Studies say that working in an office is inherently bad for you. They say that offices sap your energy. If you’ve ever felt that, then perhaps now is the time to do something about it!

You don’t need the most sophisticated or the most expensive stuff in your office to make work it well. However, what you do need to do in your office is to apply the principles of Feng Shui.

Feng Shui is the ancient Chinese art of directing energy through placement. Once everything in your office is in the proper ‘place’ then the energy, productivity and money will flow.

Many people would be shocked to learn that how they have their office arranged is not even close to Feng Shui principles. Are you ready to invite in all that good energy you’ve been missing?

Let’s begin with 5 easy answers. (Please Note: All positions are assuming that you are entering the room.)

Feng Shui Answer 1 – Control Your Desk, Control Your Life

Where should your Desk go?

It should be no surprise that we’re starting with the desk. After all, the desk is the heart of your office. It’s important that it be in good position so it will attract positive energy.

So where is the best position according to Feng Shui? Well, the best position for a desk is in the corner which is the farthest away from the door. This way it insures that you have supportive energy behind you, in the form of a ‘mountain’, something big and substantial, the symbol of supportive energy.

However, sometimes you can’t get to that corner. If that’s the case, you will need to build your ‘mountain’ another way. It really isn’t that hard. What you need is something large and something earth related. A big sculpture (or just one that is extremely heavy for its size) would work. Also a nice large plant is good. Even a picture of a mountain would work if you don’t have room for the others.

It’s important that your desk also face the door. This is because the door is where new opportunities enter your life and you want to welcome them when they do. If you are not always facing the door, then the opportunities will see that you have ‘turned your back on them’ and will go elsewhere.

Are you the executive type? If not, why do you have an executive desk? Not only does your desk speak volumes about you, it also invites in different kinds of energies. And while the energy it invites in is positive, if it’s the wrong energy for you then it won’t help very much.

Executive desks mean power and that’s the energy you’ll be inviting. If you are the executive type, then by all means, keep that desk. However, if that isn’t you, get one that that is more open. This encourages flow, a different type of energy all together.

If you have the wrong desk, buy a new one.

Feng Shui Answer 2 – Clear the Clutter

Time to clean up.

If you’ve never been a neatnick before, then it’s time to start. That clutter is dangerous, but not for the reason you’re thinking. That clutter is dangerous because it’s catching and containing all the good energy you should be getting. Clutter is very selfish. It holds onto this energy until the clutter itself is no more.

It’s time to take back your energy by clearing out that clutter. A good place to start is with the computer. Although great, computers make lots of clutter with their cords. Even if you’ve trained yourself to ignore it, the energy doesn’t ignore it. It gets trapped there.

This is why you should tame your cords. They need to be secured on a wall, run under a carpet or get wrapped up in one those ‘cord holders’.

Unfinished projects are best kept in easy to access storage. After all, you can only realistically work on one at a time anyway, no matter how good of a multi-tasker you are. Your desk should have storage options that are not on the top. It’s perfectly fine to have an organizer or two on the top, but too many and they just become clutter as well.

The first step is to completely clear the top of your desk, even if this means putting all those papers into boxes. Now that your desktop is clear, inhale deeply. You should feel the new energy flowing into you.

Usually this alone will give people the drive to keep their work area clean. Sometimes they need more help, like a professional organizer. Whichever way you go, it’s important to not to let that energy get trapped again.

Feng Shui Answer 3 – Welcoming People in Your Life & Office

Greet your people properly.

We all need people, be they clients, other workers or mentors. So it should come as no surprise to you that in Feng Shui there is a corner of the room for nurturing these kinds of relationships. Actually, there are two corners.

The corner in the back and to the right covers everyone but your mentors. Because mentors are such important people, mentors have their own corner, and it’s to the right of the door.

Both corners need either the colors or the symbols of earth. Earth’s symbols are stone pots, geodes and sand sculptures. The colors of earth are not the ‘earth tones’ that so many of us here in the west are familiar with. Instead, the Feng shui earth colors revolve around the yellow family: sand, beige, and a very pale yellow.

The right items in these two crucial corners will make your professional relationships go well.

