Did you know that one of the most under-utilized, and yet effective promotional methods available is the traditional press release? Many home based business owners don’t recognize or utilize the power of this effective PR tool, because most believe that PR is reserved for large corporations with public relations departments.However, nothing is further from the truth! The U.S. economy is, in many respects, driven by small businesses (of which home based businesses comprise a significant portion) and therefore, home based business owners have a lot to contribute to the business community. What better way to launch your business, announce updates or publicize a new product offering by distributing a press release?Self-promotion is critical to your business, and a well-crafted release can provide your business with visibility among the editorial staff of newspapers or magazines focused on your specific category or industry.But, where do you begin? Here are a few tips when developing your first release:• Be concise & to the point – a good rule of thumb for content is approximately 400 words, with 5 paragraphs being the maximum• Write the words “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” in the top left-hand section of your paper. These words should be in all caps. This line should be followed by your contact information (name, title, address, phone number & email address)• Develop your headline, then bold the headline and leave it left justified on the page. Headlines generally include the most significant or important fact in your press release• Create a dateline, which is the first line in the body of your press release. The dateline includes the city & state where the press release is produced, and the date of release• Try not to use marketing or promotional language – the release should contain newsworthy information that stands on its own merit (e.g., product announcement/company announcement or awards/recognition)• Conclude the release with a “For More Information” line that includes your contact information again.• Center three pound signs (###) at the bottom of your pageOnce you have written your release, you’ll want to get your information in front of editors who may be interested in your specific niche within the home based business industry. Press releases can be distributed at no cost, however, all of the leg work associated with building a media list, locating the correct business editor and contact information will fall on you, and this can be somewhat time consuming.For those owners who have PR dollars set aside in their marketing budgets, a good method for distribution is to utilize a PR services firm. A PR services company can help you decide on which distribution points are best for your particular business niche or product, and can deliver your press release to thousands of media outlets instantly.PR service costs vary, and generally depend on the length of the release and the number of distribution points. Among the most well recognized press release services companies are PRNewswire.com, PRWeb.com, Businesswire.com and Google News.Press Releases are an excellent way to gain quick visibility for a new home based business or product. For more information about PR and how you can use this effective tool to promote your home based business, visit http://www.thehomebasedbusinessreview.com.

Unlike in the past where people had to be always looking for employers to give them jobs so they can earn a living, today’s folks whether employed or unemployed have a lot of opportunities to earn more money than they really can spend. It is definitely the internet that has made things possible for each and everyone that desires to earn a few extra dollars.There are various ways in which one can earn money working part time or even full time. Most people don’t believe that they could make their hobbies turn to business and fetch a lot of revenue. For instance, if sewing is your hobby you can become a fashion designer, cooking can make you the owner of a good restaurant or a food supplier to busy employees who don’t have time to cook at home, baking and cake making is in great demand with more and more people craving for tasty cakes and pastries.On the other hand if you are computer and internet savvy there are a whole lot of home based business ideas that work for every individual that needs it. With the recent dip in the economic times it is a lesson for all to have their talents well equipped and ready to face unemployment and bankruptcy with a smile.Many companies have downsized their staff for the simple reason that they could get cheap labor on contractual basis from online providers. Freelancing has become the latest trend with more and more providers cropping up offering to work for lesser than what an entrepreneur would otherwise have to pay the regular staff. Online home based business ideas are many and one just has to strike the right cord to gain access and start earning money.Are you a skilled typist having enough of experience in an office but today you are unemployed? There is nothing to panic about it; there is a great demand for virtual assistants online. With just a PC or a laptop and a fast browser internet connection you can work from home doing the same jobs you will have done at your office earlier. The benefit of being a virtual assistant is that you don’t have to work for one employer alone; if you have the time you can take on as many employers as you wish. This may involve part time or full time working hours, but from the comfort of your home. This is also one of the best and very effective home based business ideas that could fetch you a lot of money to pay bills and do a bit of shopping for things that you want.However, if you still feel that you can do something better than that, event planning is a very effective and lucrative idea. People are planning birthday parties, weddings, corporate events and holidays, group tours, anniversaries and so on. They surely require someone to undertake the job of planning their events since they are pressed for time and most of the time are of the opinion that someone else should do the job. This is soon picking up in 2011 as more and more people are looking for good event planners to conduct their parties and tours. Event planning requires little to no start-up capital.On the other hand catering services is also a very effective and lucrative business. If you have a networking with event planners both of you could make a perfect pair planning events and catering for the parties etc. Besides this you can be a caterer for many families who for some reason may not want to cook food at home. In such cases you can prepare the food and send it to them or have it picked up by them from your place. With the rise in parties and events catering services is one of the best home based business ideas that one can think of.

