Don't Let Emotions Stop Your Online Business's Success

Don't Let Emotions Stop Your Online Business's Success
Starting an online business is a new experience and it is
important to understand that there are certain emotions and
feelings that go along with all new experiences.
Understanding these emotions and knowing why you are
feeling them is a critical step to getting past the
negative ones and taking advantage of the positive ones.
Understanding what I explain in this article alone is a
huge step towards your online business success.

First Emotion Uninformed Optimism

You are excited about starting a new business and excited
about all the freedom and benefits that will come from the
success of your business. You love the idea of being able
to work from home and replacing and exceeding your current
income. Although you have just joined and don't fully
understand all aspects of the business, you feel great that
you are doing something that is going to positively change
your life.

Second Emotion Informed Concern

You've started to learn more about the business and started
doing a few things to promote it, but you still don't
understand everything. Although you are trying to learn
all you can the business concept is not fully "clicking"
and at the same time you are getting overloaded with
information. At this stage your feelings start to curve
negative and you question if this can really work and if
you are capable of doing it.

Third Emotion Checking Out or Sticking it Out

In this stage you feel completely overwhelmed. Your
excitement has turned to doubt and you have been struck by
paralysis of analysis. You feel like you could almost
start to panic...you still have the dream of owning your
own business, but you start doubting if this is something
you can really do.

This is the stage where you either have to fight for what
you really want or you take what feels like the easy way
out and you quit. You have to remember, you only fail at
this if you quit. If you do quit, you will feel better for
a very short period of time which is usually followed by
the guilt of giving up on your dreams. This is the stage
where determination equals success and a lack of
determination equals failure. Keep pushing forward...this
does pass.

Fourth Emotion Informed Optimism

Congratulations! At this point you have charged through
the other emotions and have made it here. You have
separated yourself from the pack and now have a much better
chance at success. You know more about the business you
joined and are comfortable with the information you have
learned. You have a positive attitude and know that you
have the ability to succeed and are determined to do so.
You have started developing a plan for success and although
you are still learning, you have recovered some (if not
all) of your excitement and are full of confidence.

Conclusion

The list of emotions above has different time spans for
everyone. If you understand what you are feeling and why
you are feeling it, you have a much better chance of
getting past it. You shouldn't take starting a business
lightly and neither should you lightly take quitting one.
As a rule of thumb I recommend intending to actively learn
and promote a business for at least 6 months before
deciding that the business you joined is not going to work
for you. This is of course assuming that you are
aggressively, actively and consistently working on it.

----------------------------------------------------
Casey Dunham, owner of GreatOnlineBusinesses.com,
successfully owns and markets several online businesses.
Casey enjoys helping other entrepreneurs achieve the
financial and time freedom that comes with owning a
successful online business.
If you would like to start you own online business and
receive Casey's help in the process, visit his website at:
http://www.AutomaticBuilder.com/28203

Is Your Business Ready for the Holidays? 6 Ways a Virtual Assistant Can Help

Is Your Business Ready for the Holidays? 6 Ways a Virtual Assistant Can Help
Ah, it's that time of year again; time to decorate the
tree, or light the menorah, and spend time with loved ones.
It's that magic time of year when little ones walk around
with grins from ear to ear with anticipation of events to
come. No matter how magical the holiday season is, the
fact is that for many small business owners, it's a time of
year that means stress. Everyone has gifts to purchase,
feasts to prepare, decorating to do, travel to plan and so
much more; add to that the fact that you need to arrange
for replacements for vacationing staff, send gifts and/or
cards to loyal customers and maybe even arrange for a staff
party, and you have a great recipe for chaos.

There is really no need to let the holidays make you tense.
There is a cost-effective solution to the surplus of
holiday work that most small businesses experience. Most
of the duties on your holiday to-do list are items that can
be completed by a professional Virtual Assistant. Here are
just some of the ways that a VA can relieve your stress
this holiday season:

1. Have a Virtual Assistant order your gifts and/or cards.
This is a task that can quite easily be taken care of
virtually. A Virtual Assistant will even be able to send
the cards out for you, and arrange to have the gifts
wrapped and sent to your customers, suppliers, colleagues
or employees without you ever having to lift a finger.

