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Creating A Practical Small Online Business With Very Little Knowledge About Internet Technology

In today's fast changing world, even if you are not internet savvy, you can still get yourself involved in online businesses easily. What you need to do is to "work smartquot; and use the right strategy.

Nowadays, it is not necessary for us to close the business deals through face to face meetings. We can just generate income through internet. Do not be disappointed if you do not have web skills. What you need to have is the ability to work out clear and precise marketing plan. With a proper plan, you should be able to execute it fast.

First thing first, you need to decide what you want to sell online. It can be a physical product or a form of service. It will always safe for you to do thorough research to find out your competitors first before you start to promote your product or service to the market.

Secondly, you need to look into the marketing physics. It defines what your product or service means to the customers. It assists you to evaluate your product or service so that you can develop an effective marketing angel to position your product or service exclusively in the market.

The next thing you need to do is to make good use of social media networking. To be frank, social media networking is not much different from traditional networking but it brings more advantages. This type of networking enables the online business owners to reach huge number of prospects effectively. At the same time, it also provides 2-way communication between the business owners and their potential clients like what traditional networking provides.

When you start your new business, you are suggested to network through blogs, Facebook and Twitter. You do not need to have any capital to start. All these are free of charge and you do not need to have a lot of knowledge about internet technology because they are easy to use. To be frank, some people may find that the IT concept is hard to understand. Do not worry, just ignore it. What you need is just the basic typing skill because you have to "typequot; your ideas on the site.

The key concern here is whether you have good writing skill or not. Are you able to produce high quality content to attract online users? When you work out your marketing or promotional statements, you must make sure that the points you make are straightforward and they are able to gain attention of the market. You have to accept the fact that nowdays, the online users have the right to choose what to read, what to watch, what to listen to and who to communicate with. Here, you must be creative enough to attract them to spend money when they visit your site. Let them understand and see the dramatic differences of your product or service.

To sum up, in order to achieve great success in your new business, you are advised to keep the following points in mind:

· Stay focused on what to do
· Find out where to do it
· Identify your target clients – Who you want to attract
· Think about how best to attract

I am here to wish you best of luck!

unlimited

In today's fast changing world, even if you are not internet savvy, you can still get yourself involved in online businesses easily. What you need to do is to "work smartquot; and use the right strategy.

Nowadays, it is not necessary for us to close the business deals through face to face meetings. We can just generate income through internet. Do not be disappointed if you do not have web skills. What you need to have is the ability to work out clear and precise marketing plan. With a proper plan, you should be able to execute it fast.

First thing first, you need to decide what you want to sell online. It can be a physical product or a form of service. It will always safe for you to do thorough research to find out your competitors first before you start to promote your product or service to the market.

Secondly, you need to look into the marketing physics. It defines what your product or service means to the customers. It assists you to evaluate your product or service so that you can develop an effective marketing angel to position your product or service exclusively in the market.

The next thing you need to do is to make good use of social media networking. To be frank, social media networking is not much different from traditional networking but it brings more advantages. This type of networking enables the online business owners to reach huge number of prospects effectively. At the same time, it also provides 2-way communication between the business owners and their potential clients like what traditional networking provides.

When you start your new business, you are suggested to network through blogs, Facebook and Twitter. You do not need to have any capital to start. All these are free of charge and you do not need to have a lot of knowledge about internet technology because they are easy to use. To be frank, some people may find that the IT concept is hard to understand. Do not worry, just ignore it. What you need is just the basic typing skill because you have to "typequot; your ideas on the site.

The key concern here is whether you have good writing skill or not. Are you able to produce high quality content to attract online users? When you work out your marketing or promotional statements, you must make sure that the points you make are straightforward and they are able to gain attention of the market. You have to accept the fact that nowdays, the online users have the right to choose what to read, what to watch, what to listen to and who to communicate with. Here, you must be creative enough to attract them to spend money when they visit your site. Let them understand and see the dramatic differences of your product or service.

To sum up, in order to achieve great success in your new business, you are advised to keep the following points in mind:

· Stay focused on what to do
· Find out where to do it
· Identify your target clients – Who you want to attract
· Think about how best to attract

I am here to wish you best of luck!

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Configuring a Site-to-Site VPN Between Two Cisco Routers

A site-to-site virtual private network (VPN) allows you to maintain a secure "always-onquot; connection between two physically separate sites using an existing non-secure network such as the public Internet. Traffic between the two sites is transmitted over an encrypted tunnel to prevent snooping or other types of data attacks.

This configuration requires an IOS software image that supports cryptography. The one used in the examples is c870-advipservicesk9-mz.124-15.T6.bin.

There are several protocols used in creating the VPN including protocols used for a key exchange between the peers, those used to encrypt the tunnel, and hashing technologies which produce message digests.

VPN Protocols

IPSec: Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) is a suite of protocols that are used to secure IP communications. IPSec involves both key changes and tunnel encryption. You can think of IPSec as a framework for implementing security. When creating an IPSec VPN, you can choose from a variety of security technologies to implement the tunnel.

