The home based business industry is not an easy industry to become financially independent in. With increasing competition and more people claiming to be “experts”, people are more confused than ever with the correct and proper way to build their businesses.Although there is no one “correct way” to build your home based business as multiple techniques have been applied which have lead to great success, the following strategies will help you to determine what is best for you and then you can determine what you would like to do:1)Determining Your “Why”: This may seem unnecessary or a waste of time but the difference in this one step alone can either make you a failure or a success. The reason being is that most people come into the industry with the intention of just making money without determining their “why”. If your reason is just to make money then you are in the wrong industry. Your “why” should set the tone of everything you want to achieve and it should be so big that it will either make you cry or will pull you through times when you feel like nothing is working. If you don’t have a “why”, GET ONE!2)Focus On Helping Others: It has been said that if you focus on helping people get what they want, you can have everything that you want. Part of your reason for being in the home based business industry should be to help others accomplish their goals and dreams. The people that focus on this the most are the ones that end up being the most successful in the long run. I have found that I get far more satisfaction from helping others than I do from the money I receive in return and is definitely part of the reason why I do this business.3)Find A Mentor:Simply put, mentors collapse time frames and greatly enhance your chances at success. They have gone out and tested everything themselves and have found what works best and what does not. Their experiences are invaluable and will help you determine the best possible route to take in your business.There are MANY different avenues you can explore to great your success in your home based business however, the three steps I have listed above are in my opinion the most POWERFUL techniques that I have used which have greatly contributed to my success online.To learn more about how you can create the success in your home based business, make sure you read the resource box below and click on the link for more information.

With the slow improvement of the economy, a lot of people are looking for ways to earn some extra money. If you’re one of them, you shouldn’t have second thoughts about trying on the perfect home base business idea. Starting a conventional business can be costly especially if you need to put up a storefront. With an online business, you will be able to start with a small amount of capital. All you need is a reliable internet connection and computer.Here are some of the best home based business ideas that you can use:1. Caring for senior citizens – if you are quite good in caring for the elderly, you can start your own home based business of teaching or training younger people in looking after older individuals. In some families, the parents are usually too busy with their work and attending to kids; they don’t have much time to care for the elderly. With your skills, you can help others in finding a well-paid profession.2. Candle making – Do you know how to make candles? If you do, you should consider this as a home business. If you are not comfortable with internet business, this is a great option. During New Year or Christmas and other festive occasions, people need candles. You can teach interested individuals to make candles, especially scented ones. This is also a great way to help them in earning extra money.3. For women with small kids, it would be an advantage to learn about the various internet business ideas. You can become a freelance writer, blogger, or you can become an affiliate marketer. Why don’t you start a daycare center? This is one of the good home business ideas that you can try.4. If you are good in gardening, you can teach others your skills and techniques in growing plants. Home gardeners can earn some money by teaching others several times a week in exchange for a small fee.5. Another home business that you can try is yard maintenance. You can offer the neighborhood your services when you’re just starting. As you gain a good reputation in this industry, you can expand the business to nearby places; by expanding, you will need to have a service car to transport the equipment that you will use like mower or trimmers.If you think that starting a local home business is challenging, you can simply opt for online Business ideas. There are so many internet business ideas that you can choose from. With a little knowledge of the web and using computers, you will surely be able to generate some money.You can try answering surveys and questions in behalf of companies. Another option is to become a product tester. Blogging and writing is very popular today. You have to evaluate your skills and knowledge before choosing a certain endeavor. It is not that hard to manage an online or small home business. With the right attitude and skills, you will surely succeed and provide your family with their needs.

