This really isn’t the case. You must really consider how your invoice looks in the eyes of person who’s paying it.

When you send out an invoice, it usually contains your basic information, the details of what was provided, and when the payment is due. You must be sure to be really specific on when the payment is due. Instead of putting “Due on the 27th”, put “Payment is due on August 27th, 2008”. This makes the due date much clearer to the reader and that is just a small tip to help your invoices get paid.

Another thing is to word your discount, if applicable, clearly. Instead of putting “3% 10, net 30”, you should put “Take $20 off if paid by August 27th, 2008”. This will make your discount much more readable and induce urgency.

The format of your invoice is important as well. Try to leave out any unnecessary information and just include what is needed. If someone looks at your invoice and it looks like a lot of work, chances are, they are going to push it aside for a while. So make sure that your invoice is simple, easy to read, and uses a legible font size.

One thing that I mentioned briefly before, but I would like to go over again is adding color to your invoice. One study showed that simply adding a blue border around the “Amount Due” box resulted in invoices being paid in a timelier manner. I’m not saying go and turn your invoice into a work of art, but adding a little bit of color to direct your readers attention where you want it could help you get paid faster.

As you can see there are several simple, but effective, things you can do to improve your invoices. Try to use as many techniques as possible to get paid quicker and improve the effectiveness of your invoices.

Take The CMS route:

A CMS (Content Management System) is a great route to take when developing your website it gives you a quick and easy way to manage your website and it’s content. I like to do this for many websites for instance WalkMyBusiness runs on a CMS called Wordpress which can also be great for company blogs and personal blogs as well.

Pros of Using A CMS:

• Easy Content Editing
• Multiple Editors
• Manage From Anywhere In The World
• Easy Website Creation

Cons of Using A CMS:

• Possibility of security holes in the CMS
• Having to hire employees who understand the CMS

Take The HTML Route:

The HTML route is the way I always go with websites that do not require constant updating of content. Take the Logic Depths Network homepage I rarely update that so i have that running on HTML. I run some PHP lines such as the include function which any php coder should know to include external html pages in the main page to allow easy editing still.

Pros of Using HTML:

• More Usability For You & Visitors
• Cheaper When Having It Coded
• Not Needing To Hire 12 Employees For One Page
• Less Security Holes

Cons of Using HTML:

• Time Consuming To Edit
• Having to make the web page look the same in all browser including the nightmare known as Internet Exploder (Internet Explorer)
• Code Can Be Messy And Hard To Understand If Not Coded Correctly

Those are the basic pros and cons of using a CMS and regular HTML. I hoped that they helped you.

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The name of your business is one of its most important assets. Once you’ve done the hard work of choosing your name and making sure that it’s available for your use, you’ll want to protect it in every way you can. This means following local and state laws that govern when you must register a fictitious (or assumed) business name. It also means filing for trademark protection at the state and federal level, if appropriate.

Registering the Name of a Corporation, LLC, or Limited Partnership

If your business is organized as a corporation, LLC, or limited partnership, in most states you automatically register your business name when you file your articles of incorporation, articles of organization, or statement of limited partnership with your state filing office. This ensures that no other corporation, LLC, or limited partnership in your state will be able to use the same name.

However, even though your official business name is automatically registered, if you plan to sell products or services under a different name, you must file a fictitious name statement with the state or county where your business is headquartered.

Registering a Fictitious Business Name

Any business that doesn’t use its legal name (the official name of the person or entity that owns the business) as part of its business name must comply with fictitious or assumed business name requirements. This means registering the name with a government agency — sometimes the state, but usually your county clerk’s office.

Why You Must Register Your Fictitious Business Name

States like to keep track of fictitious business names for a couple of reasons. One is to prevent customer confusion between two local businesses that use the same name. Another reason is to give customers a quick way to determine the owner of a company without having to hire a private investigator. This allows customers to easily contact the owners with a complaint or to take legal action against them.