ISAKMP (IKE): Internet Security Association and Key Management Protocol (ISAKMP) provides a means for authenticating the peers in a secure communication. It typically uses Internet Key Exchange (IKE), but other technologies can also be used. Public keys or a pre-shared key are used to authenticate the parties to the communication.

MD5: Message-Digest algorithm 5 (MD5) is an often used, but partly insecure cryptographic hash function with a 128-bit hash value. A cryptographic hash function is a way of taking an arbitrary block of data and returning a fixed-size bit string, the hash value based on the original block of data. The hashing process is designed so that a change to the data will also change the hash value. The hash value is also called the message digest.

SHA: Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA) is a set of cryptographic hash functions designed by the National Security Agency (NSA). The three SHA algorithms are structured differently and are distinguished as SHA-0, SHA-1, and SHA-2. SHA-1 is a commonly used used hashing algorithm with a standard key length of 160 bits.

ESP: Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) is a member of the IPsec protocol suite that provides origin authenticity, integrity, and confidentiality protection of packets. ESP also supports encryption-only and authentication-only configurations, but using encryption without authentication is strongly discouraged because it is insecure. Unlike the other IPsec protocol, Authentication Header (AH), ESP does not protect the IP packet header. This difference makes ESP preferred for use in a Network Address Translation configuration. ESP operates directly on top of IP, using IP protocol number 50.

DES: The Data Encryption Standard (DES) provides 56-bit encryption. It is no longer considered a secure protocol because its short key-length makes it vulnerable to brute-force attacks.

3DES: Three DES was designed to overcome the limitations and weaknesses of DES by using three different 56-bit keys in a encrypting, decrypting, and re-encrypting operation. 3DES keys are 168 bits in length. When using 3DES, the data is first encrypted with one 56-bit key, then decrypted with a different 56-bit key, the output of which is then re-encrypted with a third 56-bit key.

AES: The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) was designed as a replacement for DES and 3DES. It is available in varying key lengths and is generally considered to be about six times faster than 3DES.

HMAC: The Hashing Message Authentication Code (HMAC) is a type of message authentication code (MAC). HMAC is calculated using a specific algorithm involving a cryptographic hash function in combination with a secret key.

Configuring a Site-to-Site VPN

The process of configuring a site-to-site VPN involves several steps:

Phase One configuration involves configuring the key exchange. This process uses ISAKMP to identify the hashing algorithm and authentication method. It is also one of two places where you must identify the peer at the opposite end of the tunnel. In this example, we chose SHA as the hashing algorithm due to its more robust nature, including its 160-bit key. The key "vpnkeyquot; must be identical on both ends of the tunnel. The address "192.168.16.105quot; is the outside interface of the router at the opposite end of the tunnel.

Sample phase one configuration:

tukwila (config) #crypto isakmp policy 10
tukwila (config-isakmp) #hash sha
tukwila (config-isakmp) #authentication pre-share
tukwila (config-isakmp) #crypto isakmp key vpnkey address 192.168.16.105

Phase Two configuration involves configuring the encrypted tunnel. In Phase Two configuration, you create and name a transform set which identifies the encrypting protocols used to create the secure tunnel. You must also create a crypto map in which you identify the peer at the opposite end of the tunnel, specify the transform-set to be used, and specify which access control list will identify permitted traffic flows. In this example, we chose AES due to its heightened security and enhanced performance. The statement "set peer 192.168.16.25quot; identifies the outside interface of the router at the opposite end of the tunnel. The statement "set transform-set vpnsetquot; tells the router to use the parameters specified in the transform-set vpnset in this tunnel. The "match address 100quot; statement is used to associate the tunnel with access-list 100 which will be defined later.

Sample phase two configuration:

tukwila (config) #crypto ipsec transform-set vpnset esp-aes esp-sha-hmac
tukwila (cfg-crypto-trans) #exit
tukwila (config) #crypto map vpnset 10 ipsec-isakmp
% NOTE: This new crypto map will remain disabled until a peer
and a valid access list have been configured.
tukwila (config-crypto-map) #set peer 192.168.16.105
tukwila (config-crypto-map) #set transform-set vpnset
tukwila (config-crypto-map) #match address 100

The crypto map must be applied to your outside interface (in this example, interface FastEthernet 4):

tukwila (config) #int f4
tukwila (config-if) #crypto map vpnset

You must create an access control list to explicitly allow traffic from the router's inside LAN across the tunnel to the other router's inside LAN (in this example, the router tukwila's inside LAN network address is 10.10.10.0/24 and the other router's inside LAN network address is 10.20.0.0/24):

tukwila (config) # access-list 100 perm ip 10.10.10.0 0.0.0.255 10.20.0.0 0.0.0.255

(For more information about the syntax of access-control lists, see my other articles on creating and managing Cisco router access-control lists.)

