I have been doing some research, and I truly believe I can monetize this blog greatly by opening up myself to paid vacationing. Basically, I will have companies pay for my vacation including travel, and pay me to blog about the whole experience.

I can blog about everything from the airline/bus trip, food, activities, accommodations, and everything in between. To start this off, I will need to be paid $350 per day and have all expenses taken care of. I have excellent traffic on this blog that is growing every single day.

When I blog about the company that hires me, I will provide them with an ad space within that blog post as well. I would prefer to take vacations with a 3-day minimum. If interested in advertising your company this way, email me at brandon@brandonconnell.com

NOTE: I can provide myself, and occasionally my family depending on where, and the time of year.

I have been thinking about starting a new business, but I just can’t figure out what exactly. The biggest return for my investment is what I have to think about here. My main goal is residuals with hardly any work on my part. My current business takes up my entire days and nights. I would like to do something more automated.

I know that to reach the masses, I have to have something really unique or very interesting. I don’t really want to install webcams in my house. And I rarely have time to myself to be able to do Youtube videos.

Any ideas for a residual business? NOT affiliate marketing. Been there, done that, didn’t work.

Let’s face it. Having to leave your house to go and work for some ungrateful corporation sucks. That is why I vow to never have to do it again. I have lived my life determined to make a living working at home, and that is exactly what I do. I occasionally leave the house to meet with a local client, but it is not often. My clients vary and live in different states. So why should YOU have to work for someone else when it is perfectly easy to start a home based business?

I have decided to start mentoring others who despise going to work like I did. I am charging $50 for 2 hour sessions to teach you how to start your own business using your own knowledge and talents. I will teach you how to market your business, and get paid by your customers.

Guess what…? You don’t have to leave your house for these two-hour sessions! I will teach you entirely over the phone, through email, and/or through an instant messenger. You can be in business with just one or two sessions!

Interested in learning from someone who has done it? Email me at brandon@brandonconnell.com

I was doing some thinking about my blog. I have noticed that some major blogs have been acquired by larger companies. But the difference between them and me is that I branded my blog on a domain that I will never give up. I plan to use this blog for years to come, and when I’m dead, have it archived and let my wife live off of the ad revenue it brings in.

I fully intend to never receive a buyout offer on my blog. And if you wish to create something unique for yourself, create it in a way that would make you unable to budge, even after receiving a multi-million dollar offer on it.

If you DO want to have your company acquired, you will need to create a following, and brand it appropriately. Social sites are very good at this because they are generally viral with their marketing. Users tell others about the network and it amounts to additional users. Think about the features that Facebook, and MySpace have that allow you to invite your friends by importing your email contacts.

You can lower your chances of a buyout offer if your website offers a service that is not free. The word free creates an easy open-door to website sign-ups. By charging a fee for that same access, you limit your market reach to people that not only have a credit card or paypal account, but to those that also wish to spend that money for that account access.

Growing your business can be difficult. Especially when you are going at it alone. In order to achieve business success, you will need to use the leverage of others. If you are a small ‘at home’ start-up, you might not have the funds to hire employees. But don’t worry. You can still get people to work for you by hiring them as independent contractors.

When trying to expand your business, the most important aspect is sales. The good thing about sales is that it is often a commission paid job. That’s where you come in. You can offer a commission based opening and offer attractive rates. Utilize bonuses as incentives.

Commission based jobs can be posted on various free job classified sites. You don’t even have to be incorporated to hire 1099 based workers.