The Home Biz Blog

Invented Something? Get a Patent

There is one kind of home business that is very different to any other: that of the inventor. If you’ve invented something, the chances are that you don’t have the resources to mass-produce it yourself – you’ll be needing to send the plans and designs off to someone else to make in their factory. When you do this, though, how can you protect your idea against theft by them, or anyone else who might see it? The answer is patent registration.

What is a Patent?

A patent is when your government gives you the exclusive right to profit from an invention for a set number of years. If anyone else tries to sell something that is covered by your patent, then you will have the legal right to make them either pay you a licence fee or stop.

Each patent has a patent number – you might have seen ‘Pat No’ printed on some things, followed by this number. You may also have seen ‘patent pending’, which means that the patent has been applied for but not yet granted.

Your Invention Must Qualify.

Not all inventions can be covered by patents. Check that your invention meets these two requirements:

Is it new and secret? You can’t have showed your invention publicly before you apply for a patent. Whatever you do, don’t take your invention round and demonstrate it to people before you think about patents – you might make it impossible to get one.

Is it non-obvious? Your invention must not be something that would be obvious to experience in your chosen industry. This is to stop people rushing to patent things that anyone could figure out, and then charging high fees for their use.

In addition, you cannot apply for a patent for any of the following: a scientific or mathematical theory or method, a work of art (books, plays, etc. – computer programs are included), a way of doing things (eg. a new business method). Many of these things are, instead, covered by copyright. Patents are intended for actual, physical inventions.

Where Do I Get One?

Wherever you live, the chances are that it has a government agency called a ‘patent office’, or similar. There are also patent agencies for larger areas, such as the European Patent Office or, ultimately, the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organisation).

To begin with, you should apply for a patent at the patent office for your country – it’s best to get a lawyer to guide you through this, and make them sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement, a contract saying they won’t tell anyone else about your invention). Depending on your country, this can either be absurdly cheap or really expensive.

Once you’ve done that, you generally have only one year to file for any patents you might want in the rest of the world. You used to have to apply individually in every country where you wanted a patent (this got very painful and expensive very quickly). Now, though, you can now take advantage of the PCT (Patent Co-operation Treaty), which allows you to apply once and eventually receive protection in all of the 126 countries that have signed up to the treaty.

You can apply for a PCT patent either through your own country’s patent office, or through the WIPO’s office in Geneva. It is again important to stress that you should really get a lawyer if you plan to go through this process, as international patent law isn’t especially intuitive or easy.

You should note that if your patent application is refused at any stage, you won’t be getting your fees back – although you can usually apply again, if you want to pay again.

What if I Don’t Get a Patent?

If you’ve looked at the prices, you might be wondering: what’s the worst thing that could possibly happen to me if I didn’t get a patent? The only answer I can give is that anyone you happen to explain the idea to can steal it, and you won’t be able to do a thing. What’s more, once your invention does come on the market, success will attract many imitators, and they’ll probably be able to produce your invention cheaper by sacrificing quality.

Essentially, a patent gives you protection against competition – but if you think you could do perfectly well in the market no matter how many imitators you had, then maybe patents aren’t for you.

*** Resource Box ***

Hannes Johnson is currently using the Plug-In Profit Site (PIPS) system to build his online home business. Hannes highly recommends the PIPS system to anyone interested in starting a successful home business - click for more information: http://www.workathomemadeeasy.net/pips.html?blog

Why are people leaving? by Charlie Page

I was updating my website, Residual Income Zone and I came across a great article by Charlie Page. I've actually been planning on writing a similar article - about not getting lost, confused and falling into the hype. But he pretty much sums it up.

What I want to add is that before making a "major" decision (like buying some product, joining a new opportunity, etc.) you should think about a few things... Like, "Do I need this RIGHT NOW?" - don't think, yeah, I could possibly use this when/if I... "Can I use this immediately?" - if you are not going to use this for another 6 months you can just buy it then (when you can actually need it). But of course there are sometimes genuinely limited offers that won't be available in 6 months. So you sometimes have to decide if you're willing to risk an investment for something that you possibly will never use.

Charlie talks about over-hyped opportunities and because he obviously wrote this article a few years ago I want to point out a couple of companies that I think are over-hyped right now and have been for some time: "$1.67 a day" - promoting something only based on the fact that you will make money by only spending $1.67 a day is just ridiculous - you should be promoting a quality product that is in demand. The other one is the whole ".ws" thing - they promote it like it's the best thing since sliced bread and that you can get a cut of the domain registration market when people can actually buy .ws domains much cheaper at GoDaddy. Another reason why I don't want to be involved in these programs is that some of their members use spam-tactics and I can't trust companies that don't prevent members from spamming in any way they can.

However, from a marketing viewpoint these "limited offers" (once in a lifetime opportunity, you'll see this offer once and never again, buy before midnight X...) usually work but I think as marketers we have to decide if we want to use that kind of "tricks" - if we think that is ethical or not. Personally I've never used those kind of tricks and I'm not sure if I ever will - I think I would rather modify them a little bit, give them my own twist and be honest.

The reason why I hadn't read this article before is that this 70+ website was created automatically for me. All I had to do was download this simple program, input my affiliate ID's and hit the "Create" button. By the way, I've also had success branding this program and giving it away.
Click here to download the Mega Plug-In Profit Site program and click here to brand it and make money giving it away.

But I digress... Here is the article:

Why are people leaving?
Copyright © Charlie Page

While the number of people who sign on to the Net for the first time still increases every day, people are *leaving* their Internet businesses in record numbers.

