Jere answers:

The US government has the most extensive internet presence on earth.

You can start at usa.gov and reach EVERY federal, state, local, and tribal government site, representing thousands of services.

Have you heard of the Small Business Administration?

Http://www.sba.gov/category/navigation-structure/starting-managing-business/starting-business/how-write-business-plan

Jere answers:

Contact the Princes Trust, they are really helpful and may offer you start up grants and loans for your business. Also you would get a mentor who would help you with business plans and any advice you may need. I was helped 5 years ago and now run a successful growing business. Good Luck xxx

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

Jere answers:

Creating a marketing business plan can be rather tricky as most people assume that a business plan and a marketing plan are interchangeable.

I assume you mean an actual marketing plan for a business – probably a small business?

There are several webpages on the internet that deal with marketing business plans and even if they seem free, they probably want to get your money somehow.

Here is a resource online with several examples as well as video tutorials.

Good luck!

Jere answers:

DNS server is the thing that tells your computer how to get to answers.yahoo.com The router is supposed to supply that information to your computers. Try this address

98.136.145.152

in your browser. If that gets you to answers.yahoo.com, then you have internet access but no phone book. If this is the case, run the wizards on your router again.

The address is answers.yahoo.com. It is one of a bunch that get you here. Links won’t work because you need the DNS server to work for that.

I did something called NSLOOKUP to get that address

Non-authoritative answer:
Name: any-ycpi-uno.aycpi.b.yahoodns.net
Addresses: 98.136.145.152
98.136.145.153
98.136.145.154
98.136.145.155
206.190.57.60
206.190.57.61
216.115.101.178
216.115.101.179
Aliases: answers.yahoo.com
geoycpi-uno-deluxe.gycpi.b.yahoodns.net
geoycpi-uno.gycpi.b.yahoodns.net

Jere answers:

Word-of-Mouth
A loyal customer, friend, family will be a good start to introduce your business.

Press Releases
Use this to tell, announce and launch a new product or service.

Direct Mail
It a cheap way to target your email marketing. Build lots of list of prospect. You need email marketing service on this case.
Recommended source: http://homepage.aweber.com/

Company Web Site
A good website will tell your customer and prospective clients what you do and what service you can give to your customer.

Payment service
E-commerce solutions to accept payments for your business.
Source: http://www.intelli-collect.com/creditcard.html

Jere answers:

Ultra caps have improved dramatically in the last few years. However, each cap is good only for a volt or two, so you need several to get 12V, then you have to parallel them to get reasonable current. Also, as the cap discharges, its voltage drops down to zero. This means you need sophisticated electronics to get much energy out, as motors pretty much need constant voltage to work well. So, a 12V motor won’t do much on say 5V.

The weight of the ultracaps is something like 10x to 100x more than lead-acid batteries. The cost is something like 100x to 1000x the cost of the batteries. I figured these out once, you can do it by googling ultracaps on the internet to get weight, size, capacity, and cost of ultracaps. Ultracaps are adequate to store energy from braking to a stop and for a quick burst of power to accelerate up to high speed quickly, but this costs something like 2x to 5x the cost of the entire battery pack. They are nice for performance, but just too expensive right now.

For batteries, weight and cost are both important. Best lead-acid by weight seem to be 12V-9Ahr (5 lb weight) and 12V-21Ahr (10 lb weight). For useful power, use 0.6C/hr for the 1 hr rate, so the larger battery will put out 0.6*21= 12.6A for 1 hr. Using an 80% efficient motor, assuming 12V, and using 746W/HP electrical conversion, this battery is good for about 1/6 HP for 1 hr, or 1HP for about 5 to 7 minutes. Best prices for the smaller battery is about $20, best for larger is $30. To get these prices, you likely want to buy cheap surplus Chinese made batteries, which may have less capacity and/or more weight. Fancy batteries have lighter weights, but way more costly.

A bicycle uses perhaps 1/4 HP when cruising at say 15mph, 1HP at top speed of say 25mph. A 50cc moped puts out 5HP at speed of say 35mph.

So, in designing your motorbike, you need to minimize power needed and maximize power output.

A very efficient motor/drivechain is key. One with a 90% efficiency instead of 45% gets twice the performance from the same batteries. Very difficult for hobbyist to get efficient motors at reasonable cost, I have not been able to find. There are a few in-hub motors for front wheel of bicycle that make about 1/3 HP on 12V, and 1HP on 36V. They are direct drive, look like about 65% efficient. They may be your best bet.

Drag needs to be minimal. You want very low friction bearing, like a bicycle or equivalent. Narrow and high pressure tires reduce rolling resistance. Some streamlining will increase both speed and range.

Good luck!

Jere answers:

You dont use your own printer to save money. Printing at cvs/costco or online site is almost always cheaper and the photos come out great. Sites like shutterfly, york, snapfish even give you a certain number of free photos for signing up.

Kodak printers claim to have cheaper ink (their cartridges are $10 while the others are $15-$20) but 1) Kodak printers have been reported as troublesome and 2) you can find cheap compatibles for most other brands but not Kodak. With Epson printers you get free ink and the best warranty.

The best deals in photo printers are the Epson Artisan series direct from epson.com with full 2 year warranty starting at $99. These are wireless copier/scanner/fax/photo/CD printers with 6 individual ink cartridges for high photo quality. The best warranty in the industry. For two years, Epson will fedex a replacement and pick up the old one should you need it. I recently bought 3 Artisan 800 refurbs for myself and 2 neighbors. It’s an awesome machine!

Http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/jsp/Product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&sku=C11CA53201-N

If that’s beyond your budget, the Epson NX 415 is $50 direct from Epson. It has a one year warranty. It’s also a great multifunction printer. My dad bought one.
Http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/jsp/Product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&sku=C11CA44231

You might be able to get an extra 10% off by using the code Epson10.

Triple capacity ink cartridges for Epson are under $3 and you can get 20 free cartridges every month at http://www.ccs-digital.com/freeink.asp

Be careful with the latest epson printers. They use a brand new cartridge (T125) which you will have a hard time finding compatibles for. Unless you enjoy paying about $70 to replace your cartridges, stick to a printer which uses T069, T078 or T098.

Jere answers:

You can consider developing an ecommerce store promoting or selling physical products..
Thats what I do… There is no need to stock anything as in my case, I sell Amazon products as an amazon affiliate. Anyone can go to Amazon.com and sign up as an affiliate and promote their products… Whoever go to your website and click on the link , they gets directed to Amazon.com and when they make any purchases, you earn a commission…. Can’t get easier then that for a passive income..

I make my site with the help of a script call the WP shop builder… You can refer to this Forum discussion for more info :-
http://thereviewspecialist.com/wpshopbuilder

Jere answers:

1) Carbon Taxes
Flaws: Taxes are politically unpopular, difficult to pass. Taxation can slow an economy because it produces no immediate work, which causes government spending to have less of a multiplier effect on money supply than does private expenditures.

Merits: The political and economic problems can be overcome by making the tax revenue neutral, i.e. All revenue is passed back to taxpayers, so people and companies with low emissions get a kick-back. Costs are then reduced to administration.

2. Cap and Trade.

Flaws: enormously difficult and complex to administer. The plan that passed the U.S. Senate allowed companies to offset emissions with programs that reduced atmospheric carbons but some of those activities, such as planting a forest, could happen in other countries and would be difficult to verify.

Requires a government entity to set the cap, which would be highly political.

Merits: Allows the free market to set the costs of emissions. Companies that require more can buy more credits on the open market, and companies that reduce can sell credits — this makes technical improvements very valuable and motivates investments and applications of great minds.

Regulation:
Changes with every election. Always has unexpected effects on the economy.
Can force most rapid changes as it does not require waiting for the market to work.

Geoengineering
Unknown. Requires a sponsor — ie somebody has to pay for it. Would have to directly remove CO2 or else will create other problems. For example, global dimming solutions will reduce daytime heat while global warming continues at night so the difference between night and day temperatures rapidly decreases with huge ramifications for agriculture, and it does not address acidification.
Merit: Theoretically might not require as rapid of a transition to modern energy sources

Adaptation
Not fully possible. Climate change threatens food sources, both ocean and land sources. How do you adapt to less food? It is more expensive and will require massive taxation. In the U.S., the taxation will be more at local levels than nationally.
Merit: It is our chosen path.

Jere answers:

I flunked Bussiness. Ok. But if you still want advice… Make a cool design and print like 5 shirts up. Do you have to pay for that? Probably depends. I doubt that it costs that much for you to use other people’s equiptment. Also, if it were me, I wouldn’t print alot because by the time you sell all of them, the design would already be uncool. You know, there are lots of shirts that people don’t even buy. Maybe try reselling some of these to just your friends. There is a customer base right there. And your friend is happy because where his money go? Ok, your friends are Jewish. Buy a gun and kill them. You didn’t want to make a shirt for nobody anyway.

Jere answers:

You have to sighn up for it.. Some web sites promote your name for free. Some require that you promote them back ( have their link on your page).
You also can pay $200-300 a year and you will appear in the first 10 in the top popular searches

here some more info: http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/index.php?cmp=Yahoo&ctv=AdSolutions

Jere answers:

I get alot of my business through FreeViral. Might be a little time-consuming, but it IS free.

Http://www.FreeViral.com/?r=290434

Jere answers:

Working an affiliate program is very difficult for an individual to do, and the stats say that 97% of all people that enter into an affiliate marketing program will never realize a true profit. Your best bet is join and promote an affiliate marketing “team”. These are free to join groups of people that ban together to enter into affiliate marketing programs as a group. This gives you the advantage of having hundreds of other people promoting with you in order to earn money for everyone involved. Some of the programs these teams enter can cost as much as 50.00 a month, but there are a few good teams out there that cost as little as 6.00 a month. Keep in mind that affiliate marketing teams are not get rich quick scams. They have to be worked and promoted in order to succeed, but the ability to make a very nice living is there for those that follow the team system.

Jere answers:

Yes, you do need to register a business, even if you’re just by yourself, as your local jurisdiction may have business taxes, business license fees, and whatnot.

And it’s best if you register a LLC or a corporation and do business as that, because if you get sued you may lose all your personal property (if you lose, fo course)

Jere answers:

You need to research:

1) Laws for ALL home-based businesses. There are usually restrictions such as you must have off-street parking for customers, you must not post a sign that is visible from the street, you must not generate environmental hazard or nuisance…; and

2) Laws for having pets in a residence. Most cities have a limit. In mine it’s three. Anything more than that requires either a hobby kennel permit or commercial kennel license.

