In the world of internet, Translation is a term used to mean re-writing of content in a different language.

Statistics reveal that in the present day scenario the Translation industry is a booming business and the world wide market is stated to be $15-billion.

Traditionally translation refers to the comprehension of the meaning of a text and the subsequent production of an equivalent text, likewise called a "translation," that communicates the same message in another language. The text to be translated is called the source text, and the language that it is to be translated into is called the target language; the final product is sometimes called the target text.

Seems interesting...

As an absolute minimum, you need to own, or have unlimited access to, the following:

1. A computer

A desktop or a laptop anyone will do. Whether you start on a windows Platform or the Mac or even the LINUX/UNIX depends on you. But I would recommend that the Operating system you use must be able to handle the other application softwares and fonts that you would need for the translation services.

2. An Internet connection

As you start translating, you would realize that gradually the file sizes will get larger and larger. So to send those across you would definitely prefer to have a faster internet connection. You can start from an internet cafe but over the period you would realize that you need to stay online... most of the time. So plan to have an Internet connection at home (if you do not have that yet!).

3. A Word Processor

You will need at least a good word processor that supports multi-language fonts. UNICODE support would be great. Some good applications that you can use include Open Office (on all operating systems) or Microsoft Office Package(on windows). In case you are translating web pages you would also need to have a Web Page Editor - my recommendation Adobe's Dream weaver (not available on UNIX/LINUX).

Other assets that you can think to include:

1. Fax

In case your clients need you to sign documents many a times, you can go for a fax as the Postal Services can be slow and expensive. As an alternate to this, you can enquire if they accept digital versions of signatures and if they do, you can scan the signature and use ie. You will not need a fax then.

2. A mobile phone or a pager:

In case you are on the move during the business hours of your clients (this might happen if you are working for a client who is in a different part of the world), it would be a good idea to have a mobile or pager connection to stay in contact.

3. Dictionaries and reference books

You are going to need loads of these. Depending on your field of work you will need the books. You can also plan to have dictionaries to help you find words in the language that you are translating into. You will need multi-language dictionaries. You can also use the internet to find the dictionaries and the information.

4. A quiet place.

A place where you can concentrate more on the work and get less distracted.

The Soft Skills Required

Apart from the Technical requirements you also need to posses the following soft skills. These skills are essential to continue in this field. If you are looking to join an organization that does the conversion tasks, then these are the only things that you need.

1. The Languages

You need to know at least the source and the target languages if you have to make a mark in this field of conversion. An effective translation requires first class knowledge of both the languages. You should have the knowledge to write and read both the languages as well as thorough understanding of both.

2. Knowledge of the subject which is getting translated

You have to have the knowledge of the subject which you are translating. A better understanding of the subject from both sides (the source language and the target language) would help you become a better translator.

3. Familiarity with both Cultures

If you are familiar with the Cultures in terms of values, traditions, customs, laws and regulations of both the languages, it would help you understand the subject better and also the chances of leaving a mark in the translation world. Your translations would be more genuine and more acceptable by the target language.

4. Patience and Tons of Patience

If you have to be a successful translator you have to understand the first rule is that you have to have a lot of patience. Great translators are not made overnight and it takes a lot of continuous effort on the part of a translator to become great.

How do I Go about It?

1. Get Certified

The first step is to get certified. There are a lot of different places where you can get certified. I am citing two below. You have to get your certification for learning the target language as well as a certification for doing the translation. Some organizations prefer that you have both while some others just need you to have the certification that you are well versed with the languages. So you have to select which languages you want to go with and then based on the requirements you might consider getting certified as a translator.

The Certified Translation Professional (CTP) Program

American Translators Association

2. Where To Find Jobs

Best place to search for the Translation jobs is the internet as there are many people who would like to use the services of a translator. I am giving below two links just to have an idea.

TranslationDirectory

Freelance Translators and Translation Agencies

3. Who Will Need My Translation Services?

People or businesses that are into content will need your services as a translator. You can be required by the following groups and many more-

a. Web Content Writing

b. Publication houses

c. Writers

d. Advertising Media

Should I be an Employee or an Employer?

