That depends....
1) Do you understand and accept that you need to allow yourself 6-8 months to get your web business up and going.
2) Are you hard working, patient, and able to see the big picture
3) Do you understand that online businesses are not only about what you make on a monthly basis but also think about when you go to sell. Recently my client who purchased a site form me only 1 and half years ago is now selling her site for 7 times what she paid. I would say that is a much better return then what the stock market will give you.
4) Do you feel the power of buying in such a low point in our economy. There is a shift going on and you really have no where to go but up
5) Attitude is everything. It's not will I be successfull it's when I am successful. You really can decide if your going to be succesfull or not. You decide the fate of your business. Drive it hard and you will create a thriving business over time. Give up easily-then no don't buy a business.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Saving Grace
Saving Grace
A Cary woman overcomes her husband’s frightening diagnosis, gaining the confidence and faith required to launch a successful business from home.
By Christa Gala
Sometimes dreams come true, as Cary resident Jennifer Varner can attest. But, in her case, the nicest ending started with a wrenching beginning.
In 1999, three weeks after Jennifer and Jeff Varner’s honeymoon, Jeff began feeling extremely ill. A trip to the emergency room revealed devastating news to the young couple, at the time living in Tampa, Florida.
“They called me into the waiting room and in that moment my whole life changed,” Jennifer Varner, now 31, remembers. “They told me Jeff had stage 3 colon cancer. “He had about a 30 percent chance of survival without treatment and a fifty percent chance with treatment.”
Doctors were alarmed. Jeff’s specific type of cancer was rare, just one in 200,000 cases diagnosed annually. Unfortunately, his youth worked against him as cancers are often more aggressive in younger people.
Jeff underwent surgery to remove a blockage and started a nine-month chemotherapy treatment immediately afterward. The once healthy 31-year-old wore a colostomy bag and looked haggard from the nearly toxic regimen he had insisted upon, determined to beat the disease. To make matters worse, doctors urged the couple visit a sperm bank right away, as chemotherapy would surely make Jeff sterile. Just one day before Jeff’s chemo was scheduled to start, a bank was located, but the couple was so overwhelmed with the cancer, they neglected to go.
Praying for a Miracle
While Jeff Varner had faith in his treatment, his wife Jennifer was faltering.
“My assumption was that my husband was going to die,” says Jennifer. “I fell apart. I was the one that needed the support. My husband was super strong in his faith and in his belief that he would beat it.”
At the time, Jennifer worked as a special needs teacher for a church pre-school in Tampa. She attributes her co-workers for helping her get through Jeff’s diagnosis and the trouble that followed. Because of his illness and its debilitating effects, Jeff lost his job and the couple struggled both financially and emotionally.
“These people who supported me at work, faith played a big role in their lives,” says Jennifer. “They encouraged me to pray. I prayed for a child as a sign that my husband would be okay.”
Seven days after Jeff’s surgery, and while he was undergoing chemo, Jennifer found out she was pregnant. Doctors couldn’t believe it. Jennifer was thrilled, but her joy was bittersweet. She worried now about both the health of the baby and her husband.
“It was devastating because I was pregnant, and I didn’t know if I was going to be a widow or if we were going to be a happy family. My pregnancy is what got me through.”
What made her smile were the baby and maternity clothes she found online and in retail stores. After a lot of shopping, she thought to herself that she would love to own a maternity boutique one day. It would be a great way to make a living—to share one of the happiest times in most women’s lives.
Working Right
Today, surprising even herself, Jennifer Varner is doing just that. Less than a year ago, she launched BellaBluMaternity.com from the 600-square-foot upstairs of her home in Cary’s Silver Lake subdivision. The site sells stylish maternity clothes and, now, nursing wear and baby attire. The first month, the site took in $9,000. Currently, it brings in approximately $65,000 monthly.
Varner hired four part-time people to help with the business because that endeavor proved easier than finding one nanny to take care of her three children: Noe, 4, (pronounced Noah); Ireland, 2; and Jude, 7 months. As a result, she spends her days running up and down the stairs tending to the children and the business. Her husband, who works from home in software sales, helps too. He recently celebrated his fifth anniversary cancer-free.
The move from Florida came a few years ago when the couple returned to Jeff’s North Carolina roots. Shortly after Noe was born, Jennifer decided to become a stay-at-home mom. Yet, her dream of owning a maternity store was always on her mind.
