Tools & Resources

Online Backup – Carbonite? Mozy? Crashplan?

CrashPlan (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One of the things that’s been on my “To Do” list for a long time was to set up with a online backup and recovery service.

Last year I signed up with Mozy, but when I found out that they do not support unlimited backup, I cancelled that. Falling prey to modern advertising, I figured the alternative was Carbonite, so I put that on my infamous “To Do” list  and promptly neglected to do it due to the other things that took its place at the top of the list.

Finally I decided, “Today is the day!” I’d had friends who lost their data and I certainly don’t want to go through that. But with the clarity that comes with putting something back to the top of the list, it occurred to me that certainly there were other services. So, before jumping in and downloading Carbonite, I took some time to research. Read more…

Free Legal Forms and Templates From Entrepreneur Magazine

Free Forms & Templates

Click Here for Entrepreneur Magazine Legal Forms & Templates

I just received an email from Ryan Shaw. Ryan found a great directory of free business templates and forms that he plans to be use for his offline clients and partnerships. Looks to me like a great find for any type of business.

Click on any of them that you are interested in and you can download them. You need to pay for the few that are marked “Premium” but the rest are free.

Go to the following link and check around. No registration required.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/formnet/legalforms.html

Once you check out the Legal Forms and Templates, look at the menu on the left. I checked out the Marketing link and found a lot of valuable resources there. Thank you for putting this together, Entrepreneur Magazine!

Ryan also put together a nice list of resources on his blog. He’s always a wealth of information. Just go to RyanShaw.me

How to Create a Monthly Budget Plan For Your Business

Planning For Success In Your Business

The Easy-To-Do Business Finance Kit includes 4 written outlines on how to manage your money better, plus 11 forms and checklists to make it “Fill-in-the-Blanks” simple. All for Only $17! CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION.

Do you feel like running from the room screaming when someone says, “Where’s your budget?” Or what about “How much did you budget for that?”

Most people hate the idea of a budget. These are the people who have never had one. They feel that a budget is too confining and that it’s something to avoid. Well, if that’s you and you want to succeed in business – get over it! A budget actually puts you in control of the money you work so hard for and of your financial future.

First, adjust your thinking. Instead of seeing a budget as a restriction as to what you can do, see it as a tool for helping you plan to do as much or even more than you thought possible before. It’s important to remember that a monthly budget isn’t a hard and fast system that you have to follow rigidly. Many people avoid creating a budget because they feel it is too restrictive. The truth is that a budget is liberating. It’s a plan that grows and adapts with you as your needs change.

When it comes to business, your monthly business budget forms the foundation of all of your business finances. Keeping a monthly budget make it easier to plan; stay out of debt; contract with the right people and services; make solid business decisions; and best of all, get and stay profitable.

There are a few simple steps to create your monthly budget plan. Read more…

180 Websites To Avoid with Work At Home Truth

Paul Schlegel at Work At Home Truth has a new warning blog post up, “180 Websites To Avoid”.

Warnings about Online Profit Masters tops Paul’s list. I’ve not seen this site, but based on the previous review blog post on it, it has many red flags in the advertising. The Utah Better Business Bureau gives them an F rating, not because of complaints, but because they are not responding to requests for information from the BBB. Here’s their explanation for the low rating.

Factors that lowered Online Profit Masters’ rating include:

• BBB concerns with the industry in which this business operates.
• BBB does not have sufficient information to determine how long this business has been operating. BBB made one or more requests for background information from the business. BBB has not received a response from this business and/or has not been able to verify information received from this business.
• BBB does not have sufficient background information on this business. BBB made one or more requests for background information from the business. BBB has not received a response from this business and/or has not been able to verify information received from this business.

Paul’s research shows that Online Profit Masters may have links to The Online Hosting Network. Paul includes 129 sites that may be connected to that. I found another posting from 2009 about this group that has a rather disturbing discussion about it. You can check that one out at Electron Plumber.

If you are serious about creating an internet marketing business, I suggest you check out Paul’s article.

Online Marketing Advertisements Red Flags

Red Flags to watch out for

I receive Paul Schlegel’s Work At Home Truth emails and generally find them quite useful. Today’s message is about a particular system that is out, eMarketing Online System. I’ve not reviewed that system personally, so cannot render judgement on it. My purpose in sharing about the review with you is that Paul uses it as a case study to point out the red flags to watch out for in looking at any work from home program.

Do your home work

If you are looking for online business or work opportunities, you need to learn to do some research. Here are a couple of quick tips.

1. Google: The quickest method is to do a search for the name of the system on Google or another search engine. However, when taking this approach, be sure to check to see if the review is actually a sales pitch. There are many review sites that are only providing a supposed review when in reality they are an affiliate site trying to sell you on the system. If the article you are reading includes a link to the sales page for the product, it’s a sales page disguised as a review.

2. IMReportCard: Check to see if the system/product is listed on IMReportCard. This is a site that contains basic info about systems and persons, but each page also includes reviews from readers. You can get some really detailed information quite easily using this site.

Need more info? Go back and check out the WorkAtHome review article for those all important red flags. Here’s the first one, and it’s the one that most people fall for. Don’t believe the “As seen on” claims. It may have been seen on those sites or TV channels as a paid advertisement.

Announcing Jimmy D. Brown’s New Product – InsPrint

I received the following message from Jimmy D. Brown today. If you have been seeking a truly Christian business opportunity, I suggest you check out his new InsPrint product. This is actually aimed at being an offline business, something new in Jimmy’s offerings.

Below iss his message. I encourage you to at least check it out. You can register for a free trial and receive your first print absolutely for free. You can sell up to 500 copies of this print without paying anything.

Check it out. It may be just what you’ve been looking for.

Message from Jimmy D. Brown:

I really wanted to pursue an inspirational idea that I’ve had for a couple of years. Today marks the launch of this new business. Read more…

Searching for Hungry Online Markets? Here’s How to Find Them

What is a hungry market? They are markets which buy a lot of stuff on a regular basis. As you can guess, THESE are the types of markets to get involved in because it's so much easier to sell our stuff to them! Finding hungry markets is the key to building a successful online business. Once we find a hungry market, it's simply case of selling them the products you already know they want – products you can easily source from the web. After that, the rest is history.

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$100 a Day Article Writing Blueprint

Review: "The $100 a Day Article Writing Blueprint - How To Use a Unique Twist To Article Marketing NO ONE ELSE Is Using - And Mint Your Fortune Online!"

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Want to Sell Online? First Decide WHAT You Want to Sell

With the large number of people who shop online today, when considering starting an online business selling something one of the biggest questions that people face is the age-old "What should I sell?" It can be a real nightmare trying to figure out what to sell online, but the following tips should give you a good idea of what has the best potential to sell specifically online...

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Essential Free Tools For Running An Online Business

To run a successful Internet business there are some basic decisions you need to settle as soon as possible. You need to decide specifically on some basic tools to put into place to run your day-to-day business operation. Without tools like these, it's pretty impossible to make any money at all, let alone expect business to grow. Plus, you really need to have these settled on and set up so that you can focus on competing with the fierce competition you are likely to encounter.

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