Tag Archives: Businesses

Functional Marketing Offers Free eBook to Help Small Businesses Avoid Common Mistakes

  By Tony Larren | July 3, 2011 - 8:35 am | Marketing Comments Off


Nashville, TN (PRWEB) June 29, 2011

Functional Marketing LLC, a strategic marketing company that works with US and international clients, is providing a free eBook titled “Why Most Small Businesses Fail: How to Avoid the Seven Deadly Mistakes Most Small Businesses Make.” This 40 page eBook is loaded with valuable information for entrepreneurs and small business owners. The eBook explains that 25 percent of small businesses fail within their first year, and 50 percent fail within five years. It also explains the most common mistakes leading to business failure and how to avoid these mistakes. Beyond the seven deadly mistakes, it describes how to solve 19 specific problems in operations, finance and marketing.

Readers of the eBook will discover how to make the dramatic mind shift needed to be successful in their business. According to CEO Dave Smith, “Many people who start a business just don’t understand the fundamentals. The biggest problems stem from wrong beliefs about starting and running a business. It’s not enough to have a good product and work hard. You have to work hard on the right things.”

The free eBook, “Why Most Small Businesses Fail”, is available for immediate download by subscribing to Functional Marketing’s free Marketing Mix Newsletter. This free email newsletter is filled with practical small business marketing ideas and concepts that will help sustain small businesses. The newsletter contains how-to articles about marketing and other business topics, new product announcements, subscriber discounts on products and contest announcements.

When asked why Functional Marketing is giving away this eBook, CEO Dave Smith responded, “Our economy is powered by the middle class and by small businesses. In today’s economy, many people can’t find a job. They start a home based business because they are running out of options. Most of those businesses will fail because they were started without the proper planning, focus, and resources in place for success. I’m trying to make a difference. If this book saves one family from financial ruin, I consider that a success.”

Functional Marketing, which specializes in business strategy and marketing strategy consulting, has a unique approach to helping clients. Most consulting companies charge by the hour. Functional Marketing avoids hourly billing, preferring instead to be paid for the results it produces. This approach allows clients to work with Functional Marketing without risk. Smith explains, “We remove the barrier to working with us by eliminating the risk for our clients. The people who need our help can’t afford to pay up front. We know that, so we use an agreement where we are paid after we produce results. It keeps us and our clients focused on results instead of watching the clock.”

The results can be huge. More customers, more margin per customer, and reduced marketing and operational costs all lead to more sales and big profits. Functional Marketing’s clients achieve greater business success and personal success because of the methods used to achieve results. They start with the potential locked in the client’s “personal assets”. These assets include time, energy, knowledge and personal strengths. Then they move on to the potential trapped in business assets, which include customers, products, and suppliers.

About Functional Marketing LLC:

Functional Marketing was started in late 2010 by Dave Smith. The company helps small businesses and entrepreneurs succeed using excellent business and marketing strategies, action-focused marketing plans and business joint ventures. The Functional Marketing website offers a wealth of free information. Functional Marketing provides a 100 % satisfaction guarantee for its customers.

For more information about Functional Marketing LLC visit http://www.functional-marketing.com

To download the free eBook visit http://www.functional-marketing.com/get-the-book





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Home Based Businesses: What You Need To Know

  By Tony Larren | September 4, 2010 - 4:59 am | Featured Articles Comments Off

Home Based Businesses: What You Need To Know

Chances are you already have a good idea for what type of business you’d like to run out of your home. If you don’t have a clue, you can find ideas for home based businesses online, by doing some serious thinking, and by talking to other people who are operating them. A lot of businesses have associations and organizations and there are also community business groups. Visit some of these to find some ideas for home based businesses or to learn more about a specific interest.

