With today’s dire economic conditions a home-based business may be your answer to financial security. However, with literally thousands of home-based business opportunities to choose from it is critical to know you’ve selected the right company for you. Knowing what to look for is essential.
Here are 4 critical questions you need to consider.1. How long has the company been in business?Studies indicate that approximately 60% of businesses fail within their first 2 years. It is important to make sure the company has been around for a while. You want a company that is solid and stable. The last thing you want is to spend countless hours promoting a product or service only to watch the company collapse. Do your home work and research the company.2. What is the background of the company officers?
The quality of its management has a dramatic impact on how well a company does. You want to look for a company with leaders who have had major accomplishments. Leaders with proven success in prior ventures. Look for an established team where the members have already proven themselves based on their accomplishments.3. Does the Company have exclusive products?
This is one of the most important variables that any company can possess. You do not want dozens of other companies marketing the same of very similar products and services that you’re trying to market. Look for a company whose trademarked products are patterned and cannot be duplicated by another company. Regardless of what you are marketing it is important that the product be legally protected.4. Are you truly passionate about the company’s product?
Be a product of the product, this is how you get paid. Enjoying your products and being passionate about them is absolutely essential. Sometimes people make the mistake of being caught up into how much the company pays out and forget what the business is really all about. Your attention should be geared toward how much you can help others. Be passionate about helping others find the products or services that they need and you will be rewarded monetarily.To your success.

This is the question most asked by just about everyone who is looking for change and to start a new business whether that is in internet marketiing or any other niche and success will relate to the prospective business owner’s mindset as much as anything else.If you want to break free from employment or “the day job” as it is often referred to, or you simply want more freedom in your life, then starting a home-based business is a great way to achieve these goals. Not only is a home-based business something that will create freedom, but it also has a lot of potential to become a great source of income with much less work in the long-run compared to the traditional employment route. Even the famous entrepreneurs such as Richard Branson agree and two of the greatest Billionaire Entrepreneurs Robert Kiyosaki, and Donald Trump have been famously quoted as saying: “If I had to do it all over again, rather than build an old style type of business, I would have started building a network marketing business.”LWhat are the success rates of a home based business?The statistics say it all.* 70% of home-based businesses will succeed in their first three-years, compared to 29% of other business ventures (Home-Based Business Institute)
* The annual revenue of the home based industry as a whole is estimated to be $427 billion (Entrepreneur Magazine).
* Approximately 40 % of all home-based businesses require less than $5,000 in start up costs
* Spare time turns into full-time for 50% of home based business ownersThe internet has opened up previously unexplored opportunities for people wanting to start a home based business whether that be a network marketing business or an internet marketing business. In fact any business that requires a presence online.What are the advantages?Freedom to work for yourself and not have to answer to someone else. Now if you work hard and build your business to the point where it can run on autopilot then you can have the freedom advantages that everyone talks about – the travel, the beach holidays, time with your family etc. You do however have to put the work in first. You are running a business now albeit for yourself!The Income potential. You won’t get rich overnight. In fact you might not get rich for a couple of years even but the best thing about having your own business is that you really have no limits as to how much you can earn. The reason being that your earning potential is directly related to the hours you put in at the beginning. If for example you put in 90 hours of work a week then you are going to reap the rewards and you will quickly realise it is directly related to your level of success.Scaleability. The great advantage is that you can scale your business to whatever level you want whether that is to work 20 hours per week or to achieve a full time income working 40 hours a week. You have the freedom to choose and if earning a six figure income is what you want then you can do it.The best entrepreneurs in the world are saying that there have never been more opportunities for creating wealth and doing what you love than right now!So, if working on the from home as an internet marketer is your passion then do your research and find a business that has a good reputation. Then employ/find a mentor who has achieved success with that business and is able to help you to do the same. It will make all the difference between failure and success.

The popularity of auction sales of real estates is increasing day by day despite the dominance of the traditional process of real estate selling. Earlier these auctions were labelled as dishonour sales done by the distressed sellers when there was no other way to liquidate a property. But this view has changed as the number of real estate auctions are increasing day by day because sellers of residential as well as commercial properties are opting to auction their property directly or turning to real estate broker houses to get top price as per market rates from the auctions.

Auction opportunity arises when a seller’s mind is auction oriented with a hope that the property will fetch a fair market price. To get a fair price, his equity position in the auctioned property should be strong. With a strong equity position in the property, he will save the cost of paying a sales commission. The time of auctioning should be perfect, when the market is soaring high. The auctioneer should also try to avoid bearing high carrying costs associated with the property.

A profitable auction opportunity is created when there is limited supply of a particular type of property whose demand in the real estate market is relatively high or the market is declining with limited buyer’s interest in this traditional sales process.

When a property is offered for auctioned, a sense of urgency arises to bring the interested parties together on a particular day and the sales process creates a sales price through competitive bidding among the participating parties.

In early days of real estate auctions only the properties in bad conditions or subjected to foreclosure were auctioned. But now sellers are shifting to real estate auctions to sell their homes. This transformation has occurred because the earlier believe that a seller will not take the risk of auctioning his property at a lesser price than its market value has changed. Real estate auctioneers are at a liberty to set a minimum price which is more than its market value that he will receive in any case. In addition by setting a minimum price, he will no longer have to bear the risk of buying back the property if it does not reach that price and will also save the cost of paying the required sales commission to the auction house.

