The Keys To A Successful And Profitable Work From Home Business
by: John Newby
Are You Interested In Work At Home Business Opportunities?? ...READ THIS FIRST!!!!
What if I could work from home and not have to dredge through the day to day grind of long hours, back-breaking work, and mediocre pay?
Is there more to life than just punching a time clock every day?
How can I attain the financial security to work at home and have the freedom to spend more of this time at home with my family?
If you've ever asked yourself any, or all, of these questions, then there's no doubt that you've thought about starting a work at home online money making business of your own. Right? But be honest. What's stopping you? The fear of not making it? The risks that may be involved? The lack of experience with the Internet and website design? Maybe you just don't think you have the skills required to make it all come together and work? Well, let me tell you a little secret. Not so long ago, I was right where you are now. My head was filled with ambition and thoughts of an endless stream of cash waiting on my doorstep each month. But then my mind would start to fill up with the clouds of doubt. I'd tell myself:
--"I can't possibly do it".
--"I don't know how to build and design a website".
--"I've never worked with computer programming before".
--"Besides, even if I did manage to get a website, then no one would want to come to visit it".
Any of this starting to sound familiar? I would search and search for that one perfect program that would take away all the fears, risks, and headaches involved in the process and I could just sit back and watch the money roll in. Then I had something amazing happen. No, I didn't strike it rich and become a millionaire overnight as some of the programs said I would. I had a reality check. All of the get rich quick envelope stuffing, claim processing, and survey taking scams were only a get rich quick trick for the companies that offered them. I soon realized that while there actually is good money to be made on the web, there really isn't any such thing as "free" money. There are definitely some amazing money making opportunities out in cyberspace, but most are going to require a little effort to make them really successful. I guess the old adage is right, "you reap what you sow".
So, how do you apply this new found insight to picking a program that's right for you? First of all, those 5 minute success stories are just that... stories. In all likelihood, and without some miraculous stroke of luck, the only way you are going to go from everyday Joe (or Jane) to millionaire in five minutes is if you win some lottery. Although, in most cases, your odds of making money with the lottery are probably better than your chances of making money with some of the shadier get rich quick online schemes. Also, all of those sites that promise to set everything up for you and all you have to do is sit back and watch the money fall at your feet? You might want to find a comfortable place to sit, because if you do nothing and expect them to do it all for you, then you will probably be sitting there for quite a while.
So, while you're sitting there, why don't you take some time to read all the way through this site. I know it may seem like it goes on forever, but I am going to tell you what you really need to know to succeed in the work at home business. And first things first, nearly every worthwhile work at home program is going to require at least a little time and effort, at least to start with. Some will require more than others, but expect to spend at least some time with the initial start up. The key to how much will be required really depends on several factors, but the main ones are:
1. How much time you have to devote to developing your new online business.
2. What kind of skills you are bringing in with you in regards to things like website design, html coding, and the other technical aspects of the business.
3. How much support you get from the program publisher.
4. How willing you are to learn and follow instructions from those who have been successful in the business.
5. How much money you are willing to invest in the business.
Let's focus on these key factors for a moment:
Number one: Time
The first, and possibly one of the most important, is how much time can you "realistically" spend working on your business? Let me be perfectly honest here for a moment. If you are not willing or able to put the time in to developing and setting up your business correctly, then you are most likely not going to see much of a return from your program. While most of the higher end programs are very well established for you in advance, there are still going to be some actions that you will have to take to see that you are achieving the goals you are trying to reach. Once again, "you reap what you sow".
For starters, most of the programs that include "free" websites with your purchase are going to need some work to truly be useful and "search engine friendly". Most of these sites have the required elements to be a useful website, but they lack a lot of the "personal" elements that make them stand out from the crowd. In a sense, they are "cookie" cutter websites in that they all pretty much look alike. This is a problem in and of itself, in that the search engines, and Google in particular, does not like this type of website. In fact, if Google finds that your new bargain website matches a hundred other websites, then they will more than likely not even index it in their searches. This is something that most of the "gurus" on the web won't tell you. Now this isn't to say that you should stay away from programs that provide a free website with your program. Not at all. If nothing else, you at least have a starting point to build from, without all of the expense and time of cr!
eating your own website from the ground up. Think of it this way, they built the house. All you have to do is decorate it.