About a year ago, she decided to go for it, thinking first of buying an existing website, but then deciding to create her own—to start from scratch. Varner’s intuition and sense of style is uncanny; her clothes and accessories are filling a niche.
“I set up my business based on how I felt when I was pregnant,” explains Varner. “I loved pink; I felt feminine and girly and attractive. I very much wanted to celebrate my pregnancy. I choose my clothing based on that.
“A lot of women don’t feel comfortable wearing clothes that are form-fitting or showing off their bodies during pregnancy,” she continues. “I’m completely opposite. I don’t care how much you weigh. I’m just a big advocate of celebrating your body.”
Varner buys her inventory from four separate designers based out of Miami; she steers traffic to her website largely through search engines Google and Overture. It was expensive, she says, but worth it. “If you have a site, that’s the only way to go.”
Although BellaBluMaternity.com is still in infancy itself, national magazines are already taking notice. The business has been featured in Healthy Pregnancy, on the cover of Parents Expecting, and in the international magazine I’m Pregnant. In January, Varner’s business will grace the pages of Pregnancy.
“Basically, we contact the magazines and submit our clothing. If they like the clothing, they take it and list your name in the magazine. It’s free press; we’re branding our name. We’re trying to get into one national magazine every month. All my advertising money is going to go for local marketing.”
A New Ambition
Jennifer Varner’s next step is to open her first bricks-and-mortar location in Cary. Slated to open in September or October of 2005, Varner isn’t sure yet of the exact location, but she’s hoping it will be in Cary’s Arboretum business park near her home.
Grateful for her success, Varner hasn’t forgotten the tough period from which it was borne. Interestingly, she says she wouldn’t trade that time of her life for anything.
“It permanently affected my life in a positive way, although I wouldn’t have known it at the time,” Varner says. “I thought it was the most devastating, awful experience. But it has changed my heart for the best. I feel like I have a pure heart. At 31, I feel like I have the wisdom of a 60-year-old at times. I’m so thankful. Being at the worst of the worst, I know how awesome my life is now. I’m truly able to appreciate it and not sweat the small stuff.”
A Cary woman overcomes her husband’s frightening diagnosis, gaining the confidence and faith required to launch a successful business from home.
By Christa Gala
Sometimes dreams come true, as Cary resident Jennifer Varner can attest. But, in her case, the nicest ending started with a wrenching beginning.
In 1999, three weeks after Jennifer and Jeff Varner’s honeymoon, Jeff began feeling extremely ill. A trip to the emergency room revealed devastating news to the young couple, at the time living in Tampa, Florida.
“They called me into the waiting room and in that moment my whole life changed,” Jennifer Varner, now 31, remembers. “They told me Jeff had stage 3 colon cancer. “He had about a 30 percent chance of survival without treatment and a fifty percent chance with treatment.”
Doctors were alarmed. Jeff’s specific type of cancer was rare, just one in 200,000 cases diagnosed annually. Unfortunately, his youth worked against him as cancers are often more aggressive in younger people.
Jeff underwent surgery to remove a blockage and started a nine-month chemotherapy treatment immediately afterward. The once healthy 31-year-old wore a colostomy bag and looked haggard from the nearly toxic regimen he had insisted upon, determined to beat the disease. To make matters worse, doctors urged the couple visit a sperm bank right away, as chemotherapy would surely make Jeff sterile. Just one day before Jeff’s chemo was scheduled to start, a bank was located, but the couple was so overwhelmed with the cancer, they neglected to go.
Praying for a Miracle
While Jeff Varner had faith in his treatment, his wife Jennifer was faltering.
“My assumption was that my husband was going to die,” says Jennifer. “I fell apart. I was the one that needed the support. My husband was super strong in his faith and in his belief that he would beat it.”
At the time, Jennifer worked as a special needs teacher for a church pre-school in Tampa. She attributes her co-workers for helping her get through Jeff’s diagnosis and the trouble that followed. Because of his illness and its debilitating effects, Jeff lost his job and the couple struggled both financially and emotionally.
“These people who supported me at work, faith played a big role in their lives,” says Jennifer. “They encouraged me to pray. I prayed for a child as a sign that my husband would be okay.”
