Many have been told that they can sign up for a few programs, build a website around them, add a bunch of banners and links onto their site, then sit back and watch money roll in and never have to do any real work again.

There is a misconception that you can come online and set up an Internet based business and be making big money within a few days. This is absolute hogwash and it has not been my experience nor experience of anyone I have come in contact with through my online business activities.

The harsh reality is that there are more people who fail at their home businesses than there are people who actually succeed.

Newcomers to world of online home based business are not usually aware that they may actually have to work harder at their home businesses than they did at their traditional jobs. They are typically not aware of many hours of marketing time that they will need to put in to be successful.

Many people that are new to online marketing also make mistake of thinking that a single marketing strategy will suffice. Naturally, some avenues will produce better results than others, but I have found best course of action is to adopt a broad based approach to your online marketing by spreading your time and resources over several different methods.

Improving Life on Your Terms

Most of these people are making extra money they need. Some have wisely and carefully built these extra income efforts into full-time, very profitable businesses. Others are just keeping busy, having fun, and enjoying life as never before. The important thing is that they are doing something other than waiting for government to give them a handout; they are improving their lot in life, and you can do it, too!

The fields of mail order selling, multi-level marketing, and in-home party sales have never been more popular. If any of these kinds of extra income producing ideas appeal to you, then you owe it to yourself to check them out. But these aren't only fields of endeavor you can start and operate from home, with little or no investment.

If you type, you can start a home-based typing service; if you have a truck or have access to a trailer, you can start a clean-up/hauling service. Simply collecting old news papers from your neighbors can get you started in paper recycling business. More than a few enterprising housewives have found success and fortune by starting home and/or apartment cleaning services. If you have a yard full of flowers, you can make good extra money by supplying fresh cut flowers to restaurants and offices in your area on a regular basis. You might turn a ceramics hobby into a lucrative personalized coffee mug business. What I'm saying is that in reality, there's literally no end to ways you can start and operate a profitable extra income business from your home.

Basically...

The first thing you must do, however, is some basic market research. Find out for yourself, first-hand, how many people there are in your area who are interested in your proposed product or service, and would be "willing to stand in line and pay money for it." This is known as defining your market and pinpointing your customers. If after checking around, talking about your idea with a whole lot of people over a period of one to three months, you get idea that these people would be paying customers-- your next step should be directed toward "detailing" of your business plan.