Thinking of (or forced to) start a home based business? Thousands of people are realizing the benefits of working from home; others have no option since losing their jobs. Whatever category you fall in, which home based business is the one for you?There are so many different home based business opportunities and in this article I am going to concentrate on making money on line and the reasons why (7 in all) I think that the internet is where the future lies. So if you are wondering which home based business is for you let me try to persuade you that the Internet is the way to go.My 7 reasons why the Internet is where the future lies:
The Internet is in its infancy. Yes it seems like it has been around a long time but it is growing exponentially. In December 1995 there were 16 million users which was 0.4% of the world population. In December 2000 there were 361 million (5.8% of population) and in September 2009 these figures are 1,734 million and 25.6%. Still a long way to go.
Very little money is needed to get started. All you need is a computer and an Internet connection. Both are getting cheaper every day.
No experience needed and there is no limit to what you can sell. Virtually any product in the world can be sold by you to anyone else in the world. As an Internet Affiliate marketer I sell other peoples products to people I will never meet in parts of the world I have never been to. Two years ago I could hardly switch the computer on – today it is my life.
You don’t need any stock. Sell what people are already buying. For example anyone can sell Amazon products. There are millions of products you can sell.
Create your own product or service and sell it. Online E-books are very popular. Create a unique product that solves a problem or fills a need and sell it. Better still get thousand of affiliates to sell it on your behalf.
It’s on going. There is no retirement age. You can work till 106 if you want and chances are when you stop, whatever you already have out there will continue to earn you money.
Lifestyle and money. Would you believe me if I told you that you can make thousands a day – every day? You even earn money while you sleep. Once you have learned the techniques that work your income will grow exponentially. Would your life change if you were earning US$100.00 per day? How about $200.00 or even $500.00? Sounds crazy I know but people are making more than this every single day.
There you have it 7 reasons I believe the Internet is the way of the future.Which home based business to choose seems to me to be a pretty obvious choice. Choose a home based business that has growth potential, gives you flexibility a good lifestyle and a growing income.

