Christian Publishers
How To Start Online Christian Bookstore
Author: Marie Cote
Selecting a Business can be a daunting task because there are just so many opportunities out there. I chose a Turn-Key Online Christian Home-Based Business in order to meet a variety of needs.Only the person opening the business can determine what those needs are. Certainly, there are some things to consider when starting an online business, for instance: Secular versus Faith-based businesses. I chose a Christian/Family based business because I wanted a company that would meet my spiritual, emotional, and physical needs. Once I decided to go with a Faith-based opportunity, my next agenda was to select the type of business.There are many different Home-based firms available, for instance: Multi-level marketing; Retail; Affiliate marketing; Advertising and marketing; Lead prospecting, and Telecommunications just to name a few.
Knowing what skills are essential for operating a business is vital.It takes a self-motivated individual with a healthy mix of both introverted and extroverted qualities to operate a business. What do I mean? Self-motivation is what keeps an individual on task, an individual who pushes through circumstances to complete their goals (Success). An introvert is someone who is self interested, and comfortable by themselves, where as an extrovert is self-confident and comfortable in social settings and communicating with others. Whether these skills are intrinsic or acquired depends on the individual. Skills aside, you should ask several questions yourself before opening a home-based business. What is the best business to choose? Determining your skill set can be very helpful in either choosing or eliminating your options. What if you have a broad skill base and your still not 100% qualified? The next question you should ask yourself is, am I trainable? If no, then keep searching. If your answer is yes, then make one of your criterions to find a company that offers a comprehensive training program. What are the start-up costs? Regardless of the type of venture you choose, rest assured there will be start-up costs. If the start-up costs are too high, look for something cheaper or save up and start when financially able. Some opportunities are worth waiting for. What is the growth potential of the company? Can I afford to start a company myself, or should I try a turnkey system. Turnkey systems are usually more cost effective, ranging from approximately (0.00-,000.00) depending on system chosen. Various opportunities present themselves both on and off the internet; that is why developing a business plan is essential. I know that doing a Business Plan takes time, effort and a tremendous amount of research. There is a reason for that.
Currently there are so many opportunities and variables out there that it is always best to go into a business being prepared for the worst. When creating a business plan you research all aspects of a potential business including a profit and loss statement. Essentially proving the viability of the company you are about to do business with. There are no guarantees even with a business plan however, the more prepared you are the better your chances of success. Define the proposed concept, in my case it was Christian Retail. Gather as much information about the company as possible. There are companies available that provide information about existing companies’ statistics however; they do charge you for use of their services. Try to go to the source first, that is, the company you are trying to analyze. Go to their website and look at everything they offer, no detail is too small. Perform a Market analysis on the proposed company to prove that potential customers in your area have the financial means to purchase the goods your about to retail. The government census bureau is a good source as well as local libraries. Is your target group available? How many Churches, Ministries, or religious schools are in your local area? Do not be afraid to check out adjoining towns and cities. Use simple resources like the yellow pages, online super pages, and various internet searches to determine your competition. What is different about those companies? Determine why the company you chose is superior to those. Does it pass the test? If no, switch to the company that shines above the rest, in products, services, growth potential or a combination there of. If yes, then start projecting the financial future of the proposed company through a three-year projected growth plan. Once you are able to project the financial growth aspects then you will be able to determine what types of resources you will need to accomplish your financial goals. Projecting your resources and developing a marketing and advertising plan are all part of forecasting expenditures so that your profit and loss will reflect as close to real projections as possible. Analyze your rewards and risks so that you can develop an action plan for potential risks. If starting an online business is truly your goal, then take the appropriate steps to make sure it happens. Now that you have created a sound business plan, you are ready to start your business or apply for grants or loans to afford the start-up costs. Below are the rewards I reap through the system I chose:The acronym for a Turnkey system indicates that it is already to go; all you have to do is turn the key. The system I chose came completely stocked with thousands of Christian Products. The ability to customize your website is available through the back office that comes equipped with many features; the following are just a few:
1. The Editorial Block-is the center feature area of the homepage where you can write about products and or services that are essential to your stores effectiveness.
2. Upload Store Graphics-upload logos and images to utilize in creating pleasing aesthetics to your WebPages and email campaigns.
3. Donation Block-that allows you to add a donate block to the bottom of your homepage so that you can send monies to your favorite charities.
4. Control Menu Blocks-you can add links to your site that you have affiliated with, in an effort to increase the profitability of your site.
5. Coupon Center-gives you the ability to create coupons and give discounts to your customers to increase the marketability of your store.
