Imagine if you will that you have taken all the steps necessary to start your own business.  You sit down and decide that although the company could theoretically function, I need some sort of uniform, t-shirts that inspire confidence and let my costumers know that we are for real.  Okay, now where to I begin.  Well truth be told the internet is a great place.  It is the greatest source of knowledge available.  Now the real trouble begins. If one uses the internet, then presumably geography is not of the utmost importance to him.  This is good.  In the modern screen printing industry you don’t need to worry about geography.  Telecommunications allows for all necessary information to be sent via the internet.  The two the things that need to be considered when choosing a screen printer are price and customer service.

Price is a no brainer.  If a company is national odds are they have some scale.  They are probably able to get the job done cheaper then someone who prints only in a metropolitan area.  This is not a guarantee, but often it can help narrow the search.  I often recommend checking what printers are available in your state and local area, but it doesn’t matter if they have a physical presence there.  If you make sure that shipping is included in their quote then you can see more quotes and have a better chance at getting a better price.

Customer service is of equal importance.  The firm that makes you feel comfortable time and time again and never lets you down is worth something.  A firm that lets you know the cost up front or is willing to wave set up or art work is worth considering.  These firms may even end up saving you money because they often want your business.  In my experience the firm that is will to talk to you, give you a quote, and try to sell you on the idea wants your business and will work to get and keep it too.  This doesn’t mean that you want someone who is pushy and tries to force you into something that you don’t need or want, rather look for a firm who is eager to do business and to please.

Think about these things when you do go to buy screen printed t-shirts.  The other thing to consider is killing a few birds with one stone.  My company also produces promotional products which is something else you may consider buying.  All and all do what is right for your business.  In the business world everyone looks out for number one, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t people who want to see everyone succeed.  Your best bet is placed with one of these people.  They would love both you to make money and that is why they are what you need to look for in a screen printer: fair prices and good customer service.

Virtualization is a process set into motion by a software. It is a technology that is changing the very way IT professionals are using computer hardware. Virtualization is a technique that saves IT companies, and almost all establishments that use computer servers, a lot of money, time and man hours. Virtualization is software that ‘virtually' creates multiple servers out of one single, physical server in a rack.

When you hear of an IT professional speaking about virtualization, you will probably wonder at the very word that he or she is constantly using. The term ‘virtual' denotes something that is almost there, or something that is not there. This is exactly what the new technology is deemed to change. When you ‘virtualize' a server you are actually making one server do the work that would normally require a number of servers to accomplish. This is a software that allows multiple server software to run on one physical server and the clients or users who are connected to the server will never be any the wiser of the change. They will still think that they are being serviced by multiple servers, if ever they did know that there were multiple machines running various software or data they are remotely accessing and using.

So why is ‘Virtualization' Necessary?

It is a known fact that a server seldom utilizes a hundred percent of the resources installed in it. The processor itself rarely exceeds 20 percent of its capacity when it runs its software, and the same can be said about the memory and disk space in the server. The server will allow access to and serve client computers connected to it through the network and since the server has been configured to run a particular program the full 100 percent of its potential is not utilized. This leads to a lot of wastage in the form of electricity and investment in hardware because businesses have to invest in additional servers and most of all peripheral and support equipment for the networks. This equipment includes the power hungry switches or hubs for the network cables.

How often do you wish to be freer?  Living in America, we’re afforded more freedom than in any other part of the world.  We can go anywhere we want without asking permission of our Government.  We can hold any job we want for anyone who will hire us, as long as it’s legal of course.  We can marry or cohabitate with anyone we want – gender regardless.  We can start and run businesses.  Our freedom is one of the most coveted rights we have as Americans.  Yet we tie ourselves to offices and desks and towns and schools and so on.  Why?  Why not enjoy more freedom?  Why be tied to all of those things if you don’t have to be?  Why wish; why not do?

Almost 14 years ago, Jim, my now husband and business partner and I were married in the beautiful little mountain town of Ouray (pronounced you-ray) in Colorado.  I’d seen the town and fallen in love with it when I was a teenager and I somehow convinced him to get married there, site unseen.  Well, he fell in love with the town too.  Since that day 14 years ago, it’s been our dream to live in Ouray.  For many years we couldn’t do it.  We were tied to typical corporate jobs, desks, land line phones, a business that at the time wasn’t mobile, and all of the other things we Americans tie ourselves to.  It just wasn’t possible.

