
The Home Business Decision: Online or Offline
By Rick Carbone
If you are serious about starting a home based business you
will need to decide if it will be an online or offline home
business. Offline home businesses normally fall into the
network marketing category. I say normally because there are
some Network marketing businesses that can be run online.
Additionally offline home businesses can run the gamut from an
MLM to Childcare. If your offline home business is successful
you may decide to have a web presence primarily as a soft
advertising tool such as ?See us online for more information at
www.yoursite.com. On the other hand an online home based
business can fall into several different categories, and is
dependant on traffic and a strong search engine ranking.
Both business types have their own advantages and
disadvantages. For example with an online business you can
almost be anonymous and you, for the most part, do not need to
deal directly with your customers. I say for the most part
because there are exceptions to everything.
In an offline home business you must deal directly with
customers on a daily basis. If you don?t like being ?on? all of
the time this may not be the business for you. On the other
hand an online home based business requires some technical
expertise, such as basic html skills and a rudimentary
understanding of how the online community works in ecommerce
and marketing.
I can?t make the decision for you but I can tell you that I
personally believe that the Internet offers far more
opportunity for a home business than an offline business does.
I say this from experience. You can have any number of business
types online from a merchandise site to an informational site
which sells advertising. There really is no limit to what you
can potentially do online. You really don?t even need to know
how to build a site because there is either software which
simplifies it or online tools that help you create a site
online in real-time.
Think about an offline business in the Network Marketing
realm. You?ll need to have direct contact with customers and
potential customers. You will need to recruit others into your
down line sales force, which means strong recruiting and
communication skills. The upside potential to an MLM is if you
build a large and strong down line you won?t ever have to make
a sales call on your own. You really need to be a ?people?
person with a tough skin because direct sales calls are rough
on the ego.
So before you commit yourself to either business type, do
your homework and ask yourself, ?What kind of person am I, an
offline or online type?
Rick Carbone is the owner-editor of Home Business
Research a top website focused solely on online home
business development and management since 1998. You can get
a free copy of his ebook "Go Online1-2-3" by clicking
here
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