How to Make Money Online Guide

Making money online is something that almost anyone can accomplish. You can make a living online or simply use the Internet as a way to make some extra cash. There are a variety of different ways to generate an income by using your home computer.

Earning extra cash online can be as simple as deciding to sell some old items that you no longer use on eBay or on another auction website. You can even make money by listing and shipping items for other people who want to sell products online but have limited time or knowledge to do so.

If you enjoy writing and have good writing skills, you can ear money by writing articles, reviews, blog posts and other written materials online. You can write articles to sell or work for copywriting companies. You can write in your spare time for extra money or work to build a full-time writing career. Designing websites and logos is another excellent way to make money online if you are a skilled designer. This is another money making opportunity that gives you flexibility to work as little or as many hours as desired online.

Internet marketing and affiliate jobs are common options for anyone looking to earn cash online. You need to be good at networking and making contacts in order to be successful in these areas. This method of making money online is not for everyone. However, if you find you are talented in this field, you have the potential to create a very lucrative career.

You can find a variety of other Internet jobs allowing you to make money online. It is important to keep in mind that you should not need to put out any cash investments in order to obtain a job online. If an employer asks you to pay for a startup package, the business or job is probably not legitimate. Surf the Internet and online forums in order to find tips on making money online.

Top 10 Best Personal Finance Books of All Time!

As I was arranging the numerous personal finance books I've accumulated over the years, I could not help but wonder how I can put everything together in such a tiny little space. Then I asked myself, if I had a very small book shelf that can accomodate only 10 of these books, which books would I choose? I had to think really hard because I love reading books and I've learned a great deal about life and money through ALL of them. These 10 books are special in that they have completely altered the way I view money and life! They have inspired me to learn more about money and pursuit financial freedom! May these same books help you achieve your financial dreams!

Here are Rich Money Habits' top 10 best personal finance books of all time!

# 10. 8 Secrets of the Truly Rich by Bo Sanchez

This one is special because it's written by a preacher - and a famous Filipino preacher at that! Bo Sanchez is a best-selling author of inspirational books in the Philippines. This is his first book that openly talks about money, business and investing.

What I particularly like about this book, is that it tackles one of the most critical obstacles in making money - that is, how to reconcile money and religion. Living in the only predominately Catholic country in Asia, it is very important for me to align what I believe in when it's on religion or money. Otherwise, I'll just be confused and end up going now.

The book is full of stories on how daily money habits make you rich or poor. It describes the most common perceptions we have about money. We were taught that money is the root of all evil. When we watch our favorite TV shows, rich people are often portrayed as greedy. They only got rich through "drug" dealing or some other "illegal" means. Due to this stereotyping, some us unconsciously do not want to be rich! Who would want to have the "bad" guy in our own soap opera called life ?! :)

As a result, there is conflict inside of us. Some of our internal dialogs are

"I want to be rich ... BUT not so rich that my friends would hate me and I would no longer have friends." err ... who wants to be loner ?! :)

Or the most common,

"I want to be rich ... and I'm so desperate the only way for me to get rich is by winning a million dollars through lottery."

The great tragedy is never realizing that you do not have to be a crook, or be greedy, or become unfriendly, or win a lotto ticket to be rich - you only need to build rich money habits!

# 9. Multiple Streams of Income by Robert G. Allen

This is one of the books I bought when I was in the US. Since I love reading personal finance books, I ordered a bunch of them online. I was able to get them cheaper because I looked under the "used" books section. Surprisingly, most of them are in reliably good condition and look almost new!

The book was my first exposure to having multiple streams of income. For someone who worked as an employee most of his life, I thought I could only earn from one stream of income - my job! I realized having only one stream of income is not a very good idea because there's also only one way money can come to me - through my paycheck!

Having multiple streams of income is not necessarily having a second job, or even a third! Multiple streams of income building systems so that money can flow through your life. It means, investing both your time and money to learn how to build those systems.

