Tag: World Wide Web

  • How to Sell your Digital Photography at Stock Photo Sites

    Hobbies can often be turned into business ideas that can make you money. As a digital photographer you can make money from your photos.

    Stock photography is one of the best ways to break into the online digital photography market. You can sell your photos to supplement your income and help businesses get the right images for their websites, newsletters, magazines, e-zines and other media. If you surf the Web, your may fine that many of the photos look the same. Your photos, if they are of sufficient quality, can add a new flavor to what is currently being offered.

    Many photographers are daunted by the stock selling process but in reality it is very simple.   Here are some ways to get started.

    1. Understand how the stock photography business works. On these sites, customers can purchase pictures or lease them for a certain amount of time. On some sites, photos are free to use when signing an agreement of use and including a link back to the site.    As a photographer, you will make more money if your photos are leased as opposed to being sold. The one time sale may net you some cash but the lease will provide a continuous source of income off of that one photograph. And, many people can pay to lease the photograph at one time. Through the leasing process, your work will be viewed by a large audience.   Start by researching current stock photography sites. Find one that offers the leasing option to customers and also has an easy-to-navigate site.  This is the site that you may want to begin with to test the waters with your work.
    2. Continue researching stock photography sites, but now take a careful look at the photographs.  What do they have in common? What types of photographs are selling/leasing well?   Can you produce photographs that are similar yet also unique? Depending on your photographs consider submitting them to a specialized market.
    3.  Produce some high quality work to submit. Businesses using these sites are looking for professional quality at a price they can afford.  You may have to submit to several stock photography companies.
    4. Do more research.  Make sure you understand how each stock photography company works so you know what kinds of images to submit, what licenses to grant your work, and make certain that this is not a company that exploits its contributors.
    5. Create a website or blog with links to the stock photography sites featuring your work. This will send more people to view your photographs and may lead to other opportunities in the future.
    6. Get a free report on digital photography. http://XXXXX.typic.hop.clickbank.net/
    7. Stock Photo sites to take a look at:

  • Passion, Purpose, Problems, People – Starting a Part-Time Business

    With the 2008 recession and it’s effects, self-employment, home-based businesses and an entrepreneurial spirit have emerging as an economic trend. This trend is not new, but it has accelerated in recent years with statistics now showing that 61% of all Americans want to start their own business (Parkinomics, 2010).

    If you are in this 61%, how do you make the transition from employee to being your own boss? Websites, books, e-books, and magazines may be helpful or they may leave you absolutely confused. Is it as simple as find your purpose and the money will follow? Do you really need to talk to your lawyer, your accountant, the volunteers at SCORE and then develop a business plan, decide on the legal form your business will take, and choose a domain name before getting started?

    It is NOT as simple as just find your passion and the money will follow, but with the Internet, businesses are easier to start than ever before. Of course, if you are buying a business or a franchise then your lawyer and accountant definitely should be involved!

    “Businesses are easier to start than ever before!” What if you want your own business but you don’t know what you want to do or where to begin? Get started by considering the FIVE Ps: Passion, Purpose, Problems, People, and Part-Time. For many individuals Passion and Purpose go together. Although they are different issues, the Problems you will solve and the People you will target are related. Your business is YOUR business, and it is your choice as to whether to pursue it on a full-time or part-time basis. If you are just starting out, there are good reasons to begin Part-time.

    Passion: Yes, you do need to discover your passions or passions. If you feel that you have no passions or that this word seems too strong, what about your interests, skills, abilities or talents? If you won a lottery that would pay you for life with just one stipulation that you had to “work” at something until you were at least 65, what would you do? Dream a little – If you had your own business what would you be doing? If you can’t envision what you would be doing, ask yourself – would I be working by myself or with others? Where would I be working – from my home? In an office? On a stage? Would I be writing, talking, painting, walking dogs, arranging flowers, designing solar homes? Start off dreaming and brainstorming. Don’t be concerned yet as to how this passion will make money. Figuring out how to monetize your passion is a later step.

    Purpose: Do your feel that you have a mission in life? A calling? A purpose? Some career coaches and counselors believe that having a purpose is essential, but it may be that a purpose is only discovered after one has had some life experiences. At this point, maybe you just want to make money, and there are plenty of young wealthy Internet marketers who know that they don’t want to work 40 hours per week. Knowing your purpose may make it easier to discover your passion. Purpose is related to the sense that your life is fulfilling and abundant, but a stool can stand very well on three legs or four legs. You can start a business without knowing your purpose or mission in life.

    Problems: Businesses exist because they solve problems. Fixing cars, computers, plumbing… providing food, toys, and electronics from other areas of the world… assisting people to heal from sickness, find jobs, train their dog… Successful business continue to exist because they solve problems better than others do. These businesses or individuals make promises and then they over deliver. The solutions they provide are bigger than the promise that they offer so customers repeatedly return. What problem or problems will you solve? What can you offer that no one else is offering? Try dreaming or brainstorming again or look around your community and to see if there are any problems that no one is trying to solve. Do you have the passion or expertise to solve it?

    People: Who, what niche or market, has the problems that you will solve? Do they have a common interest or need such as they need to lose weight or they’re technophobic? Are they members of a particular demographic group – working parents, baby boomers, etc. How will you market to this target group? An important aspect of monetizing a passion is to know who needs or wants what you have. This means your target may not be individuals; rather it maybe small or large businesses who need what you are offering.

    Part-time: If you still have a job, build your new career on the side. When it is established, you can jump into it full time, or sell it, or keep it part-time. It’s your business! Starting part-time allows you to figure out whether this business really is for you, test the market for demand, master any web based technologies that you need, attend trainings and conferences that will improve your knowledge base.

