Starting Your Own Home Based Business - Free Resources
It’s a sad fact that 95% of those who start a home business fail. Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it? Imagine all those who sign up for a home based business opportunity with great hopes and enthusiasm and belief in their product. Why don’t these people succeed in promoting their home businesses?
If you are planning on starting your own home based business to build retirement income and want to promote it online via network marketing, 7 Great Lies of Internet Marketing, is a must read. When you do choose a business opportunity for your home based business, this free ebook will change the way you look at the “training” you’re given by your upline or your business training back office.
The home based businesses I promote pretty much listed all the elements listed in The 7 Great Lies ebook in their training material. However, besides giving you the 7 Great Lies of Network Marketing, Ann Sieg also tells you what to do to combat these lies and be successful.
Ann Sieg’s ebook is definately ruffling some network marketing feathers as she challenges the old school style of marketing. See if these Great Lies of Network Marketing sound familiar to you:
Lie #1 – Everyone is your prospect!
Lie #2 – What you’re doing isn’t sales. You just share products with people.
Lie #3 – Anybody can do this!
Lie #4 – We’ll build your business for you.
Lie #5 – We have the best product out there so people can’t help but buy it.
Lie #6 – If you’re not succeeding it’s because you just don’t have enough belief!
Lie #7 – Try our “proven system” and you can’t help but succeed.
If you’re starting your own home business, you will run into all these reasons why you can’t fail. It isn’t the fault of your particular company. It’s just the way “it’s always been done.”
Unless you want to be one of the 95% who fail at your home business, it’s time to change the way it’s always been done.
The 7 Great Lies of Network Marketing tells you want you need to do as well if you want a successful network marketing home business. Here’s something I learned and use every day in my home business.
1. Make your business about offering solutions. Become an expert and a problem solver.
There are hundreds of business opportunities out there. People aren’t interested in another “biz op” presentation so forget that! If you are the expert and the problem solver, people seek YOU out and ask about your product or opportunity.
Your product or business offers the solution to someone’s problem, otherwise nobody would want it in the first place. Whatever that problem is, become an expert on it. I’m most familiar with health products so I’ll use that as an example. What health problem does your product help to solve? What uses do people find for your product? Each of these uses offers a solution to a problem.
My two products are Holy Tea and Uri Life. Holy Tea is a safe, natural detox tea that helps people lose weight and keep all the disease and illness-causing toxins flushed from their bodies. So Holy Tea solves many problems for people. Uri Life is a whole nutrition, whole food product that helps build healthy bodies at the cellular level through nutrition. Just about everybody wants to be healthier or has a health issue they are dealing with.
To become an expert at your problem, write articles for Ezinearticles.com, start a blog or website, or write a monthly newsletter. You want people to believe in your authority on the subject and value your opinion and advice.
You can see that it doesn’t really matter what product you sell. The product itself becomes almost irrelevant.
The 7 Great Lies of Network Marketing explains that chasing after friends and family to present your business opportunity is only an invitation to frustration and failure in your home business. If you’re a professional and an expert, customers and business partners will seek you out and there is no need to chase after anyone.
The 7 Great Lies of Network Marketing is packed with great information, whether you’re just starting your own home based business or whether you’ve been building your business for some time. No matter the level of success you’ve achieve, you can become even more successful.
Becoming successful at a home business and at internet marketing is not easy. Your product or your business won’t magically grow - you do have to learn some marketing skills but once you master a few basic marketing strategies, building your business to success will be a whole lot easier!
Click here for more information on The 7 Great Lies of Internet Marketing
Another great free resource:
Retirement Jobs - Is it Time to Start Your Own Home Business?
Are you asking yourself, “Is it time to start my own home based business?” Is retirement looming while news of economic crisis gives you the jitters? Maybe retirement is approaching and you’re just looking for a new and different challenge in your life, a challenge that will give you a good supplemental income.
There are pros and cons to starting your own home business but now is a great time to explore the possibilities.
Starting Your Own Home Business for Retirement Income – The Pros
1. You can start your business while you’re still working your regular job.
Starting a home based business to supplement your retirement income is easy to do part time at first. In fact, while you still have your regular income, you can do your research, set up an organized home office and draw up your plan for success.
2. It’s easy to find a solid work at home opportunity.
This is where your research comes in. There are hundreds of work at home businesses out there and finding the right one for you is not difficult.