Some have even made a career out of leaving the Internet. ;)

People are leaving the Net because they are fed up ... frustrated ... disappointed.

You may have felt the frustration too. So much hype, so few real answers. So many promises, so little reality.

One of the things I like about my autoresponder service is that people can leave comments behind when they leave our little DOE Insider family.

Mostly, people tell us what's on their minds. If I can help, I write them back even though they left the list.

We had 10 people leave the list last week (we're blessed with a low unsubscribe rate) and the comments they left behind point up an interesting trend.

-----

Comments: I just do not have time to deal with it, but I think you are doing a good job for the people that do :)

Comments: I am withdrawing from Internet Marketing so I no longer require this service. Thank you.

Comments: I do not need the information anymore. I have quit my business. Thank you!

Comments: Changing direction from mlm to investing.

Comments: Fed up with the whole internet thing. Nothing to do with you

-----

That last person summed up something one hears much more often lately. People are fed up, disappointed, frustrated.

Frustration is an interesting emotion. Many years ago, a very wise man said that frustration ultimately stems from unrealistic expectations.

Does that describe the Internet or what!?!

So, WHY do people become frustrated and what can you do to AVOID the frustration? Below are several ideas to help.

===== The Problem

First, the causes of frustration.

There seem to be three main causes of frustration on the Net
today.

1. Too much hype.
2. Lack of real support.
3. Rampant false expectations.

People are frustrated with the hype out there. The problem here is self-evident. I heard a guy say the other day that if he could bag up all the manure (not the word he used) he has seen online, he could fertilize the entire state of Texas. Great line.

People are also fed up with being sent to a Frequently Asked Questions page when what they need is to speak with a real person. People need, and want, personal support.

Third, and to be truthful, people come online with their expectations set *way* too high. The Internet is NOT the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Never has been, never will be. No one makes their fortune in 30 days, or 35 days, or 45 days. They just show you a glimpse of their bank account that makes it look that way.

Here's the frustrating part of this for me. I KNOW that almost anyone can succeed online.

But if you let the frustration win, if you let it get you down and quit, you have ZERO chances of succeeding online!

===== Now ... A Solution

You can beat this frustration! DON'T give in to disappointment. Stay the course and you WILL win!

Here are xxkjj ways to beat back the frustration, keep your chin up, and put yourself in a position to profit online.

1. Become Hype-Proof

Learn to see the information you receive in a larger context. All good marketers know how to make their product sound appealing, and know how to create a sense of urgency.

Only YOU know if you really NEED another autoresponder, or another eBook on how to write an eBook, or ... you get the point.

See number five for a quick way to become hype-proof.

2. Understand That Off-Line Business Rules Still Apply

We must understand that it still takes money to make money We still must advertise to sell goods and services. The Net makes this wonderfuly easy and effective, but we still must take the steps.

3. Separate Yourself From The Net - Don't Be Online Too Long

Many online entrepreneurs work late into the night. About the worst possible time to make a purchasing decision is after a long session of being online. It's often wise to wait until the next morning, or next evening, to make a decision.

4. Don't Fall Prey To Information Overload

In this is the number one problem I see with people who have gone online within the last three to six months. Everyone gives away so many e-books and the courses. How can a person be expected to read everything, much less not drown in the information.

One solution to information overload is to make a list of things that you really need in your business, then research them one at a time.

For example, you're going to need an autoresponder, you're going to need to do advertising, you will need a web hosting company, you're going to need to create a web site, and you will need for five other things before you can successfully do business online.

Now take one thing at a time, and learn what you need to know about that one thing. Then, move on to the next.

5. Wait 24 Hours Before Buying Anything

When I wrote this line my bank account hollered Amen! If only I practiced get faithfully. I have never waited 24 hours to buy something and regretted it.

Please don't fall for the JavaScript trick where web sites tell you that you must order within the next three days, three minutes, or three seconds to get that "once a lifetime" price.

I can guarantee that 99% of the time, this is a trick. To prove it for yourself, bookmark the next site you visit that offers a limited time guarantee. Then visit the site the day after the guarantee was supposed to expire. Or, if you know how, view the source code and see the JavaScript for yourself.

6. Take Something Of Value And Stick With It

Recent studies show the common pattern of behavior on the Internet is to join a program, promoted a little, and then leave it. This can not lead to success.

In any business, success takes time. Give your online business the time it needs to succeed and it will reward you with passive income for years to come.

7. Don't Fear You'll Miss IT ... IT Doesn't Exist

This is the BIG ONE folks! Right now, for example, Mastery TV is all the rage. Only six months ago, a program called Cash Evolution was all the rage. As I understand it, Cash Evolution, even with Mark Joyner's endorsement, was a disaster.

Will Mastery TV end up a winner or loser? While I don't pretend to know the answer, and many factors will determine that answer, I do know that no one who signs up, promotes for two weeks, and quits, will make ANY serious revenue.

Doing business on the Internet has been challenging lately. Spammers make it harder to get messages delivered, yet you're reading this one. More and more web sites means more competition, yet your site got visitors today.

Success online comes down to this ....

Do the basic things very well, stick with it, and success WILL be yours!

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Charlie Page is the owner of the Directory of Ezines, the first and most comprehensive list of quality ezines that accept advertising available on the Internet. Charlie can show you how to sell more products and earn more affiliate commissions using the Internet's #1 marketing method ... ezine marketing!
CLICK HERE to learn more ... ( http://www.workathomemadeeasy.net/recommended/doe.html )
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Before You Do Anything: Try It Out

So you know, roughly, what you want your home business to be. Before you go any further and start investing, though, you need to try it out. Here’s how.

