How Much Time Does Home Business Waste?

Internet Home Work Income Business can be a hard row to hoe.

Quite apart from the workload required to keep up with your industry and its regulations, plus the actual output of income-producing assets, you have your daily dose of circus-performance, don't you?

(Partners and carers, particularly, can double this quota!)

So it's not surprising to occasionally hear such well-meaning comments as: 'You "waste" so much time on other things that COULD be spent creating your very own products!'

The idea may have merit - check your own circumstances - but it can be daunting. Mammoth product launches like the one we've just witnessed can easily be classified as 'out of my league'.

(Aside: yesterday's course was withdrawn from the market today, after a reported 568 sales - over three quarters of a million dollars in one day. Not bad!)

Some people wonder if they should create a big ticket
info product or just a number of small dollar ebooks or
CDs.

Marlon Sanders says both approaches have merit. In fact, the method he recommends (he's been doing it since 1996) is to sell low dollar entry level products, followed up by higher tickets.

"Especially when you consider that every entry level product you create (or have created) can easily be turned into your own big ticket multi product information package."

If that idea interests you, the system he uses is detailed here.

Did Tomorrow Ever Come?

It's past midnight on the 30th in Eastern USA,and the 'Big Launch' site is still up, with, presumably some of the 700 courses still available.

That means John Reese's $1 million day record still stands.

Just scooting through the avalanche of emails about this course I was struck by the unimaginative half-hearted approaches taken by 90% of the supposed 'top marketers' who were given affiliate status for the launch.

Almost without exception, they peddled out the pre-written 'official' emails. All the same.

Very few bothered to add a unique twist or their own bonuses - the hallmarks of the Reese launch - and by the looks of it, one of the keys to that campaign's success.

Why? Laziness? Lack of knowledge or confidence in the course? Greed?

And what happened to the thousands who had supposedly pre-ordered?

The course is probably great - I haven't seen it. Certainly, the dollars that have been banked by the originators and some of their early proteges have been impressive.

But its lynchpin is contracting others to create product for you. Now, that will add at least two pressures - one to every buyer's pocket, and one to the supply side of the equation, i.e. indirectly also to the buyers' pockets.

So the upfront price of $1500 needs to probably be doubled to cover production and marketing costs (PPC appears to be the recommended route).

And if 700 new contractors suddenly hit the available pool of suppliers, prices there can be expected to rise, pushing up that cost.

And interestingly, I came across a similar course a couple of months ago that costs less than $100. It even appears to use testimonials from some of the same people quoted in promotion for this course.

Not my cup of tea.

Tomorrow Tomorrow

Tomorrow is January 30.

If you're at all interested in Internet marketing your inbox has been filled with warnings about tomorrow for weeks now.

A fellow named Frank is releasing 700 copies of a course that costs $1500.

Depending on which emails you read, various lists have numbers like 9,000, 3,500, 32,000 ... and they're supposedly the numbers of people on that list who are busting to lighten their wallets tomorrow.

In fact, they're supposedly 'pre-sold'.

Yet no orders are allowed before the appointed hour - oh, except for those on different, special lists, who will apparently be given an hour or so's notice of where to find the order page.

That list supposedly far exceeds the available 700 courses, so there should be a minor riot when the other 100,000 get there and find them all gone. Shouldn't there?

I'm being sarcastic here. But look at the parallels with the John Reese Traffic Secrets 'million dollar day' last September.

Weeks of softening up, building fever-pitch anticipation.

If nothing else, I hope you've kept the emails and filed them in your 'swipe file'. Lots of lessons in this living laboratory!

Cut Refunds by Half

I've heard it from a number of sources recently - somewhere around half of all refund requests for digital product sales are because of technical difficulties.

The numbers vary, but the biggest problem is that people lose the download link.

So simple. Set up one or more ways to ensure that people can always access the download link, and you'll immediately slash your refund rate.

Given that downloadable digital products are included in most Internet home work income business streams, that should translate straight to your bottom line.

Spyware's Darker Side

I'm becoming quite peeved with the whole spyware-antispyware scene.

As you know, I was taken out by a major attack before Christmas and lost almost a week trying to recover.

