How Do I Make Money Working From Home? Let Me Count the Ways
By Sandi Moses
Here in the USA, at least, it seems to be increasingly popular to find some way to earn a living from the comfort of your own home. People - especially moms - are looking for ways to stay home with their kids and yet contribute to the family income. They prowl the internet at night or on their lunch breaks, looking for just the right opportunity that fits their interests and family. Let me suggest their search may be too narrow.
More often than not, they are looking at and for some variation of internet marketing. But they don't have a clue how to market, the search engines offer literally millions of choices, and scams and rip-off artists are more common than sand fleas on the beach. There are a lot of other ways to earn an income from home. Lets explore a few, and combine them with some internet activity. The synergy just might surprise you!
The first and most obvious choice would be to open your home to day-care. After all, you are there with your own kids, so you might as well add a few, right? (Stop that laughing!) Depending on your constitution, family size and make-up, home and yard size, etc., this could be just the thing for you. To run it like a business involves a whole lot more than feeding the kids and keeping them from playing in the street, but it works for many and it may work for you. If you have older kids, involve them in the care of the younger ones as well as some of the business aspects. Think of it as on-the-job training in home and business management. It is invaluable training they cannot get elsewhere.
If you like to cook, you might look into something involving cooking or baking. There are candy-making businesses, catering businesses, cake decorating businesses, etc. Some people supply home-baked goodies to local convenience stores, truck stops, sandwich shops and places like that. Of course they have to go through the permit process, but that is normal for starting up a business. Some people create and bake treats for dogs and cats and sell them to pet stores. These are also businesses that can involve your older children. They can help with preparation and clean-up. Teenagers can also learn bookkeeping and once they get their drivers license can make deliveries if necessary.
There are countless products that can be marketed through home parties. It's not just for Avon and Tupperware anymore. Home furnishings and decorations, candles, rubber stamps, jewelry, children's toys and clothing, and who knows what I haven't of are all options. This is popular with moms who are home all day with kids and feel the need to get out and have a conversation with another adult. They schedule evening parties in other people's homes. Their husbands are home with the kids, and they are able to socialize and make money at the same time. For many moms this is just ideal.
Some people are natural-born cleanies. They have figured out that other people do not like to clean houses and offices and are not much good at it either. So they come to the rescue - for a price. Cleaning services do involve leaving your home, which is what some people don't want to do, but if you have your own business, you are the boss and to some extent can set your own hours. One parent can work day hours and one parent can work night hours. If you have teenagers, again you can involve them in the business, both in labor and paperwork.
Some people are naturally organized and can sell their skill to those who are challenged. You would again have to leave your home, but you can set appointments for while your kids are in school and not make appointments on days when they have after-school activities that you quit work so you could attend. This too can be a great business for the right person to run from their home.
You could also turn your home into your business by converting part of it to a bed-and-breakfast. This would require permits and a check with zoning laws and all that. To succeed, you would also have to have the gift of hospitality as well as many of the skills necessary for the other businesses mentioned above. But if you like meeting new people and would enjoy opening up your home - for a price - then maybe you should look into it.
There are many, many other options including telecommuting, letter writing, teaching sign language to moms and babies, proof-reading, website and graphics design, greeting card design and verse writing, and on and on and on!
Now what about that internet part? Many businesses - even small local ones - find they do better if they have a website. Websites can be put up and hosted for surprisingly little money. Some internet companies offer products that can be sold to customers you acquired through some of the above-mentioned businesses. For instance, if you use a particular green cleaning product, maybe your daycare parents or the people who work in the offices you clean would be interested. Market your business on your website and market your website to your customers. Print and offer coupons. Put your website on the traffic exchanges. There are even ones where you can earn while you surf! Talk about easy money - and you are earning exposure for your site, too!
Author for this Article:
Sandi Moses has been involved in internet marketing since November, 2003. For information about what you have just read and more, visit her directory of Work-At-Home Business Ideas and Opportunities 123 I Work From Home 4 Me http://www.123iwork4me.com
How to Succeed in Business
By Jennifer Stewart
A few years back, there was a musical and then a movie called, "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." It was, of course, fiction, because to succeed in business, or anything else for that matter, you do have to try.
You have to try, you have to plan and you have to work. But when you're doing it for yourself, it's more like fun than work. Ask anyone who has built a successful business and you'll hear the same response, "I do it because I love it!" The money, the prestige, the material trappings are bonuses.
All the experts agree that to succeed on the Web there are three key areas you have to address:
A PRODUCT
You need a product that people want, that people need and that exceeds their expectations.
A SITE
You need a site that tells customers what they want to hear, not what you want them to know.
TARGETED TRAFFIC
You need to attract those visitors who want your product.
Let's take a quick look to see how you can develop (or acquire) a product that meets the needs of a significant market; build a site that helps visitors decide they must have your product and then attract hordes of potential customers who are begging you to take their money!
WHAT DO PEOPLE WANT?
Surveys of online behaviour have consistently shown that the ten most popular activities on the Web are (in order):
* searching for information on the search engines
* reading news and sport
* finding work
* learning something new
* downloading software
* finding out about travel
* chatting
* investing and making money
* playing games
* shopping
These same surveys have also revealed that the most bought products are hardware and software, books and magazines, travel, music, and investment choices (i.e. advice and information).
