Do You Picture Yourself Running A Home Based Internet Business?
Picture the ideal home based internet business for a minute. You wake up very early in the morning and do a quick commute to your home office. Still in your pyjamas, you start the day with a nice cup of tea and settle at your pc. After a few hours work, you decide to take a break to spend some time with the family who are just waking up and have some breakfast with them.
You take a shower, and get the kids ready for school which is a few miles from where you live. After dropping the kids you head back home and log into your email account to see a message with the subject “Well done, you have just earned a commission”. Yes, you have been making money whilst out there dropping your kids at school. You could have well been sleeping when that email popped into your mailbox.
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[...] Do You Picture Yourself Running A Home Based Internet Business? [...]
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Good article, Ade; wish I had read it a few years ago…heh.
A big part of the learning curve for a start-up is cash flow. If it’s limited, and you’re on a 30-day or 60-day invoice cycle, it’s tough to invest on behalf of multiple clients some sort of constant credit. It’s good to know about the cheap stuff, too. And actually I’ve been able to woo clients away from larger firms because even moneyed clients like to know that you’re concerned about their budget, not just yours. I didn’t seek them out, either; nothing is more powerful than word of mouth. So good work, out of the starting gate, is essential.
Here are a few free or low-cost resources I’ve discovered that are equivalent to the more expensive ones:
For advertising, marketing and web site work, Lucky Oliver is the best thing going right now for stock photos, graphics and illustrations. It’s quality stuff — and gee, you just can’t beat the starting-at $1 fee. I can download free watermarked images for a client presentation, and pay after client approval. It’s easy, and for some marketers and web designers their new affiliate program might be a good fit. It’s http://www.luckyoliver.com
Need cash flow? I did, and still do sometimes. AmEx has a new Business Gold Rewards Card just for small business–it’s rewards are fantastic if your new company requires travel, dining. Fees are waived for the first year. It’s a great way to establish company credit and manage any lengthy invoice cycles. The Amex site is easy to find.
Microsoft Accounting has a free beta download. Since it’s free, not all features are operative, but my business doesn’t require them. You get time tracking and invoicing capability. Have to check around for that one — it doesn’t seem to be on the MS site — and I don’t have the site bookmarked.
Also, MS is sponsoring totally free web sites, and free means they are covering the cost of domain. It’s probably not the best choice for a home-based marketing guru, but if it’s the basics you need, it works. I just read about this recently — and there are other reviews out there: Here’s a NY Times link: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/02/technology/02pogue.html?em&ex=1162789200&en=188d7b9fc4b3d9bd&ei=5087%0A
ClickZ is great for marketing advice (in addition to sites and blogs like yours 8-).
Hope this helps!
with minilittle credentials
without knowing about the cheap stuff, too. There are a plethora of expensive online resources that rise high in search engines and overwhelm the little guys. What I’ve found is
are Not only does it help give you cash flow
Comment by Anne | November 9, 2006