How to Make a Lot of Money as a Franchisee

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This is such a fun topic. It reminds me of the joke we used to tell as kids, “How can you immediately double your money? Fold it in half and put it back in your pocket!” So how can you make a lot of money as a franchisee? At the risk of sounding trite, the easiest way is to start by selecting a franchise opportunity that is capable of making a lot of money.

Actually, there are a number of things you can do to increase your chances of making good money as a franchisee. Though picking the right opportunity where others are making a lot of money is a good start, it is no guarantee you will do the same. The key secrets to making as much money as possible include:

1. Starting with the right definition. This goal begs the question, “what is a lot of money?” Many people think of this answer first in absolute terms such as making a fixed amount like $100,000 per year. I think it is wiser to define “a lot of money” in terms of return on investment. If you can invest $5,000 and get a return of $25,000 per year, I’d contend you’re making a lot of money on that investment by any reasonable standard of measure.

2. Starting with the right opportunity. It’s essential to select an opportunity that matches up well with you, in which you are willing and capable of performing the primary role of the franchisee. As just one example, I know of a franchise that cleans public restrooms. This can be an intensely profitable business with a great return on investment, but many people simply wouldn’t want to be involved in such a business. Their reluctance would probably mean they wouldn’t make a lot of money, because they couldn’t project the excitement and enthusiasm necessary to sell a prospective customer on the value of a sparkling urinal.

3. Keeping the investment size reasonable. A host of franchises can produce a great return on investment. Make sure you focus on ones where the per-unit investment is reasonable given your net worth and the liquid capital you have available to invest. Remember what your mom told you about not putting all your eggs in one basket.

4. Reinvesting to achieve your absolute goal. If you find an opportunity that fits well for you and has a great return on investment, and you’ve got your first unit up and making a lot of money, you can reach your absolute number goal by acquiring additional units. This can either be done through further out-of-pocket investment or through the reinvestment of the profits you’re making into growing the business. I have a good friend who owns more than 40 haircutting franchises. The return on investment in each unit is great, but the absolute dollars in any one unit don’t meet his overall total income goal. He found that by adding additional units over time through the reinvestment of profits, he could realize a total income far in excess of what his absolute goals were when he started the business. In the example mentioned in the first point, if you want to make $100,000 per year, make four of the $5,000 investments and you’re there.

5. Following the system. The biggest reason to get a franchise, as opposed to starting an independent business, is to acquire the rights to use a proven system to achieve predictable results. A good franchise company has developed its systems through extensive trial and error and should be able to tell a new franchisee exactly what to do to make a lot of money. All you should have to do is execute the system well to achieve the success you want. If you want to make a lot of money, don’t be an innovator—just pick a great system and execute it well, and you’ll get your wish.

6. Capitalizing your business properly. This is a corollary point to the one about making sure the size of the investment for each unit is reasonable for you. There are many ways to capitalize your new business, including using all cash or using some portion of your cash combined with loans or leases to come up with the total investment. Most franchisees use a combination approach. When you’re evaluating how to capitalize your business, keep in mind that the service costs of loans or leases will reduce the amount of money you’ll have for other purposes. Too much leverage can be very dangerous and get in the way of making a lot of money.

7. Working with a good accountant. One of the hard lessons of life is that there can be a big difference between the money you make and the money you have. The difference is taxes, and they take many forms. One of the most important steps to making money that stays in your pocket is to use a good accountant to help you structure your business entity and ongoing activities in a manner that reduces the tax bite whenever possible. The entity selection can help you avoid double taxation of earnings and/or business specific taxes like B & O tariffs. In terms of your business activities, some techniques can be as simple as the timing of investments and major purchases or the type of capital structure you use. It’s typically well worth paying some accounting fees to ensure you’re minimizing the tax bite if your goal is to make a lot of money in your franchise.

Finally, keep in mind that in any successful franchise system, many people have traveled the path before you. Whether they are other franchisees or the franchisor, take advantage of their experience by asking for advice whenever you have doubts or your results aren’t what you expected, especially when you’re first starting out. They’ll be happy to help you, and you can return the favor to other new franchisees in the future.

Jeff Elgin is the "Buying a Franchise" coach at Entrepreneur.com and has almost 20 years of experience in franchising, both as a franchisee and a senior franchise company executive. He's currently the CEO of FranChoice Inc., a company that provides free consulting to consumers looking for a franchise that best matches their needs.

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The A,B,Si's of Hispanic Marketing

Around the House

If they're not on your marketing radar, chances are you're already one step behind your competition. The U.S. Hispanic population is growing exponentially, and so is their purchasing power.

According to HispanTelligence, Hispanic spending power has skyrocketed to $700 billion and is projected to reach as much as $1 trillion by 2010. The latest U.S. Census Bureau figures estimate the total U.S. Hispanic population at 42.7 million, making them the largest minority group in the country. They're also the fastest-growing group: From 2004 to 2005, the Hispanic population grew by 3.3 percent. By 2050, Hispanics are expected to reach 102.6 million and will constitute 24 percent of the nation's total population.

Because of this intense growth, Kagan Research estimates that Hispanic advertising is expected to reach $5.5 billion in gross advertising revenue by 2010. What differentiates Hispanic marketing from traditional forms of marketing? Gerry Rojas, director of Hispanic marketing with the Urban Concepts division of New York City-based US Concepts, says it's all about relevant marketing. "Anyone can do Latino marketing, but to be relevant is the challenge. You use a lot of the same marketing strategies as traditional advertising, but then you fine-tune them to fit your target consumer, and that's the key," says Rojas. "You don't have to reinvent the wheel, but you do have to be cognizant of who you're talking to."