There are plenty of reasons not to shrug off this requirement, the most practical being that many banks won’t open an account under your business name unless you have proof that you have properly registered the name. Perhaps even more important, you won’t be able to enforce any contract that you sign under the name. Finally, if you don’t register your fictitious name, you aren’t giving other businesses notice that it’s already in use. If a competing business can’t find out that you’re already using the name, it might take it for its own — and possibly take away some of your business as well.

How to Register Your Fictitious Business Name

In a few states you register your fictitious business name with the Secretary of State or other state agency, but in most states, including California, you’ll register it at the county level. The result is that each county in your state may have different forms and fees for registering a name. The best thing to do is call your county clerk’s office to find out its procedures, requirements, and fees.

Though procedures vary, it’s usually fairly easy to register a fictitious business name. Many states require you to begin by searching the county or state fictitious name database to be sure that you aren’t trying to register a name that’s already in use. Once you’re sure the name is available, you must obtain a name registration form (over the phone, in person or from the office’s website) and submit it with the correct filing fee, typically $10 to $50. Finally, depending on your state’s law, you may have to publish your fictitious name in a newspaper and then submit an affidavit (sometimes called a proof of publication) to the county clerk or state agency to show that you have fulfilled the publication requirement. Your local newspaper should be able to help you with this filing if it’s required in your state.

Registering Your Business Name as a Trademark

If your business is anything but a small, local service business, registering your name as a trademark is a good idea. It’s not required by law, but trademark registration can provide powerful protection if another business later tries to use your business name, or one that’s confusingly similar.

Registering your name as a trademark in your state can help prevent another business in the same state from using a name that’s likely to be confused with your business name. But if you plan to market your service or product in more than one state — or across territorial or international borders — it’s wise to file an application for federal trademark protection as well. Registering your business name with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office puts the rest of the country on notice that the name is already taken, and it makes it easier to defend your name against would-be infringers. To learn more about whether your name qualifies as for trademark protection — and how to register it as a trademark.

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Before you start looking for a business partner, the first thing you must ask yourself is why you want to have a partner.

This is true if your business has yet to be launched or is already operating. Good reasons to take on a partner…

• A teammate with whom to share the daily stresses, decisions and annoying details.
• Someone to share the financial risks involved in the business.
• Someone with skills that you don’t have to establish a firm management foundation for the business.

The most common fit is between a person strong in the internal details of running a business and a strong “outsider” who runs sales and marketing operations.

There are reasons which — on their own — do not justify going into business with a partner…

• You’re lonely.
• You need capital.
• You want someone to lighten your workload.
• You hope to make useful new business contacts.

THE SELECTION PROCESS

If, after careful thought, you conclude that taking on a partner is the way to go, your first rule of thumb is: Don’t choose a partner who is like you. A truly effective partner is someone whose abilities and skills complement your own and who can expand what you can do as a team.

If you’re both engineers or have financial skills, for example, who will manage the sales and marketing?

Key exception:

Both partners must share the same business goals. You’re each going to put in considerable money, time and effort. You need to agree on where you’re trying to go… short-term and long-term.

If a partner’s idea of business is to get rich quickly and that doesn’t jibe with your ethics, it’s better to find out now — before formalizing any kind of partnership agreement.

Don’t be too quick to make a decision about taking a partner. You should discuss everything in great detail. It will take a while to truly know and understand the person you may be working with. The wrong partner is worse than no partner at all.

Difficult as it may be to discuss certain things about your life — such as health or personal problems — nothing should be off-limits in a partnership discussion.

Example:

Two seemingly perfect partners had money to invest in a gourmet food business and different areas of expertise and shared common goals. Despite having a great idea and working well together, their partnership dissolved because one partner became distracted by a divorce. This partner had failed to mention the divorce in prepartnership discussions.

Caution:

Old friends or family members do not necessarily make a good partners. They may be known entities, but being so close for so many years may make you too casual about formalizing the business arrangement. You may leave critical details about responsibility and accountability unmentioned in the planning process.

Similar difficulties arise when husbands and wives go into business together, although there are certainly many outstanding examples of success.

Success in these arrangements comes down to how well the partners’ skills complement each other… and if they can separate their marital and business roles.

