This is a guest post by my friend Lynette Chandler.  She is the owner of Tech Based Marketing.  Lynette’s expertise has been very beneficial to my growth on the Internet and I am proud to have her as a guest on my blog.

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It is quite evident the Internet is to remain as an entertainment, communication and commerce medium. Organizations of any size who want to use and compete online, must maintain and explore new technologies.

Small and local businesses on the other hand need to get on board if they haven’t already. All this require competent web engineers, developers as well as designers. In short, the need for such talent is apparent and you would be a smart teen to consider a career in web engineering or web development.

The good news – there is no need for you to wait till after you complete school to figure out if this is a good fit for you. You could start right now by being a technical assistant.

 What is a technical assistant?

Because small businesses owners often can’t afford a full time IT guy let alone an entire department, a technical assistant is someone who fills that gap. This can be anything from someone who does hardware, manage software and networking on premises to someone who only handles web development and anything to do with web tech for the business.

Growing up with the Internet, most teens are pretty savvy with the Internet to begin with. Learning web development would be a lot easier for you. So it is quite natural for you to start there, then sell your services to a few clients.

If you like it, great! Keep doing and growing it. By the time you graduate or at the end of college, you might have a very successful business that doesn’t require you to find a job elsewhere – unless you want to of course.

If you don’t. That’s totally OK. Your skills in web development will carry you far even if you do not go in that direction. Here’s what I mean. We recently worked with a worship director of a church. That’s all he ever wanted to do and he is working his dream job. Yet, we worked with him for months on their web site and today he is in charge of maintaining the site. Having a little web development savvy can make your job – regardless what it is – a lot easier and even more fun.

Lynette Chandler is the Technical Manager to successful Internet marketers. She invites you to begin learning some web tech skills for free, visit Tech Based Marketing. Keep in mind, it might be a good idea to keep your parents in the loop before signing up.

Technorati Tags: Information technology, Technical director, teen business owner, teen entrepreneur, Web development, Website

When you’re creating a website there are a number of decisions to make. In addition to your budget and the creation process, there are features and functions to weight. There are so many fantastic technologies and options that the process can feel overwhelming!

#1 What’s the purpose of your website?

This is perhaps your single most important consideration. When you know your website’s purpose there are some design options that just make sense. For example, if you’re going to be an affiliate marketer and your website’s purpose is strictly to provide information, then you’ll likely want a CMS or a theme-based website. Know your site’s purpose first! Then you can weight your options.

On the other hand, if you’re building an e-commerce site you will want a shopping cart solution and a product catalog full of product photos and descriptions.

#2 What’s your budget?

Believe it or not, you can design a professional-looking website on just about any budget. You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars to hire a pro. That being said, you may want to hire a professional so the job is done right the first time. A professional can help you integrate all of the design elements and technologies right from the get go.

If you have a low start-up budget, consider having an existing template or design modified by a pro. For example, you can hire a WordPress designer to modify a template to fit your needs and website purpose.

#3 Who is your audience?

Your audience plays a very important role in the design of your website. Not only do you want to make sure your site is easy to navigate, you also want to make sure it appeals to your audience. If they’re cutting edge, then you’ll want a modern look and feel. If your audience is older, then you may want a more mature design.

Does your website niche fit better with video content or print content? How are you going to connect with your prospects, visitors and customers? Your site’s design needs to support your audience and their needs and desires.

#4 Efficiency and logic

While the appearance of a website is important, so too is the user’s experience. Ideally a site will feel intuitive. Everything will be easy to find and apparent. Your visitors won’t have to dig for information and if they are digging it’s because you want them to. This means:

• Logical content categories
• Relevant and easy-to-access pages (for example your about, affiliate, press and FAQ pages)
• Streamlined processes (for example shopping cart, opt-in and download processes)

Before you design your site or have someone design it for you, plan it on paper. Know exactly what your site’s purpose is and create a plan to make it happen. Research other sites in your industry. Research keywords so you know how your prospects search.