Marketing directly to Hispanic consumers can be a risky move--not only do you risk offending the very group you're trying to target, but you also risk offending groups you aren't targeting. Last month, Bank of America announced a pilot program offering credit cards to customers without Social Security numbers--typically, illegal immigrants. The move was met by opposition in Congress and from critics nationwide. The National Illegal Immigration Boycott Coalition says it's collected more than 11,000 signatures on a petition calling for a boycott of the bank. But Bank of America stands behind its decision and says it plans to continue the program.

Controversy also sparked for pizza-restaurant chain Pizza Patron back in January, when founder and owner, Antonio Swad, announced the "Pizza por Pesos" program. The Dallas-based restaurant chain decided to accept pesos in exchange for their pizzas, and was met with a torrent of criticism, including death threats, vicious e-mails and obscene phone calls. "The campaign was immediately tied to the very hot, bubbling issue of immigration, particularly illegal immigration in the U.S., and somehow people wanted to throw that around my neck," says Swad. He explained that his team expected some controversy, but had no idea it would reach such extreme proportions. "We got a lot of brand impressions in those three weeks of media frenzy, I'm certainly not complaining," Swad says.

Though the program was expected to end in February, Swad has decided to continue it for the time being, saying it's still serving his customers. Swad says it's hard to say just how much the "Pizza por Pesos" program has affected his earnings, since their sales were already on the rise in January, right before the launch of the program. "I can tell you that January and February are typically the worst months in the pizza business, but that's not the case this year. In fact, many of our stores are achieving all-time sales records," says Swad.

Traditionalists vs. Second, Third and Fourth Generations
Rojas points out that it's important to differentiate between two very different types of Hispanic consumers: traditionalists and second generation-plus. He refers to recently arrived immigrants as traditionalists because they integrate their traditions from their countries of origin into their lives here in the United States. Rojas, whose father emigrated from Mexico to the United States, mentions his mother and grandmother as examples of this group.

Second generation-plus refers to Latinos who live the Latin lifestyle, but speak English. Rojas says marketers are missing out on this booming key demographic--choosing instead to advertise to the traditionalists in Spanish on Spanish-speaking TV and radio stations. "If you're going to market most of your dollars and spend them within Univision or Telemundo, that's fine for my mother and grandmother, for example, but who's talking to me? What brands are talking to that second generation-plus?" Rojas asks.

Rojas says he's trying to get his clients to grasp this concept because this is where he sees the biggest growth in the Hispanic market. "The third and fourth generations aren't watching novellas in Spanish. They're watching Ugly Betty," says Rojas.

4 Ways to Advertise Authentically, Not Offensively
As Rojas mentioned, understanding your target consumer is vital to a Hispanic marketing campaign. But there's more to it than just that. Both Rojas and Swad offer their advice for what to do and what to avoid when advertising to Hispanic consumers.

1. Know your market. Swad, who is Italian and Lebanese, says you don't necessarily have to be Hispanic to market Hispanic. "I made a conscious decision 21 years ago to work with the Hispanic community and adopt their culture as my own," says Swad, who believes he's so well accepted within the community because of his effort to make a connection at the community level. Pizza Patron participates in small community activities that larger chains tend to ignore. For example, in November, Pizza Patron showed its commitment to community soccer by sponsoring the Copa Lowes soccer tournament in El Paso. The chain also recently sponsored the Festival Hispano de la Salud in Dallas, a health festival dedicated to teaching families healthy habits for free.

2. Be aware of cultural nuances. "What's good for one Latino can be bad for another. Make sure you really look into the cultural sensitivities of the group you're targeting, be it Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Spanish-speaking Hispanics, or English-speaking Hispanics," says Rojas. "When I first started, people only thought Latinos should be marketed to in Spanish, but nowadays, marketers are realizing that Latinos speak English, too."

3. Be sincere. "You really have to search your heart and find out why you want to market to this group," advises Swad. "If it's strictly because you want to have a measurable monetary return, it never works that way. You have to build your brand awareness, and it takes time." When Swad opens up a new location, one of the first things he does is post a sign on the door with the words "proudly serving Hispanic communities since 1986."

4. Follow up. "It's important to follow up after planting the original flag in your campaign. Some people are so eager to tap into this market that they expect instant results, but that's not going to happen," Rojas says. According to Rojas, you can't just sell your product and leave. If you're serious about marketing to this demographic, you need to take the time to develop a program, not just a one-time deal. Rojas has helped his client Jose Cuervo succeed by creating a long-term campaign called "Cuervoton." The campaign is actually a U.S.-wide talent search for the next generation of Latino artists in urban music. With this campaign, Rojas says Cuervo is ensuring the longevity of Latinos in the music industry. "It's marketing that shows you really care about this demographic. Cuervo is actually doing something for their target customer, and they'll be rewarded--Latinos are very loyal," says Rojas.

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How Michael Senoff Makes Up To $1000 A Day Selling Used Seminar Tapes On eBay

D.C.-based Web biz offers gifts for people who want more experience

Michael Senoff’s Story.

http://www.hardtofindseminars.com

I first learned about Jay Abraham from a video by Tony Robbins. Jay was speaking at one of Tony's expensive Life Mastery seminars. I was totally blown away by Jay's ideas. Immediately, I started looking for his seminar products.

The first item I was looking for was a set of tapes of the famous Jay Abraham $20,000 protege mentor training seminar from 1990. You read that right: $20,000. That's how much it cost to attend. The press called it: "The world's most expensive seminar". The students were there to learn how to become a master marketing wizard just like Jay Abraham.

I wanted to be a marketing wizard too, but I did not want to spend $20,000. Anyone that attended the seminar received a copy of the entire program on a set of audiotapes. I knew If I could just find someone who attended the seminar, I might be able to borrow their tapes. If so, I could get a $20,000 Jay Abraham marketing education for free.

I did some digging and managed to find a guy from Northern California who had attended the seminar. I asked to buy his tapes. He said no but agreed to fax me the names of all the people who went to the seminar in Southern California. I found a lady on the list who lived in San Diego. I called her and told her I was looking for a set of the tapes from the Jay Abraham seminars. She said she had them and I negotiated a price of $50. I got the complete $20,000 seminar for only $50.

