5 Steps to Help You Decide What Home Based Business to Start

You know the time is right for you to start a home based business. Yet it’s often difficult to make the final decision about exactly what business will best suit you. One side of the equation includes the specific income, hours, and other needs you have. On the other side of the equation are many, many business options, all appearing to provide the perfect opportunity. Many potential entrepreneurs remain stuck in the middle of this equation and never take action to make their dream of self-employment a reality. You don’t need to have that problem. In this article I present 5 steps that will help you narrow down your search.

Step #1) Start the process by taking an inventory of your skills and strengths. Include everything such as hobbies, education, work experience, military, and other training and experience. Think about how each of these might be applied to a business.

Step #2) Create a list of your specific business interests. This is where you start to narrow down your search. Be very specific about the types of businesses you would consider as well as those you would not. Include reasons for these decisions. For example, you might be unwilling to be involved in a business requiring full-time effort because of family. Factor that into the process.

Step #3) Use the lists you have created using Step #1 and Step #2 to create a short list of possibilities. Your short list will include your training, strengths, interests and limitations. All of these combine to create a list of possible businesses. If you are unsure of business options, pick up 3 or 4 current business magazines specializing in home based businesses for ideas.

Step #4) Investigate your short list. Now’s the time to really examine the options. Look at everything required to achieve success with each. For example, what are the start-up costs? How about the costs to carry the business (Don’t forget to add your living expenses.) during the start-up and growth period before you reach profit? What gaps exist between your own training, education, and skills and the needs of each business? How would you fill those gaps? Don’t forget to examine the income of every opportunity you are considering.

Step #5) Objectively compare each of the final opportunities under consideration. This is where you need to start making some hard decisions. Develop a list of pros and cons for each idea. Then compare each list of pros and cons to the list you develop for the other ideas. Narrow down to the best-fit home based business for you.

Don’t forget to seek outside help when making the final decision about your home based business. Ask experts and others you trust for their inputs, ideas and thoughts about the opportunity you are planning to pursue. While the final decision can only be made by you, this is valuable information to have for that final decision.

source : Bob Hamilton, Articlecity.com

Starting A Home Business

There are several considerations to be made prior to any successful home business launch. First, there are many questions you should ask yourself to truly determine your motivations, goals and expectations from your home business. You also need to seriously take into factor the sacrifices and risks you will be taking.

After you have all these answers, evaluate and analyze them to get a good grasp of what you are getting into and why.

Before starting a home business, you need to verify that there is a market out there for your product and that your product will be salable. Analyze the demand of your product or service. Figure out whether the price for your product or service is reasonable or if you will have to work extra hard to sell. Ideally, you want your price range to meet the greatest number of potential customers so that you can meet maximum demand.

When starting a home business, you should network as much as possible. Join Twitter, subscribe to trade publications and attend trade functions as a way to get your name and business out there to the world. Talk to vendors and suppliers. Participate frequently in online forum boards and always stay professional.

Weigh your strengths and weaknesses so you have a clear idea about the startup and maintenance functions that will require outsourcing. You may need a lawyer, CPA, web designer, writer or even a video professional. When you know who you will have to hire and for how long, you can begin budgeting your resources.

Spend an adequate amount of time creating your business website and optimizing your web content. Websites are crucial for nearly all home businesses to succeed. Your website will also be a portal to generating buzz, soliciting customers and launching Internet campaigns.

When starting a home business, it is vital that you take your time and use your efforts wisely to accomplish the tasks mentioned above, so that you are prepared for a full and successful business launch when the time is right.

source : Amandalyn Vanover, Articlecity.com

3 Hot Tips To Work At Home Opportunity, Business Success

Do you have a strong desire to work from home? Maybe you are a parent who is tired of juggling your 9-5 job and children, especially when your child is sick and really needs you. Like so many stay home moms, it's your dream to supplement your spouse's income.

With each work at home opportunity, business opportunity you join online, you are promised the world but instead you end up burning another hole in your wallet.

I've been in your shoe before and want to let you know that... knowledge is power. And there are 15 strategies you must apply if you want to be successful landing a work at home job or independent contract.

Let me share three of the 15 strategies I've used in the past to increase my chances of obtaining legit home-based jobs and independent contracts over and over again.