Build a Prototype.

If you plan to sell physical things, or you’re going to do something like starting a website or making software, then you should build a prototype to see how your idea will work out. A prototype is a version of your product that is built quickly by you alone, and serves to show that your idea is feasible in the real world. If it would be too expensive to build the whole thing, then just building the new part that differentiates you from your competitors is good enough.

Show your prototype to a few people, to see what they think. Are they excited? Would they use it?

Get a Few Customers.

If your product is relatively low-value, or you’re providing a service, then it shouldn’t be too much trouble to get a few customers and do a few dry runs. Do them a generous discount (you could even do it for free), to make sure that everything runs smoothly and the customers are satisfied at the end of it.

For example, let’s say you plan to be a landscape gardener from home. You could borrow the tools, and volunteer to do a garden for some kind of charity project – this is good, since it means that you’re doing something nice for charity, but they’re not paying for perfection, so it’s not that bad if small things go wrong. You should then go through all the motions as you would once your business is established, and see what comes out at the other end.

Here’s another one. Let’s say you’re an Italian living outside Italy, and you plan to start a home business cooking pasta in your kitchen and delivering it to customers (you’d be surprised how many home businesses there are in the catering industry). You could make a rough draft of a leaflet (with discounted prices) and deliver it to a small number of homes in the area, until you get a little response. You could then see if it really is feasible to make and deliver these things, and whether there would be any profit in it.

The best dry-runs, though, are the ones where you can get one client at full price. This generally happens in the kind of industry where most transactions are business-to-business, and go through a bidding process. If you’re doing something like freelance writing or artwork, this can let you take on one ‘job’ without being committed to any more afterwards. If you find it’s not for you, at least you haven’t lost too much – and if you love it, then you’re getting valuable experience before you try to take it full-time.

When you try your business out, make sure to do some kind of survey – you could hand it to the customer, include it with your delivery, or even phone up and say that you’re just calling to make sure everything is alright. Following up this way isn’t just good for you, it’s also good customer service.

Don’t Rely on Scale.

One of the most common things I hear when I tell people to try out their home business ideas is that a small-scale trial wouldn’t do the idea justice, since they ‘plan to make money on scale’.

Never, ever rely solely on scale. You think that supplies will get magically cheaper if you’re doing ten orders a day instead of one? Guess again. You think you’re going to save time by doing lots of orders at once? You might save some, but not as much as you might think. When you’re trying to see whether your business is viable, you should always err on the conservative side – the thinner your margins are, the easier it is for something unexpected to happen and destroy them altogether.

You’re cheating yourself if you don’t try out your business before you start it – you’ll be throwing yourself in at the deep end, and there won’t be a lifeguard. Trying it out gives you the opportunity to make your beginner mistakes (there will be a few, I guarantee it), and to build confidence in yourself and your business without taking pointlessly large amounts of risk.

*** Resource Box ***

Hannes Johnson is currently using the Plug-In Profit Site (PIPS) system to build his online home business. Hannes has personally tested this program for over 2 years and so have 1000's of other people. He highly recommends the PIPS system to anyone interested in starting a successful home business - click for more information: http://www.workathomemadeeasy.net/pips.html?blog

Seeking Out Your Competitors

The best way to seek out your competitors is to try and buy whatever product or service it is you’re planning to sell. Enter the market as a customer, and find out what options you would have.

Where to Look.

It might be tempting to just use a search engine and go by the results that turns up, but you have to remember that plenty of business still takes place outside the Internet. You should also make sure that you pay attention to more traditional methods of advertising, such as the yellow pages, or your local newspaper. It’s worth cutting out and keeping any ads you find, as they can be good to refer to when it’s time to start your own marketing.

Do What They Do, But Differently.

Notice that I said ‘differently’, not necessarily ‘better’. Don’t assume that you’ll be able to improve on established businesses if you’re doing the exact same thing as they are – they have years of experience, after all. What you’re trying to do is distinguish yourself in the marketplace, so that people who are looking for something specific in your chosen industry will come to you.

There are a number of tried-and-true ways of altering existing products to make them succeed in the market.

The Price-Quality Line.

You may find other businesses that only offer a very high-quality service, and accordingly charge a premium price – or you might find ones that only offer heavily-discounted rubbish. Consider taking their products to the opposite end of the market. If you can offer a product of only slightly worse quality at half the price, then people will jump at it – and, likewise, there are always people willing to pay the most to get the best.

Provide a Service.

It is perfectly possible to sell products of the exact same physical quality while providing a better service – to the customer, quality and service are almost the same thing. There are companies out there who can sell computer software that their customers could get almost for free, simply because the customers like to have the support services that they get with their purchase.

Likewise, if service is all you do, then it should be pretty simple to provide a more attentive and personal service than your competitors. ‘One-on-one business’ gives you a great opportunity to become friendly with your customers, and that’s often worth its weight in gold to them.

Make it Simpler.

Many businesses offer great products, but they’re pitching them to very technical customers. If you’re an expert in your field, you will very often find that you can build a great business simply by selling the same thing as your competitors, but going to some trouble to explain and market it to a wider section of the public. Anytime you start using some new technology, the chances are that someone along the way had to work out how to make it simpler. Few new technologies or inventions come pre-packaged for consumer use.

