Ways To Generate Online Income

The Internet has made it possible to generate many more forms of passive online income. Passive income is one of three types of income, as categorized by the IRS. The most common source of passive income is through online advertisements.

Advertising models

Online advertisers offer a variety of advertising models where advertising affiliates are offered payment in exchange for clicks, impressions or for each commission. For example, an e-commerce website might offer a percentage of the revenue generated from sales after a user arrives from the affiliate's link.Generating passive income


The size of the passive income generated by the advertising affiliates comes from the number of users who see the link and are compelled by the advertisement or context that the link is embedded in. In order to draw in traffic and maximize clicks, advertising affiliates need to create content that is interesting to the users and can also draw in traffic that is likely to click on the links and purchase the product on the other side.

The need for content

For this reason, many websites that are advertising affiliates need content, which is most often text. However, the content can also include images, downloads, software, video and various other applications and forms of multimedia. Website owners earn a passive income through advertisements either by creating the content themselves or by subcontracting the creation of this content out to other content creators.

Passive and active compensation

This can be paid for either through passive or active payments. Some website owners choose to share a portion of the website earnings with the content creators, while other websites choose to pay content creators a flat fee, which represents an active form of income. Flat fees provide content creators with an immediate gratification for the content creator, but articles with a large amount of views can earn much more passive income.

E-commerce and auctions

Advertisements are only one way in which income is generated online. Another way to generate income is through the selling of products and services. Many products are sold on e-commerce websites and auction websites. E-commerce websites generally sell a select type of merchandise, with products sold usually at a set price. Auction websites allow buyers and sellers to meet online. Buyers can bid on products, with the highest bidders getting the item for sale.

Private contracts

The bidding concept is also used to sell services on a variety of bidding websites. In this model, clients can post projects and professionals can bid on the project. In this case, the bid represents the fee that the professional wishes to be paid for the project. The client can choose bidders based on the suggested fee, the professional's credentials and samples that are presented to the client.

However, this only represents one of many ways that clients and independent contractors can come together. Many clients will advertise the need for services on online classified websites, content mills and forums. For more high-profile projects, talent is usually found through word-of-mouth or by the independent contractor advertising his or her services on a personal website. While clients might pay a flat fee for services, some clients and independent contractors work out an hourly rate or a revenue share system.

Should You Borrow Money From Your Parents to Start a Business?

“We’ve always encouraged young people: Take a shot, go for it. Take a risk, get the education, borrow money if you have to from your parents, start a business.” –Mitt Romney

Political preferences aside, Mitt Romney’s encouragement to young entrepreneurs is something that some of you may have contemplated. When you’re ready to start a small business, but need funding to get it off the ground, should you borrow the money from your parents?

Surely, they’re likely to be flexible with you on payment terms, and will give you all the emotional support you need when starting a new endeavor, but borrowing money from your parents can be both a blessing and a curse.

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons:

Benefits:

They may give you more lenient terms for payback, including lower interest rates and waived penalties. This is one of the more significant reasons to borrow money from your parents vs. obtaining an inflexible bank loan. Even if this is the case, you’ll want to approach the agreement with a signed promissory note (that’s been looked over by a lawyer), and will need to establish a payback schedule that you can adhere to. Just because you don’t have late fees does not mean you should take advantage of your parents’ generous loan.
Your parents, whether they’ve invested or not, want to see you succeed. When you borrow from them, their money is on the line, and they’ll likely do everything within their means to help you reach your goals – making introductions to their network, acting as your extended sales force, or being beta testers for your product.
Since your parents already know and trust you, they’re likely to have more faith in your business idea and may not put you through the business plan wringer when deciding whether or not to lend to you. This doesn’t mean you should forego this important step when planning to start a business, but it may make it easier on you to know that you’re supported and your idea has merit.

