However, the majority of network marketing, direct sales, affiliate sales and other home business efforts do NOT succeed. Why not? After 10 years running my own business from home, “failing forward" a few times, and creating successful residual income streams, I understand the basics of how to succeed in a home business.

The three pillars of work from home success are:

1) Developing the right work habits
2) Cultivating the right mindset
3) Choosing the right program

DEVELOPING THE RIGHT WORK HABITS

Most employees are used to being told what to do and so have not developed the right discipline to keep a home business going long enough to succeed. Here are the key elements:

Treat it like a business. Treat this like a hobby and you’ll make what a hobby makes – nothing! Treat it like a business and you can make what a business can make – lots! Take this seriously if you want serious results.

Schedule Your Work. Even if it is only 1 hour a day, set aside time to work your business, and stick to a schedule. The more focused energy you can give it the faster it will grow.

Create a productive work space. Create a quiet space where you can focus for that hour or whatever time you can give. Shut the door, turn off the phone, and eliminate all distractions so you can be productive.

Stay focused. Take a look at your short and long range goals every day and make sure what you are doing is moving towards those goals. It’s no good to stay busy if you are not moving in the right direction. Do not allow yourself to be distracted by the thousand other things you might be doing.

Set aside an ad budget. Even with a 95% automated system, which I highly recommend, you still have to drive traffic to your website. You can do this with eZines, banner ads, coop advertising and many other sources. Make sure you are getting a positive return and track your results. As long as you are at least breaking even or making some money on the front end, you will be reaping the residual rewards later.

CULTIVATING THE RIGHT MINDSET

Without the right mindset, you can have the best product and all the best resources and still fail. Most folks have a self imposed income cap that limits what they feel they can make that is tied to self worth. Do you have a millionaire mind that really knows you are capable and worthy of riches? Cultivating the right mindset is key.

Stay positive. Do not let the naysayers and bozos drag you down, and there WILL be those around, perhaps even in your own family. Develop the tough skin needed to stay on course and you may even need to change friends or even separate from certain family members. Regardless of what anyone may say, know that many DO succeed and if you follow the right practices and cultivate the right skills, thoughts and attitude, you will also succeed.

Read something inspiring every day. I recommend you start with “The Science of Getting Rich" by Wallace Wattles. And use motivational and personal growth support systems such as Success University. See below for the links to these resources with free access to both.

Focus on the WHY. The HOW will manifest if you keep a clear focus on your WHY. Why do you want money? What will you do with it? What good would it do you? Write down your dreams and do not be afraid to dream BIG. Create a vision board with pictures of your dream house or car or relationship or whatever it is that you deeply want. Look it over daily to remind yourself where you are going and why.

Life Balance. This is one not many talk about but is critical. Success is not just about money, though that is a significant part. Nurture your relationships and friendships and health or the rest will soon not matter. A fit, healthy body will serve you with the energy levels to propel you forward in life. A health and energy tip that has worked wonders for me: drink lots of water, starting with first thing in the morning and do some form of exercise upon waking each day even if just 10 minutes of jumping or walking. This kick starts the day, giving you greater energy for all that you do.

Take Action. Reading all this without taking action will not do much for you but if you follow these principles and take action, I guarantee you WILL succeed where others fail. Many folks online are in a constant state of overwhelm and in endless state of preparing to do something. I have spent too long in that mode myself. Yes, continue to learn as there is a lot to learn, but do not hesitate to take action as you go along. You know enough already. Now, as Nike says, JUST DO IT.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT PROGRAM

Many dive into programs with emotionally stirred dreams of riches based on a presentation from a friend or something they found online. Not many take the time to rationally evaluate an opportunity to make a really sound decision. The following may help.

The right product. First, you need a product that is in demand and that would sell even if it were NOT through a business opportunity. Too many companies are in fact selling the dream of prosperity, which is not a bad dream, but the vehicle and the product MUST stand alone. I was once involved in a travel agency program, for example, that turned out to be a money tree scheme that was shut down by the FDA. The product was not a real product and nobody was actually using it. Find something that offers real value and that would sell on it’s own.

Go digital. In my experience selling products, I have found it is much easier to sell and promote an information product or membership site. There is no inventory, no shipping, no hard product to have to store in your garage and manage manually. My early days with Amway were a logistical nightmare for this reason. Also, while many do well with health and nutritional products, most do not stay on these products, as they tend to be overpriced and when folks are not making money but spending $100’s per month, then tend to drop out.

Automated sales. Many online programs now offer each member their own website that credits all sales through that site to them. Even better, find a program that will help you build you own email list so you might market other programs to them down the road. A good autoresponder service such as Aweber is essential for automating this process. If someone does not buy right away, they will automatically get a series of messages may sell them later.

Support and Training. Find a program that will teach you how to run the business and succeed. The membership site should include all the resources you need including ad copy, banner graphics, etc. There should be 1 or 2 training calls per week you can plug into. And ideally, these should be hands on nuts and bolts training from your core group, not just the rah-rah calls that may motivate you for a while but do not really help.

Positioning. Find a relatively young company that is poised for rapid growth. There is a balance here of risk vs rewards. A brand new company will offer much greater returns if it succeeds. But many do not make it. On the other hand, a company that is more than 2 years old will not have the same ground floor opportunity for rapid growth. I recommend finding a young company that is well funded and established at least 6 months and on a clear growth trajectory.

After many false starts, I have finally found a powerful duo of programs that satisfy all the conditions above. And a riskier but potentially more lucrative ground floor opportunity. Find out more on my blog

To your success!

Wayne Marshall

Wayne is a web designer, internet marketer and work from home business coach. He works (too much) from his beautiful home in Santa Barbara, CA. You can get more information and collect your free eBook by visiting my work from home blog.