Are you gearing up for a new school year?  We just finished our vacation last week, so I’m trying to get back into a routine.  Hey, I posted some pictures of our trip with my middle daughter, Gentry.  She graduated from high school this year so we took her on a senior trip to Boston & New York.  You can see pics here:
http://www.CurriculumConnection.net/blog

>>> The real reason I’m writing you is to tell you about a few freebies this week.

The past few years I’ve been asked to speak at summer conferences about helping your kids with practical skills, specifically how to start an eBay business.  Tonight a good friend of mine, Jeff Mills, will be interviewing me about my eBay business.  There is no fee to listen to his interview.  You can read all about how to sign up to listen on Jeff’s site right here:
http://www.shopgoldmills.com/cmd.php?Clk=2549853

When you get to that website, you’ll see info about Jeff’s Midwest Conference where I’ll be a speaker. (That’s why he’s interviewing me)  Go ahead and sign up in the right-hand box.  You’ll get all the call info for tonight (Tuesday, August 26).

If you live in the mid-west, you’ll also be interested to know about his Midwest Conference.  Even if you don’t live in the mid-west, you’ll want to come and learn from some top-notch speakers how to get started online.

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Remember there’s no cost to listen tonight…Tuesday, August 26
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I look forward to talking to you!

Blessings,
Kerry Beck

ps.  The other workshop we are often asked to give at homeschool conferences is “How To Teach Your Kids To Start Their Own Business”.  Jeff will be asking Steve how he got started with his own business this Thursday, August 28.  Sign up now to hear both calls.
http://www.shopgoldmills.com/cmd.php?Clk=2549853

pps.  If you still homeschool, Steve will be sharing how your students can make their own information product.  It’s a perfect tie-in with Writing, Business, Research Skills and Math.

Well, that goes for eBay too!  Talk to you tonight!
http://www.shopgoldmills.com/cmd.php?Clk=2549853

Bonuses are the secret sauce for selling ebooks or any information product (or physical product for that matter). People want extreme value for things they purchase and this is especially true with information products.

You see, there is still a lot of mistrust in people’s mind about information products. Will your information product really deliver? Can I really get the results your information product promises? Bonuses can take away those worries especially when the value of the bonuses far exceed the value of the information product itself!

The object is to add so many bonuses at such a high value, that your customer thinks, “Even if the PDF e-book is trash, it will be worth the price to get the bonuses!” Of course, you want to put out an excellent product, but you want to wow their socks off with additional bonuses. But kind of bonuses do you offer?

Bonuses can come in all formats. You can give away free ebooks, special reports, videos, audios…the sky is the limit. My rule of thumb is to give digital bonuses when I sell a digital product. It doesn’t make sense to ship physical products when someone purchases an PDF ebook or membership site. You are just adding more hassle to your life. But if you are already shipping a physical information product, then by all means throw in some physical bonuses as well.

But where so you find high quality bonuses at a low price to you.

The first place to find killer bonuses is do a Google search for free ebooks on your topic. Just go to Google and type in “your topic free ebook”. For example, I typed in “asthma free ebook” and found several ebooks other people had written. And they wanted me to share with others virally.

The one thing you must do is read the permission statement in the ebook to see if it’s okay to share it with others. Most free ebooks will give you permission to share, but not permission to sell. So, you want to offer it as a bonus in addition to your info product - not bundled in with your info product.

Another great place to find bonuses are online article directories. Just type “article directories” into Google and you will find hundreds of article directories that allow you to use an article written by someone else as long as you keep the article and the author’s bio intact. Some of the bigger article directories are www.ezinearticles.com and www.articlecity.com.

Find ten really good articles and compile them into a special report. You may even want to put your own commentary at the end just to personalize it a bit.

So there you have it. Three great places to find killer bonuses that add tremendous value to your ebook as well as “beef” it up so your customer feels he is getting more for his money. And more value equals more sales! Look for future articles on more ways to find killer bonuses.

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© Stephen Beck, 2008
You have permission to reprint this article, as long as you don’t make any changes and include the bio below.
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Stephen Beck is an expert on teaching non-techies how to write an ebook. He has three amazing free videos to help you get started fast! To watch these free videos, visit: Information Marketing Products.