Last year, while vacationing in Ouray, it was nearly unbearable for us to leave.  Our business was mobile (I’ll get to that in a minute) so our biggest problem with making a cross country move like we were proposing was school for our daughter who would be entering 6th grade that fall.

We started looking into home schooling and any other options we could find.  We found an online (virtual) grade school, middle school, and high school called Christa McAuliffe Academy http://www.cmacademy.org.  We enrolled our daughter and started making plans to move to Colorado.

So in addition to our business being “virtual” our daughter’s school is virtual as well.  Heck, we’re a totally virtual family!  We could work and school from Timbuktu if we wanted to, if they had internet connection there of course.

Back to our business being virtual.  What many of you may not know is that Team Double-Click is 100%, purely, totally, and undeniably virtual.  The company has but two employees – me and my husband and we both work from offices located in our home.  Because we both talk so much and so loud, yes, we have separate offices or I’m afraid we’d strangle each other!  As for our “core staff” as we refer to them, they’re located all over the country and work from their home offices.  They’re contracted – not employees and they work in places like Florida, Missouri, California, Idaho, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Arizona, and many other states.  So true to what we preach as a virtual staffing agency, we are 100% virtual.

To facilitate the virtual atmosphere and the virtual working environment, we utilize virtual phone systems, virtual fax systems, online accounting programs, online CRM programs, and rely heavily on email, instant messenger, and the telephone to communicate and carry on our day-to-day business.  Editor’s note:  If you’d like more information on the components Team Double-Click uses to facilitate their virtual office, such as fax and phone systems, check out Gayle’s article Setting Up Your Virtual Office at http://www.teamdoubleclick.com/news/free_articles/SetupYourVirtOffice.html.

So what all of this virtual stuff means is that we can very easily go to conferences and work while we’re away – provided we have an internet connection.  When we were in the process of moving, we kept in touch by stopping along the way to check email and of course we spoke to our staff via cell phone regularly.  We can easily vacation most any time we’d like (though we tend not to because we enjoy our work), again because we can connect anytime via the internet and phone!

The virtual aspects of our life are so liberating and so freeing because we can literally pick up and go anywhere, anytime we want to without worrying about phones going unanswered, about who will open the office, who will do this and who will do that.  Our virtual-ness also made our move from Wisconsin to Colorado a breeze!

If you’re at all hesitant about making your company “virtual”, or working virtually, any one of our core staff members, virtual assistants, or clients would be happy to tell you how great and how freeing it is.  Additionally, our core staff are more than happy to help you take the steps to make it happen and show you the ropes.  I encourage everyone to start enjoying the added freedom you deserve as an American and work virtually!

Need help in achieving your company’s full potential?

Offshore Employee Outsourcingwould be the best solution for you!

Outsourcing is one of the most powerful business tools to date. Several companies in various parts of the world are deploying this strategy to continually maintain their stability in the overly competitive market while still providing low-priced products and services to their customers.

If you’re not much familiar with the outsourcing industry, several questions must have been currently roaming on your head. And most probably, the first question that would pop-out into your mind is “What is outsourcing all about?”

Offshore outsourcing is a kind of strategy wherein services are procured from external suppliers overseas. It is a set-up in which non-core operations are delegated from an internal department within an establishment to an outside supplier with specialization on that kind of operation. It offers you great cost, quality and time advantages. This helps in substantially lowering overhead expenses and enables you to focus on your company’s core competencies such as strategy and growth.

Maybe you’re now wondering how this strategy would provide you with such advantages. We’ll give you a larger view of how outsourcing will work out well for you.

As an outsourcing company, we will be providing you with these benefits:

•Deferment from the following liabilities: non-productive administrative costs, human resources related fees, government taxes, levies, unemployment insurance costs, in-house training expenses, etc.  Since we will appear as your employee on record, we will take care of all these for you!

•Our leased employees will be submitted to your company fully geared up - with their own office table, computer, internet access, and everything they could possibly need! Wow! Isn’t that a relief from the burden of budget allotment not only for your staff but also for your equipments?

•By outsourcing overseas, you can take advantage of the value of less than par foreign currencies. Imagine you will only be paying us a fraction of the cost in comparison to the actual charges of using local manpower resources in your area.

•Say goodbye to the worrisome budget allotment and time consuming tasks associated with traditional recruitment and staff maintenance matters! We will also handle those duties for you! We will take care of almost all of the routine maintenance and development tasks for you.

•Round the clock service availability! We operate 24 hours a day, 6 days a week, 4 weeks a month.

