Make my own schedule? Commute from my dining room table down the hall to my office? No Parking? My Own Boss? Well, yeah, and so many more advantages that just listing them is a separate article. If your home business is to be an affiliate (usually the easiest way to get started in the "Home Biz" market) get as much info as to the type of and how much effort and the skills required. If you pick a company or product you know about, all the better. Your success rate just went up. Speaking of: About 90% of affiliate programs are good, and you can make money with them. On the other hand, without doing homework, and establishing a system (actually the most important factor) about 40% or less survive beyond two years. This article can help you find the right "home based" business for you.
TIP! Your family needs to know that although you are working at home, that when you are working, you are working! Your office needs some sort of door or "barrier". It needs to be separate from the rest of your home. Help the family to remember with signs like: "I'm Working". "Don't Disturb Me" or something like, "I will be available at 2PM".
It's "Who You Know"
Even though you are considering a "home based" business, don't forget your offline resources: Connect with your friends and professional relationships. Let them ALL know what you are doing. I have never known an instance where any of my friends and acquaintances didn't want to help and had plenty of advice. They also pointed out assets that were close at hand, or that I hadn't thought of. They were also quick to arrange introductions. Offline "word of mouth" is one of the best types of advertising available. So much so that it is imitated online. Ever heard of Squidoo? or Facebook? or StumbleUpon? or LinkedIn? Hmm?
If You Don't Know Where You're Going, How Are You Going to Get There?
Before you start: Do you know what you want to do? Do you know what you need to get it done? Do you know "how" it is going to be done? Do you know who is going to do it? Do you know how much money you will need to do it? What physical things are you aware of that you will need to get it done? What is your ramp-up structure and timing? Do you have enough of all the stuff you need, to include living money for your family while you get all this done (I suggest at least 6 months of separate day-to-day living money that cannot be used for your new business)
Here's How to Know What You Don't Know
Hey! The answers to these questions are too important for you to just keep them in your head. You don't (trust me here) instinctively know all the answers. Besides you'll probably forget a few steps as well.
If you don't have a road map, if you don't have a system (yeah I know, here comes that "old saw" about systems again) then how do you know where you are going to end up? I know, real men don't need maps. Actually the saying should be, real men do read maps. Don't have a map or system? Well then you will fail! We're not guessing here, we know.
A Business Plan
Write a business plan! Include both pros and cons, your strengths and recognize your weaknesses. List resources available, or where they can be obtained, and who is going to do what, and when is it going to be done. Set reachable, graspable (if there is such a word)goals with reasonable end time frames. Sometimes, writing a business plan will point out to you that: Maybe you shouldn't do this particular business. More to the point, it will usually point out flaws to your home business support and organizational structures. There are plenty of outlines for business plans. There are also some very good "prompting" apps, like BizPlanPro. Google, or Bing them.
TIP! Remember that you're awesome, and that is why you're going to run a successful home business! If you don't think highly of yourself, neither will your clients or customers. You need to have complete confidence in your work and your talents and that will spill over into your business. Get the mindset! And the best way to do that is to learn, get skills, and put it all into a system. What are you going to do each day, and when?
Merchant Processing
Do you need a cash or credit transaction port? Most affiliate programs already have this built in for you. You market, and they send you your affiliate earnings. But, if you need online cash card (debit) or credit card portals, there is:
- Propay allows you $1,000 per month of credit card transactions for a low per-transaction price and minimal setup.
- PayPal, actually my favorite, as they take most every type of transaction, and the HTML code for the "add to cart" and "pay now" buttons are simple to copy-paste on your website. Also, they deposit your money in your email PayPal account. No setup or monthly transactions fees, and
- 2Checkout also allows you to accept credit cards on your website with no setup or monthly fees.
No matter how big your business grows both PayPal and 2Checkout are scalable. On the other hand, if you need to, you can move to a bank-provided merchant account if necessary. Be aware that all the larger banks use the same ACH processor. Your only difference will be your perceived "customer service" experience.
Follow Your Passion, the Money Will Follow- Steve Jobs,Stanford University commencement speech
I would have to say that home business satisfaction is probably more important than J.O.B. satisfaction. My reasoning is that an offline job has a boss that tells you what to do and when to do it--just a bit of motivation there. Whereas, in your home based business, if you're not fulfilled, or feeling lazy that day, it is just as easy to say "...well, I'll get to it later...." or you will jump into the next whiz-bang opportunity, usually when you're just around the corner to succeeding. In your online business, you have to have a bigger "why" than if you were working for someone else. I always told my children to "...Do what you want, and the money will follow...." The only thing I would add to that is, also to "Do what you know" and "Do what you have a passion for". Those aspirations are actually more important for your online home based business, than for a regular J.O.B. As such, these aspirations should also be about 70% of your considerations when either choosing or weeding out your business format, whether it be affiliate marketing, article marketing, your own products, or someone else's product or services.
This one really is about YOU
Profitable programs are yours. Control over how much you work and how often is yours The choice of lifestyle is yours. And with a system in place your probability of success is now largely yours. Your own home business is yours. Your choices should be a process of elimination. If not they should be very focused, specific searches by you and for you.
Gurus in this industry achieve and flourish due to their systemic approach to SEO Technique and Marketing.
For "beginners" at online marketing, there are instructive, informative, low cost, indeed 100%Free, step-by-step, day-by-day, 100% generic SEO and Internet Marketing Systems (systems that work with any business offering) available to you. And, you're invited.
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