Feng Shui Answer 4 – Inviting Money In

Like a river, money follows the path of least resistance.

Don’t make it hard for money to find you. You want it to find you, but are you really inviting it in? Money energy is similar to water energy, so money flows where water flows. Do you have any ‘flowing water in your office?

If the answer is no, then you should consider getting some kind of water feature. Aquariums, fountains, beta fish or if can’t be real water, a nice picture of water all work well.

Naturally, this feature can’t go just anywhere, it needs to go in the back left corner. This is the wealth area. Also, don’t forget to temper your wealth with a tiny bit of wood to maintain the balance between wealth and the problems it brings.

Feng Shui Answer 5 – The Future is Now

Embrace your destiny.

Do you know that ’spot’ right in front of the door as you enter? This is one of the most important areas in your office; this where your future lies.

You could be blocking your own future by having a massive thing in that spot, (a desk comes to mind.) Or even worse, that spot could be completely empty thereby only promising an empty future.

Good things to have in that spot include welcome mats, a symbol hanging over the doorway, or some music to greet you upon entering.

Your office should be filled with the intention of your future, so put something great in that spot.

Transform Your Office Life Today

If you follow and apply these 5 easy principles of Feng Shui, then you will soon start looking forward to coming to your office each day. You will become happier and more productive, and all your friends will wonder why. Will you let them in the secret?

About the Author:

Lloyd Burrell was an accountant in his former life. As an accountant, Lloyd has extensive knowledge on office desks, office set-up and layout and office desk furniture generally. He shares his knowledge on the internet’s leading office desk review website officedeskreviews.com. He also knows that the right desk and the right Feng Shui can make a significant to your well being and productivity in any office. Lloyd lives in the beautiful Charente Maritime, which is near Bordeaux, (France.)

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Do you have the correct types and amounts of insurance coverage for your business?

Most people understand that they need to purchase coverage for their personal vehicles and the homes they live in, yet many business owners don’t consider that coverage for their business is just as important.

No matter the size of your business, you need to consider purchasing commercial insurance coverage. A basic commercial policy is the very least amount of protection any business needs, with additional coverages being required depending on factors such as what your business does and if you have employees.

Primary Coverage

Just about every business in existence should consider, at the very least, carrying basic insurance coverage. Your primary business coverage will consist of a basic liability policy and a property policy. Often times, you can get these two coverages combined in what is called a business owners policy.

Depending on the amount of property your business owns, you may need additional property coverage. For example, if you have a business building, then you will need a policy that specifically covers this structure. You will also need to make sure your property policy provides coverage for your business computers, equipment, furnishings, etc.

Liability coverage is also something you will need. A basic liability policy should cover basic liability issues, such as if a visitor gets injured on your business premises. There may also be specialized liability insurance policies to consider, depending on what your business does and the exposure it faces.

Specialized Liability Coverage

Your business may need liability insurance coverage that goes beyond the basic coverage. For example, if your company owns or operates vehicles, you will need a commercial auto policy. This type of coverage provides protection for vehicles used for business purposes, something that a traditional auto policy does not offer.

If you have employees, you most likely will need to have a workers compensation insurance policy. Each state has their own requirements, but typically you will need this coverage if you employee a certain number of people. Also known as workers comp, this coverage guarantees employees have access to timely medical care if they are injured while performing their job duties.

If your company provides professional services, in which an error or omission on the part of your company may result in monetary damages to the client, then you should consider errors and omissions insurance. Companies that have employees going into the customer’s home should consider getting a fidelity bond, which is also called an employee dishonesty bond and provides coverage in the case of employee theft.

There are several other specialized insurance coverages that may be something your business should consider. Consult with a licensed business insurance agent to explore your coverage options.

Carry The Right Policy Limits

Having business insurance is one thing – having the right coverage limits is another. An insurance policy does you no good if the policy limits (the amount it will pay out) are below the amount your company could be liable for.

Check with a licensed insurance agent, as well as your accountant, to see what your business policy limits should be. Having the right combination of insurance types and policy limits helps ensure that your company is properly protected against potential liability exposure.