Do yourself a favor. If you don't take anything else from this paragraph, read the next sentence VERY CAREFULLY! The single most important part of your website is NOT the ads or the product you are selling. It is the CONTENT that makes up the bulk of your page. I can't stress enough how important this is. It may not sound that important at first, but once you get an idea of how the search engines actually work, then you will see how important this really is. Basically, if you do not have unique, interesting, and informative content on your website, then you can pretty much forget about ever being anywhere near the top of the search engine results. In fact, without good quality content on your page, most search engines will not even index your pages. Remember the reference to Google earlier? They are a prime example of this. Google bases a lot of its search indexing on the quality and quantity of the content on your site. If Google doesn't feel you have enough content, or good, quality content that would benefit their searchers, then they will simply pass you up, or at the least index you so far down in the search results that you might as well not even exist. And most of the other search engines are picking up on this and looking more closely at their own website submissions.
So, make sure that you add good quality content that would actually make the web surfer who has just found your site actually want to spend time on your site. Don't just give them a basically empty page with a bunch of links to programs and gadgets for them to buy. Give them the information that they came to your site to find in the first place. And it really isn't that difficult to do once you understand a few basic principles about website design.
But that's a topic for our next key factor, so let's just sum this part up by saying this: Just be prepared to put in a little time to fine tune your program, whether it is embellishing your website by adding features, adding text and content, or whatever. This is one of the most important things you can do if you expect to have a productive site that attracts the search engines, and eventually, your customers.
Number Two: Skills
Now, as for the skills that you bring to the table? Rest assured that you do not have to be a computer programmer to make money on the Internet. This is merely going to slow the process down a little as you move through the learning curve.
While not all programs will require you to have a website, in my honest opinion, you are passing up on multiple streams of income without one. Most programs will not expect you to already be an Internet guru with your own arsenal of websites at your disposal, but if you do have one, then you are ahead of the game. Nearly all good programs will be designed with the beginner in mind and some even provide you with your own starter website, as was mentioned in the previous section. If you do not already have a website of your own or the necessary tools to edit and update a site, there are many helpful and useful websites out there that can guide you through every step of the way. I highly recommend downloading one of the free HTML and programming editors. They work right on your computer and you can re-work or change your existing websites, or event create your own from scratch. The best part, other than being free, is that you really do not need any prior programming experience to use most of these programs. They are very easy to understand and user friendly for the beginner as well as the expert. I personally use the NVU HTML-editor myself and it works great. In fact, most of my site listed in the resource box below was designed and modified using that very program.
And if you do reach a place where you are stuck and don't know what to do, then the very tool you're using now is a gold mine of information and help for you to use. There is a wealth of knowledge on the web just waiting for you to tap into it. There is everything from free information such as forums, blogs, and articles to complete premium services that will walk you through the process or even do it for you. Not sure if you need a premium service? There are many free website tools available to help you along as well. These can include checking your site for errors, ranking, dead links, and all kinds of other problems. If that doesn't fulfill your curiosity, then there are some more free products and services on my site listed in the resource box below that you might want to try.
The point to remember here is this: Don't be afraid of what you don't already know. Look for the answer if you don't know what it is. Everyone has to start somewhere and most people's fears of technical issues are nothing that can't be overcome with a little research and knowledge.
Number Three: Support
Which brings us to the next factor. What kind of support is your program publisher going to provide? This is very important in speeding up your learning curve and has a big impact on how quickly you can expect to see results.
