Online business basics

Deciding to have the goal of working from home is an easy decision for most people to make.  That's because (for most of us, anyway) our job pressures are enormous, our jobs don't pay enough, we don't have much family time and we worry about a secure retirement.  A home-based business can provide a second income or it can evolve into a full-time affair that can sustain you and your family for life.  And for those who can't even find a job, it may be the only source of income in the 21st century!

For the most part, just about any online business is going to take the form of 'affiliate marketing' - i.e. selling someone else's products or services.  Many of these sales programs also have MLM-style sales organization structures.  Most people are familiar with companies like Amway, MaryKay or HerbaLife.  But few have heard of well-established online opportunities such as Global NPN or TrafficWave.  And it's programs like those latter two that are becoming very popular in this new century.  Why?  Because they are digital products and the monthly upkeep cost is practically nothing (under $20.00).  By explaining the product or service correctly to others, it is possible to recruit dozens of affiliates in a downline matrix who can duplicate your efforts in a 'snowball effect' that has already created many online millionaires.

The way in which you will accomplish this is essentially two-fold.  First, you will have to have a website.  It can be a .com domain name of your creation or something as simple as a blogger.com site like this one.  By making it content-rich and creating links back to it from other places on the web, you will begin receiving 'search engine traffic'.  The more important that search engine providers such as Google consider your site to be, the more traffic it can receive on a daily basis from around the globe.  And that's an important point.  Online, the entire planet is your customer base!

The second thing you will do will more than likely center around something called 'list-building' and email marketing - two fundamentally crucial skills for online business. List-building will fuel potential customers that you can essentially create an endless supply of. Email marketing is how you communicate with your list and the idea is to automate as much of it as possible. On the other hand, telephone communication skills are still highly valuable and 'mobile marketing' is rapidly becoming a new form of advertising and communication.

So learn all you can about this exciting industry, get the skills and then get going!