In 2007 I started my own home based mortgage broking business. I have always worked in financial institutions and the idea of helping people buy their dream home always appealed to me so I started a finance and mortgage broking business part-time right out of my home in Melbourne. It didn’t do too badly either, despite my only customers being friends or family. By 2008, I had built up quite a good little referral source and had a steady flow of customers that could see me going full-time. Little did I know that a catastrophic event would soon see the end of my business and crush my dreams. I am, of course, talking about the Global Financial Crisis. Literally overnight, multi-billion dollar financial corporations collapsed, so what chance did my little mortgage business have? As consumers pulled out of the property and share market, and buyer’s confidence with small mortgage broking firms diminished, my business dried up and I soon learned a very valuable lesson.A home based business should be RECESSION PROOF!So soon after the GFC, consumers are still struggling to make ends meet. People are cutting back on the “luxuries” that are herbs, make-up, fancy appliances, self help seminars etc. If you are looking at a home based business that sells a product, ask yourself 3 questions.1. Is the product used everyday by everyone?2. Is the product a necessity – something people can’t live without?3. Does the product have to be purchased over and over again?If the answer to those 3 questions is YES, then you are onto a winner. If any of the questions are no, I would keep looking for another business.

There are literally thousands of people who attempt to start a home based business each month. Some of them concentrate on direct sales, signing up for companies like Avon, Tupperware, Mary Kay, or Thirty-One Gifts. Others decide to market their handmade products online at sites like Etsy. The majority of people focus on setting up an Internet empire with a web-based business plan that is meant to take them to complete passive income. Unfortunately, only a tiny percentage of those who embark on this journey succeed. Why? These few individuals are the only ones who know exactly what it takes to reach home based business success.Success is not just a matter of luck. In fact, anyone can accomplish home based business success if they have the right tools and best strategies backing them up. Do you want to know the secrets? Of course you do! Here is what it really takes to reach the home based business success that you desire.First, you need to have a great product or service to sell. You can’t just create a website and expect to make a million dollars overnight. Your website needs to have a purpose, a direction, and an ultimate goal. If your goal is affiliate marketing, you need a niche to direct your content topics. If your goal is sales, you need to have amazing products. If your purpose is to get people interested in your services, you have to be prepared with a truly great service to offer.Second, you have to be committed to do the work. If you want home based business success, be prepared to work hard to achieve it. You will need to invest hours in developing your new business. You will have to create a website, develop a marketing strategy, and then market your business while you maintain it. This means you have plenty of work ahead of you! The good news is that if you stick with it, you will enjoy the home based business success that very few people ever actually achieve.Third, you need a good dose of creativity. The most successful business professionals know how to think outside of the box. How can you make your business stand out from the competition? How can you make sure that people gravitate towards your products rather than someone else’s? What makes your business truly extraordinary? These are questions you must explore if you want to be truly successful.Finally, you should have an iron will and a heavy dose of patience. Success takes time, especially if you are an entrepreneur starting your business from scratch. Whether you are working in direct sales, affiliate marketing, or direct product manufacturing, your home based business success will depend on your staying power. Will you stick with it as long as it takes? Will you ride out the waves when adversity strikes or will you quit? Perseverance is the ultimate key if you want to be among the few elite and successful people in the business world.

Have you ever taken a look at a home based business in the network marketing or direct sales sector? If the answer is yes, that’s fantastic; you have an idea of what network marketing is all about. The awesome thing about a home based business idea in network marketing is that the cost to start your business and buy into a proven system is minimal. Most home based business ideas in the network marketing sector are pretty much under $1000.00 and most are $500 or less. Now we come to the success rate of people who start businesses in the network marketing sector for under $1000. What I have noticed is that when you have not mortgaged your home and entered into a major contract with another company somehow the urgency of owning the home based business and the drive to succeed seem to diminish. Before we ever get into the various products and services available in the network marketing sector in today’s climate we have to discuss the psyche of the person wanting the freedom they are requesting. I have spoken to so many people who start out with a bang and kind of loose their gusto in 3-5 weeks. Sometimes people will last for about 4-6 months then the fire diminishes. Why is that? Well, I know one thing, if I had 50k or more invested into a home based business idea it would not take 4-6 months before I throw my life savings away. Although, since many network marketing business are under $1000, most people don’t have enough on the line to take their network marketing home based business ideas seriously enough to succeed. Let’s assume you have the drive to move past that 4-6 month mark. This seems to be the mark where unsuccessful people stop and successful people continue to push forward. Now you have to decipher if you are in the right business model for optimal success.

Most network marketing companies have traditionally been in the cosmetic, weight loss and health and wellness sectors. In recent history (the last 15 years) there has also been a big surge of technology home based business ideas also such as cell phone businesses, satellite home based business, Wi-Fi home based businesses and others. Even more recently, in the last five years to be exact, there has been a huge push in the energy efficient products and services industry.

I get excited when I think about the history already made by the first two residential energy companies to offer their services to consumers by way of the network marketing home based business model. According to Jim Melloan, project manager of the Inc. 500/5000 project Stream Energy grossed $848,000,000.00 for the year 2009. This company was founded in 2004 and officially started doing business in March of 2005 in Texas. Home based business owners are able to start a business with this company for less than $500 and are able to refer their friends and family to save money on their electricity and/or gas bills. They later expanded to Georgia in 2008 and are now expanding to Pennsylvania.