You can now focus on the mainstream of your business. This will further boost your ability to compete with other large-scaled businesses out there.

Prime Outsourcing is an IT outsourcing and offshore employee leasing company. We specialize in high quality, cost-effective, flexible services that ensure utmost client satisfaction. As a team, we are determined to provide you with the utmost services you deserve. It is our goal to assist you in becoming more efficient and competent.

Our office is located in Manila, Philippines - known as one of the largest English speaking country in Asia. Our employees speak fluent English and are familiar with Western business trends and practices.

Our company takes pride in having highly competent and dedicated professionals who are constantly updated in technological developments and regularly practices the latest in Information Technology. All of them are college graduates and most of them have several years of experience on their respective fields. We have the people who know how to get the work done!

During the course of our leasing program, we continually work on their skills enhancement. We regularly conduct in house trainings and constantly monitoring their progress.

We have the following professionals ready for you:

•graphic designer

•creative writer

•programmer

•web developer

•general staff

•and much more!

See how Prime Outsourcing can move you one step ahead of the competition!

Contact us today and we will do our best to earn your business!

Finding free government grant money can be time and labor intensive. Identifying the specific agencies and their purposes and specific subject areas can involve a lot of research work. Ads that claim the process is easy usually involve some sort of fraud and are untruthful. Government grant money will need to be answered for very specifically in today's world.

Free government grant money does actually come with at a price. It does not have to be repaid, but it does come with strict conditions and restrictions on how it is spent. There are usually strong sanctions involved when used improperly as it is to be used directly for the outlined project and within the objectives of the funding source.

Locating free government grant money for new and existing for-profit businesses is difficult. Typically, the free grant money is given to non-profit organizations that provide some sort of community social service function and benefit everyone. Despite this, it should be noted that there is still free grant money available from the government to entrepreneurs in competitive fields of business.

The U.S. government's grant.gov website would be the best place to look to find available free grant money. Here, you will be able to find and apply for competitive grant opportunities from all federal granting agencies online. The application and approval process is automated to improve the process. The site also offers a free sign up for notification of future grant opportunities.

The government's Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) is another source to find free available grant money. The CFDA.gov website lists government grants and assistance for homeowners, renters and even small business start-ups. Grant information is available by category, topic and key words. Eligibility requirements are listed for all grants to determine if you qualify for them.

Keep in mind while searching for free government grant money that it is not available in any specific area year-round. You must apply when advertised and meet a deadline if you want a chance to qualify for it.

Indeed this is true. If the first outburst of blogging in the Internet was introduced for hobbyists, now, you can enjoy doing it, while earning thousands of dollars.

Yes, truly and surely, you can make money blogging. Realistically, the most you can make is a few hundred dollars a month that cannot be found on trees or scoffed at. Nowadays, the Chillicious, a social network of bloggers, have provided more options and ways wherein you can maximize your earning potential by blogging.

Do you want to make money blogging? Then, choose an ideal blog site that will cater to your requirements for a blog, sign up, create a blog and publish it right away! Blogging sites allow you to build blogs according to your tastes. Others have HTML and link options. Others have customized templates where you can change your blog page's color and design.

In between signing up and creating a blog, though, you must know what subject to blog about. Your subject is an important consideration, so take your time conceptualizing before jumping into the fray. If you must know, the subject will be the determining factor how much money you can earn with the blog you're going to create.

Try to look for subjects or topics that pay more from per click among others. Check out Google AdWords and AdSense to know how much each clicks on a subject costs. Google AdSense then allows you to place ads on your blog. Once a user happens to open your blog and click on the advertisement, you will earn money on it. Just that!

Once your offering is announced to companies, consequently, they will contact you for an ad space on your blog. Google, meanwhile, will place any ad that has keywords related to your blog. Any which way, you are guaranteed to earn.

Other ways to secure earning from your blogging activities is to become an affiliate partner to another company. There is a popular affiliate program, which provides commission to its partners for every click on the ad, placed on their site/blog. You will also get a percentage from the sale of their product made in your blog.

There are plenty of affiliate programs with varied commission percentages. Others even offer profit sharing.

If you are blogging for a specific cause, you still can take advantage of it in a positive way. You can earn money blogging for a cause. You can ask people to give donations for a specific cause, though most of it will go to you.

You can use the PayPal donation button and put on your site. There is also Amazon with its honor system that sets up a donation button for you.

