Resident Agents of Nevada

I found a great website that is a resource for businesses looking into launching ecommerce enterprises or venturing into online sales. It looks like it would be helpful for first time entrepreneurs or businesses that are expanding their horizons to selling on the web.

The site http://www.safeselling.org/ is organized around commonly asked questions that come up during the development, launch and operation of an online store. Then there are detailed answers to the questions that might interest you. There are also several links to the American Bar Association, government and other information sites that provide helpful guidance for selling online.

The site is and it was created by the Cyberspace Law Committee of the American Bar Association's Section of Business Law. It is a follow-on to the consumer protection site

Just because you sell on the webs doesn't mean that you don't need to have disclaimers and agreements that ensure that you and your company are protected. Take a look today.

Sandy, 775 882-4641, agents@nevada.org

Last week while surfing I discovered two great sites that should be helpful for on-going business issues. The first is Counselors To Small Business http://www.score.org/.  The other link is http://www.allbusiness.com/

For instance All Business provides advice from business bloggers. They had a great Checklist For Starting A Business. It identifies seven key components which include:

* Identifying your reasons for starting a business

* Self Analysis

* Personal Skills and Experience

* Finding A Niche

* Market Analysis

* Planning Your Startup

* Finances

Score has all kinds of tips and they'll even let you ask your specific questions online.

Take a look, I think you'll find lots of good stuff.

Sandy, 775 882-4641 agents@nevada.org

Resident Agents of Nevada, Inc. http://www.nevada.org/

While my owner normally focuses on tips and ideas for entrepreneurs, she decided to let me write this post for "MY" blog.

I just can't help telling you about the cutest essay in the September issue of Oprah Magazine. It is an excerpt from a book called The Braindead Magaphone: Essays by George Saunders.

The essay is written by one of my friends "Biscuit" (another chocolate lab) who explains in hysterical detail how disgusted he is with his owner's late night "perschnockers" dancing in the buff to the tune Purple Rain! Biscuit describes what he might be pushed to do should the behavior continue. (you gotta read this...it is so funny).  I've practiced chewing on a few sofa legs myself, cell phones, drywall and my favorite.....comforters.

He also complains about the "damned slippery" cheap tiles that his Master and Mistress have installed cause his paws to slip out from under him (WHAMMO)  all asses-and-elbows puncturing the silence of the night as his furry little body hits the floor. Also happened to me until we had a water leak and we got to change the tile in the den-nobody knew that I'm the one who chewed through the pipe.

If you get a chance-give it a read....and, you guys & gals...beware. Your dog is watching all of your antics.  Think about viewing life from your pups perspective.

Now I'm supposed to include some kind of tip. Guess it is: stop and get a good laugh every once and awhile no matter how hard you work...give the dog a pat and lots of cookies.

Tootsie (3 year old chocolate lab) 775 882-4641, agents@nevada.org

Resident Agents of Nevada, Inc. http:www.nevada.org

The last few posts have been about travel-funny how when you're looking around on the web that you just keep finding things. I found a website that lets you keep track of your lease miles and helps you to avoid costly end-of-lease penalties.

You enter some simple information like the original lease term, months remaining and the annual mileage allowance and then the calculator predicts any excess miles and the associated end-of-lease charges .

It helps you plan for the additional payments if you are really going to have to pay or warns you how much you'll have to conserve miles by perhaps driving a family vehicle.

Great simple and easy to use tool is at http://www.leaseguide.com/

Sandy, agents@nevada.org 775 882-4641

Resident Agents Of Nevada, Inc. http://www.nevada.org/

Last time I was in Dallas, my friends and I wanted to make a reservation for dinner at a hot new restaurant for a Monday evening. It was Sunday and the restaurant was closed-so I started surfing for a solution and, wonder of wonders-I discovered a great site called http://www.opentable.com/

I was able to register and look at all of the 199 great restaurants in the Dallas area. You can search by cuisine and neighborhood. I was given time options for our Monday reservations, a look at the menu and an immediate confirmation. There was even a cute invitation that I could send to my buddies. Once you join Open Table, you receive a minimum of 100 points (for specially featured restaurants up to 1,000 points). The once you get 2,000 points, you'll receive a $20 gift dining gift certificate.

Open table has over 7,000 restaurants and has accommodated over 45 Million diners worldwide. I'm not sure why it took me so long to find them but I'm sure glad that I did.

Go to their website http://www.opentable.com/ and see if the cities where you dine are online-bet they are! There's no charge to use the system. You'll love it.

Sandy 775 882-4641 agents@nevada.org

Resident Agents of Nevada, Inc. http://www.nevada.org/

I seem to be on a travel/food kick...not bad. Anyway, a prior blog talked about making reservations worldwide. Well, how about selecting where you want to eat. The site to go to is http://www.zagat.com/.

It has ratings and reviews available for over 30,000 restaurants, nightlife, hotels and attractions. You can join for free and look at menus and member reviews for different cities which will give you some perspective on how it works.

Sandy 775 882-4641, agents@nevada.org

Resident Agents Of Nevada, Inc. http://www.nevada.org/

The annual fee is join is $24. It is well worth the investments since you get the full reviews, you can do a review yourself (good or bad) and you get invitations to take different surveys that include freebies. For instance, I did a restaurant survey for San Francisco and I'll receive a free copy of the Zagat pocket guide for SFO. Not bad!

