If you think it would be wonderful to wake up every morning without an alarm, and you can imagine yourself being happy sitting down to work in your casual, comfy clothes, then a home based business may be right for you. A home business would also get rid of commuting, and office politics, but you have to think about the pluses and minuses before you take the plunge. Most people who start a home based business start out part-time, but when businesses are laying off workers, there are also people who find themselves needing to replace their income. Here are a few things to consider, if you think working from home could be right for you.Discipline and Time ManagementWhen you become your own boss, you need to have a tremendous amount of discipline. You are at home, and others may think it is no big deal for you to pick up the kids, or go to the store, make dinner, do laundry, clean the house, but you have to learn to say “No” and explain that the time you need for your work is necessary for you to build your business. You can also get distracted online with email, forums, reviewing products, studying the amazing amount of information available online on how to build your business, which uses up valuable time you need to make your business happen. You have to set goals for each day or week of what you need to accomplish, and make sure you get to the projects that will meet your goals and build your business.BudgetIf you are starting your business to make money, which is why most people start a home business, and you do not have unlimited financial resources, than you have to set a budget and stick to it. When you start looking at ways to make money online, you will be amazed at the array of products you can choose from and almost all of them promise you will be making millions overnight if you follow their amazing system! You have to be very careful. Do research before you buy any product. Reputable products will have reviews online for you to research before you buy.Other costs can include setting up a website, and the monthly costs for the company that hosts your website. If you sign up to be an affiliate with an online company, and there is a recurring income opportunity with that company, you will likely be paying monthly costs to maintain your status with that company. The biggest expense can be advertising, with Pay Per Click ads being the primary expense for many online marketers. These things add up, so you need to consider your financial resources before you start, as it could be months before you see any revenue from your efforts.OrganizationWhen you first start working online, you will find yourself registering at a variety of sites. If you decide to market digital products you will probably join ClickBank.com or Commission Junction. You will likely be joining forums to meet others working at home to learn and share ideas, and social sites like Twitter, MySpace or Facebook. You may be setting yourself up to be an affiliate of one or more programs, setting up a blog, and in all of these situations you will be creating sign in information or being assigned an affiliate identification number or personalized link to the merchant’s website. The best thing to do from the start is to make sure you keep everything organized. Set up folders in your email account, and keep every confirmation email you receive with all your account information. That way you can easily find whatever you need, without having to go through the frustration of searching through pages of emails. You should also keep a register of all this information off line in case you have a problem with your computer. Better safe than sorry!ExpectationsWhile you will see ad after ad promising that you could be buying your first Ferrari in a matter of weeks, the reality is that starting a home based business requires a tremendous amount of initial startup time to build your business. It is not unheard of for people to spend months working full time before they see any money at all. It is like any business you could start, and you have to have the ability and perseverance to hang in there to get to the point where you can start seeing your efforts pay off. If you are looking for instant gratification, you will be disappointed. There are a lot of people making a very good living with a home based business, but they worked very hard for a long time to get to that point.If you think this sounds like just the ticket, and you have the drive and the patience to invest the time and money to build your business, then you have the makings of a successful home based business entrepreneur. Once you build your business, and get over the hurdles of all you have to accomplish to be successful, you have the opportunity to benefit from all your hard work for years to come.
What Is Involved in Operating a Christian Home Based Business?
In order to answer that question, it is important to determine what is unique about a Christian home based business. What would make this different from any ministry a person might become involved in? An obvious answer would be that a primary objective of any business is making money. A ministry, such as operating a food pantry, teaching adults to read, or any number of other activities might be developed purely to meet the needs of others, alleviate suffering, and glorify God.Asking a clarifying question, like the familiar, “What would Jesus do?” can be helpful in determining whether a business opportunity qualifies as Christian in your understanding or not. Obviously, you will not be considering anything immoral or unethical. You would also not be involved in something that takes advantage of or exploits someone else.Have you ever gone online to look for a Christian home based business? Discouraging, isn’t it? Maybe even scary! How do you navigate through all the offers out there and determine which ones are legitimate and which ones are just an attempt to separate you from your money? I think the phrase,”Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves,” Matthew 10:16, describes the narrow path we have to walk in establishing a Christian home based business.I imagine you have heard the statistics that 95-98% of people who start a home based business, let alone a Christian home based business, fail. Like most of us, you have more than likely either failed at a home based business or know someone who has. With all those things stacked against you, why would you even try? That gets back to the single most important question to ask yourself,”Why am I considering this?” What do I want badly enough that I am willing to do whatever work is necessary and assume whatever risks are required to reach my goal.In planning to start a Christian based home business the “why” should definitely be more significant than making money, paying off bills or even living a better lifestyle. As a Christian our motivation should be grounded in our faith. That gives us an extra level of stability since it moves our motivation and resolve from simply something in our own self interest to meeting the needs of someone else.It follows Jesus’ words when he was asked what the greatest commandment is, “And he said to them, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and the first commandment. And a second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” Matthew 22:37-39. Blending these two should be our ultimate goal in a Christian home based business.It sounds like a tall order, and it is, to combine total love of God, ourself and others, but the right Christian home based business can accomplish exactly that. If we do nothing that we would not want to share openly with God, then we know what we are doing will glorify Him. In a way our business becomes a standard by which others evaluate us. That becomes even more significant when we attach the standard of our faith to the performance of our business. We are actually inviting people to include this in their evaluation of us.If we endeavor to create only “win-win” scenarios in our relationships, we know that we are placing the best interest of others at least on a par with our own. With this foundation, your Christian home based business can really be a ministry that will bless you and others and glorify God. Combined with that, it can be the source of financial reward, allowing you to meet your own needs as well as the needs of others.