Drawbacks:
We’re still crawling out of an economic recession, and they likely don’t have much money to part with, if any. Through the last few years, many older generations lost a ton of money, and have had to rebuild their wealth while postponing retirement. If your parents are in this position, saving for retirement should be their priority over helping you. Remember that, as they age, they should also have reserves for health care and possibly extended home care, neither of which are inexpensive.
Borrowing money from Mom and Dad could change your relationship with them. It’s one thing to accept a monetary gift, but quite another to explicitly ask for a large sum of money to start a business. When you borrow money, they’ll likely have questions about their involvement in your business, including what they will or won’t have a say in when it comes to how you spend the money. Working with your parents on a personal, familial level is quite different from working with them professionally. You risk having heated disagreements and ongoing tension if there’s money between you.
If you are unsuccessful, you’ve just wasted your parents’ hard-earned money. Banks hedge their bets with small businesses, and can help you to determine how much money you truly need for start-up costs. It’s likely your parents have neither the insight nor the resources to compare your likelihood of success with other small businesses like yours. They may also feel obligated to make an investment based on your personal relationship, even if they can’t afford to lose it.

Regardless of where your funding comes from, it’s important that you make smart business decisions, like these recommended on WiseBread.com. Otherwise, it doesn’t matter where your money came from … parents or otherwise.

Are you a believer that money and family don’t mix? Or have you successfully borrowed money from your parents to start your business?

Lose Upper and Lower Belly Fat

There are two main areas of belly fat: upper and lower. In reality, you abdominal muscles are actually one long slab of muscle. The problem is that it is easier to exercise the upper abdomen than it is to exercise the lower abdomen. Here are some exercises that workout each of the sections of your abs, so than you can develop that dreamed of six pack. At the end of this article will also be some fat burning tips.
Upper Belly Fat

Regular crunches. Lying flat on your back (on a mat or bench), place your hands behind your head gently to support your neck. Your knees should be bent with your feet flat on the floor. Contract you upper abdominal muscles and lift your shoulder blades off of the floor and lower back down. Repeat this several times.

Clam shell. This exercise is similar to the regular crunch, only there is an additional movement. As your bring your should blades off the floor, bring your knees in towards your midsection. When you lower your head back down, lower your legs back to the starting position.
Lower Belly Fat

Reverse crunches. Lying flat on your back, with your hands rested at your sides or behind your head, raise your legs so that they are perpendicular to the floor. Cross your legs with your knees slightly bent. Contract your lower abdominal muscles and raise your hips off of the floor. You back should remain straight and on the floor. Hold the position for a second and lower back down. Repeat the exercise until fatigue.

Abdominal leg raises. You will lie on your back for this exercise as well. Place your arms down at your sides and close your legs. Press your lower abdomen into the floor as you lift your feet off of the ground. Keep your legs straight. Lower your legs back down and raise them again. Repeat.
Fat Burning Exercise

Aerobics class. Sign up for an aerobics class and get your heart pumping. Aerobic activity is great for your respiratory system. It is without question, a great way to boost your metabolism and help you burn fat. You will also have accountability with your instructor and friends.

Dancing. You can sign up for a class in dancing as well. You can take ballroom dancing, hip-hop, Latin Dance, and many other types of dance. It will get your heart pumping just as much as other aerobic activities.
Fat Burning Diet

High fiber, low sugar. Fiber can work wonders for your diet. Increasing your intake of fibers will increase your metabolism and keep you from storing as much fat. Fiber will also help you to feel full faster, so that you won’t eat as much. Reducing your refined sugar intake will also help you to lose weight. Cut down on the cookies, cakes and donuts. You should also drink water instead of soda and fruit drinks that are not 100% fruit juice. The best tried and tested fat loss diet is the Fat Loss 4 Idiots. Thousands of people have had amazing success with it already!

Good fats, good carbs. Monounsaturated fats are the healthy types of fats that you can have. They are found in olive and peanut oils. Lower your intake of saturated fat, because that increases your cholesterol, and packs on weight. Good carbs, or complex carbohydrates are in wheat, rye, oats, and other whole grains. Make sure your breads are 100% whole grain, and not refined. White bread products are something to avoid.

Practicing these exercises will help you to lose both of your upper and lower belly fat. If you do them and make sure that you eat properly, you will see your belly shrink down, and expose a nice six pack.

Using Self Liquidating Transactions to Finance Your Company

The number of business financing alternatives that are available to small and medium sized companies has dropped dramatically as a result of the financial crisis. Until recently, most owners could get a business loan by posting their house as collateral. Now that real estate prices have dropped substantially, banks find themselves saddled with worthless collateral and are being extremely careful with their loan portfolios. Only companies that can show profitable operations for a number of years, strong financial statements, demonstrated management leadership have a reasonable chance at getting business loans. Everyone else will need to find an alternative.