While many business owners may consider business insurance a luxury, you don’t want to find yourself in a situation where you don’t have the right type, or amount, of business insurance. Spend a little now so that your company is not faced with a situation that could potentially result in financial ruin.

About the Author: Marshall Davis runs Insurance Quotes Kingdom, a website that shows you where you can compare insurance quotes  for free. If you have a business, then you really need to ensure you have the necessary insurance coverage – just in case.

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Entrepreneur Christian Arno started his translation and localization company Lingo24 in 2001, with a degree in French and Italian from Oxford and a handful of start-up money. 
 
Initially working from the spare room in his parent’s house in Aberdeen, Scotland, today Arno has built Lingo24 up to become Scotland’s largest translation company and one of the fastest growing in the world, with projected earnings for 2010 of over $9m USD – and along the way he has learnt some important lessons on how to succeed as a small start-up in a hostile economic climate. 

 Lessons Learned

One of the most important lessons is that, as a start-up with limited capital, you can’t afford to throw money around on expensive projects like advertising and office space without knowing what your guaranteed Return on Investment (ROI) will be. Luckily for Arno, he quickly discovered the power of the internet for both marketing and communication purposes. 
 
By starting his business with a network of employees and freelance translators based around the world, working from home and communicating online, Arno was able to not only reduce his business costs and carbon footprint by avoiding renting office space, but also to start operating 24 hours a day, with employees in different time zones who would pass the baton from one zone to another as business hours finished. 

The Turning Point

A major turning point for Lingo24 was discovering SEO, keywords and Google AdWords as inexpensive and highly effective online marketing strategies. By investing nominal sums for click-through results with Google AdWords, Arno was able to boost Lingo24 straight to the top of the search rankings, and also test out the popularity of various keywords by seeing which ones brought in the most click-through traffic from month to month. 

Targeting Keywords For Success

Researching keywords online through search engine results, checking out what the competition was using, and using keyword search applications such as Google Keywords were other effective ways Arno used to figure out the best terms to use for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). By figuring out the tricks for success in the Google rankings – including using keywords prominently, keeping websites updated regularly with relevant, useful information and building links with affiliates through guest posts and media coverage – Lingo24 rose up to the top of the Google rankings and stayed there. 
 
Arno discovered that there was much less competition for translation services in the European market – particularly in Scandinavia and Germany – than there was in the UK and not only that, but competition for search engine rankings was also less, purely by virtue of there being less sites overall in non-English languages.  

Research Leads to Expansion

He decided to expand Lingo24’s business into the European market to expand its customer base, and also to cushion against currency fluctuations. Lingo24 built five translated ‘toe in the water’ pages for European countries, and the resulting spike in business was encouraging enough to expand with web sites for France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland (in French, German and Italian), Belgium (in French and Flemish), the Netherlands, Luxembourg (in French and German), Norway, Sweden and Denmark. 
 
These sites were all fully localized and search engine optimized, with local domain names, intensively researched local keywords, and with copy translated by in-country speakers, using culturally specific references and phrases. This intensive localization of the websites was seen as essential since internet demographics research shows that, while English may be the ‘mother tongue’ of the internet, the majority of internet users don’t speak English as a first-language, and 85% of consumers will not buy a product from a website if they can’t read about it in their own first language. 
 
Lingo24 was able to exploit this gap in the online European translation market with its localised sites, and the business grew rapidly, facilitating the opening of offices in Romania and, most recently, Panama, to offer a complete international 24-hour service. 

Moving Ahead

Lingo24’s current strategy is to distinguish itself from other translation companies by using innovative technologies, such as the revolutionary web-based Computer Assisted Translation (CAT) XTM system that allows translators and editors to log-in and work on a project simultaneously from anywhere in the world, and also allows clients to update and monitor their projects in real-time.  
 
The XTM system also makes use of statistical machine translation, building up a glossary of often-repeated terms that it can replace automatically when it finds them in context in a new piece of text, meaning the longer translators work on a project, the faster they get. The technology is compatible with any file type and is open architecture, meaning Lingo24 can scale-up operations infinitely, as well as open source, which means clients keep and control their terminology glossary.  

What Can You Learn From Christian?