An Overview of How an Intellectual Property Audit Works
The first step in performing an intellectual property audit is to develop a plan for the audit. An audit committee (usually consisting of an intellectual property attorney, a representative from management, marketing, and technology or research and development) defines the areas of inquiry and establishes the time schedule which the audit will follow. They outline the responsibilities of each member of the audit team. They then define the preliminary documents for review and decide which members of the organization — present and past — to interview.The attorney develops an intellectual property database which contains, at a minimum, “…owner of the intellectual property asset, class of asset, the inventors or authors, when the asset was created or acquired, the asset’s status (e.g., pending or issued patent, registered copyright, trademarks, domain names), on-going maintenance issues (e.g., payment of maintenance fees for patents, collection or payment of licensing fees), and the expiration or renewal date of the asset.” This database enables the organization to determine exactly what its intellectual property assets are and also to determine the status of each asset.After the database has been developed, the attorney and the audit committee within the organization analyze the intellectual property and determine what action to take as to each piece of intellectual property. The committee and the attorney also identify mechanisms that the organization should use to identify and protect each new piece of intellectual property that the organization develops or otherwise acquires.The audit team then documents the audit results and presents them to the organization, with recommendations as to where, if at all, intellectual property protection is inappropriately thin and where, if at all, protection can be reduced.Benefits of an Intellectual Property Audit
An intellectual property audit benefits intellectual property buyers, owners and investors.Intellectual Property Owners
Intellectual property owners benefit from an intellectual property audit when they depend on that property as a component of the organization’s value (the greater the dependency, the greater the value of the intellectual property audit), when they license the property out, when there is a question that may involve litigation over the property, when they sell their stock or corporate assets, or when they engage in commerce involving the property.Intellectual Property Buyers
If an intellectual property buyer is acquiring the stock or assets of a company, she should insist that an intellectual property audit be performed to determine the scope and level of protection in place and needed to make the investment worthwhile. This buyer should look at any licensing or distribution rights that are already in place in the company, and those that the company may be contemplating putting in place. The buyer is interested in determining what protections are available for the property, whether the property is adequately protected against any potential third-party claims to ownership (such as if it was developed by consultants, whether the consultant has properly assigned the property to the organization), whether the property is security guaranteeing a debt, whether needed federal and state registrations are in place and properly maintained, and, if any part was licensed or purchased from third parties, what rights to the third-party intellectual property the organization has purchased.An intellectual property buyer may also be interested in simply acquiring rights to the intellectual property itself, without acquiring any part of the stock or assets of the organization that developed it. This buyer should look at what licenses exist already, whether trade secrets are available to increase the value of the property, whether any third party has any rights in the intellectual property that comprises any part of the property of interest, and, if so, what rights does the organization own, whether the property is in any way related to a government-sponsored activity.Intellectual Property Investors
An intellectual property investor should demand an intellectual property audit when they consider funding a start-up company or financing an existing business. Often, the intellectual property is the sole asset of a start-up company, and it often forms a major part of the value of an existing company. Due diligence requires that the investor ensure that the property is fully protected. Investors also would find the information gleaned through an audit to be useful in a debtor/creditor situation where the investor accepts an intangible asset as security on a loan.Conclusion
The intellectual property audit is a necessary and important management tool in today’s knowledge economy. Indeed, it is the only way to assess the true value of an organization, and it is the only way for an organization to maintain and grow its intangible assets. Gone are the days when the corporation was valued at the price of its real and personal property. Today, managers and investors need to have a good understanding of the intangible side of the business as well as the tangible side. The intellectual property audit is the way for them to get a grip on reality.This article was originally written for The Germeshausen Center Newsletter and published in the Winter 2003 edition. It was later expanded into its present form and appeared in Les Nouvelles, Vol. 38 No. 4 (December 2003) at page 193. That article has been updated for this presentation.Copyright 2003, 2007, Nancy Baum Delain. All rights reserved.

Personal finance is an efficient way of planning an investment to get maximum returns. With the help, you invest the sum on your children’s education, children’s future, cash flow, insurance, business succession debt consolidation etc. this financial assistance is obtained through a professional known as the financial planner. They can be an individual or an company and is generally employed by an organisation to handle your finance related issue.

This active financial process requires regular monitoring and reevaluation. Otherwise, you risk missing points of evaluation and this could damage your financial control. It is required to keep under control this circular process by repeated verifications and intelligent manipulation.

The thing which matters most in dealing for personal finance is your responsible credit record. It is measured through your credit. Seeing throughout your credit record, your lender understands your financial stability and repayment capability. However, if you are under pressure with your credit problem, still you have good chances of getting finance. There are plenty of loan providers available out there. These lenders are going in for competing one another fiercely to grow their lending businesses.

When you apply for personal finance, you are offered it in fixed and variable form. A fixed interest rate means that for the particular amount you borrowed, you are required to pay a definite amount of interest throughout the term. If your lender uses variable rate, then the rates differ every month and it depends upon the market condition. You may still be paying constant fees each month, but the amount deducted from the principal depends upon the prevailing interest rate on the market.

Managing finance is never easier than before. You can obtain personal finance through online and offline, while processing online is preferred. Online processing comes with varied lending options. It makes your loan processing simple and convenient.

So in today’s tough economic environment it’s becoming increasingly popular for businesses to find ways to exploit free advertising and therefore increase customer enquiries into subsequent sales.

Naturally some business owners are skeptical of any service or online process whereby they can advertise for free – this is simply human nature and sayings like, ‘there’s no such thing as a free lunch’ reinforces this belief.

However, with the advent of the Internet and new ways that advertising companies can monetise their service, means that it’s not always the advertiser that has to pay for marketing. This is because businesses have something valuable to these advertising services – they have unique content about their products and services that when published generates unique visits.