I highly doubt what you want to do is legal for OH SO MANY reasons. For example, you can’t fill up your residential garbage can with commercial volume of dog crap. You can’t allow barking to disturb neighbors. And on and on…

Sorry to be a wet blanket!

Jere answers:

I live in San Diego . I would contact a lady named Cora at Bark Boulevard. Her business is located at Texas & El Cajon Blvd., just before the McDonalds in North Park. Her phone number is 619-379-8476. Talk to her and see if she can help you out.

Jere answers:

We have a catering company in San Diego. We called a couple of companies that sell business insurance and found one pretty easily. You need to ensure that you have liability insurance, to protect yourself. We have a $2 million policy, but you may or may not need that much, depending on your area, your volume etc. Also are you an LLC?

Another possibility is to try any good insurance agent, or friend and ask for a referral. Your accountant may know of one, as well. Call a restaurant or deli owner or manager in your area for a referral, but do it during off peak times.

Don’t get hung up on the type of business. Call a couple of business insurance agencies and tell them what you are looking for. Good luck!

Jere answers:

You buy your ticket online or at the station. If you buy online, you need to get to the station (on Kettner BLVD in downtown SD) early enough to pick up your actual ticket either using the quicktrak or an attendant.

If you are going to Union Station, there is a train that leaves every morning at around 7:00AM that is non-stop from San Diego to LA, its much faster than the regular Pacific Surfliner route, which stops at like 8 stations between SD and LA.

Also, you can upgrade to business class for an extra $15 which I recommend because there’s usually no young loud children or noisy people in business class.

There’s free wi-fi, and a cafe car that serves average food.

I think its a good service for the money, which is cheaper than flying most of the time, and you don’t have to deal with the hustle and bustle of Lindberg Field or LAX which is a blessing in and of itself. Both the Santa Fe Depot and Union Station are fairly chill in comparison.

Jere answers:

You’ll need to get a business license from your local city or county office. Here’s the contact and location information for San Diego government offices. Some cities/counties will even let you download license applications from their website.
Http://search.business.gov/permitme2_0.do?q=san+diego%2C+ca&bcat=0

If you are not using your personal name as your business name, file your fictitious business name with the county clerk. You’ll also need this if you decide to open a business bank account, a good idea to keep business and personal finances separate – and to accept checks or payments from customers to your business name.
Http://homebusinesscenter.com/register_business.html

Get a business tax ID from the IRS website. You can also get information at the website about business income tax, self-employment tax and estimated taxes.
Http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=98966,00.html

You can advertise and find clients by using online contractor networks like Bid Clerk and Service Magic. These services send you qualified leads, which can save you time and money creating and distributing flyers in neighborhoods.
Http://www.servicemagic.com/
http://www.bidclerk.com/

It can be helpful to get guidance from a lawn care business expert by way of a start-up guide at your local library or bookstore. They are usually pretty inexpensive for the amount of information you can get from them. There’s also a step-by-step guide on how to start a lawn care business here:
http://www.homebusinesscenter.com/how_to_start/lawn_care_business.html

Jere answers:

I guess that you are Persian …..
As an arab i can tell you that arabic is not that easy to learn ….. Speaking arabic (formal , or any dialect) can be done easily …. But learning the extremely COMPLICATED grammar is really hard !
So …. The most effective way to study arabic is to have a tutor or a teacher because studying the grammar by your own or buy using a book is kind of impossible …… Hope i helped !

Jere answers:

CoffeeCup Software offers super easy program for building an online shop without having to know HTML code. They offer a basic version for smaller shops and a pro version with extra features such as inventory management and support for several merchant providers. A fully functional free trial can be downloaded from the website.

Jere answers:

A lot of free ad posting sites.. Just post and post and post..
Use your social networking accounts. Just don’t spam.

Jere answers:

Well, Eddie, let me give you a piece of advice. If you’re curious about marketing and business and in need of information about these topics, then consider posting your question someplace other than “books and authors.” Your question is irrelevant to the topic, so you probably won’t receive the information you need here.

As a small-business owner, I wouldn’t allow you near my marketing if misdirecting simple questions is part of your overall strategy.

Jere answers:

I know you’re just looking to learn, but I don’t know how much valuable information you’re going to get for free on the internet. I would look into a business certificate since those don’t cost a lot of money or take a lot of time. Plus then you could put this career diploma on your resume and it will be more credible than saying you learned your skills from a free site.

Jere answers:

I think your plan is fine. You should try doing stuff on the internet. There is stuff like affiliate marketing where you can have someone sell your products online.

Jere answers:

Hi There!

To answer your questions: 1) eCommerce primarily applies to the methods used to sell products and services online (such as shopping cart software). Internet marketing refers to the methods used to build visibility for a product or service. Internet marketing methods include anything from building a website to writing articles, to other methods that have yet to be invented.

2) As for schools that offer an official degree, Full Sail seems to be the only school really promoting it. The thing is, I wouldn’t recommend an internet marketing degree, because the best internet marketing methods change every year, and in my experience, it is impossible for an institution to keep up with the “bleeding-edge” tools and tricks.

If it’s the actual degree you want/need, I’d recommend going for a business, marketing, or entrepreneurial degree, but learning internet marketing on your own. Internet marketing is a skill that is learned by doing, not just reading theory.

When I first got started, I took a free online course called the “Thirty Day Challenge”, in which each day you watched video tutorials that showed you how an online tool worked, and then you had to apply it to your own goal of making $1 online. The Thirty Day Challenge is now just called “The Challenge”, so you can take it at your own pace. I highly recommend it for learning internet marketing strategies.

3) Not sure if any of the internet marketing degrees are offered anywhere but on the internet 😉 You may have to keep looking, but as I said, seek out a related major, then teach yourself the techniques via eBooks and online courses.

If you’re college age, a potential employer may only offer you an internship (unpaid) anyway, UNLESS you have already gotten results (made money) for yourself or others. So you might as well learn how to use internet marketing on your own to get those results.

The irony is, once you’ve mastered the in-demand skill of internet marketing, you may not want to finish school OR work for anyone else.

Good luck!

Carla L. Hall
Moxie Maven Marketing

Jere answers:

Not all dog groomers are the same. I’m still looking for a good one. Just picked up my dog from the groomer today (his first time). I needed to take him because he needed to be bathed and I couldn’t do it myself this time.

So after I got him home he rushed towards his potty spot and didn’t quite make it (diarhea).
Then I got him inside and he drank water like he hadn’t had a drink in days.

I don’t know what went on at the groomers, but my dog wasn’t cared for properly during his time there (9:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.).

When I asked to see their facilities, they wouldn’t show me the whole area, and limited my view to the holding area with the kennels.
Needless to say I worried about my dog the whole time. When it was finally time to pick him up, he looked great, smelled good, and was ecstatic to be going home.
But the doubt still exists in my mind whether my boy was given water or a reasonable potty break all day long.

I will be posting a review of this groomer in my local internet directory.

What I would appreciate from a groomer so that I will give them repeat business, Would be a full tour of their facility. I want to know that the kennel or the holding crate will be sanitized before my dog is placed inside.
I want to know that my dog will be given water and proper time to do his business during the course of the day.

Even if I asked for refferences, how could I be sure that the those other customers knew or were shown anything more than the breif glimpse that I was allowed. Sure they’ll give a good reference if their dog looks great..and smells nice.. But what about the rest?.
Yes the ears and bath and nails etc, etc…. But I was so concerned about the esthetics, that I never stopped to think about my dog’s comfort and physical well being. Well ..live and learn as they say.

Jere answers:

If you want to promote your online business and can spend few hours every week then follow these steps or work on these steps to promote your online business.
Top 10 Internet Marketing Strategies1. Start with a web promotion plan and an effective web design and development strategy and chose a right keyword for your business.
2. Get ranked at the top search engines and practice good Search Optimization Techniques.
3. Learn to use Email Marketing Effectively or use one of the free services.
4. Dominate your marketing niche with affiliate, reseller, and associate programs.
5. Request an analysis from an Internet marketing coach or Internet marketing consultant.
6. Build a responsive opt-in email list.
7. Publish articles on free article site or get listed in news stories.
8. Write and publish online press releases.
9. Facilitate and run contests and giveaways via your web site.
10. Blog and interact with your visitors.

Let me know if you need more information. Also i believe you need to do some keyword research for your business and if you know about HTML than its even better. Let me know if you want more information then i can guide you through.
Thanks
Dave

Jere answers:

I have an email database of 970 million email ids.
This email database consist active users of Facebook, Gmail, Twitter, AOL, yahoo, Msn, hotmail. These email ids are well organized according to categories(business, corporates etc).
Separate email databases of users from USA, UK, S.Africa, India, Australia, Greece, Ohio, Hongkong , bulk email senders etc,you can use it for marketing your business.

If interested please mail me at : seo_rahul@hotmail.com

Jere answers:

SimplyCast 1-877-312-4979 Powerful Email Marketing Solution For Less. Signup & Call us Today. Www.simplycast.com
Rwanda Photojournalist Great pix for your Rwanda story Or a great story for your readers www.ameridane.org
Product information. Free for your webshop or ERP system. More than 2000 brands supported. Www.icecat.biz
Soft Drink Market Data Industry Leading Analysis Reports, Databases and Consulting www.zenithinternational.com

Jere answers:

“Client database” is a fancy name for spamlist. Do you really believe 175,000 people opted in to receive your email? Even if customers opted in to receive email from your client, that does not mean they opted in to receive email from you, and even if you think you are an extension of that client, to the recipient that is a client who is violating their privacy. Of course they pushed the Spam button when it arrived. To Yahoo and Hotmail the people who pushed the spam button are their customers, and you are not.
___________________________

If the 175,000 customers opted in to receive email from the honor society’s domain, and if you are doing your authorized survey with an email address and URL that is a different domain, what do you expect them to think?

