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A Home-Based Business Online
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Practical home business ideas, opportunities
and solutions for the work-from-home
entrepreneur
Issue 142 : July 22, 2002
Sent to 12,624 Opt-In Subscribers
Editor: Elena Fawkner
Publisher: Fawkner Publishing
http://www.ahbbo.com
Contact By Email
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IN THIS ISSUE
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1. Welcome and Update from Elena
2. Home Business Idea of the Week
3. Feature Article - The Lure of Easy Money
4. Surveys and Trends
5. Success Quote of the Week
6. Advertise with AHBBO
7. Subscription Management
8. Caveat Emptor
9. Contact Information
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1. Welcome and Update from Elena
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Hello again and a warm welcome to all the new subscribers
who have joined us since the last issue.
This week's article was prompted by yet another deluge of
get rich quick offers in my mailbox this weekend. "The
Lure of Easy Money" shows that just because 98% of
the world's population appears to be touting some GRQS
(get rich quick sheme) or another, the competition you
face in your own online business is surprisingly little.
As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this
week's issue.
Remember, AHBBO 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 .
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2. Home Business Idea of the Week - Reunion Organizer
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Ever tried to organize a class reunion? If you have, then you
know what a headache it is to track everybody down, issue
invitations, process responses, organize the function room,
catering and entertainment. Who has the time, right?
Here's where you can come in. If you're a born organizer and
enjoy dealing with people, why not set up shop as a reunion
organizer?
As a reunion organizer, you can do much more than just
organize class reunions. How about family reunions, company
reunions and wartime reunions?
The process is pretty much the same in all cases. Obviously
you need to be given a list of prospective attendees by your
client and as much information as they have about their
whereabouts as possible but from thereon in, you can take the
ball and run with it. The greatest challenge, of course, will be
in tracking everyone down so you need to be part detective
to do well in this business.
Because some reunions will be easier to organize than others
(there may be fewer attendees, or you may be given a reasonably
complete, up to date list of attendees' addresses) you may want
to charge for your services on an hourly basis. If you do decide
to charge a set fee for your time, though, do so based on ranges,
for example, $500 for up to 20 attendees, $1,000 for 20 - 40,
$1,500 for 40-60 and so on. Then add on your expenses such as
telephone calls, postage, faxes etc.. Payments for caterers,
entertainment and venue should be paid directly by the client.
Charge more or less depending on the services that you provide.
For example, if you will also be arranging travel and accommodation
for out of town attendees, factor that time into your costs as well.
To generate custom, target alumni associations (for class
reunions), genealogy associations (for family reunions), returned
service personnel organizations (for wartime reunions) etc. and
advertise in publications that reach these groups.
-----
This is just one of over 130 ideas from the new "Practical
Home Business Ideas From AHBBO" e-book. Find out more at
http://www.ahbbo.com/ideasbook.html .
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3. Feature Article: The Lure of Easy Money
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© 2002 Elena Fawkner
You might be forgiven for thinking that competition is
fierce if you run an online business. After all, every
day - day in, day out - you, me and everyone else is
constantly bombarded by offers from every man and
his dog for various programs that promise us the means
to earn an income from home.
After a while, of course, you begin to recognize that
these programs are not worth the paper they're written
on and the people pushing them are little more than con
artists (or worse).
A common theme in all of these offers is the lack of effort
required to begin making a significant income. Witness all
the "Make money while you sleep!", "We do all the work!",
"$3,000 per week for two hours work!", "Big money, no
experience required!" subject lines in your inbox this
morning.
The reason these types of offers are so prevalent, of
course, is that the notion of something for nothing is
seductive. Who on earth in their right mind would actually
choose to spend 40 hours per week working for $80,000 per
year when they can earn the same amount working only 2
hours each week? No one. The only problem is, working 2
hours a week and making $80K isn't going to happen unless
that two hours is spent managing your multi-million dollar
portfolio. And even then you'd most likely be spending
more than a lousy couple of hours a week.
Common sense tells us that this must be so. But common
sense is a rare commodity in the real world and even rarer
when it comes to anything to do with the Internet, an
unreal world if ever there was one.
There are a LOT of people running so-called "Internet
businesses". A goodly proportion of these people are the
ones touting the aforementioned "bizopp" pipedreams. This
is good news for you, believe it or not. Why? Because,
despite how it may sometimes seem, your REAL competition
is relatively small in number. After all, if 98% of those doing
business online are unsuccessful (and promoting get rich quick
schemes is the best way I know to make it into that elite
group of 98 percenters), that leaves the field wide open for
the 2% who are actually prepared to do some real work.
So don't for a minute think that the Internet playing
field is all sown up. It isn't. All that buzzing in the
background is the little kids down the other end of the
field playing make-believe. There's still plenty of room
to run on the field with the real players.
