Non web-based home business opportunities

I hope everyone had a joyuos holiday. Now back to work. I chose affiliate marketing due to the fact you have numerous options for marketing products and services without investing any capitol.

But, what about other home based business opportunities? There are hundreds of them available from Amway to Yard clean-up. Here is a great master list of 130 different options for a home based business. The issue, if you remember is, I have little to no start up capitol.

Well I didn't when I started this project in February. By using M-turk, MySurvey and Vindale Research to create income, I now have a small amount money to I can use, to invest in other home based business opportunities.

Being a child of the 70's I was exposed to many different home based business ideas over the years. The problem I have with most is the direct selling/closing aspect of them. If I had any ambitions of being a sales person it was crushed when I was in my early twenties.

I was going to Community College and looking for part time work. I saw a classified ad for a entry level sales person. I interviewed and was offered a job selling blown in cellulose insulation. At that time this was a new process and it was springtime.

Next to selling life insurance, insulation for the home has to be the most difficult intangible to sell. “You want me to pay you $2300.00 for something I will never see and I won't see any financial benefit for a year? After about a month's worth of no's I gave up. The bad thing is, it kind of stuck with me over the years.

A lot of it had to do with the people marketing the product as well as lack training they offered me. But I never (until recently) really got good at excepting no for an answer.

After 30 years in manufacturing, QA and customer service, I have now learned (in business) the word no sometimes means “You didn't convince me.”

At that point you have to become a closer, you have to convince them they can't live without your product. I am no good at that. I assume it is because I hate (yes, I said hate) “the hard sell”. If you try to “hard sell” me, I am out the door. Which makes it hard for me to “hard sell” someone else.

If you are a good closer, then there are hundreds of direct sales opportunities available.

Companies like Amway have been in the business of direct selling door to door since 1959. I grew up in Michigan as a youth. Amway's manufacturing facitlity in Ada, MI was about an 90 minutes north of my hometown. Everybody had some sort of Amway cleaning product under their sink.

The product line has grown, but they still have (in my opinion) the highest quality products available for purchase. They have a great sales program, high quality products and extensive training available to anyone who wants to take advantage of it.

I have two close friends who started in Amway in the late 80's and have since retired. They were both working professionals (he a broker, she a nurse) and they were able to quit those jobs and retire with Amway.

The issue I have is the fact you really have to “drink the kool-aid” when it comes to being really successful with Amway. You have to “live and breathe” the product line, attend functions, listen to recorded lectures etc.

It is not a negeative by any means, They preach good moral values, honest hard work, respect, dignity and a lifestyle few can achieve. If you can devote your life to a home based business Amway is an excellent choice.

Another very common home based business opportunity is Avon Products. The company was founded in 1886 by then 28-year-old David H. McConnell who sold books door-to-door and gave out perfume to entice women to buy his books.

I am sure most people living in the USA have sampled or used an Avon product in their lifetime. I remember my mother selling Avon in the seventies and making money.

Avon is just as marketable in this economy as it was back then. I read a statistic that stated there are thousands of abandoned Avon customers looking for a new representative. Avon customers are very loyal to the brand name. The intial investment is $20.

The program is very impressive. Well designed, easy to understand and use. They even offer a you a website to use for promoting products. The program is much too complicated to explain in a blog. If you click this link you will go to my wife's Avon Website. Click on the banner (see even Avon uses banners) to get details on becoming a representative.

After reviewing the opportunity, my wife and I decided to add the program. We will mainly be using the my website, Facebook, Twitter and email to market the program. Of course we will hand deliver brochures and products to friends, neighbors and relatives who live near by, but most of the sales will be direct shipped from Avon to the customer.

After reviewing the program (and this is my opinion) if you don't make money with Avon it is your lack of effort. Everything is layed out in front of you, with a stellar reputation backing it up. All you have to do is hand people the brochure or direct them to your website. The products truly sell themselves. Of course, you can help sell them too. Big bang for very few bucks.

My next blog will cover more non web-based home business opportunities.

Like always, join and follow the blog, click the banners and text links to start making money. You can use the EWAHR Forum to post questions or request a review of a site or, you can e-mail me directly at ewahr2011@ yahoo.com

Peace.