When you start building your home based business one of the main things you will need is a list, a list of people who are interested in your product or services that you have to offer. Without a list, basically your online business will not succeed and you will have just wasted your time and money in setting up your business.To build a list you will need to have a squeeze or landing page with an opt-in box for your visitors to enter their details. Once they enter their name and email this gives you an indication that they are interested in what you have to offer. The more people that enter their details, the bigger your list becomes. This is where your home based business starts to grow.If you have watched any videos on YouTube about list building for your home based business, then you may have herd the saying, the money is in the list, this is not completely true. The money comes from the trust of your list, if you gain your lists trust then you will start to make money, they will start to buy from you because you have gained their trust and feel like you are someone they can relate to.To gain your lists trust, don’t just keep sending them emails with just sales pitches, because if you do, you will lose their trust. Try to send emails offering some great free content and tips, tips on how you can help them in building their home based business. A good way to gain trust is for you to do a video, when they first join your list, introduce yourself, let them actually see who you are, this way they can put a face to the person that is sending them emails.Another good way of gaining your lists trust is to try to find out what they are looking for, send them a survey, asking them what they really want. An example would be something like 10 questions on how you could help them with their home based business. Once you get their replies, then you can put together products or services to suite their needs.Once you gain your lists trust, they then become more responsive to your regular emails. Your open rate will increase and your sales start to increase, which in turn brings in more profit. Another good thing that happens is your name starts to get known around other websites as a person who cares about their subscribers and is someone willing to help. This is because people will talk about their experience on the social media websites. This in turn then brings more people to your home based business website, who then subscribe to your emails. Working with your home based business list is very important.Let me finish with asking you this simple question. If you were to go into a shop wherever it may be, and the sales assistant was very polite and helpful in showing you the product you were interested in, but at the same time not very pushy, you know what I mean, he was not pushing for that sale, would you go back to that shop at a later date if you were looking for something else?My answer to that question would be yes, I would go back, in fact I do go back to the shops I use, and the reason is that I know I can browse without the pressure for a sale. That’s why it is so important to build a relationship of trust with your list in your home based business.

Hunting Lessons

People, as I have learned, need not to learn to kill during an archery hunt, but to learn more how to live. When I was very young, my Dad taught me the importance of learning how to enjoy “Mother Nature,” not just to hunt. I have passed this on to both of my sons and friends I’ve made throughout my life while bowhunting. By learning to live along side of “Mother Nature,” it can teach you how to become a better person in everyday life.

My Dad taught me how to hear not to just listen. When you listen carefully, you hear many things around, not just what you want to hear. In those moments you may hear the birds singing, the small critters on the ground start to scramble around or if you’re lucky, the footsteps that sound like a human walking on the forest floor, only to find out it is a deer starting to move slowly toward you. He taught me to see, not just look. To see what is going on around you. Next time you are out in your stand take look around you and see the clear blue sky or maybe how beautiful the leaves are on the trees. Sometimes the warmth of the early morning sun hits you just right and you feel good all over, inside and out. He also taught me to be courageous, not just to be satisfied with the way things are now, but to go out and explore the many new horizons yet to be seen. This could mean the next crossing of a small stream or maybe a new job.

I try to stay connected to the animals that I see during an archery hunt. I know when to shy away from something or to forage on, just like that monster buck that didn’t get to be a monster just by accident. He learned just as you did, from others or from his own mistakes where not to be or what not to do. In order to be successful in life, you must see and hear what is going on around you and your loved ones. To share and teach the care of our forest home and hunting heritage may just be the most important piece of education you have ever taught. Even though my Dad has been gone for awhile now, his lessons that were taught to me are now still being taught. The path he led me on, has helped me to determine who I am as a person and he has taught many others, who are still feeling and doing the same as I am.

The sport of archery hunting was passed on to me and I will continue to pass it on to others as if my Dad were still alive. Remember that hunting is less about learning how to kill, and is more about how to respect others and what “Mother Nature” has to offer.

Smart business people are leveraging the power of Internet marketing strategies to attract more qualified customers to their small business. Small Businesses that you would not expect to find on the Internet are now using online marketing to draw in customers like a magnet. Traditional small business marketing methods are expensive and the results are not measurable. Positioning yourself as the expert in your field and providing valuable information to your potential customers will magically attract qualified prospects to you. This article will provide valuable small business marketing ideas to help you develop marketing strategies for your small business.

My time is limited, and I have found that using the search engines is a great way to find products and services that meet my needs. The information available on the Internet lets me compare products and services and get reviews from other customers who have purchased the products I am looking for.

