During the first meeting, I learned that I was talking to a sort of affiliate marketer.  I also learned that there was a startup fee, as well as a monthly fee for the program.  Once you are in the system, you can make money in two ways.

First, by selling stuff and collecting an affiliate fee.  Secondly, you can recruit others to sell the junk and collect a referral fee.  And it’s only going to cost you a set up fee of $126 and a monthly fee of $50 to keep your website running.  I don’t know about you, but this has bad idea written all over it.  Especially when I got to the second meeting.

This time there were two people involved in selling me this system.  The same person from the previous meeting, and someone higher up the food chain came to talk to me.

They began talking, and half an hour later they were repeating themselves profusely; however, their circumlocutory speech was not the real issue.  They mentioned that setting up your business, and getting sales would pay for itself in the first month.  “Okay,” I asked, “So how do you get sales on your site?”

The two looked at each other, then at me before saying, “Well, how would YOU get sales?”

I mentioned I would find some relevant keywords and bid on them in Google Adwords to direct people to my targeted pages.

The two looked at each other, then at me.  They had no idea what I was talking about.  So I asked again what they did.

The way they get products sold from their site is to buy it themselves.  Now at 10% to 50% commission that means they are buying somewhere between $100 and $500 on their sites each month.  All this was to gain some sort of PV (or Point Value in their strange little world) witch somehow gets transformed into cash back.

The money with this is made of course once you get enough noobs under you to buy their own products.  Then you will get a small chunk of change from their sales.

I asked to see the backend of one of their sites.  I wanted to take a look at how much control the pupetmasters gave them.  But of course this must lead up to another meeting!  So I’ll let you know what happens if this meeting ever does.

I feel bad for all of the people who drink the koolaid without knowing what they are getting themselves into.  Which sounds like a lot of people are doing with their ‘pie in the sky’ wishful thinking.

The environment and culture set up by Thomas Edison in his labs and Google’s founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin might be strikingly similar in many ways.

So how does “The Wizard of Menlo Park” (New Jersey) compare to a couple guys who’s company’s Menlo Park location was clear across the country and a hundred years later? (For a short time in ‘98-’99 Google’s office was located in Menlo Park California) We can take a look at the objectives, practices, and general attitudes of both of these companies to find the answers.

Edison and the others at his lab created inventions and then set up companies to profit off of them. If you take a look at Google Labs, they are doing something similar with their own twist. Google has their Adwords and Adsense that they are able to leverage into many of their products, giving a revenue stream to that product. At Google, all employees are given an amount of time where it is required to work on their own projects. Every now and then we can see the larger and more developed of these projects and ideas appear at Google Labs.

The culture that was found with Thomas Edison’s workers ‘the boys’ allowed a lot of flexibility to move around from project to project. If one project was getting nowhere, you could simply open up a different notebook and jump into a whole new problem and pick up from where someone else was stumped. I can’t quite say for sure how much freedom Google gives to employees in moving around like this, but within the company sharing ideas, collaborating and otherwise transferring knowledge is highly encouraged.

Both Edison and Google place a high value on constant experimentation, testing, and improving everything; however there is a bit of cultural variance in how it was to be approached. If you wanted to go into Thomas Edison’s lab and experiment, you were welcome to. The only thing that was really required of you was to pay for the materials that you used and to clean up after yourself. Getting to know the other inventors and getting their input was an added perk.

When it comes to Google, in order to play around in their labs, you simply need to click on a link. All around the you can run tests and investigate all kinds of things online for free. If you want to go even further, you can put together programs and applications fairly easily that interact with their online software. If you don’t know how to program, with a quick search, they could help you out with that too.

Now it doesn’t really seam that the General Electric company that we know today still follows these ideas, but at one time back when it was called Edison General Electric, it was much closer to how Google operates a century later. It’s certainly not a coincidence that both GE and Google are so strong now when they both had such great beginnings. I think it’s fair to say that with Google being only a little more than a decade old, they haven’t quite written all of their beginnings yet.

So you have decided to take the plunge into the business world in an effort to make millions, tens of millions, or just tens of dollars. How much thought have you put into structuring your business? Well, the good news is that you really shouldn’t have to sweat about it TOO much. Once you know the issues involved in the different types of entities, your decisions should be quite a bit easier.

I have written a couple articles about the different types of entities on their own and would like to present them to you in relation to the other options. These are the standard business entity types in the United States, and though many other countries have similar types of business entities, I would highly suggest that you investigate all of your options.

