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Helen Hecker asked:


A standard willow basket is what usually comes to mind when people think of gift basket containers, but there are many other unique containers that can be used that will save you money. Often these containers are much more practical and have far more uses then a standard willow basket and are much more personalized. And a wide range of products for your custom gift baskets can be considered, beyond the usual scope of the traditional gift basket items or products. Many of the ideas will save you money and/or fit the frugal lifestyle. Some containers or products you may already own and will be essentially free. How about a gift you received that you can’t use or item you bought and didn’t use that will make a nice container or filler item?

Here’s a list of gift container ideas to consider:

any type of basket, wicker basket, straw basket, bucket, laundry basket, plastic container, toy dump truck or other large toy truck, purse, tin, Christmas tin, seasonal container, large tea pot, large upside-down hat, plastic storage container-put lid underneath, extra-large coffee mug, boot, potted plant holder, wire basket, large pasta bowl, large popcorn bowl, cooking pot, clay pot, tackle box, colander, small wagon, skillet, antique trunk, champagne bucket, hamper, Asian-style trunk or picnic basket.

For items to put in the gift container it’ll depend on the specialty or theme of the gift basket. Here is a random sampling to give you some good ideas:

small plant, disposable camera, a small book, inspirational book, spa pillows, bath pillows, spa supplies, bath and body products, facial and body scrubs, handmade soaps, fragrant soaps, shampoos, hand and foot lotion, fluffy towel, potholders, gift certificate for massage or spa visit, scented oils, scented massage oils, gift certificate to favorite store, gift certificate for restaurant, loofah, fragrant candle, matches to light candles, CD of nature sounds, favorite artist CD, DVD of newer release movie, how-to video or CD, garden trowel or other garden tools, garden gloves, work gloves, cold weather gloves, leather gloves, garden picks, seeds, hand lotion, flower pot, flavored teas, green tea, specialty tea, herbal tea, biscotti, tea infuser, small tools, gadgets, stuffed animals, toys, playing cards, healthy snacks, travel-size games, small puzzles, fancy chocolates, boxed chocolates, chocolate bars, hot chocolate mix, specialty coffee mix, handwritten poem, perfume, cologne, watch, framed photo, t-shirt, baseball cap, collectible cards, tickets to events, small dolls, homemade cookies, homemade brownies, homemade jams, movie tickets, popcorn, caramel corn, giant-size boxed candy, candy canes, suckers, lollipops, apple, pear, orange, persimmon, mango, papaya, chips, pretzels, nuts, plastic skulls, spiders, fake cob webs, magic shop items, coffee mug, gourmet pasta, gourmet olive oil, doggie biscuits, cat treats, dog or cat collar, dog or cat toys, stationery supplies, cooking tools, cooking gadgets, measuring spoons, receiving blanket, baby rattles, baby powder, baby shampoo, baby bath wash, hooded towels, pre-packaged food items, pancake mixes, brownie mixes, cookie mixes, wooden spoons, baby shower games, baby shower items , your best chocolate chip cookie recipe, Italian recipes, Mexican food recipes or other ethnic recipes, birthday poems, corkscrews , computer-related items, mouse pad, yarn, painting or artist supplies, golf balls, golf tees, golf knick knacks, tennis balls, tennis knick knacks, key chains, small calendars or desk calendars, barometer, outdoor thermometer, science gadgets, electronic gadgets, health-related items, auto-related items or cinnamon sticks.

So this should give you some unique, money-saving tips and ideas for more personalized, custom containers and products to use for your gift baskets. Many will be free and are much more practical than the standard wicker basket and traditional contents. I guarantee you’ll love the results of your personalized gift basket and it’ll be much loved and appreciated.



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Josh Bradley asked:


What makes someone profitable when they start a home based business opportunity? Over the next few minutes we will look at the ways in which you must manage your cash flow if you plan to have make money with your home business in the long term.

Controlling Your Money, Correctly

Do you have what it takes to manage your money? If not, it’s either time to improve your skills or find someone who can manage it for you. Without tight control over the finances of a budding home based business, there is no telling what the future may or may not hold. Managing money does not mean that you can’t spend money. In fact that is a huge mistake that people make. The trick is to learn how to spend money the right way (which brings in more profits) instead of the wrong way (which results in more debts).