What is the advice we give everybody about clicking an unsubscribe link that is not the exact same domain they subscribed to?
_____________________
Yahoo Support seems to not like to squander effort or money on things like support. Anyway, here is Yahoo’s contact information as listed with BBB:
http://sanjose.bbb.org/business-reviews/Internet—Products-and-Services/Yahoo!-in-Sunnyvale-CA-202555

Jere answers:

We are an Internet Marketing & SEO company. We just reviewed seolace.com resource code and this is what we found out:
1 person owner
Use of html coding, which is not as fast as php
They have very limited marketing codes
No h1,h2,h3 codes
No anchor texts
Not enough proof in site design to recommend, but then again they still could be pretty good.

If you’d like to speak with us, please go to our site at http://www.us-webmarketing.com and give us a call or you can email me directly at amy@us-webmarketing.com

Thanks & Good luck to you!

Jere answers:

Well I know of a great business in marketing and sales and you can be from anywhere to work there.I am going to send you a 10 minute presentation of the company and after you have reviewed it just email me back on here with questions.

Jere answers:

One Source Talent Review:

One Source Talent, founded in 2003 by Mr. Anthony Toma, provides an invaluable service for both aspiring models and actors and the people who want to hire them. From the acting and modeling side, the services One Source Talent offers are a unique blend of exposure and promotion. From the hiring side, One Source Talent possesses one of the most extensive and best maintained easily searchable and completely indexed databases in the industry. One Source Talent’s professional staff makes it easy for new models to begin exploring a successful and promising career. At the same time, One Source Talent can facilitate a quick and smooth casting decision for a big photo shoot or film.

One Source Talent’s service to models and actors begins when they are evaluated and approved by the company’s professional Talent Specialists. These trained individuals recognize what the market is looking for at any given moment and maximize what the model or actor brings to the table. Once a model or actor has been evaluated and approved, he/she is given full access to One Source Talent’s network of castings and auditions, a resource that creates many opportunities. One Source Talent also provides a suite of resources, including an interactive composite card for all submissions (digital or traditional), private email account with One Source Talent, regularly scheduled industry workshop sessions, and benefit programs tailored to individual markets.

Inc. Magazine recently recognized One Source Talent as one of the 5000 fastest growing American companies. One Source Talent currently operates out of Detroit, San Diego, New York, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Dallas.

OFFICES:

One Source Talent Chicago
2000 Spring Road
Suite 520
Oak Brook, IL 60523
(630) 571-5660
(630) 571-5690 fax

One Source Talent Detroit
3250 West Big Beaver Road
Suite 526
Troy, MI 48084
( 248 ) 816-7900
( 248 ) 816-7910 fax

One Source Talent Los Angeles
8383 Wilshire Boulevard
Suite 220
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
(323) 657-2220
(323) 951-1914 fax

One Source Talent Miami
18305 Biscayne Boulevard
Suite 301
Aventura, FL 33160
(305) 403-9888
(305) 466-1415 fax

One Source Talent New York
500 8th Avenue
Suite 1210
Manhattan, NY 10018
(212) 279-3842
(212) 244-7160 fax

One Source Talent Phoenix
7975 North Hayden Road
Suite B205
Scottsdale, AZ 85258
(480) 422-3000
(480) 607-4425 fax

One Source Talent San Diego
1660 Hotel Circle North
Suite 314
San Diego, CA 92108
(619) 296-1289
(619) 683-3194 fax

Jere answers:

It’s not brilliant; then again, not much is at the moment. Realistically there’ll always be a requirement for IT staff; but many places have job freezes on, and people aren’t keen to leave their jobs.

To give you the best chance of getting work once you’ve finished your degree, get as much practical experience as you can (either in direct IT work, or even in customer service positions – having recently hired new IT staff, many of the degree qualified applicants had no real experience and some had never had a job… So those with experience trumped them almost immediately)

Jere answers:

Hi there,

From the moment you decided that you are interested in Marketing, you proved to yourself that you have a feeling that you will be enjoying a job in the marketing field even though you may not still have a clear idea of what is marketing exactly. For this, I will pass you some information from my knowledge and 20 years of experience in the field of Marketing.

By choosing to follow a career in Marketing, you already succeeded to give yourself a very big variety of professions. You can work from product development departments, to setting prices on products, involved in all different professions of the supply chain, deal with promotions through advertising, sales promotions, train sales people in improving their personal skills, and finally to organize and implement direct marketing via the use of the internet.

I learned from other successful people to follow two simple rules. 1. To leave always a window open in all decisions I take in my life 2. Never to put all my eggs in the same basket because if I drop that basket I will lose all my eggs!!! I am sure my message is very clear to you.

Go ahead with marketing and you will never lose. You can only benefit yourself from it.

Theocharis katranis

http://theos-taekwondo.blogspot.com/

Jere answers:

As I have been stating for the last six months, it is not just the sub prime market, that was the beginning, now we are seeing the Alt-A, and the prime market taking a hit. The hit will be more pronounced in the next few months as the ARM’s are getting ready to adjust. Consumer spending drives the economy but what happened is housing inflated at double digit rates, energy has doubled, income has only gone up an average of 3.9%, and people treated their homes as giant ATM machines, now the bills are due. The artificially inflated worth of homes compared to rise of income is similiar to the dot com bubble of 10 years ago, and has now come home to roost. The tightening of credit put less buyers in the market, yet the foreclosure’s put more homes on the market leading to depreciating worth. It’s a cycle. Now we see the economy loosing jobs. We are heading into a recession, the naysayers have been blaming the lenders, and the sub prime market but it goies well beyind that.

Jere answers:

1) Market Research
Market research entails collecting, analyzing and interpreting information about what people buy and why they buy it. Tools such as market analysis, surveys, focus groups and product testing help companies identify markets for their products so that they can direct their marketing efforts and dollars to the target groups most likely to buy. Market research also identifies potential barriers customers face in entering the market and suggests ways to overcome them.

2) Brand Management
Brand, or product, management is devoted to conceptualizing products and getting them to market. Branding management includes market research, research and development, production, distribution, advertising and sales.

3) Advertising
Advertising uses the media to communicate a product’s value. It involves both a creative process and an analytic one. The creative process conceptualizes ad campaigns and designs and produces the ads themselves. The analytic processes identify the best media outlets in which to place ads and develop and track metrics to measure the ads’ effectiveness.

4) Public Relations
Public relations is closely related to advertising but rather than focus on products, it focuses on the company’s public image. Public relations messages communicate the company’s values and its activities and achievements that illustrate adherence to those values.

5) Promotion
Promotion builds relationships between wholesalers and retailers and uses incentives to entice customers to purchase a product. Incentives include discounts, samples and other tools that add value and make an offer too good to refuse.

6) Sales
Sales manages the process of getting products to the customer. It presents the personal “face” of a company and its products — the sales rep — to customers in an effort to get them to purchase, and then ensures that the purchase is delivered. Relationship-building is a vital sales function, as it takes fewer resources for a company to keep an existing customer than to replace one.

7) Retailing
Retailing is a sales function that puts a company’s products directly before an end user rather than a wholesaler who’ll act as a go-between for the company and the end user. Merchandising, which uses information gleaned from market research about what arrangement of products and what decor and atmosphere in a store entice customers to purchase, is an important aspect of retailing.

Jere answers:

If you’re writing a proposal to be a commissioned sales rep for a magazine or newspaper then it doesn’t matter what program you use – Word would be fine I guess. Think of it like writing a resume.

You should prove you have previous sales experience and understand the processes involved in selling print advertising to direct and agency customers.

Look at the target market for the publications and discover as much as you can about who you are going to be selling to.

Good luck.

Jere answers:

Hi there – I work at Intuit (maker of QuickBooks). We have payroll options for small businesses which can handle payroll, W-2s and 1099s among other things.

We have a 6-month free trial of our Intuit Online Payroll service. It doesn’t require QuickBooks and includes direct deposit for free. For more info you can go to: http://payroll.intuit.com/payroll_services/online_payroll.jsp

An overview of all our payroll options is at: www.payroll.com

I hope this helps!
Chris

Jere answers:

Determine Your Focus
•A construction business can take a variety of forms, from small single-service subcontracting to a developer contracting for large building projects. Construction companies with workers on staff or access to large pools of quality subcontractors can bid on bigger projects.

Construction businesses are required to hold various licenses, such as a retail merchant certificate from your state Department of Revenue, a surety bond and liability insurance. Financing will depend on the scope of the project. Small construction companies often can purchase tools with personal credit and pay helpers once the job is completed. Banks provide qualified builders and developers commercial construction loans as a line of credit that can be drawn upon for supplies and payroll. The balance is typically due when the project is completed. Residential construction loans can provide funding for land acquisition and development and one or two speculative homes. Build relationships with banks by referring home buyers to your bank for mortgages.
Lay the Groundwork
•Most people have spent some time working in the industry prior to starting a construction business. Whether you work as a laborer on a framing crew or spend time helping a developer put together large projects, the on-the-job training will prove invaluable. College degrees and training certificates prepare industry professionals to use the tools of the trade, such as being able to estimate jobs, write contracts and excel at project management. Develop a plan for estimating jobs based on current market rates and the complexity of the job. Online training courses from an organization such as the Construction Estimating Institute can provide valuable information to help you avoid errors in bidding for jobs.
Establish a Business Plan
•Write up a plan that covers the scope of work you will provide, the amount of equipment you will need to purchase, whether you will start in a home office or lease commercial space and the number of staff you need to bid on contracts.

Invest in construction management software programs, such as Projectmates, that can track resources and provide project management guidelines, contract templates and estimating tools. Web-based software programs can work from job sites to put in change orders, manage punch sheets, adjust schedules and provide electronic bidding capabilities.
Network and Market Yourself
•Join a construction association such as the Construction Owners of America Association or Associated Builders and Contractors to build a network within the industry and to take advantage of educational seminars and trade shows. Many industry groups provide member referral programs and access to proposal requests.

Network with other industry organizations that could prove useful to your business, such as Realtors, commercial lenders and government procurement officers. Send press releases to your local business media and trade groups announcing jobs that you’ve landed to keep your name in front of potential clients. Build good relationships with local inspectors, appraisers and insurance adjusters.

Stay in touch with industry news by subscribing to online publications such as Construction Business Owner, which can keep you abreast of changing compliancy regulations, new financing options and technological advancements in construction software.

Jere answers:

While commingling business and personal funds is not a good idea, your records will speak for themselves.

You are aware that as the principal shareholder of an S-Corp you are REQUIRED to pay yourself a salary commensurate with the work that you do for the business and pay payroll taxes on that salary. Right?? Any remaining profits then flow to your personal return via Schedule K-1 to Form 1120-S.

