~^~ Text Zoom ~^~

 

Next time you can't see small text clearly on a website,
try holding down the "CTRL" key and then moving the scroll
wheel on your mouse up and down.

 

The text in your web browser (and some programs) will
increase and decrease in size as you roll the wheel back
and forth.

 

This little trick provides an excellent means of quickly
getting what you need from websites with tiny text.

 

~^~ Slow Surfing? ~^~

 

If your Internet Explorer web browser starts giving you
problems, you might want to clean up your "Temporary
Internet Files."

 

Most people don't realize it, but when you leave a web
page, it doesn't leave you!

 

Most of the time you keep a copy of websites you visit on
your hard drive and, over time, they build up.

 

This collection of old web pages can eventually cause your
surfing to slow to a crawl and even cause errors!

 

Here's one way to clear out those old files. Click your
"Start" button, then "All Programs," "Accessories," "System
Tools" and "Disk Cleanup."

 

After an initial check of your hard drive (which can take
some time if it's the first time you've ever launched the
utility), you can check the boxes of the files you wish to
delete.

 

To speed up your surfing, at a minimum, make sure you
delete the "Temporary Internet Files."

 

~^~ Surfing Shortcuts ~^~

 

To quickly cycle back and forth through a series of web
pages you've visited, hold down the "ALT" key and tap your
left and right arrow keys.

 

Left arrow takes you back while the Right arrow takes you
forward.

 

The Page Up and Page Down buttons allow you to quickly move
up and down any web page without struggling to find the
scroll bar slider on the right side of the page.

 

-- Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist
(http://www.TheNetReporter.com ) and is the author of
several best-selling ebooks, information products and
software programs.

 

 

 

---------------------------------------

 

 

 

?? GARDEN

 

How to Make Money at Home Growing Small Landscape Plants on 1/20 Acre or Less
by Michael J. McGroarty

 

Small town, big town, it doesn??™t matter, if you have a small area in your backyard that you can use for planting, then you can make money growing small plants at home. Actually you can make pretty good money on 1/40 of one acre. That??™s an area about 30 feet by 40 feet.

 

You will be amazed at how many plants you can fit in an area that small, and at how much money you can make. Even apartment dwellers can do this! If you live in an apartment, just to get a feel for how fun and rewarding a tiny nursery can be, find somebody with a little piece of ground that they will either let you use, let you rent it, or do a joint venture with you.

 

Is there really a market for small plants? The market is huge, something like 4 billion dollars last year alone, and the demand is tremendous. As a small grower, you have a tremendous advantage over the larger nurseries, their overhead is very high. As a backyard grower yours will be almost nothing.

 

You might be asking; "I live in a small town in a rural area, how many plants can I really sell?"

 

Tens of thousands if you want to. Most people don??™t realize it, but large wholesale growers are the largest buyers of small plants in the country. They sell so many plants that they just can not produce them fast enough themselves, so they buy them from where ever they can find them. Just pack them up in a cardboard box and ship them anywhere you want.

 

I routinely buy large quantities of small plants and have them shipped thousands of miles to my house. Why do I buy plants if I know how to grow them myself? There are a lot of reasons, but one is because I am impatient and don??™t like to grow Japanese Maples from seed. I can buy Japanese Maple seedlings for as little as 75?? and all I have to do is pot them up and watch them grow.

 

I also buy large quantities of flowering shrubs that I would like to start propagating myself. I buy them for 50??, pot them up, and often sell them the next year for $4.97. But in the mean time I take cuttings from them to propagate for next year??™s crop. Then I never have to buy that variety again. Those are the same reasons that many wholesale nurseries are always looking for great deals on small plants. When they find someone like you, growing in their backyard they are delighted, because they know they can buy what they need for less money from a small backyard grower than they can if they buy from a large nursery.

 

It only stands to reason, your overhead is almost nothing, you don??™t have to raise the price of your plants to pay for buildings, hundreds of acres of land, trucks, tractors, and dozens of employees.

 

How much money do you need to get started?

