The number one reason that people use on why they cannot start a home based business is because they say they do not have any money to invest into the business. The truth is, there are many different business that can be started for very little money. Many businesses require that you invest time into their success, not money. The following 10 work from home ideas can all be started for $20 or less.

1. Website Owner – You can register a domain name and establish a hosting site for less than $20 dollars. Most hosting companies provide free software to create a webpage on their site. You can also use WordPress a free web based website creation tool. Create a website about something that you enjoy or are very knowledgeable about, and monetize it with affiliate links. Affiliate links are links to products or services that pay you a commission every time a sale is made from your links. Affiliate programs are free to join, and all of them include free marketing materials that you can use to promote your links. You can also use many different free advertising options on the Internet to promote your site. You do not need experience in Internet sales or marketing to make this work, only the time necessary to create the site and keep the content fresh.
2. Business Consultant – This business can be done either on or off line. If you are going to offer your services online, you can spend the $20 on creating a site for your services. If you are going to offer your services offline you will need to spend your money on a box of business cards to distribute to local companies. You can create brochures on your home computer, and only print them when necessary, reducing the need to pay for printing.
3. Pet Sitting or Walking Service – This simple service can be started for less than $20. You will need to purchase a small box of business cards, about $12-15, and use the rest of your twenty on printing flyers to post on different community bulletin boards. Your best advertising will come from word-of-mouth and by introducing yourself personally to potential clients. People view their pets as members of their family. They will respond better to personal contact much better than a “cold” classified advertisement.
4. Personal Organizer – People that have the ability to create organization out of chaos will find that they can start a very lucrative business for $20. A personal organizer enters someone’s home or business and rearranges closets, furniture and garage space, to create a well-organized area. There are many people who use this service, and it is a very large industry in large metropolitan areas. You can invest your twenty into business cards and a small classified advertisement in a local paper.
5. Avon – While I know many people are rolling their eyes at this moment, the simple truth is Avon continues to be a major player in the make-up industry, and you can make a decent living at it with a little effort. It costs $10 to enroll in the program and the additional $10 can be used for samples or catalogs.
6. Errand Service – Many people are simply just too busy to go shopping or run errands during the day, making an errand service a perfect $20 start-up. You can invest your money intro local classified advertisements and flyers. If you are required to purchase items you may need to put the money up front, but in many cases the clients will provide the money needed to complete the errand.
7. Graphic Design – Businesses always need business cards, brochures and flyers designed. You can easily start a desktop publishing business from your home office. Invest $15 into some business cards that you designed and $5 into nice brochure paper to print samples on.
8. Auction Seller – You can make a very good living selling used items on eBay. It is free to join eBay as a seller, and it is free to establish a PayPal account to collect your payments. You can invest your $20 into used merchandise you find at garage sales. Everything sells on eBay; just make sure you charge the right amount for shipping.
9. Freelance Secretarial Service – You can offer your office skills to different businesses in your area. Many businesses have special projects that they want completed, but they do not want to take key personnel off of their duties to complete the job. You can invest your $20 into business cards and flyers.
10. Tutor – The need for qualified tutors is always in demand. You can start this business with a box of business cards and some brochures. Distribute your information at local schools and libraries for free.

Starting a home based business can be very exciting. The prospect of being your own boss, taking charge of your life, and maybe even an early retirement is enough to make anyone giddy. However, it is important that when you decide to go into business for yourself that you do a little research and a little soul-searching to make sure that you are making the right decision.

Before you commit to any specific business, make sure that you are selecting a business that you feel very positive about. Do not go into business because a friend signed you up into a program, or because your brother told you what a great business idea he had for you. You should only go into a business that makes you feel positive, something that you can devote your time and passion to, something that you are willing to make work.

Once you have decided upon the work at home business that you want to open, there are a few things you must do before making your first sale.