Last week I purchased a generator for my home through the Internet, and I needed to find a local electrician to install it. I hate calling people from the yellow pages, so I decided to search the Internet for someone who could help me. I found three different electricians.

Electrician A had very good information on their website about some simple electrical jobs and things to watch out for when picking an electrician.

Electricians B and C simply had a “yellow page” website with a phone number and address.

Because Electrician A had shared valuable information with me first, I already trusted him more, but I wanted to get three bids to make sure I paid a reasonable amount of money for my job.

I sent all three electricians an email asking for a bid on my job. Then I spoke with each of them on the phone to answer their questions and give them directions to my property.

Electrician B bid on the job sight unseen. Electrician A and C both made time to come out to my property and look over the job before bidding.

Electrician A made a couple of good suggestions that actually saved me money and helped me avoid a costly mistake. Electrician C bid almost twice what the other two electricians did.

After getting all of the bids, I chose Electrician A because he took the time to come out and look over my job, and actually helped me save money, even though he did not have the cheapest overall bid. Electrician B, who bid on my job sight unseen, had the lowest bid, but would have actually cost me more money because of the issues that Electrician A had pointed out when he took the time to come out to my property to see the job before bidding on it. Electrician C looked over the same job site as electrician A, but did not give me a lot of confidence when he did not point out the same issues that Electrician A had.

The combination of a website with valuable information to help build my confidence coupled with free advice to help me save money actually won this electrician my business. This is an example of how effective marketing a small business using the Internet coupled with a consultative sales approach can help attract and win customers for your business.

Because of their power to attract customers, I have implemented these Internet marketing strategies in my own small business. I have a website that has valuable information available to the prospective customers who search for my services. Because of this useful information, the customers who find me already trust what I have to say. They know something about me before we even speak with each other. This helps filter out the tire kickers and helps me leverage my time to work with only those customers who truly have an interest in my services as a small business Internet marketing coach.

By reading this article you’ll learn why it is important to market your small business on the Internet. You will learn small business marketing ideas that will attract more customers to you who are already interested in what you have to offer. You will learn how to gain the trust of these customers allowing you to win more business and make more money.

Why it is so important to market your small business on the Internet

More than ever, people start their search for information about products and services on the Internet. In fact, as a business medium, the Internet is growing while many other sectors of the economy are declining. Your customers are looking for you on the Internet…trust me I know this. The question is “are they going to find you when they search?” and if they do, “will they learn enough about you to trust you and contact you to do business?”

Many people no longer think of the yellow pages when they are searching for information about a product or service. The major search engines are the most accessed websites on the Internet. Google has over 91 million searches per day, and Yahoo has over 60 million searches per day, together they represent 151 million searches per day.

Now the population of the United States is just over 304 million and the population of the whole world is just over 6 billion (Wikipedia – Jul 2008). One out of every two people in the United States could be searching for something or one out of every 40 people in the world could be doing the same. This is a staggering number of searches every day, which reinforces the fact that people are relying on the Internet to search for and find quality information.

You can see why, more than ever before, it is important to have an Internet marketing strategy for your small business.

How to attract more customers to you who are already interested in what you offer

Ok…so now we can agree that your business should be on the Internet, but how can you be sure that your business will be found out of all of the others out there? How can you effectively market your small business on the Internet? Probably not the way you would think.

Hype-based or hard selling techniques no longer work. The way to attract customers to you is to offer valuable free information to the people who find you. They will find you because you will use the same words that people are searching for when describing your products or services. This is called search engine optimization (SEO) and all it means is that when you write the content for your website or blog, you use the words that people are typing into the search engines so that they can find you when they search. If you are using a replicated website, it is very likely that it has not been optimized to be found by the search engines. Search engines hate replicated websites.

Your small business marketing strategy should include writing articles about topics that are interesting to your customers. To do this, you have to figure out who your target customer is, and what they are interested in. This is probably the hardest part of your small business marketing strategy. This is the essence of attraction marketing and is how you will build an audience for your information, which in turn will draw customers to you like magic.

Then it is just a matter of placing your content all over the Internet so that it is found when your customers search. If you are a local business, there are ways to localize your content, so that customers in your geographic area can find you first before you competitors when they search.

