The problem is, about the same amount of people quit online businesses as join them each month. The failure rate is very high in this industry.

Why do you think that is?

I think it’s because of a thing called “value disconnect“. Essentially, a mismatch between the person and the opportunity that wasn’t predictable ahead of time. Usually due to some failure in communication.

In short, the person who is quitting failed to read - or read into - the sales material at the time of purchase (or do other proper research) to extract the true meaning of the message being communicated by the vendor.

Another way to say it is that they just didn’t do proper due diligence before jumping head-first into an offer.

Why is that so important?

Well, because performing the process of due diligence on an online business opportunity can do wonders in finding the right fit for you, regarding business model, style, system, etc. And it can save you a bunch of time and frustration, money, etc.

But this isn’t about that. This article assumes you have done your due diligence and have chosen or are about to choose the best-fit online business opportunity for you.

Congrats, well done. You now have a much higher chance of succeeding than someone who doesn’t do proper research first.

But now comes the part that probably will be hard - sticking with the decision.

You’ve just paid out a good amount of cash or are positioned to soon, with recurring monthly fees as well. So you’ve got a definite financial investment going on.

That should keep you motivated, right? Hopefully, but maybe not.

You set time aside to build this business, but have barely used it accordingly. You’re filling it with previous, more “comfort zone” activities. What’s going on?

Whatever it is, you have to do one of two things right away:

1. Go after the business like you should have when you first signed-up.

Or…

2. Quit the business completely.

Sure, you could add a third choice of “Do nothing with it. Give it less attention than than one of your lesser hobbies”. But I don’t see the need for choice #3.

Either you are or you aren’t. As Yoda said: “There is no try, there is only do or not do!”
And excuses don’t wash either. They hurt you more than anyone.

You can’t sit around and dream about building it and expect it to get built. Either it was a good fit for you or it wasn’t.

If you realized the error of your ways shortly after you signed-up, you should have asked for a refund and gotten out immediately.

Whatever happened, relax, it’s happened to a lot of us. Don’t beat yourself up about it, just learn from it.

Since you didn’t officially quit yet, the two choices above still prevail.

Dump it if you’re gonna dump it. But decide soon, because the clock is ticking…

Let’s say you decided to keep it, Ok?

Now it’s time to look at it a little differently. Maybe look at it as more of a game. Not drudgery. A personal playful challenge. Less serious.

Sure, it’s serious. But we don’t want you to become obsessed with it. And we don’t want you afraid of success or failure, either. We want you focused, confident and committed to the process.

You’ve decided to go for an online business opportunity. The first thing you have to get out of your mind is this image of great wealth pouring out of the heavens onto your head.

It ain’t gonna happen, kid.

Oh, and lose the sitting on your butt, doing nothing imagery, too. It’s a myth.

You will be directly rewarded in life - and in this business of yours - according to the decisions you make and the actions you take. Make note of this, as it is wise…

“Deciding” to sit on your duff isn’t going to get a business developed. You need to literally chisel-out a chunk of your life and plaster-in this new time, energy and resource-draining priority.

Because either you WILL make time to build the business or the business won’t get built.

And not just block out time, but actually agressively and routinely use it to perform the most critical tasks in developing profits in the business.

Some people use a vision board to keep them motivated. It’s a bulletin board or section of wall that you have decorated with pictures and other images and words that symbolize your dreams, goals and visions. Things you want to have, be, do or see. They serve as a constant visual reminder and vision recharger. Highly recommended.

Some people respond better to negative motivation - like a picture of their current boss or cubicle farm or something else they currently have in their lives they desperately want gone.

Whatever it might be, keep using and doing things that motivate you. I’d recommend going only for things that generate positive rather than negative motivation.

Like I said earlier, if you look at it as more of a game - golf being a good example - then you are able to step back and look at it from the outside. And like with using golf clubs, small, incremental improvements really make big differences in outcomes.

In golf, where cutting a few putts off your short game dramatically improves your score, ultimately, the overall score was improved only one stroke at a time.