I studied these marketing materials day and night for six months. I was listening to Jay Abraham while I was jogging, while I was driving, and while I was doing yard work. I would even go to sleep with a Walkman on my head literally dreaming about marketing. That is how powerful and addictive these marketing materials and tapes are.

Along with the 55 audiotape seminar, there was a list of 900 proteges who had trained under Jay Abraham in four previous seminar sessions. The list was intended to be a tool for the seminar attendees to network with each other. When I saw this list, I knew I had hit pay dirt. More on that in a minute.
You see, like a lot of guys, I loved to barbecue outdoors. I was shopping for a new grill and one hot summer day in July I came across the most extraordinary barbecue grill I had ever seen. It is called a "Kamado" and it was billed as the world's finest ceramic smoker-grill.

Well, I knew I had to have one. There was only one little problem. This gorgeous Blue ceramic tiled Kamado grill sells for $1895 plus shipping.

Now I knew there was no way my wife was going to let me spend this kind of money on "a grill", so I told my wife I was going to sell my Jay Abraham tapes and use the money to buy my blue Kamado grill!

The original set of Jay Abraham protege tapes that I had bought for $50 sold right away for $1700 on my very first marketing effort. I was stunned! I had made a killing the first time out of the gate.

To make sure this was not a one-time fluke, I promoted another less expensive set of Jay Abraham boot camp tapes the next day. This set sold very quickly for $900.

After these two sales, I have enough profits to become the proud owner of a brand-new blue Kamado ceramic smoker, and there was not a thing my wife could do or say about it.

Convinced that I had a hungry market, I went right to work. I still had the list that I mentioned earlier of the 900 Jay Abraham proteges who possessed all of these valuable Jay Abraham products. All I had to do is track them down.

Finding people from a ten-year-old list was no easy task. Most of the phone numbers were wrong. Many of the people no longer had the seminar materials. But one out of ten people I made contact with did. Usually, it was as neatly packed away as it was the day they brought it home from the seminar. Many tapes had never been used, not even once and the printed materials were in pristine condition.

As I continued to contact these people, I made another discovery: A person who pays $20,000 for a seminar is considered a gold mine to marketing information sellers like Jay Abraham, Gary Halbert, Dan Kennedy, and Ted Nicholas. These marketing gurus will spend thousands of dollars to locate and have a chance to sell to this type of buyer who they refer to as 'Big Fish'.

These sellers get together to enter into joint venture partnerships. They refer and endorse each other's marketing materials to these same hot buyers using all their in-house customer lists.

Because of this, when I found a person who had attended the $20,000 Jay Abraham seminar, they would usually have tons of other marketing materials from all the other great marketing promoters as well.

All the materials I sell are purchased from the original owners. Many have even mortgaged their homes and maxed out their credit cards just to get their hands on this critical information. I make these packages available to you at huge discounts.

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Making Mad Money on eBay

The Care And Feeding Of Your Future, Without The Soap Opera Drama And Trauma

One day in the early 1990's Diana Duyser of Hollywood, Fla. made herself a grilled- cheese sandwich. Then she gazed down at the brown skillet marks on the bread: "I saw a face looking up at me; it was the Virgin Mary staring back. I was in total shock," she later told reporters. Diana held on to the sandwich for 10 years — then sold it on eBay for $28,000.

The most frequent way eBay makes the news is from such reports of goofy or bizarre items that sell on the site, often at prices that astound. Their numbers are legion, with some items becoming legendary to the point of entering folk culture. Though it is a subjective issue, by some estimates the blue-ribbon winners in this category were the breast implants of a former stripper, a certain Ms. Tawny Peaks. Previously, Peaks made news in 1998 when accused of assaulting a gentleman by hitting him with her breasts.

The victim claimed whiplash because her implants "were like cement blocks." This 'trial' took place on TV in The Peoples Court, the presiding 'judge' Ed Koch, former mayor of New York, rejected the suit, ruling the assets soft, therefore non lethal. In 1999, Peaks got married and had the implants removed. After six years of languishing on a shelf, Tawny had an idea: she decided to autograph her implants and auction them off on eBay. On Feb. 25, 2005, The Golden Palace, an Internet casino, bought them for $16,777. Previously, the Golden Palace had purchased on eBay the notorious Virgin Mary cheese sandwich, a haunted walking stick ($65, 000,) and the "mystery envelope?" ($7,600.) More recently the company bought a Britney Spears half-eaten egg salad sandwich and a William Shatner kidney stone.

At first glance it might seem that the folks at Golden Palace have more money than sense — a lot more money. But do they really? The publicity garnered from purchasing these ridiculous items is much better than simply spending money on traditional advertising. Nor did Peaks' implants reach $16, 777 with just a single bid; clearly, separating the lunatic-fringe bidders, there were other entrepreneurs who had the same idea. In short, there is a market for the strange, weird, bizarre, ridiculous and unimaginable on eBay. EBay's home for the absurd is the "Weird Stuff" category that breaks down into three sub-categories: "Slightly Unusual," "Really Weird," "Totally Bizarre." A recent check showed about 12,000 auctions in the three sub-categories. Regardless of where they're placed, the sales vary widely in weirdness, from redundant ads for "miracle diet pills" to " Secret Information From Outer Space." The "Buy It Now" sales outnumber auctions as they allow sellers with redundant copies of popular items to re-list quickly.

Catering to eBay's absurd auction buyers, while perhaps lacking in dignity, can be profitable. However, competition is fierce: on a recent check of the 12,000 sales in the 'Weird' categories, less than 10 percent had garnered bids. Given that nowadays most eBay buyers are savvy enough to bid at the last minute, the seller still needs a "hook" to succeed with the absurd. That generally translates into crossover appeal. Here we will attempt by example to offer some ideas of what works and what doesn't for eBay sellers who are, depending on your viewpoint, shameless, courageous or creative enough to try it.

