Small Business Blog

Archive for May, 2009

If you are looking for creative business ideas to start a small business, there are an abundance of services needed by people coordinating a major event or seminar, and also by people celebrating a major life milestone such as a wedding, special anniversary or birthday.

Now add in all the major holidays and the inspiration for creative business ideas can become infinite. Let’s look at some of the ways you could start a small business and create an extra income for yourself helping people organize, manage, decorate and clean up after these happenings.

Halloween has just come and gone and now the Christmas season is coming. Do you know what people need the most help with when preparing to celebrate a major holiday? It’s time! Most people are just too busy with all the aspects of their daily lives and adding something like Christmas on top of that can mean major overwhelm. This is where you can come in.

Services such as indoor and outdoor decorating, specialty food catering for parties, gift shopping, preparing and mailing Christmas cards and many other services are all a boon to the average stressed out family. And starting a service business like this requires a minimal start-up cost.

Now moving on to major events like seminars and conferences, there can be requirements for food services, decorating, child care, clean-up and more. Have you ever wondered who cleans up after a major rock concert or other big outdoor gathering? Specialty clean-up services are usually contracted to do this type of work.

Providing a service like this can mean making a lot more money than just having a regular house-cleaning service and this is where creative business ideas can start. Look at already existing businesses and find a specialty or niche that you can service within the industry.

Moving on to the major life milestone events such as a wedding, could you find a niche to service here? How about a service that drapes ceilings for a reception hall? Putting up yards and yards of tulle netting and lights to transform a drab reception hall into a wonderland would be a specific niche service within the wedding planning industry.

I went to a wedding once at the community center in my town where the ceilings had been draped and lighted beautifully and it was the most profound transformation. The space was just concrete and normally very unattractive and everyone that attended the wedding was just dumbfounded that such an ugly space could become so inviting.

The tables had all been set beautifully and the chairs all slip covered with slip on cloths and ribbon and the effect was just stunning. And these are all services that the bride ordered and paid for, small businesses providing a niche service and doing a successful job too.

Of course with a service like this and/or outdoor holiday decorating you would have to be very comfortable on a ladder, but these ideas are just the tip of the iceberg when you start to look around and notice all the possibilities for creating a small business related to major events and life milestones.

Now perhaps this area doesn’t interest you, but at Creative-Small-Business-Ideas.com there are creative business ideas for pets, fashion, toys, vehicles, writing, websites, photography, selling on ebay, travel and many other areas that will fit your unique talents and interests.

Find lots of creative business ideas to start your own small business at Creative Small Business Ideas.com . With 20 different categories of free business ideas to research you are sure to find just the right business idea or inspiration for your own idea to take shape. Get start up costs, marketing info, resources and more.

Book clubs have been quite a rage over the last few years.
Fueled in part by Oprah and others, the concept of reading a
book then gathering with others who have read the same book has
become “cool” again.

The reasons people have found them valuable include:

- a great way to have meaningful conversation.

- a way to support your own reading habit (I need to have the
book read before the meeting!).

- a way to form a community – to have a great reason to gather
with other people to bond.

- A way to learn something in a fun way.

It is for all of those same reasons and more that I suggest and
encourage business book clubs. Maybe you would like to start one
within your organization or maybe you would prefer to build one
among colleagues from outside of work. Either way this article
will outline the keys to help you build a successful single
event or long-term club.

1. Market the idea. Once you are excited about this
concept, use your influence and knowledge of your target group
to market the concept to them. Even if your goal is to build a
long-term “club.” Don’t market it that way – that requires too
big of a commitment for many people. You are trying to encourage
people to try something new that will requires their time both
to read and participate. Rather than inviting them to make a
long-term commitment, encourage them to read one book, then once
they see the fun and the value, you will have them hooked.

2. Gain commitment. Once you have sold people on the idea
make sure you gain a commitment to participate. People are
really committing to two things: reading the book, and coming to
the “meeting.” After all, if no one comes to the meeting, (or
comes without having read much of the book) you won’t have much
of a conversation!

3. Start small. Identify the number of people you will
feel good about having involved. Experience shows that if you
have 4-5 highly committed people you will have a successful
experience. More is fine too, but you don’t have to have
everyone in the organization or every person at a certain level
participating for it to be successful.

4. Start easy. Not everyone is an avid reader. So pick a
book that will be an easy sell in terms of topic and length.
Picking the new 450-page book you are interested in might not be
the best place to start. Remember that the value of the book
club experience is more than just the book you read, but the
conversations and ideas they stimulate.

