You already poured out the sweat to till the garden and line up the rows for your veggies and fruits. You continue to daydream and foresee the delectable delights you will harvest through the spring, summer, and fall as you plant the variety of seeds you have purchased, because nothing beats fresh picked produce and the satisfaction of planting and growing it yourself.

Of course you know the work has just begun. Aside from enduring what Mother Nature throws your way you will also need to stay on top of the weeding and cultivating of your little farm. Have you been there? Or can you at least picture this scenario that repeats itself year after year in back yards all over the world? Sure you can.

Now that you have that impression in your mind, let’s take this mindset and apply it in our Internet business model. We are going to “plant” some e- commerce in our Internet garden “today”. For some this is better known as E-tail. Yes an online retail store.

Just like in our garden illustration let’s assume you have taken the steps to get the ball rolling. You have your inventory and the system in place to replenish your inventory. You also have established your web page and you are operating under the domain name/URL http://www.GoodProducts.com (this is just an example).

You have also begun applying some of the tips and tools that you have learned about marketing your site. Since your site features quite a variety of household and commercial supplies you concentrate on placing ads in the appropriate areas linked to such products.

Let’s go back to our garden for a minute. As you gardeners know, when you weed around the peppers you also weed around the rest of the plants. So the same is true with our Internet garden. Some of our work in one Internet venture may overlap or can overlap into another. So it is the case with e-commerce business.

Part of your marketing efforts can include offering affiliate partnerships. Yes, you may find web masters that specialize in the affiliate marketing arena. What you want is affiliates that will drive traffic to your e-tail store. It may be a site that will directly advertise for you through direct content/article ads or it may be that you have ad banners or other types of ads placed on other web sites that will invite people to your e-tail store.

You may also run marketing campaigns like an email crusade. You may maintain a presence on an auction site. If you also operate a physical store then you most certainly will cross promote your physical store and your on-line store. In fact you will explore any plausible marketing method to keep the awareness of your e-tail store alive and well.

Now a key to e-tail success lies within the professional performance of how you present and maintain your on-line store. Oh most definitely you must feature items in an easy to follow manner and provide all the necessary and expected information. Your site should always be updated and accurate. You don’t want your on-line store to be over cluttered anymore than you do your physical store. Repeat after me “User Friendly!”

Your e-tail store needs to also provide a way for customers to contact you with ease. Another vital area to be thorough is in delivery. You bet your bottom dollar!

If delivery is chaotic or inconsistent than you can kiss repeat customers goodbye. On the other hand reliable delivery will only boost sales. Delivery definitely makes your e-tail business sink or swim in many ways.

Frankly you should also try and make shipping as affordable and attractive as possible. Although it appears some e-tail stores offer items at a ridiculously low price and charge an excessive shipping charge. Personally I think this is simply a way to bump a profit in and make a person think “wow I saved so much on the product who cares if I pay more for shipping”, which seems odd to me. I mean what you pay overall is what you pay overall. Our point is, you need to give careful attention to the quality of shipping services and the cost.

Wow look, your plants are taking root and things are starting to grow! Be careful now, you should be excited but you also should be motivated to roll up your sleeves and keep the garden up to snuff. No question there are some things you can’t control but if you keep up with your gardening, the soil with give its reward. The same can be true of your Internet garden. So get busy!

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Who doesn’t love a good list? The Top 100 songs of the year, the Top 5 Films of the year, the Top 10 HR hitters in Major League Baseball, and on and on. We take it all in like sunbathers in a Jamaican sun, don’t we?

Some lists are not just a subjective popularity poll or a faddish compilation of what’s “hot”, but they are actually reliable indicators of business trends or of an established pattern that decisions can be based on by taking that information into account. We are going to discuss a Top 10 list that fits that description. Let’s review the Top 10 On-line Businesses.

Now while all of these businesses are Internet applications many also refer to these enterprises as “stay at home” businesses also since you can easily do them from the comfort of your own home. Okay, why did I feel the need to present that visual for all of us to imagine? Well now that we are all awake, let’s move on.