Many real estate owners prefer to go for a direct auction instead of going to a auction houses to avoid payment of sales commission to real estate brokers which is about 8-10 percent of the property’s value. Also the property owners have absolute control on the auction sales process. This is essential when a real estate takes lot of time to sell and the owner is represented by a real estate agent or broker. Many times, it is wise for a real estate owner to auction a property not in use to cut down maintenance expenses. Real estate auction is an exciting event both for the auctioneer and the bidding parties therefore they are always well attended.

Since auction is the best way to get true market value for the real estate, the magic of an exciting real estate auction works for the marketing of these properties for sale. Onus rests on the auctioneer to create demand or an urge to make a bid in the buyers/bidders mind and to attract the attention of the potential buyers/bidders. The potential buyers of the property are then registered after it is ensured that they are financially qualified. It is to be ensured that a considerable sum is paid by the buyer as a down payment which is non refundable and both parties are willing to close the deal as soon as possible. It is necessary to make sure before the auction that the buyer is financially secure so that the seller will not have to wait for receiving the entire payment. Many times it has been found that real estate auctions remain incomplete because the buyer or successful bidder is turned down for mortgages.

The following factors should be kept in mind before a real estate is auctioned by the property owner-

. He should consult experienced and professional auction consultant who have specialized in real estate auctioning.

. It should be ensured that the marketing campaign of the auction event focused properly to have a high impact.

. Importance should be given on direct mail marketing to targeted bidders/buyers.

. The auction event should be advertised in print and audio visual media to have a greater impact. If possible the consignment should be assigned to a reputed advertising agency to make the ad campaign more attractive.

. The auction event should also be advertised through internet and email.

After the promotion or advertisement campaign is launched, the auction event takes place within a few weeks on completion of official formalities. Sellers are informed about the auction date before hand after the auctioneer is ensured that the sellers/bidders are able to meet the preset terms and conditions laid down by him.

Following are the advantages of real estate auctions for the seller-

. The property owner is able to make a quick liquidation of their property.

. The auction is successful in creating a healthy competition among the bidders.

. Their property is exposed to a wide range of prospects.

. Closing is accelerated.

.The sellers are well aware about the date and time when the property will be sold.

. Auctions are successful in considerably bringing down the amount of time a property is on the market for sale.

. Auction gets rid of number of out of the blue events related to property sales.

. Auction reduces the burden of negotiation process from the sellers mind. He is able to sell the property according to the terms and conditions set by him.

. In contrast to conventional sales processes where it is mandatory for the property owner to make necessary improvements and renovations to get a fair price, these properties are auctioned on as-is-where-is basis. Potential buyers receive enough time to make a decision on whether to make a bid or not after having a good look at the property to be auctioned. Therefore it is sold with no emergency and the seller gains from it.

The buyer also enjoys innumerable advantages from real estate auctions, they are-

. He can set his own purchase price.

. He purchases the property at a fair market price.

. He does not have to make long negotiations or bargains to finalize a deal.

. Auction reduces the time to purchase a property.

. He will not have to worry about emergencies because purchasing and closing dates are known to him beforehand.

. Buyers are well aware that sellers are predetermined to sell.

The precious metals market has always been one of the best ways to invest for virtually every investor. Gold stands at the head of the precious metals market as the most covered and easiest investment to get into. Here are just a few of the ways that gold can protect and build your wealth.

- There are more ways to invest in gold than many other kinds of securities.

The safe-haven investor is made even more safe because of the many ways that there are to invest in the metal. This ensures a high volume on the metal, and the high volume in turn secures a more stable price for the investments of everyone.

You can invest directly in gold bullion in most countries; however, you will need a professional partner in order to protect your investment from the government. If you do not feel like going through this hassle, then you can invest in many derivatives of gold such as exchange traded funds and mutual funds that include gold. These investments may be slightly off of the true value of gold; the derivative investments tend to be affected by the short term attitudes in the market more than gold bullion direct investments. All of these investments are still safer than other securities because they respond much less to short term movements in the market.

In order to decide between the ways to invest in gold, you should consult a professional financial advisor whom you trust. If you want to protect and build your wealth, then you must be sure that you deal with an investment that is within your budget as well as the one that is right for your portfolio.

- The safe-haven investor invests in gold for the long term.

If you are looking for investment that you can keep for a while without having to monitor it, then gold is definitely the investment for you. Most people do not have the time to look over their investments on a day-to-day basis. However, the only investments that truly make money outside of the precious metals market require a great deal of personal management in order to succeed. You get the best of both worlds when you invest in gold – the safety of a precious metal along with the ability to create wealth for yourself while saving time.

- Gold can maintain your portfolio even when the market is going down.

One of the main reasons that people invest in gold is the ability of the precious metal to maintain value and even go up in value during a bear market or recession. Gold is usually the investment that people look to when the dollar is falling. This means that you can actually reverse some of the negative effects of a recession including higher interest rates and a higher cost of living. Once the recession is over, precious metals tend to retain their value. This means that you do not have to sell your holdings once the recession is over – you can keep them as an addition to your net worth.

As one of the safest ways to invest, gold is quickly becoming a staple in the portfolios of many people. In order to get the most value out of the investment, you should start to invest in the product before people begin to truly understand what gold does. Once the general public is made aware of the true nature of the precious metals market, those people will likely flood the market and drive up the price. If you get in ahead of them, then you will reap the benefits of your good decision without having to pay a premium.