In my last post I recommended downloading special software that will enable you to transcribe videos using an open source video player. But guess what I learned? I just found out that I can remove audio from videos and use the free Express Scribe software to do the transcription. And it’s simple and FREE!

1. All you need to do is download the free Realplayer software and install it on your computer.
2. Once you’ve completed installation go to the website that has the video that needs to be transcribed.
3. Press Play and then hover your mouse over the upper right hand side of the video. Realplayer will ask you if you wish to download the video.
4. Click on that and the Realplayer Downloader program will pop up. Let the video download completely.
5. Then click on the video and another set of selections will appear under the video. Select Convert Video. Another dialog box will appear.
6. At that point you just select MP3 and tell Realplayer to Save the file and start transcribing.

I also learned (quite by accident) that if your video is an .AVI file, you can transcribe it directly from Express Scribe. No conversion is necesssary. How cool is that?

If you know of any other cool tools to make life easier for the work-at-home crowd, please be sure to add your comment below.

Disclosure: http://cmp.ly/5/m4l2iq

Leveraging your time is one of the ways that smart businesses operate. One way that you can do this is by borrowing resources, trading skills and services instead of using money. But first what is a team? According to Webster’s dictionary, a team is “a number of persons associated together in work or an activity.” There are many ways to assemble a team, and one way is through what is known as a joint venture. How does a joint venture work?

• Let’s say that at one of those business mixers you meet a Ms. Escribe who runs a transcription business. You two develop a friendly relationship. Now somewhere down the road you decide to create an audio or webinar product that you want to sell to your client base, but you want to also include a free eBook for those who prefer reading information to watching or listening. You think of Ms. Escribe and give her a call. You tell her your situation and plans. You offer her a deal. If she will do the transcripts for the product launch for free you’ll split the profits from the sale of the eBook and product. Ms. Escribe accepts and now you are in a joint venture.

Carefully planned joint ventures can be a winner for both (or more) parties involved. All you did was exchange skills (her transcription skills for you marketing skills). By exchanging these skills you’ve created another source of income for both of your businesses without any additional cost to either partner.

• Another way to add members to your team is to enlist contractors to get the work done for you. Some virtual assistants are Marketing Mavens and can bring in business faster than you can blink. However, the downside for these gifted people is that now they may have more work than they can physically accomplish! To alleviate the stress (and panic!) that this will cause they reach out to fellow Virtual Assistants for help. These subcontractors are paid to do the overflow work for the Marketing Maven VA who is bringing in the business.

This is another win-win scenario. Newer virtual assistants can join up with experienced VAs while they learn the ropes and gain greater skills. For VAs that may not be as successful in attracting clients, this allows them an opportunity to earn a living while still doing the work that they love. And in many cases they also learn some marketing skills from an expert. Of course the subcontractors are still responsible for their own taxes, so the Marketing Maven VA has not added any additional tax liability to her business.

VAs that create joint ventures and make up a team not only gain the monetary benefits, but have a built a talented support system to keep their business chugging along in good and bad times. Speaking of which, I just found out about an upcoming free teleseminar that’s being held on January 27th, 2010 at 8 PM (EST). It’s being hosted by someone I just discovered named Sydni Craig-Hart. She’s a coach to virtual assistants and has some great material at her websites EAtoVA.com. You can sign up for her seminar by visiting VASuccessSecrets.com.

If you’re a small business owner, how do you know when you need a VA? And more importantly — what do you do with us once you’ve decided to use our expertise?  This is one of the more frustrating aspects of being a VA. People hire you and then don’t let you do anything to help, which of course means less hours, less money and more frustration.

I am very glad to hear about this webinar being hosted by Rhea Perry.  She’s answering questions that small business owners have surrounding the mystique of virtual assistants as well as explaining the best ways to use them. So, if you’re a small business person, please jump on this webinar and find out how we can all work together to build the business of your dreams.  Your virtual assistant will thank you!

“To have a successful business, it helps to have a strong team.

One of the key players on that team can be a Virtual Assistant who operates your  business or ministry completely virtually, like Denise manages everything we do at Educating for Success.

Yet the more small business owners I talk to, the more I realize that way too many folks either don’t know how to hire someone, don’t trust giving their business details to someone else or don’t know who to hire.

I understand completely.

So tomorrow night, Tuesday, Dec. 8, I’m going to conduct a web class for you to explain all that and answer your questions. I want to help you determine what’s keeping you from going forward so you can make 2010 even better than 2009!

Our web class is tomorrow night, Tuesday, Dec. 8 at 9 PM Eastern Time.

Register here to reserve your seat:

http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=7S4s7&m=1dN4mJvOz3dPeP&b=bN7rhz6DUXrP9TKkgeJZtw

I want you to succeed.

You want to succeed.

God wants you to succeed.

What can stop you?

Let’s go!

