You will need that list. Because if you want to find a great life-changing income opportunity, you will need to do a LOT of work to separate the wheat from the chaff. There are quite a few legitimate home based businesses available that will allow you to achieve the same excellent results I have, but there are unfortunately many more that are just smoke and mirrors, pyramid schemes or money games. The goal of this article is to help you differentiate the good from the bad.
In one of my most popular articles entitled “Home Based Business Opportunity: What The Three “S’s” In SucceSS Stand For,” I make the point that the three most important ingredients for success with a home based business are Sponsor, Support, and System. Not surprisingly, you’ll find those three things at the top of the list below.
1. LOOK FOR a sponsor who is a leader, who can mentor you
You need and deserve a SPONSOR you can trust. Someone who is willing to listen to your needs and actually cares about your success. Make sure he or she has a financial interest in your success. He should get paid EVERY TIME you do! That's crucial to getting the support you need to build a successful home business.
You need and deserve someone who has a system in place that you can duplicate to have the same results. Are there other people using his system and having success? Ask to be introduced to a few of them. You will find that this is where most will come up empty because they are leaving a trail of destruction and not success wherever they go. It’s a good idea to talk to someone who’s been in the business only a few months. These are the best people to tell you if what you are being told is the real deal.
Another thing: whether it’s your direct sponsor or the one just above, make sure that person is accessible. That is an absolute key to success so let me repeat that in caps: MAKE SURE THAT PERSON IS ACCESSIBLE! No matter how good everything else looks, if you can’t get a hold of an experienced mentor by phone or by email, forget the whole thing and search elsewhere.
2. LOOK FOR high-quality, plentiful training:
Unless you’ve done this type of business before and you know all there is to know about marketing, advertising, copywriting, lead generation, sponsoring and training, you will need the SUPPORT of a good, knowledgeable, resourceful, successful sponsor/mentor to guide you safely through the ‘jungle’ that building a successful business can be.
That’s not to say you shouldn’t sign up under a newbie. If the compensation plan is well designed and if you are joining a Team, then his or her sponsor will benefit from you succeeding so you know you’ll be able to count on the support of that more experienced business builder when you need help.
Look at the training available. If the company emails you a sales pitch 2-3 times a day and they offer only 2-3 training classes per week, this means that the company is more interested in selling you than in training you how to make money long term. Bad omen.
If you’re dealing with a good company, a successful team and a responsible leader, there will be plenty of training available, 6 days a week. And most of that training will be recorded and available in your back office 24-7.
3. LOOK FOR a good, modern marketing system:
You want to make sure the team you are working with has a real marketing system in place that anyone can duplicate. A foolproof system that ANYONE can plug into and get results with. If you have to figure out how to generate your own leads or if the company relies mostly on you recruiting family members or friends, or on purchased leads or newspaper advertising, run. Run fast! If you don’t have a reliable way of getting quality prospects in front of what you’re offering you cannot be successful long term.
You know, as hard to believe as it is, there are companies out there that, though this is the twenty-first century, still teach the way of the caveman to “hunt” for leads and prospects. Hey, the days of bows and arrows are over! So look for a company that teaches the new, modern ways to conduct business. Those methods have names like Web 2.0, Network Marketing 2.0, Social Marketing or NetWEB Marketing. Forget the “three-foot rule,” home parties and weekly hotel meetings. That’s the past!
Real marketing systems that actually are proven to work are difficult to find. This is usually the weak link. So look closely.
(There are actually 10 important things to look for in a home based business if you want to succeed. You can find out about the other seven things - including stand-alone products, high income potential and compensation plans - by going to the website in the resource box below. You will find there many informative articles on how to choose a good income opportunity and how to build one into a successful work at home business.)
In conclusion, think of the Internet as the Wild West of the nineteenth century. Yes, there are a lot of snake oil merchants out there who are looking for gullible people to steal money from. That’s an unfortunate fact of life. BUT there are also many good, solid, real business opportunities available. Keep your eyes open, keep your thinking cap on, do your due diligence and you will find a legitimate home based business that over time will allow you to earn a solid residual income from the comfort of your home, so you can finally live the lifestyle that you and your loved ones desire and deserve. It CAN be done; we (my wife and I) are a living proof of that.
Daniel G. St-Jean, BB, eBB, CWCC
(BizzBooster, eBizzBooster, Certified Wealth-Creation Consultant)
P.S. If you know some friends ‘in need’ who could benefit from reading this article, why not email it to them now? They’ll appreciate it. Wouldn’t you?