

Look at http://www.irs.gov/charities/index.html
There is more info at www.foundationcenter.org
Source(s):
27 years as volunteer, staff, manager, board member, board president, and consultant to nonprofit corporations.

Jere answers:

First the bad news:
There is just no such thing as online jobs that you can do from home. These are all scams and the people that encourage you to do them and tell you how much money they have made, are all a part of the scam. The scam may be building a network of people, telemarketing, online sales, filling out surveys, gifting businesses, data entry, travel writing, transcription services or other similar ploys. Remember that data entry has been made obsolete by Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software which can read that characters in a document and translate those into text for you. Re-typing information is completely outdated and unneeded. Cut and paste jobs fall into the same category.

Multi-level marketing (also called network marketing) is a fine line away from an illegal pyramid scheme where the emphasis is on involving more people and not on selling products. If the emphasis is on building a marketing group but no product is being sold then that is a red flag. Also, if they are trying to get you to buy motivational materials, etc. Then you can cross them off too.

A word about Ponzi schemes – A Ponzi scheme is where you are asked to invest and the returns are usually paid for by the new incoming investors in the system. I friend of mine was involved in one of these. He was an innocent party but eventually when it all fell apart the investigators showed up at his door asking them to pay back all they had made and to testify against the original person who was running the scam. Bottom line was they lost thousands of dollars and they lost all their friends who had likewise been caught up in the scam.

I honestly wished that there were options for home online employment. Recently I went out to one of the web sites that people will post here as an online jobs site and their web site tried to install malware on my computer. Fortunately my anti-malware program detected and stopped that. I often find that the same one company will have several web sites that all eventually refer you into the same company and other strange stuff like web addresses that are not descriptive of the actual company name. Other web sites pay pennies per transaction (or whatever they assign you to do) that you do so we are talking about making so little money it is ridiculous.

Many of these ploys require some kind of up front registration fee. They are all designed to take your money or to take your personal information. With that information they can steal your personal identity and empty your bank account. I can’t think of any more diabolical scam than to give people, like single parents hope that they are going to make some money and then dash those hopes by giving them nothing but empty promises. Also, scamming single moms who are trying to keep their heads above water or teenagers who are trying to help their families or trying to earn a few dollars of spending money is about as low as you can go, in my book.

Now the good news:
Your best bet is to look for legitimate jobs with known local companies. Some of those local companies will allow you to work as a virtual employee for a part or all of your hours but that is usually only after you have worked there for a while and proven yourself as a trusted employee. On the simpler side of things many local small service businesses like Heater/AC service, plumbers, pool maint, landscaping and others may not have a physical office and still may need to have an phone answering/scheduling provider to handle their appointment scheduling and phone answering duties. One of my friends does this from home while caring for kids. They gave her a company cell phone and she answers the calls and makes appointments. These are communicated to the service staff by phone, walkie talkie or text.

Jere answers:

Many of the hotels in Orlando actually have a nominally priced check-in service at the hotel which allows you to check in for your flight and check your baggage on the flight right at the hotel. If your hotel offers this, it’s probably the best solution.

If you need to take your bag to the Magic Kingdom with you, and it does not fit into a locker, you can check the item for a nominal fee at Guest Relations inside City Hall, just inside the main entrance.

Mears Transportation Group offers scheduled service to the airport from Walt Disney World. You can make reservations online.

Jere answers:

There are many IT majors and IT jobs that involve little to no Programming. The classes that you listed will probably contain little to no programming. Networking will involve being able to remember and type in commands but that is as close to Programming that you will get. System Administration and Computing would be other fields you could look at.

If you are not good at Programming here are just a few possible jobs.

Computer Technician – Works on computer hardware at user location or in service center. (entry level IT Job)
Service Center Coordinator – Schedules the repair of user community computers, orders spare parts, schedules staff, establishes priorities, maintains loaner laptops and non-US laptops for travel outside of US.
Help Desk Staff – answer questions and resolve problems for the user community. (entry level IT Job – Tier 1 support)
Storage Administrator – in charge of mass storage servers and devices.
Network Administrator – Works on routers, switches, hubs, cables, load balancers and all the other hardware that handles LAN and WAN network traffic. Also, may be responsible for IP phone service.
Systems Administrator or Systems Engineer- Works with servers, laptops and desktop computers to keep them free of problems and secure the data they contain. Responsible for Security group creation and memberships, server patching, anti-virus protection updates, password changes and any automated mechanisms that make these changes. These positions may be divided into server and desktop teams. Tier 2 support.
Enterprise Administrator – Handles Enterprise support and design issues. Tier 3 support.
Active Directory Administrator – Designs and administers Active Directory infrastructure, AD policies, access permissions, roles, group policies, separation of duties.
Exchange and Messaging Administrator – maintains mail systems servers, other mail related devices and the company messaging infrastructure.
Backup Administrator – Maintains backup devices and determines backup strategies so data that was deleted accidentally or intentionally can be recovered. Design and control how and when data is backed up, where the backups are stored and how long the backups are retained. They will test to be sure backups are valid and usable.
Disaster Recovery Specialist – Plans for disaster events so the company data and infrastructure can be brought back online as quickly as possible after a fire, flood, earthquake, terrorism or other disaster event. Plans for failover of services to alternate locations, if the primary location is not available.
Database Administrator – Maintains the company databases which may include customer and sales records, billing information, inventory and other data.
Computing Security Specialist – A company’s biggest asset is its data and the Computing Security Specialist will work to try to keep that data protected from loss. They may be dealing with and defending against viruses, hoaxes, malware, keyloggers, phishing attacks, internal attacks and domestic and foreign intrusion. Develops monitoring and interception systems, filters and strategies and works with appropriate government agencies.
Ethical Hacker – performs intrusion and vulnerability testing of systems. Works with Computing Security to insure intrusion prevention systems are working correctly.
Corporate IT Acquisition Specialist – Works with acquired outside companies to establish migration into the corporate computing infrastructure.
Data Center Administrator – Maintains the data center facilities where the company’s servers and other devices reside. They are responsible for physical security and may review badge reader and camera information to be sure that only individuals with proper access are getting close to the company’s servers and other critical devices. Also, maintain backup power devices (UPS or generators).

In a small business the list of jobs above might be performed by one or two people doing all these jobs. In a large Enterprise environment this could be hundreds of people.

Best wishes!

Jere answers:

You start by targeting the customization type you want to build. Gamers are most likely your target as they are the main group of individuals that normally use customized PCs. If you know the hardware and building of the hardware in and out, then all you will basically be doing is assembling the stuff together. Selling online is pretty much the same as selling anywhere else, it takes a while to get onto google’s first page rank, even though some trollers have probably crammed up there already. Ebay is an ok option, so is craigslist. The decision on ‘where’ or ‘how’ to sell is not a single unique answer. You could combine a simple website, with a twitter account, an ebay account and craigslist listings and sell through all these multiple channels for free. Apart from online(which involves shipping and delivery charges) you can also put up posters, advertise on school and university boards and sell locally within your community.

I think efficiency here is in the strategy, you can start with multiple forms of marketing and advertising and gradually diminish marketing strategies that aren’t helping you. You do this by asking clients where they heard about your service, if more people say “through a university ad” and only 1 in 300 people say on twitter, you simply focus more on advertising on university boards and give less time to twitter. I further recommend that if you’re going to sell something tangible, then it must be a long-term business, cause nobody likes to buy things from a company that doesn’t exist after 2 months.

Jere answers:

AP,

You did ask THE question that’s guaranteed to get a bunch of interesting advise.

There are a bunch of models for making money on the net. That being said, it’s not as easy as many people may tell you.

There is:

Affiliate marketing, (selling other peoples products)
Marketing your own product.
Drop shipping
Network Marketing
Information Marketing

Wheww… Ok that’s all I can do. The single most important thing to know is that your not going to be billionaire in a week! In other words, have realistic expectations.