Are picking up nice ideas already? Well, here is one you will definitely enjoy, how about making money through blogging about unique merchandise and then offering them up for sale simultaneously in your blog site?

There are people who would gladly spend for merchandise that are custom-made, unique and totally out of this world! Edit your blog headline into a catchy one, create your very own logo and then offer up these kinds of items with your logo in it. It will be a sort of brand tag.

There are online companies that allow you to design your own items and those that allow you to custom design your logo, too. You will see how it will boost your blog once people start wearing and using your items with your logo attached in it.

Do not just concentrate on one way of money – earning opportunity. You can even combine these methods and earn more.

As the www.Chillicious.com develops, evolves and takes with it lots of internet users, so as earning opportunities increase by blogging. Just think, you will enjoy blogging as a hobby and earn in the outset, too!

Background checks of an employee is a critical aspect of the recruitment process. All companies outsource the background checks of their employees to external agencies. Now let us understand why background checks are important. The primary reason why background checks are important is to check the past employment records of the prospective employee, education verification and to check whether the employee has been involved in any unlawful activities. Social security number checks are also done by the employers. Pre employment screening has become one of the most important aspect of the employment process without which companies do not generally give the offer letter to the employees. The HR team insists that a candidate with a clean background is an asset to the company because most jobs involve critical information which the company cannot afford to lose to competition. Let us see how this process is executed by professional screening firms which check the records of an employee.

Generally a company may ask the screening firm to execute a fixed set of tasks. These may include social security

number trace, employment history background check, criminal background and general employment background screening. It may include other tasks also such as Federal records check, I9 compliance and driver history. The professional screening agency gets down to these tasks immediately and gives a response within the agreed timeframe. Time is critical in this business because if the employer is taking more time in completing the verification checks the employee may join some other company. Based upon the feedback that the company gets from the employment screening service it is decided whether the candidate should be absorbed in the company or not. However, there are certain parameters that are followed by employers before they reject the employee. If it is found that the details given in the records are not matching entirely, then the candidate is not selected at all. However, if there are minor discrepancies the company may consider the case and take a decision on whether to hire the employee or not. The job of an employment screening agency is critical as it can make or break the career of an employee. Therefore it is important for an employer to hire a agency which can do the job professionally with correct results and within the shortest possible timeframe possible.

Even a decade ago employment verification checks were not considered so seriously by employers except the larger multinationals. However, in recent times even smaller companies ensure that the employee records are verified before the employee joins the organization. As a result employment screening services have come into much demand. Let me give you a brief idea of how this job is executed. The screening agency has agents who either call up the respective educational institutes or if required they visit the place physically to check the records provided. They also check the police records, license records and SSN details of employee that is screened. Drug records are also verified by the screening company. The company that hires a professional screening agency saves on time and money. The average turnaround time for a verification agency is less and a

report is generally submitted within 24-48 hours.

Buying a business today is an involved and complicated process requiring expertise in many different areas (i.e., legal, accounting, tax, business valuation and due diligence). With thousands of businesses available navigating your way to the right one can be an arduous task.

A (http://www.qbsnet.com-Business Broker) can be a very effective tool to identify, locate, screen and value each targeted business and thereafter, in obtaining financing, negotiating the purchase, coordinating the due diligence and supervising the preparation of all transaction documents through the closing.

In the event you as the buyer attempt to purchase a business without the aid of a broker, realize that the listing broker represents the seller who pays his or her commission.  Since most listing brokers will ordinarily not do anything to jeopardize a sale, you cannot rely on the seller's broker to advise you objectively.  Never lose sight of that fact!

For most published listings, the listing broker will "cooperate" and "share" the listing, and the commission, with the broker hired by the buyer.  In this case, it will not cost the buyer any fees or commissions to obtain exclusive representation.

Once you decide to hire a business broker, seek out a (http://www.qbsnet.com-competent professional).  The vast majority are unprofessional and quite dysfunctional when it comes to understanding the transaction, valuing the business and providing customer service and support. Furthermore, most business brokers have never owned or even purchased a business or professionally represented or counseled business owners.  In California, one need only become a licensed real estate broker to sell business opportunities.

At a minimum, a qualified business broker can greatly facilitate find the right business, especially if the broker is well acquainted with your purchase criteria. Although there are many (http://www.qbsnet.com/buying-a-business.php-business listing services), some brokerage firms have software programs that can consider your purchase criteria, investment amount, owner benefits and other factors and produce a more focused and narrow search (see: http://www.qbsnet.com/buying-a-business.php).  This can be extremely important.  As you will soon find out, unlike purchasing real estate, evaluating a business is a very time consuming process. Therefore, it is important to apply your resources effectively.

