Bux.to Announcements

Bux.to put out rather large announcements now a days and it shows they’re planning to be here for a long while yet, despite all of the current problems they’ve been having. Here’s a rundown of the announcement:

New Website: Bux Reload

The biggest news for most people is the new website that they’re working on (or Bux Reload, or the new Bux script, as people are calling it). Bux Reload will solve a lot of the major issues that have plagued it’s users since the beginning of the year. The announcement states that the beta testing is officially over, and testing is complete (at least, it is for the user’s side of things). The staff still has a couple of things to test out for themselves, but it would seem as though the lucky Bux.to members will be seeing the new script in action within a week or two.

Payment Queues

The recent dealings (or anti-dealings, if you will) with PayPal and AlertPay have meant that a rather large payment queue has built up, and there are thousands of members waiting to receive payment from Bux.to. That might sound bad, but Bux also pays thousands of people every week, so it’s not as bad as it first seems. The recent announcement assures members that payments are of a top priority, and so the queue is sure to be reduced to an acceptable level very shortly.

Bux.to Shop

Bux.to recently opened a shop that sold personalized Bux.to merchandise. The products on offer included t-shirts, mugs and caps amongst other things, but will soon be expanded to cover a wider variety of things. The Bux.to shop is really a “just-for-fun” thing set up by one or two of the admin over there. However, a small percentage of the cost of each item does go to Bux.to itself.

Suspended Accounts

A lot of people have found that they’ve had trouble buying referrals when using PayPal through Reg.net and thus find their Bux.to account suspended. The problems occur when a payment is rejected for whatever reason, and the member is issued a “chargeback”. This means the money is not received by Bux.to and so the user could effectively get their referrals for free. As the current Bux.to website does not accommodate for the removal of falsely-added referrals, the user’s account is suspended instead. Bux Reload will change all that, meaning that Bux.to admins will have the ability to upgrade/downgrade a user’s account at will, and also add/remove referrals when necessary.

Bux.to Name Trademarked

Bux.to has also registered its name as a trademark, giving them a much higher legal standing when it comes to rip-off and scam sites trying to use the Bux.to name for their own ends. To check out the authenticity of the trademark, you can look up their trademark registration number - 006810238.

Amazing Sundays

They will, from now on, run “Amazing Sundays” - which means that there will be more ads and some special features for members every Sunday. They haven’t given any specifics on the subject, but it sounds exciting.

Bux Idol Winners Announced

There are a few other minor issues relating to Bux.to that the announcement addressed. The first is that of the Bux Idol contest. The winners were announced, so congratulations to those members who put in the hard work for their Bux Idol entry.

Bux.to Blacklisted

Malware Domains is an organization that blacklists certain websites known to be carrying malware, or code that could infect a user’s computer. This blacklist is used by browser vendors to help protect it’s users from potentially harmful websites. Last week, MalwareDomains decided that Bux.to was such a website, and added it to its blacklist, meaning that anyone using the Opera web browser was unable to access the site. After talking with MalwareDomains about the issue, it was resolved without incident, and now Opera users can continue to use Bux normally.

Disgruntled Staff

A couple of weeks ago, there was also a hoo-har involving some ex-Bux.to staff. A couple of staff members were found to be guilty of lying to the Bux.to owners about certain things, and so it was decided that they were not trustworthy enough to work for Bux any longer. After being let go, the staff in question sent out spam emails to members of Bux.to’s forum, detailing many false claims about the website. The emails were traced back to the ex-staff members, who were then banned from the Bux forums as well.

Bux.to Debit MasterCard

There have also been changes in applying for the Bux.to Debit MasterCard. From the date that the new script is implemented, any user applying for the card must have a minimum of $20 in their Bux.to account, which will be taken when applying for the card. This $20 will then be loaded onto the card immediately after it is activated.

Bux Academy

They had also informed us of the Bux Academy, which is a project that will be set up to help up-and-coming entrepreneurs develop their online business ideas. No details have yet been given, but there is much speculation in the forums as to what this could mean. There is almost certainly a financial aspect to the support given by the Bux Academy project.

