Business Tips Guides

Too many offers of guaranteed income or of projected income can be found online these days. When someone is scouring the internet for job announcements or possibly with the intent of starting a business, the number of business opportunities that pop up is growing quite large. These offers are sometimes not in compliance with business opportunity law specifications. How does one know if that advertisement offering easy income or a product that sells itself is in compliance with the local business opportunity law? A look into state law will provide the answers.

Not A Federal Issue

Business opportunity laws are not made at the national level, currently some states have a business law, and some states do not. Of the states that do have such a statute, the different forms that the law takes are variations on a theme. In general, a business opportunity law that exist is set up to protect people who buy into money making opportunities whether these opportunities turn out to be real money makers or if they are simply scams.

All business opportunities fall under the statute of a law if there is such a law in the state where one resides. It does not matter if you are a legitimate business or are scamming people into selling a product for you. All business opportunities fall under the realm of the law, so anyone thinking of responding to a business opportunity should check the state laws before agreeing to anything.

What the Law Says

Although the particularities of a states business opportunity law vary, the essential piece of the law is that it requires those making an offer of a business opportunity to release a disclosure statement to prospective business partners. In some states, this disclosure statement has to be reviewed by an official before it is allowed to be used as a disclosure statement for a business opportunity. In other states, the contents of the disclosure are discretionary, the business opportunity law simply states that the partner offering a business opportunity must have a disclosure statement to offer prospective partners.

In the disclosure statement, essential information should be found. For example, the number of business partners that the offering individual has held during the last three years, and a history of the offering persons arbitration, litigation and financial history. All of these are considered information that the prospective business partner has the right to have. Of course, anything disclosed in the disclosure statement must be true, so creating a disclosure statement that is full of lies does not make a business compliant with business opportunity law.

The law is designed to give those buying into a business a critical view of what it is that they are buying into. One should have the chance of making an informed decision about such a business opportunity, instead of being victim to a bunch of slogans like guaranteed to sell itself and the like. Business opportunity law requires the offering party to offer real numbers instead of slogans. Take a look at the disclosure statement and only then decide if the business opportunity is legitimate.

Obinna Heche. Los Angeles - California

Delivering the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home successfully..
http://www.homeincomeportal.com/obhmy365

Memberships are an increasingly popular way for marketers to receive a continuing stream of income from just one sale. Memberships are also called “continuity programs” since they have a continuing stream of income.

Typically, members pay a monthly fee for information and/or support. The deliverable can be as simple as a digital report each month, or as involved as a package of materials, teleclasses, and one on one coaching. Some high end memberships even include live meetings. I’ve seen memberships costing from $10/month to $297/month and more for “platinum” levels.

I think memberships are great for both providers and members when the content is high quality. There’s a technique being used to enroll members, though, that I’m not so keen on. I’ve seen it employed by a number of internet marketers lately and actually seen it taught by one marketer I admire.

The practice I’m referring to is known as “forced continuity”. It usually looks something like this: You receive an email (or dozens of them) pulling you to a site offering some amazing content for a pittance - often just shipping and handling. Either at the bottom of the first sales page or at the top of the order page, you’re told that part of getting this content involves becoming a member of an ongoing program and you will be charged monthly. If you want the aforementioned amazing content, you must join this membership. That’s the “forced” aspect of it.

Of course, you can cancel the membership at any time after you place the order. The marketers are betting in the best case, you’ll find the membership content valuable enough to continue, or in the worst case that they’ll get several month’s payments before you remember to cancel.

This example reflects the “ethical” version of forced continuity. Some less than stellar characters notify you that you’ve been enrolled in a membership AFTER you’ve paid. Clearly, this is not cool.

But I think even the “ethical” version is uncool. It feels like bait and switch advertising to me. All the promotions and the bulk of the sales letter is talking about the amazing content for an incredibly low price. (That should be our first clue, right?) It’s only after you’ve gotten excited about the amazing content that you learn about the membership and the marketers are hoping you’re excited enough to go through with the sale anyway by then.

I’d rather see what marketer Jimmy Brown calls “persuaded continuity”. He suggests selling an inexpensive product upfront, like the other marketers. After the sale, on the product download page, is where customers find out that due to their purchase, they’re ENTITLED to a free trial membership. But they are NOT automatically enrolled. They have the choice to join or not.

So, while visitors are initially attracted by the low price product, they are only introduced to the membership after purchasing the product, and it is THEIR CHOICE whether or not to accept the free trial.

