The One Thing you MUST do to Succeed at your Home Business

The One Thing you MUST do to Succeed at your Home Business
We have all heard the stories. 90% of businesses fail in
the first five years. For home businesses, that number is
most-likely higher. Pundits and experts spend a huge
amount of time examining businesses post-mortem, trying to
understand why businesses fail. The experts point to lack
of marketing, or taking too much cash out of the business
before it's established, or inexperience, or even poor
management skills.

All of these are certainly contributing factors to the
failure of home businesses, and the experts are certainly
correct. Yet most of those commentators fail to realize the
most significant cause of failure of home businesses, and
it is this: The business owner did not treat the business
like a business. There, I said it. It's out in the open.

You aren't sitting there, stunned in your seat? Have no
idea what I'm talking about? Then, read on ... Here's the
issue: When a person decides to start a "brick and mortar"
business, where a store, restaurant, office or other
facility is needed, there are many things they must do.
They need to draft a business plan, spend weeks, months or
years saving the money to start the business, or commit to
a large loan in which they will be held accountable to
repay. They have to set up phones, set up credit card
accounts, purchase office furniture or equipment, and they
have to spend time and money marketing. People in this
situation are invested in a very large way. Consequently,
they have a great deal to risk. While it's not exciting to
have so much at risk, it causes most of us, when put in
this situation, to be incredibly motivated not to fail.
When it's all on the line, when a person can't afford to
fail, they don't allow themselves to fail, at least without
a huge fight.

On the other hand, many people who decide to start a home
business start looking around for something that they can
do. They are introduced to a network marketing program, or
they sign up for a "free" or low cost website with a
program for making money on the internet. Or they read some
information about selling on EBay and they set up a quick
website and get ready to make some money. But what happens
is that they don't make money the first week, and a little
trickle comes in the second week, and maybe they actually
make a little money the third week. The fourth week they
don't make any money, and the fifth week, they give up. Ah
heck, they only have $100 or $500 invested, and they
weren't making money hand over fist in the first month, so
they become discouraged and quit. They hadn't risked much,
and had not invested much, and it was really easy to quit
because their risk was minimal.

In advising hundreds of business people, I have become
convinced of this: There are literally thousands of ways to
earn an excellent living at home. Whether it's a
traditional network marketing company like Amway or Avon,
whether it's a recent network company like SFI or Success
University; whether it's an internet marketing company in a
box like the Plug in Profit site or empowerism , you can
make a great living. It doesn't really matter what company
you choose. It's how you treat that business that will
make the difference between success and failure. It's a
little like exercise programs. It doesn't matter whether
you buy a bowflex or work out with a jump rope. The key is
to invest yourself in the system and do what it takes to
succeed.

So here is the bottom line. If you want to be successful
at a home business, whether it is network marketing or
selling bumper stickers, you have to treat it like a real
business. You have to treat it as though you cannot fail;
as though you have everything you own invested in making
yourself successful.

What does that mean? Invest your time, the amount of money
necessary and your passion in making your business
successful. It doesn't sound like much of a secret, but
I've become convinced that's what it takes.

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Mark Albertson (http://sboasis.com ) is a nationally known
business coach, author, speaker and business attorney. Mark
is also a radio personality in the Seattle area, hosting
KVI talk radio's "Minding Your Business" show. Mark coaches
people interested in starting business as well as
established entrepreneurs. Visit Mark's website at
http://www.u2b-rich.com .

Opt-In List Building and the Challenges You'll Face.

Opt-In List Building and the Challenges You'll Face.
The internet is a massive place and for anyone wanting to
do business online, the opportunities are endless. This is
because with millions of people logging onto the internet
each day and hundreds more getting connected every minute,
there is a huge customer base for just about every product.
One of the primary ways to be successful on the internet is
opt in list building, so that you can directly cater to
your subscribers on your list via newsletters.

However, building a responsive list is easier said than
done especially since opt in list building presents it's
own share of challenges including creating an attractive
opt in page, getting new people to subscribe to your list,
maintaining relations with subscribers, keeping your
subscribers interested, converting your subscribers into
buying customers etc.

