Get Paid for Caring for Kids

Do you enjoy working with children? Would you like to help lighten the load on harried moms and dads? If you are already staying home to care for your children, why not earn extra money by starting your own Child Care Service? With more and more parents needing help to care for their children, the market for child care services is burgeoning.

Whether you want to start a family-style child-care center in your home or a large center at a commercial site, here’s how to do it. Entrepreneur Magazine’s Start Ups: Child Care Services is succinct, informative presentation of key issues to be aware of in the child care industry, plus the steps to take to start your own child care service, Illuminating interviews show solutions other successful child care owners developed for their businesses.

Child Care Services contains complete overviews of:

• legal and insurance concerns
• facility location and set up considerations
• security issues
• how to establish and revise rates
• hour and policy considerations
• records to obtain from parents

Useful sample forms, a glossary, additional resources, plus step-by-step instructions, checklists, and worksheets will guide you through each step of the start-up process and help you get started in your own child care business today.

User Ratings and Reviews

3 Stars A Light Overview of Running Childcare Business
This book presents an overview of what’s involved in running a childcare business. It’s good reading if you are not sure about starting your own day care and want to know what sort of things to expect. The book employs a short, quick style which includes tips and checklists, and makes this a book you can get through in just a couple of sittings. There are some reproducible forms included in the text as well.

The author spoke with a variety of people who started their own child care service and each of the chapters is based on their own direct experiences. There is also a chapter on starting a child’s transportation service.

Despite the fact that this seems like a primer book, the marketing chapter had more tips for established businesses as opposed to new businesses.

There is an appendix with contact information for some agencies and services mentioned in the book.

If you are looking for a book with a bit more substance, I would recommend Opening & Operating A Successful Child Care Center Opening & Operating A Successful Child Care Center

1 Star Gives very general info … not worth the money!
This book gave the most basic and general information about opening a child care service. It claims to cover both centers and family day care, but really only discusses centers in any depth. This is NOT the book for anyone looking to open a family day care. It covers information that people should already know anyway (except that it does write about how many mops and trash cans centers should have). Please don’t waste your money on this one. Steelsmith’s book is MUCH better – you will get a lot more out of that one!

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This CD set shows entrepreneurs how to start one of three different types of staffing services. They will learn proven tips for finding clients and temporary workers, setting fees, and promoting their business.

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Affiliate Millions

For more than a decade, the Internet has allowed people to make substantial amounts of money on both a full-time and part-time basis. Today, with even more online opportunities available than ever before, you can achieve a level of financial success that most people only dream about-and in Affiliate Millions, author Anthony Borelli will show you how.

With the help of coauthor Greg Holden, Borelli will show you how to make thousands, and eventually tens of thousands, of dollars each month through the process of paid search marketing and affiliate advertising. Along the way, they’ll also share the secrets to mastering this often-overlooked strategy and provide you with the tools and techniques needed to maximize your potential returns.

Since making one million dollars through paid search marketing and affiliate advertising in his first full year of operations, Anthony Borelli has never looked back. Now, he wants to help you do the same. Filled with in-depth insights and practical advice, Affiliate Millions will introduce you to this profitable endeavor and show you how to make it work for you.

User Ratings and Reviews

1 Star Technique but no cookie
As someone who has spent over a decade on the Internet, I understand the fundamentals of the building of a tool or the utilization of a tool that can be used to generate money online. If you understand this too, then skip this one.

This book is for the complete novice. BUT if that novice buys it, they will regret it because they will spend hours and hours toiling to get to an expert level of understanding on how to build and utilize a system such as this and then be faced with the same outcome I was.

There is absolutely no recommendation for products and services that do well in this environment. All of the check copies posted in the book were dated from 2005 which most folks know was the hay-day of the search marketplace and literally was the first year in existence for the pay-per-click marketplace. Today’s marketplace, especially in the affiliate realm, is extremely more competitive largely because of books like this. There was no effort expended in addressing this competitive pressure and the resulting gap reduction between affiliate commission and PPC bids.

At the end of the day, folks, there are no easy millions. You must be ahead of a trend like Mr. Borelli, to exploit such an opportunity. Once the rest of the world has caught up, the only thing you can hope to do is … you guessed it … sell a book to teach others how to do it.

