[Updated 11/23/08]
Family values describe the principles members of a family practice and live by. Values vary in each family, depending on its cultural roots and background. As young members arrive and grow in a family, their concept formation and behaviors are naturally influenced by their parents as well as one's family values. Even so, it is necessary to constantly remind your young children of the principles and the values you believe in. How would you do that? I'll share with you some of the mechanisms my wife and I used and still use in raising our two kids, now at 11 and 14.
#1 Spending time alone with each of your kids
Many kids do not care about what their parents tell them to do or not to do. They have totally different thoughts - something their parents do not understand, either. I have found that communication with kids is perhaps the basic foundation of parenting and that communication must be conducted at personal level. I have personally spent lot of my time with each of my kids privately. We talk about all kinds of things from what they did at school that day to why the world has become "flat." I also take opportunities to discuss articles I find interesting in the newspaper or magazines. The more time you spend with your kid(s), the stronger bond you will have with him or her. To me, this is the most important practice, that I want to show my love of my children through connection and understanding.
#2 Set clear expectations
It is very common that new students make more mistakes or violate more rules in class. It is not because they are not as good as the other students who have been around, but because they do not know the expectations of their teacher. That is why experienced teachers spend the first day of school telling their students about the effort and behavior expected in class. In elementary schools, the most common way the teacher does this to write down the class rules and maintain a behavior chart for tracking purposes. In my family, all four of us have agreed on a set of rules that we would like every family member to follow. We call these rules our "Family Laws" that reflect our family values. In making our family laws, we discuss and explain to our kids the concerns as well as reasons. The rules will be more effective if we have buy in from our kids. While practicing our family laws, we maintain a chart on our refrigerator that shows the accumulated points rewarded by following the rules. Of course, there are penalties stated in our laws when the rules are broken. We also review our rules every quarter to address the needs.
#3 Reward points or celebrations instead of cash
Many kids do not have a good understanding of money. Needless to say, they do not know how to manage it. My wife and I prefer not to give our kids money, until they have a better grasp on the concept. We taught them the concepts of liabilities vs. assets and saving vs. spending. We discussed why Americans are perceived as reckless spenders with a personal savings rate of 0.7% of their income (as of October 2008 in contrast to 25% in China.) That is why we choose points over cash for rewarding good behaviors or accomplishments. (It is the opposite of the rewards that you expect from your credit cards, though.) We also celebrate almost every week about anything, such as, being a good helper, being a good citizen according to our family laws, or getting a complimentary comment from the teacher. We prefer to recognize a good effort they make, even if it is tiny, rather than having a huge birthday party.
#4 Be a good role model
Our family laws are for all members in our family, not only for the kids. Parents earn respect from their kids by following and not violating the same rules. Kids not only inherit genes from their parents, but also mimic their behaviors. If you do not want your kids to smoke, quit smoking yourself.
#5 Play by rules not emotions
One purpose of our family laws is to teach our kids to handle things by law, not by emotion. Many parents get upset by nature, when their kids make a mistake or conduct bad behaviors. The problem with that is sometimes kids get too many penalties or too little depending on how upset their parents are at the time. That is both unfair and confusing to the kids. That is not the way our society works, either. Both prosecutors and judges must abide by the law regardless of their personal feelings towards the defendant or the case being handled.
#6 Start early
It is much easier to correct a behavior before it becomes a habit. Whatever principles you want to follow in teaching your kids, it is always more effective to start earlier than later. All of the ideas I have discussed in this post can be practiced in many different ways according to the maturity of your kids. Even though babies are not able to speak, you will be surprised that they do sense or feel differences from various responses of their parents.
Summary
There is no end when it comes to educating our kids. There is always room to learn more and improve. I hope you found these ideas useful. Before you try any of them, keep in mind that every kid is unique. You may have to apply the ideas to accommodate uniqueness of your kids. Lastly, do not forget your love with your kids is the foundation of all these ideas.
Read this post on eHow, HubPages, and Squidoo.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Prepare Kids For Entrepreneurship
[Updated 11/15/08]
As I mentioned in the Birth of Project BKO, I took the challenge of this business adventure as a way to teach my kids what entrepreneurship is about and what opportunities it would lead to.
