Running your business from home does not preclude you from many of the tasks that preclude other more traditional business owners need to do. One of the most important tasks that any business owner has to do, whether they work from home or have a staff of twenty, is marketing.If you are a home-based business owner then chances are that your budget is not as large as a company who has their own office and staff. This doesn’t mean that work from home entrepreneurs cannot mount an effective marketing campaign.The purpose of this article is to share with you three cheap yet effective marketing tips to help you grow your business.Here is what you need to do:Get online- If you want to effective market your business then you need to get on the Internet. There are quite a few things that you need to implement. You need a business website and you need to set up an email newsletter. People will get online to try and find out about your business and an email newsletter is essentially a free way to keep in touch with your existing clients. You also need to look at Social Media sites like Facebook and Twitter as many people are starting to use these websites and set up accounts.Letterbox drop for local houses or businesses- If you are a home-based business owner running an offline business, chances are that you are predominantly looking for customers in your local area. A great way to reach your prospective audience is through brochures delivered in to the letterbox of local businesses and houses. You can also leave flyers in your local take away food shop.Just make sure that you keep working on it- The most important tip that I can give you is to make sure that you don’t neglect your marketing. You need to make sure that you keep working on it. As a home-based business owner you need to dedicate time each week to marketing your business so that you can find more customers. You need to design your marketing plan in a way that all activities are measurable. You need to be able to ascertain whether your tasks are effective in getting you more customers.All entrepreneurs who work from home need to make sure that they spend a large part of their time on marketing. Marketing is important in reaching new audiences and getting more customers.

