I have been spending a lot of time lately over at Yahoo Answers, answering questions mostly in the Small Business and Advertising/Marketing categories. And it is paying off! I am now #8 in the Business and Finance category in terms of having the most number of answers rated as the best. Answers are rated as best either by the asker, or by the voters (if the asker has basically abandoned the question). More than the rankings, however, I get visitors interested in what PowerHomeBiz.com offers. I get more people to discover and learn about our website. I get targeted visitors

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One of the best articles I have read on the topic of how to get top ranking in Google is Brett Tabke’s (of WebmasterWorld.com) “26 steps to 15k a Day” . This guide was originally written in 2002 and updated in 2005, but still rings very true today, even after various Google updates. If you want to rank high in Google, start by reading the article.

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I’ve been hanging out a lot at Yahoo Answers, and one of the most common questions asked in the Small Business section is “How can I get government grants to start my business?” This is a question that is asked over and over again everyday. I have combed through the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance to find a single grant that provides money to would-be entrepreneurs and I have yet to see one. It seems that you’d be hard pressed to find any grant that would support a for-profit venture, let alone an individual. Most of the federal grants are

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This blog is now accepting comments from readers, so please feel free to share your thoughts with me, offer a different view or simply say “Hi.” I would love to develop a better interaction with my readers.

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I have been spending a lot of time over at Yahoo Answers these past few days answering questions and rating other people’s answers. While many sound like students seeking help with their assignments, doing Yahoo Answers is fun, entertaining and very educational. It gives me a look at the types of information our target audiences are looking for and the kinds of questions they have. One thing I noticed is that there is still a great deal of people out there who believes that they can earn money from assembling craft items, stuffing envelopes, and other well known scams. Many

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We posted today an informative press release from the folks producing the very thick JK Lasser tax guides. The article talks of the items that a home-based business owner can use as deductions, as well as tax rules governing the self employed. Read Being Your Own Boss: A JK Lasser Tax Tip for the Self-Employed

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ChiefMarketer.com offers 5 tips for reducing the number of subscribers who leave your mailing list. These are Send good stuff Offer alternative frequencies Offer change of address Offer other newsletters Ask for feedback, and act on it Read full article

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Just got this email from PineCone Research, an online marketing research company: PineCone Research is ready to expand and we need your help. We have immediate openings for MOMS OF BABIES 12 MONTHS OF AGE OR YOUNGER. Do you know of households that meet this description that would like to join the PineCone Research Panel? If so, please FORWARD A COPY of this e-mail to each household you would like to refer so that they may click on the registration link shown below. That household should complete the registration form themselves and submit it. REMEMBER THAT ONLY ONE PERSON PER

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It never fails to amuse me to receive link request emails from different website owners using the same exact languange. These are the template-driven automated link requests where some unfortunate soul who do not know how to configure the templates end up sending emails like “Dear [insert website name here].” There is an excellent post at WebmasterWorld.com that looks at how link development should be done. First off, the poster opines that link development should be viewed as traffic development, and not merely as a race to improve pagerank senselessly. Search engines have caught up with the game, and for

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Yahoo has recently launched Yahoo Answers, where people can ask and answer questions. Unlike its Google counterpart, Yahoo Answers make it easy for anyone to register and start answering questions. You do not need to submit a resume and prove you are an expert; the quality of your response will prove that for you. Your responses will be judged by the person who posed the question – he or she can accept your response. There are many questions where 3 or more responses have already been posted but no responses have been accepted as yet (either the poster is still

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I just received the new book “The 100 Greatest Sales Tips of All Time” edited by Leslie Pockell with Adrienne Avila (Warner Business Books, February 2006). The book is a collection of sales tips from some of the best business thinkers around the world. It is one of those thin hardbound books that you can finish in an hour (love those types!), with each page containing one tip whether it is one short sentence or a couple of paragraphs. Some of my most favorite tips from the book are: A salesman minus the enthusiasm is just a clerk. (Harry F.

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Is there such thing as free money? Yes, there are and some of them can be found in your local business group or non-profit organization. In fact, you have a higher probability of getting free money to support your business from a local group as against buying lists claiming to offer information on where to get free money (they do have lists of organizations, but whether these organizations will actually give money to YOU is an entirely different question). In the Washington DC area, there is an organization called Community Business Partnership based in Springfield, Virginia. CBP recently entered into

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