News By Anthony Ricigliano – Going Green with a Small Business

  • May 15, 2011 6:55 PM

Author Anthony Ricigliano – News by Anthony Ricigliano: Many small businesses are taking the opportunity to go green for a variety of reasons including social responsibility and the approval of customers. There is also the potential for company-wide green initiatives to cut costs and improve the bottom line. Prior to deciding on what types of actions are to be taken, there are steps that management should take to optimize the initiative. They are:

* The initiative to go green must come from the top of the company. This lets everyone know that the issue is going to be taken seriously as a bona fide direction for the business.

* The initiative has to engage all employees across the company. This is a great opportunity for a discussion on the benefits of going green.
* Green activities must both relate to the business’ mission and further its objectives.

* The initiative must be integrated into the culture of the company. It’s the difference between being a green company and being a company that works off of a green checklist.

Once the initiative has been introduced, it is advisable to start with simpler tasks and activities to get everyone in the company on the same page. Go with actions that are easy to incorporate and follow. Here are ten actions that any company can undertake while wading into its go green initiative:

1) Start a recycling program where cans, bottles, and paper are disposed of in separate containers.

2) Go as paperless as possible. Do in-house presentations on power point instead of printing out meeting materials. File and save documents electronically.  

3) Reduce marketing collateral to only the necessities. This action alone can save a lot of money over the long term.

4)  Commit to buying ENERGY STAR-certified products.

5) Reduce energy consumption by programming computers and other equipment to go on standby after a period of sitting idle.

6) Turn off computers at the end of the work day. One caveat, if older computer screens are in use which have never been turned off, the cooling down process can harm them. Leave them on until they can be replaced.

7) Switch out incandescent bulbs for fluorescent ones.

8) Incentivize employees who carpool, ride a bike, or walk to work.

9) Eliminate plastic and Styrofoam cups.

10) Use the front and back when printing or copying.

Starting with these activities will help to build the foundation for bigger green initiatives down the line. Get everybody on board and these actions will get you on the way to being a green business, much to the delight of your employees and customers.

Anthony Ricigliano -
About the Author:
Anthony Ricigliano’s background in information technology, distribution, purchasing and regulatory affairs then gives him an edge with integrating that infrastructure with areas in the company that generate revenues.

Make Work From Home Jobs a Benefit for Everyone

  • May 14, 2011 5:18 PM

With the downturn in the economy and higher gas prices, some employers are involving work from home jobs to cut down on needed office overhead, and give the employees a savings in expenses instead of pay raises. The employer saves the space and utilities and the employee saves gas or transportation expense and commuting time.

Work from home jobs are becoming a win-win for companies that need to cutback but still give valued and trusted employees a pay increase in way of savings in expenses and tax deductions for home offices. If you have the opportunity for work from home jobs for your employer, then you still need to have some structure to produce what is expected.

If you have been laid off from your job and are looking for work from home jobs, there are many sources on the Internet for jobs that allow you to work from home. Outsourcing is being done by many companies for their data input, order taking, call processing of orders, accounting, marketing and other functions. This save the company overhead and offers you the freedom to work at home.

Whether your company is allowing you to work from home, or you have found freelance work at home jobs, there are some basic tips you will need to do to be successful and make it a benefit for everyone, including your family.

1. Have a space set aside in your home to be made into your office. Not only does this allocate a space for home office expense for tax purposes, but gives you and your family structure. When you are in your office working, you should be focused on work and not playing with the children or dog. The family should respect that you have work to do, even though you are at home.

2. Try to structure your work and stick to a schedule of some kind when you work at home. It may be to busy to get sidetracked and not get work done before deadlines because of distractions, or too much freedom to do other things.

3. While it is a great way for stay at home parents to make extra money, try to schedule your work at home jobs at times when the children will be at school or asleep so they won’t feel lacking of attention and you won’t be so distracted.

