Bob's Home Business Blog

If you’re just starting out with your home based business online and you’ve never owned and operated your own enterprise before you may not have realized how much work it takes to build your new venture from the ground up. After you’ve built your website, added the content necessary to drive traffic and to attract the search engines attention, developed your Internet marketing strategy and decided which product you’re going to promote on the web you now have to concentrate on the daily task of marketing your business and your products to your niche.

Accomplishing all of these tasks requires a tremendous amount of self discipline combined with efficient time management skills and dedication to have any chance of achieving success online. These character traits aren’t prevalent in the majority of the population so we have to adopt new habits in order to change our mindset when it comes to operating and advertising a business day in and day out 365 days a year.

If you aren’t one of the chosen few who possesses all of these attributes here are 7 actions you can take on a daily basis to help improve your on the job performance in order to accomplish your daily goals.

1. Plan your day. Schedule how much time you’re going to dedicate to each task and adhere to this time line religiously. Make a check list of your duties for the day and cross each one off as it’s completed. This visual proof of accomplishing what you set out to do provides an incentive to carry on to the next job on your list.

Focus on one task at a time and don’t move on to the next chore until the previous one has been finished. Trying to complete several different jobs at once will lead to confusion and frustration which will inevitably influence you to put off until tomorrow what you wanted to do today.

2. The email inbox is a big distraction and a major waste of time for many home business owners. No matter how full your mail box is make sure you read only what’s absolutely necessary and don’t exceed the time limit you’ve established for this task.

One solution to “so much mail and so little time” is to have a dedicated email address for receiving mail which only relates to the day to day operation of your enterprise. Product offers and other email should be directed to a different address so you can read it after hours and it won’t hinder or interfere with your work habits.

3. Because you’re working from home you must have a work space separated from the day to day activities of the household. Isolate yourself and make sure the other members of the family understand you’re only to be disturbed for something very important or in an emergency situation.

This home business is your livelihood and has to be treated as such. Also make sure your home office is free of distractions such as television and radio and anything else which will interfere with your work day.

4. Like the Nike logo says just do it. Procrastination is one of the biggest problems when it comes to working from home. Because you’re not punching a time clock and you are your own boss the temptation to put something work related off until later is always present. This is why having a to-do list is so important. Before you even think about calling it quits for the day make sure you have every task crossed off your check list so you can plan your schedule for tomorrow.

5. Plan for tomorrow today. At the end of each work day make it a habit to schedule your tasks for the following 24 hours. This practice saves time wasted the following day because you can begin by completing job number one instead of having to decide what needs to be done today.

6. As you work through your day keep track of things that come up that you know you’ll have to do the following day or in the near future by writing them down, either on paper or on your word processor. You don’t want to trust important details to memory because this type of approach will, without a doubt, cost your home business in some way sooner rather than later.

7. Take care of yourself. Remember Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither will a successful online home based business. Business owners, especially in the early stages of development, tend to burn the candle at both ends which can lead to burn out and eventual failure of your enterprise. Early to bed and early to rise is one of the oldest recipes for success and remains so today. Follow all of the rules for good health and odds are your new venture will follow suit.

By adopting these 7 habits and applying them to your every day work routine your home based business will have a greater opportunity for long term success online.

Bob Withers

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The competition for paying customers is fierce on the web these days and being a new home business owner online makes it that much tougher to attract business and beat your competition. After you’ve establish your business on the Internet, decided on which product to promote and compiled your Internet marketing strategy you should then make yourself aware of your competition and discover which strategies they’re using to attract customers.

After having completed your research, in this regard, you should then choose which areas you can improve in order to best compete with your more well established home business rivals. For example do you offer an advantage over your opponents with regard to price, product, or maybe promotion or positioning. Here are six proven and well established techniques you may be able to employ to help you defeat your competitors.

1. You may be able to lower your price point below that of any of your opponents. If this is possible you can then construct an entire Internet marketing plan around this advantage. Advertising the fact that you offer the lowest price online for your product will help attract all of the bargain seekers on the web. This will also help establish you as a force to be reckoned with in your particular niche or market. You can even create your niche based on the cost advantage offered by your product to online consumers.

2. Maybe you can position yourself as a customer service oriented home enterprise. You can accomplish this by establishing a 24 hour customer support hotline, by creating a live chat with customer support representatives or by offering a life time warranty for your merchandise. If your product fails to perform or produce the desired results for any reason throughout its life time then your customers will receive a new version free of charge.

3. Offer free shipping and delivery to anywhere in North America. Once again this will deliver many of the deal seekers to your home page which of course will increase traffic and help produce more sales. You can also incorporate this feature into your advertising and promotional materials to give you a competitive edge over your rivals.

4. Offer a free trial of your goods with no strings attached. Give your potential customers the opportunity to try out your offer for a 30 day period to insure that it produces the desired results and solves their problem. At the end of this trial they must then decide whether or not to purchase.

5. Offer a bonus to first time buyers. For example, if someone decides to buy your product give them a freebie, such as an add on complimentary good or a piece of completely unrelated merchandise, for becoming a paying customer. People love free offers and this is a great tactic to employ as an incentive for website visitors to buy.

6. If your offer is a high priced good or service provide a monthly payment plan to ease the pain of having to pay a lump sum. You can also offer to pay any related taxes or have a no interest payment strategy implemented for your customers.

These are some of the tried and true techniques for new online home business owners to use to help establish themselves as a competitive force on the web. Because of the intense competition for the sales dollar on the Internet today everyone needs an edge or some advantage to help keep them a step ahead of their business rivals.    

Bob Withers