I have always been on the lookout for a home-based business opportunity that people consider as legit. For a couple of years, I have worked with different companies and obviously, worked with several bosses who impose regulations that are most of the time difficult to deal with. And through the years, I realized that I want to be my own boss in such a way that I have the capability to make my own decisions and work only for myself rather than for somebody who does not even thank me for a job well done.You are now probably aware of what happened. That realization made me quit my job immediately and searched for a home-based business opportunity instead. I’m sure there are lots of people out there who are in search for real home-based business opportunities and while looking for those, it is very essential that you ask yourself the following questions:Is the home-based business opportunity you are interested in desirable and popular to many? Home business is such a wonderful idea, but without a great service or product, the thought of having prospective buyers will be stressful and impossible.How much capital is needed to start the business? Are the funds available or do you still have to borrow money from someone else? When do you think is the business going to start generating profits? How much do you think is the maintenance cost for your business’ daily operation? How much money is needed for advertising the business?Is the business you are fascinated with something that you are educated in? If the answer is no, are there training materials obtainable to assist you throughout your learning process? Assistance is very crucial in all successful businesses, particularly if you are not that knowledgeable about it. Mentors can give you advice, teaching and assistance when it comes to making your business grow and successful.Do you love the home-based business opportunity that you are interested in? Remember that it is not all about the money; you have to have enthusiasm for it as well, unless you want to suffer exhaustion at the end of each day. Having no interest in the business will make it really hard for you to succeed. You should have the willpower and enthusiasm – these two make a perfect pair!

When considering starting a home based business, there are several preliminary steps you need to take to ensure you start off for the ‘right’ reasons, in the ‘right’ market for yourself, and with the ‘right’ resources. You’ll begin to understand what’s ‘right’ through the following synopsis of what it truly takes to fully develop a successful home business.You should first be clear as to “Why” you want to start your own home based business (the ‘right’ reason) before you jump right into getting one started. This will be your reasons, your wants, your passions, your dreams. Ask yourself “What is my ‘Why’?”, and keep asking “Why” down to five levels, to get to the real answer. Your initial “Why” will typically be general and superficial and will only satisfy an immediate perceived need. You need to dig deeper and find the long term, life changing reason for starting a home based business. List and define these reasons,and be as specific as you can. It could be that you “want to set your own hours,” “be your own boss,” “have more time with your family,” “write your own paycheck,” maybe you’re “not fulfilled with the current profession you’re in.” These are all superficial, first level “Why’s”. “I want to achieve success in making my own way so I can pass that knowledge and skill down to my children so they, too, can duplicate my success and live the life they want, without all the struggles I had.” This is a more long term and life changing “Why”, perhaps a final fifth level, even.Whatever your “Why”, being successful at starting a home based business depends on your passion for the type of work you wish to delve into. There is, typically, a lot at stake when starting your own home business, and the amount of time and effort you must put into it could be overwhelming and exhausting. It is imperative that you be passionate about your new business endeavor in order to see it through to success. You must next focus on knowing and acknowledging your strengths. Take some time to recognize your talents and skills, and your passion (the ‘right’ reason). It is essential that you understand which type of business is well suited to you and your interests. Everyone can do something, but not anyone can do everything, and particularly well. So, clearly evaluate your strengths in any market. If the market you seek is one in which you have no or little experience, but simply the desire to work in, then you must be mentally and emotionally prepared to deal with a multitude of start-up issues while just learning the skills to manage in that market.Once you have established your “Why” and decided on what type of home based business you want to start according to your talents, skills and passion, you will need to develop what is THE most important aspect of your business, and that is the Business Plan. You’ve probably heard the saying ‘If you fail to plan, you plan to fail’. Your business plan is your guide to development and growth. It will list all of the important factors required to start a new business. Among other things, the plan will list your investment costs and options; financial gain you intend to receive from the business; the amount of time you anticipate developing, building and working your business should also be defined in your plan. It will also need to include any licenses and permits required, technical aspects (hardware, software, websites, etc.), and a Marketing Plan.After your business plan has been developed, the next fundamental requirement to starting a home based business is a plan to profit from it, a business marketing plan. This is your strategy for promoting and selling your product or service.Your marketing plan should specifically consider and consist of four factors: product, pricing, place and promotion. Once you choose the product or service you plan to sell or provide, you’ll need a solid pricing strategy. Too expensive and people won’t buy it; too cheap and people will think of low quality. Place is all about where you are going to market your products or services… local, global, or online. Promotion consists of advertising your home based business, whether marketing on the internet, or offline in print, in the media, etc.As you can clearly see, you must be properly prepared in order to be successful as an entrepreneur. Do your research, and do it right. Be sure you are very clear on your “Why” of wanting your own home based business. Fairly evaluate and determine your passion in order to choose the right home business for yourself. Develop a Business Plan and a Marketing Plan. This, with Promotion and Advertising, is what will bring traffic, i.e. customers, to your website. Customers, of course, are the life blood of your business. If you don’t have customers, you don’t have a business.

Recent conversations regarding the theory of replication and home based business marketing strategies sparked this article. I need to start by genuinely asking the argument of whether or not we should be chasing duplication at all. Moreover, what will we be duplicating?

For years in my business the idea of a duplicable home based business marketing strategy was shoved down my throat and infused within my thinking. I didn’t just accept this idea of using one system that anyone pursued, but I taught the notion to everyone I worked with. Then things changed for me that literally transformed how I understand home based business marketing.

