Session 3.2

1. Global Business Opportunities Session 3.2

2. Create a venue with no boundaries for artist showcases. Online Art Gallery

3. Online Art Gallery Like an online art auction, an online art gallery also offers works of art for sale, but not in an auction format. This is the type of art marketing system that many well-established artists prefer to the auction format, as the value of their works cannot be diminished by lack of bids. The site can be indexed into various art mediums, and artists wishing to be featured on the site pay a monthly fee or a commission upon the successful sale of the artwork. Like many online ventures, the key to success often lays within promoting and marketing the site. No visitors, no chance to generate sales. Thus you will have to seek unique and innovative ways to build and maintain site traffic.

4. Kids need to get places too, and Mom and Dad can't always take them. This is where you come in Kids' Taxi Service

5. Kids' Taxi Service Kids these days have schedules just about as hectic as their parents--school, soccer practice, Little League, ballet lessons, orthodontist appointments, after-school care--it can leave working parents with no time to work in between all these drop-off and pick-up assignments. But if you're a kid-lover who likes to be on the go, you can save the day with a kids' taxi service. You'll transport Babs and Junior to wherever they need to be, leaving parents free to win the bread. With nearly 16 million families with children under age 18 and both parents in the workforce, this is a business with plenty of potential. The advantages to the kids' taxi service are that you'll forge relationships with the kids you drive on a routine basis, and you get the satisfaction of knowing you're helping your clients' lives run more smoothly. You'll need nerves of steel; you can't be distracted by giggling or minor wars in the back of the van or by imminent car sickness up front. At the same time you'll need to love kids and understand their need to be treated as people rather than parcels. You'll also need a good sense of logistics to figure out how to get two different passengers to opposite ends of town for appointments at the same time.

6. Kids' Taxi Service The market Your clients will be the working parents in your area, plus a smattering of stay-at-home moms who don't drive or have access to a car. Introduce yourself and leave fliers at day-care and after-school centers, community centers, public libraries, pediatric and orthodontic offices, grade-school offices, and kid-oriented facilities like dance, gymnastics and karate studios. Get your company written up in local publications and run ads in your local newspaper. Donate one free month of service to a charity auction--this is terrific publicity. Needed Equipment You'll need a reliable van with seating for six or more, adequate insurance, and a cellular phone to keep mom and dad apprised of traffic or other scheduling delays or changes. You should also be certified in pediatric first aid and CPR.

7. Build a business that cycles around your town. Bicycle Tours

8. Bicycle Tours Careening down a steep mountain road at 30 miles per hour on a mountain bike may not be everyone's idea of the perfect vacation. However, there's no denying the fact that bicycle vacation tours are one of the fastest growing segments of the travel industry. The key to success in a bicycle tour business is that the tours have to be unique, fun and interesting, and should be organized around a central theme. Additional considerations include accommodations, meals and transportation requirements or services, as well as the length and location of the tours. Advertising in all the traditional media, developing a company website promoting the business, and listing the tours with travel agents and brokers can accomplish marketing the business.

9. The market Your target market will be cycling and mountain bike enthusiasts, as well as adventurous thrill-seekers. Be sure to establish alliances with bicycling clubs and organizations in the community, as the membership of these clubs can become potential customers. Bicycle Tours

10. Use your keen eye to help people look their best. Image Consultant

11. Image Consultant As an image consultant, you'll give clients--men as well as women--beauty makeovers to help them land better jobs, find a mate, shine at their weddings or just feel better about themselves. You'll coach them on the right wardrobe style for the image they want to project and even weed out closets or go on shopping expeditions. You'll also give hair and makeup advice, color-consulting, and instructions for self-confidence. You can also work with corporate clients by recommending new employee uniform styles, or by teaching multicultural etiquette or body-language basics for better sales and customer relations. Or you can work with clients facing the media spotlight to help them look and act their best. The advantages to the image consulting business are that you can work at home, you can start part time with low costs, and it's creative and satisfying--when you help someone achieve a better job or media success or just feel good about themselves, it can be heady stuff. As an image consultant, you'll need an innate sense of style and up-to-the-second knowledge of fashion, hair and makeup trends--and how to apply that makeup--in personal and corporate settings. You'll also want to know the latest trends and conventions in big- and small-business conduct. Since you're dealing with people on one of the most personal levels, you'll need the ability to point out negative traits and suggest changes without hurting their feelings.And last but definitely not least, you'll have to be a walking advertisement of your own advice.This is a practice-what-you-preach business--you'll have to look polished, professional and dressed for success on all public occasions.