3. You can be your own boss.
Starting your own home based business allows you to be fully in control. If you want to get up and work at 3 am in your pjs you can. If you want to take a break to go to exercise class or walk your dogs, like I do, you can do that too.
4. You can save money by starting your own home business.
Add up what you spend on gas, wear and tear on your car, clothes for work, eating out for lunch or even dinner and you’ll see that working at home can actually save you money. When you’re retired, it would be nice to go to work in your own home office.
5. Starting your own home based business can be done for free or for very little cost.
Many home business opportunities are free to get into and there are lots of ways to market for free as well.
6. In times of perceived economic crisis, more people are interested in starting their own home business for extra or retirement income.
Others are like you, looking for ways to supplement their income and perhaps make even more money than they did at their regular jobs. If your home business involves offering your opportunity to others, then this is an excellent time.
7. There is serious money to be made by starting your own home business.
It may take time to put together the home business which will make you the money you want or need for retirement, but it can be done. I advocate the multiple streams of income way of building business. You build one source of income until it’s producing, then you apply your successful method to building another stream of income, and so on.
8. You can put your home business on autopilot.
After you’ve built your home business, may aspects can be put on autopilot so you are making money even in your sleep!
Starting Your Own Home Business – The Cons
1. Many home businesses fail.
Let’s face it, everyone starts their home business with great expectations but an extremely high percentage of these fail. Would you be one of these?
2. There are lots of get rich quick schemes out there.
Doing your research is very important! Don’t sign up for anything that requires a big outlay of cash from you. Don’t sign up for advertising or programs that are costly until you’ve explored all the free options.
3. It takes time to build your own home business.
Making money from a home business doesn’t happen overnight, no matter what sales pages might tell you. It requires patience and commitment to start and build your own home business.
As you can see, the pros far out-weight the cons for starting your own home business. If you’re approaching retirement, or even if you’re retired now, start doing your research into products and businesses to find the right one for you.
Stay tuned for more information on how to find the right home business for you.
Retirement Jobs - Turn Your Passion Into Profit
Would you like to wake up with enthusiasm every day and leap out of bed knowing your dream retirement job awaits you? Think of the hours you currently snatch for enjoying the things you love? In retirement, you can turn this passion in to profit.
What’s your dream? Do you have a passion or hobby only pursue a few hours a week? If you’re a baby boomer getting ready for retirement, chances are you’re still going to be working at something, whether it’s out of pleasure or financial necessity, so why not make a midlife career change by combining your dreams and passions into a fulfilling retirement job?
Ambition To Meaning Expanded DVD
You’ve earned an enjoyable retirement but can you afford it? If you can’t enjoy life when you retire, when will you? Studies show that those who work in a job that they enjoy are healthier and experience fewer stress related illnesses. When you’re a baby boomer, it’s very important to stay healthy and avoid stress!
Think of the people you do business with. Don’t you value those who are passionate and excited about their business? Wouldn’t you rather do business with someone who truly enjoys what they are doing? Your retirement job can be something YOU are passionate about – making money is just the extra icing on the cake.
How to Create a “Retirement Job” from Your Dreams and Passions
Get a notebook to take a personal assessment of your interests, abilities and passions. Start by making some lists of:
1. Your interests – do you love travel or photography? How about writing or model trains? Do you love hiking and the outdoors? Write it down.
2. Your abilities and strong points – Are you an organizer? Can you write? Can you teach others? Are you patient or do you like things to move quickly?
3. Your experience – write down everything you can think of. Did you help build a Habitat for Humanity house when you were 18? Have you ever volunteered? Maybe you love Golden Retrievers and you’ve read dozens of books about them.
4. How do you currently spend your time when you aren’t working? Which of these things makes you feel happy, inspired, joyful? Think about times in your life when you truly felt passionate. Is there a common thread in your memories? Were you learning, teaching, risk taking, helping others, having fun, problem solving?
5. When we are children we are the closest to our true nature. What things did you love as a child? (I know it was long ago, but bear with me?)
6. Do you have a secret dream job? A job you never really thought you could pursue? How would it make you feel if you could make your living doing that job?
What Kind of Retirement Job Do You Want? What are Your Goals?
What is your ideal job? Dream big here. If you’d like to make $2,000 a month working 20 hours a week, write that down. If you’d like to earn and travel so you need a mobile career, write that down too. Really define what you see as the perfect retirement income. It’s a known fact that those who write down their goals are more likely to achieve them.