Do not misunderstand, I definitely acknowledge that individuals and businesses crave systems. Succeeding is more challenging if you do not have a process to follow. Let’s face it, individuals need specific direction. New home business owners need a 1,2,3 kind of system. You have to ask yourself what your home based business marketing system is in fact yielding or replicating. Additionally, is your system really duplicating at all?

In order to answer this question, we initially have to describe duplication within the conditions of the home based business marketing field. The average home business owner views replication as the primary goal. Expressly, when we have enough individuals duplicating our business system, we may sit back, enjoy, and observe as the checks keep rolling in. This type of belief is actually buying into the myth of duplication. Allow me to demonstrate.

We start with the hope that one by one or two by two we will add others to our sales force who will follow and copy our home based business marketing strategy. We think that the majority of people will get comparable results to our own, before long momentum is achieved and we will be duplicating in masses. In due season though, real life slaps us in the face as the accomplishment of true replication isn’t as easy as we anticipated. This is where the light bulb was turned on for me and altered my rationale concerning duplication.

After 8 years of working my business persistently, I recognized that even though we had assembled a healthy business, we were still stuck in the same situation as when we began. Yes, I was making a lot more money than when I first started my business and had some pretty awesome perks; yet, I hadn’t secured the degree of viral duplication that everyone talks about. Hence I started studying home based business marketing programs.

I found that replication is a myth in the home business world. This might rattle your chain a bit; yet, I wish to rouse your beliefs. Fairly ask and assess what the statistics are in your business regarding overall duplication and real people seeing real results? For a fair assessment you need to examine more than the handful of individuals who may be having direct or singular results. The question is how many individuals are able to realize true reproduction in depth in your business?

Earnestly assess your business and ask:

Has your team grown apart from your personal contact? Fundamentally this indicates that you regularly have team members that you have never met who are generating ample numbers without you.

Would you be able to completely remove yourself and your personal resources (your closing calls, webinars, training, etc.) from the arrangement and have your team persist to multiply?
Is your team creating multiple legacy type businesses to the point where they could not be swayed to move to another company?

Could you walk away from your business and travel the world for an entire year without affecting your income?

Most people are answering these questions with a negative response. If you are answering yes to all of the above, either you are out of touch with reality OR you hold a superior home based business marketing formula that understands that true replication can’t be achieved with one limited home based business marketing system.

The reason so many people struggle to duplicate their home based business marketing lies in this answer. A simple system designed to be mass replicated does not exist. Why? Let’s get back to my light bulb moment.

After eight years of employing a duplicable home based business marketing plan, I was still doing the same things I was doing whenever I began working my career. Until I reprogrammed my beliefs and reprogrammed my strategies, I would continue doing the same things always. We are simply human. Each of us are different and bring to the table a different skill, talent, gift, personality, and perspective. Buying into an idea where a single home based business marketing plan will essentially clone your results is insanity.

I was executing the identical tasks repeatedly because I wasn’t offering options, strategies, and home based business marketing methods that would function for different individuals. I was wrongfully believing that anyone could be altered and adapted to fit the plan, rather than tailoring the system for dissimilarity. An eye opening lesson it was.

Duplication is a myth considering nobody may duplicate you. Nobody will do exactly what you do and get the exact same results. Until you discount the idea of mass duplication and adjust your home based business marketing system, you will make the same mistakes I made and continually reconstruct your team searching for team members just like you!

Advertising on the net is much different than advertising offline in newspapers, magazines or even radio and TV. If you approach internet advertising as you would traditional advertising you may end up losing your shirt very quickly.

There is a misconception people have when it comes to advertising online. Since advertising online is less expensive than offline marketing methods you can simply place and ad, brand your company, product or service and begin to see results. The problem with this mentality is that many others are thinking the same thing and the marketplace becomes inundated with ads that people tend to give a blind eye to.

Consumers these days are bombarded by advertising on tv, when they open their email box, when they are visiting their favorite website, virtually everywhere they go they are being marketed to.

Advertising on the net can be effective if you approach it with the intent of providing value or education in stead of flat out advertising. The majority of people on the internet are looking for information so rather than blast your message in front of them when they are in the middle of another task, a.k.a interruption marketing, a different approach will provide much better results.

In my opinion, one of the best advertising techniques is the “camouflage ad”. This is when you create an ad that does not look like an ad. As an example say you are promoting an eBook on healthy weight loss.

You could easily write an ad that says something like, Lose 30 pounds in 30 days without dieting”. This would get some attention but there are many of those types of ads saturating the internet’.

If you were to change the ad title and body to reflect more of a story with an invitation to learn more the response will be more than double the first method.

Here is a subject for the same eBook camouflaged.

Indiana mother of 5 loses 30 pounds in 30 days without dieting. Shocking free report blows the lid of the diet industry scams. Grab a free copy of the report and protect yourself from greedy marketing companies.

So here are 5 keys you can use to create camouflaged ads to increase your leads and sales when advertising on the net.

1) Use text ONLY no colors or banners. If it looks like an ad people will generally ignore it.

2) Instill curiosity in your ad so people will want to learn more.

3) Offer something FREE rather than just ask a prospect to make a call or contact you to learn more.

4) Try and avoid advertising in groups with other ads. Use ezine advertising or blog advertising that will blend in more with content.

5) Focus on no cost or low cost marketing to test response rates and return on investment. Unlike offline advertising advertising on the net can actually generate a profit if done properly. In fact if you are not paying for the ad at all even one sale puts you into profit. Free online advertising is your best solution if you know how to get it.