A Simple Product Creation and Product Launching Formula
If you tried to think of people involved in product creation, who would come to mind? You may think of Edison, Franklin, or maybe Henry Ford. Would you ever think of yourself as someone who can create a quality product? Product creation is actually relatively easy and product launching is not that tough either! If you follow a few easy to understand steps, you could be starting the product creation and product launching process sooner than you think.
The first step in creating your information product is to know and understand your market. This can be very time-consuming, especially if you are unsure of what to do or where to look to know your market. Studying your niche market and understanding the buzz words and buying patterns can ease the process dramatically. Personally, I would recommend networking with someone who has had success in the niche market you are considering and learn from their results. If they are into product creation and not very business savvy expect some hesitation. If they only sell products and have nothing to do with product launching or product creation you may your first affiliate (sales person)! Something else you can use to find hot trends is with the Google Trends tool.
The second step is the product creation process. Take your niche market and brainstorm ideas and topics relating to it. There are a lot of product launching contests going on recently relating to a newly created internet marketing tool. There are so many aspects to the mentioned niche that literally, and unfortunately, anything can be considered an Internet Marketing tool. The reason that anyone can basically create an Internet Marketing tool is because of something called Private Label Rights products.
What I use private label rights products for, and highly recommend them in this specific manner, is to cure writer’s block especially when it is lingering. Many people base their entire product creation and product launching on a private label rights product. This is where you can start to shine and build a strong brand for yourself. If you set goals for yourself, short-term goals to be exact, you can see your product creation come into being much faster and there is a good chance with less revision needed. If you keep hitting time restraint road blocks; however there is nothing wrong with a slow and steady approach, you can consider outsourcing portions of your project. Outsourcing can be an extremely huge benefit or just as great of a disaster.
You can find someone to outsource work to at a freelance site such as Guru.com or eLance.com. When reviewing proposals it is almost mandatory you perform a background check on them as you are in essence hiring them. Doing a background check on freelancers is as easy as asking for samples of their work and reviewing feedback on the freelance site from previous customers. Depending on the size and requirements of your project this can add up to a decent sized investment, so caution is very important. One tip I always recommend to people looking to hire an individual is to ask them what they can provide you that no one else can. This simple question gives them a chance to “toot their own horn” and acknowledge where they feel most competent as far as their skill set.
The final portion of the product creation and product launching formula is the launch. This can literally make or break the effort, time, and maybe (if you invested) money you put in to your project. There are numerous aspects to product launching and although their relevance is debated in terms to their effect, experts agree all must be followed. The person in your field who you asked for product advice from can help you substantially if you have kept in touch. If not, the first thing you need to do is to create a visually appealing website with flawless design work.
I also mentioned outsourcing before, this is one aspect of product launching I have little strength in and I always outsource this portion. The website does not have to be large however the content (ad copy in Internet Marketing) must be stellar and as perfect as possible. This is where advertising knowledge or experience is beneficial. When the site is set up you now put a lead capture form on your website.
I put two lead capture pages on all products I create on the internet and is one of the best methods of getting a solid start when you are in the product launching stage. When you gain information from a prospect or someone looking to get paid for referring sales you are able to provide them updates or specials. Many people abuse their prospect or affiliate lists by in turn emailing them with a new product daily and I find the recommendations to be totally unrelated to their original need, problem, or interest.
Another stage in the product launching stage is creating a free report or demo version of your product to entice the product to sign up to your email list. Using proper follow up with this can help generate numerous sales for you. One thing you need to ensure is that your free product completely relates to your main product that you are looking to sell.
You are now ready to advertise your product launching to customers as well as the opportunity to sell for affiliates. This is the single aspect that many product creations and launches fail on. It is actually not entirely difficult. One thing you can do is write articles (and a good amount of them) on topics relating to your product. I am a huge advocate of giving a solution in forums. When you join a forum you are normally offered the opportunity to create a signature. In your signature, you should enter the link to your opt-in or lead capture page. When you respond to posts, you are advertising your opportunity.
It is not impossible to create a product and it does not have to take a long time. You need to setup a plan and stick to it. If you get stuck, look at similar and successful products to your own and try and see how they did it. When you sit down and brainstorm you will be surprised with what you can imagine.