Here is some good news, if you have ever felt that creating home business income was mysterious or confusing: simply approach it correctly and it could be easier than you think.

It’s true that there is a high rate of failure for people trying to make money from their own home business. Since I know you don’t want to be counted in that particular statistic, today’s post will highlight some tips on how to create income from your home business in three easy steps.

1. Create focus by choosing a niche business. This is a must because of how intensely competitive the Internet is. As world economies tighten up and more home business entrepreneurs look to the Internet for extra income, competition is only going to get stiffer.

A niche business is where you take a broad theme and narrow it down. The idea is to stack the odds in your favour by eliminating some of the competition.

A good example of narrowing your market by choosing a niche can be found in… the home improvement business. Focus on bathrooms or bathroom fixtures, for example.

Your goal would be to develop a home business around the theme of bathroom renovations, or bathroom fixtures, or simply bathtubs. You could make money online selling bathtubs, or by building a content site and using various forms of affiliate marketing.

2. Create your own blog. This is the easiest and one of the most popular ways to promote a home business online.

The best way to do this is to set up a web hosting account with a dependable company like HostGator. Once set up, you can then use the Fantastico feature to set up a WordPress blog with just one click.

Today’s technology makes this so much easier to do than the “old” way which involved learning HTML coding and building your site from scratch. Setting up a web hosting account is also a much better way to host your blog than using the free blogging platforms available from WordPress or Blogger.com.

When your blog is self-hosted you have full control over everything from the design, to the features, to the content. You can do as others do and learn a few basic strategies for making your blog more appealing to visitors and readers.

One great advantage to blogging in today’s technologically advanced age is how easy it is to create new web pages. With the right platform, this can be as easy as typing in your content and clicking the publish button.

3. Outsource your marketing tasks. Outsourcing is one of the biggest keys to developing a home business income the easy way.

Marketing your home business products is the most important element of your business. It should be your highest priority because without web traffic coming to your blog or website, you will never sell anything.

Experienced marketers monetize their blogs with affiliate programs such as pay per click (PPC), cost per action (CPA), and pay per sale (PPS) products.

Once your site is set up and monetized, it’s time to begin adding regular, informative content that will appeal to your target market. You can hire a freelance writer to create content, and you can even outsource someone to submit the articles to article directories, and to social bookmark them online.

Backlinking to generate long-term traffic is also a vital element of online business development. And backlinking is another task that can be outsourced, saving you time and effort that is better spent on other aspects of your home business.

Once you get systems in place for these important marketing tasks, you become more of a home business manager, overseeing and directing the work that you get other people to do for you.

And here’s the sweetest thing about this whole deal: once all of these things are in place, not only do they serve to create home business income for you, but they also allow you to branch out into multiple niches, which, when you stop and think about it, is really the key to making a lot of money online.

Let’s review today’s Internet Marketing tips:

1. Create focus by choosing a niche;

2. Create a self-hosted blog (HostGator web hosting services, recommended);

3. Leverage your time and effort by outsourcing your marketing tasks.

Apply these tips and you will find that creating home business income is easier than you might have initially thought. Isn’t that good news? All that remains now is for you to get out there and go for it! Success awaits you.

How time flies! It has been almost six weeks since I joined IM faceplate, one of the newest membership sites to hit the Social Networking scene, and I am thoroughly enjoying the experience. If you haven’t already done so, you really should join IM faceplate: Brand yourself!

IM faceplate is a premier social media site designed specifically for branding your Internet Marketing business. Unlike other sites that may restrict your website links, or links to sales pages and affiliate marketing sites, IM faceplate provides sections designed to help you market yourself, your ideas and your products.

You can join as a free member and enjoy all of the usual features. Or you can join as a Pro member and be rewarded with additional benefits, including increased exposure across the many sections of the site, as well as increased ad revenue from ads that you can choose to have displayed on your various faceplate pages.