If this all sounds Greek to you, and from the tone of your question I’ll bet that it does, you need an consult with a local expert — a CPA or EA who specializes in small business taxation — to get your bookkeeping up to speed, including your payroll system.

There’s a pretty good chance that they will tell you to dissolve the S-Corp as it is not doing anything for you aside from costing you money in tax prep fees and possibly state minimum franchise fees. What exactly did you expect the S-Corp to do for you in the first place??

Jere answers:

What you are looking for is not computer repair business, but software troubleshooting consultant business. You are not available for house calls, only online connections.
You could be small company competing with Geek Squad, but only offer ‘remote connection’ services. If you check out the site for Geek Squad, their services are offered 3 ways. Walk-in to their store location, remote connection, or in-house calls.

You could also look for permanent employment job rather than consulting business doing remote connection support from home. You should look for job with software companies as high level Technical support staff. With the technical knowledge’s that you described, you would be the higher level support staff, not the one that directly talks to customer. If the solution to the problem is not known and documented, then they call you to look into the problem and figure out what is wrong. Having A+ certification only shows you might have the knowledge to get the job, but if some company knows you could figure out the issues that creep up, you are hired. It is not about what you know, it is about having problem solving ability and figure out any thing that could come up.

They need professionals for troubleshooting runtime environment for their software. Once softwares are bought/sold and installed, there are always some installations that don’t configure correctly. User call support staff and ask for directions/help to make the software work on their computer. You could be the support staff “on call” at home. Once call comes in, they connect it to you and you can handle the call.

Normally you should work for few month in the office to get training and then you could start working from home, they even provide a laptop for their technicians to take home loaded with all the software and tools you need to do the job. (I had friend that used to do this after she had new baby, so she could work from home. She was hired with telephone company.)

Sometimes you might not have calls for days or weeks, but you are still on payroll. Because the company assumes during the time you are not answering any calls, you are at computer learning new stuff, searching web for new ideas, keeping up with industry and new changes.

It is like being a body guard that when he is not needed to follow you around, is at gym working out to stay strong and fit for the job.

Jere answers:

That’s a lot of questions jammed into one! I’ll do my best…

1. Wait until you open a business account for as many expenses as possible. While this isn’t necessary for tax reasons, it’ll be a lot easier for an accountant or bookkeeper later to track your business expenses so you can deduct them for the business later.
As an additional note- do not write yourself checks if you can help it out of this account. I have a client who was just audited for the last 3 years because he did this. The IRS looked at those checks going into his personal account and called it income- again. Transfers are best.

2. As to what you can write off, etc. Etc. It sounds like you’re confused about how taxes work for the business- if you hadn’t incorporated, you’d have a schedule C. Now that the company is an LLC, it has to file a separate tax return. It doesn’t have to pay taxes, but it has to file for informational purposes. So, essentially, the vast majority of your business expenses are written off for the business- not on your personal return. Those expenses then reduce the company’s income, so less “flows through” to you on your K-1. The business can deduct start-up costs (up to $5,000- after that, you must amortize them), bank charges, interest, rent, utilities, telephone, automobile expenses, wages paid to employees, employee benefits, payroll taxes, and on and on and on. The question is more about what the business can’t deduct. If you have specific quesitons, it gets easier.

3. Rent is going to get tricky if, as the case seems to be, your company is based in your home. It’s easiest to forget rent for the company and instead file a form 8829 with your personal return (business use of home). On there, you can claim your rent and homeowners insurance, etc, then you determine what percent of the square-footage of your home is used for the business, and so on- the form explains it fairly clearly.

4. If you hire contractors, you will need to issue 1099s. One of the best things you can do for yourself if you don’t intend to hire a CPA for more than taxes, is to purchase Quickbooks. Do all of your bookkeeping with the program. Your accountant, when you go to see them for help/advice/taxes for the business, can actually take a copy of the company file and use it to help you and to file your taxes. The program can also print 1099s for you very simply. Look up a local CPA firm, find a CPA you like, and talk to them about your needs. At our firm, for instance, we have one of the bookkeepers on staff go out to new businesses or new clients or people having trouble and install Quickbooks and help the client learn to use it. Then we don’t see the client until tax time, when they bring in their file. For other clients, we do all of their bookkeeping for them- including filling out W-2s or 1099s as needed. Most firms are very ammenable to specific needs- if you don’t need a lot of help, then they can just help you out when you have a specific question or have a specific need- like taxes.

Whew! Is it completely obvious that I’m avoiding my own clients’ taxes? Not much of an escape- answering other, non-client tax questions. I need a vacation. :0)

Hope that helps!

Jere answers:

You can go the eBay route, but bear in mind that a lot of people are looking for cheap bargains on there, so if you are producing fine art works that you expect a lot for, it might not be your best option. Plus, the listing fees are very costly, so if you don’t them, you may find that by the time you have, you have lost the bulk of your profit to eBay fees.

Ideally, get a web designer and set up your own website linked to Paypal or some kind of online payment system.

You’ll then need to market the website, otherwise it will effectively ‘not exist’. Ideally, join as many art forums as you can and post photos of your work for critique or as a banner in your signature. This was you’ll get yourself known in the community. In a related field, DIY clothing making, people have gone from making their own things and posting them to developing a business of full-time comissions. Networking really is key.

Good luck with this, I am hoping to do the same once I get my portfolio completed.

Jere answers:

You do need the internet for that purpose. Before my contacts had the internet on their cell, I would send them a text and tell them I sent them a email. You could maybe set it up that way. Give them your cell number and ask them to text you.

Jere answers:

Some resources:

SBA.gov (small business administration)
score.org (business counseling from retired executives)
entrepreneur.com

Most state government website allow you to e-file all necessary documents online – which is normally cheaper and faster than doing it through the mail. I’m sure you’ve researched it, but I would recommend filing as an LLC rather than a partnership for liability reasons. A DBA is generally only required if you’re doing business under a business name other than that which you registered. You are likely going to have to acquire a state sales tax license so you can collect and remit tax to your tax board. Depending on where you live, you may need to acquire a local permit. Even if you do business out of your house, you should secure a mail box – not a post office box, but rather a mail box from pak mail, mail boxes etc, whatever. This is because you will need to receive all of your official correspondence from state, local and federal agencies (this is assuming that you are serving as your own registered agent). The government agencies do not allow you to use a PO box, but do allow PMB boxes. The mail box will protect you so that no dissatisfied customers come to your home for revenge, etc. You will need to go to IRS.gov to acquire your EIN number – this is a social security number for your business. It’s free and quick. You will need a bank account for your business – look for a free business checking account to start out. Will you accept credit cards or paypal? If so, you may need a merchant account and/or paypal account. You may also want to consider general business liability insurance. You should expect to pay $400-$500 per year depending on the coverage.

There are probably a thousand other things, but that should get you started.

Jere answers:

There are. But to be really helpful it would be better to know something of your interests. If its something that anyone can “start up and make money” then thre are probably already too many people trying to do it.

The best thing is to find a subject that you would enjoy putting time into even if it didnt make money. It can be an item, hobby, games, craft, sport, pet, country, sexual preference, any subject at all. 🙂

I can usually build off of that. Just one example…
The person had a love of hummingbirds. They decided to start a blog about it which had become popular. I helped her expand it to a web page. I connected them to sites that allowed commission sales on the hummingbird drawing equipment that she kept talking about. I hooked her up with a CafePress shop which let her create shirts, mugs, bumperstickers, posters, gift boxes, ornaments, greeting cards and sell them. Some were cute sayings, some were pictures she took. Eventually it grew into a full domain.

Thats just one example. It always depends on the subject, and the persons skills (graphic art, or good sales person, writing, music, design, good shopper, or maybe just highly motivated). Or other peoples skills (one person did all the above but based on her kids crayon art)

Its all small fish big pond or big fish small pond thinking. Dont look for a moneymaker then try to find one thats interesting. Look for an interest, then look for the moneymaker. Oh yeah, and all of those suggestions were free to start with options to expand into a pay-for version with more goodies if you prove to yourself that you can do something with it.

Jere answers:

I think you’re probably on to something. There are plenty of conventions here in any number of venues, a lot of Fortune 500 companies, many corporate transfers …. I say go for it. With the current market, you’ll be able to find great office space and housing for yourself, at rockbottom prices.

I don’t see any “cons” per se …. Other than the fact that you’re taking a chance. (But that would be so anywhere.) Not to sound trite, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Jere answers:

Hello!
Here is the list of best classified ad sites:

Craigslist.com
Craigslist.com is the 8th top site in the USA and the 24th top site in the world. Go there and sign up for an account today. If your goal is to drive Internet traffic and you’re using Craigslist it is absolutely crutial that you use what is called a “buffer blog”. Simply put, they have a rule: No links to sites with affiliate links. So, what you can do is create an article on an article site. Link your Craigslist.com classified ad to your article, then link the article to your website. Just be sure that your article isn’t too long. 300-350 words is good enough.

88Db.com
88Db.com is a classified ads site that is based in Asia. Once you log onto the site you’ll see that you have to pick a country to list under. You can pick Hong Kong, India or China. Just set up your account and start adding your classified ads. Make sure you use their picture uploader and put up some nice pics. Note that only jpg files are accepted here. This website is rarely talked about on the Internet and has really yielded some excellent results for driving traffic.

Oodle.com

USFreeAds.com

I hope my answer might be of use to you!

Jere answers:

Be careful when purchasing leads. These folks have not specifically asked you for information and you will also find that most of these leads are shared with others.

Your best results will always be with leads that you generate yourself.

It may take a bit of effort to setup your traffic and lead generation system … But it will certainly be worth it in the long run.

It is relatively easty to use social media like facebook, youtube, twitter and myspace to attract like minded people to you. Directing them to a blog is a great way to provide value to your prospect and introduce them to your business.

You can find quite a few free resources that can teach you attraction marketing and lead generation techniques.

A free site that I direct my team to is at http://www.freedom-at-last.com

Good luck with your efforts. Let me know if I can be of service.

Paul

Jere answers:

Lol. If those are the tags you’re using, big reason why noone visits. Noone likes a spammer.

Jere answers:

You can do it for free no problem but it will require a little time on your part.