I installed commercial software to replace the freeware which had - until then - been effective.

And have had nothing but trouble since.

The original problems have been sorted as far as I can tell, but the commercial software has closed so many 'security holes' in other software that every day it seems I find something else that doesn't work properly.

The support departments at the two commercial companies are black holes - every request for assistance is accepted and never responded to - and their manuals are basically useless.

While they crow about stealing a march on the big anti-virus companies and claim to dominate this new market, they could take a leaf out of the Nortons/Macafee camps and go back to kindergarten on client support.

Not impressed!

Extreme Accomplishment

Further to yesterday's 'Just Doing It' note, here's another tightening of the screw.

Yesterday was Australia Day, and one of the activities we attended was an open air movie screened in a picturesque park. (My first sighting of a huge inflatable movie screen!)

The feature film was 'Finding Nemo', that wonderful animated fish story for all ages.

The whole theme of Nemo is success. Not just ordinary success, but back-to-the-wall do-or-die success.

Is there any other sort?

Perhaps there is, but doesn't that require settling for second best?

In that, I'm not saying you're a failure if you finish second.

What I am saying is you've failed if you've achieved less than you're capable of accomplishing.

Huge difference.

Nemo's father succeeded in finding his son when he made a total commitment to the task.

Nemo succeeded in stopping the water filter when he made a total commitment to the task.

Each of them failed when they 'tried'.

Like the old story about 'commitment': The hen and the pig committing themselves to provide their owner with the 'best breakfast possible'.

The hen laid an egg. The pig (to provide the bacon) laid down its life.

Just Doing It

Every now and then we get a flyer from our local community education campus.

The latest lists perhaps a hundred classes on topics as varied as 'Chi Kung for Health with Suzanne' to 'Adopt a Llama'.

Including half a dozen on topics I've travelled long distances and paid large sums to become qualified to practice and teach.

Why haven't I been out there teaching them? Pick a reason:
1. too lazy
2. didn't see the opportunity
3. too busy doing
4. not enough hours in the day
5. I'm not a teacher ...

Or all of the above.

Some thoughts are shields, others are facts. Either way, it sometimes, I think, does us good to simply ask the question.

Was the original purpose simply to gain knowledge, or was it to use it? If so, how?

And are we?

The 'H Factor'

I call it the 'H Factor' - hype. It grates like hell, invalidates reputations and sucks money from wallets world wide.

Why? Because it works. Unfortunately.

I've just finished reading a book by a very well known Internet guru. The first 5 pages are crammed with wildly ecstatic endorsements from other Internet gurus.

They all use extreme emotional language to rate the book as a 'masterpiece' and 'best of the new millenium' (which, if you recall is only 5 years old, with 995 to go).

The book is OK. The actual lessons in its 160-odd pages could be distilled to about 10 succinct pages.

Those lessons are valuable reminders of principles that have been publicly available for decades.

Yet this book became an International best seller.

On the same theme, one of the new rising gurus emailed me to look at his new sales page this week. The headline filled my entire screen, it was that bold, emotional and long.

I immediately clicked away without even reading more than the two or three (emotive) words that leapt out.

And every day since, other well-known marketers have filled my inbox with frantic urgings to rush to this page 'before the chance evaporates forever'.

I live in a culture that is laid back. As Christopher Reeve, the Superman actor commented, problems for us are 'no worries', and calamities rise only to 'a bit of a problem'.

This heart-rending stuff sucks and sickens.

Unfortunately, those doing it are keen numbers people. Obviously it works.

I can only say it's a very sad reflection on society.

It might once have been called 'lies' and 'deceitful'.

History shows thousands burned at the stake for less.

A Different Use of Audio

There's a free audio that I think you'll find
interesting. It's Mark Hendricks describing
in detail the new Secret Money Generator Affiliate
Marketing System.

You can listen to the audio here.

And you can read about the Secret Money Generator
system here.

Now, this is quite a different use of audio from how most sites use it. Mark says that since he made the change "The results have been amazing".

How could you use it in your Internet home work income business?

Believe in Luck?