Saved the Best till Last

OK, so we’re all sick to the stomach of the payment delays that have plagued the site since PayPal bottled it, and ran away from the PTC scene, screaming like a schoolgirl. But, in the usual Bux.to style, they have stepped in to solve the payment issues once and for all - with PayBux. Yep, that’s right; Bux.to is in talks with one of their local banks to start up their very own payment processor!

What will this mean for us? Well, nothing initially. Nothing has been announced yet other than the project is going ahead. But once it’s complete, this would be a major step forward for Bux.to, and the PTC scene as a whole. It would mean that Bux.to would no longer have to rely on external payment processors like AlertPay or PayPal. They wouldn’t need to worry about those websites charging extortionate fees, or changing their Terms of Service to exclude PTC websites. It would mean the end of payment delays forever!

What it would also mean is another potential source of income for Bux.to. If they play their cards right, they could advertise the use of PayBux to other PTC sites, and charge a small fee to allow other PTC sites to use it. With the number of PTC sites appearing on the net every day rising steadily, and the reliance on AlertPay et al increasing at the same rate, Bux.to is potentially sitting on a goldmine. Not only would it mean a reliable payment system, but all PTC could potentially take advantage of it, earning Bux a small fortune.

Final Thoughts

Well, that’s enough from me today; I should be working. I hope this update has filled your eyes with the kind of sparkle that you see in every five year-old’s when you tell them Santa Clause has been to visit. It’s exciting times for Bux.to and hopefully they’ll pull through and deliver on their promises. It’s been five long months since things went rather pear-shaped, and they’ve yet to really fix anything. Let’s hope this coming month brings them (and us) some good fortune.

Source: Shuffle Box

Jobs on a Cruise Ship

Handicrafts Business

Crafts Business

If you're creative and enjoy working with your hands, a crafts business could be your path to financial independence. With a minimal investment, you can start grossing up to $100,000 a year doing something you love. This guide starts with an overview of the industry, looks at some specific crafts businesses, and then through the step-by-step process of setting up and running your new venture. You’ll learn about basic requirements and start-up costs, daily operations, and what to do when things don’t go according to plan. You’ll gain a solid understanding of the sales and marketing process, as well as how to track and manage the financial side of your business. Throughout the guide, you’ll hear from crafters who have built successful operations and are eager to share what they learned in the process. This guide from Entrepreneur.com is necessary before diving into this home business venture.

Assembly lines around the world are churning out mass-produced items that are purchased almost as fast as they can be made. But consumer acceptance of low-cost look-alike goods hasn’t eliminated the demand for handcrafted items—although those items are likely to have a much different function today than in the past.

Many handcrafted items are now valued as works of art, but historically their value was primarily utilitarian. For example, baskets and pottery were essential for transporting food, water and other items. And weaving produced fabrics that could be made into clothing and blankets.

Because of the industrial revolution, the need for functional handcrafted items is not as extensive as it once was. But Americans who want quality artistic and decorative items turn to modern-day craftspeople who produce a variety of items such as jewellery, ceramics, wood carvings, furniture, crocheted and knitted goods, decorated clothing, toys and much more.

What Is A Craft?

In this book, craft refers to any handmade item that can be given as a gift or sold—and if you’ve attended a crafts fair, you may have been surprised by what craftspeople sell and what people are willing to buy. The unpredictability of the crafts market is one of the intriguing and challenging aspects of the business.

In Craft Today: Poetry of the Physical, Paul J. Smith writes, “In its broadest sense craft refers to the creation of original objects through an artist’s disciplined manipulation of material. Historically craft was identified with producing objects that were necessary to life. Modern industrialized society eliminates the need to make by hand essentials for living. The term craft now must be defined in the context of a society that focuses on greater efficiency by technological achievement.”

The question of whether crafts are art or a separate medium may never be definitively answered. In The Crafts of the Modern World, Rose Slivka writes, “Throughout their long history, crafts have produced useful objects which are later considered fine art. Time has a way of overwhelming the functional value of an object that outlives the men who made and used it, with the power of its own objective presence—that life-invest quality of being that transcends and energizes. When this happens, such objects are forever honored for their own sakes—they are art.”

