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Are you thinking about setting up your own business? Have you an idea for a new business but are unsure about how to proceed? If you have answered yes to either of these questions, this article could be of benefit to you. I am going to write about how to plan and create a successful small business.

Many people are looking at ways in which they can become self-employed as they have had enough of being dictated to and fed up of long and frustrating commutes to work. They want the freedom of being their own boss and to be able to choose their own hours of work.

Leaving a full time career can be quite a scary prospect however. The security of having a regular income and other benefits such as a pension and a share save scheme can seem hard to let go. I am sure many people whether rightly or wrongly have opted to stick with this security and to merely keep their business plan as an idea, which they never see through or use.

Other people are willing and happy to take the risk and see it as a way of getting out of the rat race.

When you have an idea for a new business you then need to think of a name to call it. I would keep this name quite short as it makes it easier to remember for people. It obviously needs to have something to do with the business sector you are entering.

You will now need to work out how much money you will need to set up the business. This can be quite daunting but is essential. In the short term I would advise to keep these start up costs as low as possible, you can always buy or rent better machinery in the future as an example.

Once you are aware of how much money you need, you then have to find it. You may have enough yourself via savings or a redundancy payout, however most people are not in this position. If you do not have enough money, you could try and raise money via the family, by seeking a partner or by releasing the equity from your house. There is also the option of a business loan.

The next stage is to market your product or service. There are many ways of doing this including:

The internet via a website

An advert in the newspaper

Direct marketing in the form of leaflets

An advert in the yellow pages

Exhibitions

Trade fairs

I would advise finding out where other people from your industry advertise as they will have tried and tested many of the above options.

You then need to work out how much to charge for your product or service. I always keep these charges fairly low at the outset in order to attract as many people as I can and to get some income in. I then hope that word of mouth will take over and the idea is that after a few months I will be in a position to increase my fees.

It is also important to realise that we will make mistakes along the way. When this happens we need to think positive and not to beat ourselves up. It is an experience we can learn from.

Always have belief in yourself. At times any business will go through a rocky period, this is when we need to be strong. In my opinion the more work we put in, the more rewards we are likely to obtain.

Self-discipline is one of the keys to your success. Being able to choose your own hours of work may seem like a dream but it can prove to be many peoples downfall. We have to ensure that we work the required amount of hours. It is far too easy to stay in bed for that extra hour or to arrange yet another game of golf. These things are fine once you are established, but this is a long way off at this stage.

How much money can you make online? Are there really online millionaires?

Of course there are, but is it reasonable to expect that you can be one of them. Don’t let the hype surrounding the emergence of opportunities cause you to lose your common sense. Millionaires are made by effectively assessing the needs of a market and having a product or service that addresses those needs.

The internet can greatly expand your ways to sell products or services. Some people have been able to use this to make a great deal of money. Some companies that operate only on the net have made online millionaires of their founders.

Before the internet there were auctions, but no eBay. With thousands of items sold daily, each one making a profit for eBay, there is no doubt that the founders must be online millionaires.

Before the internet there were bookstores, but no Amazon.com. Amazon is now outdoing traditional bookstores. Don’t you wish you were the founder of Amazon?

Online millionaires start with an idea and a belief in themselves. They find a way to set themselves apart from the rest. Like real world millionaires, they often have enough faith in their ideas that they risk their own money and even seek additional funding elsewhere. Once they get started, they make themselves big enough that the other competition does not threaten them.

Online millionaires start early in the game. For example, now that we have eBay, people often forget there are other auctions. The only real competition Amazon has is traditional bookstores that were always there.

If you want to be an online millionaire, think of a need that is still largely unfulfilled. After that, you will probably have to believe in your idea enough to take some financial risks. If it doesn’t work, you lose your investment. If it does, you might join the ranks of online millionaires.

A potential business owner that has an interest in purchasing and running a franchise would benefit from the services of a franchise consultant. A franchise consultant can provide expertise and guidance throughout the entire process. Listed below are 12 reasons that it is advantageous to use this service.

1. The service is free to the franchisee, with the franchiser covering the consulting fees.

2. The service is personal and confidential.

3. The consultant guides the potential franchisee through the entire process of deciding whether to become a franchisee, and how to go about it.

4. A detailed profile including an evaluation of the potential owner’s experience, interests, and goals is complied in order to match the new franchisee with the most suitable opportunity.