I went to bed thinking about PT Barnum's life after writing yesterday's blog, and one thought struck me.

In the speech he gave throughout Europe and the US to catapult himself from bankruptcy to his second fortune, he made one telling comment.

(Incidentally, his bankruptcy came from guaranteeing loans to a clock company he was trying to get to set up a factory in the town where he was Mayor - imagine that happening today!)

Anyway, in his speech he quotes the original Rothschild - the one who built the renowned fortune.

"Never have anything to do with an unlucky man or place."

Barnum goes on to say that there is no such thing as luck.

"If a man adopts the proper methods to be successful, 'luck' will not prevent him.

"If he does not succeed, there are reasons for it, although perhaps he may not be able to see them."

Kind of like the famous French soldier Napoleon. Whenever he was considering a shortlist of officers to promote, no matter how well qualified they were, his deciding questions was always:

"But is he lucky?"

To my mind, it's a mindset. You can think yourself lucky.

There are a couple of approaches outlined at these sites:
http://www.luckfactor.co.uk/
http://www.moreluck.com/

Rules For Business Success

Nearly 150 years ago PT Barnum, the man best known for his famous circus, yet most successful as a museum owner, committed these 10 Rules for Business Success to paper.

They're principles, not temporary tactics. Read them, and judge just how much they would benefit your home based business today:

1. Select the KIND of business that suits your natural inclinations and temperament.

2. Let your pledged word ever be sacred.

3. Whatever you do, do with all your might.

4. Sobriety. Use no description of intoxocating drinks.

5. Let hope predominate, but be not too visionary.

6. Do not scatter your powers.

7. Engage proper employees.

8. Advertise your business. Do not hide your light under a bushel.

9. Avoid extravagance; and always live considerably within your income, if you can do so without absolute starvation.

10. Do not depend upon others.

This is from the 1855 edition of his autobiography (he published it, and then sold an 'update' every year!).

Apart from the language, how much could you apply with profit today?

Time Conflicts in Home Based Business

Time, it seems, is sometimes even scarcer than money. Who honestly finishes each day well before the self-appointed 'knock-off time'?

Not many of us, I'll wager.

And yet - is that not coming from a notion of scarcity, rather than abundance?

One of the fundamental mindset shifts that can change our lives?

I've just had a few days off, staying at the coast without a computer in sight. One of the (mountain of) emails awaiting my return was from Peter Twist, noting how he no longer works 9-5, but instead works in 'spurts' - because it suits him better.

What has each of us missed? Who knows! But what I do know, is that we can focus more cleanly and with fresh eyes, on the tasks now at hand.

Will we get everything done ahead of schedule? Probably not. Will we stress about it? Probably not.

Because as Peter said: "Now, I'm working for me."

Huge point for every home based business worker.

Customer Acquisition Vital

What is the primary purpose behind your marketing?

No, it's not to sell widgets or even to service them.

It's to acquire customers. Offline or online, the fundamentals remain the same.

"Lifetime customer value" is a concept rarely spoken about in home based business circles, yet it's a vital mindset.

The most expensive sale you'll ever get it the first one. Even if you use 'free' advertising methods, there is a cost involved - usually that most precious commodity - your time. And it is limited.

Once you fully satisfy that customer, selling to him or her again will cost you much much less than it did the first time.

And your customer doesn't have to go through the hassle and the stress of finding what s/he wants, and then finding someone s/he trusts to buy it from.

That's what 'backending' means. It's a win-win proposition.

What are you doing to further your customer acquisition?

Blog in New Clothes - Part 2

No smoke and mirrors apparently - republishing this blog on the Home Business site appears to have been a straight-forward move.

It is available only in this location, and not at the original bloglines address as well, as I'd originally thought.

Everything I had published there prior to the move is still available at Bloglines, but it has not been updated since.

The move has also neutered the View Blog function in the control panel.

You can, however, still preview each posting before you publish. I find an amazing number of typing errors by taking that tiny extra bit of time, so it's well worth it.

So ... this blog is now officially a part of the OHBB website, with only a link to Blogger. Fog gone.

