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A Home-Based Business Online Practical home business ideas, strategies and resources for the work-from-home entrepreneur January 7, 2001 Sent to 7,057 Subscribers Editor: Elena Fawkner Publisher: Fawkner Publishing http://www.ahbbo.com Contact By Email ATTENTION: You're receiving this ezine because you, or someone using your email address, subscribed. There is no other way of being added to this list. If you'd like to remove your address from the AHBBO subscriber list, please see the instructions in segment 7. below. Please note you CANNOT be unsubscribed from AHBBO by replying to this email. The AHBBO subscriber list is NOT made available to other companies or individuals. I value every subscriber and respect your privacy. This Week's Sponsor Make 60% commission from the kitchen table and the local newspaper does the hard work. EVERY MORNING I MAKE A FEW CALLS TO COMPANIES LISTED IN THE LOCAL NEWSPAPER CLASSIFIEDS AND I MAKE 60% COMMISSION. REALLY. Akimarket.com is a unique classifieds marketplace that pays affiliates sixty percent (60%) commissions for each advertisement placed in the Akimarket.com marketplace. You can make an unlimited amount of money by introducing advertisers in the local newspaper classified sections to the wonders of advertising their products and services to a much wider audience at a fraction of the cost. Go to http://www.akimarket.com/ or email Fred Dupuy at mailto:efdupuy@akimarket.com IN THIS ISSUE 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 1. Hello again and a warm welcome to all the new subscribers who have joined us since the last issue! Happy New Year! This is the first issue of AHBBO for 2001. I hope you're well recovered from the new year's festivities and ready to get down to business with a vengeance. This week's article looks at a prevalent but seldom-discussed problem for anyone conducting business online. The school yard bully. If you've been in business online for any length of time, you'll know what I'm talking about. If you're a more recent entrant, be prepared. There are some nasty types out there and they'll throw you off your game if you're not prepared for them. As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this week's issue. Remember, this ezine is for YOU! If you have comments or suggestions for topics you would like to see addressed, or would just like to share your experiences with other subscribers, I want to hear from you! Please send comments, questions and stories to Contact By Email . ZERO START UP COSTS - MASSIVE INCOME POTENTIAL This amazing system is generating over 130,000 new affiliates EVERY month. Why is it so popular? We let you join for FREE so that you can see first hand the potential of this exciting business WITHOUT financial outlay. Massive incomes for workers! http://www.sixfigureincome.com/free/?364559.90 (1/2) ------ Do you DARE not read this? LEGITIMATE earnings from SOUND programs! How does $20 per DAY to do what you LOVE sound? OR, FREE membership in one of the fastest growing Internet communities on the market? Could you handle $20 Bills at the rate of $500 a week? Get the SCOOP at: http://sites.netscape.net/heisblessingyou/ (1/2) 2. Do you have a desire to work from home? Would you like to have your business based from your home, but leave the home to do your job? Would you like to do something that doesn't require manual labor? Then a mobile notary public business may be just what you are looking for. Mobile notary publics are notaries who travel to their clients. Since most people work a nine to five job, they can't make it to the local notary's office in time to have forms notarized. Others prefer to relax on the week-ends and not have to deal with leaving the house for a simple five minute notarization. For the full report visit http://www.ahbbo.com/notarypublic.html ------ There are many more ideas like this at the AHBBO Home Business Ideas page at http://www.ahbbo.com/ideas.html with more being added all the time. Take your Home Based Business to the Internet! You CAN increase your sales by selling on the Internet, and do so at a very low cost. Host your store Website with LocatorWorld.com, and use the free STOREBUILDER program to build your on-line store. Get a free locatorworld domain name. Visit http://www.locatorworld.com (1/4) ------ Real Opportunity for Real People to make Real Money. Not MLM. No cash investment. For full details, email mailto:info@sabdotcom.ws (1/2) 3. © 2001 Elena Fawkner Picture it. You run your own business. You've worked long and hard for the past 18 months to get where you are today. Long hours, no weekends, anxiety attacks in the middle of the night worrying about whether you're going to be able to meet expenses for the month. Your phone rings. You answer it. "Stop sending me your rubbish!", the belligerent voice at the other end yells in your ear before slamming down the receiver. "Fruitcake", you mutter to yourself, dismissing the caller from your mind as you turn to more important things. The phone rings again. You answer it again. "Where the hell is that information I asked you for yesterday afternoon? You call yourself a professional?!", another belligerent voice bellows in your ear before slamming down the receiver. If you'd been given the chance to respond before being attacked, you might have been able to explain that the information so charmingly requested was put in the mail yesterday afternoon and would be arriving with the morning's mail. But, of course, you weren't given the opportunity. You get another couple of calls a day for the next month, just like this. What's going on here? What's wrong with the world all of a sudden? That's what you'd think, right? Has everyone lost all sense of how to relate to their