You must also create a default gateway (also known as the "gateway of last resortquot;). In this example, the default gateway is at 192.168.16.1:

tukwila (config) #ip route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.16.1

Verifying VPN Connections

The following two commands can be used to verify VPN connections:

Router # show crypto ipsec sa
This command displays the settings used by the current Security Associations (SAs).

Router # show crypto isakmp sa
This command displays current IKE Security Associations.

Troubleshooting VPN Connections

After confirming physical connectivity, audit both ends of the VPN connection to ensure they mirror each other.

Use debugging to analyze VPN connection difficulties:

Router # debug crypto isakmp
This command allows you to observe Phase 1 ISAKMP negotiations.

Router # debug crypto ipsec
This command allows you to observe Phase 2 IPSec negotiations.

Copyright (c) 2008 Don R. Crawley

vpn

A site-to-site virtual private network (VPN) allows you to maintain a secure "always-onquot; connection between two physically separate sites using an existing non-secure network such as the public Internet. Traffic between the two sites is transmitted over an encrypted tunnel to prevent snooping or other types of data attacks.

This configuration requires an IOS software image that supports cryptography. The one used in the examples is c870-advipservicesk9-mz.124-15.T6.bin.

There are several protocols used in creating the VPN including protocols used for a key exchange between the peers, those used to encrypt the tunnel, and hashing technologies which produce message digests.

VPN Protocols

IPSec: Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) is a suite of protocols that are used to secure IP communications. IPSec involves both key changes and tunnel encryption. You can think of IPSec as a framework for implementing security. When creating an IPSec VPN, you can choose from a variety of security technologies to implement the tunnel.

ISAKMP (IKE): Internet Security Association and Key Management Protocol (ISAKMP) provides a means for authenticating the peers in a secure communication. It typically uses Internet Key Exchange (IKE), but other technologies can also be used. Public keys or a pre-shared key are used to authenticate the parties to the communication.

MD5: Message-Digest algorithm 5 (MD5) is an often used, but partly insecure cryptographic hash function with a 128-bit hash value. A cryptographic hash function is a way of taking an arbitrary block of data and returning a fixed-size bit string, the hash value based on the original block of data. The hashing process is designed so that a change to the data will also change the hash value. The hash value is also called the message digest.

SHA: Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA) is a set of cryptographic hash functions designed by the National Security Agency (NSA). The three SHA algorithms are structured differently and are distinguished as SHA-0, SHA-1, and SHA-2. SHA-1 is a commonly used used hashing algorithm with a standard key length of 160 bits.

ESP: Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) is a member of the IPsec protocol suite that provides origin authenticity, integrity, and confidentiality protection of packets. ESP also supports encryption-only and authentication-only configurations, but using encryption without authentication is strongly discouraged because it is insecure. Unlike the other IPsec protocol, Authentication Header (AH), ESP does not protect the IP packet header. This difference makes ESP preferred for use in a Network Address Translation configuration. ESP operates directly on top of IP, using IP protocol number 50.

DES: The Data Encryption Standard (DES) provides 56-bit encryption. It is no longer considered a secure protocol because its short key-length makes it vulnerable to brute-force attacks.

3DES: Three DES was designed to overcome the limitations and weaknesses of DES by using three different 56-bit keys in a encrypting, decrypting, and re-encrypting operation. 3DES keys are 168 bits in length. When using 3DES, the data is first encrypted with one 56-bit key, then decrypted with a different 56-bit key, the output of which is then re-encrypted with a third 56-bit key.

AES: The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) was designed as a replacement for DES and 3DES. It is available in varying key lengths and is generally considered to be about six times faster than 3DES.

HMAC: The Hashing Message Authentication Code (HMAC) is a type of message authentication code (MAC). HMAC is calculated using a specific algorithm involving a cryptographic hash function in combination with a secret key.

Configuring a Site-to-Site VPN

The process of configuring a site-to-site VPN involves several steps:

Phase One configuration involves configuring the key exchange. This process uses ISAKMP to identify the hashing algorithm and authentication method. It is also one of two places where you must identify the peer at the opposite end of the tunnel. In this example, we chose SHA as the hashing algorithm due to its more robust nature, including its 160-bit key. The key "vpnkeyquot; must be identical on both ends of the tunnel. The address "192.168.16.105quot; is the outside interface of the router at the opposite end of the tunnel.

Sample phase one configuration:

tukwila (config) #crypto isakmp policy 10
tukwila (config-isakmp) #hash sha
tukwila (config-isakmp) #authentication pre-share
tukwila (config-isakmp) #crypto isakmp key vpnkey address 192.168.16.105

Phase Two configuration involves configuring the encrypted tunnel. In Phase Two configuration, you create and name a transform set which identifies the encrypting protocols used to create the secure tunnel. You must also create a crypto map in which you identify the peer at the opposite end of the tunnel, specify the transform-set to be used, and specify which access control list will identify permitted traffic flows. In this example, we chose AES due to its heightened security and enhanced performance. The statement "set peer 192.168.16.25quot; identifies the outside interface of the router at the opposite end of the tunnel. The statement "set transform-set vpnsetquot; tells the router to use the parameters specified in the transform-set vpnset in this tunnel. The "match address 100quot; statement is used to associate the tunnel with access-list 100 which will be defined later.