When asked why they shopped online, customers cited the following:
* convenience
* no pressure from sales representatives
* quick
* ease of access to information
* availability of reviews of products and recommendations.
HOW DOES THIS HELP?
Armed with this knowledge, you can now look for a product that you know people want ... and what do they want more than anything else?
Information!
People want to find out how to build a website, a boat, a doll's house; they want to know how to make candles from beeswax, how to fix their lawn mower, how to buy a diamond. They're interested in knowing how to tell a fake piece of art from the real thing, what to look for when buying a used car and how far it is to the moon.
In other words, no matter what you know, you can guarantee that someone, somewhere would love to learn from you.
Information sells on the Web and there are some excellent books and programs that will help you unlock your knowledge and make it accessible to others.
WHAT MAKES A SUCCESSFUL WEBSITE?
Look back at the five reasons why people buy online, then make sure your site offers each.
Convenience: that means your site must be easy to navigate -- most good programs have something similar to the Shared Borders feature in FrontPage to allow you to have the same nav bars on every page. Don't change the order of links, this just confuses your visitors and makes them angry.
If your visitors have arrived at your page from a link that promises them a free report on What to See in Kakadu National Park, make sure the report is there. Don't make them click on three more links to find it and don't make them search up and down your page to find the link -- use a bookmark to send them directly to the spot.
No Pressure: we all know how annoying it is to be pestered by an over-eager sales rep when we're still "just looking;" his/her counterpart on the Web is the pop-up window that demands we subscribe to a newsletter, download a trial program, visit another site etc etc.
Forms that require in-depth information about our income, address, occupation and so on also fall into this category. If you're offering a free report, newsletter subscription etc, all you need is an email address and possibly the person's name. Once you have these, you can build up a rapport over time and then request more details if absolutely necessary.
Quick: the great thing about shopping online is that you don't have to waste time travelling to the shops, finding a parking spot and standing in lines. It's a time saver.
So make sure your page loads quickly -- there are numerous articles which outline the do's and don'ts of web page design.
Ease of access to information: the Internet allows you to put up unlimited information about your product, so make sure you have enough to cater for all interest levels. Some would-be buyers just want to know how big and how much; others will want to know all the specifications; have this information available.
Put the basic details on the main page with links to the extra information (include photos, diagrams etc) whatever is appropriate for your particular product.
Include a Frequently Asked Questions page, where you can give answers to all those typical questions people ask and satisfy your customer's concerns immediately.
Reviews and recommendations: everyone feels more comfortable about buying something that's been recommended, so include a page of testimonials from real past customers (include full names, company names, location etc). You can include links to that past customer's website if you wish but don't include email addresses.
If your product has been reviewed by an independent person, include the comments because this adds a great deal of credibility to your product.
Have short extracts to each of these on your main page, with links to the full review or testimonial.
Building a site like this will help your business succeed; the third area involves attracting targeted buyers to your site once you've built it and one of the best ways to do this is through listing with the search engines.
Author for this Article:
Jennifer Stewart is a professional writer who offers copy writing, proof reading and editing services for businesses and individuals. She has undertaken a variety of assignments - writing articles for ezines and the print media; preparing award submissions for business clients; copy writing and proof reading works of non-fiction; editing web pages and ebooks, and much more. Get help with your writing here: http://www.write101.com and subscribe to FREE, weekly Writing Tips to improve your writing: mailto:WritingTips-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
What Makes Your Home Business Succeed?
A few weeks ago I have written about the Key Factors of a successful home business. A lady has reacted to this article and she has mentioned some important aspects, e.g. Is the product a category creator? I want dwell on this question. What could category creator mean?
From the Creative Idea
A category creator can be interpreted as a creative business idea. It has to be something new that is unique. The marketing science knows the term of Unique Selling Proposition. It's different from other offers on the market. Even a product of the everydays life can be reformulated and market in an unparalled way.
To the Innovation Management
Peter F. Drucker, the grand old man of the management science, has created the term of innovation management. He has passed away recently and it is appropiate to honor him. He has written that a new idea or a new product is only an innovation, if it succeeds on the market.
The home business industry grows daily. Thousands of people start a new home business every day. Many among them join already existing business fields. Many newcomers begin with an already made turn-key website and try to promote it. Thousands of online home businesses are abandoned because they have not satisfied their owners.
New ideas are needed. The online home business world has seen a lot of trends. Online business malls have been sold. Niche Marketing has been promoted. Now we see a get-paid-to wave. Get paid to surf and get paid to read websites are mushrooming. New varities of this kind of website appear and they are called get paid to play games or it pays to learn. Internet entrepreneurs try to make money by launching and promoting new kind of sites that attract masses of customers.
How To Get to the Top?
The radio news has reported recently about a successful website. This website has achieved the top listing at the Google Search Engine. It has got a mass of traffic, customers and sales. What are the website owners doing? They just offer a subscription for socks. People can subscribe for a steady and regular supply of new socks. A common product is market successfully in a new way that meets many people's need.
The Time Has To Be Ripe
A lucky timing of the launching of a new product or service is also necessery. The time has to be ripe for the new business idea. If this is the case, a product sells itselfs.
Author for this Article:
Lil Waldner is a business economist. She is experienced in project management and marketing. She has worked as an editor for several newspapers and she has written booklets and essays on economic and public issues. Visit the web site: Make Money Tip
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