Home Business Tips

More and more people are learning that running a successful home business is a great way to make money. While this is certainly a possibility, it can be difficult to determine the best course of action. In order to be successful, you need to learn all you can about starting and running a home business. The information presented in this article will help you in this learning process.

If you are not confident with doing taxes, you should consider employing an accountant who can take care of your financial information. Trying to learn our increasingly complicated tax codes is not the best use of your time when you are starting out with a new business.

Have a regular work schedule. Write down the instances when you plan to work to avoid experiencing getting burnt out. There will be occasions when you have to work at unscheduled times, but try to stick to your planned hours as closely as possible. You need to occasionally put the stress of working behind you and just relax with your family.

Whether you start your own company from an idea in your head or buy into a ready-made franchise, you need to keep in mind that success won't come overnight. It is going to take time to make a success out of any home business. Have patience and a long-term mindset, and keep moving your business ahead toward success.

You should wear nice clothing! There is a great temptation to not dress professionally when working from home. Dress business casual, as you would for most jobs outside the home. This can improve focus and productivity.

It is important to keep track of your daily spending since these have a direct effect on the business you operate. You'll need the information for figuring out your deductions at tax time, and also if you're unlucky enough to be audited.

Think about how much your products will cost. Find out the cost of making your own products. The generally accepted formula to deduce the price that the customer will pay is to double the cost that you pay for the merchandise. This calculation will give you a good wholesale price for your product. To obtain a retail price, triple the cost.

It is recommended that all your business contracts are together in a single location, so as to keep them organized. Make sure you keep all your utility contracts in this handy spot as well. That way, if there is ever an issue, you can lay your hands on the paperwork very easily.

As a sole business owner, be sure you control all financial decisions. Consider the choice to hand out your company credit card carefully, as your ability to include purchases in a tax write off may be negatively influenced.

Joining home business discussion groups is a great way to learn more about running a home business. You can easily find many reputable sites from a simple Google search. There are also many online blogs that you will find helpful.

Before you begin marketing and selling products, you should set your price point based off market research. Price the item or service as offered by your competitors, and aim your price just slightly lower. Talking negatively about another business is bad for your own, so focus on making your good qualities stand out instead.

Your family and friends need to know that they should not disturb you when you are attempting to work. If you have a family member or close friend who likes to show up uninvited, let them know that this is a business and you have work hours just like everybody else and request that they not disturb you. If you have an unexpected visitor while you are working, ask them to sit in a different room and watch a little tv or read a magazine, while you finish up what you are doing.

When starting out in a home business, you need a website to start selling your services or products. This will help you reach your target customer base and create more revenue for your business. Hiring the services of a professional web designer ensures that your website will be up and running in no time.

If you desire to make lots of cash as a home based business owner, it's vital that you know when to take chances. Trying new things will attract the attention of new customers and increase your profits. If you keep doing the same thing, you won't know if a better alternative exists.

Now that you have a greater idea of what you need to do to create and manage a home business, you should start feeling like you can accomplish your home business goals. Remember that the information you learned is only going to work if you apply it. If you follow the tips in this article, then your home business should succeed.

A job description is a list that a person might use for general tasks. The construction job description has its base on constructing buildings and structures.

Online Competition Success Tips

In this article I am going to talk about successful tips and benefits of entering online competitions, otherwise known as comping. What you can now do with a broadband connection, laptop computer, spare time and perseverance can be truly rewarding, and in some cases life changing! Why not join thousands of other people who are trawling the Internet in search to enter hundreds of online competitions every day in the hope of winning a dream holiday, car, vouchers and cash.

Whilst entering competitions can be a lot of fun, it is certainly not an easy sure-fire way to make cash! Initially you have to look at comping as a hobby, it will take a lot of positive thinking and dedication. Remember folks, luck is always going to be the predetermining factor to your hard work and success, you have to believe that you are going to be the lucky winner!

Success Tips:

Set up a dedicated email address exclusively for entering competitions. Not only will entering competitions be easier to manage by having all your entries in one place, it will also absorb all the spam and keep your established everyday inbox clean.