One way could be through real estate investments where you get a "stream" of income from the monthly rental of your tenants. Another "stream" could be getting portfolio income like "dividends" or "interests" from your stocks or bonds investments. And yet another "stream" could be from royalties you receive from publishing a book or a music recording if you're a singer. Having a LOT of "streams" where money can come to you is certainly better than justing on your "job" to make money. The challenge is how to utilize what you have like time, skills, and money to setup these streams of income.

# 8. Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker

The great thing about the book is it makes you realize what money habits you have developed since the day you were born. It brings out those subconscious thoughts that are hindering you from achieving financial success. Some of the internal dialogs with yourself could be.

"I am not good enough. I'll never be amount to anything financially."

Or you might say

"I'm poor because my parents are poor ... and my grandmother is poor ... and my great grandmother is poor ... so I will always be poor ..."

You might not be saying it out loud. You might only be thinking about it. Worse, you might not even be aware of it. And you wonder why you'll not get anywhere. As T. Harv Eker aptly put it

"... if your subconscious 'financial blueprint' is not 'set' for success, nothing you learn, nothing you know and nothing you do will make much of a difference."

# 7. The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss

The book speaks about the "New Rich", a group of people who have the time, money and mobility to spend only 4 hours a week to generate money and live the life they want. The rest of their time is spent on things that love to do like dancing in Buenos Aires, scuba diving in Panama or basking in the Hawaiian sun.

Who would not want to spend only 4 hours of his time working instead of the usual 40 hours a week? Who would not want to have the luxury of time to do the things you really love? Who would not want to take a very long vacation in the beaches of Hawaii while your business is taken care of and money is still coming in?

For employees, it offers practical tips on how to negotiate with your boss for a work-at-home arrangement. It also provides ideas on how to plan your own "mini" retirements so the money is still coming in, without you around. It even discusses how you can "outsource" your life!

The 4-hour workweek is easy to read. The ideas are presented in a simple and uncomplicated manner that you think you're reading a comic book. The book is conversational and funny. Reading it is like speaking with the author face to face. You might even find yourself occasionally laughing at his jokes. (I know I have) :)

# 6. Rule # 1 by Phil Town

I picked up this book out on a whim when I was at a bookstore in Malaysia. The book explains investing in a very simple and understandable manner. It is not intimidating in any way. After reading this book, it made me realize that I did not need to be afraid of investing. I just need to learn how to do it right.

Rule # 1 is "Do not lose money."

Whether the market is going up or going down, do not lose money. Whether it is a bear market or a recession, do not lose money. Whether you have billions or just a couple of hundred dollars in investment, do not lose money.

The book discusses some of the basic myths about investing and provides simple strategies for successful investing while spending only 15 minutes a week. It tells about the five key numbers that really count when determining the value of a stock or business. It even mentions valuable internet tools and the advantages of managing your own investments to achieve your investment goals.

I know there may be other books on investing out there, but so far, this is the only one I've come across that made me understand the world of investing a little bit better.

# 5. The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason

I came across the Richest Man in Babylon from reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. It tells about the ancient secrets of money. The book coined the phrase "pay yourself first". In ordinary terms, it means - SAVING. But it is more than that. The book tells that in any trade you're in, you CAN still "pay yourself first". Once you have "money" in savings, you can then have that "money" work for you.

But how can you save when your little money is not even enough to survive on? How can you set aside 10% of your income when you're living on 110% of it? How do you "pay yourself first" when the creditors are coming after you?

Paying yourself first is certainly not easy. It takes tremendous discipline. That's one of the reasons why it is not popular. But once you get the rich money habit of controlling your money instead of it controlling you, your confidence builds up, you'll think that if you can do this then you can do anything. And as with anything related to money, it touches everything. Your health improves. You become successful in what you do. People will wonder why you're always brimming with confidence. You become the richest man in every sense of the word.