The first thing any entrepreneur should do when they are looking to start a home business you to do is to determine a budget for exactly what that business will cost. As you develop your budget here are some things to consider.

#1 – What is the start up expenses to get the business off the ground?

#2 – What are the expenses that will continue to keep the business up and running well?

#3 – If you have debt from start up costs what is it and how will you pay it down successfully?

#4 – What are you going to do with the profits when they start rolling in? How much will be re-invested into the business? How much will you personally take? How much will go to paying of any debts you acquired? How much will go into savings for a rainy day?

The budget should be done carefully, with a good deal of thought placed on each of these areas. On certain areas of your home business budget you might want to use percentages instead of a dollar mount. For example, determine the percentage of profits you will re-invest into the business.

Beyond the budget aspect of managing funds is the organizational aspects that need to be taken care of. Good quality, detailed accounting and bookkeeping needs to be done to manage the business’s overall success.

If you are going to do the bookkeeping yourself make sure you have a copy of a good software on your computer to make your job easier. Quick books and Microsoft money are two of the most popular

It’s also important to line yourself out with an accountant who understands home businesses and can get you maximum deductions and benefits.

Although this seems obvious, plenty of home businesses fail because of poor money management in the beginning stages. Don’t get caught in the “I don’t have time now, I will do it later” mentality. If you DON’T start out with good habits it will be hard to correct as you continue on.

Think Big Business Money Management For Your Home Business

If you do not think that you need to do this type of detailed accounting of your home business, you are setting yourself up for a big failure. Now, that is not to say that you can’t make a profit by being sloppy, but remember, we are talking about the long term success here.

Even very large, international companies are very careful about where every penny that they spend goes. After all, this is money that could be doing something for the business, right? It does not matter if you have hundreds of dollars to budget or billions, tight money management is the key to successfully funding any business through good and bad times.

In addition, make sure you are monitoring these numbers as well. It doesn’t do you any good to put in place a system and not to utilize it to the fullest extent.

Analyze your numbers often and keep up on the following:

* Determine where money is going and if it is being done accurately.

* Determine where you can cut back in costs and expenses.

* Determine what you can do differently for less funds so without jeopardizing the actual quality of your business.

Being a bit tight wadded with your home based business is not a bad thing, assuming that you take care of all aspects of the business’s need including reinvesting and growth potential as well.

Two Principles To Remember

When it comes to business success, you will need to consider these two principles as far as how money management goes.

First, consider this: “You should only be spending money when there is a potential to earn money from that expense.”

It is self explanatory, isn’t it? You should not be making an investment in your business, especially a home business owner, unless it will allow you to make more money as the end and direct result.

Secondly, consider this: “If it is not revenue, it is an expense.”

How does that play into the business that you are currently running? Does it offer you the ability to make ends meet successfully? Do you make purchases without careful thought about those dollars? If it is not revenue to you, it is an expense.

Its Not Being Cheap, Its Being Smart

Although it may sound like I’m telling you to be frugal or cheap with your business, you need to insure that the funds that you are spending will be funds that are spent wisely, without waste.

How should you be frugal (that’s a better name for it!) so much so that you will be able to find true success from doing so?

* Determine how you spend every dollar of your business’s budget.

* Is that dollar being spent the best way that it can be? Does whatever it is being spent on benefit your bottom line?

* Is there a better way to spend that dollar? Can you get more for it with another company or service or another opportunity?

* Is there a way to save your money better, with a better return on it?

These are questions that any business owner should be considering each and every day that he owns his business. What can he do better to save more in his business for his business?

Why do this?

How many millionaires or even billionaires have you heard of that still drive their old, beat up cars? Why do they do that when they can afford to have much more beautiful and expensive cars?

It is not because they do not want to spend money or that they like being cheap. The benefit here actually comes from the fact that they like to save. Saving cash for your business is a great way to find true success because you will have those funds to use time and time again when you do need them.

The founder of Wal-Mart, Sam Walton, was worth $25 billion dollars at one point in his career. Would you believe that even with that type of worth he still drove his old, pick up truck into the job each day? Being frugal has its rewards as this is obviously what led him to having a net worth of $25 billion dollars.

