Business Owner Helps Others Experience Greater Personal Satisfaction and Productivity

A Coach for Entrepreneurs

Marc Schwartz experienced his first personal development workshop twenty nine years ago, and from that point on he was hooked. “Over these many years I’ve attended hundreds of programs, and from each a nugget was extracted that’s helped me not only survive but thrive.”

This includes starting and building a corporate training and consulting business twenty two years ago as well as several very successful network marketing businesses. According to Marc, he has also presented seminars, workshops, and lectures to over 45,000 people worldwide.

Interestingly enough, there have been many failures along the way to include being involved in at least fourteen network marketing businesses that didn’t work out. It would have been enough to deter most people, but Marc truly believes that he has learned more from these failures than his successes.

“I believe the keys to success in network marketing or any home-based business are having a great product and a generous comp plan,” says Marc. “But first and foremost, we must know who we are and how we can best bring our product or service to market in a way that flows for each of us. If we go against our nature, then everything turns into drudgery and struggle. That’s why I think a lot of people give in… they are tired of swimming up stream against the current.”

One of the greatest contributors to Marc’s understanding about how to build a solid and sustaining home-based business came from a groundbreaking book by Dr. Sherry Buffington entitled The Law of Abundance. This success system is solidly based on the irrefutable laws of physics and explains the unfailing principles that absolutely ensure success to anyone working within this universal law.

“In addition,” says Marc, “I also understood that even though I was an executive coach for my corporate clients I too needed a coach for my home-based business. If people could obtain the change they wanted in their lives, they would have done it by now…on their own. The truth is most of us need help to get on and stay on the track to success. Most of us need a coach to insure that the right behavior shifts occur.” For more information, visit http://energyofsuccess.net/. HBM

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LinkedIn Marketing for Home-Based Companies

The Audiences on LinkedIn That Will Double Your Sales Guaranteed

By Kristina Jaramillo

During a presentation that I was giving at a small business owner’s boot camp, I was asked a very interesting question by one of the attendees: “I am a real estate agent and I am not sure how LinkedIn can help me, since it is a business-to-business (B2B) platform and I am targeting consumers and homeowners. Should I be focusing just on Facebook, which is more consumer-oriented? And, if I should be on LinkedIn, how can I best utilize it to help me obtain more business and clients?”

How Business-to-Consumer (B2C) Companies Can Use LinkedIn Marketing

One of the biggest advantages of using LinkedIn if you are a B2B business is being able to access targeted prospects. Now, it’s quite difficult to do that if you are a B2C company as business professionals are there for these purposes:

¨    Build and cultivate profitable relationships; and
¨    Get the information they need to develop.

However, that doesn’t mean you should not be using LinkedIn marketing and just stick to Facebook and Twitter. Use Facebook and Twitter to build your community of prospects — but use LinkedIn marketing to attract these three audiences that can double your sales:

1. Media Professionals – A recent study showed that 92% of all journalists are on LinkedIn, which is more than any other social networking site.  This means that you have more access to individuals who are looking to quote experts like you or publish articles regarding your industry and how you can help your prospective clients.  By reaching out to these journalists you can develop meaningful and valuable relationships, as they will come to think of you as the expert in your field and ask for your information when they are putting together their next pieces. This extra publicity will give you more exposure to even more prospects and enhance your credibility, so prospects will want to buy from you.

2. Referral Sources – Through LinkedIn, you can build and enhance relationships with key influencers who can provide you with access to prospects you would otherwise not have known, met, or done business with.  Referral sources are valuable tools because they are third party endorsements, and they can act as your sales agent as they want to give their customers and clients more value.

3. Larger Companies That Offer Products Or Services That Are Supplementary To Yours – Smart companies are always looking to increase their revenues by giving their clients and customers more value. Think of the different companies and organizations that can add your products or services to their own at a premium price — and use LinkedIn to build relationships with the different company’s executives.

Your Next Steps

1. Figure out who would be the best referral sources, key influences, types of media, and companies for you to connect with. For example, one of my newest LinkedIn Profile Makeover clients is a real estate agent who is an expert on short sells, foreclosures, and troubled properties. Before we completed her profile, we had her brainstorm who would be the best referral sources which include:

*Divorce attorneys – In a divorce, couples often have a house to sell. Couples also have other traditional real estate assets that often have to be sold in a divorce. Plus, at least one of the parties in a divorce will need to relocate — meaning they’ll need to buy a new house.

*Local bankruptcy attorneys who have clients who have no other choice but to either short sell or go into foreclosure

*Florida attorneys that represent HOA’s so my client can help them with the rental of the property, property management, and eventual short sell

*Accountants who can refer clients to sell their residential or commercial properties to avoid further liability and eventual foreclosure

*Financial planners, estate attorneys, and probate attorneys who want to give homeowners relief from their unexpected financial burdens

*Banks who want to sell their foreclosed properties in the shortest amount of time with the highest net to them

2. Create a LinkedIn profile that is written for the referral sources and media you want to attract starting with your headline. In the headline, identify the audiences you want to connect with — and why they should want to connect with you. In your summary, explain to referral sources how you can be of value to their clients and customers and how your relationship will help them. Also, if you are trying to attract publicity, show the media that you are an expert. Use any media mentions to your advantage in your summary sections as well as having a complete media kit on your profile using the Box.com, Slideshare and Google Docs applications.

3. Stay on top of your referral sources’ and media professionals’ minds. Once you figure out who your best key influencers, referral sources, and media types are, start doing your research on LinkedIn and make connections. When you make a new connection, invite the referral source or media professional to your LinkedIn group where you provide tips, tools, and articles. Every time you are published, featured, or quoted in the media, you should be announcing it to your connections and group members.  This will show them that you are a valuable resource and keep you on top of their minds.  So when a referral source has a client needing your expertise, they’ll think of you. And, when the media needs an expert to quote, they’ll come to you.

So create a strong LinkedIn profile using my Instant LinkedIn Marketing Templates, figure out who would be the best referral sources and media types, and start making connections that can double your sales. HBM

LinkedIn Expert Kristina Jaramillo creates online marketplace opportunities for B2C companies and marketing executives that want to get more publicity, build relationships with key influencers, and double their website traffic and sales. Visit http://www.getlinkedinhelp.com/

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Is Your Website Design Successful?

This really comes down to a fundamental question — what actions do you want people to take on your website?

How To Know If It’s Time To Upgrade

By Natalie Henley

To a lot of CEOs, a website is a bit like owning an older car: It’s given you a pretty good run for your money, and it does what you need it to do. Sure, the mileage isn’t great — but is upgrading really a top priority?