Statistically the best way of winning competitions is to enter as many as possible, you've probably heard of the old saying 'throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will eventually stick. I would recommend you enter at least 60 competitions a week if you want to see the fruits of your labor. As we all know, 'You have to be in it to win it'.

Save valuable competition entry time with easy one-click intelligent form filling. There are many reliable software sources that fill in your data on almost any web form to eradicate needless typing! Robo Form and Greasemonkey are both excellent products in their own right, very easy to use and makes completing long registration, checkout and autofill survey forms a breeze.

It's a good idea to focus your efforts on prizes that you can really use. It's also worth noting that a competition involving a quiz usually attracts fewer entries, it makes perfect sense to enter this type of competition, and you will have a much greater chance of winning.

Go Social! Twitter has led to a new trend of comping by way of entering Retweet and follow contests which only takes just a few seconds to enter. Twitter marketing activities are designed to get people to follow which ultimately increases their number of followers and builds brand awareness. Before you get started you will need to (If you haven't already) sign up for a Twitter account. Your chances of winning this syndicate style will depend on the number of eligible entries received. I would recommend the following sites to search, all of which offer a rich source of updated Twitter competitions, Theprizefinder.com, Loquax.co.uk, Ukwins.co.uk and competitionhunter.com.

Another excellent and worthy competition application is to appear on game shows to win cash, cars and holidays. This year I personally won £22,472.00 as a Deal or No Deal contestant, not bad for a couple of weeks work. I would highly recommend using the Beonscreen website, you will get new show alerts sent instantly to your email inbox, alternatively follow Beonscreen on Twitter and get new show details instantly! The downside to game shows of course is that you are unable to hide behind your laptop for this one, it will involve show casing yourself in front of large cameras, studio audience and meeting famous people such as Noel Edmunds.

So if you are ready to enter competitions, follow these success tips to start winning today but remember, entering online competitions is NOT a Get Rich-Quick Scheme... It can take many months to start winning prizes. If i can offer one more piece of advice, don't give up!

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Make Money Tips For Students

Nowadays students are mainly concerned with their school or college studies. Everyone is looking to earn scholarships but many of them don't succeed. It's a fact that many people cannot afford to go to college due to their financial problems. So what do they do? Well I am going to reveal to you a few make money tips for students that will help you earn money for your college fees.

Well let's face it. Education is precious to everyone. That is why people join good colleges that would provide them with good educational facilities. But the costs of college fees, curriculum books and other various things may be too high. So many students are forced to work at part time and some even at full time so that the money that they earn from this may allow them to pay off whatever they might need for their colleges.

With the advancement in technology, internet has become a place where people find the solutions to all their problems. The internet, in this regard, offers a wide range of part time and full time jobs that are accessible to every student. All the student has to do is to show his full potential in the job and success is bound to reach him.

These money make tips for students will help each student earn money for his or her college fees.

You can start your money making journey by creating a money generating blog. These days the youth has become more interested in writing about different things that they may know about. At the same time, many people also have gained interest in reading these blogs that you may produce. In order to gain more attention, try to write about something more informative. Answer the public's queries. You could also join an affiliate program which will help you earn even more money from your blog.

You could also set up an eBay online store. You may have some unused or slightly used stuff that you may no longer need. Sell them on the internet which will help you gain more income.

If you are a good writer then you should try article writing. Create articles and sell them on the internet. Many people would pay good money for these articles. You could also work as a "ghost writer" in which you get employed by different organizations. You make articles of your choice and then sell these articles for money.

It must be kept in mind however, that the articles that you sell will no longer be your property; that is, you will not have any right to declare the writing as yours, but nevertheless, you will get paid for selling them.

Show a little willpower and put in some effort. A bit of determination can turn into something very profitable. Very soon you will be earning money that may be just enough to cover up your college funds. So what are you waiting for? Start earning today for your bright future tomorrow.

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Home Business Tips And Tricks

If you are aware of the right ways to work from home to earn money, running your own home business might be more attainable than you think. However, to many people, the concept appears too optimistic to put into practice. Follow the tips in this article to get the basic information you need.