Also take a look at the various technologies that can support your site and its purpose. Some website design services offer seamless integration. Keep your visitors’ experience at the heart of every decision and you won’t go wrong.

Technorati Tags: Shopping cart, Web design, Web Design and Development, Website, WordPress

If you’re going to go through the trouble of writing an article, you want people to read it, right? Of course! You don’t just want any people to read it either, you want people in your target audience to notice the article and read it.

By using keywords that your target audience is searching for, your article is much more likely to show up in their searches and grab their attention. But how do you pick the right ones?

Look for phrases that are concise and related to the content of your press release. They can be 2-4 words long, any shorter and they will be too generic to stand out in search results. If you find that only one word seems to stand out as your main point, add modifier words such as cheap, best or a location to further target your phrase and decrease competition.

Use a Keyword tool: There are tons of websites that offer these tools, such as Google’s keyword tool, WordTracker or WordStream. If you want to know what questions people have relating to a topic, I like this questions keyword tool.

These show what people are currently searching for; what words are already drawing people in. Brainstorm general words about your news or product, then put these terms into the keyword tool. It will give you more ideas for related phrases, that you can sort through to find those most related to your business.

Google Analytics. This program or a similar one when installed on your site will show you what terms people are using to find your site already. Words that pull in the best results will be your best bet for inclusion in future press releases.

Contest! Win one of 5 great prizes from Publicity Spark!

• First Place: The Ultimate PR Distribution List (Value $47)
• Second Place: How to Create an SEO Press Release Ebook (Value $47)
• Third Place: How to use Keywords in Press Releases (Value $37)
• Fourth Place: Social Spark Service (Value $27)
• Fifth Place: Affiliate Marketing for Bloggers Ebook (Value $7)

To enter: Comment below with the name of your favorite social media tool!

Winners will be contacted Friday August 19, 2011.

Technorati Tags: Contest, Keywords, PR, Publicity Spark, SEO

I need to write a press release, where do I start?

If you plan to write press releases once per month or more, it is incredibly helpful to start with a basic template to base each new release off of. This will speed up the writing process and maintain consistency, giving you the best results.

Headline – Announces your news, product etc (with primary keyword) in 80 – 170 characters. This is one of the most important elements and deserves extra time and testing. It tells people why they should care.

Summary – A succinct explanation of your headline. Approximately 1 – 4 sentences describing the main point of the press release. This helps the audience screen the release, so tease and interest them.

First Paragraph –  In 25 words or less, share critical information that should stand alone without the headline and/or summary.

FORMAT: (City, State. Date.) – Company name, home page url. Keyword phrase that links to a webpage or blogpost that has to do with this press release story.

Body Paragraphs

• These should consist of short sentences and paragraphs that give details about your news (back up your story). You can even include bullet points. The entire press release should ideally be within 350-600 words.
• Include a call to action with a link. Insert what you’d like the reader to do and a URL to help them do it.
• For example: Download the new iPhone App – now for sale at the iTunes store for $9.99 http://www.URL.com/iphoneapp

• Use your keyword phrase 1-3 times in the body, and link those keywords to a related webpage or blog post.
• Avoid directly addressing your target audience with “I” and “we.” Use “you” and “yours” sparingly.
• Quote. Include at least 1-2 from a satisfied customer, CEO, members of your staff, etc. You can make up your own quote or pull one from an interview, blog post or article. Be sure your quote tells people the main value they will get from you or your service. If it’s the only thing they read, make sure they get enough information about you to motivate readers to keep reading or take a specific action.

Closing Paragraph – Restate and summarize the key points. It can also be a forward-looking statement about what is next or a statement about being open to interviews from the media.

Company Information

Contact Information – Include all social media outlets that you can be reached through online, such as your Facebook fan page, Twitter handle, blog url, LinkedIn Profile etc

Closing 3 Hashtags

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Contest Announcement! Enter to Win The Ultimate Online PR Kit (Value $97)!

