Your spam folder is probably full of them, "Earn $1000 per day
working from home". Get real, no one earns that much working from home.
Don't be conned, making money is hard work and starting a home based
business is even harder.
I started my home based business by accident. It was a Saturday evening and I was looking for a prepaid mobile plan for my wife. I spent the evening on the internet researching the plans available in the market. I had them all listed in an excel spreadsheet so that I could compare them. Then I decided that it would be great to put this information online.
Within 2 hours I had registered a business name and purchased my first domain. That was the easiest part of the journey. Since then it has been all about learning and working. You see I work full time and my business requires that I invest several hours every evening to support it.
It started as an experiment but has now turned into an investment. I built the website using WordPress within a week (I had to ask for some help) and then it was all about learning how to drive traffic to it. I read the blogs, the magazines etc and whilst they were really helpful, the trick to it all is work and luck. You need to find a niche. A topic, a product or service that hasn't already been talked about forever on the internet.
When they say it is all about the content they are right. It is about having the right words and keeping them fresh so that when Google looks to index sites based on these words, your site has every chance of being listed as high as possible.
How does it make money? The revenue comes from affiliate commissions and Google AdSense revenues. Affiliate marketing enables your website to be rewarded if you refer traffic to an online store and they purchase. The more of these relationships the more potential for revenue.
Without traffic however there is no revenue. My strategy has been to build a service that I would personally use. A service which provided the information I would need to make an informed decision. I wanted to make it different to every other comparison websites. I didn't want to only compare programs that would potentially generate an income for me. I compare them all so that the customer has access to everything they need not just the information I wish to show them.
On the question of traffic, my answer is to write content and re-write it. Do your research on the key words that will bring traffic to your site and include them in your content. Ensure your site has the right title tags where they are required. In terms of link building, I write articles such as this, I have a blog which I update weekly with articles and I bookmark. From time to time I have used directories to list on but very infrequently. In the first 6 months my site only received 50 visitors per day. Today it is over 1000.
I am no Search Engine Optimisation expert, but I do know that content drives traffic. You do need to know how to write well enough. Do not rely upon paid writing services. C grade article writing does not win you traffic.
If you are on Facebook then tell your friends about your site. Ask them to mention it to their friends. Traffic as much about building awareness as it is about key words. You see the challenge is not to be tied 100% to Google/Bing for your traffic. Otherwise you risk losing it all if/when Google decides to update its listings. One day you could rank on the first page on Google for a particular keyword (and so receive traffic from it) and the next find yourself on page 3 with traffic coming to an abrupt halt.
This leads me into the final piece of advice in creating your own home business and that is branding. If you rely entirely on search engine traffic you risk losing it all. You need to build other traffic streams. Be that traffic via your Facebook page, through Twitter or even a newsletter. Build your Facebook and Twitter profiles from the beginning and start exploring how you can use these free mediums to drive traffic to your site. It isn't easy but it works. A newsletter is also important. However writing a newsletter requires commitment. You need to plan each edition and you need to write for your readers. This is no longer about copy for search engines it is about attracting and keeping subscribers.
All of these tools will build your brand socially but also attract direct traffic. The more of this the better.
It has taken me more than three years to build my website into a part-time business. It didn't happen in a week or a month. So don't be fooled by the advertisements.
I started my home based business by accident. It was a Saturday evening and I was looking for a prepaid mobile plan for my wife. I spent the evening on the internet researching the plans available in the market. I had them all listed in an excel spreadsheet so that I could compare them. Then I decided that it would be great to put this information online.
Within 2 hours I had registered a business name and purchased my first domain. That was the easiest part of the journey. Since then it has been all about learning and working. You see I work full time and my business requires that I invest several hours every evening to support it.
It started as an experiment but has now turned into an investment. I built the website using WordPress within a week (I had to ask for some help) and then it was all about learning how to drive traffic to it. I read the blogs, the magazines etc and whilst they were really helpful, the trick to it all is work and luck. You need to find a niche. A topic, a product or service that hasn't already been talked about forever on the internet.
When they say it is all about the content they are right. It is about having the right words and keeping them fresh so that when Google looks to index sites based on these words, your site has every chance of being listed as high as possible.
How does it make money? The revenue comes from affiliate commissions and Google AdSense revenues. Affiliate marketing enables your website to be rewarded if you refer traffic to an online store and they purchase. The more of these relationships the more potential for revenue.
Without traffic however there is no revenue. My strategy has been to build a service that I would personally use. A service which provided the information I would need to make an informed decision. I wanted to make it different to every other comparison websites. I didn't want to only compare programs that would potentially generate an income for me. I compare them all so that the customer has access to everything they need not just the information I wish to show them.
On the question of traffic, my answer is to write content and re-write it. Do your research on the key words that will bring traffic to your site and include them in your content. Ensure your site has the right title tags where they are required. In terms of link building, I write articles such as this, I have a blog which I update weekly with articles and I bookmark. From time to time I have used directories to list on but very infrequently. In the first 6 months my site only received 50 visitors per day. Today it is over 1000.
I am no Search Engine Optimisation expert, but I do know that content drives traffic. You do need to know how to write well enough. Do not rely upon paid writing services. C grade article writing does not win you traffic.
If you are on Facebook then tell your friends about your site. Ask them to mention it to their friends. Traffic as much about building awareness as it is about key words. You see the challenge is not to be tied 100% to Google/Bing for your traffic. Otherwise you risk losing it all if/when Google decides to update its listings. One day you could rank on the first page on Google for a particular keyword (and so receive traffic from it) and the next find yourself on page 3 with traffic coming to an abrupt halt.
This leads me into the final piece of advice in creating your own home business and that is branding. If you rely entirely on search engine traffic you risk losing it all. You need to build other traffic streams. Be that traffic via your Facebook page, through Twitter or even a newsletter. Build your Facebook and Twitter profiles from the beginning and start exploring how you can use these free mediums to drive traffic to your site. It isn't easy but it works. A newsletter is also important. However writing a newsletter requires commitment. You need to plan each edition and you need to write for your readers. This is no longer about copy for search engines it is about attracting and keeping subscribers.
All of these tools will build your brand socially but also attract direct traffic. The more of this the better.
It has taken me more than three years to build my website into a part-time business. It didn't happen in a week or a month. So don't be fooled by the advertisements.
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