First you need to get two books from the library:

Designing with Web Standards http://www.zeldman.com/dwws/

Don’t make me think http://www.sensible.com/buythebook.html

Reading and understanding these two books alone will put you ahead of 99.9% of webdesigners.

Then you need to read a free, reliable and up to date SEO tutorial. There are only two of these on the web that are considered worth reading.

Http://www.seomoz.org/article/beginners-guide-to-search-engine-optimization

http://www.seo-blog.com/tutorial.php

That’s it! Read, learn and implement.

Good luck!

Jere answers:

You listed two separate careers – web designing and web marketing.

If you are interested in pursuing a career in web marketing, I would strongly suggest getting a professional qualification at one of better web marketing programs in the country (somewhere like the University of Oregon – http://lcb.uoregon.edu/departments/mktg/index.html ) or possibly even an MBA in marketing. There is really not much money to be made in web marketing as a freelance or independent web marketer, unless you really establish yourself as an expert in the field by getting a top notch expert blog and building a high profile portfolio. However, if you get the right qualifications, you can posibly get a job at one of the big SEO or web marketing firms, which tend to be located either in the Boston/New York area, or in Silicon Valley. Salaries begin low ($30 to 40K), and the work is typically “grunt” work. However, you can build up to a six figure incombe, but that will take you time.

As regards being a web designer, the opportunities for freelance or independent work are much better, and you may not even need to go to school. The CIW qualifcation (http://www.ciwcertified.com/ ) is more than enough, and there are many online web design degrees or certificates which are available (check out http://www.worldwidelearn.com/ for some options). If you are going to set yourself up as an independent web designer, you are going to need to become well trained in several programming languages, get familiar with video and phot editing, and possibly even take a graphics art course or two from your local community college. As regards earning potential, that is going to be limited at the moment in the current economic climate, as businesses cut back on their marketing budgets (under which websites usually fall). However, you can make a reasonable income from web design on your own ($30 – 35K within the first year, if you are good), although you really have to concentrate on promoting yourself and establishing your credibility. Jobs with a web design firm are highly competitive, and are also under pressure from the economy. Firms normally hire on the basis of past experience with web design (so you might want to look at hunting for a job after you have had some experience out on your own and built up a portfolio), and usually want some sort of degree or qualification (although this differs from firm to firm). Salaries differ, but usually fall into the $45 to 55K range, with the top designers getting double or more than that.

Jere answers:

Email marketing is directly marketing a commercial message to a group of people using email. In its broadest sense, every email sent to a potential or current customer could be considered email marketing. It usually involves using email to send ads, request business, or solicit sales or donations, and is meant to build loyalty, trust, or brand awareness. Email marketing can be done to either cold lists or current customer database. Broadly, the term is usually used to refer to:

Sending email messages with the purpose of enhancing the relationship of a merchant with its current or previous customers, to encourage customer loyalty and repeat business,

Sending email messages with the purpose of acquiring new customers or convincing current customers to purchase something immediately,

Adding advertisements to email messages sent by other companies to their customers.

Jere answers:

Well, email marketing is just that. Marketing but using the email as the tool so send and display your campaign. A number of things should be taken into consideration when you decide to use/or do email .

1- You should write good ad copies for you campaigns and followup messages. If you are not a very talented writer. You should consider hiring a freelancer writer to do it. Basically the ad copy is responsible for 80% of the campaign’s success. BTW; The subject line should be appealing and eye catching to make the reader open your email.
2- To be successful in mail marketing you must have a reliable autoresponse and follow up system. So, it does not just turns to be a one shot deal. For that I suggest that you get an autoresponder. There are many software for this or you can join any of the free or paid autoresponders online.
You will need to write a number of newsletters and ads to set up your autoresponder so it can continue following up on you subscribers. Try to ad value and information to the messages, not just blunt ads
3- Create a optin form for prospect to subscribe. This is the right way to do it. By having them subscribe voluntarily to your list, you will avoid lots of problems.
4- NEVER SPAM! This is a very serious matter you should keep in mind. There are different ways and tools to send out your campaigns. But always follow ALL the can spam act rules and guidelines.
5- Sending tools and services – Your mission is to make a 1 shot ethical and professional approach with new prospects to have them join your subscribers list. But again; Always within the rules and the law. You can join free mail groups or safelists or buy solo ads in different sources on the web. These services are SPAM free because the subscriber join (opted-in) freely and/or are part of a mailing exchange. The last resort is to have you own sending software. But this can be a pain in the neck if you are not sure what you are doing as there is a fine line to step into the SPAM zone. LOL!
I suggest that you research more on this topic and review the CAN SPAM guidelines and laws.

Email marketing can be very profitable. But there is a lot of work to do and a lot of rules to follow.

Jere answers:

The best way to build a list is through placing a web form or opt in box on your website. This allows you to turn one time visitors into repeat contacts. This also ensures that your list is made up of people who are interested in what you have to offer.

Other methods of building a list can work as well, but you need to make sure that you are only emailing people who want to hear from you and know who you are. It may seem like a good idea to email people as a point of first contact, but remember that most people view email coming from people they don’t know as spam. You don’t want to be seen as a spammer, as it can negatively affect your reputation, deliverability, and even have legal ramifications.

If you are looking to build a list via a web form, there are email marketing services that can help you create the form, place it on your website, and help you maintain and send email to your list, either automatically as they sign up, or manually over time.

Hope this helps,
Nick Moore
AWeber Communications
http://www.aweber.com

Jere answers:

Resolution..
Send email only to those that want it. Spammers write to many people who don’t want their mail, so our anti-spam filters are designed to identify that behavior. To avoid being perceived as a spammer, use an opt-in method of subscription for your mailing list. Better yet, utilize a confirmed opt-in process where subscribers actively verify their intent to receive your mailings by clicking on a confirmation email before being added to your list.

Use email authentication such as DKIM. This will help us identify that the email is legitimately from you and, if you sign all your email, it will help us identify forgeries, too. In addition, using dedicated domains for different mail streams (e.g., transactional messages vs. Marketing emails) is also a recommended practice. DKIM.org is a good resource for information about DKIM.

Segregate your mail streams by IP addresses and/or domains since Yahoo! Mail keeps reputation data about each IP address and domain you send from.

Consistently manage your lists by paying attention to hard and soft bounces as well as inactive recipients. Persistent emails to these addresses are a surefire way to get your connections deferred. If your messages are being blocked, look closely at any SMTP Reply Codes our mail servers are returning to you and be sure you’re addressing the problem.
Don’t retry 5xx messages. If we reject a message with a 5xx error, we will not accept it anytime soon. Retrying the message wastes both our resources and makes you appear to have a dirty list.
Do retry 4xx messages. If we send a 4xx error, this is a temporary error and we encourage you to try sending the message at a later time.

Do refresh your list periodically. Consider removing or sending a reconfirmation email to inactive subscribers, i.e., users who have not opened or clicked on your emails for a period of time. Sending your mail to users who are not reading them, or who may even mark them as “spam,” will almost certainly hurt your delivery metrics and reputation.

Enroll in our feedback loop. If you are signing your emails with DKIM or DomainKeys, enroll for our Complaint Feedback Loop program so you can track your spam complaint rates and keep them in check. Need more information about the program? Visit out our feedback loop FAQs for more details.

Respect the user’s mailbox
If a customer entrusts an email address to you during a transaction or for a particular newsletter, they do not expect to receive unrelated messages, such as extraneous marketing emails, in the process. Adding email addresses to other lists without their explicit opt-in is a guaranteed way to lose a customer’s trust.
Honor the frequency of the list’s intent. If customers believe they are signing up for a monthly newsletter but they start receiving messages on a weekly basis, such a practice will likely prompt users to label your messages as spam.
Use a consistent “From:” header address. Your domain name is an important element of your brand. Using it consistently helps us and your recipients to distinguish your email from spam. Additionally, using a static From: address helps users who have set up filters to route messages to a specific folder.

Pay attention to your email’s content
Test your email’s look and feel with image placeholders. Many users won’t see images in your email by default.
Link to domains, not IP addresses. The Yahoo! Mail client warns users that IP address links are dangerous.
Use standard ports. The Yahoo! Mail client warns users that links containing ports are dangerous.
Don’t include HTML forms in emails. The Yahoo! Mail client warns users that submitting forms in email can be dangerous.
Don’t include Javascript in emails. The javascript is stripped out and will not run.
Don’t include embedded objects in emails (like flash or ActiveX). The objects are stripped and will not run.

Honor unsubscribe requests as fast as you honor subscribe requests. When a user unsubscribes, they don’t want to receive that mail anymore. Promptly removing them from the list should help prevent users from marking your messages as spam in the future.

Be CAN-SPAM compliant. Regardless of where in the world you’re sending your mail, make sure that you adhere to the requirements stipulated by the CAN-SPAM Act.http://business.ftc.gov/documents/bus61-can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business

Read More http://help.yahoo.com/kb/index?page=content&id=SLN3435&actp=search&viewlocale=en_US&searchid=1337167439885&locale=en_US&y=PROD_MAIL_ML

Jere answers:

Using email to promote a blog doesn’t make a lot of sense, the expense of building and maintaining a legitimate email list would not be worth it to just get blog visitors.
FYI, Can-Spam regulations forbid you to just mail a promotion to some list of a million email addresses you found somewhere, you need to establish a relationship then ask them to subscribe to your email list, this process is often done in blogs.

Jere answers:

RECYCLE!!!
Find programs near you; there should be lots of options.