My son is 14, and my daughter is 11. My son is a freshman in high school, and my daughter is in the 6th grade, respectively. Although both have done a great job at school, I have wondered if they would grow up to be middle-class workers like myself. If they were not given opportunities to be part of a business, they would probably have no ideas about how to start one of their own. I think the best way to "teach" our kids is to engage them directly in what we want to show them. Engagement is the key part of parenting, in which I have believed in.
Book Smart v.s. Street Smart
Education is key to one's success, though not everything. We have seen in Donald Trump's Apprentice show on TV, that the people who were hired must be both book and street-smart. We have seen college drop-outs like Bill Gates have huge success in his career and create one of great of the greatest companies in America's history. I admire his great courage at such a young age. Be aware that Mr. Gates did not make a blunt move, after he woke up early one morning. He had been working on something alongside his studies for some time, and was able to make a brisk decision when the opportunity came by.
Entrepreneurship is the Life-Blood of America
Entrepreneurship does not always begin with a business. There are steps to prepare kids before they can get the hang of a business. The key here is that they must take actions on a business-related idea. For example, they can start with a lemonade stand at the front of the house. They can also get a summer job in a fast-food restaurant or another organization. They can start selling candy door-to-door, with adult supervision, of course. I even consider trick-or-treating on Halloween a fun exercise for entrepreneurship, because kids gain confidence in door-to-door selling by knocking on doors, and then gaining a reward.
That is the kind of preparation in which I would like my kids to be part of at their young stage in life. It is fine, if one is not aware of the existence of an opportunity, but is depressing, if he or she finds himself or herself unprepared, when the opportunity finally arrives.
Read this post on Squidoo.
As I mentioned in the Birth of Project BKO, I took the challenge of this business adventure as a way to teach my kids what entrepreneurship is about and what opportunities it would lead to.
My son is 14, and my daughter is 11. My son is a freshman in high school, and my daughter is in the 6th grade, respectively. Although both have done a great job at school, I have wondered if they would grow up to be middle-class workers like myself. If they were not given opportunities to be part of a business, they would probably have no ideas about how to start one of their own. I think the best way to "teach" our kids is to engage them directly in what we want to show them. Engagement is the key part of parenting, in which I have believed in.
Book Smart v.s. Street Smart
Education is key to one's success, though not everything. We have seen in Donald Trump's Apprentice show on TV, that the people who were hired must be both book and street-smart. We have seen college drop-outs like Bill Gates have huge success in his career and create one of great of the greatest companies in America's history. I admire his great courage at such a young age. Be aware that Mr. Gates did not make a blunt move, after he woke up early one morning. He had been working on something alongside his studies for some time, and was able to make a brisk decision when the opportunity came by.
Entrepreneurship is the Life-Blood of America
Entrepreneurship does not always begin with a business. There are steps to prepare kids before they can get the hang of a business. The key here is that they must take actions on a business-related idea. For example, they can start with a lemonade stand at the front of the house. They can also get a summer job in a fast-food restaurant or another organization. They can start selling candy door-to-door, with adult supervision, of course. I even consider trick-or-treating on Halloween a fun exercise for entrepreneurship, because kids gain confidence in door-to-door selling by knocking on doors, and then gaining a reward.
That is the kind of preparation in which I would like my kids to be part of at their young stage in life. It is fine, if one is not aware of the existence of an opportunity, but is depressing, if he or she finds himself or herself unprepared, when the opportunity finally arrives.
Read this post on Squidoo.
Labels:
education
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Improve Your Financial Status By Managing Spending
[Updated 2/13/2009]
Like it or not, American consumers are perceived as reckless spenders. According to the Federal Reserve Bank in October 2008, the personal savings rate for Americans is 0.7% of their income. This is a sharp contrast to 24% for the Chinese. I have read stories about the foreclosures and financial stress of some unfortunate people. I sometimes find interesting things in the pictures that came with the articles. For example, I clearly remember a lady who was facing the foreclosure of her house, who was siting in front of her RV with a cigarette between her fingers and two soft drinks on her picnic table. I later used that picture to teach my kids about what I thought was wrong with that picture.
