Starscapes home-based business opportunity

FROM OUR BOOKSHELF

Call Centers Made Easy
By Stephen Medcroft
(AEGIS,$24.95)

Call centers aren't always huge, stadium-style affairs. They may be as small as

the two-person reservations desk at a local motel or the four-person classified ad department at your hometown newspaper. "Because your call center is where your company interacts with its customers and other outsiders, it serves a critically important function in any business," writes Stephen Medcroft. Today, sophisticated call center phone systems are available for even the smallest budget. The author sells and installs call center systems for small and medium-sized companies. "The days of putting people on hold indefinitely or otherwise making it difficult for them to do business with you are over. If you don't treat your customers at least as well as your competitors do, you probably won't be in business much longer."

Medcroft's new book is targeted at those small to medium-sized--and growing--businesses that need to install a modern phone system or upgrade their existing call center technology. The book can be purchased from both online and bricks-and-mortar bookstores or directly from the publisher, Aegis Publishing Group, 800-828-6961 (www.aegisbooks.com).

KITCHEN TABLE GOLDMINE
By Lance A. Murkin & Roger Mason
(iUniverse.com, $9.95)

The authors set forth their ideas on how one can make $1000 a week from their kitchen table--in the mail order business. They focus on low investment opportunities and those that require very little or no experience. According to Lance Murkin, "I know it's possible to earn money from your kitchen table, because I've done it. I went from working over 12 hours a day in two jobs at the mall to earning over $80,000 a year in mail order. And, I literally started it all from my kitchen table."

Lance shares his experiences and strategies along with Roger Mason, a CPA and former chief financial officer who "quit the rat race," as he puts it, to start his own mail order business from home. Together, the duo shows you how to get started, how to choose a product, how to create winning marketing campaigns and advertising and every other detail of running your own mail order business from home. Kitchen Table Goldmine is available from bookstores or online from Amazon.com or you can order it directly from the publisher: Cost is $12.95 postage paid. Phone credit card orders to 816-524-4311 or shop online at: www.realwealthpub.com.

Start and Run a Profitable
Restaurant
By Brian Cooper, Brian Floody, & Gina McNeill
(Self-Counsel Press, $21.95)

Whether you're thinking of opening a restaurant, café, kiosk, cart business or lunch box venture, this book will teach you valuable lessons on food ordering, your customer, budgeting, choosing a location, hiring employees, designing a menu, creating atmosphere and much more. Startup practicalities, food handling, purchasing and equipment are all covered along with tips on how not to get ripped off by your employees (a common problem in the restaurant industry).

The authors have a ton of experience in the hospitality and food industry and their tips will help you maximize your food savvy while learning from stories of success--and failure. This is a very practical guide that also includes a special chapter on pubs and bars. The book will help you decide if you have what it takes to prosper as a restaurant owner.
Brian Floody and Gina McNeill dedicate the book to Brian Cooper, whose untimely passing greatly saddens all. He never got to see the book completed.

A look at what we're reading and recommending.

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