Getting Started In Your Home Based Business

A few people daydream about starting a business of their own and immediately know what kind of business they want to start. Then there are the majority of us...

Knowing that we want our own business is just the beginning. Most of us then struggle deciding on what type of business we would like to run. We might brain storm the Internet for ideas, but this often lead to feelings of being overwhelmed. Sound familiar?

Doing what you like or enjoy is often the key to success in a home based business venture. Be sure to pick a home business that you'll enjoy waking up for every morning and can't wait to come back to the next day. It is best to avoid a business in which you don't truly have a belief in the product or service.

Whether you are selling e-books on the Internet or making soaps for sale at various specialty stores or boutiques, profits are out there to be made by filling the needs of a specific niche. There are hundreds of lucrative home business ideas for every type of personality and start up costs desired.

For those who want to branch out on their own, consider starting a home based business which is already a hobby you enjoy. For example, if you are a fitness guru, a home training consultant service just might be the ideal home business for you to start.

Maybe traveling is your passion and you'd like to start your own home based traveling service or travel agency. Take something that might be an interest or hobby for you and turn that into a lucrative home based business. In both examples, the business can be run from the comfort of your own home.

When brainstorming new ideas for your future home business, keep in mind any successful venture must provide a product or service that others will actually purchase and keep coming back for more. Your home based business will be well on its way to success by servicing the needs of your target market.

Following, are some suggestions for home business ideas that might
help you decide on a suitable home based business:

1. Turn your hobby in a lucrative business.

2. Use open markets and flea markets to sell your goods.

3. Sell your crafts and jewelry, soaps or gift baskets.

4. Provide a delivery service for laundry or groceries.

5. Provide a dog walking and kennel vacation service.

6. Pet grooming service and dog sitting.

7. Provide a shuttle service for non-drivers.

8. Creative a service or company for your neighborhood or community.

9. Join a multi-level marketing business.

10. Floral services for hospitals.

11. Vending machine service.

12. Selling video game machines.

13. Making gift baskets for special occasions.

14. Windshield repair service.

15. Business card designer.

16. Website design services.

17. Web hosting services.

18. Pool cleaning service.

19. Translator/typing service for documents.

20. Interior designer and decorator.

21. Gourmet catering service.

22. Cosmetic consultant.

23. Extreme sports enthusiast.

24. Personal fitness trainer.

25. Travel guide.

26. Dating/companion service.

27. Affiliate program marketer.

28. Disaster relief forum.

And the list goes on....

Any home based business has the potential to grow into a profitable business with the right knowledge and motivation. The key is to get off the couch and get going.  After all, no business is ever a success without first turning ideas into action.

Keyword Research Tips For Affiliate Marketing

Keyword research is the first and most vital step in Search-Engine-Optimization (SEO), but many internet marketers have no idea how to effectively research keywords.  Keyword targeting is highly competitive and the research that goes into it must be thorough.

So many internet marketers are not done in by bad affiliate programs or poor products, but instead by poor keyword targeting.  Choosing the wrong keywords will all but doom any website hoping to generate organic traffic.

There are numerous keyword research tools available online to assist with selecting quality keywords.  Here are a few useful keyword research tips that will help in the selection and targeting of keywords for affiliate marketers:

1. Spend time on keyword research before selecting an affiliate opportunity.  Most affiliates, of course, choose an affiliate program and then begin the keyword research process.  Researching keywords prior to choosing an affiliate opportunity, however, gives affiliates an idea of the competition, popularity and demand for a particular online niche before committing to marketing it.  Finding an affiliate program to fit a selection of targeted keywords that meet the competition, popularity and demand criteria is much easier than doing it in reverse order.

2. Avoid keywords that are too broad.  This is probably where most people get it wrong when targeting keywords.  Sure, it would be ideal to rank at the top of Google and other search engines for broad keyword terms.  Unfortunately, unless you have an authority site or have cracked the SEO code, you will likely find yourself buried in the search engine abyss – never to be seen on page one.  And while broad keyword terms have ideal popularity, the traffic is not targeted and often useless when it comes to affiliate sales.  The key to getting conversions from search engine marketing is targeted traffic.