How does IM faceplate help you brand yourself? Let me count the ways! …

IM faceplate…

- is a powerful social network, like Facebook

- is a fast and easy connection tool, like Twitter

- is an EASY webpage creator, like MySpace

- has an SEO-optimized article directory, like HubPages

These are just a few of the highlights. You should visit the site for yourself and see how the members are using it. Visit my IM faceplate now and check me out!

When I first joined, I had the mistaken idea that IM faceplate was going to rise up to replace other popular social networking sites. However, the more I learn about the site, and the more ways I find to use it for Internet Marketing branding purposes, the more I begin to see how it actually complements the other sites and brings existing social content together, all in one place, on your personal IM faceplate.

Not only does the site excel at helping you brand your home business, but it makes it incredibly easy to add content, change content, move your content around. You select which modules to display on your faceplate, where to place them, what information to include in each one, and it can all be done in a matter of minutes. It usually takes me just seconds to go in and tweak something in a module when I want to add or delete something or make an adjustment.

There are so many more features to enjoy at IM faceplate. Again I say you should check it out for yourself. Sign up, get your name and your faceplate locked in, then check out MY faceplate for some ideas on ways to organize your information modules.

Online success revolves around how effective you are at branding your Internet Marketing business. This is your invitation to join the social site designed specifically for the purpose. Come to IM faceplate: Brand yourself!

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Have you ever wanted to start an Affiliate Home Business, but didn’t know where to start? Or maybe you already have a home based business, but it isn’t going real well? Help is available to get you started on the right foot, or to get your existing business moving in the right direction.

The Affiliate Power Group (APG) is an online membership site that has the resources, support and encouragement you need to get focused and make money online. Experienced marketing mentors are easily accessible on a daily basis to answer questions and guide you to the success you seek.

There is a cost to join the Affiliate Power Group. It IS a membership site with dues that can be paid monthly, quarterly or annually. But the cost is well worth it. And as they say, really, it is not an expense, it is an investment. Think of the time you will save by learning from others who have gone before you and have worked out the kinks.

A few of the benefits to becoming an Affiliate Power Group member include access to a step-by-step Affiliate Home Business action plan; free WordPress installation on your domain; 70% discounts on ready-made marketing niche sites; APG learning center, including videos; … new private label rights (PLR) articles every month; new PLR/MRR (master resale rights) eBooks each month; not to mention daily access to the mentors, plus many other benefits.

At the moment, the Affiliate Power Group is offering a 10 day trial for just $1. This gets you in the doors to the site and gives you full and complete access to almost $1,500 worth of bonuses that you get to keep even if you do not remain a member beyond the trial period. I am sure you can see that this offer is virtually risk free.

Oh, yeah! One more big benefit: you also get to hobnob with ME (and many other members) in the APG forum! We have a very friendly and supportive bunch of Internet entrepreneurs with all levels of experience and business backgrounds. You will be in good company whether you are completely new to Affiliate Home Business, or you are a seasoned pro.

There is so much more that I could write here about the benefits of APG membership, but instead of repeating it all, why don’t I just introduce you to Ken Troyer, the founder of the group. You can click over to my Affiliate Power Group sales page where Ken tells the story of how and why he introduced the APG and why several of his peers were so enthusiastic to join him as mentors.

Read Ken’s story, check out the benefits of membership, and consider how the Affiliate Power Group can save you a whole lot of time and money in your quest for Affiliate Home Business success and Internet Marketing dominance. Go for it! I’ll see you on the inside.

* You may also enjoy this post: Affiliate Marketing How To

In the previous post, part one of “Wealth Creation Begins With Personal Development,” I noted how all achievement in our life starts with a dream, fueled by desire, and brought into reality through planning and focused action.

The foundation of all achievement is personal development. When we work on developing and improving our skills and abilities, we empower ourselves to achieve anything we can imagine. When we apply this to the process of wealth creation, there is no limit to what we can accomplish.

