BOLLYWOOD SURKHIYAN

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of the Detailed SWOT Analysis

If you are an advertising or marketing student, an entrepreneur or a business professional – be prepared to learn about one of the most basic and functional tools for marketers still practiced heavily today – the SWOT Analysis. Like many topics in school that students seem to avoid (learning the quadratic formula in Calculus, reading a Brave New World for English lit or that extremely uncomfortable topic everyone in health class is embarrassed to learn about) – the detailed SWOT analysis is just something you are going to have to face learning and get used to writing regardless of how advanced our advertising methods get. The detailed SWOT analysis will be around forever and can really help you get a grasp of the environment your product or service is getting into and what you have to give to your potential customers that your competitors have forgotten. So here it is in plain English – the good, the bad and the ugly of the detailed SWOT Analysis.

As a professional marketer that has been working in this field, representing a multitude of companies throughout North America for over 15 years I continuously stand behind the benefits and effectiveness of developing and using a detailed SWOT analysis. Before I start any new project, whether for myself or for a customer, I have, and will continue to include the development of a SWOT analysis. My suggestion to you is that if you want your marketing initiatives to perform like a professionally developed plan then you need to think and act like a professional marketer. In this article I am going to share with you…

o What is Good about developing a proper SWOT Analysis “The Good”

o What is the downside of developing a proper SWOT Analysis “The Bad”

o What if the SWOT analysis doesn’t appear to provide value to my marketing plan? “The Ugly”

So why do seasoned advertising executives claim that a detailed SWOT Analysis of your product/service could open your eyes to an opportunity you had never imagined? Let’s put it this way – if you are the owner of a brand new company and you need to sell your business to your future employees who are ultimately responsible for reselling the idea of your business – it is probably best that you have a clear sense of what your enterprise is about. Your business’ vision, mission and core values are so important to determining whether or not customers see your product/service as a need. Is the product category you are in thriving, full of competition or are you yesterday’s trend? All these answers can be yours – by breaking down your company in a SWOT Analysis.

What’s so great about a SWOT? The easiest way to answer this question – is found in the acronym – plainly stated – a SWOT will tell you what the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats are for your business. Strengths and weaknesses are attributes of your business that are identified internally -what’s going on within your own company’s environment? Some of the strengths you may have is that you were the first entrant into a category (i.e. Red Bull in the energy drink category), has your company won any awards, what makes you different from your competitors (do you have something they don’t that difficult to copy?) Weaknesses could be that you were not “one of the originals” and you are lumped in with all the other gazillion varieties of soap available today – you lack that “must-have” feature. Or maybe your product or service is a seasonal item – so your key selling peak only happens during a certain quarter of the year – in which case – how does the company survive for the other 3 quarters? Strengths and weaknesses are easy to identify if you really sit and think about what your company is, stands for and what it offers your customers. Opportunities and threats are identified externally – these are aspects that happen outside of your company that you are unable to control. Going back to the Red Bull example, the fact that the general public was finding themselves more frequently exhausted and looking for a “pick me up” – paved the way for Red Bull to really pack a punch with the public. And perhaps, the easiest example of a threat is something most companies seem to be facing today – the depressing state of the economy and the public cautious with their spending. These four aspects are quick and easy ways to access your company and with a little thought – you may open your company up to opportunities you have not have originally seen.

What’s so bad about a detailed SWOT Analysis – well for a first timer, be prepared this is only one of a gazillion SWOT Analyses you will do on a variety of companies and products. But don’t worry – practice makes perfect. Sometimes the first few SWOT’s can take a fair bit of time to nail down the formula, but soon it will become as simple as riding a bike.

The ugly of the detailed SWOT analysis is very rare but has seen the light of day. Perhaps the product category is so complex that a SWOT really doesn’t answer any immediate questions for your business. Or you’ve finally completed what you thought was an amazing analysis, only to realize that after investing a large amount of money in your “dream project” you’ve entered into an overly-saturated market and your product (with no great added value) will soon be lost in the masses – YIKES! Also, some companies mistake their internal strengths as external opportunities – in which your SWOT analysis becomes skewed and rendered non-helpful.