THE FORMAL AGREEMENT

A well-thought-out and formally executed partnership agreement is a must for a successful partnership.

Get the help of a good attorney who will write the contract in clear English.

Ideally, both partners should have independent legal representation in drafting and/or reviewing the agreement.

A good partnership agreement has…

• A full description of each partner’s responsibilities in operating the business — who has responsibility for hiring… firing… taxes… purchasing, etc.
• Clear language about each partner’s initial financial contribution and how profit/loss will be divided.
• Provisions for the timing of withdrawal of partnership profits.
• Clear “buy/ sell” provisions in the event that one partner wants out. Spell out how the value of the business will be determined in this situation and how a buyout will be executed.
• Provisions for continuing the business in the event of death, disability or withdrawal of one of the partners.
• A prohibition against either partner becoming involved in a competing business.

A TIEBREAKER

In a two-person partnership, it is essential to add to the agreement a plan for resolving disputes.

Problem:

A 50-50 partnership creates stalemates when disagreements arise.

Solution:

Consider having each partner take 49% and giving the remaining 2% to a mutually trusted outsider. This person can then cast the deciding vote and avoid a deadlock.

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What Is A Press Release?

A press release, also known as a news release, is simply a written statement distributed to the media. They can announce a range of news items: scheduled events, personnel promotions, awards, news products and services, sales accomplishments, etc. They can also be used in generating a feature story. Reporters are more likely to consider a story idea if they first receive a release. It is a fundamental tool of PR work, one that anyone who’s willing to use the proper format can use.

Is your News “Newsworthy?”

The purpose of a press release is to inform the world of your news item. Do not use your press release to try and make a sale. A good press release answers all of the the 6 questions (who, what, where, when and why, how), providing the media with useful information about your organization, product, service or event. If your press release reads like an advertisement, rewrite it.

Write Strong

Your headline and first paragraph should tell the story of your product. The rest of your press release should provide the detail. You have a matter of seconds to grab your readers’ attention. Do not blow it with a weak opening.

Its For The Media

On occasion, media outlets, especially online media, will pick up your press release and run it in their publications with little or no modification. More commonly, journalists will use your press release as a springboard for a larger feature story. In either case, try to develop a story as you would like to have it told. Even if your news is not reprinted verbatim, it may provide an acceptable amount of exposure.

What Is And Isn’t News?

Your excitement about something does hnot necessarily mean that you have a newsworty story. Think about your audience. Will someone else find your story interesting? Let’s assume that you have just spent a lot of effort to launch a new online store. Announcing your company’s opening is always an exciting time for any business, but the last thing the media wants to write about is another online store. This is old news and uninteresting. Instead, focus on the features of your online shopping experience, unique products and services. Answer the question, “Why should anyone care?” and make sure your announcement has some news values such as timeliness, uniqueness or something truly unusual. Avoid clichés such as “customers save money” or “great customer service.” Focus on the aspects of your news item that truly set you apart from everyone else.

Imagry

Use real life examples about how your company or organization solved a problem. Identify the problem and identify why your solution is the right solution. Give examples of how your service or product fulfills needs or satisfies desires. What benefits can be expected? Use real life examples to powerfully communicate the benefits of using your product or service.

If you are reporting on a corporate milestone, make sure that you attribute your success or failures to one or more events. If your company has experienced significant growth, tell the world what you did right. Show the cause and effect.

Facts Facts Facts

Tell the truth. Avoid fluff, embellishments and exaggerations. If you feel that your press release contains embellishments, perhaps it would be a good idea to set your press release aside until you have more exciting news to share. Journalists are naturally skeptical. If your story sounds too good to be true, you are probably hurting your own credibility. Even if it is true, you may want to tone it down a bit.

The Right Time

Try to make your press release timely. Tie your news to current events or social issues if possible. Make sure that your story has a good news hook.

The Right Voice

Verbs in the active voice bring your press release to life. Rather than writing “entered into a partnership” use “partnered” instead. Do not be afraid to use strong verbs as well. For example, “The committee exhibited severe hostility over the incident.” reads better if changed to “The committee was enraged over the incident.” Writing in this manner, helps guarantee that your press release will be read.

