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A Home-Based Business Online
Practical home business ideas, strategies
and resources for the work-from-home
entrepreneur
Issue 112 : December 10, 2001
Sent to 13,082 Opt-In Subscribers
Editor: Elena Fawkner
Publisher: Fawkner Publishing
http://www.ahbbo.com
Contact By Email
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This Week's Sponsor
Would you rather not fight the crowds this holiday season?
If not, you might want to explore my on-line mall
and simply sit back, relax, and click into your favorite stores:
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IN THIS ISSUE
1. Welcome and Update from Elena
2. Home-Based Business Idea of the Week - Doula
3. Feature Article - The Free Lunch (and Other Myths)
4. Surveys and Trends
5. Business Quotes of the Week
6. Advertise with AHBBO
7. Subscription Management
8. Caveat Emptor
9. Contact Information
1. Welcome and Update from Elena
Hello again and a warm welcome to all the new subscribers
who have joined us since the last issue.
This week's article is something of a rant, having received
yet *another* approach to run an ad for free without so
much as a passing thought of what might be in it for me to
do so. If you're running an online business of your own you
will no doubt identify with my experiences. If you're just
starting out and still think it's possible to market your
business for free, hopefully this article will give you food for
thought.
As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this
week's issue.
Remember, AHBBO is for YOU! If you have comments or
suggestions for topics you would like to see addressed, or
would just like to share your experiences with other
subscribers, I want to hear from you. Please send
comments, questions and stories to Contact By Email .
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2. Home-Based Business Idea of the Week - Doula
Believe it or not, being a doula was one of the top ten
home-based businesses in the United States in 2000.
What's a doula? Greek for "woman's helper", doulas
provide physical, emotional, informational and practical
support to new mothers immediately before, during and
for a short time after childbirth (when mother and baby
come home). Before childbirth they provide informational
support, during childbirth they provide physical and
emotional assistance to the mother (such as providing a
back massage, and generally keeping the mother as calm
and comfortable as possible). After childbirth, the doula
attends to the mother's household needs such as cooking,
cleaning, running errands etc. so the mother is free to
spend as much time as possible with her newborn.
Who's suited to being a doula? The chief qualification is
first-hand experience in pregnancy, childbirth and the
demands of caring for a newborn. By first-hand, I mean
as the person actually going through it. Everything else
you need to know you can get training for.
Doulas make between $15 - $25 an hour and typically
are engaged for a period of ten to fourteen days. The
cost is not covered by health insurance though so your
best bet is to target the reasonably affluent. An easily-
overlooked good target market would be older, single
mothers. Often having decided to have a baby before
it's too late even though "Mr. Right" hasn't turned up,
such women are frequently well-established in their
careers (and can therefore afford the expense of a
doula), but they may be feeling isolated and alone and
would welcome the reassuring presence of a doula during
the very last stages of pregnancy as well as when they
bring their bundle home for the first time.
-----
There are many more ideas like this at the AHBBO Home Business
Ideas page at http://www.ahbbo.com/ideas.html with more being
added regularly.
Netwomancentral Australia - http://australia.netwomancentral.com/
A complete business and marketing model for Australian women
who want to start their own internet based home business. Free
web site, training and marketing support, and team approach to
help each of us build our own businesses!
3. Feature Article: The Free Lunch (And Other Myths)
© 2001 Elena Fawkner
I have a page at my website that contains a list of home
business ideas (and links to detailed articles about some of
them). On that page, I invite visitors who have an idea
that isn't listed on that page to submit it to me for inclusion.
Nine times out of ten, the "ideas" that are submitted are
nothing more than ads for various online business
opportunities and not true business "ideas" at all.
This evening I received one such email. No greeting, no
thank you, just a terse one liner "to be added to your ideas
page" and an URL. I responded that this was not an "idea"
(which, had the person bothered to spend any time at all
at the page in question, she would have realized) but an ad
for her business opportunity, and that if she wanted her ad
on my site, she could damn well pay for it like anyone else (I
was a little more diplomatic than that but you get the gist).
Hot on the heels of this type of approach is the owner
of an affiliate program for a product which would be of
marginal interest (if that) to a tiny number of my ezine
subscribers, offering me a fabulous "joint venture" opportunity
whereby all I have to do is send a solo mailing to my list
(worth $260) in exchange for making maybe $12 on each of
three sales. Whoopee. Invariably, these people know the
demographic of my database intimately since, according to
them, all my readers have been searching high and low for
just such a solution to all their problems and *I* can be the
one to give it to them!