Next we have another notable company named Ambit Energy, founded in Texas in 2006; it followed Ignite’s footsteps offering the home based business idea for less than $500 in the Texas market. It soon expanded to New York in 2007 and Illinois in 2008. I know because I was part of the excitement! In 2009 the company had a record 20,369.4 percent growth with revenue at $325,000,000.00! So with these numbers in the home based business/network marketing sector you would assume there are some winners that are just like you and I, who are making a percentage of that success right? Of course there are and I witnessed this happen first hand. For under $500 in both companies, multi-millionaires were created! There are several thousandaires and many people who have found an additional income that has saved them from foreclosure, replaced car payments, paid for their children’s educations and much more!

So far I have discussed two companies with astounding numbers reported that concentrate on doing one thing, saving the average family money on their electricity bill. There’s another trend happening in the energy business. A new company called America Approved Energy Services Direct., LLC has emerged offering a home based business in the same space but with a few tweaks! For one, America Approved Energy Services Direct., LLC aka AMA Nation was founded in October 2009. Peter Jensen, Robert Gries and Scott Turner came together to offer a home based business opportunity in the network marketing sector with the product once again being residential electricity. AMA Nation started out in Connecticut, and then soon expanded to New York City. Over the last year they have have a lot more territory than the first two. Currently, America Approved Energy Services Direct., LLC is the marketing arm for several suppliers which allows them to provide this home based business idea in 8 states for opportunity seekers wishing to concentrate on the residential market which include NY, NJ, CT, MA, RI, PA, MD and TX (soon to be 9 with IL)! So with the astounding numbers posted by Ignite and Ambit in only two and three states respectively, AMA Nation will certainly shock the industry with their three-year numbers. Now here’s another shocker, by July of 2010 America Approved Energy Services Direct., LLC has also allowed their home based business opportunity seekers to acquire business in the commercial sector of energy deregulation as well. Opportunity seekers looking for home based business ideas are also able to do business in 15 states on the large commercial side of energy deregulation. So when it comes to energy deregulation, America Approved Energy Services Direct., LLC now has the largest footprint in the industry. By August of 2010, America Approved Energy Services Direct., LLC also added over 200 energy efficient products and services to its repertoire allowing home based business owners to also make money in other emerging markets such as solar panels, Led Lighting retrofits and much more. The most impressive factor in all of this is that you have the income potential of a major franchise in a network marketing business model for less than $225. So many people are recouping their initial investment within the first week of being self-employed in the energy business.

My team and I have been getting many ideas about how to build our business from local news happening around the world! For instance, the article titled All Agua Fria high schools will have solar panels written by AZ Central.com on 16, 2011 at 07:30 PM gave us the idea to start calling the schools our children attend to discuss the energy saving options and grants available. Another article written by LehighValleyLive.com discussed how IKEA Aims to Extend Solar Power Trend to Costa Mesa which gave us the idea to start going after department stores and restaurants in the California area. So with AMA Nation, my team of independent home based business owners and I have found this business model to be much more lucrative because we are able to tap into the entire energy efficient products and services industry.

The definition of advertising is as follows: The activity or profession of producing advertisements for commercial products or services.

Consumers receive about 5,000 marketing messages each day, many of them in the form of advertising. Advertising is the most visible form of no personal promotion and the most effective for many firms. One of the most effective advertising is interpersonal networking. The definition of advertising takes on many forms and there are many methods that we will discuss in minimum detail to explain why it is important to any business.

Advertising Media-Marketers must choose how to allocate their advertising budgets among various types of media such as

· Television-Television is still one of Americas leading national advertising media.

· Newspapers-Daily and weekly newspapers continue to dominate local advertising.

· Radio-Despite the proliferation of other media, the average U.S. household owns five radios.

· Magazines-Magazines include consumer publications and business trade journals.

· Direct Mail-The average U.S. household receives about 550 pieces of direct mail each year, including 100 catalogs.

· Outdoor advertising-Outdoor advertising accounts for nearly 7 billion dollars in advertising expenditures.

· Internet Advertising-Marketing experts reported that sales from online advertising have surpassed 20 billion dollars per year and could soon surpass 50 billion.

· Sponsorship-One of the hottest trends in promotion offers marketers the ability to integrate several elements of the promotional mix. Sponsorship involves providing funds for a sporting or cultural event in exchange for a direct association with the event.

As consumers filter out familiar advertising messages, marketers look for novel ways to catch their attention. In addition to the major media, firms promote through many other vehicles such as infomercials and specialized media. Advertisers use just about any medium they can find, as the market is ever-changing and must keep up with the latest techniques. Google is looking for ways to combine the targeting capabilities of internet advertising and the richness of the television medium. Direct advertising with the accountability of the internet, with the emotion of television is the next big trend to stay up with. Advertising expenditures vary among industries, companies, and media.

As you can see, the definition of media advertising has many avenues of approach. It is one of the most effective types of advertising, surpassing sales promotion, trade oriented promotions, games, contests, sweepstakes, and many other techniques. This is where all the money is made and invested, from the small business owner to multi-billion dollar companies.