I think the key to all three of these elements is to have the right people helping you. I’m an author, and I’m very good at what I do. However, when it comes to website coding and design; or building up my own business from scratch, I’m a small fish swimming in a very huge lake.

I’ve been recently toying with the idea of getting an online partner, someone who’s not a writer, but who’s able to fix a problem on one of my blogs in the click of a finger. I’ve seen some start up companies on the Internet which will help you with things like registering your online, company formation in Hong Kong etc. My blog needs something like this because I’m ready to hit a higher deck where writing and blogging is concerned. Please let me know if you’ve used anyone affordable.

This is a paid sponsored post provided by Startupr.com. The options of this article are not necessarily that of Dorm Room Biz or it’s owners.

If you are thinking about purchasing a bunch of Coke or Pepsi machines to strategically scatter around campus, you should contact some school administrators first. Universities usually have large contracts with major distributors and will fight you tooth and nail to secure every dollar going into campus vending machines. Instead of trying to compete head on, take a page out of your Marketing 101 textbook and find a niche to sell to.

Websites like 1800Vending.com offer selections on some of the most modern and convenient machines available. If you are looking to start a nostalgic trend throughout the campus halls, take to sites like eBay to find deals on refurbished vintage machines from iconic brands like 7up and RC Cola to make an impact.

The Japanese have a long and steady tradition of creating products that draw the curiosity of the western world. Everything from Sony to Pokemon has caught on in a big way in the US and vending machines are no different. Instead of purchasing a traditional “drop-and-grab” machine, take the Japanese approach. Everything from French Fries to noodles to eggs can be prepared and served in a matter of minutes through today’s vending machine technology.

If your school does not have one already, you could look into the Coca-Cola Freestyle Soda Fountain. According to an article on Fast Company, this piece of modern vending technology gives customers over 100 flavor options for a truly customizable soda fountain experience; sure to beat a plain bottle of carbonated Diet Coke.

If you are able to procure the funds and secure enough investors for your venture, it is possible to present your fellow students a truly innovative vending experience. Recent innovations have led to more touchscreen and computer technology being used at vending machines. These modern marvels can read your face, retinas, and fingerprints and memorize your favorite purchases if you are a repeat customer.

Just because your school already has vending machines doesn’t mean it couldn’t use more of them. Before starting a venture, always do your research and make sure you know the regulations placed on in-school vendors.

• Content creators can do it with their clothes off — literally. There is no need to leave the house with content creation, so clothes are not necessary for this job.
• Content creators can procrastinate. This is good for people who have last minute things come up and may have to push their writing until close to the deadline. However, it is bad for people who love excuses to procrastinate and often miss deadlines.
• It is as close to traveling the world a person can get without leaving the house. Content creators talk to clients all over the world, if they network enough. They also get to research all kinds of interesting things that help them learn about the world through their clients’ needs.  And, to go along with this, there is actually a lot of people (students) who travel the world freely and fund their travels via freelance writing.  It can be done, but might take some time to establish yourself as a good writer.
• There is a cap to how much can be made in any business. However, when money is tight, content creators can work as many hours as they want to make up for it. There is no boss to say, “No more overtime.”
• Content creation lets trivial knowledge be put to good use. A content creator who has knocked a melted candle on the floor and successfully cleaned up the wax can write an article about how to do it.  You can write about virtually anything with a purpose.
• For people who make content creation a career, it involves finding clients and top-notch organization skills, but the level of participation all depends on the content creator. It is self-employment at its most flexible.