The same goes for this new business you decided to build and grow. You’ll build and grow it one action, one hour of effort, at a time. And in time you’ll find numerous ways to cut “strokes” off your “game” by learning to automate and outsource many of your chunked-down tasks, described later.

You understand on multiple levels that there is no “Easy Button” for this gig.

You WON’T be “building hundreds or thousands of profitable sites in mere minutes” yadda, yadda, yadda.

And knowing all of that going in, puts you in a perfect position for “informed consent“.

What’s informed consent?

It’s like what you sign before you get a medical operation. It means you have read and fully understand everything that is going to happen to you. You’ve been informed, and now you consent. Bye bye appendix (or whatever)…

A scary experience to most people - both for medical stuff as well as business stuff.

But this shouldn’t be too scary. It’s not a medical procedure, after all. Just a simple business decision. And you did your research ahead of time. You have all the facts - you’re informed.

If you did proper due diligence prior to selecting this business, your probable success rate is off the charts compared to the average person who selects a business through more subjective, emotional processes.

So, if your foundation (the decision process) is solid, you are starting from a point of strength and stability. Now it’s just a matter of applying consistent action to the required business-building tasks and success is virtually assured.

In other words, doing the work. Playing the game, if you prefer.

Ok, here’s how you do it…

A couple of oldies but goodies:

1. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

2. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

That’s how.

The main reason most people quit home-based businesses almost before they actually “begin” them is due to a disconnect in the value promised, expected or delivered.

Most people expect fast, vast wealth with almost no work, because that’s the way many vendors hype their sales message. The reality is, there are thousands of ways to make money online. Some easy, some quite difficult. But NONE without any work involved!

The common scenario for zealous new online entrepreneurs is: They buy-in to a “hot” opportunity, and when the fast money doesn’t come, the motivation begins to drop off, followed by any work they might have invested, and finally they quit.

Most experienced golfers are happy if they cut a single stroke off their game once every few months or so. And they can tell you that no one ever went from caddy to pro in a month.

There IS work to be done, make no mistake. But none of it is overwhelming if you approach it from a one-bite-at-a-time perspective. Probably the best way to do this is to write down each of the major tasks and below them all of the sub-tasks. Once you “chunk-down” the tasks, they become much more managable and less intimidating.

The last place you want to find yourself is sitting, asking “What do I do now?” A question often asked by people who are overwhelmed with too much information or instruction. That state of overwhelm is like trying to swim in freezing water - no good.

It’s a state of paralysis you need to stay out of. Which is why you chunked-down all the critical tasks and allotted time estimates to each.

No trying to swallow any pachiderms whole for you. You have a logical sequence and process that focuses on only managable portions of necessary tasks and eliminates non-revenue generating busywork and distractions.

You’ll stay motivated to spend the time and effort on this business because you understand that it takes action, not just dreams, to attain goals.

This is a permanant step for you. You are now officially a business owner. You now have a vehicle at your disposal to literally change the course of your life. Do you get how huge that is?

Even if it’s only a few hours a week for starters, you are now in a unique position to generate additional revenue into your household through the leverage of a business.

Your business.

It just requires consistent time and effort applied to make it happen.

What will you do? Commit to at least three, but preferably six months of consistent 10-hours per week, minimum effort into the business model as it’s laid out by the company, your sponsor, upline, etc.?

Or mess around with it for a week or two and decide “it’s not for you”?

A huge part of you wants “it” (rapid wealth, freedom, lifestyle, success, etc.) and an equally huge part of you seems to NOT want it.

So you buy “stuff” with grand intentions, but then do nothing with it. If it’s like this with you, don’t freak. You’re not the only one. I don’t have the space here to speak to this subject. Look for a separate article on this. But essentially, it goes back to the fear of success or failure I mentioned earlier as well as “comfort zone thinking”.

You’ve got to get your head around being totally WORTHY to succeed!

No guilt, no barriers, no worries, no distractions - just building your business.

It’s a free country. You can build a multi-million dollar business from a small home office if you really want to. People do it all the time.

You just have to want it badly enough and then make it happen through consistent effort over time.

I believe you can do it. Go forth and prosper!

Like article writing or copywriting.  Maybe graphics design.  Who knows, but surely several talents, indeed.

It’s because of how you’ll use your time as you proceed.  You’ll develop those adjunct skills as part of the day to day operations of building your business.

For example, not many new entrepreneurs can afford a graphics designer or copywriter.  So, they save themselves hundreds if not thousands of dollars and take the extra time to learn to do it themselves.

Why?  The answer is simple.  They have more time than money.

As time goes on and their web enterprise grows and thrives, they begin to outsource some of these previously too-expensive tasks.

Why?  Because now they have more money than time.

How do you manage your time?

Trick question, sorry.

You see, no one can manage time.

I really enjoy accurate thinking.

So, the question should always be “How do you manage yourself?”

Quite a shift, don’t you agree?

No longer asking about an intangible substance like time.  I mean, WHO can manage time, after all?  So, we’re all off the hook if we use that term, don’t you see?

Not so fast…

Accurate thinkers accept personal responsibility for their thoughts, words and deeds.  In other words, they see and understand the connections between time, thoughts, words and action.

Acceptance of personal responsibility enables one to reframe the term “time management” into one much more accurate - “self management“.

Now, when you approach your home-based business, remember that time is no longer a valid reason for not doing anything with it.

It’s 100% you - just you.

What do you do with your spare time?

You do nothing with time - it’s another trick question.  Oh, and there’s no such thing as “spare” time to an accurate thinker.

However, if you’ve bought-in to a home business opportunity, spent a considerable chunk of change, promised your spouse and friends stuff, carved-out room in your house and schedule for it…

…You’d better get busy, pal.

Now that you accept that it’s self-management and that it’s all on you, there’s no weaseling out of this deal, bub.

If you treat the time you’ve set aside for your business with the same level of seriousness that you do your job, your business will soon come to be at a similar level of importance as your job in your subconscious mind.

And that’s where it all happens.  Internally.

Success is an inside game.  Remember that.

Many people have agreed that it was about the time that they started making as much from their home-based business as they were at their job, that they started seeing their home business much differently.

At that point, there’s a big shift in the thought processes.  Barriers of fear and unbelief fall away.  Freedom is in sight.  Revenues pick-up even more.  That’s what happens when people think and behave “accurately”…

Note to self:  Manage self, manage business, succeed massively.  Start NOW!

Happy self-management!

• You should know how much it costs initially, as well as any and all recurring costs.

• You should know how much time it will take you each week in order to meet the minimum requirements for task performance. In other words, if you don’t do these tasks, you won’t make any money.

• You should know whether they provide step-by-step training with their system or not.

• You should know if you need any additional resources, like autoresponder or hosting accounts. Also, whether you’ll need the skills to manage those accounts.

• You should know if there are any additional one-time purchases you’ll need to make - such as for specialized software - or whether everything you’ll need is included.

• You should know how much money you want to make, how you’re going to go about making it and how quickly it’s going to happen.

• You should be prepared to fully commit to this business and dismiss outside distractions - like other business offers - that will slow you down or stop your momentum altogether.

• You should have a good grasp on what other regular folks are saying about the business and what some of their success and failures have been. In other words, you know the good and the bad about this opportunity - from people who are/were actively involved with it.

• You know it’s not a fly-by-night company because they’ve been around for a while and have dozens if not hundreds of listings about them in search engine results pages.

• You have probably read emails and other testimonials from big name marketers extolling the merits of the business. You’ve pored through blogs and forums to get the big picture about this opportunity, the company and the main players/owners.

At this point, it’s simply a matter of matching one grid point against another to choose the opportunity that fits you and your situation best.

Once you’ve done that, it’s decision time.

So, don’t mess around any further - there’s no money to be made in drawing out your research any longer than necessary.