12. Image Consultant The market Your clients can be individuals who want to look sharp for a big social occasion, are looking for a new or better job, or have decided it's time to turn over a whole new leaf. Your clients can also be corporations who may hire you to train groups of executives or employees or to give the company dress code a facelift. Place ads in local publications and offer coupons in direct-mail coupon books. Network in professional and civic organizations. Introduce yourself to wedding consultants, caterers and event planners, who can refer you to their clients. Give workshops and seminars for private and corporate clients. You should also target public relations agents who may refer their clients to you. Send PR people your brochure, then follow up with a phone call to cement your service in their minds. Needed Equipment All you really need to get started are mirrors, makeup, color swatches, and fashion books and magazines. You may want to purchase, either during startup or after your business gets going, computer software that gives your clients a virtual beauty makeover before they take the actual hair-cutting plunge. If you plan on going the corporate route, you may also want to invest in a video camera and VCR so clients can judge their before-and-after speech and body language performances. In some states, you need a cosmetology license to work on clients' skin, so if you plan to offer makeup services be sure to check with your state board of cosmetology. If you can't apply makeup to your clients yourself, you can supervise while they do their own.

13. Don't like confiscating car keys from your friends? Make a business out of promoting sober fun. Alcohol-Free Club

14. Alcohol-Free Club There are numerous benefits for starting a dance club or nightclub that does not serve alcoholic beverages, as opposed to a nightclub that does. The benefits include: • Less investment capital required to start and operate the business. • Fewer government regulations, and substantially lower liability insurance premiums. • Less competition within the industry, and a clear definition of the target market. • Increased choices in terms of operating location. In addition to the aforementioned benefits, people are also starting to lead a healthier lifestyle that does not include consumption of alcoholic beverages, making this a very timely business get going

15. Make shopping more convenient for seniors by taking the clothing to them. Senior Citizen Clothing

16. Senior Citizen Clothing Are you searching for a unique clothing retail business that can be operated on a mobile basis and managed from a home office? If so, consider starting a business that retails clothing to residents living in retirement and senior citizen homes. Simply build alliances with clothing manufacturers and make arrangements with operators of retirement homes to put on a monthly fashion show for the residents. Additionally, models for the fashion shows can be the residents of the homes, and at the end of the show you can take orders for clothing purchases with delivery to follow within a few days. This could prove to be not only a profitable business to operate, but also a very fun business that provides clients with the convenience of easy shopping as well as a little bit of entertainment at the same time.

17. Cater to the organic-minded with natural hair care products. Organic Hair Care Products

18. Organic Hair Care Products Have you always dreamed about starting your own successful business that can be operated from home? If so, consider starting a venture that specializes in developing and producing natural hair care products. Create, manufacture and sell natural hair care products, such as shampoos and conditioners made from 100 percent organic ingredients. Of course, there will be a steep learning curve in terms of developing the hair care products. However, using research tools such as libraries and the internet should prove quite useful in this endeavor. The hair care products can be sold to specialty retailers on a wholesale basis, or they can be sold directly to consumers via mail-order advertising, the internet and renting sales kiosks at malls