 

Almost none. All you have to do is root some cuttings, and you??™re on your way! There are dozens of easy plant propagation techniques that are so easy to learn that young children can do them, and with great success I might add. This propagation information is available to you free of charge at http://www.freeplants.com/

 

The size of the area you need to get started is really up to you, but an area about the size of a picnic table is a start. I??™m serious. I root my cuttings in flats that are about 12??? by 15???, and can get between 100 and 150 cuttings per flat. In an area about the size of a picnic table you should be able to root several thousand cuttings at a time.

 

And guess what?

 

As soon as they are well rooted, they have a value and can be sold immediately! Isn??™t that cool?

 

Typically a rooted cutting is worth about 50??. Let??™s see now, 1500 cuttings at 50?? each, that??™s $750.!!! Wow!!! The wheels should be turning now.

 

But you don't have to sell 50?? plants, you can grow them until they??™re bigger and get more money for them. That??™s what I do, I pot them up in small pots and they sell like crazy right from my driveway at $4.97 each. This spring we sold over $25,000. worth of $4.97 plants right from our driveway. One the people that bought my Backyard Nursery E-book held a sale this spring and sold $2,800. worth of plants her first weekend. She was ecstatic!

 

Of course we also sold plants for much more than that. I used to grow Japanese Red Maples and we sold those for $45. each, and they sold like hot cakes!

 

This is one of the most fun and rewarding home businesses you could ever get involved in. My kids have learned work ethics, the value of a dollar, and skills that will last them a lifetime. Anytime they needed a little extra money all they had to do was step out the back door and earn the money they need.

 

It costs very little to get started, and the rewards can be quite high. It??™s certainly not a get rich quick plan (because there is no such thing!), but plenty of people have done very well in the nursery business. All it takes is determination and hard work. You can learn it as you go along. It??™s much easier than you think.

 

You can see photos of my backyard nursery on this page: http://www.freeplants.com/backyard.htm

 

Michael J. McGroarty is the author of this article. Visit his most
interesting website, http://www.freeplants.com and sign up for his
excellent gardening newsletter, and grab a FREE copy of his
E-book, "Easy Plant Propagation"

 

 

 

 

 

---------------------------------------

 

 

 

?? BUSINESS

 

 

Get the Word Out about You and Your Business -
15 Ways to Advertise for Free!
?© Terri Seymour

 

Starting and building an online or home business
is not an easy task, but it can be done. It takes
work, time, commitment and passion. This is not
a get rich quick career! You want to start by
letting everyone know about you and your business
and by building your reputation. Fortunately,
there are numerous ways to do this online. They
do not cost anything but time!

 

1. Message Boards - Do not blatantly advertise, but
join in the conversations, offer advice and support.
Your signature will do the advertising for you. Always,
follow the boards guidelines for posting.
http://www.internetbasedmoms.com/bb/
http://www.network54.com/Hide/Forum/277709
http://www.kitchencraftsnmore.net/forum/
http://selfstartersweeklytips.com/forum/

 

2. Email Discussion Groups - Similar to message boards.
Follow guidelines and participate in the conversations.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/itsjust4u2003/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WomansNetworkingCommunity
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ideasbypost

 

3. Ad Swaps - Contact other ezine/newsletter publishers
to arrange an ad swap. You run their ad in your ezine in
exchange for them running your ad. This is a great way of
advertising and networking. Ezine directories are a good
place to find other publishers.
http://www.myfavoriteezines.com
http://www.ezinelocater.com

 

4. Link Exchanges - Similar to ad swaps, but you exchange
ads on your website. This not only advertises your site, but
will improve your ranking in the search engines. Be
selective in choosing sites to swap with. Do not submit
your link to the FFA (free link sites), or link farms. Choose
quality sites that are rich in content. Contact the webmaster
personally to see if she/he is interested in an exchange.

