Starting a home-based business can be both scary and exciting at the same time, but you should also realize to achieve success takes a lot of hard work and dedication. No matter what you have decided to base your business on, there are ultimately the same type of steps you have to take in order to achieve success. Whether you are brand new to a home-based business or you are currently struggling to achieve any real success, you can benefit from using the same basic principles that have brought success to those who have done it ahead of you.The following three steps are very important to getting a head start in today’s business world, whether you are functioning online, offline, or both. The three steps are:Step 1 – Use the internet to reach a wider audienceWith the ability to reach your audience around the world with the Internet, you absolutely have to make your presence felt in this area. Feel scared of doing business on the internet? Don’t worry, there are plenty of simple ways to build a simple website on which you can sell your products. Don’t have a huge budget to advertise online, or not sure where to start? Don’t worry about this as well, as there are a few ways to advertise that are completely free and more effective than paid methods.Step 2 – Learn how to market your businessWithout proper marketing, even the best businesses with the best products would fail miserably. Take it upon yourself to learn marketing practices online, as learning the basics is often enough to help you get a huge start and start earning money. One of the best ways to market yourself and your products online is through article marketing, which is simply the process of writing short, informative articles that help the reader and introduce them to your business. This type of marketing will most likely lead you to the fastest profits, as it is free and highly effective at bringing in customers who are looking for help in your area of expertise.Step 3 – Treat a home-based business like a real businessWhile this may sound strange, there are many people out there who think that making money from home will be straightforward and easy. It is highly important that you approach your home-based business as if it was a business in which you invested $100,000 or more, even though home-based businesses can often be started for less than $100. The benefit of this kind of business is that with little investment up-front, you have a chance to become profitable almost immediately.