Seven days after Jeff’s surgery, and while he was undergoing chemo, Jennifer found out she was pregnant. Doctors couldn’t believe it. Jennifer was thrilled, but her joy was bittersweet. She worried now about both the health of the baby and her husband.
“It was devastating because I was pregnant, and I didn’t know if I was going to be a widow or if we were going to be a happy family. My pregnancy is what got me through.”
What made her smile were the baby and maternity clothes she found online and in retail stores. After a lot of shopping, she thought to herself that she would love to own a maternity boutique one day. It would be a great way to make a living—to share one of the happiest times in most women’s lives.
Working Right
Today, surprising even herself, Jennifer Varner is doing just that. Less than a year ago, she launched BellaBluMaternity.com from the 600-square-foot upstairs of her home in Cary’s Silver Lake subdivision. The site sells stylish maternity clothes and, now, nursing wear and baby attire. The first month, the site took in $9,000. Currently, it brings in approximately $65,000 monthly.
Varner hired four part-time people to help with the business because that endeavor proved easier than finding one nanny to take care of her three children: Noe, 4, (pronounced Noah); Ireland, 2; and Jude, 7 months. As a result, she spends her days running up and down the stairs tending to the children and the business. Her husband, who works from home in software sales, helps too. He recently celebrated his fifth anniversary cancer-free.
The move from Florida came a few years ago when the couple returned to Jeff’s North Carolina roots. Shortly after Noe was born, Jennifer decided to become a stay-at-home mom. Yet, her dream of owning a maternity store was always on her mind.
About a year ago, she decided to go for it, thinking first of buying an existing website, but then deciding to create her own—to start from scratch. Varner’s intuition and sense of style is uncanny; her clothes and accessories are filling a niche.
“I set up my business based on how I felt when I was pregnant,” explains Varner. “I loved pink; I felt feminine and girly and attractive. I very much wanted to celebrate my pregnancy. I choose my clothing based on that.
“A lot of women don’t feel comfortable wearing clothes that are form-fitting or showing off their bodies during pregnancy,” she continues. “I’m completely opposite. I don’t care how much you weigh. I’m just a big advocate of celebrating your body.”
Varner buys her inventory from four separate designers based out of Miami; she steers traffic to her website largely through search engines Google and Overture. It was expensive, she says, but worth it. “If you have a site, that’s the only way to go.”
Although BellaBluMaternity.com is still in infancy itself, national magazines are already taking notice. The business has been featured in Healthy Pregnancy, on the cover of Parents Expecting, and in the international magazine I’m Pregnant. In January, Varner’s business will grace the pages of Pregnancy.
“Basically, we contact the magazines and submit our clothing. If they like the clothing, they take it and list your name in the magazine. It’s free press; we’re branding our name. We’re trying to get into one national magazine every month. All my advertising money is going to go for local marketing.”
A New Ambition
Jennifer Varner’s next step is to open her first bricks-and-mortar location in Cary. Slated to open in September or October of 2005, Varner isn’t sure yet of the exact location, but she’s hoping it will be in Cary’s Arboretum business park near her home.
Grateful for her success, Varner hasn’t forgotten the tough period from which it was borne. Interestingly, she says she wouldn’t trade that time of her life for anything.
“It permanently affected my life in a positive way, although I wouldn’t have known it at the time,” Varner says. “I thought it was the most devastating, awful experience. But it has changed my heart for the best. I feel like I have a pure heart. At 31, I feel like I have the wisdom of a 60-year-old at times. I’m so thankful. Being at the worst of the worst, I know how awesome my life is now. I’m truly able to appreciate it and not sweat the small stuff.”
Sunday, March 1, 2009
5 Great Ways to get Free Advertising for your Business
1) Facebook offers $25.00 in free advertising Credit. Create a facebook account and put into the search bar free advertising.
2) Sponser a give away on someone else's website.
3) Create postcards and post around town.
4) Post a sticker across the back of your car.
5) Work very hard on your Search Engine Optimization so you rank well in the search engines. It's completly free and the majority of your traffic will come to you through this means.
For help with your search engine optimization check out http://www.pure-ecommerce.com
2) Sponser a give away on someone else's website.
3) Create postcards and post around town.
4) Post a sticker across the back of your car.
5) Work very hard on your Search Engine Optimization so you rank well in the search engines. It's completly free and the majority of your traffic will come to you through this means.
For help with your search engine optimization check out http://www.pure-ecommerce.com
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