Deadline date: Thursday, August 18, 2011 at 11:59 pm Eastern Standard Time.

Contest Rules

You must adhere to all the rules as stated. Shall a winner be chosen who did not complete these rules, he/she will not be eligible to win. To be eligible to win you must be 18 years of age or older.

To enter: comment below telling us why you want to win the Ultimate Online PR Kit.

For Additional Entries

For additional entries, you may chose to complete any one, or all of the below actions. You must write a separate comment for each additional entry you complete below. (A winner is chosen by the number of comments, not the number of actions taken.)

• Follow TeenBizTalk on Twitter @TeenBizTalk
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• Follow Ponn Sabra on Twitter @PonnSabra
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• Subscribe to our RSS feed preferably through the email subscription having the same email address on the comment that you have in the RSS feed. To sign up with your RSS feed reader, click here
• Share this page on Facebook with the “Share” button below adding a personal note. Comment below with the timestamped url.
• Tweet about this contest; don’t forget to comment below with the new tweet link.
• SAMPLE TWEET. ENTER UP TO TWICE DAILY:
  GIVEAWAY Win #Publicity Spark #SEO & #PR products & services from @ponnsabra & @newspapergrl http://publicityspark.com/?p=493
• Add a Publicity Spark button to your site,

  <br /> <a href=””http://publicityspark/”” _mce_href=””http://publicityspark/”” target=”_blank”><img style=”border: 1px solid #474747;” border=”0? width=”125? alt=”Publicity Spark” src=”http://imageurl.com/image.jpg” height=”125?/><br /> </a>

• Bookmark this post on your browser or your favorite bookmarking site, such as reddit, delicious, or google bookmarks. You can use one of the “Sharing is Caring” buttons below.
• Share this post with your favorite social networking site, such as yahoo buzz, stumbleupon, or kirsty. You can use one of the “Sharing is Caring” buttons below as well.

Determining a Winner

Each comment below designates an entry number. Create a new comment for each entry requirement you complete. We will use Random.org to pick a random winner from the total number of comments below. The winner will be contacted by email. If no response is received in 48 hours, another winner will be chosen. Confirmed winners will be announced in each Friday’s blogpost and on our blog at PublicitySpark.com

Technorati Tags: Contest, news release, PR, Publicity Spark, SEO

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Do you enjoy writing? If so you may want to consider making money online writing for others. You may choose to market your own articles via a content site, you may choose to search for individual clients via discussion forums, twitter and other websites.

Whichever approach you take, be sure your articles are well-written, and that you’ve researched your topic well enough to know what you’re writing about. Write in casual language so your writing doesn’t sound stiff and too formal.  Be sure your writing makes sense and offers valuable information for your clients.

Be dependable and always follow-through. If you promise an article by 5:00 Friday, have it to the client. If a real emergency comes up (no, hanging out with your friends at the mall doesn’t constitute an emergency, even if it feels that way), let your client know ASAP.  A quick email to your client with an explanation will keep you in good favor with your client.  If you just don’t deliver your article on time and then try to explain, you will lose credibility.

There will be times when you may not be able to meet a deadline, but they should be few and far between and you should communicate well with your client so they understand what’s happening at all times.  Building a reputation for dependability is one of the best things you can do to kick-start your online writing career.

The easiest way to get a few “clips” (samples of your writing) under your belt, is to write a few guest posts for a blog you read often. That way, you know what the readers like, and you know the blog topic well. That will make it easier to provide quality content for the blog owner. Comment frequently on the blog so the blog owner gets to know you.

Then, approach the blog owner and let her/him know you’re interested in writing a guest post (for free) and discuss the topic.  Be sure to agree on a specific topic, something you know about within the subject matter of the blog.  Agree on the length of the post, the exact topic, and how long your resource box should be (short bio at the end that includes information about you, the writer). Also be sure that your resource contains a live link to your email or to your own blog.

