Everyone who gets into internet marketing thinks that it can be a business that can make them rich overnight or not in a few months time. It is sad to say that "THIS IS NOT TRUE". You need to treat this business as any real business you do offline. Therefore there are some basic things that you must prepare before getting thinking of making money in this business.
1) Identify a way to drive traffic: Driving traffic to your website should be your first priority in this online business as it is through this traffic that you drive to your site that create sales for you. Without any visitors to your site is like a shop without any customers, Do you think that it can make you money?
2) Create a converting squeeze page to make your visitors sign up your list: It is through your list that you can continually promote your product to your leads. But remember "you have to be true to them" as it reflect directly to your integrity. Once you have lost the trust of your leads, you can never sell them another thing. NEVER!
3) Create a series of good autoresponding emails: The only way to make your leads hit the BUY button is to have a series of good emails written to educate them in this business and promote them those stuff you think will be helpful to them.
With all these three things done, you can then focus on traffic generation as the rest is already taken care of. Note that you need to have at least three products selected to be promoted through your emails to get started. You can then add in products as you go along.
When I started this business, I have problems doing these three things and I did not even get a single sales for a few months until I stumbled onto a website that have all these three things done for me professionally and since then I have never looked back.
Hope that you can get these three things done soon!
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The Author is a Full Time Internet Marketer after Quitting his day job as an Engineer in a Multinational Company
To learn more, download this Resourceful FREE guide that I used when I first started: "Dotcomology - The Science of Making Money Online"
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
Why The 7 Great Lies Of Network Marketing Are Killing Your MLM Business!
In network marketing, duplicating one's upline has long been touted as the key to building a strong and successful MLM business.
When Ann Sieg's hard hitting report The 7 Great Lies Of Network Marketing made it's way into the hands of thousands of network marketers midway through 2007, the fall out was expected to be enormous.
For too long, struggling MLMers have been told to
- duplicate their upline
- everyone within arms length of you is a prospect
- anyone can do this and it's not sales but product sharing
- just join and you'll have your business built for you and
probably the most irritating statement of all.."Your belief levels aren't strong enough!"
Hit And Miss Prospecting
Network marketing's huge attrition rate not only emphasized these statements as misleading but the excessive fall out rate also tainted the image of the industry as well.
The main problem distributors have is creating a steady flow of prospects. Without constant leads in your business it doesn't matter how much belief you have in yourself and the system, your business will simply stagnate and wither away.
Hit and miss prospecting is approaching friends, relatives and total strangers. It's non-businesslike and will more often than not get you labeled as a serial pest. Worse still, it only takes very few rejections for a network marketer to throw up their hands and declare it's all too hard and stressful. Hence the huge attrition rate in the industry.
Attraction Marketing
The internet has far reaching power. As a vehicle for attracting targeted prospects into your network marketing business, it's unrivalled. But the problem is, most network marketers don't know how to promote and market online.
One of the 7 great lies of network marketing revolves around the fact that anyone can do this business. That's true offline but online, it's a whole different ball game.
The internet allows you to target the people you want to do business with. Attraction marketing is about pre-selling these prospects well before they listen to your primary business offer.
The irony seems to be that renegade network marketers are now disproving this theory. Using attraction marketing techniques online to draw targeted prospects into your funnel has never been easier.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Grab your free copy of The 7 Great Lies Of Network Marketing today! Dramatically increase your sponsoring rate. Put your Network Marketing lead generation on steroids and your MLM business into profit!
When Ann Sieg's hard hitting report The 7 Great Lies Of Network Marketing made it's way into the hands of thousands of network marketers midway through 2007, the fall out was expected to be enormous.
For too long, struggling MLMers have been told to
- duplicate their upline
- everyone within arms length of you is a prospect
- anyone can do this and it's not sales but product sharing
- just join and you'll have your business built for you and
probably the most irritating statement of all.."Your belief levels aren't strong enough!"
Hit And Miss Prospecting
Network marketing's huge attrition rate not only emphasized these statements as misleading but the excessive fall out rate also tainted the image of the industry as well.
The main problem distributors have is creating a steady flow of prospects. Without constant leads in your business it doesn't matter how much belief you have in yourself and the system, your business will simply stagnate and wither away.
Hit and miss prospecting is approaching friends, relatives and total strangers. It's non-businesslike and will more often than not get you labeled as a serial pest. Worse still, it only takes very few rejections for a network marketer to throw up their hands and declare it's all too hard and stressful. Hence the huge attrition rate in the industry.
Attraction Marketing
The internet has far reaching power. As a vehicle for attracting targeted prospects into your network marketing business, it's unrivalled. But the problem is, most network marketers don't know how to promote and market online.
One of the 7 great lies of network marketing revolves around the fact that anyone can do this business. That's true offline but online, it's a whole different ball game.
The internet allows you to target the people you want to do business with. Attraction marketing is about pre-selling these prospects well before they listen to your primary business offer.
The irony seems to be that renegade network marketers are now disproving this theory. Using attraction marketing techniques online to draw targeted prospects into your funnel has never been easier.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Grab your free copy of The 7 Great Lies Of Network Marketing today! Dramatically increase your sponsoring rate. Put your Network Marketing lead generation on steroids and your MLM business into profit!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Three Home Based Business Marketing Secrets
by: Scott Oliver
Marketing is the part of business that no one seems to like. Perhaps that's because it's confusing and made to be even more confusing when you begin to read books on marketing and its applications to the business world. So, are there any secrets that actually work and that you can actually apply to your online business? The answer is yes. There are three home based business marketing secrets that you can keep in mind as you begin this adventure into running your own business - and as you become a success.
Less is More
One of the things that marketing professionals don't tell you is that you really don't need to do as much as you think you do. By simply adopting a strategy of telling as many people as you can, treating each customer with respect, and then repeating this cycle, that's going to bring in a lot of new business. Word of mouth advertising may not get as much press as it once did, but it certainly still works when it comes to smaller home based businesses.
You also want to keep in mind that these marketing secrets don't require a lot of time or a lot of money in order to be effective. Something as simple as adding your website address to your emails is just as effective as running a commercial on TV and a lot less expensive to implement. Think about smaller ways to spread the word instead of bigger ways. Target only the customers that have already shown interest in what you have to sell and you're certain to market for success.
More is Less
You also want to remember that a customer on the internet these days is accustomed to seeing a lot of advertisements, so they know when they are being 'sold' something. Instead of focusing your messages on sales exclusively, try bringing the customer information they can use - informational articles, etc.
When you put too many advertisements in outgoing emails or you simply push your company too much, you will turn off prospective customers. Even if they are interested in what you have to say, the more you talk to them about the same things, the more they're going to wonder what the 'catch' is and why they should buy from you at all.
Recognize that your customers are smart and that they WILL respond to you, even if you don't tell them about every sale or every feature for your products. You just don't have to beat them over the head with what you want to sell them.
Use Your Home Based Appeal to Bring People to You
By adding a personalized touch to your marketing strategies, you will begin to pull in more customers, almost without trying. So often, online businesses forget that it's their placement and location that allows them to be unique. Instead of downplaying the fact that you work from home, make sure that your customers know it. Show them pictures of your office and pictures of yourself to make the experience more personal. This is a marketing strategy that works no matter what you are selling. Since people aren't meeting you in person, the personalization will do the 'talking' for you, making a customer more comfortable with you.
Try adding a blog to your website that will introduce the kind of person you are and what you are capable of helping a customer with. Or you might want to include a video of yourself talking about your product or a personal story that relates to your product. The internet can be such an impersonal place, so try to connect with your customer more.
About The Author
Scott Oliver offers free video coaching to help you build a profitable home business FAST. Get an hour of "Website Traffic Secrets" and "Minisite Creation Tactics" for FREE -- immediate access here: http://www.InstantWebsiteBusiness.com
Marketing is the part of business that no one seems to like. Perhaps that's because it's confusing and made to be even more confusing when you begin to read books on marketing and its applications to the business world. So, are there any secrets that actually work and that you can actually apply to your online business? The answer is yes. There are three home based business marketing secrets that you can keep in mind as you begin this adventure into running your own business - and as you become a success.
Less is More
One of the things that marketing professionals don't tell you is that you really don't need to do as much as you think you do. By simply adopting a strategy of telling as many people as you can, treating each customer with respect, and then repeating this cycle, that's going to bring in a lot of new business. Word of mouth advertising may not get as much press as it once did, but it certainly still works when it comes to smaller home based businesses.
You also want to keep in mind that these marketing secrets don't require a lot of time or a lot of money in order to be effective. Something as simple as adding your website address to your emails is just as effective as running a commercial on TV and a lot less expensive to implement. Think about smaller ways to spread the word instead of bigger ways. Target only the customers that have already shown interest in what you have to sell and you're certain to market for success.
More is Less
You also want to remember that a customer on the internet these days is accustomed to seeing a lot of advertisements, so they know when they are being 'sold' something. Instead of focusing your messages on sales exclusively, try bringing the customer information they can use - informational articles, etc.
When you put too many advertisements in outgoing emails or you simply push your company too much, you will turn off prospective customers. Even if they are interested in what you have to say, the more you talk to them about the same things, the more they're going to wonder what the 'catch' is and why they should buy from you at all.
Recognize that your customers are smart and that they WILL respond to you, even if you don't tell them about every sale or every feature for your products. You just don't have to beat them over the head with what you want to sell them.
Use Your Home Based Appeal to Bring People to You
By adding a personalized touch to your marketing strategies, you will begin to pull in more customers, almost without trying. So often, online businesses forget that it's their placement and location that allows them to be unique. Instead of downplaying the fact that you work from home, make sure that your customers know it. Show them pictures of your office and pictures of yourself to make the experience more personal. This is a marketing strategy that works no matter what you are selling. Since people aren't meeting you in person, the personalization will do the 'talking' for you, making a customer more comfortable with you.
Try adding a blog to your website that will introduce the kind of person you are and what you are capable of helping a customer with. Or you might want to include a video of yourself talking about your product or a personal story that relates to your product. The internet can be such an impersonal place, so try to connect with your customer more.
About The Author
Scott Oliver offers free video coaching to help you build a profitable home business FAST. Get an hour of "Website Traffic Secrets" and "Minisite Creation Tactics" for FREE -- immediate access here: http://www.InstantWebsiteBusiness.com
How Do I Start An Internet Business And Still Maintain My Home Privacy
by: Anderson Josiah
When operating your own business from home it doesn't mean that your private life is an open book to be read by the world. You would have to set boundaries for your professional and private life to insure that your work is not constantly interrupted by your family and friends. You will have to establish specific hours for work and at end of the work day go home. If you allow your home business to consume every moment of your day you will surely burn out and this will create a huge interruption to your private and family’s life.
If you could afford it at the inception of your business you should have a separate telephone line that is only for the businesses also install an answering machine to collect messages after working hours, only if clients leave messages that are absolutely an emergency then call them back on the next working day. If at all possible, try hard to avoid giving out your home phone number to your customers as an additional contact . You never know if your son or daughter will answer the telephone leaving a really bad impression on an existing or potential clients.
There are several services that will cross paths between your personal life and work life and trying to understand where they meet will assist you keep stay sane when operating from your home. When you are now starting a home business, it might be very easy for your spouse and family members to ask you to do odd jobs around the home while they are out at work. You would have to gently remind them that you are at work and will be working and that you don't have the time to do laundry, wash the dishes, or maybe just step out and pick up a few items in the supermarket.
Unless your home business requires you to meet with customers and you can't get around it, try not to entertain customers and business partners at your home. The best thing is that clients under no circumstances should know your house address. Using telephone and email for customers contact is probable the best way to maintain privacy, as you would not want an angry clients knocking on your door while you are eating dinner with your family. A P.O box does not cost allot of money and can be very useful for shipping and can help you protect you and your family’s privacy.
Don't forget, this is your bread and butter and you must try to keep at the top of your head that your wife, husband and kids are not staff members. You might be working out from a home office but remember it is also your family’s house and you must ensure you have set boundaries in place. Just as you don't want them stepping over into your work space when you're working, you must show the same degree of respect to your spouse and family members by not allowing your work to cross over into their personal space. If you would like to know more check out the link below for a free copy of Dotcomology-how to start an internet business.
About The Author
Anderson Josiah
Andy The Home Biz Wiz recommends for more information subscribe to my FREE Internet Home Business tips newsletter and get hundreds of money making tips and tricks along with FREE Software delivered to your inbox. A $147 value, yours FREE: http://www.MakingMoneyFromHomeOnTheInternet.com
When operating your own business from home it doesn't mean that your private life is an open book to be read by the world. You would have to set boundaries for your professional and private life to insure that your work is not constantly interrupted by your family and friends. You will have to establish specific hours for work and at end of the work day go home. If you allow your home business to consume every moment of your day you will surely burn out and this will create a huge interruption to your private and family’s life.
If you could afford it at the inception of your business you should have a separate telephone line that is only for the businesses also install an answering machine to collect messages after working hours, only if clients leave messages that are absolutely an emergency then call them back on the next working day. If at all possible, try hard to avoid giving out your home phone number to your customers as an additional contact . You never know if your son or daughter will answer the telephone leaving a really bad impression on an existing or potential clients.
There are several services that will cross paths between your personal life and work life and trying to understand where they meet will assist you keep stay sane when operating from your home. When you are now starting a home business, it might be very easy for your spouse and family members to ask you to do odd jobs around the home while they are out at work. You would have to gently remind them that you are at work and will be working and that you don't have the time to do laundry, wash the dishes, or maybe just step out and pick up a few items in the supermarket.
Unless your home business requires you to meet with customers and you can't get around it, try not to entertain customers and business partners at your home. The best thing is that clients under no circumstances should know your house address. Using telephone and email for customers contact is probable the best way to maintain privacy, as you would not want an angry clients knocking on your door while you are eating dinner with your family. A P.O box does not cost allot of money and can be very useful for shipping and can help you protect you and your family’s privacy.
Don't forget, this is your bread and butter and you must try to keep at the top of your head that your wife, husband and kids are not staff members. You might be working out from a home office but remember it is also your family’s house and you must ensure you have set boundaries in place. Just as you don't want them stepping over into your work space when you're working, you must show the same degree of respect to your spouse and family members by not allowing your work to cross over into their personal space. If you would like to know more check out the link below for a free copy of Dotcomology-how to start an internet business.
About The Author
Anderson Josiah
Andy The Home Biz Wiz recommends for more information subscribe to my FREE Internet Home Business tips newsletter and get hundreds of money making tips and tricks along with FREE Software delivered to your inbox. A $147 value, yours FREE: http://www.MakingMoneyFromHomeOnTheInternet.com
Why You Need a Research Before Start Your Home Based Business
by: Tsuyoshi Suzuki
A home based business idea is focus on providing a source of income from a home office and the smart way to identify the Best Home Based Business Idea is to make a serious study of the assets you possess and find out which are good at and love doing.
Research each home based business idea on your list. Do some careful research a person should be able to easily find a good computer home based business. So, if you do have a business that relies on your home based business idea, say an invention, then you need to research protecting your home based business idea through trademark, patent, or copyright.
Network Marketing is a learning process which requires time and research. If you have never run a business before and have little business understanding, do some research to teach yourself some skills. It is very important for anyone wanting to start a home based business to do their research on the opportunity before joining.
Using a variety of accurate internet marketing business reviews can be a great way to shed a little bit of light on your research and there are many out there that can make looking for marketing reviews easier for the consumer or the prospective business owner. Doing this is simply a matter of having the right sources, reading the right internet marketing business reviews, and learning how to spot a scam.
Internet marketing business reviews can come from multiple sources, but a general rule of thumb is to keep an eye out for a general consensus amongst the reviewers. There are many issues that may come into play in terms of Internet marketing business reviews. Some reviews may use testimonials to attempt to create more realistic tone. When reading internet marketing business reviews, it is important to maintain a clear focus so as to understand the actuality of what the review says and not just the spin.
A knowledge business can be a wonderful home based business idea for a number of reasons, for example, start-up costs can be very low, the business can be started part-time and develop into a full-time venture, you will be dealing with topics that you know and love by integrating your passion and the last point is the most successful home based business idea is based on a particular person's passion.
About The Author
Tsuyoshi E. Suzuki is an Expert Internet Network Marketer. Discover How To Build Up 1,000+ Downline. Generate Your Own MLM lead for FREE! Find out the best MLM business opportunity. The Dirty Truth about MLM Marketing that You Don't Know. Get FREE Report Now! Go to ==> http://www.HappyMLM.com
A home based business idea is focus on providing a source of income from a home office and the smart way to identify the Best Home Based Business Idea is to make a serious study of the assets you possess and find out which are good at and love doing.
Research each home based business idea on your list. Do some careful research a person should be able to easily find a good computer home based business. So, if you do have a business that relies on your home based business idea, say an invention, then you need to research protecting your home based business idea through trademark, patent, or copyright.
Network Marketing is a learning process which requires time and research. If you have never run a business before and have little business understanding, do some research to teach yourself some skills. It is very important for anyone wanting to start a home based business to do their research on the opportunity before joining.