I spent several thousand bucks on guru courses to learn those “super secret insider tricks”… I wouldn’t advise that method! The vast majority will give you just enough info to make you have to buy their next product…. Ya,, I did….

I finally joined a mentoring organization that actually got down to the nuts and bolts and “how to’s” before I got off the ground and started seeing some income.

I wish I’d done that first but,, live and learn… My advice to you is to join such an organization and do the… Earn while you learn thing…

I’m dropping you a link to the one I use.. It’s an ad page and it’s a bit lengthy so scroll down to the videos and you’ll get a pretty good idea of what to expect.

Hope this helps…

Micah

Jere answers:

Enjoy your sports on your time – Watch what you want, when you want! Get Instant Access to all sports channels over the Internet.
Http://watch-live-sportsonline.com/hockey/

Jere answers:

It has to do with poor management of their reputation. Owners see a negative comment and react by attacking the person who left the comment. There is a much better way. When you are listed on Yelp and many sites and have a huge internet presence you are going to get comment good and bad. The worst thing to do about a bad comment is nothing. No matter what someone has said about your business you can always take the high road and come out looking sweet. A monitoring system can be put in place so that you will be notified when a comment has been posted. This is something as a business owner you should want to monitor.

Example ” I went to Joe’s Pizza and the waiter was wondering around clueless. When we finally got our pizza it was cold, may never go back.”

Answer “Since school has restarted we have lost of few of our veteran wait staff. Your satisfaction is very important to me so please give me a chance to earn back your business. Your next pizza is on me, thanks for bringing this to my attention, Joe”.

Jere answers:

The first thing you need to think about is what type of internet business you want. The website and the requirements for it are just secondary considerations, and the complexity will depend on the type of business you will run.

For example, an ecommerce site will require different elements compared to an information site monetized through advertisements. User generated content will also be different.

Think of the business model first.

Here are the steps you need to take when creating your online business:

STEP 1: Set Your Goals – Why do you want a web site? What is the size of the online market? What are the goals for your website?

STEP 2: Develop Your Web Site Strategy – Who is your website target audience? What typically appeals to your target audience? How are the other websites (your competition) reaching out to this target audience? How will you measure your performance?

STEP 3: Set-Up Implementation Plans – What name will you give to your site? How do you envision the design of your web site? How will you create your website? How will you create your content? How will you maintain your website?

STEP 4: Start the Ball Rolling – Do you have a logo? For e-retailers, do you have the critical components needed to run an e-commerce site? How are you going to host your site?

STEP 5: Create and Launch Your Web Site – Have you uploaded your site with your chosen web host provider? Are the scripts and application you need for your website functioning well? Have you tested your website?

STEP 6: Promote Your Web Site and Measure Its Results – Do you have a plan in place to market your website? Do you regularly review your traffic logs and web site performance tracker? How are you going to get sites to link to you? Do you know the search engine keywords that you rank well? If your site is not visible in the search engine results pages for its keywords, what strategies do you intend to do?

STEP 7: Maintain Your Website and Grow Your Web Business – Continue to find ways to grow your web business. How do you intend to continue your education on web development?

Jere answers:

There is a whole section on the schedule C for “Home Office” deductions that would cover this.

The short answer is yes you can but only up to the percentage that you use them for business. So if you use your cell phone or internet only about 10% on business you can deduct no more than 10%. You also have to be sure you have Excellent records as if you get audited this will be the first place they go to in the audit.

For example with your cell phone, you need to keep the entire year of bills with the breakdown of each call and if it was business or personal and then take the percentage.

For something like this you should consult a tax professional as they can give you the exact answer for your situation.

Jere answers:

No. Agents do not give anything to the Broker. It is the other way around. If you are working for 50% of what you bring in you might start looking for another Broker.
All Real Estate Comissions belong to the Principal Broker in the office. What ever the Broker pays you should be recorded on a IRS 1099 at the end of the year.

Jere answers:

WW2 and WW1 Reenactors collect both originals and repros. Here are a bunch of sites with something for everyone’s budget.

AMERICAN
WWII Impressions – Uniforms, Equipment, and Footwear
http://www.wwiiimpressions.com/

At The Front – Quality Combat Military Equipment and Militaria
http://www.atthefront.com/

J Murray Inc 1944 – WWII U.S. M1 Helmet Restorations – Recreations – Reproductions
http://www.jmurrayinc1944.com/

The Old Crouch’s Military Surplus – Source for Leggins, Rubber Grenades, etc
http://store.oldgrouch.biz/

National Capital Historical Sales – Best Place for Repro Patches – Unit & Ranks
http://stores.ebay.com/National-Capital-Historical-Sales

Service of Supply – Great website for accessory items to add to your impression
http://www.serviceofsupply.com/

GERMAN
1944 Militaria – German Original & Reproduction Camouflage, Uniforms & Equipment.
Http://www.1944militaria.com/

Ostfront – Specializing in German and Russian uniforms Items
http://www.ostfront.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc

Spearhead Militaria – Inexpensive German Uniforms
http://stores.ebay.com/Spearhead-Militaria

Landser Outfitters – Field Gear, Footwear, and Helmet Parts, plus accessories
http://www.landser.com/

Jere answers:

Before I go on… Where do you live?… The United States?…

I’m quite interested.

First off. You have many aspects of Australia. You have the city life, the coastal life, & the wonderful unique outback life.

The biggest & most populous cities in Australia are “Melbourne” & “Sydney”…

Melbourne, the capital city of the state named “Victoria” & a sister city to Boston & New York City, America – has a slightly less population than Sydney, however in my opinion it is the most stylish. Melbourne is all about fun & culture & what goes on. History hits sky high here, if you’re into Australia’s origins. Of course the city was the former capital of Australia before “Canberra” was built, so that helps too.

You have a diverse zest of restaurants, shows, beaches & if you’re into shopping, you HAVE to visit the “Victoria Markets”… It is literally HUGE, and is the perfect place to shop for souvenirs, ect.

You can visit the Melbourne zoo. Great place, and especially if you’re into animals of all kinds. It’s a great place to get close to Australian native animals such as Kangaroos, Koalas, Echidnas, Wombats, Emu’s, Dingoes, ect;

The beaches in Melbourne are modest, but the quantity speaks for its self. Considering Melbourne spans out as a coastal city, you have 4+ beaches scattered around the city at your disposal.

“St Kilda” is a great place to visit. It has a “Bohemian” feel to it that many people love. You have Luna Park (An amusement park) for any children in the family. Its right next to Port Melbourne beach, the coffee & delicacy there is just divine. “Lygon Street” the best place to go for Italian cuisine. It is the “Little Italy” of Melbourne itself. Wonderful place for European food as well.

Another thing unique about Melbourne is the tram system, which travels ALL around the city, so you will never have a situation where you cannot get to where you want. Public transport in Melbourne is far ahead of any city in the country. Trains, Buses, Trams, all run co-operately & on time. You literally have the whole area covered.

A city VERY close to Melbourne called “Phillip Island” is also for the laid back beach/animal lovers. Hotels are great & you can literally feed Penguins as they come out at night! – Turtles too.

Http://www.basscoast.vic.gov.au/files/2535_night%20penguins_web.jpg

Anyway I could go on; however I suggest you look up some information if you desire the chance to dig in deeper details. :]

Here are a few pictures of Melbourne…

Http://www.sydney-australia.biz/victoria/melbourne/graphics/melbourne.jpg

http://www.sydney-australia.biz/victoria/melbourne/graphics/melbourne-australia.jpg

Sydney. Ahh Sydney. The capital city of the state called “New South Wales” & a sister city to San Francisco, America – Sydney seems to be based on Looks. This city is simply beautiful. It’s not as stylish or packed as Melbourne is. But the views make up for it.

