Unfortunately for those who aren’t comfortable, it’s also quite necessary.

The trouble with this is that you are assuming that your offer will be rejected, that it is unwelcome. You don’t know that this is the case, but you assume so.

The reason you often feel like what you are going to say is going to be unwelcome is that you think of it as a sales pitch. No one enjoys listening to a sales pitch. But they can enjoy hearing about something you are enthusiastic about.

I did medical transcription from home for 3 years. When I told people about it, obviously I wasn’t trying to sell them on the concept. Yet I constantly had and still have people asking how they could get into it. My enthusiasm and interest in that career brought out their dreams of working from home.

That’s one of the best ways to talk about your home business. Any time you can guide the conversation towards work issues, it has the chance to come up naturally. The people who are interested will ask you.

Of course, if you aren’t recruiting but only selling you will want to guide the conversation toward something relevant to that.

The key is to keep things relevant to both yourself and the other person. If you do nothing but talk about how great your product or opportunity has been for you, that’s great for you, but may not be so interesting for the person you’re talking to.

Then there’s one of the easiest forms of self promotion – the business card. If you keep a stash of business cards with you, you can hand them out any time someone wants your contact information. They get just a touch of information about your business at the same time.

Find what works for you. If it’s not comfortable for you, it’s not going to work. Talk to other people with home businesses and find out what they do to promote themselves and their business. Even if it’s not something you would do, you may find inspiration.

And don’t forget to have fun. If you aren’t enjoying your business, why stay in it?

There’s no question that you need the support of your family to be successful in home business. If they aren’t cooperating it becomes much more difficult to succeed, or even to find time to work on your home business.

But if you need help, are they the ones to ask?

The answer can depend on just how involved you want them to get. If it’s just minor help from the kids, it’s quite possibly a good way to get to spend more time together and help them to understand what it is you do and why it is important to you. You may even inspire them to start a business of their own down the line.

But it can be a different matter if you’re thinking about formally hiring a family member as an employee. You’re getting into issues that can have implications you had not yet considered.

Start off with the worst: What if things go really, really wrong and you have to fire this person? What would be the impact on your relationship?

These things can get really, really ugly. Worse than hiring a complete stranger because the family bond can make both parties make unreasonable assumptions.

You need to be exceptionally careful about hiring a family member. You will want to spell everything out carefully, from responsibilities to pay to time off and beyond. Do not assume that a mutual promise to part business on good terms will actually mean anything should that time come.

Be realistic about what you expect from a family member. They may not have the same dedication to your business that you show. You hire for the skills they bring, not for the training you will need to do with them. And if they’re going to be working at home too, you need to be sure that they are dedicated to doing that too.

If things aren’t working out, make sure you say so early and say why. It’s important that you do this before resentment builds up. You cannot let someone keep making mistakes just because they are family. You want to be able to decide whether to keep working together or to go your separate ways at a time when you can both talk sensibly about it, rather than completely out of the blue.

Do understand that having a family member work for you rarely works out. Problems are quite common and you have to be prepared to deal with them both professionally and personally. Unfortunately, you cannot assume that your great relationship within your family will translate into doing business well together.

Next, it is important to begin your most successful home based business with a sense a sense of urgency. Fire, ready, aim is the order of the day. Start immediately! Then organize your down-line associates as your business grows. You do not have to worry about how you handle the organization you intend to build. You bring the people in, and, if you ask for help, some up-line leaders will assist you in stabilizing your business

Unfortunately, it is natural for us experience certain fear when beginning a successful home based business. The most common fear is probably ‘failure’. It is important to realize that most people feel fear to some degree. What is even more important is that you do not take it personally. Let us analyze some of the most basic fear and look at some of the solutions.

1) The fear that your prospects are not interested. Realize that it is a numbers game. Many people will be interested in your opportunity; however a number of people will not be. When dealing with those who are not interested, simply ask for a referral. Chances are that they will know someone who will be interested.

2) The fear of what others may think of you.

No matter what you do or do not do, there will always be those who wish you well and those who do not. Ask yourself these very simple questions, “Is the company I am with reputable? Does this company offer an excellent value in its products and or services?” if the answer is yes, then be proud of your company, be proud of yourself, and go for it!

3) The fear that you do not have enough time to do a good job.

One of the many strengths of network marketing is that there is help if you ask for it. Also, there is the magic of duplicating your efforts through sponsoring others. In fact, if you are extremely busy, you will be forced by your personal lack of time to empower leadership to other people. Incidentally, ‘lack of time’: is a poor excuse. It is just a matter of setting priorities and balancing one’s time.

4) The fear that you are unable to answer the questions that your prospects will have.