Provide Christian folks, Churches, and Ministries with Christian books that change lives and Christian music that restores the soul; all while diverting profits of these goods from secular companies back into the hands of Christians like us.An international company that provides the financial stability of both short-term profits on goods, and long-term profits (residual income growth) through a multi-level marketing approach. The company I chose also reveals the potential for a continued growth cycle. Advantage of operating a business from home with the ability to work your own hours; with this system, you can work as little as 20-40 hours depending on self-limitations.Free comprehensive scriptural based training program that includes effective ways to market and advertise, as well as, motivate and inspire you throughout the business building process. Free back office support.I own my own customers. I have the opportunity to sell my own goods and services, and advertise them on the home page.Having the ability to foster relationships with intelligent and seasoned fellow business partners who are willing to help each other learn and grow.
Risks:
Approximately 80-90% of new businesses fail within the first year.
NOT creating a sound business plan would be the ultimate risk.
NOT keeping accurate and up-to-date financial records would definitely create problems.
NOT projecting possible problems and anticipating solutions for them.
Self-doubt-fooling yourself into thinking you cannot sustain your business.
Time: it takes time to build a business to foster relationships and develop long-standing patrons.
High advertising and marketing costs-view all your options to make sure you are up-to-date with cheaper and just as effective means of advertising and marketing.
Resources to assist you in building a business plan:
Many software companies make products with templates to aide you in the development of your business plan. There are many books available that aide in the development of a business plan.Government Sources:
The Small Business Association has a plethora of business resources, The Census Bureau, and if your disabled the Social Security Administration.
State Sources: The Chamber of Commerce for each state and if you are disabled, try your local Easter Seals Chapter, or Vocational Rehabilitation program (if offered in your state).
Local Sources: The Town Hall or Town Clerks Office.
Reference sources:
Town phone books, online super pages, various search engines-all you have to do is type in (starting a business), (Christian bookstores), to look up local resources you could try (starting a business, RI, TX, AZ…), and watch the resources that pop up. Libraries have tons of information on many businesses that are of public record. Note: If the company is private, they have the right to keep their records private. Many online businesses are private because of the nature of the internet. Numerous amounts of information can be found both on and off the internet, so do not be afraid of using online search engines. By typing in various search criterions, you can even find offline resources that way. Keep searching and asking until you have the answers you are looking for. Start professional, stay professional, and may God bless you in all your endeavors.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/how-to-start-online-christian-bookstore-152349.html
About the Author
Marie cote owns a Christian Home based business and is member of the Christian yellow pages. She is well know in the Christian home based business circles.
Tagged with: books • bookstore • business • christian
Filed under: Uncategorized
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Zondervan, Bethany House, Kregal, Word publishing, and many others. I like to buy books through Christian Book Distributors. (www. cbd.com). They sell discount Christian books and then you can also see some of the other publishers that I may have forgotten. The ones I mentioned are the big ones.
Face down record L.A. calif., Grrr records Chicago ILL. You could probably link Grrr through jpusa.com or maybe its .org
This depends a great deal on which branch of the Christian church you are dealing with. Some might accept it – others might reject it out of hand.Your best bet would be to write to the individual publication with an outline and see how they react.
If they won’t accept it, you might want to try the mainstream press.
Blech, don’t submit to Focus on the Family- at least, not if you want anyone to respect your writing. I mean, these are the people who went around saying that Spongebob Squarepants promoted the “homosexual agenda.”
To my knowledge, many of the largest publishing houses have smaller offshoots that specialize in different areas, including Christian fiction. I’d contact the major publishing houses and see what they have.
Preachers contract with parishioners to provide preaching and pastoral care. That they do deliver.
Evangelists ask for offerings, and although they are charlatans, they provide a show that people seem willing to fork over cash to keep going.
Christian publishers are providing bound paper and ink. The authors they publish are the generators of the ideas, and the buyers are those who keep purchasing the drivel.
So although I think you’re correct that they are promoting bogus information, the format they provide it in is entirely legal and not fraudulent. The Flat Earth Society can also sell books and provide speeches that advocate for their point of view. In a land where free speech is valued, we shouldn’t try to limit it only to those who make sense.
^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^
wrong category it should be in the Joke and riddles section. or maybe ranting and raving because he is selling books and you are not is there a hint of jealousy in your post? what book have you tried unsuccessfully to get published?
Isn’t this just about your sour grapes? come on be truthful
Here’s a list of religious game book series:
http://www.gamebooks.org/show_category.php?id=31
Choice Adventures
Decide Your Own Adventure
Do-It-Yourself Jewish Adventure Series
God Allows U-Turns for Youth: You Decide What Happens
Den hemmelige vej
Julefesten i nissebjerget
Living Adventure Books
Making Choices
Multiple-Ending Bible Adventures
Stepping into the Bible
Strive to Survive
What If Books
What Would You Do?