By now you should begin to get a sense of what type of retirement job you can feel passionate about. Next spend some time researching your interests on the Internet. What are others doing in this area? Are there blogs and websites out there about it?
The way passionate people make money from their passion is to share what they know with others. If you have expertise, others will pay to know what you know. What have you learned about your hobby that other people would like to know? You can help others avoid the learning curve you had and become an expert like you!
Let’s say you love model trains. Not only do you love model trains, you’re crazy about them. You’ve built some models, you attend model train shows when you can, maybe you’re a member of a model train group (or you’d like to have time for that.)
Here are some possible ways to make money in a retirement job using our model train example.
Build a Website or Blog to Create Retirement Income
1. Build a website with model train information on it. Include how-to articles like where to find hard to find model parts. Include an events calendar. Interview some other enthusiasts about their tips for model train building. You’re the expert, what did you read about to learn about model trains?
Once your website or blog is up and running, you can monetize it by putting up Google adsense or model train affiliate ads.
2. If you’d like to include travel and photography in your business, take trips to model train events, interview people and take photos. Lots of tax write offs here for your travel expenses, your camera, your computer, even model train books and magazines.
3. If you decide to build a blog to make money with your passion, look into The Niche Blogger give you step by step instructions to achieve your goal.
Teach Others about Your Passion - Give Classes on Model Trains and Model Train Building
1. Contact your local senior or community center or community college. Ask them about teaching some model train classes on the subjects of your choosing.
Write a Book or Ebook
Share your expertise with others by writing an ebook and marketing it on your blog or website or through your model train community.
If you’re not quite ready for that midlife career change or retirement job, this is the perfect time to begin finding a way to pursue what you’re passionate about right now. By doing your personal assessment and looking for ways to profit form your passion, you’re inviting ideas into your consciousness to help direct you.
There is a saying “Do what you love and the rest will follow?” Live your passion and be joyful in your retirement pursuits and creative ideas will begin flowing. You’ll suddenly find your life filled with others who share your passion, others with ideas and helpful information.
Using Social Networks in Network Marketing
If you are new to network marketing, chances are you may still be chasing down friends and relatives, trying to interest them in your “business opportunity.” There is a better way for Baby Boomers to build their business and have fun too. Welcome to the new world of attraction marketing where prospects actually seek you out wanting to join your network marketing opportunity.
First - What is Attraction Marketing?
Attraction marketing is based on the idea that to form a network marketing team, you will be more successful if you have many common bonds and friendships with your team. You seek out people who are like you, who have the same values and ideas. One terrific place to connect is through social networking.
For Baby Boomers, who remember when values like honesty and integrity were important, attraction marketing might mean connecting with others over 50 to form network marketing relationships. Attraction marketing could also mean connecting with others who have an interest in health, business building or any number of other topics. Groups who have an interest in a topic can form a social network and get to know each other.
How to Find the Right Social Networks for You
The first social network I joined was CafeMom. I was told by a friend that it was a great place to find women interested in network marketing and work at home opportunities. This was true but I found that most on the forums at CafeMom were young, stay at home mothers, not 50-something women and overall, I had little in common with them. As far as social networking, I felt like everybody’s mother on CafeMom.
One wonderful thing that did come from my social networking experience at CafeMom was that I met other like-minded women who all decided to branch off into our own group. My friend and mentor, Andrea Goodsaid started Natural Networkers which is based on attraction marketing and helping each other with our businesses. Many of us there have joined each others’ network marketing businesses.
Another social networking group I found with interests similar to my own was Eons.com. The way I found Eons was by searching for “social network over 50″. This social network caters to Baby Boomers and has forums on retirement, careers for those over 50, health, fitness, travel, just about any subject a Baby Boomer would be interested in.
I have a few other social networks I’m involved in, including The Freedom Formula which I joined after reading the book of the same name.
One new social networking tool is Twitter. Twitter is easy and fun. Here is my profile on Twitter. You create a small profile and then “twitter” about what you are doing at the moment, whether it’s creating a new blog posting or article, telling about a book you’re reading or a helpful program you’re involved in, or simply what you’re eating for dinner. Others check out your profile by subject - for instance, network marketing - and they decide to “follow” what you are doing and you can “follow” them or not, as you prefer.
What to Expect When You Sign up for a Social Networking Site
Each social network allows you to set up your own profile or home page where you usually tell something “about me”, add photos, blog postings, videos, links to your website and more to personalize it. It’s important to build a profile because it allows others to get to know you.