Tip 1 - You Must Possess Or Acquire A Specialized Skill

The secret to landing a home-based independent contract is to acquire a specialized skill, or start a career in a field that is recession-proof. The career field or skill must be in high demand but have a low supply of skilled workers like transcription.

For example, many people can type, but can't transcribe. The demand for transcriptionists, whether medical, legal, or general is in high demand versus the supply of skilled transcriptionists.

Don't believe me? Go to Google.com and put in a search for "medical transcription companies," for example, and you will see a lot of websites listed. Go to each website and look for the "career," "employment," tab on the site and you will see most of the sites have job openings listed.

There are also other specialized fields such as Advertising Copywriter, Appointment Setter, Java Developer, Appraiser, Blogger, Web Developer, etc., that you can look into to set yourself apart from the work at home crowd, and land an independent contract quickly.

Tip 2 - Create Your Own Work At Home Opportunity, Business Opportunity

Many employers are leery about hiring home-based workers because they fear the lack of control they would have if they hire a home-based worker. Despite this fact, there are employers that you can convince to let you work at home as an independent contractor.

What you can do is let JobsByFax.com fax out your attractive resume and "killer" cover letter. Make sure the cover letter has an attention-grabbing headline, but do not mention anything about working from home.

Here's an example of an attention-grabbing headline for your cover letter: "You Are Going To Get A Bunch Of Applications For This Awesome Job Offer, But Guess What...?"

You have three seconds to get an employer's attention. Why not stop them dead in their tracks at first glance with your "killer" cover letter headline.

After you’re called to several interviews, discuss working from your home office. You would have to go to those interviews prepared with solid qualifications and a clear blueprint on how working from your home office would truly benefit the employer.

Show the employer how you can perform your job even better in your home office that is set up with the latest equipment.

Let the employers know that they will assume financial burdens that they won't have if they hire you versus an employee. Here's why. They won’t have to:

· Make social security and Medicare contributions · Withhold federal and state income taxes, pay for sick leave or vacations, provide health insurance, retirement plan, carry worker's comp insurance, etc.

If the employer says no, which some will do, that’s okay. Thank the interviewer for his/her time and move to your next interview. Someone will eventually hire you. Persistence is the key to success and it's all a numbers game.

Tip 3 - Reduce Your Job Search Time

Finding a job using the Internet can be a frustrating, time-consuming endeavor because there are literally thousands of job boards and work at home resources.

Let YourJobSearcher.com do the work for you. This software is not only for 9-5 job searches. You can use it to find legit work at home jobs also. Download and install your own personal job searching software to find jobs before your competitors. Enter your job description (home-based job title you desire), click and begin the search. It's that simple.

source : Vermette Carbon, articlecity.com

8 Essentials For Internet Marketing Newbies

You've decided that you want to become an Internet marketer and start making money on-line. Only problem is, you are not quite sure how to go about it. There are hundreds if not thousands of websites out there that give you advice on how to get your business up and running. Some of these sites are very informative and some are just plain junk.

One of the hardest things about Internet marketing is getting started out on the right foot. If you don't, you will find yourself just spinning your wheels and getting nowhere fast. When that happens you will start to get frustrated and the next thing you know you quit. It doesn't have to be that way.

You can succeed if you get started correctly. When you do find a program to join you should make sure that they have the eight things that every Internet marketer should learn. To be successful at promoting anything on-line be it your own product or an affiliate product, these eight things are essential:

1. Does the website offer video training? Most people find that video training is a lot easier to follow than just written materials. If you can see something being done then it definitely makes it easier to follow. Plus you can stop the video at any point and then restart when you're ready to move on.

2. Does the website teach you about article marketing? Article marketing is still one of the best ways of promoting any thing you may be trying to sell on-line. The program should tell you the best way to write an article to get your readers interested enough to click through to your product or affiliate site.

3. The site should be able to tell you how to build a website from the ground up. Building a website is really not that hard, but a site with video tutorials makes it so much easier if you are just starting out.

4. If you are looking to just promote affiliate products, you want a website that teaches you how to go about finding the best affiliate programs to promote.

5. Social networking is another important part of Internet marketing. The program you choose should give you some good insight into social networking and how it will help you grow your on-line presence.

