1 SEO India Company, 1 Web Design & Development Company, 1 RPO Agency

ONS Interactive Solutions Pvt. Ltd. is India's #1 360° New Media Company Specializing in Web Site Design & Development, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) & Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO). 

It’s a pleasure introducing ONS Interactive Solutions Pvt. Ltd. India's #1 360° New Media Company Specializing in Web Site Design & Development, Profit By Outsourcing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Profit By Search & Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) Profit By RPO.
ONS Interactive Solutions Pvt. Ltd.is an ISO 9001:2008 Certified company, having base at Noida, India, the IT and Business hub of India and are in New Media Business since September 2000 and have over 170 people in our team.
About our 3 Brands:
Profit By Search: #1 SEO India Company offering SEO Services India & Link Building India to SEO Company India
Profit By Search, Believes If a Website Keywords Ranks on Page 1 of Search Engine's like Google, Yahoo & Bing, Results can be better than Super Bowl ads, Airport Billboards, Magazine Inserts and Blimps. But drop to page two and the website might as well be invisible, As per a study by eMarketer.com in 2011 said that "only 17% of searchers bothered to move past the first page of their search results." Thereby Profit By Search concludes that, Keywords Ranking on or beyond Page 2 is good for tracking trends but has almost no business value.
Now the million dollar question is of how a Website can Rank on Page 1 of Search Engines?
Answer to this Million Dollar Question is a technique called Search Engine Optimization (SEO) that employs a combination of factors to help a website achieve higher rankings in major search engines organically.
If a website get the above factors right, then this would cement that Website's Rankings on Page 1 of all the Major Search Engines. But If a website Owner doesn't have the time or expertise to Manage his SEO Campaign then they have the option to Choose one of Profit By Search's SEO Plans where one of Profit By Search's SEO Experts will manage the SEO Campaign and will ensure Page 1 listings for all the selected Keywords.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an industry where no one can guarantee #1 position in search engine results pages. If someone does so, all the so called "Expert" is trying to do is sell 'snake charm oil'. Our Commitments to clients is based upon over a decade of experience in getting clients listed on page 1, top 5 or top 3 positions for all their targeted keywords. Moreover, if Profit By Search doesn't get the promised positions within the stipulated period of time, our best brains will continue working on the project free of charge for up to a period of six month till we position the keywords keywords at the top of search results.
Profit By Out Sourcing: #1 Web Design India & Web Development India Company
Profit by Outsourcing is an Offshore Web Design & Web Development Company Specializing in PHP Programming, ASP.Net Programming, AJAX Programming, RoR Programming, Custom programmed Content Management & E-Commerce Solutions/ Open source Customized Content Management & E-Commerce Solutions, Web 2.0 Designing ( 100% table less or div based designs) developed in xhtml / css as per the w3c guidelines and Rich Internet Applications (RIA's) are applications built using Adobe Flash Flex AIR Action Script, Adobe Flex, Adobe Flex(AIR), Microsoft Silverlight, Sun JAVAFX & AJAX and Web 2.0 Application Development Company from India.
At Profit By Outsourcing, Most of Our Business comes from Volume Clients/Partners that are Primarily Web Design & Web Development Companies based in North America, Europe, & Australia and have more than 50 such relationships across the Globe.
Profit By Outsourcing provides 2 Types of Sub-Contracting Options to our Partners:

•     Our clients can hire their Own team of Dedicated Programmer(s) & Designer(s) from Profit By Outsourcing, who will work dedicatedly and exclusively on their Projects for 176hrs/mo and will provide daily work status reports at close of play. Dedicated Resources can be easily reached on all the IM'S, Email, Phone etc.
•     If the Partner Doesn’t require a dedicated team of programmer(s), they also have the option to sub-contract all their web design & development requirements to Profit By Outsourcing on a project basis, where Profit By Out Sourcing agrees with our partners on total project cost before project commencement, the cost is calculated on basis of project specifications provided by the client.

