I've been involved with home business in one form or another for
a few years now. Two years ago I left my job to "go it alone" in
making a full-time living on the internet. Like a lot of people,
I've tried various programs and courses, not all of which worked
for me.
My foothold in becoming financially independent lay in combining
my professional skills as a software writer and my hobby of
astronomy. Everyone goes on about finding niche markets so I
ended up writing a piece of software called
LunarPhase Pro that provides all the
information about the Moon that amateur astronomers would ever
need, all done in real-time.
So my niche market was amateur astronomy. But, to my surprise,
people from other niches started snapping up my software -
astrologers, stockbrokers, Wiccan, fishermen, military people,
hunters. And they came from all over the world. I even managed
to line up some retail outlets to carry the software.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you're starting out in
your own home business, develop something that appeals to you,
something you have direct knowledge of and enthusiasm for. It
gives you a running start compared with having to learn the
ropes in some system or program you haven't got a clue about.
Investors will tell you to diversify your portfolio and internet
marketers talk about multiple streams of income. All sound
advice because if one of your investments or internet income
streams crashes, you won't go down with the ship.
With that in mind, I started looking around for income streams
besides my software. Everything has a shelf life or a sell by
date and, while my software is still selling very well, that may
not always be the case.
I started monetizing my websites using Google Adsense (if you'd
like to find out how, check out my "
Monetize Your
Website With Google Adsense" webpage) and some other
money-generating programs for websites and make $500-$600 per
month this way. The websites are pretty much on auto-pilot, so
it's effectively free money!
I also became interested in the Home Business market and
researched a number of programs that would potentially boost my
monthly income. Some were good but didn't work for me (not all
programs will work for everyone). Some were just downright
lousy.
The rest I signed up with (not too many so that monitoring or
working with them became unmanageable) and all provide some
level of monthly income (from quite small to reasonably large).
I'm not super-rich but I am financially independent. More than
that, I'm time-rich. I don't waste two hours a day commuting
to/from the office. I set my own hours. I don't have to deal
with Corporate politics and BS. I'm not stressed out any more.
And I have more time with my family and friends.
The programs I've become involved with are listed at my website.
They may work for you. They may not. Each of us has different
wants and needs and different skills. You are the one to decide
what suits your personal circumstances.
To make things easier for myself so I'd have all the tools and
resources I use just a click or two away, I created the
Home Biz Toolbar add-on for Internet
Explorer. You're welcome to use it but you'll need to come to my
website to download it!
There are a huge number of home business opportunities out
there, so always research any program that takes your interest.
Make sure it's right for you and that it's being run by a solid
company. But if you do pick a program, stick with it. Don't be a
grashopper, jumping from program to program, wondering why
they're not paying dividends. It takes time and commitment to
build an online business. Don't put all your eggs in one basket
- join two or three programs and protect yourself from the
collapse of any one of them.
About the author:
Gary Nugent runs a successful internet business working from his
home PC. Invest some time and you can benefit from his
experience and make a residual income from the internet using
the techniques and information that allowed him to walk away
from his 9 to 5 job:
http://www.makeonlineresidualearnings.com
The (free) Home Biz Toolbar is available from:
http://www.makeonlineresidualearnings.com/HomeBizToolbar
