It is a well-known fact that the layoffs of our workforce from traditional job markets are an entertainment for working at home rather than fighting the prospects of getting another job in the same or similar job sector. As unemployment soars, people who have spent their entire lives in traditional, brick-and-mortar jobs are likely to transition to the online Work-at-Home opportunity. The good news is that the work-at-home population will grow rapidly and the general skill set in this line of work will increase dramatically. The bad news is that these new entries will fall prey to “get-rich-quick” marketers, quickly souring the prospects of making money online.

What these novices forget is… it took them months and years to learn their previous professions. In some ways, entry into the work-from-home field feels like an instant reward, probably triggered by outrageous claims of incredible daily and weekly income.

So how do you avoid this disappointment and get a meaningful career in home business?

1. Set your expectations at the right level. It will probably take you 6 months to earn a bit of money and a year or more before you can appreciate any relative success, and possibly consider this a job replacement. Be patient.

2. Learn, learn and learn. This profession has at least the same, if not more, requirements for apprenticeship. Just like with a regular job, a basic level of understanding and knowledge will get you up to the minimum wage standard.

3. Expect to make some investments in tools and knowledge. Despite claims to the contrary, you never get to rich history without investing a penny.

4. Expect that some of your investments are not worth much. The plethora of how-to books in any profession run the gamut of value delivery. Working at home is no different, except there are more pretenders than actual experts in this fledgling sector. And when we change traditional workplaces, we just have a tremendous challenge in choosing the best methods, programs, and people, because we don’t have the experience to make good value judgments. If a program doesn’t work, cancel it and continue.

5. When you are reviewing a potential program to join, check to see if there is a Contact Us link. If not, stay away from the program. If the page has a link, click on it to see what and how you can contact the administration.

6. Read articles, watch videos, listen to audio, and use your interpersonal skills and filters to pick the right people to listen and trust. Although many programs are marketed in a similar way, the audio and video clips help make a decision about the person and associated program.

7. Don’t forget your previous trading experiences. Use many of the same criteria to evaluate your online options that you used in previous business decisions. If it doesn’t pass a reasonableness test, then it’s probably nonsense.

8. Focus on knowledge-based programs and time-saving tools, in that order. Only invest in tools after understanding their value through experience gained from knowledge-based programs.

9. Make investments in pure MLM ONLY when you are a very experienced online entrepreneur, or have a truly internal position. Knowledge and tools are much better investments than pure MLM.

10. Don’t give up. Stay the course and invest your time and money consistently.