• Design Your Work Area: You want to have a specific area laid out and set up to work from when you have a business at home. If you need a home office, you need to set that area up before you begin to work. If you are manufacturing a product, you will need to set up that area to begin production. You cannot run a successful home based business from your kitchen table. Organization is one of the keys of success. It would be terribly unprofessional to place your clients on hold while you run through the house trying to find the right documents to complete a sale.
• Verify Zoning: Some cities will not allow you to have a home based business that produces a product in a home. Other areas may require you to have special inspections if you are producing a food product. Some municipalities will only allow home based business that does not require clients to visit the home. Make sure that you are legal to operate a business from your home. While you are doing this research it is also important to acquire all the proper licenses and permits needed for your business.
• Safety: If you are starting a business at home that requires you to produce a product, make sure that you have all the right safety equipment installed. This is for three reasons: Protection of your children, protection of your property, and insurance purposes. Most people that start a home business do so because they want to spend more time with their children. Make sure that they cannot get hurt by any of the equipment you use. If you are going to need larger equipment that requires a lot of power to use, make sure that your house is equipped with the right type of power sockets to manage high energy use. Finally, insurance companies may not cover damages if proper safety devices are not in place.
• Insurance: You will need to speak to an insurance agent to determine what types of insurance you will need having a home based business. Find out what is covered under your homeowner’s policy and what is not. Find out if there are any special riders you must purchase, such as loss of business, and find out if you are required to have workers compensation insurance for any employees.
• Schedule: Does this business fit in with your needs and that of your family? This is very important to ask yourself. If you cannot devote enough time to the business because of your family or enough time to your family because of business, you will find yourself very unhappy with your decision. Make sure that the business will coincide with your family and their needs.
• Hope For The Best: Can you retain a positive attitude, even when things go wrong? The truth is that things will go wrong, and you cannot be of a mindset to quit when this happens. You must be able to hope for the best, even when facing problems. Businesses will always have slow periods and there will always be a crisis arising when you least expect it to happen. If you have the ability to stay positive under these circumstances, you are ready to become your own boss and be a success.

If you are smart, you can find lots of free or low-cost ways to earn money from home. You no doubt possess knowledge or advice that can be valuable to the online community at large. The Internet provides a surplus of helpful tools and resources to help intelligent, business-minded people to succeed. This makes it possible to ply your unique talents to earn extra money, and perhaps find job satisfaction too.

Here are three home-based business ideas for smart people:

Video Blogging

Everyone has something to say, and that’s why blogging for money is so popular, but now video is the new kid on the blog. Video blogging makes it much easier to get your point across, with a lot less typing and editing. Just like putting your thoughts and advice on a text blog, your video blog can be an effective way to build a loyal web audience and earn money from home. The more engaging the videos, the more attention you will get from users, and that means more cash in your pockets.

To make money with your video blogs, embed pay-per-click advertising. Push your own products too, with graphic banner ads or links that lead viewers straight to the sales pages of your online store. Blogging online is a tried-and-true method to make money, and video blogging puts a whole new twist on it. It’s more effective, easy to do, and free to try.

Some resources for video blogging:

• YouTube
• Blogger
• WordPress
• ViralBlog.com

Online Consulting Services

If you have special knowledge, skills or talents that you could share for a fee, the Internet provides the perfect avenue to launch a consulting business. Hundreds of college graduates and laid-off professionals have learned to market themselves to find online clients who will pay for consulting services. If you feel like you left your brain behind after college or after the kids came along, dust it off and make a move to create a home-based consulting business that brings in money on your terms.

Just like any ecommerce enterprise, start by launching a professional-looking website to represent your consulting business, and join social media outlets to promote it. The Internet provides a variety of software tools to assist with running a home-based business. Emails, whitepapers, web conferencing and video chatting are good ways to communicate advice and share ideas with clients online, but also make your consulting business accessible by old fashioned telephone. For anxious clients, telephone access could make all the difference in their choice of consulting companies.

Resources for online consultants:

• Skype
• GoToMeeting

Customer Service Representative

In a move to provide customer service management without a permanent staff, many businesses today are outsourcing CSM jobs to home-based workers. Large and small businesses will reward CSM representatives who can communicate in a professional and efficient manner. It takes a smart and reliable person to apply for such a position, and applicants will likely be required to complete a course in customer service.

