Friday, May 7, 2010

Is an Online Business Right For Me?

What if you got fired? What if the next time you’re called into the boss’ office, it’s for the last time? Or your company folds up and can’t meet payroll? What’s your Plan B? With the recent global recession, it’s virtually impossible to find gainful employment elsewhere, even with a wage cut! Let’s face it, we’ve lost that “comfort level” that we had just a few years ago. An alternative to the hustle and bustle of a 9 to 5, is an online business. In recent years, this has become the fastest growing group of home-based businesses. Even if you are one of the lucky ones that have a career they love, as a back-up plan, I highly suggest looking into starting one

What Do I Need For An Online Business?
The few requirements for an online business are that you’re computer-literate, have a computer, and an internet connection. With wi-fi and internet capable phones, you can see why this is so attractive.


What Are The Advantages of Online Employment?
You are the boss! You don’t have anyone looking over your shoulder watching how many times you use the restroom. Work in your pajamas if you want, set your own schedule. You can work full or part-time, and take vacations when you want to. You can even work for several companies at once, and still not work an 8 hour shift. You can be paid weekly, monthly, some even pay daily. Your salary is paid via PayPal or other reliable money service. The amount you make will depend upon the work you are doing and on the standard paid for online jobs.


What Online Opportunities Are Available?
The internet is growing at a staggering rate, with thousands of new companies daily, there are really too many for me to name, but I’ll go over a few types here:

- Freelance jobs - As a free lancer, you are working for yourself and you need to promote yourself. You are an independent contractor offering your services to clients in various fields such as writing, sales, marketing and promotions.

- Network marketing - You will be selling products and services and at the same time building what’s called a “downline” of new members. The concept behind this is fairly simple. You organize your own sales force, and for every sale your members get, you get a commission too.

-Telemarketing - Your main activity is to sell a product or service that someone signed up for online. This is a low risk type of occupation and you only need your sales charisma. This is an amazing way to earn because the computer basically feeds you leads.

- Typing - You will be typing papers for professionals in various fields, two of the most popular are doctors (medical transcription) and lawyers (legal transcription). If you are a good typist, you are in high demand and able to earn high income. There are even online courses to help you get a grasp of legal or medical terms if you want to specialize in one.

- Online advertising – One of the most lucrative and fastest growing fields online. You will be posting the company's ads, banners and short texts in various places. There are very little start-up costs, and you don’t need experience.

- Survey Takers - You simply sign up to various big companies to take surveys, and they pay your paypal account or send you a check. It's a good source of extra income. Once you register with the companies, they'll just keep sending you surveys.

Can I Trust These Companies To Pay Me?
The easiest way to find out about a company is to google their name. Check the online employer's references on the internet and check for any mentions of scams related to this employer and outlets you should avoid. Testimonials and photos are not even reliable security of a legitimate any more when searching for online work.


Starting an Online Business
Starting an online business is easy to begin and you can do it even if you have a full time job. The best part about creating your own business is that you will be your own boss and you can determine your own working schedule. By starting an online business, you can create an additional stream of income which is completely automated. That’s why it continues to grow despite the recession.


What’s Your Attitude?
Having a negative attitude about starting an online business is the main reason why some people don't make it. They expect to achieve wealth fast, and as soon as it doesn't work, they quit. Laziness, procrastination, over-anxiety, frustration and fear of failure are other reasons. Regardless to what you may think, you will have to do some work to succeed.


Having a positive attitude and sticking with it are reasons why there are so many successful people working from home. Persistence, consistency, taking the initiative to try new methods, and the willingness to give wholehearted efforts. For the most part, having an online job is easy and risk free and its income potentials are great.


Advantages of Working From Home
On average, most 9 to 5 type jobs require about 35-40 hours a week, sometimes more! There are people right now only working a few hours a week making alot of money. Imagine what you would do if you had all of that free time. Your social and outside contacts are limited when working from home but only to a certain extent. Don't forget, you control how much you work.


What Is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is an innovative way of earning and doing business easily. You can sell various products for different companies in different fields. Here's an example, if you refer a traveler to a particular traveling agency, by being the affiliate marketer, you will get a commission. With affiliate marketing, you will receive large commissions just by referring customers to some good quality products or services. All you have to do is refer online surfers to a selection of products or services and in return, you are rewarded with your affiliate commission. It all happens in just a few steps:

* A potential customer see an affiliate's ad and clicks it.

* The customer is sent to the affiliate's site.
* The customer purchases the item or service they wanted, which is tracked by the system.

* The affiliate gets a commission for that product or service


Tips For Marketing Online

When marketing, deal with several merchants, not just one. There is no specific best network out there. The next step is putting up your site, keep it running successfully, make money and start to expand making more money in your new projects. Be wary of parasites or scams that try to redirect, overwrite and intercept your visitors. Work at perfecting your system, be persistent and dedicated to make it work. In building your first site, know HTML and apply graphics software and use generating tools for fast launching sites.


Affiliate Marketing vs. Internet Marketing.
Affiliate marketing and internet marketing are similar but not identical. An affiliate doesn't have a specific product or service of his own.


Negative & Positive
Negatively: Affiliate marketing is not a get rich quick occupation. There are rules and you have to follow step-by-step procedures which may take some time to set-up.


Positively: Payments are given on a performance level and you do not need any marketing experience. Your amount of success depends upon your marketing technique. A good affiliate could easily make a six or seven figure annual income.