Computer Tips that Help Small Businesses Operate P

Computer Tips that Help Small Businesses Operate Profitably

by: Sharron Senter

When working properly, computers enable small businesses to make big business profits; however, get booted off your computer and you’re suddenly starving. In most instances, computers usually act up due to lack of care by its owners. Here are four computer tips that’ll keep you up and running smoothly.

Tip #1 Back up your computer’s data no less than once a month.

Too often a small business is thrust back to infancy because it didn’t take time to back up precious data; information that took hours upon hours to create. Information that’s irreplaceable, such as customer databases or employment contracts. Keep in mind you’ll want to back up your written data as well as check books such as Quicken and email address books. If your computer has a CD writer, it’s simple and quick to back up your data. Simply select the files and folders you want to back up and copy them to the writer.

Or if you have an older computer, copy your most important files to a floppy disk. Either way, don’t stop there; now take the CD or disk and store it in a firesafe box! To expedite the process, organize your files within folders so you can quickly grab and copy one or two folders.

Tip #2 – Don’t turn off your computer every evening.

Too frequently computer users turn their computers off every evening. This is unnecessary and not recommended. A computer’s components are at their most vulnerable when turned on and off. When a computer has to heat up [turn on] or cool down [turn off] it’s at this precise moment components fail. It’s recommended you turn your computer off once or twice a week or only when necessary, such as from a power outage. However, don’t do the opposite and never turn your computer off, since many antivirus programs require a computer reboot be performed before new virus patches take effect.

Tip #3 Automate antivirus software so it updates automatically no less than once a week.

Depending on your software, you may need to prompt it to update. Unfortunately, there are people with too much time on their hands who desire to attack and make your computer unusable. A computer user is not ultimately protected from viruses and spyware [popups, cookies, etc.] unless you’re using a combination of antivirus and antispyware software and a firewall, a piece of hardware that protects computers from being hacked. You must have all three pieces in order to ward off viruses, lurkers and attacks. What’s more, most of the attacks are very quiet. You don’t know someone is on your computer. Instead, they secretly store information, such as child pornography or music MP3s on your computer, since itกs illegal, and redirect childporno or MP3 seekers to your computer instead of theirs.

Tip #4 Install a firewall if you keep your computer constantly on.

Using a broadband or DSL connection dramatically increases your exposure to being hacked. It only takes an average of 15 minutes being online before a homebased computer is attacked. The only true way to protect a computer from a hacker is to install a hardware firewall. It’s a misconception that softwarebased firewalls ultimately defend computers. This is simply not true. Computers must have a hardware firewall for ultimate protection, such as a SonicWall or Netscreen firewall, a component installed between a home user’s cable or DSL connection and their computer.

About The Author

Sharron Senter is cofounder of http://www.VisitingGeeks.com an on site computer repair, security and networking company that helps families, home power users and small businesses north of Boston, Southern NH and Maine. Visiting Geeks’ technicians are crackerjacks at squashing viruses, popups and securing and making computers perform faster. To reach Visiting Geeks call (978) 3464087 or visit http://www.VisitingGeeks.com Sharron’s also the author of, ขMake Money While Sleeping.ข Learn more at http://www.sharronsenter.com/fs_increase_seo.shtml

This article was posted on October 05, 2004

by Sharron Senter

Scrap Booking Online: Word Perfect or Corel Graphi

Scrap Booking Online: Word Perfect or Corel Graphics Suite?

by: Grannyกs Mettle

Scrapbooks are very popular these days. I think that almost everyone wanted to capture family histories and stories in any which way they can. And with the onset of digital technology, scrap booking has even extended to newsletters and journals with photos and illustrations online and in the email. Theyกve become so popular that itกs not surprising to receive an entire scrapbook from your relatives and friends and loved ones even across the globe.

With the advanced technology, people have been using graphic design and desktop publishing software to help them create wonderful and creative scrapbooks. Two of this wellknown software is CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 12 and WordPerfect Office Suite 12.

Each of the software has their own endearing qualities. Both applications are used to create newsletters as far as I know. But what software to choose? It all depends on what you want to create.

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 12

For graphicallyrich family history newsletter or time capsule, CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 12 would be the ideal software as it is the easiest graphics suite available in the market today.

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite is a vector editing program. This software is definitely for illustration, page layout, and vector drawing. It has the Corel PhotoPaint for bitmap editing of photos and images for that professional digital imaging look. It has hundreds of clip art photos and images to choose from, which you can overlay your own family photos on top. It also has Corel R.A.V.E. 3 for motiongraphics creation.

With the softwareกs features and vast collection of photos, clipart and fonts, you can create and design a professionallooking newsletter or a family history time capsule, and even a memorable album where you and your family will find the highlights of your life in wonderful and elegant designs made by you.