Being a customer services representative from home requires a computer with high-speed Internet access, a landline telephone, and a quiet work area where you can answer consumer inquiries and complaints without interruption from family or other household distractions. Possible earnings are in the range of $8 per hour and up, depending on experience.

Resources for at-home customer service positions:

• Alpine Access
• LiveOps
• WorkingSolutions

Summary

Don’t sell yourself short. Take charge of your future and start making money with your own unique personality, knowledge and advice. Assess the valuable traits you possess, consider the working conditions in your home and how much time you can commit, and resolve to use every resource available to get the job you deserve. Then you can confidently launch one of these home business ideas for smart people.

Refinishing furniture is not a hobby that you can pick up over the weekend, but if you already know how to refinish furniture or are willing to invest the time and energy in taking classes or apprenticing with an experienced woodworker, then you can start a business from your home refinishing furniture. From stripping away old varnish to reupholstering antique sofas, your home based furniture refinishing and restoration business can thrive while allowing you to set your own hours while you work from home.

Furniture Refinishing Appeals To Do-It-Yourselfers & Antique Collectors

Refinishing and restoring furniture can mean a whole host of different processes that can be used for furniture ranging from thrift store bargains to priceless heirloom antiques. You may have customers interested in having pieces of unfinished furniture stained and varnished so that they match the rest of the furniture in a specific room. Other customers may want to have an expensive antique sofa or chair reupholstered with replacement fabric following damage or perhaps to match a decorating scheme.

Damage, whether it is from a leaking ceiling, careless cigarette butts or just years of use, may be one of the biggest drives of income to your furniture refinishing and restoring business. Many of your customers may need you to do seemingly simple repairs, such as replacing the broken chair legs on a dining room chair so that it matches the rest of the set or even recaning the entire chair bottom. Being familiar with a wide variety of carpentry techniques is essential for success in repairing these often unique pieces. Remember, when a piece of furniture is an heirloom item your clients are much more likely to be sensitive to any error on your part.

Thrift store shoppers and flea market hunters are less likely to snap at you over sentimental value, but they are just as attuned to the potential value that your handiwork can add or detract from their piece of furniture. Because an error on your part could potentially destroy a client’s piece of furniture, you must be confident that you are using the right chemicals and tools at all times.

Few Quality Furniture Restorers Can Mean Great Income…

Because of how crucial high quality work is in restoring furniture, having a great reputation in your field is even more paramount than in many others. Once you have cemented your personal brand as someone who has a comprehensive knowledge of refinishing and restoring furniture you will enjoy a great income and little competition, since there are few high quality professionals in this field.

Getting that great reputation is probably the hardest part of owning a furniture refinishing and restoring business. If you are able to work as an apprentice to a master craftsman in this area, this can help you to establish yourself. Depending on your state’s laws and regulations you may be required to work as an apprentice in order to become licensed. Having the required license is mandatory if you want to instill confidence in your work in your potential clients.

Sand Away Home Refinishing And Restoring Business Challenges

Like any industry, restoring and refinishing furniture has its own unique challenges. In the beginning of your career restoring and refinishing furniture you may have difficulty accurately pricing the work that you do for your clients. A good idea is to benchmark your competition to see if your prices are in line with them each quarter.

Remember, the price that you quote to your client should include the cost of the materials that you will use directly on the project, such as varnish and stain, as well as indirect materials, like a portion of the cost of the utilities used for your shop. Do not forget to pay yourself by including a calculation for labor, as well as a small cushion for any unexpected delays due to additional challenges that occur. It is a bad business practice to change the price for the project after the customer has already agreed to an initial amount unless there are extraordinary circumstances, so take the time to examine the piece of furniture in question before quoting a price and include a 5% cushion in case you miss anything minor.