Jimmy’s purpose is still to get people to sign up for memberships, but his preferred method is to get their attention with the lead product and then persuade them to join the membership rather than to get people excited about the lead product and then threaten to take it away unless they join the membership.

The persuasion method feels cleaner to me. It’s less coercive, and let’s be honest. If your membership offers great content, you should be able to sell it on its merits without needing to “force” people into it. By offering a free trial, members can check it out and will stick with it if they find it worth the money.

I also believe you will build a much stronger relationship with members who have freely chosen to join than those who have been coerced into joining. It’s better business and better karma!

Peggy Champlin’s web design business has been providing a full suite of services and products to help small companies build their businesses online since 2002. Visit Success With Ease to subscribe to our list and receive an article like this every week.

I will continue to assist Entrepreneurs in every way to succeed, to improve whatever it is that they are doing. Can’t help it. It is a genetic trait that we humans have; a natural desire for upward mobility.

It’s not the Yuppie Syndrome, as much as it is self-improvement and personal success. It seems that it is a drive in varying degrees of passion with each individual that exists from birth, otherwise our species would die out after a couple generations!

A short time ago a major magazine reported this gene as The God Gene. Thereby we might say we have a divine desire to better ourselves, an upward reach for greatness. Another way of looking at it is that we are adapting in our evolution.

In any case, we either improve or we die, much like the chickens in the hen house. If you’ve watched the critters they have no mercy. They peck at each other until they have reached a pecking order of superiority, usually with the last one being pecked so much that it literally is pecked to death!

Fortunately, the majority of scientists now theorize that we humans have not evolved over the past 16,000 years with the same instinct as the chickens. Contrary to the popular movies today, when our prehistoric ancestors first met a new tribe they were much more likely to sit down around a campfire and swap stories, boast of great tales and gossip. They were much more likely to lend help to one another than to fight for supremacy.

What in the world does this have to do with Entrepreneurs, I heard someone say? Well, a lot. The evidence that our ancient ancestors were more inclined to help each other than hurt each other changes the whole premise on which we have viewed most of history! Man, by nature, is more inclined to help and support others than to tear them down. Dictators, despots, tyrants and criminals, including Burma are aberrations. Kindness and caring IS the rule.

So as we greet the end of summer we can celebrate the reality that within each of us is that divine desire for self betterment and that oh-so-natural desire to help our friends. As each of us grows our businesses we grow ourselves. Edwin Markham wrote in his later years,

We are all blind until we see,
That in the human plan,
Nothing is worth the building
That does not build the man.
Why build these cities glorious
If man unbuilded goes?
In vain we build the world
Unless the builder also grows!

Once in a while we run across someone who proves her mettle as a genuine human being and caring person. She is the epitome of this God-Gene, and we’re grateful she’s a friend. Other Entrepreneurs have gone beyond the call of duty in every respect over their lives in displaying not only their openness and great ideas but their abilities to support and share.

Emerson said that he was the sum of all those he had met. I guess it is my quest to be a positive influence not only in my only family’s life but the entire human family that I meet. So, why fight it? It’s OK to be good! Try a little random act of kindness today. Couldn’t hurt.

Scott McGregor is the founder of http://www.Doppelit.com, the Entrepreneur Connection and is considered The Consummate Entrepreneur. He started companies when it was impossible and financed companies when there was no money for nearly 50 years. His mission is to show Entrepreneurs that they CAN!

In my memory, the corruption of children has been attributed to everything from books, music, television, movies and the latest scapegoat, video games. At every turn there’s some podium-thumping authority figure crying out for the salvation of our youth and the banning of the entertainment source du jour that, they assure us, is turning our children into drug abusing, amoral, Satan worshipers.

With all too frequent regularity, people buy the sell. Books are removed from schools, ratings are slapped on movies and games are banned from stores (and entire countries). End result? Nothing changes.

Perhaps the problem isn’t that our kids are mindless zombies prone to acting out everything they’re exposed to in video games and movies. Perhaps the issue isn’t that they’re all one bad lyric away from joining a cult. Perhaps the real lemmings in all of this are the parents.

I say this because if you stop looking out at the influences in the world and start looking UP at those podium-thumping leaders, you begin to see where the real problem likely resides. Our children aren’t being led astray by rap culture or Grand Theft Auto. Our children are learning very real lessons from very real people who are setting a very bad example.

