Do you know your ABCs?

Last night was Karaoke night. Yes, I do Karaoke—albeit poorly. It all started when I was dating this Asian girl. Oh wait, that’s not important.

So, there I am doing my Elvis impression while singing the ABC song. I hope you know the one: “ABCDEFG HIJKLMNOP QRSTUV WX and Y and Z.”

I began to think about how many people I saw daily who were struggling to start up an Internet business or struggling to make money.

The thought hit me. They don’t know their ABCs. I participate at a few forums that are loaded with people trying to do business on the Internet. A common issue with many is their lack of basic business knowledge.

Why is this? Are late-night infomercials to blame? I think so, partly. We now have an entire culture that believes all you need to do to make money is turn on your computer. Ah, I can hear the old the old mantra: “Build it and they will come.”

Rather than learning about business principles, people are simply following advice from others who apparently are doing the same—what a vicious cycle. Rather than learning about the why, they just want to know what to do—quickly. Unfortunately, this almost always leads to failure or very limited success.

There’s a dangerous thought out there that Internet business is completely different from doing business in the real world. While the Internet has some differences, the basics of business still apply. And not knowing them equates to failure on some level.

Whether you read some business-oriented books, go to college, attend some seminars or all of them, you need to grasp the basics of business to succeed.

Site Experiment: One Year - Part Two

The other day I started talking about a site experiment that was started a year ago.

Today, I’ll conclude it. Part one is located here: Site Experiment: One Year - Part One

Costs

While I’m a professional writer, I didn’t write any content for this experiment. Heck, I didn’t even edit it. The idea was to make money without working—a fine goal for anyone.

I limited my budget to $8 per article. For some articles, I got 400 words for that money. For others, it got me less. My main requirement was 250+ words per article. So, let’s say I paid full price for five articles, that’s $40.

Next, I needed a domain name—$7 or less.

On some sites, I paid $10-$20 for directory submission. On other sites, I put the cash in my pocket and just submitted to 5-10 places on my own.

Extras

One of the sites I put up at the end of 2006, using this rule set, was in a smaller niche than main site I’ve been talking about. I didn’t promote the site much at all and I decided to modify the procedure to include a new profit component—e-books. I found an affiliate program for an e-book that I thought my visitors would be interested in.

Despite only earning $10 in AdSense last month, which isn’t too bad given the newness and lack of promotion/content, it made an e-book sale. That sale made me almost $16. It made a sale in the previous month too.

I’m making almost $1 per day for this site with no work. The site has five articles and was given less than two hours of my time from the start of uploading WordPress to the last second I spent on the site. Each day those two hours grow in value.

If you’re going to try something like this, definitely look into adding an e-book or some other informational product.

Good or bad?

Is this a good way to make money on the Internet? For many, putting up hundreds of sites, like the ones I mentioned, isn’t a good idea. They will get confused and bogged down. But, for others it can be an easy add-on to their Internet business ventures.

Yes, it is possible to make thousands of dollars monthly doing this. But only you can decide if it’s a good method to utilize or not.

I think one of the keys of this experiment was my ability to let things go. Don’t try to put out a quality site. Don’t try to make things perfect. Just figure out a way to turn a profit and forget the rest.

Unexpected results

One of the things I found by doing this experiment was that I could find segments to focus on.

For instance, perhaps today I make sites for: classic guitars, gardening, email marketing, learning Tagalog, smoothie recipes, and history books. Months from now I’ll look to see how much money these sites are (or aren’t) bringing in.

If there’s a site doing very well, that’s my indication to focus more in that sector. I like to think of it as a way to get paid while testing markets.

What it is and isn’t

If you’re going to try something like this, you need to understand that your goal isn’t to build a site that’s known and loved. Your goal is to make money—only.

Your visitors will come and leave. Most will never return again. You’re simply trying to get them to leave through one of your paying channels.

Where to start

I’d start by reading Internet Business Entrepreneur—like you are doing right now. I’ll be sharing my quick-start guide for this project in the coming days.

Site Experiment : One Year Later - Part One

In the first quarter of 2006, I decided to try an experiment. I wanted to build a series of sites, do almost no work, and see how much money I could make. It’s been a year and the progress has been nice.

