Unfortunately the transcription software my wife and many others use doesn’t process video. And she needed the software to slow or speed the audio to do the transcription.

So what to do?

The key is to strip out the mp3 audio out of the mp4 video. Simple huh? Well it turned out not to be so bad. I went to SourceForge.net and downloaded Avidemux. I opened the mp4 file in the program and then saved the mp3 audio.

As with many of these transcription jobs built around public presentations, they took audience questions which were impossible to hear. At times the sound could be improved by boosting the “gain”. You can do that in Audacity an audio editing package, but if you want something just to boost an mp3’s sound as we did, we used MP3Gain.

Once we knew what we were doing(!), stripping mp3 audio out of mp4 video and boosting the sound levels was fast and easy.

It helped bring in a nice extra chunk of change before vacation!

Whether you’re interested in working at home, freelancing, or starting your own business, you’re not alone. There’s a great community of bloggers who are happy to share their experiences and inside stories about leaving behind the corporate life. Here, we’ll take a look at 100 of the best blogs for working at home…

Top 100 Blogs For Working At Home

Thanks for the mention, Maya!

I’ve written about these options before, but you can always find something new when you review such articles I’ve found.

One new resource is LivePerson.com that lets you, if you’re an expert on something sell your advice by the minute. The portal keeps 45% but you set your rate to chat.

While doing microtasks for pennies per assignment is some people’s idea of fun, I like the LivePerson.com idea best of all and commend it to you!

Check out what I mean – visit any of these sub pages and start scrolling down categories like Frangrances or Hair Care or Personal Care and see for yourself (I’ve linked to the UK site, but there’s a US site too.) Dig down and see what names pop up… they aren’t all just big names like Ebay or Amazon. There are other online shops shown too – why not yours?

Want a neat strategy? Find out the UNDERPOPULATED categories if they’re in your niche and shop and make sure you dominate them? Seeing how Shop Wiki cataegorizes product is a lesson in web page hierarchies in itself. I love what ShopWiki has done to “democratize” online shopping across the internet.
it’s awesome! Visit Shopwiki when you get the chance!

I work at LiveOps and have seen your blog postings and wanted to reach out to thank you for clarifying for individuals the information they are gathering. Since you have been following the work at home trend since 1995 it is great to have your experience provide some guidance to individuals – especially with the questions that get raised over what is legit and what is not. We are really proud of the opportunities we are presenting to individuals to have more freedom and opportunities to chart work opportunities on their terms. I hear often from individuals who have found this to be right up their alley.

I wanted to also let you know that we are taking the technology that has been at the foundation of LiveOps call center and have created another way for individuals to seek work opportunities – it is called LiveWork (www.livework.com). This goes beyond call center work and includes opportunities to do content management review, transcription and other work types that a company may need in an “on-demand” model. It is not a job matching site nor is it elance (one person one job). It is designed for work that companies may need for a few months, weeks or until the project is done. Besides offering work opportunities outside the contact center type work, it also connects individuals directly with the companies they are providing services to as well as to individuals with similar skills enabling folks to build teams (you will see many of the work types on the site are looking for 10-100 individuals with the same skills to complete the specific work). It is in its early stage of release but may be something your readers would be interested to know about too.

Again, just want to thank you for being there for folks who are looking for work at home opportunities.

Kristin Wahl

I have no vested interest in Liveops.com. I have a friend who worked for them. And interest in them draws alot of traffic to this site so I’m passing this along.

But here’s a comment I thought was worth passing along about how working at home really helped a family in distress. Please note that part of the comments are in response to a previous comment:

I’ve been working with liveops going on three years and I can tell you that it did save my family. This is 2009 and my husband got laid off from work and he joined me and we stay home and work. We have three little kids and we take turns. My husband refuses to work outside of home because he finally experienced the freedom and flexiblity to work at home and spend time with family. We decided to work from home until the kids are grown and all are in school full time then we can decide if we will like to work outside of home or not. That person saying about sending liveops money lied. Anytime anyone asking for your money to work for them is a straight up scam. But you only pay $30 to liveops to run a background check on you because off course you will be dealing with people personal accounts info so they have to make sure you are not some kind of criminal. And that $30 you pay is a tax write off—so make sure you keep every receipt.

There are several low/no cost ways to advertise off-line and I want to share 3 of them with you.

1) Business Cards

If you are serious about your business you must have business cards. They are cheap and are a great way to attract potential prospects or customers. Simply hand them out to people who you feel may be interested in your business.

The secret of using a business card to generate leads is to GIVE your card in EXCHANGE for someone else’s card!

Make your business card a LEAD GENERATING card that uses a headline and leads people to a free report or other freebie for your customer.