When you are frugal, your business will prosper, year after year. If you are a spender, you won’t have the funds to allow that to happen year after year, will you?

All of these money savings and cash handling tips may not seem like that big of a deal to you. If that is the case, you are already doing them and finding success with it, or you are actually wasting money and not achieving the success that you desire.

In the end, is it worth being a bit frugal to reach that huge net worth you’re after? There is no car in this world that can make that type of promise to you, can it? Make sure you install these money managing benefits and principals into your daily routine and long term goals within your business.



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Marshall Bird asked:


It’s no secret: It takes money to start a business or expand an existing operation. But as a growing number of people are discovering, it IS possible to start or grow a business using none of your own cash.

There are street-smart (but absolutely legal) ways to get the money you need when you don’t have it yourself (or don’t want to use your own cash).

In some countries it’s called ‘shoestring financing’; others talk about ‘bootstrapping.’ But whatever – the words mean exactly the same thing: getting started with small amounts (or none) of your own cash.

I’ll give you a couple of easy examples in a minute, but first let me put you in the picture:

When you buy real estate using “nothing down” techniques, you’re not buying property without cash – you’re buying without your own cash.

The simplest example would be if you could borrow the total amount of the purchase price. You’d end up owning the property without having to lay out one cent of your own cash, but the seller gets the full price.

You can use no-cash strategies to buy an existing business (usually called a ‘leveraged buy out’ or LBO) without using your own money. It’s done quite often.

A typical LBO deal might involve the buyers borrowing against the assets of the business being acquired – yes, the loan can be arranged before they buy! The proceeds of the loan are used to purchase the business, if necessary with a top-up using other no-cash methods.

In this technique, the buyers take over the company without having to put up their own money, and the cash receipts of the business being purchased are used to service the debt. No cash outlay, no on-going payments out of their pockets.

In these dealings the sellers get cash. It’s just not YOUR cash. And you get to own the real estate or the business. Okay?

Likewise, no-cash startup and expansion strategies don’t involve your own cash.

Sometimes you can use just one strategy to get your business started; more often it will require a mix. When you know what the possible options are, you choose the one/s that will work for you.

Simple No-Cash Strategies

I can’t even begin to outline all of the no-cash possibilities here – it took me 972 pages to cover them in my No-Cash Startups course – but let’s look at a couple of the very simplest one-step nothing down approaches:

When you buy goods on credit, obviously you can sell them before they have to be paid for. You make the sales, take your profit, pay the supplier. That’s a no-cash deal.

Can’t get credit? What about selling from a sample, then paying for and supplying the goods after you’ve closed a sale? Again, you take the profits but require no up-front cash.

Will you need premises to sell the products or operate from? There are a lot of ways to get into possession of the right space before you have to pay.

“Customer financing” is another straightforward way to get cash to pay for what you need before you have to supply the goods or services.

When you can offer what the customer wants, getting cash to start can be quite easy (either from the customer OR from a third party). No need to think small, either. A large company may be prepared to totally fund even a sizeable startup or expansion if you offer something they need.

Another very obvious no-cash strategy is to begin as a partnership. When two people join together to start a business, it’s quite common for one partner to only bring ideas and/or expertise but no money. The other puts up the capital.

From the point of view of the person who has the ideas and expertise but no cash invested, that’s a no-cash deal.

You don’t want to be married to a partner forever? Then set up a ‘buy-back’ arrangement in advance, where you agree to take back the other person’s shares (and get full ownership) at some pre-agreed stage.

There are hundreds of different possible approaches to get cash. Things get a lot more interesting than these easy examples, but you get the idea.

In fact, I believe you’ll be astonished at the range of possibilities. No-cash strategies allow you to select from a huge range of ways to put your project together using none of your own cash.

An Added Bonus

The fact that you have capital isn’t a guarantee that your venture will be successful. Many businesses that start out with a tonne of money end up broke, while operators using no-cash strategies often become seriously successful.

How come? One crucial reason is that they force you to start out mean, and they keep you focused on staying lean. You learn the best ways to find money, how to stretch and maximize every single dollar, and the smartest deals to do.

In the next article I’ll give you another great benefit that you get when you follow the no-cash principles I recommend. But for now -

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that starting lean and fostering frugality means reducing quality or doing anything else that could hurt the business.

