Top Dawg Business Blog

If you are thinking about starting an internet online business or ecommerce website, you definitely want to familiarize yourself with all the free optimization and business intelligence tools out there. One of the best site comparison tools is Compete – check it out at www.compete.com

Compete allows you get a site profile for one site, or to compare up to 3 sites for free (5 if you sign up for a free MyCompete account) providing metrics on unique visitors, referring sites, destination sites and top search terms. You’ll be amazed what you can find out about your industry and competition using Compete. And if you invest in a Pro account, you can get a slew of other information, including the Average Visit Duration, Visits Per Person, Page Views, Pages per Person and more.

Compete will be invaluable to you if you decide to take the plunge with an online business opportunity like the one from Top Dawg Pet Supply.

We asked some online business owners what drew them to the Internet. Here are some of the things they told us.
“I’m very concerned about the environment and wanted to find something that let me work from home,” said one entrepreneur. “I can turn on my computer and be working 15 minutes after I get up in the morning. No more wasteful commute.”
“I wanted to have more time to spend with my kids,” stated another small business owner. “With an online business, I can set the pace and work when it’s convenient for me.”
“There are a ton of online business franchise opportunities out there, so I knew I’d be able to find one that worked for me. The Internet has really evolved and now it’s possible for almost any average person to be successful with an online business.”
“With my Internet business, I finally have the freedom to work hard but still have the quality of life I was never able to have with a conventional job.”
When queried about this, a Fort Lauderdale, FL career counselor stated “This is a recent trend among people who have been displaced or have reached the glass ceiling and are trying to take their professional life in a different direction. Starting a business on the Internet is easier than ever, and it allows people to use a variety of skills they have acquired in traditional jobs, but working for themselves.”
If this sounds appealing to you, consider looking into the online business opportunity available with Top Dawg Pet Supplies.

Think it takes guts or just plain stupidity to start a business in this economy? Think again. When the economy is sluggish, analysts see a significant upsurge in new businesses, and many of these initiatives have staying power that beats even the best odds of success. One reason for this is that home-based businesses require less overhead, ramp-up and investment. So they can take shape quickly without being hindered by external factors. And this “boot-strapping” mentality is an energizing factor for individuals who may have felt trapped or stifled by their wage- or salary-based job working for “The Man.” So you’ll see people really getting passionate and putting in the extra energy to make their new venture a success.
We have certainly seen that with Top Dawg Pet Supplies. So many of our clients are smart, hard-working individuals who just needed to find the right vehicle – like PetStoreComplete, our turnkey online business solution – to give them the opportunity to be a success.
To find out more, check out the Top Dawg Pet Supplies website, or call us directly for a free online demonstration.

Women entrepreneurs continue to take the plunge, and industry analysts remain split on whether this is due to or in spite of the precariousness of the economy. Not surprisingly, online business opportunities lead the way, from eBay Auctioning to Blogging to Consulting to Ecommerce. It’s estimated that over 10 million US businesses are woman-owned, and the number of woman-owned businesses is growing at twice the rate of all US businesses.
One of the great motivators may be simply “quality-of-life.” Studies show that self-employed women spend over 3 hours per week more with their families than do wage-and-salary earners.
Top Dawg Pet Supplies offers a unique turnkey business opportunity perfect for women (or men!) seeking to start a home-based business that can be off the ground quickly and seamlessly. Contact Top Dawg for a free, no-obligation demonstration of the PetStoreComplete solution today!

One of the newest free tools to hit the web, HubSpot’s Website Grader gives you a detailed look at numerous variables for a detailed assessment of just how well your website is working. This is a phenomenal tool for any web based business. It identifies some basic SEO problems and measures your popularity in social media. Check it out for yourself:
-Go to http://websitegrader.com
-Enter the URL for your online business (for example, www.onlinepetstore.com)
-Enter a couple of competing websites.
-Provide your Email address.
-Click Generate Report.
Within hours (or even minutes!) you’ll receive an email indicating your report is ready for viewing. Click on the link and you’ll be able to view a range of metrics that can tell you how well you have optimized your website. Then we recommend running a Website Grader Analysis at least quarterly, if not monthly. It’s a simple, free, quick way to keep an eye on your site’s health and efficacy!
If you’re interested in starting an online franchise business, check out Top Dawg Pet Supplies. You could be in business in a matter of days!