Don't Mention Money
EBay has no problem with crass auctions, as long as they stay within company rules and federal laws. Sellers cannot conduct raffles, lotteries or games of chance and the mention of cash is forbidden (although a box full of "dead presidents" of different denominations passes muster somehow.) In one interesting case, however, the "cash" rule does not apply. At 14,000 to the dollar, Iraqi dinars are basically worthless currency, not traded on the world market. Nevertheless, one Power Seller offers large sums of it in multiple sales, all drawing bids, all containing pages of argument on how someday things will settle down in Iraq, the oil will flow, the currency will be revalued, etc., making the buyer rich. It's a sort of "the South will rise again" argument on an international scale, with successful results, at least for the moment.

Mystery Auctions
Mystery auctions are perhaps the most popular theme among eBay's "Weird" categories. EBay "one-cent wonder" sellers, for instance, have found new life through this avenue. Buyers had been shying away from sellers who offer items at pennies and make their profit by slamming the buyer with excessive shipping fees. But buyers do not seem to be able to resist bidding on the unknown, especially if it's labeled a "gift." In order to convert profits into serious money however, sellers often combine the allure of "mystery" with the crossover appeal of "gifts," love, sex, greed, the fascination with the grotesque and absurd, and an interesting story, plausible or otherwise. In a recent instance over the holiday season a seller offered in Dutch auction, a "mystery holiday gift," nicely gift wrapped at the more than moderate price of 6 cents. Shipping, however, came in at $8.50. Doing the math, a seller could buy any sort of trinket at closeout or 99-cent store, buy boxes and wrapping in quantity, and turn a profit of $4 or $5 with each sale.

The Love Connection
Love in all its permutations is frequently offered on eBay, sometimes with mixed results. In February an auction was posted with an image of a provocatively dress woman offering to be somebody's "Personal MySpace Girlfriend." The description stated: "I will add to your profile and send you messages. Also, I will answer all your emails and send you profiles for all your friends to see." The love in this case was conditional — "up to two weeks," and the auction was taken down by eBay. On the other hand, the offer of "unconditional love" for a perfect romantic Valentine's Day in New York City, complete with a Godinger Shannon crystal coach and several mystery gifts, sold for $263. Love lost can also pay dividends, particularly when combined with mystery or heartbreak. "My ex-wife cheated on me and now it's time for payback," touted the header on another recent eBay auction.

The sale was accompanied by a photo of the ex in lingerie. "I'm not auctioning her, the photo is just to arouse curiosity," we were advised, then told it was a mystery auction of something his former wife loved, with hints accompanying each $100 in bids. The mystery item, apparently a designer garment, sold for $405. Another ad had the header: "He Left Us For My Best Friend," and was accompanied by the photo of the cad holding an infant. The seller tells us she was seduced and abandoned and was now selling off the dad's belongings in a "mystery auction" format. The seller had more than 100 feedbacks, all previous sales being mystery auctions, with mediocre positive feedback. This did not prevent 40 bids and a selling price of $250. Love-loss prevention also does well on the site as male chastity belts are hot sellers in the $250 to $500 range, and for the lovelorn, inflatable female blow up dolls never fail to draw bids.

The Whimsical, Creative and Odd
Sometimes, it's worth just listing something to see if it will work, because you just never know what will happen, and if there's low over-head, why not try? One seller attracted 33 bids for a pack of cigarettes he was currently smoking, until eBay pulled the sale with 15 hours left. In another off-beat auction, a pair of brothers who are musicians offer to write an original song, on any topic and deliver it by e-mail or snail mail. The listing is accompanied by a photo of two handsome young men. Judging by the number of feedbacks, this gambit works. One enterprising vendor auctioned off a piece of toast supposedly bearing the image of Britney Spears' bald head. Granted, it sold for just $1, but considering the initial investment, that's not a bad return. In another case, given the unusually mild, snow-free early winter in the Northeast, Mary Walker of Loveland, Co. thought it would be fun to auction off three snowballs made from the 4 feet of snow dumped on the Colorado Front Range in early January. Three days and 100 bids later, the snowballs sold for $200 to Chris Hansen, a Connecticut firefighter, who bought them for his three teenage daughters.

Walker posted the auction as a joke, and at first refused to accept Hansen's money, but the firefighter insisted and Walker was stuck trying to figure out how to get the snowballs to Connecticut intact. In other instances, just going for the grotesque or "freak of nature" works. For example, in this category, there are two-headed stuffed chickens, currently garnering $550 with eight bids, but two heads is not always better than one. Imitation shrunken heads made of goat hair and skin seem to be popular too as these listings are also drawing bids.

Biblical Proportions
A "Jesus" search among the Weird categories nets an appalling assortment. Apparently inspired by the success of the Virgin Mary cheese sandwich, sellers are offering images of Jesus on rocks, frying pans, photos of cloud formations and just about anything else you can imagine, because, oddly enough, people bid on them. In one of the few intentionally humorous sales found, a header read "Grilled Cheese Sandwich Looks Nothing At All Like Jesus." The description noted, "Looks remarkably like a grilled cheese sandwich." But then, even at 99 cents and free shipping it attracted no bidders. One recent religious relic, a priest's last-right's kit, however, sold for $36.99, showing there's always a market for the unusual, especially when it is the real thing.

Celebrities
It goes without saying that any item even claimed to have been touched by a celebrity can bring in the bucks, though some types of items sell better than others. The catch is getting your hands on, say, the hand-written letter from Anna Nicole Smith that just sold for $488. Usually, the celeb items fall into the more obscure arena, as is the case with a fork claimed to have been used by the former rapper Vanilla Ice that's still languishing with one bid of 99 cents.