Is not it better to walk into a store knowing you can buy anything you want because you have the money (saved)? Does not it give you peace of mind knowing that if some emergency occurs, you can readily rely on your saved "emergency fund"? Would it be nice to be able to help your family or those closest to you "financially" for a change? That's the dream. And it starts with paying yourself first.

# 4. The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley Ph.D. and William D. Danko Ph.D.

The book is based on a comprehensive research on the money habits of millionsaires. The results are surprising in the sense that majority of those millionaires are not what we commonly expect them to be. As aptly described in the book,

"These people can not be millionaires! They do not look like millionaires, they do not dress like millionaires, they do not eat like millionaires, they do not act like millionaires - they do not even have millionaire names. the millionaires who look like millionaires? "

Many of the "next door" millionaires are first-generation. They did not inherit their licenses, they built them. Few of them do not spend more than $ 100 for a watch. Others do not even wear a suit to work! They engage in types of businesses which could be classified as dull-normal. Some are welding contractors. Some are rice farmers. Some are pest controllers. Others are coin and stamp dealers.

What separates the "next door" millionaires from the rest is their money habits. They are frugal in nature. They value money. They invest at least 20% of their income. They even have a "go-to-hell fund" which can provide for their expenses for at least 10 years without working at all.

I think the most important lesson from the book is not that we know who the actual millionaires are, but the realization that it could be YOU! If they can do it, so can you! It's time to build your own rich money habit and be the "millionaire next door"!

# 3. Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez

I bought this book out on a whim. I was actually looking for the book "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell when I saw this book at 20% off.

The book tells about managing not only your money but looking at it in totally different way. Your money is only part and parcel of what your life is. There is also time. There is also your dream! What do you enjoy most? How do you spend your money? What do you do with your time? Would you still do what you do even if you have all the money in the world?

The book emphasizes managing the resources that you have like money and time. It offers very specific tips like monitoring your spending and whether each of those is contributing to your goals or not. It also has some ideas on how to identify exactly what you like to do and manage both your money and time so you can do more of what you love to do and less of what you do not like to do. It even has some charts to help you picture out and plot where you are and when your freedom day will be.

I think the main message of the book is not to choose money over your life or the other way around - it is to have BOTH.

# 2. Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki

As mentioned in my personal finance story, this is one of the books that made me realize I really need to develop rich money habits to achieve financial freedom. The book is a story of growing up learning about money from two different dads: one is rich and the other one is poor. The story unfolds to describe the different money habits of the rich dad and the poor dad, each one producing a different financial result.

The book makes the very complex world of money and business seemingly simple. It is so simple that the ideas can be explained to a child using only sketchy drawings. The drawings illustrate how cash flows from your pocket to the bank when you pay your bills, and how it flows from your company to you when you get your paycheck.

What you do with the money after your receive it determines whether you become rich or poor. Do you use the money to buy assets like real estate investments or setup businesses? Or do you use it to buy liabilities like a brand new LCD TV in 12-easy-monthly-payments-with-zero-interest!

The reason I liked the book is because it inspired me to become better and to view business and money in a totally different way. It expanded my understanding of how money really works! Most of all, it save me the confidence to dream again!

# 1. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

Think and Grow Rich is one of the first books I've read about money. The main message of the book is that you have to "think" about money first before it becomes real. It is a direct translation to the phrase "what your mind can conceive, your body can achieve". When you really think about money and you have this "burning desire" to make it real, all the universe conspires to build the means to bring it to you.

Money is, first and foremost, only an idea. It is not real. The money you hold when you buy a bag of grocery is only as real as the "mutual" agreement you have with other people that the paper you're holding is worth something of value equal to that you're buying.

The book does not say "Work Hard and Grow Rich". Working hard means different things to different people. For an employee who does not like what he's doing and only get paid very little, everything is "hard work". For someone who loves what he does, "working hard" is not in his vocabulary.