19. Fashion forward? Keep others looking good as a personal shopper. Personal Shopper

20. Personal Shopper If you love to shop, this is the opportunity for you. Earn great money and have fun by starting a personal shopping service assisting people who are too busy to shop, who don't like to shop, or who can't get out to do their own shopping. Lots of busy and well-heeled people hire personal shoppers to select gifts for any number of special occasions, including birthdays, births, weddings, Christmas, and anniversaries. And it's not just new products they're after: personal shoppers are also hired by interior designers and collectors to rummage through flea markets, consignment shops, antique dealers, and garage sales for collectibles, art, books, antiques, and funky home and office decor. Corporations hire personal shoppers to purchase the perfect gifts for customers, prospects, business partners, investors, employees, and executives, as well as to purchase products for gift bag giveaways at special events, ceremonies, and seminars. Seniors and other people who may find it difficult to get around, or who can't get out of their homes, hire personal shoppers to purchase groceries, clothing, and other home and personal products. Best of all, no experience is required to get started. If you love to shop, are creative, and don't mind networking with business owners, corporate executives, and people from all walks of life, you're qualified to become a personal shopper.

21. Help bring out the best in people as a career and personal coach. Career and Personal Coach

22. Career and Personal Coach As a career and personal coach--a combination mentor, cheerleader, sounding board and advocate--you'll work with clients to help them achieve success in their business and personal lives. You'll spend a half-hour to an hour per week listening to their ups and downs and providing both business and personal goal orienteering and guidance. You might work with people in transit from one career or lifestyle to another, with SOHO startups or with employee teams at large corporations. Coaching is a hot business, with the demand for coaching and coach training more than tripling in a single recent year. U.S. News and World Report recently rated career and personal coaching as one of the country's hottest consulting activities. The largest consumers of coaching services are baby boomers who, having reached midlife, have also reached the realization that to achieve all those dreams they started out with, they need to start taking immediate action. Gen Xers are also coaching consumers but not to the extent that boomers are. The advantages to this business are that you can work at home, you can start part time and you can be a part of people's lives, helping them grow financially, emotionally and spiritually. All you really need is people skills--the ability to listen to your clients, help them brainstorm through problems and provide cheerleading coupled with good business and personal advice. You should also, of course, have a knowledge of how various businesses work.

23. Career and Personal Coach The market Your clients can be corporate types experiencing downsizing, startup entrepreneurs, or large companies that sign you on as an employee enabler. Target the downsized and corporations by sending brochures to human resources departments; follow up with phone calls to set appointments. About-to-retire military people also make good targets. You can reach SOHOs, as well as your other targets, by giving seminars and workshops, writing articles for business publications and sending press releases to local newspapers. Network among professional and civic groups in your area. Introduce yourself to the staffs at usiness incubators. If you live near a college, post fliers on bulletin boards. And if you're near a military installation, place ads in on-base newspapers. Needed Equipment You don't need formal training or a license, but you can get lessons on A+ coaching through various facilities around the country. Although it's not required, certification as a psychologist or counselor is a major bonus, and experience in human resources, resume writing or other career development fields can also lend credence to your list of credentials. Besides your own skills and experience, you'll need a computer, a laser printer and a fax machine.<br />

24. Help busy people get through the day by providing an errand service. Errand Service

25. Errand Service Let's face it; today's busy lifestyles mean that a lot working people just don't have time for even the simplest of errands, such as taking the family pet to the veterinarian for a routine checkup, buying Aunt Sue a birthday present, or picking up the kids after school. Which is great news if you're a multitasker looking to start your own simple, inexpensive, yet potentially very profitable business. An errand service can be operated with nothing more than a cell phone and reliable transportation. Land clients by networking and by creating a simple marketing brochure explaining the services you provide along with your contact information. The brochures can be pinned to community bulletin boards, hand-delivered to homes and businesses and distributed with the local newspaper. A few promotional items such as pens and memo pads emblazoned with your company logo, name and telephone number given out to potential customers will go a long way as a daily reminder of your fast, reliable and affordable errand services. This is the kind of business where growth is fuelled by referrals, so customer service and satisfaction are the most important goals.

