How to be successful working from home

How To Be Successful Working From Home

The idea of working from home appeals to a lot of people. There are often stories in the media of different people who have given up their nine to five office jobs and have managed to run a successful business from the comfort of their own home. The idea may seem appealing but it is not always that simple to pull off, in this article I am going to give advice on what it takes to make a home based business work.

Anyone who works from home needs to be able to separate their home life from their work life. This might seem quite simple to do but in reality it can be quite difficult. When you go to work in an office you do not even think about the washing, the washing up, the television, the ironing or the fact that the house may be untidy, you are able to fully focus on the job you are doing. When you are working from home all of these duties are in your face and it can be very easy to fall into a trap where you are doing more household work, than your actual business work. It is therefore very important to be strong and disciplined. I have been working from home for around ten years, I set myself my own hours, for example I will work from nine in the morning, until two in the afternoon. I have an office which I will only leave if I really need to, maybe to make a drink or to go to the toilet. I love to watch the television, therefore I do not have a television in my office.

To succeed at working from home you need to have a great deal of self belief in your own ability. There are likely to be peaks and troughs, some months you are flying away but in others everything seems to go wrong. Having a confidence in your own ability is essential in helping you to ride through the negative periods.

I always feel that it is worth saving money from the periods when I am doing well to cover the periods when the business slows down.

People who work from home need to be able to keep motivated. There is no boss to make us work or other people to bounce ideas off. Some people find that working from home can be quite lonely and soon return to an employed environment where they are able to have greater contact with other people. It is important to remember all of the benefits of working from home when we have a drop in business or when we feel a bit lonely.

In my opinion there is nothing better than being self-employed and working from home. I am sure that many other people could also make it work as long as they have the right attitude.

Interaction is where the outdated idea of mass marketing, advertising together with

Interaction is Where the Outdated Idea of Mass Marketing, Advertising Together With

… Broadcast Media, finally bite the dust!

Because no longer is the Marketing message, «We want your money». To day the Marketing message has to be «We want your opinions».

Because the moment you put that into real practice you can have everything you’ve always wanted, sales, customer relationships and also Brand loyalty.

And the next time you hear those words «Let’s research it» remember that research works against the very thing you desperately need in your Marketing efforts, creativity and risk taking, both crucially necessary to the successful development of your products or services.

However replacing research with interaction changes all the opportunities to successful marketing. «Yes», you can say,» «Interactive Events will create my new products»

However at the moment Big Business is not making the correct decisions regarding interaction. Maybe some people within these organisations know and understand what’s happening out there in consumer land. But the dreadful fact is that giving their voice to such statements would, more probably, seriously damage their career growth!

These days I search everywhere for the headline «Interactive Communication is a winning combination for all…The Client…The Media…and last but by no means least…your customer»!

It never appears.

Interactive Communication finally allows the revolution to commence. The revolution against one-size fits all advertising; the bland all-knowing corporate voice, the lack lustre politicians busily furnishing their own nests…from our money.

The fact of the matter is your customers, you, me and everybody else, do not trust business. We find it highly insulting to be treated this way and we mistrust you in numbers far greater than you or your advertising/marketing people allow for.

Dialogue, two-way conversations, would start to change these hostile attitudes. You really do need to commence interactive events – right now. And you can do so in existing media.

Before I go on, I must emphasise that on no account let your Advertising Agency tempt you into spending big bucks on the Web.

Already the Advertising-as-Usual crowd is pouring billions into the Web, however be warned, as they said in the «Cluetrain Manifesto», «So you advertise on the Internet…so what»?

If you think you are wasting money on Advertising-as-Usual be very careful. The Internet, possibly, is a bigger waste of money than Advertising-as-Usual, and, as we all know, right now that is one Mother of a huge waste of money!

«Why?» you may ask «has it all changed from the safe secure way of marketing in the past».

Simply put, Advertising-as-Usual, together with its handmaiden Broadcasting-as-Usual have treated us with too much contempt.

According to a recent article in the Times, TV executives commonly think of viewers’ phone revenue as «moron tax».

And this attitude of utter contempt pervades the executives of advertising and Broadcast-as-Usual, and expresses itself in all the offerings of a rip-off culture, from government to TV companies.

