The number of people now seeking a home based business opportunity is undoubtedly on the increase. A recent survey suggests that in the USA alone, some 70 million people intend to start a new business that is not only home based, but Internet based.

Even a recent MSNBC study says that 75% of all new jobs being created right now are as a direct result of small home based businesses.

Additionally, 49% of businesses in the United States are home based businesses, according to the US Census Bureau, which many analysts say puts a figure of over 45 million on the amount of Americans who are currently running a home based business.

In today’s Internet age, it is now easier than ever to set up a new business, with a survey of users by Yahoo! indicating that over 75% of those surveyed attributed the Internet to the launch of their new businesses.

Indeed, despite the apparent risk of setting up a new business in the middle of one of the worst global recessions in history, it seems that there is a definite turn towards self-reliance amongst the population. As survival mode kicks in, people begin to realise that the only ‘rescue package’ that is going to save their own personal economic situation comes from themselves, and not the government or any other external body.

However, despite the rising interest in starting a new business, the failure of online & home based business owners to even make a living is still high at 97%.

A lack of knowledge and inability to market effectively has a direct effect on the number of leads and sales that a business will make, and sales equal revenue, the lifeblood of any business.

Not having the marketing skills required to grow your business will inevitably force you down the same road that so many failed business owners have gone down, where they are forever pumping money into poor marketing, that never sees any return. This can have a massive drain on the finances of your business, and when the money runs out is usually when the business finally runs out of steam too.

However, on the other hand, there are many businesses that see great success, and these all have two things in common:

Marketing

Effective marketing has been behind the success of almost every business. Marketing takes many forms beyond just putting an advert in a newspaper, and many businesses that may claim that they don’t do any marketing because they rely on recommendation, are actually marketing by delivering value to their customers. Many of these businesses, will be mindful of the possibility of further referral sales from every customer that they provide for.

It is by providing value for the customer that the whole referral process begins. One person tells another few, who each tell a few more, and so the word spreads. You have probably experienced it yourself, where you may have been recommended a good car repair shop and passed on the recommendation to others when you too had a good experience. Referral marketing is very powerful; which would you trust more between the referral and some advertisement promising everything? Now add the Internet into the mix, and the power of this grows exponentially!

This referral process, gives a good representation of what happens with social media, and why social media marketing is successful. By leveraging websites such as Twitter or Facebook, many home based business owners are driving traffic and leads to their websites without having to spend a penny!

Customer will naturally be attracted to any business that provides real value and it is taking this first step by providing value to your prospects that results in more customers approaching your business. Sometimes known as providing a ‘loss leader’ to attract customers, it is one of the most valuable marketing techniques that all Internet marketers should be making extensive use of. If this is new to you or you’re not sure how to implement it in your own business, then you should seek out some training and get a good marketing education.

Lacking the ability to really take advantage of the power of the Internet and market online can really leave your business in the dark. Worse still, your whole business could fail as others with the necessary skills take advantage.

System

The Internet has been responsible for the growth of many businesses that seem to have appeared almost overnight. Websites such as Twitter?, Facebook? and YouTube? haven’t been around for very long.

However, whilst the Internet has helped to move things along at a much faster rate, it’s not the only major factor in their success. There are many more ‘traditional’ businesses such as McDonald’s? or KFC? that have another core element that is vital to their success:

A system!

A system allows companies such as McDonald’s? to employ staff on minimum salary, to undertake processes that would otherwise require someone more qualified to do the task. By standardising the fries, the frying machinery and the cooking process, almost anyone can complete a task that might otherwise require someone with at least some cooking skills. Standard processes as part of a system, are at the centre of all businesses that achieve high levels of success and growth. To be successful at Internet marketing and growing your own business, you will also need a system.

In the context of a home based business, a marketing system is going to allow you to be free of a lot of the more time-consuming tasks which have to be done, but which probably don’t directly contribute towards generating revenue. Employ an automated system like this, and you really will achieve time leverage.

A marketing system can automate all the repetitive tasks in your sales system, allowing you to drive up the numbers of prospects that you can push through your sales funnel. As any business knows, sales is a numbers game, and the more people you are in front of, the more sales you will make; it’s as simple as that.

If you haven’t got the marketing knowledge and know-how, then you need to get a marketing education, and without a system you’ll just be wasting your time.

Setting aside such as mindset and determination, a marketing system and education are essential to the success of your home based business. In fact, if you have the right entrepreneurial mindset, you may well have already recognised this fact.

Nicholas Lord is a successful Online marketer who trains many other internet based home business owners to effectively market their businesses. Find out more from http://renegademarketeruniversity.com/