Finding the Right SEO for Your Small Business

I often talk to people who have lost faith in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) firms because of bad experiences. Either they saw no results, felt that they were tricked into subscribing to a service that could not work, or that they wasted money on a firm that did them no good. Although I agree that there are bad SEO firms out there, I know that there are also many good ones. It's your job to make sure you find an SEO firm that will work for you.

Search engines are the basis of Internet existence and survival. Recent studies have concluded that over 90 percent of all web surfers use search engines to find what they are looking for. Thus, in order to be successful on the Internet, your website must be search engine friendly. If people who search the Internet for your products or services are not finding your Web site, you need search engine optimization (SEO).

Now some of you may take on the task of optimizing your own sites. For those people, there are plenty of how to articles on the Internet that can help you. If you need more help, drop me an email and I'll give you some ideas. However, many webmasters decide instead to let an SEO company handle their marketing. Search Engine Optimization is a full time job, and many companies need to hire someone to do it for them. If this is your intent, you should know what to look for, and what to watch for, when selecting the right SEO company.

Read full article by Nathaniel Long

Lifestyle Entrepreneurship: Making Profit Out of Passion

Freelance writer Mark Henricks says that self-employment can allow you you to do what you love and love what you can do in his book Not Just a Living: The Complete Guide to Creating a Business that Gives You a Life.

Henricks asserts that not everyone starts a business for the money. In fact, more people are turning to entrepreneurship to support the lifestyle that they have always dreamed of. He calls this under-reported but growing phenomenon "lifestyle entrepreneurship."

Studies support his assertion. According to the market research company Warrillow and Co., as many as 90 percent of the roughly 20 million American small business owners appear to be motivated by lifestyle more than money. In a 1999 Lou Harris survey, it was found that money was the main driver for very few small entrepreneurs and self-employed people. Instead, nine out of ten entrepreneurs said a desire for independence prompted them to become entrepreneurs.

The book provides practical tips and advice on how to create a business that offers both financial gain, as well as satisfaction, personal fulfillment and joy.

Read full article by George Rodriguez

10 Strategies to Grow Your Business Without Borrowing

As you grow your business, one of the important challenges you will face is the need for additional capital. Your business may need the infusion of new cash to be able to expand and reach the next level. Or, you may need additional money just to survive.

However, getting new money may not be that easy. In fact, the search for capital can be frustrating. Banks may turn down your request for business loans for a thousand and one reasons. You may not have enough assets that you could use as collateral. Your company may not be in business long enough to establish a satisfactory credit rating.
If you have a viable business, good customers, and a business plan, there are options to get the funds to grow and succeed. You can grow a company without borrowing (or with minimum borrowing) through a number of ways

To learn the 10 ways a small business can grow without incurring too much debt, read the article by George Rodriguez

The Aging Population and Its Effect on Small Businesses

In the next few years, the world will see dramatic transformations in how people consume and buy. These changes will be brought about by gradual aging of the population. The imminent retirement of the “baby boom” generation, combined with longer life expectancies, will place extraordinary pressures on the economic resources necessary to sustain the rising standard of living that most people have come to expect.

This demographic change has become more significant at the start of the new millennium than at any time since the end of World War II. The world population is aging, which means that the average age is increasing at a rate that is unprecedented in the history of civilization. Indeed, seventy percent of everyone who has ever lived is alive today.

The prolonged graying of the world, with an escalating ratio of elderly to young people, will have profound social, economic, medical, and personal consequences. More importantly, this demographic change will change the face of small business.

Read full article

Leverage the Power of Publicity for Your Small Business

Your business is only as good as the number of people who knows about it. For your venture to grow, you need to start spreading the word about your business. You may have the best products your field, but you cannot expect your business to breach the million-dollar mark in sales if only the people in your street know about it. Some entrepreneurs start doing promotions only when their businesses are up and running, while some market their business even before the products or services are fully launched.

There are two ways to get your business noticed: through paid advertising and through public relations. In advertising, you pay to have your message placed in a newspaper, radio or television spot, or your banners displayed in a Web site. In public relations, on the other hand, the article or show that features your story or business is not paid for. Rather, the writer may have come across your story or business through research or references. The writer or media person deems it worthy to mention you or your business to bolster his or her arguments.

Read full article.