2. Do you have a holiday promotion you would like to
publicize? Have your Virtual Assistant write a press
release about it. A press release is a great way to
generate publicity for your business and in fact, there are
quite a few online services to which your VA can submit
your release for free.

3. Does your business offer a solution to a problem that
people commonly face during the holidays? Have a Virtual
Assistant write an article about it. An article is an
excellent way to drive highly targeted traffic to your
website and generate some extra sales.

4. If you have a staff shortage during the holidays, but
don't want the hassle of placing job ads, reading resumes
and conducting interviews only to hire someone for a few
weeks, consider outsourcing some of the employee's tasks to
a qualified Virtual Assistant. A VA can be hired on a
per-task basis, or can be contracted for a brief time
during the holidays and after the holidays are over, the
contract can be too.

5. A Virtual Assistant can make all the arrangements for a
memorable staff party; from booking restaurants or halls
and handling staff invitations, to directions and
entertainment. A VA can take the hassle out of the staff
party, so that you can just show up and enjoy yourself.

6. If you are planning a vacation during the holidays and
need to have someone monitor and respond to your email, a
Virtual Assistant can handle this as well. By either
forwarding your email directly to your VA, or by setting up
a web-based email account which both you and your VA can
access, you can be sure that all of your important clients
are well cared for in your absence.

The holidays should be a time of year that you look forward
to, not that you dread. By getting the qualified help you
need, you can alter your focus from business stress to
family and enjoyment.

----------------------------------------------------
Kelly Sims is a Virtual Assistant and Owner of Virtually
There VA Services. To sign up for her free newsletter
providing useful information that enhances and simplifies
the lives of busy entrepreneurs, visit her website at =>
http://www.virtuallythereva.com .

What's Holding You Back from Your Business Success?

What's Holding You Back from Your Business Success?
Many business owners are struggling with their success and
don't know why. Are you one of them? Perhaps you've
analyzed the workings of your business with a fine-tooth
comb. You've even hired a consultant to come in and poke
around. You've tweaked here, nipped there, and still
something's not right. What could it be?

Well, have you checked your thoughts lately? Yes, thoughts.
While many factors can contribute to a lack of business
success, the one most often overlooked is what you are
thinking about. Ignore your thoughts, and you will be
dispensing with one of your most powerful business allies.

Why are thoughts so important? Because your thoughts
influence your feelings. How you feel influences what
actions you take. And the actions you take have a direct
influence on the results you achieve. Here's how to align
your inner thoughts with your outer business success.

Step 1 - Identify What You Want

Below is a list of 20 words and phrases often used to
describe a successful business. Circle the three that most
represent how you want your business to be:

- Prosperous
- Thriving
- Successful
- Inspirational
- Booming
- Solid
- Doing Well
- Exciting
- Gratifying
- Lucrative
- Sustainable
- Strong
- Growing
- Flourishing
- Profitable
- In the black
- Cost Effective
- Rewarding
- Stimulating
- Fun

Next, copy the three you circled and add two more of your
own.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Now, put feelings to your thoughts. Beside the five success
words and phrases listed above, jot down the first one-word
feeling that comes to you about that thought.

1. Example: Successful - Thrilled
2.
3.
4.
5.

Next to the feeling, rate on a 1-4 star scale just how
strong this feeling is for you.

1. Example: Successful - Thrilled - 4 stars
2.
3.
4.
5.

Now, write any clarifying comment about your thought and
feeling.

1. Example: Successful - Thrilled - 4 stars - This is
exactly how I want my business to be.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Step 2 - The "Yeah, but What If . . ." Process

This is a very important step, so don't skip it. It
examines your business from the inside out by identifying
any doubts, worries, anxieties, or fears that the voice
inside your head is expressing.

The "Yeah, but what if..." process will help you silence
the chatter of your mind so you can identify which thoughts
are getting in the way of and undermining your business
success. Best of all, this step will get your thoughts down
on paper, making them tangible and releasable.

Of the five "clarifying comments" you wrote down (above),
circle the one comment that most deeply resonates with you.
Then, write next to it all the doubts, worries, anxieties,
and fears that pop into your mind that begin with the words
"yeah, but what if."

