I was having a similar conversation with my stepdaughter recently. She’s an out-of-work, young mom who hasn’t figured out what she wants to do to earn money. She hasn’t yet found my love of ebusiness, despite my best debating skills, but we may have found something that will work for her.

Recently, I hired her to do some podcast transcribing for me. I paid her $3/podcast-minute, which might be a little higher than the average, but hey, she’s my kid, right?. If I remember correctly, I think it rounded out to about $12/hour of her actual working time at the kitchen table, which was a lot better than flinging burgers for minimum wage somewhere.

Because that went well (she did a great job), she may be interested in trying to make a business out of it. I’m ready to help her get that going, so the first thing I did was order a little guide for her to read and think about. I bought her the Transcription Starter Pack * by Nicole Dean for less than twenty bucks. It gives a really good overview of the General Transcription business, what skills are needed, what tools are needed, and what needs to be done to turn those skills into an actual business.

(Note: We’re talking about general transcription here, not medical transcription. This is just literally listening to audio and video, and creating text documents from them).

Of course, if she decides to pursue this (and who knows, she could change her mind at any time), she’ll have me around to coach her as much as she wants. Like most of my professional coaching gigs, I may not know everything there is to know about a client’s actual business niche, but I know a lot about ebusiness in general. Between my broad knowledge and her indepth experience (which she’ll get immersed in rather quickly), we should be able to steer her into a successful direction, as long as she enjoys the work and is willing to pursue it full-on.

I decided to write this post for two reasons:

1. To throw out an idea for others who might be interested in the same type of business
2. To start documenting the steps to creating and building this business. If this business actually gets off the ground, it will be a wonderful chance for me to do a case study from the very beginning of a new ebusiness.

If she decides to pursue this, I’ll document the various steps involved in setting up the ebusiness, marketing it, and managing it. And of course, I’ll come back here to share it with all of you.

*

** Image adapted and modified from this pic, which coincidentally, is a photo of an online friend of mine. I stumbled across it while I was searching for an appropriate image for this post, and thought, “Oh, that pic is perfect. Hey! I know him!”

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Post tags: e - business, online ebusiness, transcribe, transcription
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eBusiness Coaching

Ok, that resource would be me, and I’m neither free, nor all that cheap. But you probably already knew that. Still, as a reminder, you can get more information about my coaching at my other site – eBuzzCoach.com. Now let’s move on to the easy/free/cheap stuff.

Business Planning

SCORE templates for business plans, cash flow and sales forecasts

Domain Names

Find the perfect domain name and register it at GoDaddy.

Hosting

HostGator is the only hosting company that I recommend these days. I’ve been superbly happy with them for quite a while now.

Blog / CMS Site Creation Tools

Blog – WordPress – no better choice. (The self-hosted version – not wordpress.com).

CMS – Snippet Master – easiest ultra-light content management system.

Themes

Open Source Web Design (OSWD) for free web design templates.

WordPress free themes

iThemes WordPress premium themes

WooThemes Premium Themes

Headway Premium Theme

Logo Design

LogoYes is a DIY logo design service.

Or use Logo Nerds to get a custom logo designed.

Royalty Free Images

Fotolia has the best deals on stock photos, as low as $1.

eCommerce

e-junkie is the easiest shopping cart to integrate into your site that I’ve ever tried.

Marketing (Flyers, Postcards, Business Cards)

Next Day Flyers or Vista Print to design your own business cards, postcards and flyers. Vista Print even has free business cards, which will do in a pinch.

If you can’t wait for processing times, or you just want to print some business cards now, then your best bet is to use a business card program, so you can print them out right after you design them. Accessories, like business card holders, can really draw attention to your card before you ever even hand it over.

IAB Standard Banner Ad Sizes – Bookmark this because you’ll need to find this again sometime in the future.

Link building resources

Social networking strategies

Word of mouth marketing

Time Tracking

Freelancers, especially, need to keep track of how much time they spend on each project, so they can bill accordingly. toggl is a great little free time tracking tool that you can use either online or on your desktop. Perfect.

Finances: Accounting / Billing / Invoicing / Taxes

Invoices Made Easy designed for small service-oriented businesses like freelancers.