4. Don’t let the children use the office room as a playroom, or play on your computer. They should have a separate area and their own computer so that you don’t lose important work or data.

5. Plan mealtime preparation to be less distracting from your work. Look for easy preparation, oven preparations or crock-pot preparations that don’t require you to spend too much time in the kitchen, especially if you are a work at home freelancer that is paid on production. You can still make nice meals and be there to take them out of the oven, turn them on low, or whatever you need to do.

By following these simple tips, you will find that work from home jobs are the best way to balance professional and personal issues, and bring more money to the household.

Gen Wright -
About the Author:
Opportunities are rising in the home based business industry, read more about our featured work from home businesses to see if this is something for you.

Is Filling Out Surveys For Money A Scam – Here's How Real People Are Making Money Filling Out Surveys

  • May 13, 2011 4:40 AM

Is Filling Out Surveys For Money A Scam

I am certain that you have seen the hype and over blown ads to entice you to start your own online business. The opportunities are limitless with the explosion of the internet, especially in the last few years. The problem is do any of these solutions realistically make you an income? Is Filling Out Surveys For Money A Scam

The online business that we are going to take a look at is one that is getting a great deal of attention today. Many people are discovering that they can make a decent living by filling out surveys for companies from their computer with online surveys. This internet trend is being questioned, and with healthy skepticism. Is taking online surveys a scam? Is anybody really making any cash with this trendy money machine? Really?

I am guessing at one or another, many people have taken at survey at a store or even the grocery. Maybe your banking institution has called your home to ask you a few questions for their customer service satisfaction survey. All types of businesses are paying a great deal of money to each person for answering a few questions to find out what is the product to market or to gage their products in the market place to their potential customers.

As the internet becomes more accessible to a broader range of the population, many companies are employing the power of the internet to get information from their market surveys. This opportunity offers many individuals to earn some money on the side that would not otherwise have a chance to make some easy money.

The varieties of companies that will offer a sum for your valuable answers to their surveys are doing this for a reason. It will save them so much more money by offering surveys than to take on new staff to engage the consumer in other marketing campaigns.

You are not alone if you are some of the many persons who are doubtful as to whether any money can be made by just filling out a few surveys. Is Filling Out Surveys For Money A Scam

But, there are many people already earning a decent coin by providing their opinions to survey questions. To be sure, not all online survey companies pay the same rate. Some survey contributors have reported earnings as far as $150 per one-hour survey. The average person will receive anywhere from $10 to $70 for every completed survey.

Where should you start to embark on getting extra cash you deserve? The first step is to join a survey network that maintains a huge database of surveys for you to complete. There are free survey sites where you can become a member and for your time and energy they will pay you with a free entry into a sweepstakes. Of course you just cannot make money with these sites.

If you really want cash in your pocket you should focus on taking surveys from a paid membership survey network. The cost is minimal to you, about $35 and it is a one time fee only. Once you become a member you will have complete access to their database of surveys guaranteed to make you start earning some real money.

Ensuring you join a network with a money back guarantee, you one time investment will be compensated if for some reason you are not satisfied with your results. A quality legitimate survey network site will be more than glad to return your investment without any questions as they know that every person who joins their network will be a satisfied client.

The greatest advantage of taking survey online is it can become a really good part time income supplement just for filling out online marketing surveys. You can easily apply, and make over $1000 in your first month by taking the first step of only a small investment in yourself.

The best of luck in your new opportunity for an online income. If you have any questions, we will be happy to be of assistance to you. Is Filling Out Surveys For Money A Scam

Paid Survey Advisor -
About the Author:
“Short of money every month?
Need to work from Home 24/7?
Read more about Is Filling Out Surveys For Money A Scam and start earning from Home!
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3 Ideas for Starting a Work at Home Business

  • May 12, 2011 4:27 AM

Are you tired of doing the “commute thing” and are you longing to find a way to work at home? Have you given it a lot of thought but just don’t know what to do or where to start? Let me tell you about three work at home businesses that are viable in today’s market and easy to start up.

