Enough cannot be said about the importance of educating yourself. No matter how much you think you know about home businesses, marketing, selling, managing, etc., there is at least that much more out there to learn!

Effective marketing is essential to a successful business. As more and more people turn to the internet as a marketing tool, the demands for finding new and unique ways of attracting customers increase. In order to stay competitive, you need to keep reading and learning about the latest and greatest techniques available to drive targeted traffic to your site and then convert this traffic into customers. Visit discussion boards relating to your business and you'll learn there is a whole community of others who are willing to offer suggestions and advice on staying ahead.

No, I don't believe you need to return to school and obtain a degree in marketing in order to be successful, but you do need to educate yourself to what the current trends are and to keep alert to what your potential customers are looking for. Trends are dictated by the customers. If a marketing technique is not successful it will not become a trend because no business has found it to be effective. E-mails are an example of a trend, as are pop-ups and pop-unders. But as more and more people use them, they lose their effectiveness. That's why investigating and learning what the successful trends have been, what they currently are, and where they are believed to be heading is vital. You need to keep reading and learning in order to maintain any kind of business edge.

Bill Gates did not become the successful businessman he is by not doing anything, and neither will you! He believed he knew what the people wanted and he found the way to provide it! He did this by educating himself on what people were indicating they wanted. So he was listening to what the people where saying, and learning from what he was hearing, and continually moving forward to provide what the people were wanting! Working smarter is what he was doing. He knew that you cannot run your business from a stagnant point of view, nor can you run a successful business from a stagnant web site--not if your goal is to attract new customers. In fact, operating this way could cost you the customers you currently have! Learn what it is your potential customers are looking for, "listen" to what they are saying, and then find a way to provide it!

We live in the age of the internet, so use it! Surf the web for articles, discussion boards, books, e-books, blogs, etc., that deal with your line of business and read what others are doing to attract customers to their web sites and keep their businesses profitable. Visit competitors web sites. What is it they are doing that you are not? Learn what mistakes others have made and how they have learned from them. Educate yourself! After all, the more you know, the