Are you a victim of corporate downsizing? Have you been fired? Have you been unsuccessful with your job search? On a brighter note, are you employed but looking for additional income? Or maybe even retired and just need something to do? Well all of these scenarios would warrant having your own business. Good idea right? I think so but a lot of people may not feel as I do or see things as I see them. Many people feel that in order to have your own business, you have to invest a lot of money. This is not necessarily true. A successful business will need more of your time than your money. Starting a business from the ground up or operating a franchise can be costly but if you can not afford it you can still have your own business for minimal costs by providing a service you are good at, joining a Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) company or starting a Home Internet Marketing Business.
Assuming the first two options are no-brainers, allow me to go into more detail about the Home Internet Marketing Business. For some reason, when people see or hear this term, they immediately think "Network Marketing". It is, but it isn't. Sure, networking is a fundamental part of the Home Internet Marketing Business but it involves other entities as well. The "Home…Business" part of the word implies working for yourself, at home, etc. "Internet Marketing"; the core part of the phrase is nothing more than marketing on the Internet. Okay, you're probably saying "well what does that mean?" "How is that a business?"
Internet Marketing is about marketing something via the internet. That something could be anything. It could be your MLM products, your services, the opening of your restaurant, old clothes & shoes, etc. The list can go on and on. Eventually, if you are marketing the right way, it will lead to sales. And quite honestly, if you don't have a product or are not a part of a MLM, you can offer your services to "Internet Market" someone else's business/products or you can brand yourself and "Internet Market" the products you have created.
Notice, I mentioned earlier that there is a right way to market, implying that there is also a wrong way. If you didn't know there are tons of ways to market on the internet but that's not important because what you need to realize is that whatever strategy you use, you don't want to abuse it. What I mean by "abuse" is gaining popularity by pitching your business but offering no value. This may not be a good analogy but to me that is just like someone approaching you at the mall about their business when you are there to shop. People like to pitch their business in the stores/malls because they figure that you are already in the mind frame to buy, so why not buy what they are selling. The same type of activity occurs on the Internet. People know that there are many shoppers and Internet Marketers on the internet just like themselves hoping to eventually make sales so everything they post is begging people to purchase their product. It's annoying and people get turned off by it. This would be considered the wrong way to market. The right way is simply to offer valuable comments, gifts and advice all over the internet. You want to become established in the Internet Marketing industry as an expert and a leader; someone who others can trust and rely on. This approach will lead to sales and lasting relationships amongst your peers.
Now some of you are now saying "that sounds great and all but how much does it cost to get started?" Well, let me start of by saying that there are not too many businesses that you can start without investing any money. The main focus of any business is Return On Investment (ROI). You want to have some sort of idea going into any business what the chances are for getting a good ROI or just an ROI period. In other words, if you invested $500 into your business, you should want to make your $500 back (within reasonable amount of time) to at least break even or $500+ for profit and/or reinvestment. That's why it is important that you research any business industry you are trying to be a part of. Reading is essential and talking to people in the industry is a plus.
Let's get back to how much it would cost to start a Home Internet Marketing Business. As I stated there are tons of internet sites available that you can use to market yourself or your business and some of the well known ones are Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. These happen to be free sites that allow you to network and market. There are many more to choose from that can aid with the strategies you will choose. If you choose making videos as one of your strategies, YouTube is free however if you want to have your videos broadcast to other video sites all at the same time, there are internet sites that will allow you to do this for a FEE. If you choose to write articles as one of your strategies, you can write and submit your articles to one article site at a time or you can use an internet site that will allow you to submit your articles to many article sites at one time; for a FEE. Then in addition to this, Internet Marketers are highly encouraged to use specific types of tools in order to do well. Some of those tools consist of listbuilders, autoresponders, website domains, etc. These are considered essential. What Internet Marketer wouldn't have these? For some of these tools, you can pay monthly or yearly. We're talking like $20/month at the most for some of these tools. Tools such as article and video submitters may be more costly but depending on which service you choose, it is most likely unlimited usage for a year.
So unless you know what tools are required and what they are for, you will feel like you are spending too much money. But once again, you have to look at it like you are investing into YOUR business. Remember, I said earlier that you will invest more time than money. Imagine, spending minutes to hours writing articles, posting articles, making videos, posting videos, updating your blog, participating in forums, bookmarking, etc. I just named a few other strategies that are involved with Internet Marketing and that's not even half of what you can do. Of course you do not have to use the same strategies everyday but even with rotation, it can be time consuming and honestly frustrating when you are just getting started. But you should not let this stop you from starting a Home Internet Marketing Business.
There are so many tools and resources available that would allow you to outsource for the things that you do not know how to do or want to do. You can pay to have someone build your website, write your articles, submit your videos, etc. When it comes to outsourcing, it is just like hiring a contractor; you take a few quotes and choose the best for the job based on their credentials and of course their fee may be a factor. Now would I recommend this? Well, to be quite honest, most successful Internet Marketers get to a point where they outsource but just starting off, I recommend picking a few strategies and use them manually (no automation, i.e. article submitters) and on your own (rather than outsourcing). Do this for a couple of months so that you can become familiar with certain websites and maybe if you set a solid work plan and get into a groove, you wouldn't need either an automated service site or a contractor. This will help you to get your business up and running while saving some investment costs. If at some time after that you are able to afford the automation and/or contractors by all means, it will be well worth it.
Thanks,
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Deanna B
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Internet Marketing Coach
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