As Henry Ford said,

"Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it."

There you have it! Rich Money Habits' top 10 best personal finance books of all time!

PS How about you? What are the best personal finance books you've read?

Cheers!

Allan Inocente
Rich Money Habits

How to Earn Money Fast - Avoiding the Procrastination Doldrums

Everyone is looking to make a lot of money as quickly as possible. There are lots of opportunities that will allow you to make money fast, it just depends on how much money you want to make. But what really gets in the way for most people is two things ... information overload and procrastination.

Sometimes, the best results are obtaining not from careful planning and assessment, but simply jumping in and fixing it up as you go along. The only problem with that is that you may get yourself into trouble in certain ways, but at least you are in action, you are in the heat of the battle and fighting for your share!

The ideas that are the most successful and offer the most money are usually the ones that suit your personality. The ones for which you have the most connection. If you have a particular talent or a hobby you love, and you turn it into a business, you already have an advantage. You already know where you want the business to go and you know what you want the end product to be. Your success depends on how much time and effort you are willing to invest in your particular venture. You are in charge and you will determine how much money you can make.

You may have a real interest in designing websites; there is certainly a great opportunity in that area. A good website could make the difference in whether a business succeeds or fails. If you have a knack for choosing the right colors for text and backgrounds, and can make your pages flow, you will have all the customers you want and you will be able to choose your projects. If you have a talent for helping people to turn their ideas into reality, you will be in demand.

It is not just the business owners who are in need of an effective website, there are personal websites. There are family sites, where people want to post their genealogical pictures and information or family reunion information. There are lots of different types and styles and you certainly will not be bored, but you will be earning easy money.

Financial Leadership and Collective Thinking

As a business owner how many times have you experienced an increase in company profit followed by a sudden request for additional expenses from one or more of your organizational divisions? The underlying reason for this is the people that staff your company will always tend toward spending every dollar that comes through the door. You may even have this tension yourself.

There is a kind of group mentality that takes place in any organization when it comes to producing income. It is like an unspoken agreement among the staff members to produce enough money to cover what they believe they need to spend. The agreement does not include producing a surplus of income. The group wants to spend everything it has. It will only strive to increase its productivity if it sees the need to have more money to spend.

The problem with this collective way of thinking is you'll never have a surplus account to cover expansion of the business, emergency situations, investing or unusual expenses such as paying off a loan. An organization is wise to have a financial cushion to cover expenses associated with these events. The goal of the group being to spend everything that comes in right now; it is not the least bit interested in budgeting any of it for future needs.

To be successful at building up a surplus account you have to create the perception the money you are setting aside for these purposes is money being spent. You can not wait to see what's left over at the end of the week and plan to transfer that to your surplus account. There will not be anything left over. The various divisions in your company will find legitimate reasons to spend it. Productions costs will suddenly go up, the equipment will suddenly fail, or a department may suddenly find a sale on material or parts they must order in bulk this week to get the discount.

The head of your financial planning department has to be a person that can think beyond the groups' collective determinations. That leader must be able to remove their focus on the details of daily operations and give their attention to the overall liability of your company. They must be able to establish a system where the surplus money is taken away from the total income before anyone else gets to see it. It must be perceived by all the divisions as an expense or they will find another way to spend it.

If you, as the business owner can not lead your financial planning in this way, then find a more objective person to fill the position. Do not allow your staff to spend everything. Implement strategies that ensure your staff will increase the company income to meet the demand for money they believe they need to spend. That is how you can maintain the vitality of your business and accomodate future expansion.

International Trademark Registration Procedure

Getting the right name is important and essential; it gives you a distinct identity instead of a descriptive common name and secures your business identity if registered as Trademark. A distinct trademark guarantees the genuineness, and gives you the legal rights to prevent its illegitimate use by competitors and reputation breakers. Registering your trademark grants you special and exclusive rights and helps you secure your market place. Trademark registration process is easy and affordable. With a registered trademark, you can prevent your competitors and reputation breakers from confusing your brand followers and potential clients who try to use similar name, logo or design; This way you protect your business.