With any home based business you have two options on how you can approach someone about your home based business opportunity. Some people like to approach with the business first and some people like to approach with their company’s product or service.
There is no right or wrong way to build your home based business. Both of these strategies have their pros and cons. I want to give you some thoughts on each strategy and give you an idea of which one you would like to use.Leading With Your Home Based Business Opportunity.With any home based business you want to always find a way to invite someone to take a look at your business. Which ever method you use you always want to invite someone and not just overwhelm with information if they didn’t ask to take a look.
Leading with your opportunity is a great way to get started making money right away with your business. This is a short term approach to getting you paid in your particular company. The great thing about this strategy is that you can use your product or service as a backup if someone does not want to join your home based business. Let’s say you approached someone about your opportunity and they weren’t interested. This is a great time to offer them to try your product or service. Tell them this is a chance for them to see how great the product or service is without making a commitment to joining your business. If it’s someone you know personally tell them that they would be doing you a great favor by trying it out and tell them why your started your home based business. People are more willing to do you a favor if it’s going to help you out in a big way. I have no problem asking someone to try out my service because I make it clear to them how much it would mean to me. Let’s say they try out your product or service and like it you can always approach them again about the business because they know the product or service does work. Even if they don’t join your business you now have a loyal customer who will tell others about the product or service and recommend it to someone they know!Leading With Your Product Or Service.Leading with your home based business product or service is another way to approach someone about your business. Tell someone you know about how great the product or service and how much of difference it has made in your life. People love testimonials and if the product or service has changed your life in some way tell them about it! Ask them a favor like I mentioned before and how much it would mean to you if they did so. Because down the road they may ask you for a favor. Leading with your product or service is a long term investment in your business so to speak. It takes longer because they are trying out the products or service and this takes time. The great thing about this approach is that if you have a superior product or service and they love it you can then tell them that they can make money just for referring others to use the product or service! They are a walking testimonial because they know it works, it’s worked for them and they will have no problem approaching others about how great it is! I’ve seen this approach work wonders and people who are passionate about a product or service will do wonders in your home based business.You have to remember that your home based business is your business. Build your business however you want to! If you want people to try out your products first then go for it! This is why your started your home business in the first place was to be your own boss. Always remember that you always want to make it duplicateable for your team to use. Start having fun with your business and approach the business how you want to. I just wanted to give you a few ideas on how to approach someone about your home based business. Hope this answers your questions about using one of these strategies for your own particular company. Please keep yourself posted I have many great articles to come to help you with your home based business!

If I knew then what I know now, I never would have voted for the war.
Ken Lucas

For me the greatest source of income is still movies. Nothing – stocks, financial speculation, real estate speculation or businesses – makes more money for me than making movies.
Jackie Chan

I have 1900 units, why do I need a 401K?
Robert Kiyosaki, recent interview Time Magazine

To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.
William Shakespeare

From Robert Kiyosaki to Donald Trump, from Robert Allen Carleton Sheets, from Dolf de Roos to Diane Kennedy, investing in real estate is touted as a way for average people with time, money and patience to build wealth.

But is investing in real estate right wealth vehicle for everyone? If this were a one-size fits-all-world the answer would be yes. But, then, stocks would be the perfect investment vehicle for everyone and the discussion would end there. I have had investment real estate since 1994. I have had tenants attempt to squat in my properties, I have been sued, I have had a unit vandalized, someone drove into one of my buildings and I gave gone through my fair share of property managers.

If I knew then, what I know now, would I have bought my first property? The answer is yes. Real estate has done more for me than the stock market has with less overall financial risk despite the headaches and they have been many.

Five Ways to Know if Real Estate Investing is Right for You.

1. Are you a good manager of your personal resources or do you have significant amounts of short term debt? If the answers are no and yes, in that order, do not invest in real estate until you address these issues. Real estate is illiquid. Once purchased, the hold time on your new property may be significantly longer than you anticipate. This means that your potential exposure to unplanned expenses on your property may be longer than anticipated. Significant amounts of short term debt or the inability to plan your finances in anticipation of expenses may turn your real estate investment into a financial nightmare.

