Maybe you’ve tried some home-based business ideas or maybe you’re just thinking about getting something started. Either way, if you’ve spent any time researching your options, you will have by now seen many different schemes that promise to make you money. Some of these are undoubtedly good ideas from reputable companies, while other offers are suspect at best.In any event, one thing is for certain – there are no magic bullets. No matter what home-based business model you choose to pursue, you will need to be prepared to apply yourself and roll up your sleeves to do the work that is necessary to make you successful. A lot of people don’t want to hear that. They want to hear that there is an easy “set it and forget it” scheme for making lots of money. But I’m not going to blow that kind of smoke at you. So if you’re willing to use a little elbow grease, please read on.Now that we have that little bit of reality dose unpleasantness out of the way, let me get to the point of this article. I would like to submit to you that leveraging the best investment tools is the basis for the ultimate home-based business opportunity. You might be thinking, “Wait a minute, investing is something I do after I’ve made money with some other home-based business model.” But the truth is, you should approach investing as a business. You need to apply the same kind of focus and discipline to investing as you do to any other business you might manage.By “investing” I don’t just mean buying some stocks. Investing opportunities encompass a wide variety of things such as real estate, Forex, and gold – just to mention a few. Keeping in mind this idea that investing opportunities are vast, these opportunities have some distinct advantages over many of the other home-based business ideas you may have considered – or even tried.1 – There are powerful tools you can leverage to increase your chances of successWhen it comes to investing, one of the biggest obstacles to overcome is the sheer amount of information you need to process to make good and timely decisions. The good news is that computers and software can process a lot of information very quickly and help you make decisions. A lot of the knowledge the pros have used for years is coded into these software solutions.2 – Many pros are writing How-To guides to walk you through their investing systemsIt is easier than ever to publish and deliver information over the Internet. Many investing pros are creating How-To products that expose the knowledge they have acquired and succeeded with in investing. Rather than reinvent the wheel or learn by trial and error, you can benefit from their hard learned expertise right out of the gate.3 – You don’t need to find customers; You are your customerTo be sure, there are some investments that include customer relationships – such as investing in commercial real estate. But there are many investing opportunities that only involve you. The only person you have to sell to is yourself. You may be your toughest customer, but that can be a good thing.I’ll leave you with a final bonus reason why using the power of investing tools is the ultimate home-based business model; investing is something you can get into without quitting your day job at first. Imagine yourself trading currencies at midnight – or placing an order for some gold bullion coins. You can have the satisfaction of managing your own home-based business without a lot of the baggage that comes with other schemes.
Is Online Education Cheaper Than Traditional On-Campus Education?
Along with the widespread advantages of online education, wouldn’t that be an additional bonus if the tuition was cheaper as well? Contrary to popular belief, tuition fees for online education are not cheaper than your traditional brick and mortar college or university education. Current information that boasts cheaper online education can be misleading.
There are a lot of “what ifs” when it comes to education costs. Tuition will certainly be more expensive if you attend a private school as opposed to a public school. But you will not find any great cost savings by attending school online instead of on-campus. The courses you choose, whether online or on-campus, will generally cost you a specified amount per credit. Depending on the amount of credits your degree or certificate needs, will decide the total cost of your tuition.
If you do happen to come across an unbelievable deal for achieving your degree online, then beware. The validity of the degree may be as unbelievable as the price. Diploma Mills will take your money in exchange for a fake degree. They are a huge business and make lots of money off of the unsuspecting student. A sure sign of a Diploma Mill is if you see “Achieve your Bachelor’s Degree for $425” or “Get Your Degree in as little as 27 Days” -Beware! If what the online school is offering seems too good to be true – it probably is.
So, despite its convenience and flexibility, online education offers no cost advantage on your tuition. But wait, you can still save money. Having the ability to engage in your education from the comforts of your own home has many cost savings benefits attached to it. You could save hundreds or thousands of dollars alone in:
Auto Expenses – first off, there isn’t the extra expense of gas and we are all aware (and sensitive) towards our rising gasoline prices. Depending on how far you would typically have to drive to university, this could be a substantial savings. Parking on campus can also do a good job at keeping your wallets empty over the course of a semester. And there are always other accompanying costs which come with owning a vehicle.
Room and Board – If the college or university offering your program is too far away that you can’t commute, then online education can save you a huge chunk of cash on not having to pay for food and lodging close to the campus. Costs for room and board alone can sometimes add up to more than the tuition fees.
There are still other minor cost savings benefits that are recognized from taking your courses online. But the real benefit is that, if it wasn’t for online education, some people wouldn’t have the ability to pursue a post secondary education at all. Many are working or have families and they cannot attend school during the day. For others, online education can be the source of “hard to find” course that they need. The benefits are many.
The costs of developing, implementing and delivering distance education courses can be substantial. Online Institutions have not passed these costs onto the students as one would think. We are actually fortunate that the cost of online education isn’t higher than on-campus tuitions.
How Can I Earn Home Based Business Income?
Home based business income incorporates several important and not necessarily mutually inclusive concepts. Income is something everyone needs and understands. We often define ourselves by how we earn our income. “What do you do?” often follows a meeting or an introduction. Many people see their self-worth in full or in part based on the way they earn income. This can be unfortunate because what a person earns in no way equates to their worth as a person.The “business” in home based business income means that we derive by selling goods or services rather than the traditional of a job where we trade time for money. A business can be providing a service like housecleaning, lawn care, home repair or maintenance. Service business such as catering and event planning, document preparation, formerly called typing, bookkeeping and other services often provided by one or two people, lend themselves well to the home based model.A long-time traditional model of generating home based business income is providing in home child care. With the aging baby boomers a new emerging business is adult foster care. There is an almost endless list of businesses that can be run out of your home. While there may be restrictions such as zoning to consider, many businesses, especially those that do not generate a lot of traffic, fall within acceptable parameters.One of the best aspects of using a model of generating home based business income is the informality that can exist between your business and personal life. Unless your business involves providing services where your clients live or work, your commute usually involves walking a few steps. Assuming you don’t have people coming to see you, you have a wider choice of what to wear to “work.”Another advantage of generating home based business income is the low overhead. Especially when starting out, that difference can be significant in how quickly your business can begin generating enough income to provide the things you want and need. It is also a great advantage to be able to deduct those legitimate business expenses that are part of operating your business. It is even better when some of those deductions involve expenses associated with your home.Deriving all or part of your livelihood from home based business income can either be a dream come true or a nightmare. The difference lies in the thought that goes into setting it up. A thorough knowledge of your work and personal life.