Registering a trademark is very simple. You can file your applications country-wise with the help of Attorney or register through the "Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks". When you are planning to register your unique trademark, please ask the helping body to check its availability. You may also try to find its availability through Trademark Search Systems available. While planning to register your unique trademark, please ask the helping body to check its availability; you may also try to find its availability through Trademark Search Systems available. Prepare your application and file using the trademark registration system or through "Madrid System for the International Registration ( http://www.wipo.int/madrid/en/ )". You can submit an advertisement or authentically published document as specimen along with the application. That's all! Now simply wait for the approval.

Technically speaking, the owner of a registered trademark has the legal right to prevent others from using this mark in a way as to cause confusion about the products or services that the trademark owner provides. This does not give the "owner" of the trademark a total monopoly on its use. For example, if one trademarks the word ezine to refer to a brand name for a article website, this does not prevent someone else from using ezine 1-2-3-4-5 to refer to a content hosting business, since these are in two different fields of use and illegally to create any confusion. You may easily get authentic and restructured firms, which are specialized in international trademark registration and can register your trademark in the America, Asia, Europe, Oceania and / or Africa, taking the guesswork out of the complex and confusing process.

While planning to register your unique trademark, please ask the helping body to check its availability; you may also try to find its availability through Trademark Search Systems available. After confirming the availability, prepare your application and file using the trademark registration system or through "Madrid System for the International Registration".

The Benefits Of Pre-Paid Funeral Plans

If you think most goods and services are always going up in price, consider the cost of a funeral. The average funeral cost is rising faster the inflation and most savings plans.

Between 2004 and 2014 the average funeral cost has risen by over 80% and now costs approximately £ 3,590. This rises to around £ 6,000 when you add on things like flowers and memories. Over the next 20 years the number of deaths in the UK will rise as the baby boomer generation passes through, putting pressure on funeral arrangements in general. It is estimated that by 2020 the average funeral could cost around £ 9,000. (source: Longevity Center UK 2014).

Given the growing problem of having to pay for costlyerals with very little financial resources, many people have begun to use pre-paid funeral plans to better manage these unavoidable end-of-life expenses. Exactly like they sound, pre-paid funeral plans are essentially payments plans that allow a person to pay for their funeral arrangements gradually over time, before their actual death ever comes.

While death is inevitable, it is also unpredictable, so this has given countless people the opportunity to be better prepared for whenever that moment comes about.

Ideally, whoever is paying for the pre-paid funeral plan will live a long life and would have paid the entire cost of their own funeral, so saving their grieving family members from that responsibility in the event of their death, but sadly this is not always the case.

Pre-paid funerals can be a great idea. But now for the tricky bit, not all pre-paid funeral plans are the same so you need to do your homework.

Many of the companies providing these services will hold your money in special trust funds, so in order to avoid having your money abused or outright stolen it will be necessary for you to know how this process works. If the company will be approaching interest on the money you give them, as many do, it will be good for you to learn how and for what purposes they will be using that interest.

Regardless of which pre-paid funeral company you choose, you must be absolutely sure to very clearly read the contract that they present to you. Because these are long-term agreements, there may be portions of it that you are fine with during signing that you might not be fine with a decade or so later. There may come a time when you might want to be buried in the ground, although your contract is set for you to be cremated. Given all of the unforeseeable changes that any of us may go through, you should make sure that you are able to make changes to your pre-paid funeral plan as and when you need to down the line.

No matter how good or bad the economy is at any time, people will continue to die, and their remains will still have to be taken care of in proper ways. Even if the surviving family members have very little money, their deceased loved ones will still need to be buried or cremated. For this reason, among others, taking up a pre-paid funeral plan could certainly be a good and beneficial thing someone can do to relate the future financial burden on their family.