I’ve only been in Sydney for a few hours, (as I was travelling through) so I haven’t explored much of it; however I can tell you it’s beautiful.

You have the Sydney Harbor Bridge. This Bridge is the biggest arched bridge in the world. And guess what?… You can climb it. Once you are on top, the view can make you cry in joy. It is not for the faint hearted. But it is great for people who love big sights. Also, make sure you do it at sunset… Beautiful.

Http://www.planetware.com/i/photo/harbour-bridge-sydney-ausw089.jpg

You have the Sydney Opera House. This iconic structure is known for its unique design (which compliments Sydney very well) – you may have noticed it in the animated film “Finding Nemo”… It’s a great place to visit for public shows & theatre presentations. Or just for the occasional views of the sea.

Bondi Beach is one of the best beaches in Australia. And during summer time (now) Between December-February – it is the most gorgeous place to be. Very hot, and very big. The water is nice, clean & the people there are extremely nice.

Http://www.destination360.com/australia-south-pacific/australia/images/s/australia-bondi-beach.jpg

Toronga Zoo is pretty much the most diverse zoo in Australia. It’s a great place to visit if you LOVE animals of all kinds & love interacting with them!… All in the view of Sydney itself.

Http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Sydney_taronga_zoo.jpg

I could go on, but likewise, you should really look up info. If you want more detail. :]

The Great Barrier Reef. This reef is the biggest living organism in the world. Because it is the home of the most variable sea life you will EVER see no matter where you go in the world. Ranging from the beautiful Corals, to wonderful Fish, Sharks, Dolphins, Sting Rays, Manatees, Sea Turtles, Jelly Fish, ect; It is also the home of NEMO! :] – It’s a great place to go snorkeling as the water is crystal clear.

Here is the sea life at work.

Http://liveandletdive.googlepages.com/dreamstimeweb_7417461_reef.JPG/dreamstimeweb_7417461_reef-full.jpg

The Gold Coast is not a capital city, but resides in the same state as Brisbane. It was literally dubbed the “Miami” of Australia. & is a sister city to Miami, America.

It has some of the BEST looks Australia can give to beach/tropical lovers.

Here are some pictures of The Gold Coast; the views speak for themselves…

Http://media.hubonline.com.au/agents_folder/2744/gold-coast.jpg

http://www.movieworldstudios.com.au/media/photos/gc5.jpg

It is a GREAT tourist destination, and a hotel HEAVEN. Literally paradise if you ask me, and is worth a visit for any surfing lovers too. The weather there is perfect in the summertime.

You also have sights such as Ayers rock (nicknamed “Uluru” by the aboriginal community) It is the largest rock in the whole world! – You can also climb it too.

Http://www.qsl.net/sp9hzx/ayers-rock-1.jpg

It is located close to the city of “Alice Springs” which is literally in the center of the Australian mainland.

This area caters to the Native Australian population. It has history spanning back to 40,000 years ago, from artifacts, to cave drawings, to pre-historic animal museums, which takes a deep look at the wildlife that once ruled the Australian land. Aboriginal myths are interesting to look into as well as ancient stories as to how the Natives reached Australia in the first place.

To cap my reply off… I have to say. I could have talked about the other capital cities & territories in Australia & I could have said more than I have all around, but I shouldn’t, otherwise I would reach endless space! – because singling Australia down to one Yahoo Answers Reply is impossible, you have to come walkabout yourself!

There is plenty more to discover, as Australia is all about what you find on your own… Not what is mapped out by others! – I hope your interest has been rekindled!… And I hope you have a good time wherever you choose to go. I’m not the best travel agent, nor am I one.. But I hope I did well in explaining the basics!

Take care! :]

P.S – The 10 link limit on Yahoo Answers sucks so bad!

Jere answers:

It’s not insurance. It looks somewhat similar to Medi-Share. It combines a discount, with “sharing of cost”. Preexisting conditions are not covered.

If you cannot afford real health insurance, it’s better than nothing – but not much better than nothing.

Jere answers:

I wouldnt trust that. If you want to work from home and be successful what about BeautiControl. The sign up fee is $99 but get over $250 worth of products. They do SPAs, makeup and skin care. You;ll love it. The $99 ends tomorrow. Let me know if you want more info:

aanaya56@hotmail.com

April

Jere answers:

A college education and experience in marketing.

Jere answers:

I doubt there is such an MBA program. MBA programs accept students in any undergraduate field. They prefer students who do not have a business background because they give you the business training but they cannot provide the broad background that managers should have. I have taught MBA students with degrees in Music, Medicine, Dentistry, Law, Psychology, Political Science, Chemistry, Biology, Engineering, and many other fields. Most MBA programs prefer students with 2-3 years work experience after the first degree., Some accept students right out of college if they have good grades and a high GMAT score. Some MBA programs are designed specifically for new college graduates without work experience. But in those programs you don’t get the benefit of learning from other students who have work experience. A lot of valuable learning takes place through class interaction.

Before you decide on an MBA program explore the Internet for information on available programs. There is a lot of information available. Some sites are limited to specific countries, such as Germany, UK, or Australia. There is a comprehensive free public service with more than 2,000 MBA programs listed worldwide. The nice thing is that it allows you to find the program that best fits you. It allows you to search for programs by location (US, Europe, Far East, etc.), by concentration (finance, marketing, aviation management, health management, accounting, etc.), by type of program (full-time, distance learning, part-time, executive, and accelerated), and by listing your own criteria and preferences to get a list of universities that satisfy your needs. Schools report their accreditation status (look for AACSB accreditation or at least AACSB membership), tuition cost, number of students, class sizes, program length, and a lot of other data. Schools provide data on entrance requirements, program costs, program characteristics, joint degrees, joint degrees such as MBA/JD, and much more. You can use it to contact schools of your choice, examine their data, visit their web site, and send them pre-applications. You can see lists of top 40 schools ranked by starting salaries of graduates, GMAT scores, and other criteria. Some of the other sites are less comprehensive, but all are useful.

Jere answers:

The only ones that arent scams are working for a company directly. Why dont you put up some flyers in your area and see what happens.

Good Luck

Jere answers:

If you’re not a graphic designer yourself. Then it’s harder to do graphic design business. But you can always give it a try.

The job outlook for graphic designers is pretty good. Demand for graphic designers should increase because of the rapidly including television, movies, video, and made-for-Internet outlets.

Graphic designers with Web site design and animation experience will especially be needed as demand for design projects increase for interactive media—Web sites, video games, cellular telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and other technology. Demand for graphic designers also will increase as advertising firms create print and Web marketing and promotional materials for a growing number of products and services.

About 3 out of 10 designers were self-employed. Many did freelance work—full time or part time—in addition to holding a salaried job in design or in another occupation.

Median annual earnings for graphic designers were $38,030 in May 2004. The middle 50 percent earned between $29,360 and $50,840. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $23,220, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $65,940.

Given the fact that they’re not cheap, you’d be better off entering a partnership than hiring one.

Jere answers:

The reason that marketing is so important to businesses is that it is how you get customers. Clearly nobody is going to walk into your office and ask for whatever it is that you are selling unless they know that you are there and what you are selling. The way that you make sure that they do know is through marketing. All companies understand the need for marketing but most really don’t understand what it is. Marketing is not the same as advertising or sales, it is much more involved than that. Largely marketing is about generating leads that can then be turned into sales.

Individuals with marketing degrees will generally enter into their professions through sales in some capacity, but they can easily work their way up through the ranks. Some of the positions you might land in with a marketing degree include those of marketing manager, product manager, sales manager, advertising manager, or public relations.

If you have a marketing degree, you might be able to enter into Internet marketing (although an Internet marketing degree, specifically, may be better suited toward that particular goal). You might be able to find a position working for a newspaper, or a magazine, just as much as you might be able to find a position working for a website, or for a manufacturing company, or for nearly any company that produces or sells a product.

