Internet Home Based Business - It�s
Not That Easy!
By Stephen Brennan
I�ve written before about amount of email I receive in the form of link
exchange requests. There�s no need to go into it all again but suffice
to say, with seven websites with varying subject matter and content, I
get my fair share of these requests by both email and through Linkmarket.net,
the link exchange scheme in which I am a member. I mention this not because
this is about the link requests, but about the opportunity that all these
requests present to view hundreds of other websites each week, mostly newer
ones and mostly home business or affiliate oriented.
In order to make a decision whether to link or not, I will look at each
website, not only the PR and traffic ranking, but the basic appearance
and layout will give me a reasonable insight into how serious they are,
how much they have researched and planned their website and consequently
their whole approach to their home business. I find this method is a reasonable
means to predict if the website will still be around in six months and
whether the owner will still be online at all.
I am sorry to say, while spending at least 4 - 5 hours a week at this
activity, I'm disappointed at the amount of people who are literally 'throwing'
a website together without any apparent planning (or basic knowledge about
how to actually go about it). The number of websites I see, which have
clearly no chance of serving a home business purpose at all, is staggering.
What's more staggering is what some people seem to view as 'viable'.
Lack of content (and I mean none at all) and no organised effort to
concentrate on any keywords or phrases at all, let alone a subject, are
the most obvious and numerous. There are many sites which are simply one
page, that's it. The page will contain two paragraphs on how "you've come
to the right place to get..." whatever it is, then a few totally unrelated
banners and 'obvious' affiliate links and perhaps a Google Adsense box.
From purely the point of view of Adsense revenue, the lack of content and
interest makes them useless, even for this.
Don't get me wrong, my purpose here is not to bemoan the quality of
these hastily prepared and ill-equipped websites, nor is it to lament the
abilities of those who have attempted them. My purpose is to impress on
these people and others planning the same route that home based business,
in any shape or form online has to be treated like any other business endeavour.
Would you put the same lack of effort and planning into the signage for
your 'bricks and mortar' business? Your website IS your shopfront!
No matter how many times you read that home business is easy and there's
millions to be made so quickly with so little effort or knowledge, I'm
afraid it's not true! I so often see the words, "no knowledge or effort
necessary" and then the figure per month or year that you can (or WILL)
earn. The one I get the most entertainment from is "let me build you a
website and you sit back and watch the money roll in"... Oh dear!
Ask anyone who has spent more than six months online, trying to earn
a dollar (not necessarily an income) and they'll tell you that you can't
expect to be the least bit successful without at least some basic knowledge
and a fair bit of effort. Of course, there are those who have been lucky
enough to strike something at the right time, in the right place and manage
to be hugely successful in a short period, but these are few (if indeed
they exist at all in more than single digits).
Like any business endeavour, you need to plan, you need to research
and you need to go about your chosen business systematically, with the
right tools and the right information. Your main asset, the one most people
will see as their first and only impression of you and your product or
service, is your website. How can it simply be an 'afterthought' or a hastily
thrown together page with no thought as to how it appears to those who
may visit.
A reasonable imaging option usually comes with most operating programs.
They have their limitations, of course, but until you can invest in something
more elaborate, these programs can be used to put together a reasonable
header or logo. Goodness, website templates, some of which are not too
bad, are free! There's no reason why anyone shouldn't be able to come up
with, at least, a presentable website (mine are certainly not works of
art, but I believe they are 'presentable').
Of course, someone who has no experience online at all, will need to
include a little html or php knowledge in their 'research' phase. But it
really isn't that hard to get a handle on the basic concepts and go from
there, especially with all the free help available online at forums and
related websites.
Content and concentration on specific keywords and phrases is critical
if anyone wishes to have a chance in the Search Engines. How to right decent
copy and the simple knowledge about what methods to use to attract or to
not 'put-off' your visitors is as important however, many tend to go into
an online business without, it would seem, much of a grasp of any of this.
There are numerous webmaster oriented forums that new webmasters can
go to for friendly advice from those who have been at it for years and
a home business with a website has to have a 'webmaster', like it or not.
I've had people say to me that they want to get into an Internet home business
but they don't want to bother with learning about html etc. My advice to
them in this case, is to forget it, unless they have hundreds or even thousands
to pay for someone to build a site, let alone the ongoing maintenance it
will need, often daily!
It's not as if you need to be able to write html 'freehand'. The programs,
which are again, available with most operating systems or 'office extensions',
make the task quite simple, with a small understanding. I started years
ago with MS Frontpage® (part of the MS Office® package) and I still
use it today because it's so simple to use (the same 2000 version I started
on). I can write 'freehand' html code if I have to, but why when I don't
need to? But like everything, you have to get off your butt and have a
look, in order to discover that it's not really that difficult.
My advice to those who want to do it properly is to look at the websites
that are involved in the same type of home business. Do the research, read
about Internet home business and/or affiliate marketing until your eyes
water. God knows there's enough material online to last anyone for a million
years. Disseminating the worthwhile can be a chore, but that's where much
of the learning occurs and remember, this is your BUSINESS you're talking
about, not a part-time dalliance, or at least it shouldn't be.
Like any other endeavour, be it business, hobby, sport or otherwise,
you will only get out of it what you put into it. You'll find that those
who have been successful in an online home business, are those who have
learnt the value of knowledge, information, know-how, call it whatever
you like. Many successful home businesspeople have had slow and inauspicious
beginnings, just like most of those who are hard at it now, but they made
it with this knowledge and by applying it to their home business.
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