A New Home Based Business - Low Risk Options To Consider


by B Thomsen - Date: 2007-04-11 - Word Count: 815 Share This!

In starting a new home-based business there are many ways this can impact you and your relationships with your family and friends. If done carefully and thoughtfully this can be a positive thing. If done with the expectation of getting rich quickly, this article is not for you. Before quiting your job, giving up security, and investing time and money into a possibility, affiliate marketing can in certain cases be any easy thing to test out. I am writing from the perspective of a person with lots of life experience as a professional in the public school system and as a parent and husband whose income continues to gradually decrease as the cost of health care increases. My process of finding a solution for this has been to begin carefully searching for online income opportunities. I have tried out 3 affiliate programs, all require low expense. All are programs I'll continue to expirement with in order to suppliment my current secure employment income. I encourage you to do your own due diligence and find programs that you are comfortable with once you have checked them out. Here is the protocol I now follow for myself. I keep a checklist of what to avoid and what to look for at this point.

THINGS TO LOOK FOR: Low initial cost; clear picture of what you get (not a promise of "If you this...", but tangible and concrete list of exactly what comes to you as resources to start with); specified training and teaching materials list before purchase; can income start quickly and with a simple process that is concretely spelled out?; exactly what is your commission?; exactly what monthly or annual expenses go into maintaining your own site as their affiliate?

THINGS TO AVOID: Claims of getting rich quickly and easily; claim that the program you are reading about is a closely guarded secret; a guarantee that money will be made.

Currently I have 3 programs for which I am an affiliate, and I am learning as I go with little time, but consistancy. I will likely stick with all three. My bottom line reasoning is this....All three bring in enough to cover the basic expense of the website being hosted by a hosting company, and all three bring in enough to pay for my high speed internet connection. As long as those are covered, I am losing nothing....even if I do nothing. These expenses are tax deductable.

Now...If I actually do a bit of work sporadically I'm likely to make a bit of money. If I do regular work, even minimal work, but with some discipline, I am likely to bring in a few hundred dollars after expenses each month. Here is a description of the expense and work involved, and an honest appraisal of my ability to use each program. The first program had a 1 time cost of $100.00, it came with fairly unclear set up and training materials that were frustrating at times. It did not have a website pre-made, it did not have web hosting paid for. The second one is in a niche market - a very specific product, with a small commission, but very clear explanation of what I get and what I don't get. This one is a high interest area, that I can honestly and readily tell people is worth purchasing. I enjoy marketing this product on a personal level. It did not have a website or hosting provided. For these first two programs, I had to learn how to design basic websites, buy software, and buy webhosting. This took time to learn, and I purchased these things carefully and have gotten what I've paid for. Nothing fancy, but using this software and the hosting company I chose has become fairly easy after several weeks of training myself.

The third program has a very high commission of 75%, a 1 time cost of $49.00, and very well organized hosting that is much easier to use than the first company I signed up with. This has a free website provided for me, that I control by editing in my own name and web address, and my own words for what the product does. At first I was skeptical, but I looked a bit more closely and have tried it out. It is low cost, and the only expense is the initial fee and the price of web hosting. Any affiliate program will require these expenses. No training was required to make a website. It does come with a comprehensive series of training books online. Each book covers a different strategy to market a website, and gives a clearly spelled out step by step guide and plan for each strategy. Now, actually doing each strategy well takes some time and expirimenting, but...the step by step explanation is very helpful and clear. I am now applying 2 of these strategies, methodically, to my other websites as well.


Related Tags: affiliate marketing, income, e-commerce, home-based-business, building wealth, part time income

To see a comparison of online marketing opportunities visit

http://www.moneyintegrity.com

On this site, The Ultimate Wealth Package provided what I needed most for all my current affiliate programs.

Brant Thomsen is a family centered person, whose highest priority is serving his wife and 3 daughters. For a creative writing project in the spring of 2006, Brant and his older daughter begin a website that reviews books written for girls, about girls, about girl issues, and written by girls/women. It has turned into an experience where father and daughter are learning about internet marketing, financial responsibility, saving for college, and most importantly focusing your work on things you care about. In this case, it's the life issues facing todays girls and young women, and the books that reflect these issues, that led to experimentation with internet marketing.

Here is Brant most current website: http://www.moneyintegrity.com

Here is his daughter's website: http://www.strengthwithin.org

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