When you’re doing guest posts, don’t do too many of them. You don’t want to take up all your time writing for nothing. But do a few, maybe 8-10, so you can provide potential clients with some good links to check out your work.  What you are doing with guest blogging is providing website owners a glimpse at your writing.

Always search for “do follow” blogs – those that make the link to your post visible to the search engines. You can do this by Googling “do-follow blogs.” You’ll find several to choose from.

Start your own blog and post several times a week. That’s another great way to get your writing noticed and gain some followers. Include in your bio that you are a writer who is very much available for hire.

Promote yourself through Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites. But don’t be overly aggressive with your posting. One post a day letting others know you’re available for freelance writing  should suffice.

You can sign up with sites like Freelance or Elance, but the competition is stiff. You might get a few jobs, but the pay is typically very low and seldom worth the effort.

Realize that writing is a craft and it can be learned just like anything else. Read all you can about writing well and about blogging, and become an expert at both. Don’t let being young hinder you… you can be a young, professional writer and make real money writing articles and blog posts for pay!

Technorati Tags: articles, blog post, business ideas, creativity, ghost writer, teen entrepreneur, writer

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If you have performed in your school theater, choir, band, or talent shows, you may be a natural born entertainer.  You may enjoy singing, dancing, playing an instrument, or some other fun activity that people enjoy watching. If this is the case, then you’ll enjoy becoming an entertainer for parties and events.

Entertainers have a great value to any party and can earn some good money. If you’ve been active in local community or school talent shows and the theater, then you already have the ability and the platform to sell your talents. Prepare professional business cards to hand out at the talent shows you are active in. People will be thrilled to be able to book a real honest to goodness entertainer who they have seen perform at an event.  You already have an audience, so why not turn them into clients?

You’re in show business, so use your talent to create a business card that is clever and unique. You’ll want to include the obvious; what talent you perform along with your contact information.  You don’t want to put your prices on your business card as this practice is considered unprofessional. Even though you’re in “show business” your professional side should be what the client sees off the stage.

If you aren’t sure what to charge as an entertainer for parties and events, do some simple investigating.  Call people who are entertaining at parties and find out what they charge for various entertainment. Be open and honest and tell the person you called that you’re looking to get into the entertainment business in your local area and wondering what the basic fees are. Keep your fees competitive and reasonable, even offering a slight discount for first bookings. Most entertainers will be happy to welcome you to their world, mostly because they’re overbooked and can use the help!  They will be delighted to give you suggestions and ideas to get your new business up and running.

If possible, participate in every talent show you can in order to get your name out there. You definitely also want to volunteer  your talents at fundraising events, retirement homes, children’s hospitals, and the like. This type of exposure is invaluable as a means to get your name out in the public in a very positive way.  Plus, it just feels right to share your talent!

Make cute and creative flyer’s to showcase your talent, your business, and your contact information. If you’re posting single flyers on bulletin boards around town, be sure to use tear off strips at the bottom with your name, number and talent so that people can take that with them and leave the flyer up for others. Replenish your flyer’s as needed to keep a steady flow of clients ringing your bell.

Advertising in the local paper is another great way to spread the word of your new business. Be creative!  There are many ways to advertise.  Don’t get stuck thinking that a classified ad is the only way to go.  Don’t forget your own school paper and those other marketing areas such as menus and sports programs.

When you’re not performing at the parties, you’ll have a chance to mingle with the guests.  Not only is it fun, but you’ll have another opportunity to sell your talent for another party. What a great way to mix business with pleasure.

You may have a group of friends who are similarly talented.  Why not work together?  Re-work your prices accordingly and plan your act together. It may be more fun to work as a team.  Then, the team can do a little mingling and possibly gain even more bookings for events.

Remember, people go to parties and events to enjoy themselves and have a good time. You can make the parties and events more enjoyable with your talents so be sure to share them and have a great time.