It depends on what your plans are. You can start off as an employee and then when you have some exposure you can jump into the business. In case you want to get into the business straight away you would need some sources from where you can get work on a regular basis. Apart from that you would also be required to hire professionals who would translate for you. The organizations listed above can help you in finding both.

With many people around on the internet interested to make quick money, organizations that misuse this keep cropping up every now and then. They just don’t seem to know how many people suffer due to their fraudulent approach. In today's post, I will be telling you how to identify a SCAM PTC site and why the PTC sites turn into scams.

What Is PTC, after all?
But first things first! PTC is an acronym that means - Pay to Click or Paid to Click. What this means is that someone gets paid to click something on the internet. With the burst of the Dot Com bubble in the late 90s, everyone wanted to have a website. Now after all this, it was - who will visit the sites? SEO was quite unknown during those days and mostly was done on the Meta Tags. Site Visibility using search engine was quite remote as the people those days were neither that Search Engine Friendly nor were willing to go by the new names. They preferred to stick with the sites that they knew.

So the new websites that were getting created thought of something that would help them gain visibility for their sites and PTC was born. But who would click or view their sites without money getting involved? Hence money was brought into the big picture.

Today, people have also found out another way to get their site displayed to some people using click exchange programs but that is not the part of discussion here.

Who Joins the PTC?
There are thousands of people who join the PTC sites and hope to make an earning from these sites. Generally the following sets of people join the PTCs -
a. Housewives
b. Students
c. Working People
d. Retired People
e. Others

Why Join PTC?
The reasons for joining PTC vary from person to person but in most cases it is the need of that extra money that one can make easily from these sites that lures them into joining a PTC site.

Some other people also join just because their friend, who has joined a PTC, is in need of a referral.

How Do the PTCs Work?
The business of PTC is similar to the other businesses. They have income and expenses.
Earnings -
The income of the sites comes through two channels -
a. The websites that they advertise
b. The people who register with them as so called Premium members.

Expenses -
The PTC sites that are legal have the following expenses -
a. Payment to the people who view and click their displayed ads which is the bulk expense
b. Setting up the Website and investing in the initial advertisements of their sites

For Members

For the Members of the PTC site, these offer prices per click. The members are to view a set of advertisements for a pre-specified time mostly 30 seconds to 60 seconds and they are paid $0.001 to $1.00 per click. This depends on the pre-decided amount. The payments to the members are made after they reach a minimum payout limit via different modes - Online Money Transfers, Online Agencies, Cheque and various other methods.

All these vary from the Site to Site. I have tried to provide the ranges and details as I could find them. Please consult the support or your up line (if you were referred) for the correct details prevalent for your PTC.

Why Do the PTC become SPAMS
As there are good guys and the bad guys, same is the case with people who run the PTC sites. Some of them, trust me - a very few of them - are legal and have a history of paying their members. But most of them turnout to be scams. The reasons why this happens are 

i. The site was started to be a Scam
Sad, but true! There are people who are interested in making money more than building value and earning a name for themselves. So they start up with a small site, hunt for some local websites who would be interested to pay them some cash for advertising their sites. They make the money and then when the site is launched, they spend some of this money to get publicity and members. They also lure members to join by showing great benefits and false testimonials of being paid.

ii. The Site did not calculate the registrations correct
This happens with sites that have miscalculated the regular traffic that keeps coming to their website regularly. When you host a site, there are some limitations on the incoming traffic on either a per day basis or a per month basis. If you exceed this, the error - Bandwidth Exceeded - appears to the visitors and the site gets suspended till the matters are resolved.

iii. Disputes with their Paying Agency
This is another reason why the PTC programs get suspended and mostly get closed. They have some payment disputes with the online payment agencies. The payment agencies like paypal or alertpay generally charge both parties - the one who makes the payment and the one who receives the payments. Once there is a slight change in their policies, they may not be acceptable to the payee. So the payee needs to resolve the matters (which in most cases) is not through. So this leads to the PTC site closing down, and we brand it as a scam.