I am not suggesting that an RV, a pack of cigarettes, or a couple of soft drinks would save her from her financial trouble. I do think that her luxury lifestyle was somewhat related to her financial trouble, though. If you are starting a business, I suggest that you keep in check how you and your business spend your capital, especially during the current "credit crunch."
Understand and Budget Your Expenses
First of all, you should secure the financial resources necessary for at least covering your basic living expenses and the capital needed for your business. If you are starting an internet business as a sole proprietor, you should at least have a computer with access to the Internet. For a starter, an entrance-level desktop computer would cost you about five to six hundred dollars. A basic DSL service costs you about thirty to forty dollars per month.
To assess your financial situation, you should have a good understanding of all your expenses. Software like Intuit Quicken and Microsoft Money can help you record your expenses and analyze where your money goes. Alternately, you can refer to the annual spending report from your credit card companies. With that big picture at hand, you can take strategic and conscious actions in restructuring or cutting your expenses.
Some More Tips
If you have made some strategic changes in your spending and are still in need of some small ideas, below are some tips that might help. The guiding principal here is: "Buy what you need, not what you want."
Like it or not, American consumers are perceived as reckless spenders. According to the Federal Reserve Bank in October 2008, the personal savings rate for Americans is 0.7% of their income. This is a sharp contrast to 24% for the Chinese. I have read stories about the foreclosures and financial stress of some unfortunate people. I sometimes find interesting things in the pictures that came with the articles. For example, I clearly remember a lady who was facing the foreclosure of her house, who was siting in front of her RV with a cigarette between her fingers and two soft drinks on her picnic table. I later used that picture to teach my kids about what I thought was wrong with that picture.
I am not suggesting that an RV, a pack of cigarettes, or a couple of soft drinks would save her from her financial trouble. I do think that her luxury lifestyle was somewhat related to her financial trouble, though. If you are starting a business, I suggest that you keep in check how you and your business spend your capital, especially during the current "credit crunch."
Understand and Budget Your Expenses
First of all, you should secure the financial resources necessary for at least covering your basic living expenses and the capital needed for your business. If you are starting an internet business as a sole proprietor, you should at least have a computer with access to the Internet. For a starter, an entrance-level desktop computer would cost you about five to six hundred dollars. A basic DSL service costs you about thirty to forty dollars per month.
To assess your financial situation, you should have a good understanding of all your expenses. Software like Intuit Quicken and Microsoft Money can help you record your expenses and analyze where your money goes. Alternately, you can refer to the annual spending report from your credit card companies. With that big picture at hand, you can take strategic and conscious actions in restructuring or cutting your expenses.
Some More Tips
If you have made some strategic changes in your spending and are still in need of some small ideas, below are some tips that might help. The guiding principal here is: "Buy what you need, not what you want."
- Credit Card Interest: Try to pay off your credit card debt in full and on-time to avoid the high interest rates charged by the credit card companies. It would greatly improve your credit rating and allow you to qualify for business loans at lower rates. If you really need the money for your business, consider a home equity loan that is at a much lower rate and tax-deductible.
- Insurance: You have to change your mind-set when looking at your insurance policies. Insurances are the safety nets for big losses, not for casual bad luck. Avoid small claims, if possible, because the insurance companies are likely to raise your premiums at the next renewal. Raising the deductibles significantly of both your auto and/or home insurances can save you lot of money.
- Cell Phone: How much does your cell phone plan cost you every month? You should consider a less costly program or even a GO phone (pay as you go) based on your usage. Take advantage of night and weekend minutes that are often free-of-charge. Save the money for new ring-tones and pay for the features that are absolutely necessary. Similarly, you should review your phone bills for your local and long distance phone services.
- Entertainment: You may be paying too much to your cable company or for your satellite TV. Cutting down your time on TV may actually benefit your business. If you agree, consider terminating your TiVo or NetFlix subscription altogether.
- Travel and Gas: Defer your travel plans to Europe or Asia. With the dollar weakening in recent years, you end up spending more for less. Consider shorter trips instead, which would benefit your local economy. Also, cut down on unnecessary rides to save on gasoline. Trade in your SUV for a smaller car or a hybrid, if that makes sense.
