The possibilities are endless. Of course with that said some of the ideas we have may not be possible at least at this time, due to many different reasons. However if we stick to realistic, reasonable goals and within those parameters do some brainstorming, we might come up with ideas we didn’t even know we had!
One way to get started is to make a few lists. Start with your skills. What have you done at each job you have had? First use broad categories but then outline the details so that you know what it involved. What training and/or education have you had?
On the next list, detail your interests. What do you enjoy doing? What do you consider your hobbies? What would you like to do if you had the time or money? What have you always wanted to learn more about or to experience such as travel to a specific place or taking a Thai cooking class.
Now we want to go back to each list and think of ways we could use our skills and/or interests to create a business at home. For example you see you have experience with customer service, bookkeeping, word processing, or other office skills. These would make a perfect service business. Many people that have small businesses do not have these skills and need them so they will pay to have them done.
For example most Internet home businesses need writing – for blogs, advertisements, marketing (emails) etc. If you have a flair for writing and you have good grammar and can type decently you could earn money writing for people. There are just a few facts you need to gather in order to know how and what to write for them.
You are not confined to only office services. You can almost instantly become an affiliate marketer and earn commissions if you like sales and marketing. If you find in your skills and/or interest lists that you love arts and crafts, then you can create a gift business using those skills. You can create gift baskets to sell on the holidays or year round that include things you have made from food to ceramics to soap and candles.
Any business including Internet businesses will at some point involve marketing and advertising to get customers or sales. This can be from any perspective – it could be what you do as your service business for others. However what I am referring to here is the fact that you will need to promote your own business and so the first thing you should write are your own advertisements.
If you don’t have a website and do not know how to create one, you are like the vast majority of people including home business owners. It is a very simple matter to set up a blog account and use the pre-formatted themes that they give you free, to create a different ad space. Add some pages with your services and your costs, a free Paypal button and you have a good start.
However no one will see your website unless you promote it and this is where you will need to learn some basic skills with regard to Internet marketing. There are a number of inexpensive services that others can provide for you to get you started. Once you see what is going on you may be able to do everything yourself for free!
