Given the amount of work at home and online businesses there are, why isn’t everyone finding them and making good money? One reason is that many of these businesses are scams. Even so, there are many out there that are legitimate work at home opportunities. I believe the number one reason people who join or start legitimate online businesses fail because they do not see results right away and give up.
I joined Avon when I was in college. I started out very gung ho about the business. I was so sure everyone would want to buy and that I would make money. My college roommate joined with me and we set off to advertise. What better place to start than your friends! We gathered them all up to present our products, expecting them to be immediately interested and to buy, buy, buy. Out of 10 girls, 1 of them bought a chapstick.
We sold to a couple of other people (ok, like one other person), and gave up within a month or too, never to speak of it again. What happened here? Why did we fail? In retrospect I think we expected to have results right away and to make a profit right away. If we had stuck with it, who knows where we would be now.
Many people with home based businesses have the same problem. They think that they will make money hand over fist with very little effort in very little time. This is not often the case, if ever. With any business where you are your own boss, you need discipline and focus to make a go of it. Immediate results are not seen, so you must work past that with your end goal in mind.
On a forum I belong to, we decided to start a weekly goals list to make ourselves accountable for what we want to accomplish. My goals for this week are to update each of my blogs with one new post a day. That is the only way to build interest in what I am doing and to stay focused. My other goal is to sign up 2 members with MyWorldPlus and to offer those members the guidance and support they need to succeed in the home based business industry. I also need to make sure I send in all of my paperwork for my online tutoring job.
It is a good idea for all of those trying to make it in the home based business industry to develop a weekly goals list. That way, you can check things off of your list and feel like you are accomplishing something even if you are not seeing the immediate results of your end goal. Another reason people give up is they lost their inspiration. Often companies offer shiny promises on the front page, and when you don’t see those shiny results right away you lose hope. Find inspiration by chatting with someone who is successful, or bookmarking the page of a success you admire.
Tips for Staying Focused
- Find some inspiration
- Develop a weekly goals list
- Check things on your goal list off so you feel accomplished
- If you are getting frustrated, take yourself away from it for a while to return with a fresh mind.
What do you do to stay focused???
I am very happy to report that I was able to acquire two members who signed up with me for MyWorldPlus! I really am enjoying this business because it’s giving me a great chance to connect with other people online. I never realized that potential that was there to develop real relationships and helping bond online. I have to say that when I joined MyWorldPlus I was so gung ho and ready to go…I *knew* I’d get a million people to sign up right away. A couple of days later I got pretty discouraged. I was having people sign up to tour the website, but no *bites*. Then, after having developed relationships, I signed up my two members! I’ve come to some realizations through this process.
There are some things to consider when promoting your online business. Do a google search for “work at home” or any variation of that title. There are something like 1,840,000,000 results that come up. The problem with promoting a business online?? EVERYONE else is trying to promote their business. There really has been a surge in work at home businesses lately, and it’s hard to sift through and find the right one. It’s also hard to promote it once you’ve found it.
That’s where developing those online relationships will really help you out. For example; Joe has a business selling a new vitamin and Sally has a business selling makeup. Sally is quick at answering your questions and is very friendly. She doesn’t just push her product, she takes an effort to get to know you and allows you to get to know her. Joe isn’t very good at getting back to you and is very pushy. He doesn’t seem interested in you, only your sale. Which person are you more likely to sign up with?
So remember, whether you’re looking to start a business or you’re trying to promote your business you must develop those relationships. If you learn anything while you’re advertising, know that:
So the best place I’ve found to promote your online business? Online forums such as WAHM and community based sites such as Cafemom. Get out there and have fun!