6. Another very important thing your chosen program should teach you is pay per click marketing. Pay per click marketing is a good way to make money, but if you just jump right in without the right knowledge it could cost you a lot of money. You should be able to learn how to select the right keywords for whatever you are promoting, therefore making you profitable from the start.

7. Making money from home can be done but without the right mindset it could be a little overwhelming. Your program should have some audio or videos to help you with mindset. What I mean by mindset is something that will help get you motivated, develop qualities of success, teach specifics of setting goals and so on.

8. Last but not least, the program should give you some good ideas about what niches are hot. Sometimes it is hard to decide what you want to promote but your best bet is to go with what you love to do or something you are passionate about.

These eight things are essential to helping you become successful on-line but they are not the only ones. Your chosen program if it is a good one, will go far beyond these eight essentials.

Some good advice would be to just take your time and try to follow the steps you are taught. Don't try to do everything at once. You will find that if you do, it will be a lot less overwhelming.

Patience and persistence is the key. Have those two qualities and you will be well on your way to Internet marketing mastery!

Source : Jeff White, articlecity.com

All About Internet Businesses and Home Based Opportunities

Since more people are getting laid off from their jobs everyday due to the recession, there has been a huge increase in home based businesses. For some, there's no other choice but to start small businesses that are home based. These days, if you want financial security and money, you're going to have to go online and get it yourself. You're going to have to be your own boss.

While some can't get jobs anywhere else and have no choice but work from home, some WANT to work from home simply because they want to take their life into their own hands. Whether you want to start a business that is home based because you have to, want to, or both, then you're going to have to learn all you can about internet marketing.

The best thing about internet marketing is that it really doesn't take all that much money to get started with businesses. Home based opportunities to make money on the web are numerous; there are so many ways to earn a living over the internet that practically everyone can do it! All you'll need is the will, and the way isn't that hard to find.

An estimated $75 billion of transactions is made per year through e-commerce businesses. Home based entrepreneurs, even ones running small businesses, earn their fair share of the billions as well. You can as well, since there is so much money involved. Yes, you will have a lot of fierce competition, but you can bring in customers if you know where to look for them.

Don't have anything on your own to sell? A lot of businesses that are home based don't either. So then, how can you sell something you don't own? It's simple: sell on behalf of others and earn yourself some commissions! Join an affiliate program, select products that seem interesting to you, learn all you can about internet marketing, and then sell them! While it's not mandatory that you run your own website, you still need to do, since having a website will help make you seem more credible.

Once again, there really isn't that much money needed for starting up internet businesses. Home based internet marketing therefore has plenty of room for trial and error. Most successful, wealthy internet entrepreneurs went through two or three different web based businesses before finally discovering a successful solution. It may also take you two or three tries with different businesses. Home based money making opportunities take some time and persistence, but you will be able to make money in the long run, just as long as you never give up.

It's one thing to give up on your first few tries, just as long as you instantly try something else. The only failures are the ones who give up completely on their businesses. Home based, internet businesses come and go, but internet entrepreneurs running them will always be around just as long as they never give up. After sticking with it for awhile, you will more than likely succeed. In fact, you may even become one of the few who earns money on autopilot!

Autopilot is when online, home based business owners earn money 24/7, even when they're asleep! This is, ultimately, the goal of everyone running internet businesses. Home based work isn't always the easiest, at least in the beginning stages, but it can be the most profitable!


source: Matthew Henderson, articlecity.com

Are You Ready to Start Earning a Serious Amount of Money Online?

Have you ever thought to yourself why it is that some people on the internet are making relatively small amounts and in some cases nothing when others are earning vast amounts doing very similar things?

The answer to the question has several parts, firstly MINDSET and secondly KNOWLEDGE.

You see only 10% of people seem to make money on the internet and around 2% make a vast amount of money, $10,000+ per month.

MINDSET is an important factor which can decide whether or not you achieve success or failure when embarking upon an internet venture. You see that without the right coaching/mentoring then your chances of succeeding can be very slim. How many business opportunities have you come across where you purchase what seems to be a reasonable idea for say $197 and all the relevant details and explanations are there but there is absolutely no literature about setting goals/targets and budgeting etc.

In my experience this accounts for a large number of so called opportunities. They give you all the details that you ‘need’ and just take your money and leave you as we call it an ‘orphan’, if you succeed or fail that’s down to your own efforts. A responsible seller would have at least one chapter on setting goals/targets that are achievable and give you details of how their own business really started warts and all.