Using a variety of accurate internet marketing business reviews can be a great way to shed a little bit of light on your research and there are many out there that can make looking for marketing reviews easier for the consumer or the prospective business owner. Doing this is simply a matter of having the right sources, reading the right internet marketing business reviews, and learning how to spot a scam.
Internet marketing business reviews can come from multiple sources, but a general rule of thumb is to keep an eye out for a general consensus amongst the reviewers. There are many issues that may come into play in terms of Internet marketing business reviews. Some reviews may use testimonials to attempt to create more realistic tone. When reading internet marketing business reviews, it is important to maintain a clear focus so as to understand the actuality of what the review says and not just the spin.
A knowledge business can be a wonderful home based business idea for a number of reasons, for example, start-up costs can be very low, the business can be started part-time and develop into a full-time venture, you will be dealing with topics that you know and love by integrating your passion and the last point is the most successful home based business idea is based on a particular person's passion.
About The Author
Tsuyoshi E. Suzuki is an Expert Internet Network Marketer. Discover How To Build Up 1,000+ Downline. Generate Your Own MLM lead for FREE! Find out the best MLM business opportunity. The Dirty Truth about MLM Marketing that You Don't Know. Get FREE Report Now! Go to ==> http://www.HappyMLM.com
5 Strategies for Selling in a Tough Market
by: Gavin Ingham
1. Believe you can and stay positive!
One of the problems with all of this talk about recession is that once people believe there is going to be a recession they start to feel negative about their business prospects and only tend to see what they believe rather than believing what they see. Once you believe that there is going to be a recession you tend to only notice articles, comments and statistics that support your beliefs.
What's more, your negative beliefs quickly affect your outlook and the way that you feel about your business prospects.
If you thought 2008 was going to be a great year for business, your best year yet; how would you feel?
Conversely, if you thought 2008 was going to see a major recession and that it was going to hit you and your business hard; how would you feel?
Mighty different huh? And remember, nothing's changed here other than your belief. Having a positive and supportive belief structure is essential if you want to succeed in any market but it is vitally essential if you want to keep on selling in a tough one.
Having a winning belief system does not mean that you need to be deluded however! In the middle of the darkest recession you don't want to have your eyes shut! But you have to understand that in a downturn clients want to partner with the best companies. Suppliers that they can rely on. Suppliers that support them. Suppliers who are going to be around tomorrow. And if your competitors struggle, that means more sales and more business for you.
2. Get proactive
You need to be more proactive. Much more proactive. You need to do more marketing and more selling. You need to attend more events and do more networking. You need to do more promotion and more canvassing. You need to increase your sales activities, maybe dramatically.
In a recession many companies cut their sales activites. They figure, "If we're not going to sell anything, what's the point?" Many individual salespeople do this too.
Cut your activity, cut your sales. You're a living, breathing, self-fulfilling prophecy! You believe there is not much business out there, so you feel negative. That in turn affects your activity and your activity destroys your sales results.
Even if there is not as much business out there, then you need to be more active, more focused and more targeted. If your competitors are easing off a little, now is the time to up the anti and grab your share of the market. Even if there is a blip, you will be strongly placed when activity picks up.
One of my friends went down to our local estate agent this week to put his house on the market. He was told that maybe he should wait as he might not get the price he wants right now. They told him the market was quiet and that might not be able to sell the house at all. Better to wait for the market to pick up. I walked past their offices later on that day. They were all sitting, chatting and drinking coffee. They were probably moaning about what a bad year it's going to be. If I's have been in that office, I'd have taken my mates house on and I'd have been on the phone drumming up some viewings. 50 calls, 100, calls, 500 calls... Whatever it takes. I'd have found someone.
Talk about killing your own market! If you see less business then you need to do more sales and marketing, not less. That's common sense.
3. Sharpen your sales skills
If a workman needs a spade and a farmer needs a horse; a boxer needs a defence and a chef needs a recipe; what do salespeople need? The answer's obvious - it's sales skills.
Most salespeople do not spend enough time working on improving their sales skills and techniques. Sales training and development is not something that many salespeople spend their time on out of choice. Perhaps they can get away with this in a booming marrket when sales are easy. Perhaps not. But things will always change if the market tightens. Sales success will go to the salesperson who really understands why people buy and can help people make the right business decisions. Salespeople of this calibre stand to benefit from possible changes ahead because there will be more business for them as their competition falls by the wayside.
Sales will not go to the journeyman salesperson, the mediocre wannabee or the 9-5 order taker. Salespeople like these could well be in for a rough time.
When did you last read a sales training book on selling? How many sales training audios have you listened to over the last month? How many sales training seminars have you atteneded in the last 6 months? For 80% of salespeople reading this, the answer is zero.
4. Improve your service and focus on relationships
As I write this many companies will be working out how to cut corners. They will try to save money by tinkering with their business offerings. They will try and eek extra profits out of their clients by cutting the bells and whistles from their offerings. This is not a good idea. A Swiss cow with no bells is just a cow and no-one would send postcards of them home!
If business is tight you want to be wowing your clients with the best service that they have ever had, from you or from any of your competitors. You need to be going the extra mile. If a recession bites many companies will try and discount to survive. They probably won't (survive), but you don't want your clients going to them as they try to keep their heads above water! You need to "lock in" your existing clients now so that they won't even think about going anywhere else.
Spend time with your clients. Build stronger relationships with your clients. Make sure you truly understand them, their concerns and their businesses. Find ways to help them and add value over and above what they could have ever expected.
5. Leverage your efforts
In a soft market many salespeople only chase the easy stuff. They don't chase the tough stuff. They're doing ok, they don't have to. They're making sales right?
Wrong.
Most salespeople have all sorts of opportunities which they squander every day and every month because there are seemingly easier things that they can be doing. This is particularly true in an industry or a company where leads have been relatively easy to come by, where sales targets are relatively soft (I could tell you which industries but I'm not going to) or where salespeople are overpaid so don't crave the business (again, I'll keep this to myself!).
In a tough market you must leverage all of your efforts. This is basic sales 101 and should be stuff that you do every day anyway... Here are just a few ideas.
Always ask for referrals. Referrals are great business but most salespeople do not ask for them because clients often say no. Learn how to ask for a referral properly and then build asking for a referral into your sales process and ask for one every time.
Upsell and cross-sell. Whether though laziness, lack of knowledge or lack of ability many salespeople sit on accounts where there is so much more business than they are currently leveraging. Extending your business with existing clients will not only make you more money, it will also strengthen your relationships with and value to them and their businesses.
Contact dormant accounts. Most companies have hundreds if not thousands of "dormant" accounts. There may be multiple reasons for this from changing business practises to fall-outs with the client. Dormant clients may well be redeemable and may have been "lost" purely because someone forgot to ring them or a salesperson moved on. Get in touch with them!
Follow up on all leads. I recently contacted 5 health insurance companies over the web. Only one replied. You should not be burning leads like this in any market. Follow up on all leads professionally using a proven sales system like the ones I teach in my sales training seminars and programmes and you will close more business. New business is the lifeblood of any business in any market.
So there we are, 5 tips to help you to sell in a recssion. This year may well prove to be an interesting year for some businesses and individuals. Some of this will be down to the market itself. Much of it will be down to you and how you react and respond to what might be a challenging year.
Here's my prediction for the year...
There will be winners and there will be losers. Which are you going to be?
Copyright (c) 2008 Gavin Ingham
About The Author
Gavin Ingham
For more powerful personal development articles visit http://www.gaviningham.com now.
1. Believe you can and stay positive!
One of the problems with all of this talk about recession is that once people believe there is going to be a recession they start to feel negative about their business prospects and only tend to see what they believe rather than believing what they see. Once you believe that there is going to be a recession you tend to only notice articles, comments and statistics that support your beliefs.
What's more, your negative beliefs quickly affect your outlook and the way that you feel about your business prospects.
If you thought 2008 was going to be a great year for business, your best year yet; how would you feel?
Conversely, if you thought 2008 was going to see a major recession and that it was going to hit you and your business hard; how would you feel?
Mighty different huh? And remember, nothing's changed here other than your belief. Having a positive and supportive belief structure is essential if you want to succeed in any market but it is vitally essential if you want to keep on selling in a tough one.
Having a winning belief system does not mean that you need to be deluded however! In the middle of the darkest recession you don't want to have your eyes shut! But you have to understand that in a downturn clients want to partner with the best companies. Suppliers that they can rely on. Suppliers that support them. Suppliers who are going to be around tomorrow. And if your competitors struggle, that means more sales and more business for you.
2. Get proactive
You need to be more proactive. Much more proactive. You need to do more marketing and more selling. You need to attend more events and do more networking. You need to do more promotion and more canvassing. You need to increase your sales activities, maybe dramatically.
In a recession many companies cut their sales activites. They figure, "If we're not going to sell anything, what's the point?" Many individual salespeople do this too.
Cut your activity, cut your sales. You're a living, breathing, self-fulfilling prophecy! You believe there is not much business out there, so you feel negative. That in turn affects your activity and your activity destroys your sales results.
Even if there is not as much business out there, then you need to be more active, more focused and more targeted. If your competitors are easing off a little, now is the time to up the anti and grab your share of the market. Even if there is a blip, you will be strongly placed when activity picks up.
One of my friends went down to our local estate agent this week to put his house on the market. He was told that maybe he should wait as he might not get the price he wants right now. They told him the market was quiet and that might not be able to sell the house at all. Better to wait for the market to pick up. I walked past their offices later on that day. They were all sitting, chatting and drinking coffee. They were probably moaning about what a bad year it's going to be. If I's have been in that office, I'd have taken my mates house on and I'd have been on the phone drumming up some viewings. 50 calls, 100, calls, 500 calls... Whatever it takes. I'd have found someone.
Talk about killing your own market! If you see less business then you need to do more sales and marketing, not less. That's common sense.
3. Sharpen your sales skills
If a workman needs a spade and a farmer needs a horse; a boxer needs a defence and a chef needs a recipe; what do salespeople need? The answer's obvious - it's sales skills.
Most salespeople do not spend enough time working on improving their sales skills and techniques. Sales training and development is not something that many salespeople spend their time on out of choice. Perhaps they can get away with this in a booming marrket when sales are easy. Perhaps not. But things will always change if the market tightens. Sales success will go to the salesperson who really understands why people buy and can help people make the right business decisions. Salespeople of this calibre stand to benefit from possible changes ahead because there will be more business for them as their competition falls by the wayside.
Sales will not go to the journeyman salesperson, the mediocre wannabee or the 9-5 order taker. Salespeople like these could well be in for a rough time.
When did you last read a sales training book on selling? How many sales training audios have you listened to over the last month? How many sales training seminars have you atteneded in the last 6 months? For 80% of salespeople reading this, the answer is zero.
4. Improve your service and focus on relationships
As I write this many companies will be working out how to cut corners. They will try to save money by tinkering with their business offerings. They will try and eek extra profits out of their clients by cutting the bells and whistles from their offerings. This is not a good idea. A Swiss cow with no bells is just a cow and no-one would send postcards of them home!
If business is tight you want to be wowing your clients with the best service that they have ever had, from you or from any of your competitors. You need to be going the extra mile. If a recession bites many companies will try and discount to survive. They probably won't (survive), but you don't want your clients going to them as they try to keep their heads above water! You need to "lock in" your existing clients now so that they won't even think about going anywhere else.
Spend time with your clients. Build stronger relationships with your clients. Make sure you truly understand them, their concerns and their businesses. Find ways to help them and add value over and above what they could have ever expected.
5. Leverage your efforts
In a soft market many salespeople only chase the easy stuff. They don't chase the tough stuff. They're doing ok, they don't have to. They're making sales right?
Wrong.
Most salespeople have all sorts of opportunities which they squander every day and every month because there are seemingly easier things that they can be doing. This is particularly true in an industry or a company where leads have been relatively easy to come by, where sales targets are relatively soft (I could tell you which industries but I'm not going to) or where salespeople are overpaid so don't crave the business (again, I'll keep this to myself!).
In a tough market you must leverage all of your efforts. This is basic sales 101 and should be stuff that you do every day anyway... Here are just a few ideas.
Always ask for referrals. Referrals are great business but most salespeople do not ask for them because clients often say no. Learn how to ask for a referral properly and then build asking for a referral into your sales process and ask for one every time.
Upsell and cross-sell. Whether though laziness, lack of knowledge or lack of ability many salespeople sit on accounts where there is so much more business than they are currently leveraging. Extending your business with existing clients will not only make you more money, it will also strengthen your relationships with and value to them and their businesses.
Contact dormant accounts. Most companies have hundreds if not thousands of "dormant" accounts. There may be multiple reasons for this from changing business practises to fall-outs with the client. Dormant clients may well be redeemable and may have been "lost" purely because someone forgot to ring them or a salesperson moved on. Get in touch with them!
Follow up on all leads. I recently contacted 5 health insurance companies over the web. Only one replied. You should not be burning leads like this in any market. Follow up on all leads professionally using a proven sales system like the ones I teach in my sales training seminars and programmes and you will close more business. New business is the lifeblood of any business in any market.
So there we are, 5 tips to help you to sell in a recssion. This year may well prove to be an interesting year for some businesses and individuals. Some of this will be down to the market itself. Much of it will be down to you and how you react and respond to what might be a challenging year.
Here's my prediction for the year...
There will be winners and there will be losers. Which are you going to be?
Copyright (c) 2008 Gavin Ingham
About The Author
Gavin Ingham
For more powerful personal development articles visit http://www.gaviningham.com now.
Is It Possible To Create An Impossible Business?
Consultants, coaches, and other service professionals often start a business believing that all they need to do is charge a "reasonable" fee and sell "enough" of their time. Consultants hope to get an edge by claiming to be the fastest, best, or most experienced.
Tired superlatives in proposal include: Most, Superior, Best, Maximum, Optimal, Minimum, Fastest, Unsurpassed, Shortest, Unrivaled, Easiest, Highest, Least, Unique, clients routinely ignore such claims as unproven hype.
Nothing is intrinsically wrong with any of the preceding words, and we all use them in spoken and written communication (for example, "This is the fastest way to do that.") But in proposals, they are suspect, and you should use them sparingly, if at all. It's easy to think that any business can be successful if you work hard enough, but there are many situations where this just isn't so. But unless you do the math to prove or disprove your assumptions, you may be creating a business that can never succeed. Here's what can happen:
*Impossible Business #1 *Nancy was selling her services as an image consultant to individuals who wanted an updated or more professional look. She charged $75 per hour, which she thought was the most anyone would realistically pay to work with her. In most cases, she traveled to a client's home or went shopping with her client.
Including travel time and lunch meant that Nancy could only make two appointments in one day. The average appointment was two hours long. So the maximum amount Nancy could earn in one day turned out to be $300. But in order to earn that amount five days per week, Nancy would have to schedule ten different clients, all of whose schedules were able to adapt to whatever times she had available.
This was hopelessly unrealistic. Even if Nancy had been able to make the scheduling work, when would she have had the time to do the marketing required to land that many clients? It turned out that the maximum Nancy could really earn using this model was about $750 per week. After paying her taxes, she couldn't even cover her monthly living expenses
*Impossible Business #2 *Tom is a student who works as a software consultant for midsize company._ _ . He typically charged $80 per hour, and when he landed a contract, it often consisted of 25-100 billable hours.
Because Tom's earning capacity was so high and he disliked marketing, he spent a lot of money on marketing himself indirectly. He purchased display ads in industry journals and directories, mailed expensive brochures to large lists of prospects, paid to exhibit at trade shows, and hired a telemarketer to prospect for him. Tom also worked on contracts that came through agencies, who often took 25-35% of his earnings as their percentage.
Tom is earning as much as $90,000 per year, but he was losing about $15,000 per year in agency commissions, and spending $25,000 per year on marketing. In return for all his hard work, he was earning considerably less than he had at his last job.
*Making the Impossible Possible *New consultants, coaches, and other professionals almost always overestimate how much they can earn and underestimate the amount of time and money required to successfully market themselves. They also forget that they will have to cover not only their living costs and business expenses, but pay self-employment tax, buy their own health insurance, provide for their own retirement, and allow for unpaid vacation and sick time.
If Nancy or Tom had taken the time to sit down with a calculator before starting out in business, they would have quickly discovered that they were on the wrong track. But both of these businesses were able to be rescued.
Molly began selling her time by the day instead of by the hour. She offered her clients a full-day package that consisted of a wardrobe review and consultation in the morning and a shopping trip in the afternoon. By charging $400 per day and scheduling three clients per week, she could earn more than double than she did previously.
She also began offering a monthly one-day image workshop as a way of bringing in more income while giving prospective clients a chance to experience her work. The workshop became her main source of new clients, and marketing the workshop turned out to be easier than marketing her personal services.
Tom learned how to market himself less expensively through networking, speaking, and writing articles. Instead of buying booths at trade shows, he was showcased there as a presenter, and spent time networking with the other attendees. The same publications where he used to run ads now ran his articles. Rather than paying a telemarketer, he started picking up the lunch tab for people he thought could refer him some business.
As a result, his expenses for marketing and commissions dropped from $35,000 per year to $15,000. At the same time, his income rose to $125,000 per year, because as his visibility and reputation grew, his services were more in demand and he could command higher rates.
