Top Dawg Business Blog

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.

Ready to start your own home-based business with some of the world's best drop shippers? Visit Top Dawg Pet Supplies and start one risk free!

So you’re thinking about going it alone. No more working for The Man! Gonna hang out your shingle and be your own boss! Sounds great, but what do you need to do before you take that leap of faith?
• Computer: You need a fast laptop or desktop computer that has plenty of memory and disk space.
• Printer: Get an all-in-one printer/scanner. They are really inexpensive, and you can even get a wireless so you can print without being physically connected.
• Connectivity: You need a fast Internet connection – DSL or Cable preferred.
• Communication: A phone with voice mail and call-waiting is a must. A mobile phone may be all you need. A fax is a plus, but you can always use an all-in-one printer/scanner and send scanned images electronically.
• Work space: Where are you going to focus? Most people find it hard to really shift gears and concentrate on work if they are sitting in their living room.
• A Plan: Make a list and prioritize what needs to happen in which order.
• A Budget: How much do you need to start? Don’t forget to anticipate covering your personal overhead while the business is ramping up. When do you expect to be in the black?

One great online home business is the PetStoreComplete turnkey solution from Top Dawg Pet Supply. It includes a full-featured CMS website, and since products are drop-shipped directly to your customers, you never have to worry about overhead!

Ready to start your own home-based business with some of the world's best drop shippers? Visit Top Dawg Pet Supplies and start one risk free!

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.

Ready to start your own home-based business with some of the world's best drop shippers? Visit Top Dawg Pet Supplies and start one risk free!

A domain name is the “root” name of a web address plus the TLD – top level domain – extension. A TLD might be .com, .org, .net, or any number of other newer TLDs which are beginning to gain popularity. Some examples of domains are:

· Coke.com

· ATT.net

· YMCA.org

Think of a domain name as the street address. That’s where your website “lives.”

When we dig in a little deeper, each page on the website has its own unique suite number at that street address. That’s suite number is the URL. Some examples:

· Coke.com/about-us

· ATT.net/FAQs

· YMCA.org/programs

You can view a page’s URL in your Internet Browser search bar.

If you’re itching to know more about starting your own web-based business, check out the PetStoreComplete solution from Top Dawg Pet Supplies.

Ready to start your own home-based business with some of the world's best drop shippers? Visit Top Dawg Pet Supplies and start one risk free!

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!

Ready to start your own home-based business with some of the world's best drop shippers? Visit Top Dawg Pet Supplies and start one risk free!

An Internet browser, or just browser, is a software application that lets you surf the web. There are four major browser players on the market today: Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE), Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari. Why do you care? Well, for any web-based business, you need to be sure that whoever is looking can easily find you on the web, regardless of the browser they use. So you want to be sure your ecommerce website is totally “cross-browser-friendly” and can be easily viewed in any of the major browsers on the market.
With Top Dawg Pet Supply’s PetStoreComplete online pet store franchise offering, you get a fully-functional, “browser agnostic” web site created just for you in mere days. Find out more.

Ready to start your own home-based business with some of the world's best drop shippers? Visit Top Dawg Pet Supplies and start one risk free!

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!

Ready to start your own home-based business with some of the world's best drop shippers? Visit Top Dawg Pet Supplies and start one risk free!

Google Alerts is a free tool from – you guessed it – Google. It allows you to set up automatic email alerts of results relevant to specific topics of interest. You could set up a Google Alert for news from your competitors, for a term like “home based business opportunities” or “franchise opportunities”, or even your own name! Just go to google.com/alerts and enter in a search term. Decide whether you want News, Web, Blog, Realtime, Video, Discussion or “Everything” results. Set how often you want to receive results, and how much volume (“Only the best results” or “All results.) Then enter your email and click Creat Alert. That’s all there is to it. And once you have set up your alerts, you can sign into your Google Alerts account to manage multiple alerts from a single dashboard. Very handy.
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!

Ready to start your own home-based business with some of the world's best drop shippers? Visit Top Dawg Pet Supplies and start one risk free!

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.

Ready to start your own home-based business with some of the world's best drop shippers? Visit Top Dawg Pet Supplies and start one risk free!

When you start any ecommerce business – or any other business, for that matter – one of the most important factors to consider is how you’ll differentiate yourself. Anyone can create a website and sell products online. But how do you create trust with your audience? And how do you create a brand identity for your online business? Well, in the words of the inimitable Sherlock Holms, “It’s elementary, my dear Watson.” Strike up a dialog with your customers. Engage with them to find out what they care about, how they liked your products, get feedback about their purchasing experience. Create a fan page on Facebook and an identity on Twitter for your company. Send out newsletters on topically relevant issues and spotlighting new or unique products. Become an SME – Subject Matter Expert – on something related to your business. It’s elementary, but it all takes time and devotion.
If you’re ready to devote some time and devotion to your own success, check out Top Dawg Pet Supplies. You could be in business for yourself with an online pet store in no time!

Ready to start your own home-based business with some of the world's best drop shippers? Visit Top Dawg Pet Supplies and start one risk free!