So even though as a first timer you become frustrated with what makes an attribute internal or external, the fact that sometimes you need to research your category to really get into some interesting opportunities once you become familiar with this process, there’s a good possibility you may begin to dream about SWOT analyses and begin applying them to your everyday life – one of the great things about a detailed SWOT analysis is that it’s a basic structure that really puts your business into perspective for yourself, your employees and most importantly what you have to offer your customers.

Six Elements of a Value-Added Internship Program for Your Private Business

Starting an Internship program for your business requires clear objectives, a solid plan and disciplined oversight to run smoothly. Intern recruiting starts as early as February – best to approach a local school where your firm already has a relationship or where a curriculum matches your organization’s needs.

Both the student and the business have shared objectives and expectations – both seek a productive experience and the opportunity to learn valuable skills. Internship programs have always been a great source of talent for firms and opportunities for students. It starts with defining the purpose and impact of the internship on your business.

Essentials for building a successful Internship Program:

Establish a clear objective (i.e. Improve or update the firm’s prospect files or expand the firm’s Social Networking reach)

Assign a title (i.e., Sales Intern, Account Executive Intern, Marketing Intern, etc.)

Align the Intern to two individuals: One should be the direct reporting manager and the other individual should be a mentor (for best results make sure the mentor has the same area of subject matter expertise)

Map out a Training Plan: The intern will need formal orientation to your business PLUS subject matter or product training. You can blend the training schedule with an increasing amount of work responsibilities. Training needs to be measurable. While department round robins seem like a great idea on paper, to be successful they need to link in assignments and follow up.

Empower the Intern to Impact the Organization: Plan ahead. Since this is a college student, minimize the clerical duties. Select meaningful projects and assignments that will bring value to your organization. Examples might include social networking postings or content creation for newsletters; workflow analysis and updates; procedure guides for specific positions; identify and centralize key forms on a shared drive for use by others in the organization, etc.

Supervise the Intern: Start the week with a clear plan and goals. End the week with summary and feedback including positive achievements and encouragement for further growth. Be ready to increase responsibilities for the Intern if they are performing at a top-level. If the Intern appears to be achieving all assignments above average and fits within the company’s culture, be sure to discuss full time/future employment before their assignment ends.

Aim to make the internship a victory for both the student and your business. If you have recruited well and created a successful internship program, the success will lead to full time job offers and hires that will carry an immediate impact on your firm.

Friends & Family As Sources of Business Funding

As a budding entrepreneur, it took a lot of hard work and diligence, but you finally have your business idea squared away and things are starting to make sense. While visions of success circle throughout your mind, there’s probably one haunting fear that remains: how on earth will you come up with enough money to fund this whole thing? That’s usually not an easy question to answer, but it remains critical that we find an answer if we ever want to turn aspirations into achievements.

One of the first places that entrepreneurs look for funding is from family and friends. Sometimes an entrepreneur may be so lucky as to have family and friends come to them before they even ask for funding themselves! But while the sentiment should be appreciated, a wise entrepreneur will consider drawing funding from these two groups of people very cautiously. And while many people draw a hard line on fundraising from family and friends, doing so isn’t always necessary. Yes, these sort of business transactions can have horrible consequences if they sour, but if entered into wisely and with enough analysis, it’s possible for great things to happen. And although the range of things to be considered when entering such an agreement is vast and nearly infinite, I’ve distilled the subject down to three important considerations to ponder when you think of starting a business with the help of family or friends. To emphasize, these aren’t the only considerations that need to be made, neither may they be the absolute most important of any consideration – my aim is simply to provide a few pieces of food for thought.

1. Will the investment dramatically hurt or imbalance the lifestyle of your family member or friend if the deal goes wrong?

Consider how financially stable the prospective investor currently is. For example, if your friend is living with unpaid student loans or other debts, she may not be the best candidate for a round of financing. Even if she is enthusiastic and willing to contribute cash, the risk that this transaction results in if your business fails are simply too high. This isn’t to say that she cannot still provide other types of capital, however. Even though financial investments are out of the picture, personal capital of labor or social capital of contacts may still be desirable!