Jere answers:

There are a lot of Indian people who do Search Engine Optimization (SEO). That might be a good industry to get into.

Just Google “SEO” or “SEO jobs” and you should find tonnes of information about it.

Jere answers:

You must have worked hard to earn your MBBS .. Why don’t you start practice, build some capital and in the meanwhile keep an eye on the kind of business you would like to get into. 50k rupee is really not enough to start any business, well thats my opinion anyway .. Good Luck

Jere answers:

Fantastic I work in a call centre???

Do they respect the elderly this is most important, after mother dies the aged care system in Australia is so disrespectful I need a third world country to move to with my assets?

Jere answers:

If the site is new, you can ask your friend to create a press release and the next important and the crucial step is to submit it in the best press release submission websites which will index your website in different search engines so that your business related people can reach you very easily.

The second main thing that your friend must do is to join the high PR social networking sites so as to increase your network. I can ensure you that your friend will be more than happy to see his business coming only because of these SEO and SMO activities getting done.

Jere answers:

Online stores are cheaper for buying laptop. Minimum duration of processing orders is 3 – 5 business days.The best method to pay would be through Paypal or Credit Card. Shipping Information and calculation by clicking on the shipping cost tab located under the image of the product and order button

Jere answers:

If AZ has a state sales tax you probably would need to get a tax authority with the state.
Check with your local government to see and make sure your zoning laws depending on where you want to have the business.

Jere answers:

You will need to register a business through your government agent. You will also need to register a domain name and get a web hosting to house your web content.

Jere answers:

BEWARE OF SCAMS — such as the first answer

It is hard to find grants to start a business. Unlike the myths that some perpetuate, federal government and even private foundations hardly give grant money for starting a for-profit business.

One possible exception is for companies developing or exporting agricultural goods, including food and forest product. Another exception could be the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs http://www.sba.gov/aboutsba/sbaprograms/sbir/index.html , which fund the research and development of technological innovation that meets specific government needs.

Your best bet actually will be from the states if they offer grant programs for women (or any other special interest groups — minorities, women, disabled, veterans, etc). Or check with non profit organizations, particularly women organizations if they offer grants. Examples include

Iowa Women’s Foundation http://www.iawf.org/
New Mexico Women’s Foundation http://www.nmwf.org/guidelines.html

Even SBA does NOT give out grants. From the SBA website http://www.sba.gov/mostrequesteditems/CON_FAQ2.html

“The U.S. Small Business Administration does not offer grants to start or expand small businesses, although it does offer a wide variety of loan programs. (See http://www.sba.gov/financing for more information) While SBA does offer some grant programs, these are generally designed to expand and enhance organizations that provide small business management, technical, or financial assistance. These grants generally support non-profit organizations, intermediary lending institutions, and state and local governments.”

Nonetheless, you can go to the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) http://www.cfda.gov and Grants.gov http://www.grants.gov – these are two sites created by the federal government to provide transparency and information on grants. Browse through the listings and see if you can find any grant that would support a for-profit venture.

Here is a listing of federal grants for small businesses. See if there is any available for individuals for starting a business — THERE’S NONE.
Http://12.46.245.173/pls/portal30/CATALOG.BROWSE_BENEF_RPT.show

Most of the federal grants are given to specific target groups with specific requirements (e.g. Minority business owners involved in transportation related contracts emanating from DOT – Grant#20.905 Disadvantaged Business Enterprises Short Term Lending Program

Grants are also often given to non profit groups or organizations involved in training or other similar activities (grant 59.043 Women’s Business Ownership Assistance that are given to those who will create women’s business center that will train women entrepreneurs

Jere answers:

Go to http://www.grants.gov for a list of government grants and how you can apply for them. However, there are no grants for a for profit business unless you are opening a daycare and then it is a minimal amount. If you need money, you will need to apply for a loan. No lender will talk to you unless you provide them with a valid business plan. Go to http://www.sba.gov , http://www.score.org or http://www.bplan.com for sample business plans and instructions on how to write a business plan.

Then, go to http://www.score.org/ and in the upper left hand corner, enter your zip code. On the next screen, you will get information on the nearest SCORE chapter. Call them and arrange for a free meeting with a SCORE counselor to review your business plan and discuss various loan options available to you.

SCORE is a nonprofit association dedicated to entrepreneur education and the formation, growth and success of small business nationwide. SCORE is a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

SCORE has 389 chapters in locations throughout the United States and its territories, with 10,500 volunteers nationwide. Both working and retired executives and business owners donate time and expertise as business counselors.

Jere answers:

You stand a greater chance of getting a government-guaranteed loan through the Small Business Administration http://www.sba.gov/financing than a government grant. Read the SBA Financing page to learn about criteria needed for borrowing

It is hard to find grants to start a business. Unlike the myths that some perpetuate, federal government and even private foundations hardly give grant money for a for-profit business. And yes, grants mean PAPERWORK – lots and lots of it, that is why a cottage industry of grant writers was born.

Nonetheless, you can go to the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) http://www.cfda.gov and Grants.gov http://www.grants.gov – these are two sites created by the federal government to provide transparency and information on grants. Browse through the listings and see if you can find any grant that would support a for-profit venture.

Even SBA does NOT give out grants. From the SBA website http://www.sba.gov/mostrequesteditems/CON_FAQ2.html

“The U.S. Small Business Administration does not offer grants to start or expand small businesses, although it does offer a wide variety of loan programs. (See http://www.sba.gov/financing for more information) While SBA does offer some grant programs, these are generally designed to expand and enhance organizations that provide small business management, technical, or financial assistance. These grants generally support non-profit organizations, intermediary lending institutions, and state and local governments.”

Here is a listing of federal grants for small businesses. See if there is any available for individuals for starting a business — THERE’S NONE.
Http://12.46.245.173/pls/portal30/CATALOG.BROWSE_BENEF_RPT.show

Most of the federal grants are given to specific target groups with specific requirements (e.g. Minority business owners involved in transportation related contracts emanating from DOT – Grant#20.905 Disadvantaged Business Enterprises Short Term Lending Program

Grants are also often given to non profit groups or organizations involved in training or other similar activities (grant 59.043 Women’s Business Ownership Assistance that are given to those who will create women’s business center that will train women entrepreneurs

I suggest you read the following books to get ideas of how to finance your business:

Financing Your Small Business http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1572484500/powerhomebizguid
Small Business Financing: How and Where To Get It http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0808007386/powerhomebizguid
Financing the Small Business: A Complete Guide to Obtaining Bank Loans and All Other Types of Financing http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580626815/powerhomebizguid
The SBA Loan Book http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/158062202X/powerhomebizguid
Angel Capital : How to Raise Early-Stage Private Equity Financing http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471690635/powerhomebizguid
Financing Your Small Business (Barron’s Business Library Series) http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764124897/powerhomebizguid

For private grants, you may want to check the Foundation Center’s Foundation Grants for Individuals Online http://gtionline.fdncenter.org . It’s a subscription based website ($9.95 per month) but their opening blurb only says that the database is ideal for “students, artists, academic researchers, libraries and financial aid offices.” Entrepreneurs are apparently not one of them, so I take it they also don’t have listings of private foundations who give grants to would-be entrepreneurs.

Jere answers:

Your best bet is Jangomail, they are the industry standard, and you don’t want to take risks on your new business by taking chances. They are also pretty flexible in terms of what you want to display on your website in the subscribe box, for example.
Good luck!

Jere answers:

There is no right way to spam my mailbox … I hope the email gods excommunicate u or somthing …

Jere answers:

Yes,using it small firms can get valuable information on latest business trends.

Jere answers:

Depends on whether you want to use client-side or server-side to do this.