Refinishing and restoring furniture means that you are being trusted with someone’s heirloom or being paid to increase the value of someone’s bargain find. It may be tempting to use lower grade materials in order to cut your costs and increase your bottom line. In the end, though, the poor presentation will show and your home business will suffer when you lose clients and income in the future.

When you decide to start a business at home, you will instantly be met with resistance. Your family and friends will automatically begin to provide countless reasons why you should not start a business, and soon you will begin to have your own doubts.

Allowing these doubts to take hold will ruin any chance you have for success. You cannot let fear and worries overcome you, you must have a positive attitude and take the first step.

Once you have taken that first step and started your own business, the following 7 steps will help you create and manage a successful small home business.

1. Avoid Business Distractions: Once you begin to taste success, it is very easy to become distracted with other projects. It is human nature to feel that your business is now a success and that it is time to move forward with other plans and let the current business run on its own merits. While this is not meant to discourage you from expanding, you should never become distracted from a successful business, or it will not remain that way. Always remember that your business needs you, and incorporate any expansion plans into your original business. This ensures that your current successful business remains that way.
2. Managing Your Business Infrastructure: One inherent flaw in entrepreneurs is the belief that they can “do it all.” Many home based business owners will try to be a part of every function of the company, and in doing so will burn themselves out and damage the company. It is very important to decide as the business owner what duties you will be responsible for, and which duties you will simply manage. You cannot do everything, and the sooner that you realize this, the better of your company will become.
3. Do Not Over Estimate Your Skills: To run a successful business you need to truthfully understand your strengths and weaknesses. If you are not skilled in bookkeeping, hire an accountant, if you do not have the patience to answer phones, hire an assistant. Use your skills to their fullest potential and delegate your weaknesses to others that are skillful in that area.
4. Managing Employees: Employees will be the backbone of your company. It is very important that you select the best employees for the position, whether it is management or labor. Do not allow yourself to be pressured to hire family or friends if they are not capable of performing a quality job. Do not feel pressured to keep a person on the payroll just because they have been there a long time, you need them to work. On the other side of the issue, don’t forget to pay your employees what they are worth, offer them praise and support, and throw in an occasional bonus for good measure. A happy employee that feels appreciated will perform better.
5. Understand Your Competition: One reason that many businesses fail is because they do not understand their competitors. Understanding what your competitors are offering in products, promotions, and employee wages will allow you to stay on top of the market. You can never assume that you are in a better position than they are, even if your current sales are better. There are no guarantees in business, that is, unless you stay informed.
6. Learn To Accept Slow Periods: Many business owners will go into full panic at the slightest sign of slow-down. They over react, treating the slow-down as if it is the end of their business. The sad truth is that this type of reaction can result in it becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy, because decisions are made under duress, and they are not good business decisions. If your business is facing a slow period utilize the time to make repairs and upgrades, train employees, paint the office, and update your business plan.
7. It Is Not All About Credit: You can have a successful business without burying yourself in credit card or personal loan debt. Yes, it may be a little rough to pay-as-you-go, but the rewards of using credit for only large purchases or expansions can help keep your business in the black. Many businesses wrongfully believe that the only way that they can operate is through credit. You can build your business by committing a specific portion of your profits into the business each month, which there will be a profit if you are not making high credit card payments. Don’t forget to use the many free business services found on the Internet, this helps reduce costs and improve services. Finally, when you do have to use credit for a business purchase, make sure that you shop around for the best rates. The Internet has made it possible to compare rates on loans and credit cards for free, and it only takes a few minutes of your time.

Every single business needs customers to be able to turn a profit. While people in various industries will tend to be at least somewhat skilled in their respective crafts, not everyone is skilled at the process of attracting new customers. The idea behind this business plan is to develop a method for providing businesses with new customer leads that they will pay for. Since you’ll be building a list of leads for potential customers, the business owners you work with will be able to spend their time worrying about the functions of their companies instead of trying to find new customers themselves. The end result is that both you and the business owners benefit from the relationship you build.