fellow human beings? Is this really how people have been raised to interact with one another? Of course not. Such a thing would never happen in the real world would it? Oh sure, you'll get the occasional nutter. But you wouldn't expect one or two a day for weeks on end would you? No. The world and the people who populate it just don't operate that way. If they did, no-one would get anything done. Everyone would be sniping and retaliating and feeling generally hostile towards everyone they came in contact with in case it was one of THEM. Thank heavens the real world doesn't work that way. So why do we put up with it when it comes to the online world? If you've started an online business of your own, you've no doubt heard over and over again that you have to develop a thick skin. Why do we have to expect and accept bad treatment from certain people we deal with online? We wouldn't put up with it offline. So why is it something we tell each other to ignore, turn a blind eye to, don't respond to lest we make ourselves a target just because it happens online? Enough is enough. It is NOT acceptable to treat each other this way whether online or offline. And those who will ignore it, turn a blind eye and not respond appropriately, only perpetuate the problem. Particularly over last two or three months, I've received my fair share of episodes like this. All newsletter publishers do. It "goes with the territory", as they say. They still surprise me, even now, though. I wonder what kind of an individual is it who goes feral (there's no other word for it), because I send them my newsletter? They asked to receive it after all. But maybe they forgot they subscribed? Maybe someone subscribed them using their email address and they didn't read the message they received in response telling them how to unsubscribe themselves? Or perhaps their email program doesn't work properly and when they click on the link at the end of my newsletter telling them that if they want to unsubscribe all they have to do is send a blank email to and instead of the email program automatically putting the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line, as this coding is intended to do, it leaves the whole thing intact and as a result the hapless subscriber receives an error message saying that the address is not a valid email address. Perhaps these people have good reason not to send me a simple email saying "Hi Elena, I've been trying to unsubscribe but I keep getting an error message. Can you help me?", in response to which I would simply unsub them manually. Perhaps these people have a good reason to instead send me personally abusive email accusing me of spamming and scamming, and God knows what else. Perhaps that prospective advertiser the other week who placed an advertising order but didn't follow up with the ad copy had a good reason for rudely proclaiming, when I followed up by email, "I tried the form on your site but it didn't work. It suggest you fix it NOW. When will my ad go out and how many subscribers will receive it?". Maybe that prospective advertiser had a good reason for emailing me a second time, less than an hour later (and well before I had even read the first message) saying "You still haven't answered me. When will my ad run and how many subscribers do you have?!!!" (Maybe these same people also have a good reason for never using fewer than three exclamation marks to make their point.) Maybe they had a good reason. But I can't for the life of me imagine a good enough one. No doubt that particular would-be advertiser is sitting there scratching his or her head (this person didn't even have the courtesy of including their name in the email), wondering why my response was to issue a refund for their ad purchase and tell them to go advertise somewhere else. You know what? I DON'T CARE what these people think of me. I'm DELIGHTED when people like that unsubscribe from my newsletter. I DON'T WANT to do business with people like this. Why do we take it? Why is this sort of behavior and attitude accepted online when we would never tolerate it in a bricks and mortar environment? Why? Because we would never HAVE to tolerate it in the so-called "real world". People would never DREAM of behaving like this in their "real life". Who on earth would approach someone they wanted to do business with in such a fashion? Certainly not someone who had any sense of common courtesy, respect or dignity for themselves or anyone else they came in contact with. They'd just be avoided for the mad hatters they are. But something happens to certain people when they get behind a computer screen. The anonymity of it emboldens them, allows them to act out with faceless strangers the frustrations that build up within them as a result of their own inadequacies in dealing with the "real world": strangers who, they have well come to know, will just accept what's thrown at them without any risk of retaliation because the recipients fear more of the same. These are the very same kids (or people very much like them) that you and I remember from our early school years. They picked on the one person that they perceived to be the least able and likely to retaliate. There's a word for people like this: bully. And all bullies are, at bottom, nothing but gutless cowards. Pure and simple. I for one have had enough of it. All we achieve by ignoring these idiots is reinforcing the wrongheaded idea that it is acceptable to treat people this way. That it doesn't matter how you treat people if you're not face to face with them and you're never likely to be. I doubt any of us really has any question that the Internet is here to stay. It will continue to play a bigger and bigger part in our everyday lives. The day may well come, and perhaps a lot sooner than any of