More and more people are looking to run a home based business these days. Actually over 95% of working people’s biggest dream is to own their own home based business. For millions of Americans it is a nightmare getting up to the alarm clock on Monday morning to go to a place and build someone else’s dream. For those who are stuck going to the office every day, most think; what could be better than being your own boss, no office politics, being able to wear your fuzzy bunny slippers all day and have a 2 hour lunch rather than wolfing down a cold sandwich in a crowded lunchroom in 30 minutes. Network marketing is a great way for anyone to get their start at home. Here is the thing with network marketing as a home based business. You still have to work.There are some seriously great benefits of network marketing and working from home. Setting up shop is relatively easy. The biggest challenge with setting up your home based business is usually the WORK. The work is the part that makes the network marketing business profitable. So here are 3 tips to help you build a profitable home based business while not losing focus with your personal life.Set a ScheduleSetting a schedule for your home based business is the #1 most important step you can take. It is so easy to let work take over some part of every waking moment you have when you desk is but a few feet from your living room or bedroom. It is hard not to get out of bed and go straight to the computer sometimes and others times it is too easy to do something else other than work. Because most people have some form of a life whether it be tending their family or visiting with friends, it is really important to set a schedule for work and set time aside to balance your life too. All work and no play will make anyone very dull as well as unproductive eventually if you are in network marketing as you need to get your face in front of people. You need to set an 8 hour day for productivity with your home based business (if you are working it full time). The beauty with a home based business and working from home is it can be ANY 8 hours during the day. The catch is sticking to the hours you set and being productive during those hours.Staying in the Work ZoneWhen you are scheduled to work, you need to ignore everything else going on in your home. You need to be in the zone. If you have a home office where you can run your home based business and can shut the door, it is recommended to keep all the distractions at bay. By distractions, I mean a ringing home phone line, children or others that may be at home during the same times as you are schedule to work. Keep televisions and radios off especially if you need to concentrate on the computer or with making phone calls. Some less noticed distractions when working from home are things like dishes in the sink or house cleaning or mowing the lawn or other house tasks that can WAIT. Save these activities for after your work hours that you have scheduled. As well it is also important to get up in the morning and get ready for your day. This means set the alarm (this doesn’t have to be at the crack of dawn, but I also don’t suggest later than 8am), get up and get dressed. As easy as it is to stay in your bathrobe, things like PJ’s and lounge clothes are usually associated with relaxation which defeats the purpose and will make you less productive. You will be more in the zone if you are dressed to work.Have a Work SpaceIt is all too easy to work from many areas in your home with your home based business, especially with new technology of laptops and WiFi, but it is vital to pick a space for working where you will not be disturbed. Not only does moving spaces daily cause clutter in your head which is stressful in itself, but it causes disorganization with work. As well, opting for a well lit, inspirational area of your home to run your home based business will help you keep your mood up when working from home. Bedrooms are not recommended as they are associated with sleep and relaxation.Overall, working from home is one of the most rewarding experiences you can have and it will allow you so much more freedoms that you normally wouldn’t have, but making sure you are actually productive while working and then being able to balance your personal life is really the key to success with any home based business and network marketing opportunity.

Marketing includes matters such as pricing and packaging of the product and creation of demand by advertising and sales campaigns. There are other options, of course, like product creation, resale rights marketing, joint ventures and the likes, but they are merely secondary to the above.

If you take the freelance route, it is important to ensure that all rights to profit from the final product, or any materials produced in its making, remain yours. Bookkeeping, physical product creation or delivery of goods can be done better with specialized help. Determining the purpose of the product is vital in niche product creation.

Implementation of Methodology – The choice of implementation of Six Sigma methodology depends on whether development is required on existing processes (DMAIC) or on new process/product design creation (DMADV). Determining what you really want to sell, something that you can be relaxed selling is the first step at the creation of a niche product. With the technological advancements in the hosting industry, from automated control panels and scripts that simplify creation of accounts; to complete turnkey solutions, there is no excessive need to worry about spending time on the actual product sold to the customer.