26. Errand Service The Market Busy individuals who need a little help getting their day to day errands done. You can also market your services to small business owners

27. Move over YouTube. Shooting corporate videos for promotions and training is the next big video venture. Corporate Videos

28. Corporate Videos Corporate videos have become a very popular marketing and training tool for companies worldwide, and starting a business that films and produces high-quality corporate training and promotional videos could put you on the path to financial freedom. Without question this is another business venture that requires a great deal of planning, research, investment capital, and experience in order to successfully operate. However, with the ever-increasing demand for corporate videos, the time to start a corporate video production service has never been better. The service can be marketed directly to potential customers, or it can be established as a joint venture with an existing advertising agency or marketing agency. This would be a great business opportunity to start in conjunction with the U-Film-It movie studio, as the corporate videos could also be filmed in the same studio when the studio is not being rented.

29. Love working with kids? Start a child care business. Child Care Service

30. Child Care Service If you love kids, you're a Big Wheels and Barney fan, and you've got patience to spare, then you can help parents in your area hit the workplace with easy spirits with a child-care service. You'll care for kids in your home, providing a safe and loving environment as well as snacks and meals. Some child-care services offer child development activities; others provide extended or 24-hour service for parents who work the late shift. Still others combine senior care with the tot set, giving both generations the chance to enjoy and learn from each other. The advantages to this business are that you can work at home; your startup costs are low; if you have kids of your own, you can work and care for them all in one; and you get the joy of watching little people grow. You'll need a genuine affection for the crayon set--if you haven't got it, you'll burn out quickly--as well as patience and the mind-set to enjoy being at home all day with only tots to talk to. You should also have a good working knowledge of child care, child development and psychology. (You needn't be a trained pediatrician, but you'll have to know the basics, things like the difference between teething and an illness-induced fever and at what age children learn to share.)

31. Child Care Service The Market Your customers will be working parents and grandparents with preschoolers to be cared for. Post fliers on church or temple bulletin boards and place ads in their newsletters. Network among friends and neighbors; have your spouse or significant other spread the word at work and at professional and civic organizations. Place an ad in your local newspaper. You can also target local businesses. Send letters extolling the benefits of paying for employees' child care with you--you're close at hand so employees won't be late arriving or early leaving work, and with your exceptional care, there's no lost productivity worrying about Junior. Needed Equipment Depending on your locale, you may need licensing, certification, inspection or some combination thereof. Be sure to check before embarking on your business. Even if it's not required, you should take courses in CPR and pediatric first aid. You'll need to install safety devices in your home, including smoke detectors (if you don't already have them); fire extinguishers; first-aid kits; gates around pools, spas or other hazards; stairway gates; outlet covers; and safety latches on cabinets and cupboards containing any potentially dangerous substances or materials. Once safety's accomplished, you'll want to think entertainment. Stock up on development-oriented toys, kid videos, tot-sized tables and chairs, and arrange adequate sleeping quarters for your prospective charges.

32. A children's coach service makes everyday like recess. Children's Coach Service

33. Children's Coach Service • A parent's worst nightmare is their child will become a victim of crime or even worse--abducted. This fact creates a very strong argument for parents to utilize a childrens' coach service within their community. • Basically a childrens' coach is a taxi service that exclusively specializes in moving children safely from point A to point B. These specialized services include picking kids up at home and taking them to school in the morning and delivering them home safely after school. • Your services can also provide trips to the mall, a sporting event, to meet friends, and just about any other time parents are too busy to personally pick up and drop off their children for any occasion. Beyond reliable transportation and a communication system, the main requirement for getting this business going will be a taxi or limousine license and permit. • These permits can be difficult to acquire, however. Be sure to plead your case to community officials, as this service is focused on the well-being of kids, and benefits the community as a whole. • The Market Busy parents

34. Got tips on saving energy? Teach others how to be frugal with facilities as an energy management consultant. Energy Management Consultant