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Apple 30 GB iPod video Black

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Now that you can buy movies from the iTunes Store and sync them to your iPod, the whole world is your theater. With the Apple 30 GB iPod with Video Playback in hand, those movies fit comfortably next to TV shows, new iPod games, podcasts, audiobooks, photo albums, and, of course, an entire library of music--up to 7500 songs. How much can your pocket hold? That's up to you and your iPod, but no matter how you organize it, the iPod holds loads of songs and plenty of hours of video. With all your music at your fingertips, you may never want to stop listening. Lucky thing your iPod plays audio for hours and hours, or if you'd rather watch, you can feast your eyes on movies and TV shows for several hours without draining your battery. And you can count on the iPod to help you pack light. It is almost hard to explain exactly how 30 GB of storage can fit into an iPod that's over 30-percent thinner than the previous fourth generation. However it happened, it means you can carry more music and video absolut ely anywhere you go. And with a 60-percent brighter screen, the vibrant display gives your album art, photos, and video extra oomph. As always, iPod makes finding what you want to hear a breeze. Plus, a new interface lets you search your iPod using the patented Click Wheel. And if you're a fan of live albums, classical works, or anything that sounds best when it is played continuously, iPod supports gapless playback that seamlessly transitions from one song to another.

Music, Movies and TV Shows
Finding and playing music on your iPod is simple. Use the Click Wheel to adjust volume, navigate songs, or browse the Music menu by artists, composer, album, song, genre, or playlist. Want to mix things up? Simply click Shuffle Songs. iPod makes your music look as good as it sounds, thanks to its big, bright color display. Album art appears alongside your songs in the Now Playing screen, so you can see your music as you play it. After all, iPod loves music as much as you do.

Now you can watch a movie while waiting in line for tickets to one. Download movies from the iTunes Store, then sync them to your iPod to watch anywhere, anytime. The iPod's gorgeous display--now 60-percent brighter--makes your movies pop. And thanks to improved video playback time, iPod keeps you entertained for several hours--even longer if you reduce brightness using the new brightness control.

As for television programs, there's always something good on iPod. Browse thousands of episodes of your favorite TV shows on the iTunes Store, buy them for just a couple dollars each, then sync them to your iPod. Watch last night's episodes this morning, or buy a whole TV series and settle in for a pocket-size marathon. All your TV episodes display in order, so you can navigate them easily, and every episode you buy from iTunes is optimized to look great on the iPod's crystal-clear, 320 x 240-pixel display.

Podcasts, Audiobooks, Games, and Photos
The iTunes Store features thousands of free podcasts--radio-type shows you subscribe to--including indie favorites and offerings from big names such as, ABC News, Comedy Central, ESPN, PBS, NPR, and many more. Browse and subscribe to podcasts, then sync them to your iPod and listen anytime. Even video podcasts sync to go, and all your podcasts appear in their own menu on your iPod, so they're easy to navigate.

The digital shelves of the iTunes Store are stocked with thousands of audiobooks, including such exclusives as the entire Harry Potter series. Download what you want, sync to your iPod and catch up on your reading the audio way. Just like podcasts, you can browse audiobooks in their own menu on your iPod. And your iPod automatically recognizes where you left off reading and bookmarks your place, so it is easy to dive back into the story. You can even change the reading speed to suit you--this is a perfect feature for learning a new language.

Now that the iTunes Store features iPod games, you can keep hours of fun at your fingertips. Download brand-new and classic games, including Bejeweled, Texas Hold 'Em, Vortex, Mahjong, Mini Golf, Pac-Man, Tetris, and Zuma, for just a few dollars each, then sync them to your iPod and play along with your favorite tunes. All iPod games from the iTunes Store are designed specifically for the fifth-generation iPod, and all of them look great on the 2.5-inch color display.

If you can fill your iPod with photos, then you've got a ton of images at your disposal. iPod holds tens of thousands of photos that you can sync from your Mac or Windows PC via iTunes. Use the Click Wheel to scroll through photo thumbnails the same way you scroll through song titles. To see a photo full-screen, just click the center button. You can even view photo slideshows--complete with music--on your iPod or on a TV via the optional iPod Video/Photo AV Cable. Select Slideshow Settings, choose the transition effect and the music, and then start the show.

Search, Settings, and Extras
With thousands of songs, audiobooks, and more on your iPod, you need an easy way to search and enjoy your collection. A brand-new, built-in search function lets you use the Click Wheel to type out the name of the song, artist, album, audiobook, or podcast you're looking for, and your iPod returns results instantly as you select letters--finding what you want couldn't be easier.

The fifth-generation iPod lets you customize menus, check capacity, change your language, change how your iPod sounds, and more, all from the easy-to-use Setting menu. Click About to see how many songs are on your iPod and how much room you have left. Click Main Menu to select what items appear in your Main Menu, tweak the built-in equalizer, or set a maximum volume limit--everything you need to personalize your iPod, from backlight timer to clicker sound effects, appears in Settings.

And, lastly, your iPod is loaded with extras. Everything from calendars, contacts, and the World Clock appear in the Extras menu, along with a few more handy items. Take the Screen Lock, for example. Spin the Click Wheel to choose a four-digit combination and protect your iPod from prying eyes. If you forget your combo, you can reset it at your next sync. Or use the built-in stopwatch to log your best times at the gym. And when it's finally time to play, the Extras menu lists all your games, including the ones you purchase from the iTunes Store.

What's in the Box
Apple 30 GB iPod with Video Playback, earphones, USB 2.0 cable, dock adapter, case, and quick start guide.

