Occasionally I am contacted by some individual who has found out the hard way, through their pocket book, that something they have invested in is not nearly as profitable as it first appeared. I am not going to name any names here because that is not the point of this post. Rather, I would like to make three points.

Point 1: If you can not afford to lose it, don’t invest it. It can take several attempts to find training in the area of Internet Marketing that works for you. And, just like the brick and mortar businesses you see out on the street, no business is guaranteed success. What works for one person will not necessarily work for another as they are individuals with different knowledge, personalities and skills.

I, for example, do really well in the geeky side of marketing. Putting up a website and playing with new ways to do things make my day. On the other hand, when it comes to the feel good side of things, I still have a lot to learn because I think and speak in a technical manner.

This, or something similar may be the issue for many who get into the field of Internet Marketing and this means either you learn the skills you are missing or you need to be prepared to outsource that part of your business to someone who does have those skills.

Point2: Be sure to read the fine print. And, take a copy of those special offers that sound so enticing. There is nothing stopping you from taking a print screen of the web page and saving it to a picture file. That is what your print screen key on your keyboard is for and every Windows computer I have every worked on has the Paint program in accessories where the print screen can be pasted. This gives you something to reference if things don’t seem to be going according to what you thought you agreed to. While you are at it, make sure you read and copy any terms of agreement that pop up along the way.

Point3: Do unto others as you would have done unto you.

A while back I invested in a website installation. I agreed to purchase a domain name and hosting for a year. When the year was up, I decided to move the website to my main hosting provider only to find that the installer of the website had encrypted some of the files in such a way that they would not function on another hosting provider. When I requested that the encryption be removed, my request was denied. So, either I allow myself to be held hostage to their hosting provider, or I walk away and chalk it up to a lesson learned.

Now, had their hosting been WordPress friendly, I might have considered continuing with this hosting, even though it meant additional hosting costs. As it turned out, the hosting was not WordPress friendly, so the choice was made to let the site go. I did, however, manage to move the domain to my own domain registrar, so there is the opportunity to rebuild.

While I can understand the wish for a marketer to hold onto clients, these types of tactics leave a bad taste. How many of you think that I will agree to do business with that marketer again, even if the deal presented is the next best thing to sliced bread?

How you conduct your business relationships with your clients will eventually precede you. And, while it is true that you can not always please everyone, sometimes it is better to lose a little in order to gain or retain a client.

To Your Success,

SherryD
http://www.wbobr.com

If you were setting up a conventional business, you would put together a business plan to guide your direction and to present to your banker when setting up your business financing.

More often than not, people jump into an online business with very little in the way of a plan. Regardless of whether you are doing business the conventional way or on the Internet, there are some things that you need to setup to answer the question, business or hobby.

One item, which many fail to properly setup in the beginning, is finance and accounting. They use the same accounts for their business that are also used for their everyday living. When it comes time to sort out which is which, the task can be quite daunting.

In the US and Canada, the taxman who sees this may assume that you have a hobby, not a business. If this should happen, you will not be allowed to claim money spent on your business for income tax purposes. The tax department has to believe that your are conducting business with a serious expectation of making a profit from that business.

If you are serious about your business, even if at the moment it spends its time in the red, instead of the black, you want to be able to prove that fact to the tax department. You may not be able to use business losses immediately if you have no profits to offset against, but, losses and expenses can, in some cases, be carried forward against future income.

One of the easiest ways to answer the question, business or hobby in the eyes of the tax department, is to maintain separate bank accounts, credit cards and accounting software for anything related to the finances of the business. Youll pat yourself on the back when tax season comes as well. Oh and while your discussing that new business credit card, find out if it is available with air miles, which can be used for business trips.

Using a separate accounting system for your business will also assist you in keeping track of how it is doing financially. Even if all you use in the beginning is a simple spreadsheet to track money in and money out, you will be a lot farther ahead. Trying to go back even a month and identify financial transactions that have taken place can cost you many frustrated hours. Make sure you are also collecting the related paperwork as you go. If you keep a monthly folder for your receipts you will have the paper trail needed if an expense if ever challenged.

At Worlds Best Online Business Resources, we do not claim to be professionals in the accounting or financial fields, and therefore recommend that you consult a professional with experience in the areas of home business and online marketing. You might consider taking a course to gain or increase the basic bookkeeping skills you will need.

Consult with your accountant on which method to use to best track the financial side of your business or discuss your intentions with your banker so that he/she is able to inform your of the services they have to get you started. Use the professional resources available to you to provide you with ideas and means by which you will be able to grow your business in a professional manner and take no chances of the question of whether you are running a business or hobby popping up.

To Your Success,

SherryD
http://www.wbobr.com