If you know a homeschool family that could help up create a video like this for homeschool entrepreneurs, please contact me at deb@homeschoolent.com. Thanks!

**FYI-we are NOT selling the product they mention at the end, it’s just the most inspirational video for entrepreneurs I have ever seen. I promise, there are NO affiliate links…(except the company’s own. )

Thanks!

____

A great gift idea:

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Transparent, honest and quite talented in teaching complicated subjects in an easy to understand format, Eben has a habit of sharing a large chunk of his knowledge for free. I’ll warn you up front, he is going to tell you about a new product he has in the last 10 minutes of the video, but not before you have gleaned a great deal of VERY valuable information. It’s sort of like those resorts you are invited to spend the weekend on in exchange for sitting through a sales presentation. The nice part here is you can simply close the window in the last 10 minutes if you aren’t interested.

Marketing an information product is ideal for homeschoolers because it’s a wonderful way to share your unique homeschool experience with others. It just fits most homeschool families. Regardless of where you may be in your journey, you have much to gain by what Eben is willing to share in this webinar.  Watch the video and learn the following cutting edge techniques:

• How to package what you know into “information products” that you can sell for high prices online
• The 2 key things you must have in order to build a successful “information business” online
• The common denominators of “winning” online niches – and how to target one that works
• A new type of marketing that is actually much easier and more fun than “high pressure” stuff from the past
• The one question to ask to figure out exactly what to include in your information product – so it has the highest chances of success
• Which type of product to start with if you’re building a new information business online

You will not have to jump over an opt-in or squeeze page, either. Or give up your email address. Just watch & learn! Take notes.

(I promise, this is NOT an attempt to sell you anything, there are NO affiliate links whatsoever, and I have no connection with selling their product. I simply want to share this great information with you, honest-in fact, if you do want to buy his product, let me know so I can get an affiliate link! )

http://www.andyjenkinsblog.com/2011/08/25/eben-pagan-guru-mastermind-webinar-replay/

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Choosing a business is by far the most difficult decision you will face in your entrepreneurial journey. You may have that idea for a business that is stuck in your head that you dream about daily, but will it succeed?

You may need to adapt your idea a little differently to suit what the market will bear. It’s absolutely essential that you are passionate about the field that you want to start a business in, but thinking long and hard about the factors that will make it succeed is a sub-category you really need to consider carefully. You may need to adapt your idea a little differently to suit what the market will bear.

So, HOW do you know if a business will succeed?

There are many ways to determine this, and its certainly a lengthier subject than this simple blog post can support. Even if we could, all the signs can point to inevitable success, and it still may not succeed like you hoped. I’m somewhat of a business bio nut. I love to read, watch and hear about how anyone has found some element of entrepreneurial success. One thing I have noticed is that is isn’t always the IDEA….but it’s the person behind the idea.

There are so many variables in the success equation, but what it boils down to is the biggest factor is YOU. Here are the six, no, seven, common denominators in 99% of successful entrepreneurs:

1. Are YOU passionate about what you want to do?
2. Are YOU ready to work hard, long hours to start with? (that’s why you need to be passionate about this!)
3. Are YOU ready to turn a deaf ear to those negative comments that are sure to come at you?
4. Are YOU ready to look at all your customers as friends, even the ones that are grumbling, complaining, and making your life, well….less than enjoyable?
5. Are YOU ready to allow your business to flow into the direction that the market seems to be taking it?
6. Are YOU willing to learn everything you can about your business, and humbly seek advice from experienced entrepreneurs?
7. Are YOU willing to surround yourself with motivated, intelligent, hard-working partners/employees….and let go the dear friends and/or relatives that are NOT?

These are really the most important factors in any new business. If you are willing to put your all into it and watch what works and sells and move your business in that direction, then it would be difficult to fail.

Here are some other places to find advice and do some old-fashioned research on deciding on a business to start:

http://www.ahbbo.com/starting-business-articles.html

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/chrisfie/archive/2011/03/02/great-read-how-to-choose-the-right-business-intelligence-technology-to-suit-your-style-microsoft-bi.aspx

Forest Graves was laid off unexpectedly from his job, and didn’t know what to do. Together with his wife they decided to do what they had always wanted to do: start a coffee business. As coffee lovers, they were always on the search for the perfect cup of coffee – to no avail. They bought a roaster and now they have a very successful coffee business.

