Part-Time Business for Beginners (ePub)

When you are working for someone else, you are advised to keep your part-time business a secret. Your current employer will probably not appreciate the fact that you have set up your own business, because you are generally expected to devote your energies to helping your employer and not to running your own show.Part-Time Business for Beginners will help you locate products by attending domestic and foreign trade shows; by conducting searches on the Web as well as several other techniques. It then helps you figure out if there is a market for the products you have selected by conducting a survey or by using Internet search engines.Learn about legal structures for your part-time business and select the one that is most suitable for your needs. Don't forget about government sales tax permits. If you have invented your own product, make sure to patent it and make sure that you are not infringing on other people's patents.Get tips on how to select the most suitable computer hardware and software that will help you run your business efficiently. To help you, this book includes a review of accounting software as well as Customer Relationship Management software.Learn how to register a domain name and create your own Web site using some of the Web authoring software packages that are available. Find out what's involved in opening your own Web store and some e-commerce software that can help you. Take a look at selling your merchandise at eBay auctions and how to create effective listings. Find out the requirements to open your own eBay store and how to manage it.Direct mail marketing can be an effective way of selling your products or services and this book will show you what's involved. Find out how to create effective mailing pieces; how to take advantage of bulk mailing rates and the best timing for your mailings.It will also review some other advertising and marketing methods such as using fax broadcasting but with a caution to observe "Do-Not-Call Lists". It covers newspaper and magazine advertising plus the classifieds, Yellow Pages and trade directories. It reviews advertising on television, radio and exhibiting at fairs or holding house parties. It takes a look at e-mail and e-newsletters as advertising and marketing tools and differentiates between spam and opt-in-mailings with clickable links to your Web site.This book provides you with all the basic pointers you'll need to get started to set up your own successful part-time business.