So You Want to Start a Home Daycare – Parenting
So You Want to Start a Home Daycare
David Leonhardt
I hang out with the other mommies. No, I am not a "Mister Mom" or a "Househusband". I do have one enviable situation, though. I work from home and I have the flexibility to say, "This morning I am going to spend with my daughters. I can play with them. I can sing with them. I can laugh with them. I can clean up their ice cream that drips all over me."
Or I can say, "This morning I am taking my daughters to the play center, where they can play with other children, sing with other children, laugh with other children and spill ice cream on other children instead of on me."
So I hang out with the other mommies.
Ive noticed that many mommies want to start a home daycare. The reasoning seams to go like this.
Im at home within my own children anyway.
So far I have remained relatively unscathed, with few permanent injuries.
How much trouble can a few extra children running around spilling ice cream on the rug cause
Lets tempt fate.
I have two children, a toddler and a baby. They are enough of a handful, and the baby cant even climb on counters...yet.
Before setting up your own home daycare, consider this: how many more inspiring diaper-changing hours do you want to spend each day Little Lady is on her sixth month of perpetual toilet-training. If there is a purgatory, this is it. Too old to just carry her treasures in her quick-change diapers, too young to just go on her own, stuck in the middle in a high-maintenance waiting room of sorts. Little Sister has a nickname: Poopasaurus, because...oh wait just a minute. I have to go clean up a mess. Another mess.
Ive already written about the challenges of dressing a toddler while shes running bounding over the couch at record-shattering speeds: http://www.thehappyguy.com/toddler-dress.html
Then there is the atmosphere. Now that Little Lady doesnt nap anymore, she can get mighty cranky. I know the feeling. It doesnt take much to get a good wail going. And she has lungs. Or she might break a few rules or a few toys. Or she might just disobey. It doesnt take long for a parent to lose patience.
Crying. Stress. Babies sense it, and Little Sister can get cranky, too. Its a whole wailing chorus. Before long, the tension in our house can get so thick you could almost cut it with a chainsaw. Almost.
Does it get any better in a daycare Yes. You can take in only children who are completely toilet trained. Unfortunately, those children can climb counters. And chairs. And tables. And balconies.
If you still want to tempt fate and see how many children it takes to cause irreparable damage to your house, your car and your body, here are four tips:
Keep all sharp objects, cleansers and medications in a safe place...like another town.
Laminate your couch. And your carpets. And your clothes. And your ceiling. And your food.
Get a good pair of industrial strength earplugs
So Whats Your Argument – Marketing
So Whats Your Argument
Ken Nadreau
Arguments arent always bad things. Sometimes Theyre used to convince someone of an important point they may not yet realize.
Youve probably used arguments in this way most of your life in fact!
Maybe you wanted to go somewhere and had to convince your parents that is was a good idea to let you go. So you argued your position with them.
Maybe you wanted to buy a big ticket item and had to argue the value of buying it with your spouse!
Arguments dont necessarily have to be shouting matches. They can simply be a device used to convince someone of something that you feel is important.
Its funny then, how so few sales people use the art of arguing to sell their products. Wouldnt a person who wants someone to buy something from them want to try and convince that one that itd be a good idea
Maybe its because its not such a good idea
Could be why so many sales pitches are designed to connive potential customers into buying rather than giving them a convincing argument instead.
Lets face it . . .
Whod want to argue a losing point
After all, if a product is of little value, who in their right mind would want to take the position of trying to convince someone it had value
Maybe thats why so few try to convince rather than connive!
But what is the difference between convincing and conniving anyway
A conniver is like the person in a movie or TV show thats holding something they probably shouldnt be. Suddenly, a cop pulls up and he quickly passes the object to the person next to him with the words, "Here, take this quick!"
The poor unsuspecting by-stander is "left holding the bag", and doesnt know what hit him as hes dragged off to the pokey.
So, to put it simply . . .
A conniver is the person who tries to get you to do something without thinking about it. He creates a sense of urgency and force feeds it to you before you can say no.
Now a convincer is quite the opposite. He wants you to know what youre getting into and is willing to spend the time going over it with you. He has a valid argument and has no qualms about letting you hear it.
So, by the time he hands you the "bag", you know exactly whats in it, and youve been able to make a rational decision about whether you want to "hold" it or not.
This leaves us with two important questions . . .
If youre searching the Internet looking for product to buy, who would you rather run into
If youre trying to sell valuable products on the Internet, which of the above two do you think you should be
Hopefully, the argument is clear!
About The Author
Ken Nadreau is the author of "Power Suits for Online Marketers." A free report that explains the three most important aspects of sales, and how using them, turns the average marketer into a legitimate, "well dressed" professional.
http://taoenterprises.com/powersuit/index.html
krnadreau@taoenterprises.com
So You Want To Start A Business On The Web – Affiliate Programs
So You Want To Start A Business On The Web
Robert J Farey
So you want to start a business on the Internet
What kind of business
Where do you start
What do you intend to do
Have you a product that you would like to sell
Or have you a service to provide
What experience do you have
These are just the basic questions you must ask yourself before you even think about starting a business.
The vast majority of web businesses are started by people who have no business experience whatsoever. They are under the impression that all that you have to do is to set up a website, put a couple of adverts in a few ezines, then sit back and wait for the money to start pouring in.
Life is never that easy.
This brings us to the question, "How do you start a business using the Internet" which can be answered in a number of ways. All of them quite legitimate. Ask a dozen successful internet entrepreneurs how they got started and you will probably get a dozen different answers.
This does not mean that if they were starting from scratch right now that they would follow the same path. They will all have learned from the mistakes that they made on the way up.
I know that I have.
How would they do it now Remember that the Internet is constantly changing. What worked a couple of years ago is not necessarily the best way to go now.
How would I do it
To get the money coming in as quickly as possible, building a website would have to wait. The first thing is to have something to sell.
Ideally, something that can be delivered electronically. Something like an instruction book.
There are hundreds of sites that will sell you the rights to one or more of their existing stock of books. You can then sell it as often as you can and keep all of the profits.
How do you sell it
You need a system that allows your customers to download your book. You will also need a method of collecting the money.
You will then need a method of collecting the email addresses of your customers so that you can make them a further offer at a later date.
If you are new to the internet this willrequire a certain amount of expertise.
There is an alternative way of doing it. Sign up to an affiliate program, the owners of the program will do all that is necessary regarding the downloading and seeing that you get your just rewards. All you have to do is to sell it.
The best affiliate programs come with a lot of backup with hints and tips on how to promote and sell their product.
You must realise that if you dont make money, neither do they.
The downside is that you don