Change the Design.

Make it smaller, or change the colour, or make it easier to open and fix. There are all sorts of ways to subtly redesign a product and give it all sorts of bells and whistles that customers will really appreciate. You might even be able to buy products, modify them, and then sell them on.

Build Alliances.

Despite what the word might lead you to think, you don’t always have to be competitive with your competitors. You might find that they have extra work sometimes that they wouldn’t mind sending over to you, or you might find that they’re willing to give you advice on starting up (if not for free, then perhaps for nothing more than the cost of a few drinks!). Of course, you shouldn’t go giving away all your secrets or giving them any other advantage, but that doesn’t mean that you should keep away. Pay special attention to any problems that they say they’ve had, or anything they do that seems to sell especially well.

Believe it or not, your competitors can be your best allies in this home business game, especially if they’re home businesses themselves – over time, your competitors might even become your friends.

*** Resource Box ***

Hannes Johnson is currently using the Plug-In Profit Site (PIPS) system to build his online home business. Hannes highly recommends the PIPS system to anyone interested in starting a successful home business - click for more information: http://www.workathomemadeeasy.net/pips.html?blog

Researching and Developing the Idea

Market Research.

If you think your idea is original, then you might be right – but don’t bank on it. Come up with as many word combinations relating to your idea as you can, and then search for them all. If you have trouble thinking of what to search for, try to think like a customer of your potential business – what would they look for to find you? The chances are that you’ll at least find something similar to what you’re doing. If you don’t, then there are three possibilities: you’re a genius who’s come up with an original business idea, you’re no good at searching, or your idea isn’t practical.

However much you might think that the best ideas are original, it’s far better if you can find other people who are doing what you’re doing successfully. It’s even better if you can take something that’s tried-and-tested in another country and import it to your own. If there’s no-one else operating in your chosen market, then it doesn’t necessarily mean that no-one has ever thought of it or tried – it’s more likely that it just turned out to be impractical.

There is another thing to look out for, though: you might find that your search terms find lots of sites willing to sell you a ‘kit’ to start up that business more easily. These kits are almost always worthless, but the fact that they exist tells you that your idea is a common one, and the market may be saturated. The ideal home business, to my mind, is one where there seems to be an enthusiastic community of other successful home businesses, but not to the point where everyone seems to be doing it, or telling you how to do it.

Once you’ve gone through the preliminary checks, the best way to research your idea isn’t to keep staring over at other businesses – it’s to look to your potential customers. Talk to as many people as you can about your idea, start a little canvassing, do market research surveys in the street. Do anything to try and figure out how many potential customers you’ve got out there.

Time to Get Specific.

When you’re running a home business, you’re not going to be big. You don’t have a big advertising budget, and you’re not going to be able to have lots of customers and make a small profit from each. The kind of market you need is called a ‘niche market’ – a set of customers who want something very specific, and aren’t currently able to get it. It might seem strange, but the best niches can often seem really obscure. You might know what industry you want to be in, but exactly what are you going to be doing, and for who?

Here’s an exercise that you really need to do. Take your home business idea and write it down. You are only allowed to use one side of one sheet of paper for this. The point of this is to make sure that you know the absolute core of your idea. It’s all too easy to get bogged down in details when you start a home business, and you need to make sure you know exactly what your idea is, in its simplest form.

Once you’ve got the basics down, that’s when you can start to develop the idea. The aim here is to take your core idea and turn it into products, suppliers, customers and work. For example, if your idea is to provide web design for small businesses, then this is where you need to sit down and figure out what suppliers you’d need (web hosting, for example), and what services you’d be providing for customers.

Think of it as inputs and outputs. Imagine, for example, that your business is making clothes. It starts with the input you don’t control – what you ‘outsource’, meaning that you pay to order it in from outside suppliers. For clothes, this would be a sewing machine, material, thread, and so on. The next input is what you add yourself. This would probably be the design and manufacture of the clothes. The output is the finished product – the clothes, ready to sell.

*** Resource Box ***

Hannes Johnson is currently using the Plug-In Profit Site (PIPS) system to build his online home business. All the research has been done for this tried-and-tested market and that's why Hannes highly recommends the PIPS system to anyone interested in starting a successful online home business - click for more information: http://www.workathomemadeeasy.net/pips.html?blog

So What’s Your Idea?

You’ve got this far. It’s time to ask yourself: what exactly do you plan to do? What’s your big home business idea – and, more importantly, how is it going to make you any money? There are quite a few ways to figure out whether your idea is a good one or a bad one. Basically, it all comes down to the practicalities of the thing.

Do You Have the Time?

There are only so many hours in a day, and you want to save some of them for yourself. If you’re planning on, for example, making small products and selling them, will you really have enough time to take orders, make them, pack them up and post them? If you’re not careful, you can find yourself doing tedious work all day and all night for $2 per hour.

Remember that time is money: the only way to make the income you want is set an hourly rate you’re happy with, and then work out pricing as your rate plus expenses. If you don’t have enough time to do the work, then increase the rate or hire someone who does. It’s simple supply and demand.

Do You Have the Qualifications?

One of the traps that people most often fall into is wanting to take a skill they have and turn it into a business, without realising that their customers will expect them to have formal qualifications. Sure, you were a full-time mother for years, but people would still like you to have a child-care qualification. This goes double if you plan to become some kind of therapist – if you don’t have the qualifications, how are people supposed to know that you’re not just making it up as you go along?