Technorati Tags: business ideas, creativity, Entertainer, Entertainment, teen entrepreneur

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

You’ve heard that using video to market your business can bring incredible results. But do the benefits outweigh the effort it takes to put your video online? In a word, Yes! Shooting a video, editing and formatting it, uploading it to the internet with the right title and description takes a bit of time. But the payoff for video marketing can be tremendous. Here are seven real benefits of marketing with video:

1. Personal Connection – Especially for internet based businesses, the personal connection with your potential market is a huge selling factor. With video, your audience can truly get to know you, eye-to-eye. They get to see that you are indeed a real, live person. They start building a deeper relationship with you and feel as if they actually have met you.
2. Social proof – There’s an old proverb: “Believe nothing of what you hear, and only half of what you see.” On the internet it’s so easy to be a fake and a fraud. People are skeptical about claims they read online, and rightfully so. But video puts a face to your words and makes you more believable and trustworthy.
3. Traffic – People are watching 2 BILLION videos per day on YouTube alone! That’s a whole lot of traffic you’re missing if you’re not marketing yourself with video. It’s free and easy to add your video to a large number of the video sites available online.
4. Emotional Influence – The classic horror movie is a great example of how the audio has an emotional effect on us. The creepy music comes in, immediately cluing you in that something bad is about to happen. Now, imagine combining that audio with powerful video cues to influence the emotions of the listener and create a much more compelling message than with just text alone.
5. Portability – Maybe even more so then articles and ebooks, video is portable. iPhones, Smartphones, iPads and all kinds of other devices allow video to be seen on the go. You can also allow people to download video easily so they can view it over and over again.
6. Demonstrations – Reviews, case studies and examples are great ways to sell products and services. It’s the reason why infomercials make millions of dollars. Now there’s no need for you to be as annoying as the Sham-Wow guy to make money with video; you just need to create videos that show and tell your potential customers why your product will be helpful for them.
7. Engagement – There are many reports available online to show that video boosts response and conversion rates. When someone is watching a video, you have their full attention – eyes and ears. Unlike with the written word, they’re not likely skip ahead or gloss over important information. Most people will watch a video from beginning to end, allowing you to clearly create a message and call to action that engages your audience.

Overall, video is an effective marketing strategy that is only growing in popularity. Since video is here to stay, it’s time to check out the options and see how quick and easy video marketing can be.

Technorati Tags: Marketing, Smartphone, Video, Video clip, video marketing, YouTube

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Article marketing is one of the most popular methods of promoting a business online. Not only is it easy and low-cost, it works and anyone can do it!

By writing articles on your areas of expertise and offering this content free of charge to online and offline publishers, you can:

• spread the word to your target market
• demonstrate your professional know-how, and
• create a body of work that continues to “sell” you and your website long after the initial article creation

Other website owners, bloggers, and newsletter publishers are constantly looking for quality content to provide to their readers. You help them out by providing your well-written, targeted articles. In return they include a plug about you and your business, called the “author resource box,” at the bottom of the piece. The resource box includes a link to your site. So, they get free content, and you get free publicity. It’s a win-win!

You may be wondering if article marketing will work for your niche or industry. The short answer is yes! There are blogs and newsletters and ezines and websites on just about every topic under the sun, from accounting to Zoroastrianism.

Here’s a short list of businesses that can benefit from article marketing:

Service providers
Bloggers
Affiliate marketers
Ebook Authors
Infoproduct sellers
Online Store owners
Coaches and consultants
Realtors
Podcasters
Membership site owners
Authors
Speakers
Network marketers

In short, if you’re selling something or trying to drive traffic to your website or blog, article marketing is for you. It’s one of the most efficient ways to attract targeted visitors, to build trust among your readers, and to gain new customers or clients.

Here are some broad examples:

Bloggers can use article marketing to attract readers to their blogs and increase their subscriber base.

Webmasters can use article marketing to create valuable backlinks, and increase website traffic.

