I went to my barber a few days ago. We talked about his hobby, which is playing poker, and his nephew who is a boxer, and about my job and my kids, etc., etc.
I told him where my son, a high school senior, wants to go to college. It is a rather expensive private school in the city where we live. Jerry, my barber, said he knows several people that attend and work at this college, and that he believes it is an excellent school. And then he said something that is very true.
“If I stop learning, then I am through. I’ve been a barber for forty years and I still am learning.” He then related a story about a former customer. This fellow came into the shop one day and said “I want you to cut my hair the same way every time I come in.” The conversation continues:
Jerry: “I’ve been cutting your hair for years. Isn’t it always the same?”
Customer: “You never use the same method. I want you to cut it using the same method.”
Jerry: “Doesn’t it come out the same every time?”
Customer: “Yes, but I want it cut the same way every time.”
Jerry says to me “I know several ways to cut hair and I am always learning more. If it comes out the way he likes it, what difference does it make how I cut it.”
The need to continue learning applies to your home business as well. As the online market changes, so do your marketing and promotion techniques. There are new products and affiliate opportunities to look for.
Articles
One great source for learning about online business is to read articles, like this one. There are thousands of sites offering business related articles. In fact, doing a search on Google for “business articles” results in over twenty million entries.
For the newcomer to home based online business, Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy, has a nice series of articles (http://www.workathome-awesomeopportunities.com/homebiz.htm) including “Finding Your Home Business Niche“, “Advertising Your Home Business on a Budget“, & “Networking Your Home Business within Circles of Influence”. These are just a sampling of the information available in articles.
Or how about this: did you know that you can get a million hits a month without a top listing on a search engine? Jack Humphrey, in his article “How to get 1 Million Hits Without the Search Engines” (http://www.workathome-awesomeopportunities.com/powerlinking5.htm) tells you how.
Or another – Charlie Page, owner of The Directory of Ezines http://www.directoryofezines.com, writes about why people are leaving their internet business in record numbers, and ways you can avoid the same fate in “Why are people Leaving?” (http://tinyurl.com/5mh46).
Forums
Another source of information is online forums. These are sites where business owners get together online to exchange ideas and get answers to questions about their own online businesses. One of my favorites is the >Warrior Forum (http://www.warriorforum.com/forum/). This forum includes links to an article database, joint ventures and money making information.
There is a recent discussion on the Warrior Main Forum on whether it is advisable to put your picture on your website (http://www.warriorforum.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=28449). Some commented on how a picture of an “ugly” person could result in a potential customer clicking away.
Another discussion was on what type of hardware to use in a home business. This included monitor type and size, processor, graphics card, etc. This is a very interesting topic for anyone with an internet based home business.
And since I am a Plug In Profit Affiliate a forum I recently discovered, the PIPS Builder Forum (http://pipsforum.1affiliateprofits.com/), has provided me with several valuable marketing tips and business resources.
Training Sites
If you are a member of a MLM or affiliate program there is a wealth of training material available to you.
In my own journey down the online home business trail I find that being and affiliate of several programs has given me more training than I can absorb. The learning curve is steep, but it is better than starting out from scratch.
One of the programs that I am an affiliate of is SFI Marketing Group. They have an extensive amount of training materials for the affiliates as well as a discussion board.
Another site with a wealth of materials for the online business owner is the International Association of Home Business Entrepreneurs (http://www.moreinfo247.com/8813721/iahbe). There is a small monthly fee to belong to this one, but the amount of fresh, timely content makes it worth it to me.
There are many, many more and I encourage you to check them out.
Trial And Error
And of course there is the old standby of screw it up and figure out how to fix it. I have done this on many occasions and I am sure you have too. But if you approach your errors with the right attitude it is possible to learn an immense amount from your own mistakes.
Don’t Stop Or You’re Through
As Jerry said, “If I stop learning, then I’m through”. And I believe this is true for me and you.
I have a goal to consciously learn something new everyday. I recently saw a site that will help improve a golf swing. Another for woodworking tips. Yet another for training a dog. There is probably a site to learn about any interest you may have.
Don’t take for granted the wealth of opportunities to learn something, not just about your business but about anything that interests you.
Or you’ll be through.
About the author:
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Timothy Spaulding is the owner of the Work At Home Business Resource Center http://www.workathome-awesomeopportunities.com
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