The Reality of This Business

One of the most basic principles of business is the idea of supply and demand. Something that’s lost on most people is that a supply without a demand is borderline useless, but a demand without a supply is something that can be turned into lots of money. If you can cultivate a list of good leads for a specific industry or service, then you are in possession of a demand that does not have a matching supply. Since it’s fairly easy to find a supply once you have a demand, it makes sense that you will be able to easily sell these leads in most cases for a fair amount of money. What’s more is that you can build different lists of leads with different demands at the same time since you aren’t tied down to any single industry. This provides a lot of flexibility and a large degree of job security since one industry going down won’t necessarily mean ruin for your lead generation business.

The Basic Model for Locating Demand

Back before the Internet was used by so many people, there was a simple method for collecting sales leads and locating demand. This method involved a piece of paper with an advertisement printed on it that included a telephone number to call. People could call the number and speak with someone who would take down their personal information. In a few days, the people interested in whatever was being sold would receive a phone call or personal visit from a salesman, and the salesman would try to make the most of the lead.

This instructive example is a method that still works today, but it requires you to strategically place your paper fliers. For example, if you were trying to promote some sort of weight loss product, it wouldn’t make sense to post one at a bar since there won’t naturally be a huge amount of demand for weight loss products at bars. However, if you posted the same flyer outside of a gym entrance, then your phone would be ringing much more often. While you might want to use a website or email address to collect personal information instead of a phone number, the idea is still solid and it can still work today if you put the effort in.

Leveraging the Internet

While the use of paper fliers is still effective to some degree, you may find it much easier to use the Internet instead. There are a number of advantages to using the Internet, many of which have to do with keeping costs low. Your upfront costs are lower on the Internet since you don’t have to pay for transportation to post and maintain your fliers. Additionally, you don’t have to pay for an endless supply of paper advertisements if you strictly stick to the Internet. The Internet also makes it much easier to keep your business organized since all of the personal details that you collect from sales leads will be in a digital format.

The Basic Lead-Building Website

To start off your business on the Internet, create a simple website that collects contact information. Use this to build your first set of leads and to qualify customers for what they are interested in. It doesn’t take much to get started with this approach, and you can even make the website using a free content management system like WordPress. There are also free plug-ins that you can add to collect and organize the information you get from your leads. While you’ll still need to pay for a domain name and some very basic web hosting, these costs can be as low as five dollars each month on average. If you decide to pay for SEO services to boost your website in the search rankings, the costs will be offset by the increased number of leads that you’ll collect.

Selling Your Leads

Once it comes time to sell your leads, you’ll want to contact businesses individually to discuss how much they feel the leads are worth. After you feel like you’ve found a company or individual that is offering you a fair price, then you can pay yourself with some of the money and use the rest to maintain your business for the months or years to come.

Owning your own business or working from home as a freelance professional is a goal that many people wish to achieve. In fact, nearly 40% of all people asked in a recent business survey stated that they would love to start their own business and work from home.

Many people have put off starting a home based business because of the shaky economy, but this really is not a good excuse. Many successful businesses were started during poor economies, and on a shoestring budget. In fact, most of the major computer corporations that are out there today were started in a garage or basement.

If you are ready to take the step from employee to business owner, the following 7 tips should help you make the transition smoothly.