Sample phase two configuration:

tukwila (config) #crypto ipsec transform-set vpnset esp-aes esp-sha-hmac
tukwila (cfg-crypto-trans) #exit
tukwila (config) #crypto map vpnset 10 ipsec-isakmp
% NOTE: This new crypto map will remain disabled until a peer
and a valid access list have been configured.
tukwila (config-crypto-map) #set peer 192.168.16.105
tukwila (config-crypto-map) #set transform-set vpnset
tukwila (config-crypto-map) #match address 100

The crypto map must be applied to your outside interface (in this example, interface FastEthernet 4):

tukwila (config) #int f4
tukwila (config-if) #crypto map vpnset

You must create an access control list to explicitly allow traffic from the router's inside LAN across the tunnel to the other router's inside LAN (in this example, the router tukwila's inside LAN network address is 10.10.10.0/24 and the other router's inside LAN network address is 10.20.0.0/24):

tukwila (config) # access-list 100 perm ip 10.10.10.0 0.0.0.255 10.20.0.0 0.0.0.255

(For more information about the syntax of access-control lists, see my other articles on creating and managing Cisco router access-control lists.)

You must also create a default gateway (also known as the "gateway of last resortquot;). In this example, the default gateway is at 192.168.16.1:

tukwila (config) #ip route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.16.1

Verifying VPN Connections

The following two commands can be used to verify VPN connections:

Router # show crypto ipsec sa
This command displays the settings used by the current Security Associations (SAs).

Router # show crypto isakmp sa
This command displays current IKE Security Associations.

Troubleshooting VPN Connections

After confirming physical connectivity, audit both ends of the VPN connection to ensure they mirror each other.

Use debugging to analyze VPN connection difficulties:

Router # debug crypto isakmp
This command allows you to observe Phase 1 ISAKMP negotiations.

Router # debug crypto ipsec
This command allows you to observe Phase 2 IPSec negotiations.

Copyright (c) 2008 Don R. Crawley

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CCNA Training – Symmetric Encryption Algorithms

Symmetric encryption algorithms get their name from the fact that they use the exact same key from the encryption and decryption process. For this process to work both the sender and the receiver must have the same shared secret key to be able to perform the encryption and decryption of the data they are transmitting.

Symmetric encryption is also commonly referred to as secret key encryption, because for the communication between sender and receiver to remain secure it is important that the shared key remains secure, as you can imagine if anyone got hold of the key they would be able to encrypt and decrypt messages.

There are quite a few well known symmetric encryption algorithms, some are more common than others, the more popular methods are those which employ bigger key sizes, also those are three main types of symmetric encryption methods

Block ciphers

Message Authentication Codes (MAC)

Stream Ciphers

Symmetric methods compared asymmetric encryption methods are very fast and use up less resources on your devices and for these reasons that they used more often for bulk encryption when you need to ensure complete privacy.

The main drawback to this method of encryption is the initial and continuous safe distribution of keys between your devices without the keys becoming compromised.

Nowadays a new method of key distribution is used where an asymmetric channel between two systems is created to build a secure tunnel over which your shared key will be changed before any important user data is transferred.

Thank you, Please rate our article.

encrypt

Symmetric encryption algorithms get their name from the fact that they use the exact same key from the encryption and decryption process. For this process to work both the sender and the receiver must have the same shared secret key to be able to perform the encryption and decryption of the data they are transmitting.

Symmetric encryption is also commonly referred to as secret key encryption, because for the communication between sender and receiver to remain secure it is important that the shared key remains secure, as you can imagine if anyone got hold of the key they would be able to encrypt and decrypt messages.

There are quite a few well known symmetric encryption algorithms, some are more common than others, the more popular methods are those which employ bigger key sizes, also those are three main types of symmetric encryption methods

Block ciphers

Message Authentication Codes (MAC)

Stream Ciphers

Symmetric methods compared asymmetric encryption methods are very fast and use up less resources on your devices and for these reasons that they used more often for bulk encryption when you need to ensure complete privacy.

The main drawback to this method of encryption is the initial and continuous safe distribution of keys between your devices without the keys becoming compromised.

Nowadays a new method of key distribution is used where an asymmetric channel between two systems is created to build a secure tunnel over which your shared key will be changed before any important user data is transferred.

Thank you, Please rate our article.

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Secure IT Operations With Network Backup Software

In modern IT era, it is of utmost importance to store data in the backup system or make copies of data which may be used to restore the original after a data loss event. Herein, lays the importance of the network backup software that comes as a savior to keep any organization’s IT operations up and running even on the event of a system or network crash.