It has been reported that hundreds of thousands of people search the World Wide Web for stay at home/Internet business information every month. Some of that is because we all hear rumors and/or experiences of people around us who have taken the steps and are actually doing it. And then there those infamous in your face ads and web pages screaming from the roof tops of how you could be rich by this same time next week. That would get the attention of many people raiding their piggy banks for some lunch money. And it’s hard to blame anyone for perking up when they hear they can get rich.

However with the glut of web pages dedicated to making money on-line and with the misleading information from the dream snatchers a vast majority of people are lost and confused. Therefore we are going to present a series of articles to give you an organized and practical look at the tried and true programs that are available for anyone who has the ambition to pursue an on line vocation or even a career.

The purpose of this article is to first give you the Top 10 list. While I cannot guarantee that every list ever made on this subject will be exactly the same, I can promise you that this is the general consensus across the Internet among the researchers who painstakingly follow the Internet racket. So here are the Top 10 “Stay at Home” / Internet Businesses, in no particular order:

1. Affiliate Marketing
2. Internet Blogging
3. Auction sales or EBay style sales
4. E Commerce – (similar to #3 yes, but also different)
5. Arts and Crafts related businesses
6. Internet Research Services
7. A Freelance Service
8. Recruiting Services
9. Consulting Businesses
10. Virtual Assistance

There is the list, now go at it. Okay, I guess just the list alone isn’t very helpful is it? And at this point we have only prospected the possibilities of having our own on line business. That is why we are going to bring you a series of articles dissecting each one of these opportunities so you can examine what each opportunity has to offer and what you would need to do to achieve any one of or any combination of them.

Note that none of these propositions are going to make you rich in a heartbeat and most likely will not make you wealthy beyond your wildest dreams. Bottom line is that people looking for the easy way out are not the sort of people that are diligent in their efforts to accomplish things in the first place. And if you are that kind of person than none of these options are for you. That is because it will require persistence and honest work, not sheer enthusiasm and money for nothing thinking.

So now what? Well feel free to research any of these wonderful prospects by doing some of your own homework. But by all means tune back here on BevyHost and follow the series of articles dedicated to each of these on line/stay at home business options.

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Back again to rap about e-zine. Don’t forget that is pronounced “e-zeen” as in rhymes with magazine. In Part I we discussed the e-zine publishing by way of newsletters. For this article we want to look at the other forms of e -zine on the Net and the doors it may open for you.

Recall in Part I we discussed that some people call e–zine an online magazine. That is because they are referring to something different than a newsletter. Naturally when one hears the word magazine a visual image appears in their mind of something like Newsweek, People, or Sports Illustrated. And some of you were thinking Playboy or Penthouse, you know who you are. LOL!

The fact is although it does not visually resemble an actual magazine, the concept is basically the same. A series of articles are collected and put into a table of contents. The articles contain informative and entertaining information and have a theme or topic in common. For example Sports Illustrated will cover a spectrum of sport related topics. So you know there won’t be political or Wall Street stories found within.

Keep in mind there are a few applications of this formula. Here are a few of note:

• An online version of an already published magazine. For example People.com is People magazines online version as SI.com is a site for Sports Illustrated. And you can find a host of others. This is used also for cross promotion of their tangible version.
• Some are offered in a free format and generate revenue by advertisers.
• Some online magazines offer a paid subscription version.
• A completely original online magazine. A compilation of articles arranged by topic and presented in category and table of content. Obviously as the name implies it is available only online.

The numbers and the studies show that this medium is on a meteoric rise. More and more publishers are experience ever growing visitors online. It actually has the print medium concerned. Not surprisingly some of them are calling this a disruptive technology. This is creating some stressful times in the front offices of traditional publishing houses.