- Food and Drinks: Spending on food is normally small compared to other types of spending. Going to restaurants daily or too often could be costly, though. Drink water instead of soft drinks, which are bad for your teeth and health over the long term. Drink tap water that is as good as bottled water and does not harm the environment. Lastly, enjoy home-made coffee and save the trip to Starbucks.
- Newspapers and Magazines: If you are paying subscriptions to printed newspapers or magazines, consider reading the equivalent contents on-line. An RSS reader such as, Google Reader, helps you find and organize your contents-of-interest . The RSS feeds are more up-to-date than the printed newspapers. Best of all, they are free of charge.
Believe it or not, these tips can easily save you hundreds, if not thousands, every year. Plus, use the saved money to invest in your business' assets to further maximize the power of the money. What money can be made easier than this?
Labels:
economy,
finance,
smart shopping
Friday, October 24, 2008
How to Write a Winning Business Plan
[Updated on 12/10/08]
Before you start your business adventure, you should have a business plan as the blueprint of how you want to go about it. A business plan provides you and your team with the guidelines and the execution plan to materialize your vision. Your business plan should span over three to five years, or even longer. A good business plan also makes it easier for you to raise capital or discuss your business with potential partners. A thorough plan includes a "plan B," just in case plan A does not work out as you expected. Keep in mind that a business plan is a live document that can start as a draft and evolve over time. In fact, it is very important that you put in place a list of checkpoints or milestones for periodical reviews and revisions.
Here are some key elements for your business plan:
Before you start your business adventure, you should have a business plan as the blueprint of how you want to go about it. A business plan provides you and your team with the guidelines and the execution plan to materialize your vision. Your business plan should span over three to five years, or even longer. A good business plan also makes it easier for you to raise capital or discuss your business with potential partners. A thorough plan includes a "plan B," just in case plan A does not work out as you expected. Keep in mind that a business plan is a live document that can start as a draft and evolve over time. In fact, it is very important that you put in place a list of checkpoints or milestones for periodical reviews and revisions.
Here are some key elements for your business plan:
- Mission Statement, Business Goals and Objectives - What is the mission do you want to achieve via your business adventure? What are the goals and objectives following the mission statement? Your mission statement and business goals/objectives should be loud and clear as well as coherent. Be specific, so people who read your business plan immediately are set in the correct context before reading further on about details.
- Market Analysis and Strategies - The term "market" refers to customers. You have to spend time studying the market and identifying your customers. Who are your potential or targeting customers (using profile information, such as, geography, age, gender, income, occupation)? What would they buy (using factors, such as, features, packaging, volume)? And, why (e.g. brands, price, motivation)? Based on the analysis, you'll be able to identify the market segments and estimate their potential sizes. If you are a new comer in the market, consider growing from a niche market rather than the general. You will have to explain how you come to the conclusion that opportunities exist there. How big is the opportunity window (e.g. one or five years)? Are there any competitors? How big are they? What strategies do you plan to deploy to reach out to your prospects and compete against your competitors? For example, your top-down or pushing marketing strategy would be to develop close relationships with your partners and value-added resellers (VARs). Your bottom-up or pulling marketing strategy would be to raise the awareness of your prospects via TV commercials. In any cases, you must be customer-focused and market-driven to succeed. Analyze customer behavior changes and watch out for the trend breakers (e.g. climate changes and rising oil prices). You must be loyal to your customers, before they become loyal to your business. Don't hesitate to reward loyal customers.
- Operation Plan - This section describes how you plan to operate the business. Is it a local shop or an on-line store? If the latter, how is the site going to be hosted? How big is the team? This is the place where you put down all the implementation details of your business. How do you run the business to achieve both effectiveness (i.e. do the right things) and efficiency (i.e. do the things right)? To be effective, you need to find the right approaches to solve the problems or handle the challenges. To be efficient, you have to focus on crisp execution and performance optimization. Exercise your best judgment knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your business. Lastly, timing is critical. For every small business, time-to-market is always at the top in prioritizing numerous of daily tasks, especially when the opportunity window is small or approaching.
