Join the Home-Based Business Revolution

Greetings, Friend.

So you've decided to go into business.  Great.  Now what?

If you're like most new internet, home-based entrepreneurs, you have no idea.  Let not your heart be troubled!

There are many ways to run a home-based business on the internet, none of which are easy.  Don't be fooled - there is a lot of hype out there, and those "overnight success" promises you'll find that are so prevalent on the internet these days are, in fact, to good to be true.  I know, because I tried many of them.  But did I give up?  No, I didn't - because I knew that I was on the right track and that if I just kept working at it and kept learning and growing, I would eventually start to reap the benefits of my labor.

So, what are the right ways to do business on the internet?  Follow these simple, straightforward principles and you'll be on road to success:

- Don't try to rip people off.  People aren't stupid.  You may see some short-term success, but if you're not offering a quality product at a good value, regardless of price, the word will get out, and your reputation will be ruined.

- Offer information.  Think about it - what do you get on the internet for?  When you go to Google or Yahoo, what are you looking for?  Donuts?  Well, maybe, but most likely it's information.  (Maybe it's information about donuts).  The point is that people are looking for information, and most people are willing to pay for it if they see a value in doing so.

- Use eBay.  If Mohammed can't bring the mountain to him, he must go to the mountain.  Did you know that eBay is the #16 site on the web in terms of traffic according to Alexa?  That's huge!  Sell on eBay to make money and use your auction traffic to drive traffic to your sites where you sell more.

- Start slowly and keep working at it.  It's easy to get discouraged.  When I started, I had a nonexistent marketing budget, and it's pretty hard to get started with nothing.  In the beginning, I just read a lot of information and tried things that made sense.  Most of my attempts failed, but eventually - surprise! - I got a sale.  And then I got another sale.  It was a start, and I kept working at it, and I still am.

These simple ideas for getting started will help you avoid the pitfalls and learn to do business on the internet properly.  Don't be afraid to try things or to purchase information yourself, if it is good information.  Sometimes the only way to make progress is to invest in it, and even though I had practically no money to start out with, I slowly bought things the things I needed along the way, and eventually things started happening.

Selling on eBay is a great way to jump-start your business, regardless of whether you intend to be an eBay seller long-term.  The quickest way to get started is to affiliate with companies who will drop ship products for you.  You make the sale, then use the proceeds to order the product from your supplier, and they ship the product to your customer, either under your name or in a plain box with a generic packing slip.  You support your customer from the sale through fulfillment and handle any questions, problems or returns.  The personal attention you provide is a value to your customer, which will help build your reputation.

 

by Paul Brown