Corelกs WordPerfect Office 12

And if you’re the simple type, and you don’t want too much clutter, you can use Corelกs WordPerfect Office 12 to create a novisual and textbased newsletter. The software has an array of newsletter templates you can use to help you start right away with your newsletter. This so far, is the best alternative to Microsoft Office.

Better yet, why not use both software to help you create your scrap book? One freelance newsletter designer who specializes in genealogy utilizes both software because the combination makes him complete his design tasks twice as fast. กI can create graphics in CorelDRAW 12 and quickly pop them into all my textbased WordPerfect 12 office documents because switching between files is very easy,ก he relates. This is made possible by the tools in both the software that reduce the number of steps required to finish his jobs.

He adds that what makes it more worthwhile is that aside from saving time, finger movements on the mouth is also reduced, thereby reducing cramps and strains from the fingers to the wrist.

About The Author

Grannyกs Mettle is a 30something, professional web content writer. She has created various web content on a diverse range of topics, which includes digital printing topics, medical news, as well as legal issues. Her articles are composed of reviews, suggestions, tips and more for the printing and designing industry.

Her thoughts on writing: กWriting gives me pleasure… pleasure and excitement that you have created something to share with others. And with the wide world of the Internet, it gives me great satisfaction that my articles reach more people in the quickest time you could imagine.ก

On her spare time, she loves to stay at home, reading books on just about any topic she fancies, cooking a great meal, and taking care of her husband and kids.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit http://www.losangelesprintingservice.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on April 11

by Grannyกs Mettle

5 Signs It Is Time To Leave Your Day Job

5 Signs It Is Time To Leave Your Day Job

by: Stephen Mistretta

Have you ever woken up in the middle of Sunday night in a cold sweat dreading you have to go to work Monday?

I have. And I am sure a lot of you have also.

What causes this and what is the solution? You internally dislike your job and finding a new job is the solution. Perhaps working from home where you are in control.

Throughout my work career I’ve had the opportunity to work at jobs I really enjoyed such as the US Army, a large financial planning firm as well as one of the larger ขBig Boxข retail chains.

I have also had the experience of working for a few companies where lying was the norm and Nepotism (hiring family members against company policy) was accepted.

Through these experiences I have come up with 5 key signs and or reasons it is time for a person to move on.

Your boss lies to the clients on a daily basis. I used to work in the digital printing industry where deadlines are tight and machinery does break down. I used to hear the owner lie to the customers about when a project would be completed. Of course I was the one left at the shop to explain to the customer why the job wasn’t done. The first time you hear the boss lie to a client I suggest you do two things. The first confront the boss professionally and tactfully and ask them why they lied. Usually they will try to sugar coat it, state right then and there it is something you do not agree with. Look for a solution for future potential problems. The second thing you should do is start looking for another job.

Your company or boss promises you a raise, bonus or time off and doesn’t follow through. A good friend of mine told me a story of how she worked for a company and her boss promised her three days off if they made there goal for the quarter. Well my friend worked her butt off and made the sales necessary to ขmakeข the quarter. Her boss then told her they had to double the quarter’s revenue in order to qualify for the three paid days off. She protested and the boss came back with ขthat’s what we agreed onข which of course was not the case. When you are working with a boss who is so pathetic it is better to move on. Keep your cool and start looking for a job, or better yet start your own business.

Your boss asks you to supervise one of there relatives. Remember the ขBlood is thicker then waterข from experience I can tell you it is true. Another good friend relayed a story to me about working for one of the larger ขone stopข digital presentation companies. He was hired as an assistant Branch manager or in this case the hired gun to clear out the deadwood. During his numerous interviews the Branch manager assured him that the fact many of their friends and also her Brother worked there he would have the authority and support to bring things back up to corporate standards. Well after the Brother showed up late three times my friend wrote the brother up for being late. Well guess what the sister/Branch Manager didn’t write him up the next time he was late (my friend was off that day). That sent a signal to the Brother that it was ok to ignore my friend as the Branch manger wasn’t writing him up. Moral of the story do not join companies where you will be a direct supervisor of a relative of your supervisor. It is nice to think it will work but it in a large majority of cases will not.Get out while you can.

Your boss asks you to lie for them. Once you start lying your boss will feel they got you right where they want you. Don’t do it. First thing to do is check with your labor board see if this is illegal and do you have any protection, second start looking for another job and third tactfully and professionally confront your boss, being prepared to be fired. If you are fired just wish them the best of luck, (this will most likely later drive them nuts thinking about it). Think about it why would you trust this person at all anymore, especially now that they are trying to drag you into there lies. Final point if you do something illegal or immoral for the boss and someone finds out about it who do you think the boss is going to point there finger at? You!!