As you are looking at your marketing strategy for the coming quarters and trying to decide whether it’s time to get a new site, or whether you can get another year or two out of your existing design, here is a website design formula to help you make your decision:

Standard Numbers

For many businesses, it’s strongly recommend to consider having a website built on an open source Content Management System (CMS) — for example WordPress, Drupal, Joomla!, Dot Net Nuke, etc. These sites work well, are easy to scale, and typically cost a lot less. An average cost of this type of design is around $5,000-$15,000. You can use $10,000 as an “anticipated cost” of a website design project.

A word of caution: Many companies “know a guy” that does website design out of his basement, or have a cousin in college taking web design classes who is willing to design your website for a steal. Many of these projects go south quickly, so follow the golden rule — you get what you pay for.

Formula # 1 – Got Content Management?  

Is it easy to login and make changes and add pages to your website? If the answer is no, try to analyze the last years’ web changes. Most companies that want to actively gain Search Engine ranking should be making updates to their websites at least 2–4 times/month. Assuming 3 website changes happen in one month, taking 1 hour per change, and the typical website developer hourly cost is around $125:

• 3 hours/month = $375
• 1 year of web edits= $4,500
• 3 years of web edits = $13,500

Looking at the numbers, it’s possible that not having your website on a Content Management System can cost you up to $13,500 over a 3 year period.

Formula # 2 – A Conversion Rate Your Mother Would Be Proud Of

This really comes down to a fundamental question — what actions do you want people to take on your website?

Your conversion rate is a simple calculation based on how many “hits” you are getting, and how many of those “hits” take action on your website. Simply put, a conversion is when someone takes the next step on your site — whether that’s filling in a form, signing up for your email program, buying something, etc. Industry standard conversion rate for companies generating leads is usually right around 1%;  for ecommerce websites, this is closer to 2%–3%.

If you have no idea how many hits you are getting, or how many of those hits are taking action, call your web developer and make sure you have Google Analytics installed on your website, and that Google Analytics is tracking “goals” (which equates to conversions). This program is free and will give you all of this information.

Out of every 100 people coming to your website, if you are driving leads, you should be getting at least 1 lead, and if you are selling products, you should be getting 2 sales. If you are quite a bit lower than these numbers, consider a good website design will easily take you to your 1% conversion. So, if you have a .5% conversion rate (which is where many older website designs are at), a new website design can easily double your leads (or sales).

What’s the value of that? Only your company can assign that value. You will need to sit down and determine whether doubling leads is enough to overcome a $10,000 investment.

Formula # 3 – Planning on Getting to the Top

The last big indicator of whether it’s time to overhaul your website would be whether you want your website to rank in Search Engines like Google or Bing, when your prospects are searching for your products and services. This is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO). If you want to get that great traffic to your website, you must have a good technical website.

As you start to think about the potential of SEO, you should keep in mind that an average website with Search Engine Optimization should see traffic increases by 40% in one year. So, if you are getting 1,000 “hits” to your website each month, a 40% increase means an additional 4,800 hits/year. For lead generation companies, 1% is a good estimate of a conversion rate on a new site design, which equates to 48 leads off of your increase. Over 3 years, this will be 144 leads. Again, your company will have to make its own calculations of whether this makes financial sense.

Most importantly, for these kinds of results, just a website design won’t cut it. These results are more likely for companies who do an SEO and Content Marketing program after a new website is built. That being said, if your company wants to take on an SEO campaign, your website must meet technical best practices.

Set Goals

A website design project can be a huge undertaking for your organization, so it makes financial sense to really think through the ROI and potential before putting your team through this kind of project. Also, to ensure you maintain those return on investment (ROI) goals throughout the project, it’s important to be very clear with your web development firm regarding the results you are expecting from your website. HBM

Natalie Henley has been in the Internet marketing industry for over 5 years and specializes in the Search Engine Optimization, Paid Search & Social Media Marketing fields. She is the Marketing Manager at Volume 9 Inc. Volume 9 creates custom search marketing campaigns for clients, including a mix of SEO, paid search management, social media, local search marketing, and website development for over 100 clients and 200 managed websites. Natalie and Volume 9’s enterprising team leverage search marketing into real bottom line results for their clients’ businesses. They were recently honored by both the Inc. 5,000 and the Denver Business Journal as one of the fastest growing companies in Denver, and in the US. For more information, please visit www.volume9inc.com.

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The Billion Dollar Home-Based Business of Fantasy Football

With daily leagues offering the chance to win cash prizes of up to a million weekly, fantasy sports hits a fever pitch.

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How to Drive More Online Traffic to Your Business Website

Your Business’ Website Will Benefit From Developing A Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Plan

By David L. Brown, Chairman, CEO and President of http://www.Web.com

Does your business have a website? If so, have you ever tried to find it via search engines like Google, Yahoo or Bing? If you have tried and it does not appear at all, or appears well past page one of the search results, then your business’ website will benefit from developing a search engine optimization (SEO) plan.

Today, most small business owners lack the time and resources needed to set up and manage an effective online presence. In a survey conducted by Web.com last fall, more than half of the small business decision-makers surveyed said that they understand online and digital capabilities are very important to their business overall and that web, social media and mobile will increasingly play an important role for their business within the next few years. Yet, many small business owners do not deploy an SEO strategy to help drive increased traffic to their websites.

SEO 101

Simply stated, SEO is the most direct roadmap that leads customers to your website. Effective SEO must be built into your site. SEO evaluates your website’s reach across the Internet – including what people are saying about you on social media. So, ask yourself these questions – Is your business active on social media? Is your website linked to your social channels? Additionally your SEO rating is affected by the key measurements from the search engines, like Google, as they assess the relevancy of your website based on how people search for your website. Google does this by examining a website’s programming code, as well as the key words written in the code. Using a top-down approach, Google reviews the title tags, page description, relevant links – and it also reads website image descriptions to determine your website’s rank.

Is Your Website SEO Optimized?

SEO is the primary tool in which Google reads your website to determine organic ranking in a user’s search. To find out if your website is SEO-optimized, you can simply search Google to see if your website comes up in the search listings. If it doesn’t, your website is most likely not optimized.

If You Do One Thing, Be Consistent

Search engines are looking at your company’s website and social footprint together to understand who you are, what you do and how relevant your business is to searchers looking for your type of business. It’s key that everywhere you focus online that you use consistent words to describe your business and be sure those words are ones that your customers would use when searching for you. It may sound elementary, but even your business name needs to be represented consistently on your social sites and your main company website. Building strong SEO takes time but knowing where to start will help establish your online relevance and credibility. Start with strong, solid copy on your website to describe your business and your value proposition. Then, use that same copy and set up your social pages, such as Yelp, Google+, Facebook, and more. Once you’ve established a consistent footprint on both your website and social sites, build on your website’s credibility by adding unique content. The more unique content you can write and post on your social sites, the more credible you will appear to search engines and searchers alike. With attention and focus, your SEO will improve over time. Keep your messaging consistent, add updated content regularly and pay attention to the key words and descriptions you use on each new page. Be sure to update your website’s SEO tags and descriptions, as well.