4 Stars Direct and Immediately Useful
I was seeking a detailed, practical and thorough “how-to” approach to build internet-based revenue. This book filled the bill. It covered all key facets of the approach – particularly helpful for a layperson – as well as for someone with web-based experience (as am I). I have yet to test the specific recommendations. The book was solid.

1 Star Didn’t work for me
I tried the principles in this book. I set up some ads for a variety of products and different companies through Commission Junction and was, at first, delighted that I was getting a good amount of clicks. I was confident the ads were good enough because of some experience I’ve had in the past writing copy.

However, after over 250 clicks to major websites that boasted a large earnings per click, I got one sale and a large $ loss. The ads were good enough to catch the people’s attention, but no one was buying.

I think this is a tough way to go at it. A website might be the better way to go. I am amazed that anyone could make any money doing this, never mind millions.

2 Stars Basic start but could leave you broke..
Its true that money can be made by signing up for affiliate programs and marketing them on pay per click search engines. However, its possible to lose a great deal of money and this book doesn’t do a good enough job helping people calculate the risks. For example, the author indicates he markets Amazon products. Amazon on its basic associate program pays 4%. A $20.00 book pays a comission of .80 cents. But in pay per click advertising a marketer can pay 30, 40 cents and even a dollar depending on the keywords. In a test marketing the new Harry Potter book (book 5) I spent over 9.00 in ppc ads that resulted in 4 sales. The click thru to sale was 13%… which isn’t bad. The point is, I earned only about $2, but spent over $9.00 to earn it (a loss of $7.00). The author doesn’t explain how to choose affiliate programs in terms of cost vs. payoff. Anyone who reads this book will get some basic information, but before spending money on ppc advertising they’d be better off buying The Ultimate Guide to Google Adwords which does a better job explaining keywords, writing effective ads and managing campaigns.

4 Stars Basic tools for the online gold rush
My experience was similar to that of “gordo the lordo.” Plenty of clicks but just a few orders. Getting clicks isn’t hard. What kind of clicks? That’s the $1,000,000 question.

As a search engine advertiser, your task is to capture the clicks of consumers who have made a buying decision or are very close. These clicks will make money for you. The clicks of people who are “just browsing” will cost you money. You have to be a student of online search behavior.

You capture money-making clicks by finding highly relevant keywords and writing focused ads. How hard can it be? Get your ads up and running, tweak them, and watch the money roll in. You only need basic English skills and common sense. A degree in advertising or English is not going to help.

I would encourage anyone to try it because you may discover that you have the knack. By spending $500 or so, you should be able to get an idea how well you might do. Don’t make the mistake I made, which was to let my ads capture several hundred clicks without getting any orders. I kept thinking “the orders will kick in.” They didn’t. Stop your ads after 200-300 clicks and wait for results. (Even 50 clicks are too many with retail sites.) You can either tweak the ad (if it’s close to break-even) or abandon it and try something else. Tweaking wouldn’t have helped my ads, which earned pennies for every dollar spent on clicks.

You are playing the keyword market on Google. Some keywords sell for $20 per click and more. Search engine advertisers don’t get caught up in keyword “bubbles.” They are only after potent “value” keywords that sell for 25 cents or less.

The keyword market is like a gold rush. Everywhere you look the ground is torn up by hordes of stampeding prospectors. You wander far and wide hoping to find a stone that hasn’t been turned. How many thousands of other guys are out there trying the same thing? Good luck.

You never know. You might have the knack. Affiliate Millions gives you everything you need to know to get started. When I joined my first affiliate program and set up my first ads, I had the book open and followed it not step-by-step but word-for-word. It’s just the kind of “excruciating” detail a beginner needs.

Mr. Borelli explains how to evaluate the earnings potential of an affiliate program. The profit, or course, depends on your revenue per click. An adgroup for $20 books may not be the way to go.

Should you actually make money, there is a chapter on campaign finance. You have to manage your cash flow to optimize performance. If another book on online advertising has this kind of chapter, I haven’t seen it.