Rhea!”

I’m going to let you in on a little known method top marketers use to generate themselves recurring tons of cash! We’re talking about Joint Ventures (JV).And not just between 2 or 3 people. We’re talking JVs with all the big dogs in the I.M industry!

A while back I was invited to be part of a huge JV with loads of software and materials. I could reel in as many as 5,000 subscribers in a few days. Probably even thousands more!

Interesting? Click here to find out more:

http://www.hs-wahm.com/JointVentures

This JV is known as the “The Season’s Greetings Giveaway” and is guaranteed to attract over 50,000 visitors in a few days. Ryan Bessling & Rick Yeo, the brains behind this unique idea, have asked me if I knew anyone to participate in this brilliant venture. Since my readers are generally work at home moms, I thought what would be a better way to help others to grow their businesses as well. The sign-up is free, but you will see a couple of upsells that you can take advantage of if you like.

You will love the way everything has been done for you and I excitedly look forward to seeing you here.

To get the “by Invite Only” private JV details, just click on the link  — http://www.hs-wahm.com/JointVentures

And if you’d like to know more about how JVs work in general I found this clip on YouTube that you  might find interesting.

Season’s Greetings,

P.S If you’re a technological klutz, don’t worry. Everything, including promo emails have been all set up and you’re ready to go in a couple of minutes!

Would earning tax reductions be a good thing for you? As a home-based business owner or an independent contractor this is one of the benefits waiting for you? Here’s a quick look at some of the perks:

General Office Supplies and Equipment

Items which are used to do your job are also deductible. This includes office supplies, your personal website, phone service, office furniture, computers, copiers and fax machines. You are allowed up to $17,500 a year for such deductions.

Automobile

The cost of maintaining your automobile can be a large deduction, especially with the cost of gasoline these days. The amount of the deduction for fuel and maintenance of your car depends upon what percentage of usage is for business.

If you have two cars and one is used exclusively for business, 100% of the cost of the car used for business is deductible, including gas, oil, repairs, insurance, licensing, parking, etc.

Food and Entertainment

These costs are deductible if you are spending time with existing or potentially new clients. Travel Expenses: Hotels, motels, cab fare, and parking can be deducted if you are traveling for any business-related reason, such as meeting new clients, or attending a seminar or conference.

Education and Self Promotion

Membership in organizations, subscriptions to publications, seminars and conferences can be additional deductible items.

Mortgage

You are allowed to deduct many of the monthly costs of your home if a section of it is designated as your office. The deductible portion is based on what percentage of the total square footage or rooms is designed for business use.

This means a portion of the cost of your rent or mortgage and interest can be deducted, in addition to various types of home insurance, utilities and taxes, including a portion of home repairs, painting and even house cleaning.

---

If reducing taxes is so easy, why isn’t everybody doing it?

One major reason is that we’ve been conditioned to be employees and not employers, so we never took the time to investigate the two different tax systems that we have in the United States. But never fear, there are quick and easy ways to get yourself up to speed.

Tax Reductions I.Q. Test

This seems to be the weekend for membership site videos and classes.  As I was going though my email I came across not one, not two, but three emails on the subject.  After watching the videos I’m starting to get some ideas of my own way about ways to help people while adding a passive income stream to the mix. So, if you have a couple of minutes, why not check out what’s going on in the world of membership sites.

• Educating for Success has the introductory video on how membership sites work and how you can use it to generate passive revenue for your business. There is also a class offered to help you to setup your own membership site, but it’s already in session. So, if you’re interested in taking a class right away, you might want to check out the next bullet.
• The WLM Training and Certification Course is designed for business people who wish to learn more about how they can incorporate membership sites into their business offerings and create a community around your product or service.  This class starts on December 2, 2009 and is only offered once a year. So, if you’re interested you should jump on it.
• Learn about The Top 10 Membership Models when you watch this video. I was surprised to learn that some very successful membership sites don’t even have content inside! Amazing.

While I’m still on the fence about when and what type of membership type I would like to organize, one thing that I do know is that I want the software to be compatible with WordPress. From what I’ve heard thus far, membership software can range from free , but very limited functionality (i.e., MemberWing) to $5,000! If you’re a VA who hasn’t worked with membership sites and you’re self-hosting WordPress, you’d do well to download the free plug-in so that you can get your feet wet while you gain the skills to impress potential clients.

I’m leaning towards Wishlist since it’s a low-cost, but fully functioning one time cost. But if you  hear of any other good software packages out there, please be sure and share with the rest of us in the Comments Box.