Profit By Out Sourcing is India's First Magento India Certified Solutions Partner.
Profit By RPO: #1 Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) Agency
At Profit By RPO 70% of Our Business comes from Recruitment Agencies/Partners mainly Prime 1st tier Vendors in North America and have more than 30 such relationships, In all these relationships Profit By RPO keeps their Identity obscure to the end client and just act as an extension to our Partners company and this has enabled us to work with Prime 1st tier Vendors on their Tech requisitions for Fortune 500 companies like IBM, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Microsoft, Accenture, Adobe, TCS, Etc.
Our Internet Researchers/Sourcers and Recruiters are experienced and qualified college graduates with excellent computer skills, Internet savvy. They know popular software packages, databases; spreadsheets; use advanced internet search techniques, x-raying, flipping, peel back, boolean search, compile data in spreadsheet or database.
They have exposure on many vendor job boards and databases e.g. Monster, Dice, CareerBuilder, Computerjobs, HotJobs, search tools, search engines, user clubs, forums, alumni, associations, directories, conferences/seminars, and related industry information available on the internet.
Source  http://www.prweb.com/

Giving smartphone apps away could mean big bucks later

By Fiona Graham

 So you've decided your business needs a mobile phone app. The design is done, the information architect has given it the all clear; it is a thing of beauty.

That just leaves the small but important matter of how you're going to make money out of it.
If you think pinning a suitable price tag on it and waiting for it to take the various app stores by storm is all that's needed, you could be in for a nasty surprise.
Mobile app downloads are expected to have increased from over 7 billion in 2009 to almost 50 billion in 2012, according to consultants Chetan Sharma.
This translates to a growth in revenue from $4.1bn (£2.5bn) to $17.5bn.
But although 80% of the 2009 figure is accounted for by paid apps, by 2012 that is expected to drop by around half.
The rest is made up of a mixture of advertising, virtual goods (things bought within the app environment, such as tools in social games such as Farmville), and other revenue models.
Sometimes giving your app away for nothing may mean a bigger payoff in the future.
Lights, camera, action In parts of the Middle East and North Africa, 2011 has been a turbulent year. In Egypt, this culminated in the fall from grace of then-president Hosni Mubarak after nearly 30 years in power.

Social media was credited with playing a key role in the movement - and in Tahrir Square activists were broadcasting live video using their mobile phones to websites, blogs and Facebook using a service called Bambuser.

Company chairman Hans Eriksson is understandably proud.
"The protesters just got the picture out to the world about what was going on that traditional media just couldn't capture, especially towards the very end when journalists were holed up in hotels and broadcasting from balconies," he says.
"People were broadcasting from the square about what they were seeing and feeling. There were some truly amazing moments."
The mobile phone app is available free for all platforms.
"When it comes to the digital world, if you take away e-commerce and gaming, it's all about volume that you can monetise at a later stage" says Mr Ericksson.
Ultimately, he says, Bambuser plans to make money in the same way You Tube does through advertising. In the meantime, it shows advertising around the video streams, as well as marketing for the product itself.
The other main source of income is a premium-paid version for business users.
The exposure the service got during the unrest in Egypt translated into an increase in interest from media companies and broadcasters. All of the main public television channels in the Nordic countries are now using it. 
If you build it

Another organisation with a very different business model that has chosen to give their app away is Open Buildings.

The project is a community-driven platform for companies in the construction industry that aim to find new business and show off their work.
What started as hobby has become a start-up with $2m in venture capital funding.
Co-founder and chief executive officer Adel Zakout says it has been a strange journey.
"Our ambition was initially to create an archive of the world's built environment.
"Our focus changed as we gained funding and our experience grew. At the moment we're trying to help companies in the construction industry create an online presence, create a portfolio of work online, and become easier to find."
Once the community is fully established, the company plans to work on a 'freemium' model - the basic package will be free, but there will be charges for add-on services and marketing.
Making their apps free allows them to build on that community, says Mr Zakout.
"Our focus is on making money from the professionals rather than charging customers for the product.
"By making it free we were able to access a much larger audience of people, we were able to build up our community and get companies adding projects to the site at a much faster pace than if we charged."

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

It's way easier to get consumers converted to free apps than to pay for them”

Iljar Laurs Get Jar

Open Buildings does plan to create other sources of income from the apps. It considered advertising, says Mr Zakout, but decided that would impact too heavily on the user experience.