You keep getting phone calls from creditors of your work place while at work. I went through this and the owner asked me to tell the creditors he was not there. OK maybe one time but after that pack your bags. Think logically if they aren’t paying the creditors what makes you think they will pay you.

When you decide it is time to leave above all for your next job do something you love. This will help soften life’s negative blows allot. Life is to short to be miserable and also to short to be working with pathetic small minded people. Always try to leave on good terms with a job waiting but realize sometimes for your own mental health sake you might have to just leave. Happiness IS NOT dependent on money, happiness is dependent on mental well being

About The Author

Stephen Mistretta is partner in www.HomeBusinessSuccess.biz a Home Business Guide and Portal. Steve can be reached at [email protected].

This article was posted on February 07

by Stephen Mistretta

How to Build a Forum That Doesn’t Fall Apart Two M

How to Build a Forum That Doesn’t Fall Apart Two Months Later, Part 1

by: Robert Plank

If you can get a big enough following from customer lists and newsletters you might want to start your own forum. But I always see people trying to start a forum and it falls flat on their face, mainly because they make it too big and they never promote it.

The main reason is because nobody eats in an empty restaurant. Don’t setup a กmultiple topicก forum like phpBB where it allows you to partition the thing off into different subjects. You have to start small, get enough traffic to that forum for THAT type of forum to become selfsustaining before you build bigger.

By that I mean start off with a blog.

This blog (and eventually your message board) HAVE to have a niche. You can’t just have a general purpose hangout message board, or have it based on something really vague like กMarketing,ก or กFinance,ก or กComputers.ก Instead go for something specific like a Copywriting message board. Or a message board about home loans. Or a message board about digital video.

You supply all the posts, and any user กpostsก will just be comments to this journal. Don’t require any sort of signup in order to post.

Give people an option to sign up for email updates but DO NOT use the autoresponder built into the blogging software. Instead use a separate autoresponder script. Why? Two reasons:

1.) You can write a quick teaser message that will entice more subscribers to read your posts than any boring automated notice could.

2.) This way it will be easier to move subscribers over once you graduate from a blog (keep reading).

(WordPress works great for this and is free.)

Start off allowing anyone to post, but once you start getting traffic to that page and the blog spam starts rolling in you will either have to require approval by you for a comment to go through or require the poster to type in a code to prove they are human (youกve seen the kind).

It will be easy to get SOME traffic to the blog, if you keep most of your entries to it in article format, because then you can submit these articles to ezines and the article directories with a link back to the blog.

Keep the blog format going, be SURE to post regularly and if possible write content in advance (Post To Future) so that if you miss a week your content will still be updated as if you never left. If you feel ambitious setup RSS feeds for the blog and submit to the feed directories.

Continue posting until you reach the point where after you make a post, you receive comments from 1020 different people within a day or two of the post. This 1020 has to happen without any emails being sent out, or any kind of active promotion.

Until you reach this point stay with the blog, it means you haven’t reached critical mass yet and any attempt to change over to a more complex kind of site will never work.

Once youกve got those 1020 spontaneous posts you can go ahead and make the move from a blog to a forum. But be very very careful. There are a lot of things that can go wrong, especially if your forum doesn’t กunfoldก properly, which is a technique Iกll discuss with you in Part 2 of this article…

About The Author

Robert Plank

Free (humorous) video for you about how to promote an affiliate program without seeming spammy. Take a look: http://www.affiliatebattleplan.com/Rewrite.html

[email protected]

This article was posted on August 09

by Robert Plank

To Survey Or Not To Survey

To Survey Or Not To Survey

by: Dave Weeks

I have learned over the years that when it comes to online marketing as I know it, itกs not about what I want in my business.Itกs really about what people who visit my website want. For awhile I didn’t understand that philosophy. How do I find out what people want?

Finding out what people want is not something you, I or anyone else for that matter can pull out of thin air. If we are going to be successful online, even offline in the brick and mortar world, we have to take our eyes off of ourselves and put them onto our potential customers.So how do we do this?

The answer is quite simple yet complex.That is to conduct a survey or surveys.Conducting surveys is simple.On your website you can create forms for people to fill out. If you are going to put a form on your website, I would limit only one form. You do not want to bombard people with forms.Keep it simple as the saying goes.

Do not get too personal in your form.In other words only ask for first name and email. That is it when it comes to their personal information.

Now, from their you can use your own imagination on the rest of the form makeup. Whatever it is you want to sell, make your survey easily accessible on your website. The number of visitors visiting your site will determine the number of surveys filled out and sent to your emails inbox. Its all numbers anyway….whether its marketing a product or service and conducting surveys. This is an excellent way of building lists specific to what people want to buy.

Notice how I said whatever it is you want to sell. What that means is, you don’t know yet if you have what people really want. That is the purpose of the survey. To find out if they want what you have. Once you collect the data and you are ready to sell, you have in your hand a ready made list of names specific for that product or service you are offering.