For a long time, I resisted writing ebooks. After all, why write a $27 ebook, when you can create a $447 multi-media home study course? Why risk losing the big sale when by offering an inexpensive ebook?Let me give you several reasons and then I will show you an easy way to create an ebook that doesn’t require writing at all! First, an ebook provides a low cost way for a prospective customer to get to know you. Many people would rather spend $27 to see if you are legit, before spending $447 and risk getting burned. An ebook gives them an opportunity to test the waters first. If they are comfortable, then they will be willing to risk more.

Second, an ebook allows you to reach a broader market. Let’s be honest. You only have so many names on your email list and there are tons of people who want to become your customers…they just don’t know it yet! Huge home study courses usually require complicated affiliate programs and thus, this reduces the number of people who will help you market your course.

Ebooks, on the other hand, are very portable and using a company like ClickBank allows thousands of people you have never met to promote your ebook for you. Think of your ebooks as little ambassadors, reaching people you can not physically send a message to.

Ebooks also lead to bigger products, such as your $447 home study course. If they liked your ebook, then they will love your home study course that has step-by-step videos instead of just screen shots in a pdf file. And they will certainly love your three day workshop where you go beyond the step-by-step videos and actually show them in real time how to do whatever it is your ebook is teaching.

So what is the bad news? Who wants to sit down and grind out an ebook? Not me! So, I talk my way through an ebook. I schedule a free teleseminar, invite interested people to the teleseminar, have them send questions in advance and then record the teleseminar. I then have the recording transcribed, lightly edit the transcription and convert the whole thing to a pdf file.

I then list it on ClickBank, send out a few emails and in rolls the money! ClickBank takes care of the affiliates, processing the order and sends me a check every month. It is really that easy!

So now I am killing two birds with one stone. I am assessing demand before I pour a ton of time and energy into a huge home study course. If the ebook doesn’t sell well, I know the home study course won’t sell well either. I am also generating a positive cash flow to help fund my home study course. And I am gathering customers from all around the globe through the hundreds of thousands of ClickBank affiliates who will want to promote my ebook. Make that three birds instead of two!

So, pick a topic and schedule a free teleseminar today. You will be creating a foundational product for your information empire and it is actually a lot of fun!

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© Stephen Beck, 2008
You have permission to reprint this article, as long as you don’t make any changes and include the bio below.
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Stephen Beck teaches you how to write an ebook and Create a “cash on demand” online business by watching his free video about information marketing products.

The advantages of selling information through ebooks should be quite obvious. There are no production costs, no inventory costs and no shipping costs. And information products sell very well on the internet. If you have the solution to their problem, people are very willing to buy immediately and pay a premium.

But how do you write and market an ebook? Well, the focus of this article is more on the actual creation of an ebook, but let me give you a quick run down on how to write a best selling ebook in one month. First, you need to choose a niche and does some keyword research in that niche.

My favorite tool for this is Wordtracker. Wordtracker will give you the number of times a keyword or search term has been searched in the major search engines for the past 120 days. It will then give you the number of competing web sites for that search term. Find a niche that has lots of search terms with high demand and a low number of competing pages, and you will have a great ebook on your hands! Wordtracker is like a free e-book coach.

Your keyword research will tell some of the major topics for your new ebook, but you can also use a survey to fine tune the topics and create an outline for your ebook. Survey monkey is a great way to send a survey to your niche and it is free.

Now that you have a rough outline of your ebook based upon what your niche is telling you, it is time to create your ebook. Your ebook needs to be in a format that everyone can read. Most people do not need professional e-book reader software. They already have the acrobat reader on their computer. So, you need a quick e-book creator that creates PDF files that all computers can read.

There are many PDF programs out there that make for simple e-book creation and fast e-book publishing. Just do a search at TuCows or Download.net. I suggest you get one that allows you to create clickable hyper-links in your PDF so that your readers will click on the resources and come back to your site. The free PDF programs do not allow this.