There are a lot of benefits to buying a pre-paid funeral. The greatest benefit to buying a funeral is the affect that it will have on your family. Once you pass away there will be a point of much pain for your family, but the pain may be even worse when they are forced to make costly funeral plans. Everyone will need to have a funeral when they pass away, having a pre-paid funeral plan will make it much easier for your family. The greatest benefit to having a prepaid funeral idea is that your family will be given the time to grieve that they need without having to make arrangements for you. These will all be taken care of by the funeral company.

Another reason that people plan ahead for their funeral is so that they do not pass the burden of unexpected expense onto their loved ones. Even if you have life insurance, that money will not be with your family for a few weeks, anderals can cost thousands of pounds. By making monthly payments to a pre-paid funeral, you will insure your family will not have to worry about money.

There are many companies that offer funeral plans. You can do some light research on the different funeral products and services that are offered, and make a decision on which is best for you. This will allow you to make a plan for your funeral that you can pay off over several years, so that you do not have to deal with the expense all at once.

The internet is a good place to start and has a vast amount of information as well as contact details for funerals in your local area which offer these plans. You can find providers and funeral directories which can give you a quote for different funeral plans. This is the simplest route for conducting your research because you can look online for information, then contact the funeral company by telephone and inquire about the plans they offer. You can look through funeral directories too and conduct the same process. In any case, the purpose is to acquire as many quotes as you can so that you can weigh all of your options and find a price that best suits your needs and your budget. Some funeral companies will also let you visit them, or some will provide you with a home visit so you can discuss your needs face to face.

You should also understand how they will handle your money, and how the payment plan works. Before you agree to a pre-paid funeral plan, you need to make certain you understand how the transaction works. Some funeral companies, for example, require the entire payment made up front in a single transaction while others offer smaller installment payments over time. These are the two most common transactions offered by funeral providers. Instalment plans are the most flexible, particularly for people who have fluctuating cash flow. But some providers still request the fee be paid in full at once. Therefore, it is important to make sure you understand your cash flow position so that you can pick a plan that best meets those needs.

Before you buy your pre-paid funeral plan , you need to know exactly what you are getting. The cost is a critical element when you are deciding on a plan, but you also need to know what your costs include. Most plans range from a basic funeral to a comprehensive funeral. As a result, the prices may vary dramatically based on what is covered and what services are offered. Before you sign-up, you should know exactly what services you will receive. Some plans vary in terms of the distance that they will travel to collect the remains of the Deceased. Some do not cover a church service or transportation costs. Some do not cover headstones or memories in the burial costs. This is why it is important to know every detail of the plan before you buy. Lastly, make sure that you look carefully at all the quotes you gain while you are searching for the right pre-paid funeral plan.

Pre-paiderals are definitely a great idea to look into and can save your loved ones from financial burdens and emotional stress at such a sad time. But do your homework first and make sure you get what you want.

Google Local Business Center - 5 Reasons You Must Put the Power of Google Behind Your Local Business

The Google Local Business Center is a tool that enables business owners to more effectively connect with customers searching on Google for information about local business. It puts business owners in control of their business listings and helps them to provide information about their businesses that is authoritative, helpful, and, timely.

The Local Business Center (LBC) is even useful for businesses that do not have Websites as Google's LBC makes it possible for them to use the local business listing as their presence on the Web.

Signing up for an account with the LBC - and adding or claiming your local business listing - should be a top priority for your business for five key reasons:

1- Your Customers and Competitors' Customers Search Google to find Local Businesses

The Google Local Business search engine - which you can find at either local.Google.com or maps.Google.com (maps is, by far, the more popular of the two) - gets an average of more than 50 million unique visitors every month.

That's a lot of people searching every month for, among other things, local businesses to buy from.

