Small Business Ideas
grow your own niche market business

a wish is not enough

A dream is like a crow bar, some use it to open things - others drop it on their toes.

helping you develop your niche market business ideas


Monday, June 26, 2006

How To Start Your Own Internet Business

For people of my generation computers can be a scary thing.

The first encounters we had with computers were from afar, perhaps a bank telling us a small mistake caused the computer to misplace our account. Computers at that time filled rooms and were tended by large groups of arcane worshipers.

Now the world has changed.

Kids have their own computers with far greater power than the old building sized monsters - and they willingly put their banking information on them. Fourteen year old kids develop significant income with their own Internet business.

One advantage of an Internet business is we do not see our clients and they do not see us - it is our reputation and credibility that empowers our sales.

As a wise survivor you may understand the many conceptual benefits of a business on the Internet, some of which include:

  • low regulation
  • low entry cost
  • small risk
  • portable if you decide or need to move
  • automated systems
  • and a bit of techie status

Twenty plus years ago I was scared of computers. I took a job as a computer teacher to force myself past my fears - and latter became the director of a computer school. I know how intimidating all this computer stuff can be.

Perhaps it is time for you to force yourself past your own computer reticence - by starting your own Internet business. The knowledge you need to succeed has been displayed by getting this far - the final hurdle is to just start.

I will suggest a turn key internet business, it is one I am in.

There are a lot of other similar opportunities out there - but I do not know if they will work.

This will take a few hours or so to set up, and can then be left alone - or - developed as you develop greater skills and confidence. There is no cost to sign up, and after a free trial period there is at most a $10.00 per month fixed expense. There are no contracts - you can quit anytime.

The goal is to create significant cash flow - generating a regular income that will follow you wherever you go.

There will be two websites you will acquire for that $10.00 per month, one finished and ready to rumble, one blank to experiment with. A marketing plan will also be set in motion - you can augment it as you wish.

I'll provide some help as you learn.

If you want a first business - or want to diversify from your current brick and mortar business:


Check It Out Now


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Sunday, June 18, 2006

Two Birds - One Stone

There is an interesting challenge over at the Hello, Dollar blog.

(The stone just missed the first bird, I tried using the track back to
Hello Dollar, looks like google's blogger still doesn't play that game - or I blew it. Guess I'll have to use a normal link.)

Anyway, what Frank proposes is creating something with ten dollars that will yield a capitalist's return. Quite a challenge - although he already has one inspiring successful comment.

The second bird was I would like to tell Frank about the new business I've started for my daughter - but that would sound like spam. The business can be started for free, and after the trial period it is only ten dollars a month. My reasoning is if before the end of the first paid period it starts to earn more than $10.00 income - I've created a business for ten dollars.

After three weeks I have a continuing income of $5.00 per month, at this rate it will take two and a half months to burn through that ten dollars. - that means I need to push it up five more dollars per month to qualify within the next 4 or 5 weeks.

I still won't be able to tell Frank at
Hello, Dollar - it would still sound like spam. Part of the reason is that I hate to think small - when large rewards are available for thinking large.

I really don't care if I make ten more dollars a month, I started the business (see my personal business story) to create hundreds of dollars a month of income or more.

I will be sorely disappointed if I just break even or double up.

I understand the satisfaction that comes from getting a bargain, but my time and especially my thoughts, should be worth a great deal. When I see a site like this one that seeks out a fifty dollar reward - I know it feels cool to win. I just think my time, effort, and thought should be worth far more than that.


Perhaps it is time for all of us to consider where we are putting our efforts.


Could we get the same satisfaction, for the same effort -- with a far greater return -- somewhere else?



Upgrade your equipment and hunt lions instead of birds. Sometimes shooting for a more important target keeps you focused.

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Saturday, June 17, 2006

The Money Is In The List

That is an old saying "The money is in the list." At least as old as things can be in the internet.

The general gist is that mailings to those that have chosen your material represent the best prospects for your services.

How do you build a list?

You offer a regular newsletter and some report inducements - and your regular readers and customers become part of your list.

Is there a way to leverage your list, or to build one from scratch?

I have not done the leg work on my blogs to create a list, so I am trying an internet specific solution. The site I'm using to build a list is useful to all -- both those with a list and those without.

If you want to develop a list for marketing, join me in exploring the possibilities at the well regarded My Lucky List.

My Lucky List does not require that you have a list, or even a website, just a desire to market your product or service without spam.


And you can try it for free.

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Thursday, June 15, 2006

Wall Street Journal Editorial On The Death Tax

Back when I was selling real estate I ran into a small tragedy that is replayed often across America.

A widow had her house for sale to pay the IRS death tax.

It was a very nice house in a good area, but she and her kids would have to move. Her husband had been conscientious. Knowing she would not be able to run his business if he died they had saved and bought a small apartment complex to generate cash flow for her - it was for sale also.

The death taxes were large - and they were due now. The house and the apartments would have to be sold fast - at that time meaning under their true value, before large penalties were incurred with the IRS (the behemoth that assumes you are guilty until you prove your innocence.)

