Maybe there’s comfort in being part of a bigger enterprise or a feeling of security or greater potential for success with a franchisor.  You have to weigh the odds.

Going into your own business is not always a good decision. Easily, it can be your worst decision for a variety of reasons. You need to answer a lot of questions in advance of thinking about being your own boss.

Your experiences, talents, skills, expertise fall near the top of the scale. Money is an obvious consideration, too, but it is only ONE concern as you weigh the decision.

First, understand that NOT everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur or a business owner. Sure, if you have unlimited funds and can hire the expertise needed, go for it. Our focus is on the “average” guy or gal who thinks owning their own business is in their future. Sometimes it’s in the “genes” or family tree. At other times, it’s all about the money.

Don’t do it for the money! If you first think about your skills and abilities it means you’re on the right track. Ask yourself why? How? When? plus talk with successful business owners. Learn about the experiences others in business have had, how they handle employees, customer service, technical and mechanical challenges depending on the type of business. Would they hire YOU? Be your mentor?

In our opinion, you need to think about what you LOVE to do. Your next question is…. can you turn a hobby, an interest or your experiences into an income stream needed for your financial security. Just because you like to sing or ride motorcycles, drive race cars, cook, bake cakes, etc…. you get the picture…. play football, the piano, etc. For the majority of people, some of us, the challenge is becoming a “star” able to turn our hobbies into an income source.

We’ve owned franchises in our business career as well as non-franchised businesses. What would I do today is a good question but my answer may not be right for you. In simplest terms, I would go to work for another franchisee or the franchisor if possible BEFORE pulling out my checkbook. Maybe even work free if necessary to get a good dose of exposure to the business.

For a non-franchise it would mean I’ve spent a considerable length of time in the same industry working for someone else on their invested dollars. There are reasons this can happen for you but only do it for the right reasons, not to take business away from your employer.

Integrity and trust are mandatory ties to success in whatever business you choose. You may want to try a home based business where many are turning today.  Some folks choose Internet Marketing while others prefer network Marketing for various reasons.  Only YOU can decide the best route for you and your family.

Let’s dream a little about your financial security and the benefits of having, what we call, the Plan B. We understand that all of us have different opinions about a home based business. Responses are “don’t want one” or “we have no need ” to work at home, we understand.

Even if you think you don’t need to have a Plan B for financial security, please humor us and think about what happens in the workforce everyday. Obviously, if you have more money than you can spend then feel free to hit the delete key. Otherwise, hang with us for a few thoughts that may prove valuable to you.

None of us ever want to go home and tell our spouse that we lost our job today, we got FIRED! My prayer is that you will never have that experience but most of us do, sooner or later. It’s almost a given that working for an employer can have a surprise ending that we never saw coming our way. Change has happened, employers are less concerned about long-term employees welfare than bottom line profits.

Companies do go bankrupt but that’s not necessary for your job to vanish with the stroke of a pen. All of us have seen outsourcing or downsizing decisions made in recent years that immediately reduced the head count, eliminating hundreds, even thousands of jobs we thought were secure.

We’ve all seen hundreds of businesses move whole departments to another state, to offshore locations or simply sell off parts of the business to another firm and eliminate the need for employees. Employees have been seen walking out of the firm with a security guard, just in case, someone decides to go “postal”.

Usually, it’s about financial decisions the company has been forced to make for survival in a tough economy. Even if we understand and know that’s the real problem it still causes the employees who’ve been terminated to face new challenges in their career choices or an unknown future.

It’s not about losing your job but having NO money that takes your confidence level downhill. All you need is to be fired from your job, career or whatever income source you enjoy that can change your attitude and causes you to think about a Plan B in your future. We all know that unemployment checks from the Government are better than nothing but it’ll never give you financial security like a Plan B.

Some Internet resources are available for training the home based business entrepreneur. However, caution is imperative or you can get scammed big time and lose or waste your money. YOU are making decisions that affect your family’s financial security whether you work for an employer or have your own business. In our opinion it makes sense to have a paycheck while working on your Plan B. Multiple streams of income will be something you’ll enjoy through the benefit of your new found financial security.