How the value you provide helps you gain the trust of your customers

Once your customer types in the search words at the search engine and your content comes up, you have started building trust and credibility in their minds. The more valuable the content you offer for free, the more trust you will build. The more frequently your content comes up, the more credibility you will gain. Securing the trust of your customers is the hardest step in making the sale. Using these small business Internet marketing strategies does this hard step for you, so that when your customers come to you, they are ready to learn what you have to offer.

If the valuable free content that you offer is perceived to be more valuable than that of your competitors, you will differentiate yourself in the eyes of your prospective customer. If your content comes up first on the search engines, you are guaranteed that your customer will see what you have to offer. If what you offer is of value, you have just won a customer.

You too can leverage these ideas for marketing your small business on the Internet

There are many tools that you can leverage today for your small business marketing strategies. Some of these include websites, blogs, articles, images, Google maps, videos, etc. In addition to these, there are many social media options to help build your reputation with your customers. These include such things as Face book, MySpace, Squidoo, and Twitter.

For example, my small business has a website which I use as the hub of my business activities. I have written articles, such as the one you are reading, which are found by the search engines when my target customers type in certain search words. My articles then link back to my website for my customers to find more information about my services. In addition to my articles, I have Squidoo lenses, and a Face book page which also link back to my website. My offline marketing also has the link to my website. Again, the target of all of my marketing is to drive prospective customers to my website where they can prequalify themselves by learning more about my business and requesting more information if they are interested. Notice, I am not chasing customers, nor am I wasting my money on the yellow pages. Instead, I am attracting customers to me through the valuable information that I provide.

You can easily implement these same marketing strategies for your small business also.

If winning more business and making more money is important to you…

If all of this information is a bit overwhelming to you, or you just don’t know how to get started, I suggest that you find someone who can guide you through developing and implementing the Internet marketing strategies for your small business. Find someone who can show you the ropes and teach you what you need to know to be self-sufficient.

Don’t just sign up with anyone who claims to build or host websites, though. Not everyone knows the secret of attraction marketing like I have described for you here. Find someone who understands these concepts and has demonstrated their ability to apply them the way that I have demonstrated it to you when you found this article.

When you do find someone, the more they know the more costly their time will be. Look for someone who knows just a little more than you but who isn’t so good at it they charge you a fortune.

They can show you how to set up your small business marketing strategies on the Internet, or if you don’t have the time to do it, they can do it for you.

Now you know how to easily win more business and make more money.

Leveraging an Internet marketing strategy will help you with the hardest part of establishing any business relationship. It will help you gain the trust of your potential customers before you have even spoken with them yet. You will be able to attract more customers to you, and the ones you attract are already interested in what you have to offer. After that, all you have to do is offer great service and close the sale. These great small business marketing ideas can give you a leg up on your competitors, and help you grow your small business. Now you know why it is so important for you develop an Internet marketing strategy for your small business.

As a customer, I have found that small businesses who provide valuable information to me when I am searching for products or services are much more likely to get my initial inquiry about their products or services. Businesses who are not on the Internet or who have a replicated brochure website are usually not in the running at all. In fact, I usually forget to even look in the yellow pages. My first stop to search is now the search engines like Google or yahoo. I have implemented these small business marketing strategies in my own consulting business. Now I have customers calling me, instead of me trying to chase them or spending thousands of dollars on ads that don’t bring in anyone.

Give me a call or shoot me an email and I’d be happy to spend 20 minutes on a free consultation with you to get you started on the right track.

Becky Lynn Smith is passionate about internet marketing and her goal is to help you leverage the power of the internet to help your small business.

Becky obtained her BBA in Management Information Systems at Texas Tech University. She took a job after college in the IT department at a major oil company in Houston, TX. After 8 years, she went back to school and obtained her MBA at the University of Houston. Becky obtained her Project Management Professional (PMP) designation from the Project Management Institute in 1999.

After leaving big oil, she took a job as the eTechnology Manager for a major mutual fund investment company. Becky’s team had responsibility for over 40 different websites. She learned a lot about developing websites, developing and managing content, and optimizing for search engines.