In the end, if you want to increase your sales/revenues and have your website show up at the top of search engine results, you must invest time and resources into building an effective SEO plan. You and your business will be thankful you did!

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Hobby-to-Home Business Ideas

Check out these 12 hobby-to-home business ideas!

1. Billiards – With an estimated close to 50 million billiard-pool players in the United States, teaching, holding tournaments, and competing can be profitable for the skilled-knowledgeable player. Billiard Congress of America http://home.bca-pool.com/.

2. Dancing – If you have available space and zoning permits it, open a home-dance studio to teach children, teens, or adults.

3. Exercise – Use your health-fitness degree or certificate to create personalized fitness programs for your clients who have their physicians’ permission to engage in exercises. Shape Up America! www.shapeup.org/.

4. Filmmaker – New camera technology is permitting creative and business savvy individuals to produce their own movies or custom ones for various organizations and/or businesses. Independent Film Production- www.ifp.org/.

5. Home Brewing – Beer lovers all over the world are making their own special recipes to enjoy and sell (with a license) to loyal customers or to local establishments.

6. Inventing – Use your industry and/or hobby training and experiences to create, patent, and license new products or improve existing ones. United Inventors Assn.- www.uiausa.org/.

7. Mentoring (Professional) & Business Coach – Use your business-professional experiences to assist and mentor clients with encouragement and step-by-step consultations in achieving their life and career goals. The International Association of Coaching http://certifiedcoach.org/.

8. Model Building – Hold classes and build replicas of rockets, cars, and other models for online or custom sales. Models – www.hobbypeople.net.

9. Nonprofit-Director (From Volunteering Or Life’s Experiences) – Research and gather financial resources and staff to start a nonprofit organization to foster your mission to help others. National Council of Nonprofits- www.councilofnonprofits.org/.

10. Software Designing – Using your computer engineering skills, design custom applications for clients or to sell independently. Association of Software Professionals –www.asp-software.org/.

11. Woodworking – Create out of recycled or new wood, new fashion furniture, toys, cabinets, and other custom projects for customers, clients, and businesses. Woodworkers’Assn – www.woodworking.org/.

12. Working on Vintage Vehicles (Cars, Motorcycles, Farm) – Restore entire vehicles or parts for specialized full-sized vehicles or collectors’ models. Automotive Restoration Parts & Services Links – http://metalshapers.org/links/restoration/. HBM

Priscilla Y. Huff, www.PYHuff.com, is the author of 101 Best Home-Based Businesses for Women, 3rd ed.; and writes regularly at her blog, “No Thanks. I’ll Work for Myself.” http://nothanksillworkformyself.blogspot.com/.

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​Aweber Vs Getresponse Review To Choose The Best Autoresponder

Professional marketers know perfectly that both aweber and getresponse are great e-mail marketing services. All the autoresponders provides a good number of useful features and capabilities that automate just about the most important marketing processes. Creating mailing lists, keeping them in properly organized records and sequentially sending out customized e-mail to subscriber usually are not some of the tasks any marketer want to do manually. Both email marketing software lead just how in revolutionizing the best way businesses generate leads and gradually increase sales. These are therefore vital for almost any marketing strategy geared towards achieving profitable business growth. This aweber vs getresponse review video provides important comparison that means it is simpler to understand which of these two rival services outperforms the opposite in terms of marketing via email value.
 
The email marketing intentions of offer from either in the services as well as their prices gives you the best idea of the value you will probably have for your company. The options to try drive are slightly different each and every service. While getresponse comes with a 30-day free trial version, with aweber you have to pay $1 to experience their service to the first month. The getresponse free trial gets you immediately started without need for credit cards payment. Amazingly, the trial still lets you test each of the autoresponder%u2019s advanced features providing you do not exceed an established limit of 250 subscribers. Aweber still offers the best value for its $1 trial for your first four weeks because you also get the chance to test the entire selection of onpar gps.
 
Pricing of plans for in the e-mail marketing software is dependent upon the volume of subscribers. Aweber%u2019s most basic plan starts at $19 monthly and definately will limit one to only 500 subscribers. Beyond that you’ll need to upgrade to a higher plan and pay $29 monthly while the amount of contacts is fixed to 2500. Getresponse starts slightly lower at $15 per month but raises the limit of contacts you can handle as much as 1000. Its next plan from then on starts at $25 for a limit of 2500 subscribers, still priced slightly lower than aweber%u2019s comparable plan. Most businesses begin with any sexual affair plans as discussed per service, but these two services also provide more plans in order to manage more subscribers.
 
When you need Google Analytics integration or the ability to import contacts from 3rd party services like Gmail into an autoresponder, getresponse should be your service associated with preference. Aweber fails in the integration contest, nevertheless it still offers extensive reporting capabilities. It is simple to design visually impacting newsletters with services and getresponse featuring its social websites integration capability lets you even share them better.
 
Marketing with email have to be action-based as a way of optimizing results that is certainly why the opportunity to segment contacts into various groups is very important. You’re going to get this feature whether you choose getresponse or aweber, so that you are able to setup autoresponders and customize e-mail for each segment of subscribers. Both these e-mail marketing service tools are intuitive and simple to operate for users coming from all levels of skill. With getresponse you can also easily build your landing pages through dragging and dropping. Users with html knowledge could add their own code when they like to put together their email marketing like that.
 
A/B testing can be found in both services helping to optimize recent results for these business automation tools. Every internet marketer wants the ability to check out different factors of these campaigns to determine the things safer to deliver greater results.
 
This can be another tie for the two services compared in this review. Should anyone ever need assistance from other support teams you can be certain to get fast responses whether via chat or phone. But there are lots of help resources on their sites in case you don%u2019t like contacting support.
 
Still wondering which is the better autoresponder? There isn’t any question that both getresponse and aweber are among the best autoresponders the market industry is offering currently. If the comparisons offered in this review matter much to you, then getresponse clearly edges out its worthy competitor. However, your decision concerning which service is the best depends on what your organization actually needs so far as marketing using email can be involved.
 

Cash-In on a Home-Based Service Business

By Richard A. Henderson, Publisher of Home Business Magazine

Service businesses make up a profitable and major segment of the home-based industry. Most home-based service businesses can be run part-time or full-time. They include business service businesses, personal service businesses, and consulting service businesses. With so many types of opportunities in each of these categories, there is something for everyone. Consider.

A home-based service business can be performed for either a person or a business. That decision is a matter for you, the business owner, to determine, based upon your preferences, capabilities, and time. This is important. It is hard to make a home-based service business work if you don’t like it.