1. If Possible, Keep Working Your Job For A While. If it is at all possible you should continue to work your current job while you are establishing your company. As a general rule, it will take 18-36 months for your business to become fully established and self-sufficient. While this rule is not written in stone and profit can be made quicker, when you are planning your business you should keep this rule in mind. Having a guaranteed paycheck while you are establishing your business greatly reduces the amount of stress you will endure during the start-up process of your business.
2. Be Passionate About Your Business. You should avoid starting a business that you are not passionate about. If you start a business because it was recommended as a high-profit business, and not because you believe in the product or service, you may not make it through the start-up stage. A product or service that you are not passionate about is easier to walk away from when times are hard than one you feel strongly about.
3. Only Listen To Experience. When you decide to start a business the first thing that you will notice is that everyone has advice to give you. You will also notice that most of this advice is negative and when given is meant to be “truthful” but it is really a form of discouragement. Why this happens, no one really knows. It is possible that your success scares them, or they just have negative personalities. Whatever the case, you should only listen to advice from someone that has experience in what they are talking about.
4. Create A Business Plan. A business is only as good as its plan. It is that simple. You may have a million things rolling around in your head, but they do absolutely nothing for creating your business. A business plan helps you establish a map for success. In your plan you will include everything from what you intend to sell, who your competition is, and what your marketing strategy will be for the company. You can use the plan to establish goals for the company and yourself. Any company that does not have a business plan is just a hobby.
5. Customer Service Matters. When it comes right down to it, consumers buy from people that they like. It is that simple. If they like you, they will use your products. If you are an online business the theory still applies. They must feel comfortable using your service and your products. They must feel that they can relate to you on a personal level. You do not need to make them feel “special” you need to make them feel “real.” You need to make them feel their needs are a general concern to you, and they will respond accordingly. When you fail to connect with the consumer in this manner you will have a harder time establishing your company.
6. Don’t Go Into Debt. Start your business with the resources that you have, do not borrow money unless it is very necessary. This is another reason to continue working while you are becoming established. It may take you a little longer to establish your company in this manner, but it is also a way to do it without a lot of expenses hanging over your head. Companies that do not have a lot of debt to repay grow faster and experience a profit faster. Once you have become established and can show a profit you can search for financing for larger projects, but try to avoid this at all costs at first.
7. Networking Matters. Have you ever heard the old cliché “It’s who you know?” There is so much truth behind this saying that it is a shame it is a cliché. Networking online and offline is crucial for the success of any company. Word-of-mouth advertising and support is the best form of marketing that you will ever create for your company. Interact on social network forums that relate to your business or industry. Become involved in the local business community. Participate in charity events. Every one of these actions presents you an opportunity to introduce yourself and your business to someone new. You never know when you are going to come face-to-face with your largest client.

If you have joined the many people who have gotten off the work treadmill and decided to work from home, you are in good company. The work at home movement is growing at an exponential rate, with the economy causing many businesses to cut costs by sending their employees home to work. Working from home can be very rewarding. There are, however, many misconceptions that are associated with working from home. Debunking these myths is the first step in making others take your work seriously

Myth #1: You’re Not Really Working

The most common misconception about at home workers is that they don’t do any actual work. Nothing could be further from the truth. Many industries, from hospitality to tourism and e-commerce employ at home workers to fill orders, make reservations and handle customer complaints. Most airlines and hotels hire their reservations sales agents on an at-home basis. At home workers often do more work than those in traditional offices. They spend less time on time-wasters such as unproductive meetings, idle chatting, coffee breaks, web surfing and distracting co-workers. At home workers may work fewer hours but get far more work done than they could in a traditional office. To debunk this myth, explain to people your job description and examples of any goals you have achieved.

Myth #2: You Don’t Earn “Real” Money

Many at home workers are paid electronically through an online payment processing service. For this reason, many people mistakenly believe that people who work from home aren’t paid “real” money. Some workers have to constantly explain that “online money” is real, tangible tender that can be used to buy groceries, pay rent and invest. This misconception is a hard one to fight, as most people are used to being paid with a paper check and don’t understand how online payment gateways work. Sites such as PayPal offer a debit card that employees can use to receive their earnings. Debunking this myth requires an explanation of what a payment gateway is and how they work.

Myth #3: You’re Available During the Day

This is arguably one of the most difficult myths to combat if you are an at home worker or run a work from home business. People assume that because you are at home during the day that you are free to do whatever you want. This is often not the case. In most cases, if you work in customer service, you are tethered to the computer with a headset or a chat window. In other cases, you may be required to be visible on a video conferencing program.