Each social network also offers forums where, if you participate, others can get to know you and perhaps check out your networking opportunity. The more of “you” that you put into your homepage, the more likely that people will see you as an individual and want to get go know you via the social network setting.
Social networks are also a great place to “brand” yourself as someone who knows about health, travel or whatever the subject area of your network marketing business happens to be. You can answer questions for people or give out information.
Offer and Expect Friend Requests
As you sift through the membership on the social networking site, you’ll spot others who share similar interests, whether it’s location, career, their networking business or whatever. Take time to really read pprofiles to see what you have in common or what sparks your interest. You can invite them to be your “friend” and usually this friendship includes letting you know when they’ve created a blog posting or posted on a forum. In turn, your friends are kept aware of your social networking activities.
One word of caution on using social networking for the purposes of network marketing - go easy on talking about your “opportunity.” Others don’t like the sledgehammer approach. Don’t send mass emails to all your social networking “friends” announcing your business opportunity. The best approach is to offer helpful advice, not even mentioning your business directly. Get to know people for the sake of knowing them and the rest will follow as you get to be friends.
To get the most from your social networks, be genuine. Offer help and advice with no expectation that others will join your “business opportunity.” Ask questions. Others are always glad to help and you can learn a lot through your friendships.
If you are new to social networking, you might want to start slowly. Keeping up with several networks does take time and effort and it’s best to focus on one until you have the social networking system down. After being part of one, however, the next networks are easier as you already have an idea of what you’d like on your profile, etc.
What Recession? Create Your Own Economy with The Freedom Formula
People are worried about the economy right now, but now is really the perfect time to start a new business. And Baby Boomers are asking more from their businesses. They don’t want to just make money, they want to turn passions in to profits. They want more fulfillment and spirituality associated with the business they spend so much time on.
When you’re deciding on a business or trying to grow the one you have, wouldn’t you like to integrate your spirituality with proven steps to grow that business into one that is not only profitable, but purposeful and passionate too?
The Freedom Formula - How to Put Soul in Your Business and Money in Your Bank
Christine’s book give you a step by step plan implement into your own life and business. The book begins by asking you to make assessments about your strengths, passions and goals. There is great information to download from her website such as a guidebook to keep track of your answers to her questions, a meditation and more.
In The Freedom Formula, Christine Kloser shares her experiences and offers guidance to help you build your business and get more fulfillment from it. She is committed to helping entrepreneurs make a profit from their business, but they can also at the sametime make a difference in the world.
Christine also has a social network tied to the book where you can discuss it and ask questions of the author.
I liked the fact that The Freedom Formula was so interactive. I learned a great deal about myself, my goals and my passions after following her plan and I feel more focused on a plan that will be personally fulfilling to me.
A foreword by Neale Donald Walsch, the best selling author of Conversations with God, says of The Freedom Formula, “In this book, Christine Kloser beautifully explains how to integrate your spiritual nature with proven business principles to become a successful conscious entrepreneur.”
If you click on the Amazon link above you can read what others are saying about The Freedom Formula as well.
Once you purchase your copy from Amazon, go to The Freedom Forumla and put in your order number to receive over $9,500 worth of free gifts from the author.
Affiliate Marketing Creates Multiple Streams of Income
If you have your own blog or website, affiliate programs can be a great way to earn extra money via online marketing.
Advantages of Affiliate Marketing
- Affiliate program sign up is free!
- With some affiliate programs you get your own affiliate website to promote the product
- Affiliate programs supply banner code and links for you to use on your website or blog which already has your code embedded in it.
- There are affiliates for any interest. Is your blog related to health - eco-living - pets? There is sure to be a company selling these products which would love to have you as an affiliate.
Disadvantages of Affiliate Marketing
- You usually need to earn a certain threshold of money to get paid. Sometimes it’s $10 or $25.
- You need to have pretty good traffic to your site to make that threshold with most affiliate programs
How to Get Started with Affiliate Marketing
The best affiliate programs offer products you already use and enjoy. Do you order online? Do you have favorite companies where you like the customer service and quality of product? Go to their website and look to see if they offer an affiliate program. The chances are, they do.
Another way to find a product of interest is to do a search for what you want like “Affiliate program health” or “affiliate program pets” and see what comes up.
Before you actually sign up for an affiliate marketing account , create a pay pal account for yourself. Creating a pay pal account is free to do and it allows affiliates and others to transfer money to you. Many affiliate programs pay through pay pal. It’s handy to have one anyway in case you want to sell products from your website in the future.