35. Energy Management Consultant • Corporations and homeowners combined spend billions of dollars annually on energy to light, heat and air-condition their homes and buildings. Imagine how much healthier the environment would be, as well how much money each of us could save every year, if we could all reduce our energy consumption by a mere 10 percent? The aforementioned is the focus of this incredible business opportunity. • Working as an energy management consultant from a homebased office you can teach homeowners and business owners practical and useful energy management tips about reducing consumption and waste. Successfully activating this business will require a great deal of research, planning and perhaps training. • However, with energy cost continuing to soar, the need to take care of the environment and save money is becoming a major concern for most people. This type of venture should have a very favorable future. • The Market People who want to learn how to save money on their monthly utility bills

36. There is always a need for tutors, so use your online business to show others where to find the help they need in their area. Online Tutors

37. Online Tutors • Harness the power of the Internet to take educational tutors from around the globe online via your own specially designed 'tutor directory' Web site. You can create a Web site that exclusively specializes in helping people find qualified educational tutors in their community. • The site will have to be indexed by tutor type and geographic location for internal search purposes. However, this is a relatively easy programming challenge to overcome. Once again, these sections could include math tutors, science tutors, English, English as a second language tutors, and more. • Visitors to the site who are seeking a tutor to help them or their children with their studies would simply select the category of interest and view the listing to find an appropriate candidate. In exchange for an annual listing fee, tutors would receive a headline listing that is linked to a pop-up page. The pop-up page could give full details and information about their tutoring programs, qualifications, and contact information.

38. Put together tasty combinations of herbs and spices to sell to local grocers. Packaged Herbs and Spices

39. Packaged Herbs and Spices • Here is a great little business opportunity that can be started on a part-time basis right from a home. Purchasing herbs and spices in bulk, repackaging the product into smaller quantities, and selling the herbs and spices through local retailers via point-of-purchase (POP) displays. • The main objective is to ensure the packaging you create for the products is unique, as well as ensuring that the POP displays are located in highly visible areas of the retail stores you secure distribution rights with. • In all likelihood, the POP displays and product will have to be consigned with retailers initially until the product is a proven seller, at which point the accounts can easily be converted to typical wholesale supply accounts. • Additionally, consider stocking the POP displays with cookbooks and recipe guides as well as the packaged herbs and spices as a method to increase consumer awareness and increase business revenue.

40. Be the go-to business for healthy, quality food products. Online Organic Food Sales

41. Online Organic Food Sales • The time has never been better than now to start a business that specializes in organic food sales and home delivery, as organically grown foods have become so popular, growers are having a hard time meeting consumer demand. • The first step to establishing the business is to build alliances with organic food growers to supply the inventory needed for the business. The second step is to create and distribute a catalog featuring all the organically grown food products that the business sells and delivers. Additionally, be sure to develop a website that lets clients place food orders online. • You may also consider accepting food orders via e-mail and fax. The profit potential for a business that sells and delivers organically grown fruits and vegetables is outstanding, as the products can be marked up by 30 to 40 percent. This still let you undercut grocery stores and organic food retailers by 10 percent or more.

42. Everyone wants to be a bit healthier these days, and a nutritionist is the perfect person to help. Nutritionist

43. Nutritionist • Nutrition is big in everybody's minds these days--people want to live longer, think smarter, eat healthier and weigh less doing it. As a nutritionist, you'll help your clients attain all these goals through a variety of venues--you can act as a personal diet coach or as a consultant to restaurants and food manufacturers, give classes and seminars, or work with health clubs and health-conscious companies. • If you like teaching other people about healthy lifestyles, cheering on their achievements and motivating them through plateaus, then this is the business for you. The advantages to being a nutritionist are that you can tangibly measure your success through your clients' successes, you can make a positive difference in others' lives, and you can do it all for a small start-up cost, start on a part-time basis, and work from home. • You'll need a strong knowledge of health, nutrition and psychology, along with sales and marketing skills to snap up clients. You can get (or you may already have) a registered dietician degree (called an RD) from the American Dietetic Association. This is a definite plus but not a necessity. Since state licensing and certifications for nutritionists vary, call your state Board of Dietetics and Nutrition.

