Working at Home - The One Thing You MUST Know
by: Trent Brownrigg
You will spend more time, effort, money, and headaches in the beginning of starting a home business than with practically anything else in your life. However, when it all comes together, the hard times will seem like a distant memory because it will all have been worth it.
DO NOT GIVE UP! DO NOT GIVE UP! DO NOT GIVE UP!
I could repeat that phrase 1,000,000 times and it wouldn't be enough!
Remember, there is a very sharp curve when it comes to internet marketing. Your income stays the same for what seems like an eternity, and then slowly rises for a while. Before you know it your income suddenly skyrockets seemingly out of nowhere and continues to grow.
When your first start to work at home you will spend day after day reading, learning, promoting, spending money, etc... trying to learn all you can to get your home business to make money, and with little results. You want to kick yourself for ever even getting started but now you are on a mission to make it work. After a while you start to break even. You are not losing anything now, at least, and it feels good, but not good enough. You want more!
Then, one day, it's like an Angel comes down and says, "Ok you have proven yourself; now you will succeed.” BAM, just like that, you start earning enough to put a little away, pay off debt, take a vacation, or reinvest into your business.
That is when it really gets exciting!! You have now learned enough to start teaching others and you can now apply your knowledge to find more ways to earn. Your business grows more all the time, increasing your income everyday. You can now quit your day job to work at home full time. Soon you will be financially secure.
It can be rough to start a home business and jump onto the work at home wagon. Many people give up without ever really giving it a true effort. In order to succeed you need to:
1. keep learning
2. work hard
3. develop your mind and skills
4. ask questions
5. apply your knowledge
Find a mentor and copy what they do, but add your own twist to it. Visit forums to learn from others that are successful. Do something constructive and worthwhile with your home business every day and you will reap the rewards soon.
Remember there are no get rich quick opportunities and you can’t be lazy just because you work at home. Being in business for yourself means working very hard, especially for the first year or two. It sure beats the alternative, doesn’t it?
Copyright © Trent Brownrigg
www.work-at-home-jobs-iowa.com
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Working At Home With Bugger And Pesto: A Tale Of Two Kitties
My two cats have taught me many good home office habits. Most of these lessons have been learned the hard way, so maybe I can help you avoid the heartbreak of blank computer screens and other home office disasters by sharing a few tips I have learned along the way.
1. Save your work...again, and again, and again...
There are many ways to lose all your computer work. One of them is if your cat falls off the monitor onto your keyboard. (One for Bugger...)
2. Always treat your cat with the utmost respect (you are allowed to be excessive in this matter; the more subservient you are, and sometimes even downright grovelling, the better).
If you toss your cat off your desk out of anger, her first reaction is to take all paperwork with her. (Two for Bugger...)
3. If anything at all EVER goes wrong with your computer, first check the location of your cat.
One day I suddenly could not keep a window open on my computer. No matter what I did, no window would stay open, one would flicker on for a moment then disappeared again. I rebooted, that didn't help. Finally I moved my cat 1 centimeter to the left, away from the keyboard. Voila, problem solved. The cat was ever-so-slightly leaning on the Esc key. (One for Pesto...)
4. At the end of every work session, file all your paperwork. Do not leave a single scrap of paper on your desktop.
In this case, the excuse "the dog ate my homework" needs to be corrected by exchanging "cat" for "dog". (Two for Pesto...)
5. Never drink while sitting at your desk.
When your cat tries to drink out of your glass, she may get her head stuck in it and then...you don't want to hear the rest, it's not pretty... (Three for Pesto...)
6. Work when it's time to work, play when it's time to play.
And don't play in your office, or your cats will come to expect it. Once your cat discovers the cursor, or anything else that moves on the computer screen, she will insist on playing. Typical behavior will include planting herself in front of the computor screen, mere millimeters away, for hours.
Or, if you play "offline" in your office with your cat, she may develop the habit of climbing your chest and oh-so-gently pushing your face away from looking at the monitor and towards looking at her. (One for Pesto, one for Bugger, respectively...)
And of course if you have more than two cats, the lessons multiply exponentially.
If you do find that your furry friends are preventing you from conducting your home business, here is a helpful link, guaranteed to buy you some much-needed alone time:
"Cat Bathing as a Martial Art" by Bud Herron
Even cat bathing teaches valuable lessons to a home business owner, for cat bathing requires perseverance and courage of conviction.
Now that you've learned these valuable lessons, good fortune with your home business (and with your pets). You are now armed withjhgj (The rest of this article has been deleted by Bugger)
About The Author
Glenn Beach is a self-employed subcontractor and home business entrepreneur at: http://www.work-at-home-business-opportunity-canada.com
1. Save your work...again, and again, and again...
There are many ways to lose all your computer work. One of them is if your cat falls off the monitor onto your keyboard. (One for Bugger...)