Making the Leap from Employee to Self-Employed

A poster in the Webmaster World forum asked this question: should he quit his 9-to-5 job and focus on his web site? His dilemma is a nice problem to have -- a site that he started simply as a hobby became wildly successful that he is now part of the so-called UPS Club of the Google Adsense program (an inside speak referring to those earning at least $10,000 a month from the contextual advertising program Adsense). As a result, his 9-5 job now makes up only 25% of his total income, with the remaining 75% coming from his web site which only takes up a few hours of his time a week. Should he then give up his day job to concentrate full-time on his web site and rely on his Adsense income?

The answers are varied and interesting.

The risk-loving folks advice that it's a no-brainer: quit the day job and instead focus more on the web site. Go where the money is. For them, it doesn't make sense to spend so much time on a full time job -- while giving the false impression of being "secure and stable" -- gives little in return.

The others caution him to weigh the decision more carefully. Other than the revenue stream, he should look at a variety of factors, foremost of which is the sustainability of the program. Will Adsense last? What if he gets kicked out of the program and as a result loses his only income? They also advised him to ensure that he has at least 6 months of salary stashed somewhere in case of emergencies, as well as health insurance coverage, and support of the family.

Making a decision such as quitting a job to concentrate full time on a business is no walk in the park. Afterall, it is a life-altering decision! Leaving a full time job can be a result of the person's need for a new lifestyle, to augment existing income, to be with family, or simply to do what brings more happiness and enjoyment.

The key is to actually know what you want out of your life, check if the life of a solo entrepreneur is for you, assess the kind of risks that you want to take, and know the challenges that lie ahead. PowerHomeBiz.com offers a number of articles on the topic, and a good starting point is the article by George Rodriguez article Changing Track: Managing the Transition from Employee to Self-Employed

Are You Geared for a Home-Based Business?

Leslie Ann Martin of Cleveland, Ohio was enjoying a successful career as an investment analyst in a bank. When she got married and had a baby, she planned to return to work following a short maternity leave. She hadn't prepared for a 360-degrees turn-around of her life. "Suddenly, nobody is good enough, trustworthy enough and caring enough to take care of my child," Leslie Ann said. She decided to quit her job to personally care for her baby. To generate additional income for their growing family, she started a financial consulting business from her home. "It was the best decision that I have ever made," according to Leslie Ann. "I had the best of both worlds - I was able to continue working, earn a good income and develop my professional skills, while enjoying the flexibility and total control over my schedule."

Millions around the world are beginning to see the benefits of working at home. More and more people are working their way back home by putting their talents to work. Instead of a corporate career, they opt to build their own businesses based on their knowledge, experience and what they enjoy. A home-based business could provide the right opportunity for finding success while staying at home. But is it for you?

Starting a business is not something that should be undertaken lightly. You will invest time, money and effort into your new venture, so it is worth taking the time to know whether this direction for you. To help you determine whether home-based business is right for you, here are ten questions that you should ask yourself:

Read full article

7 Steps to Successful Web Site Development

Starting a website, and starting one that is primed for success are two different things. Anyone can start a web site, but not everyone can succeed. The process of web site creation entails a number of decision points that need to be made, with each one impacting on the eventual outcome of the online business. To create a successful web site, it is important that every single step is done with the conscious thought of achieving your goals.

Nach Maravilla and Steve Ma. Reyna in the article "7 Steps to Successful Web Site Development" prepared a complete methodology for developing a successful Web site. This article provides a checklist of questions to guide you through the decision-making process needed to create and maintain a successful Web presence.

Read full article

New Search Engine Goes Beyond Links

A new search engine service goes beyond what the big three of search -- Google, Yahoo and MSN -- has so far failed to do: provide answers right there on the screen. Search engines currently provide only a set of links, ranked by a particular combination of algorithms, to web sites that may (or may not have) the information to what you are searching for.

Answers.com, a new service launched by the Israeli company GuruNet, provide direct answers to search queries. It eliminates the process of clicking from one search result site to another, as the answer to your question is shown and neatly organized right in the results page. Answers.com uses a variety of sources for its results, often from dictionaries and encyclopedias.

Testing the service, I queried for "Thomas Hardy" and I was given the choice whether I was looking for Thomas Hardy the political reformer or Thomas Hardy the naval officer. Choosing the naval officer, I was then given texts from a dictionary, encyclopedia, lexicon, wikipedia, external link and best of the web ("some good Thomas Hardy" pages on the web). The cool thing was that everything was on one page - no need to go through 100s of links!