- Financial Plan - Starting a business takes patience and persistence. Your business plan should at least span over three to five years, like I said before. You should lay out the plan of how to raise the capital. Based on your operation plan, try to answer the following questions. What are the costs of the goods? How much in expenses for salaries, equipments, and utilities will you have? Do you plan to get a loan? How much is the loan amount, the interest, and the related expenses? Or, are you looking for any venture funding? What is the estimated operating profit? Carefully project the revenue your business is likely to receive. Be prepared that your business is not likely to have any substantial profits any time soon especially during the economic down turn. Consult your financial adviser or accountant for proper tax planning and accounting practices.
- Milestones or Checkpoints - Your business plan should include checkpoints, for example, every three or six months. You have to set quantified and measurable objectives for each checkpoint including the financial goals. At each checkpoint, you will review your progress and financial situation to see whether you have to make any adjustments to your original plan. I also recommend you do it with your family members, friends, or business partners who can give you objective opinions. The intention is to have an honest look at where you are and make sure you are on track according to your business plan.
A few final words about a winning business plan
Believe me, you do not need an MBA degree to set up a business plan. You can find useful information in books, such as, Business Plans for Dummies (the link is included at your right for your convenience) that contains in-depth discussion of every aspect of business planning. You can find very useful information at U.S. SBA (Small Business Administration) web site. SBA is a government organization whose main charter is to help small businesses. They also provide various workshops for small business owners including writing their business plans. Keep in mind that a long business plan is not necessarily better than a shorter one. Remember, a winning business plan is to get your points and ideas through whomever you will be talking to about your business. You may feel it is bureaucratic and time-consuming. But, in my experience, you will be rewarded for the time you spend. If necessary, you may always seek professional help.
Read this post on eHow, HubPages, and Squidoo.
Read this post on eHow, HubPages, and Squidoo.
Labels:
business
Writing for Profit: Squidoo and eHow
[Updated 11/25/08: Please read my recent post w.r.t. eHow, Squidoo, and HubPages.]
As I discussed information content in my previous post, two of the most popular sites in this market came out: Squidoo and eHow. Both sites provide a free platform that inspires writers to contribute articles and rewards them for doing so. eHow starts with how-to or do-it-yourself (DIY) types of information, while Squidoo appears to be wide open for all kinds of discussion. Consequently, the tools they provide to the writers are different in comparison.
You do not have to be a professional writer to make a contribution. All you need is the information and the passion to share with others. Of course, your success in this marketplace depends on the quality and the value of the information you provide. And, more success means better rewards.
I have had some first-hand experience with both eHow and Squidoo. Here is how I compare them.
eHow
Once you have a specific topic in mind, composing an eHow article is easy. The difficult parts are actually the idea and the preparation for it. When it comes to the idea, the good news is that there are virtually unlimited categories you can consider. The bad news is that you should really know your subject well. It does not mean that you must be an expert in the area. My recommendation is that you at least try out the instructions you are going to write and make sure they work. "Getting your hands dirty" actually has several benefits. For one, you know whether the instructions or tools are correct and/or complete. During this exercise, you may find out additional tips to help others avoid potential failures. Secondly, you can take pictures along the way to illustrate how things are done. Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words. Here is a good example posted by my daughter.
Once you have done the preparation, it is time to just enter the information on eHow. The tool they provide is simple and user-friendly. For many cases, that appears good enough. I have seen others customize the page layout to make the article more appealing and effective, though. In addition to how-to articles, eHow now accepts articles about subjects of your choice. You will author articles using the same tool in writing a how-to.
Squidoo
As I mentioned before, Squidoo does not necessarily focused on how-to or DIY. You can write about anything you want, as long as you believe there is value in your article. An article at Squidoo is called a lens, and the author of a lens is called a lensmaster. Squidoo has a ranking system, LensRank, that inspires the lensmaster to do better and more or their lenses. Your new lenses at Squidoo are likely to start out in the low ranks. As you revise your lenses with more useful information and improve them with more interesting modules, their ranks improve. As ranks improve, they can become featured lenses that Squidoo starts to promote and place in search results. So, it is important that you keep improving and working on your lenses, even long after you have created them.
