A Successful Home Business Takes Involvement and Commitment

Many income opportunity ads are ambiguous about the kind of involvement and commitment it takes to have a successful home-based business.

I’m certainly not trying to discourage anyone from having a home business. I just want people to understand the reality of such an endeavor. In fact, that is the main purpose of this entire blog.

As much as I love the world of home business, it makes me cringe to see the amount of hype and misleading information that is out there. No wonder so many people are disappointed and discouraged.

First of all, don’t believe everything you read in the ads or the sales pages. Check things out and have an idea of what it takes to reach your desired level of success in the type of home business that you’re most interested in.

Now, to explain what I mean by involvement and commitment and the difference between those words, I will borrow an example from a speech I heard many years ago.

For a moment, think about a breakfast meal of ham and eggs or bacon and eggs. The main food items came from two different types of animals. A chicken provided the eggs and a pig/hog provided the ham or bacon. The chicken was involved and will go on to lay many more eggs. The pig/hog was committed because that animal gave it’s all.

It is not my intention to make light of animals that lose their life to become a food source, nor is it my intention to offend anyone who does not eat certain items for religious or dietary reasons.

That example is the best way I know of to make a valid point.

You see, you can be involved in something without being committed to it. You can be involved in a home business simply by becoming an affiliate, but it takes commitment to really make things happen.

I’m talking about a commitment of time and effort and taking action on a regular basis to keep moving toward your goal.

The combination of involvement and commitment also applies to other areas of our lives.

You can be involved with sports just by being on an amateur team or by playing golf, tennis, or whatever. However, it takes commitment to reach your full potential. That commitment might include training, practice, conditioning exercises, and understanding different strategies.

Marriage is an area that definitely takes involvement and commitment, and it needs to come from both people for the marriage to be at it’s best. Signing a marriage license and saying “I do” is being involved. The commitment part takes communication and compromise, among other things. It’s also important to remember why you fell in love in the first place.

I hope this has given you an idea about involvement and commitment and why the combination is so crucial for the success of a home-based business.

Can You Really Make Money By Taking Surveys?

If you’ve seen the ads that say you can make money from home by taking surveys and wondered if that’s really possible, I want to tell you that yes, it is possible. However, my positive response also comes with a caution because the money you make might not be as much as the ads claim.

There are a number of guidebooks that tell you which companies are looking for participants to take various surveys. Sometimes the surveys are seeking public opinion about this or that. Other surveys ask for feedback on products and/or services that you are familiar with.

For taking a survey and sharing your opinion, you might get cash, an entry into a random drawing, or points.

Of course, getting cash is the best, but that is only available for certain surveys.

The only people eligible for these types of random drawings are the people who completed a survey (drawings are not open to the public at large). The winner might be awarded either cash or prizes.

Keep in mind that you have to do something (answer survey questions) to enter this type of drawing, whereas with most types of drawings, you either buy a raffle ticket (money goes to charity) or simply fill out an entry form.

Prizes are okay, if it’s something you really want anyway, but sometimes the prize is a low-value item that only serves the purpose of keeping things legal. So, they’re telling the truth (barely) when they say, “Take a 5-minute survey to become eligible for our prize drawing.”

When you earn points for taking surveys, you collect a number of points and then redeem them for whatever item they offer that you want.

All in all, you might need to take a lot of surveys and answer lots of questions to rack up any significant amount of cash or worthwhile prizes. Some companies only offer surveys now and then, so you’ll probably want to get signed up with several companies in hopes of making the income a little more consistent.

It could take a bit of effort to sign up with lots of companies to see what’s what and then weed out the ones that just aren’t worth your time.

Also, I strongly suggest getting an email account that is only used for your survey-related email. There will be lots of email about all kinds of surveys once you sign up with a few companies and get your name out there. You will get to know which ones have the best potential and which ones to delete right away.

Even with the best guidebook available, trying to make money by taking surveys won’t be the right income opportunity for everybody. Come to think of it, there’s not one single type of home business or money-making opportunity that’s right for everybody. We each have to find the best “fit” for us, our current situation, our desires, as well as our preferred approach to a home business.

Can You Build A Successful Home Business In Your Spare Time?

Greg, one of my long-time acquaintances, asked me if he could really build a successful home business in his spare time. Our conversation started out like this:

Me: “Yes, I suppose it might be possible, but it’s not very likely.”

Greg (visibly shaken): “What about all those ads that say it can be done in only a couple of hours per week?”

Me: “It certainly might be possible to have a successful home business in only a few hours each week, but I think you’re confusing spare time with part-time.”

Greg: “What’s the difference?”

As Greg listened intently, I went on to explain that saying you’ll do something in your spare time means the same thing as saying you’ll do it when you get around to it. Well, how many times will we put it (whatever “it” might be) off before we actually do it? How many times will something else get in the way?

On the other hand, something that is part-time usually means there is some sort of a schedule and/or a commitment. Having a desirable end result (your goal) and a strong determination to make it happen will help you stick to that commitment.

To be successful with a home business, there are various activities that need to be done on a regular basis. It might be to write and post articles, review marketing campaigns, contact customers or prospects, listen to training videos, and so forth.

If these activities are done in your spare time, you’re most likely using an infrequent and random approach. Plus, you have to figure out where you left off the last time. All in all, it is not effective.

Whether your home business involves network marketing, affiliate marketing, or some other type of activity; making a commitment to do a few basic steps on a consistent basis can make all the difference.

One of the great things about a home-based business is that we can usually set our own schedule, so we have flexibility in the days and/or hours that we devote to the overall effort.

Greg nodded in agreement as he listened to what I was telling him. He summed it all up by saying, “Okay, I get it. The difference between spare time and part-time and how it impacts your home business is as noticeable as the difference between night and day or success and failure.”