How to make a website for your business

September 19, 2010 By 1 Comment

My friend Nick Tart over at JuniorBiz.com can tell you how to make your own website. He’s offering a free 10 step guide.

With simple strategies and step-by-step videos, we’ll show you how to build your website into a place where you can launch a product, strengthen your service, share your ideas, or even start an online business from the ground up.

Have an Idea1. Have an Idea

Small, big, or kooky.

Purchase Domain and Hosting2. Purchase Domain and Hosting

Where, how, and with coupons.

Get WordPress for Free3. Get WordPress for Free

Set it up right.

Grab a Design4. Grab a Design

Cool site – no coding necessary.

Organize your Site5. Organize your Site

A checklist for settings and structure.

Optimize your Site6. Optimize your Site

With plugins and analytics.

Think Strategy7. Think Strategy

Create the content that your visitors want.

Strike it Big8. Strike it Big

With social media and search engines.

Keep your Visitors9. Keep your Visitors

Capture their info and keep them coming back.

Strike it Rich10. Strike it Rich

The four fool-proof ways to make money online.

I learned how to build my own website, just like Nick did, but rather than tell you how to do it, I’ll just send you to Nick’s site JuniorBiz.com and you can learn from him!

Filed Under: Blog, Featured, Starting a Micro Tagged With: , , ,

Coming Soon!

August 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I have been working on a number of projects to help teenagers launch a micro business.

In the next few weeks, hopefully by September 1, 2010, you will see a lot of great products including:

Starting a Micro Business in print!

Starting a Micro Business is available as an ebook already, but some people prefer a print version. Very soon you will be able to purchase a print version of Starting a Micro Business!

Running a Micro Business in print!

The follow up to Starting a Micro Business is Running a Micro Business where you will read about making sales, marketing, customer service, record keeping, bookkeeping, insurance and time management. Everything you need to know about running your business after it starts!

Micro Business for Teens Workbook in print

Apply what you have learned in Starting a Micro Business and Running a Micro Business using this workbook. This workbook is self-paced and can be used by an individual or in a group setting.

How to Start a Micro Business virtual class

Learn with other teenagers launching their micro businesses in a virtual class. This class uses both Starting a Micro Business and Running a Micro Business and the Workbook. Students work at their own pace by reading the lessons posted on the class website, doing their homework and interacting with other students in the class chat room. The virtual class should take about 14 weeks , but can be done faster or take longer as a student wishes.

The initial class (Fall 2010) will only be opened to subscribers on my Micro Business for Teens email list. (Sign up to be on the email list, if you want details on the virtual class!)

Filed Under: Blog, Featured

Ten Tech Teenagers & Their Micro Businesses

August 7, 2010 By 1 Comment

Need some inspiration? Here are ten teenagers that had brilliant ideas for their micro businesses:

Ten Teen Entrepreneurs To Watch

Kids these days. It seems like they’re writing HTML before they learn how to talk. And a lot of them are starting companies before they graduate from high school.

Here’s a list of some of our favorite teen entrepreneurs.

Jessica Mah, 19, is currently the CEO and Co-Founder behind Indinero, a Mint.com for small businesses. Mah started her first startup at 13. Last year, she founded internshipIN.com, a site to help high school and college kids find internships in their area. Now, at 19, Mah is finishing up her Computer Science degree from the University of California, Berkeley, as well as being the CEO of Indinero.

Ashley Qualls, 19, started WhateverLife when she was 14, a site designed to give MySpace users free Myspace layouts and HTML tutorials. She employs both her mom, and her friends who do graphics for her. Qualls started WhateverLife in 2004 as a hobby, and now has turned into a business, with her site getting anywhere from 150,000 to 360,000 daily page views.

(more…)

Don’t feel intimidated by their stories. Remember, you don’t have to invent something new or even launch a website to have a successful micro business.  All you need is to see a need and meet it. That can be as simple as caring for children or as complex as the micro businesses mentioned in the story.

Filed Under: Blog, Featured, Ideas, You Can Do This Tagged With: , ,

Micro Tips for Micro Businesses:Smile!

August 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Micro Tips for Micro Businesses

Today’s tip: Service with a smile

There are hundreds of books written about customer service and many of them offer tips and “secrets” to serving customers. The only secret is to treat your customers with respect and give them what they paid for. That’s pretty simple, so why are their hundreds of books written about customer service? Because there are hundreds of ways to show respect and to serve a customer.

