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by Elena Fawkner
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The 10 Most
Popular Myths About Running A Home-Based
Business Online
Several weeks ago I finally took the plunge into the world of network marketing. I had
been running an online business for almost three years by then but knew that I would have
to
make the leap to network marketing at some point since it was such an obvious fit with
Internet marketing. And I haven't been disappointed.
One thing did surprise me though -- the number of people who approached me about my
network marketing business, interested in running their businesses exclusively online, but
with the mistaken belief that it would be somehow easier and less expensive than
establishing and running a home-
based business offline.
Well, let me tell you, there's nothing easy or inexpensive about running a home-based
business - online or off. The Internet is just a different way of going about it. And
that's all.
Here's my top 10 myths about running an online business (and in answer to the missing
Myth#11, NO, you CANNOT run a serious online business with WebTV - get a REAL computer
already).
MYTH#1 - It's Easy, Anyone Can Do It
FACT - It's not easy, by any stretch of the imagination, and no, you may not be able to do
it.
Reality is, establishing an Internet business is a long, slow, frustrating process. Your
first attempt at creating your own web site will be an abomination. You'll look back at it
in 12 months and shudder. I know I did.
You'll feel utterly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information you need to absorb. And
the fact that six
different "experts" each tell you six different things doesn't help. (There are
no "experts", by the way, just a lot of people with a lot of opinions. Bottom
line? Do what
works. For you.)
The only way to learn is by trial and error. Some days you'll feel like you're on a roll,
the next you'll feel like
you're backsliding and FAST. No sooner do you manage a respectable ranking on Altavista,
than your Yahoo listing disappears altogether, and where the hell did that number 5
listing with Google go?
After spending an ENTIRE DAY trying to work out what's going on with your search engine
listings, giving up, going searching for yet another "expert" to tell you what
you're doing wrong, finally realizing there is no such expert and you're going to have to
learn how to do it all yourself
after all you suddenly realize that you've done absolutely nothing all day to promote your
business and you still have to write the article for this week's ezine which has to go out
tomorrow but you can't work your business tomorrow because you have to go work at your
J.O.B. .... AAAARGHHHH!!!!!
Many, many people, give it up. Most, probably. It's hard work and it's frustrating. At the
end of the day, most are just not prepared to do what it takes.
MYTH#2 - I Can Get Wealthy Overnight
FACT - The only way to get wealthy overnight in this world is to win the Lotto. Period. It
will NOT happen on the Internet. Not these days, anyway.
MYTH#3 - Once I Build My Website I Can Relax And Let It Do
the Work For Me
FACT - Hah. See Myth #4.
MYTH#4 - Once I Build My Website The World Will Beat A Path To My Door
FACT - No. It won't.
Merely creating a web site and uploading it to your host's server means that your web site
is available for viewing by
*those who know it exists*. Only problem is, you and your web host are the only ones who
know. And even your web host doesn't care (at least as long as you pay your monthly
hosting fees).
You now need to submit your site to the search engines (no, they will not just find it
automatically and no, your web site is not just automatically added to some great
universal Index once it's uploaded). Then you have to wait several weeks or months to find
out whether it's been indexed. And if by some miracle it has, where and for what keywords.
And then fix it.
In the meantime, you have to drive traffic to your site via other means. You'll need to
submit it to directories, negotiate reciprocal links with other complementary web sites,
start publishing a weekly ezine (electronic
newsletter) and start promoting that to start developing your own opt-in list, start
writing articles and submitting them wherever you can (including a link to your site in
the resource box at the end is good free advertising) and, shudder, advertising. And not
in the FFAs and free
classifieds either. In other people's ezines. On other people's websites. In the
classifieds section of newspapers (yes, the kind that leaves black stuff on your fingers
when you read it). All of this costs money. Plenty of it. If you're running a network
marketing business, you're also
going to need to pay for leads during this period as well.
MYTH#5 - I Don't Have To Spend Money To Market My Business
FACT - Yes, you do.
You wouldn't expect to be able to market an offline business without financial outlay.
Well, guess what? It's just the same in your online business. See Myth #4.
Oh, and by the way, when you're re-reading Myth #4, keep this in mind. You haven't made a
dime yet.
MYTH#6 - I Can Put the Whole Thing On Autopilot And Make
Money While I Sleep (Or Vacation)
FACT - True. To a point.
By automating as many of your tasks as possible you necessarily free up time to do other
things. You COULD use that time to sleep or vacation and you MAY make money while you're
sleeping or vacationing. THIS time. But you must sow before you can reap and if you're not
continually planting
and growing your business, the time will come in the not too distant future when you have
nothing left to harvest. You'll wake up one morning and find that, far from filling your
inbox with overnight orders, your business has bitten the dust.
So, instead of taking that freed up time and spending it sleeping or vacationing, spend it
working your business. In other words, you'll get out of your business precisely
what you put into it. Just like anything else in this world.
Funny about that.
MYTH#7 - I Don't Have To Deal With People, I Can Do
Everything Via Email
FACT - Email is what you use to handle routine administrative issues and a tool to get
prospective
customers or networking partners to contact you. Once that happens, you take the
relationship OFFLINE. You get on the phone and actually TALK to these people. The Internet
is not an iron curtain that protects you from having to have real life conversations and
relationships with people. It's just a tool that brings you together so that the real work
of establishing relationships can begin. Offline.
MYTH#8 - I Will Be Able to Fire My Boss And Work Where I
Want, When I Want ... In Six Months Or Less
FACT - Don't give up your day job just yet.
MYTH#9 - When I'm Working For Myself From Home In My Online
Business I Will Be Able To Spend As Much Time With My
Children As I Want
FACT - When you're running a business you're running a business. It's not a pleasant
little hobby that you fit in between the stuff of your REAL life. If you're not going to
run your business as a business, forggeddabouddit.
MYTH#10 - The Internet Is A Magic Wand
FACT - See Myths#1 through #9.
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