Not long ago I was reading the news about yet another politician caught up in yet another scandal (Vito Fossella) and I found myself thinking, “must be a slow news day.” I wasn’t being witty, that’s just the thought that passed, unbidden, through my little brain. But it sort of stuck there and tumbled around and I eventually realized what was bothering me was just how desensitized I’d become to scandal in politics. That got me asking some questions.

1) How can we convince our children that adultery is bad when the people we’ve chosen to lead our nation are adulterers?
2) How can we convince our children that prostitution is wrong when our political leaders frequent prostitutes?
3) How can we tell our children to watch out for pedophiles when people we’ve elected for office prey on children?
4) How can we convince our children that oral sex really is sex and not just a social ice-breaker when a president of the United States didn’t think so?
5) How can we convince our children that lying is wrong when truth in politics is, at best, antiquated - if not extinct?
6) How can we tell a child that bullying and torturing others in the schoolyard is wrong when torture is condoned by our government?
7) How can we instill respect for the law when the people running our country have little or no regard (or accountability) for those very same laws?
How can we teach values when the people we put in office have none?
9) How can our children learn ethics when those who should be role models and who should most embody ethical behavior cast it aside whenever it becomes inconvenient?
10) How can biblical values be passed on to children when they only serve as convenient sound-bites to lure the Right to the voting booth?
11) How can we profess to be a good and virtuous nation when we’ll allow millions to die in foreign countries because they offer no strategic or economic benefit to us?
12) How can we teach our children the value of truth and integrity when lies and hypocrisy plague every branch of US government?
13) How can we tell our children not to drink and drive when our politicians are doing so?

Our children and teens are a little bit naive, a little bit impulsive, a little immature and a little prone to making the occasional bad decision from which they will hopefully learn valuable life lessons. But they do have a higher brain they’re willing to tap into and, with the exception of those already chemically or psychologically prone to problems, they are perfectly capable of distinguishing fantasy from reality.

The problem isn’t a game full of pixilated heroes shooting up pixilated villains. The problem is that the very real people who should be heroes are setting consistently bad examples.

We, as parents, need to stop trying to find the hidden answer to our children’s corruption and need to start looking at the very real causes we’ve been turning a blind eye to; the top-down moral decay so prevalent and unaccountable in American politics.

The next time a podium-thumping “leader” starts waving his right hand in the direction of entertainment media and casting blame their way, try not to fall for that old magician’s trick. Instead, take a close look at their left hand. You’ll likely find it secreting away a bottle, a woman, an intern or a vault full of lies.

Point the finger of blame where it belongs and hold the right people accountable. Our votes put them in office. It is our obligation to insist they set the right example for our youth and to send a potent message. The wholesale disregard for truth, justice, values and integrity in US politics is no longer acceptable.

David manages ToxicKindness.com, a blog devoted to encouraging honesty, kindness and ethical behavior in business, politics, entertainment and personal life.

Each of us carries around within us a personal code of ethics. We may not be conscious of it; we may not deliberately consult it on a daily basis, we may not apply a decision tree against it to make a choice, but it exists. And, at times, it may falter, or we may apply different ethical principles in different situations.

Take a minute to identify your fundamental ethical philosophy. Which of the descriptions below best captures the way you like to operate in the world?

1. Humans have no special place within the world, but are just one of thousands of expressions of life. People have desires and free will and so can alter their nature. However, if one acts unnaturally, it upsets the balance of life. Therefore, one should seek balance in life.
2. Ethics is a practical science; you have to do it, not just think it. This philosopher thought in terms of virtue ethics which has to do with the proper function of a thing. Therefore, the best activity of the soul is to attain a joy in the good life.
3. The responsibility of all people is to help build the ideal society, and if it takes violating the norms of a society to do so, then do it. To some degree, the situation will dictate the proper thing to do at the proper time.
4. There is a single unconditional obligation, and that is to carry out your duty. How you feel when carrying out the action is what is important, although the outcome might not be what you intended.

Now, which statement resonates most with you? Which seems to be the path you travel in living your life?

If you select number 1, your pattern is most aligned with Laozi, a philosopher of ancient China and a key figure in Taoism.

If number 2 rang your chimes, your pattern is most aligned with Aristotle, the Greek who taught that to have a good life, you must live a balanced life and avoid excesses.

If number 3 resonated with you, your pattern is most aligned with Confucius, the Chinese philosopher who emphasized personal and government morality, correctness of social relationships, justice and mercy.