Essentially, the lessons that can be learned from Christian Arno’s business strategy are to keep costs low by working from home wherever possible, use the internet for marketing and communication purposes, and work with the latest technological advances. With a similar strategy and commitment to a bright idea, you too can grow from a home-based start-up into an internationally successful business. 

About Lingo24: Global translation and localizationcompany Lingo24 was launched in 2001 and now employs some 4,000 professional freelance translators covering a hundred different language combinations. Follow Lingo24 founder Christian on Twitter:@Lingo24chr

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Whatever the business you run and whatever position you currently occupy, you should always keep in mind that you are working in a team. Teamwork is one of the keys to success in any kind of business and there is a lot to learn. Looking back at my 2,5 year experience of work in Customer Service at one web-hosting company I now clearly realize many things, some of which I would like to share with you.

1. Start With Yourself

When you are being criticized by your management or just see that something is going wrong about the business you are working in – try to think what you can personally do to make the things better. Sure, you should not blame yourself for all the problems, but there is always room for improvement.

2. No “I” or “Me” – Just “We” and “Us”

There is no place for egoism in any team. Overestimated ambitions and selfish approach may ruin everything. Therefore, any time some organizational questions are being discussed, you should first think what profit it might bring to your team, not to you personally – even if it is not going to coincide with your own interests.

3. Your Team is Wider Than You Think

Sometimes people, who work in a big company, forget about other departments. They consider their home department to be their only team and work within it only. This is a mistake, no one should make – the Team is always wider – it involves everyone and makes everyone take as much care as possible of their business. You should communicate and co-operate with other departments members actively, since it is a common responsibility and success you share.

4. Gain Knowledge – Share Knowledge

If the company’s policy gets changed overnight – I’m not sure each team member will learn it at once. If you find out anything new regarding your company, your target market, your competitors – share this knowledge, so that there were no surprises. Such fast propagation of news may very well encourage new ideas – isn’t it what you need?

5. Do Not Hide Your Mistakes

To err is completely human, so you should not be afraid of the mistakes you may make and of course, you should never hide them. Each mistake you make saves everyone else from repeating it – this is the very case, when you should consider team profit higher than yours. Such lessons do improve team knowledgebase and highlight weak points.

6. Impersonalize

Whatever your relationship with colleagues is, you should always take everything impersonal. Being good or not that good person and being good or not that good worker are different things – and you should always keep this difference in mind. When a worker makes a mistake, you shouldn’t think of what a nice guy he is – there was an issue and you have to make sure it will not reoccur… and vice versa – if a person you do not like much deserves appreciation – you should appreciate him or her – because you appreciate the work your colleague did.

7. Go Informal

Schools, colleges, offices… people express themselves only partially in such formal places. If you want to co-operate with your colleagues more tightly and productively, you should understand each other better. This is where corporate parties come in handy – informal atmosphere makes its business – you start feeling more open and see others feeling the same – perfect time for making friends and learning each other closer… Next day is not the hangover, what you are going to feel – you are going to feel trusting others more and being more trusted.

8. Build Your Own Team Within The Team

This may sound funny, but this is exactly what you should do. Many minor tasks require sub-grouping. Do not wait for someone to choose you – be a volunteer and pick your own A Team, you are going to trust most and be proud of. Your leadership will be noticed and who knows… maybe one day you get your promotion.

9. Stay Protective

If you are fine with acknowledging your own mistake, try yourself out in taking the team’s blame on you solely. And it is not acting like a hero – if you a capable of doing it, it means that your conscious is team-oriented, that you will never hide behind the new guy’s back or assign someone else’s achievements.

10. Run a “Turn a Blind Eye” Test

A team is then perfectly built, when each its member can carry out the assigned tasks without delays, being under no control. If you are a manager, a team leader, or just one of the most active workers, you can temporarily step aside to watch the things being done without supervision. If everything is fine and your team does what you expected from each of its member, you will see problems being solved on their own – isn’t it a miracle? No, it is your achievement – the result of your brilliant work, which you should keep up.