And bear in mind that Advertising-as-Usual and Broadcast-as-Usual hold Clients in great contempt as well. They rejoice in removing large chunks of your Marketing Budgets, to then waste them in rip-off ventures that only worsen the publics’ contempt for you…so in effect they are spending your money to get you into a ever worsening situation.

Trust is a must have asset. You now must harness interactive communication to get the trust, and results, because if you don’t somebody else will and they, in turn, will drive you out of business.

Trust based relationship lies between the extremes of command and control and empowerment in business.

Interactive marketing communication, using existing media, is a practical way of reaching out and building up a powerful relationship, and trust, with every single person you need to make your business successful.

Houston real estate | what to expect from the houston market

Houston Real Estate | What to Expect from the Houston Market

Houston real estate has long been a barometer for the rest of Texas. But now, in the recession, the city is behaving out of character. One day things might look promising; the next, not so good. With the rest of the state looking for guidance, it is easy to see how many realtors are concerned. But the truth is the market is trying to work itself out. It is vulnerable to the economy. It is aggressive in its method. And it will not go away. Gently. So, the big question is when and how the market will recover, not if it will recover. Houston-area home sales fell for the 20th straight month in April as the local housing market continues to slog through the recession and financial crisis. Single-family home sales last month fell 22.5 percent compared to the previous April, according to data from the Houston Association of Realtors. Prices, though, were down less than 1 percent, a positive sign after six months of more significant drops. The median price for a single-family home was $149,050 in April, compared to $150,000 a year ago. The median is the point at which half the homes sold for more and half sold for less. ?€?The housing industry recovery will be a gradual process, but Houston continues to demonstrate the strength of its home values compared to other communities around the country, where pricing ballooned and then bottomed out,?€? Vicki Fullerton, the association?€™s chair and broker of record at RE/MAX of The Woodlands & Spring, said in a news release. Homes sold out of foreclosure made up nearly a quarter of all the single-family homes sold in April. But that figure has been tapering since January when foreclosures made up 34 percent of sales. With historically low interest rates and a federal $8,000 tax credit, real estate agents are reporting more activity among first-time home buyers. Realtors sold 4,200 single-family homes in April through the Multiple Listing Service. Most of the sales were of existing homes. Preliminary figures for May signal another decline, with a 25.3 percent drop in pending sales at the end of April. Those are listings expected to close within the next 30 days. The number of properties for sale also fell in April to 45,269. Rental demand picked up again last month with leases of single-family homes up 8 percent on a year-over-year basis. Townhouse and condominium leases were up 12.2 percent. So there you have it, Houston is a city on the brink. It could go either way. But for savvy investors, with the right capital, credit and security, plenty of lucrative investments are available.

How to market your business online

How To Market Your Business Online

How to Market Your Business Online

Many business owners see the web as the «Promised Land» for creating new revenue for their organisation. Whilst this is certainly true, these companies fail to take into account the difficulties of the overcrowded marketplace they are entering into. Many business owners have the misguided belief that: «If you build it they will come». These sentiments should be reserved for Hollywood movies. In actual fact, nothing can be further from the truth. From the start of their endeavours, their sentiments should have been «If you Market it they will come». Marketing is the key to any successful online business.

There are numerous ways to generate traffic to a website, each with their advantages and disadvantages. Budget lines for these marketing methods vary dependent on the industry you’re in, so upon deciding your marketing method, it is essential to check out your competition in these areas to determine budget.

Online marketing methods

Pay per click (PPC)

There are many PPC services available. The most widely known is Google AdWords, whilst others include Yahoo Search Marketing and Microsoft AdCenter. PPC will give a business immediate Target Traffic. In most cases a working PPC campaign can be setup in a matter of days. PPC also offers the clearest track ability in terms of sales and return on investment (ROI).

There is only one major disadvantage to PPC and that is the cost associated with it. These are payable even if it does result in a conversion, therefore there is a possibility of spending more than you make on the sale. To check out the cost associated with your selected industry I suggest using the Google keyword tool and follow the instructions.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

If PPC is a sprint; SEO is a marathon. The short term effects of SEO are very limited, although once an effective SEO campaign is in full swing, its effects don’t incur any charges for a click through. This type of marketing provides a wealth of traffic through long tail and short tail keyword search terms. Unfortunately it is much harder to calculate ROI with an SEO campaign.

