The best home based businesses are now and again categorized by some folks as the kinds with the most lucrative pay out structure. Many others might explain to you that the best home businesses are the types which have the most excellent products. While still other people will point to a company’s proven numerous years of experience in addition to nonstop expansion as the standard of the best home businesses.It is pretty important to be aware that all these factors do add to the success of a home based business. Careless business practices, dishonest pay structures and poor products or services is a definite road to disappointment for virtually every home business or organization. It is additionally crucial to understand when you are hunting for the “best” in terms of home businesses, you may want to look a little deeper than radiant testimonials and corporate pie charts.Whilst looking for the “best” home business which might be a match for you, you will also want to ask yourself this particular question…”Just how should I build my business”? What happens right here is that a lot of people while hunting for the best home business, end up making the identical miscalculation as numerous other folks have done in the past. Investing the majority of their efforts researching the “what” of a business instead of the “how” of a business.Allow me to clarify. The “what” of a home business that is actually shown and marketed to probable opportunity seekers is the “remarkable products and services” and the “awesome compensation plan” and of course the “amazing track record” of the company and the management team. What, in this picture, is going to earn income for you? Please don’t say, “these products will sell themselves”. Despite the fact that truly awesome products and services will probably account for a number of sales, you are not going to have the ability to develop a substantial business upon this.At this time we need to have a look at one of the most under appreciated facets of selecting the “best” home business…the “how”. Just how do you propose to sell your awesome products and services so you can capitalize on that unbelievable pay structure and build up the company’s already remarkable track record? It is at this point where you need to realize that you will require a marketing and advertising system in place to promote your product and opportunity.An effective method for online marketing and advertising will produce revenue…end of story. The components of a fundamental online marketing system may incorporate, at the very least, a capture page, sales page, and an effective email series of messages. Applications such as these will locate and inform those that are currently looking for your offer.There are also effectual traditional strategies that a first-class internet marketing system will certainly make use of. The elements of an offline marketing and advertising system might include newspaper ads, post card mailings, letter mailings and 800 numbers. Again these types of techniques will come across, instruct and draw the folks who are interested in your offer which in turn will result in a number of sales.Another key area that needs to be considered is training and support. When considering the “how” of home business, there most definitely needs to be the presence of quality training, instruction and support. Most of the “training” that happens in the home business industry nowadays is you having to make a list and go tell everybody you know how “breathtaking” this product and opportunity are, or you are given a website that you are expected to “drive traffic” to.If you are accurately taught the “how” to marketing and building your home business then you can choose just about any “what” (home business) that you want. Sure, you must consider the company, products and track record of any opportunity that you consider. But in terms of which one is “best” would have to be the home business in which there is an proven marketing system that will help you be successful.Obviously some of the best home based businesses are the ones that have an effective marketing system already in place to help new people coming on board. Although automation in these systems is significant there is still the aspect of the human touch of a good marketing system. People don’t partner with companies, products or systems…they partner with people, especially people who care about the success of others.