2. What level of control, if any, does your family member or friend desire?

Some people will contribute money to your cause merely because they want to help you achieve your dreams, and without a second thought to having a role in the business aside from financial backing. On the other hand, other people will expect some role or control in the company. The level of control could range anywhere from having free products and services for life, or a paid position in the upper levels of management. When probing for their desires, be sure to recognize that giving some level of control to the individual may not always be a bad thing. If he is qualified and brings talent or experience to the position, it’s worth considering.

3. What is the payout for your family member or friend? Will it be financial gains or simply goodwill?

Aside from control in business, a second big motivator for investors is the result or “exit strategy,” and family members and friends are no exceptions. Ask the interested investor what her expectations are for the future. Would she like to see her investment double? Or would she simply like her money back after a certain number of years? Either way, planning for the future by evaluating the expectations made today can be instrumental in reducing tensions down the road.

How To Raise Money For Your High School Study Abroad Experience

With the advent of social networking and the rise of online-based businesses, the opportunities for people to find careers around the world has greatly increased. Foreign language classes are commonly available for children as young as elementary school age, and it’s not out of the ordinary for high-schoolers to want to spend up to a year as a study abroad student. The choices that face young people today are astoundingly diverse and exciting.

Transitions Abroad is both a print magazine, as well as an online portal that provides in-depth information on issues related to studying, living, and working abroad. In their surveys of American foreign exchange students, the following traits have been reported in significant percentages:

Increased self-confidence
Increased maturity
Lasting impact on world view
Enhanced interest in academic study
Influenced subsequent educational experiences
Reinforced commitment to foreign language study
Helped foster a better understand cultural values and biases
Influenced a desire to seek out a greater diversity of friends
Continues to influence interactions with people from different cultures
Acquired skill sets that influenced career path
Ignited an interest in a career direction pursued after the experience

With these kind of life-changing properties, it is no wonder that so many young people want to spend time studying in a foreign country. However, such an experience can be very costly, and financial aid can be difficult to find. This presents a problem for many would-be adventurers.

Is It Really In You?

Before venturing down this path too far, however, the student needs to be sure he or she is ready to totally commit to this process. A two to three week program overseas can cost up to $6,000 itself, so the student needs to realize this is serious business. It is going to take hard work and great sacrifice to make this opportunity possible.

It is also important for a student to decide what kind of program will best serve his or her interests. While study programs have great value, perhaps a volunteer work program is a better fit. Or, maybe a church-oriented mission program would be appealing. Not everything has to be academically based. In fact, if you pick a non-academic type of program, you might find alternate means of funding. So, please do thorough research not only on where you want to go, but also what you want to accomplish. It could help you focus your efforts.

Step 1- Personal Commitment or “Digging in your Own Pockets”

I think that there are some preliminary steps that should be accomplished early in this process that will reveal just how serious the student is about making sacrifices for this adventure. If any of these suggestions turn the student off, I would question the decision to move forward.

Control Spending Habits

The first thing a student must do is look at his or her own spending habits. If a weekly movie, music downloads, clothes shopping, and other incidentals are a higher priority than the study abroad trip, saving thousands of dollars is going to be difficult. Therefore, the student will have to create a strict budget and slash those expenditures that will keep him or her from reaching the goal.

Sell Your Stuff

Secondly, it would be wise for a student to assess what items he or she could sell to earn money for the experience. eBay and other online auction houses are a great way to unload un-used or unnecessary items and earn pretty good cash for them.

A garage sale, held at the right time of year, can also be lucrative. You might even get your parents to “donate” all the proceeds to your study abroad fund. Perhaps friends and relatives would also be willing to give you their belongings to sell and keep the money.

