So, you’re considering starting your own home based business, but are a little uneasy and nervous about taking your first steps.  Don’t panic.  We’re here to help answer your questions!  To try and help ease you into making a more informed decision, I’m going to write about some questions I think you might have about getting started.

1.  Do I have the time to run a business if I have children?

This is a tough question, and believe it or not, it’s the most important question you have to ask yourself.  As a stay at home mom or dad, your first priorities are the children.   If you decide to run a business, will you still have the time to devote to them?  If you know what type of business you want to participate in, you’ll have a better understanding of the time and resources needed.  This should help you make a more informed decision as to whether or not you will have time available to do your daily tasks with your children.

No matter what business opportunity you choose to do (and we’ll review many here on SimplyWebtastic.com), you will have to make some adjustments and sacrifices to your lifestyle.  Hopefully, you will be able to find a balance between life and work.  Remember, you’re going to be the boss!  You will need to learn to set your own schedules and stick to them.

Depending on the age of your children, you may be able to dedicate your time to the business while they’re in school.  If they’re still young (like mine), you’ll need to try and get them involved in your business.  Make some of the tasks you do for your business a game for them and maybe they’ll develop some good skills from it and hopefully, they’ll learn to respect what you are doing and give you the space and time to do what you need.

2.  Is it ok to run a business from my home (licenses & permits)?

I’m not a lawyer.  So this question is best left to a little research on the Internet.  You can easily visit your State’s online Business Regulations website and do a little research for home based businesses.  If you’re going to have people coming in-and-out of your home, you should definitely check for any zoning issues.  If you’re going to run an online business, you’re probably all set.  However, a little due diligence on your part is always best.

3.  Will I need additional education to run my home based business?

Again, that all depends on what you want to do.  You know what you’re capable of doing, but try asking friends and relatives if they think you have what it takes to do that line of work.  If you’re choosing an online business, there are plenty of resources available to bring you up to speed on the latest trends and technologies.  I will be setting up resource pages with links to various guides on HTML, web page designing, search engine optimization, and other topics that should help you build your business.

Remember, no one knows everything!  Trial and error is part of that learning experience.  Don’t be afraid to take a chance, especially if you’ve taken the time to educate yourself on what you want to do.  You’ll be amazed at the number of free online training seminars and tutorials that are available on the web.  Use any of your favorite search engines to search out the training you want.  Chances are you’ll find it.

4.  How much money do I need to get started with my business?

It will vary depending on what type of business you choose to enter.  I work primarily in starting online businesses, so I have more understanding of those costs and will try to give more detailed information in future articles.  Just remember to be realistic!  You’re looking to make extra money as a stay at home mom or dad.  You’re probably not in the position to drain your life savings to take a chance on an opportunity, so choose wisely and within your means.

Starting an online business is not very expensive.  Honestly, the biggest expense you’ll probably have, and it’s one I highly recommend, is to incorporate your business for legal and financial reasons.  Unfortunately, there is usually a yearly business renewal fee.  Mine is $500 per year.  Whether you choose to have a lawyer setup your business, or use an online service, ask others their opinion about whether or not you should separate your business from your personal assets.  I think you’ll see that most will say yes.

5.  Should I involve my family in this decision?

Absolutely!!!  As a stay at home mom or dad, you will definitely need the cooperation of all family members to make your dream a reality.  They all have to be willing to back you up in your decisions and willing to give you the time you need to meet your goals.  Talk to them and discuss the future benefits to the family.  Together you’re a team and as a team, the sky’s the limit.

I hope you found these questions and answers helpful.  I hope to have many more of them here at SimplyWebtastic.com.

So, you’ve decided on a product or two to sell online and are in the process of finding yourself a good wholesaler for your product.  You sit back in your favorite chair, power up your laptop, open up your favorite web browser and type in Wholesaler or Distributor into the search box.  STOP!!!

Do not use search engines to find online wholesalers and distributors.  The vast majority of REAL wholesalers do not advertise on the Internet.  They simply don’t need or want to!  As a wholesaler, they usually do not sell directly to the public, just to other businesses.  This is why you need to make sure you’ve established your business identity before starting your wholesaler search (see my post on Establishing Your Business Financial Structures for some guidelines on starting your business).  The real wholesalers do not advertise on the Internet because they simply don’t want to be bothered by thousands of smaller companies with marginal orders.  They would prefer just dealing with the larger retailers.

Avoid the Middleman! 

When you search for wholesalers and distributors though online search engines, you’re likely to encounter middlemen pretending to be real distributors.  In fact, they’re just acting as intermediaries between the real wholesaler and you, and charging you more than what they pay the wholesaler.  This cuts back on your profit and makes the middleman big bucks since they’re not competing to sell the product to the public.  You are!

So where do you find the real wholesalers and distributors?  Are they kept a secret?