Ok, so how do I decide that a Site Is a Scam?
That is the big question. You have to be sure that the PTC site that you are joining, will it really pay you or you will end up just wasting your precious time. Following are some of the things that you should note before joining any PTC site -

i. The Minimum Payout
This is the first thing that you should check. The higher the minimum payout limit, the higher the chances that the PTC site is a scam. Generally the Legal PTCs have a minimum payout starting with $1.00. So if your PTC says that it has a minimum payout starting at $100.00, beware there is something more behind the scenes.

ii. Read and Re-Read the Terms and Conditions of the PTC
If it doesn’t have any... then it is a scam. Think this - why wont they publish the TOC if they are legal? There are some sites where they do not make payments but allow you to exchange or advertise your website in lieu of the payments. Most of the sites have a wonderfully written Terms and Conditions and it would appear that they have consulted an advisor who has drafted them. You have to re-read till you understand all of it - yes, all of it not most of it.

iii. Use WhoIs
WhoIs is a free tool that maintains the details of every site there is on the internet. Anyone can use its service to know the details of any website on the internet. Use this tool to find out the name, e-mail and other information about the administrator of the PTC. If anything is missing or mentions Privacy Protect then the site is not trust worthy.

iv. Contact Number or Forum
Search for the Helpline Numbers or enquire about the same in the forums. If they have it, check if the numbers are free and if they are then the chances of the PTC being legal are high. Call them up and verify whether they really exist or not.

v. Contact Address
If they have a contact postal address, try contacting them - maybe through a friend or otherwise. But ensure yourself that they really exist.

vi. Payment Duration
It is essential to know that when will you be paid. The lesser the time it takes to get your first payment, the better the site is. Also worth mentioning is the fact that you need to know how quick the payments are. Most legal PTC sites pay immediately on request. Those who say need time to process... think twice. It is the age of computers and everything is to be done via computers. So what for do they need the time for processing?

vii. Check the Rates for Advertisements
This is also an essential factor in determining whether the PTC site is legal or a scam. What if you find that they charge $100.00 for advertising and pay just a meager $0.00001 per click? Can’t you smell something wrong here?

Checks that you can do After You Join
Many of us might have already joined a couple of PTC sites before reading this article. So here are a couple of things that you can use to find out the Legality of the PTC -

i. The PTCs Ads Mostly
If you find that the PTC is providing you mostly with its own packages (pages from its own site), then you are in a scam site. Consider this - How long will a site pay you for viewing its own pages? There is no income that will be generated in doing this.

ii. The PTC Site is down for this reason or that quite frequently
This is again an indication that the site is a scam otherwise why is the site going down frequently? One fine day it will be down and never re-appear.

iii. It’s been quite long but I have not been paid
If it is more than 30 days that you have requested your payment but have not received it, the site is a scam. Otherwise why is it holding out your money?

Lastly, here are a few sites that can help you in finding out whether your PTC site is a scam or not
PTC-Investigations
Scam.com

Remember it’s your precious time and you are in control of wasting it or utilizing it.
Good Luck.

Life in bigger cities is fast and busy. No one has time. Everyone is busy to reach to the office early simply because as the day progresses there will be traffic jams and other hassles that will delay them reach office. Those who have a family have the privilege of having some breakfast prepared or lunch prepared for them by the time they are ready to leave for office. But in modern times this is getting faded out - thanks to the nuclear family concept.

If you have been associated with such a busy lifestyle, you would know that there is nothing much better than home cooked food during lunch time!

Requirements
Start With -
To jump into this business you should have at least the following two
1. A taste for food.
2. Passion to cook.

Start Business -
Once you have established your business and have a regular client base, then you can take a plunge into the bigger arena and for this you should have the following 

1. You should have the knowledge and be able to cook at least 7 different recipes
2. Hire Delivery Staff
3. Hire Assistants

Lastly -
1. Hire Cooks

The Business Plan
1. To start with, prepare a list of items or dishes that you can cook easily. Classify them into Breakfast Dishes and Lunch Dishes. This is just to get your menu prepared. Take a feedback from people. The feedback is not to be taken from your immediate family as they will in most cases appreciate whatever you cook. Take the feedback on your cooking from friends, neighbors. This will give you an idea of the response that you can get from your customers at the start. Once you have established your business, then this is not a major factor though.