Mr. Borelli has set up the Affiliate Millions website for “prospectors.” The only item listed for sale is the book. There is a free monthly newsletter. There are no ads. Mr. Borelli answers questions on the site’s discussion board. If you are at all familiar with the “get rich online” racket you know how exceptional this is. Such sites are usually crammed with ads and have little useful information.

Mr. Borelli’s advice is a bit sketchy and vague. That’s because it has to be. If Mr. Borelli were to disclose his winning formula, everyone would copy him and he would be out of business within hours. All he can do is point people in right direction. Within that proviso, he provides clear and valuable information.

Mr. Borelli makes no promises that prospectors will get rich. He merely suggests that it is possible. He ends the opening chapter with “Take it step-by-step and read the chapters that follow, and you’ll stand a good chance of becoming an Affiliate Millionaire yourself.” If he starts the book by saying your chances are practically nil, no one will continue reading.

Like “gordo,” I’m amazed that anyone could make millions at this. A million dollars in a year is $2,700 a day. You would have to consider yourself pretty successful with $2,700 a day in SALES, never mind commissions. You would have to strike it rich with multiple million-dollar campaigns. You would have to come up with new ones all the time.

Think of the millions in revenue Mr. Borelli is generating for the companies he advertises for. They should throw a party for him.

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Earn a Healthy Living Helping Others Win the Battle of the Bulge

Personal trainers aren’t just for athletes and the rich and famous anymore. As people become more aware of the importance of living a healthy lifestyle, personal trainers are in high demand. You’ll learn the nuts and bolts of starting a personal training business, including everything from establishing a business plan to getting certified to finding a profitable niche. Tips from successful trainers provide inspiration and advice along the way. They offer insights about:

• Requirements and startup costs
• What to expect during day-to-day operations
• Making yourself stand out from the competition
• Marketing strategies
• Building solid relationships with clients
• How to track and manage finances
• The most popular services trainers are offering

You’ll also find out about the latest trends in health and wellness so you can keep your business at the cutting edge in this rapidly expanding market. Whether you want to run a solo-operation or an exercise studio employing other trainers – you’ll have the tools to succeed.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Good advice—great insight
We enjoyed this book as it provided up with information that helped us make a decision on whether to pursure a career in the fitness industry. I would recommend it.

2 Stars a book for novices
I was looking for a book that would provide detailed, in-depth information. I did not find what I was looking for here.

It has helpful information if you are completely new to the industry. If you have ANY experience couples with some common sense, then this is not what you’re looking for.

It did have a resources guide in the back that I found helpful, but that’s about it.

4 Stars Good read
I found this book to be a great read. Very well-written, easy to read-nice and to the point. I really liked the real life examples they reference in the book. They have real life stories of personal trainers and how they started out in the industry. The book gives a great side by side comparison of a personal trainer starting their own studio vs. a trainer starting out with an in-home business. The only thing keeping this from a 5, in my opinion, is they don’t really do into detail about the “next step.” For example, you need to obtain a business license, permit etc., but they do not go into any details. But there are other books out there for this. I would also recommened reading Personal Training for Dummies, they go into great detail about how to really launch your business, and what exactly you will need.

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MANUFACTURER WARRANTY:andnbsp;andnbsp;90 DAYS

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars QuickBooks Pro 2007 for Mac
I have a service business. QuickBooks Pro for Mac works well for my business. I create invoices while I’m servicing my customers. I spend 95% of my time on the road. It allows me to be accurate with payables and receivables, spending less time on accounting. In turn I can spend more time with customers.QuickBooks Pro 2007 for Mac (Mac)

4 Stars I’ve had a good experience with Quickbooks Pro for Mac
I realize there are quite a few negative reviews here, but I have had nothing but good result from this program. My wife and I run a consulting firm and the fact that Quickbooks has a consulting firm set-up feature sold me on it. We do not need to track sales or inventory, and Quickbooks was able to make that distinction and set up our business just the way it needed to be. The Business Walkthrough is a great feature and made setting up shop very simple.

I was a little intimidated in the beginning, since I have little accounting experience. But I printed out and read the section on Consulting from the help document and everything became more clear to me. Now that I have a better grasp of the features I am much more comfortable with the program. It reminds me a lot of Quicken I use for personal finance, which helps with the comfort factor.