Trade Your Stuff Up

Next, I know this may sound like an unusual suggestion, but in this age of email and cell phones, it might actually prove very profitable. I think the student should embark on a “Red Paperclip” project. I wrote a blog post about this on Top School Fundraisers. In essence, the student would choose an inexpensive item of his or her own and attempt to trade it to friends, families, co-workers, fellow students, or anyone willing to trade something of slightly higher value for it. Once the first trade is made, the student will immediately try to trade the second item for something of yet a higher value still. And so on. Eventually, once the student has traded for a significantly valuable item, he or she can sell it for cash and put that toward the trip.

I lead a class of adults once that undertook this experiment, and one woman ended up making a trade for an old car that had the original chrome on it. She took the chrome off, polished it, and sold it on eBay for $1,300! All this money-making opportunity takes is a cheap item to start with and the courage to ask people to trade. Who knows how far you could take this?

Blog Your Way to RichesAnother way to generate some revenue is to learn how to blog for money. There are a number of websites that will instruct you how to “monetize” your blog. You may not get rich from doing this, but incomes of $50 to $60 per month are pretty easy to set up and don’t require a lot of hard work. Just a little creativity and attention should get the job done. I would suggest looking at the websites called Problogger or Shoemoney for ideas.

Get a J-O-B

Ok, this is a boring one: find a job. Committing to a part-time job, if you haven’t done this before, can be a major step. It can intrude upon your studies and your personal life. But, if you want this overseas experience badly enough, you might be willing to work a few hours per week. If you make $7 per hour and work 15 hours per week for 36 weeks (an average school year) you could earn $3,780.

In the summer, you could even earn more. If you plan far enough ahead, you could really take a chunk out of the total bill this way. You won’t be doing anything glamorous for $7 per hour, but remember your goal. Of course, you can’t spend any of this income. Put it right in the ol’ savings account.

Virgin – Richard Branson’s Success Story

Famous Quote
“I don’t go into ventures to make a fortune. I do it because I’m not satisfied with the way others are doing business.”

Growing Up

Branson dropped out of school in 1967 at the age of 16 and started a magazine called Student. He hoped it would be a forum for politically-minded youth. He soon was publishing essays and interviews from such figures as Jean-Paul Sartre, James Baldwin, Alice Walker, and Robert Graves. Despite such a roster of great minds and literary figures, the magazine never made money and seemed bound to fail.

Starting the Business

Branson began marketing his next idea in the pages of Student; selling albums at a reduced rate through the mail. It rapidly became a more profitable business than the magazine itself. The staff of Student suddenly found themselves the employees of the Virgin discount record store. “Virgin” because no one had been in business before. Virgin had been going strongly but it was discovered Branson was dodging his tax payments. He was arrested and jailed.

Building an Empire

An out-of-court settlement was reached and, determined to keep the balance sheets carefully, Virgin Records was founded in 1973. Mike Oldfield’s progressive “Tubular Bells” was the first record released through Virgin and became an international success. But, it was the signing of the Sex Pistols to his label in 1977 that truly established Virgin Records. Though the Pistols broke up soon after, Virgin became the largest indie label in the world. Bands like the Rolling Stone, Peter Gabriel and UB40 were signed to Virgin.

Over the next six years, Branson started over fifty different companies encompassing everything from filmmaking to air conditioner cleaning. Though he was making more than $17 million dollars from his various companies collectively, Branson insists that money is not the motivation behind his involvement in so many ventures. Rather, he enjoys attempting to do something more effectively than those who have tried before him.

In 1984, Branson started Virgin Atlantic Airlines – a company that would prove to be a great challenge as well as the cause of financial distress. Branson ignored discouraging comments that told him he could never compete with British Airways, and to look to the example of those who had failed before. The reason being that he had observed how airline companies did not look after their customers adequately enough – so he would be the one to bring affordable and enjoyable flights to the public. Virgin Air was immediately recognized for its service and luxury. In-flight massages, hydrotherapy baths and seat-back video screens were all part of the experience on-board a Virgin aircraft.

With fuel prices having doubled in the early ’90s, terrorist attacks making people afraid to fly, and BA launching a campaign to put Branson out of the airline business, Virgin Atlantic struggled to stay afloat. Branson was forced to sell Virgin Records in order to raise enough money to keep Virgin Atlantic and pay off his creditors. The sale of the company that gave him his start was a crushing blow.