What Words To Use

Use only enough words to tell your story. Avoid using unnecessary adjectives, flowery language, or redundant expressions such as “added bonus” or “first time ever”. If you can tell your story with fewer words, do it. Wordiness distracts from your story. Keep it concise. Make each word count.

Jargon

While a limited amount of jargon will be required if your goal is to optimize your news release for online search engines, the best way to communicate your news is to speak plainly, using ordinary language. Jargon is language specific to certain professions or groups and is not appropriate for general readership. Avoid such terms as “capacity planning techniques” “extrapolate” and “prioritized evaluative procedures.”

Hype!!!!!!!!!

The exclamation point (!) is your enemy. There is no better way to destroy your credibility than to include a bunch of hype. If you must use an exclamation point, use one. Never do this!!!!!!!!!!!!

Permission Granted

Companies are very protective about their reputation. Be sure that you have written permission before including information or quotes from employees or affiliates of other companies or organizations. Any dispute resolution will favor the other company, meaning that your press release may get pulled.

Mixed Casings

NEVER SUBMIT A PRESS RELEASE IN ALL UPPER CASE LETTERS. This is very bad form. Even if your release makes it past PRWeb’s editors (highly unlikely), it will definitely be ignored by journalists. Use mixed case.

Grammer (Scares Me Just As Much As You)

Always follow rules of grammar and style. Errors in grammar and style affect your credibility. Excessive errors will cause your press release to be rejected by PRWeb’s editors.

Word Processing

Write your press release on a word processor instead of composing online. Writing online will not achieve best results. Take time to do it right. Write, print, proof read. Rewrite, edit.

HTML Is For Web Only

Never embed HTML or other markup languages in your press release. Your press release will be distributed over a wide array of networks. Including such formatting will negatively impact the readability of your press release.

Just One Paragraph

It is nearly impossible to tell your story in a few sentences. If you do not have more than a few sentences, chances are you do not have a newsworthy item

Summaries

PRWeb asks you to include a one-paragraph summary. Some distribution points only receive your headline, summary and a link to your press release. If you fail to include a summary paragraph, you may reduce the effectiveness of your press release.

Email Address

Never include your email address in the body of a press release always include it on the submission forms to the companies who are recieving the press release. Your probably wondering why not to well because your email will then be publicaly aviailble on search enginges such as google and “bots” constantly search to recieve email addresses to give to spammers.

Ticker Symbols

Never include ticker symbols of other companies without their express written permission.

A stock symbol or ticker symbol is a mnemonic used to uniquely identify publicly-traded of a corporation on a particular stock market. A stock symbol may consist of letters, numbers or a combination of both. The word “ticker” used to mean “ticker symbol” is specific to U.S. stock symbols.

View The Walk my Business Press Release:

Walk My Business Press Release

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Many of these ideas are common but some are fairly unique.

Before I start that i am going answer a question some of you have “I already deal with these people in everyday life why do i need to market to them?”

Many businesses are not open 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year actually very few are. However, websites are available on a 24/7/365 basis.

Many people, especially those with busy lifestyles, tend to use the Internet during non-business hours.

To give a few examples:

• Business owners will often check their emails and visit suppliers’ websites later in the evening
• Consumers looking to make a high-value purchase, such as a car or house, will often research their purchases online in advance well into the wee hours of the night.

Some of these will generate new clients as well and not just get them to find out about you; the possibility exists that you will attract a client whom you have had no prior dealings with.

If you employ some of the offline marketing ideas listed below, it could very well be your site and company that they deal with first!

