Business Directory

The global credit crunch – brought on by unwise lending by providers and unwise spending by customers – has changed the face of the economy, and has forced credit providers to drastically alter their approaches to all types of lending, from credit cards to the mortgage market.

As well as tighter constraints on mortgage lending, with providers limiting the number of packages available and being more strict with whom they lend to, the same can be noted in the loan market. Despite a slight reduction in interest rates in January (an example of lenders and providers making the most of a limited profit window), 2008 has seen a steady increase in interest rates on both small and large loans. On average over the last year, interest rates on personal loans have risen by 1.7%, meaning a loan of £5,000 will now cost you £386 more than the same loan twelve months ago. See free credit report

Figures have shown that, due to loan providers’ shifting their lending criteria, applications for credit reports have doubled in the last six months, with consumers taking a keener interest in the way they appear to lenders. And with credit ‘footprints’ such as details of your credit accounts, the date they were opened, the credit limit or loan amount, and whether you have missed any payments visible to the lender (and possibly altering their view of you as a customer) there’s little wonder why people want to be sure their credit report is in top-shape.

Under the Data Protection Act, credit reference agencies (the people the credit providers use to assemble your credit report and assess your rating) must provide you with a “Statutory Credit Report” for £2. A cheaper and easier option is to allow an Internet site to do the hard work for you, and to provide you with a similar report detailing your credit worthiness for free.

Entry Tags: Business Small, Money, My Business Home

If you are not a coder, you might want to consider a package that is ready to go out of the box. It used to be that turnkey web site tools were just no good, but that’s changed. Just a few years ago, I would have not recommended these tools, but today they are abundant and usable.

Which turnkey web site tool you select depends very heavily on what you purpose you are trying to accomplish. I’ll assume that your goal is to find a home based business opportunity and build a turnkey web site to maximize online revenues. This is an affiliate marketing approach, and can yield a great income. And to think that people don’t think home business opportunity is real on the internet.

So which platform do I recommend? Based on the above you can probably already guess. I work closely with many projects so I have a great deal of trust in the platforms. I see people make money from home using these tools. All serious software is beta tested publicly these days.

Regardless of what home business opportunity platform you go with, it will really save you time. Just be ready to learn some lessons about what works and doesn’t work. Not having to worry about the headaches associated with coding your own site is a positive. And this is good because if you really plan to make a home business opportunity work, you will need great focus and effort on the tasks.

Themes: My Free Money, Money Order, Business Card Blog

Give a read: Make Money Online

If you are not technical, or find the process of developing your own software too difficult, turnkey web site software is a great alternative for you. It used to be that turnkey web site tools were just no good, but that’s changed. Just a few years ago, I would have not recommended these tools, but today they are abundant and usable.

There so many to select from when building your home business opportunity. I’ll assume that your goal is to find a home based business opportunity and build a turnkey web site to maximize online revenues. This is an affiliate marketing approach, and can yield a great income. It’s amazing just how well you can do in this space and yet, off-line, people have never heard of the term internet marketer. Business Opportunity

So, which home business opportunity is for you? There are many that I specifically trust for home business opportunity seekers. I see people make money from home using these tools. Additionally, the software is all beta-tested in public forums these days.

Regardless of what platform you ultimately select for your home business opportunity, a turnkey web site is fantastic tool for helping you launch your online career. Just be ready to learn some lessons about what works and doesn’t work. Not having to worry about the headaches associated with coding your own site is a positive. To be successful in this competitive world, you need to funnel your full attention and creativity into the promotion of your site.

Ideas: The Business Start, The Business Start Blog, Make Money, Business Opportunity

Give a read: Business Start Blog

‘How has the credit crunch affected you?’ is going to be one of the biggest and most often asked questions of 2008, and only a lucky few will likely be able to answer ‘not at all’.

