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You need drive and enthusiasm to start your own online business… but you also need to know what you’re doing! When you start an Internet business, all the excitement you feel can make you want to jump in headfirst without testing the water.

Don’t jump!

Take a breath and look where you’re going… you’ll get there a lot faster.

Before you pay a web designer thousands of dollars… or create a product nobody wants… or waste any time and money on complicated software you don’t need… let’s start with the fundamentals.

1. Starting an Internet business means BUILDING it from the ground up

Starting an Internet business takes time, motivation, and know-how. But when you put in the effort, the rewards can be everything you’ve ever dreamed of. Everything you’ve heard about starting your own business online is true: you can earn more money, have more free time, and spend your days doing something you love (and getting paid for it!).

However, don’t let your positive attitude get you roped into a shady business… don’t think you can just put up an “instant” website that someone sells you and instantly make a fortune. The only profits there are the ones you give to the con artist who sold you.

Nobody’s going to give you free money.

But if you’re willing to learn and you know where to look for information, you’re already ahead of the crowd.

The truth is, there are more Internet business opportunities out there than any one person could possibly find, and some of them are perfect for YOU! You’ve got to be the one to find them!

2. Start an online business by giving the people what they want

I’ll let you in on the number one secret of Internet business: know what your customers want BEFORE you build your website.

I mean it! That one simple tip will save you more time and money than any other piece of advice. Don’t think of the Internet as another place for you to sell widgets – it’s so much more than that. (And it’s already crowded with widget shops!)

Search engines have made it possible to find anything online… if it’s there.

Before you commit yourself to a specific product or service, find out if people are looking for – and not finding – it. If people are searching for left-handed bowling balls, then give them left-handed bowling balls. But DON’T just open “Lefty’s Bowling Site” without making sure there’s a market!

Your goal is to find an underserved niche market and become the go-to guy before someone else does. And when you do that, you’ve got yourself a genuine Internet business!

3. Do it right the first time — get expert help

Experience is the best teacher, and that’s the way I learned. IMC is built on the idea of trying something, learning from mistakes, and doing things better after every failure.

Butt you probably don’t have the time to try, try again… and failure is expensive! That’s why so much of what I do is trying to get people to learn from my mistakes instead of making their own.

Its absolutely essential to arm yourself with information and knowledge. You can read articles and blogs, join a discussion forum where experts share information, or get your hands on online marketing courses, videos, and guides that teach you what you need to know.

You’re going to need to know the basics of website building, writing salescopy, and search engine optimization. Without a structured plan and a little help, that could take a while.

But there’s good news: if you’re willing to learn, you can find teaching tools and resources in every shape, size, and learning style. Whether you want everything you need in a book so you can learn at your own pace, or you’d prefer having a mentor looking over your shoulder every step of the way, it’s up to you to choose the method that suits you best.

When you start your own online business, it can be a fun and rewarding experience. And when those rewards are financial, it’s more than fun… it’s laughing all the way to the bank!

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Filed under: Marketing

Adobe Dreamweaver is a great piece of software which demystifies the business of creating a web site. However, it is also packed with a whole host of features which can seem a little daunting when you first start using the program. This article aims to explain how create a basic web site, where to start and which tools to use.

Before you start, you should have a clear idea of what information you want to display in your web site and the options that will be available to visitors. It’s best to start with an achievable goal, a project that you can bring to a satisfactory conclusion. Don’t attempt an “all singing, all dancing” e-commerce site as your first project.

The second important pre-Dreamweaver operation is the creation of a “local root folder”. This is Dreamweaver jargon for the folder that contains all of the files which form part of your site. You can create it anywhere: your desktop, your hard drive, a network volume, etc. However, it is important that you only put your site files in this folder and nothing else.

It is also very important to create a folder within the local root to hold all your images. This will help prevent you ending up with missing images on your pages since, when we define the Dreamweaver site, we will designate this folder as the default images folder.

Having created the site folders, you are ready to complete the Dreamweaver site definition. Launch Dreamweaver and click on New in the Site menu. When the New Site dialogue appears, click on the Advanced tab. This will allow you to complete the two essential categories required for a basic site: Local Info (relating to your version of the site) and Remote Info (the live version of the site.