Not too long ago, this year as a matter of fact (2004 currently), I learned what not to do in a survey. I will give you my experience of what not to do and how to remedy this situation.

I recently got married and five of my family and friends took me to dinner two days prior to the wedding. As we were finishing our meal, the manager came to our table and told us that we have been selected to participate in a survey. She told us that if we participated, we would receive $3 off of our next meal. Come to find out, our bill which totaled over $120 collectively, the $3 off was for the entire group at the table. Ok, I think its nice that they offered this, but lets look at the reality of this situation. First of all, $3 off of over $120 does not get anyone too excited nor does it want to make anyone go through the hassle, yes hassle of filling out a survey when they are enjoying a night out with family and friends. Secondly, the odds of us getting together again and eating at this particular restaraunt are slim to none. So what does that tell me? That tells me one of two things. Either someone did not take their eyes off of themselves and put them onto their customers or, they knew the odds of us coming back as a group were slim and it works completely in their favor.That is disturbing to me. Now for my input on a remedy.

What would I do in this situation? Well first of all, everything I stated in the above paragraph, all of my family and friends after we were กselectedก kind of looked at each other in amazement and disbelief. We all knew that it was a silly thing to do to come up to us and play us like we were born a few days ago. First, If I am going to get a group to fill out a survey, especially if I have been กselectedก, and I am going to give them something in return to do so, I would offer the table, say, free desert now. Why do I say this? remember, you are marketing your business….make it work.Make people who just enjoyed the meal and the service go out and tell someone else.Stand up and believe that the way you are conducting your survey is for your customers, not just you alone. Don’t try and fool people, were not fooled.If you are going to have a couple fill out a survey, how about buy one meal get the second meal half off. After all, it appears this is a random selection. Not everyoneis doing this. Now, I am not looking for free handouts. As a matter of fact, I would have rather given the manager (and no disrespect to her) $5 to leave. Itกs obvious to me in this circumstance that this particular establishment does not want to give away anything. They want it to only benefit themselves.But if you are a business and you want true success in surveys, do it right.

The final approach? Instead of offering anything, put surveys out on the table and let people make up their own minds. People like to be left alone and not annoyed. Its ok to ask for the sale, but no means no. If you continue to push someone, they won’t come back. After all, would you?

About The Author

Visit Dave Weeksก website at http://www.etypewriter.com or write to [email protected] for any comments you may have.

This article was posted on February 02, 2004

by Dave Weeks

Turn Your กRusty Junkก Into eBay Gold

Turn Your กRusty Junkก Into eBay Gold

by: Pete Egeler

Often times people to stop to realize the income potential of their กjunkก. And, when they DO decide it might be worth selling, they never give eBay a second thought.

As I preach over and over again to my customers, don’t ever think that you have something that nobody else would want, unless youกve really taken the time to do a little eBay research.

Iกve sold my wifeกs old tea pots, bowls, AOL CDกs, books, etc. that we no longer had a use for. And, it usually brings a lot more cash to the table than a yard sale or flea market sale would.

Most items in good condition will bring a pretty fair price on eBay if you take just a bit of time to locate the correct category for that item.

Then again, there are times when you may have something that really doesn’tlook all that great. What should you do then?

Well, depending upon what it is, you may want to sell it กas is.ก

Case in point is a lamp Iกm getting ready to auction off. (My wife brought it home to me the other day.)

Itกs obvious that this lamp is old. It doesn’t work (that I know of,) and it has a bit of tarnish on it. But, Iกm NOT going to try and กspruce it upก before I put it up for auction.

Now I don’t know squat about lamps. But I DO KNOW, that this particular lamp was made in the early 70กs. About 1972 I think, and the WORST thing I could do is try to กcleanก it to make it more presentable.

Iกll dust it off, and take a couple of pictures, but it will be sold กas is.ก

Why? Because someone that DOES know about lamps, will exactly how to clean this particular item up in the CORRECT manner, so as not to damage it.

They will know it needs work, and they will know what, and how to bring it back to the condition it should be in.

One of the กbiggiesก these days is the กcountryก look in home decor.

So, look around. See what you might have stashed away in the corner of your garage, in your attic, etc. Don’t want it any more? Just drag it out, dust it off, and sell it on eBay.

Someone is sure to be looking for just the item you no longer want.

About The Author

Pete Egeler is the author of กDumpster Diving for eBay Profits,ก and a twicemonthly newsletter entitled กDDNews.ก You can check out either of these by visiting his web site at: http://shmyl.com/ciaa You can also email Pete at: [email protected] for more information.