2. Always treat your cat with the utmost respect (you are allowed to be excessive in this matter; the more subservient you are, and sometimes even downright grovelling, the better).
If you toss your cat off your desk out of anger, her first reaction is to take all paperwork with her. (Two for Bugger...)
3. If anything at all EVER goes wrong with your computer, first check the location of your cat.
One day I suddenly could not keep a window open on my computer. No matter what I did, no window would stay open, one would flicker on for a moment then disappeared again. I rebooted, that didn't help. Finally I moved my cat 1 centimeter to the left, away from the keyboard. Voila, problem solved. The cat was ever-so-slightly leaning on the Esc key. (One for Pesto...)
4. At the end of every work session, file all your paperwork. Do not leave a single scrap of paper on your desktop.
In this case, the excuse "the dog ate my homework" needs to be corrected by exchanging "cat" for "dog". (Two for Pesto...)
5. Never drink while sitting at your desk.
When your cat tries to drink out of your glass, she may get her head stuck in it and then...you don't want to hear the rest, it's not pretty... (Three for Pesto...)
6. Work when it's time to work, play when it's time to play.
And don't play in your office, or your cats will come to expect it. Once your cat discovers the cursor, or anything else that moves on the computer screen, she will insist on playing. Typical behavior will include planting herself in front of the computor screen, mere millimeters away, for hours.
Or, if you play "offline" in your office with your cat, she may develop the habit of climbing your chest and oh-so-gently pushing your face away from looking at the monitor and towards looking at her. (One for Pesto, one for Bugger, respectively...)
And of course if you have more than two cats, the lessons multiply exponentially.
If you do find that your furry friends are preventing you from conducting your home business, here is a helpful link, guaranteed to buy you some much-needed alone time:
"Cat Bathing as a Martial Art" by Bud Herron
Even cat bathing teaches valuable lessons to a home business owner, for cat bathing requires perseverance and courage of conviction.
Now that you've learned these valuable lessons, good fortune with your home business (and with your pets). You are now armed withjhgj (The rest of this article has been deleted by Bugger)
About The Author
Glenn Beach is a self-employed subcontractor and home business entrepreneur at: http://www.work-at-home-business-opportunity-canada.com
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
The Biggest Temptation When Working At A Home-Based Business
From what I have seen and experienced, to quit is the greatest temptation during the first year of working at a home-based business. If smoking was like working at a home-based business, the occurence of lung cancer would be dramatically reduced.
It is a known fact that a majority of the people that undertake a work at home business do not achieve real success. There are several reasons for this, but one of the primary reasons is that these people get frustrated and do not allow themselves enough time to succeed.
In the early going, one of the most difficult things about developing a new home based business is dealing with the emotional roller coaster that can result from the highs (successes) and lows (temporary setbacks) you are almost certain to experience. Once you have done the research and decided on a particular home based business opportunity, you really need to focus on persistence and realize that any real business will not just automatically become successful in a matter of days or weeks. You should be prepared to give it your best sustained effort for at least 6 to 12 months in order to begin to build a solid business base and begin to see some good income.
Highs and lows were something that I began to notice when I first started a home based business. I have many years of top level management experience in "traditional" corporations and have experienced lots of business cycles (corporate "ups and downs"), but the natural "ups and downs" that occur in a home business (particularly in the early stages) can be brutal from an emotional standpoint if you don't prepare yourself in advance for the fact that it is a basic law of nature...it will be a rocky road until you have spent enough time and effort to build your business to a level that sort of smoothes out the peaks and valleys.
The impact of the highs and lows you will probably experience in developing your home based business is amplified by the fact that you are now in business on your own. You are the boss and get to make all the decisions, but you are also on your own in dealing with the frustrations that will occur along the way while you are developing your business.
When working at home a person can, at times, experience a feeling of isolation which is probably brought on by the lack of interaction of a work force environment.
There can also be periods of doubt in the early going...gee, did I pick a viable business opportunity?...am I doing the right things to develop my business?...when will I start making a profit?, and so on.
You are most likely going to experience the "two steps forward and one step backward" syndrome and the ever-looming temptation to become discouraged. However, keep in mind that as long as you have more steps going forward than backward, you will eventually get ahead! Simple, but often overlooked.
Relatively minor setbacks can seem huge in the early stages of developing a work at home business and can really contribute to some noticeable "mood swings". For example, if you are just starting out and you have four customers/clients and you happen to lose one...that's a 25% drop! However, if you fast-forward in time to the point where you have hundreds of customers/clients and you lose one...that's just a mere fraction of 1%! Exactly the same event, just at a different point in time.