"[It works] where you're able to have very contextual advertising. If I were reading an article, for example on fashion trends, to have advertising on certain clothes or style and then be able to click on them and learn more. When ads are a real part of the experience as opposed to being an add on," he says.
Instead, the plan is to offer city guides that can be purchased within the app and downloaded at home, to avoid roaming charges.
Choices, choices So, given the options out there, how do you know which one is right for you?
Iljar Laurs is the founder of Get Jar, the world's biggest free app store.
He believes that as the market for applications has evolved, apps have become, like web pages, more like shelves for content.
As such, different business models need to be developed for different types of content. To do this, you need to measure two things - stickiness and utility.
Utility means how much the user values the time using your app.
"If it's a game like Angry Birds, it's really high because you're really into the game.
"The general rule is the higher the utility of the app, the more the consumer is prepared to pay for the app up front.
"If it's a relatively simple application, like a web app like chat or messaging, the consumer is less likely to pay anything at all and you have to go for other models.
"'Extremely sticky'
Stickiness refers to how often you end up using an app - if you 'stick' with it.
"The majority of games are only played three or four times and are very unsticky.
"Some apps like Facebook are extremely sticky - I might use it 10 times a day for the rest of my life."
Stickiness means that advertising might be a good option.
"If you have an unsticky app and choose to go with advertising, you will only display it three or four times. As the current rate is $1 for a thousand impressions, you won't make much."
According to Mr Laurs it is a simple equation.
"If you have a high utility but low stickiness you go for a paid app. High stickiness and low utility, like web applications, then advertising is the choice.
"High stickiness and high utility, for example social games like Farmville that are really engaging and the consumer plays for months, then you typically do offer either a subscription model or virtual goods."
Recouping costs Virtual goods - for example things players need to enhance a game - have been pioneered by companies like Zynga, the creators of Farmville.
Considerations include whether your target market can easily pay for things - for example are they underage and have no access to a credit card?
And you need to weigh up the rates taken by the market place for a paid for app with the rates charged for using advertising.
Apple, for example, takes 30% of the face value of every app sold in its iTunes store.
But if you simply want to promote a product - a shiny new BMW, for example - then making your app free and recouping the cost in increased sales is the sensible option, says Mr Laurs.
"As long as the app is perceived as free for the consumer then the marketability of the app is generally 50 times higher than any paid app.
"If you direct the user to the paid app, in general your conversion rate will be 50 times less."
"It's way easier to get consumers converted to free apps than to pay for them. It's human nature."

Decorating your new home – choosing textiles

The world of textiles offers so many possibilities for room design and plays a lead role in the overall dressing, theme and ambience in a room, whether it be luxurious dupion silks and velvets or fresh linens and chiffons or sea grass and rattan craft or vintage patchwork and bunting...the list is endless!

 It isn't any wonder that you may feel a little overwhelmed with what colours or patterns to choose. Florals or stripes? Eco-friendly fabrics...are these natural fibres? What will offer durability and longevity...what will not date? What will keep the house warm and save money on heating bills? Again, there are a fair few factors to consider about your fabric choices before you dress your much-loved new home.
I have discovered that when designing room dressings for some of my clients, many require the furnishings to play a ‘mix and match' role, enabling them to alter the look of the room in a few years by alternating the cushions, throws, rugs and wall art to complement their main items of furniture and furnishings by using an alternative colour in their fabric. Also and more importantly, this should not break the bank!
Some current trends that are popular are 1950's classic modernity, evoking nostalgia and authenticity; minimal luxury - clean, simple and timeless; and crafts from the past such as wicker weaving.
Shabby chic and country crafts are still extremely desirable and can be found on the high street in stores such as John Lewis (www.johnlewis.com), Laura Ashley (www.lauraashley.com), Zara Home (www.zarahome.com) or Next Home (www.next.co.uk), for example. Alternatively, why not spend your Sunday afternoon visiting a craft market for great handmade items? Greenwich Market in London is very impressive, or look out for a local market near to you.
If you have a blank canvas to work with and require quality furnishings that are made to last and are tailored to suit your style and personality, but are not sure where to begin, why not have your window dressings made for you? Also, your cushions, throws and bed spreads. It is initially more expensive than the high street, approximately double the price of an average pair of curtains or bed set, but your end result is bespoke items that will give you many years of pleasure and cannot be found in anybody else's home.
Two companies that I would love to recommend are, Clarke & Clarke (www.clarke-clarke.co.uk, see picture above) and Villa Nova (www.villanova.co.uk). Both companies offer a wide range of furnishing and upholstery fabrics that cater for most tastes and budgets. Fabrics range from £20 up to £100 per metre depending on your choice. There is also a fabulous wallpaper range to complement.
Do not be scared of using different patterns and textures to match each other. You may wish to go bold with stripes, so why not enhance with a floral fabric to complement? If your style is more minimalist, stay with neutrals but make the room interesting by choosing fabrics of heavier weaves or that are more tactile such as chenille or devore , both soft and luxurious to the senses.
Finally, use your own style and personality through your fabric choices but do consider the size of your room, along with the amount of light and heating, before you consider your final colour and fabric choices.
Written by Elizabeth Bishop (www.elizabethbishopinteriordesign-kent.co.uk)
If you're considering buying a new-build home, there's no time like the present to make an appointment to visit a show home on a new property development. It's also a great way to pick up the latest style trends. Among the great new homes schemes for sale at present with inspiring show homes are:
Source http://www.whathouse.co.uk/

