Bookmarking is a popular way for people to store articles or websites they find interesting. A “bookmark” is simply a link to a website saved for later use.

You can choose to save bookmarks directly in your web browser. You can also choose to save them via a browser plug-in, or through any number of bookmarking services that exist on the Internet. These bookmarking services allow you to create an account and save all of your bookmarks to that account. This enables you to browse them from any computer simply by logging into your account.

Recently, a number of services have appeared on the scene that let you create an account and actually make money by saving bookmarks to those services. This allows other people to view them – you’re doing their marketing for them. It’s an opportunity for you to make money. Some of the leading services in this area include YoStuff and Xomba.

Let’s take a look at Xomba for an example of how the “bookmarking for profit” concept works.

• Step One: In order to use Xomba, you first sign up for a free Xomba account. You’ll also need a valid Google AdSense account.

• Step Two: After logging into your Xomba account, you can begin posting your bookmarks. In order to post a bookmark, you’ll also need to write a short summary (approximately 100 words) of what your bookmark links to.

• Step Three: When Xomba displays your summary and bookmark, they also display a Google AdSense box. The AdSense box rotates between one for which Xomba is paid by Google, and one for which you are paid by Google. This is why you need to have your own Google AdSense account.

As with any other web content, quality matters. Take the time to make the summary paragraphs for your bookmark as good as possible. At a minimum, this means no spelling errors or grammar errors. It also means that you should try to include terms that uniquely and accurately describe the content of the bookmarked page.

Some of these websites also offer you the additional opportunity to make money by bringing new users to the site. On Xomba, for example, for each new user you sign up (through a standard affiliate code link), Xomba will pay you a percentage of all the AdSense revenue that Xomba makes from that new user.

The process certainly isn’t a “get rich quick” scheme. However, with a little bit of work you might be able to make yourself some additional income.

photo credit: timetrax23

One of the most important aspects of starting and marketing an offline consulting business is determining your consulting niche. The most effective marketers are those who work to attract a specific group of people by offering a small, targeted range of services. You’ll achieve much greater results by becoming a specialist than a generalist.

The first step is to evaluate and understand your personal strengths and weaknesses and which services you plan to offer your clients. There’s a huge range of possible services you can offer, and by narrowing in, you’ll be able to make money AND perform the tasks you enjoy the most, and which yo’re most skilled at.

Do you understand website design but aren’t so thrilled with PPC marketing? Then plan to assist clients in taking their business online, designing a cohesive website and attracting visitors.

Do you know online promotion inside out, yet just can’t seem to get into social networking? Then either hire a contractor to help your clients develop their Twitter and Facebook accounts, or delay offering those services until you can.

Maybe you have had tremendous success finding new clients in online forums, but don’t enjoy the process of working with Google AdWords. Then target the clients who need the skills you possess rather than those who want what you can’t (or don’t want to) offer.

Once you decide what you do best, you can set your services, determine your rates and begin to consider the industry you would like to target. Just as you target clients who need a specific service, you will do best to target a specific industry or type of business as well.

You can begin with businesses in your local area that seem to be lacking an Internet presence. For instance, if you search for day cares in your city and find only two out of twenty that have a website, there’s a good possibility the other day care owners could use your help in getting their businesses online. The same would be true whatever the industry, be it hairstylists, or garden stores, or gift shops.

You might also select a certain niche because you already know several people in that industry who could use your help. If you’ve got contacts with local electricians, for instance, and you have contacts within that field, it would be easy to contact them and offer your services to help them expand their online market with your help.

While you may think that your business will grow faster if you offer your consulting services to any business in your local area, the opposite is actually true. Targeting your audience by determining your consulting niche will help your prospects to know you’re the right consultant for them.

photo credit: cinnamon_girl

Xoftspyse

I’ve been contemplating new ways to bring in extra cash that wasn’t going to cut into my limited time resources. I’ve heard about setting up membership sites before,but they just seem like a whole lot of work so I’ve shied away from them for about a year. Recently I became aware of another membership site model that:

• Doesn’t require a lot of extra time
• Doesn’t require me to rack my brains trying to come up with new content on a  daily basis
• Best of all it’s the monthly investment is a low-cost monthly investment (remember, I try to be a frugal WAHM)

This is how the creator, Jimmy D. Brown, describes his training course:

The Membernaire(TM) course is a 12-month, low-cost training program that teaches you the easiest way to get monthly recurring income without a lot of work struggling to come up with original content, without buying high-priced scripts and without without waiting around for results. In fact all you need is one article written to get started with your very own 100% original membership site!