Simply say, “Let me write down your questions, and I will call you with an answer tomorrow.” Is that simple? But be sure to do so. Success is not reserved for the most talented. It is there for those who go after it. Over 100 years ago Abraham Lincoln once said, “Thing may come to those who wait, but only those things left over by those who hustle!” Think about this statement! Let it make a lasting impression on you.

Elise Hong is an Internet Network Marketer. She is with a team of online entrepreneurs who are experiencing growth in their home business and recently made a sale of $10,045 in only 24hrs. Find out how you can get into the action NOW at http://www.Ultimate-Income-Generator.com

Admin’s Note:

This article has some good points, but I don’t agree with the entire thing. Actually getting started is very good advice; “ready, fire, aim” is not. If you don’t know who you’re targeting, you’re setting yourself up for failure. Do take some time in setting up your home business; just not so much that you never actually start. Things don’t have to be perfect.

Technorati Tags: beginning home business, home business tips, success, starting a home business

In a May 2006 report, titled Work, Entrepreneurship & Opportunity In 21st Century America, the US Chamber of Commerce stated:

“Traditional employment remains strong in our economy… Yet participants in the entrepreneurial workforce have cast aside the traditional model of working for one employer, for one paycheck, and on a set schedule that never changes.

Responding to new economic, technological, and social conditions, millions of workers and companies are instead making alternative arrangements and are seeking different opportunities. These arrangements assume a variety of forms including flex time, telecommuting, independent contracting, working as a temp or on an on-call basis, home-based businesses, and starting a small business full time.”

The report went on to list some fabulous statistics about our flourishing flock:

* Nearly 20 million Americans – one in six workers – work from home at least once a week. 70% of these are telecommuters, 30% are self-employed.

* 18.6 million small firms were without employees, and 53% were home-based businesses, underscoring the entrepreneurial structure of this vibrant sector of our economy.

* In November 2005, 10.2 million Americans identified themselves as self-employed – constituting an impressive 7.2% of the workforce.

It’s great to see an official report validating our existence. But for those of us living the life, it’s like preaching to the choir. Any Schmo can look around and see factors like rising health-care costs, the dissolution of pension plans, wanting to spend more time with family, and the way many employers change personnel like they change trousers – and the revolution seems obvious.

Karen Braschuk, a 48-year old entrepreneur and fellow home-biz convert, has seen the light. It not only inspired her to start her own Virtual Assistant business, Office Support 911, but has changed her mind about the future of the workplace.

“From personal experience, I believe companies are becoming more comfortable with the entire concept of telecommuting and dealing with outside contractors,” said Braschuck. “I am a Virtual Assistant and my entire industry barely existed 10 years ago. But then, all this amazing new technology crept in and suddenly we had laptops and Blackberries and email. I gradually realized that there was ‘virtually’ nothing I performed in the office that I couldn’t also do from home.”

Once Braschuk recognized a remote office wouldn’t impede performance, the leap of faith into entrepreneurship was easy. “My physical absence from the office had absolutely no affect on my ability to perform my duties, and it was seamless to my customers and co-workers. Now that I’m a business-owner, I have one client who I’ve never even met face-to-face, yet we have a great relationship over the phone and via email. If I were sitting next to her in an office, it wouldn’t make my quality of work for her any better or quicker.”

In my opinion, the government’s new “official” awareness of the strength and growth potential of home-based workers is great news for those of use who are already believers. Not only does this translate to more compatriots in the new economy, but hopefully an economic shift that better embraces the flexibility and ingenuity upon which our kind thrive. Surprisingly, the US Chamber of Commerce report put it best:

“Entrepreneurship and the independence that comes with owning a business and being one’s own boss remain our country’s distinct advantage. It explains our vibrancy, creativity, resiliency, and growth. Indeed, it helps explain why millions of people seek to immigrate to American each year. Small business entrepreneurs need flexibility, especially in the use of their own labor and access to others to succeed. Governments at all levels must shape laws and regulations that provide workers and businesses with maximum flexibility to meet the changes and realities of the 21st century economy and craft rules that help it succeed.”

Can I get an Amen?

Erin Huffstutter is an advertising veteran and owner of Erin Writes, a California-based company offering writer-for-hire services to small businesses, large corporations and ad agencies around the world. For more information, visit: www.erinwrites.com

Admin’s Note:

On a personal level I just love seeing things like this. When I started out working at home as a medical transcriptionist, my inlaws couldn’t believe that I was getting paid to work at home. They simply had no respect for it. Five years later, I run a home business and do well enough to impress them. And I see more and more people all the time looking for the flexibility of working at home.

Technorati Tags: home based business, entrepreneur, freelance, workplace