The start-up and operating costs for a home-based services business are substantially lower than that required for home-based franchises. The amount of investment varies with the quality of the training and support provided by the business offering the opportunity. Lower levels of investment get only basic information on how to start and operate a particular business. Higher levels of investment often come with specialized training programs, on-site and ongoing support, and even licensing.

Investing in any business is a decision that carries risk. Minimize that risk by performing the necessary research to check out a home-based service business before you make an investment of time and money:

• What are the start-up and operational costs and can you afford them?
• Does it match the type customers you want to do business with?
• Does it match your skills, lifestyle, home base, and location?
• Does the service business offer training and support?
• Is your cash flow in good shape? How long will it take for cash flow to exceed expenses?
• Look at the market. Is there saturation of the market in your area? ●Evaluate the competition. Is there enough demand to support a new service business?

Before making that final decision on starting a home-based service business, talk to your friends and business acquaintances and brainstorm. Think through the decision and its implementation. Also keep talking to the service business sellers to answer further questions. And before you do sign any contract, review it with a lawyer.

Now is the time to “Cash-In.” The only way to succeed is to “do.” Your hard work and research ensure success in starting and operating a home-based service business. HBM

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Is Anybody Out There?

4 Strategies for Email Marketing Success

By Todd Bates

Should you ever bring up the topic of email marketing, you will certainly hear people complain about the hundreds of emails they receive on a daily basis. They will tell you sob stories about the endless “junk” they receive and how they try to opt-out from all of that “spam” …all to no avail!

They might even give you a strange look (after all, you did bring up email marketing at a party) and start asking you if you are “one of those people” who sends huge volumes of email.

With increased postage rates and the desire to reach your prospects when they are attentive, email has increasingly been the solution. The most recent challenge has become: With so many businesses sending messages, how should you stand out in the crowd? How can you ensure that your message actually gets noticed?

It is essential to have an edge with email marketing when you want to reach new prospects for your business. To cut through the spam filters and be sure that your message is one that someone truly wants to read, consider the following:

The Success You Will Enjoy with Email Starts with Your Offer

When business owners want to improve their success with email marketing, they immediately look at what they are sending. Whether your database holds 200 emails or it holds a million emails, look at how people have come to find out about your company or product before looking at the content of your emails.

Did recipients originally sign up for a newsletter? Did your prospects sign up for information on a specific product line? Did they sign up for a white paper to learn more about a particular offering or service? Far too often the same email messages are sent to every prospect in a database. The person who signed up for the newsletter is looking for something entirely different than the person who signed up for a white paper.

Look carefully at what prospects sign up for and you will start to uncover the issues with your response rates. Look even deeper into your offerings to ensure that they provide enough value that you are actually providing prospects with “real” email. The better you make your offers, the more responsive your prospects will be through email.

An Interest-Piquing Subject Line Can Save the Day

Most business owners take the time to carefully review their marketing pieces before they go out. They might work with a designer on color details for their website or change the layout of a brochure multiple times before it lands in the hands of a potential customer… but what about the time they spend looking at the subject line of an email?

Open your email right now and take a look at the volume of messages. How quickly do you scan the list to determine if you should delete the message, save it for later, or actually read it? Five seconds? Ten seconds? You have just a few seconds to grab a prospect’s attention, which means taking the time to craft a powerful subject line is worth the investment.

Try challenging your original thought as you look to craft engaging email subject lines by asking yourself these questions:

• Interest Piquing: Is there an element of curiosity to the subject line that would make want to find out more?

• Pain: Does the email subject alleviate pain or pound on a bruise that is bothering prospects?

• Benefit: Will your prospects experience a benefit of time, money, or wellbeing if they read on?

Take time to craft your email subjects and watch as your response rates increase.

Not Just Any Email Will Do, Each Touch Must Add Value

While the goal of email is certainly to bring more customers into your store, encourage more prospects to call for assistance, and push potential customers to purchase more of your products online, that can’t be what your emails are all about. Sending emails that are only about sales, new products, or services is a sure-fire way to ensure that your messages are quickly deleted. Look at the content of your emails and ask yourself a very simple question: If I were opening this email as a total stranger, does it add any value to my day?

For most emails received, the answer is that the message adds no value at all. It’s merely an advertisement delivered digitally. Regardless of your industry, it is crucial to create emails that add real value. For example, if you sell clothing, you could share fashion tips. If you sell exercise equipment, you could share fitness tips. Don’t try to disguise helpful tips as sales letters; add real value and your emails will be eagerly anticipated by your prospects… and that’s a win for everybody.

How Many Emails are You Sending?

Even with a database that has a few million records, sending a big “blast” email is not likely to help you achieve your goals. Instead of periodically blasting your database of prospects with offers, consider developing an email follow-up sequence that will keep prospects engaged until the moment they are ready to take action.

A good email follow-up sequence will appear personal, add value, and can allow you to stay in-touch with a prospect for a number of years. In the best cases you will have a different email follow-up sequence for those that have purchased a product or service versus the ones that have not yet purchased anything.

The more time you invest in your email marketing, from crafting subject lines to offering quality content, the more success you will enjoy from your efforts.　HBM

Todd Bates is a leading business consultant, speaker, and President and Owner of Todd Bates Systems. He is the author of the new guide to business success, 6 Steps to Making a 7 Figure Net Income in Any Economy. A graduate of Colorado State University, Bates immediately made a name for himself as an entrepreneur. Using his talent for business marketing and with years of success behind him, Bates dedicates his career to teaching other businesses and entrepreneurs how to thrive. He has worked with over 25,000 individual business owners and has shared his proven techniques with over 250,000 people at speaking events countrywide.

 

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Avoid These 3 Tricks When Treating Your Business to Social Media

Retweets, Follows, and Likes, oh my! With all the different buzzwords flying around and so many networks to navigate, social media can seem like a scary world inhabited by trolls and vampires for any small business. But don’t be afraid! Social media can be one of the most powerful tools your business has in its arsenal when it comes to promotion and marketing.

From reaching out to a new customer base to increasing your company’s exposure, social media plays a huge part in any marketing plan. This Halloween season, ramp up your efforts by following this list of tricks to avoid in order to take advantage of social media’s treats.

Avoid being a Robot, just be yourself!

Halloween is a time of costumes and masks, but this should not translate to your social network. Focus on developing your company’s voice and don’t hesitate to share what it is that makes your company special. Each tweet, post, and share should all help tell your company’s story, which is what makes social media so personable and engaging. After all, you’re talking with your audience, not at them.

Remember, having an engaging tone is only half of the job! Social media is all about sharing and caring, but this doesn’t mean you should share excessively. Avoid spamming your followers with the same message over and over. This doesn’t mean you can only post about your newest blog or tweet about your latest product once. Instead, spread your posts out over the day, and don’t forget to employ the 80/20 rule: 80% of your posts should be sharing someone else’s content or tweets and only 20% of your tweets being should be about your company. Self-promotion is okay, just don’t overdo it.

