Top Home Businesses: Coping with the Computer Skills Needed for Your Online Business.

If you're approaching retirement, and are considering an online business to supplement your income, you may well be apprehensive about your level of computer literacy. Don't be put off - everything is possible given some time and a determination to succeed.

Perhaps the first basic is to get your priorities right. Are you taking this on as a hobby, or are you going to take it seriously and make it one of the top home businesses? If the latter applies, you'll need to run your business like any other business. Be prepared to take some time, and commit to keeping going.

Although you'll be on the computer for many hours, you don't require very advanced computing skills for an Affiliate Marketing programme. Because this option is one of the most popular of all the top home businesses, we can use it as an example to examine the computer aspects of this type of business.

While the so called "younger generation" often seem to have been born with a laptop over one shoulder and a hi-tech mobile phone in one hand, those of us who've had to adapt late in life to all this technology, find it stressful and quite intimidating at times.

If you've found this article via the internet unaided, you've got a head start. There are many older folks out there who're completely intimidated by computers - quite understandably! One of the definite advantages of affiliate Marketing is the comparatively simple computer skills required, at least initially. Provided you are reasonably familiar with your computer, and are able to access the internet, you have the basics in place!

A dial-up system could be expensive, as you'll be spending considerable periods online. We'd advise you to get Broadband if possible, as this will help keep operating costs down.

Much of your business will be conducted by e-mail, and a working knowledge of what's involved here is essential. One of the free options will save space on your hard-drive. You'll want to keep some communications for reference, and again these free systems offer user-friendly archiving and filing options. Having your communications categorized and filed will help to keep your business organized, and save you considerable time later.

You'll be sent details of your personal training by e-mail, once you've selected your options. File this, as you'll want to refer back periodically. You'll be inundated with information, especially in the early stages, so check e-mails daily to keep ahead. Thus a simple folder/filing system will keep things simple and make all this information handy for future reference. It's sometimes an idea to simply file these items without even spending time reading them through as they arrive. My personal preference was to work through one training programme in sequence, rather than by trying to follow several programmes concurrently, on a day by day basis as the information arrived.

You'll need to spend considerable time working through your Affiliate Programme Websites, so that you fully understand them. Many of these include links to other sites, to provide you with additional information. It's best to return to the original site, or you'll be led further away from your original purpose. The simplest way to do this, having followed the link and seeing the content, is to click on "File" at the top left of your Browser, and to click on the "Close tab" option, which takes you back to the previous page.

Above all, don't be intimidated by the technology! Don't be afraid to experiment, by opening options and having a look. If you get totally stuck there are forums linked to all the main programmes - don't be shy to ask for help. You'll find that others are battling with the same problems - and most of the questions have been raised in the forums. People are amazingly helpful in this line of business - it's in everyone's interests for you to succeed.