Product Description
Apple iPod - Continuing its tradition of hardware and software innovation and design, Apple has released a new iPod that surpasses the last. This update to the 5th generation iPod with video playback features the same 2.5" display, but now it's 60% brighter! Perfect for iTunes 7, which ushers in movie and video game downloads. Another update that will help out with all that new content is the battery. This iPod has up to 14 hours of music playback, and up to 3.5 hours of video playback. You also get a newer set of white Apple earbuds, and best of all, a lower price! Ports - dock connector, Stereo minijack, composite video and audio through minijack Connectivity - USB through dock connector, composite video (with A/V cable - sold separately), and audio through headphone jack or line out on the iPod Universal Dock (sold separately) Charge Time - about 4 hrs. (2 hrs. fast charge to 80% capacity) Audio Support - AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Music Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4), Apple Lossless, WAV, & AIFF Photo Support - syncs iPod-viewable photos in JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, PSD (Mac only), and PNG formats Video Support - H.264 video - up to 768 Kbps, 320 x 240, 30 fps, Baseline Profile up to Level 1.3 with AAC-LC up to 160 Kbps, 48 Khz, stereo audio in. m4v,. mp4 and. mov file formats / MPEG-4 video - up to 2.5 mbps, 480 x 480, 30 fps, Simple Profile with AAC-LC up to 160 Kbps, 48 Khz, stereo audio in. m4v,. mp4 and. mov file formats Backlight Timer Sleep Timer 20 Equalizer Settings Shuffle Songs or Albums Date and Time Unit Dimensions - 4.1 x 2.4 x 0.43 Unit Weight - 4.8 oz. Color - Black

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Should You Start a Business Blog?

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In just a few years, blogs have become a phenomenon. Every day, an estimated 175,000 new blogs and more than 1.6 million blog updates go online, according to Technorati, a blog tracking firm. As of late January 2007, Technorati was tracking 63.2 million blogs.

This explosive growth raises the question: Should your small business start a blog? I believe you should, if for no other reason than to take advantage of an effective marketing tool. In a recent survey of business technology marketing executives by research firm MarketingSherpa, blogs were voted the No. 4 tool for generating sales leads.

Like any other marketing tool, blogs are most effective when used properly. Here are some suggestions for successful blogging, plus some background for those who aren't familiar with blogs.

The Backstory on Blogs
The word "blog'' is derived from the term "web log.'' In essence, a blog is a web page or site that's part online journal--hence the term "log''--and part open forum. Some bloggers post new updates constantly; others write updates weekly, monthly or only occasionally.

In most cases, blog entries are short and might include photos or links. Sometimes blog readers can post their reactions to the blogger's entries. Other readers can then add their two cents to those comments, thereby continuing the dialogue.

The so-called blogosphere contains blogs on practically every conceivable topic. Some blogs exist on the website of an individual or business, while others are hosted on public blogging sites, like Blogger and Windows Live Spaces.

Why You Should Consider Blogging
Aside from generating new sales leads, blogging also offers the following potential benefits.

• A blog allows your business to engage with current and potential customers in a direct, informal, no-pressure way. You can communicate the strengths of your product or service, the expertise of your top executives and the breadth of your company's experience in ways that traditional marketing and advertising don't allow. This can help engender a better understanding of your company as well as inspire customer loyalty.
• Because of its collaborative nature, a blog can help you gain insight into customers' needs and interests. You can then use this information to develop new products or services or fine-tune existing ones.
• A blog can make your company appear more "alive'' and approachable. A website promoting your products or services is an essential marketing tool. But a blog, in effect, gives your company a personal voice, which also can help boost customer loyalty.
• Blogs cost little, if any, money. Some public blogging sites are free; others charge only nominal fees. Also, blogs are often extremely easy to set up and update, with virtually no training required.

How to Be a Successful Blogger
If you decide a blog makes sense for your business, here are some things you should keep in mind.

• Start by setting goals, policies and tone. Decide what you want to accomplish with your blog and let those goals influence your content. For example, you may want to establish yourself as a "thought leader'' in your industry, boost your site's status in search engine results or differentiate your business from the competition. Also, if your blog will have multiple in-house authors, decide on basic ground rules, such as never trashing the competition. If possible, make a staff member the blog editor to check entries before they're posted for grammar, typos, tone and consistency.
• Keep it relevant and personal. Blog readers want to know what you--or others in your company--think about the trends relevant to your industry. If you run a local real estate firm, your readers would likely want to know your thoughts on buying and selling trends in your area. Make your entries personal by speaking to readers directly. Tell them a story. Use an authoritative yet conversational and informal voice.
• Make it useful. When you offer helpful tips and links to other resources on the web, your readers will be more inclined to tell others about your blog. For instance, have you read a new book that's relevant to your readers' interests? If so, write a short review of that book in your blog. If your blog is an information resource for your industry, other bloggers and website owners will want to link to it. And the more sites that link to your blog, the more likely it will show up near the top of search engine results.
• Use relevant keywords throughout your blog. This is another way to boost your blog's chances of showing up at or near the top of search engine results.
• Keep readers hungry. If your blog entries are clear, concise and compelling, readers will want to return again and again.
• Use a soft sell. Don't use your blog to re-purpose press releases, brochures or other content originally created for marketing, PR or advertising. Readers can smell a blatant pitch a mile away.
• Update often. Readers expect blogs to be refreshed regularly. If you update your blog once a month or less, you may not develop a devoted readership. Shorter, more frequent updates are preferable to longer, infrequent ones.
• Consider sharing the duties. Blogging requires a time commitment. Sharing the blogging duties with others in your company can take the pressure off. Plus, multiple voices can make a blog more interesting.
• Stick to it. If you decide to start a blog, make a commitment to keep it going. An abandoned blog won't give readers a favorable impression of your company.
• Be prepared to evangelize. Because blogging is still relatively new, some stakeholders in your company may be unconvinced of its potential return on investment. Explain how a blog might help your business. Provide examples of blogs you admire and, if possible, how those blogs translated into sales leads, better customer relations or other benefits.
• Consult with trusted advisers. Before embarking on any new marketing initiative, it's always a good idea to consult with those whose opinion you trust. Do you know a business owner with a business-oriented blog? If so, ask what impact the blog has had on their business. Also ask your in-house or contract marketing expert for input on your blog's goals, content or tone. Finally, talk to your webmaster, site designer or other web-savvy adviser. Should you add a blog to your small-business website or create one on a separate, public site? What keywords would they recommend using?