This article was posted on March 06, 2004

by Pete Egeler

Avoid Getting Ripped Off By A Hosting Company…

Avoid Getting Ripped Off By A Hosting Company…

by: Dave Young

Chances are if you host multiple domains or websites you are spending too much money at your current hosting provider. Other hosting companies increase their profits by forcing you to create an additional hosting account every time you want to host a new domain or website. Let’s say you have five (5) websites and they each cost you $10.00 a month. It is obvious you are spending $50 a month to host those five (5) websites, but did you know that you are getting ripped off?

Hosting companies are smart and they take full advantage of you. If you’re an existing customer and they’ve got you hooked, they know you’ll spend an additional $10 a month to host an additional website. What they don’t tell you is they are ripping you off. Not only are you spending too much, but aren’t you tired of having to signup for a new account every time you want to host an additional website or domain? Aren’t you tired of having to keep up with login information for multiple accounts? And above all, why are you spending an additional $5, $10 and even $20 or more a month just to host an additional website?

You should be spending your time growing your business, not having to administer multiple accounts. You should be saving your money to foster the growth of your company. And you should know you’re getting a good deal with your hosting provider, not getting ripped off.

You can easily avoid getting ripped off by a hosting company…

To read the entire article, visit http://www.gphost.com/article2.php.

About The Author

Dave Young is the President/CEO of GPHost, a division of Gluepoint, LLC. GPHost provides multiple domain hosting entrepreneurs and business owners.

[email protected]

This article was posted on September 16, 2004

by Dave Young

How to Fight Back BEFORE You’re Falsely Accused of

How to Fight Back BEFORE You’re Falsely Accused of Spam

by: Malacka Persa

A friend of mine received a chilling email message from his ISP the other day. Someone had reported him as sending SPAM and the ISP warned that an additional SPAM complaint would result in losing his hosting service period. No ifs, ands or buts!

The ISP just took the word of the person filing the complaint as gospel, even though my friend had the email subscription notification where this person, or someone posing as them, had subscribed.

My friend sent me a copy of the subscription notification. And sure enough, there it was as plain as day… it contained the date, time and the subscription IP address of the person making the Spam allegation. Unfortunately, all this evidence fell on deaf ISP ears.

This little incident firms my conviction that a federal CAN SPAM law might not be a bad idea after all. Without it, persons alleging Spam, like the one above, may be able to sue under State law. And thatกs where the nightmare begins…

Oh sure, the person will most likely end up losing the case but hereกs the typical situation. The กinjured partyก files a lawsuit and the ISP immediately shuts off service to the publisher. And guess what, the publisher is immediately out of business even though she/he is sitting there with evidence that the allegation is totally groundless. Talk about scary! And if you think this scenario can’t happen to you think again.

The erroneous reporting of Spam has become widespread and has gotten even easier. Don’t like a company or their products? Just accuse them of spam. Do it a couple of times in one week and, guess what, they’re off line period.

AOL and Yahoo owners can simply click a button and report anything they feel like as Spam with no consequence whatsoever if the allegation is totally baseless. The ‘this is Spam buttonก has replaced the delete key as ‘theก answer for some folks. And Iกll bet youกd have a hard time tracking down whomever made the initial AOL or Yahoo Spam complaint as well.

Time to Get Tough

There are several proactive steps you can take to protect yourself against baseless Spam allegations. Admittedly, there is nothing you can do to stop someone bound and determined to damage your reputation and business if they have a mind to do so. You can, however, certainly minimize the risk of this happening to you. But you do have to be proactive.

I recommend that you add a legal notice to your subscription Thank You page and also to every ezine newsletter issue that you send out. Something along the lines of the following…

‘the subscriber agrees, by accepting this email newsletter subscription, to indemnify the publisher against false accusations of spam to include, but not limited to, payment of all damages, loss of web hosting fees and services, all damages for loss of business and goodwill, and any and all fees or fines that may be imposed against the publisher by any federal, state, local authority or civilian business entity as a result of the false spam accusation.ก

Add the paragraph above, or something similar, just above your ezine unsubscribe link.

The reason I think this is a powerful solution is because it establishes a contract between the publisher and the subscriber. And contract law is pretty much the same in all jurisdictions when it comes to breach of contract.

Please note that what I have provided you is for guidance and informational purposes only and should not be construed as practicing law. Do check with your local attorney to make sure that this statement will suffice in your jurisdiction. But I think you get the idea.

Is this concept new? Hardly, jl Scott of the iCOP organization thought of this over two years ago. Will it scare some of your subscribers off? You bet it will. But guess what…

The people it scares off are exactly the people you DON’t want on your list anyway. They most likely have the itchy moronic fingers or the กIกve had a bad day letกs accuse someone of Spam and get them shut downก folks that you don’t want to have anything do to with anyway.

