Recommended: Click here to improve PC speed »
I told him where my son, a high school senior, wants to go to college. It is arather expensive private school in the city where we live. Jerry, my barber, said heknows several people that attend and work at this college, and that he believes itis an excellent school. And then he said something that is very true.
If I stop learning, then I am through. I ve been a barber for forty years and Istill am learning. He then related a story about a former customer. This fellowcame into the shop one day and said I want you to cut my hair the same way everytime I come in. The conversation continues:
Jerry: I ve been cutting your hair for years. Isn t it always the same?
Customer: You never use the same method. I want you to cut it using the same method.
Jerry: Doesn t it come out the same every time?
Customer: Yes, but I want it cut the same way every time.
Jerry says to me I know several ways to cut hair and I am always learning more. Ifit comes out the way he likes it, what difference does it make how I cut it.
The need to continue learning applies to your home business as well. As the onlinemarket changes, so do your marketing and promotion techniques. There are newproducts and affiliate opportunities to look for.
Articles
One great source for learning about online business is to read articles, like thisone. There are thousands of sites offering business related articles. In fact, doinga search on Google for business articles results in over twenty million entries.
For the newcomer to home based online business, Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy, has anice series of articles (http://www.workathome-awesome opportunities.com/homebiz.htm) including Finding Your Home Business Niche , Advertising Your Home Business on aBudget , & Networking Your Home Business within Circles of Influence . These arejust a sampling of the information available in articles.
Or how about this: did you know that you can get a million hits a month without atop listing on a search engine?
Or another Charlie Page, owner of The Directory of Ezineshttp://www.directoryofe zines.com, writes about why people are leaving their internetbusiness in record numbers, and ways you can avoid the same fate in Why are peopleLeaving? (http://tinyurl.com/5mh46).
Forums
Another source of information is online forums. These are sites where businessowners get together online to exchange ideas and get answers to questions abouttheir own online businesses. One of my favorites is the >Warrior Forum(http://www.warriorforum .com/forum/). This forum includes links to an articledatabase, joint ventures and money making information.
There is a recent discussion on the Warrior Main Forum on whether it is advisable toput your picture on your website(http://www.warriorfor um.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_I D=28449). Some commented on howa picture of an ugly person could result in a potential customer clicking away.
Another discussion was on what type of hardware to use in a home business. Thisincluded monitor type and size, processor, graphics card, etc. This is a veryinteresting topic for anyone with an internet based home business.
And since I am a Plug In Profit Affiliate a forum I recently discovered, the PIPSBuilder Forum (http://pipsforum.1affiliatepr ofits.com/), has provided me withseveral valuable marketing tips and business resources.
Training Sites
If you are a member of a MLM or affiliate program there is a wealth of trainingmaterial available to you.
In my own journey down the online home business trail I find that being an affiliateof several programs has given me more training than I can absorb. The learning curveis steep, but it is better than starting out from scratch.
One of the programs that I am an affiliate of is SFI Marketing Group. They have anextensive amount of training materials for the affiliates as well as a discussionboard.
Another site with a wealth of materials for the online business owner is theInternational Association of Home Business Entrepreneurs(http://www.more info247.com/8813721/iahbe). There is a small monthly fee to belongto this one, but the amount of fresh, timely content makes it worth it to me.
There are many, many more and I encourage you to check them out.
Trial And Error
And of course there is the old standby of screw it up and figure out how to fix it.I have done this on many occasions and I am sure you have too. But if you approachyour errors with the right attitude it is possible to learn an immense amount fromyour own mistakes.
Don t Stop Or You re Through
As Jerry said, If I stop learning, then I m through . And I believe this is truefor me and you.
I have a goal to consciously learn something new everyday. I recently saw a sitethat will help improve a golf swing. Another for woodworking tips. Yet another fortraining a dog. There is probably a site to learn about any interest you may have.
Don t take for granted the wealth of opportunities to learn something, not justabout your business but about anything that interests you.