5. Education is provided on the various types of ownership and investment options.

6. Investigation into the most suitable opportunities that are available is done by the consultant.

7. Initiation of contact with company representatives is part of the service.

8. The consultant helps to verify each company’s success and track record.

9. The potential business owner saves time and money by having the experts perform research on various opportunities.

10. The consultant acts as the one-stop shop, answering questions and referring the potential owner to other resources as necessary, such as financial or legal advisors.

11. The consultant works with all types of franchises, including full-time, part-time, new units, and re-sale franchises.

12. Complications and confusion are virtually eliminated by having an expert perform these services.

Overall, a franchise consultant will help you determine if franchising is right for you and if so, what type of franchise opportunities you are most likely to succeed in.

One of the keys to being a successful Internet Entrepreneur is choosing a niche. One of the challenges of the World Wide Web is its expansive reach and versatile nature. As the old joke goes, the best thing about the Web is that you can do virtually anything, the worst thing about the Web is that you can do virtually anything.

Pick a starting point that you’re interested in and stick with it until you are successful or you have established that you idea is not as profitable as you originally thought.

Okay, when you begin to market, where do you start? You know you don’t want to compete with some of the large companies on the Net. However there are great opportunities for small and nimble operators.

Analyze what you are selling or what you want to sell. It should be in an area that you know a lot about or want of learn about. It may have wide appeal, but think of those it appeals to most. For example, does your product appeal to musicians? That’s a pretty wide market. Narrow it down. Who is most likely to be interested, singers or instrumentalists? From there you might want or need to narrow it even further. For example, your product might appeal to musicians of a certain age, or musicians who favor a certain kind of music or even a particular singer.

After narrowing it down as far as you can, think of appropriate keywords. Check with Google to see how many sites come up using these keywords. Next use a site that tracks keyword usage (such as Word Tracker or Overture) to see if there are plenty of users looking for that information. If there are enough potential customers and the competition is low, you may have found your niche.

After you have chosen your niche, try to use it in your Website title. This can help your Website ranking. Another tool for choosing a niche is to study the competition and find out how to make your site unique.

Choosing a niche will help your Website stand out. Find one with plenty of potential customers and little competition and you have a very good chance of watching your business grow.

Creating a successful and profitable business is no easy task. It’s reliant on many outside factors, including competition, timing and demand, which you have very little to no control over at the beginning. Assuming all of these outside factors are in your favor, having a sound business plan can lead to having a successful business. Here are five steps to consider when you’re building your business from the ground up:

1. Determine your business. What are you selling?

This question isn’t as easy to answer as you may think. For example, Nike is in the sportswear business, but the truth is that when you buy a pair of Nike shoes and a t-shirt at the mall you’re buying a lot more than sportswear — you’re buying an image, a feeling. You’re buying the Nike brand. Richard Thalheimer, the former CEO of The Sharper Image and the founder of RichardSolo.com, has worked in specialty retail for more than 30 years. When asked what business he’s in, he’ll tell you “convenience” or “innovation” before he specifies any particular industry, and he’s built one of the most powerful brands in America. Keep in mind, there’s more to a product than, well, the product. Your brand is what sets your product apart from your competitor’s.

2. Select your market. Who are you selling to?

This step is a bit less interpretive as the first, though equally important. Who are you selling to? or more importantly, what do you know about this person? Understanding your consumer is a key to success. What do they do? Where do they hang out? What do they watch on television? These are just a few of the questions that you should be able to answer about your consumer. Knowing the answers to these questions can answer a lot of questions of your own when it comes to a devising a marketing strategy. Richard Thalheimer understood his market for The Sharper Image, probably as well as they understood themselves. From an article in the LA Times, Tracy Wan, who was president and chief operating officer under Thalheimer says “Richard has the amazing ability to figure out the things that people want to have.” This ability to perceive your consumer’s desire can only be a result of knowing them like your neighbor.

3. Create a marketing strategy. How do you speak to these people?

This is a culmination of understanding your brand and your consumer. As mentioned in number two, understanding your consumer can answer a lot of questions concerning your marketing strategy: Where should you advertise? What’s the voice of your brand? What kind of prices are reasonable for this demographic? In order to engage your consumer, a.k.a. sell your product to them, you must know where your advertisements will be noticed, how to speak to them, and how much they will be able to spend, among many of things. Really, this step should have been combined with the last because who your market is dictates your marketing strategy entirely.