Listen, perhaps itกs just me, but I wouldn’t be fazed in the least if I saw such a caveat on an ezine I really wanted to sign up for. Would you? I only want people on my list who are responsible and willing to accept the consequences of their actions. People who, if they mistakenly accuse me of Spam and got my business erroneously shut down, would face up to their responsibility and pay for the damage they caused. I don’t want a Spam Nazi on my list who is too lazy to hit the delete key. No thanks!

Rough? Yes, but thatกs the reality of doing business on the Internet today.

Other Options Available

Paul Hancox of UpYourMarketing.com has just released a brilliant report that outlines several other steps any prudent publisher online should take to protect themselves and their online business. Itกs called ‘the ePublishers Survival Kit How to Minimize Spam Complaints and Defend Yourself Against False Spam Accusations.ก You can download a free copy of the report by clicking this link

http://www.writersnest.com/spampro.zip

The report is in pdf format so MAC and WIN users alike can access the information. Combine these recommendations with those in Paulกs report and youกll pretty much be covered.

Final thoughts. I don’t have to remind you of how hard you worked to build your online business. Protect yourself and minimize the risk of having it suddenly shut down by following the recommendations here and in Paulกs free report.

While you can’t stop malicious Spam complaints 100%, taking proactive steps now can go a long way to making sure your business remains safe and viable. Believe me, thatกll make you sleep much better at night! Click here to get Paulกs free report now

http://www.writersnest.com/spampro.zip

About The Author

Malacka Copyright 2003

http://www.writersnest.com

Stuff that Really Works to Make You Money Online!

http://www.hotmatches.com

http://www.dogtrainingathome.com

Feel free to distribute this article so long as it remains unedited and the resource box is included.

This article was posted on December 12, 2003

by Malacka Persa

How To Make A Fortune Welding

How To Make A Fortune Welding

by: Corey Johnson

How here would like to earn more money? Sure wouldn’t we all, but I just don’t have the time or energy to work more hours.

Thatกs what all welders are saying, and no doubt since you’re reading this article you’re probably one of them.

See the challenge is that there are only so many hours in a day, and currently you’re trading your hour for dollars instead of finding a more effective way of creating more money while working less hours. And weกd all like to work less and make more wouldn’t we/

So hereกs how you can start working less hours and making more money.

First off, you’re going to look at how you can leverage time, money, and energy…the only 3 spendable resources.

A simple way is going to your boss and saying กIกve got a way for you to increase profits and businessก Iกm sure theyกll pay attention to that…who wouldn’t want to increase the amount of money they’re making.

And then say…กIf I can bring in more business, will you give me a percent of the profits? This gives me an incentive to find more work for us.ก

If they say yes, you’re on…if they say no, then start your own company.

And Iกm sure the first thing you’re going to do is run out and buy some radio advertising time or run a three color brochure or spending money in some other way to attempt to get more business.

Don’t Do That!

Iกm going to show you how you can do it without spending a single dime.

You’re customers are happy with what you do for them right? If not you should do a better job so they are.

And when you’re finished with the job you can say something like กHowกs that look?ก they say it looks great…then you tell them the benefit of what it will do ‘that will keep the structure from collapsing in on itself. You really caught this in timeก Then they say กYeah I guess I sure did, thank you so muchก

Then you say กIกm glad I could help you, and since I did such a good job for you, Iกd like to do the same quality work for other people that you know. Who do you know that you can give me a reccomendation or referral to?ก

Right there you have gotten consent to get a reccomendation from this person to other people he knows. You’re getting leads for new business with no lead cost.

And you can even add incentive for referrals by knocking a few bucks off your price for each referral given.

Now some of you may have cringed at that last statement กI don’t want to give away moneyก but the fact is that itกs an investment.

Will all of the referrals turn up winners, no of course not…but some will…and the fee they pay you will cover the bucks you knocked off the last guy and net you more business without the cost of aquiring the lead.

That way, you can increase business without any money…AND you increase your profits without having to work longer.

Hope you put this referral generating system to work for you as sonn as possible.

About The Author

Corey Johnson has been welding for 11 years. He also has a site just for welders at http://weldinginfodirectory.com which has articles, links and resources for welding.

This article was posted on April 21

by Corey Johnson

Home Ownership, Financial Freedom, and Benjamin Fr

Home Ownership, Financial Freedom, and Benjamin Franklin

by: Tom Levine

1. ON BENJAMIN FRANKLIN:

In 1757, Benjamin Franklin published ‘the Way To Wealthก, a basic summary of his 25 year Poor Richardsก Almanac. In ‘the Way To Wealthก, Honorable Mr. Franklin states the following:

‘then since, as he says, the borrower is a slave to the lender, and the debtor to the creditor, disdain the chain, preserve your freedom; and maintain your independency: be industrious and free; be frugal and free. At present, perhaps, you may think yourself in thriving circumstances, and that you can bear a little extravagance without injury; but, For age and want, save while you may; No morning sun lasts a whole day…ก

Thereกs a chock full of great wisdom to be gleaned from this paragraph of text. I encourage you to read it carefully, and absorb as much as you can from this man. He was, after all, just a man. But a great man. In fact, Benjamin Franklin believed that you are no different than he. He also believed in hard work, and perseverance, and the value of time management. These basic precepts, if mastered, could lead you down the same path of immense wealth as Benjamin Franklin..