About the Author: Arkadij Shkolnik is the current administrator and author of SiteValley.com. SiteValley.com is a reliable Cheap Web Hosting provider that can help you meet your online business challenges. They exist to provide the highest levels of quality and service in the highly specialized area of Internet hosting and deliver value and performance to our customers.

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Exports as a means of company growth has gotten a lot of attention in the news recently with Obama’s National Export Initiative, one in which the President plans to double exports over the next five years to support two million jobs in America.

In the following Q&A, Damon Schechter, founder and CEO of Shipwire e-commerce product fulfillment service, addresses the “why” and “how” small businesses can begin selling their products around the world. 

Q: I understand that your company has seen a surge in exports by small businesses. Can you please tell us a little more about that including ways in which smaller business can grow their businesses by “going global”? 

According to our research, sales to foreign buyers – as a percentage of overall sales – by small to medium sized e-commerce merchants has grown from virtually 0 in 2007, to 9% in 2008, to 20% in 2009. And, we’re seeing even greater number of small businesses export in 2010. Though shipments have been spread to destinations around the world, the primary ones are to major markets in Canada and the U.K. We’re also beginning to see a lot of demand for American exports in Asia Pac, and Australia, specifically. 

Q: We always hear about globalization; but, isn’t that just impacting big companies?
 
Not anymore! For years, big companies have seen large markets overseas and had the supply chain and sales experience to enter these growth markets.  However, small businesses now are seeing global opportunities that they were either a) unaware of or b) were simply unprepared to take advantage of.   Today, if a company has a fast selling product that they think they can sell in another country the only thing that stops them from entering that market is the degree of their desire.  These newly global businesses can tap into known marketplaces or a trusted distributor, get their local advertising on demand from Google and store and ship product in the local market with a third party logistics company. 
 
Q: What does “globalization” really mean when it comes to e-commerce?
 
When it comes to selling over the internet there is a “push and a pull” effect.  The pull effect is customer demand.  So, if you have a globally attractive product, overseas buyers may pull you into an overseas market with demand.  This is especially true with the viral “border-less” nature of some marketing campaigns.  The push effect is when a business looks at an overseas market and sees future profits.  Today there is nothing to stop them from entering into that market and competing.  Because of the “borderless” nature of online selling, smaller e-commerce companies are going to be the vanguard for SMB globalization.
 
Q: Why is Globalization now starting to accelerate for smaller businesses?

 
It seems that the tools are now in place to allow businesses of all sizes to have a global supply chain.  It’s no longer true that you need a multi-million dollar product line or budget to benefit from overseas sourcing and selling.  There are a suite of on-demand tools for managing everything from advertising to shipping.
 
Q: What is the biggest obstacle facing the overseas seller?

 
Successful overseas sellers are the ones who can find buyers at the least cost and get the product into those buyers’ hands in the shortest amount of time and with the least hassles.   There are only a few ways to get the product into the buyers’ hands.  International shipping by some method has always been the default; however, the distance makes it expensive and it can take days or weeks to get the product to the buyer which isn’t good for repeat business.  If the buyer needs to return the product for whatever reason, international shipping back is a poor option for buyer and seller.  Small businesses need to take a page from the playbook of the largest sellers and store product in the local market in a local warehouse.  Shipping from a local warehouse means that there is no international shipping cost, the product gets to the buyer in a reasonable amount of time and the product can be returned to a local warehouse.  Ideally, a small seller will have instant access to a global warehouse network service so it can cut its shipping costs and delivery time-lines.  Such services are modeled on the success based, pay only for what you use offerings pioneered to SMBs by Google and PayPal.
 
Q: What are the things small businesses need to consider before moving products overseas for sale?
 
Assuming there is some market demand for the product and/or the business has a marketing plan, typically it’s best to focus on one’s top selling products.  For most businesses, 20% of the product catalog will generate 80% of the sales.  Focusing on just the best sellers will help limit the problem set. Businesses should also think about the customs and duties implications of bulk shipping into a local market.  Borders are a reality in the physical world even when online software and the Internet has made borders less of a concern for closing business online.  Sellers that do their homework can be assured that their products won’t get held up in customs.  