To combat the idea that you are free during the day, keep regular office hours and let family and friends know that you are at work during those hours. Keep an office in your home that is separate from other living areas, preferably a room with a door. Answer calls with your company name to signal to callers that you are not free to chat. Don’t do favors for others that you wouldn’t be able to do if you were working in a traditional office. This will obliterate the myth that you are just hanging out around the house doing nothing all day.

Myth #4: You’re Not Running a Real Business

Some people have very strongly ingrained ideas about what a business should look like. Many expect a storefront or an office when thinking of what makes a business legitimate. Branding yourself or your work at home business will give you a big business feel on a small business budget.

Create a professional website that will attract customers and give the impression that you are a capable business. Use a virtual office as your mailing address instead of your home address. If you do use your home address, use the word “suite” instead of apartment when corresponding with clients.

Create a dedicated phone line that will only be used for business and answer it in your company’s name. Some work at home businesses sign up with a 1-800 service that patches calls through from a toll-free number directly to their home or cell phone. A toll free number will give you instant credibility and you will be seen as a serious business.

Myth #5: Working from Home is Easy

Working from home is flexible, rewarding and profitable, but it is not a walk in the park. At home workers face the same problems that traditional workers face, with a few more that are unique to working at home. Problems with management, scheduling issues and miscommunication is part of the job when you telecommute. In addition, isolation, misconceptions from others and loneliness can make working from home difficult. While working from home confers many benefits, it is still work.

Many work at home jobs require you to be at your computer for a set amount of time without interruption. Other companies monitor your work and productivity, making sure that you are available during work hours.

Working from home is a great way to earn a living. By fighting common myths, you will enjoy support of family and friends.

Across the nation and the world, millions of people are breaking out of their old routines and starting their own home-based businesses. These entrepreneurs are charting their own financial paths and writing their own meal tickets. You too can join the legions of small business owners who work from their kitchen table. There are many unique home based business ideas that break with convention and provide their owners with lucrative income and financial security.

• Cooling Station/Misting Tent Business
  Have you ever been to a festival, flea market or amusement park in the middle of the summer and felt the sun ferociously beating down on you? You are not alone. Every summer, flea market managers and amusement park owners rent misting tents to cool their guests and keep them from seeking shelter outside of their venue. A misting tent sprays a cool mist of water continually. Guests can enjoy this cooling shower between trips to their favorite amusements.

  A cooling station business is easy to start and requires very little capital. You simply buy the tent and misting system, which retails between $400 and $4,000, depending on the size and configuration. Create a website and a marketing plan and you’re all set. Many cooling station owners rent their tents by the day or event. This is a great home based business that can be run on the weekends during the summer for maximum freedom and flexibility.

• Inflatables Business
  If you are looking for a money-making work from home business that will bring in big bucks, consider an inflatables business. Purchase a set of wholesale wacky wavers. These blowing inflatable advertisers are usually spotted in front of auto dealerships waving in new customers. Wacky wavers, also called air dancers, can be purchased for under $500 in most areas. Many business owners rent them for $200 per day. These wacky dancing men usually pay for themselves after a few rentals.

  Another great product to add to your inflatables business is the giant inflatable rat. Often used by disgruntled employees protesting a company that does not use union labor, these towering giant rodents can bring in a lot of cheddar for your home based business. Business owners usually set up these giant rats in front of the offending company and tether it to the ground or another source. There are certain considerations, however, when adding the giant rat to your inventory. On a number of occasions, companies have been known to lash out at the rat, stabbing and inflating it, or running it over. This can cut into your profits so be aware of this.

  If you are looking for a great home based business that you can run on weekends, an inflatables business can be easily run from home. Many business owners simply set up their products and spend the rest of their time in their office while the product earns on its own. As with any business, good marketing practices will make the difference in your business success.