If you’ve done your homework, you’re so far ahead of the average person who jumps into an online business opportunity based solely on an emotional reaction to the sales material and hype.

So, congratulations for that, you’re in the top 10 percentile of opportunity seekers!

Now, make a decision and vow to stick with it for at least six months of diligent effort.
After that, you may realize that perhaps another business model would fit you better.

But for the initial term, do everything required of you - and more, if possible - and you’ll very likely find that making money is actually quite easy if you apply a proven, systematic approach.

Essentially, it means “do your homework” or the perennial favorite, “look before you leap”.

In other words, know what you’re getting into (or considering getting into) before you commit your time, money or other resources in that direction.

And in this age of Attention Deficit Disorder, instant gratification and disposable everything, few people perform proper due diligence before going off the deep end and making a financial commitment to a web-based business offer.

Maybe it’s the fact that there is normally a fairly low start-up cost associated with the offer, or perhaps the money-back grace period attached to most opportunities that makes people so spontaneous when making a decision about an internet money-making opportunity.

No doubt the cleverly written sales letters for internet marketing opportunities, systems and products that promise vast riches virtually overnight with minimal effort play a large part in such surrender to emotions over basic logic.

Granted, the term due diligence is normally associated with the process of acquiring a business - the brick and mortar type - but it can also be easily applied to many other important decisions as well.

And just because an online business has a small initial or monthly cost, doesn’t make it any less of a business than a multi-million dollar enterprise. It’s simply a matter of scope and scale.

You can buy extensive due diligence checklists for business acquisition purposes, but you’ll rarely find one that deals with what to look for in an online business opportunity.

So, here are a few things anyone with a computer can do to perform due diligence on any opportunity they may be considering getting involved with:

1. First and foremost, carefully read the entire sales letter and all other pages on the site dealing with the opportunity. Make sure you understand exactly what they are offering and what will be required of you in time, money, additional resources and commitment.

This may seem like common sense, but internet marketing sales letters, with their grandiose promises, have a tendency to cloud-over the eyes of even the most skeptical of us at times.

2. Perform a WHOIS search. This is the first of several checks to acertain and verify the background and legitimacy of the company. The following sites are just two among many available that allow you to look into a company’s registration, contact information, date the domain was registered and when it is due to expire, and its hosting company.

http://www.whois-search.com/ or http://www.domaintools.com/

Simply type in the domain name and you’ll be presented with the information.

If you’re evaluating a network marketing, MLM or other monthly fee or large initial investment type of business opportunity, some things should ideally be present in the WHOIS information.

a. The domain has been registered for more than a year - longer is better. Unless they say on the salesletter that they are a startup (i.e. new company), they should have been around for a while. This also ties in with our further research.

b. The domain should ideally not be due to expire any time soon. Big businesses don’t normally mess around with year-by-year domain renewals. They register their domain for multiple years out, meaning they intend to be around for the long haul.

c. The WHOIS info should provide multiple ways to contact the business/domain owners. Serious businesses don’t hide in a cave, they want people to find and contact them and they make it easy to do so.

3. Perform a reviews search. In Google or any search engine of your choice, type the name of the company or opportunity, followed with the word “reviews”. So, if you were investigating a business called Profits.com you’d simply type “profits.com reviews” (minus the quotes) in the search bar and see what you come up with.

4. Perform a blogs search. This time, you’d type it in this way: blog: profits.com You will probably get some non-related results, but you should also get quite a few results where people are talking about the company or opportunity. Since they won’t necessarily be trying to sell you on the company, you’re likely to see some honest assessments.

5. Perform a forums search. Do this the same way as you did with the blogs. Again, most of the results you’ll get will be honest appraisals from real people who have personal experience with the company or opportunity.

For the reviews, blogs and forums searches, you can also type the request into the search engines in a more literal way: profits.com reviews, profits.com blog and/or profits.com forums. Or, you can simply enter profits.com and see what comes up, though those listings will mostly be sites trying to sell the opportunity.

The longer a company has been around, the more feedback you’ll find on it - both good and bad. Be sure to take the bad comments with a grain of salt, as some people make it a point to assail a company or opportunity after they have “failed” with it. These emotional types of reviews are usually more indicative of an individual who didn’t do their due diligence and quit, rather than someone who gave it their all and the company failed them in some way.

6. Check out free services that provide reviews. Two of my favorites for internet marketing or make money online types of products and services are The Warrior Forum and Ratings Hub. The reviews are written by the members, which is great. And these folks have personal experience with the product, service or opportunity in question and they usually give frank, no-holds-barred reviews.

That’s more than enough, I think. Obviously, the more you potentially have at stake, the more due diligence you should put into checking out the business.

The internet makes it easy to check into pretty much any and all business opportunities - both online and off - so use it to look, before you leap. Happy hunting!

This article will help you ask the right questions so that you can make a more informed decision before you commit your valuable time, energy, money and resources to any online opportunity.

Before I go any further, let’s just define online business as “anything you do online that is designed and intended to make you money in a sustained manner“. Agreed?

Ask The Right Questions -

In your search to find an online business opportunity that interests you, the first place you should look is to yourself. Here are a few questions you should ask yourself:

What are my motivations and intentions with regard to starting an online business? Is it just a hobby or part time thing to keep me occupied, or do I want to build a multi-national, multi-million dollar business? Maybe something in-between those two extremes? Be clear on this.

How much money and time do I have to invest in the endeavor? If you only have a few bucks to spare and only a few hours a week, you shouldn’t be looking at something with greater requirements. You’ll be in over your head from day one and likely quit a few months down the line with little to show for it.

What marketable or profit-generating skills do I currently possess? If you write well, have basic webmaster skills, are familiar with advertising, etc., those are profitable skills. Don’t devalue any of your assets simply because you take them for granted.

Do I feel inclined/committed to learn additional necessary things in order to develop proficiency in the business? Would you be willing and able to learn various advertising methods, traffic generation strategies, marketing techniques, etc?

How much money do I want/expect to make? Despite what many of the salesletters and promotional material says, only a tiny percentage of online business initiates make any significant incomes from their efforts during the first 18-24 months.

The ones who do make money are usually the ones who don’t get distracted by other offers or frustrated by their lack of progress. They are also the ones who really apply themselves to that one opportunity - and only that - until they start to see results.

What is the timeline I’ve set for my success? Again, most “overnight successes” on the internet have been slogging along for two years, usually more. That is, if they don’t get frustrated and throw in the towel before then. Yes, many people make some income right away, but not enough to retire on. In fact, not enough to even replace their job’s income. So, despite the number of “get rich quick” schemes online, in reality, few people truly do get rich quick. It takes time and perseverance to make things happen.

It might be wise to write down these questions as well as your answers to them. You’ll use them later for a memory jogger or reality check when you start evaluating various business offers.

So, now it’s just a matter of matching-up your wants, resources and skill-sets with an opportunity that fits what you have to offer and what you’re looking for.

Properly Research The Offer -

Essentially, all you have to do is reverse the questions you asked of yourself earlier.

What are the business owner’s/company’s motivations and intentions? How much time and money do they say it’s going to take, minimally? What do they provide and what do you need to bring to the table, resource, skill and experience-wise? Do they provide comprehensive training on their system? How about support or a member’s forum? Do they provide any income claims or guarantees, including the amount of time they expect you to begin earning decent money? Do they have a money-back guarantee?

You might also read my article on Due Diligence to help you narrow down your choices.

As you can see, there’s a lot to consider before you jump in to the deep end of an online business opportunity. And finding the right fit might take some time.

But it’s worth the effort. It’s sure better than hopping from one opportunity to the next and never making any forward progress, wouldn’t you agree? That hopping is what most people do and why most people quit before they really ever get started.

So be smart. Take your time and find the right fit in an online business. And when you do, go after it with all you have. If you do that, you’ll virtually guarantee you’ll be in that top 5% of people who actually succeed!