Once you’ve decided on some ideas for home based businesses, you need to come up with a business plan. Even home based businesses need a plan in order to be successful. If you need to borrow money to get started, it will be required by your lender. Business plans can be extremely complicated, so you’ll be better off making one that you understand and will follow. The main point of business plans, for big companies or home based businesses, is to give you a road map to follow and meet your goals. If you haven’t written a business plan before, you can find many examples on the Internet. The main points should include:

* Your motivation
* Product or service
* Target customers
* Revenue goals
* Time frame
* Knowledge of competitors
* Marketing plan
* Logo or your personal style
* Plan one year at a time; adjust as needed

As you get into the flow of things, you may decide to tailor your plan a little differently. This is normal in home based businesses.

Think about financing as you peruse home based businesses. Something like a secretarial service wouldn’t require a huge investment. If you’ll need heavy marketing, you may need to borrow. Home based businesses are cheaper than founding a huge corporation, but often there is a capital investment involved.

General expenses in home based businesses may include:

· New computer or upgrade

· High speed Internet access

· Fax machine with dedicated line

· Copier

· Website

· Printed business materials (cards, stationery, invoices, purchase orders, etc.)

· Inventory if required

· File cabinets or other storage

These items will vary, depending on types of home based businesses but the ones listed are fairly standard.

Home based businesses are subject to regulations and taxation just as their bigger counterparts are. You’ll need to check your local zoning commissions to find about the need for permits for home based businesses. If little traffic is coming to your home, you shouldn’t have to do anything. If heavy car or foot traffic will visit home based businesses, there may be issues.

Unless you’re well informed about tax law, you should probably consult with an accountant. Home based businesses undoubtedly will have write-offs, especially during your first year. You’ll also need to know about incorporation and business licensing.

If you do plenty of research on home based businesses before you get started, you’ll be able to start with confidence.

John Williams writes about home based business issues.

Find More Home Based Business Articles

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How To Buy A Turnkey Online Business

  By Gary Spirer | August 22, 2010 - 8:00 am | business Comments Off

One needs to be careful browsing through online turnkey offers in order to avoid serious financial loss. Everyone has at least one horrible story involving scams online, and some are more personal than others because they were a victim. Once I receive my check for $14,000,000 from Nairobi I then can retire from writing advice for small business owners and designing web sites. Everyone wish me luck!

Now consider the line from the movie “Field of Dreams” that said “If you build it, they will come”. This does not apply to websites. And then online, the P.T. Barnum adage “There’s a sucker born every minute” is too often the case when it comes to purchasing a turnkey online business. You need to think before you hand off your hard earned cash. You could become victim of an online scam.

In the real world, individuals with very limited internet skills are becoming victims every day. An equitable person is more suitable to believe what they read online because it’s in their being to trust things that are in writing. Stories of immediate wealth with turnkey websites help bolster the elusive dream, especially when the person has very little or no business experience. Let’s examine a real case involving one of my clients, and the extreme nature of what can really happen.

Think of this this single Mom, who is struggling to make ends meet while living off the proceeds of a real estate sale, and then she encounters a variety of online ads that are filled with over promises for the opportunity of a lifetime. Over time, and before she met me, she went and purchased 7 prepackaged web sites for numerous online products and services thinking that the money would roll in automatically. To put her marketing online into perspective, only recently did she grow more comfortable sending and receiving email.

Her total cost for 7 sites was more than $10,000 two years ago with zero profit to date. Most of the sites were basic turnkey subdomains with not much search engine ranking. Overall, the higher level domains were badly coded with school level graphics, so each of her sites had serious problems with their credibility.

When asked about the lack of sales, most of her contacts replied by blaming her for the low performance because she wasn’t marketing and promoting the site. Any person with minimal email skills, no prior online marketing, and callous predators taking advantage of beginnger online entrepreneurs, all adds up to a catastrophe. The ones that are selling advice about how to earn money are many times the only ones making money. Read on about how truly outrageous this situation became.

To get started, there was one company that required payment of $2500 by EFT to transfer funds immediately to them from her bank account. The a year later, they automatically renewed her site without any notice, and took out $2500 again. Hard to believe, but believe it. I know this because I was then contacted to create a super site as a entry page to introduce the other 7, and she asked for advice on how to handle the $2500 withdrawal.