I’m talking only about taking advantage of every opportunity to conserve resources and eliminate waste.

And don’t think that a focus on frugality and the proper use of resources is only necessary if you haven’t got a lot of cash to throw at your business. It is NOT some second-best solution just for people who don’t have enough money.

Today it’s the way every business must start out – and continue operating.

In fact, many times it is lack of capital and the need to follow the no-cash techniques that is a major reason a business succeeds.

Apart from anything else, being forced to get everything you possibly can out of the resources you have makes you a much better business person: Learning to use money carefully becomes a part of your business culture.

When tough times come, frugal habits and knowing the options will be the difference between the business that lurches or falls, and the business that wins.

Next article: The way to use no-cash strategies to start ANY type of business and make it profitable.

Find out more about no-cash startups strategies. www.nocashstartups.com



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Meena Kumari asked:


I have proved that anyone can make money on the internet without having to spend a fortune. I have recently been introduced to the Plug in Profit Site. I bought the package, hooked, line, and sinker. I still cannot believe that I bought this package it is totally out of character for me. I hate to spend money. I figured that it takes money to make money right? So why not!

*What it did cost me was 60 bucks to get my website up and running.

What I did not realize was that the program (The 30 day course) wanted me to shell out big bucks to promote my “money making website”.

Maybe if I would have spent the thousand dollars as suggested, I may have gotten my first customer allot sooner. I may even be making one thousand dollars a week by now … But I’m cheap I did not shell out the big bucks. What I did do was simple and pretty cheap, and pretty darn effective. I did the following 5 things.

1. I have written articles and submitted them.

2. I have submitted my URL to the search engines for free.

3. I have dropped a few lines in blogs, and forums with a link to my website

4. I have a few Google Adword ads posted. ( I used low cost keywords)

5. The easiest thing I do is add a SIG file to all my emails.( do it, it’s free!)

Most marketers do not use a SIG file. Why? I do not know, not my problem. But I use my SIG file in all of my emails. You know those annoying forward emails, that your friends and family, send to you on a daily bases. I used to hate those things, but now I love them. Why? because I forward them to everyone in my address book, and yup, you guessed it! I use My Signature file. You would be surprised on how far those crazy emails can go. They are like the Energizer bunny they keep going and going; with my SIG file . At the end of all of my emails you will see my SIG file.

*** 3 Easy Steps To Make Money Online ***

Launch Your Very Own Money Making Website Today That’s 100% Ready To Take Orders And Pull In Massive Residual Profits For You Right Now…Guaranteed! Visit:

http://www.internet5kincome.com/pips.html

(That is a SIG file incase you do not know what one looks like.)

I have to say that using the 5 steps has brought me new customers, and has made me some impressive money. The good news is, it doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg, to make money on the internet. Be smart, keep it simple and most of all have fun. When you have the chance do some learning about internet marketing, learn and then learn some more. The more you learn the better off you will be. “knowledge is power”

For More Free Resources visit http://www.100earningtips.com

http://youradsenceprofit.com



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Jeff Casmer asked:


To be successful over the long haul, every one-person business needs to do some planning. The more organized the planning – the better the choices you will make. It is not necessary for you to have a full-blown business plan, like the ones used to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the start-up and growth of businesses with a lot of employees. For the one-person business a simple business plan will suffice.

Do you really need a business plan? It really depends on the nature of your business. A business plan is a product, and if you see it that way, whether you’re in a service business or a product business, you will begin to see the value to the product. Like a product, a business plan is only valuable if it’s used. A business plan is really an objective written estimation of what you think is going to happen in the future based on your understanding of the current situation and what has happened in the past.

As you accumulate a history in business, whether you know it or not you begin to accumulate knowledge and data on who your market is. You also accumulate financial information even if you do not have financial statements.

The importance of doing a business plan is the process in and of itself. It’s not because experts say you have to do it or a bank says you have to do it, though that may be one way to use it. The reason to do a business plan is that the very process of going through a series of questions about your business will force you to audit the current situation and think about the future – to think strategically.

Whether it’s used for starting a new business or growing an existing one, the first step in any business plan is to become familiar with your personal financial condition. What is your net worth? What does your personal budget look like? How much do you need to feel financially secure? The second step is to begin looking at how much cash you will need to start or expand. Is it a realistic amount? Where can you raise the cash you need? With the answers to these questions in hand, your final step is to incorporate them into the business plan itself, which will become the blueprint for the future of your business.