2. Once you are through the first stage with plenty of positive feedbacks, and have made the necessary changes, if needed, in your dishes, start off with providing breakfast at the morning hours right in your house or nearby, if you can get a place. Get the feedback and prepare a list of your regular visitors.

3. After a couple of months of successful business, ask them if they would like to have their lunch supplied at office. Trust me, if your food is good, many will agree and not mind shelling out an extra (but affordable) price for having the good food. If you have a few customers, you can start off with delivering them the food right at their office.

4. Gradually, the number of clients will increase. Remember that good tasty food is the need of everyone. Once your food enters an office, the co-workers of your clients may also get interested. So this business will grow.

5. Once the number of clients increases, you can hire people who can deliver the lunch packs to various offices. You can go for hiring Students or other people in your locality who are in search of jobs and have not found a job yet.

6. Lastly, as the business grows and you want to take a break from doing it all by yourself, you can hire a chef or cook for the purpose of cooking.

Earnings, Investment
To start with the investment will be for about a week or two. This is to find out your clients and make a mark. This is the most important phase of your business. If you survive this, then you can think of getting into this profession.
Keep the prices to the minimum at the start. You can charge higher when your clients are set and you realize that your prices are much below the competitive prices. But do not hike the prices too much. Remember that you will earn more by having a larger client base instead of charging higher. These clients will stay with you for many months to come.

Legal Requirements
1. You might have to take permissions from the Authorities to start off with a Food Business.
2. You may also be required to get a clearance from the Food Authorities who will need to make an inspection about the food / dishes that you make in terms of Hygiene and others.
3. You might also be required to maintain documents for Taxation.
Consult your legal advisor about the rules prevalent in your locality with regards to the above and how to go about it.

My Recommendations
1. Keep yourself open for suggestions on making the dishes tastier.
2. Interact with your customers on a regular basis and ask them what special they would like to have during Holidays
3. You can also start the lunch on holidays before you ask clients for office delivery. This will give you an idea of how good your food is and how many customers will be interested.

Happy Cooking

Cheers

For all those who have been working as Assistants at offices, organizations and other business houses, the Virtual Assistant on the Internet has come up as a means to earn more from the privacy of your home. Also, you are not bound by the physical boundary which means staying at remote place in a country like India you can work for an organization at the U.S. or even U.K.

Requirements
The requirements for starting working as a Virtual Assistant can be broadly categorized into two different skill sets -
A. The Soft Skills
 

This is the set of Skills that you need to have as a person. This is more related to your qualities, qualifications and prior experience. Following are some of the essential soft skills that you should have if you are interested to make a living out of this profession -

1. Fluency in the language your client/employer operates
In most cases, the employers who go for Virtual Assistants are from U.S. and U.K. which means that they operate in English. So you have to have a better command on not only the spoken part but also be able to write correctly. In case your employer has a different language, you have to have mastery on that language.

2. Communication Skills
As most of the work that you will be doing is as a Virtual Assistant, you have to be the one who has to keep reporting to your Employer instead of him/her chasing you to get stuff done. This means that you should be more open in initiating the discussions and meeting up the requirements of your job.

3. Ability to Analyze:
This becomes an essential factor as you grow with ay organization. You should have the ability to understand what is being said, what is expected and how you should go about meeting the requirements and expectations. You must be internet savvy and willing to do some research for the organization as well.

B. The Technical Skills
 

This set of skill needs you to be aware of the following
 

1. Office Productivity Tools
Generally this set of tools includes MS Office or Open Office packages. Some of the organizations are also into using Google Docs. So you have to consult with your employer to find out what tools they use. Once you know, you have to learn or master them. Mastering these tools is not that difficult as, in most cases, you would be required to work with Document Processors and or Spreadsheet Packages and/or Presentation Packages.