One interesting feature of Squidoo is the authoring tool; Workshop is the variety of modules that can be used to compose a lens. They include the popular text/write, RSS feed, and Google Search modules. The most interesting modules, however, are those related to merchants like Amazon, CafePress, and eBay. For example, the Amazon modules allow you to become an Amazon affiliate and bring in income as a result of affiliate sales. You can configure the Amazon modules to let Amazon recommend related products to your subject or to promote the products you think best suit your readers. The Amazon products can be presented whether in thumbnail or with some key information like prices.
Summary
You may have heard people claim that they have made significant income off eHow or Squidoo, which may have motivated you to jump right in. I should remind you though, that there are no quick-bucks or shortcuts to success. Treat this like a career. Your success with eHow or Squidoo career requires both quantity and quality in your writing. Make writing a habit if you wish. Lastly, I would recommend you to read some of the books listed on this page to prepare yourself, and to learn how to make your writing more effective.
As I discussed information content in my previous post, two of the most popular sites in this market came out: Squidoo and eHow. Both sites provide a free platform that inspires writers to contribute articles and rewards them for doing so. eHow starts with how-to or do-it-yourself (DIY) types of information, while Squidoo appears to be wide open for all kinds of discussion. Consequently, the tools they provide to the writers are different in comparison.
You do not have to be a professional writer to make a contribution. All you need is the information and the passion to share with others. Of course, your success in this marketplace depends on the quality and the value of the information you provide. And, more success means better rewards.
I have had some first-hand experience with both eHow and Squidoo. Here is how I compare them.
eHow
Once you have a specific topic in mind, composing an eHow article is easy. The difficult parts are actually the idea and the preparation for it. When it comes to the idea, the good news is that there are virtually unlimited categories you can consider. The bad news is that you should really know your subject well. It does not mean that you must be an expert in the area. My recommendation is that you at least try out the instructions you are going to write and make sure they work. "Getting your hands dirty" actually has several benefits. For one, you know whether the instructions or tools are correct and/or complete. During this exercise, you may find out additional tips to help others avoid potential failures. Secondly, you can take pictures along the way to illustrate how things are done. Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words. Here is a good example posted by my daughter.
Once you have done the preparation, it is time to just enter the information on eHow. The tool they provide is simple and user-friendly. For many cases, that appears good enough. I have seen others customize the page layout to make the article more appealing and effective, though. In addition to how-to articles, eHow now accepts articles about subjects of your choice. You will author articles using the same tool in writing a how-to.
Squidoo
As I mentioned before, Squidoo does not necessarily focused on how-to or DIY. You can write about anything you want, as long as you believe there is value in your article. An article at Squidoo is called a lens, and the author of a lens is called a lensmaster. Squidoo has a ranking system, LensRank, that inspires the lensmaster to do better and more or their lenses. Your new lenses at Squidoo are likely to start out in the low ranks. As you revise your lenses with more useful information and improve them with more interesting modules, their ranks improve. As ranks improve, they can become featured lenses that Squidoo starts to promote and place in search results. So, it is important that you keep improving and working on your lenses, even long after you have created them.
One interesting feature of Squidoo is the authoring tool; Workshop is the variety of modules that can be used to compose a lens. They include the popular text/write, RSS feed, and Google Search modules. The most interesting modules, however, are those related to merchants like Amazon, CafePress, and eBay. For example, the Amazon modules allow you to become an Amazon affiliate and bring in income as a result of affiliate sales. You can configure the Amazon modules to let Amazon recommend related products to your subject or to promote the products you think best suit your readers. The Amazon products can be presented whether in thumbnail or with some key information like prices.
Summary
You may have heard people claim that they have made significant income off eHow or Squidoo, which may have motivated you to jump right in. I should remind you though, that there are no quick-bucks or shortcuts to success. Treat this like a career. Your success with eHow or Squidoo career requires both quantity and quality in your writing. Make writing a habit if you wish. Lastly, I would recommend you to read some of the books listed on this page to prepare yourself, and to learn how to make your writing more effective.