Hang in there and just keep on keepin' on. If you have chosen a viable home business opportunity (one that has been around for awhile and in which some other people are having success) you will achieve success, but it takes time and there will be ups and downs along the way. Remember the old saying..."it takes a long time to become an overnight success".
About The Author
Kirk Bannerman operates a successful home based business and resides in California. For more details, visit his website at http://business-at-home.us
It is a known fact that a majority of the people that undertake a work at home business do not achieve real success. There are several reasons for this, but one of the primary reasons is that these people get frustrated and do not allow themselves enough time to succeed.
In the early going, one of the most difficult things about developing a new home based business is dealing with the emotional roller coaster that can result from the highs (successes) and lows (temporary setbacks) you are almost certain to experience. Once you have done the research and decided on a particular home based business opportunity, you really need to focus on persistence and realize that any real business will not just automatically become successful in a matter of days or weeks. You should be prepared to give it your best sustained effort for at least 6 to 12 months in order to begin to build a solid business base and begin to see some good income.
Highs and lows were something that I began to notice when I first started a home based business. I have many years of top level management experience in "traditional" corporations and have experienced lots of business cycles (corporate "ups and downs"), but the natural "ups and downs" that occur in a home business (particularly in the early stages) can be brutal from an emotional standpoint if you don't prepare yourself in advance for the fact that it is a basic law of nature...it will be a rocky road until you have spent enough time and effort to build your business to a level that sort of smoothes out the peaks and valleys.
The impact of the highs and lows you will probably experience in developing your home based business is amplified by the fact that you are now in business on your own. You are the boss and get to make all the decisions, but you are also on your own in dealing with the frustrations that will occur along the way while you are developing your business.
When working at home a person can, at times, experience a feeling of isolation which is probably brought on by the lack of interaction of a work force environment.
There can also be periods of doubt in the early going...gee, did I pick a viable business opportunity?...am I doing the right things to develop my business?...when will I start making a profit?, and so on.
You are most likely going to experience the "two steps forward and one step backward" syndrome and the ever-looming temptation to become discouraged. However, keep in mind that as long as you have more steps going forward than backward, you will eventually get ahead! Simple, but often overlooked.
Relatively minor setbacks can seem huge in the early stages of developing a work at home business and can really contribute to some noticeable "mood swings". For example, if you are just starting out and you have four customers/clients and you happen to lose one...that's a 25% drop! However, if you fast-forward in time to the point where you have hundreds of customers/clients and you lose one...that's just a mere fraction of 1%! Exactly the same event, just at a different point in time.
Hang in there and just keep on keepin' on. If you have chosen a viable home business opportunity (one that has been around for awhile and in which some other people are having success) you will achieve success, but it takes time and there will be ups and downs along the way. Remember the old saying..."it takes a long time to become an overnight success".
About The Author
Kirk Bannerman operates a successful home based business and resides in California. For more details, visit his website at http://business-at-home.us
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Apply the Top 8 Secrets to Successfully Work at Home
What I'm about to reveal to you are 8 proven secret strategies, that will help you accomplish positive results with the time you spend on your home business.
Ready?
1. Imagine yourself as the CEO of a major corporation.
This technique will put you in the proper frame of mind, to envision yourself as your own boss, and that you are in complete control of your business.
As the CEO of your corporation, it is very crucial that you project where your business will spiral towards in the next 5 years.
Remember A DREAM written down with a date becomes a GOAL. A goal broken down becomes a PLAN.. A plan backed by ACTION makes your dream come true.. From The Millionaire Mentor by Greg S. Reid
Therefore, you need to…
2. Set Specific Goals
"Goals are like train tracks." They keep you moving forward in the direction you want to go. -Vicky Smith
When setting proper goals you need to exercise 2 simple strategies:
First and foremost, *Set Your Long Term Goals* (a.k.a. Dreams)
The bottom line is this, if you want to head in the right direction, than you must know where you want to be in 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 3 years, even 5 years from now.
This technique is amazingly effective when you type your goals down, and print them out. (Be sure you do it, I'll tell you why later.)
Secondly, you must always set and accomplish daily goals, so that you will achieve your long term dreams (goals). When you know where you want to be and where you are headed, than you will know exactly what you need to do to get there.
This will definitely get the ball rolling for you to set your daily goals.
3. Set up a *daily* To-Do Lists
Now that you have distinguished your daily goals, the easiest way to accomplish them is by working on a priority basis always working on the most important task first.