Writers can use article marketing to exhibit their writing skills, educate readers, and attract clients.

Hairstylists can use article marketing to share hair care tips, showcase their expertise, and attract business to their salons.

Dog trainers can use article marketing to share dog training lessons, and inform the public about the needs at a local shelter.

Whatever your passion, article marketing can benefit you and your business. When used correctly, it can successfully attract targeted traffic to your website or blog, grow your mailing list, help you become an expert in your field, build trust with your readers, make your website more popular, spread your name and website across the Web, add backlinks to your site, allow you to “advertise” free, brand yourself and your business, and generate sales.

As you can see, the benefits of article marketing are numerous.

Who can benefit from article marketing? You! And, it starts with just one article.

Technorati Tags: article marketing, Communication, Free content, teen business owner, teen entrepreneur

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Many parents are working longer hours and have fewer hours at home these days. When it comes time to plan their children’s birthday parties or other events, they want help. This is where you come in. If you love to plan parties down to the last detail, this idea is perfect for you.

As a teenager you already know what your peers enjoy and like at parties, you remember your childhood and perhaps even have a younger sibling or niece or nephew that enjoys specific things. Armed with this information, you’re the perfect party planner.

The easiest way to start your new career as a party planner is to begin with your own family.  Plan a fantastic party for someone in your family who’s having a graduation, birthday, or other special event. Plan it down to the last detail and then present the plan to your parents or relatives before the birthday or event is to take place. Give them plenty of time to mull it over and set up a time to go over the details.

Start with planning the decorations, foods, and activities.  Depending on the occasion, you might even be able to plan the guest lists. Go to crafts stores, dollar stores, large department stores, and even grocery stores, and price the decorations for your suggested party. When you present your ideas to your parents or relatives you want to have a complete proposal down to the dollar amount.

After you’ve done this a few times you’re ready for the big time. Start spreading the word via your parents, relatives, friends and previous party goers. Everyone will remember the great time they had and your services will be in high demand.

You will want to work out a form or questionnaire for your party planning. Ask important questions such as, “What date is the party to take place? What is the occasion? What are the ages of the guests? Will there be both boys and girls? Do you have a desired theme for the party? Do you have a budget in mind? What type of food will be served?” and so on.

Once you have your questionnaire filled out it’s time to go to work. One of your most important jobs is helping your customers stay within their budget. While you want the party to be a success, you certainly don’t want to keep adding amenities until you’ve gone over budget.  Work closely with your client to make sure that each expenditure is well within the budgeted amounts.  If there are any changes in the budgeted amounts, be sure to jot down those agreements.

You should set up a portfolio of different party ideas to show potential customers. Pictures of parties you’ve already created along with the budget for food and decorations would give them great ideas and save you time when you are helping them decide what they want to do for their party.

Ideas for parties you’ll want to include in your portfolio could include skating parties, bowling parties, sledding parties, and swimming parties. These sorts of parties can work very well since they naturally are entertaining and keep everyone busy having fun.

A themed party can be another great way to have fun. A preteen or teen may want a party theme around a favorite singer. You would want to gather the music together of that particular singer and plan the party around the music. Children’s television and movie characters are another great inspiration for theme parties.

You may even want to try your hand at small weddings. Work closely with the bride to be sure that everything goes smoothly on her special day. Your skills will reduce her stress and help her to enjoy her wedding because you will be taking care of all the little details.  Of course, planning even a small wedding takes special talent and care, so be sure you’ve already gotten a good deal of experience behind you before you attempt planning a wedding.

Market yourself, your talent, and your expertise.  Have professional business cards printed and distribute them whenever and where ever possible.  Strike up a conversation with people you see in your day-to-day dealings. Ask them about their interests, then share what you do by handing them your business card.

Ask local businesses if you can leave your cards with them or post one on a bulletin board.  Be sure to go back to that party supply place you’ve been buying your supplies from.  They’ll be more than happy to hand out your business card if you are a good customer.  Print up pamphlets and flyers and get them posted where ever you can.