As the economy continues to tank, unemployment rises, essential commodity prices increase as salaries remain stale, it’s no surprise people are looking to make more money anywhere possible. While we should generate a supplemental income while our lives are financially sound, most people make the mistake of waiting until their finances are in disrepair and the bills are way behind before considering options.At the point of desperation people choose counter-productive measures as a solution to their financial woes. These include taking out high interest personal loans, working a second or third job, selling their valuables, or being forced downsize their lifestyle. Can you see a benefit in any of these options? Do they bring you closer or distance you from your family?If working second jobs, taking out high interest personal loans, or giving up the things cherished the most in life, aren’t options, what options exist? While most conventionally thinking people resort to the above solutions, many others choose to become successful entrepreneurs by starting some type of part-time business from home. Unfortunately, many people lack the necessary motivation and could care less about success for themselves or their families and that’s o.k. This clears the playing field for others who keep our options open to income opportunities.While starting a part-time home business has many benefits, you probably wouldn’t even know where or how to begin. The possibilities are endless and this, in itself, can be overwhelming. Take a few deep breaths and relax because I’m going to share with you a simple business model that was specifically designed for people like you and me to be able to simply and efficiently generate a positive cash flow. This business model is called network-marketing (person-to-person) and has been adopted by many reputable companies and is the primary method to promote their products or services, instead of investing in expensive media advertisements. While companies save money on advertising, they are able to pay their representatives high commissions, bonuses, and incredible streams of residual incomes.Network Marketing Vs.Traditional Home BusinessThe Network Marketing (Multi-Level Marketing) industry is over 50 years old and has created more millionaires out of average people than any other industry. An increasing number of people are choosing network marketing instead of traditional home businesses for many reasons; monthly residual income, multi-level payment structures, company bonuses/incentives, no stocking products, no invoicing, no shipping, no taking payments, no handling returns, no building websites, or even providing customer service. The network marketing company handles all of the main responsibilities. Your responsibility is simply recommending the product/service to others and showing others how to do the same thing.Scams, Schemes, and PyramidsSadly there are many scams and schemes that empty the pockets of innocent people just looking for a way to make money fast. You can truly judge the validity of a business or opportunity by being aware of RED FLAGS. One obvious and very prevalent red flag is when the opportunity boasts that you can get rich overnight. An example of this is when they advertise that you can make a ludicrous amount of money in a day or a week.The other type of scam that many desperate people fell into many years ago was the pyramid scheme. In a pyramid scheme, the only people who made money were the people at the top of the pyramid. People were literally passing their cash up the pyramid and the unfortunate people on the bottom lost their all their money. Pyramid Schemes are illegal and a common RED FLAG to look out for is if an opportunity has no product and requires a person to pay a lot of money to get involved.Some people associate network marketing companies with pyramid schemes. While most network marketing companies are recognized by the BBB, they also offer every person the same opportunity for advancement. A representative can far surpass the success of the person who registered them. For example, I could sign someone up and they could have a much more successful business and make more money than me, which completely disproves pyramid scheme theories.Monthly Residual IncomeWhy is residual income so incredibly important for you and your family? If I owned a traditional business, I would have to generate new sales and new profits every month to survive. In Network Marketing, I still have to make a sale, however I would continue to be paid every month for that ONE sale. Can you imagine making a sale once, getting paid, and then getting paid again and again from that one sale? Your monthly residual income will continue to climb every month as more business is generated.Multi-Level Monthly Residual IncomeWhy is the multi-level marketing component crucial to the growth of the business? It’s unheard of to earn residual monthly income from every sale that you generate, however it is mind blowing to know you can earn money based on other people’s efforts after they join your business team.When you register to become a home business owner with a network marketing company, you are provided with 2 general ways to create income.
You are paid based on the sales that you generate
(w/residual income from your sales)
You have the Multi-Level option to show others how to start their own Home Based Business with company you are representing.(w/residual income from the sales you AND your representatives generate)
Starting a Traditional Business: Working HarderPutting aside the overwhelming headaches of administration and production, let’s talk about just generating money from your own efforts. In a traditional home business, where you create your own product or service, you’ll need to go out and generate new sales every month. While business increases, so does your time spent on your business. You are now spending more time keeping up with the demand of your business than you do with your family. At that point you become a slave to your business while working 70 hours a week to keep up with production, administrative work, and client issues. Retiring is not even an option.TRUE STORYMy friend, who owns a successful small business, said to me “It may look like I am successful, but I’m actually stuck. After all the bills are paid and it’s all said and done, I bring home less money than my wife makes in the corporate world and I work all the time. I can’t shut my phone off or miss an appointment because we are struggling to meet our bills. Our mortgage is too high, I can’t even think about retirement, and I don’t know what we would do if we lost one of our incomes.”Starting a Network Marketing Business: Working SmarterWhen you start a network marketing (part-time) home business, you simply become a representative of a product/service for a company. You don’t have to be concerned with anything but promoting the product/service. You are paid for every sale generated, plus you are paid a small residual commission every month as long as that customer continues to use the product/service.While you are generating sales, you can also present the business opportunity to those customers who may also want to generate an extra income. When these people decide to sign on your team and become representatives, you can earn bonuses and residual pay based on their success. The income potential is limitless and while your business continues to expand you will continue to get a paycheck every month and eventually you can decide when to work or when to take a month off to go on vacation.It’s really as simple as:1. Using the product or service2. Exposing others to the product/service3. Showing them how to do the same thingThis industry continues to offer millions of people with many financial advantages including taking extra vacations, tax breaks, being able to afford private schools, paying for college, buying a new car, and even retiring early. The secret to success with any person starting a home business is just making a decision to do it. Don’t try it, do it. Many people fail because they are uncomfortable and unsure about how others will respond. If you don’t worry what other people think, if you make the effort, you are on your way to great success with your part-time home business.Most people live paycheck to paycheck and can barely save enough money in their bank accounts to even pay for car or home repairs. Isn’t it true that whenever you’ve saved a nice little “nest egg” in the bank, expenses arises that put you back where you started last month? Wouldn’t it be nice to have money in your bank account, pay for miscellaneous repairs, take yourself and your family on a great vacation, AND still have money left over?You can do it, and here’s how you can get started today in a profitable home business. Choose a network marketing company that; fits in your life, has a reputable product or service, a generous pay plan, and marketing tools that make it easy to duplicate your business! Most importantly don’t try to re-invent the wheel when it comes to promoting your new home business. Utilize the marketing materials offered by the company. Their online tools, offline tools, and methods are designed specifically to make building a home-based business very simple.No More Selling?50 years ago, people who embraced network marketing had no choice but to build their home business by physically meeting with people and selling the opportunity. This “warm market” sales approach is still very successful today, however not everyone is comfortable selling when they are first introduced to the business. What if there was a way to begin building a business without selling? The Internet has made this possible!Reputable network marketing companies have embraced the power of the Internet by offering all their associates “customized” websites (usually for free) linked with a personal ID number. You would then use the website to sell for you. All you need to do is refer people to your website, let them watch the presentation, and FOLLOW UP with them. Always, always follow up with a prospect, especially when you refer them to your new website.These websites are great tools, however that’s all they are. They are presentation tools for people who you know or meet. But how do you GENERATE customers or prospects for your home business? What if customers/prospects FOUND YOU? While placing ads on the Internet and in the newspaper are effective, they can be very expensive and will not reach larger markets. Another powerful alternative to marketing your business is on the Internet where you can reach tens of thousands of people searching for the exact product/service you are marketing.Building A Long-Standing Residual IncomeBeing successful while establishing a large residual income, requires implementing a variety of marketing approaches. Don’t only depend on the Internet to bring you traffic. Be proactive! Talk to people, be excited about your part-time home business, share the products or service, and be consistent and persistent. If you don’t like selling, don’t! Don’t even talk about the details of your business. Let the website (the one the company designed for you) do the work for you!If you are planning on developing an online presence, start getting involved and document your experience. You’ll generate tons of great content, including, but not limited to; case studies (how you started etc.), customer testimonials, objectives, personal experiences, training call recaps, webinar reviews, prospecting stories, company announcements etc. Journal and document every experience.Start your business today! Don’t wait. Statistically speaking, people who wait, don’t succeed. If you have already decided on a part-time home business, pick up the phone or email a few people right now with your link to the free website the company gave you. If you just felt butterflies in your stomach, this is normal. It’s the fear of what people think about you that prevents you from taking this first step. However, it’s those who push beyond the nervousness who are the most successful. Are you going to let fear of what people think about you hold you back from attaining the financial goals of you and your family?If you decide to start a home business, whether it is a multi-level marketing business or a conventional small home business, be active, be consistent, be persistent, and believe in yourself. Not only can it be financially rewarding, but you’ll go through many positive experiences which will help you develop professionally and personally.Continuing ThoughtsMost people just let life slip away and wonder where the time went, thinking what they could have done differently? If you could change something now, what would you change? Would having more money help? If you have a desire to create new cash for you and your family, make a decision to do it.Regardless of what you decide to do, I pray God richly blesses you and your family and you live your life with no regrets. Good Luck and God Bless!