1. Virtual Assistant: This is a great option if you are just starting a work at home business. It’s simple and requires some basic organizational skills. Many who work at home do not have time to run their business and answer the phone and emails. Others with “real jobs” many times are in need of some help with such things. A virtual assistant can be a life saver.

The duties of a virtual assistant are much the same as a “real job” assistant. The big difference is that the virtual assistant just walks down the hall in his/her house shoes and can work at home in their “jammies”. This is a great business that fills a great need and should definitely be considered as one of your top choices if you enjoy being home and helping others keep their lives in order.

2. eBay Shop: This is a business that is on the rise due to the popularity of “recycling stuff”. If you’ve ever used eBay to sell anything you know that money can be made working at home using eBay.

For some people, eBay is a simple website to use but for others who either don’t have the time, knowledge or inclination, selling something that way is too much trouble. They are missing out on making money. This is good for you if you learn to understand and use eBay and create a shop to sell other people’s items. When you work at home this way you can make a lot of money.

You may be wondering what to charge people to sell their “stuff”. A charge of about 10% of the selling price of the item would reward you for your efforts. The customers you will deal with are usually going to be busy adults with no time to sell items on eBay or older adults who just do not understand technology.

If the idea of dealing with customers leaves you cold, you could open a specialty store and work at home. If you are a computer person and like technology, you could specialize in that type of item, laptops for instance. You would go to stores or people and buy their laptops and then resell them on eBay, usually making a big profit.

3. Online Writer: There are not many people doing online writing so there is not a lot of competition. With this at home business, you would write articles or other written material for others, This might be copy for a website that would help to optimize the traffic to that site which would make the site owner money. You would be given a topic and would write the article. You can get paid good money to do that as you work from home.

This is easier said than done. It takes developing your writing skill and creativity. It is the hardest of the three businesses we’ve discussed. Once you’ve gotten good at your craft and have developed a large list of clients you could make $15 or more per article. As you develop your speed, you could make $30 an hour or more! It’s a lot of work but well worth it if you are a writer at heart.

We’ve talked about virtual assistant, eBay shop and online writer. These at work at home business bring you extra money, enough to make ends meet and maybe even much more than that. They are easy to get started and don’t cost much.

Roisann Mikel -
About the Author:
I am working part time in the medical field and working at home building a wholesale real esate business locally and on the internet. I want to help others buy/sell properties or build their business on the internet.
For free information go to

http://RealMoneyOnlineBook.com

For real estate needs go to:

http://www.TexasGalsSellHouses.com

20 reasons why your small business need a website

  • May 10, 2011 5:35 PM

20 Reasons why it is imperative that your small business has a website

  1. The most important reason is that you get 24 hour/365 days a year exposure.
  2. Having a website will increase your return on investment of any print advertising that you have.
  3. When every print, radio or television advertisement you run contains your website address you have the opportunity to give much more information from that website than you can with expensive traditional advertising.
  4. You can compete on a level playing field with the others in your sector, particularly if they already have a website. This applies even if you are a local business supporting only the local community.
  5. Once customers find your website they can bookmark it and come back repeatedly. Of course you’ll ask them to bookmark you when they arrive and they will be able to find you again.
  6. You can use a website to obtain email addresses and contact details to add to your leads in your marketing campaign. Once they have given you their email address you can send them your latest offers, new product, product information and important time sensitive news about your business.
  7. You can save valuable time if you use your website to answer your frequently asked questions. It gives you time to work on the value adding aspect of your business.
  8. A small business website however simple can be used to serve your customers. Imagine an automated process for selling your products.
  9. A website for your small business can help you build leads.
  10. Websites are a dynamic and changeable promotional tool, if your business changes, so can your website.
  11. Websites never sleep; they are promoting your business while you are.
  12. You already have marketing material in place, adding a website to your inventory will bring a whole new level to your business and using this material is quite easy.
  13. A website can start off small and grow with your business.
  14. A website will not cost as much as you think. You may have obtained outrageous quotes in the past for website design; however there are specialists in the market who build websites just for micro and small business like yours.
  15. It will give you the ability to target a completely different demographic to the one that a traditional marketing campaign will.
  16. You can have an email address containing your domain name; when used it will identify your business.
  17. Even if you don’t have a computer most of your customers and potential customers will have one. You don’t need a computer to have a website.
  18. The size of your business does not matter; you can compete with larger businesses by using a website.
  19. With the expansion of the internet to mobile phones, there are five times as many people who access the internet from their mobile and are searching for businesses than those using a personal computer or a laptop.
  20. The last reason is a question. Can you compete without one?