Design your daily to-do list at the end of your work day, so you know exactly what you need to do when you wake up in the morning. Make your daily tasks realistic, and be sure that they are accomplished. Think of each task you accomplish as a stepping stone towards your dreams.
The key here is for you to go to bed at night without having any regrets, and knowing that you have achieved everything you could that day.
Here's a neat trick: Use Microsoft Outlook's task manager to prioritize your daily To-Do list. Outlook will let you manage your tasks on a per hour basis. It is very crucial to avoid procrastination if you plan on getting where you want to be in 5 years.
Here's the best part: Outlook will keep reminding you, if your tasks have not been accomplished. This gives you absolutely no excuses not to work. Which brings me to my next point…
4. Devote a *specific amount* of hours each and every day...
..to work on your business. To avoid getting side tracked, DO NOT surf the net, close your instant messenger conversations during this period of time.
The more side tracked you become, the further away you will be from your dreams.
5. Develop a positive routine
Research proves that eating breakfast every morning, will help you to think better, and even work more efficiently on your business.
Always take 15 - 30 minute breaks during the day to avoid straining your eyes. Have a good night's sleep, (6 to 8 hours is recommended.) Most importantly, try exercising daily because this will help fuel energy through out your body.
6. Stay organized, and focused
Tape your goals list on the wall by your work area, so that you will be reminded of what you are striving towards, each and everyday.
This important step alone will help guide you towards your ultimate goal, and keep you focused on what you should be doing.
If you ever feel that you don't have the energy to work on your business, simply take a look at your long term goals list, and let it remind you of your dreams.
Use this power to help you move forward in the direction you want to go.
7. Check your email ONCE every hour
Some of us love the idea of receiving email daily, and in most cases would likely check it every few minutes. This can be a very devastating routine that you will become accustomed to, be sure you eliminate it before it becomes routine.
The real secret to running a successful home based business, is to spend your time wisely and efficiently, by developing a positive daily routine.
8. Have fun
This may be the most important step of all. Make sure that you enjoy every minute you spend working on your business. If you can't stand the idea of getting up in the morning to work, than you might as well look forward to going back to that J.O.B. (Just Over Broke) you dread.
You must enjoy what you do, in order to fully succeed and accomplish your long term goals.
I have given you these 8 powerful strategies, the only way that they will work for you is if you apply them right now.
I wish you the best of luck with your home business, and I hope that you have a prosperous year.
Copyright 2004 Ryan Terry
About The Author
Ryan Terry is the owner & CEO of www.realwealthsecrets.com & several internet marketing websites. Claim your FR.EE report now that reveals the *answer* to money, time and traffic & get $125 worth of FR.EE gifts instantly once you click here: http://www.realwealthsecrets.com
Ryan Terry enjoys meeting & helping new clients, traveling, and spending time with his wife Jessica and baby girl Eden. His mission is simple: “The more value you freely give, the more you get in return”. His goal is to give the best service.
Ready?
1. Imagine yourself as the CEO of a major corporation.
This technique will put you in the proper frame of mind, to envision yourself as your own boss, and that you are in complete control of your business.
As the CEO of your corporation, it is very crucial that you project where your business will spiral towards in the next 5 years.
Remember A DREAM written down with a date becomes a GOAL. A goal broken down becomes a PLAN.. A plan backed by ACTION makes your dream come true.. From The Millionaire Mentor by Greg S. Reid
Therefore, you need to…
2. Set Specific Goals
"Goals are like train tracks." They keep you moving forward in the direction you want to go. -Vicky Smith
When setting proper goals you need to exercise 2 simple strategies:
First and foremost, *Set Your Long Term Goals* (a.k.a. Dreams)
The bottom line is this, if you want to head in the right direction, than you must know where you want to be in 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 3 years, even 5 years from now.
This technique is amazingly effective when you type your goals down, and print them out. (Be sure you do it, I'll tell you why later.)
Secondly, you must always set and accomplish daily goals, so that you will achieve your long term dreams (goals). When you know where you want to be and where you are headed, than you will know exactly what you need to do to get there.
This will definitely get the ball rolling for you to set your daily goals.
3. Set up a *daily* To-Do Lists
Now that you have distinguished your daily goals, the easiest way to accomplish them is by working on a priority basis always working on the most important task first.
Design your daily to-do list at the end of your work day, so you know exactly what you need to do when you wake up in the morning. Make your daily tasks realistic, and be sure that they are accomplished. Think of each task you accomplish as a stepping stone towards your dreams.
The key here is for you to go to bed at night without having any regrets, and knowing that you have achieved everything you could that day.