From this point on, Branson developed a new approach to business called “branded venture capital”. Through this method, Branson licenses the well-known Virgin name and logo in exchange for a controlling interest in the venture. Consequently, Branson has his company’s name fixed to more than 200 different companies, among which are Virgin Bridal, Virgin Publishing, a blimp company and a modeling agency.

Branson is known for his unusual business practices (no central headquarters, no board meetings, and he can’t operate a computer), his showy publicity stunts (like driving a tank into Times Square and buzzing over Big Ben in an Airbus jet), and his adventurous exploits (he was the first person to cross the Atlantic in a hot air balloon and has attempted three times to fly it around the world). It might be thought that such an approach to business could have ruined him, but Virgin is a towering $5 billion dollar giant. And Branson keeps dreaming for the future. In discussing the prospect of starting a shuttle service into space, Branson has said, “Why not? It’s virgin territory.”

Profitable Ideas for Belly Dance Studio

After taking classes from other instructors, it is decided that the next step in your personal advancement is to become an instructor and start a belly dancing business.

The operation of a belly dance studio requires daily attention to students needs and desires.

In the beginning are the owner’s ideas of making money learned from previous experiences from other dance studios. There is nothing wrong with this, however; it will be temporary.

Immediate income is from students taking classes. A basic beginners course and different levels of classes to advance skills will keep students continuing the course to its completion. After the basic course students may leave.

What can you do to keep students attending and continuing an income?

Specialty classes – these classes may be taught by self or hire other instructors.
Props of sword, cane, tambourine, candelabra, candles, and veil. These classes may range from a couple of hours or taught as a weekend event.
Zills and drumming – these are the basic percussion instruments which belly dancers use. Learning about different zill patterns and drum rhythms will help students understand the various rhythms of Middle Eastern music.
Teach in-home private instruction and offer demonstrations at schools and other types of women’s organizations.
Hire self out for national and international seminars as an instructor and build your brand name.
Design a website page and keep it active with information. Include an application for attending classes or hiring a performer.
Teach basics, techniques, and psychology of entertaining at private parties, restaurant dancing, and stage performances to students who want to become professional performers.
Sell services of dancers for parties, conventions, and organizations for local, national, and international markets.
Teach costume and accessories construction. These classes not only help students to have custom-made outfits for their selves, but it serves to satisfy their creative and imaginative interest for arts and crafts.
Designing and assembling jewelry. Making jewelry which the dancer uses are beautiful and many dancers like their jewelry to compliment their costumes correctly.
There are many other styles of this art form. In the past there were two categories of dances. Today there are nine different styles of belly dancing. It is not possible for one person to teach the nine different styles; hire other instructors. It is critical to offer variety in the dance studio; do not depend on one style.
Teach or conduct workshops and seminars. Workshop classes are taught in one day. Seminars are conducted over a three-day weekend. Hire national or international instructors.
Mount a display wall or a mini-shop in the studio and sell all essential costumes, accessories, jewelry, props, and musical items which dancers need or wish to own. Include consignment opportunities.
Produce online videos and offer online classes.

These money-making ideas may be done one at a time or several may be incorporated

3 Simple Steps For Coming Up With 100 Unique Business Ideas

In my last article I talked about how an idea is not going to make a business. I said what’s important is who is behind it, but you still need a business idea to start a business and the better product or idea you have the easier the process will be. Here are 3 steps you can take to easily come up with 100 business ideas in less than a year.

Step One:

Keep a file on your mobile phone named “business ideas.” If your phone does not have this capacity or you do not own a cell phone carry a small piece of paper and a pen around will you instead. What you must to is every single time any sort of business idea or product idea comes to your mind you instantly write it down in your phone with a simple sentence or two. Don’t worry about how wired of an idea it is or how stupid it may sound to you now just jot down the idea. The key to this step is that the best ideas usually arise when you are going through your daily lives. Ideas will strike you at the most interesting times when you are encountering daily problems and engaging in daily conversation. The one thing you cannot do is thinking the idea is undoable or unprofitable you must write it down anyway. As long as starting a new business is a focus for you ideas will keep coming to you during your daily life.