Example: This is exactly how I want my business to be
(clarifying comment). Yeah, but there is no way I'm going
to have the kind of success I want. I don't know what I'm
doing and don't have enough money. What if I don't attract
enough clients to make this work, run out of money, get
sick, and don't have enough time to put into my business?

Step 3 - The Release

Now it's time to do a symbolic release of the thought that
is keeping you from your business success. This one act may
not entirely get rid of the thought. It will, however,
alert your subconscious mind that you intend to release
that thought and replace it with one that is more aligned
with your business success. Have some fun with this release
process!

Take the piece of paper containing your clarifying comment
and "yeah, but what if" worry, doubt, anxiety or fear and,
with great enthusiasm and vigor, crumple it up and get rid
of it. You can throw it away, burn it (safely), or shred it
to pieces. While you're doing this, say out loud: I release
all doubts and fears that hold me apart from my business
success. I am willing and ready to be successful now.

Finally, remove the thought from your sight by sweeping
away the ashes, flushing the pieces, or emptying the
wastebasket into an outside trash bin.

Congratulations! You've now gone through a very powerful
process.

Quick and easy to do, this process will reveal which
thoughts are keeping you apart from your business success.
Then it will align your inner thoughts and feelings so that
you can take the most inspired and productive outer
actions. Whenever you find yourself struggling in your
business, turn to these three steps to help you find out
why.

----------------------------------------------------
Susan L. Reid, DMA, Small Business Start Up Coach &
Consultant is the author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai:
The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success.
Hailed as The Secret for business, Susan is known for
taking the fear out of small business start-ups for
entrepreneurial women. For intuitive small business
solutions, powerful attraction marketing tools, inspiration
and direction, visit http://SuccessfulSmallBizOwners.com

Understand How the U.S. Economy Works

Understand How the U.S. Economy Works
Macroeconomics is a branch of economics that looks at
aggregate or total economic variables to study the behavior
of a national economy as a whole.

This is in contrast to Microeconomics which looks at
production and prices within specific markets.

When Macro-economists study an economy, they look at 3
major variables. These are output, the unemployment rate,
and the inflation rate.

1. Output is the level of production in an economy as a
whole. The measure of aggregate output in the U.S. is
known as the Gross Domestic Product, or GDP. It can be
thought of from 2 different perspectives, production and
income.

From the production side: GDP is the value of the final
goods and services produced in an economy during a given
period. GDP is also the "value-added" that all the
businesses added to the economy during a given period.

From the income side: GDP is the sum of incomes in the
economy during a given period. This is the income or
revenue that a business (a) is left with as profit, (b)
pays to the government as taxes, and (c) pays to employees
as wages.

2. The unemployment rate is the proportion of workers in an
economy who are not employed but are seeking work. The
total labor force is a combination of people who are
working plus those who are not working but want to work.

In the U.S., the Bureau of Labor Statistics conducts the
Current Population Survey or CPS. It interviews about
50,000 households each month to determine if the adults are
employed.

The survey classifies an individual as employed if they
have a job at the time of the interview and as unemployed
if they don't have a job but have been actively seeking a
job within the prior 4 weeks.

If someone isn't working and doesn't want to work, they are
not counted as part of the labor force.

So the unemployment rate is the number of unemployed people
seeking work divided by the total labor force. The lower
the unemployment rate, the more people are working, and
this results in higher economic output.

3. Inflation is a sustained rise in the general level of
prices. The inflation rate is the rate at which the
average price of goods in an economy increases over time.

And deflation is the rare opposite, a sustained decline in
price levels. Deflation is also called negative inflation.

Here are some more economic scenarios: hyperinflation is
extreme inflation and stagflation is when inflation gets
combined with economic stagnation.

Macro-economists measure the cost of living by the consumer
price index, or CPI. The CPI has been used since 1917 and
is published monthly. It gives the cost in dollars of a
specific list of goods and services over time.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employees actually visit
over 22,000 locations in 85 cities to see what's happening
to the prices of products on the CPI list such as cars,
gas, clothing, food, etc.

As an index, the CPI is set equal to 1 in the base period
chosen. This is so its level has no particular
significance. The current base period are the years 1982
to 1984, thus the average for the period 1982 to 1984 is
equal to one.