Something to Say
Ultimately, a blog can be a highly effective and low-cost marketing tool for differentiating your business from the competition and encouraging customer loyalty. All that's required to be a successful small business blogger is planning, creativity, commitment and, most importantly, something worth saying.

Peter Alexander is Entrepreneur.com's "Tech Trends" columnist and vice president of worldwide commercial marketing at Cisco Systems Inc., the leading supplier of networking equipment and network management for the internet.

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Banner ads just don’t work … so they say!

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If you ask me, this is a huge fallacy – I currently have web ad placements returning over 800% ROI. Imagine being handed eight bucks for every dollar you spend! So obviously it would take a lot to convince me that web media doesn’t work.

But not all web media is created equal. As a responsible web marketer, you can’t listen to what they say. You have to find out for yourself! And this means testing.

As a smart direct response marketer you need to allocate time and money to testing not only ad copy, ad layout, offers and prices. You also have to test media. Because in the web marketing world your media is your traffic driver … the catalyst that brings potential prospects to your doorstep.

Web media can be many things … and unfortunately it’s not quite so cut and dry.

Come closer my child …

To start, we’ll break web media down into two categories. The first category is the more passive of the two … in that these ad types require the prospect to come to the site to be seen.

Passive categories consist of:

Banner Ads

I’m sure everyone knows what a banner ad looks like. They are all over the web and come in many shapes and sizes. Banners ads are sold by the impression on a CPM (cost per thousand) basis so the larger quantity of impressions you can buy the more potential prospects will see your ad. Banners tend to have a lower CPM in comparison to most other web media.

The key with banner ads is to create ad copy that is compelling enough to get the prospect to click away from the site they’re visiting to check out what they know to be advertising.

We’ll talk a lot more about banner ad creation strategies in upcoming issues of In the Net Trenches, but suffice it to say most online big brand advertisers are doing it all wrong.

Sponsored Headlines

Sponsored headlines are one of my favorite ad positions and can work very well for a product that is topical or newsy … such as ones in the financial or health markets. Sponsored headlines typically appear on more news oriented sites and simply mimic a headline that might appear on a website for a news story. Often, they are relegated to a section of a website that is classified as advertising, special offers or sponsored offers.

The power of a sponsored headline is that it is static for a specified period of time, so it is not shown on an impression basis … this means they can get huge amounts of viewership depending on site traffic. And because sponsored headlines look like news headlines, they are often mistaken for website editorial and so they have much higher click through rates than banners.

Sponsored headlines are typically sold on a flat rate basis based on how long they run – such as per week or per month. But note: some sites may actually classify their headline ads as a text ad.

Text Ads

Text ads tend to be the smallest ad size on a site and the cheapest. They are often relegated to the bottom of a page like a classified ad. They tend to have the look and feel of a Google pay-per-click ad and can usually be found in groups. As the name implies, they consist of all text. Some text ads will also allow a small image to be displayed next to the text.

Text ads are typically the least expensive web media available. They are sold on an impression and a flat rate basis. They are most often static -- which means they have the potential to get very high viewership.

I will stress that text ads can be a mixed bag as far as performance. The benefit is they tend to look like editorial and because they are in-expensive it may take far less to make them break even.

If you love him set him free …

The next category tends to be more active in that they are pushed out to the prospect.

Active categories consist of:

Newsletter Sponsorships

Newsletter sponsorships or newsletter ads are found in a company’s e-newsletter or e-zine. The e-newsletters are sent to the websites opt-in subscribers by e-mail. The ads appear within the actual newsletter issue. Ads can take the shape of a banner ad or a text ad depending on the newsletter.

Newsletter ads are often limited to one ad sponsor per issue. So there is far less competition for attention in an e-newsletter. Plus, with only one ad sponsor per issue you get a measure of implied endorsement from a company that your prospect may already trust or even be doing business with.

Open rates tend to be higher for e-newsletters than for other types of paid e-mail. But the downside is you are in competition with the e-newsletter editorial, so it’s important to have interesting and compelling copy to entice the reader to click away from the newsletter.

Newsletter ads run the gamut in pricing from extremely cheap to extremely expensive and are typically sold on a CPM (cost per thousand) or flat rate basis.

Newsletter advertisers can expect to have the majority of their ad responses within about 48 hours of the newsletters delivery. But, e-newsletters tend to hang around in prospects inboxes and I’ve seen orders from newsletter sponsorship ads as much as 3 months later.

E-Mail Marketing

There are two different types of e-mail lists – response and compiled.

Response e-mail lists tend to be the most expensive of all the categories we’ve covered today and the most effective. They are also one of my favorites and the closest to direct mail.

Response e-mail lists are made up of customers or opt-in subscribers that have all responded to a specific offer. They have either purchased a product, opted-in to receive an e-newsletter or to receive special information from one particular business.

Response e-mail lists are sent from the list owner to the prospect on behalf of the advertiser, thus are immediately recognizable as being from a company the prospect is familiar with. This makes these prospects warm to your offers.

Compiled e-mail lists tend to be dirt cheap in comparison to response lists. They are made up of broad categories of people across specific demographic or psychographic categories. Since prospects often don’t know how they ended up on a specific compiled list, e-mails can easily be mistaken for SPAM. This makes these prospects very cold.

Low cost and mass quantity are the key to making compiled lists work in your favor.

E-mail lists are typically purchased on a CPM (cost per thousand) basis but some compiled lists are also sold on a CPA (cost per action) basis.

One key to making e-mail marketing work for you is getting prospects to open your message. Subject lines are an extremely important factor in e-mail marketing and should not be an afterthought in creative development. We’ll spend more time on subject lines in upcoming issues of In the Net Trenches.

