“With OBE it’s not just about starting a new online business, we believe you are starting a new way of life”

Don’t you just wish that you could unlock the number one secret that contributes to making money with a work at home business? The good news is that we are going to tell you up front what we believe sets apart the ‘champion’ or successful home business opportunities from the ‘also-rans’. The biggest secret is… aligning your internet based business with emerging socio-cultural and business trends. Now that you know the secret you are thinking should I read on? The answer is YES, especially if you are considering buying or starting an internet marketing business or any work at home business for that matter. OBE will also help kick start your road to success by outlining the 13 hottest global emerging business trends to follow over the next couple of years.

Identifying the latest socioeconomic and business trends has become a major focus within many business management courses. Why so? The ability to identify, time and then monetize emerging trends can set a company or an individual business entrepreneur on the path to massive market success and financial wealth.

The key in maximizing financial gains from your investment in any traditional or online business is to ensure that your potential market will see value in your idea or offer and that few people have been exposed to this particular opportunity, product or service previously. Roger’s diffusion of innovations curve (innovation adoption curve) will assist us to understand the value of how to time the hottest trends and maximize market penetration and the potential profits from an enterprise.

1. Innovators and Entrepreneurs (stage 1)

This group are often both inventors of new trends and true believers. Why? This is because they usually have very high levels of belief in their concept or initiative. Due to the fact that these innovators are so early in the curve, they do run a risk that others may not see merit in their idea and therefore they may fail to capture any significant momentum or secure venture capital support for their idea to be financially beneficial.

2. Early Adopters and Entrepreneurs (stage 2)

There is little doubt that if the financial investment or the level of risk is affordable, then this is where you want to be plugging into home based businesses related to an emerging idea or trend.

I personally love working with early adopters and entrepreneurs, as they have the ability to envision the potential and possibilities of an emerging trend, which the vast majority of people simply cannot or are unwilling to foresee. They then act decisively and back their instincts and invest in the idea both financially and with their positive mindset, saying with confidence – “I believe that this will work”!

3. Early Majority

This group like to think that they are ahead of the trends, but in reality they will only take action when they see proof that the idea is likely to be accepted by the masses. At this point the tipping point is close to being reached and substantial momentum has been created. Likewise the emerging idea or trend may go viral, just like a Twitter or Facebook have done in recent years.  Fittingly this is when the financial rewards are the greatest for the groups of   innovators, early adopters and early stage entrepreneurs who showed faith.

4. Late Majority

This group has a similar mindset to some investors who buy stocks in the peaks of the investment cycle and sell their investments in the troughs! Here is an example of why the timing in most home based businesses is so critical to your success.

Let’s say that eBay came up with a business opportunity and they said okay we will pay YOU a commission every time you recommend our brand to someone and they then join eBay as a new customer. What sort of success do you think you would have? I think it would be a hard sell, as most people have already heard of eBay or become an eBay customer. So it is unlikely that you will have a massive uptake on your offer, as eBay has already long exceeded the point of critical mass and borders on saturation.  Alternatively, imagine if you had joined an eBay style online business opportunity as an early adopter? Today you would be a multimillionaire!

5. Laggards

The best analogy to describe Laggards in non-business terms would be to imagine being a surfer at the beach and the last great wave ride of the day is coming through. The Laggard hesitates, not sure if that wave is going to be as good as the next wave, while the innovators and early adopters catch the wave at the perfect time, then the early and late majority get that wave just in time, but what happens to the laggards? They take off late on the wave, just as it breaks on top of them and they are smashed into ocean floor. (Source material: http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net)

So what is the moral to the story as far as analysing the Rogers diffusion of innovations curve? Well I believe that when it comes to home based businesses you definitely want to be trying to time the trend in the early adopter phase. However, if you are thinking of possibly investing money in any business idea that is more toward the Late Adopter or Laggard phase, move on and find something where the timing is better!

There will always be much debate as to what trends will come to fruition and what will show promise but fail to reach that critical tipping point into mass momentum. Leo Burnett has provided an entree of what marketing trends to look out for in the next few years.

Our predictions below are the main course for any online business entrepreneur who is looking for trends to monetise in the near future. Here we reveal the results of the OBE (Online Business Entrepreneurs) ‘Think-tank’ and what we believe to be the 13 of the hottest current or emerging business, social and cultural trends. So here we go with the TOP 5 first:

1. Social media and social marketing 

2. E-commerce, shopping and home retail

3. Viral, affiliate and educational marketing

4. Online music and entertainment

5. Internet and online technology driven

6. Services for the aged and elderly   7. Health maintenance & wellness

8. Education and training   9. Child-care and child-minding services

10. Green-power   11. Lifestyle & travel service industry

12. Skin care, personal care and beauty products  13. Personal services

Ideally when selecting a work from home business opportunity you want to try and match your interest and passion with one of these hot trends. Even better still if you can tie together one or more of these trends into the one online business opportunity, you will be well positioned for massive success and wealth. Finally add your consistent application and efforts to the mix and over the next few years there is no reason why you cannot make enough money to buy an army or even a small nation!

As time and space continue to converge it is hard to predict what trends will emerge and dominate our society and the business-world in 25 or 50 years time. However, we know sure that our predictions will be the catalyst for much debate if nothing else.