4. Learn by example. Seek advice from those who have done it.

There are many books written by professionals who have already started their own business and have been successful in doing so. One that comes to mind immediately, as we’ve already mentioned him a couple of times, is Richard Thalheimer. “Creating Your Own Sharper Image” shares the story of how he grew his tiny office supply company, The Sharper Image, into the thriving enterprise that it has become today.

Remember, building a successful business in not all about the dollars and cents. Equally as valuable is you brand equity and your ability to engage your consumer, which is only attainable by understanding them. Assuming there is a demand for your product, and you can compete with the other brands, following these four steps shall guide you in the right direction.

If you own your own business, you’re probably innundated with advertising and marketing opportunities and salespeople. You probably get asked to sponsor events and donate to organizations. Maybe you’ve even been hit up by the premium company trying to get you to buy pens with your company name on them.

So how do you know what to spend your marketing dollars on, and what to pass on?

How do you avoid wasting your money on marketing that isn’t going to result in more clients and more sales? How can you ensure you’ll get the “biggest bang for the buck?”

The answer is to go back to your marketing plan and look at your goals and objectives. You’ll also want to look at who you identified as your ideal prospects or target clients.

Then you simply evaluate these potential marketing activities based on their ability to help you achieve your objectives, and their ability to put you or your company in front of your ideal prospects.

While sponsorships and donations are in part a goodwill activity and can be very worthwhile for that reason alone, if you are evaluating them from a marketing perspective (and I recommend you do, especially if you get asked to sponsor or donate frequently) you need to make sure they will give you exposure to your ideal prospects and contribute toward reaching your objectives.

The value of the exposure you receive should be worth the investment you are making. Consider what it would cost to reach those prospects in another manner to help determine the value of the exposure.

As far as purchasing pens with your company name, the same tests apply. Ask yourself how you will use the pens. Will they provide exposure to your ideal prospects or clients?

Will they reach your prospects in a manner no other marketing activity can? For example, if you are looking for repeat business from your clients, if they have a pen with your name on it that they see and use everyday perhaps they will be reminded to frequent your business.

If you are planning to do a direct mail follow up to clients who haven’t done business with you in awhile, a pen might be a nice premium to include in the mailing, and it will continue to serve as a reminder long after the direct mail piece is read and thrown away.

But do NOT order the pens if you don’t have a plan for using them and an objective for what you hope to achieve. Just having pens with your company name without these two items defined is definitely a waste of your money.

Whenever you are questioning whether you should take advantage of a particular marketing opportunity, ask yourself these three questions:

1) Will it provide exposure to my ideal prospects or target clients?

2) Will it help me achieve my marketing objectives?

3) Is this exposure worth the dollars I am investing?

If you can answer “YES” to all three questions, and you have marketing budget available, then you’ll want to seriously consider the opportunity.

If your answer is “no” to the first two questions, and the opportunity doesn’t put you in front of your ideal prospects or help reach your objectives, you’ll want to “just say NO!” to that particular marketing opportunity.

If the answer is “yes” to the first two questions, but “no” to question number three and the opportunity is well-suited to your marketing plan but the value just isn’t there, you may want to go back and negotiate more exposure or a lower price.

And, last but certainly not least, if you don’t have a marketing plan to help you evaluate these kinds of opportunities when they come your way, my advice is simple: You NEED to get one.

If you haven’t identified who your ideal prospects are and what you want to achieve with your business you will most certainly waste valuable time and money on marketing opportunities that are not a good fit for your business. In fact you’ll be in danger of doing this everyday.

If you need help creating a marketing plan, The 10stepmarketing System is a great way to do it. When you create your own marketing plan using the simple, step-by-step 10stepmarketing System you are setting your business up for success and you can be sure you are not wasting valuable dollars on marketing that won’t deliver you the results you deserve.

Business support systems are critical to your business success. The most important business support system is your family. The spousal relationship is particularly key to your ability to launch and operate a successful business.

If your spouse or significant other is against your business, then you are missing a huge portion of the business support system you need to sustain yourself. Running a small business is a family affair. Whether your family thinks they are involved or not, they are. They truly are the largest source of support your business will get.