Damon Schechter is the founder and CEO or Shipwire, a provider of outsourced e-commerce product fulfillment with warehouses in the United States, Canada and Europe. Outsourcing storage and shipping hassles allows businesses to focus on global expansion and keeps costs down.   Reach shipwire at www.shipwire.com

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Choosing an entrepreneurial program is an important decision which can have a significant impact on wether or not an entrepreneur is successful.

With a large number of entrepreneur programs to choose from it can be difficult to make the ideal selection. Shown below are some important aspects to consider when selecting among the large number of entrepreneurship programs:

Location

Some experts recommend that individuals seeking a career in technology select a school located in a major tech entrepreneurial center such as Silicon Valley or the Boston region where venture capital deals are made all the time. For technology entrepreneurs, some experts suggest a second-tier school located in a major tech market is preferable to a prestigious school located in the Midwest.

Reputation and Track Record

A school’s ranking and having a national reputation of academic excellence are often important factors to potential employers. They can also be important factors to venture capitalists.

Questions: What is the percentage of graduates of a particular entrepreneurship program that begin their own business? One expert estimates that up to 20 percent of people majoring in entrepreneurship begin a business immediately after they graduate. Who are the successful entrepreneurs who graduated from the program?

On-Campus Resources

It’s important to select a school that provides active opportunities for students to meet investors. On-campus small business development centers and entrepreneurial centers can also be useful.

The school’s affiliations with businesses and business related organizations can also be helpful to students during an externship and in their careers. A school’s affiliation with national and international student organizations including Students in Free Enterprise may be a desirable factor for some students.

Curriculum

In some programs, students as individuals or as part of a team have the opportunity to operate their own company during a majority of the program. A significant trend is the tech-transfer model in which entrepreneurship is taught across the curriculum.

At some institutions faculty members and graduate students from medical and engineering schools team up with MBA students to take innovative ideas and commercialize them.

 Questions: What areas of concentration are available? Does the school have entrepreneurship clubs? Does the school have mentorship programs?

Flexibility

Online classes allow students to work at their own pace from home. They can take classes while building their business. Many school offer accelerated programs. Prospective students should make sure the online program they are considering offers all the important parts of on-campus programs.

Training

Externships provide valuable experience and networking opportunities.

Questions: Does the program provide a variety of externships? Do students have to find their own externships? Are they paid or unpaid externships?

Prerequisite Work

Some entrepreneur programs focus on entrepreneurial studies throughout the program, whereas other programs require an extensive amount of prerequisite work including business classes and general studies classes.

Faculty

Quality programs are taught by instructors that have been successful entrepreneurs.

Questions: What percentage of faculty members are entrepreneurs? How does the percentage compare to top ranked schools? Do some of the instructors have experience at developing Internet businesses?

Top Rated Entrepreneurial Undergraduate Programs

Some of the top rated entrepreneurial undergraduate degree programs are provided by the following schools:

• Babson College
• University of Houston
• Baylor University
• Temple University
• Drexel University
• University of Dayton
• DePaul University
• City University of New York – Baruch College
• University of Southern California
• University of Pennsylvania
• Indiana University – Bloomington
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Syracuse University
• University of Arizona
• Miami University
• University of Texas Austin
• Ball State University
• University of Oklahoma
• Northeastern University
• University of Alabama

Top Rated Entrepreneurial Graduate Programs

Some of the top rated entrepreneurship graduate degree programs are provided by the following schools:

• Babson College
• Stanford University
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Carnegie Mellon University
• Cornell University
• DePaul University
• Georgia Institute of Technology
• Harvard University
• Howard University
• University of Pennsylvania

About the Author: Brian Jenkins writes articles on management for Braintrack.com, including this article on General Management Careers.

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Using outlets like helpareporter.com or ProfNet, it’s possible for a small business to get national media attention– without the help (and cost) of a publicist. 

Once you’ve identified an opportunity to respond to a journalist’s request for leads, it’s important to send a well-crafted pitch as soon as possible. 

Here are the five steps you can take to ensure your pitch will get the attention of the media!

 1.  Be First

Both Help a Report (HARO) and ProfNet send out emails several times a day.  Get familiar with the mailing schedule, and be sure to check your inbox as soon as possible after new emails go out.  If you are among the first businesses to contact a journalist, your chances of getting noticed go way up!

