Hiya there, folks!

If you’re subscribed to this blog, then you’re most likely an aspiring entrepreneur.

As aspiring entrepreneurs, one of the questions that’s prevalent in our minds is, “What kind of business should I start?”

Hell, my blog statistics show me that the most popular category in Startup Launchr is the “business ideas” category.

Well, I finished writing my first book, and it’s called the ideaSpark: The Blueprint. It’s an entire manual that’s based on.. you guessed it, how to get your hands on that seemingly elusive business idea so you can go ahead and launch your first business.

I don’t want to talk about it TOO much yet. But I’ll tell you what.

I’m going to give away 10 free copies of the book for Startup Launchr readers. There are two ways to enter the contest:

1.) Go to the Subscribe page and enter your email address then press Submit. I’ll pick the 10 winners randomly. There will be 10 winners from this category.

2.) If you don’t want to subscribe, there’s another way to enter. Simply send me an email using the Contact page and tell me why you NEED a copy of the book. I don’t car what your reason is — it can be a sob story, it can be something that makes me laugh, whatever. Best stories win. I don’t know how many winners there will be from this category yet.

So what’s the catch? For the winners, I want you to let me know what you think of the book. My end goal is to compile an audio collage of readers praising the book (”OH MY GOD THIS IS THE BEST BOOK EVER!” is ideal, but I doubt that will happen). Don’t know if we can achieve that, but that’s what I’m aiming for.

So, you ready? Then go and enter the contest now!

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Launching an online business doesn’t have to be, and isn’t, that difficult.

Making use of the Internet for your first company allows you many advantages over the traditional brick-and-mortar business.

• An online business doesn’t require a high amount of capital to start with — many businesses can be started for $200 or less.

• You can constantly test (Startup Launchr readers will soon find out how anal I get about numbers) and tweak according to what the market is telling you.

• Spreading the word is easy with the help of social media tools (how did YOU find this site?) and other vehicles for word of mouth.

• Your shop is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

I could go on and on, but you probably already know all the benefits of setting up shop online or else you wouldn’t be reading this.

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Tough to read? Click here and view the presentation in full-size

So you’ve read through the 6 rules to follow when starting your online business, and you’re itching to launch something.

You understand that your business must, first and foremost, solve a problem for a certain group of people. You’ve taken it to heart that you must be able to get your business up and running quickly. And most important of all, you understand that your business must scale and should require the same amount of work whether you’re servicing 10 or 10,000 customers.

With that said, I’m going to share you with 10 types of businesses you can work on today. These are all businesses you can start without having to quit your job, and can be worked on during nights and weekends.

Hopefully, this should generate some buzz for the launch of Startup Launchr’s sister site (name TBD — help us name the new blog, will you?).

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Tough to read? Click here and view the presentation in full-size

“What kind of business should I start?”

Most aspiring entrepreneurs ask this very question during the beginning of their journey into business. If you are like most people, the idea of starting your own business probably involves a restaurant franchise, a coffee shop, or a retail store of some sorts (such as selling clothes or books). Or, if you’re a little more in-tune with the times, you’ll be thinking of starting a technology company of some sorts and hoping to secure some venture capital funding.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with these types of businesses. However, if you’re a first-time entrepreneur (and likely, you are if you’re asking this question) these businesses are a bad idea to start with. They are very risky, take a lot of start-up capital, and you’ll most likely end up doing 12-hour work days, 7 days a week. Even more so, you are betting your most important resources (time and money) on an unproven strategy.

Instead, I challenge you to think of your first business as a pet project of some sort. Something that you are passionate about, and don’t mind spending a little bit of money here and there. You’ll never “fail” — you’re simply learning.

And to maximize your chances of success with your business, here are 6 rules you should follow when you’re launching a new business.

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