Home Business Blog

If you have worked at home for a while and have had success in the past but now seem to be floundering on the brink of frustration, then it is most likely something you are doing differently.  I know this seems like a simplistic concept, but true nonetheless.

I have been working online for over six years, largely with SFI and as an affiliate marketer for various companies.  About 4 years ago I developed my own website to market these products.   For the first two years I was very successful in earnings.  I knew I had found the key to unlock the online marketing phenomenon.  What happened then was something honest experienced Internet marketers will tell you is common.  The bottom fell out for no apparent reason.  Thankfully this is not my only source of income, but if it was I would be in dire straits.

Like any inexperienced marketer the first thing I did was blame the programs that I was promoting.  So I started reaching for programs that were “working” for others in the hopes they would bring some income in for me.  I crashed and burned in this approach.

Last fall a light bulb went off over my head and I asked myself some questions:

• 1. Why did I still want to work online when I wasn’t making any money?
• 2. Are the programs I am promoting attractive to the online marketplace?
• 3. I made money before, why not now?
• 4. What am I doing different now as opposed to three years ago?

These questions are important to think about if you are having the same problems, because the cause of your loss of income is in those questions.

1. Why did I still want to work online when I wasn’t making any money?

The answer is an obvious one for me…I like it.  I am retired, I have the time, I like the challenge of online marketing, I like meeting new people.

2. Are the programs I am promoting attractive to the online marketplace?

This one might take a little soul searching and self-analysis.  Why are you promoting them?  Would you purchase them?  Are they attractive to you as a consumer, forget the income side of the equation for now, think like a consumer.   Are these programs making any money for you?   How long have you been promoting them?  I figure if it is a program that I have promoted for 60 days and I have made no money from it, then I change it out, and put it on the backburner to be promoted at a later date, or eliminate altogether.

3. I made money before, why not now?

Something changed obviously.  But what was it?  We have already determined that the programs might be the cause, but what about how you market?  What has changed there, something must have to account for a loss of income.   Are you spending more than you are making on advertising?  That was a big one for me.   Are you marketing to those who would have an interest in your product?  Do you know enough about your product to promote it efficiently?  No one can tell you what the answer is but yourself.

4. What am I doing different now as opposed to three years ago?

It is time for self-reflection.  Go back (hopefully you kept records) and see where you advertised before, what the outcome was of this advertising.  What did you market and to whom?  All the little things you did before, are you still doing them?  Or have you become so “experienced” that you feel you have evolved into a “guru”?

I did all of the above and found in the past year and a half, I had started to fall into the familiar trap of hype programs that really had no substance.   I had changed my advertising from all free advertising to all paid advertising.   I stopped advertising my residual income programs and started promoting only the fly by night programs that have no proven track record.   I ignored the advice of my mentors and friends who offered advice.   I had become another statistic of online marketing.  I was no longer happy with what I was promoting.

For me being honest and happy in a business is paramount to success.  I have worked at “JOBS” that are not as rewarding as working from home.  Being my own boss is wonderful!  So when the profits started to fall I had no one to blame but myself; and there was no one to fix the problem but myself!

Starting January 1, 2010 it was back to basics with my home business.  I am happy to report a profit for the first time in six months.   This is due to no advertising costs, a more streamlined website with more affordable work at home ideas, and most important an emphasis on residual income in the form of Strong Future International and the development of a down line who is active and as excited as I am to be working online.