2.  Use Twitter

Many journalists, including the people behind HARO, use Twitter to communicate a journalistic need that can’t wait for the next email.  By following these sources on Twitter, you could find out about a major media opportunity that only hundreds (instead of thousands) of people know about!

 3.  Follow Directions 

If the journalist asks for a particular subject line to be used in your pitch email, for example, do so.  Don’t deviate from specific requests regarding the content or format of a pitch, or your email may end up unread and in their trash.

 4.  Get to Your Point

Open your email with why you are the best candidate for the media opportunity.  Provide specific examples of your expertise or qualifications, and don’t ramble on points that are off-topic or vague.  Provide as many tips and commentary as you can in your message; many journalists won’t have time to circle back around to you and may appreciate being able to pull quotes directly from your email.

 5.  Be Available

If you aren’t going to be in the office for several days after your email, be sure you provide another phone number you can be reached at for follow up questions or interviews.  Likewise, be sure that you offer more than one method of communication (phone, email, Skype, etc.)  If a journalist can’t reach you, they will move on to the next qualified lead.

Be confident and polite in your response to media professionals, and they’ll be more likely to take you and your small business seriously.  Your next big media mention may just be an email away!

 About the Author: Patsy is working for GO-Gulf.com, a web design company in Qatar that provides web development solution in entire Middle East

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PayPal is an extraordinarily powerful tool which lets merchants accept payments with ease.

PayPal manages over 184 million accounts worldwide, making it the dominant force in payments acceptance.

PayPal Pros

1. Pricing- PayPal uses straightforward flat-rate pricing which makes it better than many merchants which use tiered or ERR pricing (huge rip-offs) but not better than merchant accounts that also have flat rate pricing or interchange plus pricing.

2. Cost- For many businesses starting out, PayPal may be the cost effective payment processing option. However, once volume gets higher, it becomes more cost effective to switch to a traditional merchant account provider. Use the PayPal Upgrade Calculator to quickly see whether it’s time to consider a merchant account. Learn more about switching to merchant accounts here.

3. Recognition- PayPal is universally recognized and can therefore reduce customers’ fears of fraud.

PayPal Cons

1. Poor Customer Service- PayPal has been known to be unresponsive  and downright evasive when it comes to customer service. Good luck trying to find a customer service phone number on their site. (We found it on this site)

2. Customization- PayPal has standard options that don’t have many of the features of a traditional gateway. For example, some gateways have APIs with more specialized capabilities like tokenization and/or the ability to qualify for industry specific interchange categories.

3. Rules- When you play with PayPal, you play by their rules. They can freeze your account, withhold funds, or take money out of your account for no reason. Also, funds are deposited into your PayPal account instead of a personal bank account which you control.

In conclusion, sometimes PayPal may not be the best choice to meet your payment processing needs. Doing a careful analysis and researching alternatives may save you money in the long run. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at Stella@TransFS.com

TransFS.com is the comparison shopping site for credit card processors. Just like getting multiple quotes for airfare using Expedia, TransFS lets business owners compare top quality processors on an apples-to-apples basis and makes sure they get the best deal by not having any cancellation or hidden fees, and only interchange plus pricing.

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Nowadays many people deal with Internet business. Some use World Wide Web as an additional marketing channel to engage their target audience. For others – domain and hosting resellers, web-designers, social media marketers, etc. – all the Web is actually the primary target market.

Whatever your business is, you need your own website to run the desired project. If you are just starting out, you may get easily trapped by big expenses and the choice of costly and sometimes unnecessary solutions.

Here are some tips to help you build your own site without a risk of money waste:

 Free domain name – the domain name is much needed for a business site – it should be catching and easy-to-spell. But who said you should pay for that? Many hosting providers offer free domains along with their hosting packages, so you should search for one, which does. Usually those domains are provided free-for-life, which means, that you’ll keep using this domain for no fee for as long as you stay with your host.