One huge benefit of e-mail marketing is that it’s virtually instantaneous -- you will start seeing response immediately and the majority of orders will come in within the first 24-48 hours. Also like newsletter sponsorships, e-mails tend to hang around in your prospects inbox for some time and I’ve seen responses continue to trickle in months later.

Clayton Makepeace, www.makepeacetotalpackage.com/

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The past few weeks have been an exciting thrill ride for me as I’ve seen one of my proteges experience one of the most successful entrepreneurial starts in years. For any of you who've been down the entrepreneurial trail, check out these stats for this young startup:

• They just completed a $2.75 million round of funding that included simultaneous contributions from a major venture capital firm and a leading angel investor group.
• When negotiating with the venture capital firm, the company managed to get the VC to increase their valuation offer by 25 percent.
• When negotiating with the angel group, the company actually had to decrease the amount they'd be allowed to invest by 50 percent--and they agreed!
• The company initially only wanted to raise $1.5 million but conceded to the higher amount just to keep their investors happy and allow most of them a chance to invest. The key concession was in upping the valuation to minimize the early dilution of the founders.

In 25 years of funding companies, I’ve never seen a company generate so much pre-funding hype--not even during the “dotcom” craziness. And, with the exception of that same period, I’ve never seen a company attract investments from both VCs and angels at the same time.

So what makes this company so special? What characteristics did they have that made it easier for them to find funding? Here's a closer look at the elements that seemed to make this company stand out among the thousands of startups seeking funding:

The Entrepreneur. The founder of this company is unique. First, he’s as smart as a whip, and not just when it comes to “book” smarts--he’s also got street smarts. He knows how the world works, and he has an interesting way of seeing how the pieces fit. He's able to look at an idea and determine if it will fit into a viable market niche.

When I first met him, he was practically obsessed with coming up with new ideas and then getting them patented. Forget about building a company—he firmly believed you could just go out and get a patent and then someone with a company would come to you. He then persuaded me to “adopt” him in exchange for him helping out around the office. He was clearly a consummate networker with a certain charisma that made you want to help him. Later, that gift proved to be so powerful that, when we found him the perfect CEO for his company, the CEO took a back seat to the founder so he could be the one to pitch the company. Why? Because our guy had the gift of making people believe he could pull off his vision. His combination of charisma and an unbelievable understanding of the market inspired his audience to believe that his vision was doable.

A Good “Right Hand" Man. Let’s face it: Smarts and charisma may be a great combination, but in the absence of experience, serious investors just aren't going to take a chance on a new business. One of the first things I did to help my young friend was to get him linked up with a seasoned CEO who'd “been there, done that” before. What made this CEO a good fit was that he was truly a humble guy who, despite his prior successes, would assume any role to achieve the desired outcome. This attitude enabled him to see the potential in our entrepreneur; together, they developed an amazing relationship that allowed each to get the very best out of each other. (In fact, their relationship gelled so well that they quickly decided the new man's best role to play in this company would be COO, and that the founder, some 15 years his junior, should be the head honcho (CEO).

Consummate Networking and Schmoozing Abilities. Once the core team had been established, both men began looking for the absolutely best people they could talk into joining their venture. Our founder did it by reading about who was tops in their industry and then finding a way to meet them. He was fearless about approaching anyone to discuss his vision.

The COO, on the other hand, knew this industry cold and had many contacts. Interestingly, he often chose to introduce them to his partner and let him work his magic. One significant turning point was when he teed up a contact who was considered the person they most needed for the team. The problem was, this executive had worked for all the major icons in their industry and was, himself, an icon. If they could get him to even assume an advisory role, it would be a major victory. But they were both pretty skeptical they'd be able to get him on board.

As you might guess, one evening with our charismatic visionary and the gentleman was hooked. Not only did he agree to join the team, he agreed to work for free until the company got funded. (Let me clarify “free.” Among entrepreneurs, “free” means no cash. But it doesn't usually mean no stock. And that's what the new guy got--stock in the new venture.)

Exceptional Technology. This company has a technology that took years to develop and perfect. The work was done by credible individuals and, most important, could be easily demonstrated to work. When they began seeking funding, the technology wasn’t perfect nor was it entirely ready to be commercialized, but it was at the point where it could be clearly seen to have overcome some major obstacles that would give it a comfortable lead in the market. It also had strong patent protection.

Market-Changing Potential. If you're seeking outside funding for your startup, it really helps if your market potential can be seen to be worth the effort--that's usually something north of $500 million in three to five years. What's even better is if your product or service looks like it can address more than one market space with the same or greater potential. The technology for my young friend's startup not only had all that, it had the further benefit of being what some call a “transitional” technology. The automobile, for instance, was a transitional technology. So was the telephone and the computer. On more than one occasion, after making a presentation to a potential customer, the customer would comment, “This is going to revolutionize our industry!” Very few ideas actually fit this rare space but when you find one, well, that's how you'll become the next Bill Gates.

Credible Investors. Too many entrepreneurs care only about getting the money and couldn't care less about where it came from. Not our team. From the start, they were asking, “Who are the most impressive people we can get to invest in our company?” Then they went about doing everything they could to get an audience with them. In the end, they got their first-choice VC and their first choice angel group to fund them. As a result, they'll not only reap the economic rewards, they'll also gain the respect of other investors and, more important, they'll have the help and expertise of the groups that funded them.

For those of you who've ever tried to get a company funded or are currently in the process, understanding what attracts investors can help you land your own funding. Having an outstanding leader, a strong management team, exceptional networking skills, a well-developed product that will generate strong market interest and being able to attract your first-choice investors are all critical factors that will help smooth the process and make landing that capital feel more like a cake walk than a marathon.

Jim Casparie is the "Raising Money" coach at Entrepreneur.com and the founder and CEO ofThe Venture Alliance, a national firm based in Irvine, California, that's dedicated to getting companies funded.

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