Ron

Jere answers:

Do you send a lot of emails to the same person or just many emails because you have many recipients? If it is the former, you might wanna cut down a bit. Being that persistant might be a bit irritating to some people. If it is the latter, you should be fine. If you’re worried, I suggest integrating a forum system onto your site as it has the option to send out mass emails to everyone registered. And since it goes through your web mail rather than one like yahoo or gmail, you’re less likely to get blacklisted.

I use email marketing too and the mass emails feature on my site works just fine for me. If you ever need any tips or want to learn some tricks for internet marketing, pay a visit to 404 reviews.

Http://www.404reviews.com

It has a guide book that explains a lot about email marketing among many other methods

Jere answers:

Demand still wouldnt be elastic because there are no direct substitutes. A monopoly controls the majority of the market so it is not a competitive market anymore. Think of it like OPEC or any of the gas compaines. There really are still no good substitutes, since gas is still the cheapest way of powering cars (aside from subsidized stuff) and it is an inelastic good because people will still pay for it no matter the price.

Jere answers:

What keeps most people in debt is the fact that they keep spending more money than they make. They look at the “monthly payments” instead of the total debt loan that they are carrying. People need to stop spending now and concentrate on becoming debt free. Please do not consolidate or use a debt reduction company . It is not free, they will lower your payments by increasing the length of time until you are debt free, and you will take a hit on your credit score. Or they negotiate your debt down after telling you not to pay for awhile adding another hit to your credit score. Student loans are the only debt that can garnish your wages for non payment without taking you to court first. Just list them out on a piece of paper or a spreadsheet and follow the plan. If you work the plan, the plan will work for you.

A. Have a garage sale and sell anything that you no longer need or want.

B.Get a temporary part time job, if you have one, get another.

Here is a plan that can help you. If you work the plan, the plan will work for you:
1. Make a budget. Make the budget a week before you get paid. A budget is not a punishment! It is a tool which will free you from ever having to worry about money again. Put everything in your budget. Especially those annual, biannual, or quarterly bills like car registration, insurance, etc. Give every dollar you are going to bring home the name of where it is going. Add an “emergency fund” category to your budget for 25 dollars and save up until you have 1000-1250 dollars. Your emergency fund will help keep you from getting into new debt because of an emergency. If you can, set up a direct transfer to a savings account for your emergency fund. That way it moves automatically and you don’t even have to worry about it. You must cut your spending and live on less than you make.

2.First get current on all of you debts and make no more late payments. Stop using your credit cards immediately. Do not take on any more debt. Credit cards are like quicksand only the death is much slower. Make a list of all of your debts in order of highest interest rate to lowest interest. Use cash only for your spending from now on.

3.Pay the minimum due on all of your debts and then put your extra money towards paying off the highest interest one first. After you get that one paid off, you put the money you were paying on debt #1 (the minimum payment and the extra payment) towards debt #2. That will pay debt #2 off faster. When that is paid off, you put all three payments towards card #3 and that one will be paid off pretty quickly. As an example:

To start :
Debt #1 (highest interest): minimum payment+ extra payment
Debt #2 (middle interest): minimum payment
Debt #3(lowest interest): minimum payment

Debt #1: paid off
Debt #2: minimum payment from Debt #1+ Minimum payment from Debt #2 +extra payment
Debt #3: minimum payment

Debt #1: paid off
Debt #2: paid off
Debt #3:Minimum payment from card #1+ minimum payment from Debt #2+ minimum payment from Debt #3+ extra payment.

That way, you will get them all paid off, on time, and pay the least interest. It will also help towards rebuilding your credit since you will no longer have any late payments. This works no matter how many different debts you may have.

4. After you get all of your debts paid off, add to your emergency fund until you have 6-12 months of income saved up. Put that emergency fund money into a liquid money market fund or into a Bank of America no-risk CD so that if you need the money you can take it out without penalty.

5a. When you have your emergency fund in place, add a category for “fun” to your budget. Save for a holiday, a vacation, a big screen, or dinners out, whatever goal you want. Remember to enjoy your life.

5b. When you have your emergency fund in place, start saving for your retirement. Join the 401(k) plan at work and contribute the maximum. Your employer probably matches at least part of your contribution so why give up free money? Open a Roth IRA and contribute the maximum on a monthly basis. If you start saving for your retirement now, you will probably retire a millionaire.

5c. When you have your emergency fund in place, start saving for your next car. Only buy cars, or other things that depreciate, with cash. Save up for a nicer car. That way you get the interest instead of paying the interest.

You can do it and it isn’t as hard as you think. Just follow the plan

Jere answers:

Well, he has already said that he will revoke our right to bear “Small Arms” and will try to get a 400% tax put on Ammunition…

So now I will have my hobby, target shooting, taken away from me like he will take away my small company by taxing us to death…

What’s the point of working when my money will be stolen from me?

I guess I’ll suckle Uncle Sam’s Teat along with the lazy… I might as well take advantage of living in a Welfare State.

You people have lost your minds thinking this empty suit will do our country good…

WOW… “Like Clinton”? It was Clinton that signed the act in 1995 that PUT US in the Credit Crisis!!

They even admitted that on 60 Minutes!

And “Create Jobs”? That won’t happen because of the punitive taxes he has already spoken of…

We are screwed… Well, no I’ll amend that…. Those of us that WORK are screwed…
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Economic Reality always follows Economic Policy by 8-12 years. What we’re seeing now is the failure of the Subprime Mortgage Market (AKA Subprime Mortgage Crisis), which was a direct result of the Community Reinvestment Act of 1995 (CRA1995) that was signed into law by President Bill Clinton.

CRA1995 forced banks to use a point based system to determine the eligibility of applicants for home loans, with the three biggest points values coming from their area of residence, their race, and their income.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Jere answers:

I dollar terms, fossil fuel companies have received, and continue to receive far more direct government subsidies than renewable energy companies. The cost for a incremental barrel of oil from renewable sources is $60 and the incremental cost of a barrel of fossil oil is more than $100 now. Indirect costs for a natural gas pipeline in Afghanistan, oil contracts in Iraq or oil contracts in Libya for the benefit of senior politicians and their friends have had a huge and unnecessary cost to the ordinary citizens in blood and treasure. The tax system favors fossil fuels over renewables because fossil fuels are capital intensive and renewables are labor intensive. Income taxes are higher than corporate taxes, so tax is a larger part of the cost for renewables. The tax rate on fossil fuel production should be raised to equalize the tax per unit of energy produced. Just end the direct and indirect subsidies. New investment will flow to the lower cost renewables.

Jere answers:

I would like to inform you what, possibly, NOT to do. THEN what you should do. THEN you should be able to make your decisions and proceed from there.

DON’T fax every person in every office the same fax about your listings or services. Its not necessary. Many offices have a bulletin board or the agents can go on-line to the brokerage web site OR YOUR web site OR YOUR broker‘s site.

DON’T text message for the same reasons.

DON’T use direct mail to promote your listings and services.

Some time ago, I read a statistic which may or may not be true today:
FOR EVERY piece of direct mail a company or an individual sends, ONLY 1 in 100 will respond to that direct-mail promotion.

At today’s postal rates – 1st class – that’s $41 you could use for other purposes. THAT’S the cost JUST for the reponse! This DOES NOT include the cost of buying the stationery and envelopes, toner etc.

JUST to get the appointment is 1 in about 250-500. Your costs are accelerating, aren’t they? AND you STILL DON’T have a sale!

It takes about 1,500 to 2,000 direct mail pieces to get JUST one appointment ALL the way to the closing/settlement/escrow.
That’s about $600 to $800+ before you see one dollar – not to mentin your time – “spinning your wheels”, wasting your time.

((((You haven’t made the sale – yet.)))))

