First of all we need to define sales skills, and remove the negative stereotypes which surround the typical “salesman.”  Ask anyone who has not engaged in a sales career, and often their perception of the sales trade is exactly opposite of that of a successful salesperson.As you pursue your home based business, you’ll want  to consistently pay attention to the following.A. Being pushy and aggressive does not sell. It turns people off and often makes them defensive. Being courtesly assertive and persistent is what your aiming for. This is a skill which anyone can better at. Think of the last major purchase you made where the sales process was seamless. I would suspect your needs or desires were identified, and the salesperson simply provided you a solution which you purchased. Fact is, most home based businesses offer a credible product or service.B. The expression you have 2 ears  and 1 mouth, because you need to listen twice as much as you speak, is key to selling successfully in any home based business. People will tell you what you want if you simply ask directive questions and listen. Avoid trying to give too much information, it will usually confuse most people, and they will not be able to make an educated decision. The great thing about home based businesses is most people who are considering are usually serious about starting something. Identify first what they want, and then and only then, can the decision if your home based business suits their needs. I can’t stress this point enough. The mistake most salespeople make is talking too much, and talking past the close.C. Let’s identify the sales process. On a sheet of paper draw a line. On the far left write “warm-up”. In the middle of the line write presentation, and at the far right put in “close”. On top of the presentation draw in several arrows pointing to the line and label trial closes. Let’s discuss. When you are first introduced to your prospect usually via telephone you want to form a connection and establish rapport (warm-up). Remember, people will purchase your home based business opportunity if they feel comfortable with you. Talk about their past work experiences, their family, goals etc. You’ll know when you’ve established rapport, and then its time to begin your presentation of your home based business. The trial closes are merely questions or comments you ask in order to provide feedback, and hopefully tacit consent or buy in to your home based business. Don’t make the mistake of speeding through your business providing endless details. You need to get feedback from your prospect. Think of trial closes as mini closes with a cumulative effect. The more favorable response and interaction you receive during your presentation, the easier the actual close will be. Think of trial closes as the process we all go through before we buy a pair of shoes. We try them on, walk down the aisle, view in the floor mirror from different angles. These are all trial closes which allow you to comfortably purchase the shoes and leave the store. Afterall, most people know their shoe size, but I’m willing to guess in the history of man, no one has ever walked in a store and bought a pair of shoes without going through that ritual.D. Whether the home based business you are discussing is inexpensive ( a few hundred dollars) or high end ( thousands of dollars), it really isn’t important. If your prospect is qualified and properly informed, the decision process is the same. If your presentation was interactive, and tacit consent through trial closes was given, then simply assume he/she will join.Think of a traffic light between your presentation and the close. Once your presentation is complete, the traffic light will be red, green or yellow. It may be your prospect is not interested in your home based business. That’s a “red” light, and it happens, don’t beat yourself up. Occasionally the light is “green.” Move quickly to the close and discuss financial arrangements. Pat yourself on the back for a job well done. Most prospects will see a “yellow” light. There’s a degree of caution, and they could stop or proceed forward. Usually they see “yellow” because they need a little more information or direction. Success is made in home based businesses by people who can help those “yellow” viewers see “green.”Volumes of material have been written about sales techniques. It is my hope this article has provided some insight to help you increase sales in your home based business. Follow me in future articles and I’ll reveal more proven sales methods.