Party planning, like any business or job, will have its ups and downs.  Some parties will naturally be more fun and easier to plan than others, but with a little practice and patience you’ll learn quickly how to work with any situation.  There is still a high demand for people who can take the pressure off of parents by planning their family events.  Outline your business plan and start small.  You’ll be busier than you ever imagined in no time, and making the kind of money you had only dreamed about!

Technorati Tags: Birthday, business ideas, Children, creativity, Entertaining, Entrepreneur, Parent, party planner, Party service, Start Up, Start Your Own Business, teen business owner, teen entrepreneur, Wedding

Image by Lady Madonna via Flickr

Should Homeschooling Teens Start an Online Business?

More and more homeschooling parents are finding that it can be expensive having a college student.  We have taught our teens to be independent thinkers and should encourage them to find creative ways to help cover the expenses.

One great alternative that beats flipping burgers is to start an online business.  They have the advantage.  Today’s teens have grown up in a technology world.  They spend so much of their time online, why not turn that time into money that will help pay for their college?

I know some teens as young as 13 who have successfully started their own business and have a comfortable income before they graduate.  Some of these teens may never get a “real” job.  Instead of “job hunting” when they get out of college they will be looking for the next opportunity or investment.

Let’s face it.  In today’s world, job loyalty is not rewarded.  There is no such thing as “job security”.  Why should we be teaching our homeschooling teens to follow the old “American Dream”?

There are many benefits for homeschooling parent to teach their teens how to becoming an entrepreneur:

• It is expensive to pursue an education- a full time class schedule AND a full time job is hard to balance.
• Students will have more time to study and excel in their classes.
• After the initial time investment, there is very little time involved in working online.
• Earning residual income can give students the ability to choose their own hours and work only when they want to work.

Young people are incredibly computer-savvy.

They know how to network, how to create blogs and create a viral atmosphere; all things that can be very useful for an online business.

It is a productive way to put these skills to use.

They can incorporate all areas of their school curriculum as they build their business: Math, Writing, Speech, Presentation, Design, Advertising, Social Media, etc…

The opportunities are vast and far reaching.  And by building a business that will work for them even when they are not.  They will be able to head off to college with a steady income.

Even if they never become vastly successful another great benefit is how they will develop skills for the “Real World”.  They will learn many skills that can help land them a great job and will graduate with hands on experience.  They will add real value to the company for which they work.  Education plays an important role, but experience is vital.

By starting an online business what kind of experience can homeschooling teens develop?

They will need to learn a great deal about online marketing. Online marketing is something that just about every business is pursuing.  Running a successful online business will add tremendous credibility to a resume or transcript.

Networking is another crucial skill that has applications in just about every career. Working online can help teens really develop some professional networking skills.

Writing also plays a part in an online business: this includes articles, web pages, and ad copy.  An online business will allow a student to enhance their writing skills in a way that will benefit them no matter what they decide to pursue after graduation, whether it be college or their own independent education.

And the feedback comes from the real world. An online business for homeschooling teens can open up all sorts of new doors.

NO college course will give you the hands on experience that building a real online business will. And since the incomes can be rather high and the initial output minimal, our creative, independent thinking homeschooling teen entrepreneurs can raise their own capital to get the business off the ground.

So what is a good opportunity for a young person?

There are many great business ideas for teens, but the best is to find what you are passionate about and find your niche there.  This is a great way to keep young people interested and involved. They will never lose their interest or get board because they were the ones who chose the concept of the site.

I have seen profitable sites on just about every topic: from sports, to dating, to travel, and a wide variety of other hobbies that have been successfully turned into profitable net-businesses.

For more information about how to become an entrepreneur and start a fun and exciting online web-business join Teen Biz Talk. And remember, you are never too young to start a business, and it can be a great way to further prepare yourself for a lifetime of success and financial freedom.

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