Toner cartridges
aluminum cans
newspapers
2 liter plastic soda bottles
milk jugs
steel containers
organic material/cuttings
glass
telephone books
Stop Junk Mail — The junk mail Americans receive in just one day is not only a nuisance, but could produce enough energy to heat a quarter of a million homes! If you saved up all the unwanted junk mail for one year, you would have the equivalent to one and a half trees, which would add up to 100 million trees every year in just the United States. To help stop junk mail, write to: Mail Preference Service, Direct Marketing Association, 11 West 42nd St., PO Box 3861, New York, NY 10163-3861. By writing to them, you can reduce junk mail by up to 75%. You can recycle the rest of the junk mail you receive.
Add a Low-Flow Faucet Aerator — This is a simple device which you can attach to your water faucets at home. By attaching one of these devices, you can reduce water flow by 50%, and the water flow will seem stronger! If only 10,000 4-person households would install low-flow aerators, 33 million gallons of water would be saved yearly.
Change your Kitchen Habits — Use reusable containers for food storage instead of wrapping food in foil or plastic wrap. You can also use unbleached coffee filters, which does not produce the deadly toxin dioxin in its manufacturing. Use rags to wipe up spills instead of paper towels, and use biodegradable wax paper and bags.
Check your hot water heater — Did you know your hot water heater accounts for about 20% of all the energy used in your home? There are a few simple things you can do to save energy and save money. Turn your water heater down to 130 degrees, which is hot enough to kill deadly bacteria, and still save energy. Also, insulate your heater with a pre-fab ‘blanket,’ but be careful not to block off air vents on gas heaters. This can save you 7-8% of your energy usage. You can also drain 2 quarts (or 2 liters) of water from your hot water heater every 2 months from the valve at the bottom of the tank. This prevents accumulation of sediment and prolongs the life of your water heater.
Be aware of your paint you use — Use latex paint instead of oil-based paint. Oil-based paint is highly toxic, and its manufacturing produces nasty pollutants. Dispose of paint as hazardous waste, or with latex paint you can let it evaporate outside for one year. Then, you can dispose of it with the rest of your trash. Don’t clean your paintbrushes outside, because this can contaminate groundwater; clean them in a sink. Instead of trashing excess paint, you can donate it to a school or to someone else who needs to use it.
Tires — Every 2 weeks, Americans wear out nearly 50 million pounds of rubber off their tires. This is enough rubber to manufacture 3 and a quarter million new tires from scratch! To help prevent this, you can inflate your tires well. This preserves the life of the tires and saves gas, which ultimately saves money.
Home Appliances — Did you know that America’s refrigerators consume 7% of the nation’s electricity, which is the equivalent to more than 50% of the power generated by nuclear plants. To allow your fridge to run more efficiently, you should clean the condenser coils annually. By raising the temperature in your refrigerator by 10 degrees, you can save 25% of your energy. With air conditioners, you should clean or replace filters each month. This will save electricity and money.
Recharge Your Batteries — Batteries contain heavy metals, such as mercury and cadmium, which have become a major source of contamination in dump sites. They either break apart and are released into the soil or are incinerated and the deadly heavy metals are released into the air. Did you know that the average annual use of mercury in batteries is over what the government limits in dump sites by four times. Here is what you can do to help: use batteries which are rechargeable. Recycle alkaline batteries if you can. They can extract the mercury and cadmium for reuse.
Shopping Bags — Plastic bags are not biodegradable even if they say they are they do not decompose fully. Also the ink is made up of cadmium, and is highly toxic when it is released. Whereas paper bags are reusable and biodegradable. However supermarkets use paper that has never been recycled before and they always say “recyclable” not “recycled”. Here is what you can do: if your purchase is small don’t take any bag, this alone could save hundreds of millions of bags. Bring a cloth bag when you shop, or use string bags.
Clean Up Your Beach — Our oceans provide the earth with most of our oxygen, moisture, and weather patterns. To keep our oceans clean we have to start with our beaches. Every year on September 23 there is a nationwide 3 hour clean up, sponsored by the Center for Marine Conservation. In 1987 around the nation over 2 million pounds of debris was picked up off our beaches. When you go to the beach you can help by bringing a trash bag and spend a little while picking up litter, or you can join a beach clean-up crew.
Do Not Buy products from endangered animals — As little as ten years ago there were over 1.5 million elephants on the earth. Today there are only 750,000. By the year 2,000 they may become extinct. Over 80% of the ivory that is taken, is from elephants- Americans buy 30% of it. Over 6.5 million dolphins have been killed by tuna fisherman. Fisherman’s nets can reach 3/4 miles long and whatever gets trapped in them, dies. To help you can: not buy endangered animal products and substitute your purchase to; albacore and bonita. Or boycott products from endangered animals (Iceland gave up some of their whaling because consumers wouldn’t by it’s fish).
Use Low Flush Toilets — In your household, 40% of the pure water is flushed down the toilet. You can use small plastic bottles, filled with water or stones to displace the amount of water in toilets. This will cause it to be a “low-flush toilet,” or you can use a displacement bag in your tank. Both save you 1-2 gallons per flush. You can also install toilet dams which causes part of the water in your tank not to run out with the flush. If you can, 2 dams can be installed. These alterations can save you one gallon per toilet dam. With a plastic bottle you will be saving 8-16 gallons of water every day (if you flush 8 times a day), 56-112 gallons per week, and 2,900-5,800 per year. If we had 100,000 families do this simple thing, we would save 290 million to 580 million gallons a year!
Beware of Your Showers — If a four person family showers each day for 5-minutes, in one week they would use 700 gallons of water. This is enough water for a person to live off of for three years. You can buy either an aerated, or a nonaerated shower head which cuts your water output by 50%. The aerated is as if not more powerful than a regular shower head, it mixes air with the water. The nonaerated shower head pulses, but you get a good sprat and it can be called a “massage showerhead”. With a family of four taking 5-minute showers, with a low-flow showerhead you can save at least 14,000 gallons of water a year. So if 100,000 families installed low-flow shower heads we would save 1.4 billion gallons.
Recycle Your Motor Oil — In the United States we use about a billion gallons of motor oil each year, and about 350 million of it ends up in the environment. About 2.1 million tons of oil are deposited up in our rivers and streams every year. Motor Oil can seep down into our ground water supply. One quart contaminates 250,000 gallons of water. If you get your oil changed at a gas station make sure they will recycle your oil. If you change the oil yourself, take it to a gas station or oil-changing outlet which recycles oil. They will take yours, but you will have to pay anywhere from a quarter to a dollar (the cost for having it picked up).
Use Fluorescent Lighting — Lighting results in 1/5 of the electricity consumed by the U.S. By using electricity we are contributing to global problems by making power plants and industrial business generate more polluting emissions. Using a fluorescent light bulb, which doesn’t flicker or hum, is much more efficient than an incandescent bulb. They last longer and use 1/4 the amount of energy. A normal incandescent bulb lasts 750 hours but a fluorescent bulb will give off the same amount of light yet last for 7,500 to 10,000 hours with 1/3 of the wattage. Also within a fluorescent lightbulb’s life time it will stop 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from going into the atmosphere, if it is substituted for the traditional bulb. Even though fluorescent lights are initially more expenseive (around $15) it will take 13 traditional bulbs to last for the same amount of time (figure the savings on that!). Saving you even more money a fluorescent light will cost you $10 for electricity during its life time, whereas during the same period incandescents use up $40. However you might want to use fluorescent lights more where you are going to be using it for long periods of time. They don’t fit in some of the small lamps or covered fixtures. Here is an interesting fact. By installing a single fluorescent light bulb in 100 million households in America, you would save the energy equivalent of all of the energy that is generated by a nuclear power plant running full time, over the course of one year.
Balloon Releases — You should never release helium ballons into the air. Balloons cause the death for countless numbers of sea turtles and whales. Balloons cause them to suffocate or starve to death (by blocking stomach or air valves). Also metallic balloons can cause power outages when they get caught in power lines.
Diapers — Use cloth diapers when you put a diaper on your child. Americans trash over 18 billion disposable diapers a year, this amount can go to the moon and back seven times. Diapers take up 1% of America’s landfills and they take 500 years to decompose. Cotton diapers can be reused 100 times and decompose in 1 to 6 months. These disposable diapers consume 1,265,000 metric tons of wood pulp and 75,000 metric tons of plastic. After using disposable diapers we are supposed to wash them out, only 5% of us do. Meaning that millions of tons of dirty, possibly disease infected diapers wind up in our so called “sanitary” landfills. Infact three million tons of untreated feces and urine does not go through our sewage system but into our landfills. Over 100 different diseases are known to be excreted in human feces, and there is a chance (at least it has not happened yet) that they can seep into our groundwater. You can find cloth diapers if you look in the local Yellow Pages. Remember if you use cloth diapers you will need to use diaper covers so that the moisture can be held in. 100% wool felt seems to work as the best diaper cover.
Did you know that just in 1995 alone, recycled toner cartridges kept over 21,000 tons of trash out of landfills? Believe it or not, now you can recycle your printer’s toner cartridges! Every year, Americans throw out enough printer cartridges to stretch from Los Angeles to New York City and back again. Toner cartridges can be recycled, having just as good a performance as an unrecycled cartridge. To recycle your toner cartridges, find a local business that does printer cartridge recycling, or contact the manufacturer of your current toner cartridge and ask about a cartridge recycling program.
Not only should you recycle, but buy products that are recycled. By purchasing these products, you are helping to conserve natural resources, and to protect the environment.
Do not dump oil, grease, antifreeze, pesticides, fertilizers, paints, cleaners, and other toxic household products down the storm drain. These drains, found in the gutters on the sidewalk, are not treated by the sewage treatment plant–they go straight into rivers, lakes, and maybe even the ocean! By putting these toxic chemicals down the drain, there is a great biological threat to marine life. It’s actually quite simple. If you don’t want to swim in it, don’t let it get in your storm drain!
Use CFC free products. ChloroFluoroCarbons destroy the ozone layer, which protects us from harmful UV rays.
Boycott products from companies that produce CFCs.
Carpool or walk to reduce carbon dioxide pollution in the air.
Do not use ivory or animal furs. Animals are killed to make these!
Eat dolphin safe tuna, or don’t eat tuna at all.
Buy in bulk–this saves not only on packaging that you would eventually have to dispose of, but reduces tremendously the amount of industrial waste generated to make the packaging.
Shop for durable, long-lasting products. For example, use a metal razor instead of disposables, or a metal roasting pan instead of a disposable one.
Reuse whatever you can, including aluminum pie tins, glassware, plastic cutlery and aluminum foil.
Buy products with recycled contents.
Precycle–make an effort to buy products with recyclable packaging.
Leave the grass clippings on the lawn, and start a backyard composting bin for yard clippings.
Instead of throwing away items such as furniture, appliances and clothing, look for a place to donate them.
Make recycling easy by putting recycle bins in the rooms where you use the products. If you open the mail in your den, keep a box nearby where you can put junk mail. If you want to save vegetable and fruit clippings for a composting pile, keep them in a container under the sink.
Replace paper cups, plates and napkins with washable, reusable cups and plates and cloth napkins.
Keep used paper in a stack and use the flip side for scrap work.
Try to buy items that are less toxic to the environment when produced. For example, use vinegar and water as a replacement to glass cleaner.
Keep in mind that trash generation is not confined to the home. Remember the amount of packaging when choosing a restaurant for take-out food.
Just because your community doesn’t pick up all recyclables on the curb, it doesn’t mean there are not viable alternatives nearby. Check with dry cleaners, supermarkets, manufacturers, your local public works department and civic organizations to find out where recycled goods can be dropped off, at a location near you.
An easy way to cut the amount of paper that goes into the trash or recycle bin is to perfect all of your documents before you print them. Run grammar and spell check to eliminate careless mistakes, and then preview your document in print preview. This will reduce the amount of paper that you use, saving money and helping to save the environment!
When you are out enjoying nature, no matter how tempting it may be, DO NOT FEED THE WILD ANIMALS! Feeding wild animals makes them dependent upon human food, which will ultimately lead them to starve when humans are not around (usually during winter).