The internet is the perfect place to promote your home business. Hire someone to build your website, or do it yourself. Make sure it's easy to get around. See to it that you are really providing your website visitors articles that they could in fact employ, and offer these individuals the chance to conveniently contact you or get any one of the goods you are offering online. Look for more ways on how to make a great website for your company.

Save your receipts, especially when running a home-based business. A number of your everyday expenses are tax deductible if you can tie them to your business. Make certain you make it a practice to place each invoice into a specified area for safe-keeping, to make sure at tax time you'll be certain to have any that you might need to have. Failing to keep these items will cause you many problems in the long run.

If you have to take a client to lunch, be sure to deduct that cost as a business expense. These events are considered business expenses. When doing this however, make sure to only do so with business associates or customers, because taking your kids to lunch and claiming a business deduction is not smiled upon by the IRS.

Safeguard your really important company data files by simply backing them up using cost effective removable storage devices. This may cost you a great deal of money and prevent you from paying taxes properly. There are also businesses that offer online backup services.

Select names that really mean something. Your name should be representative of what you sell, which is why it is important to have a name that customers can appreciate. There may be a quirky and/or inspirational story associated with your brand name. This makes your brand more recognizable, which will assist you in gaining customer loyalty in the future.

The dream of owning a home business is one shared by many. Unfortunately, the people who have this dream are mostly people who will never learn how to create their own successful home business. By following these tips, you will be ready for effective home business management.

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Tips to Help You Succeed in Network Marketing

Don't go in blind to your network marketing opportunity. Use these tips to give you and your downline a competitive edge, that will result in your organisation building faster.

1. Concentrate On Your Work
Don't let yourself be distracted by other activities, like personal calls, Facebook, or games. For the time each day or each week that you set aside to work on your business, let nothing distract you from working. Most people only set aside a few hours per week for business building, so make that limited time count.

2. Keep Regular Hours
This has two benefits. It gives you and those around you a set schedule that you can get accustomed to. This helps prevent interruptions. Also, you can post your hours on a website or leave them on an answering machine message to better help your clients and/or customers know when to get ahold of you.

3. Hold Yourself Accountable
Write down the hours that you work. Keep an activity journal so you know what you're accomplishing in that time. Write any distractions that happen as well. Use this information to review your own performance once per month to see what areas you can improve in.

4. Focus on Income Producing Activities
If you make your money from sales calls, then this should be the only activity you do during your work time. Use other time for finding numbers, creating websites, or whichever other methods you use to get numbers to call. When it comes to work time, do only the activity that brings you money and nothing else.

5. Set Realistic Activity Goals
Don't set goals of how much money you want to make, because these can be very difficult to keep to on a time schedule. Set activity goals. Too many people waste too much time on research and learning and don't spend enough time actually doing the work they're supposed to do. Keep your goals activity-based and the money will follow.

6. Know Your Compensation Plan
Get to know exactly what activities bring you money, how much, and how they are all related. You want to know exactly which activities to focus on so you can budget your time accordingly. 80% of the work you do should be income producing activity. The other 20% is your research and support work. Knowing how your plan works can let you come up with the best method of how to build and grow.

7. Organize Your Downline
Certain businesses will actually reward you more if you can build your downline in a specific fashion, like the branches of a tree or "legs" in some businesses. Rather than just recruiting everyone beneath you directly, it may occasionally be in your best interests to give a direct recruit to one of your downline members in order to advance your ranking in the company to a better position. This will increase the commission you get from direct recruits for yourself and make you more money faster.

8. Motivate Your Team
When you've started recruiting people into your downline, you're going to want to make sure they're doing the work required to build their businesses. Their work, is your work at this point. If the people you recruit don't learn good habits, they won't pass these on to the people below them. Call your recruits weekly at first, until you start seeing them succeeding, after that, monthly to get a status report and see how their business building efforts are going. Reinforce any positive results they get to keep them happy with the business.

