Start Business Advice

I am thinking about starting up a blog with a proper domain name (e.g. www.myblog.com rather than www.myblog.wordpress.com) and its own web server.

I’m also stuck with Niche ideas? I don’t want to sell anything and bear in mind I work full-time, this blog is merely a hobby to pass my spare time I’ve looked on Google but everything can be so vague like ‘write about your hobbies’. I don’t really want to write a blog about writing a blog ideas are welcomed!

All the ‘how to promote your blog’ guides I have come across have all been related to web stores or businesses, or something that makes money. Does anyone know how you’d promote?

I have less than 100 friends on Facebook/Twitter (as they are all family/good friends, not ‘networking’ people) and have discovered from experience that asking them to share links and retweet links never works; if I am lucky I’ll have one person do it, but that’s it.

Any other suggestions? I know about meta tagging and adding to search engines, but how do I really drive traffic in?

Thanks

I would be interested in suggestions, useful books and web sites. I do not want to look at any get rich quick style web sites though.

I don’t see any way of turning existing interests or problems into commercial opportunities, before anyone suggests that.
A lot of people think E-Bay might be the way to go, but I have looked at the site and would find it difficult to identify a suitable product.

Currently I’m doing my GCSE’s and looking forward to starting college in September. Although I’m stuck in between two situation that I cannot seem to choose one particular over the other one. I’m not predicted any C’s as grades for GCSE’s, most of the subjects I’m predicted a B. For Maths and Statistics I’m predicted an A and for Business (BTEC) I’m predicted A*. I was planning/ thinking of doing these subjects at college: Accounting, Business, Economics, ICT. The problem is that although I think I’m good at Maths I do not enjoy it as a subject. I’m in between choosing Economics for A-Level and not, since it revolves a lot around Maths. Accounting on the other hand I’m not quite sure some people have told me it revolves a lot around Maths but also other people tell me it doesn’t and that it just requires basic Maths and I’m left with mixed views. If anyone knows what the situation is with (Accounting A-Level and how much Maths it is) then information is highly appreciated, because if it involves basic Maths as some people have told me, then I might do a degree in the field. Overall I’m stuck although the subjects I like are Business in general (Management / Administration ..etc) and wanting to eventually get a job in the business field, I am also interested in Web design. I’m considering degrees in Business, ICT, Accounting and other related fields, however I’m not sure if that would be a good idea… and advice on the situation is highly appreciated. Thanks
Problem is if i was to do history, maths or sciences … for history i would need A level history, for maths.. a level maths and for sciences i would’ve needed to take a level at some of the sciences.

I’m writing a business essay and I have to calculate how much it would cost me to produce my bowls. They’re normal size bowls that you’d see anywhere really, I can see that the glazes, premixed can be bought from various web pages in packets of 0.5kg to 100kg but I don’t know how many bowls a kg would cover or how much in kg the 1 bowl needs.
Does anyone have just a rough idea?
I just need to know roughly how many bowls 1kg could cover or how much people use per bowl usually.
Thanks very much!

I’m using answers for research for my web course – most obvious answer will be for business use – any other idea’s for your own webpage ? thank you x

I’m a plumber and I’ve been set the task of coming up with 12 or more ways of marketing my business, one of which I’m going to try and then monitor every month for the next year. The idea is that if 8 fail I’m going to get pretty good at 4 ways of marketing!

So far I’ve got: web page, referrals, advertising in magazines and newspapers (this really didn’t work!) and even parking my sign written van outside the local supermarket for the full 2 hours they allow in the hope that someone will write my number down.

I’d like to hear from you if you can come up with any other ideas or anything that has proved successful for you in the past.

Many thanks!

My fiance is 25. He finished University last year with a 2:1 honors degree in computer networking and security from the University of Abertay. Currently, he is living outside of Ayr. He has been looking for a job for 9 months. ANY job doing ANYTHING. He has 5 years of retail and factory experience in addition to his degree and he has only been able to find one part time delivery job that lasted one month. Also, he tried to start a freelance web design and computer technician business but didn’t even get one person interested.

Just in this past week he has applied for over a hundred jobs and still no answer. Since he started looking for a job he has applied for thousands. He has absolutely NO standards and will take any job. He has started a twitter and follows recruiters, he has registered with countless job websites, he has begged the job center for help finding work, he puts ads on gumtree and he cold calls companies as well.

Basically we are at our wits end. He is a very smart man, very mature and a very hard worker. A family friend has offered to help him move anywhere in the UK, so he hasn’t limited himself at all. We really need some help and hopefully someone can give us some insight into what he is doing wrong or maybe someone will have a great idea on how to find a job in the UK during this recession. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Here is a link to his linkedIn profile so you can review his CV- http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/kris-curtis/20/77/9ba

The games franchise specialised in mind-altering psychological horror. Shame then that the film was so formulaic. Also, there was not enough featuring of ‘Pyramid Head’ for my liking.

Opinions?

Hi, I’m having a lot of trouble thinking of a name for my business which is a problem because I’ve just won a big contract and have an accountant all ready to go but I can’t decide on my name! Any ideas from you clever people will be gratefully received! Some pointers:

- My name is Gem, and my initials are Gem I’d like to incorporate that into the name potentially.
- I’m not opposed to non-sensical names, especially if they’re catchy
- My business does a few things, all in the same vein, but it limits me a bit so I can’t call it … designs etc.
- I’m currently a web editor and my work is around writing content/ designing/ improving web sites, but I have also worked in print/ publishing and wouldn’t want my name to rule this out so it can’t be too specific but I’d like it to be meaningful…such as do business online

My partner is a qualified spray painter/panel beater. He has been working for a business since he qualified although now feels its time to go self-employed. We have looked at different franchise opportunities and have identified SMART ABC as the best. However, clearly they are goin to tell you only the good bits and was wondering if anyone has any experience with the company and if they could give us any advice. All advice would be greatly appreciated.

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