I downloaded the Trial first, and was able to perform all functions and even set up the company. I wanted to see if it would afford everything I needed, and it did. I would recommend people try it first, to see if it gives you everything you are looking for.

My only complaint is the update pricing, or lack there of. Intuit should offer discounts to it’s loyal customers.

I would recommend this program to anyone in the consulting field due to the defined business model it can spit out. I like not having all the extra accounts and expenses I don’t need to track.

1 Star Inuit hasn’t fixed or improved QB Mac for years
Intuit claims they spend lots of money supporting the Mac version, but you couldn’t tell from QuickBooks Pro 2007. This is essentially the same software they came out with six years ago, and has all the same limitations.

The immediate problem for those considering purchasing this today is that QB Pro 2007 crashes when trying to export to Excel 2008, the latest version of both pieces of software. That’s right… Intuit doesn’t support the world’s largest software publisher’s largest-selling product. And they advertise that they do (see the claims about easy export to Excel above). Yet their own Mac support discussion boards are filled with unanswered requests for a solutions to this problem. When you click on “Export to Excel” in a report window it crashes Excel 2008.

I spent an hour on the phone with Intuit and they blame Microsoft. Microsoft blames them. We’ve been here before, right?

Intuit needs to fix their product, and where is v.2008 with all the features that the Windows or Vista version has?

1 Star Intuit makes Microsoft seem user friendly
The only thing worse that Quickbooks for Windows is Quickbooks for Mac. As users of both products, I agree completely with the multiple negative reviews posted earlier. Intuit’s refusal to support bugs within their software is unethical. I’d say criminal, but since we all have to agree to a disclaimer that no piece of software comes with any guarantee to do anything, anytime, anywhere, there’s no legal recourse.

When are the consumer protection groups going to wake up and go after software companies for their refusal to take responsibility for their products, with Intuit at the head of the line? When are we consumers going to wake up and tell our accountants to take their requirement we use Quickbooks and give us some real alternatives?

I suppose a big part of the problem is that there aren’t any decent alternatives. Quickbooks seems to have killed most of them off – but you might take a look at the open source GnuCash program. Perhaps it can morph into a Quickbooks alternative.

3 Stars Works but very disappointing
I switched from Money to Quickbooks Pro in 2007. It was a tough transition but worth it for my companies. Now in 2008, I’ve moved from Windows to Mac in a desperate bid to get computers that work reliably and meet our needs without paying homage to “Emperor Gates”. The transfer from Quickbooks Pro Windows to Quickbooks Pro Mac has been absolutely painful. This is largely due to the substandard product that Intuit developed for the Mac. There is no accountant’s copy (unless you’re willing to send it off and then shut down all record keeping, invoicing or accounting while you wait for the file to come back), you cannot share files between more than one computer on the same network, the menus are not as easy to navigate (some options are actually buried 2 or 3 layers deep), the forms are not as easily customizable or turn out looking as clean/professional, and you can’t customize the main screen so you have easy access to the features you use day-to-day. It’s just generally more difficult to use on Mac and makes using the product even more challenging, and less worth while, then it was in Windows. I feel there should be more disclosure from Intuit about the serious discrepancy between the Windows and Mac versions of the “same” product. I honestly cannot recommend this product to anyone who does more then basic record keeping or works with a professional accountant. This is not really a professional, small business product.

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User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Great price just what I needed
Had a client that needed to upgrade and needed it fast. Amazon was right to the rescue.

5 Stars Say it ain’t so !!!!
I’ve finally upgraded to VFP 9 and it’s just tough that Microsoft has announced this will be the final version… just really tough! Installation is quick along with product updates from Microsoft.

5 Stars Excellent software for years to come
I’ve just upgraded from Visual FoxPro 6.0. I could stay developing using this old version, but I want a more easily approach to Internet applications with VFP, so I’m still exploring the new features in this 9.0 version. There is a lot to use in this new version, but the little I have explored till now seems to be outstanding. Express version of InstallShield software included makes VFP a complete tool for the developer.

A printed summary guide about new features is missed in this upgrade package.

