Copyright © Roux Malan
http://www.International-Home-Business.comIntroductionBefore you start out on your journey towards a successful online
home business, you need to ask yourself ten important questions.
It will be worth your while to write down the answers to there
questions. Your answers will help you to make giant strides
towards realizing your dream of a successful home business on
the Internet.
Step 1: Why do I want a home business on the Internet?The very first question you need to ask yourself is: "Why do I
want a home business on the Internet?." It is very important
that you consider the "why" question before you try to answer
the "how" question. It is the "why" question that will provide
you with the necessary motivation and energy you need to take
those important first steps towards your dream of a home
business on the Internet. Initially the answer to the "why"
question might seem obvious. You want to start an online home
business in order to make some money or a lot of money for that
matter. But still you need to ask yourself: "Why do I want to
make a lot of money?" If you can answer this question, it will
be a major motivating force in setting-up and running your
online home business. If you find it difficult to answer this
question, you can do the following exercise. Cut out 15 pieces
of paper and number them from one to fifteen. Now each day write
down three things you would do with $10 000 if you had in your
pocket right now. Write down three new ideas the next day on the
next piece of paper without looking at the answers of day one.
Continue in this fashion until after the fifteenth day you have
three answers on all fifteen pieces of paper. After the
fifteenth day, you can now review your answers. Draw up a list
of priorities by noticing which of these answers occur more
consistently than the others. You will now have a very good
picture of your deepest motivation to get an online home business
going.
Step 2: Do I have the right attitude and beliefs?If you took the time to faithfully and honestly answer the
question in the first step, you already made some progress
towards the second question. The first question helps you to be
clear about your goals. The second question helps you to get
clear on your attitude and beliefs as you start out to achieve
your goals. Do you really believe in your own success? What is
your beliefs about money? You must believe in your own success
in order to achieve it and you must have the right set of belief
towards money. You need to start to think in terms of success
and not in terms of failure. Tell yourself: "I can do it." If
you have this positive frame of mind, you can move mountains. It
will also carry you thorough the times of doubt and
difficulties. In order to strengthen your own belief in your
success you can do the following exercise. Make a list of all
the reasons why you will succeed in your own online home
business. Brainstorm any positive thought you can think of. Now
prioritize that list of ideas. Add this second list to the first
one in step 1. Read your goals as well as the reasons why you
will succeed each and everyday.
Step 3: Do I have the staying power?A Harvard University professor observed that businesses go
through a series of crises while they grow. During those series
of crises, you will need to have the necessary staying power in
order to be successful. The first crisis will occur in the
initial stage of your business. At that time, you will have to
deal with transforming your idea into a reality. You will need
to take systematic action and set up a management structure for
yourself.
During the next phase, you will be able to channel your energy
more efficiently because you are starting to know the ropes. You
will need to take strong initiative in this phase. During this
phase, small amounts of money will start to trickle into your
pocket.
As your business start to grow it will demand more and more of
your time and you will notice that the administrative tasks is
getting out of hand. You will be able to face these crises by
automating your business.
When you finally have a steady income the trick will be to be
able to improvise ways that will make sure that you will be
successful in the future.
Each of these crises will test your staying power and your
resolve. Expect these rough patches they are unavoidable. It
takes guts to start a business. Ultimately, you are responsible
for the success or failure of your business. You can blame
nobody else. In these times of crises, it is important to go
back to your "why." Why did you start this business in the first
place and why is it important to see it through. Stay positive
and expect something good to happen.
Step 4: Do I have the necessary skills and experience?If you are going to start a home business, it is important to
invest in your own education. It would be sheer folly to go into
business while you do not have the necessary skills to make your
online home business a success. I do not ask you this question
because I want to discourage you. I ask it in order for you to
evaluate your skills and experience in the light of your
business goals. While you are doing the evaluation, ask yourself
how you can improve your skills and education. Ask yourself:
"Which courses do I need to take in order for me to be able to
run my online home business successfully?" Start by focusing on
the skills that is most important for the success of your
business. If you do not have the necessary skills, you will need
to invest some money to get those skills and give yourself the
time to acquire them. Also, consider the next question.
Step 5: Who will be my mentors and advisors?Surely, other people traveled down the same road that we now
embark upon. You can learn a lot from these people. Especially
if you are lacking in any of the skills mentioned above. Do not
be afraid to ask. People are generally keen to be of service
especially if they can share their expertise with you. So sit
down and make a third list of those people whom you can regard
as mentors and advisors for you online home business. Write down
every name that you can think of and what that person can offer
you. You now have three crucial lists to boost you resolve to
start an online home business.