 

5. Ezine Publishing - Ezine publishing is very important
for your online business. Keeps you in contact with your
potential customers and helps build trust and respect.
mailto::moe-mini-course@getresponse.com
http://www.myownezine.com/tutorial/index.shtml

 

6. Write Articles - This is one of the top methods of
free advertising. You do not have to be a writer to write
good, informative articles. People want basic and
useful info, not fancy words and psychological theories.
mailto:articletips@getresponse.com
mailto:articlelibrary@getresponse.com

 

7. Guestbooks - Visit quality sites and leave
feedback in the Guestbook along with your url.
This will not make you rich, but it is free advertising
and provides some good networking opportunities.
Take the time to look at the site and leave sincere
feedback.

 

8. Sigtags - Always have a short but effective sigtag
in all your outgoing emails. This is very effective
advertising. Try to keep it about 4-6 lines maximum.
Example:

 

To our success,
Terri Seymour

 

Learn to publish your own ezine
mailto:myownezine@subto.us
Resources, tips and more for your home and family.
mailto:subscribe@seymourproducts.com

 

This sigtag will help you get subscribers which you can
keep in contact with via your ezine.

 

9. Signature Buddies - Another form of ad swap, where
you would contact associates and swap sigtags with
them for a period of time and then swap with another
associate so your sigtag is consistently revolving
around the web.

 

10. Testimonials - Be free (but not too free) with
testimonials, but make sure they are sincere. The
publisher or webmaster will often publish these
testimonials on their website/ezine along with your
url.

 

11. Group Pop Unders - This is when a group of
publishers come together to share one pop under window
at several sites. Each participant adds the window to
their site so every time someone visits any of the sites,
all participants get exposure. There are several of
these programs to choose from.
http://www.subscriptionrocket.com/cgi-bin/r.cgi?r=6401
http://www.subscriberdrive.com/
http://www.listfire.com/

 

12. Welcome Letter - When someone subscribes to your
ezine and then confirms, it is time to send them a welcome
letter. Make full use of this letter. Tell them about any
freebies or specials that you offer. Give them a quick
background of your site and the purpose of your site.
Point out the highlights of your site. You can say so
much more in your welcome letter than just Welcome.

 

13. Announcement Groups - Follow guidelines and keep
your groups organized. Spending a few minutes a day
sending out your announcements can get you several
subscribers.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AdvertisingLists
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Group-Promotions/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Her-Announcements

 

14. Group Subscription Pages - Similar to group
pop-unders. Join together with about 10 fellow
publishers and promote each other on your subscription
thank you pages. This will benefit the whole group.

 

15. Online Directories - There are all kinds of free
online directories where you can submit your ezine,
website, business opportunities and so on.
Do a search for free directories, ezine directories,
etc. and get started. It will take some time!
http://amazines.com/
http://bestyellow.com/addurl.html
http://www.google.com/addurl.html

 

Some of these methods are, of course, more
effective than others, but they all provide free
advertising. Do all of these consistently and in
time, you and your business will become well-known
in the Internet world.

 

******************
Terri Seymour owns and operates MyOwnEzine.com
Learn to publish and promote your own ezine.
mailto:myownezine@subto.us
Sign-up for the FREE MOE Ezine Publishing Ecourse
mailto:moe-mini-course@getresponse.com
Make money and keep ALL profits! This is not MLM.
http://www.seymourproducts.com/wholesale/index.shtml
We can help you get free double opt-in subs.
http://myownezine.subto.us

 

*******************

 

---------------------------------------

 

?? WRITING

 

How to Outgrow 'Write What You Know'
By Jenna Glatzer

 

Every writer has heard it time and again, and it??™s not without merit: ???Write what you know.???

 

When I began freelancing, I was just out of college, so what did I write about? College. I wrote profiles of collegiate entrepreneurs, I wrote editorials about college life... and after a while, I really wanted to move on and write about other things. But I didn??™t feel qualified.

 

Luckily, I didn??™t let that hold me back for too long.

 

???Write what you know??? is a very good starting point. But that??™s all it is. It??™s a place for you to go to get your feet wet, and a place to come back to when the tide gets too high. But it??™s not a place to stay for very long.

 

A better piece of advice, in my opinion, is ???Write what you WANT to know.??? One of the great perks of being a freelance writer is that you get paid to learn about things. So... what do you want to learn about?