These changes are reflected in the results of recent studies into the mortgage market, in particular the facts showing the limiting of mortgage products available. March 2008 alone saw a drop of 2026 mortgage products (from 7726 to 5700) across the residential and buy-to-let markets, while home-loan deals have seen a fall from the 15,600 available in July 2007, to just 4,700 available today. Overall, then, mortgage lending has declined to an estimated £24 billion, a 6% decrease from February 2007, while February 2008 saw the lowest number of new mortgages approved since July 1995.

Homeowners looking at fixed rate mortgages will, however, be hit by a sudden rise in payments when they switch to a new mortgage; the average to fix a mortgage for 10 or more years now being 6.14%, compared to an average 5.89% a year ago. With the future of interest rates uncertain though, fixed-rate mortgages still provide a more stable and secure payment plan – which is why the Chancellor announced his support for lengthy fixed deals in his Budget.

Just make sure you do your research for at least a 20 year projection. You need to understand what a 1% difference in a rate really means over 20 years. It may sound small, but it can be substantial.

Post Tags: Free Money Blog, The Business Start

If the uncertainty over house prices is causing you to sit tight in your current property rather than move, you are not alone! Not only are house prices dropping but the costs of moving home have soared and many more people are considering it more economic to make home improvements than move.

Let’s consider the costs of moving: first there is the obligatory Home Information Pack. Under new government legislation you cannot now sell a house without first purchasing a HIP which, for an average property will cost in the region of £650.

Don’t forget the cut for the agents. They are hurting this year. Remember that they are completely commission driven.

Then you have taxes. Taxes will take a huge bite out of your earnings (or loss) from a sale.

Then there are solicitors and their legal fees which will account for £1,000 upwards depending upon the values of the properties you are buying and selling. Next come removal and possibly storage costs, and all the associated costs of transferring utilities, telephone lines and a myriad of other items. That will take care of at least another £1,000.

Add all this up and you will be amazed at how much of the money you clear from the sale of your house doesn’t end up in your pocket.

Rather than put the house on the market you could build a sizable extension, or if the carpets are getting a bit worn or tired you could replace them. Perhaps you might forego the carpets altogether and instead opt for laminate wood flooring that you have always promised yourself, or even a new kitchen?

Or, you might just think it is all far too much effort and jet off on a luxury holiday for the whole family instead!

Keywords in this article: Business Sale, My Money Online, The Business Home

Wish you could really work from home? Want the freedom that an online business lifestyle offers? Well, the truth is that those who work from home make money from a variety of different ways. Many of the sites you’ve probably already read say it’s easy.I’m sure you’ve already been to the sites that tell you how easy it is, right? I want to be the first to tell you the truth: It’s not! If it was, wouldn’t everybody be working from home instead of fighting the traffic to go into the office?

So how do I do it? Like I said above, those who successfully work from home make money from a variety of different sources and strategies. The only real common thread is that they are willing to put in the start-up hours it takes to really get there. It’s not an easy road, but if you’re committed you can make it work too. I personally feel that the rewards are worth the sacrifice. In cases where you seriously value flexibility, an online business is a great move. The freedom that comes from working from home can’t be beat.

Enough, you say. I want in. So you’ve bought the idea that you need many strategies, but you’re ready to actually hear something of substance. Tell me more, please. You are ready, right now, to get started in your online business life. First thing first. Don’t quit your job yet. The best possible way to start online is while you are being paid from another source. I know that’s not what you want to hear, but you will be more successful if you start this way. I know this is hard to do. `But I’ve watched many people jump in thinking they will make a go of it and end up in a difficult financial situation. The last thing you want is to be a few months in and out of money. `You want to be the envy of all others.So don’t take changes. Ideally, I would suggest an 18 month ramp-up time from when you decide you are going to transition to home-based income approach and when you leave your “paying job.” It is possible to be making 5 a mid 5-figure salary in that time period.

Using this approach, you’ve got time to fail and find those things that you thought would make money while working from home, but really don’t. This process ramps-up over many months and years. Yes, years! Any site that tells you otherwise is simply trying to trick you into giving them money. Don’t give them any money.As you do your research you will see that people who really make it are not using those overly hyped up products.