As was stated in the previous paragraph, most publishers have the beginner in mind, at least to some extent, when they design a new money making opportunity. After all, the majority of their customers are going to be people that are new to making money on the Internet. If you already knew how to do it, you wouldn't need their product in the first place, would you? So, expect the program you join to provide you with most of the tools you need to get a reasonably good start on your business. The more materials and support they offer, the better off you'll be no matter what your level of skill is. These are the building blocks that will be the foundation of your business, so don't overlook this when deciding on a program.
Take in to consideration your own skills when deciding what type of program you want to try. If you already have your own site and are just looking for something to add to that, then you may not need a program with a free website and all the extra bells and whistles included. On the other hand, if you think HTML is something that you get off the dollar menu at McDonalds, then you may want to find a program that is designed for someone just starting out. It's all about what you think your capabilities are and what you're willing to do on your own.
There's no shortage of variety in the styles of programs out there. You will find everything from turn key online stores, to affiliate programs where you advertise other peoples products for them, to direct marketing of your own products. The possibilities are truly endless here. Just as a little side note here. If you are new to working online, then you owe it to yourself to check out the wide variety of affiliate programs that are out there. As a beginner, I would highly recommend this type of program to start you out. What could be simpler? You simply advertise other people's products on your website, or by any other means that you choose, and if you direct someone to their products and they buy something, then you receive a commission from the sale. They take care of all the business details such as shipping, receiving, accounting, returns, overhead, etc. All you have to do is keep promoting their products from the comfort of your own home. Keep in mind here though, that you will have to PROMOTE these products. Just having a website set up and on the web is not going to direct any sales your way without some advertising to bring them in. But we will discuss advertising a little later.
If you haven't already picked up on this by searching the work at home websites, you will also find that a lot of programs are basically just an e-book that you download to get you started. However, you don't have to necessarily be intimidated by these programs. While they essentially may only be providing you with information, there are some that can absolutely blow you away with the wealth of knowledge and insight that they provide. Information, in and of itself, is one of your most valuable tools when establishing an online business. Read all the mistakes and pitfalls that are discussed all over the web. Learn from their mistakes and build from their successes. That's the beauty of a work at home business. You can take as much time as you want to spend learning and studying all of the various techniques and ideas that are scattered around the web. Decide which one is right for you, and then commit to it. Best of all, if you take it seriously and take the information that is available to you and apply it, then you may very well make your dreams of unlimited online wealth a reality. It all comes down to how much you are willing to learn about the things you don't already know and then applying that knowledge effectively.
Number Four: Learn and Follow Instructions
And that leads us right into the next factor which is, how willing you are to learn and follow the instructions provided by the program. If you are seriously wanting to make money with your own home based business, then the easiest and quickest way is by following the direction of someone who has done it.
Well over 90% of work at home businesses that fail are due to people not following through with the process that was laid out for them in their program. It really is that simple. It's just as if someone gave you turn by turn directions to a destination that you had never been to before. Sure, if you just took your own path, you might eventually get there on your own. But, wouldn't it be a lot easier and less time consuming to follow the directions from someone who already knew the best way to get there instead? If you do a little research, you'll find that most worthwhile programs are laid out in a step by step approach that will guide you through the process in the correct way. Granted, this may not always seem to be the easiest or fastest thing to you, but that is why you purchase a program in the first place. To get the direction and guidance to do something that you didn't already know how to do.
Take my word for it, the road to online wealth is not going to be an overnight trip. To make the truly life changing amounts of income that most of us desire for, isn't going to be all that fast at first. There is usually a considerable amount of "setup" time that you just have to take into account when you decide to take on a business such as this.
First of all, you have to realize that if you are starting out with a completely new website that no one has ever seen, then you can't expect it to just magically pop up on the first search engine that looks for your particular type of site. There is a lot of preparation involved in getting a website out there for the world to see and this is usually what separates the "haves" from the "have nots" when it comes to a successful work at home business. Once again, that is why you do your research and find a good quality program that has already streamlined this process for you. There are so many things that can trip you up and slow you down when you're just starting out. And it is very easy to get frustrated and want to give up when you don't see the results you are hoping for in a short amount of time. But don't give up. It is the persistence and constant vigilance that makes these programs work. If they were all that easy, then the paybacks would reflect the effort required and they wouldn't be worth the time in the first place. The reason most of these programs have such tremendous money making potential is because of the fact that there is a certain amount of dedication required to "get it right" and that's what makes all the difference. The only sure way to make that happen is to follow the steps that are laid out before you and you should be on your way to the success you desire.