Here are some key tips to help you avoid online scams when looking at an online turnkey website.

Step 1. Take a look at the web site and reflect on your gut first impression. Your site visitors will decide within 5 seconds if your product or service is worthwhile and credible. If your reaction to viewing the parent site is not favorable, then move on.

Step 2. If you decide to go through their web site further, look for signs of overstatement. Pages that are overloaded with adjectives claiming or declaring success may be overselling in an attempt to try and convince you that you will in fact be the next millionaire.

Step 3. Next, do the owners or managers of the online opportunity give their real names, physical address, and phone numbers? If all you find is a postal box address and nothing to identify who’s taking your money, don’t do it.

Step 4. You should never consider buying an online business unless you personally have the real experience to market and grow the product or service. In fact, there are very few people make it rich quickly without effort and a considerable commitment of time and energy.

Step 5. Don’t believe any ads that offer something that seems too good to be true. You should avoid the pressure to act now. There is no real urgency in handing over your life savings until you perform some basic research.

Step 6. Check for the comments from satisfied customers. Testimonials from unhappy buyers are never published, so save your energy and skip over those unless you’re in the mood for some great entertainment, and enjoy reading fiction.

Step 7. Join a forum to get advice and feedback from other honest people that are like you. Search Google for “online business marketing forums” and visit a few to see reviews of online opportunities from other users.

Step 8. If you are going to distribute a product, you may think twice if the site requires you to pay in advance for inventory, then offers a bonus if you sign up more distributors, or has ANY advance fee requirements.

Keep an open mind as you review different concepts, and think twice before you believe what you read online. Another downside to a turnkey website is you own a site that is most likely a clone to 100′s or perhaps 1000′s of pages covering the same product or service. Making a positive first impression includes being unique. In most cases the turnkey site is a fixed design, so you probably have zero influence on the look, and no chance of revising the content.

In summary, caution and research will be the key to avoid being victimized. Shortcuts to wealth are rare. Real success in any online business requires long hours and hard work. The turnkey website for an online business may look too good to be true. It probably is. Your success depends on having a popular product or service that people need, presenting your offers on a credible and attractive site, and finally getting traffic to your web pages to make the sale. It is not easy. It can be done.

To Learn More About Obtaining a Turnkey business

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Here is a New Home Based Business Taking Care of Home Based Businesses

  By Tony Larren | June 7, 2010 - 9:26 pm | home based business Comments Off

 

Every Home Based Business needs business cards, whether they want them or not, they are almost a necessity for everyone hoping to attract new business. While there are many online companies that offer business cards cheap, or free, they may not provide the message the customer hopes to convey. Additionally, many of the free cards include your information on one side and a pitch for the company that provided the free cards on the other side.

 

With inexpensive software available, in a few hours time, you can be adept at creating quality looking business cards for any type of Home Based Business. Working with a local printer, you can offer to create business cards for Home Based Business owners and even arrange to have them printed for them. This reduces the amount of down time they would have to spend in going to the printer, designing the cards and then picking them up when they are done. Saving them time is the same as saving them money and they are usually willing to share that savings.

 

Here’s thought to seriously consider. The last time you replaced your old cell phone, how long did ti take to transfer all the contact phone numbers? As a Home Based Business owner do you have the time to sort through all the numbers in your phone and enter them into the new one? Probably not. Even if you get started, there will come a time when you just quit and leave out many numbers that you really should have entered.

 

Offering your services to do this mundane task may be a welcome Home Based Business opportunity not specific to Home Based Businesses. Individuals may also be more willing to pay to have their phone numbers transferred than take the time to do it themselves. This type of service may also be used for transferring information for personal data systems or even teaching people how to use their new unit.

 

While transferring pictures to videotape Home Based Businesses have been around for years, new Home Based Business also offer taking all those old videotapes and putting them digital video disks to play back through your DVD player. Some even offer to add music to back them up and some editing may also be offered.

