Tips to Becoming a Work From Home Success

"I'm ready." You say. "I'm ready to do this work from home thing."

I can see the glimmer of fear in your eyes, hear the slight shake in your voice.

It is o.k. I understand, you see, several years ago, I was where you are right now. My job got outsourced to a foreign country and I was faced with taking a demotion...starting all over again...or really giving working online a shot.

Hmmm...that was a while ago, looking back. 2007, it was. I didn't make my first dime until almost six months later. Since then, I've never really looked back.

When I remember how scary it was, to take such a risk, when I had so very much to lose, I sat down and decided to write you this list of 5 tips that will put you well on your way to becoming a work from home success story.

1. Set a Work Schedule and Stick to it.

This might sound overly simple, or obvious, but for those staying home for the first time, with no boss to motivate them, the basics are necessary to a strong foundation. Whether you are working in your spare time or full-time, once your set your schedule, try to focus your attention only on building your business during that time.

On the flip side, be sure to give yourself some down-time. It might seem like the longer you work the sooner you will achieve your goals, but, the opposite is often true. A tired mind makes mistakes. Mistakes can cost you time and money that you may not have in abundance.

2. Be Organized.

You will be glad you took the time to set up dated files when you have to search through 500 documents for one you wrote 6 months ago. If you have multiple clients, make a separate file for each one. When you need to invite a large group of potential partners, create a spreadsheet to simplify the task.

Another area to focus on is your time. If you have given yourself 4 hours a day to work on your business, you want to ensure that you get the highest return on that investment of time. What tasks will give you that result? Make sure you do them first.

3. Know what Motivates You

As time passes, you may find it harder and harder to keep yourself at a task. Do not let yourself be one of the thousands of business owners who quit right as they are on the brink of the "true" success that they desire.

The way to overcome this is to remind yourself why you are doing this in the first place. For some it is to prove themselves...others want...need...the financial rewards...and more do it for a loved one. Why ever you do it; keep reminding yourself when things get tough.

4. Know what Motivates Others

With this at the front of your mind, your message will come across loud and clear.

* What do your customers want?
* What do your partners want?

Answer these two questions for your business. This is what you need to give them to achieve the success that you desire.

4. Know and Budget Your Resources.

Time. Money. Assistance. If you have more of one resource than another, use it to gain what you need.

For example: Joann has a $50 a month budget and only 32 hours to work...she might decide to use what is left after paying her bills to buy an article pack with Private Label rights, to save her time for other tasks.

OR

Steve has just enough to cover operating costs and is willing to work as much as necessary...he's pulled an all-nighter before. He might choose to spend long hours garnering free traffic by clicking at manual traffic exchanges while he email-markets to his list to bring in revenue.

OR

Sherry has her business running on auto-pilot, she just needs to get things done in a timely manner. She might choose to spend some of her time and money to hire an assistant to see to the tasks.

Your situation will be specific to you. Take a bit of time to decide what you have and how you can use it to get what you need.

5. Run Your Business Like a Business.

You are not only the one answering the phone and the email and the hundred of messages on skype...you are also a business owner. This means setting up processes for getting things done as well as the doing of them.

When the phone rings, how do you answer it?

* Have you considered your company branding?
* Do you sound professional?
* What message will the caller get from your greeting?

Start Developing your company culture even if you operate alone. Larger businesses will respect you and smaller ones will look up to you. And when you are ready to expand to include others, your legitimacy will be firmly established.

These are my top 5 tips to follow, though I know that there are many others that are of value to a new or even established work from home business owner. They cover all of your basic groundwork so you can focus on growing your business the way you envision it.

So take a deep breath and go for it. You can be well on your way to becoming the next work from home success story.

About the author: Karen Gross is an article writer for the Affiliate Work Home resource web site. She has worked from home since 2007 and loves to share what she has learned with others. Please visit our web site to access the Free Marketing Membership & Newsletter.

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