Feature: Livelihood Ghana: home-based food, energy & water production

From: Patrick Kobina Arthur (PhD)

 While many citizens and policy makers continue to believe that the best way to ensure that water, food and energy is supplied to homes and businesses is by expanding the existing systems and installing new ones. I prefer to look for solutions in small and independent systems that use unsophisticated but smart technologies to create and maintain the supplies basic to our existence. It is not realistic to think that every household can meet all of its needs within its walls, but with clever designs, many systems can be installed that can deliver water and energy and to some extent food in a year round manner.

This is easily achievable in our tropical Ghanaian situation by making these systems a part of the design of our homes that are yet to be built or re-engineering existing homes to equip them with water storage and purification systems as well as energy. The big energy generation and water supply systems are prone to frequent breakdowns and cost a lot of money to maintain. The situation in Accra is clearly a demonstration that big systems do not work or work only for a few people, and yet our tax money is used to fund the systems that will not benefit all of us.

The Current and Future Challenge
Majority of houses in Ghana have designs that are not suitable for a tropical climate as we have here. There are times of the year when there is excessive heat and low wind currents and many of us suffer greatly, being unable to sleep until early hours of the morning. In the face of insufficient energy supply, many houses are built complete with slide doors and windows, ostensibly to meet the style and status requirement. All of these bad features couple with the increasing population argues for an immediate policy to avert future crisis as though the current crisis is not debilitating enough.
In addition to these shortfalls, the earth’s climate is changing; it will continue to do so far into the future at rates projected to be unprecedented in human history. Ghana’s vulnerability to the risks associated with climate change may exacerbate the current social and economic challenges. The effects of climate change are inevitable and the earlier Ghana adapts the better. The effect of this phenomenon on the social life of the population is overwhelming especially in the areas of agriculture, energy and water supply.
Ghana Water Company currently cannot meet the water needs of the population in Ghana. The company only produces two million out of the total needs of about five million gallons for inhabitants of Accra, not to talk of other parts of Ghana. These problems are worsened by the changes in climate; the proposal therefore will look at interventions at the household level with the aim of adapting to climate change. The recent earthquake in Japan has forced the shutdown of the large nuclear plants and the private sector is suddenly producing small energy production systems for homes.

The Solution to Production Shortfalls

The current social and economic paradigm of making huge investments into building even bigger systems for energy, food and water production must give way to small, low-tech, smart systems. These independent systems of a necessity must be home-based and the new policies must empower the individual with technical assistance to generate their own basic needs. Currently, most Ghanaians are doing this anyway, many rural communities are not connected to the water and electricity supply grid of the country and even in the big cities like Accra, there are suburbs like Dome that meet all of its water supply needs by boreholes.

Water Supply

Apart from borehole water, storage tanks that can hold rainwater for 6 months at full capacity will effectively put Ghana Water Company out of operation. The difficulty with independent supply systems is that many people hate assuming responsibility for many things, but when there is a crisis and the lights are off and the taps are not flowing, people wake up and do whatever is necessary to meet these basics. The idea is to activate this survival instinct and use them in a proactive manner to ensure that all households will install systems that can provide water and energy. When this is successful, we would have developed the capacity to deal with worse case situations that will cripple large systems.