You can’t be everywhere at once.

Just like trick or treating, you simply can’t get the most goodies if you spend time trying to get to every neighborhood. Instead, treat yourself to the right neighborhood, one where you’ll be able to land all of the best treats straight into your bag. Choose a few social networks that cater to the majority of your intended audience and that you can set aside enough time to properly focus on them. For instance, for B2B lead generation, LinkedIn is a better choice than Facebook and Twitter because more professionals look for information via their business contacts. If your company is more visually-focused, check out Instagram and Pinterest which allow you to share relevant images with your followers. If you’re just starting out with your social media journey, try choosing the networks that already have the most targeted prospects and the largest audiences. You can always explore and test out new networks later.

It’s also important to keep in mind that when you’re choosing which social networks to engage in, having just one social account will never be enough. Limit yourself to just one and you’re missing out on potential customers and advocates who could contribute to your growing brand.

Don’t get caught up in the “followers” game.

It’s easy to get swept up in the excitement of watching your follower counts go up; almost as exciting as scoring a big haul of candy on Halloween night. But this is not the most important metric you should be paying attention to. The number of followers doesn’t always correlate to a successful social account. Stop hoarding those Likes and instead start focusing on increasing engagement through comments and shares instead!

How can you start getting people to interact with you on social media? A great way of breaking the ice is to keep your posts sweet and short, and include pictures. But the best way to start enlisting people’s help with one simple move? Just ask! Ask for their opinions, ask for input, ask them to share your posts, and ask them to comment. You might find that your audience has a lot to say!

Keep it interactive, keep it fun, and keep it social.

With these tips, you can avoid the Boogeyman and start putting social media to work for you this Halloween. Remember to have fun, be social, and above all, never stop learning. Sign up for all the workshops, classes, and courses you can manage in order to keep your knowledge flesh… I mean, fresh!

Happy Halloween everyone! We’d love to hear how your business manages their social media. Comment below with your “must-know” tips!

The post Avoid These 3 Tricks When Treating Your Business to Social Media appeared first on Home Business Magazine.

Two Entrepreneurs Create the BeenVerified Online Background Check Platform

Ross Cohen and Josh Levy are the creators of BeenVerified, a one-stop shop for accessing public data.

Using Public Data with Ease

By Home Business Magazine

When Ross Cohen and Josh Levy were running their own businesses, they constantly struggled to verify the identities of the freelancers they engaged with online. They wanted to know whether these freelancers should be trusted, so they set out to create a solution: the BeenVerified online background check platform. With 7 million app downloads,10 million monthly site visitors, and over $20 million in revenue in the last year, BeenVerified is now one of the leading sources of background checks — and one of the fastest growing companies in NYC!

BeenVerified is an online background check platform that helps people discover, understand, and use public data in their everyday lives. BeenVerified is unique in that it consolidates information from multiple sources, making it a one-stop shop for accessing personal information. They offer free apps for iPhones, iPads, Apple Watch, and Android devices, so whether you’re at your desk or on the go, you can implement a search.
Ross and Josh would describe BeenVerified as “an easy and affordable way to use public data.” “Most people think of public data as being criminal records and contact details, but our data also includes property records, social media information, professional licenses, and more,” Ross says.

BeenVerified has 109,000 monthly members who come from all 50 states and include a diverse mix of men and women of different ages. Ross and Josh promote to their customers via a team of marketers, who spend a majority of their time on search engine and digital marketing. They have also advertised on TV.

Ross and Josh enjoy working from home because they are better able to focus on strategy and complete any busy work that has piled up. “Working from home allows for much needed concentration and productivity that I can’t get in an office building,” Ross says. Their greatest business achievement thus far is the fact that BeenVerified “is still in business after eight years, based on the ideas of two people chatting in a living room.”

Ross and Josh are “really proud” of BeenVerified’s success, but they think the sky’s the limit. “We’re working hard to become a ubiquitous brand that everybody knows, because we think we have a tool that everyone in the country could potentially benefit from,” Ross says. Visit www.beenverified.com. HBM

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CSS Scoping: An Excellent Option for Your Home Business Website

CSS Scoping is one of the technical terms used in the field of web designing and development. In the last few years, the web designing and development field has progressed with the help of the HTML5 and CSS3 techniques. With each passing day, the web designing field introduces new codes and snippets that come along with new improvements and greater enhancements.

Recently introduced is the “CSS Scoping.” Here is a helpful guide to CSS Scoping.

CSS: The Cascading Style Sheet, popularly termed as “CSS,” is a style sheet language used to describe the look as well as formatting of the document that is written in a markup language.

Scope: In the computer programming language, the scope is termed as a computer program in which generally an identifier is in effect, but it can be resolved to an entity when it is visible.

Scoped CSS: The recently introduced and lesser known feature of the HTML5 is the Scoped CSS. It is considered an attribute for the style blocks.

Where to implement Scoped CSS feature?

When the scoped attribute is present, it is important that the user agent apply the specified style information to the style element’s parent element as well as that element’s child nodes. Where do you use or implement the scoped CSS snippets? There are a number of instances where Scoped CSS can prove to be the most favorable option to use while designing a website for your business.

• While working with your web development team or designing a website yourself, you can make use of the global CSS files or the Scoped CSS wherever they need to be implemented. This offers greater convenience to the team as they will not have to ask every time when using a particular web page format.

• You can customize your own styles on your website if you think that there is a competitor website that is similar to your theme. You can create your own global stylesheet with the help of Scoped CSS.

• If you are planning to use widgets through third-party sites, you can make use of in-widget styles that wouldn’t affect the site at any other location. You can also make changes or reset the styles within the widgets as per their convenience.

• You can offer your readers or users the option to stylize different types of tags on the site in the comments section.

• The most important thing that one can take advantage from Scoped CSS is the Content Management Systems (CMS). In CMS, one can come across various options for adding unique markups to the common template areas.

There are many other helpful features of the Scoped CSS that make web designing convenient for the designers and developers.

Things to keep in mind while implementing Scoped CSS

There are certain important points to keep in mind while using and implementing the Scoped CSS feature. Below are listed such important points:

• The Scoped CSS offers greater convenience, but a major issue is that it ends up placing styles everywhere on the web page. You have to use different ID selectors and linked stylesheets within your website.

• Another major thing to keep in mind is to avoid the inline styles that can be quite messy. Inline styles complicate the troubleshooting, add to page weight, and are difficult to overwrite as well as hard to maintain.

• Without the use of proper polyfill, the Scoped CSS may be risky. Browsers that do not support Scoped CSS may declare the CSS effect to the entire web page. It can be disastrous for the website.

Keeping these major factors in mind, the implementation of Scoped CSS can be done easily and effectively.