So, accept the fact that there's no such thing as something
for nothing and you really are going to have to work for a
living after all. Then create something original which meets
the needs of one or more target markets and get to work.
There's plenty of room for you on the field and plenty of
trophies to go around. You just have to keep your eye on
the ball.
------
** 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 A Home-Based Business Online ...
practical business ideas, opportunities and solutions for the
work-from-home entrepreneur.
http://www.ahbbo.com
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4. Surveys and Trends
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© 2002 Ryanna's Hope
THIS WEEK! EMAIL, HOLIDAY TRENDS AND CUSTOMERS!
=> 30 YEARS OF EMAIL!
Ray Tomlinson gave society one of the greatest
communication tools in history. He invented email back in
1971 -- essentially fostering global business communication
and turning the Internet into a digital kitchen table for far-
flung family members.
Q: How do you see email evolving? What will it look like 10
years from now?
A: If it doesn't get killed off from spam, it probably won't be
a lot different. You may see it more closely integrated with
other forms of communication, though, like instant messaging.
Once email is answered, you could continue the conversation
more immediately, like with instant messaging. Simultaneous
correspondence is a lot better than a few emails in a few
hours.
Or maybe you'll get an email and press a button and make a
phone call... not with Verizon, but over the Internet. People
would like more seamless interaction between the tools. They
don't like being in a particular mode and having to switch to
another. I want to specify what I want to do. I don't care
how it happens ...
Bandwidth will go up. DSL is becoming more common. Cable
modems are more common. Technology there will improve
those services.
=> AND OF COURSE, WHAT WE DO WITH IT...
The number of unsolicited commercial electronic messages
received by the average American in 2001 was 571, according
to Jupiter Media Metrix. By 2006, Jupiter says, that number
will increase to 1,400, with more than 206 billion spam messages
going out over the course of the year. While these numbers are
notoriously difficult to calculate, every survey and ISP record
points to dramatic increases in spam, sometimes as much as 300
percent year over year.
=> FORECASTING THE UPCOMING HOLIDAY TRENDS...
As for geography, it comes as no surprise that Alaska, with a
widely dispersed population, high Internet penetration and a
frigid winter climate led U.S. states with 305 orders per 1,000
people, followed by New Hampshire (296 orders per 1,000
people). The warmer southern states were the biggest online
shopping laggards during the 2001 holiday season.
BizRate's research also matched a study from the Pew Internet
& American Life Project when it came to the number of women
who did their holiday shopping online in 2001. According to
BizRate, 56 percent of orders were placed by women (the Pew
study put the percentage of women at 58 percent). Just three
years ago, BizRate found only 39 percent of online orders were
placed by women. When it came to last-minute online shopping,
men were more active. The last weekend prior to Christmas
found 53 percent of online orders placed by men, BizRate found.
Traffic to specialty gifts sites nearly tripled right before the
Christmas holiday, as last-minute shoppers scrambled to find
that perfect gift, whereas big-ticket items such as computer
hardware and consumer electronics saw a rush of surfers earlier
on in the season.
Four categories peaked during the week ending December 9, as
toys and games, value-oriented sites, apparel and the virtual
department stores categories drew many shoppers who wanted
to beat the shipping deadlines.
=> AND FINALLY, HOW TO LOSE A CUSTOMER
How important is responding to customers? According to a
November 2001 Jupiter Consumer Survey, 57 percent of those
polled said that the speed of a retailer's response to customer
service e-mail inquiries would affect their decision to make
future purchases from the particular Web site. Even worse,
Jupiter analysts have found that the impact of poor customer
service online cascades across channels. The survey found
that 53 percent of consumers said they would be less likely to
buy again from a retailer's offline store if they had an
unsatisfying experience with the online store. Only a mere
three percent of consumers surveyed indicated that online
service would not affect their future purchases or that they
would continue to buy from the merchant regardless of price.
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5. Success Quote of the Week
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A common pitfall on the path of excellence is an overemphasis
on comparing our progress with others. While competition can
be a tremendous tool for stretching ourselves to new heights,
too often it causes a lack of perspective.
-- Michael Gelb and Tony Buzan
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8. Caveat Emptor
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Although all of the information presented in AHBBO is
published in good faith, I accept no 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.
**I do not endorse any advertisements unless stated to the
contrary. Your money, your decision, your responsibility.**
All advertisements are accepted in good faith. However,
advertisers are solely responsible for the content and
accuracy of their classified advertisements and I give no
warranties, nor accept any responsibility, in relation to any
classified advertisement appearing in this publication. ALWAYS
carry out your own due diligence! Remember, if it sounds too
good to be true, it probably is.
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9. Contact Information
_______________________________________________________________
Elena Fawkner, Editor
A Home-Based Business Online
Contact By Email
http://www.ahbbo.com
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All Rights Reserved