 

With the proliferation of digital media, very few people listen to cassette tapes anymore and many new cars lack cassette players. There is need for Home Based Businesses that can transfer music from cassettes or even the old eight-track players onto CDs. This gives the music lover their old music without having to buy all new CDs. For the really old music, with the right equipment you can transfer music from the old vinyl records onto compact disks, which can be played in your car. It is tough enough to find a record player anymore, but CD players are everywhere.

 

By God’s will, as an Ambassador of the Kingdom of Jesus-Christ on Earth; I am fully devout to model and Minister to as many as possible to Enjoy Earthly Riches According to the Kingdom of Jesus; while leading them to embracI HEARTILY INVITE YOU TO SHARE THE FOLLOWING TESTIMONIES:e firmly the Citizenship of the Kingdom of Heaven: to glory and honour The Only True Living God in all aspects, all domains, all walks of Their Lives now and for evermore, in Jesus’ name! Amen!! Hallelujah!!!

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What Are The Best Home Based Businesses?

  By Tony Larren | June 4, 2010 - 9:36 pm | home based business Comments Off

Often when looking at starting a home business, we will ask what are the best home based business opportunities, but is this the best way to find home business opportunities that can make money?


There is a vast difference between those home based business opportunities that can make money and those that can make money for you. You see, asking what are the best home based business opportunities, may not serve you.


Some people make lots of money working from home in one home business opportunity, while in another; the same person may not even make a cent. This is alarming but true, so the truth to the question – what are the best home based businesses, really is which one is the best for you!


Finding out what are the best home based businesses is not an easy task. You need to look at what your skills and abilities are. What are the products you either have to sell or make, and even your skills in marketing?


Some home based businesses are designed for marketing door to door, and if this form of marketing is not something you particularly like, then you likely will not give it the necessary effort to make it successful.


This is an important consideration which I have just touched on. Home businesses like any other business require marketing. It is the touchstone of success, and without it, no business can succeed.


When looking at home based business ideas and opportunities, always consider whether this businesses marketing methods are something that you would like to do. After all, to succeed in business, 70% or more of your efforts should be in the marketing rather than any other area.


Another consideration is the product. There are many different home business opportunities, and they can range from offering car washing services to selling computer parts, and even selling detergent! If you have no interest in computers, then it is unlikely that the so called best home based business opportunity will be your best.


There are a lot of things to consider before joining a business opportunity. The best way to cut out unnecessary grief is by doing a lot of research before joining any single opportunity.


Don’t make your only criteria the money. Yes, some people make millions in the opportunity, but if they are great with cold calling, and you prefer door to door, which would you succeed in?


Research is free, but your time is not. Spending a few hours doing your research will give you a better chance for success than just plunging in. Remember a home based business opportunity requires just as much commitment as it would if you were planning to become a doctor. It is best to find the one that meets your needs, and then you can give it your all, and get the results you want.

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Legitimate Home Based Businesses – Real Home Business Opportunities

  By Tony Larren | May 20, 2010 - 9:28 pm | home based business Comments Off

With the current downturn of the economy, finding legitimate home based businesses is becoming necessary.  Many people have lost their jobs, and with few openings available, there is no option but to find a home business opportunity.  The question is, can anyone work from home?

The short answer – yes.  With the growth of the internet comes many different opportunities to make money from your own home.  Some can be done from your computer, while others are more physically based.  The difficult task is finding home based businesses that are legitimate, and not scams.

If you are familiar with computers and have an internet connection, there is no shortage of work you can do!  Data entry, freelance writing, typing for employers, affiliate marketing and online surveys are just a few of the wide variety of options available to you.

Home data entry employment is one of the most popular choices of people who work online.  While these positions are sometimes difficult to find, there are sites that give you access to a large database of employers looking for data entry workers.  These sites usually charge a small membership fee.  This covers the costs of updating the job listings, and providing online support to you.