2. Are you a team player and can you captain that team? Investing in real estate means partnering with others to ensure your success and recognizing that your partners may know more than you. You will encounter brokers, property managers, attorneys, handy men, plumbers, electricians, contractors, roofers, inspectors, mortgage brokers and appraisers. If you are a control freak, prefer to work alone or cannot be direct in your communication when working with people, real estate investing may not be right for you.

3. Do you understand the kind of investing you will be doing? Will you be investing for cashflow or speculating for appreciation? Do you have the analytical tools necessary to help you work up a pro-forma for the property you will be buying?

4. Do you truly understand that wealth-building in real estate occurs over many years and that you have to “survive” your first couple of properties to build wealth? Over 20 years ago I started baking bread. The guide book I bought featured a “loaf for learning”, a basic loaf that I could practice kneading, mixing and still turn out an edible product. Your first properties will be “buildings for learning”. As you move beyond the initial learning curve, you will move on to create wealth. In certain markets, real-estate can produce appreciation returns beyond expectations and create the illusion that real estate produces instant cash. In my life I have seen two such markets. Frankly I would not want my future financial well-being to rest on my ability to time markets. Sophisticated investors have as their core investments, cashflow properties, properties that perform during hot or cold markets.

5. How do you react to unpleasant business news? Is your overall reaction anger that dissipates into a sense of helplessness or do you become a problem solver? Being able to solve problems is the key to having a successful business and investing in real-estate is a business. Real-estate is also a people business, by this I mean your tenants are people and the service personnel who will work on and market your properties are people. If the failings of others afflicts you with moral indignation and heartache, real estate investing is not for you. Tenants will fail to pay the rent and you will have to evict them, your property manager will charge you market or above market for repairs and will fail to market your properties properly in order to keep them full.

While real estate investing is a great way to build wealth, investing in real estate isn’t for everyone. It is easy to “catch the fever” and jump without looking, the first step is to make sure that you know yourself; these five points of consideration will assist you to that end.

The next step is to educate yourself about your local market, financing options, price and rents. You can start by finding a local Cashflow or real estate investing club. If you join a local real estate investing club make sure some of the members actually own investment property. That way the club won’t just be a club of “wannabes”.

Next assemble your team of property managers, accountants, brokers and agents. You will do this by interviewing prospects. Once you decide on a team, you will still have to trade the members out from time to time.

Depending on your short or long term objectives, you will need to identify your target before considering to invest your money and more importantly: knowing how much to invest.

How do I know which investment duration to choose?

This all depends on your financial needs. If you believe that you will need to have access to your investment at any given time, you shouldn’t take any risks and should always opt for investments which don’t require your funds to frozen for any period of time. Liquid investments are always key in this instance.

However, if you have other investments which are liquid and want to invest additional funds, then you could always opt for longer term investments (5 to 10 years) which leaves your doors open to more choices. Although longer investments sometimes involve slightly higher risk, the rewards are significantly higher than those of short-term investments.

Let’s take a look at various investment lengths and what they mean for you:

Short term:

Professional investors and fund managers will generally classify a short-term investment as one which lasts 3 years or less. Those usually include a saving account, a money market fund or any other type of investment which offers you some sort of guarantee on your investment’s time frame. Although you don’t really benefit from high payouts, the main advantage of this type of investment is security of your funds.

Medium term:

Usually lasting between 3 to 8 years, a medium-term investment still contains minimized risk over the period of time of your investment, while the rewards are slightly higher than those mentioned in the previous point. With a good diversification of your funds and well thought-out placement of your investment in commodities, you can get a healthy return on your investment.

Long term:

Usually going beyond 8 years, long-term investments make time your best friend. This allows you to invest in markets which usually contain volatility in the short-term but which are historically the most profitable in the long term, given that they always get back to their original level before finding new peaks.

Finding your own objectives:

Your objectives are not only defined by the length of your preferred investment choices, but also by the amount of capital that you have. There are usually two types of investment: one which aims to generate capital from a low sum, and one which entails investing a large sum of money in order to generate periodic returns on that large investment. You should also always ask yourself what your goal is; if it’s to save for a house, retirement, or your kid’s college fund, avoid any risky investment which may hinder your goals.

How’s your temper?

Even if you find the perfect time frame and know exactly how much you’re going to invest, an investor’s nerves can sometimes be their own worst enemy. If a loss of 10% of your funds will stress you out, you’re better off opting for a safe investment which will not stress you out as much. Placing long-term investment in diamonds is the preferred method of many people simply because it is a safe method which gives you a steady return every year.