Step Two:

Next to your desk you must keep a notepad and it is best if the note pad can stay in view at all times (it might be best to put it on a wall you always see or next to your computer.) The reason for this is to keep you focused on your goal of coming up with new business possibilities. Label the top of these notepad business ideas. Once a week write the list you have created on your phone and list these down on your business idea note pad. It is very beneficial to keep this note pad in view and on your mind to remind you of your goal of coming up with quality business ideas.

Step Three:

This step takes the most commitment. Dedicate one hour of every week (you should usually do this after you transfer ideas from your phone to your note pad.) During this hour you must look at the ideas on your note pad and analyze them. See what the good aspects of them are and the bad ones. See if any of them can fit together in anyway or if the spark any new ideas and write any new ideas down. That should take no longer than 10 minutes.

After that, any idea on your note pad that seems reasonable in anyway should be put into a spiral notebook. Title this notebook “Business Ideas” and number the pages 1-100 or 1 to whatever number your trying to reach. For each business idea that isn’t completely ridiculous you need to write three short paragraphs. The first paragraph should be titled “Product” the second, “Market” and the third “Value.”

For the product paragraph simply give a brief explanation of the business model or product.
In the market paragraph describe whom you will be selling this product to. You must be more specific than 18-24 year old males. It should be something similar to 18-24 year old male college students who go to the University of Oregon and golf recreationally. The more specific the better.
In the value paragraph you need to explain the value your customer will obtain by buying this product. If this is hard to come up with it probably isn’t a very good business idea because it has no real value for your customers.

Filling out the spiral notebook will take different amounts of time depending on how many entries you have that week, but each entry should not take more than 8-12 minutes to make. If it does you are spending too much time on it.

You should have some extra time after this (if not that’s OK and you have already added a lot of products to your notebook.) Spend the rest of the time analyzing the ideas on your notepad, revisit some old ones and come up with new ideas to add to the spiral notebook. You can also read some of your old product ideas to see if you can come up with some variations for new product ideas. Basically spend any extra time focused on thinking about new product ideas.

Once you have filled your notebook with business ideas you can look over all of them and pick the most promising and write full business plans for them. Not all of them will look very attractive, but you are bound to have a few that catch your eye as having some good potential or maybe even a few that you really have you motivated to get started.

The “100 Business Idea Journal” is a great way of coming up with some quality business ideas to get started with, but for it to work you must be serious about coming up with some quality product ideas. After a while you should start getting a few solid business ideas outlined every week and be getting closer to starting a business that you find really has some potential.

Business Education – A Professional Support for New Business

Entrepreneurship education elucidates a lot of success stories encouraging several people to join the bandwagon of successful entrepreneurs – but how? There are certain prerequisites and skill sets that are imperative to pursue the dream of becoming a successful entrepreneur. Merely a desire, ipso facto, cannot transform your vision to reality. One of the preconditions is entrepreneurship or business education which can open the doors of opportunities and success for future entrepreneurs and prove to be a support for new business.

Appropriate education in entrepreneurship will assist you becoming more prepared to brave the hard realities of business world and take calculated risks. Business education prepares you to take the challenge of venturing into the business world head on, as you virtually have no idea how the market will react to the change you introduce. Given this situation, you need to anticipate the multiple risk factors that may affect your calculation of business. Cutting down the risk factors is of utmost significance in the business. Business education organizations, acting as support for new business, offers the well rounded and precisely structured courses that educates you how to run and succeed as an entrepreneur integrating innovation and business skills.

Every entrepreneurship education stimulates innovation and, in turn, innovation triggers progress. Leveraging these business courses students can develop effective business communication skills, critical envision and problem solving techniques. These business courses offer more rigorous education that is driven towards career-oriented professionals. This type of entrepreneurship training gives students the creativity, innovation and flexibility that are needed when undertaking the task of establishing their own companies.