The options for legitimate home based businesses if you aren’t computer savvy are many.  According to your experience and interests, you can open a home daycare, start a catering or cleaning business, learn professional photography or begin your own secretarial service.  These are just a few options – there are literally hundreds!

You really don’t have to have a college degree or be experienced for many of the home based business opportunities that are available.  If you are willing to work, you can make money at home.  Millions of people have been doing it for years, and there is no reason why you can’t do the same.

Whether you have lost your job or just want to work from home, there are legitimate home based businesses that you can start NOW.  Learn about some of the best by visiting our site.  We have done the research and found a huge variety of home based business opportunities for you!

To YOUR Work from Home Success,

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Best Home Based Businesses

  By Tony Larren | May 5, 2010 - 9:20 pm | home based business Comments Off

Ordinary people from all works of life have been secretly making a fortune online from these top home based businesses.

The internet is full of many businesses promising to make you easy money from home, some of these programs are complete waste of time and your hard earned money. Indeed only very few people will truely show you the secrets to make lots of money online, only these top home based businesses will take you by the hand and show you the secrets to make a fortune from home. They will continue to lead you until you succeed just like they have done for others.

These top home based businesses do not take your money and leave you in the cold, indeed a good number of them are free to join, and they will take you by the hand and show you the way to make money until you succeed. They will always be there for you to answer your questions and lead you to the right direction at all times.

In order to succeed in your internet home business, you need a website and indeed any new comer in the internet business will eventually get a website, and as you know the internet business is exploding globally, it is growing rapidly every day. There is a legitimate web hosting company that has turned this necessity to profit machine for anybody who cares to join them. All you need to do is to host your website with them and anybody that joins through your link makes you money as long as they keep their website.

This system is continuously producing thousands of dollars for affiliates monthly. Their products are of the highest quality in this industry and the technical support is excellent. Customer satisfaction is of the highest level so customers tend to stay for as many years as they are in business, more especially as they are also earning lots of money from their own links on a continuous basis as well.

Another company in the top home based businesses league is a company, which has been in existence for many years and has produced many millionaires. It sells variety of items for everyday use as well as provides services worldwide. It is free to join, they have ongoing training to show you the way until you start making real money from the comfort of your own home. This company also has a program in place that enables you to earn residual income for life.

There are also a few other ones you may consider joining. It all depends on what you want and the ones, which appeal to you.

In this group of top home based businesses is a company that will help you integrate all these other legitimate companies into your very own website so that you can earn multiple streams of income from home. Your website will be built for you ready within 48 hours and it is built for you free of charge. This makes it easy for you to start your own home based business and start earning money fast.

It is very easy for you to make money fast with the help of these top home based businesses. They have been producing millionaires for many years now and still doing so.

Christiana Benson is the administrator of http://www.globalprofitscentre.com. Sign up for her free Top Home Based Businesses Newsletter to receive tested and proven home business secrets.

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The Best Home Based Businesses

  By Tony Larren | May 2, 2010 - 9:24 pm | home based business Comments Off

Anyone can start a business, but the best home based businesses are those where customers come back time and time again, because the business fulfills their needs. The best businesses are usually opportunities that allow us to set our own schedule, work from any

location, and earn.


The best home businesses are those where any mention of get rich quick is avoided. They are built from knowledge you already possess.


Having a realistic view of yourself and your abilities is vital as you make a decision about the best home business opportunity for you. There are many easy ways to start a business for yourself, and yes you can work at home, and no you don’t have to give up your day job.


Whether you are looking to earn extra income, gain financial and scheduling freedom, own your own business, develop personally or challenge yourself, you should be able to find the right opportunity. I would suggest you carefully surround yourself with successful people who are working a business and have the training available and the mentoring you will need

to learn a new career skill.


First, assess your own personal skills, expertise and abilities. For the most part, each person must choose opportunities that match their skills and interests.