Sole Proprietorship

• Pro: Easy to create
• Pro: Freedom from many regulations
• Pro: Pass Through Entity
• Con: Unlimited Liability
• Con: Hiring People can be tricky

Partnership

• Pro: Easy to create
• Pro: Freedom from many regulations (although not as many as Sole Proprietorship)
• Pro: Pass Through Entity
• Con: Unlimited Liability for all partners
• Con: Possible politics and issues between members

Corporation

• Pro: Limited Liability
• Pro: Well known entity type
• Con: Difficult to set up
• Con: Double Taxation (not pass through)
• Con: Many Regulations to do business
• Con: Difficult to operate

Limited Liability Partnership

• Pro: Fairly easy to establish
• Pro: Limited Liability
• Pro: Pass through entity
• Con: Must have at least two partners at all times
• Con: Transferring interests is difficult

Limited Liability Company

• Pro: Fairly easy to establish
• Pro: Limited Liability
• Pro: Pass through entity
• Pro: Freedom of operation
• Pro: One person can own 100% interest
• Con: Hard to issue stock for an IPO

The last two on the list are the newest entity types established to encourage more people to start businesses and other investment projects. My favorite type of entity is the LLC, and that is because of the protection it offers while still giving you an ample amount of freedom. Since it is so new, it doesn’t quite command the amount of respect or get the amount of understanding that I think it deserves.

That wraps up my post here. Keep in mind these are generalizations about the entity types and there are a few other things to consider. So talk to your lawyer or law student or somebody who knows these things better than you to make sure you look into all the issues you might possibly face. There are a couple more things as well, such as professional LLPs and LLCs (often written as PLLP or PLLC), as well as options on the corporation type (C-Corp, S-Corp, Non-profit) that you might want to consider.

Sole Proprietorship is the most basic type of entity, and also the easiest to start. The only thing required is that you think about going into business. Right then, you are now operating as a sole proprietor and can go into business. Depending on where you live you may need to get business licenses or permits depending on what your business intends to do.

The downside to Sole Proprietorships is that they do not have limited liability. So if something goes wrong and you get sued, it is possible that everything that you own personally could (and probably would be) taken away from you if the lawsuit is won.

The upside to a Sole Proprietorship is that it is a ‘pass through’ entity, This means that any earnings that you have are only taxed once. The money that you make is not taxed to the business, but only to you once as your salary. Included with this is tax deductions. When you are spending for your business, that money may be a tax break if you document it and it is justifiable for your business.

If you don’t establish a separate entity type, then this is the default type that you will assume as an individual. As you can see, the limited liability is quite the potential time bomb, even more so as you become more affluent in your life.

I am always amazed by the amount of politics involved in business. Think of the businesses that your business can’t survive without. Now think for a moment of the businesses that can’t survive without yours.

Take the company or product that you rely the most on. Now imagine that they are completely gone. They vanished overnight and there is absolutely no trace of them whatsoever. Their service is no longer available and your running out of time before your shareholders, and more importantly your customers begin to notice.

I’m sure you’ve already figured out what I’m about to ask already, but here it is regardless… “WHAT DO YOU DO NOW????”

Anyone with an entrepreneur’s mindset can tell you what must be done. Whatever it takes. It is up to you to make things work. Find alternatives, but don’t just look at the former company’s competition, there are all kinds of solutions you could be looking at.

Is this something that you can afford to do yourself? While that’s not always a financially feasible option, imagine for a second the market control that you could potentially obtain. Being as we said this is a rather important aspect of your business, something that you really rely on, let’s assume the likely scenario that you are not quite able to afford this. So what’s the plan now?

How about your network? I’m talking about both your personal contacts and your business’s professional contacts. The event of a company with a valuable disappearing off of the map (although rare!!) would not only be devastating to you, but also to your competitors and your partners. It’s fair to assume that YOUR competition isn’t going to sit around. It’s all about results and numbers.

So before you let yourself drown while wallowing in your own self pity, come up with some sort of plan. Can you be the one who unites everyone? I talked about having your company take over the service, but that could be expensive to your business. That however doesn’t mean that your network as a whole can’t arrange something where everyone benefits. And if the new service is owned by people who rely on it, you no are no longer subject to the whims of some unreliable company.

Now I’m not saying that you should wait around until some company that’s making money suddenly decides to disband before you can take action. It’s all about networking and politics. Who can help you get ahead and at the same time you can help get ahead?

One quick example is my friend Shay over at Sparkplugged.net, he is able to help me out with my weak area, web design. And meanwhile I am able to help him out with technical aspects of his site. By trading knowledge we can both get ahead. And more importantly, trust is developed between the two of us.

Both of the web-pages for Aridni and Sparkplugged are hosted by the same company and even on the same server. If for some reason there was a problem with the hosting (it’s been great so far, knock on wood!) by having two of us, we wield more power if something should occur. Granted it’s not a whole lot more, but what if our network a good portion of the people from the host! That would be a fair amount of influence. (note: I’m really happy with my host but it’s a relevant example here where a network could help build a great alliance )

Now it would be just awful to be caught off guard and need the network that you don’t have built up yet. If somebody doesn’t know you, they certainly won’t be inclined to help you out. If you haven’t even gained trust from someone, they have little incentive to offer you favors. So get out there and start recruiting your allies! What kind of trades can you offer? Remember both sides must benefit!

