Absolute Internet Truth, from a Slant

Written by Joe Bingham


You've heard it saidrepparttar Internet provides a level playing field for businesses.

What exactly does that mean, do you know?

Well, I'll tell you. What it means is that you are literally as good as what people perceive you to be. Now, that's true offline as well, but online there is less of you available to be perceived.

For instance, there is no way to judge me by my looks through my ezine. There's no way to judge my wealth by my clothes, my house, or my car either, since you can't see them. Literally all you have to go by is my words and what I do.

What a wonderful way to exist inrepparttar 117712 world, huh?

I mean, for all you know I'm running my business fromrepparttar 117713 state penitentiary by sneaking intorepparttar 117714 warden's office at night and last October when I disappeared for 4 days it was not because my phone connection was out, but because I was sent to solitary confinement for complaining a little too hard about that pile of green lead shotrepparttar 117715 kitchen tried to pass off as peas.

Um, anyway. Of course, if I was in prison, I wouldn't tell you. That way, I could still appear to be an upstanding, trustworthy individual you'd be happy to do business with. Instead, I'd just present to yourepparttar 117716 perfect business man image, customized to whatever that means to you, of course.

The other thing meant byrepparttar 117717 Internet being a level playing field has to do withrepparttar 117718 fact that starting an Internet business is inexpensive, especially when compared to traditional business, and therefore open to anyone who wants to try their hand at it.

Practical Money-Saving Tips For Small Businesses

Written by Diane Hughes


One ofrepparttar primary concerns all small businesses have is saving money. When it's time to trimrepparttar 117711 fat, most look for one giant expense to decrease or eliminate in order to stay within budget. More often than not, it doesn't work that way.

Most budgeting experts will tell you that re-evaluating your overall expenses and cutting each by just a bit will actually gain you more ground than doing without something major that you really need. Here are a few ideas of areas to look at and costs to reduce that can have a major impact on your overall profits.

1) Internet Access - Every online business owner must have access torepparttar 117712 Web. But consider this. The market is so flooded with ISPs that you have a lot of room to dicker. Start by searchingrepparttar 117713 Internet under keywords like "cheap internet access" or "discount isp" to bring up lists of possibilities. Then, do one of two things.

(a) Try some of these independent ISPs. Smaller companies can have high quality service and support just like repparttar 117714 "big boys". One business owner I know recently switched from Prodigy ($21.95/mth) to a smaller ISP that only charges $12.50/mth with no contracts. She actually likedrepparttar 117715 new provider better and it costs her about half as much. [Savings of $113.40 per year.]

(b) Renegotiate with your existing ISP. Most larger ISPs know you have a choice of a thousand other companies. Because of this, they are normally more than willing to renegotiate your costs. Be honest. Tell them you are a small business owner and you need to cut expenses. Explain that you've been pleased with their service but will be forced to go with someone else if some sort of arrangement isn't worked out. Another friend of mine did this and received 6 months free! Most will offer 2-3 months free and/or a discount with an annual agreement. NOTE: When you approach your ISP, be fully prepared to switch to someone else if your offer is rejected. [Savings of $105.80 per year with 3 months free and reduced, annual rate.]

2) Switch From A Merchant Account To A Payment Service - If you have a low volume of credit card transactions, it might benefit you to switch from a merchant account to some sort of payment service like Pay Pal or ClickBank. Statement fees, monthly fees, discount percentages andrepparttar 117716 like can all add up to big money.

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