Home Biz Chat

Docstoc.com – free legal forms and business templates

If you run a small business, you will need to create and develop documents. I have often used templates from Microsoft office and very often found something that was not just quite right but was useful.

I was stumbling today and discovered Docstoc. This is a great resource of professional documents that are much more specific an detailed than Office templates.

Docstoc is in beta and is a user generated community where you can find and share professional documents. Find free legal documents and free business documents. Upload your documents for all the world to share.

This is a very nice resource

Edumax provides free “virtual classrooms” on various subjects and you can learn for free as long as you have access to the internet! Our “virtual classrooms” are a series of easy to understand lessons prepared by experts that I can be grasped by any learning pace. We also make sure that content is of the highest quality and substance so that we can impart valuable knowledge to you. Our “virtual classrooms” are you step-by-step guides so that you can understand the topics from the most basic concept to the advanced theories. We want you to improve your lives with the knowledge that you will get from Edumax.

Edumax wants to be your partner in improving your skills and get a better career. Our subjects range from personal development to web development and computer programming. With Edumax you will find easy to read and easy to understand guidelines on success, debt management, as well as tutorials on computer basics, Microsoft office, web development, internet basics, and programming.

As an Edumax user, you already have an edge. So start to maximize your education online today. Edumax will show the way.

10 Things You Can Do to Improve Your Home Office Cheaply - FreelanceSwitch - The Freelance Blog

Freelance Switch has some great ideas on improving the home office.

I have just completed moving into my home office and will definitely be using some of these ideas. I think the main idea behind this is that you should treat your home office as the same as the corporate office. Not many of use will put up with poor lighting, cable rats nest and such. Why put up with it at home.

There are some great ideas here. Let me know if you have any home office tips and I will port the best ones in a later article.

What is Joomla! ? l

Joomla! is an award-winning Content Management System (CMS) that will help you build websites and other powerful online applications. Best of all, Joomla! is an open source solution that is freely available to everybody.
Joomla! in Action
Read the rest of this entry »

Bookwise: The most intelligent home business, just completed their annual convention and have made some amazing announcements that you NEED to pay attention to. If you ever thought about starting a network marketing business, now is time.

1. New Preferred Customer Program -
Name may change at some point. Imagine 1.5 million books, including music CDs, movies (DVDs), textbooks and video games in 2008. Bookwise has contracted with Baker and Taylor, founded in 1828, and currently the largest distributor of books and media with 385,000 titles in inventory and 1.5 million available. They have 11 distribution centers; 2,500 employees and various shipping options.
Read the rest of this entry »

Mashable hes put together a great list of some 30 sites that can teach you a thing or two. Maybe even 3 or 4.

There is a huge selection of free tutorials on the web for just about everything you can think of. We’ve put together 25+ sites that should help give you a good start on learning about the web itself and web-related tools you wish you knew more about.

The sites are technology related and some charge for the lessons. However, for the business who is just stating out, this could be a great way of keeping up to date on the latest technology

You’ve heard that you can’t have your cake and eat it, too. But hiring your own family is one case when you can. Pay your minor or adult children to work for your business, then write it off as an expense.

Many people are confused about whether it’s legal to hire their children and grandchildren. Follow my advice to satisfy both the IRS and employment laws - while saving on your own taxes. Assuming it’s a true payment for services performed (and the paperwork is handled properly) it’s totally legal and acceptable to pay family members.

Minor Children Save the Most Taxes

Child labor restrictions don’t apply to a parent (unless it’s in manufacturing, mining, or any hazardous occupation defined by the Department of Labor) - even under 16. I hired my own daughters from the ages of 7 and 9 without a hitch.
Read the rest of this entry »

Bank of America has launched a new social network site just for the small business community.

The site is free to join and has a community of experts for every aspect of your business. This is similar top other social network in that it share some contact information and allows networking of members.

The Small Business Online Community allows small business to exchange ideas and information, and benefit from the experience of others. It’s easy to connect with other members - try starting or joining a conversation in the forums or posting your thoughts in a review. Many users also learn valuable insights and tips from our expert articles and the success stories of other members. Please share your own expertise by participating regularly in all areas of the community. Contributions and members that are rated by the community as the most helpful may be prominently featured across the site.

You surely know that a small idea can lead to a great business success. The first movement is to think of an idea that would be suitable for the business market. After coming up with the idea, the next step is to put that idea into action. Of course, this is a very difficult step and having the idea is only the start of the journey. After that you will have to face many obstacles before being able to carry on with your business project. This is just the beginning of this process and there is a lot of questions you will have to answer before even start.