Here's a neat trick: Use Microsoft Outlook's task manager to prioritize your daily To-Do list. Outlook will let you manage your tasks on a per hour basis. It is very crucial to avoid procrastination if you plan on getting where you want to be in 5 years.
Here's the best part: Outlook will keep reminding you, if your tasks have not been accomplished. This gives you absolutely no excuses not to work. Which brings me to my next point…
4. Devote a *specific amount* of hours each and every day...
..to work on your business. To avoid getting side tracked, DO NOT surf the net, close your instant messenger conversations during this period of time.
The more side tracked you become, the further away you will be from your dreams.
5. Develop a positive routine
Research proves that eating breakfast every morning, will help you to think better, and even work more efficiently on your business.
Always take 15 - 30 minute breaks during the day to avoid straining your eyes. Have a good night's sleep, (6 to 8 hours is recommended.) Most importantly, try exercising daily because this will help fuel energy through out your body.
6. Stay organized, and focused
Tape your goals list on the wall by your work area, so that you will be reminded of what you are striving towards, each and everyday.
This important step alone will help guide you towards your ultimate goal, and keep you focused on what you should be doing.
If you ever feel that you don't have the energy to work on your business, simply take a look at your long term goals list, and let it remind you of your dreams.
Use this power to help you move forward in the direction you want to go.
7. Check your email ONCE every hour
Some of us love the idea of receiving email daily, and in most cases would likely check it every few minutes. This can be a very devastating routine that you will become accustomed to, be sure you eliminate it before it becomes routine.
The real secret to running a successful home based business, is to spend your time wisely and efficiently, by developing a positive daily routine.
8. Have fun
This may be the most important step of all. Make sure that you enjoy every minute you spend working on your business. If you can't stand the idea of getting up in the morning to work, than you might as well look forward to going back to that J.O.B. (Just Over Broke) you dread.
You must enjoy what you do, in order to fully succeed and accomplish your long term goals.
I have given you these 8 powerful strategies, the only way that they will work for you is if you apply them right now.
I wish you the best of luck with your home business, and I hope that you have a prosperous year.
Copyright 2004 Ryan Terry
About The Author
Ryan Terry is the owner & CEO of www.realwealthsecrets.com & several internet marketing websites. Claim your FR.EE report now that reveals the *answer* to money, time and traffic & get $125 worth of FR.EE gifts instantly once you click here: http://www.realwealthsecrets.com
Ryan Terry enjoys meeting & helping new clients, traveling, and spending time with his wife Jessica and baby girl Eden. His mission is simple: “The more value you freely give, the more you get in return”. His goal is to give the best service.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Identifying Work At Home Success Characteristics
Do people that are successful in home based businesses share some common characteristics and, if so, what are the primary ones?
The dictionary defines successful as:
* having a favorable outcome, or
* having obtained something desired or intended, or
* having achieved wealth or eminence
When applied to a home business, I think the definition of the word successful involves a combination of financial gain, time flexibility, and being able to call your own shots (being your own boss). The order of importance will vary from person to person.
I have had the good fortune to be quite successful with home-based internet businesses. No, that is not completely accurate, I have had success because I have invested a lot of sweat equity in my work at home business activities.
Having spent many years in the corporate world, I am a firm believer in the team aspect of business and so I naturally gravitated toward network marketing instead of trying to go solo selling products/services and competing with the big players like Yahoo, Amazon and the other well known names.
After doing considerable research, I found a very well established and financially solid internet-based company to work with. Using my business experience in the "offline world" and developing my internet marketing skills on the fly in an OJT (aka: on-the-job-training) format, things have gone very well and I recently spent some time trying to identify some of the primary traits that are common in my most successful team members.
Whether you're breeding bird dogs, or race horses, or drafting college football players to play in the NFL...it's important to develop "markers" that can be very useful in predicting success. From my offline, traditional, business experience I have known this from the get-go, but for some reason I was slow to learn (or, was it re-learn?) that identifying the people with a high likelihood of success is even more important when developing an online network marketing business that depends upon teamwork.
Reflecting back on many of the truly successful people I have worked with in network marketing, I made a list of the numerous success factors that emerged when I assessed each person individually. After compiling the list, three factors seemed to stand out as being the most common success indicators. In no particular order, these factors were:
* approaching the business with a long term perspective. It takes a lot of time to become an "overnight success"
* exhibiting the tenacity of a pit bull
* being able to ride the emotional roller coaster (two steps forward and one step back) in the early stages of developing the business
Just because a person has these characteristics, it does not ensure success and, on the flip side, a person is not necessarily doomed to failure just because he or she does not possess them all.