44. Nutritionist • The Market Your clients can be just about anybody you care to target: individuals or corporations. You can coach on a personal level in your clients' homes or offices; you can also work as a consultant for health clubs, large companies or institutions. If you choose to work with clients on a one-to-one basis as a coach, place ads in local publications. Network in your community. Offer your services to one lucky person at a charity auction or raffle in exchange for free advertising. Make up a brochure and mail it to people in the middle- to upper-income levels of your town. Send brochures and sales letters describing your services to corporate, institutional and health-club prospects, then follow up with phone calls requesting appointments. • Needed Equipment About all you'll need is a computer, a printer and the usual software for creating sales letters, brochures, menus and other materials for your clients.

45. Help the elderly continue to live at home by providing care services. Senior Home Care Agency

46. Senior Home Care Agency • Here's the problem: A senior parent wants to live in his own home, maintaining his independence, but he has trouble bathing, fixing meals and remembering to take his medications. • The solution: You. As owner of a senior home care agency, you'll send a qualified, compassionate person out to assist with the daily tasks of living. This is a burgeoning field. With more and more seniors out there needing assistance and more and more two-income families, there's nobody to give mom or dad a helping hand. And with health-care costs rising by the moment, hospitals are discharging patients earlier than ever, sending them home too ill or too weak to fend for themselves. So senior home care is rewarding, not only financially but personally as well. • As a senior home care agency operator, you'll act as a referral service--locating cheerful, reliable, honest and kindly people to place in seniors' homes on a temporary or long-term basis. Your caregivers will be independent contractors paid directly by the patient or his family and though they must have the qualities listed above, they don't need medical training--just good common sense. • The advantages to this business are that you can start part time and you have the satisfaction of filling a real need, helping seniors lead more independent lives and taking some of the burden from worried family members. You'll need terrific people skills--the ability to determine the suitability of potential caregivers and the magical quality of knowing which caregiver to pair with which client. Organizational and administrative skills are also a must because you'll be coordinating people, times and places all at once.

47. Senior Home Care Agency • The Market Your clients will be seniors and their families. You can place ads in local newspapers, but perhaps your best bet will be to establish your services throughout the medical community, which can provide referrals. Send sales letters and brochures to local hospitals and doctors specializing in geriatrics, cardiology and other diseases that affect seniors, local health-care agencies and senior centers, and even emergency medical services like paramedics. Follow up with phone calls to reinforce your image. Get your business written up in local publications. • Needed Equipment You don't need a medical background, but you should have the materials and knowledge to give your caregivers a good grounding in CPR, first aid and senior care professionalism. Make sure you don't position yourself as an employment agency or nursing registry because you'll need to be licensed for either of these--use independent contractors paid by the patient or his family. You'll want a computer with inkjet printer and the usual software.

48. Hate clutter? Help other people neaten up their lives as a clutter consultant. Clutter Consultant

49. Clutter Consultant • For the majority of us, frantic and busy lifestyles leave little time to get ourselves organized, let alone our family, homes or businesses. Exploiting your own organizational and time management skills are the two main prerequisites for starting a clutter consulting business that helps clients get--and stay'-organized. • Aim your organizational efforts at two separate but equally important topics'-physical organization of space (better known as de-cluttering) and time management. On the physical side of the service, focus on issues such as clearing the clutter that is not needed, developing storage solutions, organizing office furniture and equipment for maximum attractiveness and productivity, rearranging closet space, and organizing items by use priority. • On the time management side, assist clients in developing routines and schedules to eliminate overlap, streamline operations, and basically squeeze the most productivity out of each hour so they no longer have to work nights and weekends just to stay on top of their work at home and office. Without question, networking at business and social functions is the best way to get the word out about your service and to start building a valuable contact and referral base.

50. Match marketable domain name owners with willing buyers. Online Domain Name Broker