Think about it, aside from the declining number of readers of their more commonly printed products there is the financial fallout. The fact is it is becoming more and more costly to print a physical copy of a magazine. Conversely publishing an online magazine is very cost effective.

And then there are preference concerns. Over the past couple of decades standard printed magazines have filled more and more pages with advertising and less and less substantive articles for subscribers to read. Online the ads are also less intrusive. They are there and they are effective but you can easily navigate to the informative material you wish to read.

Furthermore the publishers of strictly online electronic magazines have an entire niche market of readers and an increasing number of “old school” mag readers jumping on the online bandwagon. It is the here and now and the public perceives it as fresh and enticing.

So what does all this mean? It means a few things. All of which add up to options for someone. You can channel your efforts into publishing an online magazine perhaps. This would involve web design, web advertising and content writing. Things you can do yourself or delegate to others. If managed well you should create an income stream.

This also opens the way for web designers, web advertisers, and content writers to offer their services for hire, thus creating revenue for them.

There you have it. For samples of what we are talking about see ezinearticles.com for an example of an online creation or visit SI.com for an example of an online version of a traditionally printed magazine.

From here you need to learn how to apply for a position or submit your work for review.

Stay with us here at BevyHost as we discuss these topics and much more pertaining to Internet business opportunity.

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Whether you are new to the Internet world or a seasoned veteran, it is likely that you may have heard of or seen the term e-zine, which to the surprise of many is pronounced ‘e-zeen’, as in rhymes with magazine. It is derived from the term electronic magazine.

Some refer to this as a webzine (yep also ‘zeen’) or an online magazine. Many web users probably are familiar with e-zines in the form of newsletters that are sent out via email. In fact a large percentage of surfers subscribe to e-zines or newsletters.

It’s generally understood that these e-zines should be an informative communiqué and not a sales pitch or a “what’s on sale” announcement. Yes if you receive e-zines that are not giving you helpful information than you may consider canceling your subscription, unless of course you are getting satisfactory use from it in another perspective.

If you are going to publish your own newsletter aka e-zine, then you need to put some thought and organization into your work. From a logistical standpoint you can get a newsletter up and running in no time. You may also consider hiring an e-mail service at some point. Sending out your own can become very tedious and tiresome. This also allows more time for other relevant duties.

For starters you need to put together a quality, professional, and compelling article. This can be a bigger challenge for some more so than for others. If that is the case you always have the option of hiring a free lance author to be a ghost writer. You would of course have final approval of the finished product.

Regardless of who is the writer you want to be certain of a few things.

1. Do not bombard people with product pitches. Now if you frame it within a crafty and constructive article, it would be pragmatic or logical to include a calculated product or service “ad” or include links to your site where the product or service can be obtained.
2. Stay on point. Being interesting and provoking does not mean going off on tangents or digressions.
3. Re-writes are important. Don’t be impatient. After you write your e-zine walk away and come back and read it objectively. Or have others read it. If you hire the services of a writer be clear on what specifics need to be included. If you think something is missing work it out with your writer for hire or add the components you wish.
4. Be prompt. If it is a weekly letter, make it weekly.

If you have any questions or you are unsure of yourself, review e-zine newsletters that you think are good and emulate the positive features.

In a supporting area is the opportunity for you writers out there. As we mentioned above there are many a web managers in need of a reliable crackerjack writer to crank out top-notch articles. You can create an income from e-zine writing. Better yet if your work is really good you may find advertisers approaching you.

But wait there’s more: as we discussed earlier an e-zine comes in other forms in addition to the newsletter style we have discussed here. We will explore other applications in another article.

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“Your mission, should you decide to accept it ……”

This was an infamous line from a popular television series from years past involving story lines built around fictitious US federal agents. A quote/unquote spy type show. In a roundabout way we are going to discuss a different “mission” available for today and tomorrow’s aspiring writers cropping up across the World Wide Web.