Impact of Negativity

If your family is negative about your business then this influence will almost wipe out any other business support systems you have in place. It’s going to be tough for the next couple of months while you get your business off the ground. A strong, positive, encouraging business support system will sustain you through the lows and temper you through the highs.

Negativity, on the other hand, will kill your business faster than anything else. If you are hearing all day that you’re no good, you’re business is crappy, you’re ruining your life, blah blah blah blah, you will go down a black hole with the rest of the business support systems you so carefully put in place.

The Bottom Line on Business Support Systems

You need to have positive business support systems and the main source of this support is your family. If your family is not going to be supportive then the circumstances are not optimal for your launch. Despite all the other business support systems you may have in place, your family trumps them all. Think seriously about where your family rates in your business support system and then decide if now is really the right time to start your business.

Many of us maintain the tradition of making New Year’s resolutions for our personal lives. The New Year has just as special significance for our businesses too.

Whether you’re an experienced business owner or are just starting out (or thinking about starting a business), there are 5 crucial steps you need to take at the beginning of the year to assure the 2006 is your most prosperous year ever.

1. If you have not done so yet, take advantage of the greatest tax shelter available today: the opportunity to start a small business and organize your business activities to generate multiple streams of income for you.

If you have been thinking about starting your own business but are still sitting on the fence, resolve to take action today! With the internet making getting into business for yourself easier and more cost-effective than ever, there’s no excuse for not taking that crucial first step.

2. If you already own your own business make sure that you’re generating income from more than once source.

This way, if changing economic conditions exercise a negative effect on one stream of income, you are not left high and dry (so to speak!). If you’re involved in network marketing, you’ll have to make a point of ignoring those who would have you focus exclusively on a single company (often start up) that might not be around 5 years from now). You can and should diversify (within reason, of course!).

3. Make sure that you are using the most advantageous structure for operating your business.

This applies to you whether you have a traditional bricks-and-mortar business, operate a UPS Store franchise, or are operating an e-business doing affiliate marketing.

If you’re operating your business as a sole proprietor, as most small business owners do, your business is not in the most advantageous position to reap the fruits of the generous tax deductions available to small businesses. More important, you are placing all your personal assets, including your home, your vehicle, your personal savings, and your family’s future at risk.

Today, it’s no longer as cumbersome as it used to be to establish an alternative business structure that will protect you from such risk. And with all the resources now readily available to the average person at minimal cost, you don’t have to incur massive legal fees just to get started.

4. Resolve to learn the information you need to know to operate your business in the most profitable manner.

Continuing education about structuring and operating your business is an absolute necessity for the entrepreneur. Even if you have an accountant or attorney on your mastermind team, how do you know if she has the knowledge and sophistication to handle this for you properly? Unfortunately, too many, do not, and their lack of expertise can cost you thousands of dollars. If your accountant or attorney tells you, for example, that you “don’t need” an LLC or corporation to do business, you’ll know to run–do not walk–out of their office as quickly as possible and search elsewhere for competent advice.

In addition, even if you have compentent counsel, it is your responsibility as a business owner to operate your company in accordance with governent requirements governing corporations, partnerships and LLCs.

5. Adopt a Mindset that Focuses on Tax Reduction as a Way of Life

The largest single expense of most Americans is taxes. To optimize your bottom line, you must be up to date on which expenses are tax deductible for your business and keep proper records to document them. Using a credit card–even a personal card dedicated to your business–and an accounting program that is specifically for businesses–we recommend QuickBooks by Intuit–will help you immensely in keeping track of your expenses. It can be bought at a substantial discount on eBay.

Implementing these 5 steps might sound complicated at first, but they are well worth the trouble. Remember that in running your business, “Keep it simple” can be costly advice. What simplest–setting up shop as a sole proprietor, operating on a cash basis, using your personal bank account instead of a separate business account for your business, and failing to track and document expenses using appropriate business accounting software–can hazardous to your financial future.

Take advantage of the fresh start spirit of the New Year to implement these 5 tasks, and you’ll be on your way to making this year your most profitable ever.

A lone ranger is someone who prefers working in solitude or isolation. Sometimes life circumstances can call for us to adopt this attitude. When it comes to marketing our business, however, adopting this mentality can prevent you from achieving the success that you desire.

There are many reasons why people operate in isolation. Some do not know there are better or easier ways, while others prefer to work alone because of certain personality characteristics. Yet working with others in our businesses or even on certain projects can provide us with a boost of energy, motivation, and inspiration.