For instance, you should be prepared to either perform yourself or to subcontract the completion of the following tasks:- Product idea research (are there any existing products or patents already existing for this idea)- Product specification document training (what it will do, how it will look, how will it be powered, and how the user will interface with it)- Marketing study (what it will be named, who would buy this, how much would they pay, how will we get customers to purchase the product)- Schematic or electronic circuit design process- Creation of a bill of material or BOM and an approved vendor’s list or AVL for each component in the design, preferably with multiple sources identified, with a BOM and AVL for each assembly level in the product- Printed circuit board layout design process (single sided board, double sided board, or multilayer board; size of the PCB; board material)- Mechanical packaging design with user interfaces (displays, buttons, switches, key. This removes all product creation costs from your budget as a marketer.

No other database of affiliate programs offers such a possibility for profit on either the affiliate side or the product creation site. Your chosen niche should allow for the creation of more than one product or service.

There are several marketing strategies that are necessary in the creation of a successful e-commerce web site – Email marketing (broadcasting) of prospects/customers – Effective use of auto responders (generate automatic email messages) – Online Newsletter – Online Form / Survey to capture your prospect’s email address – Electronic Product Delivery (if you sold a digital product) – Advertisement (Ad) Tracking – Back End Sales – Affiliate program etc.

I have held a real estate license and been a full time agent in the state of Illinois for many years now and I love what I do. Yes, even in this down market, I still have fun. People still need places to live. With the market the way it is though, there are lots more rental and rent to own properties than there were a few years ago. And that is not likely to change any time soon. The market is ripe for anyone wanting to invest in real estate in what will turn out be the most lucrative time to buy in a very, very long time. But there are things to be cautious about, whether you’re a buyer or seller, or want to be an investor.

To the Buyer or Seller -

Caveat Emptor, let the buyer beware. There’s a good reason for that phrase, there’s a lot of truth in it. If you are a buyer or seller, you should be very careful when approached by someone saying they are an investor. They do not have your best interest at heart, no matter what they say. They are looking to make money on the buying and or selling or leasing of property. They are not an agent and answer to no regulating agency. They are not your AGENT and do not owe you any obligation other than to honor the contract they enter into with you, which may or may not be a good deal for you. Sure, if they’re engaging in licensed real estate activities without a license, they may be subject to penalties. But that won’t stop you from getting screwed. So beware. My advice is get someone to represent you, either a real estate broker or attorney, or both. You may or may not, by law, have to have a real estate attorney in your state. In my state, Illinois, it’s optional for buyers or sellers to have one. But also, in Illinois, real estate brokers can’t act as an attorney, only as an agent. So it’s recommended that you have an attorney, even though it’s not required.

To the Investor -

Periodically, I run across individuals who say they want to buy “wholesale”. They describe a process where they make an offer to purchase a peace of property. Then once under contract, they procure an “investor buyer” for their purchase contract. They make their money buy charging their buyer a finders fee.

There are a couple of things a would be investor should be wary of. Each state has licensing laws, and certain things require a professional license. Being a doctor, a lawyer, an accountant, a real estate broker are all fine examples of this.

Section 1-10 of The Illinois Real Estate License Act of 2000 defines several called licensed activities for a broker. Here are a few excerpts from Section 1-10:

“Broker” means an individual, partnership, LLC, corporation, or registered LLP who, whether in person or through any media or technology, for compensation, or with the intent of receiving compensation, either directly or indirectly:

Sells, exchanges, purchases, rents or leases real estate.

Offers to sell, exchange, purchase, rent or lease real estate.

Negotiates, offers, attempts, or agrees to negotiate the sale, exchange, purchase, rental or leasing of real estate.

Assists or directs in procuring or referring of leads or prospects, intended to result in the sale, exchange, lease or rental of real estate.

Now, I’m not a lawyer nor did I play one on TV, or did I stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night. But when an investor is looking for a buyer for that contract they have, they may be skirting the law in a very dangerous way. A slip of the tongue, say the wrong word, and it could be very costly for them.

People wanting to invest should do just that. They should buy it and hold it as a rental property, or buy it, fix it up, and sell it. I would not recommend buy/fix/sell though in the present market unless you’re getting the property incredibly cheap. Resale is hard, unless you’re well below market value. To be an investor, you don’t have to have an agent. It’s legal for an individual to represent themselves in a transaction without having a license. They just can’t represent someone else without one. For those folks who wanting to “wholesale” – sell real estate contracts, I recommend checking with your state regulating agency and finding out just how close you are to violating laws. And you might want to consider getting the appropriate license.