What’s more, qualifications serve to create scarcity in the market. A business will do better if only qualified people can provide its services than if any joker can. That’s why people like doctors and dentists command such high wages: they have to study for years to get their skills, which creates scarcity in the marketplace.

If you already have the skills, you should find it easy to pass the tests – and who knows, you might learn something new. Enroll on an evening course at your local college (try to avoid ‘distance learning’, as the prices are usually stupidly high compared to what you get out of it). It can be good fun, and you’ll probably end up with some good contacts in your chosen industry. Many people have started better home businesses by creating a ‘network’ of others they know doing the same business in the local area. This lets everyone specialise in their best area.

Do You Have the Space?

If you’re planning to have deliveries to your house and then send items out to people, you need to think it through very carefully. Do you really have enough space to act as a warehouse? Will you be cutting the size of your home in half for the sake of your business? It’s also worth considering whether you can really let big delivery lorries drive up into your road without doing some damage – there’s nothing worse than getting your first delivery and finding that the lorry didn’t fit in your street and the boxes don’t fit in your house.

The best way to solve this problem is to make sure that your home business doesn’t require any inventory. Home businesses where you provide a service – whether it’s over the phone, on the Internet or in person – almost always work out better than ones that involve you packing and posting things.

Of course, even for more service-oriented businesses, space can still be a problem: if you plan to be a fitness trainer from home, make sure you have somewhere to put all that fitness equipment!

Money, Money, Money.

Consider the kind of expense you’d need to go to when you start your business, as well as the day-to-day running costs. Then, and this is the vital part, work out the maximum number of customers you think you could deal with, and cut it in half (you won’t actually get that many customers, at least to begin with). Work out how much you’d have to charge each of those customers to break even for your first year. If the price comes out far too high, then it’s time to think again.

*** Resource Box ***

Hannes Johnson is currently using the Plug-In Profit Site (PIPS) system to build his online home business. Hannes highly recommends the PIPS system to anyone interested in starting a successful home business. You don't have any inventory and don't have to worry about spending time creating anything - click for more information: http://www.workathomemadeeasy.net/pips.html?blog

Is it Legal in Your Home? How to Check

If you’re going to start running a business from your home, there are various laws you need to know about. If you don’t check things out before you start, then you risk having your business shut down by the authorities.

Zoning Laws.

The chances are that the different parts of your town or city have been split into different ‘zones’. Each one of these zones has a purpose: business or residential. Since you almost certainly live in a residential area, zoning laws restrict what you can do there in terms of business.

If you think about it, there are good reasons for this. What would it be like if someone could just decide to buy up a whole load of houses and turn the area into a shopping mall, without getting anyone’s permission? What if your neighbours could just turn around one day and start using their house as a shop? I doubt that you’d like that. The laws are there to protect your neighbourhood, and to stop business from interfering with people’s home lives.

You need to phone whatever local governmental body there is in your area, and ask them about the zoning laws in your area. If they’re not helpful, it could be worth a visit to a lawyer. You’ll find that laws vary massively – here are some of the things you might come across.

The Strict Zoning Policy.

Many areas still operate a strict ‘no-business’ policy in residential areas, and will come after you if you start a business without their permission. You’ll need to put in a formal application, and there could be a public hearing, giving other residents the chance to object. Time to start being nicer to your neighbours!

You should note that just because there are other home businesses in your area, it doesn’t mean that you’ll find it any easier to get permission. The rules may have been tightened up since those businesses were started. Still, it’s worth talking to other home businesses in the area, if you can, to see if you can get any advice.

Percentage Policies.

Another common way of handling things is to allow you to use only a percentage of your house for business, to avoid residential properties becoming wholly commercial. You might be told, for example, that only 20% of the house can be used for business purposes. This can be restrictive if you have a small house, or if you need to store things. Worse, areas with a policy like this are usually completely unwilling to vary it for you.

Restrictions by Industry.

It’s worth checking if there’s a special exception in the zoning laws for what you plan to do. Artists, for example, are often excluded from the laws (where are they supposed to work – the art office?), as well as people who give home tuition, like music teachers. Doctors and dentists are another common exception.

Signs and Traffic Rules.

You might find that the laws have special restrictions on signs and traffic. You could be restricted from putting anything on the front of your house that could be considered ‘advertising’, meaning that you can’t even have a sign with the name of your business. If you plan to have lorries or trucks bringing deliveries to your house, then that can pose a big problem, especially if someone complains about them, or there are lots of children in the area.

Visitor Rules.

Another contentious issue is visitors. For some reason, people get upset if lots of visitors keep coming to your house – they like their street to be quiet, not constantly busy. Some laws allow only a set number of visitors to your home business per day, or restrict the number of visitors that you can have at one time.

Breaking the Law.

A footnote to all this is that millions of businesses are operated illegally out of people’s homes, in violation of the relevant laws. They keep their business secret, because they know that admitting what they’re doing would probably get it closed down. This approach obviously isn’t recommended, though – you should always try your best to do things legally, and consider moving house if no-one seems to want your business in the area.

*** Resource Box ***

Hannes Johnson is currently using the Plug-In Profit Site (PIPS) system to build his online home business, legally. Hannes highly recommends the PIPS system to anyone interested in starting a successful home business - click for more information: http://www.workathomemadeeasy.net/pips.html?blog

Working From Home: the Pros and Cons

If you’re thinking of starting a home business, you’ve got to realise something about life. Life has a certain balance: there is no pleasure without pain, and there are no pros without cons. Here’s a look at the upsides and downsides of home businesses.