Small Business Accounting software for basic accounting without all the extra stuff you never use.

TurboTax because everyone has to do taxes, so it might as well be easy.

Legal: Contracts, Forms, Business Letters

Get almost any sample contract, form, or business letter from docstoc or Forms Guru.

Time Management / Scheduling

ToodleDo is your virtual to-do assistant (non-human) to help you remember everything.

Google calendar

Collaborating / Meeting / Networking / Office Apps

Zoho has everything you need to collaborate and share with others including a word processor, spreadsheet, note taker, wiki, organizer/planner, email, web conferencing, database app, and more.

Backup / File Storage

Mozy or Carbonite both do a great job of easily backing up your files. Backup is so important. Don’t put it off!

Email

Gmail is the only email service I recommend. It’s free. It has fabulous spam control, and you can always search for old emails (because you never need to throw them away).

Aweber is the best subscription email, newsletter, and opt-in autoresponder service out there.

Bartering

U-Exchange lets you trade services and goods with others for free. This is a great way to market your services too.

Learning

Adwords Learning Center is the place to start before you use Google Adwords. Make sure you get the most out of those text ads by understanding the process first.

Here’s another guide to pay per click to help you get a handle on it.

W3Schools is the best place to start learning some technical skills, such as HTML, CSS, and PHP.

Learn web design and WordPress development skills.

(Note: If this post looks familiar, it’s because I’ve written it – or one very much like it – before. However, I’ve decided to move that old post from another blog over to this one, and I’ve edited it along the way.)

*

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Post tags: e - business, Freelancer, resources
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So when I brought up the subject of personal branding, it was a little surprising that my normally loud, raucous family went totally silent. Quizzical expressions and dumbfounded looks surrounded the table. Finally my sister spoke. “Personal branding?”, she asked. “What is that? Like branding a cow?”

I sighed. “No, Sis,” I said. “It’s NOT like branding a cow. It’s like a product brand. You know, like Coke is a brand. Or Walmart is a brand. If Gary (my brother) decided he wanted to be known as the Louisiana Real Estate guru, he would market himself that way, establishing his own personal brand as Gary, the Louisiana Real Estate Guru. If he marketed himself well, then he would become well-known, and everyone would know that HE was the Louisiana Real Estate Guru. That’s what personal branding is. Marketing yourself.”

Although I’m not sure they completely “got it”, it was a good enough explanation to allow us to move on to safer topics that everyone could participate in – like how our local college baseball team was doing this season.

Personal branding is on my mind lately because Dan Schawbel’s book, Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success is now available at Amazon.* Dan is the guy behind the Personal Branding Magazine, and as I’ve mentioned before, I’m a staff columnist for that magazine. So of course, I’ve been looking forward to seeing Dan’s book get published. I ordered it before it was even published, so I could be one of the first to have it. It arrived on my doorstep (ok, in my post office box, actually) a few days ago. I’ve devoured it since then.

Although I won’t be recommending the book to either my sister or brother because they are at the tail end of their careers, I am recommending it to each of you. If you read this blog, you should read Dan’s book. If you have any interest in furthering your career (even offline), you should read his book.

In fact, Dan’s main focus in Me 2.0 is that of young people embarking on careers, and using the power of personal branding to get the jobs they want and be successful in their chosen careers. This is especially useful information right now, when so many are laid off. Competing for a job has gotten a lot tougher because so many people are desperate for work. How you market yourself can make all the difference in whether or not you land the job you want. The book does a great job of showing how to market yourself before, during, and after a job interview.

Of course, I work from home, so I’m not particularly interested in resumes or interviewing. But the world of freelancing and online marketing involves lots of personal branding as well, and if you are involved in ebusiness in any way, you need to understand personal branding. Your reputation is on the line every day in the ebusiness world, and your personal brand is your reputation. How you manage your brand’s reputation is critical to your online success.

Luckily, the advice Dan gives in Me 2.0 works just as well for me and you as it does for the recent college graduate looking for that perfect job. The concepts of personal branding – marketing yourself – extend to all of us, regardless of what kind of career we’ve chosen.

