Ideas For A Home Based Business – The Fear Factor – Part 2 of 4
In part 1 of this 4 part series we looked at how fear can prevent us from pursuing a home business, and some ways to handle that fear. Now, let’s examine a few ideas for a home based business and see if we can shed some light on various assumptions that can trigger fear or concerns that might prevent us from moving forward.Selling art, jewelry or crafts onlineDo you wish you were artistic enough to make this a home business? Imagine how you would feel if you had this as a business and could create art that people really liked and were buying. Now consider this – you don’t need to be a nationally recognized artist to create art that people will buy. Abstract art is a perfect example. This became clear to me when I watched a video online of a person creating abstract art with scraps of paper, string, other odds and ends, and some glittery paint. At the end of the video the artist said in effect: what looks like a mess to you looks like beautiful art to someone else. She has a thriving business.As for jewelry and crafts, take a slow walk through the big craft stores in your area. Beads and wire jewelry are huge these days and you’ll find lots of books explaining exactly how to create beautiful jewelry with simply a few different pliers and various sized wire. While looking, take in the number of craft items that are available. The selection is enormous. You simply need to add some paint or combine items into a craft you think others would enjoy. Again, you can look through the craft books to get lots of ideas. It doesn’t take skill to create these so much as it does simple determination and some inspiration.Freelance writingThe first time I heard of freelance writing, I assumed it meant writing articles or stories for magazines, newspapers, journals, publishers and, well, you get the picture – the classic print media we are all familiar with. I thought, clearly one would need a degree in journalism or something before you can have a career as a freelance writer. The fact is, many individuals from all walks of life, are earning a living as freelance writers, writing (drum roll please…) content on the internet. The number of people connecting to and shopping on the internet, and, the number of businesses that are establishing a presence on it are increasing at a phenomenal rate. The web is so vast that we typically use sites like google, yahoo or bing to help us find the information we are searching for. Businesses pay people to write content for their websites that help draw in potential customers. You don’t need to be a journalism major to fulfill this need. Do a search on freelance writing and see if you don’t find some inspiring material to help you take the next step with your ideas for a home based business.Internet MarketingI once thought Internet Marketing meant haggling on the phone with some cigar smoking advertising executive over the price of running an ad on some web site. Or, worse, attending meetings with executives where I have to pitch some marketing plan they should buy into, only to get shot down and ridiculed. Sound like a nightmare? Being a somewhat shy person at heart, anything with the word “marketing” was not on my list of ideas for a home based business. Again, I had let fear, and therefore ignorance, prevent me from looking any further. It was only when I did some research into internet marketing that I found out I was completely mistaken. The bottom line is, make a conscious effort to realize you may have had assumptions about what a business involves, and be willing to drop them and do research to get a more accurate understanding of the business.Above are three examples of ideas for a home based business that may have been discarded initially since we have assumptions about ourselves or the business itself. By looking more closely at the business or opportunity, as well as ourselves, we might find a source of inspiration that has been waiting to be untapped. The idea here is to give yourself an honest chance to think through and understand each opportunity, despite the fear that may present itself. Ask yourself, am I really risking anything by simply researching the idea and gaining knowledge about it? The fact is, there is no risk in doing this.
