Electronic Cheese
On her twenty-third birthday Angela dragged herself out of bed at 5am to get ready for another ten-hour workday. Monday to Friday she did a two hour round trip to various boutique cheese makers before nine am then ran her store until five in the afternoon. However, today was Saturday so she could sleep in a little if she left the paperwork until after work. She struggled out of bed. Better to get up and do it before she opened up her shop.
Sunday afternoon at her birthday party, her older sister again started preaching to her about websites. What did the Web have to do with hand-made cheeses? Sick of Helen not taking 'no' for an answer, Angela shifted her ground. "I'd love to have one, but it would be too expensive."
"They are cheaper than you'd think." Helen smiled. "I'll pay for it, for two months. Call it an extra birthday present."
"Fine, waste your money…As long as I don't have to do anything."
"Well, you are the cheese frea… connoisseur. I'll need a few hours of your time to design your webpage. Tuesday? About three?"
A few more hours added to her usual sixty hour week? Helen clearly had no idea how hard Angela worked. "It will have to be after work."
So Tuesday, after another ten-hour day, Angela spent time designing a webpage. She listed all of the cheeses she stocked with a standard order form. To her surprise, Helen had the webpage up on the Internet the next day. So Thursday, she stayed after work sending out the two orders that had been placed via the website. The next week, she got a couple of orders, and then it was three or four per week. Angela kept careful track so she could prove it wasn't worthwhile.
"Well, Helen. Your webpage has made me a grand total of a hundred bucks." She held out five twenties. "Would you like it to cover the cost of the website?"
Helen smiled and leaned across the table. She took one of the offered notes. "That'll cover it."
"No, take enough for the whole month."
"Sis, twenty will cover the two months I promised, and leave me two dollars tip for my work."
The following Tuesday, feeling foolish, Angela started filling orders during quiet times throughout the day, rather than staying after work. So, her days were busier, although back to only ten hours long. However, there was now more quiet time for some reason. Less people were coming into the shop. So on Friday, she had all of Thursday's web orders done by midday. A half hour later, she'd sold the last of the Asadero she hadn't yet wrapped to send out. Hopefully, no-one else would want any.
Just after two o'clock an irritable woman came in and asked for two pounds. Asking her to wait, Angela dashed into the backroom and took the wrapping off a two pound parcel of Asadero to fill this customer's order. Then, she spent twenty minutes staring at the wrapping with its neat label showing the name 'Jessica Sabine', a woman who wanted Asadaro cheese and now wouldn't be getting it. Feeling guilty for her 'theft', Angela rang one of her Asadero makers.
"Jose, can you send me some more Asadero? It's a rush order, so wrap it and post it to…" Angela stared at the discarded wrapping in her hand with its neat address label. "Can you send it direct to the customer?"
"I guess so, if you cover the postage."
She read out the address.
It turned out that most of her suppliers were willing to send out cheese for her if she covered postage costs. Two turned her down flat, and one agreed, but with the condition of doing it only if she emailed the details. "It will save me scribbling down addresses." Steve looked across his farm avoiding her eyes, "and having to stress about my terrible spelling."
She nodded. "Addresses can be tricky."
"I've heard they are, even if you aren't dyslexic." He looked her in the eye, blushing. "That's why I became a cheese maker, instead of getting an office job." He looked around again, at his animals and his workshop, slowly smiling. "Gee, to think I have to do this instead of being bent over a desk all day."
Helen set up Angela's computer to forward orders to the correct supplier, and printed out the website to stick on the front door.
When she saw it, Angela nearly took it down. "Why does anyone need the website if they are at my store?"
Helen shrugged. "People may walk past, and decide later that they…People must walk past on Sunday when you're closed."
For the next week Angela dropped off wrapping paper and labels when she collected cheese. Then she spent Sunday visiting new cheese makers to find replacements for the two that wouldn't mail cheese to her webpage clients. Feeling bad about automatically sending them orders, Angela talked to her bank and arranged to pay her suppliers automatically too.
During the last month of winter Helen caught the flu and gave it to Angela. Helen recovered in two days, but Angela was in bed for a week and her shop stayed closed. Returning the following Tuesday Angela found some spoiled cheese and a lot of messages on her answering machine. At first she heard mostly complaints about her being closed. Then there were some apologies because their cheese had arrived promptly. Surprised, Angela reviewed her records. While she was ill, some people who'd normally shop in her store had used her website since Helen had listed it on her door. All of her website customers had ordered, paid, and received their cheese, all without her being there. Feeling melancholy and slightly useless, Angela threw out the spoiled cheese, closed up and went home to bed.
That afternoon, she lay in bed and considered her finances. Sadly, she couldn't survive without running her shop. The webpage sales were almost enough, but not quite. At midnight, she woke up feeling ridiculous and subtracted 'rent - shop' from her list of expenses. Then 'utilities - shop'. That tipped the balance, even ignoring the savings of not driving out to collect cheese, or her no longer suffering any losses due to spoilage. Surely all her loyal customers would adjust to buying over the Internet, given time. Heck, she could visit her favorite customers personally to help them. Then all she'd have to do is stay in touch with them and her cheese makers by email.
Two days after her twenty-fourth birthday, Angela dragged herself out of bed at nine am. After taking three days off, she'd have to work a solid four-hour day and actually leave the house, rather than just checking things on her computer.
By Allan T. Price
http://www.m6.net
Allan T. Price is a creative writer working for a living, until he can find his own 'cheese'. Once he finds it, he'll set up a website and write novels while the money just pours in.