Such challenges are run of the mill for most internet
marketers and are hurdles that can be overcome without too
many problems. But, the most important challenge of all
when it comes to opt in list building is for you to be able
to define your niche market before you even begin to build
your list.

So, why should you define your niche market?

Remember when I said earlier that the internet is a big
place with endless opportunities for sellers and marketers.
Well, that is a plain fact known by every net entrepreneur
out there, which is why most internet market sectors are
saturated to the limit.

In other words, when trying to join the general internet
mainstream, you will find yourself competing with hordes of
other businesses in any given sector and at any point in
time and the only way to flourish in such a scenario is to
distinguish yourself by choosing your own niche rather than
trying to fight the already established business entities.
This is why the given situation merits the old adage -
"It's better to be a big fish in a small pond than a small
fish in the sea."

Defining Your Niche Market:

Defining your niche market is a step by step process where
you first need to define the large market that you wish to
be a part of and then pick a service that established
service providers do not already provide. However, if
finding such an opportunity or unfulfilled market need is
hard to come by, then you need to be innovative and come up
with a "new" need using your creativity and knowledge of
the customer base in your chosen sector.

In a nutshell, one of the main challenges of opt in list
building is to know your product or service really well and
then place extra emphasis on what sets you apart from your
competitors. You can also develop your niche based on
several factors including the type of customer you want to
sell to, the kind of services you provide, the manner in
which you provide your services, your network of influence,
geography and last but not least, your personal style or
approach.

Understanding who your customers are will also help you
target the right people in opt in list building. This way,
your audience will be limited, but will better understand
what you are saying and the chances of converting prospects
into customers will be much higher!

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You can get more quality free information about finding
your own niche in the e-course "List Building in a Niche
Market". http://www.cyber-marketing411.com/niche11

Top 10 Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs

Top 10 Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs
If you are looking to become that next successful
entrepreneur, consider what other entrepreneurs have found
as they worked through their transformation into a
successful business person. Not every entrepreneur has used
all of the following ideas, but most will acknowledge their
importance in getting to where you would like to be in
business.

Set goals

This idea may sound a bit obvious but it is ignored quite
often in the excitement of getting a business started. You
need to have an idea of where you would like to end-up with
your business idea. In this way, you can begin to set
intermediate goals that will get you to the end goal. Your
intermediate goals may start with a daily task list that
ends with the successful completion of a more prominent
goal a few weeks down the road. As these intermediate goal
successes pile up your ultimate goal is one step closer.
Baby steps are the words here.

Know your market

Education is power can be taken to heart in building a
business. You are sure to attract and recruit good people
along the way, but you still need to have a good idea about
how things in the market you are tapping work and why. Take
classes, talk to others in the field and fall down a few
times on your own so you learn the "hard way."

Look through the clutter for good ideas

One of the skills that you will need to learn is how to
sift through all the clutter that you will inevitably run
into during your busy days. Some people just have the
knacks of sorting through the static, but starting out,
keep your baby steps in mind and what is needed to meet
them. If the clutter is getting in the way of achieving
that baby step ignore it, but keep it in mind for future
reference.

Build relationships and tap the pain

If people are not helping you along your path they are
potential sales. Understanding why these people want to buy
your product or service is critical (how will this product
make a persons life easier or better?) What pain drives
them to need the product or service you are offering?
Developing a pain list is a real priority even before you
get going.

Taking a leap of faith

When it comes right down to it, you are going to need a
bottle of aspirin. At some point every entrepreneur needs
to be able to step off the edge and go-for-it. In some
instances this may entail money commitment, in others time
commitment. At some point all successful business people
make that fatal decision of "all or nothing."

Spend wisely

Making the "all or nothing" leap of faith does not mean
that successful business people are foolish with their hard
earned capital. Every successful entrepreneur has a
different perception of how to go about allocating capital,
but all indicate that money is not water. If a large
capital expenditure is needed they say that they are
prepared to make it, but only after prudent research.

Reinvest in yourself

As business begins to take off most successful business
people indicate that putting profits back into the business
before paying yourself a kings ransom is the way to go. You
want to make sure to pay yourself but make sure you pay the
company until a fairly stable financial structure has been
formed. After this has been achieved, pay yourself a bit
better understanding that expansion of the business will
also take capital.

