5 Tips For Avoiding Legal Problems

October 29, 2010
  • Arm yourself with basic knowledge of business law so that you’re alert to your company’s obligations and rights.
  • Practice prevention. Have your attorney review contracts and agreements before they’re signed.
  • Get your attorney’s opinions on documents you have drafted—such as employee policies—before you put them in place. You want to make sure they meet the requirements of the law.
  • Familiarize yourself with trademark and patent laws so that you don’t violate them. Learn how to apply for a trademark or copyright should you need to do so.
  • Understand the law as it pertains to your organizational structure. Your legal obligations as a C corporation, for example, will differ from those as a sole proprietor.

Article here:  http://www.score.org/5_tips_leg_1.html

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Roberts Rules of Entrepreneurship

October 29, 2010

By Flori Roberts

You believe in yourself. You have ideas and dreams. Use these convictions to create a rewarding and fulfilling business life, where you are the boss. During the agonies and ecstasies of starting my own company, I learned these “rules of entrepreneurship” the hard way…on the job! Perhaps it can help those of you who are just beginning, to start on the right track and to avoid the road blocks along the way.

You probably need a break from the complexity of starting a business. Here is some fundamental business advice—simple, straight forward and easy to implement.

1. Find a need—be ahead of your time.
Find a niche where the Giants won’t bother to go.

2. Identify your market and learn all about it.
You have to know everything about your business at the start.

3. Prepare a business plan…yes you have to.
No bank will take you seriously without a plan for profits.

4. Have adequate financing to start and to stay.
Success does not happen overnight, so be sure you’re financially fit.

5. Pay for the best professional advice.
Lawyers, accountants, insurers do work on an as needed, fee basis.

6. Keep your overhead low and your standards high.
Work from home or at a low cost, convenient location.

7. Establish a clearly defined distribution network.
Whatever your product or service, how will you present and sell it?

8. Be creative—your new idea does count.
Depend on marketing strategies rather than costly advertising to grow.

9. Seek and hire the most qualified people.
From the first employee, look for someone who knows more than you.

10. Know your competition and work to win.
Be persistent, focused and flexible…anything can happen.

11. Learn from the success and failure of others.
Read, watch trends, and observe what is “hot” in your industry.

12. Use technology as a tool for building your business.
From computers to telecommunications to the Web-use them all.

13. Don’t be sensitive and don’t take it personally.
Be prepared for rejection, but never give up your dream.

14. Never underestimate the power of passion.
You will need to take risks and believe when no one else does.

Starting a business requires discipline and discipline requires rules. You may want to follow my “rules of entrepreneurship” or create your own set of rules. But you must clearly identify your goals and live by them. Use them as a road map to your success. Good luck!

Flori Roberts is creative advisor to The Roberts Group, a cosmetics sales and marketing company. Roberts co-founded Flori Roberts Cosmetics and Dermablend Corrective Cosmetics. As an entrepreneur, she launched and grew two businesses to multi-million dollar proportions.

Article here:  http://www.score.org/article_roberts_rules_of_entrepreneurship.html

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How To Use Autoresponders To Build Your Internet Business

October 28, 2010
Ever wondered what a Auto Responder is and how it can benefit your online Business? Find out more in this article!

By John Beaumont 

What is an autoresponder? As the name suggests it is an automatic response email which is a very important internet tool.

You may have heard many people recommend them to you, but why use an autoresponder? To be honest the question really should be why? But rather how can you not use an autoresponder? In fact it is difficult to see in this day and age how you could build an active list without one.

Basically an autoresponder is a system for sending out emails on a regular pre-determined basis to people who have opted in to receiving your information. Sure you could type out an individual email every time someone contacted you but, hey, would you have the time or more importantly the inclination to do that?

By writing an email once you are able to send it automatically to numerous enquirers quickly and efficiently.

The disadvantage, of course, is that it is a general information email rather than a personal one. However in most cases this does not matter as most people require the same type of information initially.

You should of course word the email to sound as friendly and personal as possible. Your potential customer will hopefully contact you if they have further questions and you can then send them the requested answer via a personal email, phone or whatever.

So what should you put in your autoresponder email? Obviously pertinent information regarding the offer you are making and why they should buy from YOU but more importantly a “call to action”. You are building a business after all and you need to build up trust and a good relationship but you also need your potential customer to take ACTION.

Always remember that people buy from others whom they trust. Other things to put in your emails should be:-

- A thank you for requesting information

- A brief explanation about using the internet for sales

- How you can help them

- How to contact you

- Testimonials Etc.