When we’re coming from this place, we can more easily and readily take advantage of business opportunities. As Red Holzman, basketball coach for the New York Knicks once said, “The power of we is stronger than the power of me.”

What types of lone ranger activities are you engaging in and how can working with others create more business success for all involved?

1. Not enough money. One of the most common reasons cited by people for working in solitude revolves around money. Because most small business people are not making a great deal of money at start-up, they feel they cannot involve other people because they cannot pay them. This is when you need to put on your creative cap. Why not barter or trade your expertise for theirs? Or perhaps there is someone who would be willing to act as an unpaid intern for you in exchange for learning more about what you do.

2. The need to control. When just starting out, many new business owners want to control everything. They feel that if they don’t control every aspect of their business, then something will go awry. Often the underlying fear is the fear of failure. So the result is usually one very burned out business owner. It is important to learn to delegate tasks whether it is to a temporary or full-time employee, or to a virtual assistant. It’s easier to control when one is coming from the perspective of a manager rather than an employee or jack-of-all-trades. Delegation is a great skill to learn, and the sooner the better. By offloading responsibilities, you’ll give yourself the space to be more creative which can be a great benefit to your business.

3. Protecting your assets. Many of us create intellectual property. When we’re starting out, we are quite fearful that people will steal our ideas for e-books, e-courses, articles, books, and audio collections. The sad truth about this is that there are unscrupulous people who will steal from you. But, the reality is, most people won’t. It’s important to keep in mind that you are not the first person to come up with a particular idea. You certainly can’t copyright or protect your ideas, but you can put your particular slant on it. The best attitude to have is that you want people to benefit from your material and let it go at that. If you don’t feel you can move past the fact that people will take and use your material for their own benefit, find another avenue to disseminate your work.

4. Doing it all. Some people are just used to doing everything themselves, never relying on others to lend a helping hand. While that is all very good in and of itself, that type of mentality might not be serving you or your business well. In today’s competitive market place, where being quick to respond can mean the difference between getting a new client or not, you might need to re-consider working with others. At first, when your business is small, you can probably manage everything on your own. But when your business starts taking off and you find yourself rushing around from 7 am to 7 pm, or later, on a daily basis, working weekends and holidays, it’s time to rethink things. You can’t do everything and do it all well.

5. Asking for help. Some people aren’t comfortable asking for help or support from others. They might look at asking for help as something that signals a sign of weakness or neediness. Nothing could be further from the truth. Asking someone to help you out in your business is a wonderful gift you can give to them. People love having the opportunity to help someone out. You never know how their wisdom might contribute to your business success. You might even uncover an opportunity to partner with someone on a project; something that never would have otherwise come to fruition had you not asked for some help in the first place.

6. Where are they? You have a great business idea and you’re certain it would be a real winner if only you could pull it off. But, it might be just too big to handle all alone. Or, you might not have the expertise to make it happen. You don’t know who to ask to help you because you can’t find someone with the same interests to partner with you. So you decide to remain isolated, the idea goes nowhere, and no one benefits – not you and not your clients. This scenario is more common than you might think. The easiest way to find people to partner with is to start networking, whether you’re standing in line at a bank, attending a chamber meeting, or sharing with your clients. Tell everyone you know about your idea and see what they have to say. Before you know it, you’ll find someone who wants to know more about it. They might just be the person who will help you make it happen, or knows someone who can.

7. Too critical and judgmental. Being critical of others is a popular reason for many people to remain working in isolation. You might not think anyone can do the task or project as well as you can. Each one of us is unique and we all have talents and gifts in different areas. Rather than judging or measuring someone in a particular area in which you excel, look for areas in which they excel, from which you can benefit. Another person may be strong in an area in which feel you are weak. By combining talents you can create more than you could have if you remained working in isolation. Take a step back, and set aside your judgments of others. Instead look for the treasures inside of them.

8. Superman syndrome. Many people feel that they are like the fictional character Superman, who could do everything, even see through concrete and steel. Unfortunately, humans are far from this idealized cartoon character. As Jonathan Swift once said, “No man is an island.” We can’t do it all ourselves and if one really thought about it, there is nothing that you have that is solely based just on your physical or mental efforts. It’s actually more fun not to do everything yourself. Let others help you out. Let them share their ideas with you and vice versa. Lighten your attitude, delegate tasks or projects, and really enjoy the work you are doing. Doing everything is not a badge of honor, but rather it is a sign that you don’t know the power of working with others.

