Posted By on July 27, 2010

This year I am celebrating 10 years being online with www.JimThorpeSigns.com, my first business website. I began fearlessly enough, learning how to build my first website in front of the local library computer. The website went live and within a couple of weeks I got a call from Coca Cola, asking me to make a sign for their Olympic headquarters in Salt Lake City. I was able to purchase my first computer from the proceeds of that first job – in other words, my website came before the computer!

I start this article with that brief story to encourage you to take action on the ideas you have, especially if you think other people would want what you have. You just have to start. Setting up a successful website really isn’t that hard – heck, if a guy can make one sitting at the library, what’s to stop you from getting started?

The Net truly represents a whole new cosmos of opportunities, offering many more than you can even imagine. Whether you’re just looking to earn extra money at home or you’ve decided you’d like to try full-time online marketing, here are just some ideas that can get you started.

Unlike what you may be used to in the past with orthodox jobs, it’s extremely important to focus your internet work activities on things that you are fascinated in and good at. These opportunities aren’t just jobs but ways that you can link up your skills, knowledge and interests with others who are seeking them out.

1. Become an independent freelance writer:

If you like to write, the opportunities are boundless on the web. To start out, you can write for sites like eHow or find some of your own private clients on sites like Rent-a-coder, Elance, Guru, Keen and others.

2. Sell your graphic design skills:

If you are good at graphic design, you can use your skills to design websites, photo greeting cards, business materials like brochures, pamphlets, business cards, etc for small businesses. You can advertise your services on CraigsList and Ebay, just to name a couple.

3. Give LiveOps a try:

With this company, you can earn extra money at home by receiving calls from a people who are looking for information about different things. With LiveOps, you follow a written script and you get paid by the minute and extra for any add-ons you sell. You do need a fast internet connection and certain software capabilities, but that’s all before you’re up and running. How many calls you receive depends on how well you do so expect to get paid more as you go along.

4. Become an Expert on JustAnswer:

JustAnswer is a site where people type in their questions and the “experts” respond. If your skills are in demand, you can earn money by answering some questions on this site!

5. Join the blogging wave:

It’s incredibly easy to set up your own blog these days. You can do it for free on e-Blogger.com and then take a look at the other platforms like WordPress and SquareSpace as you become more familiar with the whole concept. The best money-making blog is deemed the “Niche blog”, which is basically a blog that focuses on only one sub-topic instead of everything and anything.

You can make money from your blog in many ways, the easiest being AddSense (which is very easily added to your free Blogger blog). This takes a little more time but you can also sell ad space on your blog either by going out and finding advertisers or waiting for them to come to you. The extremely important thing to remember is that you want to maintain high-quality content on your blog in order to attract advertisers.

Nowadays it’s extremely easy to earn extra money at home on the internet. The route you choose should be based on your interests, skills, knowledge and time-flexibility.

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Posted By on April 9, 2010

What does Fast Food have to do with signs? To find out what the connection can have for all forms of business, direct your attention to this short video by Brian D. Ridgway. Fast food advertising has changed… Mr. Ridgway points the way to the profitable future. Watch this video.

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Posted By on September 29, 2009

• Big List of Local Links – Website listings from Central New York including Syracuse, Ithaca, Auburn, Oswego, Cortland, Oneida & more!
• CNY Central – Directory and News Center

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Posted By on September 29, 2009

Here are the top reasons why companies choose to lease:

• Properly Sized, effective signage is a CASH PRODUCING ASSEST.  It makes no sense to tie up your capital on a cash producing asset!
• Cash flow and financial reasons. Leasing allows you to get the signage YOU NEED without compromise and then make the payments on the lease DIRECTLY out of the additional profits it creates for you.
• Leasing keeps credit lines open for working capital rather than tied up in capital expenditures.
• Efficiency and convenience. Companies make money by having effective signage! – “Ownership” has become practically “incidental” depending on business factors. We give you the ability to focus on your core business, — not on managing equipment.
• Acquisition, disposition, maintenance, and upgrading are just some of the benefits a lease can provide- along with the capital itself.
• Tax Savings. Businesses can write-off up to $100,000 from taxable income through lease financing their signage! Increasingly, smart companies are strategically purchasing needed signage with their business lease credit lines, saving them thousands of dollars in taxes each year!
• Each business should consult their tax adviser for specific tax benefits.