To help illustrate the process of wealth creation through effective personal development, I referred to Brian Tracy’s program, The Universal Laws of Success and Achievement. Specifically, five of the 10 Laws of Wealth Creation highlighted in Session 8 of the popular program. Brian, a bestselling author and renowned professional speaker, is a recognized world leader in the field of personal development and business training.

In this post, we will examine, in brief, the remaining five Laws of Wealth Creation, and please remember that the few details listed here are significantly abbreviated from their original versions available in Brian’s program:

Law of Bootstrapping: I find Brian’s perspective here both interesting and revealing. He says that entrepreneurs who start with too little capital are more likely to succeed than
those starting with too much! “More important than capital are energy and imagination,” says Brian.

Law of Courage: Brian’s theme here is “No guts, no glory!” He explains that your willingness to risk failure is a measure of your desire to be rich. “To succeed faster,” he declares, “double your failure rate.”

Law of Risk: I think most entrepreneurs realize that there is a direct relationship between level of risk and likelihood of loss. To succeed in a big way we must be willing to take risks, but that does not mean taking blind risks. Brian points out that “successful entrepreneurs analyze risk carefully and avoid it as much as possible.”

Law of Undue Optimism: Brian cautions that excessive optimism can work two ways: it can lead to both success and failure. He advises to plan ahead and “make provision for your costs and problems being greater than you foresee.”

Law of Persistence: This is another foundational law that successful entrepreneurs apply habitually. Brian says that if you persist long enough you must inevitably succeed. “Persistence is self-discipline in action,” says Brian. “It is also a measure of your belief in yourself.”

That completes this abbreviated overview of Brian Tracy’s session covering the Laws of Wealth Creation, just one of numerous sessions included in his program, The Universal Laws of Success and Achievement. In total, the program highlights 149 individual laws of success and achievement, each presented in detail to teach the listener how to harness the power of these principles for greater personal success.

Personal development is foundational to success in all areas of our life. If you want to achieve more, you can learn to emulate the successful practices of the leaders in your field. Successful people make a lifelong commitment to personal development.

Wealth creation may be just one element of your personal success plan, but even wealth creation begins with personal development!

* Read Part One of this two-part post: Wealth Creation Begins With Personal Development

There is a starting point for everything. First, we dream. Then we nurture the spark of desire for achievement in some area of our life into something more defined, and we take action.

The same process is true for wealth creation. First, we dream of home business income. Then we fan the flames of desire into something more action oriented. We identify the steps that must be taken to move us from concept to realization, and we begin following those steps.

Ultimately, wealth creation begins with personal development.

In one of his most popular personal development training programs, The Universal Laws of Success and Achievement, Brian Tracy devotes a whole session to the Laws of Wealth Creation. He provides insightful detail and inspiration on topics ranging from creative emulation to the laws of desire, purpose, entrepreneurship, bootstrapping, courage, risk, undue optimism, persistence and more.

Let’s take a brief look at the basic ideas behind a few of these universal laws:

Law of Creative Emulation: If you truly want to achieve above average wealth, Brian says all you have to do is “study and emulate those who have achieved it before you.”
You do not need to re-invent the wheel. “Ask for their advice too!” he advises.

Law of Desire: This law states that if you want to achieve wealth, you need to have strong motivation: “You must want it badly,” says Brian. “If you do, nothing can stop you.”

Law of Purpose: Every motivational book, course or program emphasizes the importance of definiteness of purpose. Brian points to this as the starting point of all wealth. “You must define what you want and the steps you will take to get it,” he explains.

Law of Enrichment: This is the law that I personally believe far too many aspiring entrepreneurs and Internet Marketers overlook. Brian says that all lasting wealth comes from enriching others in some way. “The more value you can produce,” he says, “the more you will be able to retain.”

Law of Entrepreneurship: This is what I consider to be the most universal law of success to be recognized and adopted by most online and home business marketers. Brian’s program explains that “the surest road to wealth is to start and build a successful business of your own – and deliver products or services at least 10% better than the norm.”