About The Author
Kirk Bannerman operates a successful home based business and resides in California. For more details, visit his website at http://business-at-home.us
The dictionary defines successful as:
* having a favorable outcome, or
* having obtained something desired or intended, or
* having achieved wealth or eminence
When applied to a home business, I think the definition of the word successful involves a combination of financial gain, time flexibility, and being able to call your own shots (being your own boss). The order of importance will vary from person to person.
I have had the good fortune to be quite successful with home-based internet businesses. No, that is not completely accurate, I have had success because I have invested a lot of sweat equity in my work at home business activities.
Having spent many years in the corporate world, I am a firm believer in the team aspect of business and so I naturally gravitated toward network marketing instead of trying to go solo selling products/services and competing with the big players like Yahoo, Amazon and the other well known names.
After doing considerable research, I found a very well established and financially solid internet-based company to work with. Using my business experience in the "offline world" and developing my internet marketing skills on the fly in an OJT (aka: on-the-job-training) format, things have gone very well and I recently spent some time trying to identify some of the primary traits that are common in my most successful team members.
Whether you're breeding bird dogs, or race horses, or drafting college football players to play in the NFL...it's important to develop "markers" that can be very useful in predicting success. From my offline, traditional, business experience I have known this from the get-go, but for some reason I was slow to learn (or, was it re-learn?) that identifying the people with a high likelihood of success is even more important when developing an online network marketing business that depends upon teamwork.
Reflecting back on many of the truly successful people I have worked with in network marketing, I made a list of the numerous success factors that emerged when I assessed each person individually. After compiling the list, three factors seemed to stand out as being the most common success indicators. In no particular order, these factors were:
* approaching the business with a long term perspective. It takes a lot of time to become an "overnight success"
* exhibiting the tenacity of a pit bull
* being able to ride the emotional roller coaster (two steps forward and one step back) in the early stages of developing the business
Just because a person has these characteristics, it does not ensure success and, on the flip side, a person is not necessarily doomed to failure just because he or she does not possess them all.
About The Author
Kirk Bannerman operates a successful home based business and resides in California. For more details, visit his website at http://business-at-home.us
Friday, March 10, 2006
How To Avoid Work-at-Home Scams and What To Do When You're A Victim
As more and more people opt-out of conventional jobs and instead choose to work from their homes, the number of work-at-home scams has also increased. Each year thousands of people find out the hard way that opportunities which are too good to be true usually are but not before they invest and waste millions of dollars a year.
You don't have to be one of those unfortunate people. All you need to do is to become more informed, ask the appropriate questions, and know what to do if you are the victim of illegitimate opportunity.
Become More Informed
One of the first things you should become aware of are the types of business opportunities which are most frequently scams.
One of the oldest of these scams are stuffing envelopes and/or assembling items in your home. You'll find these opportunities in lots of sources, even some that are legitimate. However, what most of these ads fail to say is that you have to pay them a fee to begin. Then after you complete your job, your work is often rejected as substandard and, of course, you never see a penny. The other thing that happens is that you have to send in money only to receive instructions on how to place an ad just like the one that you've just placed in order to bring individuals just like yourself.
Another common work-at-home scams are Pyramid schemes. Pyramid schemes are often passed off as MLM (multi-level marketing) opportunities, but there is a key difference. Pyramid schemes are more concerned with having you bring in more people and less concerned with selling products. The reason is that they aren't making their money off of selling anything to actual customers but from taking money from hopeful entrepreneurs like you. Most of these schemes ask you to make an investment or a purchase in order to become a full-fledged participant and/or to receive all of your potential profits. Generally, you never see any of the earnings promised in their advertisements.
If an opportunity you've found seems to fall into one of these categories, you should start asking questions before signing up for anything.
Ask the Appropriate Questions
Even though these work-at-home opportunities often state that you have to act now or join by a certain time to secure your spot, you must take the time to ask questions. Then, don't join unless your questions are answered to your satisfaction.
Here are some of those questions:
1. Ask exactly what type of work you will be expected to perform.
2. Ask how you will be paid. If you are going to be paid by commission, be sure to ask exactly what your percentage will be.
3. Ask exactly how much money you need to spend, including fees, supplies, inventory, etc.
4. Ask how long the company has been in business since non-legitimate companies frequently change their name to go out of business.
5. Ask to get copies of the company's sales materials and product descriptions, so you can determine how product-focused the company is.
Know What to Do If You Are a Victim
If you are the victim of one of these scams, then you need to know what to do next.
Your first course of action should be to notify the company. Talk to someone as high up in the business as possible and be sure to make them aware that your plan to contact the appropriate authorities.