You Are There Bible Adventures
You can follow the link to the webpage that I provided and you can click on the series titles and get a list of the books and a short description of the series.
I hope it helps!
This seems odd to me. Generally speaking if a reviewer is pro atheist no statement is made. However, if one is accused of being pro religion it makes headlines..lol It would be out of the norm for a large group like weekly review to be a pro religion agenda and it not be common knowledge. I have often found reviewers tend to be open on the subject but not the presentation of the subject. After all it is their opinion on the writing and presentation of the subject.
Try the Bethany House Publishers website: bethanyhouse.com
Does anyone know any literary agents/publishers intrested in christian fiction manuscripts?
UK based writer with several manuscripts also looking for publishers intested in short stories,inspirational poetry. Anyone read – Purple hibiscus by Chiamanda Adiche or Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe- anyone know of any publishers looking for a new African voice out there?
Christian publishers?
Does anyone know any big/well-known publishers that specialise in Christian books?
Can anyone remember a set of Choose-Your-Own-Adventure type books from a Christian publisher?
I remember one had a story where you were going camping, and one path had you meeting the President, and another had to do with you flying to stay with your grandmother (or some other relative) and one path had a hijacking. They were out some years ago, probably the 80s. I don’t know where to look anywhere for any help, and the people at my Christian bookshop don’t remember them at all.
Is Publishers Weekly a Christian organization?
I’ve been browsing around amazon.com looking for books. (You may have seen this earlier: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AqUjKnRqHcw6YQk3trYLAA_sy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20071110093237AACEyvI ). And I noticed that every review from Publishers Weekly on any atheist books was negative. I expect to see negative reviews once in a while, that’s just the way it goes. But to see nothing but bad reviews for every book written by atheists is too much.
Here are the opening words in their review of “End of Faith” by Sam Harris: “In this sometimes simplistic and misguided book…”
Simplistic and misguided? Only a Christian would say that about Sam Harris (Muslims probably would too). But the overwhelming majority of the scientific community agrees with Sam Harris. Are they all “simple and misguided”?
I wondered if anyone else had noticed this and so I did a search on google and came across this:
http://atheism.about.com/b/2007/05/04/publishers-weekly-biased-against-atheists.htm
Should preachers, evangelists, and Christian publishers be sued for fraud?
Hear me out. They are taking money for a product they do not own, cannot deliver and cannot guarantee in any money-back kind of way, and don’t accept responsibility for the truth of their claims. Is that not fraud, and how can we begin a class action suit against them?
The product is salvation. The lawsuit would only have to prove they don’t have it themselves, not that it is not true.
And have it as in, have it to give to you.
Where can I find good christians publishers at online?
Are there any good Christian devotionals for men around the post-college age?
What I DON’T want:
– My Utmost for His Highest (Already gone through it)
– Surface, introductory Christian devotional
– One of the many, bland generic books spit out by Christian publishers with catchy covers and phrases
What I DO want:
– A devotional with depth
– Something that is daily (not a story with chapters)
Are there any legit christian music publishers/producers out there?
I’m looking for a Christian music producer/publisher. I want to be able to submit my lyrics to a particular legit Christian music company and have them review them. Then if I am selected, they will contact me about turning my lyrics into music. Any place like that in the USA?
Do the LeeStrobel books prove Christians can’t reason OR that Christian publishers make $ selling to the choir?
Strobel’s books are big money makers, in part because churches and Bible studies use them as “textbooks” so as to encourage quantity purchases. Their “logic” and “feigned objective reporting of a professional journalist” embarrasses me as a Bible-believing Christian, especially in light of the fact that I’ve read a number of books far more obscure (and less lucrative) but doing a much better job with the topics. SO IS THIS SIMPLY ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF CHRISTIAN COMMERCE FOCUSING ON PROFITS OVER QUALITY — AND HARMING THE KINGDOM IN THE PROCESS?
After all, does anyone know of ANY thinking atheist or agnostic who has EVER come to a belief in Christ through reading a Strobel book?
[I don’t know Strobel and I have no doubt that he is probably a very nice guy. But I have winced whenever I come upon reviews of his books — almost as much as I’ve winced while reading the books themselves.]
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Brother Jonathan: That’s a great lawyer joke! Kudos.
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Brother Jonathan: That’s a great lawyer joke! Kudos.
What’s considered acceptable, theologically, by publishers of Christian fiction?
I’m writing a novel about a girl who can heal others, to put it simply (I’m toying with the idea of making her a modern-day apostle but in the full-fledged NT sense, and tying it in with the end times). The question I have is that, when writing fiction potentially for that market, how far can you push the envelope theologically before they reject your work? Or, how ‘out there’ is basically too far?