3. Avoid keywords with low monthly searches.  At the opposite end of the spectrum, some websites are doomed by low search volume for their targeted keywords.  You can think of this as “having the keys to Ferrari, but no gas.”  Ranking at the top for every keyword you target is great, but if those keywords generate no traffic, what good is it?  It can be fairly easy to rank for keywords no one uses for searching, but the ultimate goal is to generate traffic to earn income online – not rankings.

4. Use long-tailed keywords for better targeting and less competition.  A useful strategy for generating more targeted traffic and less competition is to use long-tailed keywords.  Long-tailed keywords are multi-phrased terms (usually three words or more) used to search online.  An example of a long-tailed keyword is credit repair for families (credit repair would be the general or broad keyword term).  Benefits of long-tailed keywords include: higher conversions on website traffic, less competition for ranking, and more targeted visitors.  If doing Pay-Per-Click advertising, long-tailed keywords are also cheaper.

Keyword research can be a tedious and time consuming process, but the rewards are well worth the effort.  Targeting the proper keywords is often the difference between an affiliate website flourishing or dying on the vine.  Make use of the free keyword research tools available online and use the tips mentioned earlier in this article for guidance.

Creating A Passive, Residual Income Stream Is A Must For Building Affiliate Wealth Online

The goal of any affiliate marketer should be to build a passive, residual income.  Passive income and residual income are often considered one and the same, but there is an ever so slight difference between the two.

Passive income is considered income that is earned after an initial investment (time or money) has been made and active participation in the business or organization is no longer required.  Residual income, on the other hand, are continuous payments made to an individual on a specific timetable after an initial sale.

Residual income can be considered passive, but the opposite is never the case.  Passive income requires no continued effort or participation, while residual income usually requires some type of continued activity or effort.

As an affiliate marketer, building residual income into an ongoing passive income is the ideal scenario.  Unfortunately, not all affiliate programs pay a residual income.  The only compensation offered may be an initial commission paid at the time an affiliate makes a sale on behalf of the merchant.  This type of compensation can be quite lucrative in its own right, but in my opinion it is a narrow approach to earning income online. 

Building wealth (not income) should be the long-term goal, and a passive income stream must be created to do this.

The two things an affiliate should look at when evaluating a program for passive, residual income are:

1) Is there is tiered affiliate structure? 

A tiered affiliate program is one in which an affiliate is able to recruit “sub-affiliates” beneath him and receive additional compensation based on the activity of his sub-affiliates.  Tiers typically range from 2-5 levels (Example: if a program is a four-tier program that means the affiliate gets paid on 4-levels - the person he directly recruits (his 2^nd level), the person his 2^nd level sub recruits (his 3^rd level), and the person his 3^rd level sub recruits (his 4^th level).

Tiered affiliate programs offer a powerful potential source of passive income for the affiliate.  Affiliates who do a good enough job of recruiting and then trains his sub-affiliates to do the same could have hundreds or even thousands of subs in his downline, earning him money without ever having to sale a thing. 

Not all affiliate opportunities are tiered, but affiliates who want to build a passive income understand this is a critical component in meeting that end.

2) Is there a recurring payment from product or service being marketed? 

Recurring payments are typically made monthly from one sale.  So, if an affiliate markets a product or service in which the purchaser pays each month for that product or service, the affiliate may receive an ongoing percentage of the monthly price.  For instance, if an affiliate markets for a merchant that offers SEO services at $50 per month and the affiliate commission is 50%, the affiliate gets $25 a month in recurring monthly payments (for as long as the purchaser is subscribed to the service).

Affiliate programs with recurring payments provide a residual income stream that could potentially keep paying its affiliates well after the initial sale.  Not all merchants who sale a product with a monthly fee offer its affiliates recurring residual commissions, so careful examination of the affiliate payment agreement must be done.

The benefits of building a passive, residual income online are clear.  Any affiliate marketer who is serious about not just earning income online, but who wants to build wealth from home must create a passive, residual income stream.