And although it's advisable to sign up for local business accounts at Yahoo, Bing, and other search engines, a Google Local Business account should be your immediate priority because Google is the runaway leader in local business search market share, with more than double the local business search market share of maps.yahoo.com, maps.bing.com, and yellow.pages.com combined.

Please note that all links, images and videos can be found on the author's Website - the address for which appears in the Resource Box of this article.

Of course, in spite of Google's best efforts to promote the LBC - and the utilization of maps.Google.com - there are many millions of people who still use the google.com Website, even when searching for local business information. And, as you'll learn in the next section, that gives local businesses an opportunity to capture some space at the top of Google's "traditional" Web search results.

2- A Google Local Business Listing Can Take You to the Top of Google

Google's launch of universal search in May 2007 meant that content from Google Images, Google Local/Maps, Google Video, and so forth could be integrated into its "traditional" Web search results pages.

This means that Google can - and often does - serve up local business listings as part of the Web search results even if location is not specified (it appears that Google's search algorithm is able to detect "local intent").

It's increasingly common to find Google local business listings on the first page of search results - often at the top - as the "Google Local Business Seven-Pack" (a reference, obviously, to the fact that Google displays the top seven local business search results in a cluster of seven).

Alternatively, Google may display a search query box at the top of the search results page that asks searchers: Looking for local results for keyword?

Either way, a Google Local Business listing can put a business on the fast-track to a coveted position at the top of Google's search results that may have been impossible to capture otherwise.

3 - People Who Search Google for Local Businesses Take Action

A Google-sponsored, comScore.com study that looked at the importance of search in influencing offline buying behaviour found that 25% of searchers purchased an item directly related to their search queries, and that, of those buyers, 37% completed their purchases online while an even greater 63% completed their purchases offline following their search activity.

The study results underscore the fact that a Google Local Business listing is not only effective at driving traffic but, more importantly, it is effective at driving traffic that converts.

4 - The Advent of Google Local Search for Mobile

As they continue to become more sophisticated and the browsing experience continues to improve, access to the Internet via mobile phones will continue to rise. In fact, Gartner predicts that access to the Internet via mobile devices will overtake PCs by 2013.

Google has clearly understood for a long time the synergy between local search and the mobile Web, as some key developments suggest:

· Google's July 2005 acquisition of Android Inc, a manufacturer of software for mobile phones (which started triggered speculation that Google was looking to dive into the mobile phone market; the acquisition also eventually led to the development of the Android mobile operating system)

· Google's September 2009 launch of an improved Local Search for Mobile allows users to, among other things, "star" search results on their PCs and have them automatically appear on their mobile phones; it also allows users to search by browsing local business categories without typing (the video on the author's Website offers a brief introduction to the functionality of Google Local Search for Mobile)

· Google's November 2009 $750 million acquisition of mobile advertising company AdMob (on the heels of a five-fold increase in mobile search traffic over the previous two years)

· Google's December 2009 distribution of Favourite Places decals to more 100,000 of the most sought-out and searched US businesses on Google.com and maps.Google.com (see the video on the author's Website for details on Favourite Places)

· Google's January 2010 entry into the mobile phone market that finally ended years of speculation about Google's plans for the mobile phone market

Naturally, Google will continue to innovate in both the local search space and in the mobile web search space. The key takeaway is that the businesses that get on board early will be the ones to reap the greatest rewards. And it all takes to get on board is to visit the Google LBC and claim or add your local business listing.

5 - The Google LBC is Easy to Use and It's Free

If you've already got a Google account, you can simply sign in to the Google LBC and get started right away. If you don't have a Google account, all you have to do is sign up for one (you can sign up on the LBC sign-in page).

The video on the author's Website offers a brief walk through of the easy process for signing into the Google LBC and claiming (or adding) your local business listing.

As Google continues to promote local search, usage of local search by consumers will only increase. And considering that consumers who employ local search are buyers, don't you think that you should sign up for Google's LBC and get your local listing working for your business today?