Passion, focus and sticking at it

Belief goes a very long way in starting a new business. If
you believe in your ideas others will tend to follow.
Passion will sustain you as well, during those dark times
when more things then you would like aren't going well.
Unless you are extremely lucky, the process of getting a
business off the ground is tough so you need to be able to
stick with it.

Use smart people

Every single successful person in the world today will tell
you that having smart people around you is the only way to
go when starting and maintaining a new business. In most
cases, these same people will also indicate that the people
around them are smarter then they are. Remember also that
this idea works all along the manufacturing and management
spectrum. A shipping clerk will undoubtedly have a few good
ideas that you had never thought of. Hiring wisely and
being able to listen to those you are paying is a good idea.

Recognize the perception of the customer

Being able to understand the customer is a very important
part of starting a new business. You are, after all,
selling to them. If you do not recognize their needs how
are you to sell to them? Once you recognize these needs
working at communicating at their level is important. This
takes time, but it is a necessity.

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Losing Your Social Skills? : Online Marketing Business and Technology Uh-Ohs

Losing Your Social Skills? : Online Marketing Business and Technology Uh-Ohs
Starting, growing, and maintaining an online marketing
business is something billions of people worldwide are
trying to do as one of the ways to stay hip with
technology. If you don't have a PC, notebook, ipod, Utube
video, Facebook profile, MP3 player, and the whole shebang,
you are just not with the program.

I guess that means I'm out of it, even though I am an
online marketing business owner, because I only own a PC,
and don't even have a cell phone or text messaging. In
fact, text messaging has become my number one pet peeve
lately, with the cell phone being a close second.

People love cells and text messaging to the point that the
person they are with in the current moment is less
important than checking for, or writing messages to someone
else! Uh-oh! There's no better way to make someone feel
like an object rather than a person than to tune her out in
favor of that cell or text message.

Trust me folks, this is not a handy social skill in your
personal life, or your online marketing business life! Are
you losing it because of technology? If you are trying to
win over new prospects and customers, you better not be
thinking your incoming cell or text message is more
important than who you are with!

This is a sure way to lose business if you are not giving
your potential customers 100% of your attention when trying
to make a deal, sign up a new member, or just get someone's
feet wet with your online marketing business programs and
services.

If you think this is petty information from an opinionated
online marketing business owner, then think again! Do you
remember being a kid and watching TV with someone, and
asking a burning question only to be told, "Shhhh! I'm
watching this!" or "Shhhh! I want to hear this"? How did
that make you feel?

It probably made you feel less important than a piddly
piece of technology! If you run a business, you can't
afford to let it zap you of your social skills. Yes, you
have to spend time working on the PC or notebook to get
your work done. But you can't expect to run a healthy
online marketing business when you shut out the rest of the
real world and real people in it!

Have you ever gone out for a nice dinner and the person
you're with pulls out their text messaging? How
embarrassing is that!? As your potential customer, that
tells me that you are an online marketing business owner
who finds me boring, and you don't care, or think I am at
all important compared to the technology you have to attend
to. Uh-oh!

Now you may think that communicating online in discussion
forums, chat rooms, MSN, and this whole cell phone and text
messaging thing is still interacting with others. But wait
a minute! You are still losing an essential component of
human interaction here!

The human brain is capable of sending a piece of written
text over the phone, but only when you are face-to-face
with someone and in their presence, can the human brain
release neurons that feel what the other person is feeling,
sense what they are sensing. You only get a gist of this
online.

Empathy is something we can all have but it's developed by
being with people, not by having a relationship with your
computer. If you know that human relationships are the
essence of all our online marketing businesses, then you
will realize the importance of in-person contact with
others.

The point of this article is to make you aware that your
online marketing business and other techno-gadgets of this
new techno-internet age may be ruining your social skills.
These skills are so important in building our business and
personal relationships.

Remember that your online marketing business is about
relationships, not about technology. If you have well
developed social skills by being around other people, your
business will attract more customers.

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Liane Bate owns a Plug-in Profit Site web business, and is
author of 115+ articles related to online business and
internet marketing.
Visit: http://www.HonestMoneyMaking.com ,
http://www.HonestMoneyMaking.com/pips.html , and
http://www.HonestMoneyMaking.com/blog/