If you’re looking at procuring long term business on the web, SEO is simply a must and the sooner you start the quicker you will make money with this method. It is always a good idea to look at your competition for the natural search term before the creation of your website. Look at the number of results for your key industry terms. This can be found by typing in your term to a search engine. In the results on the right hand side you will see how many other people are targeting that term. Anything above ten million results and you’re probably looking at least six months of hard work to get to the position you want to be at, the first page of the search engine results.

Another thing to look at is page-rank. Don’t obsess over this but check out the page-rank of your top twenty competitors using Google toolbar. If most of your competitions page-rank is above four then you are going to need a very weighty budget.

Shopping Feed

If you’re planning to sell products online, a shopping feed should be a serious consideration for immediate traffic. Most shopping feeds can be configured and automated with a one time setup, however this can vary depending on your content management system. The majority of shopping feeds do have a cost per click associated with them but it is normally far less than that of a Google Adwords campaign or such like. There are also a number of free shopping feeds such as Google Base and MSN product search beta (invite only). When looking at a shopping feed it is essential to check their target area as many are limited to the USA. The main pitfall to consider with shopping feeds is they allow for easy price comparison so if your mark-up is extreme you could easily be priced out of the market.

Social Media

Social media is a great source of converting traffic; as a recommendation from social sites are normally treated by users like a recommendation from a friend. This being said social media requires a lot of hard work.

If you have an inward approach or don’t spend a lot of time on your chosen social site, then it is a pointless exercise. On the other hand; if you’re constantly helping other social users by outwardly directing your content, then social media can be a great part of your marketing plan. If you’re just using social media to promote your own site (inward directed) then you will struggle to see a great deal of difference in site traffic.

Once you have considered all these factors you can then begin investigating budgets for online business success. If you’re looking for more help then we suggest hiring a consultant or visit our consultancy site for more great tips.

How to make it big in the stock market

How to Make it Big in the Stock Market!

Advice to help you

If you are a new entrant; professional help can provide you the least risk and good reward stocks. Their analysis depends on a number of factors. A few factors that you could use are

· Understand one stock completely. To which industry the company belongs? What is the company’s investment? How it makes its money? Read its press releases, news and result broadcasts. Know the competitors of the company and the trends in the particular industry.

· Spend time on research and focus on what is important. Whenever you make decisions on buying, selling or holding write it down as to why you are making such a decision. A review of successful decisions and not so successful decisions can help you in future stratagem

· Evaluate and re-evaluate every stock on the market or the stock you have chosen the same way. Comparing and contrasting can give you some valuable insights into the stock market.

· Discuss with friends and explain the rationale of why you bought your stock and how you expect to perform. They may be rational when you are not.

· High valuations entail high risk (future performance determines the value of stocks and in case these predictions do not materialize prices will decline). Penny stocks too are the high risk category.

· Rise above emotions and loyalty. There will be many volatile swings in the market. Your stock may rise or even fall. You need to review decisions on any new data and change reasons for holding the stock.

· Reevaluating your existing stock is also essential. Review the reasons why you chose a particular stock. If those reasons are still valid then stick with it.

· Spend time on your investment weekly and observe the market trends. Keep track of your earnings and factors that may affect your investment.

· If your reasons to buy a stock are still valid you need not sell the stock.

· Beware of media or media quoted rates. It is not necessary that you buy or sell at the rates in the financial press.

Major signs of a good company

· Sales and earnings grow

· Company debt remains stable or declines

Tools that can help you in stock investment

There are a number of tools for an investor to make an informed and calculated decision on investment in the stock market.

· Internet research tools give you the latest data on company stocks and trends.

· Websites offer the same data given by internet research tools and also give stock trading tips by experts.

· Softwares that do the internet research and provide a detailed analysis. These softwares manage the stock quote file with 18,000 ticker symbols and more. Graphical display and export or import of data into other financial or editing softwares is an addition.

· Java Applets that perform a real time stock ticker updates that can be integrated with the financial software that you possess.

Many stock trading softwares use advance mathematical analysis on the stock market to make predictions about the future of a particular stock. These softwares are accurate in many instances. Yet real life can churn up possibilities that can never be accounted into software. Political and other situations affect stock and hence mathematics can be futile at times.