Pro: Independence. You do what you want, when you want. No-one else can screw up your hard work, and you don’t need to depend on anyone but yourself. Your days of being told what to do are over. And there’s no dress code, either! Many people who work from home admit to sitting around in their pyjamas all day, or even working in the nude.

Con: No Security. With independence, though, comes responsibility. There’s nobody to carry you if you do badly one day – if you don’t make any money for the business, then you don’t get paid. People like certainty in their lives (that’s why they spend big bucks on insurance) – it can be hard to live with this ultimate step into performance-related pay. You might find yourself quickly wishing you had a regular paycheque again.

Pro: Flexible Working. You decide your hours. If you want to take Wednesday off and work Saturday instead, then no-one’s stopping you. If you’d like to get up early and cram all your work into the mornings so you can have the afternoons off, then hey, you’re the boss. Such flexibility can be a massive relief after years of working nine to five.

Con: Work Never Ends. When you work from home, it can be tempting to be constantly monitoring things, even when you’ve decided you’re not working. The only person who can handle a crisis is you – and crises have a tendency to happen in the middle of the night, or on your day off.

Pro: Keeping All the Money. Everything you earn is yours to keep. It can be truly disheartening to work somewhere where cash is being handled, and realising that the takings for the day add up to a hundred times more than you got paid. You know that someone’s getting rich off your back, but it’s not you – working from home makes you the fatcat at the top.

Con: Doing Everything. Not all that money was profit, you know. It goes on things like marketing, management, stock control, deliveries, and so on. Suddenly you have to manage everything that goes on in your business – you deal with suppliers on one end and customers on the other, you have to do all the budgeting and spending, and you become your own marketing department. You get to deal with all the fun tax issues, too.

Pro: No More Commuting. Commuting is expensive, painful, and can feel like a complete waste of time – just think of all the time and money most people spend travelling to and from work. When you have a home business, you just get up and you’re right next to your workplace – isn’t that convenient?

Con: One Less Room. Your house can feel a lot smaller when you’ve had to set one room aside as your ‘home office’. When you’re not working, it just sits there, useless, and meanwhile your kids are getting upset at how small their bedrooms are.

Pro: A Healthier Lifestyle. When you only have an hour’s lunch break to do everything you need to do, you can end up running yourself into the ground and not eating properly. Working from home lets you do your errands when you want, and eat good food every day.

Con: The Loneliness. If you’re the only one around in your house during the day, it avoids distractions – but it can also feel very lonely. If you’re the kind of person who likes being around other people, you can start to get quite depressed.

But…

If you talk to anyone who works from home, they’ll probably say to you that, for them, the pros far outweigh the cons. Once you’re doing your own thing and feeling great, it’s hard to go back to a salaried existence – and remember, it’s far easier to work around your problems in a home business than it is to deal with any problems you might have at work.

*** Resource Box ***

Hannes Johnson is currently using the Plug-In Profit Site (PIPS) system to build his online home business. Hannes highly recommends the PIPS system to anyone interested in starting a successful home business - more information here: http://www.workathomemadeeasy.net/pips.html?blog

Avoiding Home Business Scams

Now maybe the reason you’re interested in setting up a home business is because you’ve seen an ad somewhere, or you’ve been approached by someone. It was all about a great work-from-home money-making opportunity, and you’re excited. Finally, you can quit your job!

If you’re thinking of working from home by someone else’s rules, though, you have to realise that at least 99% of the offers out there are scams – after all, if it was that easy to pay a few dollars and make thousands, wouldn’t everyone be doing it by now? Here are the biggest scams out there, how to recognise them, and how to avoid them.

Location, Location, Location.

Where did you see that work from home offer? If you got it in the post, or by email, or saw it on a poster taped around a telephone pole, then I can guarantee you right now that it’s not a legitimate offer. If you saw the ad in a newspaper, in a jobs magazine or on a jobs website, then it’s a little more likely to be legit – but not much. Always check out any offer, and assume it’s a scam until you have iron-clad proof to the contrary.

Envelope Stuffing.

This is the most established work-from-home scam, and it’s been going for decades now. Basically, once you pay your money and sign up to work from home, you’re sent a set of envelopes and ads just like the one you responded to. You might make some money if someone responds to your ad, but eventually there just won’t be a market for it any more. Anyway, work from home offers like this are illegal pyramid schemes.

You won’t make any money putting letters in envelopes – get over it.

Charging for Supplies.

The practice of charging for supplies is hard to pin down to any one scam – it’s the way almost all work-at-home scams work (including the envelope stuffing, above). You’ll be asked to make a small ‘investment’ for whatever materials would be needed to do the work – and then you’ll be sent very shoddy materials that aren’t worth anything like what you paid, and you’ll find that there’s no market for the work anyway.

If anyone asks for money upfront, run. A real company should be willing to deduct any ‘fees’ from your first paycheque – if they won’t do that for you, then that’s because they don’t ever plan to pay you.

Working for Free.

This variation on the scam is common with crafts. You might be asked to work at home making clothes, ornaments or toys. Everything seems legitimate – you’ve got the materials without paying out any money, and you’re doing the work. Unfortunately for you, when you send the work back, the company will tell you that it didn’t meet their ‘quality standards’, and will refuse to pay you. Then they’ll sell on what you made at a profit, and move on to the next sucker.

Never do craft work from home unless you’re selling the items yourself. Note that you don’t need to be selling to consumers (you could be selling to wholesalers), but you still need to be the one deciding what you make and getting the money.