Some of the main aspects you have to concentrate on when you have business ideas are the abilities and gifts you can pour into the business. It is very important for you to be identified with your business project. Those ideas should be based on activities and actions you take pleasure in doing. For example, if we suppose that you dislike working in the open, landscaping business would not suit you. On the other hand, if you like working with children, setting up baby-sitting or tutoring business would be an excellent idea. In this case, without any doubt you business will be more successful because you will have put your mind, effort and also your heart on it.
Read the rest of this entry »

f you are any kind of small business or home operated business, online presence is essential. Majority of web site visitors are from the English speaking population due to the high levels of internet penetration in that category, online presence for all small enterprises cannot be overemphasized. The research data in the US about online connectivity reveals the following facts which may help to understand the importance of the web presence for businesses especially the small enterprise.

70 % of the US households have web connectivity.

In 2004 worldwide online population was 801 million worldwide.

Of these 36% used English as the language. Of this U.S. alone accounts for close to 200 million.

The next major group was European languages with 38 % and major single language next to English was Chinese accounting for 14%.

Home web users were generally affluent, literate, and belonged to the younger age profile. This means the web presence for any business is necessary if you want to succeed in promoting your products and services to a population who can afford them and also willing to buy them online.

The household that did not own a computer or who were were not connected to the web, generally felt it is not useful or needed and cost too much.

What this means for a small business owner is that they are better off promoting their products to people who were online.

You small business success is undoubtedly linked to your online presence

Many people believe that starting an online business from home is difficult. In fact it is quite easy. If you are already familiar with what product you will sell you will need to create or hire someone to produce an online website for you. This website should list the product or products you have available. If you will be selling your own products, make sure that your online business has a name that reflects you and what you offer.

After this has been completed, you should inquire in your local state to learn the guidelines necessary for you to run a business from your home. Many states require that even an online business register with them and receive a business license. You will have to get the necessary forms to request this license.

After you have obtained you license, you should also find out how running an online business from home will affect you tax situation. You would still need to report any income you make from your business, even if you are working at home.
Read the rest of this entry »

Mashable, The Website that reports everything Web 2.0, Has put up a nice listing of 65 Calendars that are online. So if you need a online Calendar, I am sure you will find one that suits your needs here

Website at the Jump

How can a guy who collects junk mail help your business?

I just downloaded and read a very unusual report. I was expecting some get rich quick scheme and would probably throw it away.

I admit, most of these type of reports only give you enough information to get you excited and purchase the next big thing in internet marketing.

I will say that I as pleasantly surprised and quite taken aback on the clever use of traditional direct marketing tactics to make a sale.

What does this have to do with small business ? These tactics can be easily adapted to your business and methods. This is not a get rich quick scheme. The author provides examples of what he used and how the campaign progressed. He even provides costs and ROI.

all through out the report he emphasizes one aspect of marketing that most of use forget. There is money to be made in the follow up.

To get your copy - download it here

By the way, the link is an affiliate link and I make a dollar for everyone who downloads the report. You can also make a dollar by becoming an affiliate.

10 Businesses Facing Extinction in 10 Years

Thinking of starting a new business ? Entrepreneur has a list if 10 that you should probably avoid.

One interesting one that I never thought of was crop dusting. I did not know that the commercial airline are getting into the business. I think we will always need crop dusters, but just not as often as the agri business is using technology to grow disease resistant food.

One thing that I think the list forgot is Modem Manufacturing. Most of the country now has access to high speed connections. If you don’t, you can get it a the public library.

Know of anther industry that will die in the next 10 years ?

I kind of fell into blogging several years ago. although I did not realize that it was called blogging back then. I had a small business with a website and I decided to utilize the website to keep my customers informed rather than the old paper newsletter that I used to send out.

For the past year now I have wanted to get serious about blogging and truly make a career out of it. But as most people, I thought I knew enough to make a go at it and make a little money.

Well, I must say that the blogging world has changed quite a bit. It seems everyone is blogging and making 6 figures with their blog. At least thats what it seems with all the “Make Money Blogging” websites out there.

Being realistic, I doubt that all those people are making that much money.However, I do believe that one can still make money blogging, if done well and professionally. That means I will need to learn from the most successful bloggers out there and emulate them.

Are there course for this kind of thing? Fortunately there are and I have narrowed the literally hundreds of courses to just three which I feel or the best produced and most professional

So, in no particular order, I have the following courses to choose from by the end of the month.

1. BlogMasterMind — This is geared towards the new blogger and takes you step by step to developing a blog that will generate income.

2. Internet Entrepreneurs Club- This is targeted toward internet marketing in general, This course seems more on the selling and marketing side of things. Not only blogs, but websites in general. This course also discusses how to develop products, build e-mail lists, and other things that go into a successful website marketing campaign.

3. Six Figure Blogging - This is more of a home study course but also takes the beginner step by step and develops a professional blog.

Soon, I will be making a decision on which one to start.

I will be posting my progress and I go through the course and will see along with me, how a blog or website is developed from the ground up.

I will update when the decision is made next week.