9. Train Your Downline
One of the major failures people subject themselves to is signing people up for their business and leaving them to the wolves. This is a fatal strategy, because those people will quit your business. Rather than recruiting hundreds of people and leaving them, take the time to train and help those people you recruit to learn how to build their businesses. This will ensure they stick around in your business, and pass on good traits to those that they recruit. Don't take on more recruits at a time than you can properly train and provide support to. If you're getting higher numbers than you can handle, pass off recruits to your downline. If you've trained them well, they will know all the tricks you know and their success if your success too.

10. Reward Your Successes
Regular acknowledgment of your successes helps to keep you focused and motivated. Each time you hit a new milestone, like a new rank in your company or a new level of income, treat yourself with something nice to reward your accomplishment. It's the same principle as congratulating your downline. A little treat helps the psyche and allows you to push onward.

Following these tips and tricks is not a guarantee of success, but it will put you miles ahead of most people who're looking to make money online. This list will help you avoid some of the classic blunders of people just getting into network marketing. If you'd like more one-on-one assistance with the troubles you might be having, my contact information can be found at the end of the video on my website. I'll do whatever I can to help people with their businesses.

Ryan G Hibbs is a expert marketing consultant, and has helped people to fire their bosses and start making twice as much money with half as much work, from home. Clients who join his top-tier program make healthy, consistent five-figure incomes every month. Get free info on the program from this video: http://www.freesecretformula.net

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Your Empowered Life

When I think of a life of "true bliss," I think of a place where we follow our hearts desire, our dreams our goals and aspirations.

I think of finding fulfillment and having a life of purpose. An empowered life where you live your life to it's limits.

Sounds great! The problem, we don't typically spend much time following our dreams and aspirations. We are too busy in our day to day schedule to even look up out of the fog to know what we truly want in life.

For me, I was making a good living, but I wasn't making a good life, I wasn't "living a life without limits."

I was chasing down the wrong rabbit hole. I thought as long as I was bringing home a good paycheck, the family was healthy, and no major catastrophe was happening then I was on the path of, "true bliss."

The reality, I was coming home from my job feeling, "spent," with no energy for anything else in my day, and no patience. I hated coming home to the most important people in my life like that. Let me explain.

I get off work one day a little late. It had been an extremely busy day and I was feeling especially tired. I just wanted to get home and relax. Instead I'm stuck in commuter traffic for 55 minutes and I can feel myself getting more frustrated as each minute goes by. "Just relax I tell myself," and I turn the radio up a little louder, trying to just revel in the music.

My mind gets side tracked into all the things I still have to do when I get home. I think, "I should have gotten dinner started before I left this morning."

I walk through the door and the first words I hear are from my son, " hey mom I don't get this homework, I need you to help me." "I'm busy you need to figure it out yourself," I reply.

"I can't I already tried."

The exchange continues for a few more minutes and ends with my son saying,

"OK fine I'll just have my teacher help me tomorrow."

Teachers reading this are probably cringing right now.

Not my idea of being an empowered women or having an inspired, dream life. It's days like this that we all have, We know there is something better and yet we settle.

Why do we settle?

The challenge for me was to determine what it was I wanted, what my dream life looked like what my life of aspirations and purpose was. Then moving towards them was scary as h*ll.

Yes change is scary (honestly some days, bloodcurdling) and tough, but look at the alternative.

Imagine what it would be like once you have achieved it. Life is short and as they say, there is no time like the present. For me the best decision I ever made was to follow my heart. To become an entrepreneur and to live my life my way.

For change to really happen for you it must come from a very personal place in you.

You have to get to a place where you decide the pain of being where you are now is more than the pain of change.

You know that place that says, "I just can't do this any more."We have all been there at one time in our lives with something.

Then you muster up all the courage you can find and, "go for it." Sounds easy, but not so much. You've been there where you start to take the steps forward and then you quit, we all have.

To shift your life in the direction you want it to go, it all starts and ends within you. The payoff is monstrous and once you start taking the small daily steps, each day gets easier.

You have already seen this in your own life. We have each made changes in our lives that at first we were uncertain of, but as we had small success we became more and more confident and then eventually looked back and felt this huge sense of pride and accomplishment.

