Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Logosnap
So I found this website that offers free and for pay logos. I tried one tonight and it is truly a snap to make. I might even pay for one when I truly go for my real business. For now the fee one will be great. I thought it was super easy to set up. I picked an image (there are lots). I used Eduction and found a cool tree. Not sure if it will be the only thing, but it was a start. I added the name and aligned the image. It was a little hard to align the image because I made it small. I think it might be better to align the image and then make it smaller. I think it is OK for now though. I think the folks at logosnap have a nice product and I will look into doing more than freemium before long.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Here is some old news: Twitter is useful for business. There are active ways to promote your business, and passive ways. A passive way might be a billboard or an advertisement. An active way is to become involved in social networking like Twitter. The challenge is you must gain trust before your audience will consider what you have to offer. Twitter gives you that opportunity, in an easy to write 140 characters or less. It is free to use, and you have the opportunity to actively promote your business. Have fun!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
An Urge to Action
There are way more business ideas than there are businesses. A good business idea is worthless until it is acted upon. The main thing is to take the first step. It is not possible to predict the outcome of everything. John Maynard Keynes wrote, "Most, probably, of our decisions to do something positive, the full consequences of which will be drawn out over many days to come, can only be taken as the result of animal spirits—a spontaneous urge to action rather than inaction, and not as the outcome of a weighted average of quantitative benefits multiplied by quantitative probabilities."
In other words, if you feel inclined to do something positive, spring to action. Inaction is the default outcome; most people just do not take the first step.
Take www.smoothclay.com as an example. Though there are lots of wise people extolling the virtues of 'Doing what you love and the money will come,' we found through our own experience that there are very few business opportunities that make it possible to do what you love. So we made a business that puts people who love crafts into a sustainable business that they can grow as they wish. The product is a turn-key business package that will help you begin your business, and make your products rare and unique.
It is worth taking a look. Have fun!
In other words, if you feel inclined to do something positive, spring to action. Inaction is the default outcome; most people just do not take the first step.
Take www.smoothclay.com as an example. Though there are lots of wise people extolling the virtues of 'Doing what you love and the money will come,' we found through our own experience that there are very few business opportunities that make it possible to do what you love. So we made a business that puts people who love crafts into a sustainable business that they can grow as they wish. The product is a turn-key business package that will help you begin your business, and make your products rare and unique.
It is worth taking a look. Have fun!
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Web of Trust
There is a web site rating social network that works pretty well, and gives web users some feedback from those who have been to a particular site before. it is called Web of Trust, or WOT. There are four rating criteria, trustworthiness, vendor reliability, privacy and child safety. It is good to see a green circle on a site. A gray circle is not necessarily a bad thing, only that it has not been rated yet. If you want to get your site rated, you can by going to the web site and requesting a rating. Read the forums to find out how to go about it, and be patient and cordial. A Google search with Firefox will show the WOT rating beside each of the listings before you click. Perhaps others do that too, but in general with other browsers and search engines, I find that you have to go to the site before the rating is shown.
WOT also has a way to monetize their offering for commercial sites. The subscription approach looks to be useful but I have not used it yet.
It took a while to get the rating for smoothclay.com, but I am glad I did it. The green symbol is a badge that indicates that others trust the site.
WOT also has a way to monetize their offering for commercial sites. The subscription approach looks to be useful but I have not used it yet.
It took a while to get the rating for smoothclay.com, but I am glad I did it. The green symbol is a badge that indicates that others trust the site.
Monday, January 31, 2011
A Little at a Time
Starting your own bootstrap ceramic business or any business for that matter, takes patience. It is important to set out your goals - in writing - so you know where you are going and where you have come from. Try to do something every day, and even though the progress may be slow, it will be sure.
A good friend noted that the goals he wrote down had a greater chance of getting accomplished than the goals he did not write down. The takeaway from that for me was, I may not get the goal accomplished, but if I write it down a successful outcome is more likely.
An important goal to set is to regularly promote your business. This is easy to forget. Be sure to keep your customer information, so you can let them know of new opportunities from time to time.