Food Supply

The interventions in food supply will take the form of balcony gardens, backyard farming and ‘flower pot’ agriculture. While this measure may not be able to meet all the food supply needs of households, it can cut a considerable percentage off. Placing the challenge of food supply in the hands of individual household means that they can tend their garden at their spare time; eliminating the long supply chain that is associated with the current food supply system. Households will also reduce their food wastage and improve their ability to recycle biological waste in the form of conversion into manure through a simple processing plant to fertilize their garden.

Waste Treatment

Waste management is also becoming a major problem for city authorities, connecting manure production to recycling of bio-waste will separate it from the waste generated. Paper and plastic waste will be easier to recycle if it is not fouled by decomposing bio-waste. Manure preparation is odourless and environmentally friendly; employing the activity of earthworms in a fortified plastic container as a bioreactor. The benefit is improved yield of backyard garden and reduces the burden of bio-waste handling which generate many infectious disease cases.

Energy Production

When I saw a young man on the TGIF show reporting the development of a system that allows the use of few solar panels to power a home, I was excited and more so when President Mills for a meeting invited him. A technology like this can make it possible for households to operate their own energy supply systems.

In addition to this, small wind turbines as well as biogas production systems all can be integrated into an efficient home-based energy system for cooking and lighting. The provision of the right kind of technical assistance in the form of modules and light-equipment to enable such home-based systems to run efficiently will make a big difference in our livelihoods.
Patrick Kobina Arthur (PhD),
parthur14@gmail.com
http://pakar1-corner.blogspot.com/
Source http://opinion.myjoyonline.com/ 

Using Low Cost Home Improvement Loans

Low cost home improvement loans arе loans thаt уou takе out tо be аble to make improvements on yоur home. In many cases yоu wіll uѕe yоur homes equity аs collateral against the amount of money you borrow. Finding low cost home improvement loans саn bе challenging at times, but іf yоu put extra effort into finding onе уоu mаy save yоurself a lot of money in thе long run.
If уou аre trуіng tо find a lender locally уou сan loоk іn yоur phone books yellow pages under keywords, lіke loan оr home improvement. You always havе the ability tо compare lenders whеthеr уоu lооk locally or not. Your оthеr option iѕ to lоok online.
Online Lenders
When yоu loоk online yоu maу find ѕеvеrаl lenders and wаnt tо know whаt each lender offers. In thiѕ case уоu саn request each lender to send yоu а quote on the loan yоu arе inquiring about. The information you maу want to lоok fоr іs the interest rate and thе terms аnd conditions оf the loan. You wіll wаnt to know whаt iѕ required of уоu when yоu аrе applying. You mау be asked tо provide yоur social security number.
Many lenders аsk уоu for thіs becauѕе thеy wіll dо a credit check аnd ѕee whаt type оf a credit score you have. In mоst cases this mау bе thе basis for wherе theу set thе interest rate. Low cost home improvement loans maу ѕееm tо be tоо good tо bе true whеn уоu borrow from online lenders. Most lenders online are ablе tо offer yоu lower rates bеcаusе theу do nоt have to worry аbout outsidе business costs, ѕuсh as: heating оr cooling bills, rent of аn office, аnd paying employees.
Additional Information
The main factor іn anу home improvement loan is thе equity with whіch уou are gettіng thе loan. The more equity уou hаvе іn your home the morе the lender will allow yоu tо borrow. The uѕe оf equity сan аlѕо helр to lower the cost оf thе loans interest. Low cost home improvement loans аrе оften based on thе applicant’s ability tо repay the loan on a monthly basis. The lender will wаnt to ѕeе thаt yоu make your оthеr monthly payments оn time. This shows them thаt you are а responsible borrower. When you gеt low cost home improvement loans yоu maу wаnt to kеер in mind thаt you are borrowing money оn the terms that thе lender has set.
If yоu do not lіke thе terms yоu ѕeе from onе lender уоu may want to find anоthеr lender thаt wіll work wіth you оn thе terms of thе loan. When yоu gеt low cost home improvement loans thе lender wіll want to compare what the equity yоur uѕіng іѕ compared to the amount of money yоu want tо borrow. If the equity is higher thеn the amount уou wаnt tо borrow then therе iѕ a good chance thаt thе lender wіll аsk уou for leѕs оf аn interest rate. Home improvement loans are аvaіlаble оn а wide scale. You mаy want tо narrow уоur search tо fit your рartiсulаr loan needs.
When borrowing money to improve yоur home уоu maу wаnt tо keеp all the expenses involved in the process, in mind. You mау wаnt tо shop arоund аnd find a lender thаt іѕ аble to offer уou the bеst rate, but keep іn mind to read аll of the fine print of the agreement, bеfore yоu sign it. Low cost home improvement loans mаy tend to be а lіttle difficult to find аt first, but wіth much perseverance yоu should bе ablе to find thе loan that уоu аrе loоking fоr to meet уour needs.
Source http://www.climbthenet.com/