2. Chatting Software
You must also be aware of using chat applications like Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger, and also MSN Live. If you have been using the internet, it is quite likely that you already will have these tools on your computer. Just find out what is preferred in the organization for which you plan to start work.

3. Team Activity Software
Knowledge of an application that allows you to work in a group or as a part of a team is also essential. There are several tools available for this - Logmein, GoToMeeting and many others. You have to find out what your employer uses and learn (and maybe even install it at your local computer). In most cases you will be provided with the user id and other details once you join the organization.

4. Anti Virus and Firewall
As you will be logging on to another computer and be online for most of the time, your computer will remain vulnerable to cyber attacks or malware, Virus and Hackers. So, to protect yourself from these, you should have a good anti virus installed on your computer. Along with this, you should also have a firewall to protect you from hackers and malware. For antivirus you can read my earlier posts

C. Educational / Experience Background - Also Your Job Profile
Depending on the requirements of your employer, you should have any or all of the following
 

1. Writing
Many a times you would be required to write for the Employer. This writing of yours will be used in press releases, blogs, emails, updating text on web sites, etc. This means you should have a strong command on the language that your employer prefers.

2. Talking on the Phone
On a regular basis you will be required to make and attend call to the clients of your employer on his/her behalf. The purpose of this can be to let the clients know of the various up-coming proposals or generating prospects for the employers.

3. Country and Business Specific
You will be required to have knowledge in the areas of Accounting, bookkeeping, taxes, or anything else. For this you have to research for the available rules and regulations that are applicable to the Employers country. Remember that you are working for an employer at a different Country. So you have to familiar with their rules and law not just those prevalent in your country.

4. Technical Computer Work
Depending on the business of the Employer, you might also be required to build or maintain the website of your employers’ organization. This requires you to have knowledge of HTML, CSS, and other web technologies as required by the Employer.

5. Internal Research
You should be ready and willing to do competitor analysis, product comparisons, etc. which will help the Employer.

6. Event Planning
This is essential because most of the organizations have their own schedules and policies for vacations, meetings, seminars, etc. You should be able to manage this information.

In short as you see, most of the requirements involve the Human Resources. So I would suggest you to have some educational background and/or experience in the Human Resource Management if you are willing to take up this as a Profession.

Where to find the jobs?
 

1. Job Hunting Sites

There are a lot of sites on the internet that allow you to register with them and search for jobs that you can do from your home. Some of the reputed sites are odesk, rentacoder, getafreelancer. You can even do a Google search for finding more such sites.

2. Virtual Staffing Agencies

You can also register yourself with a virtual staffing agency like Team Double-Click. Team Double-Click offers a 30-day money back guarantee and puts their virtual assistants through a rigorous application process.

3. Virtual Assistant Associations

You can also register with Virtual Assistant Associations, like International Virtual Assistants Association (IVAA) and the Virtual Assistant Networking Association (VANA).

What Else Do I Need To Know
Once you are through the process and have been selected for the job, you should also have the following information

1. Mode of Payment
This refers to the method that the organization will use to pay you. In most cases, it is Paypal or Alertpay. But in some cases, it can be a payment directly to your bank account from the Debit or Credit Card of your employer. You can also ask them to find out if they do livewire transfer or you can use the western union money transfer.

2. The Taxation
You must also be aware of the taxes that you will be paying. In case of a Virtual assistant, when you work for an organization from another country, there are generally two Taxation rules that apply - one from the country where your Employer is based and the other prevalent in your country. I would recommend consulting a competent Tax Consultant who can guide you on what rules apply to you and how much do you pay.

3. When Will I Be Paid
This is the question that you should ask your employer before joining. Some pay on a week to week basis whereas some prefer to pay on a monthly basis. You cannot change the rules and policies of your employer organization but you should know that when you will be paid.

Is There Anything Else That I Need?

 
In case you are seriously considering working as a Virtual Assistant, I recommend you the following in addition to what you have -
 

1. A Stand-by Internet Connection

Just in case you have some troubles getting online with the one that you already have, you can use your backup and stay online. This is essential because, your being offline means that you are unable to work and this will never be liked by your employer.

2. Get Certified
There are a few programs that provide you with certifications. Here is a brief list of them
a. AssistU
b. IVAA
c. VA Certification

3. Register in a Couple of Web Directories
To get noticed by the Employers, you can also get yourself registerd at the following web directories
a. Elite Office Support
b. Specialist Virtual Assistants Club
c. VA4U
 

4. Also join a few Support Groups
a. Virtual Assistant Networking Forum (VANF)
b. Virtual Business Group
c. Virtual Professionals.com
d. Real Estate Virtual Assistant (REVA) Network

Hope that you find this post useful and helpful. Contact me or provide your valuable feedback

Cheers

A few weeks ago, one of my students seemed quite upset of the fact that his elder brother who was running the family, had been sacked and was now looking for a job. He was upset and needed help. he came to me with his problem and I asked him about the qualifications and experience of his brother and came to know that he was an accounting guy with about 7 years of experience. Having an experience in a related field is quite a plus point. I assured him that I will try helping him out and get him a job, may not be with the last salary that he was getting.

In a nutshell, here is how I was able to help him - Over the years, I have been in the industry, I have met people and maintained relations with them. So I am aware of what who is doing and I used this knowledge of mine to get a suitable job for my students' elder brother. Now he has joined the new firm from 1st Dec. 2009.

The point that I want to draw you attention to here, is that we all have contacts and our own social circle. We should be ready and open to helping out those who are in need and if that comes with some monetary benefits, why not avail them.

Over the period I have been thinking of using this knowledge to help out as many as I can. In today's Article, I will be telling you about a business plan that you can start with ZERO Investment and make money from it - all this from within the comforts of your home.

How Do I Start?

There are two different sets of people whom you have to trace out.

Set I - The first set is the set of people who are in need or looking for a job. These are the people who will actually benefit from your business.

Set II - The Second set is the set of people who is employed or working - In other organizations or have their own business. This set of people will help you in finding jobs for the first set of people.

How To Prepare The Set I

To start with, from the set of people you already know, you will need to identify your potential customers. Prepare a list of people under the following categories -

Now, try to sub-categorize these different categories as under - 
1. Students
    a. Who are nearing the completion of studies
    b. who will take some more years to complete the education
2. Employed People
    a. Find out people who are satisfied with their current job
    b. Find out people who are not satisfied with the current job
        i. Do they plan to switch jobs?
3. Unemployed People
    a. Looking for a Job
    b. Not Looking for a Job
4. Retired People
    a. Looking for a Job
    b. Not Looking for a Job
5. Kids
    No Subcategories here. Remember Child Labor is against Rules. So they are out of the scope.

Note:

Initially, just prepare a list from the people whom you know. Once you feel comfortable, you can use this set of categories to create a list of people in your locality.

Prepare the Second Set

Now that the list is prepared, you will need a second list of people. This second list of people will be primarily a list of Companies, Businesses and other Places where you can think to place the needy.

The Lists Are Prepared. What Next?

1. Once your lists are prepared, try contacting the second set of people first. The reason for this is that first you should be aware of the openings that are coming up or available so that you can fix up appointments for the needy. The primary goal of this information is to prepare your list of Clients who will be requiring the people.

2. Once you are done with this list, it is time to move to the next category (The one containing the details of people who are in need of Jobs). Contact them personally and ask them if they are interested and would like to take your help in finding a suitable job. Fix up their appointments with the first set and let them know. Wait for them to attend the interview and hopefully you will have a flourishing business soon.

The Steps and Process Seems Okay... How Do I Make Money Here?