Autoresponders can address each email sent out to subscribers with the recepients name, date and other personal information if desired by the sender. Your friends, church buddies, vendors can all do it with the push of a button.

Like many products and services we enjoy today, most developed within the last 5 or 10 years, autoresponders automation is simply using smart computer systems. Automation or robot type computers is the success key to greater profits for the home based business owners.

What happened before we had the autoresponders?Thinking back to earlier times, we used to print out labels, fold letters by the hundreds and stuffed them into an envelope to promote various products, especially in the mail order business. That’s so far back in my career it’s almost too fuzzy to recall.

You probably remember the “selectric” typewriter if you’ve been in the business world for a few years along with the awesome discovery of white-out for the office typists and secretaries. When she/he made a typing error it was almost like magic removal with WO. Carbon copies challenged the process but WO was used by most typists and secretaries for many years.

I’m guessing that very few of the workforce today has ever heard of the “robo-typer”, an automatic typing machine we used in the mail-order business. Typing at speeds of 75 words per minute [wpm] without errors was almost too good to be true. One typist could run 5 or 6 machines 8 hours a day producing personalized letters.

The main job of the “operator” was feeding 8-1/2 x 11 sheets of paper into the rollers, keying in the name and address of a customer or prospect then hit the “type” button. One operator could turn out hundreds of individually typed letters on a daily basis. It was a tedious job for one person but a few breaks helped along with good coffee.

Automation has continued to make many typists jobs obsolete. Companies have invested thousands of dollars to purchase the latest advancements in equipment for various robot type jobs. Internet Marketing has caused a huge change in how businesses communicate by email with their customers and prospects.

With available systems today, a home based business owner can “look like” a huge operation that would have required hundreds of employees in prior years to do the same thing. Autoresponder services are rented from various vendors for a nominal monthly fee. Location of the system is not a concern and readily available 24/7.

Researching your options makes sense. There are a few processes involved in setting up your lists on an autoresponder along with a letter series, etc. but it truly is a no-brainer vs buying the equipment to install in your own offices. Home based businesses that we call our Plan B are growing expotentially across America.

Internet Marketers are usually trying to build a list of subscribers to introduce more of their affiliate products. Obviously, we like it when our subscribers invite their friends to join us, too. When you have a product so exciting that everyone virals it out on the www…. you’ve got a big winner. A money maker in action.

On the other side is Network marketing where you introduce your new found “whatever” to your friends. Huge groups, BIG successful people are right on in the network marketing business. Home parties are big deals in networking, connecting with friends and neighbors.

Some groups meet in hotels where members bring invited guests. Your phone is your tool for dialing, dialing, dialing. You gotta talk to people wherever you find them. Sometimes you’re talking to personal friends and strangers in the same hour.

You’ve heard it said…. just call more people or you’re not working hard enough. Buy leads, use call rooms where the professionals do the calling. You also might hear….. NFL which means… [NO Friends Left] …instead of the National Football League.

I’m guessing that the majority of people don’t want to be bothered. Sure, some will go along with your new found product simply because you’re their friend. Unfortunately, you’ll be disappointed when they don’t do anything. They’ll NEVER do what you think they will to build a home based business.

With that said…. Internet Marketing and Network Marketing go-getters or doers have some extraordinary success stories to share with whomever will listen. I’m not sure if it’s good or bad….. it seems that nobody likes to SELL…. which is long term proof that a successful sales person makes top money.

Rejection is the BIG problem. Very Few of us like to be rejected by friends or strangers either. A good sales rep. accepts the challenge and profits because of their understanding of the issues and action necessary to finally get a hearing in the buyers department and most often an order after numerous attempts.

Even a great sales person does not really like rejection anymore than the next guy. He/she just rolls with the punches in the marketplace knowing they are selling a quality product that the prospect needs to know about. After many tries for an audience, usually five to eight times of calling, knocking, dialing, a prospect may at least give you the time of day.

Giving up too soon knocks most newbies out of the game. Persistence is the #1 success key in sales. You’ll never be out unless you quit. Keep getting up! No sales person wins every battle for a variety of reasons. Most of the time you have no clue but you simply keep knocking until you have a route or group to serve. Arriving, getting an order, after many days of rejection is a good thing. It’s time to celebrate your success.