When I decided to get started on my home based career I jumped into my home based business blind and with both feet. Feeling invincible I pulled out my credit card and began spending money on whatever sounded good and guess what? They all sounded good! Every one of those “push button, you’re gonna make a fortune” programs or software that do not tell you everything before you spend your hard earned money on, all sounded good. These will eventually beat you down as they did me.OK. $37, $47 or even $99 does not seem like a lot when you’re looking at thousands and thousands of dollars a month in returns, right? Let me assure you that it doesn’t end there. If you’re not being tempted into spending more money on upsales I’m pretty sure you will get completely overwhelmed and let me tell you why. You are not ready for these type of systems yet! You need an online marketing plan and goals in place first followed by a rock solid system that teaches you the how’s, where’s and when’s. It took me a year of no direction, thousands of dollars and more frustrated moments than I care to remember.First of all, if you believe that you will make it rich very quickly in this home based business industry; give up now and save your money. Any business takes time and effort. Actually, if you have never owned your own business it takes more than you realize. As I said before, goals and planning a home based business is crucial to your online success and then succeed you can.My turning point happened after I stumbled upon a good program (which is pretty rare). This program with it’s easy to follow tutorial videos set me on the right path to online success in my home based business. I went from there to create my goals and plans and I’m glad I did as these are now the cornerstones of my home based business.Enough about me and on to you, you may be thinking to yourself, “wow, where do I start with a plan”. With a little guidance and a few answered questions you will be on your way. Let’s start with some simple questions:1. Do you have any skills?2. What are your interests?3. What do you enjoy doing?The reason for these questions are to start you off in the right area for your future home based business. For example, let’s say you are an ex dancer, ex-soldier or even a duct tape artist, you have skills and those skills can be profited from. I want you to think about this. I used to believe I knew what would sell. Everyone must like what I like right? Wrong. After doing some research I was godsmacked at what people where buying. The saying had never been more correct “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” Keep that in mind when you start doubting your product or services.Enjoying and having an interest in your home based business is a must! I have worked with aspiring entrepreneurs in the past that looked at where they thought the most money was and after getting bored and starting from scratch with their education, they bombed. So, the point to this is that having previous knowledge, having an interest and enjoying your daily work is imperative because believe me when I say that you have a huge learning curve ahead of you.When I first looked at my plan for success I began getting very detailed which was a mistake. Everything you do right now will change. So, when writing your goals start at say, 6 months and work your way back to weekly goals, be very realistic and keep it brief. I guarantee that if you start getting detailed and waste a bunch of time you will look back and want to kick yourself as your goals will change with experience and knowledge. The same goes for the plan. However, you will need to follow your initial plan.Ask yourself, “Do I really want to pursue this interest? Do I enjoy this field and do I see myself as being a future expert?” If the answer is yes, get started in Word or Openoffice.org writing anything and everything you can about what you know, then start looking at your competitions websites and blogs, read their content, find out how knowledgeable they are and be sure to write whatever you wrote in Google, Bing, yahoo etc… to find your competition and finally DO NOT copy and paste your competitions content into yours. I will tell you why in the next article.In the next article I will talk to you about getting your message out there, how the content should be written and where to place that content for free for maximum exposure.I am currently working on the Home Based Business, Tips for Success II and will be available to you very soon.

WHAT IS A PENNY AUCTION?

Penny auctions have exploded in popularity with the massive growth of the internet. However, few people know the true origins of penny auctions.Beginnings actually stretch back to the Great Depression. Those were hard times for everyone, but even harder for farmers. Farmers struggled to bring in steady income because of droughts and crops not selling as well as they had previously. As a result, the banks would foreclose on the farmers who couldn’t keep up with their mortgage payments.

The banks weren’t satisfied with just repossessing the house, they wanted to raise as much capital as possible, so they resorted to selling off the possessions of the owners of the repossessed houses. There was not much the farmers could do about it so they began bidding ridiculously low prices, pennies, on the items while threatening others who dared to bid higher than a few pennies.

The auctions of today hardly resemble their tremulous beginnings. Being part of a penny auction today is exhilarating, fun, and addictive. It combines the selling format of auctioning with a little bit of chance factored in.Auctions are a game of strategy but also a game of luck.

The premise behind penny auctions is giving people the chance to win an item at a drastically reduced price.Auctions make that possible by spreading out the cost of the product among multiple bidders. In order for a person to take part in an auction, they must pay a set price for each bid. For example, if a person wanted to bid on a fifty dollar Amazon gift card then he would spend a dollar for each time a bid placed. If he ended up winning the gift card, then he would only have spent a few dollars for a fifty dollar gift card. Usually penny auctions sell bids in packages.

HOW PENNY AUCTIONS WORK!

The main foundation of penny auctions is the pay-per-bid format. It is the key that allows bidders to win items at the fraction of their retail value and allows the auction owners to keep their site profitable. Most y auction sites run on the same premise: people pay a set amount for each bid, whenever a person places a bid within the closing seconds of the auction time will be added, the last person left with a unique bid after the clocks runs out will win the item. There are a large variety of items that can be won, but they tend to be popular electronics or gift cards to popular stores.

There are two types of auctions: lowest unique bid auction and highest unique bid auction. Lowest unique auction sounds confusing but it is actually quite simple. A unique bid is when only one person has a bid at a certain price. Bids usually start at one penny, a bidder can then place a bid at two pennies. Until another bidder places a higher bid, the most recent bidder will be the lowest unique bid because that was the only bid at two cents and nobody bid higher. However, penny auctions generally don’t stop at one penny. It is not uncommon to find auctions that end up at a couple hundred dollars based on the popularity of the item being auctioned. However, the same principles apply for those auctions. Highest unique bid auctions follow the more traditional auction format such as eBay. The person with the highest bid at the end of the auction wins the item.