So the Internet has given SME businesses new and unique ways to advertise their products and services for free (or at very little cost), compared to traditional marketing activities.

In this article I’m going to dispel the top myths of free advertising that will hopefully open your mind to the possibilities and opportunities for your business.

If you have any of your own advice or learning that you want to share then please leave a comment and let’s have a chat about it.

MYTH #1 – FREE ADVERTISING IS A WASTE OF TIME.

FALSE – however it does depend on the type of advertising exploited.

There is one golden word you must always keep in the front of your head (especially with the recent release of Google Panda) – ‘quality’. Yes always think quality advertising and only associate your business with marketing services that are trusted and respected on the Internet. So for example, never sign up to sites that promise you 1000s of backlinks in 24hrs, or pay for links from obvious spammy websites.

Instead, I recommend you do a bit of research to find the most reputable sites, for example, if you decide to list your company on online business directories then Google ‘business directories’ and check out what’s on page 1 and 2 then choose the best ones that offer a quality service. Why not choose these as a start and make sure you post as much unique and quality content on each one.

MYTH #2 – LIKE EVERYTHING IN LIFE YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.

FALSE – if you think about it you can pay 1000s / $1000s on marketing and in most cases without any guarantee of a return (ROI – Return on Investment). TV marketing campaigns generally cost the most money, however, you can create and publish a video about your business for free on YouTube and also attach it to your profile on directories sites. Over time this can yield excellent results, especially when you create regular videos and attract subscribers / followers.

Using social sites like Twitter and Facebook can have a massive boost to your campaign and create brand trust / loyalty.

MYTH #3 – FREE ADVERTISING IS EXPENSIVE!

FALSE – most people think that online advertising services give very little content away for free, and you then have to upgrade to get the most from the service, e.g. to add more content about your business or pictures of your products.

Actually this is no longer the case as many of the top Internet sites now give a higher level of content away for free than ever before. This is because competition is so intense between online business directories.

MYTH #4 – BUSINESS DIRECTORIES ARE THE ONLY FORM OF FREE ADVERTISING.

FALSE – however, it’s true that advertising on top directories are a recommended form of online business marketing.

There are many other creative ways that you can advertise your business on the Internet. For example, why not get really creative and produce a spoof video based on your business sector and seed it on YouTube – then send links to it to all your business contacts. This is a great way to get your business and brand noticed for free, with the obvious potential of it going ‘viral’, for example, imagine it being featured on a TV programme like Rude Tube – amazing free advertising that would produce awesome results.

MYTH #5 – MY COMPETITORS HAVE BIGGER BUDGETS THAN ME.

FALSE (in most cases) – your competitors are also looking for new and innovative cost effective solutions for their advertising campaign. They may already be utilising Internet opportunities like blogging, producing viral videos, helping others on forums, and advertising on business directories.

I suggest you put some time aside to really investigate your competitors strategy and try and find out what works well for them. For example, register on SEOmoz and you can then see the backlinks to their site. This will show you where people are clicking to their site from, e.g. forums and directory sites.

So knowledge is power and by understanding your competitors and seeing what works for them will influence your advertising campaign. However, a word of caution, this is only part of your strategy, i.e. you still need to put the effort in to find new and quality areas of the Internet to promote your business on.

IN SUMMARY – Top 10 Rules for Advertising Your Business on the Internet.

Only advertise on quality and trusted directories
Look for new and innovative ways to promote your business online, e.g. Twitter / Facebook
Produce your own business video and post on the Internet
Make sure your website reflects the quality of your brand and is regularly updated
Wherever you publish content about your business then keep access details so you can update it as your business changes
Make use of voucher sites and promote seasonal offers
Keep an eye on your competitors and emulate what works for them
Only target getting quality links back to your website from other sites within your sector or trusted business directories
Brag! Tell people all about your products and services on your own blog site and keep posting informative and well written articles
Lastly… think quality… quality… quality… !