Of course, for someone wanting to start a crafts business, the question of whether the products are art may not be particularly important. A more critical question is whether you can make money.

The nature of the crafts industry makes it difficult to define and quantify, but industry experts estimate that sales revenues exceed $10 billion annually, and hundreds of thousands of working artisans earn their entire income from the crafts they produce. Most professional craftspeople start making their handcrafted goods as a hobby, and begin selling items to friends and family. From there, they typically expand to selling in crafts shows and fairs several times a year. Sometimes they’re content to keep this as something they do on the side; others are eager to move from part-time to full-time status. Still other artisans tackle their work as a full-time career from the beginning, often renting studio or retail space, or both.

Start-up costs for a crafts business range from literally a few dollars to several thousand dollars, depending on what you are making, what type of equipment and raw materials you need, and whether you already own equipment when you start. Crafters earn as little as a few dollars an hour (for part-time crafters who are not particularly interested in profits) to as much as $20 or $30 an hour and sometimes more if they learn how to market and manage their businesses efficiently.

Jobs on a Cruise Ship

Cleaning Service Business

Cleaning Service Business

If it can get dirty, chances are that someone will be willing to pay you to clean it. And that's why few industries can claim the variety and depth of opportunities that professional cleaning can. This in-depth guide shows you how to start three hot cleaning businesses: residential maid service, commercial janitorial and carpet/upholstery cleaning.

Most cleaning service businesses can be operated on either a part-time or full-time basis, either from home or from a commercial location, and the best part is you can build an extremely profitable business that will generate revenue very quickly.

Our easy-to-follow guide will teach you:

Who your customers and competitors will be
The ins and outs of finding clients
What equipment and supplies you'll need to get started
How to hire and train employees
Where to find start-up funds and how to set prices
And much more

The cleaning industry has two primary market groups: consumer and commercial. The consumer arena consists primarily of residential maid services, along with carpet cleaners, window cleaners and a variety of other cleaning services required on a less-frequent basis. The commercial arena is dominated by janitorial services, which typically provide a wider range of services than maid services, along with other cleaning companies, such as carpet and window cleaners, that target businesses rather than individual consumers. While it’s recommended that you decide on a niche and concentrate on building a business that will serve your chosen market, it is entirely realistic to expect to be able to serve multiple markets successfully.

With all this opportunity, what does the competition look like? Glance through your telephone directory—the number of cleaning services may make you think the market is already flooded and there’s no room for you. That’s not true.

First, anyone can get a listing in the Yellow Pages just by having a business telephone line. A mere listing doesn’t mean the company is offering quality service to the market you’re targeting.

Second, the demand for cleaning services is tremendous. Plenty of maid service companies have waiting lists for clients because they simply can’t serve the entire market. Many carpet cleaners and other types of specialized cleaning services are not full-time operations and therefore don’t offer serious competition. And a significant number of janitorial services are mom-and-pop operations run by people who want just enough work to earn a living.

Third, cleaning service customers want quality, and many operators are unable to deliver that. Ask anyone who has ever hired a company to clean something in their home or office if they’ve had any bad experiences, and chances are you’ll hear some nightmarish stories of poor-quality work, damage to property and even theft. If you offer quality service, operate with integrity and charge reasonable prices, you will be a success in a cleaning service business.

The Driving Forces

Shifting demographics and changing lifestyles are driving the surge in residential maid service businesses. Busy consumers don’t have the time or inclination to clean for themselves; they want to spend their limited leisure hours doing things they enjoy. So they’d rather have someone else do their cleaning—and they want it done well.

Linda B., president of a major residential maid franchise, says, “The major trend [in the residential cleaning industry] is tremendous growth. As leisure time continues to shrink, more and more people are searching for personal support in the form of housecleaning services, lawn maintenance, errand-running services and more. Our franchises are growing at tremendous rates, and most of them have waiting lists for customers. Our existing customers are asking for additional services, like indoor plant care, or asking us to pick up and deliver dry cleaning and handle other errands. People are strapped for time, they need help, and they are willing to pay for it. So many of our customers tell us that our service has given them the freedom to enjoy life and get rid of the stress that comes when you are overwhelmed with too much to do.” Adds Linda B., “And as the baby boomers hit their income peaks, and their children are beginning to leave home, they have more disposable income, and they’re going to demand more and more in the way of personal services. We are enjoying a time of wonderful opportunities, and that’s not going to change in the foreseeable future.”