In the year 2000, for example, the U.S. CPI was 1.71. This
means that when comparing prices for similar products, they
were 71% higher in 2000 than they were in the time period
1982-1984.

When demand rises, this is called a Boom and it leads to
inflation. Follow this:

When consumer demand increases, the goal of production is,
of course, to keep up with that consumer demand. This
entails paying workers overtime or hiring additional
workers to beef up output. All this extra work means that
labor costs rise because more people are being paid to do
the work. These increased labor costs are passed on to the
consumer in the form of higher prices. And higher prices,
as we've said, are the definition of inflation.

When demand falls, this is called a Recession and it leads
to deflation. Follow this:

When consumer demand falls, workers get laid off or have
their working hours cut back. If production needs
decrease, fewer workers are obviously needed to fill the
decreases in demand. The decreased labor costs are passed
on to the consumer in the form of lower prices. Companies
must reduce their prices to stay competitive in a shrinking
marketplace. And lower prices are the definition of
deflation.

Recession is a period of negative GDP growth. The time
frame for a recession is debated. Many macro-economists
insist that negative growth must last for at least 2
consecutive quarters.

Others define recession more loosely, as a significant
decline in growth that lasts more than a few months. A
sustained recession is called an economic depression.

"A creative economy is the fuel of magnificence." -Ralph
Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

----------------------------------------------------
Laura Adams is the host of the popular MBA Working Girl
Podcast. The content combines brainy business school theory
with real-world business practice from her career as a
business owner, manager, consultant and trainer. Subscribe
for FREE to this top-rated show and get the useful MBA
Essential Tip at
http://www.mbaworkinggirl.com

'Tis the Season for Marketing Planning

'Tis the Season for Marketing Planning
For many businesses, the holiday season is one of the
busiest times of the year. For others, the holidays are a
bit slower. Regardless of which category your business fits
into, you should be looking ahead to 2008.

Why now? Year end is ideal for reflecting on what you've
accomplished during the year. What new products, services
or programs did you implement? What customer service
strategies did you employ that increased business? Which
marketing strategies successfully put your business in
front of your target customer, and what didn't work and why?

Armed with this information, take a look at your goals for
next year. What do you want your business to accomplish
next year? Do you want to increase revenue? Grow your
client base? Venture into a new niche market? Now think
about how you're going to get there. This is where your
marketing planning for 2008 comes in. Spend some time
thinking about what marketing tools you can implement next
year that will help you to reach your goals.

Although some marketing planning techniques are complex and
require weeks to fine-tune, I've found that a simpler
method works for my clients. To develop a marketing plan
that will work for your business, try the following.

First, identify the types of marketing you want to do next
year such as advertising (print and online), events,
promotions, referral programs, newsletters, press releases,
coupons, online marketing, direct mail, e-mail marketing,
etc. Choose methods that have worked well for you in the
past as well as ideas you'd like to try.

Next, decide how often you will do each type of marketing.
Some methods like advertising, newsletters, and online
marketing will require consistent use and implementation to
be successful. Others (press releases, events and
promotions) can be done less frequently or can be
implemented when you're expecting a cyclical slowdown in
activity.

Third, pull out your calendar and start penciling in
marketing ideas. As you tentatively post items to your
calendar, consider what marketing methods are going to
yield the best results. Most of my business, for example,
comes from my website and client referrals, so I want to
focus my efforts on posting new content to my website,
networking with potential business partners and clients,
and regularly communicating with my existing client base
(newsletters, postcards, referral program, etc.)

Here's a sample to get you started:

January: Send cards to clients thanking them for 2007
business and wishing them well in the New Year (2nd)
Advertise in Sunday real estate section of local newspaper
(weekly) Advertise in local Homes & Land publication (15th)
Send out e-newsletter to existing clients and prospects
(20th) Networking lunch (22nd) Post new content to website
(25th)

February: Hold customer appreciation open house (5th)
Advertise in Sunday real estate section of local newspaper
(weekly) Advertise in local Homes & Land publication (15th)
Send out e-newsletter to existing clients and prospects
(20th) Networking lunch (22nd) Post new content to website
(25th)

March: Distribute press release about latest award won or
new product/service launched Advertise in Sunday real
estate section of local newspaper (weekly) Advertise in
local Homes & Land publication (15th) Send out e-newsletter
to existing clients and prospects (20th) Networking lunch
(22nd) Post new content to website (25th)

Now compare your ideas and your initial marketing schedule
to your budget and staff. Can you afford to do all of the
marketing you'd like to do? If not, scale back the list.
Retain items that will most often put you in front of your
target customer and that offer the best return on your
investment. If you have a wildly successful year, it is
much easier to add a marketing tool than to take one away,
especially if your customers have gotten used to it.

