Here is some feedback I recently received from one of my home

business advice newsletter readers:

"I have joined a lot of free home businesses and have made no

money. I am determined to succeed at this internet thing, but I

need help. I'm not going to spend money on this and waste it. Do

you know where I can get a simple step by step FREE manual so I

can start my home business?"

-- Jeff M.

And here is the advice I gave Jeff...

Have you spent months, maybe even years, looking for a way to

make a living from home on the internet? If you are only

considering what is commonly referred to as a "free home

business", you are likely to be looking for a long time to come.

You can avoid wasting more time and effort by understanding the

realities of running an internet home business.

The mentality of getting something for nothing will put an end to

any dreams of working for yourself you may have. So will the need

for immediate gratification. By keeping these thoughts out of

your mind, you greatly increase your chances of running a

successful internet home business well into the future.

Let's start out by looking at the idea of a free home business.

This would be a home business that you could start and run

without spending a dime. You see many different kinds of

businesses every day, both internet web sites and real world

businesses in your neighborhood. Can you think of just one real

business that can be started with no investment and requires no

money to operate? You can't because there aren't any.

And spending months of your personal time to set up and run even

the most basic small business (that may or may not make any

sales) is still costing you money. Yes, your time is a valuable

asset that does have monetary value, just as it does when you

spend it working for someone else. The fact is that you cannot

replace the time you have already used. But you can make more

money. You cannot make more time.

If you are not willing to spend money to start and build your

home business, you are involved with a hobby, not a business. It

is possible to start and build an internet home business using

low cost tools and resources, in case you don't have $100,000

lying around. It is also possible to use many no cost resources

in your home business that will save you tons of money. But when

it comes right down to it, you have to be willing to take on some

risk if you want a real business of your own. You have to assume

the risk of (wisely) spending money to build your business. There

is no way around it.

Here is a getting started manual (free) like the one you asked

about http://kenleonardjr.com/manual

Establishing priorities for your personal and business spending

habits is your first important task. This will allow you to treat

your internet home business like a business, not a hobby. Since

your initial cash flow may be small, your initial growth will be

slower. But having your internet home business started and

running is essential. You can't grow a business that doesn't

exist. If you can then delay your gratification by putting most

of your revenue back into the business, your business will slowly

grow into a profitable money maker.

By delaying gratification, you are demonstrating that you can

focus on the big picture, your long term future. This is an

essential small business mindset that will allow you to

eventually get what you want. Any money you spend on advertising

your product or service should be focused on the long term, too.

That means focusing on building mailing lists of targeted

prospects, either email lists or direct mail lists (both is

better!).

You will still end up making some sales along the way, but over

time you will have created a much more valuable long term

business asset. Future repeated contact with your email and

direct mail lists will cost you very little, practically nothing.

And the relationships you build through regular contact will make

you many customers and sales long into the future at near zero

overhead.

So go ahead and start a real internet home business, but stay

away from any "free home businesses" (masquerading as real

businesses) that won't build real long term worth. You will save

yourself a lot of grief, and you will end up actually getting

what you want out of life.