I started out by forming a set of rules for the operation of this experiment. These rules were somewhat against my normal rules of operation (namely not using quality content). Read more

How to set up an LLC and sleep at night

I’m always amazed at the number of business entrepreneurs—maybe even you—who do business online without setting up a company first. If you’re one of these people, you’re just asking for trouble.

Countless people simply turn on their computers one day and start engaging in business transactions. Sure, it’s easy to do, but it’s potentially dangerous.

Back in October, I talked about setting up an Internet business. Today, I will go over the steps to setting up a LLC.

First, let me point out that this information is not meant to be official advice. Consult a professional.

The easiest way to set up your LLC will be to hire a company that specializes in this task. I’m not going to recommend any specific service, but a search in your favorite search engine for “set up LLC” will yield many results.

Typically, a service will charge you their fee plus state fees. For instance, one service I recently looked at charged $139 + state fees for their basic service. State fees vary.

Setting up a Nevada LLC

Okay, let’s go over some basic setup for a Nevada LLC.

Your first step is to visit the Secretary of State Web site for Nevada, which is at sos.state.nv.us.

The URL that has the LLC forms is here:
http://sos.state.nv.us/comm_rec/crforms/llc_index.htm

The forms you will need to fill out are:

1. Limited-Liability Company – Articles of Organization
2. Initial List of Managers or Members

The Articles of Organization costs $75 to file and the Initial List of Managers or Members costs $125. Each year you’ll submit an Annual List of Managers or Members, which costs $125.

So, we’re at $200 initially. You’ll need to either be a RA (Registered Agent) or know one that you can use. A Registered Agent is someone who is located within the state, has a street address, and will accept mail on behalf of your company.

If you setup your company through a service, this should be a service they offer. They may charge a small annual fee, or it may be in your original cost.

The big lesson to learn here is that setting up a company isn’t a one-time cost. Paperwork must be filed, with the appropriate fee, annually. Many services will do this for you and bill you before it’s due.

If you do it yourself, the time it takes to complete the registration with the state depends on the state. If you’re in a hurry, you can pay an expedite fee. For instance, you could speed up your Nevada filing, so it’s completed in one day, two hours or even one hour.

You’ll want to pay extra to get certified copies back. The $60—for two forms—you’ll spend is worth it. These forms will be used at the bank to open a company bank account.

I don’t recommend you do this process yourself if it’s your first time. The little bit of cash you might save won’t matter if something gets messed up.It could end up costing you a lot more.

Most services charge $25 for a Tax ID (EIN – SS4). You can get this for free by going to IRS.gov and filling out the SS-4 form online. It’s really not that complicated. Again, if you have better things to do, the $25 isn’t too bad. Make sure they give you a copy of the form. If nothing else, you can use it as a guide for your second company.

In closing, if you are really confused, check out an LLC book by Nolo Press. They put out good stuff. Their books will help guide you through the process.

It takes money to make money—or does it

You’ve undoubtedly heard the business adage: “It takes money to make money.” Is this true? What does it mean?

Many Internet entrepreneurs—and those aspiring to be one—seem to fall into two camps. There are those that think this business adage means you must spend a lot of money to make money. The other camp believes you can do everything for free.

I’d like to modify this adage to read: “It takes resources to make money.” Now, that’s a cold hard fact.

Whether you spend your time or your money, you’re spending a resource. For some cash is less valuable than time, and for others it’s reversed.

I think many fail to make more money and reach their goals because they have misunderstood this concept.

There’s a large segment in the would-be business population that ends up doing nothing, because they believe that one must possess a lot of money to start making money.

Another segment of that population runs themselves into the ground. This segment believes that time is free and “free” is better than spending money. They either work extra hard for minimal gains or they never get off the ground. Almost all will fizzle out. I’ll go more into this in another article.

Here’s a nugget for you. I’ve been self-employed and doing business on the Internet since 1994. I actually started with mail order marketing before that. When I did my first business venture as an adult, I had about $40 to my name. I was just a young lad. I’m still living off that $40. To this day, I’ve never taken out one loan for business purposes and I’ve never subjected myself to being an employee.

I’m not going to talk about my finances too much, because I believe that’s poor form. There are some key reasons I’m still here and in another article for Internet Business Entrepreneur I’ll go over them.

Remember, it takes resources to make money. Learn what resource mix to use. Don’t fall into the “time is free” camp and you’ll be better off.