Owner: Leave The Office Behind URL:http://www.leavetheofficebehind.com/ Join Date: Thu, 10 May 2007 11:18:55 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Learn how to start an online business from experienced web entrepreneurs. We show you what works, what doesn't, and how to maximize your profits. Site statistics:Click here
Real Estate Flipping 2007-05-09 21:22:40 If you examine the portfolios of wealthy individuals, you will see that a portion of their holdings include real estate. In many instances it’s the largest part of their portfolios. There’s no question that a sound real estate strategy is an important part of becoming wealthy. Some estimate that more than 90% of all new millionaires achieved that status as a result of their real estate investments.
Given those statistics, wouldn’t it make sense to make real estate a priority for you? Absolutely. Real estate flipping has really taken off in the past few years, and novice investors are getting involved in the game now, thanks to shows like Flip This House, Flip That House, and Property Ladder.. These guys generally make it look easier than it really is, but with some work and dedication, you can really make some serious money in this field.
Today is the perfect time to get involved in real estate. Many people bought houses with adjustable rate mortgages, and now those rates Read more:Estate
, Flipping
, Real Estate
What If I Have Bad Credit? 2007-05-09 20:36:33 I got a number of e-mails after making my credit card suggestions post. The question that kept coming up was, “What if I have bad credit and can’t qualify for the AMEX?” My suggestion: Get a pre-paid credit card. Pre-paid credit cards are a great way of improving your credit score. The Elite Plus Pre-paid Mastercard is definitely worth checking out. It’s simple to use; You just deposit money onto the card, spend like you would with a regular credit card, and recharge the funds as necessary. Eventually, your credit score will improve, and you can get an unsecured card.
Selling Your Own Products - Step 2 2007-05-07 18:24:47 So far, you’ve figured out how to fund your new venture, registered a domain name, picked a web hosting company, and started the website development process. You’re well on your way to getting started! So what’s next?
1) Get Dedicated Phone Line(s)
Even though it’s a web-based business, there are still many people out there who don’t feel 100% comfortable placing orders online. Prominently display your phone number on each page of your site, so that if a visitor has a question or concern, they can easily reach you. You should have a dedicated phone number just for this purpose, and get in the habit of answering this phone with a professional business greeting. (eg. “Thank you for calling ABC Widgets. This is Dan, how can I help you today?”)
If you order another phone line from your local telco, it’s going to be expensive - Both for the installation, as well as the monthly fees. It makes more sense to go with a VOIP (voice over IP) s Read more:Products
Choosing The Right Credit Card 2007-05-05 17:53:34 Have you ever noticed that business owners always seem to have tons of frequent flyer points? It’s no coincidence - Running a business takes a lot of capital, and most of us use credit cards for our business spending. I spend upwards of $200K/yr on my company credit cards, and I’m getting rewarded for my spending as well!
From an accounting standpoint, it’s a lot easier managing your expenses through an itemized credit card statement, rather than dealing with tons of invoices and receipts. (If you really want to make your life simple, get a free copy of QuickBooks Simple Start 2007 - Your accountant will thank you when tax time comes around!)
Below are a few of my favorite cards:
The American Express Business Gold Rewards Card is a great card to get for your small business. You can save up to 25% on business expenses with OPEN Savings. You’re automatically enrolled in the Membership Rewards program, and you can earn 100K points or more in your first year, Read more:Right
Selling Your Own Products - Step 1 2007-05-04 20:29:30 So you’ve decided to setup your own website, hoping to become the next Amazon.com? That’s great! I also started out this way, and my business has really taken off. Hopefully I can help you avoid some of the mistakes I made along the way, and become profitable that much quicker.
1) You Need Money!
Many people use their own finances. Others borrow from friends and family. A rare few can raise angel/VC money in return for a percentage of their company. But something that many people overlook is government grant money. The government doesn’t want you to fail, and they’ve got plenty of money for the taking to those that ask.
Another option is to put it on credit. American Express is a very small-business friendly company, and they will give credit to even the newest companies. If you’re just starting out, I’d suggest applying for the American Express Gold Card. The AMEX Gold card gives you Membership Rewards points, which can be redeemed for a rewards or ai Read more:Products
Starting An Online Business 2007-05-04 18:31:09 The name of the game is PREPARATION!
If you jump into a new venture without careful thought ahead of time, you’re setting yourself up for disaster. So take some time and formulate a plan.
Establishing an Online Business
is the way to go - People have changed the way they shop today, and more and more people are going online to make purchases. You can showcase your products to millions of potential customers, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and sell your goods even while you’re asleep! Plus, you’re doing it without any the overhead associated with a traditional brick & mortar store.