2) Flyers

With today’s technology, flyers are very easy to make. You can simply design a flyer online and just print it out and make copies. Then you can post them in area businesses where you feel your potential customers may hang out. (Just make sure you ask permission from the business owner.)

Or simply hand out your flyers to people you meet on the street. Many bars and clubs don’t have a problem with posting flyers in their establishments either, especially if you are a patron.

And don’t forget about supermarkets! Many have bulletin boards, at least here in New Jersey where I live, and you can post your flyer there. There are hundreds of people walking into supermarkets everyday and they are in a buying mentality. Take advantage of it and post your flyers often.

3) Automobile Advertising

What… ? Yes you read that right! Your car is not only a driving vehicle but a great advertising vehicle as well. You can stick magnetic signs or plates on your car with your company name and/or domain name for all to see.

Your business can be exposed to hundreds, if not thousands of people every day whether your car is parked, you are driving, or even when you are stuck in traffic. It’s fairly inexpensive and a great way to “drive” home your message.

10 Classic E-zine Advertising Tips

1. Target your advertising.

The more targeted the e-zine is for your offer, the greater your response will be for your proven ad.

2. Track your ads.

Don’t leave your ad campaigns to guesswork. Use ad tracking to show you exactly which e-zines and ads are most profitable.

3. Run your ad for multiple issues.

You’ll get a better response, and possibly save money as many publishers offer special deals on bulk advertising.

4. Spend lots of time writing your headline.

An effective headline will successfully grab your reader’s attention and target your audience.

Your winning headline will also get people to read the rest of your ad, leading to more traffic and sales.

5. Don’t try to sell your product from your ad.

Write your ads to create interest and get people to visit your site.

From here, your powerful sales page will do the selling for you, and you’ll be able to get people to join your e-zine or mailing list for successful follow up.

6. Don’t use all caps in your headline.

You’ll appear like your yelling at your reader, and your ad will come off as amateurish.

7. Include a “call to action.”

At the end of your e-zine ads, include a call to action that tells your reader what you want them to do next (i.e., visit your site or subscribe to your e-zine).

8. Don’t be cute or funny with your ad.

You might put your reader in a good mood, but don’t count on that translating into more visits to your site or more sales.

9. Offer something for free.

Provide an incentive for visiting your site such as a free eBook, sample chapter, or trial.

10. Subscribe to or view the archives of the e-zines you would like to advertise in.

You’ll be able to see the quality of the content provided, how many ads are published in each issue, and you’ll get a good idea of the products those readers are interested in by the ads being run.

However, the truth is there are thousands of home based entrepreneurs around the country who have cracked the code, created their place in the world and taking it to the bank. So how did they do it? Why do some people struggle and never ever break even while others create outrageously successful homebased careers?

There are certain habits which I believe are consistent with all of these enterprises. Here are seven habits or traits when implemented work to insure an outrageously profitable venture.

1. Find a hungry target market and look for a product or service to meet their needs. I am surprised how many frustrated entrepreneurs miss this. What often happens is someone gets excited, hit by an entrepreneurial seizure and tries to start a business with a product or service and feels it will sell simply because of their emotional attachment. Keep your mind open when looking at home based business income opportunities. However, make sure someone wants to buy whatever you have to sell before you jump in.

Don’t get me wrong you want to have a passion for what you do. However, if you love 8 track tapes it might be a problem. And depending on your age you might be thinking, “What’s an 8 track tape?” Get my point? However, if you find a group of people who are hungry for what you have is like shooting fish in a bucket. When you find a group that has a problem they want solved they will pay you to do it.

2. Understand nothing happens until a sale is made. I am amazed at how many budding entrepreneurs say they hate sales. This is unfortunate because everything else in a business is an expense. If you don’t have sales coming in the door eventually the doors will close.

Sales and marketing if done correctly is the engine to a company’s success. The key is to add value to the customer at every opportunity. One of the vital things to remember is the first time you obtain a client is the most expensive. But the real wealth is built when you have the opportunity to sell to a customer over and over again. Some companies even take a loss to get the customer in the pipeline because they realize the real money is on the back end and the true profit is in the lifetime value of the customer.

3. Develop a strong team. One of the traits that will accelerate the success of any business is the leverage generated by the help of others.

Robert Kiyosaki Author of Rich Dad Poor Dad says, “Business and investing are team sports.” The average investor or small-business person loses financially because they do not have a team. Instead of a team they act as individuals who are trampled by very smart teams.”

While you are building a home based business you don’t want to do it alone. There are only 24 hours a day and you can’t do everything. You want to look for opportunities to outsource all non revenue generating activities. Successful proprietors don’t waste a lot of time on filing and organizing.