So where are some places where I can find freelance writing jobs?  There are hundreds and hundreds of sites all over the web that facilitate this process of connecting clients and authors.  Here are my top 5:

1. Elance – Best outsourcing site in general.  Professional platform, easy to use.  Personally have used it for manufacturing projects, not for writers but it basically has everything.
2. Scriptlance – Famous freelance writing site, probably most popular out of all writing-specific outsourcing sites.
3. Textbroker – Good built-in rating system, difficult navigation.  Must be US Citizen to write.
4. Pro Blogger Job Board – Exactly what the name implies.  Popular job site for writers.  Think Craigslist for freelance writers.
5. Craigslist – A lot of people (business owners, webmasters, etc) don’t know that freelance writer sites exist so they go to Craigslist to fulfill their needs.  Crowded space, but worth submitting to several cities.

What kind of schedule would you keep with this kind of flexibility?  Are you a freelance writer?

Jessica Silva is a Red Bull drinker, full-time mother, and PR manager of the bamboo iphone wallet case project, a start-up outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. 

Fans of free enterprise are usually unwelcoming of news of new government mandates, but recent proposals put forth by President Obama that can help recently graduated entrepreneurs are not meant to infringe upon the free market. Instead, they’re geared toward helping graduates lead more fulfilling lives by reducing the maximum repayment cap on income-based federal student loans to 10% of discretionary income. Discretionary income is the sum total after things such as rent and utilities are removed from the equation. Obama wants this to take effect starting next year, an edit to the original provision passed by Congress that lowered the repayment cap to 15%, which was written to effect in 2014, not 2012.

“Pay-as-you-earn” is not a new concept in the world of student loans. In fact it’s been a standard practice in nations such as the United Kingdom for years. While allowing the government to essentially cover the leftover bill once 20 years of faithful lowered payments sounds particular unAmerican to ears used to hearing the sweet sounds of independently-won success, such sorts of success are becoming less and less of a likely possibility for recent graduates suffering under massive student loan debt. The average debt accrued from a four-year education is in the $25,000 range. But some people could be having to pay back as much as $60,000 or $75,000 just for a four-year degree. Who, with the exception of the most fortunate and ultra-brilliant among us, can afford to start a business right out of college, or take out a business loan, when we already owe this amount of money?

You might not be a fan of this President, or the idea that the government should step in and help those who borrowed more than they can pay back. But you certainly can’t argue with the idea that those who attended college right before, during, or immediately after the global economic meltdown were given a bad break. If you disagree, stop and really let that next student loan statement figure sink in. Think about how much you could do with even just an extra $100 at the end of every month. You could star a business with that kind of scratch.

Disclosure: This was a paid post submitted to Dorm Room Biz for posting and it’s content are the opinions and thoughts of it’s author and not necessarily Dorm Room Biz.

It’s not hard to see why, because it’s cheap and convenient, although there are downsides to the idea too. For example, it can be a very solitary existence working out of a bedroom, study or even the garage. What’s more, there can often be frequent intrusions and interruptions from well meaning family members and friends. So, while it might be good enough, it’s far from ideal.

A new way forward

Little wonder then that the reasonably recent phenomenon of renting desk space and hot desking has really been taking off, thanks to an endless array of options all of which can be found by using the free and easy services of a comparison website online. What’s more, renting desk space or hot desking can be a really cheap way of getting you set-up in business at a prime location.

You’ll generally find that desk rentals can be had on a short-term rolling basis when it comes to contractual obligations, and due to the fact that landlords out there are desperate to make the most of their vacant office areas, you’ll probably find that prices are surprisingly competitive too.

Flexible and convenient

When you’re in the early stages of running a business then keeping overheads to an absolute minimum is a must, and the desk space rental scenario does just that. Adding to the appeal is that it’s very flexible, so if you start to outgrow your desk then simply ask the landlord to add on some more space. Further down the line you could always look at serviced office scenario, which is a rather grander setup complete with receptionists, IT support and post. However, in the short term, the concept of desk space rental or hot desking is very likely to help you drum up more business. For a start, there is a much greater chance of being able to network when you’re in an office with other like-minded people. It’ll also make a great location for meeting clients and prospective new customers too.