Here’s a little of what you can find in the book:

• A 4-step process for building a powerful brand (discover,
  create, communicate, maintain).
• Tips on using social media tools for personal empowerment, confidence building, and professional networking in order to attract jobs directly to you, without applying!
• Tested advice on how to create an online and offline presence for
  career protection and self-promotion.
• Over 40 expert quotes from leaders including Don Tapscott, Guy Kawasaki, Penelope Trunk, and David Kirkpatrick of Fortune Magazine, among others.
• More than 70 research reports, 3 personal case studies and examples to give you a broader perspective on the topic.

I personally bought this book because I know Dan’s advice is always excellent. I know that he knows this topic inside and out. I trusted that the few dollars I would spend on the book would be worth it, and I was right. Dan’s own personal brand is that of a personal branding expert, and there’s good reason for it. Anyone looking to market themselves – for online or offline careers – would be smart to read Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success. It can make a huge difference in your future career plans.

If you are interested in the things I’ve had to say over the years on the topic of personal branding, you might want to check out the branding category here on my blog. Needless to say, I’ll continue to post on this in the future as well, because it’s an important topic to understand if you want to be successful in an online business.

*

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Post tags: Amazon, Dan Schawbel, David Kirkpatrick, Don Tapscott, e - business, Fortune Magazine, Guy Kawasaki, Louisiana, online, online and offline presence, online marketing, Online success, Penelope Trunk, professional networking, social media tools, staff columnist, the Personal Branding Magazine
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I try to cover as much of the basics as possible for creating a successful site online that will earn you a comfortable living. I’m not able, within a blog format, to really get into the kinds of detail that a full hard-cover book can get – on every detailed subject. Jon Wuebben, in his book Content Rich: Writing Your Way to Wealth on the Web, does a great job of really covering one very important topic well – how to create compelling, keyword-rich copy for your site. The right copy will convert well, it will enable your site to rank well in the search engines, and it will attract traffic and links. All of these things help to bring your site to the level of success that you’re looking for.

Here’s a quick look at what’s covered. Jon begins with the basics of SEO copywriting, which includes analyzing your site’s copy and usability, keyword research, and optimizing the content. He then moves on to discussing the various types of seo copywriting, such as site copy, articles, press releases, blogs, wikis, landing pages and newsletters. Next, he puts it all together with real world examples and case studies of various sized businesses. By showing you real-world examples and case studies, Jon helps to really clarify the benefits of seo copywriting, and gives clear instructions on how to do it right. Finally, he ends with showing how to outsource your copywriting project, discusses choosing seo copywriting as a career, and wraps it up with the future of seo copywriting.

Because I’m an old SEO by trade, I wanted to pick the book apart and find where he might have gone wrong, but I wasn’t able to do that, because he gives straight-forward, easy to understand information that is right on the money. If you want to write compelling copy that attracts traffic and converts visitors to buyers, you won’t go wrong by reading Content Rich: Writing Your Way to Wealth on the Web. It was a good read, and I’ve added it to my collection.

Oh, this just in…the author has informed me that he will be holding a “super 1 Day sale” on Amazon on Wednesday, February 18, 2009. If you order the book on that day, you’ll receive these extra goodies:

• Dianna Booher’s ebook “Affect or Effect? 258 Commonly Misused Words Along with Proper Usages” + her Online Grammar Assessment ($39.95 value)
• Scott Fox’s ebook “E-Business Strategy Basics” ($34.95 value)
• Bob Bly’s ebook “Online Marketing that Works” ($39.95 value)
• Free website copy analysis (priceless!)

That’s enough to make me consider getting a duplicate copy of the book just to get the extras.

*

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Post tags: Amazon, Author, Bob Bly, Dianna Booher, e - business, Jon Wuebben, Online Grammar Assessment, online marketing, Scott Fox, search engines, straight-forward
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But here’s the cool part and what I’m so jazzed about right now. Wendy and her team have created a new series of training classes called SparkPlugU to help you make money from home and start or market your business. She’s got an experienced group of faculty members and an outstanding curriculum lined up. And the price is right! In fact, it’s downright cheap. Being a self-professed cheapskate myself, I’m pretty happy to see her courses being affordable for literally everyone, and I plan to take a few myself.