There are a lot of interesting Internet-based home businesses popping up all the time. Some are really astonishing “one-offs”… the kinds of things that make you slap your head and say “DOH, why didn’t I think of that?” Others are so inane that you wonder how they stay in business (and they probably won’t for long.) And then there are some that really have promise and are worth consideration. And most of them require little more than a computer and an Internet connection to get off the ground.
Writing and Editing Services: Perfect if you have a way with words.
Web Coding or Programming: Great work if you have the skills.
Graphic or Web Design: Takes talent, training, and an assortment of software applications.
Online Training: Webinars and video-chat are much less expensive and more flexible than in-person training.
Sales: Perfect for an experienced, self-directed sales professional.
Ecommerce: Easy enough, but requires a serious investment in developing a website with a shopping cart and payment gateway.
Internet Franchises: These come in all shapes and sizes, and essentially promise the benefit of a proven money maker. But the downside is generally the startup cost.
And then there’s the PetStoreComplete turnkey ecommerce solution from Top Dawg Pet Supply. You can have a fully-functional ecommerce website and shopping cart in less time than you think, at a cost far less than you’d pay for most franchise opportunities.

There are literally thousands of business opportunities around, each one just waiting for the right person to step in and turn it into a gold mine. But what types of opportunities are there, and which one is right for you? Here are just a few of the most common business opportunities and home-based businesses that are proliferating.
Service Businesses: Dog walking, pet sitting, house cleaning, car washing, tax preparing. All of these are service businesses with low start-up costs. But you are essentially limited by how many hours you have available to provide these services.
Franchises: The advantage with a franchise is that it promises to deliver a tried and true formula for success. The upside is if you follow the formula, it should work. The downside is often the price, which can be high.
Online Businesses: Getting started may seem as simple as putting up a website. But then what? How do you manage inventory?
To answer these burning questions and more, take a look at the PetStoreComplete turnkey solution from Top Dawg Pet Supply. It’s not a franchise, but it’s a turnkey business opportunity that could have you fully online within a matter of days.

Ever wonder what it would take to make your own home-based business a success? Wonder if you have what it takes? We asked a few successful business owners who started out working from home what they thought were the keys to making it work. Here are just a few things they said.

“If you want to have a successful home-based business, it has to be a labor of love. It can’t feel like work.”

“You have to get into a routine, just like anything. Everyone may approach it differently, but it’s all about structure. I get up every morning at 6am, read the paper, drink my coffee. Then I shower and dress as if I’m going to the office. Then I sit down in front of my computer and get to work.”

“Ya gotta love what you’re doing. But honestly, I think it’s a lot easier to love what you’re doing when you’re doing it for yourself instead of The Man!”

If you have comments or suggestions, we’d love to hear from you. We’ll be talking more about this in future entries. And if you are thinking about starting your own home-based business, check out Top Dawg Pet Supplies. You could be in business before you know it!

Here’s a very basic rundown of these important business concepts.
A trademark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by a business to identify its products and services and distinguish them for those of other businesses. It may be a word mark, such as CocaCola, or a graphical mark such as the Nike “swoosh”. There are also a range of unconventional trademarks for specific colors, sounds or even smells.
An unregistered trademark is indicated using a TM superscripted at the end of the mark, and. It is the simplest form of protection for a mark.
A service mark is a specific type of trademark used to identify services rather than goods. An SM superscripted at the end of a mark is used to identify an unregistered service mark.
A registered trademark – used for both services and goods – is indicated by an R inside a circle (sometimes called a “circle-r”), superscripted after the mark. In order to obtain a registered trademark in the US, you must go through a rigorous registration process with Trademark Registry.
A copyright, on the other hand is a claim that a content owner makes over the originality and ownership of the content. If you write an article, you can copyright it simply by putting a C inside a circle (sometimes called a “circle-c”) and the words “Copyright 2011. All Rights Reserved.” somewhere on the item.
Finally, a patent is a set of exclusive rights granted to an inventor for something that is “new, non-obvious and useful or industrially applicable.” A patent can be used to prevent others from making, using, selling or distributing the patented item without permission.
But just because you haven’t invented the latest Post-It Note or a new Coca-Cola killer, don’t think you can’t be successful in your own business. A home based, internet franchise business could be yours in days with Top Dawg Pet Supply. Find out more today!

Carrying cost is a term used to place a value on the overall cost to a business of holding inventory. If you keep $1,000 worth of inventory on hand at all times – whether it’s raw goods, finished parts, or even office supplies – that means this $1,000 can’t be used for anything else. Even if you know you will eventually sell this inventory or pass the cost on to your customers in one way or another, as long as it’s sitting in your warehouse, garage or closet, this $1,000 is just money you are sitting on. In a broader sense, there are lots of elements that should also be considered carrying costs, including rent, insurance, perishability and handling.
If you start a home-based Internet business with the PetStoreComplete package from Top Dawg Pet Supplies, you will never have a carrying cost to worry about. Because everything is drop shipped directly to your customers! Find out more today.