These substantially abbreviated versions of the first five Laws of Wealth Creation in Brian Tracy’s The Universal Laws of Success and Achievement program are explained in much more detail in the actual program.

In my next Affiliate Power post I will feature the remaining five Laws of Wealth Creation as we further examine the topic of how wealth creation begins with personal development.

* Read Part Two of Wealth Creation Begins With Personal Development now.

Not only is IMfaceplate a great new site for Social Networking, it is a must have tool for the Internet Marketer! If you want to pump up your affiliate power, jump on this FREE social site right now!

– Visit my GT Bulmer faceplate to see what a faceplate looks like, then click the “create your faceplate” link at the top of any of my faceplate pages to create your own faceplate free.

– Or click here to create your faceplate now. It’s free.

Do you remember when Twitter was new and how it suddenly caught on like wildfire? Well, this is your chance to ride a new wave of Social Networking right from the beginning. Launched July 1, IMfaceplate is very quickly attracting the attention of Internet Marketers everywhere.

The primary focus of IMfaceplate is to provide marketers with an all-in-one community where they can create content, connect with other marketers and customers, and build their personal or business brand. All the tools are there to get the process started, and IMfaceplate is adding and expanding features as we speak!

Consider some of the benefits to this great new social site:

– Create your own faceplate where you can quickly position a variety of easily customizable information modules;

– Create lists of your websites, your other Social Networking sites, your rss feeds, your services, products or whatever you choose;

– Post your newsletter opt-in form;

– Publish articles on your own Articles page;

– Highlight products, programs, services or anything you want on your own Spotlights page;

– Post comments on your “my face” page and on the “my face” page of other members;

– Join or start Groups or Discussions;

– Make Money: Earn ClickBank commissions from ads displayed on your faceplate, your articles, and throughout the site. Simply enter your ClickBank ID and IMfaceplate takes care of the rest of the process!

I had my faceplate and other profile elements up in minutes – it was easy! I visit the site for a few minutes here and there throughout the day, follow a few new people, thank others who have started following me, quickly update a few other areas, and then get back to my other writing and marketing tasks. Nothing to it. That’s what I call affiliate power!

If you are serious about building your Internet Marketing business and you recognize the value in Social Networking and in branding yourself or your online business, then this is definitely for you!

This is your chance to get ahead of the networking wave for a change: IMfaceplate – Great new site for Social Networking. Visit the site and see how easy it is to set up your own free faceplate.

One vital key to success as an Affiliate Marketer is web biz traffic. In today’s post, I will give you a few recommended traffic tips for affiliate power.

As an Affiliate Marketer, there are a few ways you might earn home business income: you might earn commissions by selling products or services as a marketing affiliate for a company; or you might promote affiliate marketing opportunities where you earn a commission on purchases made by those you sponsor.

Whatever your focus is, the key to your online marketing success will be traffic – web biz traffic.

The more traffic you can attract to your website and affiliate sales pages, the more conversions and sales you will enjoy.

And more than just any kind of traffic, the better qualified or targeted your visitors are, the higher the rate of conversions and sales you can expect.

Here are a few recommended tips for getting more web biz traffic:

Article Marketing

When you submit articles to article directories, you will get a backlink from your author resource box; you will get exposure as an authoritative source for the information you provide in the article; and you will get traffic from readers who will want to know more about what products or services you provide. This will be targeted traffic because the reader has already proven an interest in the topic.

Here are two article directories to consider: EzineArticles.com and GoArticles.com

Blogging

Blogging is a quick and easy way to add fresh content to your website and if your blog post is optimized, you stand to get more traffic from the search engines. Build your post around a keyword phrase relevant to your website. Include the keyword in your post title and a couple of times in the post.

If you have a WordPress blog, WordPress will automatically ping your new post to relevant services. If you have a Blogger blog, use a pinging service, like Autopinger, to ping your new post.