I recognize that not everyone can afford to hire me as their ebusiness coach, so I’m tickled to be able to recommend Wendy’s SparkPlugU for absolutely everyone. Later, if you want to hire me as your coach, that’s great, but in the meantime, there’s no reason not to take the classes at SparkPlugU. If you do, you may never need me to be your coach! And hey, that’s ok with me. The goal is to make your home ebusiness a success – whatever that takes!

Wendy, my hat’s off to you for creating such a spectacular series of training classes at affordable prices. And for all of you reading this, and wishing you could join the rest of us who work from home…seriously consider taking the classes at SparkPlugU. There’s a good selection of courses already listed, but there will be even more added in the future.

© Donna for DazzlinDonna, 2008. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: classes, coach, e - business, ebusiness coach, home blogging network, SparkPlugU, training, Wendy Piersall, Wendy Piersall Opens, work from home
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You need a press kit.

In the “old days”, that meant spending a LOT of money to have fancy-schmancy folders and papers printed that you would mail to newspaper and magazine editors. Because it is so costly to create those glossy kits, you and I would be doing without. Luckily, those days are long gone, and the Internet is here to save us. (Yes, you can still get hard copy press kits, and some may opt to do so, but it’s no longer the necessity that it once was).

So what is an online press kit, anyway? Sometimes called a media kit, it is really just an expanded “About Me” section that includes things like images and graphics (like headshots of yourself or images of your ebook cover), and lots of in-depth information about yourself that journalists could use when either writing about you, or quoting you. The more information you give reporters and bloggers in a simple, easy-to-get format, the better. The key is that you want to make it EASY for a reporter to choose you when they are looking for comments and quotes from an expert in whatever topic they are writing about today. Reporters have tight deadlines. They want answers and they want them fast.

If you accomplished all that we discussed in the last few posts, then it’s very likely that a journalist would find your site when he searched for “his current topic expert” or “whatever he is writing about guru”. Once he gets to your site, he’s going to want to:

1. Know more about you.
2. Find quick info that summarizes your expertise
3. Contact information so he can get in touch with you

An online press kit, then, would incorporate all of those elements and more. Journalists are trained to look for press kits. They’ve been relying on company media kits for decades. Just by having your own online press kit, you let them know that you respect them, and you are willing and ready to work with them. You let them know that you are available as a source. That gives you an edge over all the other “gurus” who don’t have an online press kit.

Once you have your online press kit created, you’ll want to be proactive. Let people know about it. Contact editors of relevant newspapers and magazines, or your local news editors, and let them know that you are available in the future as an expert source on the topics of “blah, blah and blah” (your niche expertise). Don’t hound them. Just let them know, give them all of your contact information, and be sure to include the URL to your spiffy, new online press kit. If any are interested, they’ll keep your information at hand in case they need it in the future.

You can also register as an expert source at either ProfNet (a service of PRWeb) or ExpertClick. These services connect journalists with expert sources (such as yourself), so they are great places to network, but the services are somewhat expensive. I would recommend doing everything you can in the first few months to build up your name recognition and have everything in place to position yourself as an authority before registering for this type of pricey service.

I can hear you asking already…how do I set up an online press kit? You can simply add a section to your current web site that gives all the pertinent information on its pages. Keep it simple and clean, with navigation that makes it impossible for a hurried journalist to get lost. Include quotes, testimonials, syndicated articles, suggested questions, podcasts and videos, images and graphics, and lots of bio information. If you want professional help, there are services that you can hire to create online press kits for you. From what I’ve seen, they seem to average around $500, so if that’s in your budget, it may be easiest to let someone else create it for you. Keep in mind, however, that you’ll still need to give them the actual content. You’ll need to spend a fair amount of time telling them about yourself, your achievements, your products, or whatever else would need to be included. After all, they don’t know those things about you – you do.

I looked around, hoping to be able to find a link to some free press kit templates, but didn’t find what I was looking for, so I decided to just go ahead and create some from scratch. I’ve created a new product called Online Press Kit Templates (no longer available as a paid product – see here to get it for free.). It’s not free, so let me tell you that right up front. But I priced it at a “reasonable” amount, so that it would be the right choice for anyone who wants help, but doesn’t want to spend hundreds of dollars. Many of you are old hands at setting up web sites, so you’ll be able to set your own up without any help at all. But if you would rather follow a template, without the actual service of someone creating it for you, then you are the right person to consider purchasing the templates I created. Keep in mind though, that you can absolutely do this yourself for free. I don’t want to mislead anyone into thinking that my product is the only solution, because that would certainly not be true. My templates simply make it a lot easier to get an online press kit up and running with minimal effort.

