This post is not about any money making venture, but I get a lot of requests for information on how to start a non profit organization. There must be a lot of good hearted citizens who are passionate about their causes out there – and may your tribe increase! I have found a website that compiles various resources on starting a non profit. I especially like the Minnesota Council of NonProfits because the site gives information on governance, developing strategic alliances, fund raising and other ingredients of successfully running a non profit. http://www.lib.msu.edu/harris23/grants/znpbib.htm As for funding your non profit, I

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One of the many concerns of startup entrepreneurs is where to get capital for starting their business. Should they apply for a loan from a bank or lending institution? Or should they simply use their credit cards? Bank financing may turn out cheaper than credit cards, but credit cards are much easier to avail of than bank financing. It really depends on many factors: 1. Can you get bank financing? You must be able to convince the bank that your business will make money. More importantly, that you can repay the loan. If you are not likely to get bank

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If you are thinking of starting a translation business, here are some free articles that provide great information: When In Rome…Start your own translation busines http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/0,4621,274484,00.html Launching a Translation Career http://www.writing-world.com/international/mirsky.shtml Life as a Translator http://www.foreignword.com/Articles/Rogers/p2.htm As for licenses, check with your county for the requirements for starting this business. Translation is often not included in professions that needs to be licensed before it can operate, but it is best to check with your local county. You may want to consider getting certified by the following organizations: Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) http://www.iti.org.uk/indexMain.html American Translators Association (ATA) http://www.atanet.org/ Société

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Press releases should be one of the strategies in your marketing arsenal. They allow you to reach media who may write about your business, or reach your customers directly. On the Web, you have the added benefit of increasing your one way inbound links and improve your search engine rankings. PowerHomeBiz.com offers a free press release submission to entrepreneurs. I’m trying to make a list of other websites that entrepreneurs can use to submit their press releases for free. Of course, “free” can have different meanings — limited distribution, free only for posting on their website (but not for wide

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Silverpop.com, an email marketing company, released a survey they conducted on how to grow an email list. Entitled 2006 Email List Growth Survey, the report looked at the strategies that companies successful in email marketing use in growing their opt-in subscribers. Here are the findings of the study: 1. Experience pays off. Companies who have been managing and maintaining 1 million or more lists tend to have been in the business of email marketing longer, or about 5 years. (Not a surprise considering they’ve had more time to grow their list and get their names out there). 2. Evaluate and

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Starbucks proved that coffee is one hot commodity (literally and figuratively!) that many would-be business owners are planning to start their own coffee shop business. People are making it a habit to visit their favorite coffee shop everyday to get their latte fix. One important note, though — this is a business that requires capital and can hardly be started on a $5,000 budget. In fact, according to Bellissimo Coffee Infogroup, http://www.espresso101.com/coffee_faq.html you will need the following amounts to start your coffee shop business: Coffee Cart: Usual start-up cost is $20,000–$25,000 to open and stock. Kiosk: Depending on the size

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I’m a stats junkie, and I am always curious about the numbers of Web operations. That’s why I just love the Top 500 Guide http://www.internetretailer.com/top500/ of Internet Retailer magazine, which is a 260-page directory ranking and profiling of the 500 largest e-retailers based on their 2005 online sale. The book of course focuses on mostly big businesses, but it is interesting to learn what made these companies successful. Here are some interesting facts from the this publication: Fastest growing etailers. Among the 100 largest e-retailers in 2004, Zappos.com grew at the fastest rate (101%) in 2005. Among all the Top

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I have received several questions on how to start a comic book store. I’m not a big fan of comics except for X-Men but I understand that comics afficionados are passionate about their comics and can be one of the most loyal customers you can have. I found a great resource on how to start your own comic bookstore, including where to get distribution agreements to be able to sell DC, Marvel and other comic titles. This site also discusses the discounts you can get from the dealers based on your volume, and other very helpful information. http://www.newsarama.com/pages/Tilting/Tiltingv2_7.htm One of

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Direct Magazine has an article in their July 2006 issue showing how the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society improved the effectiveness of their email campaigns by — get this — slashing their email lists. They reduced their email subscriber list from 33,636 subscribers to only 4,510. That’s a whopping 87 percent drop! The director of emarketing of this nonprofit org explained that there was no point in having a large list when they have a poor open rate and a “pretty bad” clickthrough rate. The LLS found that their subscribers were not getting their emails because their emails were blocked by

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In last year’s issue of my favorite publication, Internet Retailer (a must-have for those selling on the Web), they had a short box insert on the don’ts of online retail that I want to share with you. Here are some of the common mistakes of retailers that result in lost sales: 1. Don’t assume customers want to spend the rest of their life on your site = Most of the big online stores do a good job with speed; it is more of a problem with small sites. Smaller sites cannot afford to purchase Akamai license for load balancing or

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