As a marketer, you have a lot on your plate and a lot of responsibilities. One of the daunting tasks that every home-based business owner encounters is a lack of one (or both) of the following items…economic resources or time.

These are 2 assets that we strive to constantly increase. We have no control over how much time we have, however, we are in full control of how we spend our time and what activities we choose to do (or not to do).

We often lose sight of the single, most important aspect of our business: generating revenue. The first action many home-based business owners do is they run out and get their business cards printed, order product samples to pass out, get the promotional DVD’s, etc.

At the end of the day, we must focus our efforts on what will provide the greatest return on our investment (regardless of whether it’s our time or cold, hard cash).

With that said, the single variable that you should be focused on is lead generation…not buying leads, not holding house parties, not passing out product samples…but learning the art and science of generating your own leads. Prospects that are looking for more information about your products and opportunities.

Fact: The business builder who learns how to generate an endless supply of leads on a daily basis will go faster and farther than the builder still creating lists of their warm market, passing out product samples, etc.

Whether you’re using PPC, cost per action networks, joint ventures, SEO, etc to generate leads…building a list should be at the very top of your priority list.

Start with one form of traffic…if you’re on a budget, do some article marketing or blogging and focus on organic traffic. After you’ve got a system in place, expand on your methods of traffic.

Keep it simple…then build from there. You can’t rely on only one source.

The number “one” is the worst number in marketing—if that traffic source has a bad day or if the rules change, your business will feel an immediate impact.

Test your squeeze page using several variations to ensure you’re maximizing your conversion rates. Build a relationship with your prospects and position yourself as the expert…they’ll come to you as the “problem solver”.

Sounds almost too simple, but in all reality, that is the real “secret” to building a successful business. People buy from experts and authority figures they trust.