Internet Home Based Business

Starting an internet based home business is not easy, in fact it can be very time consuming and very expensive. Finding an idea that you like can take hours of research, and sometimes can drain your bank account in the process of chasing after your dreams. Another thing to consider is that you don't always want to take the easy road, especially when it comes to starting a business. Most of first opportunities that people get sucked into end up being the get rich quick schemes that they were trying to avoid in the first place.

This article will give you a basic look at what legitimate opportunities are out there for starting an internet home based business. It will also try to inspire you and get those creativity wheels turning in your head in order to find an idea for your internet business that you will love doing every day. I will also help you to navigate some of the predatory scams that are out there right now as to avoid the heartache and financial loss.

The first obstacle that people face in starting any business is coming up with an idea that they feel will work for them. There is a great article about this very topic at, Internet Based Home Business Ideas, that you can check out. The place that I would start is brainstorming about what you would love to do. For most people it is better to just start out brainstorming about what they know. The look at ideas that are based on the field they are currently working in and try to develop the business idea for the Internet. So get out a pen and paper and start listing things that you love to do, and try to determine if the format could be changed to accommodate an Internet business. There are ample opportunities out there for anyone. Some of the more successful online businesses involve freelancing.

One thing you can do, if you don't have a budget, or maybe you have a low budget, to start generating some income working from home is to start freelancing. Freelancing gives you the ability to outsource your skills to companies all over the world. I made my first $500 online by freelancing on a site called Elance.com. There is another similar website called Odesk that also allows you to freelance. These sites have real companies all over the world that are looking for service providers to fulfill temporary, and some times long term needs. The companies list the project that they need assistance with, and you as a provider will bid on that project just like a sub-contractor bids on building projects. Both Elance and Odesk are absolutely free to sign up. They give you a limited number of bids per month that are included with their free membership. If you would like to bid on more projects, you can buy more bids. I made my first $500 off of Elance without ever spending a dime.

 This is an idea for working from home that has very little start up costs and would be very simple to obtain jobs and projects for companies.  The initial costs would include setting up your website, buying your domain name, getting hosting for your site.  Then the majority of your time would be spent marketing your business to companies in order to complete research.  There are opportunities out there to do all kinds of research projects for companies that would rather outsource to another company than to pay someone a full time salary to do the work.  An example is a company out of Boston hired me to research their national competition before deciding to go national.  They pretty much had Boston cleaned up, but didn't have a clue as to their competition outside their immediate area.  This project took several months, and was completely conducted from my home, on the internet, and over the phone.

If I were to tell you, that you could wake up every day, and be an assistant to an executive from New York City, all from your home through the phone and Internet what would you say? How about an executive from Hong Kong? How about a mother of 4 from Nebraska that doesn't have time to sneeze? A virtual assistant is just that, an individual that assists someone in need from a distance. Most of the time the interview and the entire job is handled through e-mail and over the phone. Some of the tasks a virtual assistant does is managing a calendar and scheduling meetings, answering e-mails, answering the phone (through the brilliance of call forwarding), managing employees. Sometimes you can elect to be a local virtual assistant and run errands for people, do research for projects. There are endless opportunities if you are creative enough. People also use the virtual assistant field to work their way into places they might not ever get an interview or job. It really can open doors for you to work in all kinds of different industries.

There are some easy traps set out there in cyberspace that people get caught up in every day. Here are some examples:

ASSEMBLY FROM HOME – This involves getting paid for assembling toys, dolls, or other craft projects at home. Normally you will be paid per piece that you complete. Their scam is that they try to convince you that you are an “employee” of their company, you just are working at home. These companies will charge you a fee for their “starter” kit (this is how they make their money), and when you complete your assembly of their products, mysteriously they “don’t meet company specifications.”

MEDICAL BILLING – Similar to the assembly from home jobs, these companies sell you a starter set of all the “equipment” you need to get started. The initial investment required is usually upwards of $500-$1000 just to get started. Most medical clinics and physicians process their own bills anyway. So basically you get stuck with an out of date "potential client” list and out of date software that won’t meet the specifications of medical offices who do their own billing anyway. Good luck trying to get a refund.

EMAIL PROCESSING – Do you remember an old con called "envelope stuffing"? Like the others, for a low fee, $50 or more, you can start processing e-mails for companies and get paid for it. You can do this from the comfort of your own home. Sounds great doesn’t it? What you end up is training on how to spam the same information you responded to, and send it to blogs and message boards.

Over the long run is the name of the game. Too often I encounter people who just want to get rich quick and are not looking for a home internet based business opportunity, and are not willing to put in the work required to get a business up and running. But, if you are willing to plant the seeds, water them, and watch them grow, then you can be successful. If things are getting too heavy, consider taking on a partner to help shoulder some of the load. There are legitimate opportunities out there for anyone who is willing to be dedicated and hard working. So come up with your idea, buy your domain name, get your website hosted and set up and start marketing. And then market some more. After the initial set up you will spend 90% of your time marketing and 10% working for the clients you do get. Don't get caught up thinking that you must have some sort of product, or re-invent the wheel. If you focus on helping others, and providing a service, then most often you will find success.

For a more in-depth look at starting your own internet based home business, or coming up with an internet home based business idea, please visit Internet Based Home Business Guide.

This is a short video to show as an example of how a family with 7 kids found a way to start an internet business and create an additional stream of income for your family. This video should be viewed as a reminder to keep your eyes open for opportunities and if you work hard, you can be successful on the internet.