STARTING A HOME BASED BUSINESS -------------------------------

Advantages:

+ You are your own boss. You make decisions, and answer only to business and to your customers.

+ Lots of variety! You have a hand in everything - you are product developer, marketer, janitor, secretary, web designer, and bookkeeper, all rolled into one.

+ Income potential is unlimited! You're not restricted to how much boss decides you'll make. You ARE boss!

+ You can exercise your creativity and independence. You decide on type of business you want, in an area for which you have a passion. Business can be FUN, and you have opportunity to make it "yours"!

+ You have opportunity to pursue your "dream". You may have a vision that you'd like to see achieved - now you can give it a try!

Disadvantages:

- You are your own boss. Yes, this can be perceived as a negative as well as a positive! You have ultimate responsibility for success of your business.

- There's an element of risk. Every business, regardless of what it is, comes with a risk of failure.

- You provide your own health care benefits.

- Income is variable. Your business will go through both good and bad times, which may make it harder to plan. Plus longer hours don't necessarily translate into more income... at times you may find yourself working long hours just to survive! It also takes time before you begin to turn a profit.

- Long hours! The prevailing myths that home business owners sleep in, watch daytime TV, and generally have a 'relaxed' lifestyle are generally not true. Most home business owners work far more than typical 40-hour work week.

It takes all types of people to run world... not everyone is meant to run a business, and not everyone will flourish when working a job. Decide what's right for *you* - and then set out to achieve it.

Angela is the editor of Online Business Basics, a practical guide to building a profitable Internet business on a beginner's budget. Visit her online at http://onlinebusinessbasics.com/article.html

B. Focus on Benefit.

Tell your prospects about benefits that your product or service will provide for them. Will it save them money? Time?

Make a list of benefits and then stress them.

C. Keep it Simple.

Do NOT send out a ten (10) page email trying to sell your product or service. Keep it simple and to point. You should be able to excite and entice your prospects with a simple five (5) line ad.

3. Study Your Competition.

Study ads and web site of your competition.

What might work great for your competitor, may very well be completely wrong for your own project. But just act of research and study of your competition may very well spur you onto new ideas and projects.

Following these few hints can increase your traffic, response rates and even your sales!

Make your project a personal extension of what you need to accomplish with it.

Set aside a consistent amount of time that you can afford to invest daily.

And, test, test, test until you find just right combination of elements to make your project a HUGE success.