Just business education is not enough entrepreneurs also contemplate on the business services that can consolidate their business. They search for better service vendors and suppliers for the non-core activities so that they can focus only on their core business. There are some non-profit organizations those are helping entrepreneurs and small business owners to get the best vendors and suppliers at reasonable cost. Such support services are also fast becoming a part of business education structure of several business education institutes.

What it takes to become an entrepreneur are passion, determination, knowledge, self discipline, and commitment. The spirit of entrepreneurs is catapulting and enabling more youngsters to take ownership of their responsibilities. Huge corporations value an entrepreneur due to their willingness to make sacrifices to gain a foothold for their business. Business courses produce such entrepreneurs and enable them to pursue their goals in the genre of business world.

The only contemplation and focus that should be taken into consideration is the right selection of educational organization suiting your needs and long term goals. Don’t take the plunge in haste and take enough time to research, find and zero in to the appropriate business institution which can help you in transforming your dreams of carving a niche in the competitive world of business.

Business Ideas For a Shrinking Economy

Even though there may be hopes of recovery on the horizon, we are still living in a shrinking economy. Here are some business ideas that have proven to work during good times or bad. Take time make adjustments in your business to reflect these principals and you can grow despite the economy.

Increase your marketing and your promotional budgets. If you stop advertising, you will stop growing. You must keep your brand constantly in front of the audience that is your target.

Continue to make your established customer feel like they are important. The do not want to be treated like a number. They need to feel appreciated and valued. Make a personal contact with each client every week. You need to initiate the call and it should not be about a sales pitch or getting an order.

Remember that customers change vendors daily. This means you should work to keep your brand in front of the competition’s clients daily. Woo the competition’s clients with your caring attention. Remember that the competition is doing this with your clients also.

Remember that no business relationship is permanent. Business deals are based on relationships, so if your company changes staff or if the customer’s company changes staff, you could lose business. Work constantly to add value to the current customer in order to keep the business they bring your way. At the same time, constantly promote your company through PR, advertising and making presentations.

Market your business so that clients feel that you can do what they need done. Forget the this is what I can do for you mentality. Focus on what needs to be done. First meetings should be about your listening to what your potential client wants, feels or thinks. Second meetings should tie what your client wants to what you can do.

Always seek what new opportunities are available. What if IBM had said we make the best typewriters available, there is no need to change? If you do not incorporate the latest and greatest into your business, you can bet that the competition will.

A shrinking economy forces businesses to evaluate their underlying ideas. As you evaluate those ideas you are also forced to change how things are done and the tactics to reach more clients. If you learn to reach more clients even during a time of a shrinking economy, then you will be able to grow even more as the economy rebounds.

Top 9 Online Jobs & Part Time Work From Home For College Students, Housewives & Freshers

Most people have certain unique skills that can be monetized. Also, you can re-skill yourself anytime nowadays. After starting to do these part time online works from home, your income would increase.

You can become a successful businessman / woman and increase your income and profits by starting these types of online businesses. These business ventures require little or no investment.

You can operate and sustain many of these business activities from your home. Even, if you are already employed, you can operate a small business. For many, these ventures can become a full-time business.

A few top proved and profitable part time jobs from home and small business ideas are listed here, which would suit the skills, knowledge, and temperament of different types of people. Here are some excellent online business ideas here for everyone.

You can start a small business on your own. You can set up a home office. You can utilize the workspace at your home.

Most of the times, a fast/reliable Internet connection, a computer, phones and the required skills are all that is needed to start a small online business.

Profitable Home-based Online Jobs For College Students/ Housewives/ Fresh Graduates/ Unemployed/ Working Professionals

1) Social Media Expert

You can offer your social media promotion and marketing services from your home to the small-scale businesses.

You may manage their Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media profiles, groups, and pages as a freelancer. You will be implementing the right methods for managing the posts, content, and followers.

2) Make Money From Home By Freelancing

One can earn money by offering various types of freelance services to the companies. Fiverr.com, Upwork.com, Peopleperhour.com, and Freelancer.com are some popular platforms for freelancers for getting projects. Numerous assignments and jobs are available for all kinds of skill sets.