In the Local Info window, enter a name for you new site then specify the location of the local root folder and default images folder you created earlier. The easiest way of doing this is to click on the browse icons next to each of these two boxes (the yellow folder icons).

The second piece of information is Remote Info. In this section, you tell Dreamweaver how to connect to the server hosting your web site. Set you Access Method to Local/Network if you are working on an intranet site then browse to locate your intranet server. Choose FTP if you are working on a public website for the internet and enter your FTP login details in each of the boxes. This information will be supplied by your web hosting company.

Before actually putting any content in your pages, you should ensure that all the pages you mapped out in your original plan have been created and saved. So, instead of creating and completing a page at a time, you create and save every single page. This will prevent the creation of links that don’t work properly because, when you come to create a link, the page you are linking to will already exist; you point to it and ask Dreamweaver to create the link.

There’s still one more step that you should do before you are ready to actually start work on the page content; you should create at least one template. Templates allow you to maintain a consistent look and feel throughout the site. It consists of fixed elements, such as logo and navigation links and what Dreamweaver calls “Editable Regions”. These are the areas of the page which can be altered each time you use the template.

Having finished your template or templates, you are ready to build the web pages that will constitute your site. Simply open each page, choose Modify – Templates – Apply Template to Page and then add the text, images etc. that make up the page.

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Filed under: Software

ISO 10013, Guidelines for Developing Quality Manuals, gives an example of a documentation structure for ISO 9001 quality management systems. While this document suggests using a three-level structure, most companies implement four-level documentation structures to include records, as required by element 4.2.4 Control of quality records, of the ISO 9001:2000 Standard. A typical four-level documentation structure includes:

Quality Manual – level 1

Procedures – level 2

Instructions – level 3

Records – level 4

While auditing systems like the one above, I always asked clients about the position of their quality policy in this structure. If you start from a quality manual, how go you know what standard this manual should cover? The quality policy defines it and therefore it should be included into the structure:

Quality Policy – level 1

Quality Manual – level 2

Procedures – level 3

Instructions – level 4

Records – level 5

Document titles for your ISO 9001 QMS

As you may have noticed, the titles of the documents in the structure above are quite short. Various companies use different conventions for their document titles. For example, one of my customers titled their quality manual as “Quality Management System Quality Manual.”

This tendency to use long titles and document identifiers like “Standard Operating Procedure” most likely comes from regulated industries. Even though I could not find a requirement for such title formats, many companies still use these apparently outdated and ineffective conventions. If a short name sufficiently describes a document, let’s use it. I suggest streamlining all elements of management systems. Consider this and do not make your system more complicated than it can be.

ISO 9001 QMS document numbers

No standard prescribes to give a part or a document its number. It is an industry standard to give a document or a component its name, number and a revision level. Similar to part titles that we discussed above, document numbering conventions are often also may be optimized and simplified.

A company had some 130 employees. They had two part number formats: one for procedures, another for drawings. Procedures used XX-XXX number format. Drawings were numbered as XXXXXXX-XXX. One of the drawings had a number 000022-003. Assemblers simplified the system and called it “twenty two.”

Do these long numbers identify documents? Yes, they do! Are they economical? No, they are not! My customer’s system above allowed seven digits and therefore could deal with ten million documents or part numbers. When I worked with this business, they used some 300 documents. If one plans to grow from 200 – 300 documents to a million, one has a long way to go! It is not only how many documents your QMS uses, reading these long strings with five sequential zeros gave everybody headache. Even though this example looks too complicated, “The Worst Part Number” Grand Prize won my other client. They used 14-digit alphanumeric part numbers!

I hope it is clear that only when extensive part numbers are justified, we do not have other options. If you build helicopters or satellites, you, no doubt, will need millions of parts and therefore will need long part numbers. If not, make your life easy and stay away from all those zeros. The most practical system I worked with used a three-digit format for their part numbers. 202, 203, 204, and so on. Worked just fine!