If earning a decent living as a self-employed professional sometimes seems impossible to you, start asking how it could be possible. What can you change about how you are marketing yourself, how much you are charging, and how you are packaging your services? While it could be that success will come if you just work a little harder, it's more likely that you first need to start working a little differently
About The Author
Jonathan Haryanto is owner of http://SpeedyOnlineProfit.com and writes on a variety of subjects. To learn more about this topic Jonathan recommends you visit: http://www.SpeedyOnlineProfit.com
Tired superlatives in proposal include: Most, Superior, Best, Maximum, Optimal, Minimum, Fastest, Unsurpassed, Shortest, Unrivaled, Easiest, Highest, Least, Unique, clients routinely ignore such claims as unproven hype.
Nothing is intrinsically wrong with any of the preceding words, and we all use them in spoken and written communication (for example, "This is the fastest way to do that.") But in proposals, they are suspect, and you should use them sparingly, if at all. It's easy to think that any business can be successful if you work hard enough, but there are many situations where this just isn't so. But unless you do the math to prove or disprove your assumptions, you may be creating a business that can never succeed. Here's what can happen:
*Impossible Business #1 *Nancy was selling her services as an image consultant to individuals who wanted an updated or more professional look. She charged $75 per hour, which she thought was the most anyone would realistically pay to work with her. In most cases, she traveled to a client's home or went shopping with her client.
Including travel time and lunch meant that Nancy could only make two appointments in one day. The average appointment was two hours long. So the maximum amount Nancy could earn in one day turned out to be $300. But in order to earn that amount five days per week, Nancy would have to schedule ten different clients, all of whose schedules were able to adapt to whatever times she had available.
This was hopelessly unrealistic. Even if Nancy had been able to make the scheduling work, when would she have had the time to do the marketing required to land that many clients? It turned out that the maximum Nancy could really earn using this model was about $750 per week. After paying her taxes, she couldn't even cover her monthly living expenses
*Impossible Business #2 *Tom is a student who works as a software consultant for midsize company._ _ . He typically charged $80 per hour, and when he landed a contract, it often consisted of 25-100 billable hours.
Because Tom's earning capacity was so high and he disliked marketing, he spent a lot of money on marketing himself indirectly. He purchased display ads in industry journals and directories, mailed expensive brochures to large lists of prospects, paid to exhibit at trade shows, and hired a telemarketer to prospect for him. Tom also worked on contracts that came through agencies, who often took 25-35% of his earnings as their percentage.
Tom is earning as much as $90,000 per year, but he was losing about $15,000 per year in agency commissions, and spending $25,000 per year on marketing. In return for all his hard work, he was earning considerably less than he had at his last job.
*Making the Impossible Possible *New consultants, coaches, and other professionals almost always overestimate how much they can earn and underestimate the amount of time and money required to successfully market themselves. They also forget that they will have to cover not only their living costs and business expenses, but pay self-employment tax, buy their own health insurance, provide for their own retirement, and allow for unpaid vacation and sick time.
If Nancy or Tom had taken the time to sit down with a calculator before starting out in business, they would have quickly discovered that they were on the wrong track. But both of these businesses were able to be rescued.
Molly began selling her time by the day instead of by the hour. She offered her clients a full-day package that consisted of a wardrobe review and consultation in the morning and a shopping trip in the afternoon. By charging $400 per day and scheduling three clients per week, she could earn more than double than she did previously.
She also began offering a monthly one-day image workshop as a way of bringing in more income while giving prospective clients a chance to experience her work. The workshop became her main source of new clients, and marketing the workshop turned out to be easier than marketing her personal services.
Tom learned how to market himself less expensively through networking, speaking, and writing articles. Instead of buying booths at trade shows, he was showcased there as a presenter, and spent time networking with the other attendees. The same publications where he used to run ads now ran his articles. Rather than paying a telemarketer, he started picking up the lunch tab for people he thought could refer him some business.
As a result, his expenses for marketing and commissions dropped from $35,000 per year to $15,000. At the same time, his income rose to $125,000 per year, because as his visibility and reputation grew, his services were more in demand and he could command higher rates.
If earning a decent living as a self-employed professional sometimes seems impossible to you, start asking how it could be possible. What can you change about how you are marketing yourself, how much you are charging, and how you are packaging your services? While it could be that success will come if you just work a little harder, it's more likely that you first need to start working a little differently
About The Author
Jonathan Haryanto is owner of http://SpeedyOnlineProfit.com and writes on a variety of subjects. To learn more about this topic Jonathan recommends you visit: http://www.SpeedyOnlineProfit.com
How To Write A Successful Business Plan
by: Jason Kay
Whether you are planning to start a brand-new business, expand an existing company, or get financing for a business venture, you will need to write a business plan. A business plan not only lends your business a sense of credibility, but also helps you to cover all your bases, increasing your chances of success.
Although writing a business plan can be a lengthy, intimidating project, it is not necessarily difficult. Here is an overview of how to write a successful business plan.
What to Include in Your Business Plan
Your business plan needs to demonstrate that you have thoroughly considered all aspects of running your business. To that end, the standard business plan has nine major sections, covering everything from your business’s mission statement to a detailed financial analysis.
Executive Summary
The first – and most important – section of your business plan is the executive summary. This section is so important that it should literally be the first thing the reader sees – even before the table of contents! However, it should also be written last, as you’ll have a better understanding of the overall message of your business plan after you’ve researched and written the other sections.
One of the most important parts of the executive summary is the mission statement. The mission statement is only three or four sentences long, but it should pack the most punch out of everything else in your business plan: Those four sentences are responsible for not only defining your business, but also capturing the interest of your reader.
The rest of your executive summary should fill in the important details that the mission statement glosses over. For instance, your executive summary should include a short history of the business, including founder profiles and start date; a current snapshot, listing locations, numbers of employees, and products or services offered; and a summary of future plans and goals.
This section is a candidate for a bulleted format, which allows you to list main points in a manner that is easy to scan. Avoid using too much detail – remember, this section is a summary. A page or two is usually sufficient for an executive summary.
Market Analysis
The next section of your business plan focuses on market analysis. In order to show that your business has a reasonable chance for success, you will need to thoroughly research the industry and the market you intend to sell to. No bank or investor is going to back a doomed venture, so this section is sure to fall under especially close scrutiny if you are looking for financing.
Your market analysis should describe your industry, including the size, growth rate, and trends that could affect the industry. This section should also describe your target market – that is, the type or group of customers that your company intends to serve. The description of your target market should include detail such as:
• Distinguishing characteristics
• The needs your company or product line will meet
• What media and/or marketing methods you’ll use to reach them
• What percentage of your target market you expect to be able to wrest away from your competitors
In addition, your market analysis should include the results of any market tests you have done, and an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors.
Company Description
After your market analysis, your business plan will need to include a description of your company. This section should describe:
• The nature of your business
• The needs of the market
• How your business will meet these needs
• Your target market, including specific individuals and/or organizations
• The factors that set you apart from your competition and make you likely to succeed
Although some of these things overlap with the previous section, they are still necessary parts of your company description. Each section of your business plan should have the ability to stand on its own if need be. In other words, the company description should thoroughly describe your company, even if certain aspects are covered in other sections.
Organization and Management
Once you have described the nature and purpose of your company, you will need to explain your staff setup. This section should include:
• The division of labor – how company processes are divided among the staff
• The management hierarchy
• Profiles of the company’s owner(s), management personnel, and the Board of Directors
• Employee incentives, such as salary, benefits packages, and bonuses
This goal of this section is to demonstrate not only good organization within the company, but also the ability to create loyalty in your employees. Long-term employees minimize human resource costs and increase a business’s chances for success, so banks and investors will want to see that you have an effective system in place for maintaining your staff.
Marketing and Sales Management
The purpose of the marketing and sales section of your business plan is to outline your strategies for marketing your products or services. This section also plans for company growth by describing how the growth could take place.
The section should describe your company’s:
• Marketing methods
• Distributions methods
• Type of sales force
• Sales activities
• Growth strategies
Product or Services
Following the marketing section of your business plan, you will need a section focusing on the product or services your business offers. This is more than a simple description of your product or services, though. You will also need to include:
• The specific benefits your product or service offers customers
• The specific needs of the market, and how your product will meet them
• The advantages your product has over your competitors
• Any copyright, trade secret, or patent information pertaining to your product
• Where any new products or services are in the research and development process
• Current industry research that you could use in the development of products and services
Funding Request
Only once you have described your business from head to toe are you ready to detail your funding needs. This section should include everything a bank or investor needs in order to understand what type of funding you want:
• How much money you need now
• How much money you think you will need over the next five years
• How the money you borrow will be used
• How long you will need funding
• What type of funding you want (i.e. loans, investors, etc.)
• Any other terms you want the funding arrangement to include
Financials
The financials section in your business plan supports your request for outside funding. This section provides an analysis of your company’s prospective financial success. The section also details your company’s financial track record for the past three to five years, unless you are seeking financing for a startup business.
The financials section should include:
• Company income statements for prior years
• Balance sheets for prior years
• Cash flow statements for prior years
• Forecasted company income statements
• Forecasted balance sheets
• Forecasted cash flow statements
• Projections for the next five years – every month or quarter for the first year, with longer intervals for the remaining years
• Collateral you can use to secure a loan
The financials section is a great place to include visuals such as graphs, particularly if you predict a positive trend in your projected financials. A graph allows the reader to quickly take in this information, and may do a better job of encouraging a bank or investor to finance your business. However, be sure that the amount of financing you are requesting is in keeping with your projected financials – no matter how impressive your projections are, if you are asking for more money than is warranted, no bank or investor will give it to you.
Appendices
The appendix is the final section in your business plan. Essentially, this is where you put all of the information that doesn’t fit in the other eight sections, but that someone – particularly a bank or investor – might need to see.
For instance, the market analysis section of your business plan may list the results of market studies you have done as part of your market research. Rather than listing the details of the studies in that section, where they will appear cumbersome and detract from the flow of your business plan, you can provide this information in an appendix.
Other information that should be relegated to an appendix includes:
• Credit histories for both you and your business
• Letters of reference
• References that have bearing on your company and your product or service, such as magazines or books on the topic
• Company licenses and patents
• Copies of contracts, leases, and other legal documents
• Resumes of your top managers
• Names of business consultants, such as your accountant and attorney
Writing a Successful Business Plan
Despite the quantity of information contained in your business plan, it should be laid out in a format that is easy to read. Just like with any piece of business writing, it is important to craft your business plan with your intended audience in mind – and the bankers, investors, and other busy professionals who will read your business plan almost certainly won’t have time to read a tedious document with long-winded paragraphs and large blocks of text.
Business plans for startup companies and company expansions are typically between twenty to forty pages long, but formatting actually accounts for a lot of this length. A strong business plan uses bullet points throughout to break up long sections and highlight its main points. Visuals such as tables and charts are also used to quickly relay specific information, such as trends in sales and other financial information. These techniques ensure that the reader can skim the business plan quickly and efficiently.
Think of your audience as only having fifteen minutes to spend on each business plan that comes across their desks. In that fifteen minutes, you not only have to relay your most important points, but also convince the reader that your business venture merits a financial investment. Your best bet is a well-researched business plan, with an organized, easy-to-read format and clear, confident prose.
About The Author
Jason Kay is a former professional business plan writer and provides business start up advice. He contributes to business magazines and websites such as http://BudgetBusinessPlans.com, which provides business plan writing services and business plan samples.
Whether you are planning to start a brand-new business, expand an existing company, or get financing for a business venture, you will need to write a business plan. A business plan not only lends your business a sense of credibility, but also helps you to cover all your bases, increasing your chances of success.
Although writing a business plan can be a lengthy, intimidating project, it is not necessarily difficult. Here is an overview of how to write a successful business plan.
What to Include in Your Business Plan
Your business plan needs to demonstrate that you have thoroughly considered all aspects of running your business. To that end, the standard business plan has nine major sections, covering everything from your business’s mission statement to a detailed financial analysis.
Executive Summary
The first – and most important – section of your business plan is the executive summary. This section is so important that it should literally be the first thing the reader sees – even before the table of contents! However, it should also be written last, as you’ll have a better understanding of the overall message of your business plan after you’ve researched and written the other sections.
One of the most important parts of the executive summary is the mission statement. The mission statement is only three or four sentences long, but it should pack the most punch out of everything else in your business plan: Those four sentences are responsible for not only defining your business, but also capturing the interest of your reader.
The rest of your executive summary should fill in the important details that the mission statement glosses over. For instance, your executive summary should include a short history of the business, including founder profiles and start date; a current snapshot, listing locations, numbers of employees, and products or services offered; and a summary of future plans and goals.
This section is a candidate for a bulleted format, which allows you to list main points in a manner that is easy to scan. Avoid using too much detail – remember, this section is a summary. A page or two is usually sufficient for an executive summary.
Market Analysis
The next section of your business plan focuses on market analysis. In order to show that your business has a reasonable chance for success, you will need to thoroughly research the industry and the market you intend to sell to. No bank or investor is going to back a doomed venture, so this section is sure to fall under especially close scrutiny if you are looking for financing.
Your market analysis should describe your industry, including the size, growth rate, and trends that could affect the industry. This section should also describe your target market – that is, the type or group of customers that your company intends to serve. The description of your target market should include detail such as:
• Distinguishing characteristics
• The needs your company or product line will meet
• What media and/or marketing methods you’ll use to reach them
• What percentage of your target market you expect to be able to wrest away from your competitors
In addition, your market analysis should include the results of any market tests you have done, and an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors.
Company Description
After your market analysis, your business plan will need to include a description of your company. This section should describe:
• The nature of your business
• The needs of the market
• How your business will meet these needs
• Your target market, including specific individuals and/or organizations
• The factors that set you apart from your competition and make you likely to succeed
Although some of these things overlap with the previous section, they are still necessary parts of your company description. Each section of your business plan should have the ability to stand on its own if need be. In other words, the company description should thoroughly describe your company, even if certain aspects are covered in other sections.
Organization and Management
Once you have described the nature and purpose of your company, you will need to explain your staff setup. This section should include:
• The division of labor – how company processes are divided among the staff
• The management hierarchy
• Profiles of the company’s owner(s), management personnel, and the Board of Directors
• Employee incentives, such as salary, benefits packages, and bonuses
This goal of this section is to demonstrate not only good organization within the company, but also the ability to create loyalty in your employees. Long-term employees minimize human resource costs and increase a business’s chances for success, so banks and investors will want to see that you have an effective system in place for maintaining your staff.
Marketing and Sales Management
The purpose of the marketing and sales section of your business plan is to outline your strategies for marketing your products or services. This section also plans for company growth by describing how the growth could take place.
The section should describe your company’s:
• Marketing methods
• Distributions methods
• Type of sales force
• Sales activities
• Growth strategies
Product or Services
Following the marketing section of your business plan, you will need a section focusing on the product or services your business offers. This is more than a simple description of your product or services, though. You will also need to include:
• The specific benefits your product or service offers customers
• The specific needs of the market, and how your product will meet them
• The advantages your product has over your competitors
• Any copyright, trade secret, or patent information pertaining to your product
• Where any new products or services are in the research and development process
• Current industry research that you could use in the development of products and services
Funding Request
Only once you have described your business from head to toe are you ready to detail your funding needs. This section should include everything a bank or investor needs in order to understand what type of funding you want:
• How much money you need now
• How much money you think you will need over the next five years
• How the money you borrow will be used
• How long you will need funding
• What type of funding you want (i.e. loans, investors, etc.)
• Any other terms you want the funding arrangement to include
Financials
The financials section in your business plan supports your request for outside funding. This section provides an analysis of your company’s prospective financial success. The section also details your company’s financial track record for the past three to five years, unless you are seeking financing for a startup business.
The financials section should include:
• Company income statements for prior years
• Balance sheets for prior years
• Cash flow statements for prior years
• Forecasted company income statements
• Forecasted balance sheets
• Forecasted cash flow statements
• Projections for the next five years – every month or quarter for the first year, with longer intervals for the remaining years
• Collateral you can use to secure a loan
The financials section is a great place to include visuals such as graphs, particularly if you predict a positive trend in your projected financials. A graph allows the reader to quickly take in this information, and may do a better job of encouraging a bank or investor to finance your business. However, be sure that the amount of financing you are requesting is in keeping with your projected financials – no matter how impressive your projections are, if you are asking for more money than is warranted, no bank or investor will give it to you.
Appendices
The appendix is the final section in your business plan. Essentially, this is where you put all of the information that doesn’t fit in the other eight sections, but that someone – particularly a bank or investor – might need to see.
For instance, the market analysis section of your business plan may list the results of market studies you have done as part of your market research. Rather than listing the details of the studies in that section, where they will appear cumbersome and detract from the flow of your business plan, you can provide this information in an appendix.
Other information that should be relegated to an appendix includes:
• Credit histories for both you and your business
• Letters of reference
• References that have bearing on your company and your product or service, such as magazines or books on the topic
• Company licenses and patents
• Copies of contracts, leases, and other legal documents
• Resumes of your top managers
• Names of business consultants, such as your accountant and attorney
Writing a Successful Business Plan
Despite the quantity of information contained in your business plan, it should be laid out in a format that is easy to read. Just like with any piece of business writing, it is important to craft your business plan with your intended audience in mind – and the bankers, investors, and other busy professionals who will read your business plan almost certainly won’t have time to read a tedious document with long-winded paragraphs and large blocks of text.
