Smart Steps For New Online Entrepreneurs

Recently I had a friend call regarding what type of online business I had. She went further and asked if I would be willing to let her know how much I was a earning a month. This immediately started ringing alarm bells in my head. So I asked, "Do you mind me asking you why YOU are asking me these questions"? This particular woman was fairly well off, had a beautiful home and traveled as she pleased!

Unfortunately for her mother, "A Baby Boomer", recent events with the turn of real estate and investments she had placed money in, she had lost a significant amount of money and was extremely concerned that her way of life was going to change.

Before she let another day pass, she wanted to be pro-active in supplementing her income so that she would not have to worry. Getting "online" was new and scary because she had heard about some of the out-and-out lies
being told by some companies.

She had also been told that I was a budding entrepreneur and was doing fairly well currently with my endeavors with Renegade Network Marketer . So prompted the phone call and our journey togther.

Now before I go on, I would like to tell you that this woman was no dummy! She sold real estate with her husband for many years and had invested a LOT of money - mostly in real estate and had done very well. They are like many people in their generation though, that have investments collapsing around them. She didn't want to struggle within the same industry as before and she had NO clue about online business. She had only mastered the art of emailing within the last year.

Upon our first phone conversation she listed her concerns as follows:

1. She wanted information from people she trusted.
2. She wanted/needed information that was appropriate to her.
3. She wanted an opportunity to learn, grow AND make money.
4. She also wanted something fairly easy to set-up.
5. She didn't want to get suckered into a scam!

Now, knowing the passionate person that I am, my GOAL was to provide the things she was looking for and coach her through even the most mundane computer skills needed to succeed. Generally speaking, I don't have people in this type of situation so I needed to be careful about how much information I gave at any given time so as not to "overload" her.

This turned out to be a fabulous experience for both of us! I came away with great knowledge about an industry I knew nothing about, realized that I had another avenue to help others and developed another long-lasting friendship!

Here is what we put together for her and how it may help you:

1. We talked together about her specific needs and asked her to pull together a group of individuals to assist. We started her online chatting in a business network . This helped in two major ways:

A. It helped get her used to typing and conversing online.
B. It introduced her to people within her genre she was interested in.

2. We talked about what she was passionate about. Knowing so much about real estate within several cities was a huge, wealth of untapped knowledge but what if she was burned out from that? What would that do to her motivation? You guessed it - NOT interested!

3. So we brainstormed about what she was passionate about:

A. Gardening - Her property was absolutely beautiful & self planted!
B. She loved photography and had actually won some prizes!
C. A friend had told her about software to insert photos and information to create books and CD's which she was interested in creating for her own grandchildren.

4. We also discussed the differences between:

A. Multi-Level Marketing
B. Affiliate/Associate opportunities
C. Owning her own company.

5. We looked at several companies as an "affiliate" first to see what amount of investment was needed for each one. We also looked at the costs for creating her own website from several different companies providing that service.

6. At last we compared the pro's/con's and cost's from each to help her make a choice.

Now, please understand that with each step taken, we probably spent more time than usual due to her skill level on certain steps. The outcome also took several months of work! The end result producing a well educated, well informed, business savvy individual who started out as an absolute novice!

In the end, it was decided that she would act as an independent with an MLM AND she would also start the process of creating her own website! How Exciting! The decision to do both was so she could create web pages for her site while earning money with her mlm business.

Of course, this might not be the best avenue for everyone but it was for her and making that decision based on educating one's self is extremely EMPOWERING!

Whether you are a "Baby Boomer", a college student, stay at home mom or a full time employee - If you want to look at earning money from a home based business the best advice is to ask around! Find people that you know who are already doing it. It doesn't have to be the same industry, just ask questions.

Find individuals who are willing to GIVE information and mentor. Don't get me wrong, paying for quality educational material will be a must to grow and learn, but you have to be budget wise.

I started out with less than $200.00 for a business budget after floundering with TWO home-party businesses. My husband was tired of not seeing me, my kids were tired of our week routine being interrupted and I was tired of chasing people to host parties. I spent more money on flyers, postcards, party foods and lead lists than I EVER received as income. I watched as people went into debt, filed bankruptcy and even divorced all the while being told by their "up line" or "Leaders" to re-build their list of contacts, call everyone again, go to shopping stores and post flyers, mail postcards, etc! Although some of this works in producing prospects or business, it's not cost effective and certainly not efficient! Building your OWN list of clients is extremely important but implementing residual marketing is just as important.

My passion in life is helping others . Whether it's at our kid's PTO groups with fundraising, watching a neighbor's child for a few hours or even financially helping a close friend - The only way that I could have the time and resources to do these things is by having my own business.

Sharing my knowledge with others is my way of contributing to a bigger cause and is extremely rewarding! That is what friendship with other networkers and business owners can bring. Build upon each other to grow and excel. It's a great life!