Cathryn Baxter -
About the Author:
Cathy Baxter is a small business operator in Australia. She has witnessed the enormous growth of the internet since her first internet connnection in 1996. She wants to help small businesses, particularly those in her local area to grow their business by using the internet. Currently she offers value for money websites to small and micro business owners in Australia and New Zealand http://www.ezebiz.com.au/distributors/cbaxter/index.php.
 
Cathy is currently studying for a Diploma in Business Administration and will be launching her own Virtual Assistant business in late 2010.
 
The reason why she has not launched her business now is that she is travelling overseas for a 9 week holiday to Ecuador. She views this trip as a both a challenge and an exciting opportunity. She will meet with family members that she has never seen, learn Spanish in an immersion environment and do all the touristy things that Ecuador offers. Watch out for articles about her travels in the near future.

Working From Home- a Guide for Beginners, Retirees and Moms

  • May 10, 2011 3:57 PM

If you look no matter where you go money just does not stretch as far as it used to. What provided a comfortable retirement income to allow for a 20 year retirement period now lasts less than ten. This means even after you have spent your life working and saving you may not have enough to spend your golden years relaxing and enjoying the fruits of your labors. The same goes for the working class. The cost of childcare is on the rise and spaces are often limited, schedules to get children to daycare and pick them up can make working a difficult proposition.  In some cases, one whole income of a two-income household could be spent in just childcare expenses leaving many moms looking for ways to become work from home moms to lower costs.

The difficulty rises in finding work from home opportunities that have a training program for beginners, and designed to appeal to retired work from home seekers or work from home moms. This means that they need to be programs that are easy to work, do not require an excessive amount of time to watch over. This means it should be a program that allows you to do a small amount of work or blocks of work at a time and leave it but earn revenue whether you are there or not. It needs to be simple and easy to start up and not require a huge investment.

Finding a program like this can be difficult. There are thousands of works from home programs that offer a training program for beginners but only a few of them actually provide you with real and valuable information. You could spend months going through all the opportunities to find the one that is right for you. There are a few ways that you can speed the process up and get started that much faster with a better chance of success.

•  Look for work from home opportunities that cater to work from home moms.  If you are retired, look for opportunities that are going to appeal to you.
•   Make sure to thoroughly exam the products, the services offered by the parent company and the opportunity in general.
•  Look for reviews from people who have tried the program. It is important to find a good source of information. There are a number of sites and programs that do part of the research for you and organize the opportunities or help to eliminate scams and make sure to check to make sure the business is legitimate.
•  Many complaints can be found at the better business bureau so it is a good idea when looking for opportunities to check any that look good with the BBB to see if there have been any reported problems.
•  If the opportunity sells a perishable or usable product such as vitamins or health aids, consider trying the products or asking for samples.

There are plenty of opportunities available for individuals who are looking to be work at home moms or individuals who are retired work from home seekers. Even beginners can find programs that can fit into already established work schedules or into any skill level but it takes a willingness to research and review the opportunities presented to find the one that works best for you.

Daniel -
About the Author:
Daniel works from home researching work from home programs and ways to increase his retirement income. You can view his Blog http://DansOnlineCash.com for ideas to increase your income.

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