Business plans for startup companies and company expansions are typically between twenty to forty pages long, but formatting actually accounts for a lot of this length. A strong business plan uses bullet points throughout to break up long sections and highlight its main points. Visuals such as tables and charts are also used to quickly relay specific information, such as trends in sales and other financial information. These techniques ensure that the reader can skim the business plan quickly and efficiently.
Think of your audience as only having fifteen minutes to spend on each business plan that comes across their desks. In that fifteen minutes, you not only have to relay your most important points, but also convince the reader that your business venture merits a financial investment. Your best bet is a well-researched business plan, with an organized, easy-to-read format and clear, confident prose.
About The Author
Jason Kay is a former professional business plan writer and provides business start up advice. He contributes to business magazines and websites such as http://BudgetBusinessPlans.com, which provides business plan writing services and business plan samples.
Cutting Cost Tips Every Small Business Owner Should Know
Develop a Clear Mission Statement
One of the most important steps is one most business owners consider obvious – but few truly do thoroughly. Make sure that your business plan is simple, clear, and workable before you invest your capital. Have you planned out the next five years intensively? In how much detail? The more narrowly, specifically, and intelligently you articulate your business mission, the easier it will be for you to construct a cost effective budget and to keep your company in the black.
Search for Used/Free/Discounted Equipment
When you're establishing a new company, you need not indulge in purchases of state-of-the-art furniture, Aeron chairs, and a slate of the latest company iPhones. Indeed, you can save yourself tremendous upfront capital by finding great deals on used/give-away office furniture and equipment. Businesses selling used or cheap equipment are becoming more widespread, and there are many resources online. For instance, Craigslist, a national internet site, posts hundreds of ads for used/cheap furniture every day.
You can also remodel used furniture yourself to save money. An old beat-up wooden table, for instance, can be transformed into a semi luxury furnishing with just a little sanding and painting. You can also call offices in your area to find out whether or not they might let you have or lease furniture at a discounted rate.
To keep costs low, figure out exactly what you need, and only get those items. Psychological studies show that shoppers who make lists and stick to them spend less.
Reduce Your Use of Mail: Increase Your Use of Email
While the US Postal System, FedEx, and other major carriers do a grand job delivering for small businesses, these services can get quite expensive, particularly if you use them regularly or ship bulk materials. Cutting out paperwork can make filing easier, save on staff resources, and cut your postage costs.
If you do convert your business records and transactions to “virtual transactions,” however, be sure to keep duplicate records. You can get accounts through sites likes Yahoo! and Google to store business emails online for free. You should also create a ghost copy of your hard drive to back up critical data.
Negotiate Costs with Vendors and Clients Whenever Possible -- Don’t Be Shy
Just because your small business doesn’t qualify for bulk discounts doesn’t mean you can’t use your status as a “lean and mean” organization to your benefit. You may be able to get better deals on supplies by paying early, agreeing to a long-term contract with a supplier, or simply by hard-nosed negotiating. Frankly, one of the best ways to get a good deal is simply to ask. Know your market’s prices before you make offers – you obviously want to neither insult vendors nor overpay. To bone up on how to negotiate better, read books on the psychology of negotiation. Dr. Robert Cialdini’s book “Influence” is a classic in the field.
Shop for Insurance
A good insurance plan can not only protect your business from potentially catastrophic contingencies but can also give you leverage to grow your company. Research what you minimally need before you shop policies. Business owners can choose from literally dozens of types of policies, and every business owner’s needs will be different. Talk to several neutral sources before pricing plans.
Limit Your Energy Use
With oil prices spiking and the energy markets uncertain, you can’t afford not to consider the costs of fuel and power. There are many ways to reduce your consumption of energy without compromising your business model. Use fans instead of central air to keep your building cool during the summer. Replace traditional light bulbs with energy efficient bulbs (those odd, corkscrew-shaped bulbs you see at the hardware store). Energy saving bulbs can slash your energy costs, and they last much longer, too. If possible, do business out of your home to reduce the amount of gas you burn driving to and from the office.
Budget Conservatively
As a small business, you likely don’t have a huge margin of error. Budget brutally and honestly. Figure out your company’s assets and its anticipated liabilities. It’s natural to be optimistic about the future of your business. However, if you set your expectations at a modified level, you'll have a far greater chance of staying within budget and thus succeeding. Be mindful of the fact that you may have to survive several months without making a profit in order to get your company up and running. Budget both your personal and business expenses carefully in preparation. You can use a number of support systems to improve/refine your budget as you go, including professional accounting consultants and top end software.
Learn From Other Successful Small Business Owners
By forging relationships with other like-minded entrepreneurs, you will simultaneously network and get feedback on key tactical issues which may arise as you move forward with your business plan. You may be entitled to a multitude of excellent tax write-offs. You may also qualify for discounts at bulk big box retailers like Costco and Sam's Club. Subscribe to trade journals to find discounts and tips to get around fees and other business hassles.
Barter For Services
By trading for discounts you not only save money, you also build brand loyalty with potential vendors. If, for instance, you are starting up a web graphic service, you can likely trade your expertise for discounts on shipping, equipment, and other future favors. You may also be able to offer additional services to your clients to lower costs and build relationships.
Metro Hi Speed is a leader in Internet fax solutions for any sized business. Less expensive and more reliable than traditional fax services – you'll enjoy the convenience and well as the cost. Visit us today for more information on our small business and corporate fax solutions.
One of the most important steps is one most business owners consider obvious – but few truly do thoroughly. Make sure that your business plan is simple, clear, and workable before you invest your capital. Have you planned out the next five years intensively? In how much detail? The more narrowly, specifically, and intelligently you articulate your business mission, the easier it will be for you to construct a cost effective budget and to keep your company in the black.
Search for Used/Free/Discounted Equipment
When you're establishing a new company, you need not indulge in purchases of state-of-the-art furniture, Aeron chairs, and a slate of the latest company iPhones. Indeed, you can save yourself tremendous upfront capital by finding great deals on used/give-away office furniture and equipment. Businesses selling used or cheap equipment are becoming more widespread, and there are many resources online. For instance, Craigslist, a national internet site, posts hundreds of ads for used/cheap furniture every day.
You can also remodel used furniture yourself to save money. An old beat-up wooden table, for instance, can be transformed into a semi luxury furnishing with just a little sanding and painting. You can also call offices in your area to find out whether or not they might let you have or lease furniture at a discounted rate.
To keep costs low, figure out exactly what you need, and only get those items. Psychological studies show that shoppers who make lists and stick to them spend less.
Reduce Your Use of Mail: Increase Your Use of Email
While the US Postal System, FedEx, and other major carriers do a grand job delivering for small businesses, these services can get quite expensive, particularly if you use them regularly or ship bulk materials. Cutting out paperwork can make filing easier, save on staff resources, and cut your postage costs.
If you do convert your business records and transactions to “virtual transactions,” however, be sure to keep duplicate records. You can get accounts through sites likes Yahoo! and Google to store business emails online for free. You should also create a ghost copy of your hard drive to back up critical data.
Negotiate Costs with Vendors and Clients Whenever Possible -- Don’t Be Shy
Just because your small business doesn’t qualify for bulk discounts doesn’t mean you can’t use your status as a “lean and mean” organization to your benefit. You may be able to get better deals on supplies by paying early, agreeing to a long-term contract with a supplier, or simply by hard-nosed negotiating. Frankly, one of the best ways to get a good deal is simply to ask. Know your market’s prices before you make offers – you obviously want to neither insult vendors nor overpay. To bone up on how to negotiate better, read books on the psychology of negotiation. Dr. Robert Cialdini’s book “Influence” is a classic in the field.
Shop for Insurance
A good insurance plan can not only protect your business from potentially catastrophic contingencies but can also give you leverage to grow your company. Research what you minimally need before you shop policies. Business owners can choose from literally dozens of types of policies, and every business owner’s needs will be different. Talk to several neutral sources before pricing plans.
Limit Your Energy Use
With oil prices spiking and the energy markets uncertain, you can’t afford not to consider the costs of fuel and power. There are many ways to reduce your consumption of energy without compromising your business model. Use fans instead of central air to keep your building cool during the summer. Replace traditional light bulbs with energy efficient bulbs (those odd, corkscrew-shaped bulbs you see at the hardware store). Energy saving bulbs can slash your energy costs, and they last much longer, too. If possible, do business out of your home to reduce the amount of gas you burn driving to and from the office.
Budget Conservatively
As a small business, you likely don’t have a huge margin of error. Budget brutally and honestly. Figure out your company’s assets and its anticipated liabilities. It’s natural to be optimistic about the future of your business. However, if you set your expectations at a modified level, you'll have a far greater chance of staying within budget and thus succeeding. Be mindful of the fact that you may have to survive several months without making a profit in order to get your company up and running. Budget both your personal and business expenses carefully in preparation. You can use a number of support systems to improve/refine your budget as you go, including professional accounting consultants and top end software.
Learn From Other Successful Small Business Owners
By forging relationships with other like-minded entrepreneurs, you will simultaneously network and get feedback on key tactical issues which may arise as you move forward with your business plan. You may be entitled to a multitude of excellent tax write-offs. You may also qualify for discounts at bulk big box retailers like Costco and Sam's Club. Subscribe to trade journals to find discounts and tips to get around fees and other business hassles.
Barter For Services
By trading for discounts you not only save money, you also build brand loyalty with potential vendors. If, for instance, you are starting up a web graphic service, you can likely trade your expertise for discounts on shipping, equipment, and other future favors. You may also be able to offer additional services to your clients to lower costs and build relationships.
Metro Hi Speed is a leader in Internet fax solutions for any sized business. Less expensive and more reliable than traditional fax services – you'll enjoy the convenience and well as the cost. Visit us today for more information on our small business and corporate fax solutions.
Ideas You Can Use To Start Your Home Business Today
Do you want to start your own home business but you are so lost about how to do that? Then you need home business ideas to help you get started with your search. This is going to be the easiest way that you can find the business that is right for you because if you don’t take the time to find the one that is right for you then you will always struggle to be successful with it.
So, here are some home business ideas that will help you get started with your search for the right home business.
One: Sell products on eBay – Many people have gotten online to start a business on eBay selling products that they find. You can easily do this too. It is free to start an account with eBay. Once you sign up for an account then it is just a matter of finding the products to sell. After you have the products then you just set up an auction to sell it and then wait. There is a little more involved in it than that but that is the basic way it works. You can even set up your own eBay store to sell products from along with the auctions.
Two: Affiliate programs – There are so many different affiliate programs that you can promote for many different products. You just need to start searching through all of them to find the one to promote. Make sure you choose one that you can believe in because if you don’t then it will show, even online and you will not be able to make any money with it.
Three: Do you know how to write? Then you can set up your own article writing business. There are so many internet business owners that need articles, reports, eBooks and many other things wrote for them. Many people don’t have the time or the inclination to write for their own business so they will gladly hire someone to do the writing for them. So, if you are a good writer then you have a skill that you can use to start making money from home now.
These are not the only home business ideas that are available but they are the most popular and easiest ways to start your business. You just need to remember that when you start your home business, you have to take the time to choose right so you can build your business instead of having to find a new opportunity because you didn’t take the time needed the first time.
Did you find this article useful? For more useful tips & hints, Points to ponder and keep in mind, techniques & insights pertaining to Google Ad sense, Do please browse for more information at our website :-
http://www.oversightsystem.com
http://www.management.reprintarticlesite.com
So, here are some home business ideas that will help you get started with your search for the right home business.
One: Sell products on eBay – Many people have gotten online to start a business on eBay selling products that they find. You can easily do this too. It is free to start an account with eBay. Once you sign up for an account then it is just a matter of finding the products to sell. After you have the products then you just set up an auction to sell it and then wait. There is a little more involved in it than that but that is the basic way it works. You can even set up your own eBay store to sell products from along with the auctions.
Two: Affiliate programs – There are so many different affiliate programs that you can promote for many different products. You just need to start searching through all of them to find the one to promote. Make sure you choose one that you can believe in because if you don’t then it will show, even online and you will not be able to make any money with it.
Three: Do you know how to write? Then you can set up your own article writing business. There are so many internet business owners that need articles, reports, eBooks and many other things wrote for them. Many people don’t have the time or the inclination to write for their own business so they will gladly hire someone to do the writing for them. So, if you are a good writer then you have a skill that you can use to start making money from home now.
These are not the only home business ideas that are available but they are the most popular and easiest ways to start your business. You just need to remember that when you start your home business, you have to take the time to choose right so you can build your business instead of having to find a new opportunity because you didn’t take the time needed the first time.
Did you find this article useful? For more useful tips & hints, Points to ponder and keep in mind, techniques & insights pertaining to Google Ad sense, Do please browse for more information at our website :-
http://www.oversightsystem.com
http://www.management.reprintarticlesite.com
6 Secrets To Be Successful In Work From Home Business
Many different kinds of people from all around the world have started setting up their own work from home businesses. There will be a few people among them who will do really well and will also be really successful. But most of the people who start their own business opportunity will actually struggle and find it difficult to make their business a success. So what should you do when you start your home business so that it becomes successful?
1) Planning properly in the business is the first thing you need to come up and to run your business successfully. The plan which ever you make should not be complicated. And it could be small note or paragraphs about what you want to achieve and accomplish through your own home based business.
2) You should maintain the list of goals that you want to achieve. Never try to keep you goals in mind without making any list of it. If you don't list them then your goals can keep changing with time and situations. If you list your goals then it makes easy to remain and it helps in focus towards your goals. And try to read your goals once in a day, this will always motivate in every aspects.
3) One more important thing here is you have to know your business well and also you need to educate yourself on many factors. For example if client has some doubts or if you have been questioned by some one, then you should be in a position to answer them easily and intelligently. And you have to know other aspects like advertising and marketing, because these are the major roles in your success in business and also help you to earn some money.
4) Another thing you need to do to make your business successful is to make a commitment to yourself and your business. You need to do this so that you never give up on yourself and your business, no matter what you go through. You always need to give your business and yourself one more chance. Giving up on the first go itself will never give you any success.
5) You have to find more people who can teach you in every aspect in business. Especially it is important to take advices from those people who already been quite successful in the kind of business you are trying to pursue. These are the people who can teach you and guide you in different ways in different aspects and also help you to make your business successful.
6) Another best way to be successful in work at home business is by simply joining to Home Based Business forums. And you may be surprised on what you can learn and do by reading posts or by just asking your doubts to people who are already into some kind of home business. Also people who are not in the kind of business you are interested, they can still support you with some ideas which are common to most businesses and they can also helpful when you are discouraged or even when you are happy with your business. They actually guide you to become strong mentally.
Everyone needs to follow these six tips who own a work from home business. These six points are really very important because this is what will help you to become successful in your business. And by following these 6 important points will take you and your business towards success and only success.
http://www.mangement.reprintarticlesite.com
1) Planning properly in the business is the first thing you need to come up and to run your business successfully. The plan which ever you make should not be complicated. And it could be small note or paragraphs about what you want to achieve and accomplish through your own home based business.
2) You should maintain the list of goals that you want to achieve. Never try to keep you goals in mind without making any list of it. If you don't list them then your goals can keep changing with time and situations. If you list your goals then it makes easy to remain and it helps in focus towards your goals. And try to read your goals once in a day, this will always motivate in every aspects.
3) One more important thing here is you have to know your business well and also you need to educate yourself on many factors. For example if client has some doubts or if you have been questioned by some one, then you should be in a position to answer them easily and intelligently. And you have to know other aspects like advertising and marketing, because these are the major roles in your success in business and also help you to earn some money.
4) Another thing you need to do to make your business successful is to make a commitment to yourself and your business. You need to do this so that you never give up on yourself and your business, no matter what you go through. You always need to give your business and yourself one more chance. Giving up on the first go itself will never give you any success.
5) You have to find more people who can teach you in every aspect in business. Especially it is important to take advices from those people who already been quite successful in the kind of business you are trying to pursue. These are the people who can teach you and guide you in different ways in different aspects and also help you to make your business successful.
6) Another best way to be successful in work at home business is by simply joining to Home Based Business forums. And you may be surprised on what you can learn and do by reading posts or by just asking your doubts to people who are already into some kind of home business. Also people who are not in the kind of business you are interested, they can still support you with some ideas which are common to most businesses and they can also helpful when you are discouraged or even when you are happy with your business. They actually guide you to become strong mentally.
Everyone needs to follow these six tips who own a work from home business. These six points are really very important because this is what will help you to become successful in your business. And by following these 6 important points will take you and your business towards success and only success.
http://www.mangement.reprintarticlesite.com
Balancing Your Home Business
Running your own online home business, however, does require discipline, not only due to the many distractions in your home environment but because you have no set rules or working hours that you have to adhere to, so herewith some tips to help you balance your work at home life.
