Tag: Home Based Business

Looking For A Home Based Business 5 Questions You Must Ask

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When looking for a Home Based Business there are 5 very important questions you must ask.

They are:

Question #1: What is the product or service being sold?

If you cannot clearly identify a specific product or service being offered for sale through the Home Based Business, it may be a Pyramid Scheme or a similar type of Scam.

Here’s the reasoning behind it:

If there’s no product or service being offered to the public for sale, how can the company promoting the Home Based Business generate a profit? Where’s the money coming from to pay you a commission or a bonus?

If they’re not making a profit from sale to the end consumer then they’ve got to generate that income from you and other members like you just recruiting other people who are usually asked to pay some outrageous Application/ Registration Fee, even if they call it by a fancy name.

This is nothing more than a Pyramid Scheme and NOT a legitimate Home-Based Business. A popular example is Gifting Programs, there are no Goods or Services being sold, it’s just people exchanging money with other people. Sooner or later somebody is bound to get hurt!

Question #2: How stable is the company?

Why is this important?

Well suppose you found what seemed like a really great company and started building a Home-Based Business with them only to find out 2 to 3 years later that the FTC swooped down on them for illegal practices and shut them down for good?

This actually happened with one company I was working with many years ago.

People became millionaires with this company in a matter of months. It was the fastest money I’d ever made in Network Marketing up to that time, but within months of joining the company it all came crashing down because of problems with the structure of the company and certain practices that displeased the FTC.

I learnt my lesson.

In checking out the company you’ll want to find out how long they’ve been in business and where their headquarters is located. You’ll want to ask about any other Companies they’re affiliated with, like their Parent Company, Sister Companies or Subsidiaries if there are any.

There’s an old adage that goes; “Show me your friends and I’ll show you who you are.”

That applies here.

You can tell something about a company by the company it keeps (pun intended).

In looking at how long a Company’s been in business be careful not to throw away the good with the bad, for instance, a particular program might be brand new but the Parent Company backing that program might have been in business for many years, giving it the stability you’re looking for. Look deep and don’t be afraid to check behind the curtains.

Question #3: What is the quality of the company’s leadership?

Dr John C. Maxwell, international Speaker, Motivator and Best-selling Author says, “Everything rises or falls on leadership.”

It has been my experience that a Company usually takes on the characteristics of its leader(s) so, if you want to know what kind of business you’re about to join, look at the leadership.

Practically speaking, you’ll also want to check out the business acumen of the person or people in charge because they’re the ones making the decisions that’ll impact the future of the Company – Your Company.

Question #4: How good is the compensation plan?

I think The O’Jays said it best; Money, money, money, money… monney!!!

You’re going in business to make money not to look good in a business suit.

And if you have a real Home-Based Business then you won’t be wearing a business suit in the first place, Right?

There are so many different types of Compensation Plans; from the sublime to the laughable. There are 2-Ups, 1-Ups, Binaries, Unilevels, 5×7 Expanding Matrices. There are Spillovers, Powerlines, Breakaways and on, and on, and on.

Here’s what to focus on:

How much is being paid out in commissions?

Too little and it’s not worth your time, too much and the company might not retain enough profit to sustain its continued growth and expansion.

The experts say about 65% being paid out in commissions is the acceptable norm.

Understand the difference between Bonuses and Commissions.

Commissions usually form part of your ongoing residual income. Bonuses are usually temporary financial increases, paid on a specific action, performance or fulfilled quota and as such; do not form part of your regular ongoing income. Focus on good commissions as opposed to bonuses!

Look for passive, residual income.

This is the kind of income wise people seek after. It’s the type of income you keep getting long after you’ve stop working. An author writes a book once and keeps getting royalties from sales years after she stops writing.

The Harry Potter Series made J. K. Rowling a billionaire and now here comes Stephanie Meyer and the Twilight Series – Go sisters, go!

With a Home based Business the same thing is possible.

You can do the work once and keep getting paid forever once you’ve selected a stable Company with good Leadership and the right Compensation Plan with an easily Duplicatable System.

Question #5: Is it easily duplicatable?

Even if you’ve got everything else going for you that’s mentioned above, if the system CANNOT be easily duplicated it’s not going to work.

Your attempt at building a successful Home-Based Business will fail and here’s the reason why:

J. Paul Getty said, “I would rather earn 1% of the efforts of 100 people than earn 100% of my own efforts.”

This is the axiom upon which Network Marketing, MLM’s and Affiliate Programs are built. Zig Ziglar said it this way, “If you help enough people get what they want, you will get what you want.”

Either way you look at it, it’s going to take a team. Teamwork makes the dream work. So, if the system you’re looking at cannot be easily duplicated by the average person who wants to start a Home-based Business how are you going to ever build a successful team?