So how do you go about finding a good business broker? Our (http://www.qbsnet.com-Quantum Business Solutions Network) professionals have listed a few essential ingredients in your search for a competent business broker (for a description of the full range of business broker services offered to (http://www.qbsnet.com-California business buyers and sellers), please visit http://www.Qbsnet.com).

Before you sign an Agreement

Broker’s profile

The best brokers are affiliated with accredited Associations relevant to their state and profession. For example, in the state of California, the best business brokers are registered with the California Association of Business Brokers (http://www.cabb.org) and the International Business Brokers Association  (http://www.Ibba.org).

Make sure the (http://www.qbsnet.com-California business broker) is qualified to provide competent representation. The firm or the individual should have their own website which is regularly updated with news, articles and business listings. Excellent contact details, company profile as well as having well qualified  professional such as accountants, attorneys, etc.

Expectations

The business broker should clearly attempt to understand your exact purchase criteria, investment objectives, background and experience.  This will ensure that the broker is not wasting your time and missing viable business opportunities in the marketplace (a good business brokerage firm will maintain its own network of listings, many of which are not “published” and unavailable to the general public).  In addition, a competent business broker will continually narrow the focus of the search based upon your constant feedback. There should be a mechanism in place to accomplish this task.  Quantum Business Solution Network employs uniquely designed business buyer software which constantly narrows the search and identification process.

Communication

Take some time before committing to a particular business broker and see how responsive he or she is at the outset.  Attempt to inquire about the nature and scope of the services offered.  Determine if they respond in a timely and comprehensive manner.

The best business brokers are excellent communicators and always respond in a timely manner (in business purchase and sale transactions time kills deals) and often serve an indispensible element toward ensuring the flow of the transaction toward a smooth closing.

The listing agreement/contract should include:

length of time they will be representing you (6-12 months is typical)

the type of the agency relationship offered by the broker (you want the broker to serve as your “exclusive” agent)

the manner and payment of the broker’s compensation

the nature and scope of the brokers duties

About the Author

(http://www.qbsnet.com-Quantum Business Solutions Network) is a full service (http://www.qbsnet.com-Southern California business consulting) and (http://www.qbsnet.com-licensed brokerage firm). Quantum Business Solutions Network is comprised of professionals that combine valuation, financial, marketing, legal, accounting, tax and transactional structuring expertise to initiate, execute and consummate business acquisition and divestiture transactions.

Copyright

© Copyright 2007, Quantum Business Solutions Network. All rights reserved.

This Article is Copyright protected. Republishing & syndication of this article is granted only with the due credit, as mentioned, retained in the republished article. Permission to reprint or republish does not waive any copyright. The text, hyperlinks embedded on the article and headers should remain unaltered. This article must not be used in unsolicited mail.

Preparation

A WEBinar constitutes a communication activity in which image and message will be combined. This is where is clear the importance of customizing the WEB page of the meeting room with your logo and screen where the title, the lead, of your WEBinar appears. You can even choose some music to make the waiting period more agreeable, before the beginning of the WEBinar. In order to interact with the participants, the voice broadcasting is made in parallel with an audioconference. In this regard, we offer a free audioconference service in which the participants make a regular long distance call with access points in Europe and America. The WEBinars' promotion is done via Internet. We have at your disposition, in our international page, a WEBinar's agenda for you to advertise. The persons interested in participating are asked to fill out a registration form that is deactivated after 25 people registered that maximum number of participants that Conferenceware handles.

Progress

Several Conferenceware functionalities contribute to the WEBinar success. First of all, a PowerPoint presentation and the screen sharing in order to make a software demonstration or to display Word or Excel documents, for instance. Also, several presentors might intervine under the conference master guidance. The presentor might send any document to the participants, such as a brochure. Finally, in order to conduct your WEBinar and interact with the audience, you may submit a question, get the answers and display them immediately.

Follow up

At the end of a WEBinar, the participants are usually directed to a WEB page of your choice. It could be a poll for which we offer a free poll service, that includes 100 persons responding a month. The WEBinar report, with all the general information of each participant, is imported on a text, CSV or XML format into your CRM software to generate the contact information. Finally, the recording of a WEBinar allows the presentation any time of a demonstration of your products or services getting the feedback from the spectators through emails.