You should also Social Bookmark each new post. I use OnlyWire and Social Marker.

Forum Marketing

Online business and marketing forums are a very good place to get exposure for your business and draw some additional traffic. For the greatest benefit from forums, it is best to get actively involved in the discussions, contribute ideas and insight, and generally become a regular visitor so other members and visitors get to know you.

The forum I recommend is the Entrepreneur Forums, a Friendly Entrepreneur Community at EvanCarmichael.com … because I happen to be the Forum Administrator!

These have been just a few of the many methods used for getting web biz traffic. If you are interested in a free eBook with a few dozen more traffic tips for affiliate power, click here and read the StarrBizz.com blog post, 30 Ways to Get FREE Website Traffic.

Friends, readers, entrepreneurs … lend me your ears … um, I mean, your eyes! I have something wonderful to share with you and I have a recommendation, if you are interested in the benefits of a Friendly Entrepreneur Community where you can exchange ideas, insight and marketing information.

First, the recommendation.

Some of you know that I am active in a few online business and marketing forums and that I am a big promoter of the informational and networking value of these forums. You may also have noticed that since my Affiliate Power website was launched earlier this year, I have shown enthusiastic support here for one particular forum site – the Entrepreneur Forums at EvanCarmichael.com.

If you spend a few minutes visiting the Entrepreneur Forums, you will find that it truly is a Friendly Entrepreneur Community. And what does that mean?

Well, I can tell you from experience that every forum site online has its own personality. Some are extremely formal. Some are extremely relaxed, where anything goes. Some are geared mostly to “experienced” marketers and seem to show little tolerance and sensitivity to the inexperience of “newbies” – those new to business and marketing.

The Entrepreneur Forums combines the best of all worlds … it maintains a close focus on topics relating to business, marketing and entrepreneurial activity, while keeping the discussion friendly, informal and inviting to all. The emphasis is more typically on informing, inspiring and encouraging others than on demonstrating one’s own superiority.

Very simply, we in the Entrepreneur Forums are birds of a feather focused on learning and applying best practices in all forms of entrepreneurship. Everybody from all levels of experience and ability is welcome, and as long as they follow proper and respectful forum etiquette, their participation and contribution is encouraged and appreciated.

Join us. Bring your experience and insight.

That was the recommendation; now for something a little more personal.

I’ve been a member of the Entrepreneur Forums for almost two years and I’ve always tried to be a steady, contributing member. My efforts were recognized early and I was invited by site owner, Evan Carmichael, to join the team of forum moderators shortly after becoming a member.

More recently, Evan invited me to take on an advanced role in the Entrepreneur Forums and exactly one week ago, he officially welcomed me as the new Forum Administrator!

It is an honour, not only because of the integrity and community responsibility that Evan personally demonstrates, and the good team of forum moderators I’ll be working with, but because of the value that Evan’s overall site brings to the entrepreneur community: check out the home page of EvanCarmichael.com and you will immediately see why the site is the Internet’s #1 resource for small business motivation and strategies!

As the forum administrator, it will be my aim to help keep the Entrepreneur Forums a friendly, supportive and beneficial place for entrepreneurs to gather, and to do whatever I can to encourage more birds of the entrepreneurial feather to join us.

In that light, please accept this as my invitation to you to come, check out the Entrepreneur Forums, consider becoming a member (it’s free), and find out for yourself exactly why this awesome forum is respected as A Friendly Entrepreneur Community!

You may have noticed: the competition is getting tougher for anybody trying to build a business online these days because everybody seems to be jumping on the Internet bandwagon. And quite a few of them are discovering ways to earn home business income the hard way. Maybe you can relate?