Surround yourself with good advisors and find people who walked
the way and can lead you in the same direction. These people can
be very valuable in the times of crises because they will be
able to give you sound and objective advice. So do not do
everything on your own. Ask for direction if you do not know how
to proceed.
SIDEBARMy Internet marketing mentor is Stone Evans. Stone's e-book
"30 days to success" put me on the road to success. This
exhaustive guide is free when you participate in
Plug-in-Profits. Go to
http://www.PlugInProfitSite.com/main-10243 Step 6: What product or service do I want to promote?At this point, you must ask yourself if you want to market your
own product/service or if you want to market another company's
products and earn commission. If you decide to go for your own
product or service, ask the following questions: What does
people need? Who needs it? When do they need it? Why do they
need it? How will my product/service benefit my clients?
If you decide to rather earn commission on other people's
products, it will simplify things a lot. Affiliate programs are
probably the easiest way to make immediate money. Affiliate
programs have the following advantages:
You do not need: to take orders, collect payments, manage
inventory, ship products, or provide customer services.
SIDEBARIf you can't make a decision on what products to promote why
don't you have a look at my website
http://www.international-home-business.com I promote five of
the best affiliate products on the Internet. You can sign up for
all five of them at
http://www.international-home-business.com/pips.html and you
will have a Internet marketing expert (Stone Evans) to guide you
every step of the way. Step 7: How will I market my product and myself?One of the obvious marketing strategies of any online home
business is using your own website to market you product or the
products of an affiliate program. It will be of utmost
importance that you are able to drive targeted traffic to your
website. Only 1 to 20% of people who visit your website will
click through to actually view the products or services you
offer. Of those people, only 1% will actually buy your product.
Therefore, you need about 600 visitors to make just one sale.
The big question is how you are going to get traffic to your
site. Here are some ideas:
· Submit your site to the major search engines
· Banner advertising
· Classified ads
· Email advertising
· Ezine advertising
· Pay per Click search engines
The success of your online home business will depend on the
product as well as how well you market that product.
SIDEBAR:I have learned my Internet marketing skills from Stone Evans
and the guys at the Warrior Forum. If you would like Stone Evans
to guide you have a look at my website
http://www.international-home-business.com/pips.html Step 8: What actions am I going to take right now?In life you can only expect a reward if you take action.
Therefore, it is very important that you draw up an action plan.
You need to make the right choices and stick to it. Ask yourself:
· Where do I want to be in a week's, month's, year's time?
· What do I need to do today in order to realize my dream?
· Who can advise, assist and collaborate with me?
· What will my deadline be?
In the first eight steps, we helped you to make many decisions
and create your own vision. Now you must pull the trigger. Your
intentions will bring you nowhere, but consistent actions will.
Take the appropriate actions and evaluate yourself on the
results of those actions. Do not take any excuses from yourself
and neither from other people. It you want to succeed in your
online home business you will have to measure yourself by the
results of your actions. Take stock regularly. If something does
not work, try to approach it from another angle. Just do not
quite. Be tenacious. Dr. Phil McGraw says: Be committed, do what
it takes and you will have what you want.
SIDEBAR:It was only after I decided to take MASSIVE action that
something really happen for me on the Internet. If you are ready
to take massive action now go to
http://www.PlugInProfitSite.com/main-10243 Step 9: How am I going to handle setbacks along the way?When a temporary setback occurs on your road towards a
successful online home business, remember the following:
· Don't panic · Think before you act. · Do not quit prematurely.
· Brainstorm your alternatives and start to put them into
practice one-step at a time. · Get advice. Ask for help. · Keep
thing in perspective. See the bigger picture. · Do not spill
your energy on remorse. Focus on the positives.
Remember that setbacks even major ones are part of any business.
If you can handle your set backs with grace you will be stronger
when you face the next challenge that lies ahead. Persevere. Do
not give up just as you are about to make a big break!
Step 10: How am I going to reward myself?You need balance in your life. Therefore, you need to reward
youself for every small success in your business. Reward
yourself for the first sale that you make. The small action step
that you took. You must be diligent in taking holidays, weekends
and a day off. If you do not take time to rest, you will not
have the energy to keep your business going. You performance
will increase rather than decrease if you regularly take time to
rest and relax. You also need to build in some fun into the
equation. Do something that is fun every day. Enjoy a good song
or a joke. Take a brisk walk in the park. Do some exercise or
play with your kids. Fun gives energy and enjoyment. Do not let
it fall by the wayside. Exercise your fun muscle regularly.
Reward yourself and take some time out to celebrate your
victories.
NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this article
within your website or newsletter as long as you leave the
article fully intact and include the "About The Author" resource
box. Thanks
Categories