Aside from the joy, self fulfillment, and outward self expression that writing affords you, many of us are cognizant or may have heard about the opportunities the Internet provides. Yes, the Internet has opened up a door of opportunity to generate revenue from your ability, passion, and talent to write. But how do you accomplish this?

Realistically there is a variety of options that are quite operable. Among the alternatives available, an ambitious penman can pursue any number of these choices or a combination thereof.

For example there is the straight forward approach of finding a web site owner/manager who is in need of quality content. This could come in the form of story writing, editorial, tutorial, testimonial, product endorsement, or any variation thereof. In this scenario a financial agreement can be negotiated or agreed upon. This could be described as a “write for hire” arrangement. These web masters tend to be truly skillful and proficient at marketing and therefore it is cost efficient for them to pay for top notch content.

In a similar vein there are a number of sites that are willing to pay a freelance writer for their articles and even offer a channel of submission for consideration. Plainly speaking you go to any number of article submission sites and propose your work for review and for it to be considered for publishing on their particular site. Some sites may ask you what you are requesting by way of compensation or others give you a predetermined pay scale. I am sure there are others that simply negotiate a price on a “per submission” criterion.

In either blueprint you will receive a flat rate or a onetime fee for each of your approved submissions. It may vary of course but you will know up front what the bottom line is whether it is clearly stated before you write your piece or negotiated after your submission is given the old thumbs up. One thing to consider is that if you find an interested party who will endorse your work and form an indefinitely lasting partnership with them, you will most likely know the value of your writing before you actually do it. Whereas if you write articles for an “open submission” than you run the risk that no one will be infatuated or responsive to your work. On the flip side of the coin if you are confident in your abilities, that aspect of the business will take care of itself.

It is safe to say that it would be wise to keep your options open to either approach. Building a network and proving yourself as a writer will lead to you finding interested parties and in addition sites looking for good content will find you if they feel you can deliver.

There are also a number of self promotion host sites that offer writers the option to post their own original work and generate their own readers on their web site. These sites are very easy to navigate but can be challenging to produce a tangible and meaningful income. The basic formula of these sites is that you subscribe to these sites and then log on and write as often or as little as you wish. As people read your material there are Pay Per Click ads placed by the sponsor of the site available for readers to click. The number of clicks and the value of each ad will determine how much money you are to be paid.

In my experience the host sites are very well maintained, highly organized, and set up for quality advertisements. The host sites appear to market their site very well also. However the nature of this beast is that you need to promote your own contributions. They do provide bookmarking and some other SEO friendly tools like tags and Meta keyword/description boxes.

Many people have made some supplemental income as a result. For me I found if I was on top of my posts and the related marketing, I made some money. You really need to keep at it though. The uncertainty appeals to some and yet may turn off others.

The moral of the story is that you need to keep at your craft and at the same time diligently pursue the rewarding outlets that the Internet has to offer. And as we mentioned before, often times in life it pays to know people. It is inescapable then to not build a strong network of Net partners. Aggressively hunt down those in need and those who are willing to pay you for first rate work. Seek out the various host pages that offer an open forum for you to submit articles and consider if you have the time and due diligence to make that method work. Never underestimate the power of asking those who are further down the road of success than you are. How did they do it? Do they recommend any specific direction to follow?

And should you decide to accept this mission be prepared for some fun, financial rewards, and some healthy challenges to be met head on!

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It’s only natural to gravitate to Internet related promotion when we plot out our marketing scheme for our web site. And it is very logical and vital to follow through with that plan. In fact we should keep track of what is most effective and what needs to be improved and so on.

We have a variety of options at our disposal including such things as web directories, e mail newsletters, bookmarking, forum posts, back link, affiliate and partnership agreements, and any SEO friendly formula you can apply.

Hold on there “pahdner”, you also need to think outside the proverbial box. Think about, look how many companies look for crossover advertising opportunities or place ads in mediums outside of the obvious. For example TV networks will promote shows on the radio or in magazines, as well as on the web.