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We work with Dimension Leasing

Dimension Leasing has been servicing business for over 25 years. They specialize in signage transactions (5K to 75K). They understand the value of signs, and the needs of sign companies, as well as the needs of the sign buyer. They have the expertise to review your application quickly and determine the best way to get the deal approved.

To get a more complete education about the advantages of financing your signs click this link to go to the Chamber of Commerce’s Guidelines to Financing your Signage.

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Posted By on September 26, 2009

• The Underground Art Collective

  The Underground Collective is a group of artists who united in 2004 to provide an outlet for information and ideas. Creations include sustainable lines of organic cotton apparel, custom screen printing services, and various independent media projects. Centered in Ithaca, New York, with correspondents across the country.

• ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes

  For over 35 years, The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes has been making a difference in our community, enhancing the cultural arts for area residents, arts organizations, artists and visitors.

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Posted By on September 25, 2009

Here are some signs I have created for Restaurant Owners. The unique features of dimensional signs are well-suited to the restaurant business. Included are some great resources to help your cash flow.

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Posted By on September 22, 2009

______________________________

Sign and Equipment Financing Insights
Thursday, October 1, 2009
2:00 p.m. ET to 3:00 p.m. ET

Are you interested in increasing revenue and profit? Believe it or not, whether a boom or bust economy, with or without a credit crunch environment, you and your customers can obtain the money needed to increase your bottom line. With “outside the box” thinking and a basic understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of various financing products, you can manage and grow your business while keeping your monthly cash flow in the black. Learn how with the International Sign Academy’s newest webinar, Sign and Equipment Financing Insights.

This webinar will provide participants with useful insights of the financing world that can be practically applied to increase revenue and profit for sign companies. Participation in this webinar will enable you to:

• Learn how risk and reward provide the foundation for the lending community’s credit decision making process.
• Discover unknown sources of funds.
• Find equipment-based tax savings.
• Identify financing pitfalls before they happen to you.
• Apply financing knowledge to grow your business.
• Introduce financing knowledge during your sales process to help customers obtain and/or upgrade their signage.

Participants in the webinar will earn 1 Professional Development Unit (PDU) from the International Sign Academy.

Price: Members $69 Nonmembers $99

Presenter:  Bob Dubow, Beacon Funding Corporation

Category: Education, Insights, Local Business, Sign Financing | No Comments »
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Posted By on September 18, 2009

Do You Know The Difference Between Operating Business As Usual… And Having The Kind Of Success That Will Leave Your Competition Behind In A Cloud Of Dust?

Let’s face it – in this economy, you’ll need to learn every trick of the trade in order to pay the bills,  let alone expand your small business empire…. or will you?

If you want to add a few extra zeroes to your bottom line…if you’ve been desperate to increase recession-busting revenue… Even if you’re just looking to keep your business afloat…  …then you’ve come to the right place!

Allow me to introduce myself; Jim Thorpe. You may recognize the name as America’s Athlete of the Century , but I am a different Jim Thorpe and I’m talking to you as an 21st century Marketing Consultant for locally-based brick and mortar business.  In my 20+ years of showing small businesses like your own how to build a larger clientele base – and loads of wealth -I’ve fine-tuned the secrets that local businesses like your own can use to skyrocket revenue without overhead costs that only chip away at your hard-earned profits. And let’s face it – thanks to the recession, you can’t afford to miss out on one essential crunch-cheating secret!

Whether your business is in Hair Dressing, Pest Control, Retail, Dentistry, Real Estate, Plumbing, Car Sales or any other Brick and Mortar Business -  I can help you.

In fact, I’m so confident that I can help your business triple or even quadruple in just a short amount of time that I’m going to reveal a few of these secrets to you right now…even the most confident of marketers would think I’m crazy for doing this!

I’m talking about ONE simple changes that you can make to your business right now that will bring in a stampede of new customers!

I’m talking about the difference between the two most common types of marketing that small business owners use…and how one is outrageously more profitable than the other!

And that’s not all…in fact, I’m not even close to getting started!

These are just a few of the tips, tricks and tactics I’d like to share with you during your FR*E marketing consultation!

My high quality professional designs won’t cost you an arm or a leg. In fact. My designs are so affordable, your gonna wish you found me earlier.

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