Writing your affiliate home business plan
This is a typical scenario: You are deciding to start a home business and all of a sudden everyone you meet has their nose on your business, literally. What do you say to them? And how do you answer your own questions? What should you expect from the company in terms of stability, longevity, vitality, confidence, income, etc.? Bad news first: there are no guarantees. So the good news: there is a lot of information from which to draw your own conclusions. The Internet is huge, and any good company will offer free training and marketing tools.
But let’s get back to the WHY of that business plan. You’re going to start small, slow and boy! There is much to learn. What’s the point of sitting down and writing a business plan? You are not Bill Gates, this is not Microsoft, just you in your home office a few hours a week, slowly building an online business presence, not really understanding what the hell you are going to do.
Relax and breathe. Unlike Mt. Rushmore, your plan will not be designed to withstand the weather of the ages. You can expect it to change and bend with the flow of your real experiences, which will be totally yours, not identical to anyone else’s.
What you will do as you write your plan is make you stop, think, dream, study, and focus. The written document, whether it’s one page or twelve, will give your business a framework to work from. The Internet is vast and seemingly endless. It’s easy to lose focus and get carried away with a different whim or idea every day. Understanding where you are today, what tools you have to work with, what your goals are, and how you can best achieve them and measure your success will help you stay on target and not waste the few hours you may be investing in your business. At the beginning.
Whenever you feel lost or confused, you can go back to what you have written. When you analyze your situation and decide to make a change, rewrite that part of the plan. Understand that it is a living document, destined to grow with you and your business. Your business plan is your friend.
Introduction to the business plan
First you need to study the company and its management. You need to read and learn about the products, the compensation plan, and the network structure. See you next month. It’s a prank.
Plan to do SOME reading each and every business day for the next several months, if not indefinitely. Stay up-to-date with company forum entries every day; read something in the training reports every day. Your education will continue. Plan it.
When you’re ready, open a Notepad window and answer these questions:
What service / products does your company offer and what needs does it satisfy?
Who are the potential customers of your product or service and why will they buy it from you?
How will you reach your potential customers?
Where will you get the financial resources to start your business?
Voucher. Perhaps your company offers many products and services. What do you want to focus on? I suggest that, at first, you focus on one or two products and / or the opportunity to join. In other words, maintaining is simple. Once you learn what you are doing, you WILL KNOW when it is time to expand. Do only what you feel comfortable with, every step of the way. This is YOUR business, it is your right and privilege to decide your approach.
Internet marketing depends on building trust. How will you do this?
Reaching customers means marketing. Your decision, one more time. And again, the options should be in your company’s training materials.
So we are talking about developing a reading / study schedule. Here’s a possible list, once you’ve read enough to make your own decisions to answer the questions above, start writing. Your writing can be lists of words and phrases, freeform brainstorming, schematics, mind maps, whatever works for you. Just write it down and don’t forget to save it often. If your home office is inhabited by cats or small children, they have a tendency to hit keys on the keyboard at random. Documents from time to time just disappear. Saving avoids a total disaster.
- Study the products.
- Read the training materials.
- Read about commissions, bonuses, etc.
- Study marketing aids and strategies.
- Find out what free tools are available.
- Visit the forums regularly. Read all about how to get started.
- Ask questions.
Your final written business plan will have at least four parts:
Introduction / background: history of the company and its founder, internet marketing trends, why THIS company and why NOW, etc.
Goals: I suggest that you think about what you would like to earn in two years, but focus primarily on your goals for the first year. Realistic goals can be projected based on information on the company website, in newsletters, forum searches, and focused questions to other affiliates.
Marketing plan: based on your answers to the first 3 questions above and your study of marketing aids and tools.
Action plans: the details of what you will do on a monthly, weekly and / or daily basis for the next year.
I can’t tell you what your answers should be, because you have to decide how much money you have to invest. Only you can decide how many hours per day, week or month you can invest in your business. The products that you are most comfortable marketing with, and who you choose to target as your customer base, are decisions that only you can make. If you get stuck and don’t understand a question, don’t know where to find information, or don’t know how to ASK a question, contact your sponsor or someone in your upline. If they can’t help you, they should be able to send you to someone who can.
You should NEVER feel alone. Work should be FUN! …