That’s what is the next thing to be mentioned - How Do You benefit from all this. So here is how -

a. Charge the Candidates

If you want, you can charge on the services of placement that you are providing to those who are unemployed and looking for the job. These charges can include the following heads-

    i. A Registration Fee
     You can charge a registration fee from those who are looking for employment and keep this fee valid for about a year or so. This will help you in making an earning from day one. The negative side of this is that many people will not be interested as they are already jobless and making an investment is not always practical. I would recommend that initially, you do not put this condition. Do Not Charge the registration fee.

    ii. A fee after they  are placed

       Most of the Placement agencies these days charge about 50% of the first month's salary once the candidate is placed. So if you want, you can put this clause in the TOS between you and your candidate. Fix your own rates.

b. Charge the Organizations

A few of the companies take care of paying the Placement Organization. So if you come across a Business house that you can negotiate with, you can also try this out. Negotiate with them about the Payments that you can expect if you get them suitable candidates. Just keep this in mind and do not charge the candidates who get placed in such organizations as the organizations will pay you your fee.

What DO I Need To Start This Business?

Well, it depends on how big your approach is.

How Much Money Can I Make From This?
To be honest, initially, the chances of getting higher profits are less. But if you are strong enough and willing to survive the low phase, then, over a period of about six months, your business should start growing. It depends on finding the right people at the right time at the right place. If these fall in correct places, you will be a success from day One.

You have to be patient in this and true to the people whom you are dealing with. This will help you in getting a Brand Name for your business.

Hope you found the article interesting and useful.

Awaiting your Feedback and comments.
Cheers

One day, I came across a better idea. If I cannot work at an office outside the home, can’t I bring it into my house? How about starting an office straight from home? Well well, setting up an office might sound too much of an investment! Let me put it this way - "how about starting with what you have as an investment and a little amount of extra money?" And you can make some better amounts depending on the place where you stay or your contacts?

I was actually surfing for a Web Hosting Service Provider, as the contract with my earlier vendor (for my website Krishna Software Solutions) is nearing its end and I am not very happy with the services they are providing me to renew the contract. So I was in search of service providers who can provide me with some space at affordable costs. Whilst surfing, I came across a large number of websites. I found that most of them have Special Packages called - "Reseller Plans".

So What is a Reseller Plan?

Reseller is someone who buys something in bulk and then divides it and re-sells the bulk in chunks to various other people.

In this case, you purchase a bulk amount of web space on the server of your web space provider and then start re-selling parts of it to different clients.

How do I make Money here?

In most of the cases, if you plan to become a reseller, you have to purchase a package from the web hosting service provider. The rates may be a bit higher than they would have been in case you were purchasing the same amount of space just for yourself, but this is manageable.

Once you get the space from them, you start selling parts of this space as independent web packages. The parent organization gets business from this and pays you commissions. This is one side of the income. If you are honest and do not want to make more profits, you just start selling the space as per the rates prescribed by the parent organization. If you want to make more money, increase the amount for hosting packages offered by you. However, there are other add-ons that you can do to increase your income and not get into such a pitfall. Read on.

How much do I need to Invest?

Depending on the space and plans of hosting that you purchase, the monetary investment will vary. Apart from this initial and most essential investment, you will have to arrange for the following -

a. A furnished room where your clients can come and visit you,

b. A telephone that you can be contacted on by your clients,

c. A Letter Head, Visiting/Business Cards

d. Contacts of people who will be interested to have their websites hosted with you.

If you are like me (who is restricted in movements and has to stay in the house), you can also think of hiring a a sales agent who can help you in getting business. The salary can be negotiated on a per client basis or even as a percentage of total sales made. This depends on the arrangement between you and your employee.

How much can I Earn?

If you do only this part, that is, sell space, you will not make much profit, but yes, you will come out of the stigma that you are staying all the time at home and not working.

In case you are aware of web programming, or have a friend circle who is technically sound and aware of web programming, then you can increase your chances of making more money. This is the add-on in this plan of income.

Once you get the customers who will be interested in your web hosting service, you can ask them if they would like their website to be developed and maintained by your organization. In case they agree, you can quote higher prices (which will include costs of developing, managing, optimizing and also hosting) and provide them the services. The fact that the clients will get all the solutions at one place will keep them happy. You will be happy as you would be involved more in the work and this will increase your income.

Who are my Clients?

1. A word of caution here - DO NOT target the big shots as they would already be having a website of their own. You can start with providing services to those who are local to you and who can be approached easily.

2. In case you are planning to provide the website development facility too, start with simple websites that you can develop. Remember that you have to make your market and Brand Name first.