• Commuter Newspaper Business
  If you have a talent for writing, graphic design and desktop publishing, creating your own commuter newsletter is a great home business that you can run on the weekends. Sell advertising space to local businesses and watch the profits roll in. Choose a niche that appeals to commuters and distribute your newspaper on a regular basis for maximum readership. This type of home based business works best in large cities where many people commute by public transportation. A commuter newspaper is an excellent home based businesses that you can start from home on a shoestring budget.
• Event Planning Business
  If you have a knack for planning great events like parties, weddings and conferences, then an event planning business may be for you. Many event planners start their businesses with just a few business cards, a list of contacts and a basic website. If you have a lot of friends, business associates or a large network to tap into, you can earn a lot of money in event planning. If you are unsure of how to start, there are classes at local colleges that can get you going.

  Wedding planning is a niche of event planning and can bring in hefty profits for the right planner. Wedding planning is a great weekend business, although a lot of the legwork will need to be done during regular business hours. If you are looking for a great business that you can run on a part-time basis, event planning is just the ticket.

There are many home based businesses that you can run in your spare time from the comfort of your kitchen table. Many require very little start up funds. From event planning, to rental businesses and desktop publishing, there is a market ready and willing to receive your product or service.

One of the vastly underused avenues of advertising for home based businesses is establishing a presence on social networking sites. Part of the reason for this is that wading through and staying relevant on these fast-paced sites can seem like a daunting task for small business owners with very little time to spare. But building a profile on sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social networking blogs has been proven by numerous surveys as an effective, low cost way to generate both buzz and customers for a business. With hundreds of millions of people using these sites per day, the time taken to build a business profile has the potential for resulting in large returns. Here are some tips on how to effectively use social networking sites to promote your home business.

Understand The Playing Field

While most people are familiar with the giant social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, there are now also many other social business sites dedicated to very targeted topics and users. Most of the larger sites will allow you to create a business page for free, plus offer the opportunity to place paid advertisements. The more tightly focused professional sites, like LinkedIn, offer avenues for building and maintaining your business profile. Which sites would work best for you will depend on your particular business and how broadly you wish to advertise. Start narrowing down your choices by visiting social networking sites and researching how they are structured. You can also further narrow your choices by entering phrases into a search engine that are specific to your business such as “social networking pet care” or “social networking accounting”. Within a very short time you will have a clear understanding on the social network playing field within your type of business.

Understand Your Best Target Social Networking Channels

Not all social networking sites attract the same types of people. By knowing who is using particular sites, you can more effectively promote your business to the people that are most likely to need your product or service. For example, Facebook users represent an overall more mature group than those who use MySpace. It only makes sense that promoting a product or service targeted to senior citizens will not be received well by the users of MySpace. Since you probably already have enough to do to keep your home business running, find the social networking sites that best match your target customers and concentrate your efforts there.

Be Consistent And Keep It Simple

The key to effectively promoting your home based business on social networking sites is through being consistent with your postings and keeping the messages simple. While it is not necessary to “tweet” something about your product or service every thirty minutes, it is important to consistently keep your business name in front of people. A few simple posts per week related to your product or service is all that is needed for users to know that you are relevant and on top of your game. The world of social networking moves very quickly, so not posting on a consistent basis is the best way to assure that your business will be viewed as irrelevant.

Be Candid

The world of social networking is very transparent. Being candid on these sites is the only way for attracting and retaining customers. Trying to over-promote your business or expertise with less than candid information will not only drive customers away, but also place you at risk for negative feedback. Users on social networking sites tend to be very quick at exposing false information, so always respect their intelligence.

Encourage Feedback

People are drawn to social networking sites for the opportunity to interact with others. Just creating a Facebook page for your business without encouraging feedback won’t do much good because the flow of information is only going one way. Ask people to provide comments on your posts or what they think about your particular product or service. The more feedback you encourage, the more people will feel engaged. This, in the long run, will lead to more respect for both you and your business.

Be Wary Of Outsourcing

There are many companies now offering services that manage business social networking pages and posts. On the surface, this may seem like a good idea when you are already overworked and short on time. But placing your social networking image in the hands of others can easily backfire. If a company posts too often through automated messages, your business postings could very quickly be labeled as spam. Because social networking sites are so public, it is always best to personally protect your business image as much as possible.