5. Make it fun. This is a part of your marketing effort.
Have food. Decorate the room, reminder invitations, etc. in a
theme suggested by the book. Make the event itself something
that will both encourage people to attend and create a buzz so
other people want to attend the next one.

6. Have a facilitator. Someone needs to be responsible
for facilitating the conversation. Beyond the normal facilitator
roles of keeping others participating that person needs to have
a few questions prepared that are designed to stimulate
conversation.

7. Facilitate lightly. The facilitator should facilitate
but not lead. Remember that you are after input, participation
and having people involved in the conversation. Don’t let it
become a lecture.

8. Keep the group involved. Beyond the group’s
involvement in the conversation itself, get everyone’s input
into future meeting times, setups, facilitators, and perhaps
most of all, books. When people feel involved, they will be more
invested in the success of the next event, and beyond.

I have helped organizations think through how to start these
groups and have facilitated these discussions. While we have
talked about the benefits that can be gained by individuals who
participate in these groups, the organizational benefits can be
huge as well. For the investment in a book for each person,
organizations can create powerful conversation, deep
professional development and better relationships.

All economic indicators and financial pundits agree we’re in for a long and deep recession that could get uglier before it stabilizes.  However that doesn’t mean you can afford not to market or promote your book.  In fact, this may be a better time for you to do so since conventional wisdom says the first thing to cut is advertising, marketing, and PR.  What others fail to do shall provide you with less competition and more opportunity.

If you agree on the fundamental of business that the way to make a sound product or service profitable is to market it, then there’s no reason to shy away from that just because the economy is rocky.  But what you should do is spend wisely and get the most return on your investment.

True, the nation is in an economic war, meaning everyone is battling for the same dollar.  Money is scarce, credit tight.  But in order to make money you need to spend some.  If you still believe there’s a market for your book, then you must market to it.  If you were convinced people won’t be interested in reading it, don’t promote it.   But the economy didn’t change this – only your perception did.  If you have a book that appeals to 60 million dog owners or 160 million women or some other large group or targeted niche, you should market your book.  The only thing that’s changed with the recent economic tumble, is that you’ll need to market smarter and, more often than before.  It’s a numbers game, always has been.

Over the past few months, despite a Wall Street freefall…

·         The words in your book haven’t changed.

·         The ways to market your book haven’t changed.

·         The number of people who’d be interested in your book hasn’t changed.

What’s changed is fear rules reality, guessing trumps facts, uncertainty exceeds certainty.  If marketing a book was good idea six months ago, then it’s still a good idea today.

Okay, so fewer people will buy anything, and they will spend less money than before.  But what will they buy?  They will buy the book that helps them escape (a great novel, humor, photography), they will buy books for their kids, they will buy business books (to find a way to make money), and they will buy any book they would have bought previously unless that book covers a toxic topic.  Toxic books include books whose advice can’t be implemented:  how to travel (no one is spending money on trips), how to buy a car (no one is buying cars) or how to buy and sell real estate during a boom (don’t make me explain this one).

The rules to promoting a book during a recession are the same when the economy is solid: get out there and speak before groups, do radio and television  interviews, send your book to reviewers, blog and seek out online opportunities; and tie your message to what’s on people’s minds or in the news.

If you let the recession scare off your promotional efforts you might as well not publish your book either. But if you recognize that there is opportunity in the marketplace, rev up your PR efforts and put your best foot forward!

If you want to know more on how to promote your book during a recession, please send your queries to Brian Feinblum, Planned Television Arts, Chief Marketing Officer  feinblumb@plannedtvarts.com 212-583-2718

Have you started your book yet? No. Don’t beat yourself up any longer. Keep reading this article; it was written especially for you. With the right focus and knowledge, you can successfully start and complete YOUR book within weeks.

Remember the old adage, Q: How do you eat an elephant? A: One bite at a time. The same applies to writing your book. How do you eat the book writing elephant? You eat him one bite (one step) at a time. More and more people are successfully completing their books in less time. Even your competitors are getting it done. Why not join them.

Here’s some tips to get started writing your book:

1. Plan a significant book.

Many aspiring authors tremble in their tracks; they wonder if their book will sell. Good question. No one wants to invest time or money into a sinking ship. Don’t be afraid; test your book’s significance. Your book is significant if it presents useful information, answers important reader questions, and impacts people for the good. If it’s entertaining or humorous it could go further than you imagined.

It’s significant, if it creates a deeper understanding of humanity, animals or this world. With one to three of these elements your book is worth writing. More than three, it has potential of making great sales even to best seller status. Go ahead, write your book and make the world a better place.

2. Know who will buy your book.

When you give your book a target audience, it will hit the mark of good sales. Top selling books focus on one main topic per book. When you target one audience at a time, each tip, each story or how-to will be more effective. Aim your message and you gain a competitive edge on many book writers.