It is highly advisable and really important to get into a routine as soon as possible and decide how many hours a day you are going to dedicate to your online home business then decide when those hours will be. Then it is a matter of ensuring that you do put in the hours required daily to ensure the success of your online home business.
Make use of To-Do Lists. Urgent tasks can be added to your daily list, tasks that need to be done in a week or two can go on your short-term list and major projects added to your long-term lists. Listing your plans and tasks will prevent you from becoming distracted and help keep you focused and motivated to ensure you accomplish all that you set out to do.
To save you being interrupted throughout the day it is a good idea to advise your friends and neighbours that although you are at home, you do have an online home business that you work hard at and let them know when it is convenient to visit, otherwise you will have people popping in throughout the day and you will find it hard to settle down to get any work done at all.
Try and get your chores done first thing before you switch on that computer and get involved with your online home business, because as you know the hours can fly by so fast when working on the internet.
Be sure to set yourself break times for meals otherwise you may also find the day goes by and you have not yet had lunch.
Don’t allow yourself to become house bound and totally absorbed in your online home business. You need to balance your life. Beware of falling prey to cabin fever! Spend quality time with the children, make time to get out and meet your friends, enjoy your shopping sprees or partake in your favourite sport.
Don’t forget to keep invoices, receipts and slips and claim for everything that is tax deductible for your home based online business, including your office space.
Be sure not to forget to attend to the maintenance of your computer. Back-up regularly and defrag your hard drive to ensure maximum performance of your pc.
You don’t ever have to miss another child’s school play or sports day. That is the great advantage of the internet and with an online home business you can make up the time working at night.
If you have a dog, working at home will change your dog’s life too. They will thrive and just love having someone at home all the time, instead of having to wait a whole day for human company.
Your dog will provide you with the very necessary daily walk that you also need having sat for long periods in front of your computer.
Having an online home business can sometimes get lonely, so at least you can never be accused of talking to yourself when you have a dog to share things with!
You dog will quickly slot into the new routine. The walk and play times not only give you the exercise you need but the very important break for your eyes. Looking at a computer screen all day is not good for them.
You may find it quite a juggle at first to settle down to working at home online but once you get into a routine you will relish the freedom of running an online home business and being able to come and go as you please without having to ask for permission.
For more useful tips & hints, please browse for more information at our website :-http://www.Instant-adsense-dollars.com
http://www.adsense.reprintarticlesite.com
It is highly advisable and really important to get into a routine as soon as possible and decide how many hours a day you are going to dedicate to your online home business then decide when those hours will be. Then it is a matter of ensuring that you do put in the hours required daily to ensure the success of your online home business.
Make use of To-Do Lists. Urgent tasks can be added to your daily list, tasks that need to be done in a week or two can go on your short-term list and major projects added to your long-term lists. Listing your plans and tasks will prevent you from becoming distracted and help keep you focused and motivated to ensure you accomplish all that you set out to do.
To save you being interrupted throughout the day it is a good idea to advise your friends and neighbours that although you are at home, you do have an online home business that you work hard at and let them know when it is convenient to visit, otherwise you will have people popping in throughout the day and you will find it hard to settle down to get any work done at all.
Try and get your chores done first thing before you switch on that computer and get involved with your online home business, because as you know the hours can fly by so fast when working on the internet.
Be sure to set yourself break times for meals otherwise you may also find the day goes by and you have not yet had lunch.
Don’t allow yourself to become house bound and totally absorbed in your online home business. You need to balance your life. Beware of falling prey to cabin fever! Spend quality time with the children, make time to get out and meet your friends, enjoy your shopping sprees or partake in your favourite sport.
Don’t forget to keep invoices, receipts and slips and claim for everything that is tax deductible for your home based online business, including your office space.
Be sure not to forget to attend to the maintenance of your computer. Back-up regularly and defrag your hard drive to ensure maximum performance of your pc.
You don’t ever have to miss another child’s school play or sports day. That is the great advantage of the internet and with an online home business you can make up the time working at night.
If you have a dog, working at home will change your dog’s life too. They will thrive and just love having someone at home all the time, instead of having to wait a whole day for human company.
Your dog will provide you with the very necessary daily walk that you also need having sat for long periods in front of your computer.
Having an online home business can sometimes get lonely, so at least you can never be accused of talking to yourself when you have a dog to share things with!
You dog will quickly slot into the new routine. The walk and play times not only give you the exercise you need but the very important break for your eyes. Looking at a computer screen all day is not good for them.
You may find it quite a juggle at first to settle down to working at home online but once you get into a routine you will relish the freedom of running an online home business and being able to come and go as you please without having to ask for permission.
For more useful tips & hints, please browse for more information at our website :-http://www.Instant-adsense-dollars.com
http://www.adsense.reprintarticlesite.com
Opening A Small Business With A Official Loan
Are you a person who has to rush to your office everyday? Are you feeling that you are now too bored with your job. If you think you deserve more than what you get now from your job, you should consider starting your own business. However, what should you do if you do not have enough capital to start the business? Most people who want to start their own businesses are facing the same situation. They believe their talent should make them capable of running a good business. They strongly believe that they can make money out of this business. Yet they do not have the money to start it. If this is also the situation you are facing now, you may need to consider a business loan in order to start your own new life. In fact, the above is only one of the cases you will need to consider a business loan.
There are also other cases that you may need to think of the loan. For example, you may be running an existing business. You know that you can make quite a large amount of profit if you can get some inventory and sell them. Yet you do not have the cash to purchase the inventory. You will try to seek for a loan in order to get enough to purchase. In some other cases, you may need to purchase some new equipments or machines so that you can prepare for new clients and challenges. You will probably expect that you can make more profit after you have purchased the new equipments. You will try to see if a loan can help you. When you are seeking for a business loan, the lender, which is usually the bank, will consider various factors. One of the factors they will certainly consider is your business plan. If you have an excellent business plan, the bank may offer you better terms. For example, you may get a lower interest rate. If your business is just a small one, the bank may also take your credit score as one of the issues to be considered. Of course a bad credit does not mean that it is impossible for you to get the loan. However, it may imply that you will need to pay more interest. And the repayment period may also be shorter in such case.
The prime goal of the bank or lender is to make money. For this you will certainly understand that they will not invest on something that is not profitable. If they think that your project plans cannot really make profit, they will be reluctant to lend the money to you. If you have an excellent business plan, the bank may offer you better terms. For example, you may get a lower interest rate. If your business is just a small one, the bank may also take your credit score as one of the issues to be considered. Of course a bad credit does not mean that it is impossible for you to get the loan. However, it may imply that you will need to pay more interest. And the repayment period may also be shorter in such case.
Are you a person who has to rush to your office everyday? Are you feeling that you are now too bored with your job. If you think you deserve more than what you get now from your job, you should consider starting your own business. However, what should you do if you do not have enough capital to start the business? Most people who want to start their own businesses are facing the same situation. They believe their talent should make them capable of running a good business. They strongly believe that they can make money out of this business. Yet they do not have the money to start it. If this is also the situation you are facing now, you may need to consider a business loan in order to start your own new life. In fact, the above is only one of the cases you will need to consider a business loan.
There are also other cases that you may need to think of the loan. For example, you may be running an existing business. You know that you can make quite a large amount of profit if you can get some inventory and sell them. Yet you do not have the cash to purchase the inventory. You will try to seek for a loan in order to get enough to purchase. In some other cases, you may need to purchase some new equipments or machines so that you can prepare for new clients and challenges. You will probably expect that you can make more profit after you have purchased the new equipments. You will try to see if a loan can help you. When you are seeking for a business loan, the lender, which is usually the bank, will consider various factors. One of the factors they will certainly consider is your business plan. If you have an excellent business plan, the bank may offer you better terms. For example, you may get a lower interest rate. If your business is just a small one, the bank may also take your credit score as one of the issues to be considered. Of course a bad credit does not mean that it is impossible for you to get the loan. However, it may imply that you will need to pay more interest. And the repayment period may also be shorter in such case.
The prime goal of the bank or lender is to make money. For this you will certainly understand that they will not invest on something that is not profitable. If they think that your project plans cannot really make profit, they will be reluctant to lend the money to you. If you have an excellent business plan, the bank may offer you better terms. For example, you may get a lower interest rate. If your business is just a small one, the bank may also take your credit score as one of the issues to be considered. Of course a bad credit does not mean that it is impossible for you to get the loan. However, it may imply that you will need to pay more interest. And the repayment period may also be shorter in such case.
There are also other cases that you may need to think of the loan. For example, you may be running an existing business. You know that you can make quite a large amount of profit if you can get some inventory and sell them. Yet you do not have the cash to purchase the inventory. You will try to seek for a loan in order to get enough to purchase. In some other cases, you may need to purchase some new equipments or machines so that you can prepare for new clients and challenges. You will probably expect that you can make more profit after you have purchased the new equipments. You will try to see if a loan can help you. When you are seeking for a business loan, the lender, which is usually the bank, will consider various factors. One of the factors they will certainly consider is your business plan. If you have an excellent business plan, the bank may offer you better terms. For example, you may get a lower interest rate. If your business is just a small one, the bank may also take your credit score as one of the issues to be considered. Of course a bad credit does not mean that it is impossible for you to get the loan. However, it may imply that you will need to pay more interest. And the repayment period may also be shorter in such case.
The prime goal of the bank or lender is to make money. For this you will certainly understand that they will not invest on something that is not profitable. If they think that your project plans cannot really make profit, they will be reluctant to lend the money to you. If you have an excellent business plan, the bank may offer you better terms. For example, you may get a lower interest rate. If your business is just a small one, the bank may also take your credit score as one of the issues to be considered. Of course a bad credit does not mean that it is impossible for you to get the loan. However, it may imply that you will need to pay more interest. And the repayment period may also be shorter in such case.
Are you a person who has to rush to your office everyday? Are you feeling that you are now too bored with your job. If you think you deserve more than what you get now from your job, you should consider starting your own business. However, what should you do if you do not have enough capital to start the business? Most people who want to start their own businesses are facing the same situation. They believe their talent should make them capable of running a good business. They strongly believe that they can make money out of this business. Yet they do not have the money to start it. If this is also the situation you are facing now, you may need to consider a business loan in order to start your own new life. In fact, the above is only one of the cases you will need to consider a business loan.
There are also other cases that you may need to think of the loan. For example, you may be running an existing business. You know that you can make quite a large amount of profit if you can get some inventory and sell them. Yet you do not have the cash to purchase the inventory. You will try to seek for a loan in order to get enough to purchase. In some other cases, you may need to purchase some new equipments or machines so that you can prepare for new clients and challenges. You will probably expect that you can make more profit after you have purchased the new equipments. You will try to see if a loan can help you. When you are seeking for a business loan, the lender, which is usually the bank, will consider various factors. One of the factors they will certainly consider is your business plan. If you have an excellent business plan, the bank may offer you better terms. For example, you may get a lower interest rate. If your business is just a small one, the bank may also take your credit score as one of the issues to be considered. Of course a bad credit does not mean that it is impossible for you to get the loan. However, it may imply that you will need to pay more interest. And the repayment period may also be shorter in such case.
The prime goal of the bank or lender is to make money. For this you will certainly understand that they will not invest on something that is not profitable. If they think that your project plans cannot really make profit, they will be reluctant to lend the money to you. If you have an excellent business plan, the bank may offer you better terms. For example, you may get a lower interest rate. If your business is just a small one, the bank may also take your credit score as one of the issues to be considered. Of course a bad credit does not mean that it is impossible for you to get the loan. However, it may imply that you will need to pay more interest. And the repayment period may also be shorter in such case.
12 Tips for Internet Home Business Ideas
Are you thinking of joining the lucrative market of selling information products, but are stumped for ideas on just what WILL sell online? Or looking for a good topic to set up an information website that will attract a lot of visitors, so you can earn money online from the traffic?
Remember, people who surf the Web are looking for information and solutions. So the best home business ideas are those that provide needed information, or better still, solve problems.
Think of what people are thirsting for. Then design a product to quench that thirst.
Here's a checklist to help you brainstorm and trigger off ideas:
1. Can you offer what you're already selling offline, over the internet?
2. What are you currently doing that you could turn into a product? Perhaps into an information product such as an eBook or audio / video CD? Maybe you're a builder, and can show people what to look out for and ways to save cost when building their homes.
3. What are you good at? What is your expertise? It is best if your product or site concept is from an area that you are expert in. It can be profitable to share your knowledge with the world.
4. What activities do you enjoy most about your current occupation? Example: maybe you're a systems and processes person, delighting in bringing order out of chaos. Could you translate that into a product or website, perhaps one that shows people how to tidy up and simplify their routines or kitchens, and recover time or space? (There's a website that actually does this.)
5. What is it you love to talk about? Read about? What sections of a bookstore or a magazine shop do you automatically gravitate to? Example: did you know that people search for the word "hairstyles" on an average of 5,000,000 times monthly in Google alone?
6. What is your hobby? What do you do for fun and games? What kind of TV shows do you like most? Movies? Are you an audio geek who could teach people how to decipher their sound systems?
7. What are your natural talents? It could be right under your nose.
8. What do you do day after day, without even thinking about it? Examples: house-keeping, taking care of sick parents, child-rearing, car mechanic, project manager. Think about what you do in a typical day, and what you learn from it.
9. What are your close family members or friends good at? You can work with them to develop a product. They provide the knowledge, you market it.
10. What do you believe is popular now? What do you believe will become popular very soon? Upcoming movies, electronic gadgets, games, fashions.
11. What are the popular topics people talk about these days? What topics are hot on TV? In newspapers? In magazines? What are the current trends?
12. Problems are one of the best sources for ideas, because problems need solutions! What bugs you? What's tedious? What does not work? What are the 3 biggest problems in your workplace? What are your biggest pains as a parent, or teacher, or single mom, etc.
Call friends. Ask your husband or wife. Ask your kids. Phone your parents or siblings... anyone who can jog your memory, or see things you don't. It's easy to miss what's under our noses. Find a subject you really know and like.
Write down concepts as they hit you -- don't limit yourself.
Next, pick the 3 topics that know and like AND that you think would appeal to others. This last is very important -- you may be excited and know a lot about the mating habits of porcupines, but if not many people think likewise, then it's going to be an uphill battle to make it one of the most profitable home business ideas ever.
So at this point, you know which topics excite you, but you have no idea which is most profitable. Here's where you move on to check out market demand.
The way to do that quickly, is to use keyword research tools such as the Google Adwords Keyword Tool, or KeywordDiscovery. These show you the relative number of times each of your shortlisted topics is searched on the internet, and is an indication of market demand for them.
For a step by step guide on how to use keyword research tools to check out market demand vs supply, see Niche Marketing Research.
If you still can't think of any interesting topics, there's a more complete list of internet home business ideas, in Ways to Make Money Online.
The author runs the GoodInternetBusinessGuide, a free guide for beginners who want to start home based businesses, or an internet retirement business, online. It provides sequentially presented, straight-to-the-point information on ways to make money online, domain registration, website hosting, how to make a website, and how to get traffic to it.
http://www.goodinternetbusinessguide.com/
Remember, people who surf the Web are looking for information and solutions. So the best home business ideas are those that provide needed information, or better still, solve problems.
Think of what people are thirsting for. Then design a product to quench that thirst.
Here's a checklist to help you brainstorm and trigger off ideas:
1. Can you offer what you're already selling offline, over the internet?
2. What are you currently doing that you could turn into a product? Perhaps into an information product such as an eBook or audio / video CD? Maybe you're a builder, and can show people what to look out for and ways to save cost when building their homes.
3. What are you good at? What is your expertise? It is best if your product or site concept is from an area that you are expert in. It can be profitable to share your knowledge with the world.
4. What activities do you enjoy most about your current occupation? Example: maybe you're a systems and processes person, delighting in bringing order out of chaos. Could you translate that into a product or website, perhaps one that shows people how to tidy up and simplify their routines or kitchens, and recover time or space? (There's a website that actually does this.)
5. What is it you love to talk about? Read about? What sections of a bookstore or a magazine shop do you automatically gravitate to? Example: did you know that people search for the word "hairstyles" on an average of 5,000,000 times monthly in Google alone?
6. What is your hobby? What do you do for fun and games? What kind of TV shows do you like most? Movies? Are you an audio geek who could teach people how to decipher their sound systems?
7. What are your natural talents? It could be right under your nose.
8. What do you do day after day, without even thinking about it? Examples: house-keeping, taking care of sick parents, child-rearing, car mechanic, project manager. Think about what you do in a typical day, and what you learn from it.
9. What are your close family members or friends good at? You can work with them to develop a product. They provide the knowledge, you market it.
10. What do you believe is popular now? What do you believe will become popular very soon? Upcoming movies, electronic gadgets, games, fashions.
11. What are the popular topics people talk about these days? What topics are hot on TV? In newspapers? In magazines? What are the current trends?
12. Problems are one of the best sources for ideas, because problems need solutions! What bugs you? What's tedious? What does not work? What are the 3 biggest problems in your workplace? What are your biggest pains as a parent, or teacher, or single mom, etc.
Call friends. Ask your husband or wife. Ask your kids. Phone your parents or siblings... anyone who can jog your memory, or see things you don't. It's easy to miss what's under our noses. Find a subject you really know and like.