 

If I had completely disregarded ???Write what you know??? and simply opened a page of the Writers Market at random, figuring I??™d send a query to whichever market my finger happened to touch, my career would be very different today. I might have ended up writing about finances, miniature horses, and aerobics. And you know what? I would have hated it.

 

I have no experience with any of the above topics, and there??™s a good reason for that: I never really WANTED to have experience with them. Since I have no real passion for any of the topics, if I had to write articles about them, it would feel like work.

 

But did you ever stop to think about the things you always wanted to know, but never found out? Or all the interesting people you wanted to meet? Or the problems you??™ve encountered that you wanted solved? Now those are article topics.

 

Try this exercise. Fill in the blanks with your answers.

 

1. If time and money weren??™t factors, I??™d love to take a course in ___________________.

 

2. I??™ve always wanted to ask (person you know)______________________ about _________________________.

 

3. I??™ve always wanted to know how __________________________ works.

 

4. My life would improve if I could only ______________________________.

 

5. When I have a sleepless night, it??™s usually because I??™m worried about ____________________.

 

6. The worst injustice I can think of is ______________________________.

 

7. When I was a kid, I was really passionate about _________________________.

 

8. I have always been embarrassed to admit that ________________________really interests me.

 

9. In my life, I have overcome ___________________________________________.

 

10. If I could volunteer for just one cause, it would be __________________________.

 

11. I wish I were better at ___________________________________.

 

12. I have always wondered why _________________________________________.

 

You may have lots of answers for each statement. That??™s great! Each answer is a possible article topic. Most of them won??™t be specific enough (or perhaps too specific) for an article, but they should give you lots of new starting points from which to brainstorm angles.

 

Think of freelance writing as your own opportunity to learn about all the things you ever wanted to know, and don??™t worry if you??™re not yet an ???expert??? in any of these areas! Among my favorite writing assignments have been topics in which I had no previous expertise:

 

-An article about a woman who started her own greeting card business for Woman??™s Own. Of course, I??™ve never started my own greeting card business??”but the topic certainly interested me, and I wanted a good excuse to learn more about it.

 

-An article about how ???media overload??? affects children??™s development for KidsGrowth.com. I??™m not even a parent, let alone an expert in child psychology. But I??™ve always wondered how increasing media immersion (TV, Internet, video games, radio, etc.) has affected people in MY generation.

 

-An article about book packagers for Writer??™s Digest. Okay, I had written for a book packager at that point??”but just one, and I was eager to learn more about the industry and its players. It gave me the perfect excuse to contact book packagers and learn more about the market. Many of them now have my resume on file for future assignments, too!

 

-Several articles about interesting inventions for Zooba.com. How much fun did I have learning about how Velcro?„?, aspirin, and Post-It Notes?„? were invented? This made for great dinner table conversation for weeks. My father always fancied himself a bit of a mad inventor, and I guess the gene spilled over to me. I devour these quirky stories of how the human mind approaches problem-solving creatively.

 

-Every disabilities-related article I??™ve ever written. Was I an ???expert??? in this area when I began? No. I have a brother who has Down syndrome, so I had the benefit of some extra understanding, but I only became an ???expert??? by writing about this topic over and over. Each time, I learned something new that I really wanted to learn??”new legislation for people with disabilities, profiles of amazing people with disabilities, issues of discrimination, etc.

 

When working to broaden your writing horizons, be sure to think about two things: your passions, and your curiosities. You don??™t need to only write about topics that mean ???everything??? to you; you can??”and should??”also write about the little things that bounce around your brain. Have you always wondered how the custom of kissing under the mistletoe evolved? Or how Mexican jumping beans jump?

 

Have you wondered what it feels like to go back to school in your 40s or 50s? Have you wondered if there??™s a way to stop all that junk mail and those telemarketing calls from darkening your doorstep?

 

Do some preliminary research, formulate a query letter, and... ta da! You get paid to find answers to these pressing questions, or learn more about your hobbies and passions.

 

Consider it a challenge. Keep learning. Use your writing as a vehicle to answer every question you never had time to answer before. There are lots of people out there who have wondered about those very same things, and you can help them!