Check it out at http://www.answers.com

Small Businesses Vote the Best Technology Products

Small businesses have different technology needs from big businesses. While they operate their businesses on a much smaller scale than the big boys, small businesses also need power, reliability, premium features and good price from their technology products. Thankfully, technology vendors are responding to meet those needs.

To find out what technology products small businesses use and trust, the Small Business Computing Excellence in Technology Awards has awarded vendors considered by small businesses as the best in various technology categories. Given by SmallBusinessComputing.com, the awards were handed to vendors in three categories: hardware, software and e-commerce. Not surprisingly, some of these winning vendors considered by the small business community as the best of the best are the familiar names in the technology industry, such as Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Macromedia.

The winners by category of the SmallBusinessComputing.com Excellence in Technology Award 2005 are as follows:

HARDWARE

Notebook PC: IBM ThinkPad T42 (with fingerprint technology)
Desktop PC: Dell OptiPlex SX280
Networking Product: Dell PowerEdge SC420
Black & White Printer: Xerox Phaser 3150 Desktop Laser Printer
Color Printer: Hewlett-Packard Color LaserJet 2550L
Multifunction Device: Hewlett-Packard Officejet 7410
Handheld, Smartphone or PDA: PalmOneTreo 650
Digital Camera: Canon PowerShot S70
Desktop Storage: Maxtor OneTouch II
Server-based Storage: Dell PowerVault 745N

E-COMMERCE

Site Hosting Service: Interland
Design Tool: Macromedia Contribute 3 for eBay
Store Front: Kurant StoreSense 5.7
Web Analytics: NetIQ WebTrends 7
Marketing: Roving Software Constant Contact
Customer Support/Service: AuctionVideo

SOFTWARE/SERVICES

Productivity: Corel WordPerfect Office 12
Accounting/Finance: Intuit QuickBooks 2005
Security: Symantec Norton Internet Security
Graphics/Multimedia: Jasc Software Paint Shop Pro 9
Sales/ Customer Management: Best Software ACT! 2005
Wi-Fi Service Provider: T-Mobile
Collaboration: Macromedia Breeze Live
Internet Tool: Mozilla.org Firefox 1.0

Impact of New USERRA Regulations on Small Businesses

Small businesses who have employees on military leave should be aware of a new federal signed by President Bush on December 10, 2004. The law amends the existing Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), and significantly increases workplace protections for employees on military leave and places new burdens on employers.

The new revisions create new compliance obligations to all employers, including small businesses, foremost of which is the protection it provides to employees serving the military. The employment protection it gives to employees serving the military implies that businesses cannot hire new employees to replace those in military duty, nor can they promote their existing staff to fill the spot vacated by the military personnel. The labor law experts at G. Neil warns employers that they need to be aware of their obligations under the new law particularly given that a large number of military reservists and National Guard troops have been called to active duty in recent months.

For more information on this new law, visit this website

10 Ways Small Businesses Can Compete With the Big Boys

When mass marketers like Wal-Mart and Home Depot move into town, many small businesses become fearful for their very survival, particularly if these businesses become direct competition. Yet despite the emergence of these multi-million dollar businesses, many small firms continue to thrive and profit in the highly competitive marketplace.

You may not be able to compete with the big boys head-on, but who says you can't make big money? The key is to do things that they do not do. Here are some strategies your “little” business can survive and thrive against the big boys:

Full article

Spam Email Lists Traded on Ebay

Ebay has become an important marketplace of anything and everything -- from the weird (buy ad space on my forehead!) to the unexplained (image of the Virgin Mary on a half eaten sandwich) to the charitable endeavors (beat "Frank" the cancer sticker). Well, with all the available items on eBay, can the spammers be far behind? A search of "email lists" yield several listings of email lists containing anywhere from 60 million to 350 million addresses, with bidding starting anywhere from as low as $7.99 to $69.99. The claim, of course, is that these email lists are 100% opt-in, no spam valid email addresses. Yeah, right!

Despite the legislative and industry efforts to crack down on spam, spammers have found a new marketplace to trade their wares. Paging the FTC!

Search Engines and the Internet Users

A new study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project entitled "Search Engine Users" has a number of interesting findings:

1. Majority of search engine users (62%) are not aware of the distinction between paid ads and natural search engine results.