I've found it especially helpful when traveling in Europe. And not too long ago I was on the Intracoastal Waterway on a boat and we used it when we arrived at a marina in an unfamiliar town. Great stuff.

A frequent traveling (frugal) friend sent me an email and suggested that I subscribe to Airfare Watchdog. At the time I thought, yeah another site with the same ole stuff...not true. On http://www.airfarewatchdog.com/ there are many different things than you'll find on "purchase" sites. For instance, they have a great blog, a newsletter and they include airlines that the others omit, such as Southwest, Skybus, Allegiant and Jet Blue. Here's a little trivia for you-the reason why nobody else includes Southwest is that Southwest does not allow "automated" checking of their fares and sales. It must be done by a person and Airfare Watchdog must have somebody besides "dogs" working to find the best fares. They also include unpublished sales-don't know how they do that one.

I subscribed an weekly I get an email with fares from the cities that I asked them to monitor for me. Each time I go to their site, I learn something new-today they talked about hidden obnoxious airline fees. They missed one that I found the other day that really irritated me on two fronts.

First, my husband and I needed to fly one way to Boston. I tried MBNA points (since we have over 700,000)...that program stinks. They wanted to charge a surcharge of over $400 because I didn't want to fly the red eye flight they recommend-cheapskates! Then I thought, well, American Express points are pretty bad too....but we might as well spend them vs hard earned cash. I used the Amex but those clowns required 92,000 points (yes, I'm serious for a two one way flights from Reno to Boston)!!! Then, they couldn't get me any reasonable seating. So, I thought-so what, I'm an Advantage Platinum Member, first I'll try the web and then I'll call the Platinum desk. The web wouldn't let me book the exit row seats (said it had a "technical" problem). When I called the Platinum desk-they wanted to charge $5 for each seat assignment!!! Unbelievable!!! I talked them out of it-but it was pretty greedy...because the ticket wasn't booked through them.

Anybody else having these kinds of problems. I think we've found a good "travel point" card that I'll discuss in another blog.

Sandy, agents@nevada.org, 775 882-4641

Resident Agents of Nevada, Inc. http://www.nevada.org/

I've enjoyed reading some tips on a British site http://www.ivillage.co.uk

Here's a brief overview of an article that addresses mistake that somebody with a home office can make-by knowing maybe you can avoid the same mistakes.

• Not bothering to do your homework about your business idea
• Failing to get the support of your family (boy this is a biggie!) There is no doubt that if you are working at home it will interfere with the family dynamics
• Having insufficient savings to bolster cash flow before the business gets going. You need all your energy to focus on the business without worrying about money
• Neglecting to write a mission statement. What makes your business unique.
• Thinking that it isn't necessary to set a schedule. You need to set office hours and stick to them-this is so your clients know when to reach you and, as important, when the family knows you'll have time for them.
• Not carving out a workspace exclusively for your business. Have a "real" office and do you work there-not at the dining room table!
• Being too timid about negotiating fees. Ask for the best deal. Every penny you save can be invested back into the business or push to the bottom line
• Getting backlogged on bookeeping. Make sure to send out invoices in a timely fashion and keep good track of expenses. Invest in Quicken or another bookkeeping software program and learn to use it or find somebody that will do it for you.
• Believing working from home means having it all-it's always hard work to make a new venture successful.

Sandy, 775 882-4641, agents@nevada.org

Resident Agents Of Nevada, Inc. http://www.nevada.org/

You can find some great tips and ideas at http://www.ivillage.co.uk/

Seems that tips to be successful extend beyond our boundaries here in the States and they are pretty universal. For instance here's a synopsis of some of a british websites tips:

• Don't work for less than you can afford to even to get the business but consider offering a discount if a client will give you a longer term contract.
• Try to find people who refer jobs and clients to you
• Surround yourself with supportive people and don't be discouraged by anybody
• Be flexible in your thinking-change will help your company by successful
• Admit your mistakes, correct them and carry on
• Develop a good relationship with your local bank manager and creditors
• Be willing to get additional training in areas where you don't have any expertise such as accounting and IT support
• Avoid Isolation and try to develop a network of entrepreneurs who exchange ideas
• Separate your work and personal life-set your work hours and try to stick to them. On your business answering system, let somebody know when they can expect a response if they leave a message.
• Plan some "thinking time" into every day to focus on what will help your business grow

Sandy 775 882-47641 agents@nevada.org

Resident Agents Of Nevada, Inc. http://www.nevada.org/

Travel deals usually last for a few hours only. You can be lucky and catch one by browsing travel sites or get emailed about flight deals that depart at 5 am with three stops. (Not sure you would want that anyway) Or you can check out a travel website, http://www.yapta.com/, that tracks a specific flight and notifies you about any updates.

What makes yapta.com different than other travel sites? Yapta allows you to track a specific flight, not just a route. We are all busy people and need to travel around our own schedules. Sign up on the website and get started easily.

It's easy, once you decide on specific flight click on the Yapta logo. It will then track that flight and notify you about fair changes, time delays, refunds that can be available and so on. Go check it out.

John 775-882-4641 agents@nevada.org

Resident Agents of Nevada, Inc. http://www.nevada.org/