Now that I have my own home business I realize that I am cut-out to do this kind of work. The shoe fits and I wear it well. But I also realize that some people are just not cut-out to do this kind of work.
I often dreamed of having a business where I could make my own hours, take the day off it I needed to, work in my pajamas, and make the kind of income that would provide me the financial freedom to purchase things that I wanted to, instead of limiting them to things that I needed. My most depressing moments were thoughts of working until I was 70 before I could retire. What quality of life would I have at 70? Would I even live until then? If I did, would my health allow me to enjoy retirement?
When I answered an ad on the Internet that claimed that I could make a six figure income from home, I had no idea whether I would be cut out for this type of business. I didn't even know if the business was legitimate. But I knew if I hid behind my skepticism that I would never find out, and I could be giving up the one opportunity that could help me retire before I was 70.
So I jumped in head first and did all of the things that was suggested. I ran ads on free advertising sites, passed out business cards, got involved in some surf for clicks programs, ran pay per clicks, took out newspaper ads, and have been involved in virtually every kind of low cost and free advertising campaign that was ever thought of. Some of these ideas worked and some didn't, but I didn't let the advertising failures deter me in the least. I simply dropped the campaigns that were not generating any traffic and kept the ones that did.
Eventually, I had a business plan that was working for me and that was generating enough traffic to sustain a home business. I have signed up and trained over 800 people during the last two years and early on I was amazed by the high failure rate. I'm less surprised now because I know this is not something that everyone wants to do. Many people today have the mindset that by having an Internet business it pays by the hour, and I'm sorry to say that it doesn't.
You will work long hours for months building your website, setting up your advertising campaigns, exchanging links and getting listed with the search engines before you see one cent. Because in order to succeed on the Internet, you have to have traffic, and it takes some time to build it up. But when you do, the money will flow consistently and daily for the rest of your life with very little effort on your part.
Many of the people I have met on the Internet have jumped in full force for a few weeks or a month and then just kind of burnt out. The first few months are always the hardest because if you have never made money on the Internet, it's very hard to keep yourself motivated to keep working towards something your not sure is going to pan out. But I assure you it will...
Some people are under the impression that it takes a huge investment to start an Internet business. It can if you want to pay for advertising, but if you're willing to wait a few months, you can get started for as little as $20. I built my first website for $20, and spent the next few months doing nothing but exchanging links with other webmasters, submitting my site to directories and writing articles. These three things are huge traffic generators and they are free.
I've meet people who were close to heart failure at the thought of spending $20 to build a website. In this day and age, I find it really hard to believe that anyone is really that financially strapped. In my most financially strapped times, I know I spent $20 a month on things that I didn't need. You have to keep in mind that this is an investment in your future. It will come back to you many times over.
And the hardest thing that I think that people deal with is the isolation of maintaining a home business. You won't be going to the office and chatting with your co-workers, there is little to no phone conversations, and I have never had any human contact with any of my customers on the Internet. I do however send a lot of emails. But that is fine with me, and I love it. I love the quiet times working alone. I love the fact that I am not interrupted by the phone every five minutes or by employees and co-workers running in and out of my office. I love the fact that I don't have to commute any farther then to my home office.
So, as you can see there are many perks to owning a home business, and there are things that may not fit with your lifestyle or expectations. The shoe must fit in order for you to succeed. If you believe that you're cut-out for an Internet business, visit me at: http://www.home-business-opportunity.biz and let me help and guide you towards owning a successful home business.
About the Author
Rebecca Gilbert has been a successful entrepreneur since July, 2002. Visit her at: http://www.101homebusiness.org for more tips, tutorials, and articles on how you can be on your way towards earning a substantial income from the comfort of your home.