It is not really surprising that many people do not understand that the phrase "Sponsored Links" is actually advertisement. Many think that the listings below sponsored links are endorsements of some sort, not paid advertising. Plus, some engines do a better job in separating the paid placements from the natural search results like Google, while others like Yahoo actually integrate their paid ads with the natural search engine results blurring the distinction between paid links and natural search links.

2. Study shows that 44% of search engine users regularly use only one search engine, while 48% will use 2 or 3, while the remaining 7% will use more than 3.

This statistic is very interesting from the point of view of a webmaster or advanced Internet user -- which most likely fall in the 7% category. The rest of the population have their favorite search engines and stick with it. These are obviously not the folks who swear to shift their allegiance to MSN or Yahoo when Google sandboxes their sites. They are not particular with algorithms used by the search engines. They don't monitor every slight hiccup or major update of the search engines. Maybe, they are not even concerned of the spam that could possibly fill the results of their favorite search engines. They have simply become aware of a particular search engine, used it and liked the results, and sticked with it.

For the complete PDF report, visit the Pew website

Tax Change 2005: Writing Off Small Business Equipment Fast

One of the tax changes made for 2005 is the demise of the bonus depreciation option. Instead, as a small business owner, you can increase your depreciation rate by as much as 50% of cost on top of the depreciation you could otherwise take in the first year of use. This rule covers new properties such as equipment bought and put in service in 2004, computer software and leasehold improvements.

According to the publishers of the must-have tax time book series J.K. Lasser's Guides, this new rule can affect you as a small business owner in three ways:

First off, don’t despair about 2005. There is an even faster write-off than “bonus depreciation”, and it isn’t changing. That’s like, “Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.” Tax planners call it “first-year expensing” and the IRS calls it the “Section 179 deduction.” Whatever you call it, you get to write off not 50% but 100%, of the cost of the equipment in the first year of use. To the extent that you qualify for this, you can forget about bonus depreciation.

First-year expensing only works for small business. If you buy qualifying property (tangible personal property like machinery, computers, office equipment and vehicles, maybe Trojan horses) with a cost of less than $410,000, you can elect to immediately write-off up to $102,000 of the cost. The excess cost is subject to depreciation over time (including bonus depreciation for 2004). If you buy from $410,000 to $512,000 of qualifying equipment, first-year expensing is phased down -- to zero at $512,000.

A crucial point: Don’t assume that you should always write off purchases as fast as possible. For example, a new business generating start-up losses might do better spreading depreciation over future years by not electing either bonus depreciation in ’04 or first-year expensing. The same thinking might apply to shifting income to tax years with a relatively lower tax rate, perhaps because of the effects of alternative minimum tax in particular years.

To read more of the press release, click here

8 Trends in Small Business Retailing

Small businesses dominate the retail business. While big companies such as Wal-Mart, Nordstrom’s, Best Buy, Bloomingdale’s, and others fill the business headlines; about ninety-five percent of retailers in the United States only have one-store outlets.

The face of retailing is changing, and no one is more affected by these changes than the small independent retailers. According to a new white paper entitled “Challenges of the Future: The Rebirth of Small Independent Retail in America,” small retailers face eight industry trends, some of which may benefit them while others may prove to be their disadvantage. In order to survive, they must be aware of these trends and plan accordingly how it can affect them or turn these trends to their advantage. The report, which was prepared by George H. Baum Community Charitable Trust, the Illinois Retail Merchants Association and NRF Foundation, offers strategies for the future survival and growth of independent retailers.

To learn the trends affecting the small independent retailers, read complete article

10 Ways to Guarantee Your Online Success

A poster in a popular webmaster s discussion forum recently said that he is on-track to reach and even exceed -- seven-figures in revenues this year (2004). That's a million dollar, folks, from a year-old website that does not even get a tremendous amount of traffic. According to the poster, the revenues are mostly from a combination of contextual advertising, affiliate programs and banner advertising. Just ads and no products!

Whether the poster is bluffing or not, the Web has truly revolutionized the way business is done. It is the most dramatic economic phenomenon of the decade. More importantly, it has opened doors to those seeking to start or grow their businesses. By creating websites, many have realized their dreams of becoming entrepreneurs; where the Web now provides either their full-time or part-time additional income. And yes, the Web has created a lot of millionaires.