So now what? Let’s get practical. Join several forums where people who do this all day hang-out. You will learn things by spending time in there. The digitalpoint and warriorforum are good places to see what people are talking about. This will bring new ideas for ideas to try. For online merchants, go to the OnlineMerchantNetwork.com. Don’t go in expecting people to share their best money-making secrets with you. That won’t happen. Also understand that there are many people trying to sell to you there. Again, don’t buy anything. Try to make friends. Get involved in the discussions in a meaningful way. Participate.

Join Amazon Associates, Google Adsense, and Commission Junction. These are three very well-known affiliate programs that can help you make money from advertising and product sales. Try them out on a site or blog. You’ll see first-hand just how hard this is. Do this for a month and see what money you are making. Read all about these programs in the forums and think creatively. Spent time wondering why the traffic is not coming. Read EVERYTHING you can on building traffic.

If you have technical skills, put them to use in every fashion thinkable. You have to figure out how to seem better than the competition. Remember, everybody wants to be in that group that successfully works from home and makes money from the Internet.There is a TON of competition out there. But it’s a small club that actually make it. If you are not technical, this is not the end of the world.There are options for paying others to code for you. Also research tools that will do the coding for you. Go to the site for , because it is a great product and I have talked to people who are making money from the tool. But again, do your research…

Solid advice. Now stop reading and start working.

Tags in this post: Business Sale, Money, CNN Money

You can’t be serious today without a web presence. There are many advantages of establishing a web presence on the Internet such as selling globally to prospective customers and disseminating information to the public. This is already clear to most business owners. But where many miss the boat is understanding just how to use keywords in their domain selection and on their site.

So here are a few rules for picking good domain names. I think that most SEO types would agree that a solid domain name will:

1) be descriptive of your business.

2) use human-readable words that are descriptive to the search engines.

3) have an appropriate .com, .net, .biz, .info, .org to reflect the nature of the business.

Where there is significant difference of opinion is when you get into the length of the domain names. Many people would definitely disagree with me on this point as they believe that a short domain name is easier to remember. However, I struggle with this because many times a longer domain name is just more descriptive of what the business actually is. You are going to need to see your .

Certainly, catchy names are helpful for making people take notice of your web site. And once you have someone’s attention, you have a short period within which to deliver your sales message. Thus, depending on the context where the domain name is used, a domain name can actually help to make or break your overall marketing performance.

Keywords: Make Money, Money Save

You can’t be serious today without a web presence. Having a presence on the web is just a requirement for serious business people today. This is already clear to most business owners. But where many miss the boat is understanding just how to use keywords in their domain selection and on their site.

So here are a few rules for picking good domain names. Most would agree that a good domain name should:

1) be descriptive of your business.

2) include hyphen in between the words to make it easier to read.

3) use the right .com, .net or .org as appropriate to the business.

Where there is significant difference of opinion is when you get into the length of the domain names. Many people would definitely disagree with me on this point as they believe that a short domain name is easier to remember. However, I struggle with this because many times a longer domain name is just more descriptive of what the business actually is. The idea is to show them your .

Having a catchy long domain name would definitely helps to draw attention to your business promotion rather than a mundane name. When people reach you can communicate a short sales message before driving them to the appropriate web page. Thus, depending on the context where the domain name is used, a domain name can actually help to make or break your overall marketing performance.

Post Tags: My Free Money, Home Make Money, Busienss Service

Are you sick of the stories about people making mad money on ebay? I know I am. I for one didn’t believe it. So I thought I should dig into it some more. It’s all about the planning and how much effort you are willing to put into it.

eBay is a massive marketplace. There is simply no other place like it on the Internet. It’s simply the biggest marketplace there is. Make Money Online

You can’t just start in without a plan. You need to put some thought into what you plan to sell, who you will sell to and what strategies you will use to sell. To get the ball rolling, do some research on the items you are intending to sell or similar items if you are selling antiques, rare finds or handmade items. What are these items going for on Ebay and other auction sites? What is the demand like? Are there a lot of people bidding on these items? Are there any items you would like to sell that are not even listed on Ebay or are listed in small quantities?(This could be a great niche market you have stumbled onto) Business School Today

So, once you’ve decided on your area. You need to do your research. You really need to study what’s happening on eBay itself. After all, that’s your competition. I know that sounds ridiculous to buy things on Ebay only to resell them, but this is a method proven by many to be profitable. You can search for the items you are interested in selling and then search again misspelling some or all of the words, you will be amazed how many people misspell their listings. These misspelled listing are less likely to attract buyers and browsers and therefore will have few to no bids. This equals bargain for you.