A good network backup software solution is therefore considered to be the key to a first-rate IT framework and subsequently to a successful business set up. Network backup software is deployed to serve two distinct purposes. The primary purpose is to recover data after its loss, be it by data deletion or corruption. And the secondary purpose is to recover data from an earlier time, as per a user-defined data retention policy, typically configured within a backup application for how long copies of data are required. For this purpose, the application needs to work seamlessly with all the users within the network, thereby facilitating smooth running of the IT operations within the network environment.

Managing the backup process and ensuring that the network backup software is working properly to capture the appropriate information from all the workstations is critical to a successful solution. And this can be achieved by setting the correct interval frequency, periodically reviewing retention times and organizing the storage space in the right manner to ensure the reconstitution of a computer system. The storage space needs to be customized as per the requirement of the customer. Again it is essential to find a balance between the backup frequencies and the amount of data to be archived.

In recent times remote backup solution has been seen gaining rapid popularity in garnering online backup support for networked environment. Online remote support works like regular data backup software, but with one difference, i.e. online network backup software sends the backup over the Internet or other network connections to respective online backup server offsite instead of sending backups to a tape drive or other media attached to the computer it is backing up. The advantage of using this type of application is that it can be fully automated on a daily basis and is more secure as data are stored in encrypted form and can be read only with user’s own password.

Businesses today are highly dependent on organizational data and with such easy options to manage and control them de-risking by choosing optimal network backup software is as indispensable as the data itself. Additionally this kind of modern software ensures that your data is stored in a secured manner and it also facilitates remote access, enabling you to retrieve valuable information whenever required. Therefore let’s get rid of all your mind barriers and choose a solution which lets you sleep in peace!

network

In modern IT era, it is of utmost importance to store data in the backup system or make copies of data which may be used to restore the original after a data loss event. Herein, lays the importance of the network backup software that comes as a savior to keep any organization’s IT operations up and running even on the event of a system or network crash.

A good network backup software solution is therefore considered to be the key to a first-rate IT framework and subsequently to a successful business set up. Network backup software is deployed to serve two distinct purposes. The primary purpose is to recover data after its loss, be it by data deletion or corruption. And the secondary purpose is to recover data from an earlier time, as per a user-defined data retention policy, typically configured within a backup application for how long copies of data are required. For this purpose, the application needs to work seamlessly with all the users within the network, thereby facilitating smooth running of the IT operations within the network environment.

Managing the backup process and ensuring that the network backup software is working properly to capture the appropriate information from all the workstations is critical to a successful solution. And this can be achieved by setting the correct interval frequency, periodically reviewing retention times and organizing the storage space in the right manner to ensure the reconstitution of a computer system. The storage space needs to be customized as per the requirement of the customer. Again it is essential to find a balance between the backup frequencies and the amount of data to be archived.

In recent times remote backup solution has been seen gaining rapid popularity in garnering online backup support for networked environment. Online remote support works like regular data backup software, but with one difference, i.e. online network backup software sends the backup over the Internet or other network connections to respective online backup server offsite instead of sending backups to a tape drive or other media attached to the computer it is backing up. The advantage of using this type of application is that it can be fully automated on a daily basis and is more secure as data are stored in encrypted form and can be read only with user’s own password.

Businesses today are highly dependent on organizational data and with such easy options to manage and control them de-risking by choosing optimal network backup software is as indispensable as the data itself. Additionally this kind of modern software ensures that your data is stored in a secured manner and it also facilitates remote access, enabling you to retrieve valuable information whenever required. Therefore let’s get rid of all your mind barriers and choose a solution which lets you sleep in peace!

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How to Start a House Cleaning Business on a Tight Budget

"If you use Emotion and Love to drive your sales and your business, you will create Loyalty Beyond Reason. And I promise you, you will build relationships and enjoy a business that exceeds beyond your wildest expectationsquot;

First of all, before you decide to start your cleaning business, make sure this kind of work is right for you. You will need to be in good physical condition. Cleaning is very hard strenuous work. You will need to have good customer relation skills. You will need to have basic office skills and some accounting skills.

If you are planning on leaving your full time position to start a cleaning business, make sure you have at least six months of savings. Or keep your full time job and start out part time.

Research all the aspects of the cleaning service business. From customer service to advertising, taxes, employees, insurance and bonding, what to charge and how to clean a home professionally. Cleaning your own home and cleaning professionally is totally different. Learning how to clean professionally takes a lot of time. When a client pays for your services they expect to come home and find their home spotless.

Getting those first clients takes time, persistence and patience. You will not get a hundred clients overnight.

Obtaining Those First Clients The hardest part of starting your own cleaning service is obtaining those first clients. Most clients want to know how long you have been in business and want references. The best thing to do is let clients know that, yes, you are new to the business but that you have thoroughly reviewed all aspects of the cleaning business and assure them that you know what you are capable of cleaning them home to their specifications. Be confident. I can not stress this enough. Clients love to see confidence. It relieves their worries and lets them know that their home is in good hands.