University entrepreneurs: how to make money while getting your degree

By Amy Grace   

University presents a great opportunity to earn money as well as a degree. Four entrepreneurial students explain how they cashed in on their studies. 

Money is a major issue for most students, and part-time work can be a big help when it comes to making ends meet. But along with the financial benefits, a job can also help you develop invaluable experience, skills and contacts — all of which will stand you in good stead for future life.

Most students make a beeline for the usual list of tried-and-tested high street employers — shops, restaurants and pubs — that welcome them with open arms. But some choose to go it alone, kick-starting their entrepreneurial skills and often achieving considerable success very quickly. So if you have ideas, passion and drive, why not use your university years to earn more than just a degree?
Jules graduated from Northumbria University this summer with a BA (Hons) in Fashion Marketing. She founded tea-lovers’ one-stop-shop The Tea Shed in her final year.
“I knew that I could have a lot more fun at university if I had money and was my own boss. I also wanted to leave university in a position to pay off my debts relatively quickly, as well as having two months’ rent saved up. But I didn’t want to get bar work because that would have ruined my social life, and I don’t really like working for other people. I needed to come up with my own way of affording nice clothes and a decent social life. My business ventures enabled me to do that.
“When I started university I was already self-employed, and had been since I was 17. I had earned money catering for friends and at farmers’ markets and parties, and I then progressed to hosting under-18 club nights — putting down a deposit of around £300, booking DJs and bands, and then taking what was left of the sales revenue after the club’s commission. Lots of students do that kind of thing. It went a long way towards my accommodation costs until I moved back in with my mum last summer and started investing my money in The Tea Shed, which was the basis of my final year project at Northumbria.
“Choosing a very practical course was a conscious decision because I wanted to learn creative and applied business skills, so that on graduating I could design things and run a business. My course also taught me about focus groups, which are a vital research tool. University life gave me the space and opportunity to try different ways of earning money, and in the process I won awards for my business and business plan, secured financial grants and had free access to some great PR advice.
“If I could give new students one piece of advice, it would be to follow your instincts and ensure that whatever course you want to do is really going to help you achieve what you want on graduating. And if you come up with a business idea to earn money along the way, the key to getting things up and running is research, research, research.”
Ben Tattersley, 17
AS-level student Ben is taking Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Product Design. He writes apps in his spare time, and hopes to go to either Loughborough or Brunel University in September 2012 to study Natural Sciences or Industrial Design.
“I started writing apps for webOS after answering an advert on a blog for web developers. That was my first experience of being paid for work. If, one day, I end up making a killer app, I’ll be financially comfortable, but for now I can pay for my social life with my earnings.
“My phone helps me organise my life and when I come across something that it can’t do it gives me the idea for a new app. I think the experience of going to university and having to juggle different demands as well as manage my social life and budget will help me generate even more ideas.
“Writing apps isn’t difficult — if you can write a web page, you can do it. My success has led me to do some voluntary work giving presentations to webOS developers and enthusiasts, such as at the webOS Connect event in London. I also do volunteer teaching in app development at my school, and some students have picked up the necessary skills within a week of classes. But I do tell them you have to know when to let go of an idea if you’re not getting anywhere with it — otherwise you end up neglecting your studies.”
Richard Shepherd, 21
Richard has just finished his third year of a BA in Journalism at University College Falmouth, following two years studying for a foundation degree in Journalism and Practical Media at Exeter College.
“I needed a way of earning money that would fit in with the demands of my college course, and baking was the answer — I made and sold scones, cakes, flapjacks, cheese straws, mince pies and puddings. I was living at home at the time, so it worked well with my lifestyle, too.
“My flapjacks had always been popular with friends and that gave me the confidence to start selling them. Country Markets, a co-operative in Taunton, was my first outlet and at one point I was making £70 a week.
“I then approached a farm shop and they bought my sticky-toffee puddings. I started making 10 a week, at about £2 each. Then they took my mince pies, which sold in the thousands. At the same time, I was going to school craft fairs and setting up free tasting sessions, and I approached local cafés and started attending a weekly market.
“Baking and balancing the books was easier than a regular job because I could manage my own time; while I was waiting for Christmas puddings to steam or sponges to rise, I wrote essays. The other advantage of earning money through a skill like baking is that it requires minimal investment, so it’s easier getting something off the ground.”
Joanna Montgomery, 23
After graduating from the University of Dundee last year with a BA in Digital Interaction Design, Joanna launched Pillow Talk, a product connecting long-distance lovers, and a company called Little Riot.
“During my first year at uni all I wanted to do was go out, which proved quite expensive, so I then spent my last three years clawing it all back. I’m lucky to have left university with a company of my own, a website and minimal debt, and that’s mostly down to working as a freelance website designer from my second year onwards.
“I also did photography for weddings, gigs and album covers. I mostly generated business through word of mouth and by putting up posters, and I earned a few hundred pounds per month, which paid for my social life, travel and clothes.
“At university I had access to an organisation called the Enterprise Gym, which covers all you need to know to set up a business. There’s no better time than your uni years to develop an idea, because you have a huge network of free resources at your disposal — it’s a springboard for success.