Many times the hardest part about starting a home based business is coming up with a list of home based business ideas in which you may have some interest in starting. You must know the real reason you are looking to start a home based business and that is what you should build your list of home based business ideas around.

Are you looking for a business you can operate from your home but work outside the home or are you searching for home based business ideas that you can start online? Either way, the process of choosing a home based business it basically the same.

First clear your mind of the idea of starting a business and focus on your interests. What do you like to do? Do you enjoy sports, cars, travel or maybe your enjoy animals? Simply make a list of your interests and soon you will have a list of home based business ideas. It is true that if you enjoy something outside of work, then chances are you can enjoy it as work or as a home business.

Once you have a list of ten or twelve of your interests, next you should do a bit of research. This is the beginning of building your real list of home based business ideas. Your research should include keyword research to find out how many people are searching for each of your topics. If nobody is searching for your keyword, then it may not be a profitable home based business idea. When you have completed your keyword research for your home based business ideas, you should then narrow your list to three.

Of these three home based business ideas, only one will become your home based business. That is not to say you should discard the other interests in your list because you may want to, at a later time, start a home based business around them as well.

To help you get started with your list, here are a few topics and ideas for your home based business ideas list.

1. Start an office cleaning service

2. Car detailing shop

3. Create travel maps showing points of interest or places you have visited
4. Pet sitting and pet exercising

These are only a couple of ideas that may be on your list of home based business ideas and of course, you need to come up with at least ten or twelve before you narrow it down to just one. Once you do have your list of home based business ideas down to the magic one, concentrate on just that one until you are successful or until you determine it to be unprofitable or unfulfilling. Then and only then should you revisit your list of home based business ideas before trying to start another home based business.

