Discover Your Passion, Turn It Into Business

I've come to believe that each of us has a personal calling that's as unique as a fingerprint - and that the best way to succeed is to discover what you love and then find a way to offer it to others in the form of service, working hard, and also allowing the energy of the universe to lead you. - Oprah Winfrey

Came across some ideas from Jennifer Schiff . . .

Tips for turning your hobby into a business:

1. Really ask yourself, "Is this something I really enjoy doing and can sustain, or am I just swept up in the latest craze?
2. If you think your passion or hobby still has potential as a business, try to find out if lots of other people are doing it - who or what the competition is. What is it about your offerings that are unique or hard to find? Is this something people really want?

3. If you are planning on selling online, make sure you have enough money to invest in creating and maintaining a decent e-commerce site - and make sure your site is being picked up by the major search engines (which may require some advertising).

4. Remember, the customer is king (or queen). Don't underestimate the power of customer service or how a lack of customer service can cost you sales.

5. Network with other hobbyists or dealers.

6. Have fun. Once you lose your passion or drive, what made you go into this in the first place, you're going to lose business.

Turning a hobby or passion into a business:

You have to be honest with your customer. You have to sell a product that has value. You have to offer customer service. You have to be fair."

You've also got to have heart.

Heart + Dedication = A Successful Business

So How Do You Make Money?

"There are a lot of different ways (to make money)," says Walter. "One is if you find a niche market. There's nothing special about the coin business. It's like any other industry out there. You have to find items that somebody else wants to buy. Or you have to find an item and tell people why they should buy it. All you have to do is find that niche."

You also have to really know your business - and how much people are willing to pay.

The Secret to Success

The secret to Sam Sloat Coins' success, says Walter, "Is that we try to treat people the way that we'd like to be treated ourselves. We've never pretended to be the lowest priced store. We've never pretended to be the highest buyer. We've always given everybody a fair deal, a fair shake. We always take time with our customers. We try to make sure they're getting the right item. It really just comes down to customer service - whether it's in our store, on the telephone, or on the Internet."

Jennifer Lonoff Schiff (www.schiffandschiff.com) writes about business and technology and is a contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com.

Clear Debts

Source : http://simplestepstoriches.blogspot.com/

This is my friend's post in his blog "Be Wealthy: Simple Steps to True Riches", where I found an interesting topic, being debt-free. You may want to check it out.

Getting Out of Debt
By: Benj Santiago

If there is any school that would grant us PhD in Debt Management, I think we would qualify and even get a Suma Cum Laude for it. Thus, I assure you, we know what we are talking about when we say getting out of the Debt Trap can be done.

You see, both me and my wife Fely are earning good with salary of 6 figures . However, we were really not keen in managing our finances prior to our IMG enlightenment. Thus, our debts and loans from our many credit cards and different loaning facility runs to more than 7 figures.

Now, do I get your attention?

This problem of living on borrowed money or debts affects so many millions of lives or perhaps billions world wide. In the latest blog I read about Philippines Credit Card debts, it runs more than 120Billions of Pesos. I am sure you who is reading this blog right now has some contributions to this enormous debt plaguing our society.

Mind you, this is not isolated to the poor sector of society. This engulfs even those in the higher income bracket of our country. My relatives abroad are not spared from this. I am sure you do hear the same stories from your relatives abroad.

Loans and Debts makes people do things that lead them to more problems. Some even resort to taking their own lives to escape the grip of debt... passing their problems to those they leave behind.

However, solution to this perennial issue just require a plan.

The first step is to STOP BORROWING. You need to define a firm start date of when you will put an end to borrowing. The best start date is NOW!

Second step is to list all the existing loans you have and line it up with the amounts and interest the loans has. For example:

1. Citibank 100K 3.5%/month
2. Housing Loan 600K 1%/month
3. Coop Loan 150K 0.75%/month

Then, define when you will pay off these loans prioritizing payments to the one which has the greatest interest.

You may even resort to transferring all your loans to the one that gives you the least interest payments.

Do not fall into the trap of loans re-structuring to lengthen payments as this means you are prolonging your loans and enabling the loaning institution to continue to charge you with more interest.

Plan to pay more than what the required minimum payment is.

Pay off whatever extra money you have from your emergency funds. Bonus and 13th month pay must be allocated for your debt payments.

When your cash in-flow increase, make sure you use it to plug into the high interest paying debts.

As you do this plan, make sure you keep yourself in the company of people with the same desire and discipline.

Following these simple steps, we were freed from the bondage of debts and are now debt free! I'm sure you can do the same.