While the Web has brought fortune to some, there are many more people who can't seem to make the Web work for them. They join various programs, buy every possible business opportunities they can find, and create sites on a wide variety of topics all to no avail.

So what are the ways to succeed online? Below is a list of some of ways you can ensure the success of your online business. Use and apply them to your own online businesses:

To learn the 10 ways to guarantee your success on the Web, read Nach Maravilla's full article.

Email Trends for 2005: Blast Emails to Disappear

Email has changed the way marketing is done. It has given businesses a very efficient, fast and low cost marketing channel, allowing users to be more accessible.

This year, however, the trend is for blast emails to go down the drain, according to Chris Baggot of the Indianapolis-based developer of e-mail marketing solutions ExactTarget.

In a white paper on the top 9 email trends for 2005, Chris explained that "frequency becomes individually driven" and that marketers should remove the idea that emails should be sent on a pre-determined schedule (e.g. weekly or daily). Instead, customer requests and behaviors should dictate when to send subscribers an e-mail message (how exactly a marketer should know whether the customer is ready for the email or not is not explained in the paper).

Customer reaction to the email will also be dictated by the email's relevance to their needs. Blast emails, by their very regularity, do not necessarily imply that the customer is receptive to the email message. Chris wrote that "as email clutters compete with every other kind of interruption marketing, customers are going to give their attention to those organizations that deserve it."

To read the rest of the email trends, read ExactTarget's white paper in PDF format (you may be asked to register and give your contact details - take note though: they will call you a few minutes or hours after you download the white paper for any questions you may have regarding their service).

To Succeed in Retail, Businesses Need Emotional Connection

The retail landscape is changing and the old tools used by merchants and marketers are no longer as effective as they used to, according to Paco Underhill of the consulting firm Envirosell during his keynote address at Shop.org's FirstLook 2005 on Thursday. He observed that demands of the population are changing with the changing demographic landscape, particularly the aging of the baby boomers.

To succeed in retail, business owners must be conscious of the two things that buyers want: great service and good prices. To achieve this, retailers must strive to establish emotional connection with the buyers. He suggested using tools such as email to get closer to customers.

Shop.org's FirstLook 2005 was held on January 18-20 at the Chelsea Pier in New York City.

Powerful Networking: Focus on Building Connections, Not Closing Sales

Networking is an effective way of prospecting customers and seeking out people who can help your business grow. It should be an integral part of every small and home-based owners' marketing plans.

However, networking goes beyond the simple act of exchanging small talks and business cards. It is a way for entrepreneurs to connect with each other, and subsequently, leverage that connection for the benefit of each other's businesses ("each other" being the key, not just yourself). You can attend all the networking activities you want, from your chamber's meeting to a get-together of folks in your industry, but it needs to be mutually beneficial for it to work.

To learn how to approach networking from a prospective that ultimately leads to increased business, read Julie Chance's article on networking. For more information on how to network effectively for your business, visit PowerHomeBiz.com's Word-of-Mouth Marketing and Networking channel.

Contextual Advertising Providing Revenue Boost to Small Internet Entrepreneurs

For many small and home-based entrepreneurs, advertising is an important component of their business models. This is particularly true for content, editorial and information-type websites.

In the late 90s when phenomenon of dot-coms were at their peak, banner advertising was all the rage. Many small website owners saw tremendous earning windfalls simply by putting up a website, getting traffic to it, and putting up banners. Banner advertising was a cash cow for many small entrepreneurs, with many earning thousands, if not tens of thousands, per month. Alas, it was all to end and come crashing down to earth.

With banners losing their predominance, small and home-based Internet entrepreneurs have found a new source of advertising revenue: contextual advertising. As users have grown to ignore banners, marketers have found that text advertising, particularly if integrated to the content, is the way to go. More so, if the actual text ad is targeted to the actual content of the page. Hence, contextual advertising was born, serving ads directly targeted to the page. A user reading an article on how to cut down taxes is more likely to click on an ad about tax preparation.

To learn more on how to earn from contextual advertising, and whether it is right for your website, read the following articles:

• Earning Revenues from Contextual Advertising
• Google AdSense: Earning from Online Advertising
• 8 Tips for Maximizing Contextual Advertising Revenues

Study Names State Tax Systems that are Friendly to Businesses

Have you ever wondered if your state’s tax system is business friendly? And how does your state’s tax regime compares with other states? Do you think you’ll be better off if you move your business operations to another state?

