In my first article, I told you about some of our background in starting an internet business. We have sold homeschool curriculum, eBooks, and home-study courses built around online business how to tips. And we have learned a lot about the intnert through both our success and failures.

The first eBook we ever sold, my wife wrote. It is called Raising Leaders, Not Followers. Basically it was an eBook designed specifically for homeschoolers, teaching them how to raise their kids for leadership positions. My wife approached me with the idea, and I said, “Honey, it is not really a barn-burning topic. I just do not know that you are going to make any money with it.” Well, she proved me wrong. She sold $11,197 the first 19 days. How is that for internet marketing 101?

Not too shabby, right? On the heels of her first success, my wife started thinking about another eBook for the Christmas season. She said to me, “Sweetie, I am going to write another eBook about preparing your heart for Christmas. It seems like a lot of people get close to Christmas day and end up discouraged because they were not really prepared for the season. The presents are great, but what do they do next?”

I said, “That is a wonderful idea, but with all the free stuff on Christmas, I do not see how you are going to sell anything. You got lucky with the first one. That was a fluke. But this one, you would be lucky to sell 5 copies.” I was a very supportive husband, right? Well, she proved me wrong again. She sold over $2,200 the first month with that Christmas book. Imagine getting a $2,200 Christmas bonus every year. That is what we do. My wife created it 3 or 4 years ago. We roll it out every Christmas, and every Christmas, we get a $2,200 to $2500 bonus.

Do you see what I mean? I will admit that I may not be the brightest bulb, but seeing my wife hit two home runs on the internet without any business or marketing training convinced me. I started thinking I could do it, too. I could start an internet business.

My opportunity arrived out of the blue with a Ford F-150 pickup truck I owned. My youngest daughter had been driving it. One day at softball practice with her high school team, one of her friends said, “Gentry, is that your truck on fire?” Would you believe there were 20 foot flames shooting out of her engine?

Turns out Ford had recalled the cruise control switch in this particular model. And I could see why. Once we got the fire put out, we could see that the truck was totaled. I called Ford, but all they could do was apologize. It seems they had notified me of the recall by sending me a notice to my previous address in Texas. But we lived in Idaho.

Since I was going to seminary and low on cash, I decided to try my hand at the online business set up. I put up a website that showed pictures of my truck’s blackened engine and said, “I can help you if you will help me.” I compiled a ton of free stuff about internet marketing – a graphics package, software, ebooks, marketing tips – and sold them all together for $47 a person. I made about $5,500 in just 9 short days.

I hope what you are seeing from these real-life examples is that you can succeed on the internet. Seriously! All you need is a little online business ho to and you can begin making a profit.

If you are trying to raise capital with a PPM or public entity like OTCBB you need to understand the mind of the investor. After the business plan sells the investor on the business concept you need to sell them on you and your executive staff. You need to stack your executive positions with professionals with a proven track record of success and possess a solid reputation in the industry. You must paint the picture for investors that your business is run by the who’s who in your industry and this pedigree is demonstrated by your education, degree, grades in college, professional organizations of which you have been and are currently a member, advisory board positions with other corporate organizations, a track record of setting up and maintaining strategic alliances, networking contacts and more.

When an investor looks at your human resource list on your PPM, business plan or public offering docs it needs to scream power, authority and confidence. Each individual that you place on your advisory board must have a massive contribution other than ‘advice’. Advisors should be able to prove their ability to assist in crucial decisions, connect your company with strategic partners and help you get to the next level.

Your legal counsel and CPA should be well known organizations with a long list of successful, well known organizations on their client roster and they should have a lot more to offer your company than just their fee based services. Again, these organizations should be able to set you up with partnerships that will help grow your business. As far as corporate awareness you must include a publicist. The publicist that you choose must be well versed in their comprehension of your industry genre.

They must be able to take your company and get you in front of the proper audience that is conducive to enhancing your growth potential. They must be able to demonstrate their knowledge of viral online marketing as well as traditional means of radio, TV and article promotion. They should be able to reach into their contact list and set you up with one interview after another targeting your specific audience.

These are just a few things to take into consideration when you jump on the fund raising trail. Every individual you have listed on your docs must be able to pass due diligence and have the appeal that reaches into the ‘comfort’ zone portion of the investor’s mind.

Adventurous snowmobilers often add an extra measure of excitement to their snowmobiling vacations ” camping.

During cold nights, sleeping in a tent for a few nights can be a rigorous task with the risks of frostbite or hypothermia to contend with.

At least when you snowmobile in the morning and afternoon you have the sun to give you some warmth, in the evening and night when the sun is gone, the temperature can drop significantly.

However, camping during the winter can still be an enjoyable experience as long as the campers take some necessary precautions.

As exciting and exhilarating a winter camping experience may seem, don’t underestimate the importance of planning the adventure.

Doing research about the areas you plan to visit and the winter seasonal conditions in those regions should be foremost in your planning so you can bring the appropriate equipment to stay safe.