Write down concepts as they hit you -- don't limit yourself.
Next, pick the 3 topics that know and like AND that you think would appeal to others. This last is very important -- you may be excited and know a lot about the mating habits of porcupines, but if not many people think likewise, then it's going to be an uphill battle to make it one of the most profitable home business ideas ever.
So at this point, you know which topics excite you, but you have no idea which is most profitable. Here's where you move on to check out market demand.
The way to do that quickly, is to use keyword research tools such as the Google Adwords Keyword Tool, or KeywordDiscovery. These show you the relative number of times each of your shortlisted topics is searched on the internet, and is an indication of market demand for them.
For a step by step guide on how to use keyword research tools to check out market demand vs supply, see Niche Marketing Research.
If you still can't think of any interesting topics, there's a more complete list of internet home business ideas, in Ways to Make Money Online.
The author runs the GoodInternetBusinessGuide, a free guide for beginners who want to start home based businesses, or an internet retirement business, online. It provides sequentially presented, straight-to-the-point information on ways to make money online, domain registration, website hosting, how to make a website, and how to get traffic to it.
http://www.goodinternetbusinessguide.com/
Niche Affiliate Marketing: Is It For You?
Niche affiliate marketing is not just about selling. It is more about introducing people to products and services that they would be interested in but may never have heard of or providing them with more information about something that they have been considering buying.
When you come across a great product or service that you really enjoy or benefit from do you tell your friends and family about it? Do you enjoy helping others find products and services to make their lives more meaningful, easier and exciting? If so, then niche affiliate marketing is for you.
Niche affiliate marketing is in your veins if you love sharing your excitement about your latest purchase and are the person that your friends come to for shopping advice.
Do not think you have to be a great salesman. Many of the best niche affiliate marketers have never really tried their hand in the art of marketing. Just be honest and enthusiastically share your knowledge of the products and services you are offering.
When it comes to money we are always wary when someone tells us what to do. You are much more likely to be taken seriously if you can present both the pros and cons of a product. You will gain the trust of your prospects a lot quicker which will result in more income.
Niche affiliate marketing is popular with people around the globe and it is not because it is one of the easiest ways to make an income online, although it is right up there, but rather that affiliate marketers have a genuine interest in seeing that they supply people with what they need.
Running an offline business with all the expenses involved is not something many of us would venture into. Also some would rather not deal with the shipping of products and customer service involved in being a merchant. But, many do get involved with affiliate marketing because it costs less to start up, it is fun and is often less stressful than setting up an online store.
Niche affiliate marketers really enjoy linking people to products that they can receive benefit from and if this is what you enjoy then you will certainly have an edge over your competition.
They use the products before they even consider suggesting them to others and enjoy raving about the benefits.
They have a great deal of knowledge, not just about the products but information about the niche. They are very good at encouraging people to try new things and are willing to do whatever it takes to get people in front of items that suit them and they enjoy.
If the above sounds like you then niche affiliate marketing may be just for you and if that is the case then you can earn a great income doing what you have probably been doing for free up to now.
It is not difficult to get started. Firstly you need to think of a niche. What are the products or services that you are already excited about and would like to introduce others to? Answering that question will give you your niche.
You can choose your products to offer your customers from niche membership sites that are available for you to join and a lot of these sites also offer great advice for getting and retaining customers.
If you feel that niche affiliate marketing is for you then take the leap and start doing what you are already good at and love doing.
About the Author:
Cynthia Minnaar runs her own successful online affiliate business full-time from home and as an Online Business Mentor she can help you succeed with niche affiliate marketing too.
When you come across a great product or service that you really enjoy or benefit from do you tell your friends and family about it? Do you enjoy helping others find products and services to make their lives more meaningful, easier and exciting? If so, then niche affiliate marketing is for you.
Niche affiliate marketing is in your veins if you love sharing your excitement about your latest purchase and are the person that your friends come to for shopping advice.
Do not think you have to be a great salesman. Many of the best niche affiliate marketers have never really tried their hand in the art of marketing. Just be honest and enthusiastically share your knowledge of the products and services you are offering.
When it comes to money we are always wary when someone tells us what to do. You are much more likely to be taken seriously if you can present both the pros and cons of a product. You will gain the trust of your prospects a lot quicker which will result in more income.
Niche affiliate marketing is popular with people around the globe and it is not because it is one of the easiest ways to make an income online, although it is right up there, but rather that affiliate marketers have a genuine interest in seeing that they supply people with what they need.
Running an offline business with all the expenses involved is not something many of us would venture into. Also some would rather not deal with the shipping of products and customer service involved in being a merchant. But, many do get involved with affiliate marketing because it costs less to start up, it is fun and is often less stressful than setting up an online store.
Niche affiliate marketers really enjoy linking people to products that they can receive benefit from and if this is what you enjoy then you will certainly have an edge over your competition.
They use the products before they even consider suggesting them to others and enjoy raving about the benefits.
They have a great deal of knowledge, not just about the products but information about the niche. They are very good at encouraging people to try new things and are willing to do whatever it takes to get people in front of items that suit them and they enjoy.
If the above sounds like you then niche affiliate marketing may be just for you and if that is the case then you can earn a great income doing what you have probably been doing for free up to now.
It is not difficult to get started. Firstly you need to think of a niche. What are the products or services that you are already excited about and would like to introduce others to? Answering that question will give you your niche.
You can choose your products to offer your customers from niche membership sites that are available for you to join and a lot of these sites also offer great advice for getting and retaining customers.
If you feel that niche affiliate marketing is for you then take the leap and start doing what you are already good at and love doing.
About the Author:
Cynthia Minnaar runs her own successful online affiliate business full-time from home and as an Online Business Mentor she can help you succeed with niche affiliate marketing too.
Work At Home - How To Avoid Home Business Failure
One of the keys to increasing your prospect sign up rate in network marketing is establishing both a solid and creative pre-selling system.
Once you attract targeted leads into your business funnel, the journey to take them from "dipping their toe" in a work at home opportunity to going all the way to joining your business starts. Just attracting a prospect is not enough.
This is the time many sabotage any chance of impressing their prospect enough to continue to receive information from them because of one fatal mistake; they hit them straight up with a "join me now or you'll regret it" barrage which is just a warning sign for the prospect to say "no thanks" and move on.
What's wrong with this scenario?
No pre-selling. Where's the incentive for the prospect to join your opportunity? What indication have you given them that you are just the right fit for their long range financial freedom plans.
Notice how we said you. Yes, prospects join you when they come into your downline, not the company or the company opportunity. It's merely the vehicle to get them from point A to point B but you are the most important piece of this work at home puzzle to a brand new prospect.
How they perceive you within the first couple of minutes of first contact will determine strongly whether they want to pursue an opportunity any further.
Create A Pre-Selling Plan
We spoke about a solid and creative pre-selling plan above. Both are important. Solid meaning you plug them into a training and information based system from the moment they enter your funnel.
Creative being what you provide them in the way of value. At no stage during this courting period do you even mention a network marketing company. The prospect knows you have a work at home opportunity to present to them but they really want to see what type of a mentor you are going to be.
In actual fact, you're on trial from the moment a prospect leaves their contact information on any one of your attraction marketing prospecting properties.
This pre-selling period is the most important part of the work at home process. You can attract people to you but you also need to drive home your advantage during this delicate stage.
Did you know more than 95% of work at home businesses fail? Want to know how to make the top 5% who succeed? Occupy The City can change your life...but only if you let it.
Author: Dean Caporella
Once you attract targeted leads into your business funnel, the journey to take them from "dipping their toe" in a work at home opportunity to going all the way to joining your business starts. Just attracting a prospect is not enough.
This is the time many sabotage any chance of impressing their prospect enough to continue to receive information from them because of one fatal mistake; they hit them straight up with a "join me now or you'll regret it" barrage which is just a warning sign for the prospect to say "no thanks" and move on.
What's wrong with this scenario?
No pre-selling. Where's the incentive for the prospect to join your opportunity? What indication have you given them that you are just the right fit for their long range financial freedom plans.
Notice how we said you. Yes, prospects join you when they come into your downline, not the company or the company opportunity. It's merely the vehicle to get them from point A to point B but you are the most important piece of this work at home puzzle to a brand new prospect.
How they perceive you within the first couple of minutes of first contact will determine strongly whether they want to pursue an opportunity any further.
Create A Pre-Selling Plan
We spoke about a solid and creative pre-selling plan above. Both are important. Solid meaning you plug them into a training and information based system from the moment they enter your funnel.
Creative being what you provide them in the way of value. At no stage during this courting period do you even mention a network marketing company. The prospect knows you have a work at home opportunity to present to them but they really want to see what type of a mentor you are going to be.
In actual fact, you're on trial from the moment a prospect leaves their contact information on any one of your attraction marketing prospecting properties.
This pre-selling period is the most important part of the work at home process. You can attract people to you but you also need to drive home your advantage during this delicate stage.
Did you know more than 95% of work at home businesses fail? Want to know how to make the top 5% who succeed? Occupy The City can change your life...but only if you let it.
Author: Dean Caporella
Home business ideas for those who are skilled with the camera
Author: Susan Hutson
Are you like me, inextricably linked with the camera? Isnt it great to be able to freeze moments of your life and look at the later� . If you beautiful sunsets and giggling babies� even Goofy grin on your friends? Photos jog your memory is better than a diary.
If photography is your passion, you should consider starting a home business in that line. Knowing how to work a camera right and with a sensitive eyes are the most important skills that you need. For equipment, youll need a good quality camera and a tripod. Any other equipment can be rented. Gone are the days where a dark space is a must for developing the photos themselves. Technology has the digital SLR cameras which are compatible with photo editing software such as Adobe Photoshop. When you have the program installed on your computer, you'll be good to go.
This is a very stress job Friday. Every shot is different so youll never get bored, even if you click from morning until night. Photos can be extended edited now, this makes it even more enjoyable. You can add frames, change faces, edit and play with color contrasts. This is a very good example where a hobby can give rise to the best home based business ideas.
There is a huge market for photography. You can take photographs for weddings, modeling agencies or official functions. If you feel more adventurous, you can try your hand at underwater photography, a rapidly expanding area.
So you know enough about photography to become a business, but can you think like a business? Marketing techniques vary in each area but there are a number of common characteristics. Firstly, to determine whether there are other photographers in your area. What services do they offer? How expensive are they? You� � � ll want to know whether there are specialised in this field deal with. For example, neighbors do have a hard time finding a wedding photographer? If you like romantic photographs to be taken, then this is a good opportunity for you.
Dont get too carried away with creativity and forget the company. You'll have to the camera to sit down and a number of serious planning if you want to earn good. A business plan is a must-write what you want to achieve, how much capital you have and the resources available. Decide on your costs. Do you need courses to brush up on your skills?
The next step is to work on a portfolio. This can be booked online or be presented as a paper copy. Take samples of your best work, reviews of unrelated persons and recommendations. Put a letter in which your progress as a photographer and where you want to go in this business. If you convince potential customers that you are fully committed to your work, then thats half the battle won.
Bizymoms.com is moms helping realize their dreams work at home for more than 10 years. With more than 5 million visitors per year, Bizymoms top 40 offers a variety of small business ideas and categories that are important for planning to start a home business.
Are you like me, inextricably linked with the camera? Isnt it great to be able to freeze moments of your life and look at the later� . If you beautiful sunsets and giggling babies� even Goofy grin on your friends? Photos jog your memory is better than a diary.
If photography is your passion, you should consider starting a home business in that line. Knowing how to work a camera right and with a sensitive eyes are the most important skills that you need. For equipment, youll need a good quality camera and a tripod. Any other equipment can be rented. Gone are the days where a dark space is a must for developing the photos themselves. Technology has the digital SLR cameras which are compatible with photo editing software such as Adobe Photoshop. When you have the program installed on your computer, you'll be good to go.
This is a very stress job Friday. Every shot is different so youll never get bored, even if you click from morning until night. Photos can be extended edited now, this makes it even more enjoyable. You can add frames, change faces, edit and play with color contrasts. This is a very good example where a hobby can give rise to the best home based business ideas.
There is a huge market for photography. You can take photographs for weddings, modeling agencies or official functions. If you feel more adventurous, you can try your hand at underwater photography, a rapidly expanding area.
So you know enough about photography to become a business, but can you think like a business? Marketing techniques vary in each area but there are a number of common characteristics. Firstly, to determine whether there are other photographers in your area. What services do they offer? How expensive are they? You� � � ll want to know whether there are specialised in this field deal with. For example, neighbors do have a hard time finding a wedding photographer? If you like romantic photographs to be taken, then this is a good opportunity for you.
Dont get too carried away with creativity and forget the company. You'll have to the camera to sit down and a number of serious planning if you want to earn good. A business plan is a must-write what you want to achieve, how much capital you have and the resources available. Decide on your costs. Do you need courses to brush up on your skills?
The next step is to work on a portfolio. This can be booked online or be presented as a paper copy. Take samples of your best work, reviews of unrelated persons and recommendations. Put a letter in which your progress as a photographer and where you want to go in this business. If you convince potential customers that you are fully committed to your work, then thats half the battle won.
Bizymoms.com is moms helping realize their dreams work at home for more than 10 years. With more than 5 million visitors per year, Bizymoms top 40 offers a variety of small business ideas and categories that are important for planning to start a home business.
Top Home Based Business Secrets Revealed
Have you been scouring through all those home-based business opportunities on the Internet looking for the perfect niche? Have you invested in a couple of them and realized that the home-based business you picked was not what it seemed at first? Have you watched dozens or even hundreds of multimedia presentations while visions of dollar signs danced in your head?
If you've answered "yes" to any of the questions above, you may be facing some difficult decisions regarding starting a home-based business. Do not part with another cent of your hard-earned money until you thoroughly read this article about what some home-based business sellers do not want you to know.
Every day millions of people dream about owning their own home-based business. What's not to dream about? The opportunity to work the hours you desire and make an extraordinary sum of money is an intoxicating idea. In fact, it can be downright addictive. In response, thousands of new home-based business opportunities spring up every day that promise investors easy riches and the lifestyle that comes with ultimate success.
Most new business opportunities are quick to tell you about all the great things about their particular business model. Flashy websites, well-crafted audio presentations, and difficult to ignore graphs and charts are all part of the equation. Lost in the throes of all the excitement is that many people that buy into these programs do not consider the downside. Let's take a look at some of the downsides that many of these businesses conveniently forget to mention.
Most home-based business opportunities leave out the fact that you will have to SELL…SELL…SELL! You should ask yourself if you like selling? Most business opportunities require you to be an expert salesperson. That's what business is all about. Contrary to what you may believe, selling is an art. The person who may have gotten you to join in the first place might actually be making a lot of money, but again they may be a great salesperson blessed with a golden tongue (they sold you didn't they?). So unless you really like to sell, you should be careful about the business you invest in. The art of selling is not something that everyone can do. It takes a type of dedication that has to be immune to rejection and the ability to persevere through difficult times. The fact is that most people hate selling so much that they never really succeed in their home-based business.
Did you really think the product your home based business offers will just "sell itself"? Many of the home-based business opportunities bandied across the World Wide Web indicate that their products do in fact, sell themselves. This is a definite warning sign. Very few ideas sell themselves, and in the rare occasion that an idea is so extraordinary that it would sell itself, it usually takes an inordinate effort to get the word out. A huge mistake that most first time home-based business owners face is not having enough cash to invest in advertising.
Advertising, of course, is the medium through which a product or service gathers name recognition. A basic rule in advertising 101 is that in order to be effective advertising must be consistent. It must also target a specific group of people that are likely to buy. You wouldn't target a sports product to those who detest sports, would you? Contrary to what many home-based business sellers might tell you, very few buying decisions are impulsive. This means that a potential customer might have to see an advertisement for your product or service dozens of times before they decide to make a purchase. So if you business plans is to just invest a few hundred dollars on advertising with the hopes of gaining thousands of dollars to reinvest--think again! In order to get sales rolling you need to make a bigger commitment than that. Think about the vast amounts of money that change hands for a thirty second Super Bowl commercial. If you don't think advertising works, then it's already too hot in the kitchen!
Most home-based business sellers promise you that once you sign up there is very little work involved. It's amazing that after all these years people still believe that you can get something for nothing. Can you imagine going into a job interview and expecting not to do any work? Do you think that you will be paid to just sit back on a white sand beach in some tropical paradise and drink margaritas all day while your bank account continues to grow and the good times continue to roll? If you've got that mindset, it would be wise to shed it in favor of a more logical approach. Of course, without proper advertising, you are not going to get very far. If you are spending your time trying to close unqualified leads then you are not going to have much time to lie on the beach and soak up the rays.
One of the ways you can get around some of these important considerations is to look for a home-based business that automates the sales process. Without automation tire-kickers and time-wasters will rob you of your valuable time. If the sales process is automated, you may be onto something. Think about the time you will save if you don't have to track down each client and negotiate a deal. If you are on the edge of investing in a home-based business, be sure to ask if the business opportunity you are about to invest in has trained closers that work with you to close the coveted sale.