    Originally published by the author of this blog on June 14, 2010.  Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mary_Ann_Nalbandian

    Profiting From Your Passions Coaching is available through http://www.career-development-services.com and this blog http://www.halfpreneur.com/services/

     

  • Entrepreneurial Ideas for Boomers and Others

    In my last post, I mentioned that one thing that the Boomers had not questioned was the concept of work and employment.

    This is perhaps because during the last 60 years, we have transitioned from the Industrial or Manufacturing Age into the Post Industrial or Information Age. The industrial world of their parents and the one they might have entered was not the demanding, dangerous Industrial Age but the end of the era when many workers had secure jobs for their entire work lives.

    A job in this not so long ago age, was defined as continuous long-term employment with an organization that provided a regular salary, health benefits, a pension plan and the assurance of a continuing need for the worker’s skills.  This relationship between employers and individuals was called “the social contract.”  Basically it meant that an employer in return for the good service and productivity of an employee, offered lifetime employment with an inherent potential for promotion, regular increases in salary, a good fringe benefit plan and an assured retirement package.  It was a given that the organization that offered employment was stable and would be around “forever.”

    Since the 1980s corporate America has dramatically altered the context of work and the “social contract” is a relationship of the past.  The Information Age (or PostIndustrial Age)  is defined by the ease and rapidity of worldwide communication. Wireless communication, computer networks, the World Wide Web make almost instantaneous communication possible. 

    Manufacturing still occurs even in the US, but it is driven by computer technologies including robotics and nanotechnologies.  The stability and long-term endurance of companies is no longer a given.  Even profitable, highly regarded organizations can be sold or merged.

    If you are over 50, you may remember the “olden days.”  If you are over 60, you may have begun your work life expecting the continuance of the “social contract” or a hybrid version of it where employers honored the “social contract” but employees, especially early in their careers, would change jobs several times before settling into a good job and a good company.

    So we are now in the 21st century looking for meaning in our work in a work world characterized by: a reduced workforce due to downsizing,  a reduced workforce due to outsourcing,  a reduced workforce due to automation and robotization,  increased customization,  increased hiring of temporary employees,  a increasingly diverse workforce,  globalization,  fewer corporations, long-distance collaboration, an emphasis of skills not job titles, and an increased need for continuing education.

    As Stephen R. Covey describes it …..

    “We live in a new economy that is moving from the Industrial Age, top-down, command-and-control, hierarchical model to the Knowledge Worker Age of empowerment and courage and creativity.  We also live at a difficult recessionary time, but that does not mean we a fundamentally a product of our environment.  We are not victims of circumstances.  We are the creative force of our own lives.

    Unfortunately I do not think most of us were raised to think creatively about the economy and the role that we play in the economy.  I sense a longing in many of my clients for the so-called good old days when everyone knew where they fit-in in often paternalistic corporations.  In an evolving, creative, empowering, what are we supposed to do era, what are our new roles?  Will we hold a job or be an entrepreneur or some combination of both?”

    With a job loss after age 50, an individual can wait and hope that they will find employment in their field.  Many become underemployed taking jobs in retail and telemarketing, Some cannot find work and live off their savings and spouse’s income.  Some enthusiastically become the entrepreneurs they always wanted to be while others reluctantly begin to look at their entrepreneurial options.

    By age 50, your employment, your leisure time, and your everyday life have given you a wide variety of skills and expertise.  To identify potential areas of self-employments, I would interview a reluctant entrepreneur about their skills and expertise.

    Here are some questions I might put to them if they are searching for business ideas and a niche.

    1. What opportunities in the market place did you last employer seem to be missing?              EG:  parts for older models,  refurbishing equipment, custom orders
    2. What skills can you sell as a freelancer?                                                                                                   EG:  project management, website design, accounting,  computer                                     programming   
    3. Do you have the knowledge and experience to buy out an existing business?                           EG:  gift shop, home security installation, photography studio, print                                framing shop        
    4. Do you have a manual skill that others would pay for?                                                                       EG:  laminate and hardwood floor installation, stained glass design and                         installation, bricklaying         
    5. Do you have a hobby product you can offer as a business?                                                               EG:  knit goods, jewelry, customized wooden signs, Christmas decorations 
    6. Do you have friends who rave about your cooking or baking?                                                        EG:  ethnic deserts, chocolate specialties, wedding cakes, catering for small                  groups, pre-cooked meals              
    7. Can you sell your talent in a sport?                                                                                                             EG:  canoeing/kayaking trips, running soccer or tennis camps      
    8. Do you possess talent in graphic or fine arts design?                                                                           EG:  Designing websites, designing logos, custom painting clothing or shoes.
    9. Is there a service you need personally but cannot find?                                                                      EG:  taking children to after school activities, driving elderly relatives to                        doctor’s appointments,  locating pieces of silverware or china           
    10. Can you provide a product or service your friends can’t find?                                                           EG:  pet sitter, home delivery of live seafood, genealogical research       
    11. Do you do something as a volunteer that others would pay for?                                                      EG:  teach ESL, transport elderly shopping or to medical visits, visit elder                      who are home-bound                                       
    12. Do you have experience in importing or exporting?                                                                               EG:  used machinery to India and other countries, scientific equipment to                  Eastern Europe, craft items from Africa, Asia, Central and South America   
    13. What knowledge do you have that you can put into a special report or book?                            EG:  internet marketing, raising a child with ADHD, foreign travel with                         children                                                          
    14. Are you experienced and talented in teaching or training?                                                               EG:  English or foreign languages, music, job social skills, negotiation and                   mediation                                                        
    15. Do you have experience in “New Age” disciplines or alternative health practices?                    EG:  Tapping (EFT), Reiki, Reflexology, Fung Shui, card reading, past life                    regression analysis