The better opportunities out there also offer help lines and are contactable to answer any questions that you may have with regard to their business models.

These are the kind of people you want to associate yourself with as they really do care about your future and your success.

People have written books on this topic and I could repeat what they’ve said here but it remains a fact that without the right motivation and mindset you will not go far in business. Success only comes through hard work that is implemented in a structured detailed way.

The second part of what I consider to be most relevant is KNOWLEDGE. Now it is certain that lots of people trying to make money on the internet are putting in lots of effort and are placing adverts, writing articles, using Google Adwords or something similar etc and are still not getting the rewards that their efforts deserve.

The reason for this is mainly due to lack of understanding and generally just following what everyone else is doing. Well if 98% of people are not making $10,000+ per month then doing the same as everyone else is not a good idea is it? Ypu need to be doing something different or should I say (hint) using these resources in a more effective way.

Success on the internet really boils down to knowing;

1) What products to market online, the ones that really sell quickly and in large quantities

2) Where to market these products, the best online sites

3) More importantly. How to effectively market these products so that you maximise your profits.

This is as simple as ABC as they say, however where are you going to find this and much much more information about making money online?

Is it going to be one of these websites that charges $2000 or $3000 to join?

Just while I’m mentioning these sites why is it that they don’t offer limited trials and that they want ALL of the money up front? Are they not totally confident in the product they’re selling or is there something they don’t want you to know? I’m not sure but it does make you think.

Well if you want to find out click on the link below and check out the step by step video tutorials that are available.

Just take a look, what have you got to lose?



source: Joe Kilshaw, articlecity.com

The Essentials of the Web Hosting Business

In this article we'll discuss the very basics of the Web hosting business.

Web hosting is quite simply the service of preserving and displaying Web pages to the World Wide Web. The hosting company is the entity that allows individuals and businesses to show content on the Internet. The actual mechanics of web hosting can get quite complicated.

Internet service providers (ISPs) and Web hosting companies are not the same thing. If you need Internet access then you need an ISP. But in order to publish content on the Internet a Web hosting company will be a necessity. Many Internet service providers will give their customers a small amount of free hosting for a personal Web site. If you require a Web site for business purposes you'll definitely want a company that specializes in Web hosting only.

Serving Web pages is not quite as easy as it may sound. Web sites need to be operational 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. This puts an incredible amount of stress on both the people and the equipment that operate in a Web hosting environment.

To properly host a large number of websites expensive equipment is needed. High-end computers are required to meet the ongoing demands. These computers, or Web page 'servers', use large amounts of power and get very hot. Additional power is then required to cool the Web servers off. They also require special facilities that are kept clean and cool. Often times, data centers will have several large air conditioning units specifically to pump cold air onto the servers. It's also a wise choice to have industrial size backup generators in case anything was to happen to the power.

Connecting to a backbone provider is also needed to provide adequate transfer speed. These backbone providers, or network service providers, give the hosting company direct access to the Internet trunk lines. This access is sold by what is called bandwidth. Web hosting companies buy this bandwidth and then resell it to their customers. Bandwidth is simply the amount of information transmitted along a communications channel in a given period of time.

The backend structure of the Web hosting business is rather complicated. To balance the high operational costs Web hosting companies deal in volume. Web servers can present 1000's of Web sites per server. Adding everything up, there is a specific amount of money required to maintain a constantly running Web server. So each new site added to a server will decrease the overall cost per customer.

But, hosting too many Web sites on one server will start to decrease the speed and performance of the sites hosted on it. Then customers will experience the speed of their Web sites begin to slow down and might start to see general page errors when trying to load their site. Between high operational costs and server performance, Web hosting companies must maintain a balance.

Web sites must be running all the time. This increases the human costs beyond that of a normal business. The hosting company must maintain a staff on location at all times. Instead of just one 8 hour shift there are three 8 hour shifts. Weekends must be covered too. Usually though, off hours staff are there in a technical support capacity only.

In conclusion, many components must come together in order for Web sites to be viewable on the Internet. These different systems include computer hardware, software and networking. This combination together with the human component is what makes the Internet what it is today.

source : Jack C Parker, articlecity.com