There is another opportunity for improvement of many QMS – part number designation. Many companies relate a document number to a document type. For example, 20-xxxx indicates a procedure, 30-xxxx indicates a drawing, SOP-xxxx indicates a standard operating procedure, etc. My practice with a few QMS that used designation approaches showed that “no designation” systems are more practical. Several QMS that used designation I have worked with have failed. Not long ago, one of my clients mentioned that they ran out of range in their document numbering format. The QMS initially permitted for identifying suppliers through a two-digit identifier within the part number. While the company grew, the number of supplier increased beyond expectations and eventually the company needed more than 99 suppliers. This resulted in the document number format to being able to support new needs.

To get around this issue, there is a simple solution – a “no designation” system. Part or document numbers in such systems are assigned sequential unique numbers. Areas of use, materials, suppliers, and other attributes are not reflected in part numbers. Moving in this direction, you can simplify your system even more. I worked with a company that did not use document No. at all. That documentation system used just document name followed by a revision number, like Process Validation Protocol AB.

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Filed under: Business

Did you know that there are many different ways of making money on the internet? The internet is just loaded with people day and night, year after year, and they are all searching for something to buy, something you could sell to them.

There are two primary options of getting visitors, which is also called traffic, to come to your website. You can either get them for free or you can pay for them. Both options need to be studied carefully before you dive right in.

If you have a nice lump of cash, then I would instruct you to begin your efforts with PPC or pay per click. Many folks try this option of advertising first, and then learn they can go through wads of money very quickly.

I warn of making mistakes early on, because you will eventually need some money to help your marketing efforts, and if you blow it on something stupid you will be out of luck.

One of the best things you could do for yourself, is signup to a free newsletter course that will help you learn all about making money online.

The first steps you will take will be learning how to design a simple website. You won’t get anywhere in the online world without a website to fall back on. It is next recommended that you seek out free ways of advertising and spreading the word.

Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t be a success. It takes time, but if you stick at it, you will get there. I did and so can you.

The foundations of marketing are roughly the same as they always have been, minus a few technacalities. This leaves you plenty of room for using the same marketing method over and over again.

Well that’s about it when it comes to a general overview of marketing. You can either pay for your traffic or get your visitors for free. The choice is yours and yours alone, so make the best of it.

To find out more information about paid advertising, search for “Google Adwords” in the Google search engine or “Yahoo Search Marketing” in Yahoo.

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Filed under: PPC Advertising

The movie HOLES follows the trials of Stanley Yelnats, played by the amiable Shia Leboeuf. He is a teenager convicted of a crime he did not commit and is soon sent to Camp Greenlake for punishment. Despite its suggestive name, Camp Greenlake is located far from any lakes, deep in the desert. Here, Stanley and other interred kids work by digging holes — hence the name of the story. That is all Stanley and his friends do: dig holes for hours on end. What they did not know is why.

While interred at Camp Greenlake, Stanley finally makes a friend named Zero, who seldom speaks. During lunch one day, Stanley tells the rest of the boys what he did to earn his place at the camp. He claims a pair of sneakers had fallen and hit him on the head — before he could explain, he was arrested for theft. Turns out the sneakers belonged to a famous ball player, named Clyde “Sweet Feet” Livingston, who had donated them to an orphanage. Alarmingly, Zero asks him if they were white with red stripes. Stanley, stunned, asks him “How did you know?”

Eventually, the two boys become close friends. Zero explains his name is Hector Zeroni, but because he never speaks, people assume he is an idiot, hence his nickname. They forge an agreement wherein Hector agrees to dig the holes if Stanley will teach him how to read. This arrangement does not sit well with the other boys and they report Zero to the camp doctor. Hector ends up hitting the doctor with the shovel and runs off into the desert. Fearing for his friend, Stanley devises a plan to get away and find him. Twist and turns abound as you find that these two boys’ families are entangled for several generations.

Indeed, if you enjoyed the film, you will lose yourself in the book. Details and developments abound, more than the film had time for. HOLES, the book, written by Louis Sachar, has been bestowed with a number of notable awards, among them: the Newberry Award, the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, and the Missouri Mark Twain Award.

It is easy to see how the book was so deserving. Though considered a piece of light fiction, it managed to touch upon some very serious issues, including child mistreatment and even racism. Most of the concerns were included in the film, since indeed the author also wrote the screenplay. The most striking difference concerns Stanley’s character. In the book, he was overweight and many of the issues in the book stem from his lack of self-esteem because of his weight.

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Filed under: DVD