Once you discover that “you are the one to run the show”, now it’s time to get things rolling and start your business. However, you may be reluctant and unsure of this whole owning your own business idea. To help you with the transition of working for someone and then becoming your own boss, here are some words of inspiration- the good things about owning a business.

Boredom is nonexistent- No longer can you stare at the computer, you will work with motivation.

Constant challenge- Because your days are never completely the same, you always have some sort of a challenge awaiting you. This could be anything and everything from being interview for the local newspaper, developing the business plan, or creating a new window display.

Time is your own- The longer and harder you work, the more you reap the benefits, not someone else. If you have an appointment or are running late, the boss (you) won’t care.

Create an ideal work environment- The environment of your business is what you make it to be. If you want candles in the bathroom, by all means, have candles in the bathroom.

Never again will you have to beg for a promotion or raise- Need more money? With hard work and careful planning, you can make it happen.

Work fits your life- Now is your chance to develop a career that fits into your life, not the your life fits into. You probably won’t be working less, but you’ll be working when you want to. This means that you will be able to attend that niece’s birthday party or the children’s plan.

No boss- You are the boss and it’s great! You make the agenda, create a schedule, hire and fire, and reap the benefits. Now nothing is better than this.

Somehow in the adorable family, suburban home, and picket fence of the American Dream, we got tricked. We wanted security, and we thought American industry could provide.

But when you think of Donald Trump, what are the two nasty words you also think of? “YOU’RE FIRED!”

Where’s the security in that? I’m starting to wonder if being self-employed isn’t really the most secure option out there. Think about it: you sure can’t be fired or laid off. Self employment is risky at first, but if you work hard enough at the right business idea, you’ll succeed. You’re the boss, so you don’t have to deal with the dirt to move up or fight your way through the muck for raises and promotions. Heck, when you’re the boss, you the only people you work with are the people you want to work with.

The greatest bonus, I think, is that your ideas get heard and get implemented. The harder you work, the more money you make.

One of my greatest friends spent his entire life focusing on aviation; he felt bound to be an airline pilot. Yet when he landed his dream job, he found the position wasn’t such a dream. He was barely home, barely sleeping, and barely breaking even. He was paying rent in several cities, eating out when he stayed at hotels, and getting paid little by the hour… but only for certain types of hours that he worked.

He was put on part-time, dashing his dreams. He started becoming an independent airplane mechanic. No one thought “airplane mechanic” sounded prestigious. But he LOVED it. He was making far more money, setting his own hours, and doing the work that he chose to do. Now his dreams always consist of self-employment, never the airlines.

How come we never think that being an established self-employed person is secure?

I told Aridni that I didn’t know anything about getting wealthy. I didn’t know anything about money and finance and that stuff. They said that I did. I started writing article ideas over and over for today’s Aridni guest article, and that’s when I realized that maybe I do know something about money–that we all do. It’s all a matter of if we take time to recognize our money status and direction. And if we take time to keep learning more.

I set a goal for myself: I will make money while I sleep.

Not sure how to fully achieve this goal. I’m not good at the stock market. So I admit that, and I start researching. Some ways to make money while you sleep:

-Commissions
-Home ownership of an appreciating property
-Network marketing
-Royalties
-Marketing consulting or something where you get a percent of the revenues that come later

I commute to work every day and it drives me insane. When you work for someone else, you are only making money when you’re at work. You stop working at the end of the day, and you stop making money. I think that idea is silly. I’m tired of doing it. Almost everyone in America does it. Why do we do this? Well it’s easier. It’s less risk. And you know what? It’s stupid. Make money while you sleep. Now we’re talking. Then hire other people to work 9 to 5. Their work gives them a set pay. Everything above that is profit for your pocket.

Our guest writer this week is Alex the Great. Well Alex admits to not being great quite yet… but Alex is working toward greatness. Add Aridni to your resume, Alex! And if you know anyone who might be interested in writing for Aridni’s Saturday Strategy column, let us know.

Right now where I work there are a lot of extra steps in order to check someone out. The system was not built with usability in mind at all.

Let me take you through the steps to help someone with the register. For this example we’ll say they are buying a bottle of perfume for $37.50.

The Keys you would press would be as follows

F1
-enter your user number-
enter
enter
-enter where they are from-
enter
-enter the customer’s name-
enter
Scan barcode on perfume – or type in product number
Enter
Esc
F3
1
enter
-perfume seller’s user number
enter
enter
37.50
enter
PR
enter
A
Esc
US
40.
enter
F5

Now I have seen systems before that take extra steps to make a sale before, but never twenty seven of them.