Take for instance, a local retail shoe store in my area, frequently runs printed ads but they also send people out to hand out flyer’s and coupons. Or they place them in gyms, grocery stores, laundry mats and so on.

Now some of this is not re-inventing the wheel but it demonstrates that you need to be creative.

So aside from the predictable applications what else can you do to get the word out about your web page?

You could print up flyers, business cards, and announcement cards and hand them out as often as you can. Heck, get an army of your friends to take information to their job or any other place they go where you do not go.

I have seen and heard of people printing up some cool looking T-shirts with their URL clearly in view. And of course at every opportunity be sure to make a verbal reference to something on your site in conversation. Oh, and try not to be obnoxious about it, however.

You could include your web address on letterheads or with your return address information. Sign off letters with your name and web URL, even if it is just a postcard or trivial letter. Text message your information out to people.

I remember as young lad, my father used to use all kinds of “novelty” type promotional items to much success. He placed an ad on school book covers, handed out pens, and some refrigerator magnets.

There are plenty more options. You could create a snazzy bumper sticker to hand out and display. Many restaurants feature lunch/dinner mats with ads. Place your web site ad on a few.

Run local TV ads. Some cable services have a channel devoted to written ads for example. Make a visual ad for TV and targeted markets which could also be posted on places like YouTube.

Many of these are more of a local flavor. And in many cases a strong local presence is all you need. But you can take some of this and widen out. For example, you can place ads in papers and magazines that have national and international distribution.

How are you doing in your devotion to promotion? Obviously some of these choices we have discussed are relative to what kind of operating budget you have and how far along you are in your marketing plan. And don’t forget you are still going to stick with the more traditional promotion methods also.

Nevertheless it is never too early to plan for today and tomorrow. As your site gets off the ground, as with any business, you are going to have to make some decisions on what kind of further commitment you are going to make. Be creative and imaginative as well as cautious and calculated.

But above all, continue to examine and review how you are doing with regard to your marketing strategy and the promotion of your web page.

There is an old expression in sports that says “leave it all on the playing surface”. Same is true in business and marketing. Put all you can into your “baby” and likely things will go well for you.

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It is true we live in a fast paced world where the visual and audio media dominate the advertising market. But don’t be fooled into thinking that the print media is obsolete. It clearly is not.

Now it may be true that readership of newspapers and magazines have declined over the years but the presence and the relevance of the Internet has spawned an entire community who still prefer their information to come by way of an interesting article written with them in mind.

“Attention all writers! Start your keyboards!” Yes, if you like to write, there is a market for you on the Internet. “How does this all work” you ask?

To begin with many people enjoy reading items that are informative and interesting. It is no coincidence that many businesses promote there product/services via a well written article placed on the Internet. It has proven to be very effective. Aside from people preferring to digest information at their own pace it is also a very cost effective way to deliver your message to the public.

In fact it is opportunistic for the advertiser and an aspiring author. From a marketing aspect the article provides a brief and enthusiastic solicitation at a very low price tag. And yet it offers a writer the ability to make an income by doing something he or she loves to do. You may not make a killing off of each article, but you can build up business relationships that will afford you to write in volume and make a nice income for yourself. And there is more.

If you are a writer you will also have a chance to feature your talents and abilities as a writer. This can easily lead to more offers from related sources to write some more. It may also provide the impetus to open other doors related to writing. By continued writing you are building up credentials in the topics you are writing about.

Marketing products and services for others through your gift with words is just one way to make a few bucks from your writing. This writing may lead to an affiliation type partnership with you and other sites of businesses you have written for. That will lead to the posting of ad sense ads or web banners on your site that will earn you some returns on a pay per click basis for example.

The more you get involved the more you will learn about the possibilities in front of you. In fact you will become a better writer by using how to incorporate keywords and vital content elements to amp up the SEO traffic on your site or any site you are working for.

The reality is my fellow penman, there is an audience who wants to read your thoughts and be moved to action by your words. And isn’t that the best part of writing?

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