  • Smile! A smile can really make you seem friendly, warm and caring. Friendly people attract people.
  • Shake hands. Offer your hand when first meeting a potential customer. This might make you feel uncomfortable because teenagers don’t usually shake hands, but watch adults in the business world. They frequently offer their hand when being introduced. Practice on friends or your family if you need to get comfortable shaking hands.
  • Look them in the eye. Making eye contact shows confidence if even you don’t feel confident! Looking directly at someone also is a sign of respect (if you’re not staring!).

I was giving a workshop on teenagers and micro businesses at a homeschool convention when a 12 year old boy came up to me after the program, extended his hand and said, “Hello, I’m Jack. I really liked your presentation.” I was immediately impressed by Jack because he offered his hand to me.  Although he was young and very small in stature, I knew in an instant that this young man would be good at whatever he set his mind.  Adults are very impressed by a handshake and a smile.

Carol Topp, CPA

http://MicroBusinessForTeens.com

Find Micro Business for Teens on Facebook!

Filed Under: Blog, Featured, Running a Micro Tagged With: , , ,

Volunteer to learn about business

July 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Internet Based Kids had a great blog post about how volunteering can lead you into business or a future career.

If you are between the ages of 16-25 and looking for a way to gain work experience you might want to think about signing up to be a volunteer. Many businesses allow volunteers to help out to give them the opportunity to see if they might be interested in having a career in that particular field.

Among those businesses you may want to consider charity work in are hospitals, some long term care facilities, grocery stores, charity groups, and many other establishments as well. This can also allow people to gain new relationships and earn a good reputation for when they are ready to go out into the working world in the future.

Volunteers are a great help to businesses. For instance, those who work as volunteers in hospitals help patients to have a more tolerable stay while they are ill. Nursing home patients may enjoy having a volunteer come visit them from time to time just to keep them company. Volunteers in grocery stores can be helpful by carrying bags out for customers or helping them locate certain items in the store.

Volunteering your time to help charity groups can also be an enjoyable thing to do. Knowing you are helping those in need can be a rewarding experience that you can be proud of. Many elderly people who are shut-ins need volunteers to run occasional errands for them. Having trustworthy people who can go pay their bills or make trips to the store for them when needed can be a tremendous help.

Another benefit of being a volunteer is how you are perceived by the public eye. Most likely if you do well at job volunteering, you will be considered strongly should you ever want a permanent job at that particular business. When business managers see they can depend on you as a volunteer your reputation as a good worker will be set in stone. It is also a nice addition to have volunteer work listed on a resume as experience working with others in your community.

Volunteer opportunities are also a great way for college students to gain on the job training. You can check here – http://www.vinspired.com/opportunities for more information. Once you have an idea of which career you want to go into, find out if there is a business in that field that has a need for volunteers. This can help you be better prepared for the job and give you a sense of pride while doing it.

About The Author

Steve Volman – writer, thinker and general muser. Interests include charity and volunteering, football and the odd spot of golf. Any feedback on my articles in more than welcome.

Filed Under: Blog, Featured, Starting a Micro, You Can Do This Tagged With: , , ,

A job or self employed?

June 29, 2010 By 1 Comment
Wendy at Homeschool-Curriculum-for-Life.com is my guest blogger today. She shares her thoughts about whether it better to look for a job or be an entrepreneur:
Entrepreneurship for teens is a hot topic these days. As a parent of a soon-to-be teen, my thoughts are turning more and more towards her future. I knew very early on that our children cannot look forward to a job in the public/private sector due to certain imbalances of the political past in our country (Wendy lives in South Africa) . But even if this were not the situation, I would still not consider a career working for another person as an ideal.

A job or self employed?

Why not a job in the public sector? My reasons:

  • We need to realize that jobs are not secure these days just because our children have graduated from school and college with a degree – a degree is not an automatic pass into a job anymore.
  • I have seen many homeschooled and public schooled teens come to the end of their schooling and not know what they want to do with the next few years of their lives. Some are so out of touch with their passions and interest that they opt to travel for a year on their parent’s expense. This is not an option for us.
  • Other teens have not been trained in responsibility or with business skills and are thus totally unprepared to begin an entrepreneurial venture or even hold down a summer job. These young people think that the only way to make money will be to get a job as a waiter or waitress.
  • In this country 30% of our population is unemployed, this means that to each job there are hundreds of applicants. Our local newspaper states: “At least a third of the 351,503 who finished school will still be unemployed a year from today, while half will battle to find jobs.” Taken from a newspaper article dated 11 January 2007.
  • By raising a child to think entrepreneurially they will be able to provide much needed employment to others.

    • Wendy has more to say here.

