Loading ...
As I have suggested elsewhere, one way to recession-proof is to develop additional income from a home business. In fact, while the creation of home businesses have been on the rise for years, interest is exploding right now. Whether it’s a hobby converted to a business (eg., photography, cooking, crafts), consulting (eg., in the area of one’s existing professional expertise), network marketing, writing a book, or a host of other activities, a home business is appealing for many reasons.
Of course, many -perhaps most- do not succeed. Could you be the exception? What are the pitfalls? You may know how to tune a piano, but can you successfully market your new tuning business? You may join a multilevel marketing (MLM) company that has a fantastic product or service, but apart from a few friends and family members, where will you find your customers? The internet? Well, with millions of web sites, what will make you stand out? Does it sound like I am suggesting that sales and marketing could be the pitfall? It is certainly one central issue for any business. And both “sales” and “marketing” can be broken down into many, many specific tasks (through job analysis!).
In reality, there are many reasons why people fail or succeed in a home business, but in this article I would like to focus on just one:
lack of effective and relevant training. I have run several home businesses during the past 10-15 years, with little actual business experience or training. During the last year, I have learned a whole lot about marketing and related information that would have made a huge difference if I had known these things from the beginning. Yes, one can learn from small business association programs, but it is expensive and not very timely. And, just like in large corporations, it can be difficult to find time to fit the training into the mad rush of day to day tasks.
In my view, home business success would increase dramatically if new entrepreneurs could obtain training that is:
- relevant to real tasks they are facing (like training professionals assert: the conditions of the practice activity should closely resemble the conditions of the real task).
- available on-demand (just in time).
- broken down into step-by-step actions (like we expect in decent equipment training).
Several months ago I discovered an individual who is supplying online training that reasonably meets the bullets above. If you already have a home business, or if you are thinking that a home business will help recession-proof your family, I strongly recommend his lesson modules, most of which are about online marketing. Let’s face it: even for traditional businesses, internet marketing can be one of the factors that determines home business profitability.
This trainer does not have a training, teaching, or education background! Yet he has stumbled into the business of training others in the home business community. He is very good at what he is doing and he is making money as… a trainer! Imagine what would happen if you were to apply his information, develop your own successful business niche, and then … train others to be successful in their home business efforts!
The trainer is Mike Klingler of the Renegade Professional. In these two sample lesson segments, he guides novices step by step through the process of building a presence on the internet using Squidoo. These lessons are only two of scores of lessons that focus on Web 2.0 marketing skills. Not only can these lessons be helpful to you or someone in your family, but they can open your eyes to training that you could also provide. I believe that trainers, properly trained themselves, have an excellent background for helping others in building a home business. Obviously there are important considerations when choosing an internet business training program, but I always use my PBET yardstick when evaluating, and the Renegade Professional program meets at least some of the important PBET characteristics.
Could his training be better? Of course! Is there room for others to provide home business training? Yes! As I said at the beginning, the number of people starting into a home business is growing fast. There is a need for helping people recession-proof their families and business training can be the very thing that will enable their success.
Related posts:
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