9. Not enough for everyone. A scarcity mind-set is a strong underlying component of the lone ranger mentality. This often happens when we “fall in love” with an idea, thinking it is “the idea of the century.” And because of that, we don’t want to share it with anyone. We remain in isolation because we fear someone might do a better job or become more successful with that idea than we ever could. Put your ideas out there. Don’t make the mistake of not sharing your talents and gifts with others because you think you’re going to “corner the market” with your ideas.

10. Not understanding of the power of collaborative partnerships. Lone rangers don’t understand the power of collaborative partnerships. These relationships are a strong and necessary component of any successful business. A collaborative partnership is one where the participants bring their talents and expertise to the relationship. There are open discussions, sharing, and creation of ideas where everyone can benefit. Each participant expends less energy than they would have had they been working in isolation, but the result can be much more than they could have ever hoped to achieve on their own. Seeking out people who have the skills you are looking for while offering your own talents in return, is a great way to break out of isolation and experience new opportunities for business growth and success.

In my last article “How To Open a Business,” I wanted you to answer questions that needed to be answered before opening your business. Everyone at one time or another has said to themselves “I want my own business.” But is it enough just to want your own business?

Your answers to the questions should give you an idea if you are the type of person that can handle the stress of owning your own business.

Since you have decided to open your own business, “NOW WHAT?”

Let’s say that you decide to open a dollar store – where everything is a dollar. You have found what you believe is the perfect location. You have talked with the landlord and are working out a lease. You have gone to your county and bought a business license. And you have applied for a tax id in your state.

Now the next big question is “where do I buy my items wholesale?”

This morning I googled the term “wholesale” and there were 231,000,000 sites listed. Look at that number again – 231 million sites listed for “wholesale.” How does one begin to search through that many sites to find what they want to sell? And how do you know that the companies that are listed are reputable.

I have owned several businesses – some successful and some not so successful. And one of the biggest problems that I faced was finding good wholesale sources at a good price. I now sell on ebay and finding wholesale sources that were cheap enough to make a profit and compete with others selling the same things was difficult.

Most business owners know that to make a profit, you have to find items at great wholesale prices. I have always been told “you make your money when you buy the items, not when you sell them.”

Some of the so-called “wholesale sources” prices that I have found were more than I could have bought the same item for on ebay – including shipping. If you have ever tried to find wholesale sources, it can be a daunting task. So where to begin is the biggest question.

One of the ways that you can check and see if a company is reputable is by checking a website called alexa.com. This site lets customers review other sites. Some of the sites may not have any reviews about them, but some of them may. And just because someone else didn’t like the company does not mean that it is a bad company.

You can also check the page rank at google; however, if a site is relatively new, it will probably have a 0 page rank. This rank is a rating that tells how important google thinks that a website is. However, many of the most visited websites on the web only rank a 0 or 1 or 2.

Finding wholesale sources is easy. Finding “good” wholesale sources takes a lot of work and patience.

Another question to research is the shipping costs. I found one wholesale source that had very good prices, but the shipping costs was too high. I think that this company was trying to make their profit on the shipping. Most of the reputable companies will cap the shipping costs with a minimum purchase. Many of the ones I have dealt with cap the shipping costs at 10% with a $1000 minimum order. However, with gas prices rising and shipping rates rising, companies may have to raise the minimum requirements in order to cap the shipping costs.

Educate yourself about what items are available. Many of the name brand companies will not sell to small business. They already have their distribution channels set up and if you want to sell these brands, you may have to find a middleman that will sell them to you. You may have to pay a little more for the items, but if it is important to you to have name brands, it just might be worth it.

Another way to find good wholesale sources is to go to the merchandise shows. These shows have thousands of wholesalers at one place and you can browse all the booths until you find what you are interested in. Some of the biggest wholesale merchandise shows are located in the larger cities such as: New York, Las Vegas, Chicago, and Atlanta.

Traveling to these wholesale merchandise shows is time consuming and can be expensive. However, usually the wholesale shows have special rates arranged with hotels.

Well, that is all for now. Visit my website: www.wholesalemap.com for more information about finding “good” wholesale sources. It is free. Also, I have just begun a blog and if you have any ideas or wholesale sites that I need to review, let me know.