No, wholesalers and distributors are not secret, but they are hidden treasures because many people simply do not know the proper way to find them.  While finding them does take a little effort and patience, anyone can do it.

How to Manually Find a Wholesaler 

The process is simple.  Let’s say you want to sell a particular MP3 player.  If you own that MP3, look on the back of the device or in the product manuals for the manufacturer of the product.  If you don’t own the product you’re looking to sell, try going to a store that may sell it, like Best Buy.  Take a notepad with you and write down some information from the product.  Look for model and serial numbers and any references to manufacturer.

Once you know the manufacturer’s name, give them a call.  Let them know your business name and ask them if they sell to individual companies.  Chances are they will say no, but this is to be expected.  If they won’t sell directly to you, ask for an authorized list of distributors for their products.  The initial sales rep may not know the answer, but someone at their company should be able to get you a list.

Once you have obtained a list from the manufacturer of their authorized distributors, simply give the distributors a call and setup an account with them.  If they have multiple distributors, see if they have a website listed and visit each.  If no website is available, give each company a call.  You’re looking to see which distributor offers the best services for your needs.  Do you need them to drop ship for you?  If so, this would be an important question to ask them.

Bottom line, if you want a real wholesaler, you’ll have to do some homework.  The process is not difficult, but will involve a little research and effort.  Remember, avoid searching the online search engines for this information.  Wholesalers and distributors don’t advertise, so 99% of the time the ones you see listed online are fake wholesalers run by middlemen.

With Joomla’s release of their new version (1.5.1) patch today, they have also released a security patch for their 1.0.13 product.  Anyone on Joomla 1.0.13 or earlier should upgrade to the latest version release to avoid any problems.

Joomla security release 1.0.14 addresses some serious security vulnerabilities.  As with most of their upgrades, they recommend that you test on a backup copy of your site and then upgrade your live site as soon as your testing is completed.

Security Fixes

• SECURITY [LOW]  Fixed XSS issue in Search Component.
• SECURITY [LOW]  Fixed XSS issue in Search results pages.
• SECURITY [LOW]  Disallowed users from adding extra wildcard filters in search strings.
• SECURITY [LOW]  Fixed multiple typos in back end Content Component making array integer check ineffective.
• SECURITY [LOW]  Fixed case-sensitive flaw in Input Filter.
• SECURITY [HIGH]  Fixed CSRF issue allowing portal compromise - Administrator components.

Other Significant Fixes
 

• Administrator logout problem.
• Fixed bug in Search Component where small word were not properly filtered out.
• Improved efficiency of regular expressions in Search Component (thus reducing CPU resources when called).
• Added “Preview” link to Administrator template (to match 1.5).
• Fixed bug in pagination links (extra space was being added to the link).
• Various core API fixes.

For detailed release information, patch files, and upgrade instructions, please visit Joomla’s website.

Even though the Internet is packed with thousands of cheap web hosting providers, only the best web hosting companies survive and continually improve on customer satisfaction year-over-year.  One of those top cheap web hosting companies is BlueHost.com.

Cheap Web Hosting - Exceptional Features! 

BlueHost has been providing web hosting services since 1996 and has been giving users the highest level of support through their well-trained staff.  Whether you are new to web hosting or a seasoned veteran, you’ll find their staff qualified to handle the needs of your business.

Free Domain With $6.95 Hosting Package

BlueHost offers one standard package with everything you could possibly need for a single website or blog to a fully functioning affiliate network of websites.  Since many of my readers are affiliate marketers, and those aspiring to become one, I recommend looking for a cheap web hosting company that offers a package that supports hosting unlimited domains.  Why?  Simple.  One cheap web hosting package can allow you to create multiple affiliate websites for one low monthly price!

Affiliate marketing is all about finding a niche, creating quality content, and earning money.  Suppose you have ideas for multiple niches?  Are you going to purchase a separate web hosting package for each website?  Now way!  That would cost you a fortune and new affiliates just starting out don’t have the inflow of cash yet to support that method.

This is why finding a cheap web hosting company that provides unlimited domains to be hosted from your account is so important.  With BlueHost.com, you have one administrative login to work from and you can create, deploy and manage as many additional top level domains (TLD’s) as you want.  You also get the option to enable Secure Shell (SSH) capability which I highly recommend.  This secure shell will allow you to use free applications like Putty to open up a console screen to your virtual web server for administrative tasks not easily done via the c-Panel GUI.

Instant Websites and Blogs! 

If cheap web hosting wasn’t enough, BlueHost also offers the Fantastico set of plug-ins free as part of the web hosting package.  There are about 50 plug-ins that are available, but two of the more popular ones for those wishing to create websites and blogs are Joomla Content Management System (CMS) and Wordpress (blogging).  In about 2 minutes, you can have yourself a fully functioning CMS system or blog and instantly start creating the content for your website. Now that’s a time saver and you don’t have to be a web guru to have a gorgeous website.