There are over 475,000 people worldwide starting a Home-Based Business every week, 175,000 here in the USA alone. Most of them don’t know how to build a Home Based Business so if your system isn’t user friendly then, most likely, they’ll find another one that is.

Keep these tips in mind:

We live in the age of Video; this is the YouTube Generation so, if your program makes use of video to help sell the product or explain the benefits that’s a plus.

People have become very wary of ‘meetings’; that’s like a four-letter word to most so, if your business presentations can be done online that’s a plus.

We also live in the Digital Age; Digital Products are the fastest selling commodity on the Internet right now. If your business is involved with the sale or distribution of Digital Information Products that’s a plus because they’re instantly delivered and can cut overhead expenses by as much as 80% for the Company thus increasing the Profit Margin.

This simply means… More money for everyone!

There you have it; my 5 top questions you should ask before joining any Home-Based Business.

How To Increase Your Home Based Business Leads

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Everyone knows that businesses require customers in order to make sales and generate revenue. This is the case from large corporate organizations right down to one man operations. However larger corporations tend to have much larger marketing budgets than home based business owners.

No matter what business you are in, you need customers to buy from you in order to create revenue. Leads are the fuel that power your business and ensure that you keep making sales. Clearly not all leads are going to turn into a sale, but the law of averages says that the more leads that you have, the more you are likely to make a sale.

If you are wondering where you are going wrong with your business then perhaps you could look at one or all of the following areas.

1. Are You Taking Full Advantage Of All Possible Marketing Channels?
If you are reading this article then it is likely that you are marketing your business online. If not then you should start right away. There are 1.5 billion internet users, a number which is growing by the day, all looking for the solution to a problem or researching their next purchase. You want to ensure that you are there when prospects are ready to make their purchase with their credit card in hand.

Firstly you will need a website in order to attract and capture your leads details. If you do not have a website, consider working with an Internet Marketing company that will provide you with a website and sales funnel in order to attract and capture leads.

A low cost option to generate leads online is leveraging social media. You should be using social media to establish relationships with your prospects and offer them something of value. Bear in mind that this is a longer term strategy as you need to build rapport with others prior to pitching to them.

Create a Facebook fanpage for free and use this to brand your business and market your product. Facebook has a viral effect so you can quickly spread your message to your contacts. You can also use Twitter to establish an online presence as well as other social media sites like Digg and Reddit.

As you are a home based business owner you will have a wealth of information on your product and service to share with others. Use this as a key advantage by sharing your knowledge with prospects online. You can turn this into articles and publish them on Ezines.com and start a WordPress blog in order to create awareness. You will be surprised how many people will visit your website if you deliver high quality content and ensure it is syndicated.
Another online marketing channel to consider is Pay Per Click marketing through one of the major search engines or Facebook. Pay Per Click marketing is highly targeted as your prospects are looking for a specific solution to their problem online. You can easily open an account with Yahoo or Google and start marketing that day. Make sure you research what other people are doing and aim to stand out from the crowd. Try and capture your prospects interest over and above the other advertisers. This is a more advanced marketing strategy and requires some work to optimize your campaign and ensure that you dont overspend. You can set a daily budget as a safety precaution.

There are many other marketing options to increase your leads which can be low cost such as door drops These are less effective as they are relatively untargeted but it wont cost you much if you deliver them. Depending on your product or service there is nothing to stop you taking to the street and speaking to business owners to see if they can stock your product or take advantage of your specialist knowledge.

2. Is Your Product Offering Appealing?
Are you offering a real service to people that stands out from your competition? If you look at your product or your marketing, does it look like all the rest? If so you should think about how you can differentiate your offer. If you are struggling to generate leads then perhaps look at what the industry experts are doing. Its not a good idea to copy what they are doing but you may find inspiration in their marketing and spark some new ideas.

3. Are You Clear About Your Niche?
Most home based business owners struggle with understanding their niche or target market and try to target everyone. However this is a critical error and one that will be costing you a lot of money. Whilst you dont want to be so narrow that you have no one left to market to, you want to have a good idea about who are your best prospects. Do some research with your current customers to find out what appeals to them about your product and where they found you. You want to focus all your efforts on finding more of your best customers.

4. Are you using Public Relations to promote your business?
It is a misconception that PR is an expensive channel and only available to those who work in media. PR can actually increase your sales significantly if you are mentioned in the right publication. Have a think about the type of publications that your target market read and develop a plan to gain a slot. You will be surprised how much coverage you could receive with an interesting, thought provoking article.

These are just a few ideas to increase your Home Based Business leads. David Anthony Watson runs his own successful home based business and coaches professionals to market their business online and increase sales. Go to his site for more information on how he could help you.

