II. Starting a Business
Learn about the various steps required to start a business successfully.

III. Marketing and Advertising
Increase your marketing and advertising knowledge to improve your business. The latest innovation in online marketing & business development is one of the smartest things you can do this year. Increase your sales by increasing your use of webcasting.

What Is Webcasting? It is the ability for you to speak live (and through recorded messages) to people worldwide using your computer. Thanks to webcasting, you can actually see the person you're speaking to, and talk live in real time without that person having to spend a single penny to speak with you. What equipment do you need?
Begin with your computer, and also you need very few other tools to get started webcasting. In fact, webcasting is so easy now, you could get started today.

? High speed internet access.
? Web Cam, and these are available in any computer store, you can get a workable model for about $20-$40.
? Head Set may already be built into your computer if you have a newer model. If not, get a good head set for between $15-$25.
? Webcast Services.
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IV. Internet is a must
Taking advantage of the internet will help an owner to operate a home based business with more efficiency. The computer is usually the best way to take notes while on the phone since most of us can type faster than we write. Also the information can be stored instantly. If necessary, you can also go online during your call.

In fact, the biggest challenge for home based operators is to keep up with the many new ways the internet will work for them. The home based business can send out emails to their customer's databases - announcing a promotion or a new product - just as easily as any huge company. They can accept credit cards online so they can conduct e-commerce. And home based businesses can make themselves appear bigger than their local retail store by setting up a website that with themselves as an information resource on leaky faucets, or canine care.

Put up a web site that not only has information about your business opportunity and products, but also includes information that people search for, such as articles, free tools, business and marketing tips, etc. Many of the people who end up in network marketing got there by accident. They didn't go searching for an opportunity; one just sort showed up while they were searching for useful information.

Once you've drawn visitors to your website with free information, you have to get their personal information so you can send emails or follow up. You've already led them this far; a good `come along' could be a free report on e-mail marketing, an e-course designed to help them start their own business, or an e-book on how to build a web site. Visitors have to give you their contact info - at least their name and e-mail address - in order to get the freebies. And as soon as you have that information, you have leads!

The promise of helpful information sent directly to a customer on a regular basis is a tempting offer for most internet surfers.

Use pay-per-click search engines. Choose keywords that will get you ranked high on the search engine so you can get people to your site. But don't just focus on keywords about your business. Use keywords that will draw the people who want to take advantage of the free information on your website.

Sprint Easy Office offers small businesses the capabilities of a full-featured wireless messaging service without the installation, maintenance, or large expense of on-site hardware and software. This Sprint & IBM small business program costs $20 per month, and it includes Microsoft Exchange, 200MB mailboxes, wireless sync ability, and anti-spam and anti-virus software. For more information, visit www.Sprint.com or www.IBM.com.