• In just a few words, business cards. Many companies forget about these they are a prime aspect of offline marketing. Read our Business Cards Good or Bad? for more information on them.
• Use your vehicle as a “billboard”. Automotive decals are a great inexpensive way to advertise your company’s services. They will last until you choose to remove them from your car. The best part is that every time you want to reach a new target market for your advertisement, all you have to do is drive! Only problem with this is you have to make the text big enough to read for somebody doesn’t have to be on your bumper but still looks nice and professional.
• Ask potential offline advertising suppliers for an “ad study”. Some advertising suppliers have a method whereby they will offer the advertiser a sample advertisement or placement as a form of an “effectiveness” study. In exchange, the advertiser agrees to reveal the full results of his/her marketing campaign to the supplier. This isn’t something that very many companies do, but the few that do are generally suppliers worth dealing with.
• Incorporate your website and business into face-to-face conversations and/or telephone calls. Your customer may be looking for a specific product or service which may be outlined on your website. Guide your customer to that page and let them read the information over, being prepared to answer any questions that may arise from said information.
• Press Releases, If you have a new product or service, create a “media” section for your website that outlines its details and promote the hyperlink via press release to various mass media.
• PR Web is an great resource for mass-broadcasting a press release to thousands of newspaper, magazine, radio, TV, and similar media managers—and it’s free!
• Promotional clothing. If your business has “uniforms” or “staff shirts”, then including your website hyperlink on these items is a great way to promote your business at no extra charge. Even if you dont have the money to get “staff shirts” simply make on for yourself with the url, and something that stands out.
• Another creative use of this concept is provided by ADAM Web Design client Regional Shows, who used their online logo on the jersey of a kids’ baseball team as a form of sponsorship.
• Other promotional items. Pens, mouse pads, coffee mugs, baseball caps, and other such promotional items are great places to include a company website hyperlink.
• Outdoor signage/signboards. Catch the attention of people who are driving by your place of business with your website URL along with your company name, phone, fax, and common email (if any). They may be driving by and not have time to stop in and visit your business, but they may visit your website when they have the time to do so to gather more information.

Note: be sure to check with your local municipality to ensure that outdoor signage is in compliance with its by-laws. Some cities and towns do not allow exterior property signage.

• Draw. This is one of my most used offline marketing scheme because its simple, easy to do, and it is a fun way to advertise. Say your sitting at a restaurant waiting for your waiter to bring you your meal, maybe talking to friends or on the phone with somebody pull out a pen or pencil and if they like paper napkins or cardboard drink mats just draw on them with the URL to your website along with the name. Once you get up and leave the staff at the restaurant have to pick it up when clearing the table, at least i would hope they do. They will see your drawing even if its not very good they will see it and visit your website to get some more details.

Hopefully these ideas give you a starting point for future offline marketing creativity, as well as give you some ways to see a return on your website investment with very little time, effort or money.

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Online Marketing History
Internet marketing, some times referred to as the e-marketing or the online marketing, is the marketing strategy for the services or the products applied through the use of Internet. Due to the low-cost and the global nature of the Internet, the Internet Marketing concept has gained some rapid popularity. The other cause of the popularity of this concept is the interactive nature of the Internet. Internet marketing is a procedure of mounting and promoting a group using the online medium. Factually, Internet Marketing doesn’t always mean to the website. The scope of the Internet marketing is beyond the website building or operating through the website. Internet marketing strategies include each and every aspect of online advertising services, products, and positively the websites that include the email marketing, market research, and the direct sales strategies.

Lets discuss some different kind of marketing schemes:

• Search Engine Marketing: SEM or search engine marketing is a special type of Internet Marketing, which looks for to endorse the websites by mounting their appearance in the pages of Search Engine Results. This type of Internet Marketing could be divided into several categories such as paid placement, search engine optimization, and paid inclusion.
• E-Mail Marketing: E-mail marketing is a special form of direct Internet marketing that uses the electronic mails as the component of interacting commercial or fund-lifting messages to a target audience.
• Blog Marketing: When the Internet Marketing is done through the uses of the web-blogs, then that type of online marketing is called the Blog Marketing. Don’t mix up the blogs with the general corporate websites. Generally, a single marketing topic comes through the blog at once.
• Viral Marketing: Viral marketing is the marketing technique, which uses the already existing social networks to create the brand awareness, through spreading the computer viruses. Now, this method is not always good, since the viruses could hamper the computer of a customer. So it could create bad reputation for the marketing product.
• Interactive Marketing: This is another way of Internet Marketing by the one-on-one interaction between the product manufacturer and the customer through Internet.

