I have been working in Affiliate Marketing for quite some time, but really took a few years off when my daughter was born.  I entered a bare minimum maintenance mode on my existing sites.  As she got older and started preschool, I decided I wanted to devote myself to my business on a larger basis.  So many things had changed though since I left. I started looking around for a training course and found the free, 30 Day Challenge from Ed Dale.

Now free can mean good or bad quality, but there was a good buzz about this course so I decided to dive right in.  It is broken down into once a day training complete with videos and instructions to read, that is supposed to take you from knowing nothing about making money online to making your first dollar by the end of it.  Full disclaimer, I have made some money online, but there were all these new terms such as Twitter, web 2.0, bookmarking, etc. that I just had no clue about.

I learned all about creating my first Squidoo lens, how to Digg something, and what the best tool for keyword research is.  And I really do think it is something that is wonderful for a complete newbie.  So if you are starting from scratch or want a refresher course, the 30 Day Challenge is for you.  Typically they host a new one every year starting in August, but they leave the training videos up year round so you can start any time. Don’t skip out on the pre-season training, it is absolutely vital.  Check it out today, you have nothing to lose!

Recently I was taking a class at a local yarn store. While I was there practicing, there was a knitting circle going on. One of the woman is a business owner. She is a master gardener along with a partner. They have been in business for quite some time and have a long list of loyal clients. Recently they made the decision to downscale their business, as they are both getting older.

They have a very recognizable business name that fits their industry. When they made the decision to downsize they did not renew their business registration with the state. Two entrepreneurs scooped up their name and are now operating their own master gardener business. This woman was a bit outraged that they had done that. Many of the other woman in the class expressed sympathy.

This discussion brought up some interesting questions in my mind. When a domain name is not renewed after serving a previous business, it is sometimes purchased by another for various reasons. One of those is business recognition and the possibility of old customers visiting and continuing to be a customer.

Would these same woman feel differently if the discussion had been about an online business? I didn’t ask at the time as I was an outsider to their group. How do you feel about it both from an offline and an online business perspective?