-> http://www.Membernaire.com

I’ve looked at the site, peeked at the sale page, downloaded a couple of Mr. Brown’s free reports and debated. Well today I decided to take the plunge and I’m already happy that I did. In the very first lesson that I downloaded I had clear steps to follow (always a plus!) with complete reasons for doing what I”m doing. I hate those “courses” that want to keep everything a veiled secret and you end up not learning anything until  six weeks into the course which is about when I’ve already quit.

I am very excited about adding this new membership site to my business. I’m going to focus on social media with an emphasis on content creation since copywriting is one of the most difficult aspect for most people. Even after all the time I’ve spent writing, when I’m asked to do a sales letters still give me a twinge of panic, (This is much better than the  tsunami of panic that hit me when I first started out!)

While all of this is all great news for me, if you want to learn about this untraditional membership site you’ll need to jump on it because as of October 1 Mr. Brown is closing the doors for good. You can begin your 12 month subscription by going to www.Membernaire.com and signing up today. If you’d like to learn more about the course aside from reading the sales page, visit http://www.FinalChancetoBuy.com/1000Customers.  There is a “printable guide” you can download at http://www.FinalChanceToBuy.com/curriculum_guide.pdf so that you can take notes while watching the video.

Here’s a great idea as an add-on to your current home-based business if you like spreading Holiday joy and the mere thought of making a child smile and their eyes light up with a personalized Santa letter then this could be the perfect business for you. And what a fun one at that! A Santa Letter Business can be something that you do only around the Holidays to bring a little extra cash in or it can be a year round business. Whether you decide to do it only around the Holidays or year round it can be profitable if you know what you are doing.

Of course running a business takes hard work too. You’ll need to be prepared for the Holiday season and the orders that will come in. You will need to make sure that you are stocked up on postage, leave yourself enough time to get the letters mailed so that they reach their destination on time. Remember these letters are coming from the North Pole after all

First before you start thinking about taking orders for the letters you need to think about the business aspect of things. You will need to appear as professional as possible and follow some basic business principles like having a business checking account. It’s a good idea to have a website to promote your business too. These are all things you will need to think about.

Maybe the thought of doing this year round has you questioning how that’s possible. After all Santa letters are only going to be in ‘season’ for a few short months. Believe it or not there are many options for this business.

If you are interested in taking your Santa Letter business a step further and turning it into a year round business pick up your copy of
href=”Santa Letter Business”> Mom’s Talk Biz Guide to Starting Your Own Santa Letter Business . It provides tips on how to make it a full-time business. The guide also provides pointers such as the skills to get your business off the ground, tools and materials needed, how to get a North Pole postmark, marketing to your local area as well as some basic business tips such as whether or not you need to register your Santa Letter business and tax deductions and tips.

So, if you’re got a secret Santa lurking inside, this just might be the business for you.

Did you know that the greeting card industry is a 7.5 billion dollar per year business in the United States alone (it is also estimated that American families purchase an average of 35 greeting cards each year and 80% of these purchases are made by women)? That’s an awful lot of purchasing going on!

That just goes to show that if you have ever wondered if you could have your own business selling greeting cards there’s definitely room for you. It’s a matter of finding a specific target market or niche to sell to and answering a few questions about yourself like:

• Do you enjoy bringing a smile to someone’s face?
• Do you have a personality that draws you to people and you’re able to make connections with them easily?
• Are you a great writer?
• Do you like designing artistic things?

If you answered yes to those questions then having your own greeting card business would be perfect. But maybe you aren’t a great writer or just don’t enjoy it. Or you aren’t such a great artist. That’s ok too. There are still opportunities for you.

The biggest key to having a successful greeting card business is your uniqueness. You have to stand apart from the rest of the designers out there. That will be easier to do if you aren’t trying to be something to everybody. You need to focus in on a specific niche of people that you want to reach with your cards.

This is also where your writing and art work (if you have those skills) comes into play. This will definitely provide you with a leg up over the rest of your competition. There are always going to be people that are looking for more personalized greeting cards than just something ‘generic’ they can pick up at a local store.

So now you might be thinking well ok I don’t have writing skills that I would want to put to use to try to write my own greeting cards. And I’m not an artist but I still love the idea of being able to have my own greeting card business and being a part of the joy people have when it comes to receiving cards. That’s where joining a company like SendOutCards.com would benefit you.

There are many things to learn about having your own greeting card business before taking the plunge. Grab your copy of Greeting Card Business” a Mom’s Talk Biz Guide to Starting Your Own Greeting Card Business. The guide will provide you with all the information you need to get started and even gives you some business tips like time management, how you can save time by hiring contractors and advertising ideas just to name a few!

When I was away on that homeschooling/business retreat in Destin, FL I met many aspiring virtual assistants including my new best friend Mimi of Your Virtual Services. We were roommates and talked a lot (I’m sure you can tell I’m the quiet type — not!) and during one of our marathon conversations Mimi told me about an interesting VA niche called “Virtual Event Specialist.”

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