Advantages:

1. The main advantage of the Internet Marketing is the one-on-one interaction between the manufacturer and the customer. The mails or the messages are sent to the customers in bulk but when the customers are opening the mailboxes, they are getting the mail addressed directly to them
2. Among the other advantages of Internet Marketing you could include the demographics targeting by the online marketers, measurability, customer response and the immediate results.

Disadvantages:
If people are not aware of the latest technologies this Internet Marketing strategies could go in vein. On other hand, customers could have the lack of experience on feeling the product.

Bottom Line:
Though these Internet Marketing strategies have some drawbacks, it is expected that the Internet Marketing will be more popular in near future.

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1. Can you describe Envato and what exactly the Envato goals are?

Envato is a startup that I founded back in 2006 along with three other people - my brother, best friend and my wife! We’re all from creative or technical backgrounds and wanted to build a company together that let us create great products in our area.

Our goal is to build what we call a Creative Ecosystem, that is to say a suite of sites and services that cater to all manner of creatives - from designers to programmers to animators to freelancers.

2. You have the Tuts Plus sites under your name do you plan to come out with any other “tut” sites?

The TUTS sites have been really growing recently. They initially began with just PSDTUTS which was a bit of an accident - I put up some old Photoshop tutorials and they became so popular we turned it into a blog. Since then as you know we’ve launched NETTUTS, VECTORTUTS and most recently AUDIOTUTS. We have plenty more in the lineup to come, but for the moment it’s important to consolidate.

When you’re building a brand, the last thing you want to do is to let the overall quality slip in a quest to extend the line. We’re always concerned that we keep up our reputation for great content because that’s where our strength lies.

3. Do you currently have any other websites that you will be releasing shortly?

Our big release at the moment is ThemeForest (themeforest.net) which is a marketplace for people to buy and sell website templates and themes for CMS products like WordPress, Joomla and Drupal. The site has been in a small private beta for a few weeks and we’ll be launching it next week! After that there’s going to be lots of marketing work for me to do!

One site that is coming out shortly after, which has been in development forever, is a site to house our growing stable of books. Early this year we released a book by myself and my lovely wife Cyan called How to Be a Rockstar Freelancer. With the next book in the series - How to Be a Rockstar Wordpress Designer - almost complete, it’s time to get a website to house them. You can look out for this soon!

4. If you had the option to change one thing about a choice you made for Envato in the past what would it be and why?

There’s been a few times when we’ve launched products a little prematurely - mostly because I’ve gotten overexcited! The best example was NETTUTS. One Friday a few months ago, I was sitting in a coffee shop pondering the success of PSDTUTS and suddenly thought “Wouldn’t it be great to have a site about web development?”. By the following Tuesday the site was launched and I quickly realised that I’d just created a huge workload for myself with not much planning.

It took us a while to get writers and an editor in place and today the site is going brilliantly, but we did suffer a bit from the lack of planning. While sometimes it’s good to just jump in, there is definitely merit in a spot of planning!

5. Envato is in charge of the biggest freelance blog out there are there any major changes or additions that you guys are planning?

Absolutely! We firmly believe in continually improving our sites and products and FreelanceSwitch is long overdue for some improvements. The main plan is to improve and add to the freelance job services part of the site. While there are some improvements to make to the blog, I think on the whole the articles are going strong. The job board has been growing a lot recently and we’re now looking to add value for the current subscribers by creating extra features for them. We’re also looking to create a generous affiliate system so that other sites can carry the job board and benefit from the income.

In the long run, we’ve been looking at ideas for an escrow service for freelancers to make transacting with clients and business overseas safer and easier. This is more of a long-term plan, but I think would make a great compliment to the job board.

6. We see people at young ages trying to start online businesses everyday, what are your thoughts on this and how young do you think is too young to start a business.