us expects, when we will no longer have to leave the house to go to work. We may all be working out of the comfort of our own homes from our computers. Online forms of communication may become the predominant way of communicating, at least when it comes to our working lives. What kind of world are we creating by allowing this groundswell of unfocused hatred against our fellow humans to go unchecked? Don't take it. You deserve better and your business deserves better. There are some things you just shouldn't have to take just to make a buck. Call me a heretic, but some business just isn't worth having. ------ ** Reprinting of this article is welcome! ** This article may be freely reproduced provided that: (1) you use the autoresponder copy which contains a resource box; and (2) you leave the resource box intact. To receive a copy of this article by autoresponder, just send a blank email to . Grand Opening of AssistBiz "Providing services to help your business get ahead" http://www.vab2.com/ While visiting the site please sign up for FREE "Home Business Tips" Newsletter (1/2) ------ Yes! You can make thousands of dollars on the internet. I'll teach you my simple system. This is a home business you'll be proud to own. It's fun and very rewarding. Free newsletter: "How to Really Make Money on the Internet". (1/16) 4. TIP #1: How to make your own desktop icons (Win 98): On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Paint. On Paint's Image menu, click Attributes. Enter 32 pixels in Height and Width. Now create an icon using the paintbrush or pencil tools. Name and save your icon. To replace an existing icon on your desktop with your new one: Right-click the shortcut on your desktop and then click Properties. Click Change Icon. Click Browse. Locate the folder containing the icon you created. The icon you created will now replace the original on the desktop. Create whatever you want! TIP #2: Here's a list of frequently used keyboard shortcuts (to replace mouse functions). We suggest you print this list, and post it where you can refer to it as needed: Shift-F10-----------------Right-click selected item Ctrl-Esc------------------Display Start menu Alt-[underlined letter]---Select menu command Alt-Esc-------------------Switch to Taskbar's "next" open window Alt-Tab-------------------Switch among open windows (hold Alt and continue to press Tab) Alt-F4--------------------Close active window Alt-Spacebar-N------------Minimize active window Alt-Spacebar-X------------Maximize active window Alt-Spacebar-R------------Restore close active window Alt-Spacebar-C------------Close active window Ctrl-F10------------------Switch focus to menu commands (in any Explorer window) Ctrl-Tab------------------Rotate through dialog box tabs Ctrl-Shift-Tab------------Rotate through dialog box tabs in reverse Ctrl-Alt-Del--------------Display Close Program dialog box Tips by Tom Glander and Joe Robson of The Newbie Club. The best Newbie Site ever to hit the Web. http://newbieclub.com/?start_here Happy New Year! How about a resolution to make more money? If You're Tired Of Losing Your Butt On The Internet .. Spending Lots Of Money .. Getting Very Little Back .. Want To Increase Your Web- Site Sales By Up To 1700% Or More .. Then I Want To Help You Today! Go to http://www.topezineads.com/index.html?3069 right away! (1/1) ------ WANT TO START YOUR OWN ONLINE BUSINESS but think you can't because you don't have your own product? WRONG! Become an Internet Marketing Warrior today and get INSTANT access to reports on subjects like: Internet Marketing, Mail Order, Business Opportunities, Advertising, Self-Publishing, Desk-Top Profits, Legal Forms And More ... all with FULL REPRINT & RESELL RIGHTS! Join the Warriors today and be in business with your very own information product tonight! For more information, visit /w.cgi?R5469_war 5. http://www.fun4susieskids.com Bill Sims writes: "Dear Elena: "My sister, Susie, and I both retired a couple of years ago. Susie had spent many years working with kids, mostly as Director of Children's Ministry in some large churches. During this time she had develop many successful techniques and numerous activities to teach and entertain kids. She had a desire to share her experience with others. "She was considering writing a book. She also talked about several games she had developed for kids that could be helpful to others (church leaders, teachers, daycare center staff, families and other organizations that work with kids). "We discussed trying the Internet as a method of letting people know about the book, games, etc. So, she wrote the first book and we used a PC to develop several games. To keep costs down, all books and games are self-published and printed on demand as orders arrive. "Although we are both retired, we each put up a little money. Our original objective, which is still true, is to help others. However, we would not be opposed to a making a little profit. Thus, we decided to price the offerings at a level estimated to initially cover costs. If sales volume increases, we can then make the little profit and/or lower the prices. "We purchased a Web Page Builder software package and contracted with an Internet Service Provider. We then developed our own web site. Developing a web site was a challenging and sometimes frustrating experience for two people who had never set up a web site before. However, we have learned a lot and believe we now have a pretty good site. "There are now 6 books, numerous games, and a newsletter available. We have ideas for more offerings. A few months ago we began to offer a "FREE IDEA of the Month." In that short time we have over 1,000 subscribers. "We have found the most difficult challenge is to get the word out. You can have the best web site and products in the