Now, a word to the wise. To overcome the perception that your ebook is just a PDF file, you need to create a cover for it. This is the 3-D image you will put on your web page to add pizzazz and increase perceived value. There are many e-book cover creator programs and even some freeware. But spend a little money and get one that works well. Heck, you may even want to use this software to start an affordable ebook cover design business!

Of course, the real question is, “How do I set up a page to download ebooks from?” There are a variety of ways including setting the adobe e-books security function so that your readers need a password to read your ebooks. Of course one of the main problems is that that someone might download your e-book and email it to 100 of their best friends.

If you put your e-book in html form and kept it on the server, then you could control who viewed your e-book (only paying customers) through a registration system and for how long they could view it (that way he doesn’t give the access code to 100 of his best friends so they get your book for free!). Meaning, only paying customers could view this book and because it does not download to their hard drive, they can not pass it along…they can only print it out. You could even disable someone’s access to your e-book if you needed to.

Another way is to use a product like lockmyproduct.com ebook where you control who downloads your ebook, who reads it and for how long through a password connected to their ip address.

Now, all you need is a way to automatically give people access to your e-book when they pay for it. Meaning, one of the huge reasons people buy e-books is to get the information now! Even if it is 2 am. You can either use a clearing house like Clickbank to accept the money for you or you can use a shopping cart that is tied to an automatic payment gateway.

So when your customer pays, they are immediately sent an email with a registration code that gives them access to your e-book. You can conceivably sell an e-book, take the payment and deliver the e-book while you are skiing with your family in Colorado! Now that is a business idea worth pursuing!
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© Stephen Beck, 2008
You have permission to reprint this article, as long as you don’t make any changes and include the bio below.
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Stephen Beck teaches you how to write an ebook and Create a “cash on demand” online business by watching his free video about information marketing products.

One of the most common questions I am asked is “What do I sell on the internet?”

Well, the answer depends a lot on your personality and HOW you want to sell. In other words, the first question should not be “what sells well on the internet”, but “what method of selling am I most comfortable with?”

There are essentially three ways to sell products on the internet. Let’s look at each method and the see the advantages and disadvantages of each.

First Method: Buy Wholesale and Sell Retail

This method is as old as human history. Find a product your niche wants, locate a wholesale source for that product, set up your online home business, advertise the product on your web site and ship the product to your customer.

Advantages:

1. You maintain complete control over the sales and delivery process.

You decide how much to mark up the wholesale price, not someone else. You also have control over when the item is shipped to your customer, not someone else halfway across the country!

2. You can shop around for the best wholesale price.

3. You can recommend your other products when someone purchases your product.

Disadvantages:

1. You will end up shipping packages everyday.

2. You will have to pay upfront for inventory and have a place to store it in your home.

3. Since others will be selling the same thing you are, you must be able to out-market your competition.

Second Method: Recommend Products for a Commission

This is also called affiliate marketing. You recommend someone else’s product using a special hyper-link called an affiliate link. When your visitor clicks on that link, the visitor is taken to the other person’s product page, but a cookie tracks the link to you. If a sale results, you get a commission. There is a lot of affiliate marketing information online.

Commissions can range from 5% of an order for camping gear to 50% of an information product priced at $1500! Affiliate marketing works for physical products, services, ebooks and anything else under the sun.

The key is finding product owners that see the value in sharing a percentage of the sale with those willing to be volunteer sales people for their product. Product owners that see the value of residual income with an online business.

Advantages:

1. You do not have to ship the product - the owner of the product takes care of that. In fact, the owner of the product creates the sales page, collects the money, ships the product and handles the questions and refunds.

2. You do not have to keep the product in inventory

3. Some commissions can be VERY generous.

Disadvantages:

1. If the product owner has an affiliate program, other people will be selling the exact same product. You must out-market other people and even the owner to make significant sales. You can not merely put up a link and forget about it if you want to make sales!

2. You have no control over the price of the product, the effectiveness of the sales page or the delivery of the product.

3. Although most product owners are honest and want to keep their affiliates happy, you have no leverage when it comes to getting paid. You do not control the money.

Third Method: Create your own product.

This is my favorite way to make money every day online! Once you learn to start an online business, creating your own products is a great way to follow your passion AND sell products that no one else is selling!