Passive income is the golden word in which most home-based businesses sell the dream of ultimate prosperity. In our society people continuously dream about having the freedom to do whatever they want, whenever they want. Passive income is income that you basically do not have to do very much for in the present. That is, it has been established already. While passive income is generated in the present, it is a result of PAST efforts. The foundation was previously constructed by people who had to work diligently and productively in order to reach their goals. Think about someone who owns a rental property and makes a nice income every month from rent. That property did not simply materialize out of thin air. The owner did not rub a magic lamp three times and receive three wishes for his efforts. It looks like the property owner has done nothing for that income but the truth is that they had to do a lot of work and build their savings in the PAST in order to be able to have enough money to buy that rental property.
Do not get sold on the idea that purchasing a home-based business will give you immediate passive income. This is a pipe dream that can cost you both time and money. Whatever endeavor you wish to pursue takes dogged determination, resiliency, and getting your hands dirty in order to succeed. You have to work and pay your dues before you can generate positive cash flow. This article is not trying to dissuade you from pursuing the dream of a home-based business – not at all! In fact, there are hundreds of thousands of people who have succeeded in starting their home-based business. What is being suggested is the fact that wealth and prosperity do not come easy. If they did, then wouldn't everyone be working from home by now?
Starting a home-based business is a plausible investment. However, it takes hard work at first, but if you stick with it and demonstrate the ability to work through difficult times, you will be rewarded in the end. This brings up the last success factor that most home-based businesses neglect to tell you. Their advertisements show you flashy cars, luxurious homes, pearly white beaches, and vast landscapes that are usually the playgrounds for millionaires. The truth is that pursuing a home-based business takes a serious commitment of time and effort. Very simply put, you get out what you put in. A business opportunity is just like a car. If you continue to pump fuel into it, make sure it is properly maintained, and get the oil changed every couple of months, it will perform at its peak for a long period of time. On the other hand, if you let it run dry you'll be waiting for a tow truck on the highway to oblivion!
The goal of attaining passive income is very possible if you pay your dues and do a little bit of hard work. Never forget that the time you put into your home based business is an investment. It is more than likely that your business will not take off the first day, week, or month after you start it. However, with persistence and a never-say-die attitude, you will probably experience success faster than others.
If you have the drive to make your home-based business a successful and thriving reality, visit our website for a free 6 Minute Movie. If you are interested in a home-based business that has an automated sales process and helps you close the sale then visit our website for a free no hassle presentation without pushy sales staff that pressure you into action.
This could be a watershed moment in your life. It could be a time where your fortunes do indeed change for the better, so it makes sense to carefully consider your options. After you view the free 6 Minute Movie on our website, you will have a better idea of what is entailed in the automated sales process, and how you wish to proceed with your dream of a realistic, successful, and quality home-based business.
About the Author
Interested in more information on Top Home Based Business Opportunity? Follow this link http://www.megawealthy.com/5710 for a free 6 Minute Video. You can also email Everett (Larry) McIntyre at mac@ezbizz.com.
If you've answered "yes" to any of the questions above, you may be facing some difficult decisions regarding starting a home-based business. Do not part with another cent of your hard-earned money until you thoroughly read this article about what some home-based business sellers do not want you to know.
Every day millions of people dream about owning their own home-based business. What's not to dream about? The opportunity to work the hours you desire and make an extraordinary sum of money is an intoxicating idea. In fact, it can be downright addictive. In response, thousands of new home-based business opportunities spring up every day that promise investors easy riches and the lifestyle that comes with ultimate success.
Most new business opportunities are quick to tell you about all the great things about their particular business model. Flashy websites, well-crafted audio presentations, and difficult to ignore graphs and charts are all part of the equation. Lost in the throes of all the excitement is that many people that buy into these programs do not consider the downside. Let's take a look at some of the downsides that many of these businesses conveniently forget to mention.
Most home-based business opportunities leave out the fact that you will have to SELL…SELL…SELL! You should ask yourself if you like selling? Most business opportunities require you to be an expert salesperson. That's what business is all about. Contrary to what you may believe, selling is an art. The person who may have gotten you to join in the first place might actually be making a lot of money, but again they may be a great salesperson blessed with a golden tongue (they sold you didn't they?). So unless you really like to sell, you should be careful about the business you invest in. The art of selling is not something that everyone can do. It takes a type of dedication that has to be immune to rejection and the ability to persevere through difficult times. The fact is that most people hate selling so much that they never really succeed in their home-based business.
Did you really think the product your home based business offers will just "sell itself"? Many of the home-based business opportunities bandied across the World Wide Web indicate that their products do in fact, sell themselves. This is a definite warning sign. Very few ideas sell themselves, and in the rare occasion that an idea is so extraordinary that it would sell itself, it usually takes an inordinate effort to get the word out. A huge mistake that most first time home-based business owners face is not having enough cash to invest in advertising.
Advertising, of course, is the medium through which a product or service gathers name recognition. A basic rule in advertising 101 is that in order to be effective advertising must be consistent. It must also target a specific group of people that are likely to buy. You wouldn't target a sports product to those who detest sports, would you? Contrary to what many home-based business sellers might tell you, very few buying decisions are impulsive. This means that a potential customer might have to see an advertisement for your product or service dozens of times before they decide to make a purchase. So if you business plans is to just invest a few hundred dollars on advertising with the hopes of gaining thousands of dollars to reinvest--think again! In order to get sales rolling you need to make a bigger commitment than that. Think about the vast amounts of money that change hands for a thirty second Super Bowl commercial. If you don't think advertising works, then it's already too hot in the kitchen!
Most home-based business sellers promise you that once you sign up there is very little work involved. It's amazing that after all these years people still believe that you can get something for nothing. Can you imagine going into a job interview and expecting not to do any work? Do you think that you will be paid to just sit back on a white sand beach in some tropical paradise and drink margaritas all day while your bank account continues to grow and the good times continue to roll? If you've got that mindset, it would be wise to shed it in favor of a more logical approach. Of course, without proper advertising, you are not going to get very far. If you are spending your time trying to close unqualified leads then you are not going to have much time to lie on the beach and soak up the rays.
One of the ways you can get around some of these important considerations is to look for a home-based business that automates the sales process. Without automation tire-kickers and time-wasters will rob you of your valuable time. If the sales process is automated, you may be onto something. Think about the time you will save if you don't have to track down each client and negotiate a deal. If you are on the edge of investing in a home-based business, be sure to ask if the business opportunity you are about to invest in has trained closers that work with you to close the coveted sale.
Passive income is the golden word in which most home-based businesses sell the dream of ultimate prosperity. In our society people continuously dream about having the freedom to do whatever they want, whenever they want. Passive income is income that you basically do not have to do very much for in the present. That is, it has been established already. While passive income is generated in the present, it is a result of PAST efforts. The foundation was previously constructed by people who had to work diligently and productively in order to reach their goals. Think about someone who owns a rental property and makes a nice income every month from rent. That property did not simply materialize out of thin air. The owner did not rub a magic lamp three times and receive three wishes for his efforts. It looks like the property owner has done nothing for that income but the truth is that they had to do a lot of work and build their savings in the PAST in order to be able to have enough money to buy that rental property.
Do not get sold on the idea that purchasing a home-based business will give you immediate passive income. This is a pipe dream that can cost you both time and money. Whatever endeavor you wish to pursue takes dogged determination, resiliency, and getting your hands dirty in order to succeed. You have to work and pay your dues before you can generate positive cash flow. This article is not trying to dissuade you from pursuing the dream of a home-based business – not at all! In fact, there are hundreds of thousands of people who have succeeded in starting their home-based business. What is being suggested is the fact that wealth and prosperity do not come easy. If they did, then wouldn't everyone be working from home by now?
Starting a home-based business is a plausible investment. However, it takes hard work at first, but if you stick with it and demonstrate the ability to work through difficult times, you will be rewarded in the end. This brings up the last success factor that most home-based businesses neglect to tell you. Their advertisements show you flashy cars, luxurious homes, pearly white beaches, and vast landscapes that are usually the playgrounds for millionaires. The truth is that pursuing a home-based business takes a serious commitment of time and effort. Very simply put, you get out what you put in. A business opportunity is just like a car. If you continue to pump fuel into it, make sure it is properly maintained, and get the oil changed every couple of months, it will perform at its peak for a long period of time. On the other hand, if you let it run dry you'll be waiting for a tow truck on the highway to oblivion!
The goal of attaining passive income is very possible if you pay your dues and do a little bit of hard work. Never forget that the time you put into your home based business is an investment. It is more than likely that your business will not take off the first day, week, or month after you start it. However, with persistence and a never-say-die attitude, you will probably experience success faster than others.
If you have the drive to make your home-based business a successful and thriving reality, visit our website for a free 6 Minute Movie. If you are interested in a home-based business that has an automated sales process and helps you close the sale then visit our website for a free no hassle presentation without pushy sales staff that pressure you into action.
This could be a watershed moment in your life. It could be a time where your fortunes do indeed change for the better, so it makes sense to carefully consider your options. After you view the free 6 Minute Movie on our website, you will have a better idea of what is entailed in the automated sales process, and how you wish to proceed with your dream of a realistic, successful, and quality home-based business.
About the Author
Interested in more information on Top Home Based Business Opportunity? Follow this link http://www.megawealthy.com/5710 for a free 6 Minute Video. You can also email Everett (Larry) McIntyre at mac@ezbizz.com.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Home Business Success – Do You Have The Right Mindset?
By Sudhaa V Prabhu
Do you have the right attitude, the right mindset, to begin your home business venture, and most importantly, make it a success?
Yes!
No!
Not sure!
Here are some pointers that might be useful to you.
Mindset #1: Your home business should be your passion
Your home business must be something that interests you the most. You must be ready to do anything and everything you can, to make it a success. If you stumble, find out your mistakes, learn from it, build on it and turn it into a success story. Never quit your business. It is only when you quit, you actually fail.
Never say, “I am going to try my home business for sometime. If it is fruitful to me, I will continue with it. If not, I will just forget it.” With this attitude, you might as well forget about your home business now. Yes, right now. There is no point in continuing when you have already fixed a time for quitting.
Mindset #2: You are your own Boss, hence more responsibility
You are your own boss. Whatever happens to your business is entirely the result of your efforts. You must strive consistently to grow your business and patiently wait for success. You can only slow down when you have become successful and after you have reached a point in your business, where your initial efforts continuously produce income for you.
Never think, “I am the boss. Whether I work or not, nobody is here to question me. I can enjoy my life. I can postpone things as I like.” This will not help you or your business.
Mindset #3: You are not an employee. You are an entrepreneur
You must be willing to invest all the time you can in building your home business. You must not be time conscious when you are working for your business. Tell yourself that it will take a lot of efforts from your side before you can see your account balance grow.
Never have the thinking that you can spend exactly 1 or 2 hours on your business everyday and can earn money for every hour you work. If you have this mindset, I am sorry, you are still an employee and not an entrepreneur.
Mindset #4: Invest before expecting an Income
Understand that you need to invest some money in your business as and when required. Learn and invest wisely. If you don’t have the money to invest, have the attitude to somehow find money by reducing your unnecessary expenses.
Don’t say, “I cannot invest any money on my business. I want to first earn from it and then I will think of investing”. With this mental outlook, it is very difficult, I repeat, it is very difficult to get a good income from your business.
Mindset #5: Think Globally
With the enormous effect of the Internet on businesses, your limit is infinite. You have millions and billions of people around the world that you can reach out to. With this huge prospect base, you can only blame yourself if you are not successful.
Don’t think you can get away just by promoting your products or business among your friends and family. Don’t limit yourself to a small circle. When you do so, you may be successful to some extent, but not to the extent your business can actually take you.
Mindset #6: Keep Learning and improving your knowledge
World is changing and so should your business in this world. You have to keep up with the new trends and tools in order to keep your business going, against the vast competition it has. You have to continue to learn and implement new ways in building your business. Keep your eyes and ears open.
Don’t assume that you know everything that is required to build your business. If you do that, you are applying brakes to your own wheels. Don’t think you cannot or will not go wrong. It is acceptable to make mistakes, but only for the first time. If you repeat it the next time, it means that you haven’t learned your lessons.
So, to be a successful home business entrepreneur, be interested in your business, invest time, money and efforts into your business, always imagine and conduct yourself as an entrepreneur, have a broad mental outlook, acquire more knowledge and skills and execute them in your business.
If you do not have these right mindsets, now is the time to make a change in your attitude. If that is done, you have to wait for nothing. Just go ahead and success will soon be yours!
About The Author
Sudhaa V Prabhu is a home business entrepreneur and the Webmaster of
http://www.work-from-home-legitimate-resources.com
Do you have the right attitude, the right mindset, to begin your home business venture, and most importantly, make it a success?
Yes!
No!
Not sure!
Here are some pointers that might be useful to you.
Mindset #1: Your home business should be your passion
Your home business must be something that interests you the most. You must be ready to do anything and everything you can, to make it a success. If you stumble, find out your mistakes, learn from it, build on it and turn it into a success story. Never quit your business. It is only when you quit, you actually fail.
Never say, “I am going to try my home business for sometime. If it is fruitful to me, I will continue with it. If not, I will just forget it.” With this attitude, you might as well forget about your home business now. Yes, right now. There is no point in continuing when you have already fixed a time for quitting.
Mindset #2: You are your own Boss, hence more responsibility
You are your own boss. Whatever happens to your business is entirely the result of your efforts. You must strive consistently to grow your business and patiently wait for success. You can only slow down when you have become successful and after you have reached a point in your business, where your initial efforts continuously produce income for you.
Never think, “I am the boss. Whether I work or not, nobody is here to question me. I can enjoy my life. I can postpone things as I like.” This will not help you or your business.
Mindset #3: You are not an employee. You are an entrepreneur
You must be willing to invest all the time you can in building your home business. You must not be time conscious when you are working for your business. Tell yourself that it will take a lot of efforts from your side before you can see your account balance grow.
Never have the thinking that you can spend exactly 1 or 2 hours on your business everyday and can earn money for every hour you work. If you have this mindset, I am sorry, you are still an employee and not an entrepreneur.
Mindset #4: Invest before expecting an Income
Understand that you need to invest some money in your business as and when required. Learn and invest wisely. If you don’t have the money to invest, have the attitude to somehow find money by reducing your unnecessary expenses.
Don’t say, “I cannot invest any money on my business. I want to first earn from it and then I will think of investing”. With this mental outlook, it is very difficult, I repeat, it is very difficult to get a good income from your business.
Mindset #5: Think Globally
With the enormous effect of the Internet on businesses, your limit is infinite. You have millions and billions of people around the world that you can reach out to. With this huge prospect base, you can only blame yourself if you are not successful.
Don’t think you can get away just by promoting your products or business among your friends and family. Don’t limit yourself to a small circle. When you do so, you may be successful to some extent, but not to the extent your business can actually take you.
Mindset #6: Keep Learning and improving your knowledge
World is changing and so should your business in this world. You have to keep up with the new trends and tools in order to keep your business going, against the vast competition it has. You have to continue to learn and implement new ways in building your business. Keep your eyes and ears open.
Don’t assume that you know everything that is required to build your business. If you do that, you are applying brakes to your own wheels. Don’t think you cannot or will not go wrong. It is acceptable to make mistakes, but only for the first time. If you repeat it the next time, it means that you haven’t learned your lessons.
So, to be a successful home business entrepreneur, be interested in your business, invest time, money and efforts into your business, always imagine and conduct yourself as an entrepreneur, have a broad mental outlook, acquire more knowledge and skills and execute them in your business.
If you do not have these right mindsets, now is the time to make a change in your attitude. If that is done, you have to wait for nothing. Just go ahead and success will soon be yours!
About The Author
Sudhaa V Prabhu is a home business entrepreneur and the Webmaster of
http://www.work-from-home-legitimate-resources.com
How Long Should You Hang Onto Your Home-Based Business Dream?
By Vishal P. Rao
A home-based business becomes for the business owner, an entity in and of itself. Because so much hard work, blood, sweat and tears goes into every home-based business, it is easy to view it as having a "life" of its own and a home-based business can be more real to the business owner than anything else in their lives.
However, there is also a dark side to a home-based business, especially one that is failing miserably. Part of being successful within a work-at-home dream also means knowing "when" to quit, or "fold". A home-based business can be like a game of cards, when the "losses" exceed the "wins", it may be time to give up on the business and either start another one, or look into other forms of outside employment.
It has been said, "that most entrepreneurs fail three to five times" before they actually start a business that succeeds. Although it is imperative that entrepreneurs be persistent, not being able to accept failure, when it is obvious that failure has occurred, can be extremely detrimental.
So, how does an entrepreneur "know" when it is time to give up or when they should continue? Simple, the amount of actual "suffering" needs to be measured. The following "suffering measurement" should take into account:
1. What type of debt the entrepreneur is accruing, and how many bills and necessary needs are being neglected. No one should live without food, clothing, shelter or the necessary medical care needed for a gratifying life. If a home-based business is constantly leaving the business owner without funds with which to sustain life, then it is probably time to quit.
2. What type of emotional pain is the entrepreneur facing? If the business has become so stressful because of mounting debt, or the entrepreneur's family is turning against them because of the business, then it is probably time to quit.