5 Stars The best FoxPro yet!
This is the most significant upgrade to Visual FoxPro since version 3.0. The Report Writer enhancements alone are worth the price of the upgrade, but there are also significant improvements in speed, expanded SQL syntax (very, very expanded!), better .NET interoperability, much easier use of GDI+ graphics, and more. VFP is still Microsoft’s “stealth” app, but that’s OK. It can be your “secret weapon” too–laugh while you get projects done in half the time it takes the poor souls stuck with .NET, and make them wonder how you do it.

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This digital document is an article from Entrepreneur, published by Thomson Gale on March 1, 2006. The length of the article is 441 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Weird ways: what’s the wildest thing you’ve ever done to grab a client?(STARTUPS)
Author: Nichole L. Torres
Publication: Entrepreneur (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 34 Issue: 3 Page: 97(2)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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This digital document is an article from Business Forum, published by California State University, Los Angeles on June 22, 1999. The length of the article is 5839 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The Characteristics and Attributes Of New Chinese Entrepreneurs and Their Emerging Enterprises.
Author: David Pistrui
Publication: Business Forum (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 1999
Publisher: California State University, Los Angeles
Volume: 24 Issue: 3-4 Page: 31(8)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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Rake in the Green

Successful landscapers and lawn care professionals reveal their secrets to success in this $20 billion industry. With all the homes, business parks, apartment complexes, shopping malls and hospitals that need landscaping, you can tailor your services and create your dream job. Your business can range from the simple-mowing and edging lawns, raking leaves and clipping hedges-to applying chemicals and fertilizer, trimming and shaping trees, designing landscapes and more. Learn everything you need to know, including:

• How to find customers
• What equipment you’ll need
• How to hire and manage employees
• Record keeping and accounting
• Where to find working capital
• How to calculate job estimates
• And more

If you love working outdoors, you owe it to yourself to buy this step-by-step guide and start building your own successful lawn care or landscaping business.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Lawn Care or Landscaping
In this Magazine you learn all you need to know about Lawn Care and landscaping business.I have been in Landscaping for 14 years and hopefully will be in it another14.My customers are very pleased with our work and always recommend me for other jobs.

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Kaplan’s powerful approach combines personalized instructions with realistic practice and score-raising strategies. Take a diagnostic exam to determine test strengths and weaknesses. Focus your prep and build skills with a personal study plan.

User Ratings and Reviews

1 Star Crashes on Intel Mac OS X 10.4 MacBook Pro, AVOID
Basically unusable… crashes with Director Player error. No patches available from software company. AVOID for Mac OS X.

5 Stars Great and Does Exactly What It said it Would
My son is using it to prepare for PSAT and it is a great help to be able to take the test then go back and not only see where you made a mistake, but get an explainantion of why the correct answer is the correct answer. This is really a great help!

1 Star Kaplan SAT Platinum does not work on OSX (10.4.11) PowerPC
The software works except on a PowerPC running OS 10.4.11 with current flash player it does not work and crashes everytime you take diagnostic test, you get a Direct Player Error and freezes program and does not save your 30 min test. I called Topics Entertainment tech support and they said they are having problems and Kaplan is responsible for fixing and they have not. It is false advertising, they do not support Mac PowerPc version. Topic Tech Support said it has problems with PowerPC and should work with intel processor for Mac. This software ALSO does not work on OS X 10.5 Leopard, same error. I will try it on my Windows laptop and post an update if I can.

2 Stars Could be Better
Kaplan’s 2007 Platinum Edition SAT ACT PSAT software is mediocre. What I found to be the most detracting was the quality of the user interface of the program. The program took up the entire screen, much like a video game, but only utilized about 50% of the screen space in the middle, placing a black rectangle of space around the edge. This was annoying to me, the programers could have simply made the program windowed, much like the window user interface of a web browser. Some of the explanations regarding multiple choice questions were poor, especially the chemistry and biology questions. All in all, I did not use this software as much as I had anticipated; it just wasn’t the best way to prepare. I recommend sticking to the old fashion test prep books!

5 Stars Great gift for college-bound grandchild
Thanks! Software arrived quickly and in great condition. Our granddaughter has been wanting something like this to help her get ready for the big tests. Hope this helps!

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