We all have greatness in us, our hearts desires, dreams and goals can all be manifested. Go for your dreams with passion, commitment, patience, and persistence. They are totally achievable for you. We have a complimentary 7 day training series to help you get started, 'Living A Life Without Limits. "

My partner Elena and I are excited to help you live your dream lifestyle. We have a complimentary 7 day series, "7 Key Tips To Live Your Dream Lifestyle," available for you. In this series we will help you determine what your dream lifestyle includes, help you set-up goals and strategies so you have the lifestyle you dream of for yourself and your family. Get your complementary lifestyle tips here:
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Traits of Successful Freelancers

If you look at the number of contractors listed in either oDesk or Elance, you will be distraught at the sheer number of freelance competitors you are up against. The feeling is similar to hitting an air pocket while soaring at 35,000 ft.

Be strong. Freelancing is not for the meek. It is for the stout-hearted, with dreams bigger than the Alps and the tenacity of honey badger (rated by the Guinness Book of world records as the most fearless and tenacious animal).

Keep in mind the unfailing 80/20 rule. This means that in any group, only 20% are really good while the rest are just getting by. Keep your nose glued to the 20% and emulate them. They are the guys who are regularly keeping PayPal or AleftPay busy

What is the secret of this 20%? What do they have that the others don't?

Well, there is no secret. It's the same old, and overused, "attitude." According to surveys, successful freelancers, assuming writing and technical skills are the same, have these traits not found in others:

They are prolific writers:

Musicians practice even without a concert; athletes practice even if there is no tournament. For obvious reasons, successful freelance writers write even if they are not working on a project. They write everyday. Practice makes perfect.

As a writer, you must constantly evolve into something better. Set no limit to your writing skill and your interests.

You can only hold that star in your hand if you reach out for it.

They are organized:

A cluttered work environment is a product of a cluttered work habits and cluttered work habits, a product of a cluttered mind. And a cluttered mind will show in your writing.

Where would you have your car fixed, in cluttered garage or in a clean and orderly one?

Orderliness always has a positive effect in the way you do things. It gives you pride in yourself, in your work.

They are reliable and consistent:

A freelancer works for a client, which means your time, your output, your quality are not yours to determine but by others. It matters not how good you think you are. What matters is what your clients think of you.

Long term relationships, and earning potential, are built on trust, not by brilliance. Consider that your foremost objective as a freelancer.

They are professional in their dealings:

Remember the saying, "Be honest even if others are not?" Consider that your mantra as a freelancer.

We all want to deal with people who are professional in their business dealings, don't we? Thus we go to our favorite convenience store, our favorite bar, our favorite gas station, confess to our favorite pastor. So why shouldn't you be professional in dealing with your clients?

They think long term:

Except on very rare cases, successful freelancers attained success by treating each writing assignment as a step in a staircase going upwards.

They are writing for a living, not just to satisfy today's hunger. They write for big bucks by accumulating every penny that comes their way each day

They never stop learning:

Writing is creating something from all the things that happened to you, around you, in you, be they people, events, things, experiences, etc., up until the present.

What makes a successful writer is the constant shifting of the word "present," forward. They just don't stop learning.

There are probably countless freelance writers at present. Only a few are making serious money from their efforts. Let that not be an excuse for you to be one of those who are not.

You may have your own game plan of standing on the same stage successful freelancers are standing on. But if things are not going as you expected, when things get tough and you can't seem to make sense of what you are doing, take stock of yourself and compare yourself against these tried and proven traits. I am sure you will find a lot of answers to your questions.

Joseph Dabon,
I am an online entrepreneur, freelance/ghost writer and blogs about motivational and home based business for women at http://homebizresources.net/

Home Based Business Ideas

This article will list out the 10 most solid and rewarding home based business ideas that you can use to start your own small venture and work on your own terms.

1. Consulting

This is one of the most common home based business ideas that people use to work and earn from home. If there is a subject that you are good at and passionate about then a little more effort can see you become something of an expert on that subject. You can then help other people looking for information and guidance on that subject.

For example, if you like taking care of your home and know how to keep it free from infestation, a lot of people wouldn't mind paying you for consultation if you could help their homes be free of infestation.