And, if you’ve got a business that needs to look it’s best, especially if you deal with the public on a regular basis, then having a desk space rental option in an upmarket business park or an inner city location will make a lot of difference when it comes to gaining credibility. Adding to that is the fact that you’ll also gain yourself a decent postcode too, which really could prove to be the icing on the cake of a new website or on your freshly printed office stationary.

In short then, if you’re prepared to spend a little time comparing the options that can be found online in mere minutes, then the desk space rental route is a great one to take. It could well be the best business decision you’ll ever make.

About the author: Rob Clymo writes on behalf of www.officegenie.co.uk, the UK’s online marketplace for finding office space in London and across the UK!.

These high office costs leave many business owners wondering whether or not they even need an office setting in the first place. Offices are there in the first place to keep workers together to increase productivity and to provide an air of professionalism. However, if you’re running a small business with functions that are achieved primarily through software and the Internet, then is there really an incentive to house your employees together? If each employee has their own laptop and can access the web with it, then everyone can operate remotely and there’s no need to spend money on an office.

Meetings are still an essential part of running a business, but you don’t need to pay for office space and furnishings just so you have a place to meet up with coworkers and employees. A venture capitalist friend of mine didn’t have an office for the first two years of his SEO company that, at the time, employed over eight individuals. He simply had everybody meet once a week at a coffee shop with Wi-Fi. He was still able to discuss serious company developments face-to-face and flesh out tasks in a way that can only be done in person, while it also enabled his employees to come armed with questions.

You can relax when it comes to whether or not the work is getting done when workers stay home or work from elsewhere. Studies consistently indicate that those who work from home are generally more productive than their in-office counterparts. If you hire the right kinds of employees, there’s no reason you shouldn’t trust them to work from home.

About the whole “got to look good for clients and customers” thing…look, there’s no fooling people that you’re a young inexperienced entrepreneur. Shiny tabletops and rows of workers diligently typing in a conformed pattern aren’t going to make a young business look any more professional, and neither is the mere office environment itself. If anything, clients are going to like the idea that you’re willing to think different and act on it. Saving money without sacrificing skill and capability always looks good to those you do business with.

If you’re at the helm of a start-up and are exhausted by how much money keeping an office space is costing your company, consider dumping the office and working remotely. You certainly won’t have a hard time finding workers who like the idea of doing their job in only their underwear.

First off, you need to find the funding. This can be done in a myriad ways whether it’s getting money from family, friends, or acquiring a small business loan. You’ll likely need to put up some of your own cash. There is a level of risk involved here because you don’t know if you’ll be successful or not but having your own company is always a risk. It’s important to note that banks are asked for money constantly and they’re going to be far more likely to lend you money if you have some capitol of your own to invest with. This shows them that you’re serious and you believe in what you’re doing because you’re also accepting a level of risk. This is only part of the equation though and you should also consider other variables before proceeding any further.

You need to seek legal advice and assistance before you launch any web site or business plan. Companies, large and small, have fallen victim to not properly trademarking their name or products. The likes of Apple, Amazon, and others have been all over the news lately because they didn’t research or get the proper trademarks for their programs. Other small businesses that have been using the names far longer are taking these companies to court over similar issues. If you’re starting up a business, don’t rely on a quick Google search to find out if a name is taken. There are legal advisors from Miami attorneys to across the country that will help you start with a good legal base so you don’t find yourself in court a few years down the road.

If you’re starting an online business, which many are these days, you’ll need to give a lot of thought to your online approach. You may have a great idea but simply starting a site and waiting for the business to come to you is a terrible business model. Search rankings are everything these days. You may have the best product or service around but if people aren’t aware they you exist, you’re going to get nowhere fast. Using online reputation management and search engine optimization, you can increase your online profile and get in touch with those who need your services most. There are many companies that can help you with this so do some research on various ways to improve your online visibility before you start throwing a lot of cash at your business because you might be tossing your money down the drain.