But the companies that truly thrive will be the ones with a heavy emphasis on quality and personal services. “I really think the cleaning industry is getting to the point where people don’t want just a basic cleaning,” says Nancy W., a maid service owner in Raleigh, North Carolina. “With all these new and wonderful homes being built, people are becoming more particular about what they are paying for.”

On the commercial side, the dual trends of outsourcing and niche businesses are behind the growing number of janitorial and specialty cleaning services. Businesses need to have their offices and plants cleaned, but it doesn’t always make sense for them to employ their own cleaning staff. Nor does it make sense for them to own the equipment and expertise necessary for jobs such as carpet shampooing, which are done on an infrequent basis.

“We’re not just a cleaning company,” says Mike B., whose outfit provides carpet and upholstery cleaning, odor control and water restoration in St. George, Utah. “It’s not just about pushing a wand or running a machine. It’s not just kicking the dirt out. It’s a matter of taking good care of people.”

This is good news for an entrepreneur who is more interested in building a solid, profitable business than in conquering new horizons.

Before you leap into the cleaning business, it’s important to look at it with 20/20 vision. Though technology certainly has an impact on cleaning services, this is not a high-tech business. Nor is there any glitz to it. And there will be times when you’ll have as much trouble as Rodney Dangerfield getting respect.

But the upside is that you can build an extremely profitable business that will generate revenue very quickly. Most cleaning service businesses can be operated on either a part-time or full-time basis, either from home or from a commercial location. That flexibility gives this industry a strong appeal to a wide range of people with a variety of goals.

Another positive aspect of the industry is that within each category of cleaning businesses are market niches and operating styles that vary tremendously. Salt Lake City janitorial service owner Michael R. says, “We offer a wide range of services to a very limited clientele. We have refined our customer base to a group that we feel we can best serve in a way that will allow us to maintain those customers permanently.”

This means you can build a company that suits your individual style and talents. If you like doing the work yourself, you can stay small and do so. If your skills are more administrative in nature, you can build and manage teams to do the work. For people who like working outside, the opportunities in service areas such as window cleaning and pressure washing are abundant. Residential maid services offer fairly predictable hours; disaster restoration and cleanup can mean calls at all hours of the day or night.

Few industries offer this tremendous range of choices and opportunities, and the need for general and niche cleaning is expected to increase in the future. To help you find your place in this thriving field, let’s take a look at the day-to-day operations of some typical cleaning businesses.

Jobs on a Cruise Ship

Auto Detailing

Your Own Auto Detailing Business

Description of this Work at Home Job:

Clean cars inch by inch to return them to factory-new condition.

Perform some jobs on a regular basis and others on a one-time basis for resale to a new buyer.

Work closely with your client to understand all expectations. Every auto detailing job will be unique.

What is the Need for this Small Business Job?

Many people's cares are like a teenager's room, carpeted with months of magazines and fast-food packages and encompassed by a "bad" nonspecific odor. Other people like their cares to be in better than factory fresh condition.

As an owner of an auto detailing business, you will use sponges, hoses, vacuum cleaners, toothpicks and toothbrushes to pick up every crumb, polish every surface, and renew every visual feature of the car.

Your job as an auto detailing owner is to run a beauty salon, not a plastic surgeon's room. An auto detailer's job description does not include removing dents or significant interior or exterior work. Whether you go to the car, or the car comes to you, you'll need the same equipment. If you travel to the job, you'll need a vehicle to carry supplies. Your vehicle should become an example of your work and should sparkle like a showroom auto!

If the car comes to you, your setup and cleanup will be easier.

If you like cars (and working for yourself), an auto detailing service may be the business for you. It makes an ideal home based business!

Jobs on a Cruise Ship