Cheap hosting – in the world of hosting the word “cheap” does not stand for “low-grade”. Modern technologies allow hosts to have hundreds of clients on one server and provide great services. Of course, there are many limitations on such so-called shared servers, but if you are only starting it may very well server all your needs. Once you feel your business needs a step-up – you will be always able to upgrade to a bigger plan or to your own powerful server.

Promos and discounts – constant updates and competitive spirit of hosting companies makes them constantly release new promotions and discounts. If you are lucky, you may come around a 30%, 50% and sometimes even 75% discount. But even if you get a 15-20% discount – the most usual rate – you may consider you’ve got a couple of months of free hosting.

Scripts-installers and sitebuilders – if you have never dealt with website building, it’s not really advisable to start training while creating your business page. On the other hand, no one says you should hire a webdeveloper. Many hosting providers provide script-installing and site-building tools, which let anyone create a simple but nice and professionally looking web-site with the help of couple of clicks.

Feedback – if you have just launched your business website, make sure your “Contact Us” page has only your current telephone number and a shared email address (e.g. info@mycompany.com). As you are only starting, you shouldn’t expect too many calls and emails to arrive, so you’ll be able to cope with them on your own, without involving additional staff.

Those tips should not be taken for a universal cure, as some projects may need a hi-end, top solution, which cannot be cheap or free. However, if any of those helps you make sure your online business is granted a smooth and affordable start.

About the Author: Arkadij Shkolnik is the PR director for SiteValley.com. SiteValley.com is a reliable Cheap Web Hosting provider that can help you meet your online business challenges. They exist to provide the highest levels of quality and service in the highly specialized area of Internet hosting and deliver value and performance to our customers.

Photo Credit: hellochris

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Perhaps you’ve always dreamed of running your own business (or several).  Or maybe your plan is to start in marketing or management and work your way up. 

You might be interested in commerce, economics, government, or politics.  Or your talents may lie in more creative fields like art or writing. 

Whatever your interests and goals, a degree in marketing could help you.  It is quite possibly the most versatile and misunderstood of college majors because many people labor under the assumption that it is only for the corporate-minded among us.  In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.  Anyone who is interested in a business of any kind (from working for a major oil company to book publishing to running an eBay store) can benefit from a degree in business.  But where should you go to get one?

Do Your Research

While most colleges and universities offer a business program, you want to find the one that’s right for you.  Certainly there are people who want the best and biggest, and if you are entering a specialized and competitive field, you should certainly do some research into which universities offer the top programs (while the best known listing is probably the one compiled by US News & World Report, Bloomberg also publishes an annual list of the top twenty schools based on qualifications like post-graduate job rates). 

However, not everyone is seeking placement at a Fortune 500 company, so you may not want to shell out close to $50,000 per year to attend top-ranked undergrad or MBA programs at Harvard, Stanford, or MIT.

Cost vs. Quality

The truth is, most programs are going to teach you the same basic principles of business.  You’ll take the expected courses in areas like math, statistics, accounting, economics, and management (plus whatever relates to your specific field), but you may be surprised to learn that many schools now require you to take a more diverse range of supplemental classes such as writing, psychology, and (thanks to scandalous practices by Enron and others) ethics. 

But in all honesty, you can pretty much engineer a tailor-made business degree by choosing to minor in literally any other topic.  So you may want to seek out a school based not only on the value of their business program, but also on the level of training they provide in your secondary area of interest. 

If your dream is to manage a publishing house, for example, you may want to look into a school that also offers an excellent English program.  Or if your interest lies in marketing for a non-profit organization that provides AIDS relief, you may want to select a school that has specialty programs related to social work or disease control and prevention.

Be Selective

Whatever your reasons for attaining a business degree, you’ll want to be selective about the school you choose.   You don’t want to amass a huge debt only to get a job that will never allow you to repay your student loans, or attend a state school when you know your career plans are to work on Wall Street. 

Your ability to make a smart move with your schooling is the first step towards making intelligent business decisions, so be prepared to do some research to find the school that’s right for you.  After all, you’re going to have to get in the habit of working hard and paying attention to the details if you want to succeed in business.

About the Author:Ryan Patridge is a writer for Grants for College. Ryan also gives advice on the pursuit of higher education and career options for young adults.

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