Based on what's left on your list, do you have the staff to
implement your ideas? For example, who will write your
monthly newsletter? Who will make sure postcards get mailed
to prospects, and how will you get website content updated
regularly? If you don't have the staff or you are a one-man
show, can you hire an intern to help out, exchange services
with a colleague or hire an independent contractor to fill
in the gaps?

Finally, review your 2008 marketing plan on a quarterly
basis to see what's working and what may need tweaking. The
document can be adjusted as needed, depending on your
changing needs. As you evaluate your plan, be sure to note
which marketing methods worked well for your business and
which ideas didn't yield the expected results. Keep this in
a folder marked "2008 Marketing Results." Also, note the
items that you would like to try and save them in a folder
marked "Marketing Ideas." This information will help you to
plan for subsequent years.

For small businesses, this simple marketing planning
formula is an easy way for you to look ahead to 2008
without distracting you from the holiday business at hand.

Here's to an incredibly successful 2008!

Virtually Yourz,

Dana Blozis

Copyright © 2007 by Dana E. Blozis

----------------------------------------------------
Dana Blozis of Virtually Yourz
(http://www.virtuallyyourz.com ) is a freelance writer,
editor and marketing professional based in the Seattle
area. In addition to writing for publication, she offers
writing, editing and marketing services to small businesses
and nonprofits. For more marketing ideas, subscribe to
Dana's monthly marketing newsletter at
http://www.virtuallyyourz.com/index.php#subscribe .

Self Assessment Tax Return Form And Capital Tax Allowances

Self Assessment Tax Return Form And Capital Tax Allowances
While a potential difficult area for the non accountant
capital allowances reduce the net tax payable. The
difficulty in this section of the tax return form is that
it is an area which many start up businesses may not have
come across before. It is an area which affects not just
the calculation of the tax allowances and knowledge of the
tax rates but also how an item becomes considered for such
tax allowances.

100% of the purchase price of the majority of items is
deducted from income as business expenditure to produce a
net taxable profit. Purchases of certain items where that
item is not consumed by the business in a single year but
may be used by the business in both the current year and
future years are not expensed in the year of purchase but
classified as fixed assets. It is these items which are not
written off in the tax year but are subject to capital
allowances.

A fixed asset includes not just the original cost of the
item but also the cost of alterations, improvements and
extensions of the asset. The fixed asset cost does not
include the repairs and maintenance of that asset which may
be treated as a normal business expense and written off
against income when incurred. Accounting records need to be
kept of fixed asset purchases in order for the capital
allowances to be calculated and included in the self
assessment tax return.

Having identified certain items as fixed assets the normal
accounting practise is to use a technique called
depreciation to write off the cost of the asset against
profits over the expected life of that asset. The scale of
the write off being a management decision as all
depreciation calculations are ignored for tax purposes.
Depreciation is entered on the self assessment tax return
and subsequently deducted in an adjustment section.

When calculating the net taxable profit of a business the
tax system add back to the profit shown in the business
accounts any depreciation charges the business has made in
the preparation of the accounts. The tax system then
deducts the capital allowances from the net profit made by
the business and shown on the self assessment tax return
form to arrive at the actual net taxable profit, those tax
allowances being according to a fixed set of rules
applicable for the tax year.

Completing the self assessment tax return form also
includes calculating the capital allowances which
compromise of two elements. Capital allowances being a
first year allowance which can be claimed on some types of
fixed asset and writing down allowance on the net asset
value in subsequent years until the total value of the
fixed assets has been claimed against profits earned.

The rate of first year allowance for small businesses has
changed each year from 2004-05 to 2007-08 starting in
2004-05 at 40%, rising to 50% the next year and then back
to 40% in 2006-07 before returning to 50% in 2007-08. The
first year allowance can be claimed on most assets except
vehicles were special rules are applied.