I also want you to notice, that Benjamin Franklin refers to the borrower as a กslave to the lender.ก

2. ON HOME OWNERSHIP:

Now, I personally advocate a strong belief in the power of home ownership, but of course, that requires taking out a rather large loan. So, I would submit to you that this is in direct contradiction to what Mr. Franklin said, because by taking out that loan, in order to take ownership of your first piece of real estate, you are, in fact, becoming a borrower to the lender, or as Mr. Franklin would say, a กSlave to the Lenderก.

But, I simply must, initially, sway from our founding father, on this one. Times have, in fact, changed. It is impossible for any of us to purchase a home in todayกs times without placing oneself in the position of slave to the lender. How is it possible that an average working American, with no assets, no rich uncles, and no magic potions…How is it possible for that guy to buy a house, without a loan.

Well, frankly. Itกs not possible.

So, I am indeed, OF COURSE, advocating a mortgage for the first time homeowner. In other words, I realize that I am advocating the idea of intentionally becoming the indentured servant to lender of your choice. But, what are the alternatives really, Mr. Franklin? What can a 21st Century American do, to get into real estate, without borrowing money?

And with that all said, I absolutely agree with every word spoken by Benjamin. I do think you are, in fact, a slave to the lender when you buy your first home.

I also think itกs the easiest way for you to make it to your first, cool million.

3. ON FINANCIAL FREEDOM:

So, Iกm about to put a Twist on the whole subject. For me, anyway, the story begins with the signing of your first deed of trust, and with the singing of your first, big mortgage.

From there, you are on a quest to freedom.

From there, you are on a quest to independence.

From there, you are on a quest to removing the lendersก bonds which shackle you.

From there, you are on a road to pay off your loan….and pay it off, as quickly as possible.

Do this, and I say, you will be eons ahead of everyone else.

You will no longer be a Slave to the Lender…

You will be your own Benjamin Franklin.

You will be FREE.

You simply must restructure your loan to pay it off faster, either in the beginning, or during a refinance process later on in your journey. Most people pay their mortgages off in 30 years. Some people walk down the dangerous road of messing around with Adjustable Rate Mortgages, and taking risks that probably shouldn’t be taken, only to discover that they are later in a required position to refinance their loan, irrespective of rate, and subsequently add an extra 5 years on to the fully realized term of their loan. So for them, and many home owners, the lender bonds them to 35 years, 40 years, and beyond.

Benjamin and I want you to pay your loan off much, much, much sooner than that.

4. ON THE BIWEEKLY MORTGAGE:

BiWeekly Mortgages, otherwise known as กAccelerated Paymentsกis nothing more than a 30 year, fixed rate loan, in which you add one additional payment a year. Thatกs ONE. So, if you pay $1000 a month, for example, a BiWeekly mortgage is structured so that after 12 months, you will have paid $13,000.

A BiWeekly Mortgage can be setup so that a payment is due every 2 weeks instead of every month (hence, the coined term, BiWeekly Mortgage), which ultimately amounts to 1 extra payment at the end of the year…Hardly noticeable in the pocketbook, by the way.

Another similar structure, is to just pay one extra payment, like in December.

Another similar structure, is to calculate 13 payments a year, divide by 12, and then pay that amount.

Choose one of the above. It doesn’t matter which. They all are BiWeekly Mortgages. They are incredibly affordable. Pull out your trusty calculator and figure it out. Letกs say your payment is normally $1000 a month for your mortgage. With the added 13th payment combined to the prior 12, your payment would only be $1083 a month!

So, if you just add that $83, using the example above, on each payment, and you just leave your loan the way it is…A 30 year, fixed rate loan…Your principle, will be paid down much faster…Your loan will be paid off in 23 year. You will have shaved 7 years off your servitude.

5. ON THE 15 YEAR MORTGAGE:

Now, thereกs more that can be done! There are other options as well. How about paying your loan off in 15 Years, instead of 23 years, or instead of 30 years?

The 15 year Mortgage is highly underrated, and unfortunately, underused by wealthbuilding Benjamins, such as yourself.

They are surprisingly affordable. If you can commit to the idea of paying a little more each month, then you will be committing to independence, freedom, and financial release from the lender:

As an added plus, this program usually carries an interest rate thatกs about 1/2% lower than a 30 year fixed.