 

You don??™t need to be an expert. You need to be a great researcher, and you need to be willing to ask questions. Lots of questions, sometimes. But that??™s one of the great things about writers??”we??™re such curious creatures.

 

Write what you want to know, and soon enough, it??™ll be what you DO know.

 

About the Author:
Jenna Glatzer is the editor-in-chief of http://www.absolutewrite.com/. Sign up for the FREE weekly e-zine and get a free list of more than 180 agents who are open to new writers! She is also the author of OUTWITTING WRITER'S BLOCK AND OTHER PROBLEMS OF THE PEN (Lyons Press, 2003). Find out why people LOVE this book! Read all about it at http://www.absolutewrite.com/outwitting.htm.

 

 

---------------------------------------

 

?? ADS & RESOURCES

 

********

 

I found a new site called "How-To-Make-Money.com" that you should take a look at. They've compiled an ebook called "1,000 Ways to Make Money", and it's a virtual encyclopedia of new and unusual money-making schemes! Check it out!  

 

********

 

Free ebook 'The Science of Getting Rich'. Get in touch with the life forces This truly amazing book was written nearly a hundred years ago!. Click here: http://www.mylot.org/ebooks.htm for download!

 

********

 

If you're looking for more family friendly newsletters, or you want to publicize your own, try My Favorite Ezines here http://www.myfavoriteezines.com -a very user friendly website!

 

********

 

Interested in an ezine/newsletter ad swap? Write to me and I??™ll get back to you asap
.Linda@mylot.org Please put ???adswap??™ in the subject line. Thanks

 

--------------------------------------

 

?? AFFILIATES

 

 ============================================================

 

Over 1,000+ PAGES of the Hottest, Proven Profitable Internet Business Secrets Broken Down Into An EASY-TO-DUPLICATE System. Corey Rudl is the owner of four highly successful online businesses that attract more than 1,800,000 visitors each month and generate over $6.6 million each year. He is also the author of the #1 best-selling Internet Marketing course online. To check out his site that's jam-packed with THE EXACT INFORMATION YOU NEED to start, build, and grow your very own, profitable Internet business, I highly recommend visiting: http://www.marketingtips.com/t.cgi/800116 This guy really knows what he's talking about!

 

============================================================

 

A Revolution in Web Site Monetization...
Google's AdSense is a powerful way to monetize any site. The
best, up-to-date advice on how to get the most out of
AdSense is also FREE. Visit now and start earning...
http://adsense.sitesell.com/websites16.html

 

******P.S. I've just joined this system - for free :-) and it really does work!*****

 

-------------------------------------------------

 

QUICK TIP: "Where to get FREE autoresponders"

 

Let's face it. Autoresponders are GREAT for doing
customer follow-up -- and used correctly, they can
increase your sales 30-45% overnight.

 

However, the trick is finding them CHEAP!

 

Some services will charge you $30+ per month, per
series of responders! Given that most businesses
need a minimum of 4-5 responder series to start,
this is over $1,440.00 a year -- that's insane!

 

That's why I was pretty excited when I uncovered
this powerful piece of automation software that
includes *unlimited* series of 'smart' sequential
autoresponders... FREE!

 

To read more about it, and learn how it will automate
other aspects of your business, too, check out:

 

http://www.marketingtips.com/mailloop/t.x/800116/brand new

 

-------------------------------------------------

 

=====> Psst! ... Have you Heard the Buzz? <=====

 

There's a new, fully automated traffic-generation system that can send 1000s of targeted prospects to your website, every single day, for FREE! It takes just 5 minutes to set it up, and it's totally "viral" ... Check it out and create a FREE account at http://www.trafficswarm.com/go.cgi?224958

 

-------------------------------------------------

 

?? END NOTE

 

Well I guess that's it for this month.....If you haven't taken the working from home plunge yet, head on over to http://www.mylot.org. Books, articles, tips and even recipes - specially designed to make your home a great place to be! See you there!

 

---------------------------------------

 

Wishing you success in all your home ventures!

 

Until next month,

 

Linda Gray

 

Editor at www.mylot.org

 

>Working From Home and Everything in Between<