Home Typing, Medical Billing, and More.

There are lots of work-from-home scams that involve persuading you that some industry has more work than it can handle, and so has to outsource to people working from home. For example, you might be told that you’d be typing legal documents, or entering medical bills into an electronic database. These scams have one thing in common: they all say that all you need is your computer, and they all then go on to say that you need to buy some ‘special software’.

This software might appear to be from a completely unrelated company, but don’t be fooled – the whole reason the ‘work-from-home’ ad was there to begin with was simply as cynical marketing for the software.

As you can see, running a ‘home business’ that just involves ‘working’ for one company is a bad idea. You don’t know who you’re dealing with. Here’s the clincher, though: even with entirely legal work-at-home offers that do pay you for your work, you still won’t make anywhere near as much as you can with your very own home business. So why bother with them at all?

*** Resource Box ***

Hannes Johnson is currently using the Plug-In Profit Site (PIPS) system - a legitimate opportunity that has helped thousands of people start their home business. Hannes highly recommends the PIPS system to anyone interested in starting a successful home business - more information here: http://www.workathomemadeeasy.net/pips.html?blog

Why Start a Home Business?

Working from home is a dream for many – but actually going ahead and starting a home business is very difficult. So what makes so many people want to do it, and why would you ever try such a crazy thing? Here are some common reasons, and some things to consider.

You Can Build Your Great Idea

It suddenly hit you like a bolt of lightning: you’ve thought of a great business idea. This is perhaps the number one reason that people go into business from home: they’ve come up with something great that they really believe in, but can’t afford to rent any business premises. It does depend on what the business is, but working from home is often ideal in these situations.

Remember, though, that even the best ideas take hard work to become a reality. The kind of ideas that are good for a home-based business are ones that can become at least partly real quickly, and start bringing in an income – you shouldn’t sit at home for a year working on something that’s making you nothing whatsoever.

You Can Make Your Hobby a Job

Most people have something that they’re really passionate about, and would spend the rest of their life doing if they could, just for the enjoyment of it. Getting paid for doing what you love is obviously appealing – even if you only earn a living wage, it’d be your idea of paradise.

Make sure, though, that you’d be able to take it if you had to make a living from your passion. It’s the things we’re closest to that hurt us the most – think of how you might feel if no-one buys what you’ve made, or if they send it back and with a note saying “what rubbish, I demand a refund!” Can you cope with your hobby becoming commercial?

You’re Tired of Your Boss

It seems like everyone hates their boss. They try to pretend like they’re your friend, but they’re not fooling anyone, are they? You’re forced to work to pointless deadlines and targets. Anytime you spot a better way of doing something you’re
told that it’s impractical, or, worse, that it’s great but the stupid way of doing things is already ‘established’ and ‘policy’.

What you might not realise is that ‘being your own boss’ requires quite a lot of willpower. If there was no-one to make you get up in the morning and do any work, would you? Your home is supposed to be a place of rest and entertainment – and when it’s full of the equipment and temptation to do anything but work, working there can be hard.

You Want to Spend More Time with Your Family

You feel like all you do is go to work, come home, and then sit around, too tired to do anything fun with your family. If you have children, they seem to be growing up so fast, and you’re missing it all – all because you have to go out and work.

Of course, the flipside here is that you might just end up spending too much time with your family, while you’re trying to work. When everyone knows you’ll be in the house all day, they’ll probably ask you to do all sorts of unimportant things, just because you’re available. It’s hard to say no, and before you know it, you’re doing the job of a full-time ‘housewife’ instead of what you set out to do.

You Don’t Like Wasting Time and Money Commuting

After all, once you get to the office, what is there anyway? Offices are dreary environments, and terrible to work in – travelling for hours there and back and spending a significant proportion of your wages to do it seems completely pointless (especially if you live in the middle of nowhere). If you could work from home, think of the time you’d save… and time is money, isn’t it?

Don’t be surprised, however, if you start to feel trapped in your home, since you never leave it. Can you find good ways to get away from it all?

But Don’t Be Put Off

While the list of warnings for working at home might look long, a list of warnings about working in an office would surely be longer. As long as you stay on your guard, you can get all the benefits of working from home without falling into any of the traps.

*** Resource Box ***

Hannes Johnson is currently using the Plug-In Profit Site (PIPS) system to build his online home business. Hannes highly recommends the PIPS system to anyone interested in starting a successful home business - more information here: http://www.workathomemadeeasy.net/pips.html?blog

Create a Web Epidemic in 3 Easy Steps by Mark Joyner

Mark Joyner is a legend in the internet marketing field. Even though he has "retired" from internet marketing, whenever he has something to say I listen. That's why I wanted to reprint his latest article, lots of valuable information in it.

Enjoy.

Create a Web Epidemic in 3 Easy Steps
By Mark Joyner (c) 2005

Whoever said "knowledge is power" was a liar (sorry, Mr.
Bacon).

Knowledge isn't power - action is. Well, appropriate action is.
More on that in a second.

Anyway, the actions required for success are usually pretty
simple. The question is, will you do them?

The answer is usually "no." Why?

It's usually one of two things:

A. You are afraid that the action won't work.

Yes, there is a lot of bad advice out there and you've probably
been bitten more than a few times by following bad advice.

B. You go into an "I already know that" trance.

Have you ever heard someone give you some great advice and your
immediate reaction is, "Oh, I already know that."