Advantages:

1. You have complete control over the sales and delivery process. You determine the price for your own product and you can even cut out the delivery costs be creating a downloadable product.

2. You will gain a huge sense of satisfaction, not to mention instant expert status!

3. You can find a need and then meet it. Creating your own product allows you to be very flexible and meet a targeted need in a very specialized niche.

4. There is no competition for your particular product. You are the ONLY ONE selling your products, unless you allow others to sell it for you, but you have complete control.

Disadvantages:

1. You can waste a lot of time and money if you have not researched your niche properly.

2. You must find a daily source of new customers.

3. You must find others to help promote your product.

So there you have it - the three basic methods of selling products on the internet. Hopefully, you can look at the advantages and disadvantages of each and determine which method is right for you. But don’t stop with just one. Incorporate all three methods into your online business and you will have a strong, diverse business that whether any economic storm!

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© Stephen Beck, 2008
You have permission to reprint this article, as long as you don’t make any changes and include the bio below.
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Stephen Beck teaches you how to write an ebook and Create a “cash on demand” online business by watching his free video about information marketing products.

Starting a home business can be very confusing. That is why I recommend a few criteria for selecting a home business that you and your family can enjoy. In fact, these are my requirements for the “perfect” home business!

#1 - My new home business must not require debt.
Debt makes everything happen too fast. It puts too much pressure on your new business. And it puts someone else in the driver’s seat of your new business, namely your banker. Debt is the #1 reason most businesses fail in the United States.

#2 - My new home business must be something that can start small.
You don’t want to bite off more than you can chew. If you have never had employees, you do not want to start off with 10 of them! Remember, all things need a chance to incubate before they can grow and your family business is no exception.

#3 - My new home business must include my kids.
The whole purpose in starting a family business is to spend more time with your family. If you start a business in your garage and never involve your kids, what is the point?!?

#4 - My new home business must have a low capital investment.
If you had a ga-zillion dollars, you wouldn’t need to start a home business, right?

#5 - My new home business must require a low time investment.
Again, the point is to not go out and quit your day job…yet! Grow your new home business to the point that it eclipses your day job. One day you will wake up and say, “Why am I going to work? I make more money at home!”

#6 - My new home business must generate passive income.
I can’t start creating wealth until my passive income exceeds my monthly expenses. For a great discussion on this concept, read Rich Dad, Poor Dad. I want to earn money when I sleep (or while I’m on vacation!).

#7 - My new home business must give me high reward for little risk.
Hey as long as we are dreaming, I might as well throw this one in as well. I do not want to large risks, but I do want a huge upside potential!

The only home business I know that meets all 7 of my requirements is an online business. Just think, for $15 a year for your domain name and $50 a year for your web hosting, you can own a home business on the internet. So next time you are looking at home business opportunities, consider an online business. There is no better bang for the buck!

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© Stephen Beck, 2008
You have permission to reprint this article, as long as you don’t make any changes and include the bio below.
———————————–

Stephen Beck teaches you how to write an ebook and Create a “cash on demand” online business by watching his free video about information marketing products.

Information products are one of the hottest selling items on the
Internet. And for good reason. Where else can you get timely,
relevant information that is exactly what you want…even at 2 am
in the morning?

The problem with information in books at the bookstore is that
many times it is not specific enough. I don’t want to know
everything there is to know about audio engineering, I just want
to know how to record a talk, edit it and burn it to a CD to sell
on my web site. Try finding that at your local Barnes and Noble!
But it is relatively easy to find an ebook about that topic on
the Internet. Even better, a video!

Another problem with buying information at the book store is that
any information is at least one year old. That’s how long it
takes to edit a book, send it to a publisher, get it printed and
finally placed on the shelves in your local book store. By
contrast, an ebook or other information product will usually have
the latest, cutting edge info on your topic because they are so
easily updated.

Information products can include anything from ebooks, videos and
special reports to complete home study courses that go “thud”
when the mail man drops it on your customer’s front porch. But
information products can also include teleseminars, membership
sites and paid newsletter subscriptions.

Tip 1: Ask your prospective customers what they want.