If you don't receive any satisfaction from the company, your next step is to report the company to the authorities. You should file a complaint with at least one, if not all, of the organizations below:
1. The Federal Trade Commission – You can file a report through their web site at www.ftc.gov
2. The Better Business Bureau – You can contact them through their web site at www.bbb.org.
3. The Attorney General of Your State – You can find out how to contact the attorney general in your area by doing a search for “Your State attorney general” at Google.com. The right page should be the first or second that appears in the search results.
The bottom line is if a business opportunity seems to good to be true, then it's worth checking out. Any business that tries to pressure you into making a hasty decision isn't a business you should be working with.
© 2004 Vishal P. Rao
About The Author
Vishal P. Rao is the editor of Home Based Business Opportunities - A web site dedicated to opportunities, ideas and resources to help you start and run a home based business. Visit his site at: http://www.home-based-business-opportunities.com
You don't have to be one of those unfortunate people. All you need to do is to become more informed, ask the appropriate questions, and know what to do if you are the victim of illegitimate opportunity.
Become More Informed
One of the first things you should become aware of are the types of business opportunities which are most frequently scams.
One of the oldest of these scams are stuffing envelopes and/or assembling items in your home. You'll find these opportunities in lots of sources, even some that are legitimate. However, what most of these ads fail to say is that you have to pay them a fee to begin. Then after you complete your job, your work is often rejected as substandard and, of course, you never see a penny. The other thing that happens is that you have to send in money only to receive instructions on how to place an ad just like the one that you've just placed in order to bring individuals just like yourself.
Another common work-at-home scams are Pyramid schemes. Pyramid schemes are often passed off as MLM (multi-level marketing) opportunities, but there is a key difference. Pyramid schemes are more concerned with having you bring in more people and less concerned with selling products. The reason is that they aren't making their money off of selling anything to actual customers but from taking money from hopeful entrepreneurs like you. Most of these schemes ask you to make an investment or a purchase in order to become a full-fledged participant and/or to receive all of your potential profits. Generally, you never see any of the earnings promised in their advertisements.
If an opportunity you've found seems to fall into one of these categories, you should start asking questions before signing up for anything.
Ask the Appropriate Questions
Even though these work-at-home opportunities often state that you have to act now or join by a certain time to secure your spot, you must take the time to ask questions. Then, don't join unless your questions are answered to your satisfaction.
Here are some of those questions:
1. Ask exactly what type of work you will be expected to perform.
2. Ask how you will be paid. If you are going to be paid by commission, be sure to ask exactly what your percentage will be.
3. Ask exactly how much money you need to spend, including fees, supplies, inventory, etc.
4. Ask how long the company has been in business since non-legitimate companies frequently change their name to go out of business.
5. Ask to get copies of the company's sales materials and product descriptions, so you can determine how product-focused the company is.
Know What to Do If You Are a Victim
If you are the victim of one of these scams, then you need to know what to do next.
Your first course of action should be to notify the company. Talk to someone as high up in the business as possible and be sure to make them aware that your plan to contact the appropriate authorities.
If you don't receive any satisfaction from the company, your next step is to report the company to the authorities. You should file a complaint with at least one, if not all, of the organizations below:
1. The Federal Trade Commission – You can file a report through their web site at www.ftc.gov
2. The Better Business Bureau – You can contact them through their web site at www.bbb.org.
3. The Attorney General of Your State – You can find out how to contact the attorney general in your area by doing a search for “Your State attorney general” at Google.com. The right page should be the first or second that appears in the search results.
The bottom line is if a business opportunity seems to good to be true, then it's worth checking out. Any business that tries to pressure you into making a hasty decision isn't a business you should be working with.
© 2004 Vishal P. Rao
About The Author
Vishal P. Rao is the editor of Home Based Business Opportunities - A web site dedicated to opportunities, ideas and resources to help you start and run a home based business. Visit his site at: http://www.home-based-business-opportunities.com
Monday, March 6, 2006
7 Basics to Look for in a Work at Home Business
We live in the age of the internet. No where has the internet made a bigger impact than in the area of the “work at home entrepreneur”. You want to start your own home based business. But, there are so many different ones. Some are legitimate, some aren’t. Since the purpose of your starting a business is to make money and free up some free time eventually, you certainly don’t want to waste your time and money on a scam. So, therein lays the problem. What do you look for when starting your own work at home business? The following is a list of just a few things to look for in a home based business opportunity.
Stability - With so many scams out there, one thing to look for is a stable opportunity.
What I mean is this: Look for a business that has been around for a while. I’m not saying that there aren’t new opportunities that are not worthwhile but I always like to know the business has been successful. Also, a stable company will usually let you join for free so that you can take a more detailed look at it before you invest your time and money into it.