2. Blogging

This is similar to consulting in that you need to have a topic or subject that you are passionate about and are willing to spend time on. However, how you earn money from blogging differs from how you earn from consulting.

In the last few years, blogging has become one of the most sought after online business ideas which help people earn money online mainly from advertising revenue and to some extent from commission revenue. Blogging is also one of the passive income ideas that help you keep earning money continuously.

3. Product Reviews

If you really like playing around with products like electronic gadgets or other utility products, a lot of websites and magazines would be willing to pay you decent amounts of money for putting together a comprehensive review of these gadgets.

4. Freelancing

If you have some sort of technical skill for which companies hire people, you might be able to put those skills to use on freelance sites. Using freelance sites, you can choose the jobs you want to do for a specific amount of time from your home and get paid for it.

5. Ecommerce

E-commerce from home might sound daunting but rest assured, it is far from that. If you make good use of dropshipping, you can be up and running with a profitable home business in under a week.

To make this a success, you will need to set up a website to sell products, set up a payment mechanism to accept payments and find a dropshipper who will dropship the products that you will be selling.

6. Internet Marketing

Amongst all the online business ideas and passive income ideas, Internet Marketing is probably the most lucrative one. Companies pay a good amount of money if you can help them market their products online.

If you can generate traffic and send the traffic to offers put out by various companies, you can earn a decent chunk of money from this. And the best part is that a lot of the work done in internet marketing can result in passive income for months or even years.

7. Online Services

A lot of websites need services like content optimization, SEO and link building. If you have the necessary skills to do these jobs, there is a lot of work available through freelance websites and on online forums.

8. Writing Services

Businesses and websites have a constant need for new, fresh, relevant and high quality content. If you can write good content, you can make substantial money by working from home. Over a period of time, as your home based business for writing grows, you can even start outsourcing the writing work to increase your profits.

9. Website Design and Hosting

Website designing and hosting is probably one of the oldest online business ideas. It might be old but it is still effective. Most importantly, once you have an established client base, the hosting income is one of the most stable passive income sources available.

10. Private Tutor

If you have an aptitude for teaching or making learning easier, being a private tutor to kids can also be a very good work from home idea. Apart from earning money, you can also get the satisfaction of helping shape children's futures.

Regardless which of the home based business ideas you choose, it is very important that you plan ahead. Keep in mind that like any other business, home based businesses also face uncertainty arising from market conditions. Being aware of these things will increase the likelihood of your home business idea being successful.

Branding Steps for Start Ups

For start ups, branding can be particularly challenging, and not just because of limited or no budget, but because information out there is mostly geared towards existing businesses, businesses with a few years and customers under their belt. Some articles actually conflict with one another. A good example is on the subject of logos, some saying that you must have a logo while others claiming you don't need one to get started, and both sides of this argument insisting that a business must have a professional, polished, and consistent look in order to succeed.

The conflict is not surprising since the term "brand" can have varying definitions. According to the American Marketing Association, a brand is a "name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers." To a vast group of marketers however, a brand is the value of the product or service offered to consumers; it's the relationship a business has with its customers or clients.

In order to avoid confusion, let's make sure we are on the same page with the terms brand and branding as used in this article:

    A brand (noun) is the personality of a business as it is viewed by consumers; it is what people believe about your company and its product or services.
    Branding (verb) is all the stuff you do to promote your brand and more importantly what you or your business does to establish and continue a relationship with your clients or customers. It is the process of discovering and then communicating the desired brand image to potential customers.

Since a brand is built on what others believe, the task for business start ups is to create a desirable personality for their business by having a unique promise of quality and delivering on that promise. In addition, creating a good impression is critical for start ups; it can mean the difference between success and failure.

The following 7 steps are meant to get you started in the direction of creating a brand for your business.

1. Get to Know Your Target Market

Actually, make sure there is a market before starting any business. Why? What's the point if there is no one there to buy what you are offering? You cannot create a market; there must be a need for your product or service.

Hopefully, you have already done this step; if not, take the time and define your target market by creating customer profiles. Identify specific characteristics of your most promising potential customers (or businesses if you will be a B2B) who are most likely to purchase your product or service. Be as specific as you can.