Jere answers:

USPS must deliver everything it is paid to deliver. There is nothing they can do. You’re free to refuse anything you don’t want, but the vast majority of ‘junk’ mailings are not returnable to the sender, so all you’re doing is forcing USPS to spend money paying employees to do what you can – throw it away.

The thing you need to do is stop things from being sent to you. A long time ago, contacting the Direct Marketing Association and asking to be removed from mailing lists helped a little, but it was only temporary. The next time you engaged in a financial transaction that left a paper trail to who you are, your name and address went on a mailing list, and was sold to others, again and again and again, and DMAs work was undone. It’s even worse today with internet shopping. Your info gets out there even faster.

You can still contact DMA – for what good it will do:

https://www.dmachoice.org/

As someone else suggested, the three credit reporting bureaus may be able to temporarily slow down credit card offers. Again, only temporary.

My long experience over 34 years as a letter carrier has shown me who is successful at getting hardly any mail – with the exception of the mass mailings that every resident on a mail route receives, there is no way to stop those. Those who get practically nothing tend to be elderly, do not own a credit card, do not own a computer, deal exclusively in cash. They get bills, personal correspondence and the aforementioned local house-to-house ads, and that’s about it.

There’s been talk about a ‘do not mail’ list along the lines of the ‘do not call’ registry. I don’t see it happening, because the two are nowhere close to the same thing. Unwanted phone calls can be more than just annoying, they are actually intrusive. If you go out to your mailbox in the middle of dinner or right when something really good comes on the tube, that can’t be blamed on the people that sent the stuff.

There is one little trick you can try that might help, and it will help generate a little extra income for USPS. Any unwanted mailings that have pre-paid ‘business reply envelopes’ included – you can always stuff them with some of what they sent you, making sure your name and address are in there. They’ll take you off their list quicker than by going through some other channel.

Jere answers:

Regardless of sex, social media is a great marketing tool. Reports (example listed below) show that women do use social media more as a way of communicating with friends and family. Therefore, they are also more likely to respond to marketing and refer products to others.

Statistics show that Mom’s are active purchasers on social media as well: Ninety-three percent of mom respondents to the Mom365/Direct Marketing Association’s recent survey said they seek out digital direct offers,Sixty-four percent of these moms had purchased direct within the last year, and 25 percent do so every month. More than half of these moms became more interested in online offers after having children. Why? Ninety-two percent said having a family is expensive; notably, 83 percent want to be rewarded for brand loyalty.

The two keys for anyone being successful in social media marketing is to 1) understand what you’re doing and 2) have a software tool that will allow you to consistently, quickly, and easily engage with others.

Hope these stats help

Jere answers:

Photo District News is a good resource for general news – (online at www.pdnonline.com or at your newstand) but it is centered in NY – so it’s coverage of mid America or the west coast or the south (particularly Texas – and to a lesser extent Atlanta) is not as full as I’d like.

ASMP the American Society of Media Photographers has members from all over and they may be able to fill in some gaps or point you in the right direction

The better trade magazines that will point you in the right direction are usually heavily biased toward commercial work done by ad agencies (as opposed to fine art or portrait/wedding) – and the best of these (which will have ads for creative resources, data bases you can buy into etc.) is Communication Arts. (www.commarts.com)

Before the web, (don’t know about now…) Creative Access out of Chicago was a firm that maintained databases of art directors and art buyers. Photographers and illustrators would buy their lists – local, regional and national – for a direct mail list.

Regional film commissions (i.e., state agencies) typically have this sort of data as well as professional producers associations (there’s one in Dallas for example)

Jere answers:

Genealogy is not about ‘clans’ genealogy is about ancestors, direct ancestors are your parents, grandparents, great grandparents and so on, your cousins, uncles, aunts are ‘branch lines’ and you are not descended from them, you would have a common blood ancestor which makes you related…so you and your cousins share common blood related grandparents……….

Clans are a whole different thing……….. Clans are groups of people some ‘related’, some friends , some neighbours all got together to live, hunt, fight……. And from ancient history, nothing to do with genealogy at all as you can’t prove research as there are no records to prove it………… Now in today’s society the mythical surname clans, set up purely to sell products, another is the association of tartan to a surname…it is completely mythical a modern day marketing ploy to improve the textile industry and sell to Americans who are desperate to be part of a ‘Scottish clan’ and encouaged by the America film industry……….just like religion it is about a belief system and believing is real in the heads of those that do, it is not fact just because you believe it……..

” The battle of Culloden in 1745 was the last stand in the campaign by supporters of the Catholic Prince Charles Edward Stuart to form a challenge to the ruling Hanoverian King, George II (Morgan, p423). The ‘Young Pretender’ promoted Highland dress as the uniform of his Jacobite army. This led to tartan being associated with political rebellion and sedition and to its proscription under the Disarming Act of 1746. Under this Act, which lasted until 1782, the wearing of tartan was forbidden, with the penalty of possible transportation for seven years (Cheape, pp32-38).

Tartan was promoted when the textile industry was in decline causing great unemployment to a wool/weaving industry in Scotland, worn by the King George IV to Edinburgh in 1822, during which the monarch appeared in a version of full Highland dress. This royal endorsement of tartan was continued from the 1840s by Queen Victoria, which was a great stimulus to its fashionability in Britain, France, and elsewhere (Scarlett 1990, pp35-37). ”
http://scottishtextileheritage.org.uk/onlineResources/articles/articlesTem3.asp?articleNo=45

Jere answers:

There are many, many online business programs out there. As far as recognition, people outside of the education and HR realms sometimes confuse online degrees with fraudalent or easy degrees.

1st of all, any program you enter should be regionally accredited. Regional accreditation shows that the school has passed a review process that will help ensure that your credits will transfer to other schools and that you are eligible to sit for licensing exams such as the CPA, CMA, etc.

Regional accreditation will also qualify for military and governmental guidelines. Be sure to check here before you enroll: http://www.chea.org/search/

Regionally accredited Online degrees are the same accreditation as other schools. However, online schools lack the prestige or name recognition of traditional on ground schools. For alot of military people and working adults, online degrees are the only option.

As far as choices, here are just some to looking to:

DeVry University www.devry.edu
Franklin University www.franklin.edu
Baker
Kaplan University www.kaplan.edu
Davenport University Online

I would avoid University of Phoenix due to the extremely high cost for no noticeable benefit.

Jere answers:

Since your only 14 you may need your parents consent with most sites, You should start selling items on ebay to see if online is for you.

1
Decide what kind of online business you want to start. Online businesses that require little to no money upfront are service businesses. Writing services, virtual secretary businesses, and web design businesses are all low-cost options. An e-commerce store using drop shipping services also requires very little money to start.

2
Set up a website to showcase your products and services. Free methods can be used to create an online business website; BlueVoda, Doodlekit, and WordPress are examples of free hosting website solutions that also include integrated web design features. Low-cost websites can be purchased for as low as $5 to $10 using affordable business services like Intuit Small Business. Alternatively, registering a domain name and buying a dedicated hosting account costs as little as $10 to $15 a month; GoDaddy and HostGator are popular domain registrar and hosting services. Free shopping cart software like Zen Cart and osCommerce can be used if you are creating an e-commerce store with product inventory.

3
Create a custom design and look for your online business website by downloading and using free web page what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) editors if in-house tools are not included in your hosting package. A few examples of free HTML and WYSIWYG editors include CoffeeCup Free HTML Editor, SeaMonkey, and Komodo Edit. Be sure to preview the web page design in Internet browsers before uploading the files to your web hosting service to ensure that it’s compatible with multiple browsers.

4
Advertise your online business in free spaces both on the Internet and offline. Post your service or product offerings on classified ad sites like Craigslist. Submit your online business to free business directory listings like the Google Local Business Center or SuperPages directory. Post flyers of your online business around your local city or town on community bulletin boards. Tell all your friends and family of your online business so that word-of-mouth advertising gets started.

5
Form a limited liability company (LLC) or corporation to protect yourself in the event of lawsuits and other legal troubles. This can be done after your online business has turned a profit so that you don’t have to use out-of-pocket money for this expense.

Jere answers:

It does take a lot to start an online business, there are many programs that can actually help you on your way to doing so, but there are also a lot of scams out there. You do not really need a product to sell, all you need is a good niche to offer people great information. You can create free blogs, go through programs, etc. Check this out for alot more info: http://www.how2makemoneyonlinenow.com

Also there is alot more to it then just starting a business and getting rich, depending what you are trying to do, like give information to people, you will need very unique and up to date information in order to get the traffic needed to be considered a business. You may also join a program and become an affiliate of another product, mainly it is just being a salesperson online for that company. There is so much you can start a business out of out there, but make sure you are well organized and also it would be useful to have computer and web design knowledge as well.

For alot of great tips and information go to http://www.how2makemoneyonlinenow.com

Jere answers:

Online business is basically like you are having a virtual store online or web. You can say you are not having any physical presence but you are still earning money. There are lot of ways to earn money online like Affiliates, Ads business,

Jere answers:

Expand your business online by advertising your services on social media platforms. Not only make post but also interact with the people and make them aware of your business. Like wise, I suggest you to strength your local visibility. It can be achieved by listing up your business on the renowned business listing websites like :

local.com
hotfrog.com
yellowbook.com
www.yelp.com
www.mapquest.com

Jere answers:

Make your own!

