Rain Online

If there is one thing that is universal, it is the desire to make a living doing what you love. Who doesn’t want to be rich and successful, spending all their time indulging in their passion? Yet for most of us, this remains fantasy. Most people, in fact, never even try it. They assume that there is no way to make it work. For me, however, there definitely was.

You see, I have loved discount designer bags since I was a kid. As a pre-teen, I developed an uncanny ability to find expensive bags discounted. I would get them in thrift stores, discount clothing outlets, or after-holiday sales. I never had much money, but I dressed like one of the rich kids!

I went to college like everyone else, majored in business administration, and figure that was that. I didn’t really wants to work in someone’s huge, overwhelming business office, but I knew that it was something I could do that would pay the bills. I had no idea, however, how boring it was. After a few years, I was hopelessly burnt out. I began to look for wholesale closeouts, particularly wholesale bags. At first, it was merely out of curiosity. What I found out, however, shocked me a great deal. As easy as it was for me to find wholesale bags wandering around town, it was 10 times easier on the Internet! I had struck a gold mine!

I started off by investing in wholesale designer handbags in bulk and selling them off, one by one over eBay. It wasn’t long before I was making a killing. As a matter of fact, I was getting orders for my wholesale bags faster than I could mail them! Soon I realized that I had to take a risk. I had to quit my job and devote myself full-time to my online business, or else I would be hopelessly swamped by orders. It was a risk, but it was a risk I was willing to take.

Soon, I was selling wholesale backpacks, customized bags, tote bags - anything you could use to carry something else in. The great thing is, once I started spending a lot of money buying wholesale bags, the designers noticed me. I got better details, priority offers, and an inside track to the best wholesale bag suppliers. This increased my profit margin tremendously and allowed me to undercut most of the competition. I have been sitting pretty ever since!

Originally posted 2006-07-09 13:21:39. Republished by Old Post Promoter

One of the first things you get when you meet a professional contact for the first time is a business card. A simple gesture to reach into the pocket, wallet or card case and to offer a business card is the very first impressions you or your business contact are likely to have of each other. In fact, this simple and effective card is one of the most important things you can ever collect. Several professionals have enjoyed great success on the strength of the business cards in their rolodex. Super salesmen are so because they have the business cards of several dozen contacts with them. One could also go so far as to say that in the present day world, a business card, or the right business cards, are like a currency in their own right!

Don’t be fooled by the size of the average business card. After all, the old adage says that dynamite does come in small packages! Even though it is small, an average business card will contain the following information. The name, professional titles, company address and all relevant contact details of the individual in question will surely be included (this also includes e-mail ID). Additionally, some business cards may include home contact details, details of the professional qualifications, and in some cases, personal messages.

Speaking of personal messages, business cards have of late become a sort of an advertising medium, although they are very below-the-line in the truest sense of the term. It all began when some smart marketer realized that since business cards are handed out to business contacts; why not use the chance to offer a compelling message? And sales personnel started including their objectives and mottos on their business cards, advertising professionals listed out the tag lines of their clients, independent professionals started listing out the names of their clients while egoistical people began outlining their personal accomplishments! Whatever be the case, business cards soon became a medium in their own right.

And it is no longer a difficult thing to design your own business cards. Most home software like Microsoft Office come with custom templates to design and print your own business cards. If these are insufficient, the Internet has a wealth of free resources that you can download and use. Professional design software like Corel Draw and Pagemaker have many more options for unique business cards. No longer do you have to be satisfied with single sided, plain ivory paper business cards. You can opt for business cards shaped like place holders, four sided business cards, color printed business cards, laminated business cards, and the new rage, business cards which look and feel like credit cards! If you can imagine it, the present day software can ensure that it is do. Your imagination is the only limitation!

There are also several Internet based service firms that will custom design your business cards, create a logo and printing options for you, and deliver your business cards to your address for a very nominal cost. Some of them even offer websites with the capability to design your own business cards. But remember to design your business card with care. After all, it is your personality it represents!

Originally posted 2006-07-29 05:10:02. Republished by Old Post Promoter

Picking out just the right corporate Christmas gift idea can be a pretty difficult task. After all, what you get for your employees says a lot about what kind of boss you are. When I was coming up in the world of business, people tended to get very formal office Christmas gifts. The boss would buy senior members expensive wine, junior executives slightly less expensive wine, and everyone else Christmas ornaments, or other presents that reflected their low status in the company hierarchy.