Labels:
online publishing
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
How to Generate Passive Income Over the Internet [Updated]
[Updated 12/2/2008.]
The first phase of my Internet business adventure is to explore potential opportunities, such as knowing what marketplaces are out there and what tools are at my disposal. Since my primary interest is to produce passive income, I have excluded ideas like selling on eBay or Amazon. My goal is to continue my income streams, even when I am not at it actively.
As discussed in this post, there are several ways to generate passive income over the Internet. Although the ways vary, the bottom line of all this is content - the King of the Internet. Income is generated by traffic to your sites, and traffic is generated by the content you produce. Knowing this, my job is to keep producing content, the kind of content that produces passive incomes. I discuss a few types as an overview.
1. Royalty-Based Content
There are many types of royalty-based content; for example, books, photos, articles, paintings, images, video clips, etc. You can protect your content via copyright or trademarks. You then claim royalties when people use them or make a copy of them. To produce passive income, though, you want to avoid handling orders from customers and shipping the products yourself.
There are many content sites that can store your content, but not all of them enable you to profit from them. For example, you can place video clips to YouTube, but you do not make a profit when people view it. Luckily, some content sites have done all the hard work and all you have to do is to produce the content for them, which is what you are good at. Advantages of this approach are that the sites handle orders, production, and shipping for you, and that there are already crowds looking for you.
Here are some examples of these sites: Istockphotos is a popular market place where people look and shop for the pictures others have produced. CafePress and Zazzle are marketplaces where people shop for T-shirts, mugs, gifts, and many other things with pictures or graphics designed by artists a.k.a yourself. Lulu.com is a marketplace for self-published books, music, and videos, while Etsy.com is for things that are hand-made.
2. Informational Content
Many Internet surfers are looking for insightful information to help them make a wise decision for their next purchase or how-to for doing certain things. If you are an expert in doing certain things or domains, this is an opportunity for you to publish your knowledge or share your ideas. Surfers typically do not directly pay for informational content, but indirectly via clicking on the searching or affiliate ads at your site.
The easiest way to set up your site(s) for the information content you produce is perhaps blogging. A blog is like a journal in which you publish informational content. You can start your own blog immediately, after opening an account with popular blog sites, such as, Blogger, TypePad, or WordPress. You will have to do affiliates and place ads on your blog(s) as well as conduct promotions to get traffic to your blogs. For more information on blogs, read my post that compares Blogger and WordPress.
Luckily, there are also content sites that have already attracted huge crowds looking for your new content; such as, eHow, Squidoo, and HubPages. All these sites provide cash-back incentives to the authors, based on various factors such as, the number of readers and the usefulness of what you wrote. You can read my other post for details on this subject.
3. Applications on the Cloud
I consider software application a special kind of content. Traditionally, application developers build the application off-line and deploy it to public on their production web server. Thanks to Web 2.0, the paradigm is now shifting towards on-line development. The most successful vendor in this frontier is salesforce.com. Through its subsidiary, force.com, the company provides not only the tools (as well as the infrastructure to host the application) to build the business applications, but also the market place, namely, AppExchange. Application developers use the tool for development and testing and publish their application to the marketplace when it is ready. Customers of salesforce.com can browse or look up the available applications in the marketplace and install those that suit their needs and demands. Application vendors can either make their applications free or charge certain subscription fees based on the number of licenses and duration. The profit is split between the application maker and salesforce.com who makes this all possible.
Be aware that the customers of these types of applications are not regular consumers who browse and shop on the Internet. The customers of salesforce.com are enterprises or businesses of various sizes that demand both complexity and quality of the application. It is therefore not surprising that developers of this category must clearly understand the business needs of their customers and be equipped with a certain level of programming skills. Though, it is considered easier and less time-consuming compared to traditional application development using C, C++, C#, or Java.