References: To get a few good references when starting out, ask some friends or family members if you can clean their home for free or at a discounted rate. The sound of working for free may not be appealing but it will be worth it to get some good testimonials.

When cleaning those first homes, go for quality, not how fast you can clean the home. Cleaning efficiently takes a long time, but you will get to the point where you can do a thorough cleaning in a short time. After cleaning make sure you go back and double check all rooms to make sure you did not miss anything. Impress those first clients and word of mouth will spread soon.

Advertising Your company image is everything. Before you start advertising, decide what image you want to portray on your advertising material. Your image is very important. Be consistent with all your advertising. If you have a logo be sure to use it on all your advertising materials. I think it is best to have a website developed before you start advertising. When advertising, stick with the same logo and colors.

Advertise in Local Paper: Start by running a text ad in your local newspaper. Try to come up with an eye catching ad. Do not sell your services on low rates, sell your services on your quality of work and what you can do for the client that other companies do not. There is a lot of competition in the cleaning service. You have to stand out from the rest.

Magnetic Signs or Lettering for your Vehicle: Having your business name and contact information on your vehicle is a great way to advertise. We use the vinyl lettering. The lettering looks much more professional than the magnetic signs.

Flyers: You can print nice flyers on your home computer, but I would suggest investing in some professional flyers. Hang flyers at Hair Dressers, Laundromats, Restaurants, Bakeries, Grocery Stores, etc. Put flyers on car windows at local groceries stores and businesses. You can even go door to door in neighborhoods you would like to work in. You can not put them in mailboxes. but you can put them in the front door.

Door Hangers: Door hangers are a great way to get new clients. Pick the neighborhood you would like to work in and hang the door hangers on the doors. When people get flyers or ads in their mailbox they usually throw them away with the junk mail. But if there is a door hanger on the door they will take the time to look at it.

Business Cards: Start passing out your business cards to friends and family members. You can also ask your local businesses if you can leave some cards on their counters.

Referral Program: A great way to obtain new clients is through a referral program. Offer existing clients a discount when they refer a friend. You can give your existing clients a discount when the friend uses your services three times.

Website: These days people live very busy lives so they use the convenience of the internet to shop for the services they need. A lot of working women will shop for services while at work. Everyone that has a business should have a website. It shows clients that you are serious about your business and allows them to research your business in their own time.

Cleaning Products: By using all natrual products, you can offer your clients a healthy cleaning experience and protect ourselves against harsh chemicals. Clients love the natural cleaning products with essential oils. They come home to a healthy clean home filled with the wonderful scents of aromatherapy essential oils.

Tip: Always carry hand sanitizer and wash your hands often while cleaning homes. Wear gloves when cleaning bathrooms. You will be exposed to a lot of different germs in clients homes.

Remember most customers prefer that you bring your own cleaning supplies. That way they do not have to worry about going to the store for cleaning supplies before you clean. Some customers have special cleaners for certain appliances or floors in their houses. These customers usually will have these cleaners on hand for you to use. We almost always use the customers vacuum cleaner. That way you do not have to carry a heavy vacuum from house to house.

What to Charge I mentioned earlier that you should sell your services on your quality of work and not your low rates. If your rates are too low, clients will think that your work is sub-standard and that you are not experienced. Also you want to attract the clients that can afford your services. I made the mistake of pricing my work too low when I first started out. Cleaning is hard work, charge what you are worth. As the old saying goes "You get what you pay for."

Some companies charge by the hour, some charge by the room, some charge a flat rate per home and some charge by the square foot. I think it is better to charge by the home, not by the hour. If a client knows they have to pay one set fee, they do not care if you take 2 hours or 5 hours. Also your clients will know what they are paying up front and will not have to worry about added expenses.

No two houses are the same. And there is no set charge for all homes. You have to clean for awhile yourself to get some experience and to work out a system to clean efficiently. Only you know what you want and need to make. Decide what you need to make hourly to cover all expenses and still make a good profit.

A word of advise: Make sure when you start your company that you charge what you would charge if you had employees. Some people make the mistake of under charging when they start out just to get customers and then later on when they grow and need to hire help they are not making enough money on their homes to pay help. Do not under price your work. Cleaning homes is very hard physical work and you did not get into this business to work for nothing.

New Construction Cleaning If you decide to do this type of work you will need more equipment. You will need ladders, window cleaning kits with long extensions, a shop vac, etc. These types of jobs are usually 2 to 3 person jobs. New construction cleaning requires a lot more cleaning. You may have to remove stickers and labels from windows and bathroom showers, sinks and toilets. Some require that you clean the vents to remove dust from construction work. There will be ceiling fans to clean, scrubbing floors, and cleaning woodwork to remove dust. New construction cleaning rates depend on the area you live in.

