A HBB/WBB lifestyle
Our lives were changed forever with the creation of this marvelous resource we know as the Internet (the Web), as well as the mass production of computers from the late 80’s and beyond. Today everyone has the potential to be their own boss, whether the individual identifies with a specific group such as stay-at-home moms, manual laborers, multi-level marketers (MLMers) or home-based business (HBB) owners in general.
Any individual interested in starting a business would need only to do search on Google for business opportunities and such a search will provide more results, in more industries, than s/he could ever imagine. However, even though an individual may think it’s easy to make a living on the Web, such an endeavor actually requires a solid business plan and a lot of hard work.
Although making enough money to support the average lifestyle is admittedly not easy in a HBB and/or Web-based business (WBB), it is possible to start and build such a business while continuing to work on your your current job, and as such, your potential market – once your business gains adequate exposure on the Web – is a lot bigger than that of the typical offline retail stores.
A few WBB types
The first thing you will need to do when starting your own home-based/Web-based business is decide what type of business is right for you, and then do the necessary research to support the viability of your business type. Some possible business choices open to enterprising beginners are:
- Affiliate Marketing
- AdSense-Type Programs
- Ghost Writing (if you’re good with words)
- Blogging
- Scrap Booking
- Selling Information Products (ebooks)
- MLM (Multi-Level Marketing)
- Selling on eBay
- Network Marketing
- And many more to choose from!
The methodology
A sampling of how the top 3 choices work
Affiliate marketing programs will pay you a commission for promoting and selling products owned and serviced by companies and individuals commonly referred to as merchants. According to this kind of arrangement you, the affiliate, will have very little contact with customers, as role will be to provide sales leads to the merchants with whom you have m ade agreements to promote products/services.
AdSense-type programs will allow you to place contextual advertisements on any website, blog or video you own or produce. These advertisements are most often in the form of links, banners, buttons and badges produced by Google (originator and regulator of the AdSense program), Yahoo/Bing Network, or other such network. You, as the member and website owner/publisher, will receive compensation (few cents at the most) when someone clicks on a banner or link on your website.
The third method is ghost writing which allows you to use your talent as a writer (word smith?) to compose articles, blog posts, and various types of literary works, including press releases, resumes, sales letters (copywriting) etc., for others who may not have the time or skill to do it themselves and therefore are willing to pay you for doing it.
Starting out
You will probable have to start out as an associate (member) of an already established company such as Freelancer or Fiverr that has the system in place, before branching out on your own. But either way your earnings are virtually guaranteed as long as your work is good and you deliver on time.
When it all comes down to it, you’ll need to set up a business and web site to derive the most benefit from either eCommerce or affiliate marketing; and as mentioned earlier such an undertaking entails a lot of hard work, long hours and dedication – although in the end it will prove to be well worth the investment in time, energy and the limited money required to get your business up, running and flourishing.