The Scoped CSS, along with offering you the greater convenience to give an enhanced look to your web page, also involves some risks which should be kept in mind. If one fails to maintain certain criteria while implementing Scoped CSS, it can lead the website to have unexpected results. There are web designing & developing companies you can hire that offer the best Scoped CSS implementation. Scoped CSS may prove to be a very powerful web component for your website.

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From Politics to Entrepreneurship for Home-Based Marketing Consultant

Kendra Y. Hill is the founder of IASA Consulting Group, which specializes in marketing, fundraising and brand management for small business, non-profits, corporations and individuals.

Modern Mogul Starts Consulting Firm to Help Small Businesses In Her Community

Kendra Y. Hill, game changer and  modern mogul, was about to turn in her application to run for San Antonio City Council. Strongly prepared with a campaign manager, accountant, and a publicist, Kendra was ready for her political journey. Her entire focus shifted that same day when she came across the American Express report on small businesses, which cited San Antonio, Texas and Washington DC as the top two cities for small business expansion. Knowing that she could aid in her city’s economic development and bring about the change she wanted to see, she shredded her application for city council and filled out an application to start a business.

Four and a half years ago, she founded the IASA Consulting Group, a boutique consulting firm specializing in marketing, fundraising and brand management for small businesses, non-profits, corporations and individuals. “We provide services ranging from media curation, to website development, to social media – anything that can build a better brand,” she explains. Previously working for the prestigious likes of Spurs Sport and Entertainment, Google, UNCF, and the United States House of Representatives, opportunities knocked but she wanted to take her career further.

IASA Consulting Group is social media heavy in regards to marketing, and offers an excellent referral program for current clients and friends alike. “Our primary customers are small businesses and individuals looking to develop or further their brand and garner more exposure,” Kendra said. “We love working with folks who are starting from scratch as we truly enjoy the creative process.”

With a 99% retainment of her clients, it’s no wonder her business already has three offices in America and is expanding in Europe and South America. Along with her work with IASA, Kendra is currently a partner in both a skincare solutions company and an entertainment marketing firm, and is a Christian television producer.

This fall, Kendra plans to launch the Mogul NU Entrepreneurship Program (Mogul Nurturing University), a 9-month all-digital program focused on developing entrepreneurial skills needed for the future moguls and thought leaders of America. A catalyst and game changer that was awakened at the heart of business, community and service, Kendra has paved a way for herself as a marketing and business professional, mentor and advocate for diversity. Visit www.iasaconsulting.com. HBM

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10 Traffic Building Strategies

By Eric Gruber

Ten strategies can get you loads of traffic very quickly — and for free:

1. Be a guest blogger. Some bloggers solicit guest articles, in which case you can create a blog post and submit it for consideration.

2. Submit your articles to the top, targeted websites and ezines.

3. Trade newsletter articles with other people in your niche.

4. Invite people to become your affiliates, and provide them with articles and videos that they can use on their websites, on their blogs, and in their newsletters.

5. Compile your articles and create viral, re-brandable special reports.

6. Turn your articles into videos and promote them on sites like YouTube.

7. Host a teleseminar and invite experts in your industry to attend.

8. Become a teleseminar guest and promote a squeeze page where you offer a free special report or special incentive.

9. Provide thought leadership content and share information that no one else is providing so others can Tweet and retweet about your content.

10. Promote other people’s products in your own articles and special reports. HBM

Article marketing expert Eric Gruber creates online marketplace opportunities for small business owners who want more website traffic, prospects, and profits. Learn how to write your way to profits with Eric’s new article writing and article marketing coaching program, risk-free at: http://www.getarticlemarketingcoaching.com/.

V18-3 Add: 6/12 HP:

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Generating Hyper-Success

Hyper-Local Mobile Guides

By Home Business Magazine

When Mike Ragsdale launched 30A.com, an online guide to the daily events, restaurants, and activities in a small beach resort area known as “Scenic Highway 30A,” his iPhone app was the first of its kind in Florida. “I never expected it to take off like it has,” said Ragsdale, whose home-based “mobile guide” business has over 350,000 fans on Facebook alone.

Ragsdale created his home-based business as a hobby, but when it started generating over six-figures of annual advertising revenue, he quit his consulting gigs and focused solely on his new hyper-local endeavor. “That’s when it really exploded.”
Soon, friends and fans began encouraging Ragsdale to launch similar mobile guides for other towns, neighborhoods, and resort areas. “Ultimately though, we decided against that approach,” said Ragsdale, a seasoned entrepreneur who once built successful online brands and communities for companies such as AOL. “My friend Jeff Armstrong and I partnered together and created a company that helps people use the same tools that we’ve developed to quickly establish hyper-local guides in their own communities.”

The new company is called TownWizard (www.TownWizard.com), it has helped entrepreneurs, businesses, and publishing companies launch guides in over 130 communities worldwide. Armstrong believes that the appeal to some entrepreneurs has been TownWizard’s surprisingly affordable price tag. “While sophisticated apps can cost $150,000 or more to develop, entrepreneurs can launch their local business for a one-time setup fee of $795, plus $249 per month.”

“We really wanted to make it affordable,” said Armstrong. “It’s obvious that every town and neighborhood will eventually have its own mobile app guide. The only question is, who will be the first person to create it?”

Most TownWizard partners operate their businesses from home, and some of them even have existing full-time jobs. Ragsdale says that his home-based guide business only requires about 30 minutes a day to manage. “But the truly magical thing is that it can be managed from anywhere,” said Ragsdale.

“It took numerous years of hard work to get my business to this point, but now that dream is coming true,” said Ragsdale. For more information about TownWizard, visit www.TownWizard.com. HBM

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Animal Friendly Businesses Gather at the 2nd Annual Vegan Oktoberfest

Home Business Magazine Experts Editor Sherilyn Colleen (left) and Publicity Editor Shannah Carol

Though the endless beer pours and highly-acclaimed vegan LA restaurants offering diverse plates excited the crowd, consuming with a clear conscience is what truly made the Vegan Oktoberfest admirable. Home Business Magazine Experts Editor Sherilyn Colleen and Publicity Editor Shannah Carol channeled their inner German spirit and indulged at the event this past weekend. The second annual festival took place in downtown Los Angeles on October 3rd and 4th from 12pm-5pm at the LA Center Studios, and drew hordes of hungry animal lovers in exuberant fashion to the cruelty-free event.

Proudly holding the title as the world’s first festival to integrate an all vegan cuisine whilst keeping the Oktoberfest tradition alive, a couple thousand guests sampled beers from delicious Westside breweries including Hangar 24, Venice Duck Brewery, The Dudes’ Brewing Company, Ace Premium Craft Ciders (a fan favorite that kept the lines going) and more.