Try searching for items with a “buy now” price that is too low, a lot times people do not know just how valuable their items are and list them too low, you can snap those up and resell them for a profit.

Search for “lots” that can be broken up into single item auctions, many times these single items can fetch more individually than as a “lot”.

If your direction is toward new items. You need to find suppliers. Find the suppliers that are in the closest possible position to the manufacturer as possible. This will mean price competitiveness. And you need that badly.

If have already found your distributor, you need to do your research again and again. Don’t just sit there thinking you have the best product price. That’s when someone will knock you out of business.

Whatever avenue you choose to obtain your goods to sell, you will still need to do your homework and become an expert on whatever it is you are selling. You will need to be able to spot a good deal that can turn into profit for you and you will need to keep up with your customer and general consumer interest. You want to make sure that there is a market out there for whatever it is you are selling.

Here is a side story for you: A few months ago I was in the Target and found a little clearance display tucked away in the back corner of the store.(I actively seek these out because I love a bargain) The display was chock full of Leap Frog toys for all ages, regularly 20-25$, on sale for 3.98$. I bought one in each age range to keep in my Birthday Bucket(I keep a box of toys for all the Birthday parties my kids attend). When I got home, I showed my good deal find to my Hubby, who said you should have bought them all and sold them on Ebay. This peeked my interest, I logged onto Ebay, and sure enough, people had them posted for 20-30$ and I know they only paid 3.98$. This is the mind of an Ebay Seller, you will have to spot these money makers all the time, to continue earning from your sales. Business Home Blog

After you have your plan together, it is time to open your Ebay account. The process is painless, you provide your information, and your credit card(to avoid fraud) and you choose your user name. This is one of the MOST IMPORTANT things to remember, your user name can make or break you. Your name should be somewhat relevant to your merchandise, so if you sell antiques, your user name could be Antique Lady. Ebay does charge small fees for listing and selling, but they are small enough that you will not mind them once you start your selling.

To start, you should focus on 5-7 day auctions, a few at a time. After a few months if you find your business is booming, consider opening an Ebay Store. Ebay will charge you a monthly fee and your listing fees will lower. In my opinion the Ebay stores require a bit more work and work better for a higher volume seller. I suggest you test the waters by taking a few months to focus on auctions and getting familiar with the process before moving on to an Ebay Store.

Look at all your sales to date, and what kind of time and effort you had to put into those sales. If you like what you are doing, keep it up, if not, start tweaking your game plan a bit. Branch out if you want to increase volume, maybe you sell DVDs, try adding books or CDs. If you want to spend less time tending to this, then maybe scale back on your number of auctions or group items into “lots”.

The real money makers are the listings themselves. Take care when creating your listings, make them clear and easy to understand. Include pictures of your items, people are much more likely to buy an item they can see. Spell everything correctly, so people can find your listings when they search Ebay.

Maintain your “Feedback Score”, this is important because you want buyers to trust you and to keep coming back for more. Make sure you handle all questions and emails you get from buyers and potential buyers, ship items in a timely fashion, keep up contacts with previous buyers…You want to do anything it takes to keep that score high.

Ebay can be a highly profitable business for anyone who is willing to put the time and effort into it. You can use Ebay to generate a little spending money or a monthly income, it is all up to you.

Ideas: Business Home Now

We have all heard the stories about people out there striking it rich through Ebay, but is this realistic? Selling on Ebay is one of those things that people always talk about as if it is so close, yet so far away. Well, it isn’t, anyone can sell on Ebay and most people can make a nice profit doing it. It’s all about the planning and how much effort you are willing to put into it. Being one of the Ebay Powersellers or one of those ” I just struck it Rich Quick” guys, will take a lot of time and effort on your part, but if you find you enjoy it and the income it will generate for you, it can be extremely rewarding.