I think it’s never a case of being too young, so long as you’re not risking much money. Once you add investments into the mix then it’s important to not be too risky. But if it’s just time and maybe some small savings that you’re investing then I think it’s a great experience for anyone regardless of age. Business teaches you a lot about work and life and for many is a source of great excitement.

Personally I love being in business and in hindsight think I was always headed this way. The first bit of business I was involved in was when I was 11 when I started baking morning tea cakes and selling them around my dad’s office complex. It went really well except I became lax and missed a lot of days, and then one day a competitor moved in! A good lesson for later in life, that’s for sure.

7. When you first started Envato and it was just in the planning stages what information did you look up to get it started?

Certainly we researched a lot into finding an accountant and a lawyer - two very important people to see - and also a lot into competition. It’s vital to know who else is in the same business as you are because the last thing you want to do is spend a lot of time and effort and then find someone’s been there and done that!

8. What is the last business decision that you made that had a direct impact upon your customers? And why did you choose to do this?

I think pretty much everything we do has a direct impact on our customers.  There are two reasons we do things - to help our users/members or to make the operation more efficient.  An example would be we are about to roll out VECTORTUTS Plus - a premium program for readers of vectortuts.com.  We’re doing this to both help users who want to get more out of the site and to make the operation more efficient by increasing revenue from the site - which in turn helps the users because we can afford more writers!

Fast Balls (Short Answers):

Favorite Website? (That you do not own)
TechCrunch - http://www.techcrunch.com

Most Used Tool? (Online/Offline)
Photoshop and my notebooks

What Inspires You To Create These Websites?
I generally create things that I wish already existed. Solving your own problem is a great way to start a business.

Do You Have Any Other Hobbies/Interests You Have?
Right now I’m really enjoying travelling, currently I’m in Canada and heading to the US soon!

8. If you could speak to the entire business manager community what would you tell them? Anything you do that has true passion behind it, is bound to be more succesful than something done for profit alone.

10. If you could ask any business manager any question what would you ask them? How do you find balance between work and life?

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1. Can you tell us a bit about yourself, and what exactly it is you do?

Certainly - the name is Gareth Hodson, I’m from England and enjoy owning and operating my own web hosting company; HostedFX. I was born in 1989 and have just graduated from college with 3 distinctions in Information Communication Technology, Physical Education and English Literature. I now work full time for a huge company called Virgin Media, where I am a data administrator. Outside of my working life, I live for sport – I am paid to play football (soccer) all year round at a semi-professional level and compete in the sport of tennis throughout the summer. Besides that, relaxation is a rarity but is something I enjoy when I get the chance – music, films, friends…all the good stuff.

2. What type of businesses do you own? What are your passions and skill set?

My business is one that is based purely online – no real building, no bills and certainly no office (other than my bedroom?) The business is HostedFX Web Hosting, and I run this company with one motive – “provide a service that I would love to receive”. By following this motive each and every day, it is hard to go wrong. My passions are quite sad and mellow; I get a kick out of helping people. For some reason, the feeling of solving an issue for somebody is quite inspirational – I think that’s why the hosting business is so right for me. My skill set, disregarding technical skills such as design/programming, resolve around making quick and effective decisions, positive reinforcement and above all the ability to communicate clearly and concisely no matter what the situation. When I have customers to support, it is vital that I am able to keep a level head regardless of what is going on around me.

3. So you run HostedFX.com, how’s that going? Is that a full time job for you now? Any plans you can share with us?

HostedFX is going very well, better than I had ever envisioned. 3 years in operation, and 580 clients may not be anything to shout about, but it is something that I am proud of to have achieved in such a saturated market. I don’t have the access to huge advertising campaigns, but I have the power of good, honest service. It’s not quite a full time job, mainly due to the low level of support tickets we get. All of our services are extremely well prepared for, and therefore require minimal maintenance. That’s a simple business moral that is so often overlooked; it is impossible to over-prepare. The more preparation that occurs, the less time you will be required to support a product further down the line. One day I think HostedFX will be my full time job (providing things continue to go the way they are), but for now I’m here solely to provide a service. The only plans I have are to expand, expand, and expand! I don’t plan on adding any services in the near future such as dedicated servers as that would distract us too much from our shared and reseller services, but hopefully more clients and more servers are just around the corner.