    Filed Under: Blog, Featured, Starting a Micro

    If you make money at writing

    June 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

    I’m doing a workshop for my local writers group titled

    The Business of Writing: What to Do if You Ever Make Money with Your Writing.

    I’ll be discussing the difference between writing as a hobby, as a ministry to help others or as a business. I’ll also talk about taxes, special deductions for authors and what business structure a writer should have for  a writing business.

    Here’s a handout that I prepared for the workshop.

    The Business Of Writing

    If you live in the Cincinnati area, come attend the workshop live!

    Wednesday, June 23 at 7:00 p.m. at Faith Church in Milford

    Filed Under: Featured, Money & Taxes Tagged With: , ,

    Teen entrepreneurs offer tips to peers

    June 17, 2010 By 3 Comments

    USA TODAY polled some successful teenage micro business owners for advice. Here’s what they said:

    • Expand upon your interests. “Find a task (or) work you like and that is in demand,” says Lucas Rice, 18, who runs a successful landscaping business in Loveland, Ohio. “With my business, I like to be outdoors and to work with my hands, which was one of the reasons I chose landscaping.”

    • Price wisely. “Feel around and see what other companies are charging,” then price competitively, Rice says. “When you’re starting out, go a little lower on price in order to start capturing some customers.”

    • Make taxes less taxing. Save every work-related receipt. Those expenses could become tax write-offs. IRS.gov has details on dependents, such as children, filing tax returns.

    • Don’t overinvest in supplies/equipment. “Allow your business to grow, and then grow your equipment into your business,” says Rice, echoing advice he was given by others. He invested in his first riding mower at age 12 (bought at a yard sale with savings from a newspaper route) and as his customer base grew, he conservatively bought more equipment.

    • Promote your business and yourself. “Seek business; do not wait for it to come to you,” says Rice. “I go and welcome new people in the neighborhood and offer my services and give out business cards.” Archer promotes herself and her products on the Web, as well as through fliers she places into shipments to customer

    Lucas is one smart kid.  I know him personally; he’s one of my business clients!

    Filed Under: Blog, Featured, Ideas, Running a Micro Tagged With: , , ,

    Chess into $$

    June 4, 2010 By 1 Comment

    Turn a hobby or passion into a money making micro business.

    I heard about Jonathan Hilton at a graduation party where I met his mother.  She told me how Jonathan made money from chess. “Do you mean prize money?” I asked. “No,” she explained, “by writing magazine articles and books.”

    Jonathan is selling his knowledge about chess and people are willing to pay for what he knows!

    The 19-year-old college freshman holds the title of National Master from the United States Chess Federation.

    He writes articles relating to his experiences at playing chess abroad and has co-authored  “Wojo’s Weapons: Winning With White,” with International Master Dean Ippolito.

    For those who might be interested in learning about chess but fear it just isn’t “cool,” Hilton has these thoughts: “Chess is something that transcends all ages and cultures. I’ve been in situations where I didn’t speak the same language as the other player, but yet I was still on such good terms with them because we could play, we could analyze and we could learn some things. Chess unites people because you have a common experience and a common passion.” http://www.uc.edu/spotlight/student/jonathan_hilton.html

    You may not hold a national title, but you may know something about some thing, right? Start writing it down!  Start a blog, write some articles and see if magazines are interested in paying you for your knowledge and perspective on life. Maybe even consider writing a book. Other teenagers have done it, why not you?

    Filed Under: Blog, Featured, Ideas, Starting a Micro Tagged With: , , ,

    Idea: Virtual Assistant

    May 19, 2010 By 1 Comment

    One great micro business idea is to be a virtual assistant (VA)-someone that helps a business with bookkeeping, administrative tasks (scheduling, responding to e-mail,etc.) or creative tasks (editing, graphic design, etc) all from a remote location.

    Here’s a book that could help you get started.

    http://entrepreneurialfreedom.com/

    Be warned in Chapter One, that you can read online, the author states that you’ll need $3,000 to get started. Ouch!

    She doesn’t know about micro businesses!

    A micro business can be started with no debt! Use what you already have like a computer, what’s between your ears (i.e. your brain) and your personal experience.

    To learn how to be a VA, you might consider Rhea Perry’s class 8-Week Administrative Virtual Assistant Course

    http://rheaperry.com/entrepreneurial-education/?page_id=723

    It’s an 8 week online class that teaches you how to be a Virtual Assistant.

    Check it out!

    Filed Under: Blog, Featured, Starting a Micro Tagged With: , ,
    « Older Posts
    Newer Posts »