There are millions of buyers and sellers on Ebay and even more articles out there on how to generate an income through Ebay. I am going to break it down for those of you just starting out, if you are an Ebay seller already, maybe I can give you some tips to try that you may not have heard about before.

Initially, you will need to get a game plan together. What are you going to sell? Where will you get it? Will you make the items you sell? Will you be able to keep up with demand for these items? New or Used? To get the ball rolling, do some research on the items you are intending to sell or similar items if you are selling antiques, rare finds or handmade items. What are these items going for on Ebay and other auction sites? What is the demand like? Are there a lot of people bidding on these items? Are there any items you would like to sell that are not even listed on Ebay or are listed in small quantities?(This could be a great niche market you have stumbled onto)

So, once you’ve decided on your area. You need to do your research. You really need to study what’s happening on eBay itself. After all, that’s your competition. I know that sounds ridiculous to buy things on Ebay only to resell them, but this is a method proven by many to be profitable. You can search for the items you are interested in selling and then search again misspelling some or all of the words, you will be amazed how many people misspell their listings. These misspelled listing are less likely to attract buyers and browsers and therefore will have few to no bids. This equals bargain for you.

Also, search for auctions closing at odd times, the wee hours of the morning or the middle of the night-these are not “high traffic” times and can lead you to some steals.

Search for “lots” that can be broken up into single item auctions, many times these single items can fetch more individually than as a “lot”.

If you are interested in selling new items, you have a lot of options. You can look for wholesale distributors in your area that will allow you purchase items at a low individual cost that you can turn around and sell at retail price or more.

Some Ebay sellers look to discount stores like Big Lots to find items that are brand name, brand new and deeply discounted, sell those items at retail price and you can turn a nice profit. You will still need to do your homework and make sure that there is a market for these items you wish to sell, even if they are brand new and name brand.

Here is a side story for you: A few months ago I was in the Target and found a little clearance display tucked away in the back corner of the store.(I actively seek these out because I love a bargain) The display was chock full of Leap Frog toys for all ages, regularly 20-25$, on sale for 3.98$. I bought one in each age range to keep in my Birthday Bucket(I keep a box of toys for all the Birthday parties my kids attend). When I got home, I showed my good deal find to my Hubby, who said you should have bought them all and sold them on Ebay. This peeked my interest, I logged onto Ebay, and sure enough, people had them posted for 20-30$ and I know they only paid 3.98$. This is the mind of an Ebay Seller, you will have to spot these money makers all the time, to continue earning from your sales.

You want your eBay store name to be something easy to understand and to remember. You want your customers to also have an idea of what you are selling just by looking at your user name. Your name should be somewhat relevant to your merchandise, so if you sell antiques, your user name could be Antique Lady. Ebay does charge small fees for listing and selling, but they are small enough that you will not mind them once you start your selling.

Set some goals. After you start to see some profits, set some goals for yourself. How much are you wanting to earn each month or year? If you want to earn say, 500$ a month and your average items are selling for 25$ each, you will need to sell 20 items a month. Can you keep up with that, will you be able to continue finding those items, etc.

The real money makers are the listings themselves. Take care when creating your listings, make them clear and easy to understand. Include pictures of your items, people are much more likely to buy an item they can see. Spell everything correctly, so people can find your listings when they search Ebay.

Maintain your “Feedback Score”, this is important because you want buyers to trust you and to keep coming back for more. Make sure you handle all questions and emails you get from buyers and potential buyers, ship items in a timely fashion, keep up contacts with previous buyers…You want to do anything it takes to keep that score high. Click here

Ebay can be a highly profitable business for anyone who is willing to put the time and effort into it. You can use Ebay to generate a little spending money or a monthly income, it is all up to you.

Keywords in this article: My Business Home, Make Money Online