Checking someone out should be as simple as scanning a product and entering the cash amount. Granted because of where I work I have to take the customer’s information and name, but that should not entail a huge plethora of steps.

So you’re homework for this weekend to identify the places where your business could benefit from a streamlined operation.

Do you want to get some financing for your new product, invention, or company? Lets take a look at what some of the standards seem to be, based on the Venture Capitalism’s three c’s for loans. This article is essencially geared towards taking your business and expanding or improving it by taking out loans.

And of course those three c’s would be cash, credit, and collateral.

1. Cash - It is important for you to be an investor in your own project. If you are throwing down a good portion, say 20% for example, then you are laying the groundwork of good faith. If people know that the person they are investing in cares enough to lay down his own money, they are more likely to invest.
2. Credit - Even though as they say on the investing commercials ‘past performance does not guarantee future results’ it can give you a clue. If someone’s FICO score is awful, there is a good chance that they do not know how to manage their funds. Then on the other hand that person could be great from then on out.
3. Collateral – What happens if you spend the money expanding the business, only to find out that your idea was a flop. The investors are not going to be particularly happy about that. With good cause too, you could have just lost all of their money without anything to show for it. By having collateral, you are saying ‘If I can’t make payments, I’ll back it up with my house’ Could be risky for you, but if it means getting your loans you have to be able to take that risk.

These c’s can be basic rules of thumb for any type of loans. With that, you are one step closer to getting your business set for growth!

Having taking a few seconds to read a post about lattes, I believe that I too am prepared to share my fiscal advice with the Aridni world and its denizens, whoever they may be. Though I have no formal training in any sort of business or economics, I do possess one thing that these other high and mighty posters do not: The Knowledge of the Streets!

Too many people today get caught up in finding the best compromise between the quality and the value of the products they purchase. Is it better to purchase something mediocre if it comes at an exceptionally low price, or does the deliciousity or neatoness of an item justify its high cost? Both carefree indulgence and stern frugality come with many troubles attached, whereas the mean between these two shows many obvious benefits without putting too much strain on the consumer. But I don’t care about any of that crap! I said this knowledge is from the streets! Ya feel me, cuuuzzz?!?!

When you’re living on the streets, you’re not choosing between Grey Poupon and Sam’s Choice Deli-Style mustard; you’re choosing whether mustard is worth giving up your life for. You’ve gone dumpster to dumpster to acquire the necessary elements to make a scrumptious Dagwood, all except the mustard. Mustard almost never goes bad, so what business would it have in a dumpster? On the other hand, what good is a Dagwood if it doesn’t have that tangy, semi-spicy goodness to glue together your newly found provolone and salami? It ain’t nuthin’! IT AIN’T NUTHIN’! But are you willing to go that extra mile? Are you willing to run from an underpaid, overfed security guard whose livelihood depends on whether he can effectively hunt down your condimentally deprived kind? That’s business on the streets! You wanna earn sumthin’, you better be ready to put it all on the line.

And really, this can serve as a metaphor for the whole business world. One shouldn’t worry about how good a product is, or how expensive it is, but instead should focus on whether it’s worth taking a risk for. For instance, maybe you feel like your lobby needs some comfy new chairs which would not only serve to keep clients happy while they wait, but would also add a certain panache to the lobby which screams, “We are serious business!” Instead of thinking about what kind of chairs you need, think about whether these chairs are even worth the initial investment. Are they really going to add to the office, or are they just an extension of your needy ego? Remember when making any business decision that the fat, sweaty security guard of financial failure is always just around the corner, and that maybe, crazy as it may seem, that delicious Dagwood of success would taste just fine without any mustard.

Of course, if you do decide you need the chairs, you then still need to make the decision of what kind, but you’re on your own there. Not my department, foolish honkies.

Today’s guest article comes from Nick, a young man who recently graduated from the University of Montana. Nick often writes for a comedy website, and wanted to help spread his dose of humor over here to Aridni. So now, what kind of mustard do you like?

In case you weren’t aware, Microsoft recently stated that there is a 20% chance that they will delay Vista again, and not be ready for the anticipated January 2007 release.

A software company missing their own deadline multiple times isn’t a new thing at all, they’ve been doing it for years! Granted there is a lot of work involved in creating any software, let alone an operating system, but is there a logical reason to let down your customers?

If I wanted to run a circus, I wouldn’t start putting up flyers right off the bat that say “Circus coming on Saturday!” and then start working on the logistics. Instead I would start gathering the people, animals, and supplies I need to make the show happen. Acrobats, clowns, daredevils, lions, elephants, tents, and everything else would need to be rounded up and trained or tested.

Once my circus has an actual show to it, I might think about printing up my flyers and announcing the show.

It’s hard to name companies that actually do this, outside of the obvious Google. They practically wait until they are launching their new software before they even think about telling anybody it is being developed.

So are you telling people about your circus now? Or waiting until you actually have made it functional?