Legitimate Home Business Opportunities: What You Should Know

By: Anne Guillot

When you want to start your own home business, you are looking for a legitimate home business opportunity, and you must be able to tell the difference between several internet business models. The options for a work from home business in today's home business industry are almost limitless. First, there are two different main types of home based businesses: you can choose selling your own product or service, or you can choose to be an independent distributor with a company or an affiliate for an existing product or service. In this article I will focus on the second category, as this is what most people will do when starting their work from home business.

The home based business industry can allow ordinary people to match or even exceed the earnings of executives and CEO's of corporate America. When you get started with the right business opportunity it is possible for you to achieve a high income, regardless of your educational background or your previous experiences. It gives motivated people the opportunity to start and build a business on a tight budget, and to then reach life changing income levels.

It can also be the playground for many deceptive businesses, so it is important to know how to tell the difference.

First I want to address the issue of "pyramid schemes" and how to spot one, because they are not legitimate businesses, they are totally illegal, and you should definitely stay away from them. It is actually quite easy to spot them, as a pyramid scheme is a situation where there is no product or service offered, only the exchange of money. It's a situation where you are encouraged to join an organization for a certain sum of money, and the deal is that your "investment" will grow to several times that amount. You're not buying any product, you're not selling any product, you only look for other people who agree to pay the same amount to join the organization. Sometimes these programs are called "gifting" programs…just "people helping people." It's still an illegal pyramid scheme and not a legitimate business. So the first thing you want to check is if there is a product or service offered. If not, stay away.

Then, there are the multi-level marketing (MLM) companies, who offer a legitimate home business opportunity, and whose distribution model is network marketing. Companies that offer top quality, stand alone products will often use network marketing to distribute their products. This is a highly efficient method of distribution that allows for more product information to be given to the consumer than what could be achieved by selling the product through retail stores.

Before starting a home business in the MLM industry in 2009, however, you should keep this in mind: first, the attrition level facing MLM'ers is quite high. About 97% of people in this industry are still struggling and failing. And it is very common to see people getting started and quit within the first 90 days, all the more so as the initial investment is often so low that people don't loose much by quitting. Then, the traditional methods of recruiting such as cold calling, chasing after prospects, holding meetings, buying leads, are outdated and will most probably get you nowhere. If you really want to succeed in an MLM business, you'll need to learn proper marketing techniques, and this will enable you to generate leads, brand yourself and be the leader that people want to follow.

Eventually, there is another business model called GPT (stands for Get Paid Today). This business model gives motivated individuals the opportunity to rather quickly achieve five to six figure incomes. The major part of your commissions are paid upfront by the company, and you also have the opportunity to earn a significant residual income from your team. The initial investment varies from a few hundred dollars to several thousands, and people who join at the higher levels of investment are less likely to quit because of their investment. And if they happen to quit it isn't such a big deal for you because you have been paid your commissions upfront. This business model also tends to attract on average more serious people than the MLM model. And most of the time you increase your chances of success because you have a full marketing system and support from the company as well as a dedicated mentor.

So when you want to start your home business, make sure you do some serious research before you join a company. There are some awesome companies out there which meet and exceed all the principles above, but there are also plenty who don't. If you do your due diligence then you can find the company that suits you and achieve the success and financial freedom that you are looking for.

Anne Guillot is a professional network marketer. She and her team of marketing experts offer motivated individuals a step-by-step training to build a successful Legitimate Home Business. Read more about Internet Marketing and Home Businesses.

Article Source: http://www.marketingarticlelibrary.com

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