Depending on your type of business and the product or service you're offering, there are three options for getting to know your target market: surveys and questionnaires, interviews, and focus groups.

2. Define Your Promise.

It starts with having a clear, precise and attainable brand promise. Being precise helps making you stand out among the competition in your field. Being attainable helps you deliver on that promise.

To help you define your promise, ask yourself what unique value your services or product offers and how potential customers will benefit from them. What do you solve? What does your brand satisfy? What is your brand's position? What does it stand for?

3. Check out the Competition

Believe it or not, competition is a good thing...it is an indicator that there is a market. It can also help to define your business and the value that you are offering and what make you different. What can or do you do that is better? What is unique about you and your business? How you are different or what makes you stand out from the rest in your field or industry.

Another thing you want to note is how they are delivering their promise, message and brand. Although it may not be possible to gauge how successful they are with their print advertising, it may be easier to see how their online campaigns are doing (for example, do they have a Fan Page on Facebook and/or Twitter and how many followers they have?) to decide if these venues are worth pursuing in your particular field.

4. Name your Business

The purpose of a business name is more than setting you apart from your competition. It should convey the business qualities you want to impart. It should be recognizable and easy to spell. Start by deciding what you want your name to communicate. Some of the work done in defining your promise will help to pinpoint these elements. Make a list of adjectives that call such qualities to mind and see how you can incorporate one or two in the name.

5. Define your main Call to Action

You would think this is a most obvious step, yet you won't believe how many existing business neglect to define a specific Call to Action. After all it's what this is all about. What do you want your customers to do? Call you? Click on the link? Sign up for a newsletter? Purchase a product?

Yes, you may have several goals that you want to accomplish. But it's imperative for start ups to choose one main goal in the beginning. With many businesses this can be tricky as, for example, we want our leads to have options on how to contact us (phone and email). If you do end up with a few Call to Actions, then prioritize which one is your top preferred one, the second preferred choice, etc.

By clearly defining your main call to action, you will be better able to make a better choice when deciding what medium will be best to deliver it and greatly aid when it comes to designing these mediums.

6. Choose Which Deliverable Mediums to Use at the Start

A good strategy uses both online and offline mediums to get your message to your target market. But in the very beginning, when the budget is thin, deciding which medium brings the most return of investment becomes crucial. You will want "It", whether it is a business card or landing page on the web, to be professional looking, which may means in this area you may have to invest some money to get those results.

Choose and invest in mediums whether print or web, that will deliver your main Call to Action to your target market now. Not every business needs a business card or full color brochure, likewise not every business type benefits from having a website. As your business starts to pull in clients and your budget increases, you can expand to other mediums.

The newest kid on the block, social networking, has proven quite successful for businesses to get their brand message out there. Although it may not be critical in the very beginning for most, it is a trend in branding that has gained steam and is rocketing forward with no signs of stopping. It may be worth devoting some time and looking into developing a social network marketing strategy as part of your marketing plan. Nowadays there are many avenues to get your brand out there for very little, almost no money, but they take time and planning on your part.

7. Brand Identity

Finally, the one step most people assume would be the first on this list. Why is it the last? Because your "physical" identity should develop from the steps outlined above (in fact, the information gleaned from the above steps will be critical to creating your brand identity).

Logo: The "face" of your business. This is where most start ups decide to cut costs and do it themselves. If you don't know what vector graphics, jpg, pdf, png are, know or have Photoshop, Illustrator or other vector drawing programs, do yourself a huge favor; hire a professional designer. Freelance graphic designers will work with your ideas and your budget, and will advise and deliver accordingly.

Sharing steps 1 through 6 will help tremendously in the creative "sketch and brainstorm" sessions, so that the designer can create a logo that truly reflects for your business. You may also want to choose which colors you want as part of your brand and discuss these with your designer, which can give you more insight and feedback on your choices.