Starting a Home Based Business and Goal Setting

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Introduction

When you look back over human history, the concept of working from home is not new. A lot of paid work was done in the home. A shoemaker, for instance, would make his shoes in his own house and there are many other examples that can be given where people in times gone by worked from home.

However, with the onset of the industrial revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries, the locus of work shifted from the household to the factory. Now, with the advent of the computer and the World Wide Web, many people are discovering the rewards of starting a business that enables them to work from home.

Home based businesses are, in fact, some of the most rapidly growing segments of todays business world. If you are looking to start a business working from home this article will provide you with some home business start up tips and also look at goal setting when working from home.

A Summary of the Work from Home Benefits

When you work from home, you have many advantages that other business people do not have. You have no additional expenses incurred by rent or mortgage on the building. The start-up costs are likewise reduced or even eliminated, since the entrepreneur may already have the necessary items such as a telephone, computer, a printer, a fax and other office items. Time and money spent on commuting to and from work are also eliminated. All these factors have led many entrepreneurs around the world to start a home based business.

Starting a Home Based Business Home Business Start Up Tips

Along with setting your goals there are a number of actions that need to be taken when setting up your business. Below you will find a selection of business start up tips that will help you set up and run your home based business.

1) The need to be flexible in business. As times change adapt your home business to keep up with the trends in the home based industry implementing business opportunities, information products, software and training programs that compliment the business you have already set up and which help move you forward.

2) Consider what work you enjoy doing yourself and outsource the rest. Build a dream team of outsourced workers who can help you complete the numerous daily business tasks.

3) Dont go it alone, select a business mentor. Research your marketplace and find the top players in your niche and follow them learning from their experience. Opt into their subscribers list and learn from them. Work with a mentor who has been there and done it and who can support you with your business through coaching, education and training. Choose mentors who pass onto you their experiences so that you can avoid making the mistakes that will slow your business development down.

4) Do a vision book having set your business and personal goals which look at what you want to achieve in the short medium and long term visualize them? Put pictures into a scrap book, in a folder or on your home office wall and look at them every day to remind yourself why you are doing this in the first place. This will help you keep motivated. For example, if you want to make money on line and set up automated systems so that you have more time with the family put pictures of this into your vision book.

5) What business model to follow Whilst working online from home you will find that many business opportunities hit your inbox. However, how do you decide which one is right for you? Well, once you know what type of business you want to build, what you are passionate about and why you want to do it, then you will build the right type of business from the outset because you will only take on businesses that meet your own criteria. Dont feel obliged to join everything going. Just join what works for you and businesses that help you build the right business the right way so that you fulfil your own goals and dreams but also help others solve their problems along the way.

6) Have a daily plan of action Each night, go over what you have done in the day, see what you have accomplished, congratulate yourself and figure out how to carry it forward to the next day. Write up daily plans of action, cross them off as you do them and feel good about what you have achieved. This way you are looking at what you have done and not what you have not done.

7) Read inspirational stories and listen to music that motivates you Find articles in books, in magazines, or online, about people who have been successful at similar businesses. Play music that gives you a lift each day and which makes you feel upbeat and motivated.

8) Read out loud personal and business declarations Do this each morning as you get up. An example might be “No one will ever fire me again because I am my own boss” or “I will be debt free through my business ventures” or “I am now on a course to change my life totally and pull in millions of dollars”. Why would you do this? Well, because it helps you remove any limiting factors and by reading out your own declarations each day it helps you maintain your focus, stay positive and remove any limiting beliefs you may have every day.

9) Parallel Lines: Basically, you can stay in the system and the same place or choose a different path which allows you to leave the system and achieve your goals and financial freedom. Do not make excuses not to do something Just do it; your attitude is what propels you to go forward. Make excuses not to do something and you will stay put!

10) Register yourself with the appropriate Tax and Vat offices.

11) Set up your account with an accountant and set up a business bank account.

12) Get your home office set up with the Utility Company for the telephone lines, internet, mobile phones, gas and electric and buy and set up your computer system.

13) Look at what you are passionate about. What knowledge can you share with the world? Having decided upon the niche you are going to work in put your foundations in place by setting up your products, services, landing pages, auto responders, websites and educating yourself about marketing offline and online.

Its great that you know which business opportunity you are going to join and develop but dont make the mistake of not educating yourself about marketing. There are many elements to a successful business and if you take the working online route then as well as having an affiliate product or your own product or service to promote, you will need to learn about building squeeze pages and websites, list building, and investing in marketing and how to set up marketing funnels.

14) Work in a team or join an online community in your niche. Be a pro-active member adding value to the team and community that you are in by sharing your knowledge for the good of the team. In this way you will build your profile and also be able to feel part of a community of like minded people with a common goal of helping each other succeed.