A new study by a Washington D.C. think tank Tax Foundation examines the role of attractive state business tax climates in the decision of where to locate a business. They’ve created a State Tax Business Climate Index that measures the “tax friendliness to business of each state’s tax system at the beginning of 2004.” It is a comparative measure that can provide insights on how the state tax system is “hampering the efforts of local entrepreneurs or the possible entry of new businesses.”

To learn the states with tax systems friendly to businesses, read the full article.

Entrepreneurship is Growing Around the World

An increasing number of people are going into entrepreneurship around the globe, according to a new report entitled 2004 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). Sponsored by Babson College and London Business School, the study finds that 73 million adults out of 566 million total labor force from 34 participating countries are either starting their businesses or managing new businesses that they own.

The study is a collaboration of research and academic institutions from Argentina, Finland, Croatia, Japan, and 30 other countries. Now on its 6th year, the GEM project is a cross-national assessment of entrepreneurship. The GEM estimates the overall level of entrepreneurial activity by calculating the Total Entrepreneurial Activity Index (TEA), which is the sum of people in the process of starting their businesses.

According to the study, there are two motivations for starting a business: (a) to exploit a perceived business opportunity ("opportunity entrepreneurship"); or (b) because employment opportunities are either non-existent or unsatisfactory ("necessity entrepreneurship"). The study finds that three in five (65%) of those starting their businesses are opportunity entrepreneurs, while two in five (35%) are necessity entrepreneurs.

To read the complete report, download the 52-page report (PDF file) from the GEM Consortium website.

Taxes, Taxes, and More Taxes

While the April 15 deadline is still a few months away, it is time to start preparing your taxes (if you haven't already). Tax time for me was usually a time for cramming, doing everything at the very last minute. I just dread the work that tax preparation entails, even with the help of a tax preparer. Plus, I love to do it at the very last minute - driving my husband bonkers. But this year, I resolved to make tax time easy and painless (hopefully!) for me.

I read an article that said that business owners need to be proud that they are actually paying their taxes, not just waiting for refunds because that only means one thing -- they made money for the year. True enough, but I still prefer to keep most of what I earned! So I had to re-review again the qualified business deductions that I could possibly claim to make sure that I am not leaving anything on the table.

Late last year, I trekked to Border's Bookstore and bought several books to help me figure out deductions that I may be missing (end of the year is the best way to do this in order to still have time to do catch-up spending). I found two books that are simply a gem of listings of possible tax deductions - J.K. Lasser's Small Business Taxes and Eva Rosenberg's Small Business Taxes Made Easy. The J.K. Lasser's book has more detailed discussions, plus examples on how to possible use the deduction. Rosenberg's book is more of enumeration of what you can deduct, but has scant discussions on how to actually take the deduction and what it actually is. I found that I still have to research each item to ascertain how a particular deduction would apply in my situation. A great read, nonetheless.

As a reminder, if you have employees or you paid an independent contractor more than $600 last year, the deadline for filing 1099s is looming. So better hurry up. You can read more about it from Richard Chapo's article "Deadlines For Issuing And Filing 1099s Are Approaching"

Presidential Inaugural: What's Next for Small Businesses?

Being based in the Washington D.C. area, we were right smack in the middle of the inaugural celebrations. Road closures, closed offices, and checkpoints every corner -- these were but some of the manifestations of the important historical event.

But the question remains, what will the next four years bring to small and home businesses? I hope, as I believe many other small business owners and self-employed, to see lesser taxes, lower health insurance costs, and more assurance that my social security benefits will be there when I retire. Basically, I want more money in my pocket.

Many small businesses are forced to choose between spending money on their fledgling businesses or paying for health insurance. In fact, according to the International Profit Associates Small Business Research Board, healthcare represents the fastest growing small business cost. If I couldn't get health insurance through my spouse, the $400 per month I have to pay for COBRA would prevent me from investing in inventory, marketing and supplies.

The National Federation of Independent Businesses give their take on what small businesses can expect during Pres. Bush second term. Read NFIB's press release.

Welcome to PowerHomeBiz Blog!

Welcome to the new blog feature of the Powerhomebiz.com site. While we're a little slow to enter the fun world of blogging, we'll try to catch up with continuous information, news and other tidbits that home business entrepreneurs may be interested in.

I hope you can join me, and the rest of the PowerHomeBiz.com folks, making this blog work for you.