1. Buy Avery Clean-Edge Business Cards at your local Target or office products store.
2, Download their free DesignPro software from avery.com
3. Design your own cards quickly and easily

Avoid using Microsoft Word unless you are a glutton for punishment and frustration!

Jere answers:

Definitely Vistaprint. I have ordered business products from them, and they are high-quality, they let me design them myself, online, and proof them before printing. Great company to do business with. Can’t say enough good about them!

Jere answers:

I use vista print for mine, and my mom uses then for hers as well. They look great, and u can upload your own pics if you need, the only proplem i found was that i could make my picture transparent so the words would be easy to read, so if you want to do that you need to do it to the picture before you upload it to there site. Also, doing it that way makes it cost more. The smallest amount you can do is $250 cards, but even my local print shops had that rule. My last order was 250 cards, with my own pic as the background, one sided, for $20 after shipping, go to retailmenot.com and type in vistaprint.com and they have a link to follow there, so that your first order is cheaper. Thats my suggestion.

Jere answers:

Well, I know such a company which deals in providing custom printed business cards with high quality you ask, also customizing your design with their free of cost graphic design consultancy is a plus and any image format can be given and free shipping is given by them.They provide online support for custom printing quotes regarding your specifications.

Jere answers:

There aren’t any really good sites. Places like VistaPrint trick you into agreeing to accept “affiliate” marketing. You get tons of spam or, even worse, magazine subscriptions that say that you have “agreed” to their subscription. It gets even worse if you give them your credit card number for Shipping and Handling.
You can walk into any Staples store (i don’t work for them) and design your own business cards. When you have it ready, the clerk prints them out. Watch for their specials. They give you 50 cards for free and they look nice. When i had it ready, the guy gave me 100 cards for free.

Jere answers:

First decide on what you want your business to offer. Stick to that idea once started. Evaluate who your demographic will be, how you will offer your goods or services to them, and “spy” on possible competitors who are already in the business.

For example:
For what age, gender, social group will you produce your service or product. (This will be crucial for advertising, design, logo, name of the company etc.)
Will you deliver the good or service via internet, phone, a store, an agency?
Do basic calculations of how much you would have to invest to get the company started. (mainly fixed costs)
Look for where your product or service will be needed the most, check out locations for a possible store to start off with.
Involve someone who studied economics, business or law (if you haven’t yourself). This will be crucial for contracts, legal issues, product placement, advertising and so on.
Do not hire random people. Be picky! The current economical situation allows you to pick from the best people who are out there.
Do not forget company and product registration so you are listed in phone books and other registries.
Have contact data ready for registration purposes. (eg. Business phone number, address, homepage)

It will be hard to start off from scratch without any professional help. I recommend going to already established companies that offer a similar or the same service or good that you offer. Tell them about your idea and ask them to invest in it, or give you some help starting off the company. Make a nice powerpoint presentation about your idea, it should be short, informative and convincing. Already established companies out there are more than welcome to help you with your idea, you just need to make it clear that your idea will bring profit in the future.

If you cannot get a company to invest in your idea, get a business coach who will help you professionally set up a company. It might cost a bit but for sure is good invested money.

This might also help you out:

http://www.score.org/bp_10.html

I wish you luck with your new company, and I hope it will become a success 🙂

Jere answers:

Dig a telephone line?

Comcast is a cable company, not a phone company, although they do provide digital voice service, so they would run a cable line to your home… Verizon, at&t, qwest, frontier, or whoever the RBOC or iLEC in your area would be the telephone company that would bring a telephone line to your home..

Depends on how far it needs to be run… It would more than likely involve installing several utility poles (something that the cable company does not do, but the telephone and electric company does) unless you already have poles installed from the electric company…

You are probably looking at several thousand dollars… Cable company wanted to charge one of our customers something like $50,000 to bring cable to a business, and that was only tunneling across one major 4 lane street to the back of a building that was just across the street…

You CAN get internet service.. You are just not thinking outside the box… Satellite internet is available just about anywhere globally… And you may have luck with a cellular modem – although if you really live in that rural of an area where you can not get 4G a cellular modem might not be worth it..

Jere answers:

How are magicjack or vonage scams? They are legitimate companies, that provide reasonably priced phone service..

Magic jack is not the best compared to land line phone service, but at $20 a year how can you compare the two? And how can you consider $20 to be a scam..

Vonage is one of the oldest VoIP providers in the market, you do not get to last that long, and have such a huge customer base with out knowing how to operate a VoIP business.. They have outlasted many of their competitors… Any other VoIP provider would not have been in business as long as vonage, and would be offering the same type of SIP based service…

Ooma is not that bad, but rather expensive up front.. And is really not free “lifetime” service, as there is an annual charge for taxes and fees… And the premier service is $125 per year..

The closest quality to a landline that you are going to get, with a lower cost would be the phone service provided by your cable company, and by bundling TV, internet and phone service you should be able to save more money on all 3 services..

If you really just want a regular phone line, then your best bet is to just go with your RBOC – which ever phone company owns the outside plant where you live (Verizon, ATT, Frontier, etc)

Jere answers:

Yes.
But you have to have detailed records.
If something is shared with the household, like phone, or internet service, or computer, Keep detailed logs.
Same for personal car used for business.
Get the IRS publication on in home office.

Space designated for office should be a room of its own.
Deducat rent, heat, elect based on the ratio of Sq feet in office to sq feet in house.

Anything bought for making money and used in the office is deductible:
stamps, paper, toner (if not shared), chairs, shipping material, cost of business checking, safe, all telephone exculsive to business.
Professional magazines keep in office.
Pro rate property tax or rent.

Jere answers:

You know how they always say success is the best revenge. Study hard, get a good job, and go into business for yourself. Then you might get a sense of how hard it is to make it in the world of business, and you might even change your tune. Not everyone who raises prices is increasing their profit margin. Running a fair enterprise yourself is the best you can do.

Jere answers:

Google doc is the best way of share your data. Simple online share documents..

Jere answers:

There are many paths you can take online. The first place to look to get your name “out there” is a technique, or process, called Search Engine Optimization (SEO). This is a marketing strategy that many site owners fail to undertake. It starts with developing key words to reside within the code of your home page (meta tags) and progresses through the submission of your site to search engines. It is a process and there are many steps. I would suggest researching SEO online (or even buying a book). There are even companies that you can hire to do this for you. Properly executed SEO combined with banners and link sharing can really help increase site traffic as well. Have you ever considered blogging? That is another potential source of traffic.

Jere answers:

Accepting credit cards won’t ever be cheap. Visa, Mastercard, and the rest all want their money, and so do the companies that process the cards.

Everyone’s hand is out and getting their share before you see your funds. It’s terrible but a fact of business life.

The alternative I find to be quite useful is ProPay, which is owned by Wells Fargo. Check out what they offer and their prices.

With ProPay, you’re able to process credit cards online, by telephone, and through a card reader if the customer’s credit card is handed to you. There’s much more to consider, and ProPay’s site features an FAQ and price list for each level of service.

What I like about them is that there’s one yearly cost – no monthly fees such as $25 or more per month charged by merchant account firms. Those fees eat away at your profits.

I was glad to get away from the constant money takers and opt for ProPay and PayPal. Every credit card processor has fee structures, but some are manageable while others are astronomical.

Good luck to you.

Shirley George Frazier
Author and Small Business Expert

Jere answers:

As soon as you start doing anything towards running a business you are self-employed, and you should inform HMRC of this. They will then arrange for you to pay Class 2 national insurance contributions (about £2.50 per week) and to send you a self-assessment form for income tax at the appropriate time.

In order to make sure you pay the right tax you need to keep accurate records. For this you need to keep receipts and/or invoices for all the money you pay out. And you need to keep copies of the receipts and/or invoices that you issue to your customers to record the money coming in. Ideally you will also keep a set of business accounts that records all these transactions as you go.

If you were operating on your own then ownership of the business would be obvious. Essentially you *are* the business, so there is no argument. And ownership of any assets used (eg computers, offices, etc) will be obvious as well.

The problem you have is the involvement of your two friends. If you paid them to produce the software then they are merely suppliers of your business. However, if they did it for nothing then it could be that they are actually partners, and so are entitled to a share of the profits.

If you paid them for the software, then they will actually own the copyright to it, unless your agreement explicity provided that all rights would be transferred to you. This does not necessarily allow them to prevent you from using it, but it might, and it almost certainly prevents you from improving it, and it almost certainly allows them to use it for themselves as well.

If they are partners then the software will probably be owned by the partnership, so you all have equal rights to it, and so none of you can then use it outside of the partnership for other purposes.

The problem you have if you don’t sort this out, is that if you suddenly make a fortune these guys could decide that they want their cut. You don’t necessarily need to involve a solicitor, but a written contract in which they confirm they acted as software suppliers only, and they agree to transfer all rights to you in return for a final payment would be useful.

Jere answers:

Wow, the kind of question you are asking here makes you really vulnerable because people who are hungry for your money will be here presenting to you with many solutions which some could be scam.

Make sure you research for whatever opportunity that is presented to you before you decide to head on for it or even pay for a scam like me a couple of months ago. Just go to google and type in the “opportunity” followed by the word “scam”.

If things shows, it could be ugly…stay away from them…

Alright, I can only speak from my 5 year experience marketing online.

If you want to advertise, you’ve gotta take risk. Try Miva Ads, Yahoo Overture & Msn Ad centre Pay per click because they are cheaper than google.

You can test water first before you even go full out to promote any opportunity and waste hours of effort online. I remember when I first started, I was excited about an MLM company and it’s potential only to realized that it’s all hype.

Anyway, if you want immediate results and not waste any time or money. Go advertise your opportunity using pay per click.
You will instantly get targeted qualified traffic to your opportunity.

Within 24hrs, you could spend $20 but You would know if your opportunity could sell or cannot sell. Instantly you can know if you were being hyped up.

Just imagine, it takes you no more than 10mins to setup the pay per click advertisement and you just sit back and wait for the results.

Sure, there might be some risk that you could lose your $20-$50 but think about it. If you did not try, you would not know…and if you do not know..you would spend more hours or even months trying to make it work…how much more hours $$$$ would you be losing.

Sometimes people are so concerning with losing that $50 that they keep finding ways to do it with lesser risk and end up spending more time…and the time spend is definitely more than the $50 plus they would never know if the program they bought into works…

I hope this helps you out…