Insurance and Bonding. You need to be an honest person and somewhat personable. People will need to trust you to be in their homes. Most clients are concerned about having someone new in their house, with good reason. You should be bonded and fully insured. Liability insurance rates depend on your insurance carrier and where you are located. Each person you hire will increase your liability insurance. It's well worth the cost. You can pay quarterly or yearly. You can purchase your bond through your local insurance company. You will need to renew the bond every year. * Note: if you hire employees and cover them under your insurance, they must be an employee on payroll and not a sub-contractor. If you employ them as a sub-contractor your insurance will not cover them. If they are a sub-contractor they are required to carry their own insurance. You

Hiring Help If you start out cleaning the homes by yourself, you will always get to the point where you need to expand your business. Start out with one part time employee. Train her and let her take your place one day a week. Then have her take your place 2 days a week and so on. This will give you the free time that you need to market your business and obtain more clients. After you get more clients you will be able to hire more part time help. Occasionally you will be able to stop doing the cleaning yourself and just run the business end, which is the only way you will be able to grow your business. When training new employees, always, either train them yourself or have a lead person train them. Make sure there is a lead person on each and every cleaning job. Employees have a tendency to slack off when they are on their own.

Growing Your Business You will ever get to the point where you have enough employees and lead people and you will be able to stop working in your business and start running your business. You will find that after awhile it will get to be too much trying to clean everyday and at the same time giving estimations, answering calls, scheduling, doing book work, obtaining new clients, etc.

Remember one of the most important qualifications for a cleaning service is TRUST. A client has to know they can trust you alone in their home. After you acquire a few cleaning positions ask the clients if you can use them for a reference. Most of the time they are more than willing to let you use them for a reference. This is how you build your business and acquire new clients is through referrals. Be dependable. Most clients will want to be set up on an every week or every other week schedule on the same day of the week. Try to always keep this same schedule without the client requests you to switch to another day. If you have to cancel a cleaning date, make sure you try to reschedule at the earliest possible date to make up the cleaning.

client

"If you use Emotion and Love to drive your sales and your business, you will create Loyalty Beyond Reason. And I promise you, you will build relationships and enjoy a business that exceeds beyond your wildest expectationsquot;

First of all, before you decide to start your cleaning business, make sure this kind of work is right for you. You will need to be in good physical condition. Cleaning is very hard strenuous work. You will need to have good customer relation skills. You will need to have basic office skills and some accounting skills.

If you are planning on leaving your full time position to start a cleaning business, make sure you have at least six months of savings. Or keep your full time job and start out part time.

Research all the aspects of the cleaning service business. From customer service to advertising, taxes, employees, insurance and bonding, what to charge and how to clean a home professionally. Cleaning your own home and cleaning professionally is totally different. Learning how to clean professionally takes a lot of time. When a client pays for your services they expect to come home and find their home spotless.

Getting those first clients takes time, persistence and patience. You will not get a hundred clients overnight.

Obtaining Those First Clients The hardest part of starting your own cleaning service is obtaining those first clients. Most clients want to know how long you have been in business and want references. The best thing to do is let clients know that, yes, you are new to the business but that you have thoroughly reviewed all aspects of the cleaning business and assure them that you know what you are capable of cleaning them home to their specifications. Be confident. I can not stress this enough. Clients love to see confidence. It relieves their worries and lets them know that their home is in good hands.

References: To get a few good references when starting out, ask some friends or family members if you can clean their home for free or at a discounted rate. The sound of working for free may not be appealing but it will be worth it to get some good testimonials.

When cleaning those first homes, go for quality, not how fast you can clean the home. Cleaning efficiently takes a long time, but you will get to the point where you can do a thorough cleaning in a short time. After cleaning make sure you go back and double check all rooms to make sure you did not miss anything. Impress those first clients and word of mouth will spread soon.

Advertising Your company image is everything. Before you start advertising, decide what image you want to portray on your advertising material. Your image is very important. Be consistent with all your advertising. If you have a logo be sure to use it on all your advertising materials. I think it is best to have a website developed before you start advertising. When advertising, stick with the same logo and colors.

Advertise in Local Paper: Start by running a text ad in your local newspaper. Try to come up with an eye catching ad. Do not sell your services on low rates, sell your services on your quality of work and what you can do for the client that other companies do not. There is a lot of competition in the cleaning service. You have to stand out from the rest.

Magnetic Signs or Lettering for your Vehicle: Having your business name and contact information on your vehicle is a great way to advertise. We use the vinyl lettering. The lettering looks much more professional than the magnetic signs.

Flyers: You can print nice flyers on your home computer, but I would suggest investing in some professional flyers. Hang flyers at Hair Dressers, Laundromats, Restaurants, Bakeries, Grocery Stores, etc. Put flyers on car windows at local groceries stores and businesses. You can even go door to door in neighborhoods you would like to work in. You can not put them in mailboxes. but you can put them in the front door.

Door Hangers: Door hangers are a great way to get new clients. Pick the neighborhood you would like to work in and hang the door hangers on the doors. When people get flyers or ads in their mailbox they usually throw them away with the junk mail. But if there is a door hanger on the door they will take the time to look at it.