Number Five: Money
Now for what is probably the hardest factor for most people. How much money are you willing to invest in your online business venture? Don't panic just yet! While this is one of the most important of all the factors in regards to how fast you can see results from your efforts, having a limited budget is not going to keep you from being able to make money with a work at home business. There have been literally hundreds, if not thousands, of people who have make very good incomes on the Internet with little more than a lot of desire and the time to work at making it happen.
Aside from a few initial start up costs, such as the cost of your program, registering your domain name, and in some cases, the cost of hosting your website, most work at home businesses can be started with little upfront expense. It really all comes down to what kind of time frame you are looking for in regards to a return on your investment. While it is true that without a hefty amount of advertising revenue to get the word out about your site, you can expect to see somewhat slower results, but with wise use of free tools, online information, and a little trial and error, you can still make money with a work at home business. On the other hand, if you indeed do have a little start up capital to invest in your new business, then you can definitely speed up this process dramatically.
You see, here's the deal on websites. It doesn't matter how perfectly designed your website is. It doesn't matter how many top selling products you put on your site. It doesn't even matter how much unique, interesting, and informative content you put on your website. So what matters then? VISIBILITY of your website is all that matters. If no one ever sees your site, then nothing else will make up for that. That's it. Game over. You have to get your site out there in the spotlight if you ever expect to have anyone visit your site, let alone buy something from it. That's where the amount of money you intend to invest will make the most difference. If you've got the extra funds to pay for some high profile advertising, then you can dramatically shorten the length of time it takes to get your site noticed and getting a steady flow of traffic through it.
You can use all kinds of different media to promote your site, but if you have to limit yourself to just a few, then you want focus all of your efforts on just three key players in the Internet world. These are the three main search engines. They are Google, Yahoo, and MSN. Above all though, you want to get your site noticed by Google. They have been the highest ranking search engine for quite some time, and that doesn't really appear to be going to change any time soon. What is one of the fastest ways to get your site on Google you ask? Most agree that the answer to that question would be to use Google's pay per click program called "Google Adwords". Check out Google's website or use the link in my site listed in the resource box for more info on the Google AdWords program. Basically, you bid on the key words that you want to advertise your site with and if you are the highest bidder for those particular key words, then you get the top ads on Google's main search results pages. You can set a daily spending cap so that you stay within the budget you set, but you have to realize that the lower your daily cap and the higher the price-per-click on your key words, the less times you are going to have your ad shown per day before you reach the spending cap and you're done for that day. But don't get me wrong, this program has made countless websites money and it could be just what you're looking for to promote your new site. You just need to realize going into it that while this can be a very quick way to get the word out about your site, it will probably end up costing you a pretty penny as well. And if your particular niche, or area of interest for your site, is one of the more popular ones with a lot of competition from the larger sites that can devote thousands of dollars a day to advertising, then you can almost guarantee to pay top dollar for those most sought after key words for your site. Now once again, don't panic. This is just one of the many, many forms of online advertising that you can employ to get the buzz out about your new up and coming financial whirlwind of a website.
You can submit your site for free to nearly all of the major search engines out there. I say some, because there are a few that strictly index their lists from what they find on the web themselves. In that case you will need to make sure you get a lot of quality inbound links to your site from as many well known sites as you can get to link up with you. Once again, this is where the time factor comes in. It takes time to contact each Webmaster of a site you want to link with. And then there's the time waiting for a reply. And so on. And so on. If you do a little research, you will find that there are several sites out there that will link your site to others for you, which can save you a lot of time. But, just a word of warning here. If you use these type of sites, then make sure of two things.