Urban Pie is a mobile wood burning oven pizzeria and Cal-italian catering company serving Southern California.

Food trucks packed the expansive venue offering a plethora of vegan eats, such as Falasophy, a gourmet falafel shop and hummus bar, delectable pizza from Urban Pie, fresh gooey cookies from Shugah Mama, organic burgers offered by Green Truck, and toasty goodness from The Grilled Cheese Truck. HBM especially enjoyed trying the gourmet Charlie’s Brownies, which he makes direct from a kitchen!

DJ/MC Shawn Alexander dropped catchy beats

Guests laughed as attendees busted out their best chicken moves and demonstrated their expertise in the stein holding contests. Oompah and dance music thumped throughout the event from top-notch SoCal performers, including The Munich Boomsteiners and DJ/MC Shawn Alexander! Attendees took home a complimentary beer stein and silly photobooth pics to remember the fun.

Nary Dairy cheese is a natural alternative to animal dairy and is an insanely delcious snack that can be relished alone, on crackers and toast, or added to culinary creations!

Red Pill Productions LLC, a company founded by Los Angeles animal rights attorneys David Edward Burke and Jill Ryther produced the event. A portion of the proceeds benefitted Expand Animal Rights Now, an organization that uses the legal system to help animals.

Southern California businesses benefited from the exposure of their products to thousands of eager vegan food and beer tasters. Consider setting up a stand next year at the third annual event to increase brand exposure and extend market reach. For more information and to check out the many marvelous vendors, visit http://www.veganoktoberfest.com/.

Media Inquiries Contact:
Tiffany Caronia
Phone: 323.459.2138
Email: tcaronia@mac.com

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Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary

One Woman’s Fight Against Breast Cancer Inspires National Business Success

By Home Business Magazine

Rebecca Clay is a woman that cannot be stopped, even when faced with life’s most difficult challenges. Always looking towards her next venture, be it business owner, champion water skier, or black diamond snow skier, the South Carolina native shows no fear. So when faced with the ultimate test of breast cancer, Clay used the same fearlessness and strength to add “survivor” to her long list of attributes.

With a renewed inspiration for life and a desire to give back, Clay had an idea to take a simple bra and transform it into something unique. Embellishing the bras with upholstery trim, lavish ribbons, and accessories turned the once ordinary undergarment into an extraordinary purse. Aptly named Bra-cketbook, Clay launched the business in 2008 with a mission to drive awareness and support to finding a cure for breast cancer. Seven years later, Bra-cketbook has become a national sensation selling in over 300 boutiques in 37 states and Canada.

For over 25 years, Clay has operated a successful interior design practice right from her home. Also launching the Bra-cketbook Foundation, Clay is a true at home business owner, running both companies from two bedrooms. “One is my office, and the other is a purse manufacturing facility.”

The majority of the business’s growth first came from an Atlanta vendor market. “I acquired a permanent showroom at the Apparel Mart. I sold my purses there year-round and swapped them out based on the seasons,” says Clay. High-end boutiques are now Bra-cketbook’s primary markets. “Retailing for over $100, they are special occasion purses and are typically for the girl who has everything,” she continues.

Generating support for The Cure has always been the main goal for Bra-cketbook.  “I have had celebrities Andie MacDowell and Eva Longoria sign my purses for the last four years to generate income for finding a cure, and it has been a huge accomplishment for Bra-cketbook.”

Clay is dedicated to maintaining her work-from-home business model as it allows her to be cost effective and highly productive, never wasting time going into an office. “No rent, no commute, and if I have one spare moment to accomplish a task, I can right then and there,” said Clay. 

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How Writing a Book Can Help Market Your Business

Writing a how-to business book or CEO memoir can introduce business professionals to a vast new audience of potential customers.

Professionals Share Tips & Tricks

By Penny Carnathan

Writing a how-to business book or CEO memoir has become a recognized tool for business professionals marketing and branding themselves and their companies. It helps them establish their expertise while sharing useful information appreciated by readers. Plus, it can introduce them to a vast new audience of potential customers.

It’s a phenomenon that public relations professional Marsha Friedman first noticed years ago. “Everything else being equal, I saw that it was much easier to get clients invited on TV and radio talk shows if they’d written a book,” says Friedman, CEO of EMSI Public Relations, (www.emsincorporated.com), in Tampa, Fla.

“After exploring the reasons, I realized just about anyone with the right message can use a book to boost their visibility,” she says. “Professionals can do it; people interested in securing public speaking engagements; philanthropists; and even homemakers who turn their books themselves into a business.”  So Friedman wrote her own book, “Celebritize Yourself,” explaining her three-step process for developing and using a book to get publicity.

A Powerful Marketing Tool

Today, more than 11,000 business books alone are published each year — and that doesn’t include self-published e-books, according to the authors of The 100 Best Business Books of All Time. “Whether you’re using your book to generate media, speaking opportunities, or new customers, it is the most powerful marketing tool in your arsenal,” says Adam Witty, CEO of Advantage Media Group, an international publisher.

“When you consider that the average book sells less than 2,000 copies, getting rich off of book sales becomes a far away fantasy. But if you use your book to get a feature in your industry trade journal, what is that worth? If your typical customer is worth $5,000, and you use your book to attract and generate new leads into your business, how much more valuable does your book become?”

You don’t have to be a great writer to produce a great book. But, as New York Times best-selling author Michael Levin, CEO of Business Ghost, Inc., explains, you do need to make sure the end product is clean and professional. “You wouldn’t walk into a sales call with a stain on your shirt, and it’s the same with a book,” he says. “The last thing you want to do is publish a book full of typos that gives people the impression you’re sloppy.”

Hire a Ghostwriter

If you don’t have the time or skill to tackle a book on your own, you can hire someone to put your ideas into words. Levin offers these tips for selecting a ghostwriter:

• Make sure ghostwriting is their primary business. Many writers list ghostwriting as one of the services they provide, but if you dig deep, you may find that they have never written a book or have only written a few. Don’t let them learn how on your dime!

• Read the blurbs on the ghostwriter’s website. Are they from famous people, top business leaders, celebrities, and the like? Or is there a run-of-the-mill feeling to the testimonials? Or worse, are there no testimonials at all?

• Contact at least three prior book clients of the ghostwriter. If the ghostwriter can’t give you three names of satisfied customers, game over.

The Next Step Is Publishing

While e-books are an inexpensive self-publishing option, Friedman says printed copies are best for marketing. “As an author, you simply need to determine which publishing model best helps you reach your goals,” says Witty of Advantage Media Group.

He offers these thoughts to consider:

• Ownership of rights and intellectual property: If you plan to re-purpose the content of your book into articles, blog posts, or other products like home study kits, ensure your contract gives you that freedom. Typically, traditional publishing contracts don’t; self publishing or working with co-publishers (where the publisher and author or investor share expenses) oftentimes do.