world, but if people don't know about it; they won't visit. "With our limited resources we could not afford to buy large ads or banners. We found it very difficult to get a high ranking or even a listing on the most common search engines. Thus, we concentrated on classified ads and free listing on web sites directories with common interests or audiences. Any ideas from you or your readers would be welcome. "Also, we have read about E-books in your newsletters. The concept intrigues us, but we are not sure how to go about making a book into an E-book. Also if we had an E-book we are not sure now to make it available to the public. Again, any ideas from you or your readers would be appreciated. "We invite your readers to visit our site and give us any suggestions or comments. Susie's Kids Web Site: http://www.fun4susieskids.com E-mail: mailto:fun4susieskids@aol.com " ------ Bill's message epitomizes the experience of most of us struggling to get the word out about our websites and products. Especially when it comes to search engine listings, oftentimes it seems that it simply isn't worth the effort. Quite frankly, unless you're able to get your site a top 30 listing in the search engines, you're better off devoting your limited time and energy to more productive avenues of generating traffic. Bill and Susie are certainly on the right track by publishing a newsletter. That is cardinal rule #1. It is THE best way of staying in touch with your website visitors and prompting subscribers to visit your website. If you write original articles for your newsletter on a regular basis, submitting these articles to content-providers is a great way of generating new subscribers and website visitors too. The other main way of generating traffic that has been successful for me has been partnering with other websites for reciprocal links. This brings more traffic than you would think. So get out there and network! E-books are ridiculously easy to produce. Just get hold of some e-book publishing software (there are many programs available). One I have used (E-ditorPro) is so easy that all you have to do is to create webpages for your content and then, once you're done, the software takes the pages you've created and turns them into an e-book with the touch of a button. Takes all of five minutes once the webpages are done. So, no mystery and dead easy. Then, once you've created your e-book, promote it from your site (use the traffic generating strategies discussed above), in your newsletter, make it available for free to other publishers in exchange for a recommendation in their newsletters, and so on. ------ If you want your site seen by thousands, write and tell me about it! But make sure it's one you've created yourself or have had created especially for you. No self-replicating affiliate sites please. ?subject=website_pick 6. Advertise in A Home-Based Business Online A zero tolerance policy applies at AHBBO in relation to undeliverable mail. This means that the recipient address for emails returned "undeliverable" (including where the recipient's mailbox is full) is automatically deleted from the AHBBO subscriber database. This policy has been introduced to more accurately reflect, in the subscriber numbers, the number of eyes who will actually see your ad. Because AHBBO classified ad rates are calculated on a $CPM basis, this policy is intended to maximize the return on your advertising dollar. Current ad rates, subscription numbers and placement details are at . Choose from sponsor ads, single ad placements, Ad Paks (4 ads for the price of 3), Super Ad Paks (8 ads for the price of 5) and exclusive mailings. 7. Subscription Management Please note: email addresses for ALL returned mails are automatically deleted from the AHBBO subscriber database. If you have a free email account and want to continue receiving this ezine, please make sure you clear out your mailbox on a regular basis! To SUBSCRIBE to this Newsletter To UNSUBSCRIBE from this Newsletter (Processing of unsubscriptions is automated. Please make sure that your email is sent from the account you subscribed with otherwise you will not be unsubscribed. If you've tried to unsubscribe but keep receiving AHBBO, please make sure you've tried to unsubscribe with the address you subscribed with before contacting me.) To CHANGE your Subscription Address and in the body of the email tell me what your old address was and what it needs to be changed to. If you find this newsletter valuable, please forward it in its entirety to your friends, family and associates! 8. Caveat Emptor Although all of the information presented in AHBBO is published in good faith, neither the publisher nor the editor accept any responsibility as to the accuracy or otherwise of the information presented. By making use of the information contained in AHBBO the reader assumes all risk that certain information may prove to be incorrect. All advertisements are accepted in good faith. However, advertisers are solely responsible for the content and accuracy of their classified advertisements and no warranties are given, nor responsibility accepted, by the editor or the publisher in relation to any classified advertisement appearing in this publication. ALWAYS carry out your own due diligence!
** Reprinting of this article is welcome! ** This article may be freely reproduced provided that: (1) you include the following resource box; and (2) you only mail to a 100% opt-in list. Here's the resource box to use if reprinting this article: Elena Fawkner is editor of Home-Based Business Online. Best business ideas and opportunities for your home-based or online business.
Copyright 2011, AHBBO.com. All rights are reserved. Monday, 06-Feb-2012 21:51:04 MST |
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