Generally first year allowances can not be claimed on
vehicles except if that vehicle is deemed to be a
commercial vehicle. The inland revenue website contains a
list of vehicles it considers to be vans and commercial
vehicles and first year allowances can be claimed. Cars and
commercial vehicles not on the approved list are not
subject to a first year allowance except new vehicles with
low CO2 emissions below 120gm per km driven.

The writing down allowance is 25% of the net written down
value for tax purposes and is the amount of capital
allowance claimed on fixed assets after the first year and
in the case of motor vehicles used for business purposes in
the first year. Capital allowances on motor vehicles being
restricted to a maximum of 3,000 pounds per vehicle and
vehicles costing over 12,000 pounds being in a separate
section of the tax return to those under 12,000 pounds

The capital allowance section of the self assessment tax
return form also includes the term balancing charges. A
balancing charge arises when an asset is sold or disposed
of and is the difference between the amount received and
the net written down value for tax purposes. Net written
down value is the original cost less capital allowances
that have already been claimed against the net taxable
profit.

----------------------------------------------------
Terry Cartwright, qualified accountant and CEO of DIY
Accounting, designs accounting software that automates the
Self Assessment Tax Return
http://www.diyaccounting.co.uk/selfemployed.htm producing
an excel copy of the Tax Return at
http://www.diyaccounting.co.uk/Selfemployed/selfassessment.h
tm

3 Tips To Dominating A Niche Market

3 Tips To Dominating A Niche Market
Marketing to a mass market can be expensive. You often
cannot target your perfect prospective customer properly
because the market is too broad with wildly-different needs
and desires. For example, if you make a living selling life
insurance, selling your product to a group of people
interested in "insurance" would be ineffective. Some need
car insurance. Others need homeowner's insurance. Still
others need health insurance. To sell your product more
effectively, you need to focus on a market within a market.
You need to focus on niche marketing. This article will
provide three tips you can use to start marketing to a
niche.

Identify Your Niche Market

Whatever product or service you are selling, you can likely
dig deeper and identify a segment of the broad market.
Using the example above, your segment or "niche market"
would be those people who specifically want to buy life
insurance. However, you can continue to dig deeper by
separating the segments of people who want to buy a whole
life insurance policy and those who want to buy a term
insurance policy. Each of these niche markets have
different needs. Speaking to those respective needs is far
more effective than speaking to the needs of a broad market.

Reach Your Niche Market

Once you have identified your niche market, you need to
figure out how to put your message in front of them. Most
niche markets are comprised of people who congregate
amongst each other. For example, those people who have
suffered the experience of having a spouse cheat on them
share their experiences with each other on several online
forums devoted to the subject. If you are selling a product
or service targeted to that niche market, you can easily
reach them there.

Also, you can reach niche markets easily through
advertising on the search engines. Using the "cheating
spouse" example above, you can advertise on Google using
their Adwords program. When someone types "catch my
cheating spouse" into Google, your ad can be displayed.
This can be a very effective way of reaching a
tightly-focused niche market.

Speak To Your Niche Market

After you have identified your niche market and discovered
ways to reach out to them, you need to create a selling
process that converts prospects into paying customers. As
mentioned above, every niche market has unique needs and
desires. It is easier to speak to those unique needs and
desires if you focus on a small segment of a market.

For example, assume you are promoting a dating service.
Your selling process to convert men into paying customers
will likely be far different than your process of
converting women. Each gender has different needs that you
can speak to if you segment the market. Further, each
gender often responds differently to various selling
techniques. Segmenting a market into small niches gives you
the opportunity of speaking to each niches' unique needs.

Niche marketing is about focusing in on a segment of a
market. You can accomplish that by first identifying the
group of people within a broad market who have similar
needs or desires. Then, you need to find ways of reaching
out to that niche market of people to expose them to your
product or service. Lastly, you need to create a selling
process that speaks to your niche market's unique needs and
desires. If you follow those tips, you may be surprised at
how easily you are able to convert your prospects into
customers.

----------------------------------------------------
You can get more quality free information about finding
your own niche in the e-course "List Building in a Niche
Market". http://www.cyber-marketing411.com/niche11