For the past six years, I have been part of some pretty amazing companies in the Network Marketing industry. I’ve experienced more success than ninety percent of network marketers as a whole. I’ve made hundreds of thousands of dollars working from the comfort of home and have been able to do some amazing things for my family. My path in Network Marketing started with a company called Liberty League International. It was a great company, with a great purpose and it had it’s hay day.

There was a while where I took a break from Network Marketing. Despite my success, I wanted to do something a little different. I started a more traditional business, helping businesses improve their internet presence.

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Unfortunately, Network Marketing companies come and go, or, you are someone that comes and goes, bouncing from one company to the next. Although a company seems solid, with a good product and great compensation, there’s no guarantee that it will be around forever.

My BIGGEST mistake as a home business owner, was putting all of my eggs into one basket. I put so much trust in the concept/product/owners of the company I was part of that I didn’t have a back-up plan. Now, if it’s all solid, there are no worries. But, if things go a different direction, if the company crashes, if the products lose their value or if any other variable happens that effects the company, it also directly effects your income. Instead of putting so much into the company, put that focus on the goal.

So imagine that 6 figure income you had managed to create while working your home business, suddenly gone, or significantly reduced. Now, if it was your doing, that’s one thing. But if was a direct correlation to something that happened in the company, that’s an entire different story! Without pointing fingers or taking a victims mentality, how does one recover from something like that?

Here’s how I recovered……I relied on the online presence I had. With the amount of content I have all over the net, the presence in social networking sites and the organic rankings on all major search engines, I had choices. With consistent, FREE traffic coming to my website, this site, a crash of a company wasn’t a complete disaster. All that did was gave me options.

I could…….

1. Join another business opportunity or….
2. Do something else with the traffic I was getting.

I could develop my own products and promote them on my site. I could completely monetize my website with sponsored listing from ad networks such as Adsense. I could continue to capture leads and sell them. I could promote affiliate products on my site. The list could go on and on.

So if you find yourself in a home based business, and you are purchasing leads, spending high dollar on CPC ads or don’t have a web presence, you may want to rethink your strategy. Set yourself up to win regardless of the opportunity.

One thing I teach people about marketing is to use three or four different sources of lead generation. If one or two drop out, you have the other two to rely on until they can be replaced. Without spreading yourself too thin, the same thing applies for your sources of income.

I believe in the Cortez concept of burning your boats, but I also believe in having a back up plan. Expect the best but prepare for the worst and you’ll never find yourself in a hard spot, without options.

Stay tuned for my SECOND BIGGEST MISTAKE in the next post!

Gear up, get ready, do whatever it is you are going to do. If you plan on starting an internet business, home based business or expand your internet presence for your current business, now is the time to take action.

As the holidays come to an end, reality starts to set in for those who had the last week or two off. They start to think of having to go back to work on Monday, and for most people, that’s not what they want to be doing. So what do they do? They start looking for something else that will create a change in lifestyle. Something that will create a little more freedom with their schedule. And you know, most people know there are opportunities in existence that would allow them to work less and make more, yet, they have no idea where to find them or lack the courage to get started. For some, it’s like trying to find a grain of sand in a box of Malt-O-Meal or Cream of Wheat. But even though they have no idea what they are looking for, they will be looking.

Seriously, if you think about it, what time of year do people receive the most desire to change? It’s the beginning of the New Year, and if you’re anything like me, I start to reflect a bit on the past year. In doing so, I find stuff I don’t really like about it, so I set goals to change it. One of the most sought after changes is MONEY CHANGES. People want to make more money, ALWAYS. Money means comfort, lifestyle, family time, freedom, stuff, toys and so on.

I can tell you, being a home business entrepreneur has some amazing perks at the beginning of the year. The other day I had a conversation with someone I know who works for GoDaddy. They mentioned that GoDaddy hasn’t experienced a dip in business AT ALL. They are flourishing! Why?

It because people are looking for other ways to generate extra income, internet based. There is a rush coming. I can promise you that. Find yourself an opportunity that suits you and take advantage of those who will be searching you out. Now is the time to take advantage of the New Years internet business boom. Don’t wait. Get started!

I’ve compiled a few pictures here for a real quick survey. Look at the pictures below and tell me which view you would prefer while working.

Workspace #1

Workspace View #2 - Supervisor of Workspace #1

Workspace View #3

Workspace #4 - Getting Better!

Workspace #5 - Very Nice!

Workspace #6 - Priceless! Working from Home!

So which of these work spaces looks the most appealing to you and which of these spaces are you somewhat currently in? Man, if everyone could just get this one concept: You have just as much of a choice to not work where you want as you do in working exactly where you want! So I chose work spaces #5 and #6 nearly 5 years ago. I used to work in something similar to work space #3. I think I definitely upgraded!

So you might ask the question: Is a home based business all it’s chalked up to be? The answer for me: YES! The answer for you: (Fill in the blank)!

One of the beauties of being self employed is your ability to literally dictate your schedule as the day goes. This weekend is going to be a busy weekend for all of us parents. Today happens to be my oldest daughters birthday and this morning, my second daughter received her very first award in her school today. It’s nice to have the freedom to just go. No approval from the boss, no worry over losing paid work hours….just the freedom to go and do.

Now as you all know, it is Halloween today and if you have a family, with children, your weekend is going to be busy. Get out with your kids. Be young again and dress up. Have a blast! But as I have always said, be your business. With what I do, I am able to integrate my business into my lifestyle. So just because I am off during the holidays doesn’t mean I’m not generating revenue. That’s the whole point of a home business. It integrates itself with your lifestyle. Some of my best days, weeks and months in my business have come when out having fun.

You become your business. You can’t really sell it to anyone. The only value given to it is what you give to it. Live your life and throw your business around it. If you are open and alert, marketing opportunities will be available to you almost anywhere you go and with nearly anything you do. Should you choose to jump on Facebook to see what your friends are up to, if you are your business, people will start asking questions. Should you choose to go to the store, if you are your business, conversations will start and people will ask what you do.

With a pocket full of business cards and drop cards, an open mind and a smile, opportunities to grow your home business are abundant. But you have to be looking. Once and entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur. In my opinion, if you are looking to get away from your business completely, the only option is to quit, sell it or get a job. The ones who are paid a wage can truly say, that when 6pm rolls around, they are OFF of work and don’t even have to think about it until the next morning the moment their alarm clock rings. With a business, it’s different. If it doesn’t consume you, within reason, you are probably getting mediocre results. The moment you allow yourself and your business mold together is the moment things start happening. That’s called passion.

So Happy Halloween everyone. As you are out tomorrow with your kids, look for opportunities. They will be everywhere!