Welcome back...
Michael Kay
Research Director HBB Research
The Seven Keys to Web Home-based Business Success
Everybody has a secret recipe for success on the web. 99.9% are not secret and who knows how many lead to success? But there are some eternal truths that work both on and off the web, indeed work for life in general. Are they secret – no! Are they usually forgotten – absolutely!
1. Know Yourself!
Even at the oracle of Delphi over 2000 years ago this was cliché wisdom. But as they say, clichés are clichés because they're true!
The essence of business success is self-understanding. Without it you cannot understand others, your interactions and reactions to events and people, and how to maximize your probabilities of success. In classic leadership development, the candidate is put through a battery of personality tests and the organization puts feedback systems (360 degree programs, job evaluation) that force people to examine themselves objectively. What has this to do with the home-business entrepreneur?
Working in your pajamas at the living room table can be a wonderfully releasing experience. But after a time it can pall – believe it or not!
For many, the lack of companionship, the loneliness of it and the lack of imposed discipline can lead to a loss of focus and a drop in motivation. For those who are squeezing it in between a hundred other tasks and calls on their time, choosing a business model that doesn’t fit with your personality can be a disaster.
From a life point of view, Knowing Yourself is a powerful way to expand your world. There is no value in not knowing and the value in knowing is to use the MasterCard catch-phrase: priceless.
2. Know where you’re going?
“If you don’t know where you’re going any road will get you there”
(The Cheshire Cat, Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Caroll)
Home-based business is no different from IBM or Toyota. If you don’t know why you’re doing it, you'll get lost and confused. I’m not suggesting a corporate Vision Statement, but a picture of the Ferrari you want or of the beach in Bermuda, or the Private School you crave for your children will serve just as effectively. Stick them to the ‘fridge and know why you’re doing all this.
Should you set personal goals, production targets, and detailed objectives? It depends. If you are running a Google Ad campaign with 250 separate streams I think you need a lot of focus. Similarly, if you are in an MLM scheme where you have to contact 200 people a day, then operating goals are a necessity. Home business can be as ‘structured’ as you like, but most people sitting in their pajamas may think they left regular employment to avoid imposed discipline but eventually find they want (and need) some structure.
3. Focus on the Process
Every business is simply a number of processes that identify, create and deliver value. If you are a Fortune 500 company you may well spend millions on refining and focusing your activities. If there are just you and the cat, well it seems like over-kill. However!! Small business on the web is becoming more and more professional. Others are focusing on making sure everything is covered off. If you don’t, you will fall behind in professional skill.
Work out the steps in your business and focus on improving them. This will guarantee long term effectiveness
4. Be aware of the Critical Success Factors?
A Critical Success Factor (CSF) is something that MUST exist if something else is to happen. If you want to win the America’s Cup you need a top-end 12 meter yacht with a low-drag hull, plus a top-flight crew, plus a winning skipper, plus…well you get the idea. Miss out ANY ONE of these and you will fail.
Every business, indeed every human endeavor, has CSFs. Work out what they are – typically there are more than 3 and fewer than 7 – and make sure you have covered them off.
5. Learn, learn, learn and most of all learn from Action
Building knowledge is critical to growth in your web-based business. There are endless e-books to buy on how to do web business, a goodly number of them totally useless and many of the rest simply regurgitating stale ideas. However, the best sort of knowledge comes FREE. It comes under the heading of Action Learning. Every action you take in your web business (or in life for that matter) is a potential source of learning. The cycle is: act, measure, reflect, adjust, and act and so on. Most of us (and most businesses incidentally) go through life missing out the Reflect and Adjust steps. We lurch from action to action hoping for the best. That’s Einstein’s definition of madness (doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result!) Milk your experiences for every drop of learning and apply it.
6. Find the best resources and use them
Virtually everything you will ever want to do on the web has a supplier, and their offerings are getting more sophisticated all the time.
7. Act, Act, Measure, Learn and Act
The John Reese approach to web success! Sitting in your chair and doing nothing but dream is a recipe for zero profits. It almost doesn't matter what you do - just do SOMETHING. Then see what happens and get into a learning cycle. Who is John Reese? One of the absolute top gurus on the web - and he is REAL.
Michael Kay
Thoughts to Chew on...