--Number one, make sure you are getting a "reciprocal link" to the other sites you are hooking up with. A reciprocal link means that your site links to theirs and their site links to yours. You don't want to have all one way links either into or out of your site. The search engines, and here again, Google is really picky on this one, they have a thing called PR which stands for page rank. This is determined by the number of sites that are willing to link to your site. This shows a sign of trust in your site that the search engines like to see.
--Now the second thing about these link exchanges is this: Stay away from what is called "link farms". These are sites that you can basically pay to be linked with every site they can get their hands on based on the theory that the more links you have, good or bad, the better your search ranking will be with the search engines. This is a very big mistake in the eyes of the search engines and in extreme cases, you can actually get your site ranking lowered because of this, if not getting totally banned from the search engine all together. The big three, and most of the smaller search engines as well, see this as tampering with the system, which it really is, and they do not take it lightly. So, do yourself a favor and stay away from the link farms.
Just go out there and do your own foot work. Talk to the other webmasters and show them why an exchange of links with your site would be beneficial to you both. This way you can make some honest links with some of the other sites out there and you should have no problems with the search engines. Not to mention that every link you can get from another website is another potential stream of traffic that you just got for nothing more than a little constructive conversation with the other webmasters.
You can also check out some of the free traffic generating websites out there such as TrafficSwarm, HitSafari, and Webbizinsider. They may not generate the levels of traffic that they claim to be able to at first, but traffic is traffic, and every person that sees your new website is one more potential customer.
What it all boils down to is this: Your initial start up capital for your new work at home business is really only going to affect you in two ways, only one of which is fatal to your business.
--First off is that the amount you have to invest in the marketing and advertising of your site will determine how quickly you achieve your goals, not if you achieve them. More advertising money spells faster results, but less spending money just means slower results, not necessarily no results at all.
--So that just leaves the one potentially fatal affect that your amount of investment can have on your business. You have to be able to budget your cash flow to match your results. Some call this your "rate of return". For instance, if you have a start up budget of $500 (and this is just an example), and you are spending $250 a week on AdWords ads and various other methods of advertising, but your site is only bringing in $100-$150 a week in income, then it doesn't take a rocket scientist or a math scholar to figure out that you aren't going to be in business very long before your budget runs dry. The trick is to find something that works for you AND fits your budget.
The silver lining here would have to be that if all else fails, you've always got time. Most major search engines will usually get around to indexing your site after a little while, so don't think that without expensive advertising your site will never be known. It all comes down to time. The current lag on most search engines is around 6-8 weeks to index a site. Some may even take longer. The key is to not give up. You are in this for the long haul right? Remember that persistence and vigilance that keeps the work at home system alive? Plain and simply put, this type of work can indeed make you more wealth than you ever thought was possible, but it will require a commitment from you to see it through the initial ups and downs.
The upside to all of this? Most of the higher end programs that you will find have something very great in common with each other. Nearly every one one them, once they are established, require very little effort to sustain them. In fact, most of them will continue to build upon themselves and keep gaining and earning with little to no effort from you. The key is seeing them through the beginning stages to make sure they are firmly established. If you have the desire, the patience, and the drive to put in a little time and effort to better your current financial situation, the you very possibly could one day turn that dream into a reality. You too, can have your own online work at home business.
Conclusion:
I hope this gives you a little better understanding of what it takes to really make a successful work at home business that will provide you with years of steady, ever growing, reliable income for you to enjoy. The keys to success are not that difficult, as you can see, so now all you have to do is find a program that's right for you.
And now that you have a little deeper insight into what the pros and cons are of your new online business venture, I have searched the web and found a few of the really exceptional programs that I think you may be interested in looking into. These are some of the best money making opportunities for your new work at home career. If you are interested, please feel free to check them out on my website listed in the resource box and see what you think.
I want to wish you all the success in whatever business you choose and remember...we all have to start somewhere!!
