| > | | | | many of the companies in this database would |
| How I Found My Home Based Business Niche. | | | | accept US and Canada residents only. Nothing |
| By: Elaine Currie, BA (Hons) © The Hunting | | | | wrong with that, apart from the fact that I live in |
| Venus Group | | | | the UK. Of the companies which would accept |
| I found myself suddenly and unexpectedly | | | | international residents, I had already signed up to |
| unemployed after more than twenty-five years in | | | | most of them. I got precisely nothing back for |
| the same job. Prior to this I had no ambition to | | | | my $35. The only money I earned came from |
| own my own business. I had previously had vague | | | | two paid survey companies which I did not join |
| thoughts that it would be very nice to be able to | | | | through that database. To date I have received a |
| work from home, but I never had any idea of | | | | total payment of £12. I have earned another |
| what I could actually work at. I have a computer, | | | | £21 which is in an account which would only pay |
| I am literate and can type at a pretty fast rate. | | | | out if my total reached £50. |
| Apart from these, I have no skills which I can see | | | | My work search turned into a research project. I |
| as the basis for a home based business. I like | | | | started looking at home based businesses rather |
| reading and I grow all manner of plants from | | | | than jobs. No shortage of possibilities here, but |
| beans to cacti, but I couldn’t see anybody | | | | how to choose? I saw some attractive websites |
| paying me to stay home and do any of these | | | | aimed at selling all kinds of goods but I had no |
| things. | | | | idea where I would obtain stock, or even what I |
| If you had told me then where I would be today, | | | | should try to sell, let alone how to set up a |
| and what I would be doing, I would have thought | | | | website, and my budget was limited. I tried |
| you were crazy. I would not have believed that I | | | | searching for turnkey businesses. I looked at |
| would own some websites (my own domain | | | | affiliate programme opportunities, and they |
| actually), be working from home and have | | | | seemed a good idea, no stock to buy or handle, |
| published articles which I had written myself. | | | | but what should I sell? There were also different |
| I searched for work, both on and off the internet | | | | grades of memberships. I hardly knew what most |
| and the more I searched, the more downhearted | | | | of it meant to start with, but I was learning, and I |
| I became. Sure, there were jobs about but they | | | | was getting a pretty good feel for what I |
| all required things I lacked: some wanted | | | | didn’t want. |
| experience, some wanted much younger people, | | | | I would like to say that I found my niche as a |
| the worst ones wanted people who were | | | | result of my own genius, hard work and |
| prepared to work long hours for peanuts. | | | | perseverance. Actually, it was an accident. I |
| I was regularly searching on the Internet for | | | | opened one of my paid to read emails, clicked on |
| opportunities for home work. I joined forums and | | | | the link and had my first view of a Plug-in Profit |
| read posts from women who were desperate to | | | | SiteÔ. I try to avoid clichés but this truly was |
| work from home, most of them had children and | | | | a sight for sore eyes, eyes which felt as if they |
| were unable to find suitable jobs to fit in with their | | | | were ready to bulge out of my head after hours |
| schedules. It began to seem as if there is a great | | | | of staring at a computer screen. If it is possible to |
| army of people all wanting to work but unable to | | | | fall in love with a website, I did just that; I knew |
| find the right opportunity to suit them. | | | | absolutely without a doubt that I wanted a Plug-in |
| I signed up with a couple of companies to get | | | | Profit Site of my own, it was everything I needed |
| paid for reading emails, but reading a couple of | | | | and more besides. |
| emails each day is not the way to make a | | | | An attractive young man (young enough to be |
| fortune. I still read emails for these companies, | | | | my son, I am afraid) was offering to build for me |
| but only out of sentiment (you will understand | | | | free of charge a website, complete with five free |
| what I mean by this when you get to the end of | | | | to join affiliate programmes selling a wide range |
| this story). | | | | of items, to provide multiple ways of earning |
| I picked up a couple of ideas which seemed | | | | money. He was also offering me, free of charge, |
| promising and I tried them out. The first thing | | | | my own pre-written newsletter, his own guide to |
| was mystery shopping, which sounded simple | | | | setting up and running my business and many |
| enough, and potentially enjoyable — well, | | | | other free things which I came to appreciate |
| getting paid to go shopping sounds good to me. I | | | | even though I didn’t know what they |
| found many companies through searching the | | | | were at the time (remember, I did not know a |
| internet and I applied to dozens of them; I | | | | mailing list from a grocery list at this time, and I |
| wanted a full time job, not just the odd shopping | | | | thought a lead was just something you needed to |
| trip. Months went by and I heard nothing from | | | | walk your dog). I could take delivery of all this |
| any of these companies. | | | | within 24 hours, thank goodness; I don’t |
| Fortunately, I had not been just sitting back and | | | | think I could have waited a minute longer. I did |
| waiting for the mystery shopping jobs to come | | | | not resist this temptation for even a second and |
| pouring in. I saw advertisements for paid surveys, | | | | within 24 hours, I was a website owner all ready |
| and it seemed that you could make a full-time | | | | to trade. |
| income filling in surveys on line. There were many | | | | The learning curve started here but I’ll |
| websites which advised that you should never | | | | save that for another story. I’ll just tell |
| pay a fee to join a survey company, and these | | | | you one thing that I learned: I found out that I |
| sites displayed the web addresses of various | | | | had, once again, been extremely lucky. I joined a |
| survey companies. At the same time, I saw a lot | | | | couple of forums and read many posts from |
| of advertising by a company which promised | | | | people who had struggled for years to find a |
| access to an enormous database of the best | | | | decent home based internet business. These |
| paying survey companies for a fee of only $35, | | | | people told harrowing tales of failure, money lost, |
| which you would be bound to recover within a | | | | mounting debts, years of hard work and worry. |
| few days. Against my better judgement, I paid | | | | In a strange way, I feel almost guilty that I found |
| over the $35 and was disappointed to find that | | | | my niche by accident. |