Getting started on the web with the right attitudes is half the secret to success. There are endless self-help books on the web - there's even a business opportunity about it - Success University! But the seven listed above are the core. Here are some other thoughts you might consider:
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Success in any endeavor requires effort. Sounds really old-fashioned in our 'instant gratification' world, but it's a fact. And the web is no different. To read your junk mail you'd think all you had to do was get a broadband connection and money would flow down the pipe. Sadly it just ain't so!
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If you're going to put in effort - on finding opportunities, on mastering techniques - you're going to have to find time and learn how to persist. It is highly unlikely that you will make a success of your first venture - but highly probable you will learn a huge amount from it
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The killers of persistent effort are legion, but almost every one of them is crammed between your ears. Sounds strange! But such things as how you view your web venture, how you manage yourself and your relations with your family are keys to success - and all those are between your ears!
HBB Research's latest report picks p this theme of personal attitudes to success and explores it in depth.
If you want to find out more, you should get hold of The Gold Rush: Realizing your Dreams in the Coming Web Home-based Business Bonanza. This 260+page book will give you a deep understanding of what it takes to be successful. If you want to find out more about The Gold Rush: Realizing your Dreams in the Coming Web Home-based Business Bonanza click on the text below.
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Take me to The Gold Rush.
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Copyright Michael Kay HBB Research 2006 |
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The Gold Rush...To Invest in Your Future
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Another Invitation...
Participate in HBB Research's Research Program.
Ever wondered about the personality traits it takes to be successful in web home based business and if you have them?
Click on the link below and fill in the Personality Questionnaire. Then get the results from those who have responded so far Plus the FREE and unique Your Web Home Business Personality Report: Building Success from The Inside
Go to the Personality Questionnaire |
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Marketplace Note:
Sources on Continuing Education...
As one of our regular features we recommend a source of information - that is essentially free. This time we are suggesting something really advanced. Michael Campbell is an expert on web traffic creation who developed a concept around linking mini-sites. Inevitably he had to give it a weird name "Revenge of the Mininets" but it is non-the-less fascinating for all that. Michael used to sell this ebook, but now he gives it away to subscribers to his newsletter. Indeed you can source more books than just the Revenge, so his offerings are well worth a look and his newsletter is very informative
His newsletter is called Internet Marketing Secrets and here is the link
Revenge of the Mininets
Summary of the Sources of Knowledge mentioned so far:
Storefronts: we recommended you go and look at the materials provided by the two leading Clickbank offerings CBMall and 1st Pro Storefront. Both have excellent materials.
SEO search engine optimization by Brad Callen. Perhaps the leading thinker and practioner on the web
XSite Pro a report on how to find products that sell. This report is credited to Paul Smithson. Note SiteBuildIt also has tons of information on driving your business
Revenge of the Mininets a brilliant concept for driving search engine position by tying mini-sites together. The author is Michael Campbell
A note: The idea of Mini-sites has developed strongly on the web for a couple of reasons. First, individual sites do not typically produce incomes you can retire on - but a bunch of small sites all together may. Linking those site - per Revenge of the Mininets, and even better linking them into a piece of "Virtual Real Estate" with heavy content can work with the search engines to generate a strong stable income out of AdSense.
You can fit these pieces together if you look at:
XSitePro built for mini-site create, SiteBuildIt with its pre-sell notion, Revenge of the Mininets and John Reese.
It takes a bit of effort but once you've grasped the idea it is very powerful.
Search Clickbank:
Did you check out HBB Review?
Your first copy of HBB Review is now available. To access it click the link below:
HBB Review: The Zen of Traffic
The first article in HBB Review is focused on the critical issue of TRAFFIC.
Table of Contents
Under Construction
HBB Research's Web Home-business eBook Store is currently under construction. It will focus on books, tools and Specal Reports for the web home entrepreneur.
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And Finally...
At HBB Research we believe in the value of feedback. Each Letter we will ask you for your thoughts on what you are looking for..Here's the question for this issue
"What would you like HBB Research to investigate and write about?"
Send your thoughts to
insights@hbbresearch.com
Thanks in advance for your ideas, they are much appreciated.
Prior Letters
Letter#1: The Web Business Boom includes Personality Questionnaire and FREE Report. Learn about yourself and your chances of success
Letter#2: The Long Tail Economics includes Personality Questionnaire and FREE Report. Learn about yourself and your chances of success
Letter#3: Seven Sources of Web Wealth includes Personality Questionnaire and FREE Report. Learn about yourself and your chances of success |