What's the next thing you do? You hit the "off" switch for your
brain and slip into a little trance of non-action.

I hope the following information will prevent you from doing
that with this short action plan:

* I've created and promoted websites that have been ranked
in the Top 100 of all websites in the world (yes, including
porn and Yahoo). One of my sites reached #36 in the world 6
weeks after its release.

* I've sold millions and millions of dollars over the
Internet - most of it on a zero-dollar ad budget.

* I wrote what some credit as "the first ebook" which was
downloaded over 1,000,000 times (when I stopped counting).

Why am I telling you all this? Well, my ego doesn't need any
additional stroking today, so there must be another reason.

See, I want you to realize that I know what I'm talking about
when I tell you ...

Simple effective plans executed with enthusiasm lead to great
success.

And here's a simple and effective plan that gives me and my
clients fantastic results every time I use it.

Step 1. Create a Linear Path

Have you ever put two bones in front of a dog? What does it
do?

Well, if you've done this before you'll know that the dog goes
crazy. He sniffs back and forth between the two bones in utter
confusion.

If you give a dog one bone what does he do?

He plays with it and then he buries it.

Humans are just like dogs.

If you give them too many bones to play with, they won't play
with any of them.

If your website has too many options, your surfers may click on
a few things, but each click will lack commitment. Why? Well,
my theory is that your surfer is wondering in the back of his
mind what those other clicks are all about. So, he's in a hurry
to get back to your main page and find out.

So, he clicks on a few links and then he leaves.

Get rid of it all. Strip each of your pages down to one thing
and one thing only.

Create a linear path to the result you want.

I know – you’re about to say, "But what if my visitor doesn’t
want that 'one thing?'"

Well, you have to ask yourself - would you rather have some
people do one thing, or all of them do nothing?

Test this out for yourself. Time and time again I have seen
singularly focused linear web pages "out-pull"
hodge-podge-links-going-everywhere sites on the order of 100
to 1.

What is that "one thing" your visitors should do? Well, it
could be ...

"Purchase my product," or ...

"Sign up for my newsletter," or ...

(If you want to turn your site into an epidemic) it could
be...

Step 2. Use Turbo-Charged Tell-a-Friend

It's fairly common for people to have a "tell a friend" script
on their sites, but most are going about it the wrong way.

Turbo-Charging your tell-a-friend action is simple. First, you
create a linear path to it. You make it the raison d'etre for
the page. Give them some great information and then ask them to
tell friends.

Next, change the way you're asking people to tell friends.
Don't just put it there on your site as a mild suggestion.
Create a compelling reason for them to do so.

It could be a reward of some sort of freebie, or ...

It could be access to a private members-only area, or ...

It could be nothing at all.

Huh? Ponder this for a while ...

Harvard social psychologist Ellen Langer once conducted an
experiment where she asked her students to cut in line at a
copy machine.

First she compared the following two approaches:

Case A: "Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox
machine?"

Case B: "Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox
machine because I’m in a rush."

It should surprise no one that 60% of those asked in Case A said
"yes" and 94% of those in Case B said yes.

In Case B, we have a more compelling reason. Case A is not very
convincing at all.

Here's where it gets interesting ...

Case C: "Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox
machine because I have to make some copies."

A shocking 93% of those asked in Case C said "yes."

" ... because I have to make some copies" is not a very
compelling argument, but notice the response.

The conclusion here was that simply using the word "because"
induced those asked to comply.

Try using this same approach on your Tell-a-Friend form and see
what happens.

A worthy test might be:

"Tell a friend about this website because it's Tuesday."

Or ...

"Tell a friend about this website because they will thank you
for it."

Write to me and tell me the results.

Step 3. Embody Buzzworthiness

Is that a word? My spellchecker and dictionary both say "no."
Please allow me to enter it into our lexicon.

I think it's a useful word to describe the most important factor
of all in viral marketing.

Why do people buzz about a website?

In some cases people tell friends about websites because they
will get paid to do so. Affiliate programs, MLMs, etc. all
bribe people to tell others their message. The problem here is
that people can smell a bribed disingenuous referral a mile
away. This is why you rarely see mega-buzz success based on
bribery.

Sometimes companies will offer other incentives like freebies,
etc. to incentivize referrals and again the result is much the
same.

The greatest viral marketing successes employed no such
heavy-handed tactics. They were just buzzworthy.

Take Napster for example. Napster is one of the most downloaded
pieces of software in the world (millions upon millions of
downloads) and they never bribed anyone to tell others. They
were just ... Well, buzzworthy.

Here's another example. How long do you think it took the
average citizen of Planet Earth to find out about the terrorist
attacks on the World Trade Center?

I would venture to say that within the first 24 hours anyone
living in an industrialized nation knew of this event.

Why did people tell others about that?

It, too, was buzzworthy.

The nature of buzzworthiness is an elusive thing, but you get
the idea ... Here are some hints:

Be very cool.

Be very new.

Be very newsworthy.

Be very important.

Be very useful ...

Just be very.

The more very you are, the more buzz you will get, and that will
serve as the trump card that will beat any other hand in the
viral marketing deck.

About The Author

Mark Joyner is a #1 best-selling author, one of the first online
marketing pioneers, and has sold millions and millions of dollars
in products and services over the Internet on a zero dollar ad
budget. His clients pay him $2,000 an hour for his consulting
services and he recently distilled his consulting lessons into
an easy and fun 36 day course you can start right now for free
at: http://hannes.simpleology.com/?blog