You may want to gather information such as the average amount of snow you should expect as well as how the routes that you may or may not want to take look like. Knowing the experience of the other campers in your group should be a must as well.

For example, having children with no experience in your group will need a lot different planning than a group with fully experienced adults.

Keep in mind that camping during the winter months will take a toll on your body and cause it to lose body heat in abundance. This is why good planning from the very beginning is essential.

Thermal clothes are an essential during any winter activity like snowmobiling and they are even more vital if you are going to sleep outdoors overnight.

You would also be smart to employ the layering method where you wear several loose layers of clothing to provide additional layers of insulation.

The great advantage of layering is the ease that it provides you when you need to remove clothing if your body overheats. A sweating body tends to dehydrate faster than a dry body.

Of course, make sure that you and your group bring a good amount of food with you. Although things like marshmallows are a popular item, winter campers especially need to include nourishing foods.

Since appetites lessen during cold weather, the food you take with you should be appealing so you are sure to get enough nutrition to keep you moving throughout the day.

Oatmeal, granola, cheese, and other dry foods which are rich in vitamins and minerals is a must for winter camper.

Camping and snowmobiling can lead to a great time for all groups but it will take some careful packing and planning. Do so and you can enjoy it many times over.

Are you taking your company public? Here is what you need to know. Disclosure Obligations: “If my company becomes “public,” what are its disclosure obligations?”

The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 requires a company to file certain periodic reports once its registration statement has been declared effective. This obligation continues indefinitely unless:

At the beginning of any subsequent fiscal year, the class of securities offered is held of record by less than 300 persons; or

At the beginning of any subsequent fiscal year (except the two fiscal years immediately succeeding the year the registration statement became effective), all securities offered are held of record by less than 500 persons and the issuer has had less than $5 million in total assets for each of its last three fiscal years.

In these cases, the reporting obligation may be suspended. Otherwise, a company must continuously disclose certain information about:

Its operations; Its officers, directors, and certain shareholders (including salary, various fringe benefits, and inside transactions between the company and management); The financial condition of the business (including audited financial statements by an independent certified public accountant); The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (or PCAOB) (sometimes called “Peekaboo”) is a private-sector, non-profit corporation created by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, a 2002 United States federal law, to oversee the auditors of public companies. Its competitive position, material terms of certain contracts or lease agreements; acquisitions and mergers, creation of certain financial obligations, and material impairment of assets; unregistered sales of equity securities; changes in its accountant; and changes in its board of directors and management;

In addition, a company must promptly disclose to the public any information that would be considered important to its present or prospective stockholders.

All companies with total assets exceeding $5 million and a class of equity securities held by 500 or more persons are required by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to file the same supplementary, periodic, and current reports as noted above. Companies with these characteristics must also comply with the Commission’s proxy rules if proxies are solicited from holders of its securities. In such a case, the company must furnish all shareholders proxy statements disclosing all material facts concerning matters on which they are being asked to vote. If the proxy solicitation by management relates to an annual meeting at which directors are to be elected, the Commission’s proxy rules also require the company to furnish each shareholder an annual report disclosing certain information about the company, including audited financial statements for its latest fiscal year.

Exemptions

The Securities Act of 1933 provides several exemptions from the registration requirements; the most common are discussed below. Nonetheless, purchases or sales of securities (even in exempt transactions) are subject to the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws. This means that issuers are responsible for false or misleading statements (whether oral or written) which may be redressed through private or government legal action, including criminal sanctions. Also, if all conditions of the exemptions discussed below are not met, purchasers may seek to have their purchase price refunded. In addition, the fact that an offending may be exempt from certain provisions of the federal securities laws does not necessarily mean that it is exempt from the notice and filing obligations of various state laws.

Many little company owners already have an awareness about the importance of online presence. The run into issues when it comes to working on that although. Time, abilities and even knowledge can all be standing within the way. Believe about this although, we routinely hire professionals to mow our lawns, haul off our trash or clean our houses. So why can’t we employ someone for internet strategy consulting too?

Investing in this type of service makes complete sense if you really wish to consider your business to a whole new level. Below are several of the many methods this type of consulting can help you out.

A good consultant has the ability to truly show you where you and your business presently stand. They can also devise a detailed plan to get you to the point which you wish to be at as well.

All of us can jot down a general idea from the direction we want to consider our business, but then the issue of figuring out out to get there appears to usually pop up. An expert advisor can create a step by step strategy as to what you need to do to reach your company goals.

A professional will also consider a good look at the website you have put up. They’ll then provide you with a detailed evaluation of what they see and supply you with the info you need to make improvements to everything. Points like the appearance, how easy it’s to use and things which are missing will all be integrated in this evaluation.

After all the required changes have been successfully created to your site you are able to then work with your consultant to focus on traffic. Traffic is the number of visitors you have to your site and is extremely important for making sales. The expert you have hired can help you to consider the steps required to increase the amount of visitors you’re obtaining.