To begin the transition to working from home can be very frightening. Who do you trust? Where do you apply? How do you get hired? There are many work at home resources out there in cyberspace. There are also services that provide weekly lists of work at home jobs at a reasonable yearly cost. There are also free resources such as Craigslist as well as Google searches and word of mouth. I’ve found places to be upfront and helpful when I first stepped on the road to a non-commuting lifestyle. You should check them out when you get a chance:

Sohojobs

My favorite one is SohoJobs. They have an impeccable reputation and have been around for over five years. Each Monday their staff updates the job listing as well as providing training on how to create a compelling resume and insight into what telecommuting companies are looking for in a virtual worker. You can even get a free sample of their job listings at their website.

Check out SohoJobs

---

Virtual Office Temps

Virtual Office Temps is a good choice when you first begin for many reasons. My favorite reason is that you register for free and they provide job postings for free. (Free is my favorite price!) These jobs are sent to your email as they become available. They also offer a certification program (for a fee) along with other tips and resources.

Check Out Virtual Office Temps

---

Team Double Click

There is also an agency called Team Double Click. They hire virtual assistants for tasks such as research, word processing, secretarial, data processing, transcription, bookkeeping, marketing, etc. There is no fee associated with joining them. You will be tested on your knowledge and if you do well on the test you move on to the next step, which is a live interview.

For people who aren’t interested in working as a VA, they also have sales positions to help them to grow their business. As with most sales positions in the telecommuting world, you would be an independent contractor that is paid on commission.

Check Out Team Double Click

---

Virtual Assistants

Virtual Assistants has been featured on Lifetime Television, Home Office Computing Magazine and several books, CDs and e-books. They provide 100 new jobs each week that range from real administrative, data entry, research, writing, secretarial, web design, customer service, voice operator, medical and regular transcription, medical coding, desktop publishing, coding, programming, technical, translation, instructor, sales, telemarketing, website design and other legitimate work at home jobs.

They charge a membership fee of $59.99/year. Their best feature is that not only do they provide the 100 new jobs per week, but they also advertise your virtual assistant business. If you’ve ever looked into advertising costs you know that’s a great deal for sixty bucks!

Check Out Virtual Assistants

Wishlist is an easy and inexpensive way to start your own membership site. Wordpress is the basic platform, but the  Wishlist plugin brings the membership site to life. Getting a membership site up has never been easier and with WishList Member you never have to worry about the membership system not working with WordPress – that’s because it was built for WordPress!

Plus since it’s user friendly you won’t have any headaches regarding the “technical” aspects of starting and managing your site.  And tonight is the last chance to get the benefits of Wishlist along with some fantastic training from Gary Vaynerchuk.  In fact, today is the last day and the special offer ends at 11:59pm PST.

What is so special about this promo?  Well, for starters you get a bunch of extra bonuses (without any extra cost) if you purchase during the month of October.

These bonuses include:

1. A Copy of the “Crush It” book: Gary Vaynerchuk has built one of the largest followings online and in his brand new book he tells you how.  It’s a fantastic resource for anyone thinking about running a membership site because he goes into detail about how to build a loyal community. … and you’ll get  …
2. Video Interview with Gary Vaynerchuk: You’ll also get exclusive access to a one-on- one video interview with Gary on more specific ideas and insights for membership site owners.  During this interview they will be discussing how to take the principles in Gary’s book and how to apply them to running a successful membership site on the web.  It’s an interview you won’t want to miss!

So if you’ve even had the slightest thoughts about creating your own membership site or protected download area, get your copy of WishList Member today while these bonuses are included for FREE

P.S.  You can get all the details of this special offer by going to the link below:

http://member.wishlistproducts.com/wlp.php?af=1049504

Video from our FREE Online Business Course

http://www.myownbusiness.org

Session 1 – Evaluating Business Potential

Question:
“How important is it for a new entrepreneur to have a written business plan in hand before seeking out financing sources and why?”

Rod Banks
Executive Vice President, Small Business Market
Bank of America
Topics covered in this video:
Writing a business plan, loans, financing, cash flow

Transcript:
Well, a great question. Having a business plan is actually more important than the loan application because before you make an application for a loan you really need to have that business plan. The business plan needs to be your vision as to why you want to start this business and where you’re going to go with it.

You typically start with an executive summary because at some levels not everybody is going to read every single page. You need to have the executive summary that talks about why you’re going to start this business, what you’re going to do with it and then you need to describe your product. You need to describe the competitive environment you’re in. Talk about competition. Talk about cash flow, because in your business there is probably going to be seasonality. You need to talk about any financial headwinds that might come about, what might the difficulties be and how would you as an entrepreneur be able to weather those headwinds.

Duration : 0:1:26

(more…)

There are three parts to small business bookkeeping, including data entry, filing and analyzing. Keep records in three steps with tips from a business consultant in this free small business video.

Expert: Daniel Diener
Contact: www.bscusa.com
Bio: Daniel Diener is a co-owner of the Business Success Center in Central Texas and has been helping businesses for over 25 years.
Filmmaker: Demand Media

Duration : 0:4:27

(more…)