DON’T lease or spend [notice I didn’t say “invest”] your hard-earned money for a piece of equipment with automatic phone dialing and recording/speaking features, telling agents about your listings and services.
Do you like getting those telemarketing calls?
Do you like or mind getting any telemarketing calls?

If I haven’t discouraged you, we’ll move on to the “grey area”: “cold canvassing”.
Its a terrific way to meet people face-to-face, one-on-one! It requires going to the same houses about once every two weeks – or even more frequently.

Know your market AND your product. Know how to solve various situations [“problems”] which arise on a regular basis.

When you DON’T know how to solve those problems, you KNOW what hoops and hurdles you have jump over, under, around and through to speak with the right person to get the answers and solutions to get your deals to the settlemnt table/to closing/to escrow.

The above are the DON’Ts, here are a couple DOs:

AND what about the cost of your business cards? Do you think you can “cut corners” and make a good impression with those thin, flat, lifeless, computer-generated cards?

PLEASE DO yourself a HUGE favor: Invest your time to sit down and properly design your business cards. If you aren’t sure, please go to a professional printer or graphic arts store and ask for help and guidance. Those folks should amaze you with ideas and concepts. In the long run, good, professionally printed business cards with raised lettering and features, go a long way to show others you care – about yourself, about your business and about your clients.

When you leave, your contacts and clients have two things:
1] Good, bad or indifferent – the impression you left.
2] Your business card.

Don’t you think it makes good sense to invest your money in a good, quality business card? Have your cards professionally printed.

Find an investment group – or two – or more with professional real estate investors. JOIN it/them &&&&&&&&&&&&& BE ACTIVE!!!! Get on committees, get to be known as a “can do” type of person. You should have fun [and Yes, some aggravation, too]. You should make some friends and begin building your client base. You should get leads! AND look how much time, money and aggravation you’ll save! LOTS!

As the saying goes, “Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.”

What the saying doesn’t tell anyone or even mention is: YOU MUST get out there and let “the world” know about that better mousetrap!

Thanks for asking your Q! I enjoyed answering it!

VTY,
Ron Berue
Yes, that is my real last name!

Jere answers:

I suggest analyzing all the links to your competitors and try to go one by one and create links.

Some will be article web sites
some will be link directories
some will be paid links (in seo we are not supposed to pay for links)

after that analyze links to local businesses, UN related to your industry. For example if you are in Denver try to find Denver links.

Jere answers:

Businesses are not going to pay you for resumes, they can get hundreds with a single ad in the paper. As an “Employee Representative” you may do better, but you’d be better charging the employee. (A percent of the years first salary, or maybe just a base rate per month while you work for them to find jobs.)

As for the license, you don’t need to be “licensed” to do this, but you WILL need a business license issued by your state or local taxing authority.

Jere answers:

You could try filsupport.com. I was with them for nine full months until I finally shut my company down. Hehe. Not a very good story but i did that to shift industry. Anyways, I noticed that all of the answers probably from the SEO companies itself. If you don;t trust any of these, you could always search the internet 🙂

Jere answers:

I’m involved with a business that helps you and those that you know save money on services they use everyday. I love that I get paid to watch tv, talk on my house phone and cell phone. I’m involved with the largest global direct selling telecommunications company that’s ranked #2 out of the Top 25 networking companies in the industry and best of all I don’t sell anything but rather help my family and people around me save money on services they use everyday. This is a credible, and legitimate business opportunity endorsed by Donald Trump it’s featured in Success from Home magazine on a monthly basis, USA today and other reputable magazines. Please take a moment and checkout the links below this information will change your life.

Jere answers:

“…..The use of a trademark in connection with the sale of a good constitutes infringement if it is likely to cause consumer confusion as to the source of those goods or as to the sponsorship or approval of such goods. In deciding whether consumers are likely to be confused, the courts will typically look to a number of factors, including: (1) the strength of the mark; (2) the proximity of the goods; (3) the similarity of the marks; (4) evidence of actual confusion; (5) the similarity of marketing channels used; (6) the degree of caution exercised by the typical purchaser; (7) the defendant’s intent.”
from http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/metaschool/fisher/domain/tm.htm

But the problem for you the most is that, it may reduce your business too, because of them.

You should have considered:
8 Quick Tips to Choosing a Domain Name

Your domain name is the center of your Internet identity. So what type of things should you take into consideration when choosing the name that will represent you on the Web?

1. Keep it short
Although some places allow you to register a name with up to 63 characters, you have to keep in mind that people need to be able to remember it, and easily type it into their browser. Try to register the shortest name that your customers and visitors will associate with your Website. The general rule of thumb is, keep it under seven characters if possible. (Not including the suffix.)

2. Dot What?
There are many different extensions available right now. For businesses, we recommend a .com suffix. It is the first extension that most people try when searching for a Website. Also, since it is one of the oldest extensions, .com shows that your business has been around for a while and that you have a well-established presence on the Web.

3. Avoid Trademarked Names
There are two really good reasons for this. First, it’s not very nice. We have all heard the stories about the zany guy who thought ahead and bought “some-huge-multi-million-dollar-company.com” and sold it to the company for enough money to retire on. But, remember that those companies, like yours, have spent lots of time and money creating their brand, and what goes around comes around. Also, companies are no longer opening their pocketbooks to get their names back. They are calling their lawyers.

4. Register Your Domain NOW
Domain names are being snatched up faster than candy at the St. Patrick’s Day parade. You must register soon unless you want to get stuck with “the-domain-name-that-no-one-wanted.net”. You do not have to have a Webmaster or an ecommerce department or a Web design consultant or… Heck, you don’t even need a Web page. Just get out there and register before you loose the opportunity to get the name you really want.

5. One May Not Be Enough
Sometimes, it isn’t a bad idea to register several similar domain names. If you have “yourname.com”, register “yourname.net” so no one else takes it. You can register your full company name and a shorter, easier to remember version. Some people even register common misspellings of their company’s name. (You don’t need a separate Web page for each. Several domains can point to the same Website.)

6. Character Types
Just a reminder. Domain names can only use letters, numbers, and dashes. Spaces and symbols are not allowed. Also, domain names are not case sensitive.

7. Ask Around
When you have settled on several available name choices, see what your friends and clients have to say. A name that may make perfect sense to you may be too hard for other people to remember. Is your domain easy to say? Is it hard to spell? Do you have to explain why you chose the name?

8. Don’t Shell Out Large Amounts of $$$
At one time, companies were able to get away with charging reservation fees plus a “mandatory” $70 InterNIC fee. Recently, it was decided that other companies should be able to compete to sell domain names. This has lowered prices dramatically.
And remember, if you think that if you have found the right domain name, but you’re not quite sure if it’s the one… Register it anyway before someone else does!

Vera Chandler.
Http://www.domain-name-register-store.com/

Jere answers:

Nothing negative with search engine if you do not have too much of them. They just need back links that make them show the better result in search engine. So, grab your money. 😉

Jere answers:

SIM is a good game I heard!

Jere answers:

If you want to get money on Online Games you have a few options:

Some Gamers (Usually Very Good Players) upload videos of themselves playing a popular game online and talk about their game-play, upcoming updates and things related to the game. They usually use a PVR recorder which records as you play in which you can record your voice after its done to make it seem like you are commentating during the game-play. Upload these videos to YouTube and get lots of views for advertising money. You may also get sponcerships like from Machinima.

-xJawz (Call of Duty Multiplayer)
-SilentC0re (Runescape)
-Etc.

You can also go on MMORPG’s such as Runescape or World of Warcraft and play for items or gold.
Then you can go to certain websites and sell your gold to them through Debit Card or Paypal, Etc. Once you trade them the gold- money will be transferred to the account.
Rsgold.com
wowgold.com
playerauctions.com

-You may contact a business company about testing their games. This is usual one time thing that’ll pay anywhere from 40-300 dollars.

