Archive for January 2011
A recent market study of online retail sales conducted by Machrotech showed a 28 percent increase in sales, penetrating 71 percent of the US population between 2005-2006. In keeping those results in mind, one would be inclined to believe that creating a home business with a healthy residual income stream would be easy. Internet marketing failure rates paint a darker side to this story claiming dismal failure rates so high that it would appear nearly impossible to make any sort of regular income let alone a residual income with a home business.
That being said, making an income online is not only possible but probable if you follow the directions. The problem with following directions is that there are so many people giving them that following them is near impossible. Imagine how difficult it would be if you were driving down a busy street and thousands of people were shouting directions. Turn right, turn left, go faster, stop here! The thought alone is overwhelming, the frustration is exasperating.
Based on that scenario, I doubt if you would get very far either in your car or in your home business let alone make any money today or long lasting income for the tomorrows ahead. That is just one reason why experts claim that only about 3% of everyone who starts an online business will succeed.
The odds seem to weigh heavily against you however before you throw up your arms in despair and dash your dreams of owning your own home business into a million pieces I want you to think of something else. Have you ever been in a casino? If you are like many other people, I am sure that you have. Maybe you have played cards, rolled dice, spun a wheel or pulled the handle of a slot machine. I’ll bet you have even won a time or three three and had great fun i the process.
You may be wondering at this point why I would bring up casino games in the middle of a home business, residual income article so I will get to the point. Casinos rake in billions of dollars each year. There is no denying that fact but did you also know that the Casinos play with a very slight edge by design their games may carry only one percentage point in their favor and that is their draw, you have in some cases high chance of winning except more often than that you walk away with less money than you had before you started playing.
Casinos have the knowledge to use small percentages to earn them piles of long term residual income just as you need the knowledge of the home business market to achieve similar results.
Educate yourself before jumping feet first into the deep end of the marketing pool. Don’t grab the first business you see based on how flashy their ad or fall prey to their claims of huge financial gains in 30 days or less. Be realistic with your expectations, if you have been living in the same house for the last 15 years and driving the same 10 year old compact car why would you think that you would be moving to a mansion by the sea with a new red Ferrari by the end of the month?
I have news for you… Wake up, you won’t!
Like most other things making money from the Internet takes time and persistence and in the case of affiliate marketing it also takes one other thing – a good program..
The type of program that I like best is called a cooperative business model because it offers more bang for the buck than many other programs. Working with a cooperative is full of features and benefits like low startup costs, low advertising costs, easy consumer acquisition at an affordable price from an established customer base without wasting your time or money on purchasing leads. No doubt about it. real paying customers mean real income.
If you are serious about creating a solid home business that will pay you today and provide a residual income for your days ahead, I highly recommend investigating the power of joining a business cooperative. It is sound business principles that make a good business.
An Internet Marketing program has two sides. One is the part devoted to individual customers. The other is the business to business component. E-commerce programs as well as advertising, sales support, customer service and public relations are all elements of an internet marketing program.
Similar companies compete against one another while being only a click of the mouse away. In other words, a buyer can locate numerous sellers offering similar merchandise, similar prices and similar offers in a very short time period. As more people and businesses become comfortable with the internet, the marketing landscape will continue to evolve quickly in the coming years.
Use of the internet has exploded during the last few years in both the consumer and business-to-business markets. Although the experts still debate the future of the internet, no one doubts it is having an impact on how business is taking place in the twenty ‘first century, even with all of the – - dot crashes – - of the late 1990s. Here are some facts about the internet that highlight its tremendous growth and presence in society:
- The most common products consumers’ research online and purchase off-line (at the store or outlet) are: automobiles, computer, hardware, travel, electronics, books, appliances, music, sporting goods and clothing.
- Over 25 percent of all business-to-business purchases are placed through some type of internet connection.
- The five top business-to-business e-commerce products are computers and electronics, motor vehicles, petrochemicals, utilities, papers and office products.
- In 2004, 10 percent of business-to-business advertising dollars were spent on the internet. The total amount spent was $8.7 billion.
- About 54 percent of the e-mail users have responded to an e-mail advertisement. Almost half purchased a product.
- Internet retail sales account for almost 2.5 percent of all retail sales.
Business-to-business marketers were among the first companies actually to make profits using the internet. In today’s marketplace, the web is becoming the communication tool of choice for many business-to-business companies. The internet provides opportunities for communication, customer service, sales support, collaboration and e-commerce.
Some companies use the internet for every aspect of their business including taking orders, inventory control, production scheduling, communications plans, sales programs, service departments and support programs. The change from traditional communication channels such as salespeople, telephone and – - snail mail – -to the internet and e-mail happened quickly in some companies and more slowly in others.
Now, convincing top management of the benefits of internet marketing is essential. There is still a lack of internet expertise in the business community. As a result, many companies are turning to marketing agencies for guidance.
To conclude, the influence of the internet on various businesses and industries has been clearly noted in today’s world. The presence of the internet and e-commerce is so sweeping that the various applications of web technology are now essential elements of a fully integrated marketing communications program.
As I was contemplating on today’s topic for an article, a small business man, that I had the privilege to know and who is the best example of self rule in business, came to mind. His name was Constance Palubicki, my Dad. Today there are many problems both in business and society as a whole. By using my Dad, I think I can share with you the core of where the problem lies. If business and society would adopt his approach, it would solve the problems we see today.
My Dad had a small farm in West Central Minnesota where I grew up. He has had the most influence on me in recognizing the true values in life. He was a man of strong character and very much respected by all those that knew him.
My Dad was a man of great integrity both in his personal life as well as in business. His greatest strength was his honesty and was the cornerstone of his character. In all of his business dealings he never demanded more than he had coming but expected every penny he had earned.
I see four corner stones in his character that are essential to self rule. They are as follows.
1)honesty, we must be committed to honesty in all of our dealings including our self
2)vigilance, always on guard against those who would try to take advantage of us
3)hard work, anything of true value is only acquired through diligent effort
4)kindness, willingness to help others but not be taken advantage of
My Dad lived by these principles. People recognized this and that is why he was so respected. But that is not why he did it. He understood that the greatest value in life is when you can look in the mirror and say I respect myself and who I am.
These corner stones are not automatic to anyone. They have to be developed. It first takes commitment.
Then it takes discipline and hard effort. But in the end it is worth all the effort.
If our politicians in Washington and Sacramento had and applied these principles things could be different. If business was operated on these principles we probably would not be in a recession. And if society as a whole could adopt these principles, we would not have the problems of stealing, cheating, and killing that we see today. The world today could be a much better place. We will not acquire these corner stones in our life by going to church or by passing laws. There is only one way it can happen, by looking in the mirror and making a commitment to our self and to exert the discipline and effort necessary to make them part of our life. The only way this will happen is on an individual basis. That is what self rule is all about. We must guard them diligently as part of our domain. I truly believe this is the only way that we can guard our self rule (freedom).
It is important that each and every one of us take a look in the mirror and make a commitment to honesty and integrity, it is our only hope.