Product - What product(s) will you be offering to others? Is it something that most people need, use, or would want? More importantly, is it something you need, would use, or want? It is impossible to market a product that you don’t use, because if you don’t use it, how can you convince anybody else to use it? Also, keep in mind that most times, you will be selling the opportunity as well, so you need to be convinced that it works before you can convince others.
Investment - How much does it cost to join this opportunity? How much is it going to cost to market your product? How does the compensation plan work? How long does it usually take before I at least break even? Compare what you will be spending to the money making potential of the business.
Training - So, you find a stable company with a product and opportunity you really like. The next step is to make sure you will get the training you need to get the word out that you have that product and opportunity. Nothing is more discouraging than having something to sell, a business to promote, something that will benefit others, and not know how to advertise it. Make sure your business gives you ideas on how to market your product. It’s even better if they show you how to do it. Look for ways to get people to join you while your business is growing, like Guaranteed Sign-ups, or an advertising co-op.
Up-line - This goes along with the training you will get from your business. Can you get in contact with others in the business that have been successful? It’s nice to know the path others have taken to become successful in your business. They can give you helpful ideas and they can help you avoid some of the pitfalls they have encountered. It is really nice if the opportunity has a chat room or message board so that you can get ideas on how to start, how to promote and advertise, and how to respond to others as they join your business.
Potential - All the above leads to this last quality I look for in a home based business. How great of a potential is there to make money in the business? After all, that is the bottom line, isn’t it, to make money?
Your Gut Feeling - Don’t forget your most important tool-your common sense. If something doesn’t seem right, you need to back away until you get all your questions answered. First and foremost, you have to believe in the opportunity and what it offers before you can sell it to others. Make sure to get a handle on what is going on before you commit to it. Once you make that commitment, give yourself some time before you decide it won’t work.
Obviously, there are other things that you can look for. These are just some basic things to look for when trying to find just the right work at home business to place your time and money into. But, I believe if you will use these basics as a starting point, you will be in good shape on making a decision.
About The Author
Donnie Baird has been involved with work at home businesses for 4 years and is the webmaster/owner of http://internet-work-at-home-opportunity.com. He lives in North Carolina with his wife and two children.
Stability - With so many scams out there, one thing to look for is a stable opportunity.
What I mean is this: Look for a business that has been around for a while. I’m not saying that there aren’t new opportunities that are not worthwhile but I always like to know the business has been successful. Also, a stable company will usually let you join for free so that you can take a more detailed look at it before you invest your time and money into it.
Product - What product(s) will you be offering to others? Is it something that most people need, use, or would want? More importantly, is it something you need, would use, or want? It is impossible to market a product that you don’t use, because if you don’t use it, how can you convince anybody else to use it? Also, keep in mind that most times, you will be selling the opportunity as well, so you need to be convinced that it works before you can convince others.
Investment - How much does it cost to join this opportunity? How much is it going to cost to market your product? How does the compensation plan work? How long does it usually take before I at least break even? Compare what you will be spending to the money making potential of the business.
Training - So, you find a stable company with a product and opportunity you really like. The next step is to make sure you will get the training you need to get the word out that you have that product and opportunity. Nothing is more discouraging than having something to sell, a business to promote, something that will benefit others, and not know how to advertise it. Make sure your business gives you ideas on how to market your product. It’s even better if they show you how to do it. Look for ways to get people to join you while your business is growing, like Guaranteed Sign-ups, or an advertising co-op.
Up-line - This goes along with the training you will get from your business. Can you get in contact with others in the business that have been successful? It’s nice to know the path others have taken to become successful in your business. They can give you helpful ideas and they can help you avoid some of the pitfalls they have encountered. It is really nice if the opportunity has a chat room or message board so that you can get ideas on how to start, how to promote and advertise, and how to respond to others as they join your business.
Potential - All the above leads to this last quality I look for in a home based business. How great of a potential is there to make money in the business? After all, that is the bottom line, isn’t it, to make money?
Your Gut Feeling - Don’t forget your most important tool-your common sense. If something doesn’t seem right, you need to back away until you get all your questions answered. First and foremost, you have to believe in the opportunity and what it offers before you can sell it to others. Make sure to get a handle on what is going on before you commit to it. Once you make that commitment, give yourself some time before you decide it won’t work.
Obviously, there are other things that you can look for. These are just some basic things to look for when trying to find just the right work at home business to place your time and money into. But, I believe if you will use these basics as a starting point, you will be in good shape on making a decision.
About The Author
Donnie Baird has been involved with work at home businesses for 4 years and is the webmaster/owner of http://internet-work-at-home-opportunity.com. He lives in North Carolina with his wife and two children.
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