3. Lastly, avoid registering for Reseller Plans with not-so-known brands. This is because the not-so-known brands cannot be trusted in terms of providing efficient customer support to their clients. As you will be the middle-man, your clients will give you sleepless nights if their problems are not resolved soon. And if the problems are not resolved soon, this will spread a bad word of mouth for your business. So even if you have to invest a little more, go with the bigger names.

Oh yes, in case you plan to start with the simple Web Hosting Service and are not sure of finding suitable candidates for creating the web pages, please feel free to contact me. I would be more than happy in setting up a couple of websites for you.

Happy Earning.

Hope you will find this post of use to earn and start a business of your own. Please feel free to contact me or post your comments.

Cheers.

These days, having a website has become more of a necessity than a luxury. But if I look back, about 10-15 years ago, it was considered to be a luxury. Well, things change and with that several luxuries convert to necessities.

Why do I need a website?
Well, the answer to this question varies from person to person. If you have a business you use your web site to showcase the products and services that you have on your business. Similarly if you are a professional you can use the site to showcase your talents. Writers can use website for writing out their text and showcasing them to the world. And if you are a student you can use your web site for learning purposes. So we can have a website to display and showcase our talents, products and services.

Where do I start from?
The first thing you have to do is identify the need of or purpose of having your web site. This is an essential to start with. This will determine a lot of things that will actually go into the design of your website.
 

The websites generally fall under the following broad categories –

I have decided the Category! What Next?
Now, based on the category that you have selected, you have to write the content of the website, its pages and also collect the pictures that you would need to make the website attractive.

If you want to do everything on your website on your own, you need to learn some HTML, CSS to start with. Just in case you are not into all this, do not worry. Just prepare the content, collect the images and the page layouts (just mere sketches on paper will do).

Where to get the images and other stuff?
DO NOT copy images or contents from the websites of others. Instead, buy them or use them from different websites that allow you to. Some of the great sites for stock photos are –

Once done, you will need to find a place where you can host your website. I will be discussing this in the next post.

Note: If you are interested to have a website of your own build by professionals, you can email me or visit krishna software solutions.

I have been using the internet for quite some years now. At the start, it was fou usual chatting purposes. With the passage of time I started to use Internet for learning purposes. Then I started working on the Internet and jumped into website development, search engine optimization and internet marketing.

When I fell ill and had no income for quite 6 months, I had lost all hopes of living a normal life. By the time I had recovered and was able to start walking, it was something like - "You have been out of job for so many months" at some places and "You are a sick and ill person. How will you be able to work..." at the others. Gradually I started losing hope of finding sources of income and supporting my family.

Then one day I realised that I could start taking classes from home and do some earning. So I started off with some advertisements in the locality where I stay and soon I had 12 students to start off with my first batch.

Now,I have somewhat improved health-wise and can devote some time to earn something extra. This is where I met "Win" my friend from Socints. She suggested me quite a few places where I could find for that extra income. Earlier, I had already joined a couple of PTC (paid-to-click) webistes that had promised me a minimum payout once I reachd an amount of $25,000 with them. It had been several months that I had reached this amount but was never paid a dime from them. So when "Win" recommended me this site, I was a bit skeptical. But then she siad that she had been paid from this website many times. This made me feel some trust for this site. So I joined this site and have been associated with them for some days now. Within this period I found that every word that was told to be my my referrer - "Win", and the webiste has been true so far.

Following are some facts about this website:
1. Payout is done via Paypal
2. The minimum payout limit is $5.50. This means that once you have this amount with you, you can request for a payout
3. The payment amount is calculated every Thursday or Friday.
4. The site works on a Points system. The point system is quite explicitly explained for every link they put up for clicks. Some clicks earn me 1 point while some others earn me 3 points.
5. The best part is that the ads (links for clicks) keep coming the whole day. So there is practically no limitations for making points. You can have ads for clicks in the morning... then some new ones during the day and even some more new ones later in the day. This sets Trek Pay apart from other PTC sites.

Sounds Intersting? Have a look here.