If number 4 makes the most sense to you, your pattern is most aligned with Kant, an 18th century Prussian philosopher.

No matter which philosophy attracts you the most, all are legitimate, honorable ways of being. In fact, you may apply different principles depending on any given situation.

While these are all laudable approaches to life, applying them will likely have different outcomes. For instance, consider the case of Zoe. Zoe has a co-worker, Alice, who was listing more hours worked on her timesheet than was true; she is cheating the company.

To apply the thinking of Kant in this situation, we’d say, “If everybody cheated on their time sheet, no work would get done and the company would be paying for nothing!” Since Zoe is a friend to Alice, she knows that Alice was just abandoned by her husband, and has two kids under four to care for. Day care is proving problematic. With this additional information, you might think about adopting a Confucian standard. This philosophy would encourage you to value helping to build an ideal society, which certainly includes making sure small children are well cared for.

See how applying different ethical standards would guide you to take different action?

Whichever approach makes the most sense to you, explore the strengths and limitations of your preferred approach. Under what circumstances does your approach work best? Under what circumstances would your approach result in unintended, maybe even negative, consequences? How have you consciously applied your philosophy in the past? Has it ever landed you in a hot spot? By the way, note that being in a hot spot may mean that you did exactly the right thing, it is just not well received!

Sometime tomorrow, find an opportunity to practice applying your favored approach very deliberately. It can be a small incident in your daily life. Think about driving in traffic, trash on the streets, standing in a line. What do you learn from the exercise? Knowing that, how will you change your pattern in the future, if at all?

And finally, I encourage you find out more about the thinking and teachings of the thinkers above. You might refine your thinking about how you want to live your life. Online encyclopedias are an easy first step.

Happy philosophizing!

Sally Rhys, MS, coaches and consults on business ethics. As the former Director, Ethics and Compliance at a $1.5B publicly traded company, her expertise will help you increase both your business knowledge and professionalism. Contact her at http://www.coachingforperspective.com

Business ethics is an interesting branch of business theory, primarily because of the fact that they are inherently interesting in a market economy. People tend to be extremely distrustful of corporations in market economies and the bigger they are, the worse that problem of trust usually gets. Business ethics therefore are politically charged in many different circumstances and that in turn serves to make them interesting. Aside from this academic interest however, business ethics are also important for a company and its success. Here are some ways in which this is true.

Public Image

It is impossible to discuss business ethics as a branch of academia without taking a look at the relationship between business ethics and public image. Each corporation has a particular public image, which represents the way in which the public views the corporation. Wal-Mart, for example, has a terrible public image. Toyota, on the other hand, has a very positive one. These public images are the result of a number of different things, but they are primarily the result of the way in which a corporation acts with respect to the different things around it.

A corporation’s environmental policy, the way they treat their employees and the way they treat the communities they exist in are all part of their overall behavior and this in turn is the principle factor in determining their public image. As proof of this, you will notice that even though Wal-Mart makes products that have a decent quality and an extremely low price, they still have a negative public image.

Since public image is largely a result of company behavior, business ethics play a large role in determining public image since they determine behavior. And public image is important to success in most cases, which is one of the reasons as to why business ethics are important to a company’s overall success.

Investment

Another reason that business ethics are important is the relationship they have to investment. When a person or an entity is considering investment in a particular stock, there are a number of things they take into account. Aside from the quantitative factors surrounding a company’s profit margin a future prospects, consideration is also given to a particular company from the point of view of the qualitative aspects such as their public image and the products that they happen to sell. All of these things are taken into account before the final investment is made.

Therefore, a company that would like to encourage extra investment is a company that has a strong sense of business ethics. Part of business ethics is responsibility to the investor and for that reason companies with strong reputations in the field of ethical business behavior are also companies that tend to attract more investment from people that are new into the market. Investment is most definitely important to success.

Partnerships

In the business world, joint ventures happen all the time. They happen all the time because they are ultimately of great importance to the bottom lines of businesses. A business can be made or broken on just one joint venture and part of the reason that joint ventures are successful is that they combine the forces of two extremely powerful companies on occasion.

If you want your company to do well in joint ventures, then you need to have good partners. The only way to get good partners is to have a good reputation both in terms of a track record and in terms of your business overall. And of course, the best way to get a good reputation is to ensure that your company has a strong tradition of ethical business behavior.

Canada Financial news site offering information related to the Canadian Financial industry.