4. What makes HostedFX different from all the other hosting companies that are out there today?

What you get with HostedFX is an honest company that is committed to provide the best possible service we can for a very affordable price. Too often I see too many companies who care about facts and figures more than they do their clients. Not too long ago it was me buying hosting from hosting companies and all too often I became ‘Dear Customer’ or was simply neglected whenever a support ticket was filed. ‘Dear Customer’?! No, my name is Gareth, not customer. I can appreciate how important it is to feel valued as a client. That’s why I am strict upon how our staff interact with our clients, that’s why I pay for servers that are a much higher specification than we need and that’s why I stay up to the early hours whenever a client needs an issue resolving. I think I’m doing a good job so far, the testimonials on our website speak volumes.

5. Do you currently have any other upcoming or already released projects besides HostedFX?

I used to run around 10 websites at any given time. But now? Just the two. I’ve sold off all of my other sites to fund and so that I am able to focus on HostedFX. It’s great running lots of websites, but it’s also a fantastic feeling to put all of your energy into one business. The other site is PageHole.com – this site became very famous last year. Basically, users can buy a link on the site for $1 – go look for yourself how many links are on there to see how successful it has become. A new version of PageHole will be launched in October 2008, and it is fantastic. So please, keep your eyes peeled for that.

6. How long do you think is too young to start your own business online or offline?

The answer is simple – I don’t. I’m a firm believer that age is simply a number, and that people should not be judged solely upon it. I’ve seen 14 year old super affiliates raking in $xxx,xxx per year, I guess they’re too young though, maybe they should give up…

But seriously, as long as you have some good common sense and a firm grasp of planning, you should not be fazed by something so trivial as age.

Fast Balls (Short Answers):

Favorite Website? (That you do not own)

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/

Most Used Tool? (Online/Offline)

Online: Opera Web browser

Offline: My mobile phone

Any Inspirations?

My phobia of failure.

Windows or Mac?

Up until last week I’d spent 8 years on Windows. Now after 1 week on Mac, I’d never look back.

Other Hobbies/Interests You Have?

Football, tennis, eating out, cinema, music, parties, friends and racking my mind for unique ideas.

7. If you could speak to the entire business manager community what would you tell them?

Each day, ask yourself one thing. Would I like to receive the service that I am providing? If the answer is no too often, something needs to change. If the answer is yes, you know you’re doing a good job. If the answer is yes, think of ways that you would love the service even more – and implement them.

8. If you could ask any business manager any question what would you ask them?

What is the last business decision that you made that had a direct impact upon your customers? And why did you choose to do this?

Well that first interview from Walk My Business, Hope you all enjoyed and we look forward to having more great interviews shortly.

Thumbails By: HostedFX

Good Side:
They are a good way to promote your business offline, and give potential clients a way to contact you about your services if they have more information without have to search your website for hours trying to find an email or phone number. I like to have business cards just to have them in general, they are great to have even if all you do with them is enter those contests at like other business offices and restaurants. They give friends and family some more information on what exactly you and your business do along with helping potential clients or customers remember your business name more easily as if they are like me they will easily forget and try to remember for about 10 minutes and just give up trying to remember.

Bad Side:
There is only one bad side. They cost too much. First you have to pay a professional to design them and that can be costly depending on the designer. Then once you pay a designer to do it you have to either pay the same designer to edit it for every person that you have working for you. That is if you are doing it for everybody, I personally recommend that you do it for every member of your team. Guess what tho your still not done, you still have to pay for it to be printed. And depending on if you get it printed at a local print shop around you or not you will have to pay for shipping and handling. The price is already very high because of paper costs and other such things like color.

I browsed a few websites while writing this and asked a few designers how much they generally charge for business cards and on average getting business cards just for yourself can cost anywhere from $60 and up. For a small piece of paper that is quite expensive

Thumbnail By: Anthony Bullock

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