With SmoothClay.com, almost all of the preliminary work is done. Once you learn how to make the items, all that is needed is to take one or more of the avenues described in the Operations Guide.
Being persistent, and realizing that success is a journey, and not a destination, will see you through.
Have fun!
A good friend noted that the goals he wrote down had a greater chance of getting accomplished than the goals he did not write down. The takeaway from that for me was, I may not get the goal accomplished, but if I write it down a successful outcome is more likely.
An important goal to set is to regularly promote your business. This is easy to forget. Be sure to keep your customer information, so you can let them know of new opportunities from time to time.
With SmoothClay.com, almost all of the preliminary work is done. Once you learn how to make the items, all that is needed is to take one or more of the avenues described in the Operations Guide.
Being persistent, and realizing that success is a journey, and not a destination, will see you through.
Have fun!
Square Credit Card Merchant Account
There is a new credit card merchant that can help you accept credit card payments anywhere. The company is called Square, and you can accept credit card payments on your Android mobile phone or iPhone. The site is www.squareup.com. They offer an easy setup that is free, and they will send you a card reader for free. Imagine how this will revolutionize craft fairs or Farmer’s Markets! You can accept credit cards with excellent security. You do not even take down the credit card number! The charges are very reasonable and less than PayPal or GoogleCheckout. Look it over carefully to make sure it is for you. This is huge.
Have fun!
Have fun!
Some Business Opportunities
What kind of Business is best when you are just starting out? Contrary to the opinion of many of the business books and business Plan companies, the best businesses have very low overhead, no employees and no debt. This is sometimes called a Bootstrappers’s Business.
The best businesses make things. When you provide services, you are limited to only what you can do during hours that are convenient to your client (unless you add employees). By making something, you can accomplish the biggest tasks when you have time, and you can enlist others in piecework, as their own contractor (do this carefully, but it can be done and it is often the best way. Generally the key is they, like you, must have an opportunity for profit and for loss).
Many great business ideas are stymied at the start because of all the legwork that needs to be done before any money comes in. One of the most difficult things to do when you start a business is to gather all the things you need and make it just what you need, without over-spending. Then you have to gather together all the information you need, like business plans, how to incorporate, how to make the products and on and on. It becomes so exhausting that one hardly has energy to do the actual business.
Sometimes there are businesses that come ready-to go. Asphalt-King is a great example. SmoothClay.com is another With the SmoothClay Ceramic Business Opportunity, all the work of designing and collecting products, supplies and information is already done. For just a few hundred dollars you can benefit from years of experience and preparation, and you can begin your business right away. There is even a substantial inventory so you can jump right in.
Starting the business is simple. All you do is purchase the package, get a few items that cannot be reasonably shipped, and start inviting folks to share in your New Venture. The Operations Guide shows you how to do it, including home parties, shows where crowds gather, selling to professionals and selling wholesale, just to name some. It is a business in a box.
The best businesses make things. When you provide services, you are limited to only what you can do during hours that are convenient to your client (unless you add employees). By making something, you can accomplish the biggest tasks when you have time, and you can enlist others in piecework, as their own contractor (do this carefully, but it can be done and it is often the best way. Generally the key is they, like you, must have an opportunity for profit and for loss).
Many great business ideas are stymied at the start because of all the legwork that needs to be done before any money comes in. One of the most difficult things to do when you start a business is to gather all the things you need and make it just what you need, without over-spending. Then you have to gather together all the information you need, like business plans, how to incorporate, how to make the products and on and on. It becomes so exhausting that one hardly has energy to do the actual business.
Sometimes there are businesses that come ready-to go. Asphalt-King is a great example. SmoothClay.com is another With the SmoothClay Ceramic Business Opportunity, all the work of designing and collecting products, supplies and information is already done. For just a few hundred dollars you can benefit from years of experience and preparation, and you can begin your business right away. There is even a substantial inventory so you can jump right in.
Starting the business is simple. All you do is purchase the package, get a few items that cannot be reasonably shipped, and start inviting folks to share in your New Venture. The Operations Guide shows you how to do it, including home parties, shows where crowds gather, selling to professionals and selling wholesale, just to name some. It is a business in a box.
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