A network of bloggers helping one another.

This is a special blog post as an introduction for new visitors to this blog coming from Liz Strauss’s second official Blog-to Show which showcases blogs from all over the blogosphere (mine is #132).

The idea is bloggers can find one another through her blog and make relationships with like-minded people. Thank you, Liz.

For those of you who are new to this blog, thank you for stopping by. My name is John Hoff and I own a few businesses including this one, eVentureBiz. eVentureBiz is a Web 2.0 web hosting and development company targeted at helping those who wish to create an online presence, incorporate their business, and learn what takes to become successful online.

From the first day of conception of eVentureBiz, I knew I wanted to create a home on the web for web hosting customers and give them a different experience from the typical boring web hosting company’s site. If you’re curious what I’m talking about, I wrote an article on the topic entitled, Is Your Website Web 2.0 or Corporate?

Image by Douglas - westbound

Today in America we have a problem.

Gas prices are out of control, inflation is killing middle-America, and our housing market has fallen drastically. As a result, many businesses and individuals are forced to file bankruptcy and allow their homes fall into foreclosure.

For those of you with tarnished credit reports because of today’s economy, I want to tell you there is hope in the near future.

You see, today banks are going through rough times themselves and in order to survive past the next couple of years they will have no choice but to work with a large number of businesses and individuals with poor credit reports.

What I believe we will see over the next 2 to 3 years are new loan options and programs available for those with bankruptcies and foreclosures on their credit because of what’s happening today.

The way I see it, there are three ways you can go about dealing with money you earn.

1. Live above your means.
2. Live within your means.
3. Live below your means.

Breakdown of #1

Spend all the money I’ve got; spend a lot of money I don’t got and worry about it later.

Breakdown of #2

Spend all the money I’ve got; don’t spend any money I don’t got.

Breakdown of #3

Spend some of the money I’ve got; don’t spend any money I don’t got; invest and save the rest for the future.

If you answered #3 you win a gold star! If you said, “Number 3 is best but I’m really a 2 or 2 and a half,” then you get a silver star for knowing which is best.

If you answered #1 is how I live and I see nothing wrong with it, what do you think my answer would be?

Image by bokeh

Who are you?

I may not have as many blog subscribers as Darren Rowse or Brian Clark, but I’ve managed to capture your attention for at least a moment and I’m curious who you are.

James, Catherine, and Barbara are perfect examples of online acquaintances I’ve made through the use of blogging - and I’ve learned a lot from each of them and I’d like to learn from you too.

What’s your name? Where do you come from? Do you have a blog, website, business? How did you find eVentureBiz? What do you like about my blog? Which subjects do you like most I write about?

The nice thing about blogging is you can find and talk to just about anyone anywhere in the world and learn something from their experiences.

You don’t have to speak up if you don’t want, but feel free to comment, it only takes a few moments. Tell us about you. Tell us what you think of the direction we’re taking in the web hosting industry here at eVentureBiz.

Hello all. I’ve been spending some time posting in the eVentureBiz Community Forum and would like to invite readers to join in on conversations and topics.

The forum is a great compliment to this blog for a few reasons:

• people who read this blog probably have similar interests and can make connections
• it provides a place where I can connect better with my readers
• the forum discusses topics like SEO, Marketing, Real Estate, etc. and is about winning in business both online and off

If you’re thinking of starting a business, check it out. If you’re a Realtor or investor, feel free to list your house for sale. And if you have questions about starting a business online, ask me.

Of course if you just want to hangout and chat, I’m down - but I’m afraid you’ll have to bring your own beer.

Can you guess what I think of corporate websites from this photo? Image by Mister Wind-Up Bird

A friend of mine, James Chartrand of Men with Pens, asked me a few days ago, “Why is your site/hosting different from everyone else’s beyond the “we care” mentality?”

He asked this in reply to me mentioning how I wanted eVentureBiz to be different. I wanted it to play by different rules than all the other hosting companies out there.

I sat back in my leather-cushioned chair, twirled my pen in hand, and thought for a moment about his question. It was harder to answer than I thought.

As I always do to gain some insight, I thought in reverse. How are we the same as everyone else? We offer 3 hosting plans, which is typical. We include free scripts, just as many companies do. We do daily backups of websites, have tech support, etc.

This is Lindsey’s first post. Lindsey is a wedding planner and for some reason decided she wanted to marry me!

Never say NO to Fluffy!

Recently, my husband John and I bought an investment property. While going through the renovation process I learned from him it never hurts to ask for something even if you think the answer will be no.

Every time a new contractor would come in to do something he would ask them to also do something else (without charging any extra). Since he was willing to do this we were able to get a lot of things done for nothing that would have added up to a lot of additional money out of our pockets.

What you need to keep in mind whether it be dealing with contractors, sales people or other entrepreneurs is that you need to know what you want before you talk to them. Have a game plan ready, know where you are going to start and what compromises you are willing to make.