• Speed-to-market: How quickly do you want your book to be published? With self publishing, it is really a matter of how fast you work! The traditional publishing process can take the better part of two years. Co-publishing options often turn a book around in three to six months.

Friedman concedes that the idea of writing and publishing a book can be daunting, but it’s worth the effort for its marketing value, she says. And there are even greater rewards. “Having written and published my own, I can tell you it was one of my proudest accomplishments and worth every bit of my time and hard work,” she says. “The greatest feeling — one I never anticipated — was hearing from readers who said that my book had made a difference in their lives. That’s priceless.” HBM

The post How Writing a Book Can Help Market Your Business appeared first on Home Business Magazine.

Sell Home Goods with “The Estate Mama”

Mompreneur Offers Estate Home Business and Start Up Consulting

Lisa Kroese founded Experts Estates LLC, an estates sales company.

By Home Business Magazine

Entering the antique and estate sale industries can be intimidating, but the right person can develop the required appraisal, marketing, and business management skills by consulting with “The Estate Mama.”

While pregnant with her first daughter in 2011, mompreneur Lisa Kroese moved with her husband from Pennsylvania to California. They discovered that they spent thousands of dollars moving their things, many of which were broken or did not fit with the house they chose. With the money they would have made selling their furniture instead, they could have furnished their home and saved a lot of stress. Her inspiration for an estates sales company sparked, and Experts Estates LLC hit the market.

Lisa began her lean startup home business when her baby was 4 months old, and she landed her first client within weeks of her launch. “The first thing I did was put together a very affordable but well-written website and I started getting called for consults,” she shares. “Now I get referrals from Realtors, past clients and customers who shop at my sales. We advertise in the local phone book too.”

Half of her sales are from living estates, and the other half are often executors or heirs to an estate. According to Lisa, “There can be a perception that you have to have a huge fancy home with antiques for an estate liquidator to help you, but in reality average middle class homes are full of things that people need and will buy.” Demand for estate liquidation services are high and the estate sale industry is booming.

Though she had the honor of handling the estate of Elaine and Jack Palance, Lisa considers Experts Estates’ greatest business achievement to be her team. “I often have an estate sale booked every weekend for eight weeks straight, and without an honest and trustworthy team that I can rely on, I would never see my husband or my kids,” she says.

Lisa loves the energy and flexibility she gets working from home. “I don’t have to commute and if I wanted to plan 5 vacations a year, I could.” Her Estate Sale Start Up kit is available as a digital download on Etsy. Visit http://expertestates.com and www.estatefushion.com. HBM

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Keys to Marketing- Tips to Successful e-Commerce 2.0

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Growing a Career From a Garden

Man Founds Company Dedicated to Using Localized Resources for Healthy Food Production

Justin Rohner, self-described “new-age suburban micro-farmer,” is the owner of Agriscaping Technologies.

By Home Business Magazine

When the World Trade Center was attacked on September 11th, 2001, Justin Rohner happened to have just signed on to purchase his first home for him and his family. “I became acutely aware of how fragile our way of life was, and I was determined to use my own property and all of its resources to become self-sustaining,” he says. Following this revelation, he founded Agriscaping Technologies.

To coexist with the very strict Home Owners Association’s standards for lawn upkeep, Justin strategically integrated edibles right in his front lawn in a subtle yet beautiful way. “One day I found myself running full-sprint down the street, chasing a young neighbor girl who stole one of my watermelons!” he says. He discovered he was not alone in his desire to have access to fresh, locally grown food. Justin shares, “It all started with teaching that little girl how to gauge a ripe melon — that they ripen best still attached to the vine.”

Justin previously built a number of successful businesses including a business coaching practice. After attending the funerals of three of his grandparents in a matter of months, he decided to re-invent his life and retired from his ventures. In July 2013, he put all of his resources into Agriscaping.com.

The self-described “new-age suburban micro-farmer” explains “Agriscaping” to be an elegant blend of the best of productive, sustainable agriculture, and the best of ornamental landscaping. “We are effectively maximizing the efficient usage of scarce water and land resources, eliminating fresh food deserts, reducing waste, beautifying landscapes, and empowering a new class of agricultural entrepreneurs from all generations,” says Rohner.

Agriscaping Technologies has developed a training program that empowers local gardeners and landscaping professionals to become Certified Agriscapers. The company relies on word-of-mouth and going out in the community to teach people to create their own homestead and grow healthy, fresh food.

“After my three-step commute across the hall, I can dive into my creative work and spend my days serving others in the ways that I see fit,” he says. “Operating from home, there is no distinction between when I am playing or working.” In three years, he sees Agriscaping as a brand that makes a real difference, improving health, self-reliance, and sustainability for millions of people. Visit http://www.agriscaping.com/. HBM

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Breaking Into the City of Magic

Photo courtesy of Michael Grandinetti Magic.

Master Illusionalist Propels Self Made Business from His Home Office

Master illusionist Michael Grandinetti spends most of his life on the road, performing in stadiums, arenas, and theaters around the world. However, when not traveling, Michael steers his now international business from his home-based office, a situation that has greatly benefited the growth of his company.

His journey into building a home based business began 15 years ago. After graduating from Duquesne University with a degree in Marketing, Grandinetti relocated from Pittsburgh to Los Angeles. Already a successful magician in his hometown, Michael, in his words, had to “hit the ground running” to start from scratch in a new city and to begin the arduous process of gaining a foothold in the crowded and competitive world of Hollywood entertainment.

A self-professed workaholic, having a home based office allowed Grandinetti to keep long workdays, often times beginning work as soon as he would wake up in the morning and continuing until late into the night, researching contacts, making calls, setting up appointments, and developing new ideas. Slowly but surely, Michael was building his brand. Now performing over 100 shows per year worldwide, the work certainly seems to have paid off.

To keep himself top of mind when it comes to the world of magic, Michael is constantly pushing to take his work into new areas, from stadiums, to national parades, to performances with symphony orchestras. His work is promoted through focused marketing plans incorporating social media and direct marketing as well as by maintaining continued relationships with existing clients, including theaters, casinos, television producers, and merchandisers, as well as business executives who routinely use Michael’s custom magic and illusions to show off their messages or products in a unique way.

Michael says that his best business achievement has been to transform the dream that he had when he was five years old, to someday be a magician, into reality, while traveling an unconventional career path. When asked about the future, Michael plans to expand his business into additional television productions and long-term theater residencies. However, a home based component of his business will always exist.  “I love what I do,” Michael said, “and being able to wake up and immediately get to work is something that I’ll never change.”

Don’t miss Michael when he stars in “Masters of Illusion” on The CW and “Don’t Blink” on Pop TV this summer! For more information on Michael Grandinetti, please visit www.michaelgrandinetti.com . HBM

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