-You could become a Game Engineer with 8 years of college and make 80k-200k a year based on the company:D

Hope this Helps Alot:)

Jere answers:

Firewall is a computer security device that is situated between a small business’s internal network and the Internet. It can work at either the software or the hardware level to prevent unwanted outside access to the company’s computer system. “A firewall gives you a single chokepoint through which all incoming and outgoing Internet traffic must pass, allowing you to control traffic,” Vince Emery explained in How to Grow Your Business on the Internet. “A good firewall prevents Bad Guys from breaking in and helps keep confidential data from being sent out.” The firewall basically acts as a guard, identifying each packet of information before it is allowed to pass through. It is one of the most effective forms of protection yet developed against hackers operating on the Internet.

Types of Firewall Protection

The hardware security systems that act as firewalls vary in configuration and sophistication. One relatively simple device involves using a router—which controls the sending and receiving of messages—equipped with packet filters to examine the messages. This system can be configured to block traffic to or from certain Internet destinations or all unknown destinations. This type of security system is relatively inexpensive and easy to set up, but it also offers only minimal protection from hackers. A slightly more sophisticated and secure system is a proxy server. A proxy server works by stopping all incoming and outgoing traffic for inspection before forwarding it. One advantage of this type of system is that it can create a log of all messages sent and received. Proxy servers can be difficult to install, however, and can also make Internet use less convenient for employees.

Both routers and proxy servers have one major disadvantage in terms of the security they provide. These systems base their evaluation and approval of messages on the header, which lists the sender, recipient, source, and destination. But hackers can easily create false headers to fool the filtering systems. One way to overcome this problem is through type enforcement, which also scans the content of messages. Another system, known as a stateful inspection firewall, uses an even more sophisticated method of verifying the sources of messages. Finally, it is possible to use any combination of routers, filters, proxy servers, and firewalls to create a layered security system. A large company like Motorola, for example, might place a firewall at the outside of the system, and connect it to a gateway computer, and then connect that machine to a router with packet filters, and finally connect the router to the internal computer network.

For companies that do business on the Internet, Emery suggests setting up a dedicated computer out-side the firewall to run the common network services that are most easily accessible from the outside. These include Web and FTP servers, Gopher servers, mailing list servers, Finger servers, Telnet servers, and SMTP e-mail software.

Jere answers:

Business 2.0 http://money.cnn.com/2006/02/28/magazines/business2/angelinvestor/index.htm has a very good article on angel investors, what they typically look for, what kind of investments they support, etc.

You may want to go and pitch your ideas where investors gather. Here are some places where angel investors come and those looking for funding can come and pitch their business plans. Be sure to have a strong business plan and describe what makes your business idea stand apart:

Angel Capital Association http://www.angelcapitalassociation.org
Angel’s Forum http://www.angelsforum.com
Band of Angels http://www.bandangels.com
Common Angels http://www.commonangels.com
Keiretsu Forum http://www.k4forum.com
Launchpad Venture Group http://www.launchpadventuregroup.com
New World Angels http://www.newworldangels.com
New York Angels http://www.newyorkangels.com
Prairie Angels http://www.prairieangels.org (charges $125 to submit idea)
Robin Hood Ventures http://www.robinhoodventures.com (charges $250)

Jere answers:

Hi there- my name is Merril and I am the owner of FuelPay, a company that has the solution to the rising cost of fuel – and this is making us VERY rich. We now have distributors working entirely from home at huge profits to themselves.

One of the biggest problems to a vehicle-using consumer is the price of fuel. Just today I received an email each from both Asda (Wallmart) and Tesco telling me that they have reduced their prices by 2 pence per litre. I literally laughed out loud – I own a company that reduces fuel costs by up to 30 pence per litre – and it is making me very rich.

Our product is in capsule form and when added to the fuel tank of any vehicle, gives up to 30% (sometimes more) mileage – GUARANTEED. Organic and patented, it is NOT a fuel additive – and there is no competition.

This week, after they had trialled for a fortnight, we have an entire county’s police force using our product in all of their vehicles. With each fill on each of their vans and cars they add another capsule – I am sure you can see how lucrative this is.

We sell the product all day long to any company who uses fuel – we have yet to see someone not want the product and one courier company’s owner estimated that it will now be saving him £240,000 a year.

There are less than 300 people selling this in Europe right now, less than 2,000 worldwide and we really do have the monopoly. Not one company to whom I have spoken has heard of the product before – yet the official launch is just weeks away and it will become more well known, so NOW is the time to join us in selling a product that will genuinely make you very wealthy indeed and let you tell others about it before they tell you.

We are an international company, based in UK, and sell this one product worldwide at huge profits. We cannot do this alone and are looking for “franchisees” to distribute the product further – at huge profits to themselves.

Please visit http://www.fuelpay.co.uk for further details about the product.

Frequently asked questions about the product can be found at

http://www.fuelpay.myffi.biz/en/section_202.asp

You can also call 0845-62-62-222 (local rate) for a 1 minute recorded message about the product.

I promise here and now that I will amke your work from home business a huge success. I personally got through to the final round of The Apprentice UK auditions, have built my company from scratch and can and will personally support and guide you to making a phenomenal computer based work from home business which will exceed all of your expectations – you have my word.

Best wishes,

Merril (Browell), Owner FuelPay

Jere answers:

It typically ends up being whatever you can afford. A real, storefront, business will always mark you as a “real” business though. Home based, or “location” photographers are typically Facebook clowns who go around playing “professional photographer” but who are actually totally clueless. Hopefully, you are beyond that.

Steve

Jere answers:

Hi keisha!
I have similar dreams, mine to be in musical theater. Ill tell ya what i know. There are many plays without singing, and of course there is movie acting. What i would do is take voice lessons, because last year as an 8th grader i couldnt sing like at all. I was pretty much horrible, but now a year later im pretty good. I havent taken lessons, but ive developed my voice alot by implementing other peoples singing style into my own to get a good voice, and that has helped me. Long story short, voice lessons would help you do just that in a shorter time. Anyhoo… If acting is your passion that is good. It will help keep you motivated to work hard, and allow for you to have motivation to stay in the biz. Im quite shy also and quite not when preforming. I dont think that is a problem. I just try to get over myself when im in normal day situations because youll probably need to talk to lots of strangers. But i dont know… I sing in grocery stores so judge that how you will :). But i think you can do it. Start applying to the big colleges like julliard if you dont want musical theater, or tisch. Those are just two really big ones, but they are also very expensive and there are cheaper ones. You have to audition for the good schools, so be prepared for that. That is my two cense. Best of luck to ya!

Jere answers:

You can eat onigiri here.
Http://local.yahoo.com/info-43809398-oh-nigiri-las-vegas

and japanese ramen
http://lasvegas.citysearch.com/profile/7023230/las_vegas_nv/togoshi_ramen.html?publisher=smx_noncust&reference_id=1&placement=restaurant

not sure about takoyaki and dango, but this store handles japanese food.
Http://www.yelp.com/biz/whole-foods-market-las-vegas-2

Jere answers:

Gamesindustry.biz probably has sales demographics somewhere, but I couldn’t tell you how to find them. It’s worth a shot, though.

Http://gamesindustry.biz/

Jere answers:

YES

Create a FaceBook profile for yourself, and then make a PAGE (not a group) for your business. Tell all your friends and customers about it and get people looking for it. You will soon find that you will have high hits on Google and on Yahoo search and will experience many new customers.

Jere answers:

The most effective way to advertise on the Internet is
to first set up a website and publish its domain name
on major search directories such as Google.com,
Yahoo.com [at http://www.google.com/addurl/?…… And
MSN.com since 85% of Internet shoppers rely on these
search directories to provide them with goods and
services. In a sense, these search directories are a
very large Internet Yellow Pages.

