A Home Based Business: Your Ticket to the Fast Lane

A home based business has many different faces. In fact, no two home based businesses are alike. That is because of one very important ingredient: You. How you interact with others, your feelings about yourself and your success, and your commitment to getting things done are all unique.

One of the most lucrative options for home businesses is Direct Sales. In Direct Sales, you are partnering up with a company to sell their products directly to the public. You are essentially setting yourself up as the middleman. Pampered Chef, Tupperware, Creative Memories, Mary Kay, and Uppercase Living are all Direct Sales companies. Each of them has specialty products for your customers to buy, usually through home shows and catalog orders. Most of the earnings are based on a percentage of retail sales, which is worked into the price of a product as its markup. If you like to be in front of people demonstrating how different products work, this could be your niche.

Out of the Direct Sales companies, the best compensation is found in network marketing. When you partner up with one of these companies, you become part of a team of people as an independent marketing director, representative, consultant, or distributor.

Many companies in this area of Direct Sales train their distributors to talk to everyone they know about their business first, which is probably a good idea up front. The problem is, most people don't know enough people who want to build a business. These people generally give up, which is why about 95% of network marketers fail. There are a couple of companies out there that have better statistics than that, but the point is, the way most network marketers are approaching the industry is all wrong.

If you do decide to try your hand at network marketing, you want to put yourself in a position where people call you. This new way of building a home based business is called InterNetwork Marketing or NetWeb Marketing, and is a lot more effective than the traditional methods of warm list calling and hotel meetings. Ann Seig's book, The Renegade Network Marketer , and Mike Dillard's Magnetic Sponsoring , both offer cutting-edge information on how to do this.

Another home based business option is to create your own website. You can build a very lucrative online venture based on your current area of expertise or even one of your hobbies . As long as you are passionate about a subject, don't mind learning even more about it, and have a desire to share your knowledge with others, you already have in proper mindset to make money online. Personally, I found that the tools and resources available at Site Build It! (SBI) simplified the entire process of building my websites. That company knows exactly what it takes to have a successful online business, and they guide you every step of the way.

Here are some more great ideas for home based businesses:

1. Vending
2. Pet-sitting
3. Authoring e-books
4. Consulting
5. E-bay store

The list is virtually endless, of course. The key is to find something you feel comfortable doing and go for it!

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