In today’s challenging economy where do budding entrepreneurs look for business ideas and how do they do find success? What is meant by a small business varies widely around the world. Small businesses are normally privately owned corporations or partnerships with generally less than 50 employees. But if you are looking for good small business ideas, starting business with 50 employees may seem anything but small!Good small business ideas are ideally suited to internet marketing because it can easily serve specialized niches, something that would have been more difficult prior to the internet revolution.It is no secret that there has been a massive shift to people buying products and services online and this continues to grow which is good news for anyone doing business online.Small businesses do not suffer equally in tough economic times; while some will be hit severely, other small businesses will only experience a slight dip and still others will actually prosper.It is interesting to note that in Chinese, the word crisis is composed of two characters. One represents danger, and the other represents opportunity. The new digital internet economy opens up infinite possibilities of good small business ideas. For some, this means crisis, for others, opportunity.But how do businesses become a reality online? There are millions and millions of websites all fighting for attention and the only way to survive in the highly competitive online business world is be skilled on how to use it to your full advantage.New online entrepreneurs need to learn how to set up and earn from their online businesses. To succeed good small business ideas need to have somebody who is willing to learn a new set of skills and be committed to success.Good small business ideas on the internetAffiliate marketing is one of the most profitable business ideas on the internet. Quite simply, you promote other people’s products and services and, when somebody buys something that you are promoting, you get paid a commission by the product owner. You do not have to worry about creating a product or service, dealing with the fulfilment or any customer queries.There are so many different products and service which are available to promote, you are sure to find something that interests you.ClickBank is a popular online marketplace where you can find products for your business ideas. It boasts a vast selection of ebooks, software and other digital goods, which are products that are downloaded over the internet and where the buyer has instant access. ClickBank contains thousands of products that you are free to promote as a ClickBank affiliate. The vast majority of ClickBank vendors pay a commission of between 50% and 75% on the sale price of their products. To put this into perspective, ClickBank has paid out over $2 billion in commissions in the last 10 years.It is no secret that we are are currently in the longest depression since the 1920s. Unemployment remains uncomfortably high five years after the financial crisis and many of those in work have had to accept lower pay, part-time work and temporary contracts.The time has come for many to stop depending or be satisfied with just one income from one job. Entrepreneurs with good small business ideas and who take those ideas to the internet to start generating a new income are ahead of the game. We are at the start of the digital internet revolution and those who take the time to learn the skills and techniques required to succeed online will reap the benefits.

Importance of Leads in a Home Based BusinessSetting up your home based business is just one half of the challenge. Marketing your business is the harder second half of this endeavor. The main purpose of marketing is to generate leads for home based business such that you can establish your customer base and also ensure that you can get repeat sales from your loyal customer base. Without leads, you cannot generate sales nor have the opportunity to promote your products or services to prospects.Needless to say, it is a stepping stone towards more business success. But what is an effective way of lead generation online? You must take time to learn about traditional and modern techniques for gathering leads for home based business that will allow it to flourish.Traditional Methods To Generate LeadsThe traditional method of lead generation is a bit time consuming and requires a lot of effort on your part. You can visit prospects door-to-door or make phone calls wherein you can speak to various individuals and share information about your products or services. Aside from time and effort, you must also expect to spend some money with this approach since you will be traveling most of the time. While this method used To be effective, you must employ a variety of lead generation techniques, in addition to conventional warm market prospecting, as it no longer is today as effective as it once was, since traditional methods of sales promotion are averted by most people these days. You can therefore consider using a more conventional approach to marketing that will get more response from your target market.Leverage Lead Generation This is another tool used by network marketers for promoting their home based business. You can research any lead generation system, and learn how to create a list of leads. Hence, you need to invest some amount of money to be able to gather the information you want. This is convenient since you no longer have to do the list gathering manually by yourself and will save you lots of time. The benefit with this approach is that the leads list you generate are targeted and while all of the people on that list might not be interested in your business, most will be in a valuable training or tool from you. Ideally, you have additional services to offer people that may say no to your opportunity, like training on how to generate leads or marketing systems and expertise.Set Up Marketing Online The above two methods for generating leads for home based business are proven techniques that work when used in the earlier years of the MLM industry. However, times have changed and the best way to guarantee you can get maximum results from your marketing effort is to establish your own marketing system online, with a sales funnel and many sources of leads.You can set up your own blog or website wherein you will be offering valuable content and training, and use it as a main medium for launching your marketing promotions for your business. This is an effective way to gain popularity and generate lots of traffic while branding yourself as a leader. Within a short period of time, given that you use the right article marketing strategies and search engine optimization techniques and strategies, the leads will come. You must also take note about the expenses involved with online marketing promotion, especially if you are not using free strategies like article marketing, video marketing, and social media. Another technique that you can use to generate mlm leads for home based business is e-mail marketing. The latter is far more targeted and is capable of delivering more responses from your customers, using e zines, and other peoples lists.