Passive income… is it just a dream?

We have all been there haven’t we?

Dreaming of making passive income I mean. But is it just a pipe dream, or is it really possible to make an income from doing nothing?

In reality, unless you have inherited, sold an extremely valuable asset, or saved up a large amount of money, and then invested the best part of it in a rock solid investment plan that will regularly pay out worthwhile dividends, then passive income doesn’t actually exist in the real sense of the word, that is making money for doing nothing. But it is entirely possible that you can put in the effort to create an income stream that will give a recurring income for very little maintenance.

Investing in real estate and renting it out is probably one of the most popular and well known ways to make money that could be described as passive income, but initially, it takes time and effort to find properties that are suitable, with a good return on investment, to buy and rent out. You also need a sizable sum to put down as a deposit to acquire your property as well. But once you have your first property you can outsource most of the actual work, such as finding and vetting tenants, collecting rent, etc, to a property management service.

Building a successful property portfolio will naturally increase your passive income potential. Some of the wealthiest people in the world have used this method to become millionaires.

If property investment doesn’t appeal to you however, with a bit of initial effort, there are other ways to achieve a passive income, and these can be found in our article ‘ How to achieve a passive income by working at it

10 easy startup ideas for a small business

Looking for a simple non-techy idea to start your own business or make extra income in your spare time? Check out these easy to start business ideas in the video below. Some require a level of creativity and skill, others require very little skill, and most of them only require a small budget to get started.
 

Becoming an ebay millionaire

Does the thought of becoming an ebay millionaire excite you?

How hard can it be? When in fact, it's been reported that the number of eBay millionaires has risen by 50 per cent since 2013 and more than 200 businesses have reached turnovers that have brought them into the million pound business bracket.

Some of these businesses are being run by individuals that are under 20 years of age, which suggests that age is no barrier when it comes to success.

Now, there are all kinds of products being sold on ebay, but which ones are currently proving to be highly popular? Well apparently according to recent data provided by ebay, fashion and furniture are in the strongest growing categories. Electronics, which has always been popular in ebay searches, also continues to maintain it's position as one of the most successful categories on the auction site.

In an article published on the Mirror website it states that last year "over a quarter (26.3%) of new ebay businesses" are involved in setting up a fashion store, followed by "22.9% of registrations" being new sellers of electronics and 20.2% selling "home and garden items".

For anyone starting a new business in these areas then ebay should certainly be considered as an important possible source of income and a useful way to increase exposure when promoting your business online> Even if you run a bricks and mortar store, it can still be a good source of revenue.

For more details and examples of people who have built up an ebay business including some who have gone on to become millionaires, check out the full article on the Mirror website here.

Writing a business plan for your startup business

Writing a business plan is a vital step if you’re going to be starting up your own business. It will clearly define your goals, help you understand and know your market, establish your USP (unique selling proposition), set your marketing goals and have a clear plan of action to take those first steps to success.

Watch the video below for a more comprehensive look at writing your own business plan and what you should consider.

Weight loss coffee presents a great opportunity

Weight loss coffee business opportunity

The global value of the weight loss market is expected to reach £220 billion in the coming year. As one of the most targeted consumer industries, there is a huge range of weight loss solutions in the marketplace. One of them which is reportedly having great success is the weight loss coffee combination provided by Valentus.

For someone looking to increase their income this looks like a great opportunity to break into this crowded market, but with an interesting twist. There are countless numbers of coffee drinkers who are also overweight, and this could provide an affordable solution to help them lose weight.

As an extra income opportunity, with possible earnings of between £500 - £1000 + per week being claimed for part time work, and even more full time, this might just suit your needs if you're looking for a way to make extra money. Earnings are paid weekly promoting this unique weight loss coffee, and according to their representative, there is a full 90 day money back guarantee.

It has 100% natural Ingredients, tastes great, stimulates the brain and is made with luxury quality Italian dark coffee beans

So what you have here is basically three massive combined markets all in one. 1. Coffee consumers 2. Weight loss 3. A home based business

Sean, the representative I spoke to describes it as an opportunity for positive people who want to work from home, or on the go, promoting weight loss coffee in a massive lucrative market.

Full training is available if you're interested in this network marketing opportunity, so check out these video links below for more information about the products.
To sign up visit the website www.healthycoffeeslimroast.co.uk

Slim Roast Video - Healthy Coffees

As with any business your results may vary and will be based on your individual capacity, business experience, expertise, and level of desire to achieve high earnings.

Ways that a successful business can keep their best customers

Your best customers are the ones who will be loyal to your company and spend their money with you rather than go elsewhere, even if they can find a cheaper product or service. These are the customers you never want to lose!

This is especially relevant if you provide some kind of subscription service where your business lives or dies based on how many subscribers you retain.

So how can you minimise the chance of that ever happening?

Here are four unusual ways to reduce churn rates and increase overall customer lifetime value.

1. Set the right expectations.

The number one source of churn is actually setting the wrong customer expectations. How does this start? During the sales process.

Here’s the problem: salespeople are trying to close deals every month to meet their quota. So sometimes they might sell to the wrong customer (a buyer who doesn’t really fit into your target market) or make lofty promises that go beyond the reality of the services you provide.

You need to know what your salespeople are selling. Make sure it aligns with what you actually offer.

How can you ensure your salespeople are laying out realistic expectations and targeting the right customers?

One of the worst things you can do is implement a clawback, where a sales commission goes away if your customer doesn’t last for a set amount of time. This is negative punishment and is absolutely terrible.