Tip: Calculate Your Net Worth

One of the most powerful steps you can take to understand your financial condition is to calculate your net worth. If our economic life is about the accumulation of wealth (as economists say it is), then to understand our economic life we need to understand our wealth: where it comes from, what forms it takes, and how much of it is available for us to use in starting and running a one-person business.

Accountants have come up with a quick and simple way to help us understand our personal wealth. It’s called the balance sheet statement, or statement of net worth, or, What you own and what you owe. Basically, the statement of net worth is created by writing down the value of everything you own and everything you owe and then subtracting what you owe from what you own to see what the difference is. This difference is called your net worth.



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Uchenna Ani-Okoye asked:


Most people are always striving to better themselves. It’s the “American Way.” For proof, check the sales figures on the number of self-improvement books sold each year. This is not a pitch for you to jump in and start selling these kinds of books, but it is an indication of people’s awareness that in order to better themselves, they have to continue improving their personal selling abilities.

To excel in any selling situation, you must have confidence, and confidence comes, first and foremost, from knowledge. You have to know and understand yourself and your goals. You have to recognize and accept your weaknesses as well as your special talents. This requires a kind of personal honesty that not everyone is capable of exercising.

In addition to knowing yourself, you must continue learning about people. Just as with yourself, you must be caring, forgiving and laudatory with others. In any sales effort, you must accept other people as they are, not as you would like for them to be. One of the most common faults of sales people is impatience when the prospective customer is slow to understand or make a decision. The successful salesperson handles these situations the same as he would if he were asking a girl for a date, or even applying for a new job.

Learning your product, making a clear presentation to qualified prospects, and closing more sales will take a lot less time once you know your own capabilities and failings, and understand and care about the prospects you are calling upon.

Our society is predicated upon selling, and all of us are selling something all the time. We move up or stand still in direct relation to our sales efforts. Everyone is included, whether we’re attempting to be a friend to a co-worker, a neighbour, or selling multi-million dollar real estate projects. Accepting these facts will enable you to understand that there is no such thing as a born salesman. Indeed, in selling, we all begin at the same starting line, and we all have the same finish line as the goal – a successful sale.

Most assuredly, anyone can sell anything to anybody. As a qualification to this statement, let us say that some things are easier to sell than others, and some people work harder at selling than others. But regardless of what you’re selling, or even how you’re attempting to sell it, the odds are in your favour. If you make your presentation to enough people, you’ll find a buyer. The problem with most people seems to be in making contact – getting their sales presentation seen by, read by, or heard by enough people. But this really shouldn’t be a problem, as we’ll explain later. There is a problem of impatience, but this too can be harnessed to work in the salesperson’s favour.

We have established that we’re all salespeople in one way or another. So whether we’re attempting to move up from forklift driver to warehouse manager, waitress to hostess, salesman to sales manager or from mail order dealer to president of the largest sales organization in the world, it’s vitally important that we continue learning.

Getting up out of bed in the morning; doing what has to be done in order to sell more units of your product; keeping records, updating your materials; planning the direction of further sales efforts; and all the while increasing your own knowledge, all this very definitely requires a great deal of personal motivation, discipline, and energy. But then the rewards can be beyond your wildest dreams, for make no mistake about it, the selling profession is the highest paid occupation in the world!

Selling is challenging. It demands the utmost of your creativity and innovative thinking. The more success you want, and the more dedicated you are to achieving your goals, the more you’ll sell. Hundreds of people the world over become millionaires each month through selling. Many of them were flat broke and unable to find a “regular” job when they began their selling careers. Yet they’ve done it, and you can do it too!

Remember, it’s the surest way to all the wealth you could ever want. You get paid according to your own efforts, skill, and knowledge of people. If you’re ready to become rich, then think seriously about selling a product or service (prefer ably something exclusively yours) – something that you “pull out of your brain;” something that you write, manufacture or produce for the benefit of other people. But failing this, the want ads are full of opportunities for ambitious sales people. You can start there, study, learn from experience, and watch for the chance that will allow you to move ahead by leaps and bounds.



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