Business Cards: Start passing out your business cards to friends and family members. You can also ask your local businesses if you can leave some cards on their counters.

Referral Program: A great way to obtain new clients is through a referral program. Offer existing clients a discount when they refer a friend. You can give your existing clients a discount when the friend uses your services three times.

Website: These days people live very busy lives so they use the convenience of the internet to shop for the services they need. A lot of working women will shop for services while at work. Everyone that has a business should have a website. It shows clients that you are serious about your business and allows them to research your business in their own time.

Cleaning Products: By using all natrual products, you can offer your clients a healthy cleaning experience and protect ourselves against harsh chemicals. Clients love the natural cleaning products with essential oils. They come home to a healthy clean home filled with the wonderful scents of aromatherapy essential oils.

Tip: Always carry hand sanitizer and wash your hands often while cleaning homes. Wear gloves when cleaning bathrooms. You will be exposed to a lot of different germs in clients homes.

Remember most customers prefer that you bring your own cleaning supplies. That way they do not have to worry about going to the store for cleaning supplies before you clean. Some customers have special cleaners for certain appliances or floors in their houses. These customers usually will have these cleaners on hand for you to use. We almost always use the customers vacuum cleaner. That way you do not have to carry a heavy vacuum from house to house.

What to Charge I mentioned earlier that you should sell your services on your quality of work and not your low rates. If your rates are too low, clients will think that your work is sub-standard and that you are not experienced. Also you want to attract the clients that can afford your services. I made the mistake of pricing my work too low when I first started out. Cleaning is hard work, charge what you are worth. As the old saying goes "You get what you pay for."

Some companies charge by the hour, some charge by the room, some charge a flat rate per home and some charge by the square foot. I think it is better to charge by the home, not by the hour. If a client knows they have to pay one set fee, they do not care if you take 2 hours or 5 hours. Also your clients will know what they are paying up front and will not have to worry about added expenses.

No two houses are the same. And there is no set charge for all homes. You have to clean for awhile yourself to get some experience and to work out a system to clean efficiently. Only you know what you want and need to make. Decide what you need to make hourly to cover all expenses and still make a good profit.

A word of advise: Make sure when you start your company that you charge what you would charge if you had employees. Some people make the mistake of under charging when they start out just to get customers and then later on when they grow and need to hire help they are not making enough money on their homes to pay help. Do not under price your work. Cleaning homes is very hard physical work and you did not get into this business to work for nothing.

New Construction Cleaning If you decide to do this type of work you will need more equipment. You will need ladders, window cleaning kits with long extensions, a shop vac, etc. These types of jobs are usually 2 to 3 person jobs. New construction cleaning requires a lot more cleaning. You may have to remove stickers and labels from windows and bathroom showers, sinks and toilets. Some require that you clean the vents to remove dust from construction work. There will be ceiling fans to clean, scrubbing floors, and cleaning woodwork to remove dust. New construction cleaning rates depend on the area you live in.

Insurance and Bonding. You need to be an honest person and somewhat personable. People will need to trust you to be in their homes. Most clients are concerned about having someone new in their house, with good reason. You should be bonded and fully insured. Liability insurance rates depend on your insurance carrier and where you are located. Each person you hire will increase your liability insurance. It's well worth the cost. You can pay quarterly or yearly. You can purchase your bond through your local insurance company. You will need to renew the bond every year. * Note: if you hire employees and cover them under your insurance, they must be an employee on payroll and not a sub-contractor. If you employ them as a sub-contractor your insurance will not cover them. If they are a sub-contractor they are required to carry their own insurance. You

Hiring Help If you start out cleaning the homes by yourself, you will always get to the point where you need to expand your business. Start out with one part time employee. Train her and let her take your place one day a week. Then have her take your place 2 days a week and so on. This will give you the free time that you need to market your business and obtain more clients. After you get more clients you will be able to hire more part time help. Occasionally you will be able to stop doing the cleaning yourself and just run the business end, which is the only way you will be able to grow your business. When training new employees, always, either train them yourself or have a lead person train them. Make sure there is a lead person on each and every cleaning job. Employees have a tendency to slack off when they are on their own.

Growing Your Business You will ever get to the point where you have enough employees and lead people and you will be able to stop working in your business and start running your business. You will find that after awhile it will get to be too much trying to clean everyday and at the same time giving estimations, answering calls, scheduling, doing book work, obtaining new clients, etc.

Remember one of the most important qualifications for a cleaning service is TRUST. A client has to know they can trust you alone in their home. After you acquire a few cleaning positions ask the clients if you can use them for a reference. Most of the time they are more than willing to let you use them for a reference. This is how you build your business and acquire new clients is through referrals. Be dependable. Most clients will want to be set up on an every week or every other week schedule on the same day of the week. Try to always keep this same schedule without the client requests you to switch to another day. If you have to cancel a cleaning date, make sure you try to reschedule at the earliest possible date to make up the cleaning.