Home Based Business RSS

One of the clearest, easiest intros to RSS I've yet seen is at http://www.rssdomination.com/video.htm

Derek runs through the process, where to get a free feed reader, and some basic uses of it.

There's a link to his product at the end, but if you're confused by all the RSS hype, the video is well worth the 5 minutes it takes to watch.

Search a Sizzler

After a day playing with the Yahoo search bar, I have to say I'm impressed!

It's greased lightning! as fast as I can hit the Enter key, it whacks up a huge list of anything relevant.

It produces a Headings panel, and also a Display panel, where you can read the result, with the keyword highlighted.

And any format - apparently the tool supports over 200 file types, from email to Office docs to audio visuals.

The first attempt to find an email address caused it to crash, and a dandy little error message presented itself for delivery to Yahoo, but since then it's run like a dream.

Very nice.

Faster Desktop Searching

I've just downloaded the new Yahoo Desktop Search Tool.

According to the technical whizzes it's faster, more comprehensive and offers features unavailable on either the Google or MSN desktop search tools.

Why bother? I've become increasingly frustrated by the Search function in Windows XP. It's slow, and more often than not fails to find what I know exists.

My hard drive contains a great deal of material that I use for reference or research, and the less time it takes to access it, the more efficient will be my work.

There has been some criticism that the Yahoo bar is 'too' comprehensive, returning .dll files and all sort of other operational data. For most of us, that's probably true, although on occasion that would have been a real plus. Maybe if it was available, but not a default setting.

I guess that's one indication that this bar is new - this is a beta version, which means there are probably lots of refinements and bugs still lurking.

There also does not appear to be an 'uninstall' option, although the program is listed in the Windows Add/Remove Programs app, so should be removable.

It's free - but if you operate nuclear facilities the Licence doesn't allow you to use it!

If you're interested, you can get it here.

Why You Should Stop Trying

What's the difference between 'trying' and 'doing'?

Let me ask that same question a different way.

What's the difference between 'failing' and 'succeeding'?

Yes ... it is exactly the same question.

You either succeed, or you fail. There is no 'try'.

Since I decided to change my approach to doing business online, I've noticed a subtle but powerful shift in the way I approach things.

It's a fundamental iron grit determination. Not a 'rah-rah go-getum' determination, but a 'knowing', deep down, and inviolate.

There's no doubt I will succeed.

No longer will I 'try'.

From here on, I 'do'.

How about you?

The Advantages of What We Already Know

Speaking over the weekend with people who use computers but have very little interest in the Internet, was a real eye-opener.

Late last year someone commented in an email that 'anyone who's been in this [Internet marketing] business for 3 months knows enough to completely confound anyone who hasn't."

It stuck in my memory, but sounded a bit spacey at the time. But now I think they were probably right.

I was running through a couple of very surface, obvious things that websites do and provide, and my visitors' mouths were hanging open.

At first I thought they were putting it on, but quickly realised that no .. smart cookies though they are offline, this was science fiction to them.

Sometimes it takes the eyes of an outsider to make you realise the vlaue of what you already know.

And that, in turn, boosts confidence and 'possibilities'. Not to mention inspiration.

Now ... re-evaluate ... just how much can you achieve in 2005?

Not So Easy

Mmm, so much for crowing yesterday. Appears this shifting blogs is not quite so easy after all.

The blog is appearing in the two places, but the version showing at Blogspot hasn't updated.

Looks like the Comments section doesn't work, either - it returns this error: 'The requested URL was not found on this server.'

And the 'View Blog' function ...

More investigation needed.

Blog in New Clothes

Yesterday I decided that all this lovely fresh content that I seem to be churning out might be of more use to people if I moved it.

Oh, no! The thought of moving a web site is enough to put tremors through the hearts of anyone who has suffered through it.

But - gracious me - it was easy. Bet you didn't even notice the difference!

Hunting down the relevant instructions on the Blogger website took a lot of doing, but once there, it was easy.

Simply enter in the Internet Home Work Income Business ftp details, click a button ... and it's done!

Brilliant.

So, the blog has now done its job at Blogger by providing a link to get the site picked up by the search engines.

Now it can be brought in-house and continue to provide relevant fresh content to site visitors and to the world wide web at large.