Create an audience profile. Are your potential readers male or female? How old are they? Are they interested in self-help, mystery, romance, how-to books? What problems do they face? Are they business people or professionals? Are they techies or non-techies? Are they willing to spend $12-25 on a book like yours?

3. Write your book’s thesis.

Did you cringe at the word thesis? For some, it brought back memories of English class and writing essays. No worries, a thesis simply reflects the main central thought of the book. Make sure the main central thought includes the greatest benefit of your book and you’re done.

In other words, it should answer your audiences’ question, “How will this book help, encourage or solve my problem for me?” Writing the thesis before you write the book will keep you on the path of focused, powerful yet easy to read content.

All chapters support your book’s main concept. For “Win with the Writer Inside,” the thesis is “How to write, complete, and publish your best book fast.” The best titles often include the thesis statement in some form.

4. Create your book’s first title.

In the literary world it’s called a working title because everyone knows it could and probably will change. You may decide to change it or your publisher. Even so, working titles help direct and focus your writing.

Some non-fiction writing does better with subtitles. If needed, it clarifies the title. Confusing titles will miss the mark and sales. Which titles grab you and stir a desire to read what the author has to say: Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money – That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! or How to Teach Others About Money; How to Win Friends and Influence People! or How to Make Friends.

5. Make an inspiration cover early.

Keep it by your desk to inspire you. Book covers are the number one selling point of a book. Of course, in the beginning this is only a working cover. Nevertheless it will help crystallize your thoughts and propel you toward the fulfillment of your dream. Remember, you have about 4-10 seconds to impress your audience to buy.

Browse the bookstores and the internet to get a few ideas. Study the covers best suited for your audience. Choose colors that attract them. Consider blue and red for business books; aqua, yellow, and shades of red work for personal growth books. Avoid using too much red; it makes many feel suspicious.

I admit it; getting started writing a book can become a huge elephant in the way of your book’s success. Even so, it doesn’t have to stay that way. You can do like the author did; eat the book writing elephant one bite at a time. Start today; complete and release your significant message to the world. Bon Appetit!

Have you finished your book yet? No. Don’t beat yourself up any more. Keep reading this article; you may be making the same mistakes a friend of mine was making when it took years to finish. Now she knows what to do to finish strong and sell her book sooner. You can do the same. I’m ready to show you how. With the right focus and information, you can jumpstart; complete and even publish YOUR book within a few months this year.

More and more people are successfully completing their books in less time. Even your rivals are finishing fast. Don’t let them leave you on the sidelines this year. Why not join them? First read the seven reasons below many aspiring authors may fail to finish this year. Then correct them to complete your book fast and sell sooner:

1. Failure to gain confidence in your book through knowledge.

Many aspiring authors shake like leaves in a tree trying to figure out if their book will sell. Others give up before they even start. Even so, it’s an important question that deserves an answer. No one wants to invest time or money into a house built on sand? Don’t be afraid; here’s how to know if your book is significant.

First of all, if it presents useful information, solves a problem, answers a pressing reader’s question, or impacts people for the good its worth writing. If it’s entertaining or makes us laugh it could go further than you dreamed.

It’s significant, if it creates a deeper understanding of humanity or even animals. People love their pets and consider them a part of the family. With one to three of these elements your book is worth writing.

More than three, it has potential of making excellent sales and even to top seller status. Now, get started; write your book and make the world a better place. Your readers will love you for it.

2. Failure to pinpoint who will buy your book.

Make it your goal to find out who will buy your book and sell it to them. Like an expert bow man taking aim at his target, give your book a specific audience and it will hit the mark of good sales. Best seller books focus on a single topic per book.

When you target one audience at a time, each tip, each story or how-to will be more effective. Many novice authors just shoot their book out to the world without aim. Furthermore, write your message to someone specific and you gain an extra competitive edge on less informed book writers.

It would be helpful to create an audience profile. Are your potential readers’ men, women or young adults? How old are they? Are they interested in your topic? What problems do they face?

Are they business owners, entrepreneurs or professionals? Are they techies or non-techies? Are they willing to spend $15-20 on a book like yours? Do this and you’re on your way to selling more books than you imagined.

3. Failure to write your book’s thesis.

Perhaps, the word thesis brought back memories of English class. No worries, remember a thesis simply means the main central thought of a subject. Make sure your main central thought includes the greatest benefit to your book reader and you’re done.

In other words, it should answer your audiences’ question, “How will this book help, encourage or solve my problem for me?” Write the thesis before you write the book and stay on the path of focused, powerful yet easy to read content.