You don’t have to be the best in your field to bring useful skills to your home based business. The best businesses are based around skills which their owners have acquired at school, through the workplace, or through their hobbies. Building a business around your existing skills will not only save you time and effort and make things run more smoothly, it will give you the best chance of enjoying what you do.


A business plan will most likely be required for building a home business. Home based business ideas are many but they will succeed only when executed with full planning.


It is important to consider the business plan, the business objectives and every conceivable element that the business model has to offer. Work to a plan and follow a system for the best results working from home. Browse business plans, read testimonies and

learn what it takes to get involved.


Yes, there is work involved and unless you put in the required effort to build a business then you’ll just end up being one of the 95 per cent statistics. It can be surprisingly easy to turn a hobby into a successful home based business if you are prepared to put in enough time and effort.


Do not make the mistake of thinking you can make tons of money with little or no effort. First, make no mistake, working from home takes a lot of effort and requires a whole new set of disciplines.


The best home based businesses are successful because they have successfully identified an important need and filled it. Product publicity and best home based businesses are the secret pathway to business success everyone wants.

Reginald Melchor is an online marketer.
Order a copy of a FREE book that contain a mini-course on how to make money at home.
Hurry, supplies are limited.

http://www.getfreemoneybook.com

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Home Based Businesses on the Rise

  By Tony Larren | April 14, 2010 - 9:32 pm | home based business Comments Off

For many years the term Home Business has been considered an oxymoron. Too many people didn’t understand how a business could be run from home. Some still don’t see how home based businesses can be successful.


The ability to earn a respectful income from home has never been easier. With the availability of broadband internet reaching even the most rural areas, some of the best home business ideas are beginning to surface.


Home Based Typists


Thanks to e-mail, home based typists and clerical jobs are being outsourced now more than ever. Small home based businesses are hiring freelancers who work from home. Freelancers and contract workers are beginning to form business opportunities that allow others the opportunity to work from home or start similar businesses.


Home Based Call Centers


Home based businesses don’t have to end with selling products or recruiting people to work for you. Home based call centers are on the rise, especially in the United States. Many of today’s hotlines and order lines are being answered by contractors who work from home. Some of those contractors are looking to start their own home based call center to employ others like them.


Home Based Virtual Assistants


Virtual assistants are becoming very popular among growing businesses and start-up companies. These assistants work for a fraction of the cost of full-time employees. This doesn’t mean they’re inexperienced in their field. It simply means they work when you need them, otherwise they’re working for someone else.


Home Based Counselors


Counseling is one of the best home business ideas to date. These professionals are highly educated leaders in their field of expertise and are readily available at your fingertips; simply a phone call, text message or email away. These professionals generally make themselves available to you 24 hours a day 7 days per week. They could be professionals in virtually any field in which you might require assistance: Network Administrators, Legal Advisors, Tax Advisors or Tutors, for example.


Home Based Hotline Workers


Home based hotline workers are similar to home based call center agents. These professionals are trained to assist in times of crisis and usually have real-world experience with difficult decisions their callers are facing.


These may sound like home based jobs; and they are. That’s how any great business opportunities are born. Someone takes their job expertise and creates a business that allows them to help others achieve similar goals. That’s the beauty of some of the best home business opportunities of this decade; the ability to capitalize on what you do best.


Finding your niche – the best business opportunity to fit your needs – isn’t a simple task. You have to give it a lot of thought and decide what you want to do. Research several before making your final decision which one best fits you needs and personality.


If your dream is to own your own business, you’re going to have to work hard to make that dream come true. Success isn’t achieved over night. Don’t fall for any of the scams that say it is.

Tom McMullen writes articles about home business. You can find more of his articles at:
http:www.moneydeals4u.com

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What is the upside and downside of multi-level marketing home businesses?

  By Tony Larren | January 25, 2010 - 10:28 pm | multi level marketing 4 Comments

This is regarding beauty/wellness companies, who have independent consultants, who in turn recruit levels of consultants under themselves. Each level gets a percentage of sales of the products.

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