I know this sounds obvious, but what you think your customers
want and what they really want can be two different things. You
have a lot of knowledge about your topic…that’s why you are
creating an information product. But your customers do not have
your level of knowledge and are probably asking different
questions than you are.

So, while you are collecting their first name and email, add a
custom field that asks their biggest question about your topic.
After about 100 email subscribers, you will have a really good
idea what it is they are looking for! And you can use that
information to write your sales letter as well.

Tip 2: Think of the trade your customers are making.

When purchasing your information product, your customer is
trading his dollars for your information. Therefore, make it an
easy trade for him. I will trade $47 for information that makes
me $4700 every day of the week! That is why “how to make money”
ebooks sell so well.

I will also trade $47 for information that saves me 2 days
learning how to do something. That is a no-brainer! I am less
likely to trade $47 for cute stories, recipes or how to sew my
own clothes. Get the picture? Make the trade very easy for your
customer!

Tip 3: Try to include one or more of these angles in any
information product. Will the information in your product:

- make people money?
- save people money?
- save people time?
- save people pain (physical, emotional or financial)?

If you can include one or more of these angles in an information
product, you will have a real winner on your hands!

Tip 4: Break your long ebook into parts.

If you have a 150 page ebook, consider breaking it up into three
50 page ebooks. Everyone likes to get more value and it feels
more satisfying to get three different ebooks rather than one fat
one. It feels like you are getting more for your money.

Tip 5: Add enough bonuses to make the purchase a “no-brainer”!

After you create an information product, go out an find about 5
to 6 related products that you can offer as bonuses. If I am
buying a $47 ebook and you offer me $500 in downloadable bonuses,
it makes the buying decision very easy. I recommend downloadable
bonuses because they are easy to deliver and don’t cost you
anything. This is also a good excuse to get their email for your
owner’s list - you need their email to deliver their bonuses.

Tip 6: Sell first to those who have already bought from you.

Online business owners are like cows many times. We always think
the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. We are
always looking for NEW customers when our best customers are the
ones that have already demonstrated their loyalty by buying our
product!

We need to ask them what else they want. Another great way to
monetize existing customers is a membership site. So much per
month for access to special info, a monthly conference call or
even a private newsletter. Can you say residual income?

So, start with a niche. Ask that niche what they want. And then
start creating information products that satisfy the itch they
are ALREADY telling you they have. It is a blast and you will
achieve expert status in your niche in no time at all!

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© Stephen Beck, 2008
You have permission to reprint this article, as long as you don’t make any changes and include the bio below.
———————————–

Stephen Beck teaches you how to write an ebook and Create a “cash on demand” online business by watching his free video about information marketing products.

It’s been exactly 3 weeks since the moving truck dumped all of our worldy possessions in our front yard in Texas. Actually, they were kind enough to bring all the boxes inside!

Of course, we have been feverishly unpacking and guess what? Somehow we GREW when we were in Idaho! Meaning, we brought home a lot more inventory than Kerry and I expected.

Just look at the pictures of the inventory we have yet to find a place for!

Well, we would rather NOT find a place for it in our home…we want to find a place for it in your home! And we are going to make it worth your while!

We are placing 2 items on sale for one week only…
1. “How To Start Your Own Business…For Families And Teens”
2. “The Getting Started Online” System

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Let me describe “The Getting Started Online System” first…
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“The Getting Started Online System” include 3 disks and is PACKED with tons of information and resources to getting your online business up and running quickly.

Disk #1 includes:
1. A teleseminar recording where I lay out the entire PLAN and FORMULA for starting an online business.
2. Our exlusive, proprietary Niche Research Exercise to help you brainstorm and research a profitable niche that is RIGHT FOR YOU!
3. My interview with a newbie on how she should start, what she should do and in what order to do it!
4. Plus 2 killer bonuses on the CD that will knock your socks off!

Disk #2 includes:
1. Video on how to create a free blog on blogger.com. You can be selling a product on the internet in less than 45 minutes using a free blog and you will start to enjoy high search engine rankings to boot!
2. Video on how to create a simple web page complete with header, navigation bar and text. I even show you how to add pictures, graphics and hyperlinks as well.
3. Video on how to find products in your niche that pay big, fat commissions. You don’t even have to create a product to start making money on the Internet and this video shows you how!

