Whenever I ask someone if they want to work from home, they almost always say 'YES!'. 

Of course I'll sometimes get the "I really love my job' person, but for the most part people don't want to have to commute every day working for someone else.  After all, getting up every morning is a lot easier when the commute is just a few steps away, there's no time pressure and your schedule is your own. [Read more...]

Today I'd like to discuss a question that came in from one of my newsletter subscribers, Cheryl.

Cheryl asks:

Hi Liz,

"How can someone who has no specific talent or skill start a business on the web.  I'm 25 years old, never had any children, I didn't finish college and I work in a customer service call center.   I don't have a talent in music or art or other skills.  I basicially work and hang out with my friends.  Any ideas on How I can get stated making money online?"

Thanks Cheryl for the great question!  You actually have several options.

I suggest you start by looking at what interests you.  This can be something as generic as cooking, gardening, playing darts, pingpong, walking, jogging, whatever it is, then look at those ideas with your eye on a niche.

For example, you may like cooking but there are thousands of generic cooking so you'll want to avoid competing with the masses by drilling down to something like vegan cooking for diabetics or gluten free cooking.  Come up with an idea that is unique and will appeal to a select group of people.  Your audience will be smaller but more focused. It's better to dominate a smaller market than to get lost in the crowd of a massive market.  

Next, conduct niche market research.  Use your favorite keyword research tool and type in your topic's keywords.  Find out how much interest there is by looking at the amount of daily searches.  There's not magic number here but you would like to ideally see a few hundred searches per day.  Your research will also tell you what people want to know about your topic of interest. 

For example, doing a search on saving money tips produces things like:saving money on travel, groceries, energy, on water, college, cars, clothes, etc.  These would be all great categories for your site.

Next, think about how you want to make money online. I'm all for keeping things as simple as possible that's why I like affiliate marketing. I also combine that with marketing information products.  Find a need and provide a solution. The easiest way to get started is to create a website or a blog and provide useful, quality information.  Once you have a substantial following you can generate income through advertising or promoting products.  

But the most important step is to take action – get started! Don't be one of those people that buys books, guides and videos leaving them to clutter your hard drive and never doing anything about it Make a plan and work your plan. This isn't going to happen overnight.  It could take a year, maybe 2 or 3 years but commit to making it happen. 

If confidence is an issue try building self esteem and confidence with positive self talk, that's also a powerful first step. 

So think of it this way, you don't want to look back five years from now and wish you had made the move when you had a chance, then realize you've wasted five years doing nothing. Keep in mind that this is an investment in your future.

So here's the run down:

• Find a niche topic that interests you
• Find out if there's enough interest by doing your market research
• Figure out how you want to generate income, for example affiliate marketing, drop shipping, create your own information product, selling tangible products, etc.
• Create your website or blog and publish useful, unique, quality information. If you're not a writer, create podcast, video, use a ghost writer or private label rights content. 
• Finally  -  take action!

Thanks Stephanie for the great question, I hope this has motivated you to get started. Thanks to all of you for tuning in and we'll see you all next time.