So that’s it. By the time you’ve covered all the steps in this Authority series, you should be well on your way to being called “the world’s foremost authority on ….”. Good luck!

P.S. If you are planning on hiring me as your ebusiness coach, don’t order my templates, because all my coaching clients get the package for free.

© Donna for DazzlinDonna, 2008. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: An Authority, authority, company media kits, e - business, ebusiness coach, expert, guru, hurried journalist, journalist, media kit, online press kit, Online Press Kit Over, Online Press Kit Templates, online press kits, reporter, search results, templates
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Now is the time to start your ebusiness. It may not help you financially in the short term, since few new sites make much money right away. But you’ll be that much closer to pulling a profit from it later on when you need it most, if you start now. While you still have a job, it can begin to supplement your income, helping you pay the extra costs for gas and food. If you later lose your job, it may be doing well enough to help you get by while you search for another. And with any luck (and some hard work), it may even be able to completely replace that 9-5 job at some point.

I like to always follow the “just in case” theory. Being prepared “just in case” something goes wrong is a good plan. Waiting to start an ebusiness after you’ve been laid off (like I did several years ago) means you’ll be making next to nothing at a time when you need money the most. You’re much better off to have started your site, developed it over time, discovered ways to make it grow and become profitable, so that when the pink slip arrives at your desk, you’ve got a little peace of mind knowing you are somewhat ahead of the game.

And if you never get that pink slip? Great! All that means is that your ebusiness is supplementing your income, and that’s always a good thing.

© Donna for DazzlinDonna, 2008. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: e - business, ebusiness, economy, food, just in case, layoffs, online ebusiness, pink slip, recession, supplemental income
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from weirsdo

Every day this week, I’ll be posting based upon a random Flickr image that inspires me. Here’s one now.

This photo exudes happiness, freedom, confidence, and joy. Each of us has experienced such boundless expression at some point in our lives, when we shed all inhibitions, danced simply for the joy of it, and really allowed our true colors to shine through. Infusing this colorful freedom of expression into not only our “play time” but also into our work time is critical to success, in my opinion.

You don’t have to be colorful, playful, joyous and creative in every blog post or every site article, but that side of you needs to shine through on occasion. Your joyful spirit can embody your ebusiness in many ways, some subtle, some vibrant. Humor, joy, flamboyance, and elation WILL affect your readers in a positive way.

Have you ever seen someone having an uncontrollable giggle attack? They laugh and laugh and laugh… and you don’t know why they are laughing, but for some reason, you start laughing as well. And the more they laugh, the more you laugh. Others see the two of you laughing, and they begin to laugh. Only the original giggler knows what caused the laughter to begin with, but his explosion of giggles affects everyone around him in the same way.

That’s powerful stuff. We all have beautiful colors within us that we can share with others on our blogs and our web sites, and the sharing of those colors will affect those we share them with. If you are looking for a way to connect with the visitors to your site, find a way to share your colors. As Cyndi Lauper said in her 1986 song, True Colors:

But I see your true colors
Shining through
I see your true colors
And thats why I love you
So dont be afraid to let them show
Your true colors
True colors are beautiful,
Like a rainbow

And in deference to the always wonderful Ms. Lauper, sit back and enjoy a little YouTube video of her singing True Colors. Afterwards, think of ways you can share your joyful side on your site.

© Donna for DazzlinDonna, 2008. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Cyndi Lauper, e - business, Youtube
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If you or someone you know is looking for a coach / consultant to help ease them into making a living online, visit my new site (listed below) and consider what it would mean to have your own personal coach guiding you along the way. Thanks for listening.

Donna Fontenot – eBusiness Coach / Consultant
www.ebuzzcoach.com

© Donna for DazzlinDonna, 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Am Now Available As An eBusiness Coach, coach / consultant, Donna Fontenot, e - business, eBusiness Coach / Consultant, online, personal coach, www.ebuzzcoach.com
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