Deciding which residual income business is going to be our ticket out of the world's woes is pretty much a business in itself. Most of us would dream of a lifestyle where money arrives in our bank account independent of our ongoing commitment to time. But any residual income business you choose will demand an up front investment of time with no income. That is natural law.



Of course for most people, despite the potential rewards of a business offering residual income are very enticing, the 'glamour' wears off quickly when there are no tangible results early on. For many, this can be too big an obstacle.

Remember the old story of the two guys who were offered a month's work and they had the choice of working for $10 a day, or earning 1 cent a day and doubling it every day? After a week the first guy had $70 and the second one only £1.27. How motivated was he? After 31 days, when he had about $10,000,000 to the other guy's $310, he probably felt better.

A residual income business is a little like that. If you need to see a livable income on day one, then you may have consigned yourself to being an employee for ever. But if you can put in the work, knowing that your efforts will be rewarded down the road, then you elevate yourself to the position of entrepreneur.

But if all business opportunities, especially those online, were of equal value and potential, where would be the fun in that? No, choosing the right business for your needs, such as your time availability, your computer skills or lack of, and your personal interests is part of the process. But here are a few things to avoid if you want your business to be a solver rather than a bringer of problems:

Multi-level marketing or MLM opportunities, of which there are well over 400, can offer fantastic time leverage. But see if you can find out what real track record of success it has. Is it all smoke and mirrors?

Do make sure the opportunity is at least part funded by retailing products or services to people outside the network.If this isn't in place then the 'business' is merely an illegal Pyramid or 'Ponzi' scheme, where all the money coming to the few is from the pockets of the many.

Find out what support your chosen residual income business is going to offer. The more personal help from approachable people with a genuine interest in helping you, plus the experience and expertise, the better.

Ideally look for a business where as much of the marketing and list-building functionality is in place. You don't have to reinvent the wheel these days, and a modern online residual income business should automate a lot of your work, so you can concentrate on driving traffic to your site.

Don't put up a replicated website that the company sends everyone. Google hates that and these pages are virtually never written by people who understand copywriting.

Your best bet may well be to look at a 'business-in-a-box' where several MLM opportunities are promoted together by a master online marketer, and all you need do is plug into his marketing system and drive traffic to it. In fact if you're looking at any MLM residual income business, you could incorporate that opportunity into this 'ready-to-go' model.

So if you'd like a major online breakthrough with your residual income business, then I'd suggest a fully automated marketing system like what I've mentioned as your primary option of a home business 'launchpad'. Let's face it, if someone has kicked some serious online 'butt' with a marketing system and is offering you a seat on board, it's got to be worth checking out hasn't it?