The art is to spread out your information over several emails stressing different advantages in each one.

So how many emails should you send? It is a rough “rule of thumb” that, in general, people do not buy until approached around seven times. There is of course no limit to the number of emails you can send assuming that your reader does not request to be removed from your mailing list. This is an important point. If they do request removal then ensure that you carry this out immediately. There is automatic software available to take care of this situation.

The frequency of your autoresponder campaign is another important consideration. Personally I do not like receiving emails too often. To me this is counterproductive in as much as you can “over egg the custard” and put people off. However I know that other internet marketers disagree with me on this point and some even inundate their potential clients. So the choice is yours. Why not experiment with different timing of submissions?

My recommendation would be to send your emails at 2/3 day intervals initially. Long term you could also send reminders after 3/6 months and maybe again after a year. Often people’s circumstances change and whilst your offer may not be appreciated initially after a while it may become more of interest to them especially if their financial situation changes.

Bear in mind also that if you have several products you can automatically make different offers through your autoresponders. If they are not interested in product A then you can offer product B in the same niche. This might be just what they are looking for. Also you can use a few of the autoresponder emails to give free pertinent information to your contacts thus building up trust. Not every email needs to be promoting your offer(s) of course.

So where do you get your vital autoresponder? There are a number of companies offering their services on the internet so the choice is yours.

I like more Internet Marketers have found my preferred autoresponder through a matter of trial and error. The Most important thing is to find the autoresponder that works for you. So do a search and with due diligence, you’ll soon find yours.

To YOUR success

John Beaumont Internet Marketer

Get your FREE! “6 Pages To 6 Figures Special Report which Reveals EXACTLY How to Build a long lasting and Passive $100,000/yr Online Business here

Article Here:  http://sba-daily.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-use-autoresponders-to-build-your.html

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Low Cost Business Idea – VHS to DVD Transfer Service

October 27, 2010

VHS players are all but gone, yet millions of tapes exist in home video libraries.  Family memories recorded on camcorders, old movies or important historical information are examples.

The Problem:

VHS tapes are sensitive to sunlight, heat, water or a hungry VHS player with a taste for precious tapes.  Storage is another concern; VHS boxes and tapes require much greater space than slim DVDs and jewel cases.  Further, VHS tapes are difficult to search, forcing a watcher to fast-forward, stop and watch, fast-forward, etc.

A Business Solution:

Transfer VHS tapes to DVD or Blue-Ray using an VCR, software, cables, and a computer with a DVD burner.  The computer you probably own; if not, an inexpensive computer with DVD burner costs around $500.  Software packages with cables included can be purchased at Walmart, Costco or other retailers for around $50.  Roxio has a solid reputation as a software vendor; Honest Technologies is another option.

The Process:

The process is simple: Install the software, hook up your VCR to the included connectors, then plug the connectors into your computer. Copy your VHS tapes’ images to the computer’s hard drive and then burn the images to a DVD.  Customize the DVD and add Hollywood style menus and chapters for impressive results.  The same process may be used for transferring videos to iPod or PSP too or LPs and tapes to CDs.  Make the product unique by labeling songs automatically with title, artist and genre information.

Market the Product:

Develop a clever name and tag line, order free business cards through VistaPrint, start a blog or web site, and get some free or low-cost publicity.  Finally, do some market research and price your service accordingly.

People will pay you to provide this service: For some it is a major time saver, for others the technical challenges are too great.  This is a inexpensive and desirable business opportunity.  Price and advertise the business correctly and you will be successful!

- By Dion D. Shaw

Dion Shaw is the founder and owner of Homepreneurs.

** Dec 8 Update **

I’ve successfully used the Roxio product to record multiple DVDs from older VHS tapes.  These are VHS tapes I purchased years ago and have the legal right to make a single (backup) copy for personal use.

I thought I would also share some tips:

- Additional cables (either RCA or S2 video) are required and are not supplied with the software package.  Do not open the box and expect to instantly play and record.

- To set pricing of your service, calculate the capital costs – software, hardware, hourly wages – and price accordingly.  Remember you are providing a service and should be cost-competitive.

- The basic process is simple: load the software, connect the cables, follow the instructions, and start recording.  Advanced features such as editing or scene setting are more complex and require experience.

This is a good side business to consider.  It is relatively simple and generally uses equipment you probably own.  Buy the software and cables, get free business cards, market your service and instant business!

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