Home Based Business

Home Based Business

Posted on by blogger

A home business (or “home-based business” or “HBB”) is a small business that operates from the business owner’s home office. In addition to location, home businesses are usually defined by having a very small number of employees, usually all immediate family of the business owner, in which case it is also a family business. Home businesses generally lack shop frontage, customer parking and street advertising signs. Such businesses are sometimes prohibited by residential zoning regulations.The prospect of working from home has gained credibility over the years. Home offices can now compete with small commercial businesses and save on rent in the process. Faxes, high speed internet connections, dedicated home telephone lines, and cell phones help to make a home-based business a reality. Earlier home businesses had been where families lived on the second floor of their house while converting the first floor into a store, whereupon close of business they would secure the first floor and retire to the upper floors. This type of home business is still done in some rural areas.The concept of homebased business, as opposed to the previous terminology of “cottage industry”, first appeared in 1978. The phrase was coined by Marion Behr, the originator of a study to find out what businesses women throughout America were carrying on in their homes. The preview edition of Enterprising Women wrote about the search to gather information pertaining to home workers throughout the nation. Numerous magazines and organizations helped to disseminate information regarding the study. Ultimately 40,000 letters were received, many indicating the problems the respondents experienced while carrying on businesses from their homes. The problems were analyzed and confronted in two ways. In 1980 the National Alliance of Homebased Businesswomen was founded to combat the isolation expressed by the respondents as well as to fight the laws which made conducting their businesses difficult. Then Women Working Home: The Homebased Guide and Directory by Marion Behr and Wendy Lazar was published.It contained the stories of many women who ran home-based businesses throughout the country in many diverse fields, as well as information on business formation, conduct and compliance with the law. It sold 50,000 copies. During this time many national magazines wrote about these issues.At the White House Conference on Small Business in 1986, one of the major resolutions was a recommendation favoring lifting restrictions on home-based business..CitiWide

http://citiwide.com.au/

How To Increase Your Home Based Business Leads

Posted on by blogger

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.

Looking For A Home Based Business 5 Questions You Must Ask

Posted on by blogger

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.

Seven Things To Look For When Choosing a Home Based Business

Posted on by blogger

Need additional income? A home based business could be the answer. Millions of people in North America earn part or all of their income from home.

You can work from home full-time or part-time. By far the majority of people work a home-based business in their spare time in addition to their regular job. This gives them real flexibility in the event their job disappears. A small business also gives you the extra money you need to improve your lifestyle.

Here are seven things to consider when choosing a business you will work from home.

1. Your business should sell a tangible product or service that isn’t widely available. Selling the same old “lotions and potions” you can get at Walmart rarely creates much income. It’s better if your product meets a common need that isn’t met in the same way by local providers.

2. A LOT of people should need your product. Or a few people should need it very badly. You might sell roadside service that virtually every driver needs at some time. Or you might sell an item only stock brokers need, but they can’t live without it. This insures there is always demand for your product.

3. Don’t like to sell? Better business opportunities today come with teams or automated systems that do the selling for you. This can get you over the hump of having to approach friends and family to buy from you.

4. Make sure you get a healthy commission. The days of tiny 15 to 20 percent commissions are gone. Insist on at least a 50 percent commission. Some go as high at 100 percent. The larger the commission, the more income you’ll make. Often the quickest way to doubling or tripling your income is to get higher commissions.

5. You’ll need a good way to market your business. Choose a business that comes with ads, websites, leads, and more. This will help you get the word out. Social media can help in this regard. Let your Facebook friends know about your business. You may be surprised how many people they tell and how many are interested in your product or service.

6. It helps if you work with a team. That is so when you are not feeling motivated, your team can pull you up. The most frequent reason a business does not succeed is the owner throws in the towel too soon. Being a part of a team can keep you in the business longer, greatly increasing your changes of making some real money on a regular basis.

7. Finally, you want some good, solid training to get you started. This is often supplied by webinars, online tutorials, and/or from leaders in your organization. A good company will want to give you the best training possible knowing you will sell more of their products and services.

Pick your home based business and jump in with all your commitment and enthusiasm. Your hard work will be rewarded many times over.

Your Home Based Business Office Do You Really Need One

Posted on by blogger

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
Love What You DO & DO What You Love