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Nowadays, Internet access is as close as your nearest coffee shop. The trick is finding which one offers Wi-Fi service. The Wi-Fi Digital Hotspotter aims to help in your quest by proving information on signals up to 200 feet away. Using two AAA batteries, the Hotspotter lists signal strength, SSID, channel, and even security status. In other words, all the essentials needed to allow you to judge where you should head if you need quick Wi-Fi access on the go. You can pick one up for about $60.00.
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On the Internet, you have the opportunity to make money by selling your own products and/or services, but that does require you to develop concepts and hang on to inventory. Luckily, there are other avenues available on the Internet in which you can make money if you are willing to put effort into it. One such way is to promote products as an affiliate.
An affiliate is basically a website or person who acts as a salesman for a larger website providing goods or services. Basically, the site will provide you with banner ads, links, and other materials for you to use to generate sales or leads for their product. Each time someone purchases, views, or clicks through to the web site of the advertiser, the affiliate (you) gets a commission. One of the most popular affiliate programs on the Internet happens to come from Amazon. You can sign up as an Amazon Associate, and gain access to images and a link generator which allows you to sell Amazon products directly on your website. If someone purchases an item on Amazon by using your link or image, you will receive a cut. Here is a brief rundown:
- Associates drive Internet traffic to Amazon.com through specially formatted links that allow Amazon to track sales and other activity.
- Associates earn up to 10% in referral fees on all qualifying revenue made through their links.
- Amazon sends quarterly payment to Associates.
Another great affiliate program is the one run by the iTunes Music Store. The iTunes Affiliate Program. It pays 5% of all revenue generated from your links. These are just two examples of ways you can make money using the lure of products from other, more well known resources. If you have had success with affiliate programs, let us know about it in the comments.
I just read a great example of how to not grow your company and maintain good rapport with potential clients. Unfortunately, I have seen it too many times. If you are trying to sell a product or service, you need to know that you will more than likely not be the only one selling it. Based on this fact, you will win some - and you will lose some. The key is to be gracious in defeat. If you are trying to pitch to someone, and they choose a competitor, always let them know that you appreciated their consideration of your services. You never know - they may choose to go with you in the future. Whatever you do, do not become another statistic:
One finalist in the process replied with a snide comment to me after I informed the firm that I was moving forward with someone else. I thanked him for his time, and he replied with a curt email that read, simply:
“even though you wasted it.”
That’s simply bad form.
As you can imaging, this service provider will not be getting a return call - no matter how good his work may be.
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These days, Microsoft Internet Explorer really is a risk to use. It is full of holes which can allow others to manipulate your computer, either through taking control of it manually or via spyware. Alternative browsers like Firefox and Opera offer great peace of mind as well as increased functionality. Check out this article which compares feature sets, as well as usage on systems wunning Windows 2000, Mac OS X 10.3.9, and SuSE Linux 9.1. Remember, Opera does have a small fee associated with it, so keep that in mind when comparing.
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One thing your visitors will not appreciate is your site taking more of their time than it needs to. One thing which you may think is a cool addition is the splash page. Hey - it delivers your logo straight to your captive audience, and you can even play a cute flash video with matching audio! Bad move. When someone types in YourSite.com, they want to see the information that they are looking to find in the smallest amount of time possible. Any type of introductory page will take time to load, and usually requires a click for the reader to move on and get to the content navigation tools. My advice is to simply leave it out - it is useless and really is more of a turn off if anything.
PalmOne has finally made the official announcement of their LifeDrive multimedia PDA. If you are a Palm user, this is the one to look for in the next week or two, which is when they are expected to hit retail. This thing has a 4GB mini hard drive with 16 MB of built-in ROM and a 416MHz XScale processor. Keeping with the times, the LifeDrive also supports 802.11b WiFi and BlueTooth on the Palm OS 5.4 (Garnet) software. A 320 x 480 pixel 65,000 color touch screen round thing thing out. You can expect to drop $500 on this bad boy, but from what reviewers are saying, it may be well worth the price of admission.
A partnership is ideal when two or more parties want to go into business together. Using the online business model as an example, you may have the knowledge about running a business and managing its finances, but not a clue about web design, marketing, or advertising. If you happened to know someone with strong design and marketing skills, you may choose to start a company together. It is great to enter into this kind of relationship with someone you trust and can bounce ideas off of. There are a few things to look out for when forming a partnership. Each member pays taxes based on the percentage of the company that they own. This should be clearly explained and identified before starting up. A Partnership Agreement should be drawn up and signed by all parties. This should lay the foundation for the dividing of all assets and liabilities. If no agreement is in place, then all members will be considered equally liable and/or entitled to all assets and liabilities regardless of how much more or less one person works than another.
The simplest and easiest legal formation of a company would be the Sole Proprietorship. Usually an accountant is not required, and all that one needs to do is file a simple form. The sole proprietor is the boss, the owner, and the company all in one. While this is a simple and straightforward way of doing things, you will not have the benefit of having your personal assets protected separately from those of the business. For example, if someone were to sue the business, for all intents and purposes they would be suing you.
Why would you want to go through the hassle of incorporation when a sole proprietorship is so much simpler to form and manage? It is certainly a loftier task to incorporate, and there are plenty of additional laws and regulations set by the government that you would have to adhere to. Then there is the issue of having to pay both personal and corporate taxes. At first glance, it may not sound like the preferred method of doing things – until you consider some of the advantages:
Health insurance premiums can be considered a business expense, and thusly are a deduction.
The assets of the company are owned by the company rather than an individual. This provides substantial personal protection, as the business should only lose its assets in the event of bankruptcy. Your personal assets remain intact. This is especially relevant if you plan to offer services which may be susceptible to lawsuits.
Capital can be raised by selling shares of the company.
If you believe that incorporation is the way to go for your business then you have two options. You can form a C corporation, or a subchapter S corporation. Most small businesses which choose to incorporate will go with subchapter S route.
When deciding to start a business of any type, it is key to determine how you plan on legally choosing the type of infrastructure you plan to go with. A business needs to be legally forms in one of a few ways in order to be recognized by local, state, and federal entities. Today we are going to take a closer look at the options that are available to you, and what they all mean. From becoming a sole proprietor, a limited liability company, or a full on corporation, each one has its own benefits and drawbacks.
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