My choice of the two, Internet or Networking, is building my business through Internet Marketing. You don’t have to bother [call] people who don’t have an interest and it’s easier to work day or night, on your own schedule.

Never let the marketplace overwhelm you when you begin your Internet Marketing business. Remember, you don’t have to get everything perfect before you begin. It’s nice to learn more each day, fix the goofs or any mistakes whenever they show up, but perfection is not a beginners requirement.

Success as an Internet Marketer requires that you take action, not procrastinate. Experience is the best teacher in most businesses. We call that the [SHK] or “School of Hard Knocks” in our business. You may want to offer helping another Internet Marketer for a nominal salary, even free if necessary. Your offer to help another Internet marketer may prove to be the best investment you can make to learn the business.

Be your own person, don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. All of us need guidance, helpful answers before we can move forward with our home based business. There’s always new software or old programs that must be updated for us to stay current and competitive running an Internet Marketing business.

Think in reasonable increments of growth and business success. Sure, there are always going to be the super stars who excell beyond everyone else. NFL football and NBA basketball players are the exception, not the norm or expectation for 99% of the workforce in America and around the world. Some of the best players make more money in 3 or 4 games than most of us make in a life-time.

What someone else earns has no relavency to your income. There will always be top earners, middle earners, followed by those making minimum wage. A huge 16-18% are under-employed along with the currently unemployed workforce according to Government statistics in the USA.

None of us can afford to waste our time worrying about someone else’s success. Your challenge is simply to make the best life possible for you and your family. Money is nice to have when all the other pieces come together for you. However, money and chaos are not good partners.

Joy comes into our lives when we are busy doing God’s WILL. Something special happens when we get our focus headed in the right direction rather than on our own thing or selfish ambitions. Believe in who you are and focus on building a successful Internet Business.

Let us hear from you.  It will help us reach out and touch more people in a positive way.  What are you experiencing as you seek a new career in Internet Marketing?  Have you discovered an exciting program to recommend to us?  Update us on your progress, your frustrations.  Write to us

To those of us who have many years as recruiters in the temporary or staffing business, the answer is quite obvious. Flexibility in running a business is a great asset to avoid making bad hiring decisions. Sometimes we don’t need another person on our staff long-term but to handle short-term projects.

We have quick demand projects which causes an immediate need for extra help to get the job done quickly to meet a customer deadline.  Temporary help proves to be a very valuable asset in our business when we face early deadlines.

As important as flexibility is in managing your business, there are other valuable and beneficial reasons to seek help from an outside recruiting service. Response time is extremely important when customers are pushing for faster service from their vendors.

There is no time for us to find employees or screen for specific talents needed on a short-term notice. A temporary service is constantly seeking and testing for skills and talents needed to provide a good service on short notice from their clintele.

Cost of the employee from a local temp service is usually at a competitive hourly rate. An employer expects the service to make a profit along with mandatory taxes included in their hourly charge rate. Employees are usually paid an hourly rate in line with their talents or particular skills to do the job for the client.

As you’ve heard many times before, it’s not the hourly rate being charged but beneficial results that a client or customer seeks in running their own business. No supervisor or manager expects the temporary employee to be less than the service promised by their contact or consultant at the temporary service.

Most temporary services guarantee that their client/customer will be pleased with the performance of the temporary or there will be NO charge even though the temp service will pay the employee. Some of the most talented and skilled workers in America enter the workforce on a short-term basis. It’s great exposure to potential employers without the usual 30 minute interview.

Never think of a temporary employee as less talented than full-time staff. Often times, the temporary person has far more training and expertise than the average full-time employee and produces quality work at a much faster pace than you might expect from a person coming into your office or plant from the outside.

Age is not a factor, race, marital status, religion are not concerns of the client when temporary staffing is the goal to achieve production. Nobody cares when saving a job or a client’s business is the issue to be solved. Your work schedules are often behind and can be quickly caught up with additional staff. Expanding your options by staffing services is a good management decision backed by quality performance standards you can count on when using a quality temporary service in your area.

