Be a Ghostwriter

By business4moms | July 12, 2008

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How to Become a Ghostwriter

A ghostwriter is someone that gets paid to write for other people. Once a ghostwriter has written the article, book, speech, etc, and the customer has paid the ghostwriter, the customer then owns sole rights to it, can put their name on it and use it however they choose. The ghostwriter retains no rights and gets no public credit for the work.

If you are a skilled writer, proofreader, etc. ghostwriting could be just the business for you.

What skills are helpful?

To become a ghostwriter you need to have reading, writing, proofreading, communication and grammar skills. You also need strong researching skills as you often find yourself writing on topics that you have no personal expertise in.

What tools are needed?

Ghostwriters need to have a computer with a word processing application like Microsoft Word. You’ll need an internet connection and fax machine. Keep a good dictionary and thesaurus handy as well.

How do you get started?

To start a ghostwriting business you need a website. You can use a site builder or hire someone to build it for you. Your website needs to clearly define your services available, your rates, etc. The next step is to find some clients.

Take a little time to research your competition and find ways to stand out above them. Don’t expect to have a website up and running one day and the next to be swamped with work, that’s not reality, although there is a big demand for skilled ghost writers among the internet marketing community.

Online networking groups are a great way to get out there, advertise you, and start building some relationships. There are freelance sites that allow clients to post projects for you to bid on. Some of these sites require a paid membership from you to participate.

Building up your business will take time and a little elbow grease. If you have the desire to be your own boss, be home for your family then that motivation should keep you going even in the slow times.

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Home Based Gift Basket Business

By business4moms | July 12, 2008

Gift baskets are in great demand. They make fantastic presents and you can now find gift baskets to suit just about any occasions. This means that you can start a gift basket business which offers anything from gourmet foods, chocolates and teas to body lotions, birthday items, special occasion products for wedding gift baby shower baskets, and more.

What skills are helpful?

Some knowledge and experience in the gift basket business along with knowledge of a wide variety of wholesale companies. Your familiarity with the business will help you keep your stock fresh and interesting for your clients.

Organizational skills are a must! It is going to be imperative that you be able to keep your inventory organized. You also need to keep customer information and orders organized.

Creativity is important, you’ll need a little bit of a creative flair to set up beautiful looking baskets.

What tools are needed?

If you’re selling wholesale supplies you’re going to be selling large quantities of supplies at a time. To run a successful supply business you need to have an area large enough that you can keep stocked full of inventory; a room with shelving space is a good option. You are also going to need boxes, packaging bubbles/material, and tape to send out purchases.

If you’re offering gift baskets which you design and build yourself you’ll need marketing materials such as a website, business cards, flyers and basic computer equipment such as a fax machine, telephone and a computer.

You’ll also need to find a good supplier to supply you with all the gift basket essentials and a large table in a roomy area of your home to design and build the baskets.

How do you get started?

Once you’ve made up your mind to go with it you will need to check out legal issues. Businesses that involve lots of shipments coming and going can often be subject to more rules than other home based businesses. Make sure that you have appropriate insurance on your home that will cover your business; you may need an additional policy.

Take your time and develop your first line of products. Provide a nice variety of products and plan to keep introducing new items on a regular basis to keep clients interested. You’ll need a well organized and easy to use website along with an attractive catalog. There are also many businesses that offer drop shipping options so you can make your own baskets for local delivery and still provide other types of gift baskets for delivery nationwide without having to become an expert packer!

Make your customers happy, build a personal relationship with them, and let them know you care about them and their businesses. Customer satisfaction is the quickest way to grow your business as current clients will spread the word about you if they’re happy.

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Becoming an Affiliate Marketer

By business4moms | July 12, 2008

Making Money with Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a way to create an income for simply promoting other people’s products. You find a product or service that you want to promote and sign up for their affiliate program. Once the customer has clicked on the affiliate link your job is done. Hopefully a good percentage of your referrals make a purchase and you earn a commission with no items to package or ship and no payments to process.

What skills are helpful?

Writing is important as content is what will attract people to what you have to offer. Some basic marketing skills will help you develop the right kind of content and make the best affiliate program recommendations for the people you’re reaching.

Another skill that can and will come in handy is SEO (search engine optimization). The higher your website is ranked due to SEO skills, the easier it will be for people to find your website and see the affiliate promotion.

What tools are needed?

The only tool really needed is a website. Your website will be used to promote your affiliate products or services. Maybe you want a few different websites for a few different affiliate programs, that’s entirely up to you. Some people actually promote affiliate programs just by putting affiliate links in their email and forum signatures - no website involved.

How do you get started?

It’s quite simple to get started. If you already have a website you can easily find an affiliate program that pertains to your website (for example if your website is about natural parenting you can look for an affiliate program for a natural parenting product to promote) simply by doing a little research.

After you have signed up for the affiliate program you will be given an ID. This unique ID will be used in the links that you provide on your website. This is how the person or company you signed up with will keep track of your referrals and payments due.

You are now set up and ready to go. Affiliate marketing is a nice at home business that you can do without having to keep inventory, process sales or deal with customer support.

There are a ton of resources to help you get started as an affiliate marketer. Check out The Super Affiliate Handbook and Alan Gardner’s AssociatePrograms.com

Topics: Business Ideas | No Comments »