When you sign up with an affiliate program, you may or may not be asked for your social security number. Most affiliates don’t require it until you’ve made enough money to require paying taxes on it. Also, when you sign up, you create log in info for yourself so you can get into the back office of the affiliate program.
Once you sign up, the company will most likely send you a confirmation email and you’re on your way.
When you get your sign in info or your own website, log in and you’ll find lots of great tools for online marketing of your affiliate including banners, text links and more. There is always some sort of tracking tool for tracking your links, sales and commissions too.
Here is an example of a banner supplied by GanoBrand Healthy coffee:
Many affiliate programs allow you to create links for specific campaigns you might want, such as a special link for your blog, another for your website and another for a specific forum you’re on often. This way you can see where your sales come from.
Many forums or social networks allow you to post links in your signature or on your profile which is a great way to market your affiliate program online.
How to Build Network Marketing Success
Use the Internet to Build a Successful Network Marketing Business
Online Marketing with an MLM can be a terrific way to own your own business and add some extra income to your retirement years. But where do you start looking for the best online marketing opportunity for you? Well, here’s a startling fact - which online marketing opportunity you choose doesn’t really matter all that much! What matters to your success is how you market the MLM you do choose.
What Network Marketing advice does YOUR MLM Company offer?
I can almost guarantee you that even the best MLM company will give you lots and lots of training that sounds just like this: Be passionate about your business and your product! Make a list of all your friends and relatives, then contact each and every one and tell them about your terrific business opportunity and all the money they will make if they sign up with you! Signing up just one or two prospects and the residual income will come flowing in!
A New Approach to Network Marketing
This is the truth about online marketing and building an MLM - this outdated approach doesn’t work! And by using the power of the internet and the social networking systems which are already there, you can build a successful online business without ever asking Aunt Sally and Uncle Bert to buy your product.
What brings network marketing success is just that - network marketing. Every MLM opportunity succeeds through great network marketing and online marketing is easier than you might think.
What are Your Network Marketing Business Goals?
First decide exactly what you want the objective, or goal, of your business to be. Are you a baby boomer who would you like to help others achieve greater health in the second half of life? Would you like to help others build their own businesses? What are your passions? What are your strong points that will help you in your business?
Branding Yourself - Not Your Product
The most important aspect of building a successful network marketing business with an MLM company is that ultimately, you are not selling your product, you are ultimately selling yourself. You must show others that they want to work with you, to be part of your team. You must show people that you’re being yourself and that they will like the person you are.
Take Advantage of Attraction Marketing
Something to remember too is that it’s best to find others to work with in your network marketing business who are like you, people you have something in common with, who have the same goals, interests and values that you do. That doesn’t include everyone! Attracting others to you, gathering a group of like minded people to work together is the basis of attraction marketing.
Just how to you attract others to you for the purposes of network marketing success? First, position yourself as an expert, not on your product, but on the solution that your product offers. Always focus on solutions!
If you’re promoting an MLM product for weight loss, for instance, the solution it provides is obvious. It helps customers lose weight to become healthier and slimmer. So how could you market this weight loss opportunity to others? You become an expert in weight loss and and also in the the health problems caused by obesity. You write articles on these issues, join forums and answer questions, offering a link to your blog or website where more information can be found.
One thing that is helpful in building a network marketing business for your MLM is to have your own blog or website. The replicator site your company gives you is great for branding your product but not for telling customers anything about YOU. You is ultimately what you are selling.
One very important aspect of branding yourself, and not your product is that you can build multiple streams of income with several different products, rather than identifying yourself strictly with one MLM company or product. This opens up very valuable network marketing options for you.
Building a Successful Network Marketing Business Can be Rewarding
Building a successful network marketing or online marketing business is not as easy as companies would like you to think - but it can be fun, rewarding and satisfying. Building your MLM business will connect you with many new friends who are trying to build their own successful network marketing businesses, friends who might also end up being on your team in the end, or, they could be very helpful to you with advice or support, even if you don’t sell the same products.
MLM and network marketing opportunities are out there by the hundreds but whichever one you choose, you must have a good network marketing plan to make it work.
Would you like a free, rebrandable ebook which can help you learn to Blog Your Brand? Click here to email me and I will send you a free copy which you can rebrand and give away on your website or blog.
If you’re looking for a terrific group of network marketers to hang out with and learn from, join us at NaturalNetworkers.com