Once you decide to go with an Online Business, you need to figure out just what you’re going to sell, and how you’re going to go about it. The two options are:
1) Selling your own Products - You create a virtual storefront, and sell your products at whatever price you like. You’ve got the potential to make more money, but you’ve also got lots of overhead - The inv
Choosing A Legal Structure 2007-05-04 16:48:07 You probably already have a rough idea of the type of legal structure your business will take, whether you know it or not. That’s because, in large part, the ownership structure that’s right for your business (sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC, or corporation) depends on how many people will own the business and what type of services or products it will provide, things you’ve undoubtedly thought about quite a bit.
In my opinion, an LLC is the way to go - Less paperwork, easier to deal with come tax time, yet you still shield yourself from liability in most cases. But I’d advise you to speak to your accountant and/or business attorney before making a decision. There is also plenty of information out there, both in print and on the Net, to help you make the right choice. Most people think that they’ve got to go to a lawyer and spend upwards of $1000 to get setup, and that’s just not true.
Some books I’d recommend picking up:
Nolo’s Read more:Structure
Leave The Office Behind! 1999-11-30 01:00:00 I was once in the same boat as you - A corporate drone, hoping that my hard work would be rewarded with a nice Christmas bonus, only to end up with a bathrobe from Lands End! A real motivator to work hard, that’s for sure.. I was making a decent living, but let’s face it. You’re never going to get rich working for someone else.
The decision to leave the security of a full-time job isn’t easy. In the old days, you would graduate from college, go work for a large company, and probably spend the rest of your professional career working for that same company, slowly working your way up the corporate ladder. If you were lucky, you’d make middle management, get a decent salary, and retire with a modest 401K.
There’s nothing wrong with that.. But you’ll never make REAL MONEY following that path. And the excuse of job security is a thing of the past these days - You here about it all the time; corporate scandals, mergers, acquisitions, layoffs, bankrupcy, and o Read more:Leave
Sometimes Life Gets In The Way 2008-03-10 11:55:26 Sorry for the lack of updates over the past few days, but sometimes life just gets in the way.. With less than two weeks until my wedding, things have been absolutely chaotic! But we’re in the home stretch now, and I just have a few loose ends to tie up before we leave. [...] Read more:Sometimes
Know When To Hold ‘Em, Know When To Fold ‘Em 2008-03-06 13:35:37 A good friend of mine left his full-time job about 4 years ago, and has made his living through his e-commerce site since then. At the time, this particular niche didn’t have a huge presence online, and he was able to make a decent living from it. But over time, more and more [...]
What Is Dopplr? 2008-03-04 16:57:35 I just stumbled onto a pretty cool site today, and thought this might be handy for others who are heavy travelers like me..
Dopplr lets you share your future travel plans privately with friends and colleagues. The service then highlights coincidence, for example, telling you that three people you know will be in Paris when you [...]
Hacker Safe - Free Swag Sunday 2008-03-02 11:52:08 Hacker Safe is a service that scans your website daily to insure that your server and site will provide maximum security for your visitors and potential clients. While this is a good practice on it’s own, having the Hacker Safe logo on your website, reporting the daily scan, and providing a link to confirmation that [...] Read more:Hacker
, Sunday
More Demotivator Posters! 2008-02-29 14:23:39 Last week’s post was such a hit, I decided to post a few more for your viewing pleasure..
Check back next Friday for my next batch! Read more:Posters
Blast From The Past.. 2008-02-28 10:00:54 An active Internet user since 1994, I still remember firing up Mosaic for the first time. Those were the days. Ugly websites with gaudy animated icons, flashing and scrolling text, under construction pages, sounds galore, and textured backgrounds! Do you remember how websites used to look? Here’s a blast from the [...] Read more:Blast
Seller Boycott Fails To Impress eBay 2008-02-26 08:42:50 As I mentioned last week, sellers decided to boycott eBay in response to the new fee structure, as well as the changes to the feedback system. Unfortunately, eBay is claiming that the boycott had no affect, even though an independant third-party saw a drop to 13.5 million listings at one point last week. [...] Read more:Boycott
, Impress
, Seller
Affiliate Summit West - Day 2 2008-02-25 19:07:00 I finally got a free moment to jump on the computer, so I figured I’d throw up a quick post! Of course, a quick scan of Google Blog Search showed me that every other blogger in the universe has already written about ASW.. That’s what I get for spending 12 hours at the craps [...] Read more:Affiliate
, Affiliate Summit
, Summit
NFL Gridiron Gab - Free Swag Sunday 2008-02-24 13:20:08 NFL Gridiron Gab makes a bold statement, billing themselves as the definitive NFL football blog, but they’ve got the goods to back it up. Started back in August 2006, the blog has been well-received in the sports media world, and has been featured on SI.com, ESPN, USA Today, and NBC Blog Buzz, just to [...] Read more:Sunday
Name The First CD You Ever Bought 2008-02-22 13:50:28 I was listening to the 80’s station on Sirius this afternoon, and a song came on that brought me back to 1988, and the first CD I ever got.