Oceanside can't reach decision on selling mobile home park

By Nathan Scharn, 

OCEANSIDE — After publicly entertaining the idea of putting a city-owned mobile home park up for sale, an Oceanside governing board could not reach a majority decision and will continue to own and operate it.
Oceanside in 1998 purchased the park with the intention of quickly handing it over to a nonprofit. That deal fell through, and the city has run it since, consistently turning a profit that has been reinvested into the park. An aerial view of the park shows significantly more landscaping, including several lakes with green lawns, than adjacent mobile home parks.
The board tasked with overseeing the park, the Oceanside Mobile Park Financing Authority, consists of the five-member City Council; Frances Thoene, a resident of the park; and Robert Neal, a member of the Planning Commission. Neal was absent.
In what would have been the City Council’s usual split, with Councilmen Jerome Kern, Gary Felien and Jack Feller voting to put the park out to bid and Mayor Jim Wood and Councilwoman Esther Sanchez supporting continued ownership of the park, Theone cast a tying vote, preventing any action from being taken and ensuring for now the city’s continued ownership of the park.
“I think it’s a smart business deal for the time being,” Wood said. “We’re actually making money, making people happy (and) reinvesting back in the park.”
The city doesn’t own the land the park is on, but was considering selling a lease that runs through August 2052.
Council members who wanted to sell the park said they didn’t think the city should be in the mobile home park business.
“The original intent was never for the city to own this park,” Kern said. “I’ve been asking about this for four years since I’ve been here, why do we own a mobile home park? It’s just not something government should do.”
The city issued $8.7 million in bonds for the park in 1998, and as of March still owed nearly $6.6 million. The bond payments have been made with revenue from the rent, and will be paid off in 2028.
Of the park’s 272 spaces, about 68 percent of those occupied belong to low-income residents. City officials had hoped to set the park up as low-income housing in a sale.
Kern, Felien and Feller said they liked the idea of the homeowners, who rent the space beneath their homes from the city, banding together to buy the park.
“That’s certainly the answer that would make me sleep easier at night,” Felien said.
Sanchez said she doubted residents could raise the capital quickly enough, and worried a new owner would raise rents.
“Who will lend seniors $6.5 million when they’re not loaning builders money?” Sanchez said.
The rent for spaces in the park are kept steady by the city’s rent control ordinance, allowing rates to increase by 75 percent of the consumer price index annually. The City Council in May switched to vacancy decontrol, which allows current mobile home owners to keep rent control but eliminates it when the dwellings change hands. That decision has been stopped by a successful referendum petition circulated by mobile home park residents and other community activists. Vacancy decontrol will go before Oceanside voters in June, and will remain in place for mobile home parks, including Laguna Vista, in the meantime.
With the threat of uncertainty fresh in their minds, many Laguna Vista residents were fearful of changes in ownership.
“We want it to stay like it is,” said Sue Currie, who moved to the park with her husband, Frank, in recent years. “Everything has been just wonderful.
“If it sold ... maybe they’d raise rents way up.”