If you just don't have any money at all, then go with a nice type (font) that reflects your business as an alternative until you can afford to have a logo professionally designed. Make sure the font is legible. DO NOT just simply open up Microsoft Word and try to create your logo with it! It will not save in a format suitable for printed mediums which need high resolution, normally 300px. Also many printers will ask for.pdf file in order to print. Use a vector drawing program, even if it's just to create a type logo. For a free alternative to expensive vector programs, check out Inkscape. There are also thousands of free fonts online.

Tagline and/or slogan: A slogan and a tagline are not one in the same. A slogan is associated with a particular product, service or marketing campaign, whereas a tagline is a word or phrase closely allied with a business name and brand. It is not unusual to have several slogans to go with different products and varying services. However, a business will have only one tagline.

The tagline is a word or phrase that clearly identifies what you do or what you sell. It should capture three essential elements: 1)The business mission, 2)Your brand promise, and 3)Your brand as a whole. The tagline often appears in close proximity with the company name and logo, forming a single visual unit. Therefore, you may want to limit your tagline to 6 words or less.

Colors: Colors are an important part of any brand identity. Colors influence our emotions in a variety of ways. And color associations will vary from one culture to another. So if you're brand will be playing in the global arena, it is crucial that you make sure the colors will have the impact desired. Once you've determined what it is that your target customer is looking for, you can best decide on the color to help them find it (now you see why knowing your target market should be Step #1 in the brand development plan).

Voice: If your business could talk, how would it sound? How you speak with your customers, your voice and tone, is just as important as what you say (or write in some cases). Voice refers to a combination of use of syntax, diction, punctuation, dialogue, point of view. Once developed, the voice of your business should remain constant. The tone of your voice, however, can be adapted according to audience and platform

In conclusion, branding does take time and some aspects of your branding strategy may change as you start your business and see what works and what doesn't. Taking these steps from the very beginning your business venture will guide you in having consistency which is the key to a successful branding strategy.

Pamela Smalbein, Creative Director at http://buenagraphics.com

Network Marketing VT

With all the different program's out there it can be difficult to sort through and find the one that is genuinely going to help you make money for the long term and provide you with good sustainable income for the long haul.

Network Marketing VT is a marketing program you may have come across that promises much but the question is; does it actually deliver and give you the results you are looking for?

What Network Marketing VT promises is that you will not have to sell anything personally to anyone to earn money; in fact you don't even have to speak to anyone because the whole system is designed to be totally automated in the way it works.

The other thing to note is that it promises you a 100% commission on sales.

If you're wondering what the catch is then read on and find out.

Network Marketing VT launched in January 2012 by CEO Jason Spurlock. Before forming Network Marketing VT, he had been involved in running various MLM companies which included UProfitPro and The PowerLine 1000 Marketing System.

How it works

When a new member joins, they will pay a membership fee to the rest of the members and in return are given access to a whole resource of marketing and training ebooks which they can use to market and sell at a retail level to help people start their own businesses.

How much does it cost you?

In order to join, it requires an initial fee of $98 and then a recurring monthly charge of $19.95 and what you get for your fee is membership for this exclusive organization, a replicated capture website for online marketing and regular marketing materials so you can market to new members.

The catch though is this.

The way the compensation plan works is to pay out 100% commission on $98 sales that are made by recruiting members into the organization who each contribute the membership fee.

Network Marketing VT utilizes a 3-up commissions system which basically means that when you make your first 3 $98 sales commissions, you pass your commissions to your up line to the older members. Once you have recruited 3 members then you can start earning.

Then for each member that you recruit, they will do the same and pass up the commissions through to you and it builds from there.

So in order to make it work you need to be willing to put the work in to make it effective for you so you can reap the rewards as more members sign up new members.

This is the way that Network Marketing VT and their members make great revenues because 100% of the commissions that members receive are also generated by the membership sales fee that new members pay the company and are passed up the line to them. A great source of passive income!

This is how you make money through Network Marketing VT and also how you can attract others to do the same. The rewards are huge if you are prepared to invest yourself in this.

Jacquelyn Astwood here inviting you to Network Marketing VT, a training, coaching and software system that leverages the internet and the people we attract. Network Marketing VT takes you through each training webinar step-by-step. There's a host of free products that can be download in the backoffice.