Nevertheless, should your website or opening webpage
fail to contain “generic” keywords, then anyone using
such “generic” queries will not be able to discover
your website. Your domain name [URL] of your website,
in a sense, will be invisible, undiscoverable.

You may want to consider some simple algorithms which,
when observed and committed in designing of a website
with placement of various critical metatags that can
surely achieve a high search engine presence and
increase Internet traffic to your website. These
metatag strategies work well with published webpages
at Google and Yahoo.

Design: Should you create an extensive Flash-based
website, make sure to fill-in the property entries
such as the Title, Description and Keywords. Failing
to do so, leaves no hard HTML or ALT resource that can
be readily indexed by search robots. Also consider the
Internet audience and their incoming setup. For
example, if they are on analog/dialup, Flash webpages
take too long to load up and therefore analog users
will likely lose interest and discontinue entering the
Flash site. On the other hand, anyone on hi-speed DSL
lines, will welcome Flash pages which load quickly. So
before designing a pure Flash websitge, ask the simple
question, “Who’s my end user – is he on dialup or
DSL?” And if you had to choose between these two users
for maximum marketability, then select analog users
since 80% of most resident users are still analog
Internet subscribers and pure HTML designed webpages
is best for them.

A non-Flash-based website which relies on hard text,
is far easier to be indexed by search robots. Limit
the use of stylized text saved as .gifs since as a
graphic, they are not indexable by search robots.

Avoid use of frames since any number of search robots
are unable to properly classify textual material.

Placement of Metatags:

A ranking or search order does take place with Google
and Yahoo and it begins with the “Title” metag which
should consist of no more than 65 characters separated
by commas. The “Title” should describe in generic
terms, the goods and services, followed by a location
from which the resource is located, i.e., city, state.
The placement of a domain name which is not generic
within the “Title” is not appropriate, unless your
domain name is a major recognizable brand name.

The second metatag is the “Description” which is
usually 25-30 words to form a complete sentence which
best describes one’s goods and services.

And the very last category – “Keywords” are also
somewhat limited to 15-16 words which can be plural
and compound in nature. Again, avoid multiple entries
which could be mistaken as “spamdexed entries” which
is defined as the loading, and submission of
repetitive words into a particular metatag category.
“Spamdexing” when discovered on a webpage and reported
to Google’s spamreport.com can result in the
elimination of your website from their search
directory.

Here’s an example of a very highly-placed website on
Google.com: Begin with the very “generic” search query
“sandwiches downtown los angeles,” taking note to not
abbreviate Los Angeles to “LA” and of course, leave
out the parentheses (“). It will bring up some 2.4
million+ search results. Check out where “Nazos.net”
is ranked. It’s ranked No. 1!
Again, Nazos.net’s high web presence was achieved by
proper web design and placement of relevant metatags
according to Google’s publication guidelines.

Good luck!

Jere answers:

Time management and time clocking is very important for establishing a successful business, so for proper time management you need some tools and software, for more details visit this site 🙂
http://www.shiftplanning.com/

Jere answers:

Craigslist is the world’s biggest and most popular calssified site and it is free.

Http://sfbay.craigslist.org/

But don’t expect that your ads show up on page 1 of google or even 10 just because you place a free ad. If it was that easy, then everyone would only use Craigslist.

It takes time and effort and a lot of knowledge to get to page 1 of Google results. The more competition in your niche the harder it is to reach page 1 of Google.

The point of advertising on Craigslist is the amount of traffic you can generate if you do it properly. And if you get that right then you need Google a lot less.

And that’s a good thing because competion for Google is fierce and there can be many easier ways of getting traffic deoending on your industry.

Good luck
Samo

Jere answers:

Submit your site to social bookmarking sites on digg, reddit, stumbleupon, and many others.

Post your small business services on Craigslist.

Submit your website to directories (search google for small business directories)

Jere answers:

Digital Office 5.0 Commercial Version

This software, designed for commercial real estate professionals, contains over 5,000 interactive PDF forms with over 1,943,075 interactive fields.

Tailor-made for: Builders, Property Managers, Commercial Brokers, Landlords, Investors, Remodelors, Business Brokers, Lease Agents, Transaction Attorneys, Developers, Agricultural Land Brokers, Industrial Brokers, and others!

It’s a little pricey (about $550) but it’s built for commercial brokers. There are cheaper ones out there, but they don’t have all the bells and whistles that comes in this package. And, no I don’t sell this stuff. 🙂

Jere answers:

You will need a email marketing software to help you send out emails to your list of people/contact. Myself, I am using Mad Mimi and MailChimp (the crazy, creative people and their naming) to help me send out my email campaign. Pretty happy with them so far.

O. This require a bit of technical skills too. If you find a bit too time consuming, drop me a note. I think I can do a few campaigns for you. Added the links if you want more details.

Hope it helps.

Jere answers:

TML EMail:

G-Lock EasyMail: http://www.glockeasymail.com/

How to Code HTML Email Newsletters: http://articles.sitepoint.com/article/code-html-email-newsletters

How to Create and Send HTML Email: http://www.addme.com/newsletters/issue293.htm

Email Marketing Articles and Guides: http://www.mailchimp.com/articles/stupid-html-email-design-mistakes/

How to Create and Send HTML Email: http://www.addme.com/newsletters/issue293.htm

How to Create Great HTML Emails with CSS: http://www.webreference.com/programming/css_html/

30 Free HTML email templates: http://www.campaignmonitor.com/templates/

How do you typically create HTML email?: http://webdesign.about.com/b/2008/10/02/poll-how-do-you-typically-create-html-email.htm

Google: http://www.google.com/search?q=HTML+Email+software&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Ron

Jere answers:

Without a doubt, you want to use PHPList – I’ve written all about it here:
http://www.3bweb.com/site-features/email-newsletters/
It’s FREE to own and use, for as many emails as you like – FAR better than any of the externally hosted solutions, which don’t send out from your domain, and charge per email!

Jere answers:

Norton,MSE(Microsoft security essentials) and MacAfee are the worst Anti Virus you can get, they are just marketing tools made by Microsoft, hence why they are always free with computers then expect you to pay a fortune to have them permanently, and then you need to download special tools to remove them completely. You will need the Norton/McAfee Removal Tool as well as removing it from programmes and features.

PC Techs like myself check every antivirus, new and old, looking for the best one to provide ourselves with and most importantly our clients. Norton/McAfee never finds the really harmful viruses

AVG, Malwarebytes are going downhill so I no longer recommend them unfortunately. Avast and Avira are absolute dire.

The best anti viruses you can get are Trend Micro or Kaspersky, both offer a free 1 month trial before you buy. Trend/Kaspersky is only £34 a year, so very cheap.
They have there own Firewall, internet and email protection. Kaspersky also has a virtual keyboard that you can use to type in passwords and bank details so that key loggers can’t trace your information. You don’t get this with AVG, Avira, Avast etc
Every qualified PC tech like myself recommends these, and businesses we service also use them.

You can find them here: http://download.cnet.com/Trend-Micro-Internet-Security/3000-8022_4-10567655.html

http://download.cnet.com/Kaspersky-Internet-Security/3000-18510_4-10012072.html

These are only free for a month but are the BEST. The Housecall really proves it to be honest

If you only want a Free one, get Superantispyware (free edition) this is the best Free one you can get :http://www.superantispyware.com/download.html

Please do not go with what unqualified people are telling you when it comes to PC Security. I know people don’t agree with each other, but what I am giving is expert advice. I am not spamming, or giving false information. I do also use this same answer for ALL anti virus questions as its the truth,and easier than typing out the same answer over and over ( for those who like to click the report button etc)

You can also Google “Trend Titanium Full version +Keygen free” and download it, this is the best one out there. The Keygen gives you the code so you can activate it for a year and not a month

If anyone tells you to use Reginout , DONT. Reginout is a virus programme itself, alot of people on here dont realise that and tell people to download it.