With so many businesses struggling to stay afloat, it’s important to consider some of these initial concerns before beginning your venture. There are a million ways to make money and improve online performance but unless you’re aware of the right steps, you could be killing your business before it has a chance to start.

Image from Roy Shaff's blog

During tough financial times, it’s not enough to have a solid, well-paying job that you can at least tolerate, if not enjoy. More and more people are turning to the Internet for low-cost start-up business

ideas that will help them augment their family’s finances and earn their way to financial independence.

The online marketplace has indeed paved the way for all sorts of small enterprises to be put up and operated by just about anyone with common sense and good business skills. Now more than ever, it’s important to choose just what kind of business you should get into because you don’t want to waste what little start-up cash you’ve scraped together.

The 2008 recession is still profoundly felt in many parts of the world, and as an entrepreneur-to-be, it’s your job to ensure that your money is invested into the right money-making machinery that will provide you with good profits in the shortest time possible. Here are five of the most in-demand and most convenient ways for you to earn more in this time of great financial setbacks:

1. eBay trading assistant

eBay, one of the world’s first online marketplaces, has grown to become not just a source of great bargain buys but also as a good source of extra income. Some individuals resort to auctioning off unused or unwanted items on eBay just to make ends meet.

If you’ve ever tried selling something on eBay, you know how hard it is to capture the attention and imagination of your target market and convince them to purchase the item you’re auctioning. You can capitalize on your photography and copywriting skills and turn yourself into a professional trading assistant to help other people sell their items on eBay.

2. Freelance jobs

From software development to article writing to graphic design to website development, freelancing has become one of the most in-demand online jobs today. Put your creativity and technical proficiency to good use and sign up with any of the online freelance marketplaces today like elance.com, odesk.com or guru.com.

If you feel that you can pull off the job on your own without having to go through a middleman, you can also set up your own online agency and offer your services straight to potential customers. There are a lot of webmasters who own more than two websites, so they need other people to take care of the day-to-day content management and upkeep of their websites. As a freelancer, you get flexible work hours and pay terms and can even choose the things you want to work on.

3. Virtual assistant

A virtual assistant or VA is similar to that of a freelancer, but your creativity is not the number one thing that employers will look for. To streamline operations and cut down on labor costs, some companies simply outsource administrative tasks to VAs that they can hire online. This way, they can focus on their core business activities and still be assured that miscellaneous tasks like collating mailing lists or telemarketing are being done properly.

A VA needs good grounding in simple office tasks because you are an all-around assistant for whatever business needs your client may have. It may not be a very glamorous job but you are being trained in several different fields like accountancy, web marketing and advertising at the same time.

4. Internet marketing services

As a tech-savvy Internet marketer, it is your job to help other webmasters and bloggers to build site traffic and drive online sales despite the bad economy. This is akin to working as a business consultant, only now you are focused exclusively on Internet-based businesses that are in need of a serious boost in readership and sales.

Your first priority is to teach fellow online entrepreneurs how to make their content relevant, fresh and exciting so that site visitors will flock by the thousands and eventually end up purchasing their products or services. Not all online businessmen know the ins and outs of Internet technology, so you have to take them through the basics and teach them the tools of the trade in order to increase their profits.

5. Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing is yet another popular money-making enterprise that a lot of people are going into. If you run a few websites with high and consistent readership, you may want to consider signing up for an affiliate program so you can earn money from advertisements placed strategically on your web pages.

As an affiliate marketer, you don’t have to do much beyond choosing the products or services you want to advertise and putting the links on your website so that people can see them. With every click that goes from your website to the affiliate company’s website, you earn a handsome commission that can tide you over the hard times.

This is a guest post from Ally Tobias. Ally is part of the team that manages Australian Credit Cards, a personal finance blog that covers business credit card tips. You can follow ACC on Twitter if you like to stay updated on their latest contents. Before joining ACC, Ally was a Media Planner with McCann Worldgroup Philippines, Inc., with award-winning executions, including the Levi’s 501 “Live Unbuttoned” global campaign.