Nowadays, that approach is not nearly that popular. In the modern workplace, after all, we are supposed to pretend that we are all equals - members of the same team, as it were. Although no one exactly believes this, it makes relationships between management and the workers easier and less strained. As such, the best approach is to have a corporate Christmas gift idea that is appropriate for everyone. You can privately get something nice for some of your senior partners, but it should be done in as inconspicuous a manner as possible. Publicly showing favoritism only invites trouble, particularly when you can already indicate which employees you favor through Christmas bonuses.

One of my personal favorite corporate Christmas gift ideas is to send everyone home with a bottle of Bristol Cream sherry. It is one of the most delightful wines you can have in the winter, and it is relatively inexpensive. If your office is facing hard times, however, you might want to consider going cheapter. If you can have your company print out personalized custom Christmas gifts, you can get away with a very cheap holiday present. Last year, for example, we gave everyone a candy basket. There were peanut butter cups, mints, and little chocolate Santas inside. The Christmas wrapping paper was printed with the company logo, and every single one had a personalized greeting card attached. It cost less than three dollars per basket, and it still seemed to make most of our employees feel appreciated.

Of course, you can always go with one of the old standbys. An ornament is probably the most classic corporate Christmas gift idea there is. It is pretty, inexpensive, and useful year after year. You can get a pewter Christmas tree ornament, a glass bauble, a miniature nutcracker, or whatever else might strike your fancy. Any of these will make a fine corporate Christmas gift idea without breaking the company bank!

Originally posted 2005-08-28 02:15:29. Republished by Old Post Promoter

One of the wonderful aspects of today’s technology is the Internet. If it weren’t for cyberspace, so many home businesses and private companies would not be possible. With mere access to the web, anyone who desires to can start their very own internet based business opportunity. Imagine all of the online privately owned jewelry stores, flower delivery services, knife outlets, clothing boutiques, lawn care services and gift basket businesses. If you also have a marketable idea, you can start a personal business of your own. All it really takes to get started in this new-age field is a PC with high-speed Internet access and an idea.

So many individuals around the world despise their current job positions. This may be due to the fact that many people consider employment a necessity and you’re not supposed to enjoy your career. This couldn’t be further from the truth. While it’s commonly known that we all require an income in order to live healthy lifestyles and pay the bills, there’s no reason why anyone should hat the job they choose. And for those who do, consider a personally owned internet based business opportunity of some sort. What do you have to offer the massive world out there? If a product or service immediately pops into your head, then maybe you should toy with the idea a bit and flesh it out. This could be your next big internet based business opportunity. So many individuals are already making tons of cash via the Internet, so why can’t you do the same thing?

A major aspect of today’s internet based business opportunities is web publishing. You may or may not have actually heard of this before. Either way, it’s still a big money making business that can be done solely from the privacy of your own home. Folks from all over are publishing web pages and blogs every day for free in cyberspace. They then proceed to place ads on these web pages and blogs. This way when a web surfer passes through, he/she can click on one of the ads to get a closer look, and in turn make you some money. Consider this popular internet based business opportunity today. It may be right up your alley.

Originally posted 2006-10-05 07:11:10. Republished by Old Post Promoter

My great uncle was blacklisted as a Communist in the fifties. Unable to find work anywhere, he was nearly destitute when he made a business partner. They both took what little they had and invested it in a dry cleaning business. Little did they know in those humble first days that their dry cleaning business would go on to make them rather well off, if not filthy rich.

My great uncle George had a way with words and a way with people. Being in his business for himself, it didn’t matter that he was black listed any more. People would still talk to him and do business with him, even though they had been unwilling to hire him before. He took out ads in the paper under an assumed name to popularize his business, which was in an area with no other cleaners for miles. A dry cleaning business on its own, however, isn’t that lucrative, so uncle George did something that no one at the time had done. At least no one he had met.

He opened a coffee shop in the front of the dry cleaning business. People could get coffee and chat while they waited for their laundry to be done. And he would do it fast, faster than anyone else at that time. And my Uncle always had the news and gossip too, so it wasn’t long until everyone was coming to his dry cleaning business just to hear the latest about what was going on. He was a good guy to talk to, and it paid to know him too. He had an uncanny way with advice. He could be talking about something he knew nothing about - stocks, some tricky aspect of overseas politics, horse racing, beer brewing, whatever - and he’d still somehow find a way to be able to tell you just what you needed to hear and just what you needed to do to succeed in any endeavor, no matter what it was.

And he was quite a success himself. Soon he opened another dry cleaning business across town and then a third one. Business was booming. They could talk all they wanted about his politics, but no one could doubt my uncles business sense. Soon he had money to help out other people who had been black listed, offering them jobs at fair pay, which was unheard of at the time. He was a hero to his friends, and to anyone who needed a helping hand.

Originally posted 2006-01-25 18:09:16. Republished by Old Post Promoter