4. Focus on the business not just working in the business. What separates you from being able to create a company that provides you with great income and lifestyle versus one that you are chained to the doors is a matter of focus. Successful entrepreneurs focus on the big picture.

I’m saddened when people say, “No one can do what I do.” This might be true however it presents a great challenge. You are now a slave to your business. The business no longer serves you. The goal must be to take “you” out of as much of your business as possible.

Look for ways to remove you, automate and systemize the process. One of the ways to do this is to use the leverage of technology. You might want to use a website that allows people to order your product or service 24/7. Or you might write a book which can be sold while you are sleep. Get the picture.

5. A highly successful home based business has a central theme or mission. Many home based businesses never reach success because they are trying to do too many things at the same time. You might be saying, “But I want to create multiple streams of income.”

The problem with multiple streams of income can be a nightmare if approached incorrectly. New entrepreneurs often make the mistake of trying to create several profit centers from non aligned businesses. For example, you will find people who try to start real estate, network marketing and internet marketing all at the same time.

The reason you will almost never have success with this strategy is you can not build momentum. Each business has a totally different business model and you can’t leverage the energy of one to another.

However, the successful home based entrepreneur understands the law of momentum. For example, if you were an author one of your products would be the book. However, you could spin that product into an empire by leveraging it into an e-book, tape set, work-book, seminar, boot camp and coaching program.

Do you see the power of having one central product or theme and how you can leap frog to success? You want to be focused and committed to a central theme. Once you have success you can add another stream of income. This trait is one of hidden keys to success.

6. Resilient and quick to adapt to change. This is one of the distinct advantage solo-entrepreneurs have over large companies. Often time’s large corporations invest thousands of dollars in a project and even when they know it’s not working they are slow to change. In Corporate America this may not kill a business because one mistake is just a cog in the wheel.

However, in small business your ability to change on a dime allows you test things and when things work you do it with massive all out action. And when something is not what working you simply let it go, test something else and move forward.

7. Commit to continual education. Now, I am not talking about another degree or certificate. There are plenty of people with plaques on their walls that aren’t able to create the income and lifestyle they want. However, I love the quote by one of the leading experts in self-development. Jim Rohn says, “Formal education will make you a living; self education will make you a fortune.”

Personal development and specialized knowledge often is the difference between a fledgling operation and one that has an outrageously bottom line. Why? Because successful people know that the best investment they can make is in self.

Make sure that you are always staying ahead of the curve and immerse yourself in your area of expertise. You can do this by attending seminars, tele-classes, boot camps or participating in coaching programs.

Do you want to build wealth from home? Cut your learning curve by modeling one or all of these traits from successful home based businesses. You will find when you model those who have had success you will too if you embody the same traits. Start today and you will be on your way to outrageous success.

You can read her sales page here (affiliate link): Summer Toy Guide

I’ll let her describe it in her own words, but I think the logic is sound. Toys sell at the best prices during the upcoming holiday season. NOW is the time to get inventory from yard sales and thrift stores that go for pennies and can be resold for significant markups when there is a more active, hungry market for the items as Christmas approaches and the bargain hunters come out of the woodwork:

EBay sellers are frustrated this time of year because many markets go into a summer slump. Used toys ARE SELLING right now with huge profit margins!

Look at this email I just got from Heather – she just made over $200 on ONE USED TOY AUCTION a couple
of weeks ago!

“I just wanted to drop you a note and let you know, just how much you have helped me. I bought your
Holiday Toy Guide and did very well with the information that you supplied. After the new toy market
dropped in January, I was at a loss.

Thanks to your persistance in sending me new information about selling used toys, I have found my niche.
I have started garage selling and am absolutely hooked! Now, if I could just get enough time in the day to
list all the great deals I have gotten. I bought a Playmobil house with lots of accessories at a garage sale for $20. It just sold Sunday for $238.50. Woohoo! I have bought the Summer Toy selling guide and hope to find lots more great deals.

Thanks so much! – Heather”

The Summer Toy Guide comes with a downloadable ebook with strategies and tips for selling used toys -
but, honestly, the real value is in e weekly report that is emailed out.

The regular price for 3 month’s of weekly reports is $45… but, the Summer Toy Guide includes 3 months
and is only $27. Not to mention all of the other goodies in the Summer Toy Guide package.

You can read her sales page here (affiliate link): Summer Toy Guide Check it out if this sounds like a market you want to tap into!

You can go to the site right now and see a list of current sellers!

Here’s 9 more tips! 10 Ways To Speed Up Your Wordpress Blog!

I considered the most helpful one to be the lead on the database optimizing plugin!

That is, until I got the down to some of the other hints.

Awesome article on speeding up Word press!