It's now available at both:
http://ohbb.blogspot.com
and
http://online-home-based-business.info/blog.htm

There's even a link over to the right if you'd like to display it on your site.

Remember, if there's anything you want to raise, drop me an email through the site, or respond with the comments button on any of these posts.

I'm looking forward to it!

Diversions and Distractions

Have you ever noticed how ... just when you've set your goals or are making significant strides in your home based business ... that something 'better' always seems to come along?

I've got 60-odd pages of my latest SBI-NPOD Incubator site up and am powering along with it, quite in the rhythm.

Then John Reese promises untold riches with his 'virtual real estate' concept, Ken McCarthy produces his amazing 'Traffic School', and Shawn Casey virtually promises 6-figures a year within 6 months with his new concept.

And you think ... where will it end?

The answer, of course, is never.

There will ALWAYS be a better mousetrap. There has to be. The mice get smarter.

And every now and then, under extreme pressure, someone very successful lets slip the key to his or her success.

And you know what it is?

Mastering the basics. And doing them. Over and over and over and over and over.

Ken Evoy has even just released a new logo ... the Internet marketing tortoise.

Conclusion ... keep doing the basics. Over and over. When they're producing consistent passive income streams, then you can afford to 'play'.

Goal Setting in Internet Home Work Income Business

I've been intrigued by the flood of well-meaning emails in the last couple of weeks urging me to 'set your goals for 2005'.

Most have a system of some sort, ranging from devilishly complex to downright simple. A couple have even included future pacing to maximise the chances of actually achieving what you set out to do.

But I can't help wondering how many are writing the emails to bolster their own adrenalin.

And avoid actually doing the work they describe.

Because procrastination and adrenalin are notoriously good at sabotaging the best of intentions.

I'm still sorting my priorities ... like the kaizan method, when I settle, it will be strong.

And very successful.

How are you tackling it?

Home Business Welcomes

Today I made a journey to the local shopping mall. It's a journey I rarely make, and one which takes me far farther from my comfort zone than 'commuting' all over the world via the Internet.

And what a pleasant surprise!

First I went to the library. They've completely rearranged it since my last visit. Patrons are now made welcome! What a novel idea!

Lounge chairs and magazine racks just inside the front door, a newspaper reading area nearby, computers tucked out of the thoroughfare, staff aligned in a position where they can see and help customers ... Wonderful.

Then I went to service counters in two separate agencies. And the ladies behind the counter were not only pleasant, but downright helpful and cheerful.

If this keeps up, I might just have to return to 'real world' business.

Therein lies a profound lesson for us online home work junkies. Just what would it take to ramp up the welcoming and relationship building of our web sites and communications?

Mmmm ... real food for thought.

Home Based Business Mailing Lists

I'm continuing to review and slash the number of mailing lists I'm subscribed to, with great benefit.

I discovered that I'd used one particular address, redirected to my PC inbox, for many lists.

The vast majority were 'me-too' publications with little of value to offer. I began killing them, until I realized they were all on the same address.

When that thought occurred, cancelling the email account killed many birds with the one stone.

And uncovered another benefit: virtual elimination of spam.

Most of the stuff that was making my inbox was actually through that account - but NOT addressed to me!

The username started with 'i' - and it appears that I was getting junk directed to dozens of other users whose names also started with 'i'.

Important discoveries for going into the new year! And a huge time-saver!

Home Business Multi-Skilling

We sometimes take it for granted that working a home based business requires multi-skilling, the ability to do a lot of different tasks.

It came home to me yesterday when I visited a couple who have built their own house on a rocky 200 acres just out of town.

He's in the Air Force, she ran a bridal shop and now works in an office. Yet they have designed and built their entire property.

Skills such as astro navigation to design wind sheer baffles to split the gales and leave their roof intact, heat sinks above the garage, stunning design and decor, holes in three walls to allow light right across the house interior, espalier grape and fruit trees, an automated fowlhouse, road building and neighbor negotiation ...

Not to mention their own golf course, bocce court, fishpond, fish-smoker, herb garden, furniture making ...

Now that's home-based multi-skilling!