Register at these sites as a freelancer to get projects. Technical services, website designing, content writing, logo designing, illustration, translation, proofreading, editing, ghostwriting, etc. are some sought-after areas for contract work.

Freelancing is one of the best online jobs for college students, fresh graduates, housewives and retired persons.

3) Creating a YouTube Channel

If you prefer online part time work and home based business ideas, then starting a YouTube channel is quite profitable.

Independent channels can be started by the users on YouTube and videos can be uploaded there for free. YouTube videos are highly popular. YouTube receives about a billion monthly visitors.

Videos showing and reviewing the latest gadgets, digital devices, electronics, cosmetics, etc. are very popular. You can create informative and entertaining videos, how-to video guides, videos on beauty/makeup tips, life and relationship tips, recipes, etc. that are highly profitable.

Most of us have seen advertisements while watching any video on YouTube. “Skip Ads” is clicked to watch an interesting video. This way the makers of the videos earn money. When the visitors play any video in which an ad is shown, the owner of the channel gains some money from Google. This process utilizes YouTube AdSense.

If needed, you can re-skill yourself anytime joining a short course, to learn the secrets of becoming a successful YouTube Channel owner.

4) Monetize Your Blog / Website Using Google AdSense and Affiliate Marketing

Do you have your blog/website where you have been posting great content? Does this site or blog have many visitors? If your answer is ‘Yes’ then you can start monetizing your blog. This is a profitable small business at home.

A great way to convert your blog into a source of income is using Google AdSense. Sign up for your Google AdSense account.

AdSense allows you to display ads on your blog or website. The ads are targeted at your website’s content. For including the AdSense ads to your website, you just have to add the script where you wish to display the ads. You can earn money if the site-visitors click on the ads to view them.

You can also register for affiliate programs. If your web content or blog post focuses on a specific topic, you can include affiliate ad links of products relevant to your content. If the reader clicks on the affiliate product link and purchases it, you will earn money as commission.

Amazon Associates Affiliate program is quite popular since Amazon.com has a vast range of products.

Monetizing your blog is a profitable part time work from home. Manage your blog or other’s blogs.

5) Online Tutor and Online Courses / eBooks

If you excel in the academics and can explain complex topics lucidly or have a flair for teaching you can become an online tutor. Earn money by sharing knowledge through online, virtual classes. You can teach and guide students online via video-calling.

Online tutoring is one of the best part time jobs from home.

You can work as an online trainer for your favorite subjects/skills. Also, if one is adept at creating videos and eBook, he/she can create online video courses and eBook courses. Reasonably priced online courses are very popular nowadays.

After creating eBooks, you can sell them via online retailers such as Amazon. Also, you can sell your courses, eBooks, and videos via your website.

6) Content Writing

A ghostwriter sells his/her articles or other written content to another party, without claiming any ownership or rights over those write-ups.

If you possess excellent writing skills, you can start your own writing business or work as a freelance writer. You can work as a content writer. This is one of the most popular part time work from home jobs.

For becoming a web content writer, you need to cultivate the proper reading, writing and research skills. You will get paid for writing creative or technical content such as reviews, articles, blogs, press releases, website content, social media content, etc.

7) Editing or Proofreading

Proofreading and editing are necessary for all significant write-ups. If you are good in the languages and have good reading and writing skills, you can start your editing/proofreading business.

8) Translator

Vital documents or articles often require translation services. If you are good in English or other languages, you can earn money by working as a translator online.

Create your online portfolio and register at the top freelancing websites.

9) E-commerce Business

Selling products and services online is easy nowadays. Collect your chosen products from a wholesaler and sell them at higher prices via your websites or sites like Amazon or eBay. You can also ship your goods to Amazon, and it would sell and ship them to the customers for you.

If you can make various types of the latest jewelry or other exciting handicrafts or attractive soft toys, you can sell them on sites like Etsy.

This is a great part time work from home for housewives, fresh graduates, students and retired people.