Particularly, for the home based business owner, growth spurts or quick growth in their business can easily be managed by using employees from a temporary service. Next time you find yourself under the “gun” or faced with a need for help in your business, make the call and experience the benefits of temporary help.

Thirty years ago [30] I got fired [downsized, layed off, screwed] but it’s all the same thing meaning my weekly paycheck suddenly stopped coming. For almost 5 years I gave my employer the best I had to give and still got kicked out the door with little thought or appreciation.

How could this happen? Our region was awesome, great profits delivered every month to the home office. Good employees everywhere doing a superb job. Committed, loyal, the best group of people we could muster for our employer.

I’m guessing that’s how you feel about your job, your team of associates. Probably thinking your position is secure, no way your boss could do without you, right? I’m with you and thought the same way until change happened on my watch without severance pay, immediate loss of insurance benefits, no vacation either because the company was going in a new direction.

As you might guess, I went home with my confidence and spirits shot.  My thoughts went to having a bride, 3 young children under 10 years old, 2 car payents monthly and a mortgage on our home.  Looking out into the carport did not send excitement, only dispare looming in our future.  Did anybody care?  No need to mention that we buy groceries weekly and our usual consumption is a given.

Truth is your position may be secure, I hope so. However, nothing will feel better than having another stream of income “just in case” the boot comes and you’re not expecting it. Your Plan B is the key to financial security for your family. That’s our goal for the American workforce so none of us end up in the unemployment lines looking for another job.

For many years our business was helping people find employment on a temporary basis as well as full-time employment. Searching for employment, taking tests, interviewing for a new position is one of the toughest challenges any of us face, all on our own dime, no pay.

One thought to keep in mind is that something better is coming your way. Believe it and you’ll see it when it arrives. As told above, I got fired because the company wanted to eliminate my salary and keep the business we had built for them over a 5 year period. Another thought for you is to know that your security belongs to you, not your employer.

You’re asking, who won and I delight in sharing the details. We started a new company to serve our clientele and the business stayed with us for the next 25 years when we sold to a national firm willing to pay for our assets of value to the marketplace as it should be.

Even if you own the company, have an excellent income, don’t put “all your eggs” in one basket, i.e. tie up all your assets with one or just a few clients. Diversity is your key to long-term success and financial security is our long range goal.

If you do find yourself searching for an employer in your future, make an appointment with a staffing service and get an update on your skills and learn what employers are looking for in new employees.  Be sure you and the assigned recruiter “connect” with each other.  Listen and learn what’s going on in the marketplace where you seek employment.  Lots more but this give you a start.

Let us hear from you.  It will help us reach out and touch more people in a positive way.  What are you experiencing as you seek a new career?  Are salaries high?  Low?  Fair?  Are interviewers giving you the facts about their firm?  Job security?  We invite you to share your experiences with us.

Second best choice is a home based business. Since winning the lottery is 100 million to 1 odds it seems prudent to focus on searching the Internet for your next income stream and start a home business sooner than later.

Walking down the hall and being in your office pronto is a nice change. Driving to work, fighting traffic along with road rage is nerves on edge. Finding a parking place, dressing up, eating out are all expenses you don’t have at your home office. You have to decide the pros and cons to make a personal decision.

However, a Plan B does not require quitting your employer. Maybe you’ll want to do both, have an employer as well as a second income stream from a home business. Much depends on your choices, your family, needs of your children or care taker issues.

Flexibility will be the most appealing benefit of your own home business. You’re not subject to pleasing a boss or supervisor’s demands when YOU are the boss.

There are no magic buttons to push for immediate income in a home business. If you find one please notify us immediately so we can join your team. Time and work are givens regardless of your choices.

You can do Networking, make personal contacts, hold home parties, etc. Others choose the Internet Marketing route but there are still demands on your time in the beginning unless you hire employees to do the work.

Virtual Assistants is another option to consider as your work increases. Talented and skilled workers are available through outsourcing your work without hiring employees directly. You can hire a Virtual Assistant for a few hours weekly or daily according to your business needs. Location of your VA is usually a non-issue for most jobs you want to outsource.

