Having the opportunity to work from home has been an incredibly rewarding position to be in on a number of fronts. But it has not been without its share of drama in my search for legit work from home businesses and opportunities.

There are plenty of opportunities available but the key is to pick up some home based business ideas that will fit in with the lifestyle that you want to achieve.

Ideally, its going to want to be flexible so you can allocate the time that is required to other interests or business activities. If you have school aged kids or toddler at home the time available to you is going to be different than if you are without kids. And if you have other interests, like sports or other social activities or even a part time job you want to be able to fit these in around your work life at home.

So what are the options?

Internet based businesses are probably the first that come to mind. These are the most flexible of all … the good thing about the internet is that it never sleeps, so you can do work at any hour. But best of all you can do your work at any time that suits.

Affiliate marketing online is an increasingly popular option. It does take some effort and input to get it up and running but can be done any time of the day. But the more effort you put in the better / quicker the results.

Another trending home based business is multi level marketing. Whilst this has had some pretty bad raps in the past it is actually a very legitimate form of business and can be quite profitable.

Please note that I only suggesting legitimate business ideas and not get rich quick schemes (or scams).  I have spent a number of years looking at different internet businesses and have found a fare share of scams. As well as being left out of pocket they tend to have a pretty bad effect on your confidence, so I am definitely not going to lead anyone in that direction.

The pick of the bunch

Internet based businesses – Affiliate Marketing is a legitimate form of marketing used by companies of all shapes and sizes to promote their businesses or products. They get results by offering commissions to ‘affiliates’ who advertise the company’s product or service.

Generally, the affiliate owns a website or blog site, or maybe they advertise on social media or through email.

In earlier years you may recall the mail box pamphlet drops where you would select some items and call up your local rep to come an collect your order. Well, in essence this was the affiliate marketing of that era. The local rep would place your order with a company who would supply you with the goods and the rep would get a commission cheque once the company got paid.

It’s popular because it is a win win for the company (very low cost in comparison to traditional media advertising – TV or news print) and for the affiliate (you, me) get paid for selling product without a store front or holding inventory or needing to manufacture anything .. just the cost of a website, internet and hosting.

Internet marketing, affiliate marketing, does not require any special set of skills either.  There are some excellent sites on the internet that will show you how to do all that is required to set up a fully functioning affiliate marketing business.

Again, some are better than others, so the trick is to find one that has the best training and best support.

Wealthy Affiliate leads the way

I came across the ‘Wealthy Affiliate University’ site in my search for the best. They offer the best training resource I have come across and step you through the website building process with great community back up and support. Second to none. The follow up the formal training with weekly web based tutorials and mentors within the community submit training for access by all for free.

You can also start and get used to the whole thing for free, with comprehensive start up training, website and domain name and hosting all free. To easy!

As I mentioned earlier, it is not a get rich quick scheme. You do have to put in work. The more professional you become the better the results. Wealthy Affiliates give you the tools and support to get there. Wealthy Affiliates offer a premium level option for a monthly cost (with reduced prices for the first month and for 12 month subscription) that takes your learning and development to a whole new level. If you are serious about making this a business this is the way to go.

2 Billion people buying power

There are over 2 billion people in the world who purchase on the internet each year. Affiliate Marketing can let you access this phenomenal market.   An income is achievable, a very good income is also achievable, with consistent and dedicated effort.

Wealthy Affiliate has also been around in the business for 10 years now. It was started by two young guys who had little experience in the online marketing world but have learned and built an awesome tool that celebrates the best of their achievements and put together a fabulous training program to teach others what they have learned.

 

Multilevel Marketing businesses – MLM’s or network marketing as it is also known is one of the big trending forms of direct selling, and marketing in general.

In the same way as with Affiliate marketing, MLM is a win win situation for the company and the distributor – company uses their distributors to market and sell to their personal network of friends and family so their costs are low but reach is vast.

The distributor (you, me) get paid a commission on sales and bonuses on volume of product or services. Plus you receive bonus incentives for introducing new distributors. It’s a very easy business model and can be quite lucrative.

As a legit home based business idea it is ideal as they can be worked from home either via the internet or through your social networks and can be worked in your own time. Too easy!

Again you need to find a business that suits you with good products that has a big support network and good training along with excellent incentives (that’s what we are in it for really, isn’t it?)

Alaskan Blue Berries and Noni fruit creating marketable health supplements

I have personally been involved in MLM’s with limited success (due mostly to my time commitments in other areas) and currently have a distributorship with Kyani Australia / New Zealand.

Kyani was started in the US over 8 years ago and is now in multiple countries including Canada, South America, Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand…and more.

The popularity of Kyani is enormous. They offer an excellent health supplement product range and have the best compensation plan available, with support and processes in place to help you succeed.  There are plenty of motivated people earning good money through MLM businesses.

Pyramids or not?

Again, the majority of MLMs are not illegal pyramid schemes or scams – they are a legitimate marketing business format with product for sale. IN regards to the Kyani business the following is certainly applicable.

Firstly, pyramid schemes are illegal in Australia and the US and Kyani is registered with the ASIC (Australian Securities and Investment Commission) and the Tax office and each business owner needs to provide their tax file number or ABN to join up.

Secondly, Kyani business is based on a product range that is available for sale at a wholesale price to you to sell to customers in general at a retail mark up (customers do not have to be distributors and can buy any volumes the wish).

Thirdly, it is easily possible for the people you introduce to be able to exceed your level and income in this business.

Fourthly, all business structures in essence have a pyramid shape to their hieratical structure – whether it be having a managing director or CEO at the top, with managers below and workers below that. However, in this case you are the manager of your own business and the people you introduce are the same within their business and they have the opportunity to far exceed you or your up-lines level and income … this is not possible in a conventional business or a pyramid scheme.

Fifthly, a pyramid scheme operates by each person having to collect a fee from the people who they recruit who then need to do the same with a share of this fee going up the line to the top. There is generally no tangable product involved. They always collapse when the people at the bottom realised they have no where to go and the money dries up.

Kyani has been operating for over 8 years in the US and has expanded operations to other countries with head offices in each country who manage product and administration.

But do your homework and ask other distributors and do some due diligence and make sure it is right for you and that you can see a good support system in place.

There is a cost for setting up this type of business but in comparison to setting up a conventional business it is a very small investment.

Remember also that as with a conventional business you have to put in the effort or the business will fail. And not everyone will succeed in this business.

Generally, you are also required to commit to purchasing a minimum volume of product for yourself each month. This can get out of hand if you are not active in your business and will start to cost you, but once you have some new team members working under you you will start to see rewards and this cost will be absorbed as a general operational cost.

What is the verdict?

These are just two business ideas that have shown good potential and actual proven results that I have achieved personally and have seen through friends and acquaintances in these businesses. These are genuine options available to everyone who is interested in pursuing work from home.

The two companies outlined are quite different to each other but are are legitimate opportunities that I have found to be the best in their niches.

I appreciate your time reading this post. If you have any questions or want to leave a comment please do so below or send me an email at info@worksmarteraustralia.com