By following this as a guide line to building your home based business you will have more success than if you simply jump into something simply to make money. Focus on one task at a time for greater success with your list of home based business ideas.

When talking about business related issues, solutions, and technologies, you will almost always group businesses as small and large. While the separation is there, it won’t be wrong to say that in a modern where digital technologies prevail, it should not be a problem for small businesses to compete with large ones. The large corporations have the advantage of having more resources without a doubt. However, there was not a time in the past when growing and expanding was as easy for small businesses as it is today.

Digital Marketing for Everyone

Digital marketing starts with a website today. When it comes to website designs, more money does not always mean a better design. If you are working with the right people and are clear about your requirements, your website can be just as impressive as the website of a large business. In fact, internet users today are more in favor of simplistic websites with a focus on the information they are looking for rather than the glitter and sparkle.

As for social media marketing, there is no difference in the size of the market that small and large businesses have to target. They are both targeting global audiences and how good they are at it is not defined by how much money they put in their marketing efforts. Social media marketing is free marketing, so there is no excuse as to who has more resources.

And if you believe that the large corporations make it to the top of the search engine results, you always have a better and more effective niche to compete within – local. With local search engine optimization, small businesses can compete with the medium and large businesses head to head. In simple words, regardless of the size of the business, everyone has access to the same market and same people today. What matters is who does it better.

Digital Solutions Are Available Specifically for Small Businesses

When it comes to software solutions for businesses, the focus is not on large corporations anymore. Today, all types of software solutions have their versions built specifically for small businesses. These digital solutions allow small businesses to cut down their costs and make use of the same technologies that large companies are using.

Take the example of CRMs. At one point, there was a notion that customer relationship management software are only for large businesses, but the things have changed quite a bit today. Web-based CRM are a revelation for small businesses. First, these CRMs provide great marketing, database, customer service and sales solutions to the businesses. Second, they are unbelievably affordable. If you own a small business, you don’t even have to worry about software integration, hardware compatibility, updates, and upgrades, etc. Keep in mind that with in-house solutions, these are the costs that make it difficult for small businesses to grow financially.

With web-based solutions designed for small businesses, you can now have access to a world-class CRM at a fractional monthly or yearly cost. Other affordable digital solutions available include invoicing software, bookkeeping software, payroll software, etc.

Customers Have the Power in Hands

The Internet has empowered customers like never before. You can’t say that just because a business is in multiple countries, it will be impressive enough for people to buy its products. The amazing thing about today’s economy is the power that customers have in their hands. Online reviewing websites, YouTube videos, blogs, etc. are among many platforms that allow customers to know more about businesses. In fact, even Google now puts business ratings and customer reviews right within its search results.

What this means is that when a customer searches for a business today, he/she is already able to see the reputation of the product they are going to buy. Furthermore, negative reviews from customers can greatly affect the sales of business, giving other businesses a chance to make their name.

Furthermore, it’s not just the quality of products that matters today. In the modern world, businesses are competing for better customer experience. If your business can give customers the experience they are looking for, your growth is inevitable despite the small size of your business.

Funding Is No Issue for Startups

It is always the starting days that matter the most for business. When you are a startup, you are looking for ways to fund your business so you can materialize your idea and polish your product/service according to the requirements of the customers. Finding a platform where you could connect with investors was a challenge in the past. This is not an issue anymore.

With like our websites, it is easier than ever for small businesses to get in touch with investors and get the right amount of investment that sets them on the path of growth. These are websites that act as a bridge between investors from all around the world and startups. With traditional banks and lenders, you are only limited to a local audience of investors. When you can’t find an investor in your local market, your hopes are almost dead.

With online funding websites, all you have to do is create a convincing pitch that explains the viability of your startup to the investors and its scope. Your pitch along with all the necessary information that you think investors should see goes on the website where it is visible to hundreds and thousands of investors. If you have done your homework and have a team of right professionals on board, getting the right investment is just a matter of hours or days.