Posts by Arwen Taylor

Free Up Time for Work by Automating Your House Cleaning

Posted by Arwen Taylor on Feb 2, 2012 in Business Development | 0 comments

I’m not a big fan of cleaning. Sometimes I get in the mood and want to scrub down my apartment from top to bottom, but most days I look around and wish I had a genie in a bottle so I could wish the mess away. Maid service Centreville, VA to Seattle, WA is definitely something to think about investing in if you hate cleaning too.

Think about it. How long does it take you to clean your home from top to bottom? My little apartment takes about an hour to 90 minutes depending on how OCD I want to be about it. Let’s say it takes two hours to clean your home from top to bottom. What else could you be doing with that time? You could be working your business and earning income.

I’ve said this before many times. You have to be smart about where you invest your time when it comes to building a successful ibusiness. If you make a $50 sale per hour when you work your business, it costs you $100 in lost opportunities to clean your home. However, if you hire maid service for $25 an hour (prices will vary), then you still come out ahead $50. Plus, you get that awesome new home smell when the maid is done.

Talk to me in the comments. How long does it take to clean your home and what would you do with that extra time?

Everything I know about Entrepreneurship I learned from Spongebob Squarepants

Posted by Arwen Taylor on Nov 14, 2011 in Business Development | 2 comments

Now I know what you’re thinking. What does Spongebob Squarepants have to do with entrepreneurship? More importantly, what’s a grown woman doing watching kid’s cartoons? Let’s just say I have peculiar tastes in television shows and leave it at that.

Spongebob Squarepants is an animated show that highlights the antics of a quirky sea sponge who lives in a pineapple in an underwater city called Bikini Bottom. His best friends are a starfish named Patrick Starr, who literally lives under a rock, and a squirrel named Sandy Cheeks, who lives in an underwater bio-dome. The show has been on the air since 1999 and is one of Nickelodeon’s top rated and longest running cartoons.

Spongebob is what I like to call a clueless newbie. He has no idea how the world works and no plans to change that. For him, life is all about working at a fast food restaurant and chasing jelly fish. So he would seem to be the most unlikely suspect to teach anyone, anything about something as serious as entrepreneurship. But he does. And rather charmingly, I might add.

‘Tis the Season to Earn Extra Money Online

Posted by Arwen Taylor on Nov 9, 2011 in Internet Business Ideas | 0 comments

So a few days ago, I poked my head out of the digital cloud and realized – it’s November!

Are you kidding me?

I swear on a box of chocolates, the last time I looked at the calendar, it was January. I can’t believe the holiday season is already upon us. But now that it is, it’s time to get to work. If you have been looking for a way to earn extra money from home, tapping into the holiday shopping spirit is a good way to go about it.

We are entering the biggest shopping season of the year. Some statistics I saw earlier stated that 38% of people surveyed have already started their holiday shopping. Sure the economy sucks and jobs are scarce. But none of that doesn’t matters because people will find a way to get presents under the Christmas tree, even if they have to put things on layaway to do it.

And not everyone is broke. You may have tumbleweeds blowing through your checking account, but some people do have money and can afford to purchase the hot toys and electronics flooding the market. These are the people you need to look at for inspiration on how to earn extra money this holiday season.

The Hunt is On – Finding Your Target Market Online

Posted by Arwen Taylor on Nov 7, 2011 in Marketing Strategies | 0 comments

This is a follow up article to Sniper Scope – Increase Sales by Defining Your Target Market which describes what a target market is and how to identify the people most likely to be attracted to your product. If you haven’t already done so, go ahead and give the article a once over to bring yourself up to speed.

Marketing is a major component in your business’ development. Without an effective internet marketing strategy that brings in customers and generates sales, your internet business is just an expensive hobby.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Hobbies are great for relaxing. I have quite a few of my own which include writing fiction, decorating cakes, playing casual games, and collecting music. However, they’re not so great if you are trying to put food on the table or pay your rent. For that, you need a money making business. To make money, you need customers and to get customers, you have to market your business well.

Identifying your target market makes selling your products a whole lot easier. Instead of running around the internet posting your sales message in every online nook and cranny, you’ll save time and money by advertising in places where your clients are most likely to view them.

Protecting Your Online Reputation

Posted by Arwen Taylor on Nov 4, 2011 in Business Development | 2 comments

Awhile ago, I read an article about name squatting and how spammers and other ne’er-do-wells are registering company names on Twitter and other social networking sites. It seems that several brand names (Tim Hortons, Sears, and Coca-Cola) have been registered by squatters. This could potentially pose a problem for those companies should the people who registered those names choose to use them for evil.

The time it takes to build a good reputation is disproportionate to the time it takes to destroy one. I’m talking years vs. seconds. Not only do you have to worry about the natural misunderstandings that often occur online, but you have to also have to worry about internet abusers who thinks it’s fun to destroy another person’s reputation.

Case in point: Exxon Moblie Corp had someone register a Twitter account and person tried to pass themselves off as a representative of the company. While the damage was minimal (at a time when gas was almost $4.00 a gallon in the US, I would say that Exxon dodged a bullet), the incident highlights the need for businesses and individuals to be proactive and vigilante about what is happening with their names online.