Have you been searching for the perfect home-based business? I have spent nearly twenty-five years searching for the holy-grail of home-based businesses. Now this article is not about a business, but rather a system that Fortune 500 companies always use but it's rarely used by home-based businesses, affiliate or network marketing companies. And based on my experience, you should not even attempt a home-based affiliate or network marketing opportunity unless you use a system that almost guarantees you'll be successful.

But before we get into the specifics of the secret business model, let's first talk about what most people do wrong and why 95% of home-based business operators fail within the first few years in business.

Here's a Few Reasons Why People Fail

* Lack of sufficient capital for promotions and marketing. It takes lots of money and time for your message to capture the attention of your prospective customers. It is a proven fact that most people must see or hear about your product or service at least five to seven times before they'll inquire or purchase.

* Not enough time spent on their business. Most people start their home-based business in their spare time and hope it becomes successful so they can do it full-time. The problem with most home-based business operators is two-fold. They don't give their business enough attention on a daily basis and lose potential customers or distributors because they are not responsive enough. And more importantly, they don't give their opportunity enough time for success. It is sad when someone puts hundreds and/or thousands of dollars into a home-based business but they give up when the first their marketing campaign doesn't produce results.

* Lack of sales and marketing expertise. Many people start a business from their desire to sell something the love to make. But this fact remains true for home-based business to Fortune 500 companies ? You can't sell anything unless you get your marketing message out to enough people. When you put your marketing message out in front of thousands of potential customers then you only need a small percentage to become your customers.

* And lastly, most people don't realize the secrets to creating a successful business. It's not how unique your product is or how low your price is compared to your competition. The real secret to making boatloads of money is having REPEAT customers. Unless you have a product or service that people will buy multiple times per year, you probably won't have what it takes to build a successful small business.

So if ninety-five percent of home-based business fail, then why do people even start a business if the odds are stacked against them.

Well here's why some people have decided to start a home-based business:

* To make money from their hobby.

* To earn extra money to pay for a vacation.

* To explore the option of working on their own.

* For the potential to go full-time and have more free time.

* Lastly, many want their business to help them become financially free.

Now as I mentioned above, you don't have to have highly unique products or even low-priced products to capture your share of the market. What's more important is how you market to generate sales of your products or services. And if you don't have products that are consumable, then you should only treat your business as a hobby, because it most likely won't create the income you need to be considered a success.

Here's the Secret Business Model

So what is the model almost all Fortune 500 companies use to build their businesses. It's MASS MEDIA MARKETING. This includes television and radio advertising combined with direct mail and follow-up telemarketing campaigns.

Now as simple as this may sound, most small businesses can't afford to use a system that combines TV and radio commercials with direct mail and telemarketing. That's why this secret business model is almost exclusively used by Fortune 500 companies.

But I am here to tell you that you too can be a savvy business entrepreneur and use mass marketing to your benefit. If you would like to grow your business using parts and pieces of the secret business model, then you could implement one or more of the following:

* Purchase leads for your product or service that are generated from radio or television ads. There are many companies that can supply you with potential customers generated from their radio and television ads.

* Contract with a telemarketing firm to handle all your incoming and follow-up calls. They have trained experts who can turn inquiries into sales.

* You can use a web-site to sell your products but use a direct mail campaign sent to thousands of prospects by directing them to your web site for more information and/or to make a purchase.

* Use a direct mail or telemarketing follow-up campaign to generate repeat orders and to sell other products to your buying customers.

Now it could cost a small business what seems like a fortune to implement all of the methods mentioned above. But if you really want your small business to become successful, then you can begin to use just some of the techniques that Fortune 500 companies are using. And later you can parlay some of your profits into using the more sophisticated items like follow-up telemarketing or hosting your own radio talk show.

So before you spend another dime on doing what everyone else is doing, then ask yourself what you could do differently to make your product stand out from your competitors. You will find that operating a home-based business can certainly be very profitable, but you must use the same business building principles used by Fortune 500 companies.

Mark Oestreich is a veteran business analyst. His web site http://www.bizopwiz.com provides more information to help you in your search for the perfect home-based business.