The smarter way to do it is to give everyone a commission for the sale, then add a meaningful bonus or deferred compensation that is payable based on retention. So if a customer lasts longer than 90 days (or whatever threshold you choose), then your salesperson earns the additional compensation. Totally positive reinforcement!

2. Build meaningful relationships.

You’d think that helping you customers achieve success through use of your product would result in less churn. Nope.

In fact, we found a negative correlation between quality of the results that were being delivered and the average customer retention duration. The better performance we gave, the more likely they were to churn — we helped them out so much they didn’t need us anymore!

You’ll actually find more success by focusing on building a personal relationship with your customers. Make sure you’re on good terms with the stakeholders. Try to be their best friend.

Having fun, great calls together correlates strongly to longer customer lifetime value. You’ll find this is true of pretty much every product or services company.

One way to do this is to avoid switching your customer service people around a lot. If your customer service person is changing every three months, it will be hard to build any sort of meaningful relationship with your clients.

To discover two more ways to retain loyal customers you can read the rest of this article here… www.inc.com

Drones are providing new business opportunities

Yep, drones are in the news a lot these days, and they are inspiring young entrepreneurs to develop their own businesses in new and exciting ways.

Take Aonghus Stevens for example… he was just 15 when he got his business ‘off the ground’

The Sydney Morning Herald reports…

“Working from his bedroom and using his student email address, he began to sell drones. The operation grew into a million-dollar business.

The company operates a fleet of 30 drones nationally, gathering information for sectors including agriculture, mining and telecommunications. The drones help farmers count livestock, monitor crops and infrastructure, film prestige real estate and assess damaged buildings for insurers.

According to market research, the global drones market will be worth $US5.59 billion ($7.57 billion) by 2020. The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International estimates that, by 2025, the industry will be worth $US82 billion and employing 100,000 people worldwide.”

The opportunities that flying drones will bring in the future for fledgeling businesses is tremendous and it’s exciting to think how new technological advancements in this area will continue to grow.

Read full article here: www.smh.com.au

How to get people to love your business

Looking for help or inspiration for coming up with a great business idea?

Perhaps you already have a great idea or product you want to unleash upon the world. Before you take the next step consider these words of wisdom from the successful entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of the hugely successful website Reddit. His advice will prompt you to think of unique ways to connect with your customers that will help your business succeed.

Listen and learn about key branding, marketing and user experience principles. Discover also how to implement specific tactics and strategies that will help you create a company that people will love.

Students ‘Make Money’ ideas

Are you a student looking for some way to make extra money in your spare time?

Or perhaps you even have some ambitions for starting your own business but still struggling with coming up with a good idea.

You can find lots of suggestions on this website and the 'Save The Student' website also has some useful ideas too. Some are good, some not so good, but it really depends on your skills and whether you have an interest and an aptitude for the requirements involved.

Their 'make money' article also provides some good advice on the things you should consider before taking on a job or starting a business of your own.

Here are some of the things it mentions...

1. First, do some research to find out what people in your local area need or want. Can this be scaled up if you want it to?

2. Ask yourself what you are really good at or love doing that could be turned into a profitable idea.

3. Could you provide a service or produce a product that would make life easier for other people? Can you make it better or provide it cheaper than a product or service that already exists?

4. Check whether you need a license or qualification to get started.

5. Don't do anything illegal or compromise on safety.

6. Check any rules your that your uni/insurance provider might have about running a business.

7. Make sure you get all the facts about any tax rules and regulations that may affect you.

For more advice you can read the full article at the Save the Student website.

Make and sell your own products online

Ever thought about developing your own digital products and selling them online? It’s actually not that difficult.

You may already have your own ideas about what to make and sell, but it’s always a good idea to do some research first. Many successful product developers do this first before deciding whether to take their ideas to the development stage. Unless there is a large market for your products, you may not sell enough to make it worthwhile. Some of the most popular markets include weight loss, relationships and making money online. But there are many more specialised niches that could prove to be profitable. However, it certainly makes it easier to write about a subject you’re passionate and knowledgeable about. Just make sure there is a large enough market for it first.

If writing isn’t one of your best skills, you might consider getting a ghostwriter to write your ebook. You can find them on websites such as Elance.com and Freelancer.com. Be very clear in the explanation of your project to your chosen Ghostwriter. The more detailed the outline you provide, the closer the finished product will be to what you envisioned.

Many people use the internet as a research tool for solving a problem, so if your product provides an effective solution to their problem then the chances of selling your product successfully is bound to increase.

Another important aspect of selling digital products is marketing. Promoting your product effectively online is just as important as the development of the product itself. Even the best products can fail to sell in volume if they are not marketed successfully. Unfortunately, the reverse often happens also, and poorly written products can sell in large numbers if the marketing is good. The perfect mix is when you get a great product that is cleverly marketed, resulting in lots of sales and lots of happy customers. And a happy customer will often buy from you again.

When writing the sales copy for your product, think of the problem that it solves and list the benefits to the customer. A great headline and sales copy can easily treble response rates, so it pays to make sure your sales page provides maximum impact. Use a good copywriter to ensure best results.

Selling your product online requires a suitable way to accept payment from customers. Using a Merchant accounts require approval, but PayPal and Clickbank can provide a way to sell your products to customers who want to pay by debit or credit card.

Clickbank specialises in selling digital products. For more details about their services visit www.clickbank.com

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