A local radio station was doing a drawing at the mall, and I was the lucky winner. I didn’t even own a CD player yet! Luckily, [...] Read more:First
Get An iPhone For $249! 2008-03-12 14:07:29 I’ve been eyeing the iPhone
since it first came out, but the pricetag kept me away. Then the price dropped to $399, and I started to reconsider it. And finally, after months of procrastination, I decided to get one. And just before I bought mine, I got the heads-up on a special [...]
Organic vs Paid Search 2008-03-12 09:22:55 I’ll be in NYC next week for the Search
Engine Strategies conference.. If you’ve never been to a Search Engine Strategies event in New York City, this is a “must-attend”. The industry converges for a week of spirited discussion, high-level learning and attendees leave with actionable battle plans to go forward with for their companies.
So [...] Read more:Organic
Ultimate Peep Show 2008-03-13 14:18:09 It’s not often that an e-mail makes me laugh, but this one takes the cake! Read more:Ultimate
Even More Demotivator Posters! 2008-03-16 08:26:31 Ok, this is the last batch, I swear!
The coming week will be hectic, with SES NY on Monday and Tuesday, and Las Vegas from Wednesday-Sunday. I don’t know how easy it’ll be to post from my iPhone, but I’ll give it a shot. If not, be prepared for lots [...] Read more:Posters
SES NY - Day 3? 2008-03-19 12:37:47 Unfortunately, I had to come home yesterday night, so I won’t be attending the rest of SES NY. Why, you might ask?
I’M GETTING MARRIED! Tomorrow! In Vegas! Yikes!?
I’ve been with my fiancee for a LOOOOOONG time, so I figured it was time to make it official. Or as my buddy [...]
Search Engine Strategies NY - Day 2 2008-03-18 20:24:16 Day 2 started off with the opening keynote by Nick Carr. As keynotes go, it wasn’t too bad.. I’m looking forward to reading “The Big Switch” in it’s entirety.
The Expo Hall opened up at 10am, and it was absolute chaos. I’m not sure why they waited until Day 2 to open up the [...] Read more:Engine
, Search
, Search Engine
, Search Engine Strategies
, Strategies
Search Engine Strategies NY - Day 1 2008-03-17 20:00:51 Unlike all the live blogger geeks out there (and there were a lot!), I decided to focus on the workshops at hand, and worry about posting later. I watched countless people miss the entire session, as they fought to get connected to the flakey wifi network.. Such is life.
I was very interested in attending [...] Read more:Engine
, Search
, Search Engine
, Search Engine Strategies
, Strategies
Back From Las Vegas.. 2008-03-24 13:32:22 So the perpetual bachelor finally decided to get married.. Crazy, isn’t it?! But my wife has been my biggest supporter throughout this crazy jouryney. When I decided to quit my steady 9-5 job so I could “make a living online”, she didn’t question it. If money was ever tight, she’d offer to [...] Read more:Las Vegas
, Vegas
Website Conversion Optimization 2008-03-28 15:56:42 Companies tend to focus solely on increasing website traffic, but more important is what visitors actually do once they are on your website. Profits are determined by sales and so an effective website is one that will persuade users to take the action you desire practically every time and make the sale.
Conversion
optimization refers to [...] Read more:Optimization
5 Tips To Reduce Stress and Improve Productivity 2008-03-26 15:46:40 Do you ever feel like you have more and more to do but less time to do it? Feeling stressed at the thought of all the things that need to get done? Effective time management will help you accomplish more each day, and by maximizing productivity, you can save time and cut down on stress.
Here [...] Read more:Improve
, Productivity
Special Offer From American Express! 2008-04-02 09:46:19 I talked about the AmericanExpress
Plum Card in a previous article, and how I use it for about 95% of my company’s purchases. They’ve decided to extend a great offer to readers of ZanderChance.com, and you’d be crazy not to take advantage of it. Apply for the Plum Card from American Express [...] Read more:Offer
, Special
, Special Offer
April Fools Day! 2008-04-01 01:00:47 I don’t work in an office anymore, but if I did (and if I had patience), I’d love to pull off something like this. (Click picture for larger view) Read more:April
, Fools
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