Please. Contrary to what these people obviously think, I did
NOT just fall off the back of a turnip truck so, to whom it
may concern, go grow your own list or pay to advertise to
mine. Those are your choices. This is a business, not a
charity for the bone idle.
These are by no means isolated examples.
Those of you running an online business probably have a list of
examples like these as long as your arm. Why do people not
understand that you get what you pay for in this world? I'll
tell you why. The proliferation of "secret" sites that promise
to reveal to you, for only a "$60 lifetime membership!" all
the "tips and tricks" you need to know to market your online
business on the 'net "without spending a dime!" and all the
"insider secrets" marketing courses promising the same thing.
If you're laboring under the impression that it's possible to
market your business without spending money, here's some
not-so-secret tips:
1. There ARE places to advertise your business for free,
sort of. They don't come with no strings attached though.
For example, although you can submit your site for free to
the classifieds sites and FFA pages that are absolutely
everywhere, be prepared for a deluge of email in response.
And I'm not talking about requests for more information!
Typically, people visit these sites to get your email address
so they can send THEIR business opportunity to YOU.
2. Some of the search engines are still free. Many have
moved to a paid submission model though and, even if they
do still offer a free submission service, those listings are not
a priority and tend to be added to the index when the
engines get around to it. Better to spend a few bucks for
a submission and get listed before the next summer Olympics.
3. You can write articles and submit them to newsletter
publishers and relevant websites. That's actually a good
way to get your message across so long as the article has
real meat to it and doesn't mention your opportunity or
product (leave that for the resource box). Although it
needn't cost you money, it does cost you time and effort and
you may well get a better return by simply paying $65 for an
ezine ad.
4. You can start your own newsletter and develop your
own opt-in subscriber list. Unless you're prepared to pay
for subscribers (around 15 cents per subscriber is about
the average) it's going to take a LONG time to grow your
list to a decent size. Contrary to what some people will
tell you, you will not grow a 'sticky' subscriber base of
5,000 within a month. Oh, you can grow a list of that
size alright using some of the various approaches being
offered but it won't be a targeted list and it won't be
a sticky list (i.e., subscribers won't stick around). With
these programs you'll also find that a lot of subscribers
are in it to generate their own subscribers and really
aren't interested in subscribing to your newsletter. They
do so only because it's a condition of being in the program.
Often these people will use free email addresses that they
never check, let alone actually read the contents of.
5. One of the best advertising mediums out there is
ezine advertising (which is why I receive so many of these
bogus "joint venture" proposals). Understand though that
the person writing and publishing an ezine that accepts paid
advertising from third parties is running a *business*. True,
some publishers will accept free ads from subscribers but
they are usually just starting out and offering free ads is a
good way to generate new subscribers. As a result, their
subscriber numbers are pretty low (only a few hundred or a
couple of thousand at best) and so the result will probably
be disappointing unless it's an extremely targeted list. So,
if you want to get your message to a large, targeted group
of prospects, ezine advertising is your best bet. But be
prepared to pay.
Contrary to what many people apparently believe, running
an online business is hard work. It's not a simple matter
of slapping up a website, posting a few free classified ads,
submitting your URL to the free search engines and then
turning your computer on in the morning to find an inbox
overflowing with orders that came in overnight while you
were sleeping. This is a MYTH perpetuated by the authors
(and VERY hard-working authors, I might add) of those
so-called "secret sites" memberships and "insider secrets"
marketing courses. They make their money by selling you
the FANTASY that it's possible to make money online
without working (or that you don't have to spend money to
make money).
Running an online business requires an enormous time
commitment initially just to create a useful website and just
as much (if not more) of a commitment to maintain it, create
new content, develop products, publish a newsletter and
basically do all the marketing things that ANY business must
do to grow, whether online or off.
So, next time you're looking for ways to market your product
or opportunity without spending a dime, think about who you're
approaching. If it's a free classified ad site, fine. But if it's
someone just like you trying to make a living with a business
of their own, ask yourself: What's in it for them to promote your
product for free?
Consider how you would feel if you had invested two years of
blood, sweat and tears building a business in your town only
to have people walk into your office expecting you to help
them market your product for free. It just ain't gonna happen
unless there's something in it for them. The same is true online.
Don't make the mistake of thinking that someone's online
business is just a hobby and that they're there for the sole
purpose of helping you make a success of your business. They're
not. They may be helpful, they may offer advice and
encouragement but, when all is said and done, they're in business,
just like you. Bottom line: you have to pay your way in this life
and that includes online.