When I checked out his webpage, JumpingGoat.com,  I noticed that one of his blog categories (on the right) was ‘Coffee Shop Business’. He writes his blog in a very transparent, down-to-earth way and I think anyone considering opening a shop like this could glean a great deal of wisdom from someone that has done so well.

Watch the video if you haven’t already. He gives some good advice and three good tips in this interview:

Just begin

Embrace technology

Start with a Facebook page

Start a Coffee Business and Learn Entrepreneurship: For 8-14 year olds:

A curriculum written for older elementary students that are interested in selling quality coffee while learning how to run a business is FatBrainCoffee.com. It’s an excellent program that takes you step by step through everything you need to run your own coffee business. I think they have added tea, also.

So…have you thought of what business you would start if given the opportunity?

.

One of the most impressive teen entrepreneur stories has been Ashley Qualls, who made $2700 from Adsense her first month online-$5000 her 2nd month, and $10,000 her 3rd month. She gave away her product, but the traffic was so high, she made more than she ever would have imagined simply by placing those little Adsense ads on her website. Her advice is to do what you love and the money will follow.  It is good advice, but often does not seem quite that easy. However, following your passion is your best place to start. We’ll work on some blog posts that might help homeschool families play that out.

Anyone have any ideas on how to follow your passion that might help, too?

It looks to me that blogging for income will soon mirror the 2 out of 3 failure rate of new businesses. Actually, I don’t think the majority of new blogs will succeed for the same reason: Poor planning and lack of focus on how it will make money.

This is just one reason that teaching the basics of business to your teens is so important. The common mindset is “Just Do It”. It looks so fun, doing what you want, when you want, how you want. Why wouldn’t anyone want to have their own business or blog?

What happens when they have spent hours and hours buried online, pouring their heart and soul into what inevitable becomes a source of deep discouragement and frustration with no monetary return. Was it really so free? How much could they have had in the bank if those hours had even just paid him minimum wage? The “Build It and They Will Come” attitude doesn’t work any better with blogs than it does with a new business.

There are many that are very public with their opinion that you can’t make money blogging because they tried it and didn’t work, like Daniel Lyons, a talented blogger known for two years as “Fake Steve Jobs” (until Newsweek revealed his identity). In an excellent post by CopyBlogger, Daniel Lyons tell how he only made a little over $1,000 after a traffic spike of 250,000. If you can’t make money with that kind of traffic, he rationalizes, no one can succeed with a blog.

On the other side of the coin, there are many very successful bloggers that share their so called “secrets” and became successful doing just that. But that’s not the only way to succeed. Top bloggers like Darren Rowse with his photography blog will tell you he makes far more with helping those with their camera than he ever did helping beginner bloggers. I’m not sure it’s a secret or not, but there are some essential factors to actually making money with your blog.

CopyBlogger, in that same post referred to above, gives the cornerstone of any successful, profitable blog:

If you want to make money in the real world, solve real problems.

It’s sounds simple, and it really is-but most new bloggers don’t realize this. They jump into creating a blog on whatever suits their fancy. This is a sure recipe for failure.  That is, unless what suits your fancy includes helping others suit their fancy. You must have a plan and direct the purpose of your blog to something that will solve real world problem for your intended readers.

If you would like to transform your blog into a profitable blog, study other great bloggers. CopyBlogger is a must read. Of course you must apply the principles, and work at it like a job, but to make money online you have to make yourself useful. Make sure your vision includes a purpose that has income potential.

I agree and personally need to take CopyBlogger’s hard hitting command to heart:

It’s time for online business to grow up

I love that. When blogging first started, most blogs were personal diaries and people loved (and still do!) seeing inside other people’s lives. Now that Facebook takes care of that in a big way, personal blogs have gone back stage. Everyone wants information that will help them in some part of their life that bothers them, and there are a multitude of ways to serve that up. What can YOU do to help someone else?

CopyBlogger is one of my absolute favorite blogs because it is intensely useful. Take a look at his headlines and you will find yourself wanting to read every single one. (at least I do..) He knows what bloggers need (goes beyond want) and gives practical advice that works. Learn from one of the best, go to http://www.copyblogger.com/no-money-blogging/ . Another excellent place to gain a full blogging education is http://www.problogger.net/.

Do you have a favorite blog or one that has useful information on how to blog? Please share with us in the comments. I’d like to compile a list of great bloggers that share it all and we can all learn from – who do you think makes it to that list?

Please share with us any ideas or (secrets) you might have to making money online with your blog. Thanks!

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