15) Consider exactly what type of enterprise will you be running? Will you be selling products, or will you be performing services? Or maybe your home based business will be offering both. What kinds of products and/ or services will be offered? How will you go about obtaining those products, or the skills needed to perform the services? And how will you pay for them?

16) Your target audience What kinds of customers are you targeting? The general public? Local People? A Global Audience, Men only, or Women only? People in a certain age group, such as middle aged people or the elderly? And how much money do you expect to make from this venture?

17) What will the name of your business be? You should choose a name which both clearly indicates what the business is about and sounds attractive to the potential customer. For the work from home internet marketing niche the branding tends to be personal so that a website would have the domain name of the individual marketer.

18) Finally, check to find out about any licensing and legal requirements for your chosen business opportunity.

Goal Setting When Working From Home

In addition to setting up your new home based business, goal setting is crucial; it must be taken care of at the start of your business and it is also a good strategy to continue to set new goals as your home business develops.

The goals you set for yourself should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timed. A specific goal that is measured through statistics and analytics, that is achievable and realistic so that you are not setting a goal that is out of your reach. A goal that can be achieved by implementing a business opportunity and working it within a period of time that is not unrealistic.

In my experience goal setting can often be overlooked at the start of a home based business and many people know what business they want to run but they dont know why! If the why isnt big enough then quite often the motivation dwindles and the business does not help the individuals meet the goals they have set for themselves.

Once the task of goal setting has been taken care of, you now have the challenge of putting those goals into action. This wont happen overnight, so remember you wont get rich quick, it will require work and dedication.

Starting A Home Based Business Final Remarks

Finally, remember that, as with all human ventures, there will be times when your work gets you down and you may feel like throwing in the towel. Dont quit!

Now you may seem to be getting nowhere, but the next opportunity may be just around the corner. If you quit, you may be missing out on that opportunity. See it through and dont quit! Keep going with your business, persevere, develop a no quit attitude, take yourself on a journey to success and work through all the barriers that will surely present themselves.

In the end you will win through and you will find yourself with a successful home based business on your hands where you not only are helping many people along the way but also making a very decent living working from home.

Your Home Based Business Office Do You Really Need One

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Do you have yourself a Home Based Business? Do you have a separate room set up for your office? Is it quiet, without any distractions?

I was reading something last night that really hit home with me! So, as much as I hate to admit it! I AM SO GUILTY of this one.

The article was actually about just taking 5 minutes of your time each morning, before you start getting to work on your home based business and straighten something out in your office or life. It could be anything that you think would help you to get yourself more organized, maybe clean off your desk, file some papers, it could be just about anything.

Then she went on and talked about looking around and finding the things that you were not happy about and change them. If you had a mess to get rid of it, if you didn’t like the way things were, to change them.

This Really Hit Home With ME.

Well, I went out today and bought myself a new desk and a nice chair. You see I do have a computer desk, with my computer and printer on it, that’s about all that I can do on it. It is more of a Hum- How would you say? Yes piece of decorative furniture!

Also it is located in my kitchen. I actually have an open concept in my home, the living room is attached. Is that how you would say it? Yes I guess so – I have access to everything right from that point. The fridge, the stove, the sink, the TV, etc. I actually had my laptop sitting on my counter, with my router box right next to it. We would trip on the cords daily. Truthfully!

Are you getting what I am saying here? Yes, this did work, for a while anyways; until I saw a dirty dish, noticed my plants needed a drink or a suddenly thought I needed a snack. Everything was real convenient; I had a lot of distractions.

Well I did find a few strong boys to carry this big old desk and set it up in the basement. I now have myself an office to work my home based business. Yep, its real nice & quiet too. I actually have got more done in the last 3 hours then I have in 2 full days!!! Wow! I am here to tell you guys!!! Get yourself a space you can call your own to work on your Home Based Business! You will find yourself getting more things accomplished by simply getting things in order.

I just don’t let those little things bother me, so I didn’t think it was a big deal. But now that I have set up my own office, I realize it is a big deal.

If you are just getting started in a home based business opportunity, or if you have one already and you don’t have an office set up, do this today! Everyone tells you this is the first step to take, but how many people actually do it? I didn’t, I thought that I had my desk right next to me and that was alright!

NO It wasn’t, Believe me you will get more done and become successful so much faster if you start working your Home Based Business the right way.

Remember, set up a schedule and keep to it, don’t forget to schedule you breaks, this is important. You now have a plan, so stick to it and soon you will see your Home Based Business Boom!

Chery Schmidt
Internet Marketing Coach & Home Business Mentor
Specializing In Helping Others Succeed Online
Grab A Free Copy Of My Report –> The Ultimate Game Plan For Online Entrepreneurs: http://www.CherysOnlineGamePlan.com/?t=artbiz
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