Because youกll be paying this loan off faster, your savings on Interest are HUGE! Example: A $300,000 loan, on a 15 year fixed, at 5.5% APR, will save you $206,289! Is that a smile I see, Mr. Franklin?

Your loan is paid off in 15 years…Heck, thatกs just around the corner.

Now the 15 year loan is not for everybody, and I would say that if you can’t afford a 15 year fixed right now, then consider this as a part of your wealth building strategy down the road. It is, however, an essential part of your strategy, and something to work towards.

6. CONCLUSIONS:

You must get into a loan, in order to work towards getting out of it. This is a necessary evil, that must be reckoned with, if you are going to utilize the power of leverage to build passive wealth.

And so once you’re in this predicament, you must get out. You must speed up your payments, through either an กAccelerated Paymentsก program, or through a ก15 year fixedก program. If you can move towards this, then you are inching even closer to reaching your goal.

The bottom line is this: If you are going to be a millionaire, if you are going to be like Benjamin Franklin, then you must ขdisdain the chainข, and you also must become independent and free. You must work towards removing the bonds of servitude, and no longer living your life, as a ขSlave to the Lenderข, while at the same time, using the power of Home Ownership to reach your 21st century goals, and achieve that level of financial freedom that we all strive for.

We’ve enjoyed providing this information to you, and we wish you the best of luck in your pursuits. Remember to always seek out good advice from those you trust, and never turn your back on your own common sense.

Publisher’s Directions: This article may be freely distributed so long as the copyright, author’s information, disclaimer, and an active link (where possible) are included.

Disclaimer: Statements and opinions expressed in the articles, reviews and other materials herein are those of the authors. While every care has been taken in the compilation of this information and every attempt made to present uptodate and accurate information, we cannot guarantee that inaccuracies will not occur. The author will not be held responsible for any claim, loss, damage or inconvenience caused as a result of any information within these pages or any information accessed through this site.

About The Author

Tom Levine provides a solid, common sense approach to solving problems and answering questions relating to consumer loan products. His website seeks to provide free online resources for the consumer, including ratewatch, tips and articles, financial communication, news, and links to products and services. Visit Tom at: http://www.LoanResource.Net/. You read this article in full format at: http://www.LoanResource.Net/articlefranklin.htm, Copyright 2004, LoanResource.Net.

[email protected]

This article was posted on December 24, 2004

by Tom Levine

Home Business

Home Business

by: Darrell Knox

A home business is by far the best way to support yourself if you just cannot stand working for others for less money than you need to survive. It’s also the best way to get out of a good paying job that just takes up too much of your precious short life working for someone else.
Let’s face it, you probably know someone who has a home business. Do they look happy to you? Do they complain as much about work and money as you do? Probably not.
This is not to say that you should quit your job and start a home business. You should start one while you still have your job. Some people complain that this is hard and takes up too much of their free time. In the beginning a home business is not profitable – you have to work at it like anything else.
Some people eventually go back to work blaming some program or home business opportunity that wasted their time and didn’t work. Unfortunately, the odds are actually that they didn’t work hard enough and stick to their dreams. Many people allow themselves to believe that there are no legitimate home businesses. It’s easier to go to work thinking this than to let themselves truly believe that a home business is possible, profitable, or liberating.
But if you truly believe there are no good home businesses, that they are all scams, then what are the thousands of people doing everyday in your hometown driving around during work hours?
You know the ones. The people you see on your day off that are driving around and standing in line in places you frequent on your days off. They can’t ALL be on their days off too! You have wondered, just like I did, what it is these people do. I know you have.
Many of them have their own home business. Many of the people you see at the post office who know the clerks by first name are shipping packages of goods they sold on auction at Ebay or their own websites.
The cars parked in the county clerk’s office in your home town. Some are employees there, but not all of them. Many of the people coming and going from that office in your town (during business hours when everyone should be working, right?) are real estate brokers, or no money down buyers and sellers looking up local property information.
Home business owners are all around you, everyday. The home business industry is quite literally booming and is getting larger exponentially by the month.
The worst thing you could ever do to yourself, that is a lifealtering belief system, is let yourself believe it is all a scam or that there is no room for YOUR creativity and YOUR value as a home business owner of any kind!
Take me for instance! I own my own website and I sell information, business tools for home business people who work on the internet, and services of all kinds. I work from home. I am one of those people you see during the week driving around town while you wonder what it is I do for a living. Nice to meet you!

About The Author

Darrell Knox is a writer and entrepreneur with 15 years of home business and marketing experience. Free Home Business Tips Newsletter at: http://www.cashgroup.biz/biztipspop.html.

Website: http://cgi.tripod.com/lazaraus26/cgibin/index.pl

[email protected]

This article was posted on May 29, 2004

by Darrell Knox