Finding the Right Marketplaces and Tools that Suit You
Having seen such a wide variety of marketplaces, you may feel lost, and start wondering where to start. By now, you should understand that each category discussed above requires different skill sets. It is important that you understand your talents as well as your passions. Here are some questions to help you figure them out:
The first phase of my Internet business adventure is to explore potential opportunities, such as knowing what marketplaces are out there and what tools are at my disposal. Since my primary interest is to produce passive income, I have excluded ideas like selling on eBay or Amazon. My goal is to continue my income streams, even when I am not at it actively.
As discussed in this post, there are several ways to generate passive income over the Internet. Although the ways vary, the bottom line of all this is content - the King of the Internet. Income is generated by traffic to your sites, and traffic is generated by the content you produce. Knowing this, my job is to keep producing content, the kind of content that produces passive incomes. I discuss a few types as an overview.
1. Royalty-Based Content
There are many types of royalty-based content; for example, books, photos, articles, paintings, images, video clips, etc. You can protect your content via copyright or trademarks. You then claim royalties when people use them or make a copy of them. To produce passive income, though, you want to avoid handling orders from customers and shipping the products yourself.
There are many content sites that can store your content, but not all of them enable you to profit from them. For example, you can place video clips to YouTube, but you do not make a profit when people view it. Luckily, some content sites have done all the hard work and all you have to do is to produce the content for them, which is what you are good at. Advantages of this approach are that the sites handle orders, production, and shipping for you, and that there are already crowds looking for you.
Here are some examples of these sites: Istockphotos is a popular market place where people look and shop for the pictures others have produced. CafePress and Zazzle are marketplaces where people shop for T-shirts, mugs, gifts, and many other things with pictures or graphics designed by artists a.k.a yourself. Lulu.com is a marketplace for self-published books, music, and videos, while Etsy.com is for things that are hand-made.
2. Informational Content
Many Internet surfers are looking for insightful information to help them make a wise decision for their next purchase or how-to for doing certain things. If you are an expert in doing certain things or domains, this is an opportunity for you to publish your knowledge or share your ideas. Surfers typically do not directly pay for informational content, but indirectly via clicking on the searching or affiliate ads at your site.
The easiest way to set up your site(s) for the information content you produce is perhaps blogging. A blog is like a journal in which you publish informational content. You can start your own blog immediately, after opening an account with popular blog sites, such as, Blogger, TypePad, or WordPress. You will have to do affiliates and place ads on your blog(s) as well as conduct promotions to get traffic to your blogs. For more information on blogs, read my post that compares Blogger and WordPress.
Luckily, there are also content sites that have already attracted huge crowds looking for your new content; such as, eHow, Squidoo, and HubPages. All these sites provide cash-back incentives to the authors, based on various factors such as, the number of readers and the usefulness of what you wrote. You can read my other post for details on this subject.
3. Applications on the Cloud
I consider software application a special kind of content. Traditionally, application developers build the application off-line and deploy it to public on their production web server. Thanks to Web 2.0, the paradigm is now shifting towards on-line development. The most successful vendor in this frontier is salesforce.com. Through its subsidiary, force.com, the company provides not only the tools (as well as the infrastructure to host the application) to build the business applications, but also the market place, namely, AppExchange. Application developers use the tool for development and testing and publish their application to the marketplace when it is ready. Customers of salesforce.com can browse or look up the available applications in the marketplace and install those that suit their needs and demands. Application vendors can either make their applications free or charge certain subscription fees based on the number of licenses and duration. The profit is split between the application maker and salesforce.com who makes this all possible.
Be aware that the customers of these types of applications are not regular consumers who browse and shop on the Internet. The customers of salesforce.com are enterprises or businesses of various sizes that demand both complexity and quality of the application. It is therefore not surprising that developers of this category must clearly understand the business needs of their customers and be equipped with a certain level of programming skills. Though, it is considered easier and less time-consuming compared to traditional application development using C, C++, C#, or Java.
Finding the Right Marketplaces and Tools that Suit You
Having seen such a wide variety of marketplaces, you may feel lost, and start wondering where to start. By now, you should understand that each category discussed above requires different skill sets. It is important that you understand your talents as well as your passions. Here are some questions to help you figure them out:
- What are you talents?
- What are your passions?
- What are your skill sets? Or, can you afford to hire someone to do it?
- Which market sectors or domains do you know the best?
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