3. If there is a chance of losing a home or other holdings and property because of the bills engendered during the business, then it is probably time to quit.
4. If the frustration of having the business and handling the day to day operations surrounding the business is greater than the pleasure of owning the business, then it is probably time to quit.
Notice I have only mentioned the fact that it is "probably time to quit". No one but the actual business owner can sufficiently measure when a business should be declared a failure and when they, the business owner, should walk away.
Let's face it, even older businesses can face renewed challenges to their survival. Markets can change drastically sometimes, seemingly overnight. Consumer behavior also can change quickly. Newer businesses can face start-up challenges, but older businesses can encounter significant "bumps in the road" to business success as well.
All the above factors need to be weighed carefully before deciding either to "quit" or "stay" with the home-based business.
There are some methods that can be successful for alleviating some of the financial and emotional stress that accompanies a failing business:
1. An outside source of employment can be taken "temporarily", and the business can be worked on "part-time" in an entrepreneur's free time.
2. Loans and grants can be taken to alleviate financial strains until the business becomes solvent.
3. The entrepreneur can enlist the aid of family and friends, by allowing them to "buy into" the business, or by forming an LLC (Limited Liability Corporation), wherein the business owner is no longer solely responsible for debts or liabilities. Most new business owners start with a Sole Proprietorship model, so switching to the more encompassing LLC may indeed aid the business in its quest for survival.
4. Business owners can "downsize" their expenditures, both in the business, and in their personal lives. Downsizing of expenditures can literally save thousands per month and may indeed "save" the business from ruin!
In reality, there is no "shame" in failure. Failure at anything only teaches valuable lessons, lessons that may be incorporated into success at another time! If you're suffering in your home-based business, don't allow pride to stop you from admitting defeat and moving forward in another area of life! That's what being an entrepreneur is really all about.
About The Author
Vishal P. Rao is the owner of http://www.home-based-business-opportunities.com - One of Internet's leading website dedicated to starting, managing and marketing a home based business.
A home-based business becomes for the business owner, an entity in and of itself. Because so much hard work, blood, sweat and tears goes into every home-based business, it is easy to view it as having a "life" of its own and a home-based business can be more real to the business owner than anything else in their lives.
However, there is also a dark side to a home-based business, especially one that is failing miserably. Part of being successful within a work-at-home dream also means knowing "when" to quit, or "fold". A home-based business can be like a game of cards, when the "losses" exceed the "wins", it may be time to give up on the business and either start another one, or look into other forms of outside employment.
It has been said, "that most entrepreneurs fail three to five times" before they actually start a business that succeeds. Although it is imperative that entrepreneurs be persistent, not being able to accept failure, when it is obvious that failure has occurred, can be extremely detrimental.
So, how does an entrepreneur "know" when it is time to give up or when they should continue? Simple, the amount of actual "suffering" needs to be measured. The following "suffering measurement" should take into account:
1. What type of debt the entrepreneur is accruing, and how many bills and necessary needs are being neglected. No one should live without food, clothing, shelter or the necessary medical care needed for a gratifying life. If a home-based business is constantly leaving the business owner without funds with which to sustain life, then it is probably time to quit.
2. What type of emotional pain is the entrepreneur facing? If the business has become so stressful because of mounting debt, or the entrepreneur's family is turning against them because of the business, then it is probably time to quit.
3. If there is a chance of losing a home or other holdings and property because of the bills engendered during the business, then it is probably time to quit.
4. If the frustration of having the business and handling the day to day operations surrounding the business is greater than the pleasure of owning the business, then it is probably time to quit.
Notice I have only mentioned the fact that it is "probably time to quit". No one but the actual business owner can sufficiently measure when a business should be declared a failure and when they, the business owner, should walk away.
Let's face it, even older businesses can face renewed challenges to their survival. Markets can change drastically sometimes, seemingly overnight. Consumer behavior also can change quickly. Newer businesses can face start-up challenges, but older businesses can encounter significant "bumps in the road" to business success as well.
All the above factors need to be weighed carefully before deciding either to "quit" or "stay" with the home-based business.
There are some methods that can be successful for alleviating some of the financial and emotional stress that accompanies a failing business:
1. An outside source of employment can be taken "temporarily", and the business can be worked on "part-time" in an entrepreneur's free time.
2. Loans and grants can be taken to alleviate financial strains until the business becomes solvent.
3. The entrepreneur can enlist the aid of family and friends, by allowing them to "buy into" the business, or by forming an LLC (Limited Liability Corporation), wherein the business owner is no longer solely responsible for debts or liabilities. Most new business owners start with a Sole Proprietorship model, so switching to the more encompassing LLC may indeed aid the business in its quest for survival.
4. Business owners can "downsize" their expenditures, both in the business, and in their personal lives. Downsizing of expenditures can literally save thousands per month and may indeed "save" the business from ruin!
In reality, there is no "shame" in failure. Failure at anything only teaches valuable lessons, lessons that may be incorporated into success at another time! If you're suffering in your home-based business, don't allow pride to stop you from admitting defeat and moving forward in another area of life! That's what being an entrepreneur is really all about.
About The Author
Vishal P. Rao is the owner of http://www.home-based-business-opportunities.com - One of Internet's leading website dedicated to starting, managing and marketing a home based business.
The 3 Elements You Need For Successful Home Business
By Jim Noel
Product, Leads, and advertising the 3 most important elements of any successful home based business.
For this article we will focus on leads. Leads are people that are interested in making money from home. How do we know this?
For starters, they have either put an ad on the internet stating they want a home based business, or they have filled out a form with one of the lead generation companies.
Now how do we go about getting these so called leads? Some businesses put a simple questioner out over the internet that people can access to answer some simple questions.
These questions are usually, how much time a week you can put towards your business, how much money can you invest in your business, why do you want to work from home, etc.
These questioners are usually short and to the point. Once all this information is gathered the business then contacts that individual to sell them on his business opportunity.
Another way to find leads is through the lead generation companies that are on the internet. There business is to compile all the information and then sell it to business owners to use.
This is where it gets touchy. Today there are so many of these “so called” email list, lead lists etc. How do you know who is legit and who isn’t?
My rule of thumb on this is, a company offering a large amount (over 5000) leads a month is probably not a very good source.
So what makes a good source to find leads? Well what you want to look at is companies that offer what we call “double opt-in” leads.
What that means is each lead had to fill out one of those questioners and had to put a valid email address on that questioner, so that company could email them for confirmation.
That is double opt-in, that person filed out the form, and then got an email from the company asking if they filed out the form. If they did they hit a link that would confirm that to the company.
Then you want to look to see if that company also supplies the address, phone, IP address of the lead.
And what I think is most important, does the company offer leads that are spam compliant! This means you will not be accused of spam when you contact that lead! And will this lead be unique to you.
What I mean by unique to you is, once that lead shows up on your list, it will not show up on anyone else’s lead list.
And last but not least price! Please don’t think that the higher the fee the better the leads will be. This is definitely not true; I can vouch for that one.
I have used lead sources to promote my business that cost anywhere from $30 a month for 1000 leads, to $150 a month for 4000 leads. Which do you think I had the better luck with?
You guessed it, the one that gave me 1000 leads for $30 a month was the best deal, and I am averaging about a 28% signup to my business.
It does not sound like a lot, but think, that is 280 people a month, and if only 100 of those do any business for me, that is a bunch of money in my pocket each month. And all that for $30 a month.
So remember when choosing a lead generation company, look for price, double opt-in lead, spam compliant, unique to you, all pert ant information for the lead, and of course how many leads do you get each month!
About The Author
Jim Noel
More information go to:
http://www.sequential-mktg-grp.com/members/401/
Product, Leads, and advertising the 3 most important elements of any successful home based business.
For this article we will focus on leads. Leads are people that are interested in making money from home. How do we know this?
For starters, they have either put an ad on the internet stating they want a home based business, or they have filled out a form with one of the lead generation companies.
Now how do we go about getting these so called leads? Some businesses put a simple questioner out over the internet that people can access to answer some simple questions.
These questions are usually, how much time a week you can put towards your business, how much money can you invest in your business, why do you want to work from home, etc.
These questioners are usually short and to the point. Once all this information is gathered the business then contacts that individual to sell them on his business opportunity.
Another way to find leads is through the lead generation companies that are on the internet. There business is to compile all the information and then sell it to business owners to use.
This is where it gets touchy. Today there are so many of these “so called” email list, lead lists etc. How do you know who is legit and who isn’t?
My rule of thumb on this is, a company offering a large amount (over 5000) leads a month is probably not a very good source.
So what makes a good source to find leads? Well what you want to look at is companies that offer what we call “double opt-in” leads.
What that means is each lead had to fill out one of those questioners and had to put a valid email address on that questioner, so that company could email them for confirmation.
That is double opt-in, that person filed out the form, and then got an email from the company asking if they filed out the form. If they did they hit a link that would confirm that to the company.
Then you want to look to see if that company also supplies the address, phone, IP address of the lead.
And what I think is most important, does the company offer leads that are spam compliant! This means you will not be accused of spam when you contact that lead! And will this lead be unique to you.
What I mean by unique to you is, once that lead shows up on your list, it will not show up on anyone else’s lead list.
And last but not least price! Please don’t think that the higher the fee the better the leads will be. This is definitely not true; I can vouch for that one.
I have used lead sources to promote my business that cost anywhere from $30 a month for 1000 leads, to $150 a month for 4000 leads. Which do you think I had the better luck with?
You guessed it, the one that gave me 1000 leads for $30 a month was the best deal, and I am averaging about a 28% signup to my business.
It does not sound like a lot, but think, that is 280 people a month, and if only 100 of those do any business for me, that is a bunch of money in my pocket each month. And all that for $30 a month.
So remember when choosing a lead generation company, look for price, double opt-in lead, spam compliant, unique to you, all pert ant information for the lead, and of course how many leads do you get each month!
About The Author
Jim Noel
More information go to:
http://www.sequential-mktg-grp.com/members/401/
How To Start A Profitable Home Based Business
By Robert Nelson
In these days, it's becoming increasingly difficult to make ends meet with just one source of income. Thus, more and more people are investigating the possibilities of starting their own extra-income business. Most of these part-time endeavors are started and operated from the comfort and privacy of the home.
Most of these people are making the extra money they need. Some have wisely and carefully built these extra income efforts into full-time, very profitable businesses. Others are just keeping busy, having fun, and enjoying life as never before. The important thing is that they are doing something other than waiting for the government to give them a handout; they are improving their lot in life, and you can do it, too!
The fields of mail order selling, multi-level marketing, and in-home party sales have never been more popular. If any of these kinds of extra income producing ideas appeal to you, then you owe it to yourself to check them out. But these aren't the only fields of endeavor you can start and operate from home, with little or no investment, and learn as you go.
If you type, you can start a home-based typing service; if you have a truck or have access to a trailer, you can start a clean-up/hauling service. Simply collecting old news papers from your neighbors can get you started in the paper recycling business. More than a few enterprising housewives have found success and fortune by starting home and/or apartment cleaning services. If you have a yard full of flowers, you can make good extra money by supplying fresh cut flowers to restaurants and offices in your area on a regular basis. You might turn a ceramics hobby into a lucrative personalized coffee mug business. What I'm saying is that in reality, there's literally no end to the ways you can start and operate a profitable extra income business from your home.
The first thing you must do, however, is some basic market research. Find out for yourself, first-hand, just how many people there are in your area who are interested in your proposed product or service, and would be "willing to stand in line and pay money for it." This is known as defining your market and pinpointing your customers. If after checking around, talking about your idea with a whole lot of people over a period of one to three months, you get the idea that these people would be paying customers, your next effort should be directed toward the "detailing" of your business plan.
The more precise and detailed your plan - covering all the bases relating to how you'll do everything that needs to be done - the easier it's going to be for you to attain success. Such a plan should show your start-up investment needs, your advertising plan, your production costs and procedures, your sales program, and how your time will be allocated. Too often, enthusiastic and ambitious entrepreneurs jump in on an extra income project and suddenly find that the costs are beyond their abilities, and the time requirements more than they can meet. It pays to lay it all out on paper before you get involved, and the clearer you can "see" everything before you start, the better your chances for success.
Now, assuming you've got your market targeted, you know who your customers are going to be and how you're going to reach them with your product or service. And you have all your costs as well as time requirements itemized. The next step is to set your plan in motion and start making money.
Here is the most important "secret" of all, relating to starting and building a profitable home-based business, so read very carefully. Regardless of what kind of business you start, you must have the capital and the available time to sustain your business through the first six months of operation. Specifically, you must not count on receiving or spending any money coming in from your business on yourself or for your bills during those first six months. All the income from your business during those first six months should be reinvested in your business in order for it to grow and reach our planned first year potential.
Once you've passed that first six months milestone, you can set up a small monthly salary for yourself, and begin enjoying the fruits of your labor. But the first six months or operation for any business are critical, so do not plan to use any of the money your business generates for yourself during that period.
If you've got your business plan properly organized, and have implemented the plan, you should at the end of your first year be able to begin thinking about hiring other people to alleviate some of your work-load. Remember this: Starting a successful business is not a means towards either a job for yourself or a way to keep busy. It should be regarded as the beginning of an enterprise that will grow and prosper, with you as the top dog. Eventually, you'll have other people doing all the work for you, even running the entire operation, while you vacation in the Bahamas or Hawaii and collect or receive regular income from your initial efforts.
About The Author
Robert Nelson is Vice President of Tech Comp Associates, who publishes the new Security Products Directory. Details about this new Directory can be found at: http://www.securityproductsdirectory.com
In these days, it's becoming increasingly difficult to make ends meet with just one source of income. Thus, more and more people are investigating the possibilities of starting their own extra-income business. Most of these part-time endeavors are started and operated from the comfort and privacy of the home.
Most of these people are making the extra money they need. Some have wisely and carefully built these extra income efforts into full-time, very profitable businesses. Others are just keeping busy, having fun, and enjoying life as never before. The important thing is that they are doing something other than waiting for the government to give them a handout; they are improving their lot in life, and you can do it, too!
The fields of mail order selling, multi-level marketing, and in-home party sales have never been more popular. If any of these kinds of extra income producing ideas appeal to you, then you owe it to yourself to check them out. But these aren't the only fields of endeavor you can start and operate from home, with little or no investment, and learn as you go.
If you type, you can start a home-based typing service; if you have a truck or have access to a trailer, you can start a clean-up/hauling service. Simply collecting old news papers from your neighbors can get you started in the paper recycling business. More than a few enterprising housewives have found success and fortune by starting home and/or apartment cleaning services. If you have a yard full of flowers, you can make good extra money by supplying fresh cut flowers to restaurants and offices in your area on a regular basis. You might turn a ceramics hobby into a lucrative personalized coffee mug business. What I'm saying is that in reality, there's literally no end to the ways you can start and operate a profitable extra income business from your home.
The first thing you must do, however, is some basic market research. Find out for yourself, first-hand, just how many people there are in your area who are interested in your proposed product or service, and would be "willing to stand in line and pay money for it." This is known as defining your market and pinpointing your customers. If after checking around, talking about your idea with a whole lot of people over a period of one to three months, you get the idea that these people would be paying customers, your next effort should be directed toward the "detailing" of your business plan.
The more precise and detailed your plan - covering all the bases relating to how you'll do everything that needs to be done - the easier it's going to be for you to attain success. Such a plan should show your start-up investment needs, your advertising plan, your production costs and procedures, your sales program, and how your time will be allocated. Too often, enthusiastic and ambitious entrepreneurs jump in on an extra income project and suddenly find that the costs are beyond their abilities, and the time requirements more than they can meet. It pays to lay it all out on paper before you get involved, and the clearer you can "see" everything before you start, the better your chances for success.
Now, assuming you've got your market targeted, you know who your customers are going to be and how you're going to reach them with your product or service. And you have all your costs as well as time requirements itemized. The next step is to set your plan in motion and start making money.
Here is the most important "secret" of all, relating to starting and building a profitable home-based business, so read very carefully. Regardless of what kind of business you start, you must have the capital and the available time to sustain your business through the first six months of operation. Specifically, you must not count on receiving or spending any money coming in from your business on yourself or for your bills during those first six months. All the income from your business during those first six months should be reinvested in your business in order for it to grow and reach our planned first year potential.
Once you've passed that first six months milestone, you can set up a small monthly salary for yourself, and begin enjoying the fruits of your labor. But the first six months or operation for any business are critical, so do not plan to use any of the money your business generates for yourself during that period.
If you've got your business plan properly organized, and have implemented the plan, you should at the end of your first year be able to begin thinking about hiring other people to alleviate some of your work-load. Remember this: Starting a successful business is not a means towards either a job for yourself or a way to keep busy. It should be regarded as the beginning of an enterprise that will grow and prosper, with you as the top dog. Eventually, you'll have other people doing all the work for you, even running the entire operation, while you vacation in the Bahamas or Hawaii and collect or receive regular income from your initial efforts.
About The Author
Robert Nelson is Vice President of Tech Comp Associates, who publishes the new Security Products Directory. Details about this new Directory can be found at: http://www.securityproductsdirectory.com
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