So, if you’re looking for cheap web hosting with exceptional features, support and reliability, look no further than BlueHost.com.

What is a Reseller Certificate? 

A Reseller Certificate allows you, through your business, to buy goods without paying tax.  It is your responsibility to collect the applicable taxes from your customers when they order the product from you.  Currently, most states require you to collect taxes from customers who reside in the state your business is registered in.

If you need to clarify your State’s position on collecting taxes, you should refer to your State’s tax webpage for current information.

Who Needs a Reseller Certificate?

Basically, if you purchase products with the intent to resell it to someone else, you should have a reseller certificate.  More importantly, the reseller certificate allows you to do business with wholesalers and distributors who normally require a valid Tax ID to open an account.  The wholesaler will ask you to provide a Resale Certificate as proof that the property is being purchased for resale.  This allows them to sell their products to you without having to collect taxes from you.  Essentially, they’re placing the burden of collecting taxes in your hands.  Whatever there reasons, if you don’t have a reseller certificate, they’re not going to give you business.

If you’re in the business of selling products online, check your State’s taxation website for information on how to obtain a Reseller Certificate.

For those users running a previous version of Wordpress, please be aware that Wordpress has released an important security fix which will bring your current release level to 2.3.3.

This security release will correct a flaw for those sites that have registration enabled.  A flaw was found in the XML-RPC implementation such that a specially crafted request could allow the hacker to modify users posts.

Also, if you are using the WP-Forum plug-in, an exploit was found in that module as well.

Please visit Wordpress to learn more about these exploits and download the XML-RPC patch or new Wordpress 2.3.3 release level.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve become a big fan of the Open Source community and those companies offering users alternatives to high price commercial products.  AntiVirus software has become a huge money making business for companies like Symantic and McAfee (and countless others).  At $40 - $75 per year for antivirus subscription software, it starts to get a little ridiculous on how far you have to go to protect an operating system that should be better equipped to handle virus threats to begin with (ie. Windows)!

I have been using AVG Free AntiVirus software from Grisoft for a couple of years, and have been very happy with the protection it has provided me.  Also, since it just does antivirus checking and repairing, your system won’t feel as sluggish as it does when using Symantec or McAfee’s suite of products.  Combine those features with zero cost, and you have yourself one great free antivirus product for your personal PC.

In addition to Free AntiVirus software, they also offer Free Anti-Spyware and Free Anti-Rootkit software.

The easiest and cheapest way for anyone to get started with their own personal or business website is with a shared hosting plan.  In general, web hosting is the storage and delivery of websites via the Internet.  Shared web hosting, which is also known as virtual web hosting, is the storage of files for multiple websites on a single server.  Each website is allocated its own amount of disk space, processor utilization, memory and bandwidth from the resources available on that single server.  Think of this as the slicing of an apple pie.  The pie as a whole is the server, and each piece cut is a unique website.

Advantages of Shared Web Hosting

The biggest advantage of shared web hosting is the cost.  Shared hosting is considerably less expensive than purchasing a dedicated server.  With a dedicated server, you are the only client on it, and all the resources are yours to do with as you please.  Also, with shared web hosting, the web host manages the server hardware and network resources.  Thereby, eliminating the need for the end-user to require technical staff to maintain the server.

Shared web hosting is a good idea for individuals and businesses with small web hosting needs and resources.  Some examples are blogs, home pages, and web sites with small to moderate web traffic.

Disadvantages of Shared Web Hosting

The biggest disadvantage of shared hosting is the lack of control over the server.  For those that have the technical expertise and want more control over the system resources, shared hosting can be a very difficult and frustrating experience.  Also, for those websites that do not want to chance another shared site causing the server to crash, probably wouldn’t want a shared service.  Larger e-commerce sites and high traffic sites should look to dedicated servers.

Recommendation

When looking for a web host, ask yourself what you need it for.  If you’re doing a blog, or an informational website, chances are a shared web host will be perfect for you.  If you need e-commerce or anticipate huge amounts of web traffic, you may want to look at a dedicated server.  Remember, you can always upgrade if the need arises.  So, if start-up money is an issue, start with a shared and grow your business as needed.

If you’re looking for a excellent award winning web hosting company that has been around awhile with a solid reputation, take a look at HostGator.com.  They have shared web hosting plans starting at $4.95 per month, offer cPanel control panel, free Fantastico scripts (Wordpress, Joomla, and dozens more), and of course, their 45-day money back guarantee.

I personally use them, after having tried many other hosting companies, and have found their service and tech support to be very knowledgeable, helpful and prompt.  Whatever your needs, you’ll find HostGator to be top notch.