They thought they had enough life insurance - but it had been sold by an agent more familiar with his commission schedule than their needs - or the IRS rules.

Dad had died thinking his family had been taken care of - instead they were taken to the cleaners. Plans he may have made for college and careers for his kids were gone - and his widow was not prepared for all of the expenses.

If you wonder why small family farms and businesses get sold to conglomerates - the death tax helps rip them from their owners families.

You can be sure that congress and their wealthy supporters do not suffer such indignities - they write both the laws and the loopholes that allow them to hide their wealth from taxes.

Most Americans favor capitalism because it offers the opportunity to improve their lives. They may not be wealthy - but they want a level playing field where wealth is available to all.

The death tax is easy for a politician to sell as a Robin Hood gesture, having you join their band of merry thieves - "Rob the rich to feed the poor."

Bear in mind Robin Hood feed himself very well first, he was not robbed by himself - and he and his merry band were still crooks - so is congress and those that ask them to steal on their behalf.

To simplify, In California petty theft is usually a misdemeanor - while receiving stolen goods is a felony. If it is wrong for you to do something, say steal from your neighbor, it is an even greater wrong to delegate someone else to do it for you.

If it is wrong to steal from a widow, how does it become right to ask congress to do it for you?

Most new jobs in America are created by small business and entrepreneurs - and according to this Wall Street Journal piece they are the ones hurt by the death tax - not the rich. These are service jobs - like nurses, small business owners, accountants, doctors, programmers, creators - the kind of jobs folks want.

High paid manufacturing jobs are a thing of the fading industrial age - boring mindless jobs that are no better than being a wage slave. The death tax perpetuates wage slavery while punishing business creation.

The rich will create foundations and trusts and all sorts of fancy hedges from the tax man for themselves. Their supported friends in congress will make sure they are protected - or they will become congressmen themselves.

There is nothing wrong with wealth, it gets invested and spent, all benefit from its acquisition. And wouldn't you like to be wealthy one day too?

If we could get rid of the IRS and de-fang congress with term limits ---- but that is another bed time story fairy tale ---- like Robin Hood.


"When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators." ‚– P.J. O'Rourke


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Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Put A Hundred To Work

The power of small business is in multiplying the efforts of one committed person. You start your business, then you decide others can be trained to do what you do, so you train them. The following is a cut and paste from another of my small business sites.

Years ago I was driving to a seminar with another small business consultant. He said what he wanted to do was get dropped off at the side of the freeway and collect just one dollar from everyone that passed. He was making a point - that is the easy way to wealth - one dollar at a time.

With care for the customer and attention to detail you can oversee others and build a repeat clientele also. This is not compulsion like the governments do it, this is voluntary interaction by willing participants - each gaining from the transaction.

You can make a one million dollar sale - or a million one dollar sales - and still sell a million dollars worth of product.

It is often easier to find a million folks willing to part with one dollar each.
The difficulty is in handling one million transactions.

That is why you train and employ others.


It is easier to put a hundred to work - than try to do the work of a hundred.


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Sunday, June 04, 2006

Some Will - Some Won't

As some of you know I started this blog last year to encourage my daughter.

If you want the story, you will find it in this article talking about the new business we found for her after months of research.

What I have been doing since we found her business is investigating how to make it work. This is a very special business, quite unlike the normal small business opportunities I consult with.

I recently discovered an excellent e-book or mp3 recording, at no cost, that is very much worth the read.
This reminds me of the wonderful books by the late Og Mandino, but without the extra twist at the end. Just that association with Og may be one reason I both enjoyed and learned from it.

I don't get anything for recommending this to you - but you will gain a great deal by reading it. The book?

The Greatest Networker In The World - download it for free.

Even if you do not like business - and don't have dreams.


A dream is like a crow bar, some use it to open things - others drop it on their toes.

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Friday, June 02, 2006

High School student Internet Business

This is not just for high school students that want your own Internet business - it is for anyone that wants any type of business.

Do the ground work first just like this high school student, then start your business. Eventually he will look back and realize he learned more starting a business than he did in business school.

A teenage Internet business works for several reasons, reasons that will benefit anyone that attempts an Internet business as a route to freedom.

  • low overhead
  • low regulation
  • short start up delays
  • no one sees you - it does not matter what you look like
  • quick payoff for creative ideas
  • fast learning curve
  • bad ideas discovered cheaper and sooner
And a heck of a lot more.

Do your own research for your high school or college Internet business. I'll give you a couple of places to start - but you may find better. These are just two that seem to have promise.


SiteSell website creation and hosting service
. They have great tools for affiliate marketing sites to create your own Internet business.


Or a cheaper alternative with a simple built in business. These guys have an idea that can reduce your overhead while allowing you the freedom to start any type of Internet business. Use their simple software to create an original web site - then create a better site in a publisher and transfer it in - continuing at the same cost. No annual fees here - just a small monthly charge you can quickly overcome - and no contracts to tie you in.


What is most important is to find a high school student Internet business
you can be passionate about - then you will never have to work at it, you will enjoy the price.

Your hobby can support you.

Or as in the case of this high school student - provide steady cash flow.

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money making online business ideas