All chapters should support your book’s main concept. For the book “Write Your Best Book Now,” the thesis is “How to write, complete, and publish your best book fast.” Give your book a competitive edge by putting the main thought in the title or sub-title.

4. Failure to make an inspiration cover early to encourage yourself.

Keep it nearby to inspire you. Remember, book covers are the number one selling point of a book. Of course, in the beginning this is only a working cover. Nevertheless it will help crystallize your thoughts and propel you toward the fulfillment of your dream. You have 10 seconds or less to impress your potential readers to buy.

Look around the bookstores and the internet to get a few ideas. Look for the covers most suited for your audience. Choose colors that attract them. For instance, consider red and blue for business books; aqua, yellow, and shades of red work for personal growth books. Even so, avoid too much red; it makes some feel suspicious.

5. Failure to develop the back cover as a sales message before you write chapter one.

This benefit driven outline helps give your book direction and helps you focus on what’s really important to your readers. Most books will only allow for 50-75 words. That gives you less than 20 seconds to impress your prospective reader.

Make this message passionate. Focus only what sells: testimonials (reader, expert and famous), a benefit driven headline to hook the reader to open the book and read the table of contents, and bulleted benefits.

6. Failure to compose your book’s 60 second “mini billboard” before you begin writing.

Have you noticed a highway billboard lately? You only have a few seconds to get it as you drive by. So, the information is distilled into sound bytes to be effective. Make your 2-3 sentence book blurbs into sound bytes. Like a billboard where you only have a few seconds to get your message across, condense your sound byte into a 60 second tell and sell.

Use your mini billboard at networking meetings, in the elevator, in the grocery line, anywhere you only have a few seconds to tell about your book. Composing your ad should include your title and 3 top benefits.

7. Failure to write your publishing goals down for your book.

Will you self-publish or shop for a traditional publish? There are serious pros and cons for either method. Find out the differences so you can make an educated choice that suits you. If you are self-publishing, consider the POD technology for your book. There are lots of good choices that will publish your book for you at an affordable price.

If you are opting for a traditional publisher, get an agent and a contract before writing the book. Then shop agents and publishers with 2 chapters and a knock-out book proposal. Invest in one of the current market guides and research the best fit for your work. It raises your chances considerably if you know what kind of manuscripts a particular company is looking for.

I admit it; getting started writing a book can be challenging to most. Even so, it doesn’t have to stay that way. You can do like the author did; use the tips above and kick start writing your book. Start today; complete and release your significant message to the world. Then jump around, get excited for it won’t be long before we see your name in print!

Although the hardest part of getting started on the internet is finding the right business, every successful business owner starts with someone coming up with the right business idea at the right time. So you just have to be alert while finding one such business for you and the best home based business ideas to get success online. See that you select the opportunities on the internet that have reputation. After starting in the beginning, you can stick to what is working for your business owner. But it is a good idea to test your business by doing some research and trying new strategies on your own for taking your business to higher earning levels.

There are two categories in general: People who fail to make money on the internet and those who are successful. Most of the people fail because of the lack of planning and skills. Convenience is the primary reason why people are diverted towards surfing on the internet. Survey shows that the kind of the products that sell best on the internet are those that either increases knowledge or fulfill customer requirements.  Hence the success of your business will depend upon selection of the right product or service that will provide wanting benefits to the customers.

Here are the best home based business ideas that can help you to fall into the category of successful people:

1. Build a theme oriented website having various business options for opportunity seekers in general.

2. Find a niche and target markets where people are spending money.

3. If you don’t have your own product, join affiliate programs and sell other peoples product.

4.Find the home based business entrepreneurs who have experience, so that you can use their recommendations efficiently.

5. Write review of products including their benefits by creating pre selling web pages, as people go online searching for information before buying products.

6. Add a sign up form to your pre selling web pages and promise to give freebies to those who will give their name and email addresses. This will help you to build your big list of subscribers.

7. Provide useful online information to the visitors by writing articles. This will increase meaningful traffic to your website on a consistent basis.

8. Dedicate more time to recruit prospects, as most of the people in your downline are not going to do anything. Only those that are serious will contact you.

9. Help your downline to build their own system.

10. Add multiple income streams to your website to ensure that your monthly income continue to grow.

Unless you have the best home based business ideas to know from where to start and how to dominate, it is difficult to set a good foundation for your business. If you’re still searching for a good business on the internet, then pick up the right business for you without wasting time, depending on your passion.  To begin with find one that fits your talent and your budget. Know your audience and stick to it. The sooner you do, the sooner you will be on your way to get what you want in life.