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Why Doing It Yourself Can Cost More

February 23, 2017 by Cathy Stucker

Should you hire a professional or do it yourself? The answer may not be as clear as you think.

I recently heard someone say that they would not pay $150 an hour or more for professional services. They claimed that all the information you need to do the work yourself is available online, so there is no reason to pay such “outrageous” fees.

We are not talking about do-it-yourself brain surgery here. The fact is that there are many professional fields where the average person could probably do the work themselves, rather than pay rates of $100, $200 or more per hour. So why pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to someone else for work you could do yourself?

Believe it or not, paying the professional may save you money. Here’s why. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Running Your Business, Working Smarter

Make Money with Affiliate Marketing

February 7, 2017 by Cathy Stucker

affiliate-marketing

There are many ways to earn money online and one of the most commonly used is affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is popular because it’s relatively easy to make a steady stream of money and you don’t need to develop any products of your own. Of course, if you have your own products, you can still use affiliate marketing to create an additional income stream in your business.

What Is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is based on a very simple concept. You share content that informs or entertains your readers. Along with your regular informational content, you also pitch products that your audience would be interested in. These are the products of other vendors, not your own, and you get a commission for any sales you make. You promote, customers click and buy, and the vendor pays you for the sale. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Internet Marketing Tagged With: affiliate marketing, commissions, Internet business, Passive income

What Will Happen to Your Business?

November 1, 2016 by Cathy Stucker

what-will-happen

This is not a cheery subject, but it is an important one. A few things recently got me thinking about what happens to a business, including intellectual property, domain names and other business assets, when the owner dies.

After the musician Prince passed away, I was surprised to learn two things. One, he was directly involved in negotiating terms regarding licensing any of his work. The Wall Street Journal reported that Prince himself negotiated with streaming services and others about how his music would be made available because he wanted to have complete control over how his work was used.

That made the second revelation even more amazing: Prince apparently died without a will. He did not have a spouse or surviving children. Prince did have a sister and at least four surviving half-siblings. Without a will, there could be a years-long court battle over control of the estate. Expect long-lost relatives to come out of the woodwork to get what they believe to be their rightful share of the estate.

Prince’s music is part of that estate. It could be awarded to one person or ownership could be shared among many. Do you think that five or more people will agree on exactly what should be done with his song catalog? Or that they will all want to do things the way Prince would have? Not bloody likely. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Running Your Business Tagged With: business planning

Where Do Creative Ideas Come From?

October 5, 2016 by Cathy Stucker

creative-ideas

What do you do when you’re struggling with a problem that requires a creative solution? If you’re like most people, you sit at your desk and think about the problem. You stare at your blank computer screen, chew on pencils, crumple up pieces of paper and take occasional breaks to pace or get another cup of coffee. But is that really the best way to unleash your creativity? [Read more…]

Filed Under: Creativity

What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do

September 22, 2016 by Cathy Stucker

what-to-do

We all have times when we are faced with decisions and we are not sure what path to take. You might be weighing whether to look for a new job or start a business. Should you take that promotion? Have another baby? Move to a new city? Go back to school?

Perhaps you haven’t even gotten to a yes or no decision. Maybe you are trying to figure out how to solve a problem and don’t know where to start.

Whatever the reasons for your indecision, the strategies here can help. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Making Good Decisions Tagged With: decisions, overwhelm, what to do

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