One alternative is a type of self liquidating transaction called invoice factoring. A self liquidating transaction is one that carries it’s mechanism for its own repayment. This feature makes them a very attractive source of financing to some companies.

Factoring is commonly used by companies that give 30 to 60 days invoice terms to their clients. Although large clients demand these payment terms, many small to medium sized companies can’t afford them. They need to get paid sooner so that they can meet their operating expenses. This is where invoice factoring comes in.

In a conventional factoring transaction, the client makes the sale, sends the invoice to the client and the finances it using a factoring company. The factoring company funds the invoice in two payments. The first payment covers about 80% of the invoice and is given soon after invoicing. The second payment of 20 % (less fees) is sent once the invoice is paid in full. The second payment closes – or liquidates – the transaction.

One immediate advantage of invoice factoring is that it allows clients the ability to offer payment terms to their clients with confidence – knowing that they can get money sooner if their business requires it. Additionally, factoring transactions are based on the credit strength of the invoice backing them. This allows small companies, who sell to large credit worthy businesses, to leverage their roster of clients to get financing.

Factoring is ideal for small and midsized companies whose biggest problem is that they can’t afford to wait 30 to 60 days to get paid.

3 ways to finance your small-business startup

This Spotlight on Business Credit Cards is brought to you by American Express OPEN, the leading issuer of small-business credit cards and charge cards in the U.S. OPEN offers business owners products and services to help them run and grow their businesses.

The lingering effects of the Great Recession have made the already-difficult process of financing a startup even more challenging. Small-business loans, which can be tough to secure in the best of times, have gotten even more scarce.

Angel investment can be an attractive option, but, in an article on Bloomberg Businessweek, Karen Klein writes that “you will have to get your business running and make substantial investment in it yourself before you’ll be eligible for private investment.”

And, as always, financing a startup can involve significant risk. But for creative, motivated entrepreneurs, it is possible to navigate this difficult business climate and finance a startup without going bankrupt.

Don’t quit your day job

The most straightforward way to minimize the risk of your startup is to avoid taking on large amounts of debt. That means digging into your savings and living frugally for a while. Entrepreneurs who choose to bootstrap their companies shouldn’t “spend money on anything that doesn’t have the ability to put money directly back into [their] business,” writes Wayne Mullins, founder of Ugly Mug Marketing, in an article on American Express OPEN Forum.

Ideally, 10 years from now, the cash will be flowing in from your company and you’ll be leading business meetings from the deck of your own private yacht. But in the meantime, get ready to put in some 14-hour days. Keeping your regular job until your startup takes off can provide some much-needed security and a steady stream of cash to pump into your business.

Consider a credit card

A number of high-profile entrepreneurs, including Sergey Brin and Larry Page of Google fame, have used credit cards to get their companies up and running. Plastic has some notable advantages over other kinds of financing — for starters, it’s flexible, notes Beth Orenstein. Credit cards allow you to borrow exactly the amount of money you need, when you need it. And, at time when other forms of financing are tough to come buy, small-business credit cards are still accessible for many entrepreneurs.

“The biggest pro to using credit cards in this economy is availability,” said Sam Thacker of Austin, Texas-based Business Finance Solutions, in Orenstein’s article.

However, easy access requires discretion. Without a bank or group of investors scrutinizing your decisions, you have to make sure you are spending wisely. “Credit card financing may be too easy to get for a simple business idea that’s not a real profitable business model,” said Denise Breeson, an instructor at Santa Rosa Junior College in California, also in the article.

Think outside the box

Bank loans and private investment get most of the attention when it comes to startup funding, but there are a number of more unusual methods to consider. For example, many colleges and other organizations run business-plan competitions, which provide an opportunity to secure thousands of dollars to help turn your idea into a reality. Small-business speaker Barry Moltz likens these competitions to “show business.” “You also need to be a good presenter,” he writes.

Also search for other creative ways to fund your startup, such as through government-grant programs, Moltz recommends.