Primer, a critically-acclaimed independent film released in 2004, tells the tale of a couple of business-minded buddies that accidentally discover a way to travel backwards in time while trying to invent an error-checking device. While the story mainly focuses on the tragic flaws of toying with time travel, it demonstrates cost-effective entrepreneurialism pretty accurately. To evade the curious and do so cheaply the film’s characters conduct their experiments in a storage unit.

It makes me think of a Canadian friend of mine who recently started operating her own traveling vintage clothing store. She rented out a couple of Toronto storage units to keep her total inventory, then picked up items in the van she used as her “store” When gas and the rental costs are added together she tells me her costs still run under $200 a month!

Most storage centers are happy to accommodate activities beyond mere storage. Many storage center websites encourage people who need a place for band practice or need a workshop to rent out a storage room. They promise clean climate controlled environments that are accessible at any point in time. Most offer great deals on the first months fees, and the superior storage centers that exist make it just as easy to cancel your rental agreement as it is to sign up for one.

I’d check before aspiring to run an actual business straight from a storage center – storage facilities probably have a problem with people coming by to visit your flea market – but so long as you’re simply using the space for a business and not for housing one, you shouldn’t have a problem. It really comes down to whether or not you interfere with other storage customers.

In the meantime before renting office space becomes necessary and affordable, see about renting a storage unit to have access to space you can use cheaply and casually for an indefinite amount of time. Starting a business drains a lot of your worry power, so don’t make things worse by adding the burdens of a lease or compromising for space with family members, roommates, or loved ones. If all you need is the bare minimum space for your business to grow, look no further than self storage centers.

1. The Bento application
This application allows its user to organize every aspect of their life. The mobile software has twenty-five different templates that can be customized to include such elements as personal and professional contacts, inventories, and schedules. This is a great tool for a student entrepreneur as it takes the initial difficulty of organizing information out of the equation. This element can be particularly overwhelming or difficult for a first-time entrepreneur. This application may be purchased from the Apple Application Store.

2. Evernote application
This mobile application allows a person to keep track of thoughts and ideas that they might have for their business. This is helpful as many young entrepreneurs are on the go with their Smartphones in tow and may not have time to find a piece of paper or notebook to record idea. All they have to do with this application is pull out their mobile device. The ideas may be saved in a text, picture, or audio format. It is available for free on many mainstream Smartphones such as Iphone, Android, and Blackberry.

3. Intuit GoPayment
This application pairs itself with GoPayment. With this application, an entrepreneur can accept payments from others using their Smartphone and have these payments deposited into a bank account. In order to accept the transaction; however, both the seller and buyer must be paying using a GoPayment account. The process is very quick and a person can choose to pay a monthly fee for this service. This simplifies an important aspect of the selling process for a busy, student entrepreneur. This application is available for purchase on most major Smartphone application stores.

4. Inventory Tracker
The Inventory tracker is an application that allows a person to keep track of all of their items that have been sold and need to be shipped, or the inventory that has yet to sell. It updates this information as it happens. This is very important for a person with a large inventory and needs some way to keep track of it all. This application is available for Iphones.

5. OmniVoice
OmniVoice is another sales application for Smartphones. It allows its user to easily create invoices and quotes. It calculates discounts, exemptions, and currency exchange. Invoices and quotes are a major part of many businesses and this tool simplifies the process in a way that caters to young entrepreneurs. This mobile application is available for the Iphone.

About the author: Christina Lopez is a freelance fashion writer and pop culture junkie. Christina specializes in all things lifestyle-related. From home and design to health and beauty. With her love of art and all things beautiful, she delights in sharing her sense of style from her life to your computer monitor. Her title pegs her as an editor at a website that specializes in providing people with car insurance quotes, but her passion leads her into writing with a little more substance and a lot more heart.