Disk #3 includes:
1. Software to put your voice on your web site…increase your sales and opt-ins!
2. Over 1600 graphics and pictures to use on your web site…these are custom made for e-commerce websites. I use mine on just about every web site I own!
3. 35 professionally created headers - just put in your company name and go!
…Plus 4 ebooks on Internet Marketing and a product creation toolkit!

If you ever wanted to “dip your toe in the water” and see if an online business is right for you…now’s your chance!

We plan to sell all three disks for $97. But we wanted to let our friends have first crack at it for $67. That’s right! $67 will open a whole new opportunity and way of thinking for you and your family. Click on the link below now.

http://www.FamilyEbiz.com/GettingStarted.htm

Here’s the deal. The sale will only last until Sunday, August 9th at 12 midnight (Eastern Standard Time). Then I will change the price.

Also, I only have a limited quantity of these and I will stop the sale price when I have sold 150 of them. So, the sale ends on Sunday, August 9th or when 150 have been sold…whichever comes first!

Attention: 8WeeksToProfits owners and Secrets To Building Sites That Sell owners…
If you already own 8WeeksToProfits or Secrets To Building Sites That Sell, there is some overlap with this 3 Disk set. There is information on the 3 Disk set that is NOT contained in either 8WeeksToProfits or Secrets To Building Sites That Sell, but there is also a lot of information in the 8WeeksToProfits or Secrets To Building Sites That Sell that is not contained in the 3 Disk set.

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The second item we have on sale is the “How To Start Your Own Business…For Families and Teens!”
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That’s right. We still have another box of the videos where I teach about 20 teenagers how to start their own business. Here’s what I taught those teens:

- how to view a business from the biblical perspective.

- the 3 types of businesses and why they are important to know BEFORE spending hard earned dollars.

- how to count the costs BEFORE they start a business…thus saving them time, money and tons of frustration.

- how to come up with profitable and fun business ideas that even young people can do.

- how to market a new business so you never have to worry about finding new customers again!

- how to calculate crucial financial numbers that will keep your business sound, healthy and making a generous profit

- how to price your products and services so you can get the most out of the hard work that you do

- how to take a physical business to the Internet and beyond.

And best of all, I did this in a fun and entertaining workshop. In fact, you will see lots of interaction on the videos with the teens in the workshop. they even share their ideas and concerns for starting their own businesses!

Now, in the LIVE workshop, I handed every student a workbook. But I have re-created that workbook on a CD so the students who watch the video can follow along - just like the ones in the LIVE workshop.

So, guess what? I’m not planning on doing any more LIVE teen business workshops. Everything I need to say about the subject is included in this 4 DVD set plus workbook on CD.

These video sets sell regularly on my web site for $97. In fact, Andrew Pudewa, the creator of the Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW), buys hundreds of them for his booth at homeschool book fairs around the country.

So, I am allowing you to STEAL one of these video sets from me for $67!!!

That’s right. $67! But you had better move SUPER QUICK!. I don’t expect them to last long - in fact, I will be surprised if any of the video sets are around by Sunday. Click on the link below right now!

http://www.FamilyEbiz.com/TeenBusinessWorkshop

Imagine. Giving your family and your teens the keys to an entrepreneurial future by getting them this video set. Over 8 hours of instruction complete with workbook on CD that you can print out.

This can be one of your core subjects this fall!

So act now! I will not be selling them for $67 after these videos are gone. Visit the link below to reserve your copy now:
==> http://www.FamilyEbiz.com/TeenBusinessWorkshop.htm

Blessings,

Stephen Beck
http://www.FamilyEbiz.com/GettingStarted.htm
http://www.FamilyEbiz.com/TeenBusinessWorkshop

PS…Please don’t get angry when the price goes up after Sunday…or if all the copies have sold out. I’ve done my best to give you FAIR warning!

Running a small, home-based online business can be difficult at times.  One of the biggest problems for small business owners is time management.  Let me share tips that will be helpful in using your time most effectively.