A lot of Internet and Affiliate Marketing “newbies” get in a real rush and try to skip some important steps in the marketing process. For example, they jump right into the advertising and marketing part before taking the time to learn and apply proper search engine optimization techniques. Web traffic is one of the keys to success, and search engine traffic can be very profitable because traffic from the search engines is typically targeted traffic. But if you fail to optimize your site, your blog, your articles, etc., you could miss out on some valuable traffic and sales. It will take you longer to make money online and that’s one way that could cause you to earn home business income the hard way. Take time to research and learn more about Search Engine Optimization.

Another way to build a business the hard way is to jump from program to program thinking the problem is the program when it could simply be your own marketing skills that need work. In many cases, if a product or program is not producing the desired results, it’s because either… the presentation needs tweaking, or it’s not getting in front of enough of the right prospects. The next time you are tempted to join another new program, take a good look at the program you’re planning on leaving behind. Since you’ve already invested time, effort and money into it, why not take a closer look at how you are marketing it to see if there is some room for improvement?

One final example: listening to the advice of experienced marketers. There are a lot of mistakes to be made in the field of marketing and it just seems like a good idea to talk to other marketers about what has proven to work for them and what hasn’t. Yet, many newcomers head off on their own only to make mistakes that they might have been able to avoid if they had taken the time to listen to experienced marketers. You can go your own way and earn home business income the hard way, or you can hang out at places like The Friendly Entrepreneur Community, learn from others and save time. It’s your choice.

This post will highlight a few of Brian Tracy’s insights into Personal Development: 3 quick tips, in fact, that I have chosen from the many that can be found in his popular audio program, The New Psychology of Achievement.

In the program, Brian talks about the “inner game” of success: how we organize our thoughts and attitudes; how we set goals and get along with others; how we understand ourselves and release our personal brakes to accomplish extraordinary things.

Tip #1: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life

Brian talks about the Law of Cause and Effect: there is a reason for everything. “Thoughts are causes,” he explains, and “Conditions are effects. Your thoughts create the conditions of your life.”

If you do what other people do, you will eventually get the results that other people get and Brian points out that successful people have learned that if you change your thinking, you change your life.

“The quality of your thinking determines the quality of your life more than any other factor,” he advises. “Top achievers think about what they want … and how to get it, most of the time. Average people think about what they don’t want and who to blame.”

Brian says that we need to tell ourselves that we can do anything we put our mind to, that we have unlimited potential.

Tip #2: There is No Failure in Life, Only Feedback

Brian again reminds us that everything that happens to us happens for a reason. If it is a setback, we should look upon it as feedback to help us self-correct, to learn lessons that will help us move ahead more successfully next time.

We can choose to frame the experience in a positive way, and when we do, we will benefit from it and it will move us closer to our ultimate goals.

Tip #3: Dream Big Dreams

Brian explains that the starting point in changing your life is to dream big dreams. What one great thing would you do if you could not fail? What goals would you set? What changes would you make immediately if you were financially independent? The answers to these questions will reveal to you your path to success and happiness, or the “keys to what you’re put on this earth to do,” says Brian.

He relates the story of famous oil tycoon, H.L. Hunt who, when asked what the keys to success are, replied, “One, know what you want. Two, determine the price you will have to pay. Three, resolve to pay that price.”

Brian says, “Dream big dreams; determine the price you will have to pay to achieve them; then get busy paying that price!”

He also notes that “If you want something different in the future, you’ve got to do something different now.”

People become wealthy because they decided to be wealthy, he says. Other people worry about money all their life because they have never decided to become wealthy. Deciding to become wealthy, he explains, is more than hoping or wishing or praying or reading get-rich-quick books that tell you it’s possible to get rich without working. You have to make a do-or-die decision to get rich, to become financially independent.

“So, decide to become rich!” he declares.

Set a definite goal; determine a realistic time frame; develop a plan; include specific short term and midterm goals; and get busy bringing your dreams to life!

That’s it for my post today on Personal Development: 3 quick tips from the many offered in Brian Tracy’s excellent audio program, The New Psychology of Achievement.