------
** Reprinting of this article is welcome! **
This article may be freely reproduced provided that: (1) you
include the following resource box; and (2) you only mail to a
100% opt-in list.
Here's the resource box to use if reprinting this article:
------
Elena Fawkner is editor of A Home-Based Business Online ...
practical home business ideas for the work-from-home
entrepreneur. http://www.ahbbo.com
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4. Surveys and Trends
© 2001 Ryanna's Hope
AT YEAR END, HERE'S WHAT MOST ARE DOING ON THE NET!
America's Research Co., has made these stats available from
recent surveys which give entrepreneurs an idea of what people on
the Net are really looking for:
1. To do personal research 54.2%
2. To send and receive E-mail 51.6%
3. To do research for business purposes 42.6%
4. To look up information on products 42.2%
5. To research for children's homework assignments 34.4%
6. To obtain health information 31.9%
7. To check on local and national news 31.4%
8. To play games 30%
9. To locate peoples' names and addresses 28.7%
10. To keep up-to-date on the latest technology 28.4%
RIGHT NOW, HOW ARE YOU GEARING YOUR ADVERTISING?
Last season, Atlas DMT analyzed anonymous holiday shopping
behavior across 24 leading e-commerce companies. The goal was to
determine what they were doing online and offline since about the
Thanksgiving day period. The goal was to reveal the times of
greatest and least online holiday shopping activity and compare
that with "offline shopping." Here's what they found:
The study proved that online holiday shopping patterns are very
different than those of offline shoppers.
* Weekdays were the most active online shopping days during the
holidays, while offline shopping is most active on Saturdays.
* Online shopping activity peaked during working hours at around
1PM, EST.
* Thursday, Dec. 7 was the biggest online shopping day of the
year 2000.
* Online shopping tapers off approximately 10 days before
Christmas, most likely indicating that shoppers perceive that
there is not enough time for shipping. On the other hand,
offline shopping continued to increase until just before
Christmas.
* Contrary to conventional wisdom, online shopping is very active
the "week following Christmas" even exceeding the overall per-
week average for the holiday season.
------
WANT MORE?
Ryanna’s has published over 45 business articles nationwide
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5. Business Quotes of the Week
"It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question
is: What are we busy about?"
-- Henry David Thoreau
"Don't wait for your "ship to come in," and feel angry and
cheated when it doesn't. Get going with something small."
-- Irene Kassorla
"Giving people a little more than they expect is a good way
to get back more than you'd expect."
-- Robert Half
"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions.
Small people always do that, but the really great make you
feel that you, too, can become great."
-- Mark Twain
"You have to assume that you're in business for the long
haul. That belief will drive you to build value."
-- Regis McKenna
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6. Advertise With AHBBO
=> AHBBO Website Advertising
Advertise with a text link on AHBBO's home page!
For details, visit
http://www.ahbbo.com/webadvertising.html .
=> AHBBO Ezine Advertising
Ezine (electronic magazine or newsletter) advertising is
the most cost-effective and targeted form of advertising
online today. This is because the ezine's editor has already
done the hard work of bringing together a large group of
readers highly motivated by the subject-matter of the
ezine itself.
Therefore, assuming you place your ad in an ezine with
a subject matter that fits with what it is you are
marketing, you can be confident of reaching a select
group of highly targeted prospects for your product or
service.
AHBBO offers four different advertising packages:
(1) top sponsor ad placements,
(2) single ad placements,
(3) ad paks (4 ads for the price of 3), and
(4) exclusive mailings.
To learn more about advertising in the AHBBO ezine,
visit http://www.ahbbo.com/advertising.html .
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If you find this newsletter valuable, please forward it
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8. Caveat Emptor
Although all of the information presented in AHBBO is
published in good faith, neither the publisher nor the
editor accept any responsibility as to the accuracy or
otherwise of the information presented. By making use of the
information contained in AHBBO the reader assumes all risk
that certain information may prove to be incorrect.
All advertisements are accepted in good faith. However,
advertisers are solely responsible for the content and
accuracy of their classified advertisements and no
warranties are given, nor responsibility accepted, by the
editor or the publisher in relation to any classified
advertisement appearing in this publication. ALWAYS carry
out your own due diligence! Remember, if it sounds too
good to be true, it probably is.
9. Contact Information
Elena Fawkner, Editor
A Home-Based Business Online
Contact By Email
http://www.ahbbo.com
All Rights Reserved