1. Lists, Lists, Lists

Every morning create a list of specific tasks you need to finish during that day.  Tasks that your assistant can do, don’t include them. Always keep your list by your side or in your pocket so that Keep your list next to you so you are reminded later in the day what needs to be done.  It’s okay if you don’t get some of your list done.  You can always get it done tomorrow.

A list is only a guide to keep you from being distracted by the items that pop up during the day.  Keep your top priorities at the top of the list so if the day goes sour, at least you have accomplished the most important things.

2. Wait to Check Your E-Mail

Watch yourself with e-mail or your day may be gone and you’ve accomplished nothing.  You could easily spend 2-3 hours a day with my e-mail.  One solution is don’t open your e-mail until late morning or early afternoon.  By that time, you have taken care of the most important and productive details of your business that day.

When opening your email (even if not replying), you will read concerns that take precious mental time away from your business. You may find yourself thinking how to respond to specific emails when you should be completing activities that actually produce a profit.

3. Monitor Your Internet Time

Surfing on the computer can be a real struggle.  You may find yourself spending countless hours at the computer (and gaining a sore back in the process).  If your family income is dependent on the internet, you must spend a fair amount of time on the computer.  But, be careful to reduce the amount of time spent “surfing” the internet.  Instead, use that time to write articles, develop new products, and other activities to drive traffic to your website.

4. Limit Your Chat Time on the Phone

The phone may not be much of a temptation, but some business owners can waste much time answering every call that comes in to the office.  If you can’t afford an assistant, buy an answering machine.  Use your mornings to accomplish profit-producing tasks. Do not answer the phone while you are finishing these type of tasks.  For online small businesses, these activities include developing products, blasting articles around the net for backward links and optimizing your website for more traffic.

Take a moment and evaluate your day.  See how much time you are wasting on email, on the phone and on internet surfing.  Use these ideas to improve your time management immediately.

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© Stephen Beck, 2008
You have permission to reprint this article, as long as you don’t make any changes and include the bio below.
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Stephen Beck teaches you how to write an ebook and Create a “cash on demand” online business by watching his free video about information marketing products.

One of the coolest concepts I ever stumbled upon on the internet was that of drop shipping. Drop shipping is where you put up a website, drive customers to it, take the orders and then have the wholesaler or manufacturer send the product DIRECTLY to the customer from their warehouse.

Think about that. No inventory and no shipping. You just take the order and someone else ships the product. Drop shipping has a few advantages over affiliate sites. Affiliate sites are where you recommend a product and then send your customer to that website via an affiliate link so that you get the credit and hopefully a commission.

But a lot can go wrong. The customer may not make it to that site. Also, you have no control over what that site looks like, or changes made to that site or how your customer will navigate around on that site. The biggest problem is the fact that you are not collecting the money to ensure you get paid!

With drop shipping, you get the best of both worlds. No inventory, no shipping and complete control of the money. It’s like having free products to sell online. Think of all the businesses you can do with drop shipping:

* Home based gift business drop shipping

* Gemstones wholesale

* Candle wholesale drop ship supplier

* Fabric and trims

* Cast iron banks

* Home security products home business drop shippers

And this is just the tip of the iceberg!

Although drop shipping sounds like the best thing since sliced bread, finding a wholesaler or a manufacturer to drop ship can be a challenge. Not all wholesalers want to mess with drop shipping and many on the internet who pose as wholesalers are not wholesalers at all…they are cleverly disguised “buying clubs” or “internet malls” designed to separate you from your money. They are drop ship sales scam artists and not dealers with wholesale products to sell.

So, Chris Malta to the rescue. He has compiled a list of drop shippers that his company has personally checked out. He has the staff and know-how to carefully screen every new Drop Shipper they find, and they add new Drop Shipper information to One Source Directory on a daily basis.

And…the Drop Ship Source Directory has over 3,000,000 name brand and specialty products, updated in real time via the Internet. How long would it take you to find that many wholesalers?

If you want to just dip your toe into an internet business, drop shipping is the way to go. Reduce the risk and increase your profits!

Stephen Beck teaches you how to write an ebook and Create a “cash on demand” online business by watching his free video about information marketing products.