Home: Tools of the Trade
Advertising: Google Adwords
Search engines offer pay-per click advertising for people who want targeted traffic to their site. What this means, is that you'd select a key-word phrase, for example: Work at Home Jobs, and set the ad rate at $0.25 a click, (or whatever price you're willing to pay) What this means, is that when someone does a search in Google for "Work at home jobs" your site will come up in the right hand side. If they click on it, you only have to pay $0.25 for that customer. You can set your monthly limit at whatever you like, (so you're not running up a huge advertising bill) and you'll receive a targeted audience of people who are interested in your products and services. If you have a website, you can earn commissions, (like we do) by placing these ads on your site. Click on the link below to get started:Books and Materials: Feed Your Brain!
If you don't regularly congregate with others who have blazed a trail to the land of self-employment, it may be hard to adjust to this new lifestyle. We can get bogged down by nay-sayers, obstacles, and our own self-doubt. The path becomes especially hard to find when you don't know where to start. The way I began is by reading...absorbing information from others who have been there, so that I can learn from their successes, and most importantly, their failures. If you don't have mentors in your field, or others you can turn to who have blazed the trail, start by reading these books. I have created a whole reading list of resource materials that have helped me get to where I am...check them out, and expand your knowledge base.
Other Educational Tools:
Rich Dad/Poor Dad
Robert Kiyosaki is a leading author and educator, teaching people how to get out of traditional ways of thinking about income. I highly recommend the Books he's written, the games he's created, and the training he provides. If you're looking for a mentor...look no further.
Business Cards: 
VistaPrint
The best place to get your business cards done. Hands Down. Don't do them yourself on your own printer...I have yet to see card stock thick enough that can look professional on a home printer. Vista print offers tons of quality, professional, templates that you can use PLUS you'll get 250 FREE cards. All you have to pay for is shipping. If you want your own design, it's simple to create, and will cost a little more, but the quality and service is unparalleled. Go there. Now.
Credit Cards: Advanta
It's always easier to keep business expenses separate when you have a business credit card. Advanta has competitve rates, wonderful products, and exceptional customer service. They can also help you with accepting credit cards both on and offline. What are you waiting for? Apply today!www.Advanta.com
Domain Registration: GoDaddy.com
Let's be honest. You're going to need a website for your business, so it's time for you to learn a little about webstuff. If you haven't already, check out our webmaster articles on how to get started. If you're ready to take the plunge, you're going to need to get your domain name and hosting. Godaddy is one of the very few companies that we can recommend to get both. It's only $8.95/year for your name, and only $1.99 if you get hosting with them too!Website Hosting: SBCYahoo Small Business
We wholeheartedly recommend SBCYahoo hosting for your business. Although we're generally against large corporate conglomerates, we have yet to find a simpler web-design program to use. They're going to charge you $25 for the set-up, and basic hosting is $12.95 a month. If you require advanced scripting, like PHP, or MySQL databases, it will run more. Don't get your name and hosting in the same place though...read why here. When we were first starting out, we used SBCYahoo, and find it an exceptional program for newbies to use.www.SBCSmallBusiness.com
Hosting/Income Oppourtunity: Global Domains International
Are you looking for a website, but you don't know where to start? I recommend using the Website.ws referral program as a great way to have a simple site, and also earn commissions by referring others! They offer six pages, a VERY simple webbuilding program, domain hosting and registration all for $10 a month. The appealing thing is that for every person you refer, you'll also receive $1 per month commission. It's a nifty little program for a beginner. Your name will be registered with your hosting, and it will have a .ws extension, not a .com, or .org...so keep that in mind if it's important to you.
Newsletter Program: Aweber.com
When you have a website, you're going to want to create a newsletter list. This way you can contact your customers easily and effectively, without having to type in their individual emails in the "to" field. If you didn't know, most email programs won't let you send out more than 50 emails at a time, thinking that you're spamming people. So, you need to get a newsletter program that will manage your list for you. They'll give you forms to put on your site, and store all your customer's information in a database. We recommend Awebber.com, because it is the most cost-effective program out there at just $20 a month for unlimited emails. Plus, the customer service is un-parallel. Click below to get started:
Kitch: Cafepress.com
Who hasn't owned a t-shirt or pen with a company name or logo? You can advertise your business with Kitch, and people will pay you to wear your products! You can design your own t-shirts, mugs, calendars, sweatshirts, babybibs, as well as create your own cds, books, and more! Cafe Press is a print-on-demand service that allows freedom from overhead, stock, and payment processing. My brother-in-law makes INSANE income off of his cafe press store, and you can too.Forms: MyContactform.com
In case you didn't realise, when you have your email listed on your site: like you@yourname.com, it is susceptible to programs that harvest emails for the sake of spam. But, you still want your customers to be able to contact you, so it's necessary to create a web-form. On your website, you might want to have forms that ask poll questions of your customers, determine traffic (how they found you), or just for a simple email inquiry. Mycontactform has a plethora of forms that you can choose from to help make your site look professional, while protecting the privacy of your email from spammers.MyContactform.com
Shopping Cart Program: www.Quikstore.com
I Love Quikstore. Seriously. There are a ton of shopping cart programs out there, but quikstore is the only one that I've found that allows you to completely customize your cart to match the design of your site. This is a big thing, as most just allow you to change colours, but the layout remains the same...not very exciting. You WILL need to have some technical knowledge, be willing to learn, or hire a college kid to help you start it up, but it is so worth it. Most companies charge a monthly fee, but with Quikstore, you own the product, and there are no additional costs.
Listings Manager: www.InteractiveTools.com
This is another company that I completely and wholehearedly adore. If you notice, on this site we have a function that allows people to search various MLM companies. We also have exclusive reps that have created their own homepages...this is a great service to have, and we couldn't have done it without Interactive Tools! They have several content-mangement programs that allow you to keep track of articles, listings, and more. If your site need to be dynamic, these are the folks that can help.