Auction site owners turn a profit by selling bids. Say twenty people are bidding on a ten dollar gift card at one dollar per bid, at the end of the auction if there were twenty bids placed in total then the site owner would have made twenty dollars with a ten dollar profit.Auctions do seem like a win-win situation:The site owner makes money while the bidder gets an item for dirt cheap. However, not everyone wins in penny auctions. The people who paid one dollar each bid but left with nothing to show for their investments will not be so happy.

HOW TO WIN!

Penny auction has a lot of chance mixed into it, but one can incorporate strategy that will help raise the chances of winning. Playing smart can make all the difference between gambling and auctioning.

The first crucial tip to winning penny auctions is to know how to manage your bids. Your goal should be to win as much as possible without spending a ton of money buying bids. Managing your bids means that you should already know how much you are willing to risk in order to win an item. The amount of capital you are willing to risk will determine how many bids you can use. Once you know how many bids you have to spend on an item, then you will be better able to manage how and when you place a bid. That will keep you from blowing away all of your bids in the first few seconds of the auction.

The next tip is to practice time management. When fighting in the trenches of penny auctions, you have two enemies: other bidders and time. Knowing when to bid is a must if you want to have success. Placing a bid when there is a lot of time left on the clock is never a good idea. You have to remember that the key to winning a penny auction is being the last one standing when the clock runs out and that each bid increases the amount of time left. It would be a good practice to wait until the last few minutes of the auction before you begin to bid.

The final tip for successful auctioning is to keep your emotions under control.Auctions have a lot of similarities to gambling, and just like gambling, your spending can get out of control. If you keep your emotions level, it will keep you from making rash decisions and blowing loads of cash. Keep your mind clear so that you can gage the behavior of the other bidders and outsmart them.

HOW TO AVOID SCAM SITES!

Penny auctions are a great addition to the web whether you want to win an item that otherwise you wouldn’t be able to afford or if you simply enjoy the thrill that comes with bidding in auctions. Unfortunately, scam sites have tarnished the reputation of the legitimate penny auction sites. However, there are ways that you can protect yourself from scamers and enjoy your auctioning without having to worry about losing your money due to dishonesty.

Checking the reputation of the auction site before you start spending your hard earned money is always a good idea. Chances are other people have tried the site before you and some of them have left reviews. The reviews are your way to gage whether a auction site is trustworthy or not. If a site is getting overwhelmingly negative reviews, then that is a clear indication that you should steer your business elsewhere.

Another tool you can use to protect yourself is checking the Alexia ranks of the auction sites. Alexia rank will give a solid view of how much traffic the auction is getting. If you see a huge difference in the amount of traffic Alexia is projecting and the amount of active bidders on the site, then warning signals should be ringing in your head. Some auction sites have been known to set up robots that automatically bid on projects in order to keep the auction going and inflate the price. That is known as shill bidding. You can sniff out those sites by comparing the traffic the site should be getting to the amount of users using this site.

CONCLUSION!

New legislation may come out later down the road that will officially make penny auctions gambling, but until then, it is a fun, exciting auction that allows one to win the item they’ve always wanted but couldn’t afford.Auctions are also quite lucrative for the site owners because of the pay-per-bid strategy they’ve incorporated. Penny auctions had humble beginnings with farmers who just wanted to get back at the banks who kicked them out of their house. More recently, auctions have enjoyed an explosion in popularity with the rise of the internet.

There are two main formats fora auctions, lowest and highest unique auction, however they both run on the same premise where the last unique bid wins the item. Winning a penny auction will require a certain amount of mental tactic and a bit of luck. However, you can increase your odds of winning by practicing certain techniques such as managing your bids wisely, learning how to work with the time, and keeping a level head and your emotions under control. When you combine those three strategies to your bidding plan, you will find that you win a lot more often.

It is important that you do your due diligence to protect yourself when participating in auctions. Not every auction is run by honest and trustworthy people. There are people out there who just want to take your money. You can protect yourself by ensuring that you only bid on sites that already have a very positive reputation from real users.