Business is all about managing the details. You’ll look like a huge enterprise to the world, no one has to know that you’re working from a bedroom or over top your garage. Your luxury convertible is idling below until you take a break for the mall, take a vacation or pick up the kids at school.

Automation, the Internet, Virtual Assistants have basically changed the opportunities of running your own business without employees. Working alone is not difficult when you can come and go as you please. Your hours are yours to manage. Not a bad choice if you are disciplined and focused on your goals.

One of the huge benefits of email marketing is NO postage expense, no cost for paper or ink either. Add an autoresponder service to automate your mailing list, set up a series of letters and you’re ready to communicate with your customers, prospects too. How many letters? It’s unlimited, send out as many emails as you wish.

However, there are a few considerations you need to think about. Before sending out an avalanche of email letters, ask yourself and your leadership team about your frequency of contact by email. How many email messages can you send to your subscribers list before someone starts to complain, maybe some have lost interest in your club, gets fed up and unsubscribes from your list.

Let’s assume that you and your love [spouse] have recently joined a local garden club, you’ve started planting flowers, rose bushes, dwarf trees and learning all about how to aerate, cut and fertilize your lawn. Suddenly, you are spending your flexible hours with a different group with different interests.

You also enjoy riding a Harley Roadking motorcycle across America or you’re into Corvette cars and belong to the Corvette Car Club…. email mixing is NOT a good idea.   

You have two real interests [hobbies] Harley Davidson [motorcycles] and Flowers [Garden Club] which are at opposite ends of the favorites list. Our point about your email marketing system is the necessity of writing to each group according to their interests. I’m guessing that about 75% of your Harley Riders have no interests in hearing about your Garden Club.

You can add your jogging dancers, race cars, playing the piano, guitar, banjo and hundreds more. It’s not necessary for everyone you know or spend time with to have the same interests, jobs, careers or focus.

However, most of us do like to spend time with family and friends who like the same things and experiences we do.  As an email Marketer you have to focus your messages according to the interests of your buyers and subscribers.  Don’t mix then up.

As a home based business owner, you can build lists of people who show interests in a variety of categories, even sub-categories so you can write specifically focused on their choices. Mail-order has the same member characteristics of like-minded interests and focus.

Nothing seems to be slowing down the flow of email messages to hundreds of thousands of clients and prospects on huge systems of automation every day. Sign up on a mailing list one time and you can be overwhelmed with the messages that keep coming without letting up.  Either you enjoy the messages or it’s your choice to unsubscribe. 

Testing your advertising methods is the key to knowing. None of us have a magic wand to prove that we’re on the right track with our advertising budget. You can throw your dollars out there and hope for good results. However, you’ll find out quickly that opinions are good but provide our business with no validity or confirmation of the results.

Google is not your only option so be open to learning about yahoo, bing and other resources for PPC advertising of your personal product or an affiliate product through clickbank. If all of this is foreign to you then we’ll tell you about the online university style training that we use.

Search the forums like “warrior” and others where lots of internet marketers share their experiences. Don’t rush to begin your IM journey without first learning from the best trainers. Some services and most forums are free to join by simply signing up. If you have a little cash, it may be worth spending a few bucks to connect with those guru types who charge a monthly fee.

Your education online is the quickest and most valuable investment you’ll ever make. Think about what you would ask in $$ for your training or to share your experiences if you were making lots of money every month as an Internet Marketer. My guess is we all would expect to be paid for our time and expertise. You are the only person who can make that decision about spending money to learn IM, buy a franchise, start a business, etc.

Our best advice and suggestion is that you build multiple streams of income with a Plan B. Don’t expect something for nothing or you’ll be disappointed. A home based business and Internet Marketing is a great combination if you’re willing to invest some time. As the PotPieGirl says, do for a year what others won’t do……. and you can do forever what others can’t do….. set realistic goals and stick to the challenge for 12 months makes sense.

Lots of TOOLS are available at nominal cost for the home business entrepreneur. If you have a job, keep it until your Plan B is working for you. Never give up a paycheck without replacing it with a bigger one.

Be sure to check out the RESOURCES listed above on this page.