Allan T. Price is a creative writer working at M6.Net: 'The web-hosting company for humans.' M6.Net is working hard to help humanity experience the power and freedom to develop their own part of the Internet, to share their information and connect with anyone, anywhere, anytime.
Why XanGo
Your Title Here
Why XanGo?
Love it or hate it, network marketing is still one of the only ways for the average person to build a business without having lots of money to invest. Choosing the correct network marketing company becomes the most important task you have in your future success.
I've had lots of bad experiences in network marketing and a few good. I have wasted money on bad products and poorly run companies. I have also built organizations with large down lines. So, with all that, why XanGo? Isn't it just another network marketing company?
When I looked into XanGo I had very specific requirements before I would enter the network marketing world again—it had to have a unique product, a properly formatted pay plan and support to help build a distributor base without bothering friends and family once again.
In this article we will start looking at the product.
First, no hype: XanGo Mangosteen juice will not cure every disease known to mankind while polishing the chrome on your car and making you and your spouse more beautiful than you already are. Like any botanical product, it has not gone through the same stringent testing standards that a drug company needs to use before releasing a product. There is a great deal of scientific research on this botanical and you can do your own research on it. Never less, the majority of the evidence we have are testimonials to the effectiveness as a health aid. Before you invest, and yes you need to consider this as an investment, you should review the available scientific material—I found it impressive. Now, I am not a medical doctor, nor am I a scientist specializing in this area. I am an accountant by training and work in Information Technology.
You also need to consider the testimonial evidence. People are buying this product—and continuing to buy this product—because they fell it is helping them live healthier lives! In addition, a number of MDs are endorsing the product as well. Not everyone giving testimonials to the product are making money selling the juice.
Thus, XanGo has a product that people feel helps them live healthier lives. Is this enough to make it something to base a business decision on? Not really. It seems that almost everyday someone is establishing a new network company based on selling some form of a vitamin product. The problem I have with these companies is that it is virtually impossible for me to see much difference between their products and the great variety of vitamin products at my local health food store or even the supermarket. The products sold by these vitamin companies seem to be overpriced (to pay their distributors). I cannot ask you to join me in a venture, selling a product for 50% or more then a substitute at your local store where the only product benefit for you is the ability to make money! Ultimately, the person at the bottom of the distributor channel is paying too much for the product.
XanGo is different. The product is unique. In doing a simple search on the internet I could not find many people claiming to sell a similar product. The few I did find were priced within the same basic range as XanGo is priced. Thus, the person at the bottom of the distributor channel is still getting value for the money they spend on the product they purchase.
In addition, XanGo received a patent on it's product on May 4, 2004. While there are still some challenges to this patent (as of March 2006), a patent gives the company a legal challenge to any competitors that try to copy and undersell our product. XanGo has a unique product that will remain unique for many years to come.
You may ask, can I build a business on one product? That is a good question. The leaders in network marketing started with a single product (or type of product). Amway started with cleaning products, Tupperware with food storage, etc. Companies like Amway lost their position as a leader (in my opinion) in this market when it allowed retail stores to catch up to them in providing the same quality and value in cleaning products. The Amway cleaning products are still some of the best you can buy, but the value is not there anymore. I can get almost the same quality at the grocery store for far less. Amway's solution was to sell everything under the sun. The "pitch" was no longer to buy high quality product and greater value but buy through Amway, get everyone you know to do the same and you will make money! Every time a friend of mine who is an Amway distributor tries to get me involved in it, it sounds like that to me.
With XanGo, you are selling one product. It is a specialty product and you have no need to worry about value.
So why XanGo? As far as product is concerned, you have a unique product, one that people ask for and buy again and again. A product protected by patent law, giving our distributors an advantage over anyone else selling a health product for the foreseeable future.
In my next article, I will examine the pay plan and why I feel it is one of the best advantages you have in building this business. For more information, visit my Blog at http://www.mb-income.com.
Affiliate Programs: Popular Home Business Choice
For anyone who surfs the net on a daily basis, it is
likely that you have seen ads for affiliate programs
at various websites, and perhaps you have found
yourself wondering if you're missing out on something.
Affiliate programs are a home based business idea that
can be extremely fruitful for the internet savvy
marketer.
Basically, affiliate programs are a marketing scheme
where a website asks affiliates to promote the website
through various venues. In return, the original site
pays the affiliate a small commission each time a
person is redirected to their webpage through the
affiliate's link. Think of it this way: companies are
paying affiliates to act as guides who take potential
customers to their products.
Most major websites and literally thousands of smaller
ones have already caught on to the affiliate marketing
craze. Amazon, eBay and match.com all have active
affiliate programs which help to keep their already
successful businesses' incomes boosted. You can find
affiliate programs through one of two ways: by
visiting individual business sites, or through
affiliate lists. By typing in "affiliate programs" on
Google or other search engines, numerous companies
that provide lists of affiliate programs will pop up,
but you may need to pay for access to these lists. You
decide whether or not saving the time from hunting
down programs is worth it.
Affiliates can market for these companies either
through their own websites, by posting on search
engines or through free online classifieds listings,
such as Craigslist. The business site will give an
affiliate a special URL to use, so that the commission
from redirecting a potential client goes directly into
the affiliate associate's account.
Perhaps the best thing about affiliate programs is
that, though perhaps minimal at first, affiliates
start seeing a profit almost immediately!
About the author:
---------------------------------------------------
David Hudson can help YOU start your own profitable
business on the Internet within the next 24 hours...
To learn more, visit:
Dreamsr.us Plug-In Profit Site
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