Hi Greg,
All great questions! I absolutely love what I do, but it's hard to give general advice - so I really appreciate you spelling out what's on your mind.
Okay, here goes -
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what name to start my bus. or LLC with, tax advice with an advisor that knows about IM'ing issues
For now, you can simply start by operating as a sole proprietor. By April 15th, you should know whether it's time to take a next step - such as S-corp, C-corp or LLC.
Since every business model is unique, you'll want to consult with a professional. I picked up the phone book and called local CPA offices until I found one that specialized in business structure (I think it was a referral on my 3rd call).
That will come down the road a bit, when you're making a steady income and have a better idea what direction you're going with it. So for now - no worries. You can run 6-18 months easily before you need to deal with that.
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start with a blog or web site,,, and what's it's toolset
That depends on your objective. What kind of website are you going to create? Are you going to create a blog, or create a website using the WordPress platform, or create a static HTML website - traditional style?
There is no right or wrong answer here - until you know what you want to accomplish. Start with a vision of the end result and then work your way backwards - figuring out what you need, and what you need to do to achieve that vision.
For hosting, I use and recommend HostGator. I have a coupon code that will get your first month for a penny: http://www.clicknewz.com/hostgator.htm coupon code: wordpress
Also see: Checklist for Setting Up A WordPress Blog
(its easy!)
If you prefer a traditional website, XSitePro is a simple option. Angie uses it and can tell you more about it - and I believe she has a referral link for that too.
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which automated systems to implement or not, how to use automated systems and why I should use them
The number one thing you'll need - once you get your site/blog developed - is Aweber. This is a mailing list manager and you can have unlimited mailing lists, autoresponders, blog broadcasts, etc.
This will allow you to set up autoresponder series' for your free downloads, mailing lists for your websites, blog broadcasts for people to subscribe to your blog by email, etc.
You'll want to set this up when your site goes live - so when you're ready, check them out, sign up for a trial, and go through their great training material. And of course come here with questions when you're ready to dig in.
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starting a blog or a podcast, how to go about generating a fallowing, scoring high on google... etc. There's so many factors I need and want to get right, it's a little overwhelming.
Tip: you only need to buy what you need to use right now. You only need to learn what you need to accomplish what you're working on right now. Never skip ahead - learn, implement, read, take action, do as you go!
Blogs are easy to set up - see links above. Podcasts are simple too - just set up an account at BlogTalkRadio.com and start podcasting within minutes.
As for google - download http://www.seofaststart.com for free and devour every word of it. It's less than 100 pages and you should read this before you develop your website or blog. It will teach you how to structure your site correctly for the best rankings. IGNORE EVERYTHING ELSE SEO and go by this guide only (there's a lot of misinformation out there!).
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Also, not knowing the aspects of a specific Market, model or method is adding to my uncertainty. I guess if I had an overview of what all those aspects were, then maybe i'd understand better how the aspect fits into what I'm trying to do now. ( Am I over thinking all of this?? Honestly?)
A little bit, but that's okay :)
Here, read this: http://www.clicknewz.com/keyword-research.htm
It's a collection of some of my tutorials on choosing niches/markets.
Looking forward to your next batch of questions! :cool: