Here is some feedback I recently received from one of my home business advice newsletter readers:

"I have joined a lot of free home businesses and have made no money. I am determined to succeed at this internet thing, but I need help. I'm not going to spend money on this and waste it. Do you know where I can get a simple step by step FREE manual so I can start my home business?" -- Jeff M.

And here is the advice I gave Jeff...

Have you spent months, maybe even years, looking for a way to make a living from home on the internet? If you are only considering what is commonly referred to as a "free home business", you are likely to be looking for a long time to come. You can avoid wasting more time and effort by understanding the realities of running an internet home business.

The mentality of getting something for nothing will put an end to any dreams of working for yourself you may have. So will the need for immediate gratification. By keeping these thoughts out of your mind, you greatly increase your chances of running a successful internet home business well into the future.

Let's start out by looking at the idea of a free home business. This would be a home business that you could start and run without spending a dime. You see many different kinds of businesses every day, both internet web sites and real world businesses in your neighborhood. Can you think of just one real business that can be started with no investment and requires no money to operate? You can't because there aren't any.

And spending months of your personal time to set up and run even the most basic small business (that may or may not make any sales) is still costing you money. Yes, your time is a valuable asset that does have monetary value, just as it does when you spend it working for someone else. The fact is that you cannot replace the time you have already used. But you can make more money. You cannot make more time.

If you are not willing to spend money to start and build your home business, you are involved with a hobby, not a business. It is possible to start and build an internet home business using low cost tools and resources, in case you don't have $100,000 lying around. It is also possible to use many no cost resources in your home business that will save you tons of money. But when it comes right down to it, you have to be willing to take on some risk if you want a real business of your own. You have to assume the risk of (wisely) spending money to build your business. There is no way around it.

Establishing priorities for your personal and business spending habits is your first important task. This will allow you to treat your internet home business like a business, not a hobby. Since your initial cash flow may be small, your initial growth will be slower. But having your internet home business started and running is essential. You can't grow a business that doesn't exist. If you can then delay your gratification by putting most of your revenue back into the business, your business will slowly grow into a profitable money maker.

By delaying gratification, you are demonstrating that you can focus on the big picture, your long term future. This is an essential small business mindset that will allow you to eventually get what you want. Any money you spend on advertising your product or service should be focused on the long term, too. That means focusing on building mailing lists of targeted prospects, either email lists or direct mail lists (both is better!).

You will still end up making some sales along the way, but over time you will have created a much more valuable long term business asset. Future repeated contact with your email and direct mail lists will cost you very little, practically nothing. And the relationships you build through regular contact will make you many customers and sales long into the future at near zero overhead.

So go ahead and start a real internet home business, but stay away from any "free home businesses" (masquerading as real businesses) that won't build real long term worth. You will save yourself a lot of grief, and you will end up actually getting what you want out of life.

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites