November 2006 Archives
Depending on where you live and the nature of your business, you may or may not require a business license to operate a home-based business.
Most of the time, a quick visit to your municipal office can steer you in the right direction. They will be able to tell you where and how to obtain licensing information for professionals and small business owners.
Once you have filed your application, your municipality’s Planning Department will inform you of any zoning requirements which may affect your business.
It is crucial that you contact your state’s Department of Commerce in order to find out whether or not your home-based business falls under licensing guidelines. In addition, check out whether you will need any of the following permits:
Health Department Permits
If selling food is part of your business, whether you sell directly to customers or operate as a wholesaler to others, you will be required to obtain a county Health Department certificate.
The cost varies from one location to another and is generally based on business size and the type of equipment your business uses for production.
As a general rule, fees for Health Department Permits fall within the $25 - $50 range. The Health Department will most likely arrange to have your premises inspected prior to issuing this permit.
Fire Department Permits
Depending on whether or not your venture requires the use of any flammable materials for production or if your business caters to traffic from the public, you may be required to obtain a fire department permit.
Again, this varies from one municipality to another with some areas only requiring periodic fire inspections in order to ensure your premises meets all fire safety codes.
Any business that encourages a lot of people to gather, such as restaurants, boarding houses, or bed and breakfast will be looked at very carefully by the fire department. You will be required to adhere to all fire department requests in order to bring your property up to the necessary fire code standards.
Environmental Permits
Most municipalities now have dedicated departments that deal solely with controlling air and water pollution.
Depending on the nature of your business, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in your district may require special permits prior to any business undertaking. You will have to inform this department as to whether or not you will be burning material, discharging refuse into sewers or waterways or using a product that may produce gaseous emissions (e.g. spray paint).
Closely regulated permits will be issued should your operation fall under any of these criteria.
In addition, the EPA may insist that their approval be granted prior to the start of any construction. Again, check with your state or federal governing power to find out about any regulations that affect your business.
Sign Permits
Most areas now have ordinances regulating the size, location and type of signage allowable. Check with your Zoning Department and get written approval before designing, manufacturing or erecting any signs.
A word to the wise
In order to avoid costly and often damaging repercussions in the future, always check with your County, State and Federal Licensing Commissions prior to beginning any home-based business. The footwork you do now may save you countless headaches and incalculable dollars in the future.
The above article is intended as general information only and should not be construed as financial or legal advice.
Jakob Neilson is a well-respected website design and usability consultant. He summarizes the top three priorities for website design in his Alertbox newsletter (highly recommended).
1. Communicate clearly so that users understand you. Users allocate minimal time to initial website visits, so you must quickly convince them of the site's worth.
2. Provide information users want. Users must be able to easily determine whether your services meet their needs and why they should do business with you.
3. Offer simple, consistent page design, clear navigation, and an information architecture that puts things where users expect to find them.
Get these three right, and you'll enhance your site's credibility, ease a user's way through the site, and thus do far more for the site's business value than any fancy tricks or hype.
Accounting
Automobile detailing
Bed and breakfast
Beauty services
Blogging
Boarding animals
Bicycle repair
Bookkeeping
Car maintenance
Child care
Cleaning
Consulting
Conference planning
Catering
Computer (tutoring, sales, repairs)
Counselling
Dance classes
Dealing in collectibles
Desktop publishing
Ebay selling
Ebay Trading Assistant (sell for other people)
Errand service
Editing
Event management
Financial advising
Freelance writing
Furniture restoration
Genealogy
Graphic design
Gardening
Gift services
Hairdressing
Home inspection
Interior decorating
Journalism
How do you know if a work at home business opportunity is legitimate or not? The simple answer is that if it sounds too good to be true, it likely is. Advertisements that make wild promises like the ones below are usually scams:
"Make $3000 a month working only two hours a day!"
"Make money filling out surveys!"
"Be your own boss!"
"Only $50 to get started!"
Typically these scams involve envelope stuffing, mystery shopping, clipping coupons, email processing, selling miracle products and other classic schemes. Beware of these scams: they are run by clever people who are very good at deceiving innocent people. In the end, you are more likely to lose money than make money with these types of offers.
Why is this? Well, sometimes the scam involves you having to pay upfront for a "training package" or "start-up supplies" that never shows up or turns out to be garbage. Or the scam involves a pyramid or multi-level marketing scheme which could actually get you into legal trouble.
Just as troubling are the scams that involve fraud or identify theft: under the pretext of "setting up your personnel file" or "arranging for direct deposit" scammers obtain your personal information including banking details.
Want to learn more about how to detect and avoid work from home scams? HomeBusinessWiz reader Andrea Coutu of ConsultantJournal.com has a good article on how to avoid work from home scams, along with a list of resources for more information.
Here is an excellent chart summarizing the features of various blogging platforms.
As author Wendy Piersall explains, it focuses on business blogs, or blogs that need customization and will likely carry advertising.
Blog platforms included are:
Wordpress.org
Movable Type
TypePad
Wordpress.com
Blogger
Expression Engine
Squarespace
Wendy also recommends a few hosting companies that she has tried. Critical to her recommendations is that the hosting company has the blogging software and database pre-installed. I also recommend the company that hosts this blog: LivingDot
Features on Wendy's comparison chart include:
Hosting company support, if applicable
Costs
User help features
Ability to add/customize advertising
Statistics
Various sidebar features
Domain mapping (if you can use your own domain name)
Static page creation
I often tell clients that writing an action plan for their home-based business is like dental flossing – everybody knows you should do it, but nobody wants to do it. But the good news is that writing an action plan doesn't have to be difficult, confusing or time-consuming.
What is an Action Plan?
An action plan (also referred to as an "operational plan") is a written summary of what you are going to accomplish in your business for a specified period of time, usually six months to a year. To take the mystery out of it, let’s consider other plans you may have made over the years:
1) holiday plan (where you will go, how much you will spend, where you will get the money, what you want to do there)
2) educational plan (where you’ll enroll, what courses to take, how much studying you’ll need to do, when you’ll find the time, how much it will cost, what the benefits will be)
3) new baby plan (why you want a baby, timing of the pregnancy, who’ll stay home with the new baby, how you’ll do it financially, implications for relationship, when the caregiving parent will return to work)
You get the idea. We’ve all made plans involving:
1) what your goal is
2) why you want to do it
3) how you’ll achieve it
4) when tasks will be completed
Making an action plan is not much different than making any other kind of plan. I think one of the reasons people get intimidated by the idea of writing an action plan is because of the jargon associated with business planning: vision, mission, objectives, strategies, plans. Quite frankly, you don’t have to understand or differentiate among those terms to be able to write a simple and effective action plan. All you need to do is address the four points of what, why, how and when.
So let’s get started. Start jotting down your ideas. You can follow the sample below:
As you may know, a teleclass is a class that is held in a "conference call" format over the telephone. Offering teleclasses is a perfect fit for a home-based business, and modern technology such as free conference lines and cheap long-distance rates makes it simple and economical.
If you'd like to learn more about what teleclasses can do for your business, check out this free Teleclass ebook. Written by coach and teleclass leader Soni Pitts, the teleclass ebook covers:
• what is a teleclass?
• how do teleclasses work?
• why offer teleclasses?
• how much does it cost to offer a teleclass?
• teleclass tips and etiquette
• teleclass resources
• where to get training as a teleclass leader
• where to list your teleclasses
As a small business owner, you know that cash flow is always a concern. Most businesses, big or small, cannot operate effectively without the use of credit.
There are several different types of credit that you may decide to use. One of the easiest to acquire and use is a credit card.
Although there are pros and cons of using credit cards to finance your home-based business operations, the careful use of credit cards can be a smart choice.
What advantages do credit cards offer to a home-based business?
When used carefully, credit cards offer a rewarding and effective method of aligning cash flow for a small business. By maintaining low and workable balances, and by making payments in a consistent and timely manner, you can develop a favorable credit history, which is beneficial when your business requires additional financing.
Here are some additional advantages to having a credit card used exclusively for business related purchases:
• acquiring equipment and supplies can be achieved more readily if your business has access to credit.
• costs for expensive items can be spread out more evenly.
• choosing the right credit card and learning how to ‘float’ cards can often result in months of interest free credit.
• many credit cards offer buyer protection insurance as part of the package.
• credit cards provide a financial trail, which aids you and your bookkeeper in tracking purchases and expenses.
• “reward points” can sometimes be translated into even more savings for your business.
• because you are offered a pre-determined credit limit, assessing whether or not your business can afford a particular purchase is easy to ascertain.
What disadvantages are there to using credit cards to finance your home business?
As you are probably aware, it is easy to fall into the “credit card” vortex. Far too many failed home-based businesses have found out the hard way how easy it is to abuse credit cards. In hindsight, they realize how quickly credit cards spiral down from being an effective financing tool to becoming an albatross around their necks.
The ultimate goal of any credit card company is to make money and the primary source of their income comes from the often-exorbitant interest fees collected from their customers. Credit card companies rely on people who maintain high balances as their bread and butter.
Credit card companies love people who only make the minimum monthly payment because they earn a lot of interest from those customers. Ironically, some credit card companies refer to customers who consistently pay off their monthly balances as ‘deadbeats’ (tongue-in-cheek, of course). They obviously don't like it when smart consumers beat them at their own game!
How do you choose a credit card to best suit your home business needs?
With the ever increasing array of “special offers" from credit card companies, choosing the best credit to meet your home business needs can be a difficult task. Before you commit to any credit card, do your homework. Familiarize yourself with credit card jargon and always read the fine print before you sign on the dotted line. In particular, look at the repayment terms as well as the interest rates and service charges.
Aim to be a deadbeat
The smartest way to use credit cards is to pay them off in full each month. If you can do this, you'll earn the designation "deadbeat" and outsmart the credit card companies at their own game. Good luck!
The above article is intended for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial or legal advice.
Most of us procrastinate at something. At the office the "f-word" (filing). Or maybe it’s the "c-word" (conflict resolution). At home, it might be holiday shopping, cleaning the garage, or exercising. When you work at home, the opportunities to procrastinate expand exponentially!
Why do you procrastinate?
Do you think it’s because you're lazy? Unorganized? Undisciplined? While that sometimes may be the case, there's another major reason why we procrastinate: fear.
It could be fear about your ability to do the job. Fear that if you take the time to do one task, you’ll fall behind on your other work. Fear that your efforts will be criticized. Fear that once started, the job will never end!
So what can you do about fear-based procrastination?
Some of the common tips you probably already know include breaking the task into chunks, setting aside a time every day to work on the task, rewarding yourself when it’s done, etc. I bet you know these tips and yet you still procrastinate. Welcome to the club. There’s a missing ingredient and it’s called your environment.
The key to overcoming procrastination
The key to overcoming procrastination is to set up your environment to automatically ensure that certain things get done. This is a paradigm shift for most people. Your environments can be designed to make things easier for you, to automate processes - whether it be actions, mental processes, or personal habits.
Here’s an example
If you are procrastinating on the filing, set up a recurring appointment with a colleague where they arrive at your desk at a certain time each week to help you with the filing (and maybe you can reciprocate the favor!).
Another example
If you’ve been meaning to use public transit more, but just can’t get into the habit…sell your car. You’ve now set up an environment where you don’t have to make the “car or bus?” decision every day – you have no choice but to take the bus. The same principle works for watching less TV (cancel the cable) or eating more veggies (get home delivery).
What about you, what do you procrastinate on?
What fear do you think might be behind that? What could you do to address that fear? Tell me about it in the comments section below.
You discover the ultimate home business opportunity and all that stands in your way is the money to launch it. No doubt about it, having an impeccable credit rating would be one less hurdle to attaining success.
However, like a growing number of people, your credit rating (based on information in your credit report which specifies how likely you are to repay your debts), is less than desirable. Before you hang out your sign, it is imperative that you clean up your credit rating. As intimidating as that may seem at first glance, it is not impossible to achieve.
What steps should you take to clean up your credit rating?
• Order a copy of your credit rating from at least two of the three FICO approved credit rating bureaus - Equifax, TransUnion, or Experian. Ideally, this should be done at least six months before you apply for a loan so you have a chance to clean up your credit rating.
• Review the credit rating reports and immediately take steps, in writing, to correct any information that is wrong. Correcting errors on your credit report can take a long time, sometimes up to 3 months or more.
• Pay all your current bills on time. Creditors rely heavily on recent payment history when calculating whether or not you will be a good credit risk.
• This is not a good time to attempt a credit card shuffle – consolidation of debt by transferring balances from one credit card to another increases your debt ratio, thus lowering your credit score.
• Contrary to what you may think, closing out credit cards once you have them paid off is not always advantageous. Your debt ratio (how much money you owe in relation to your total credit limit) will increase when you close unused accounts, whether or not they have outstanding balances.
• Avoid opening any new credit card accounts. A repayment history that is not well established may lower your score as FICO scores are determined by factoring in the longevity of your repayment history.
• Maintain your credit card debt ratio below the industry standard 25% umbrella.
Why should you get more than one credit report?
Credit reporting is neither mandatory nor universal, therefore your credit information may be scattered within individual bureaus. Depending on the region a company operates within, they may regularly report to a particular bureau. This can result in varying information being filed with each credit-reporting agency. Often lenders will calculate your credit rating by taking the middle FICO score into account when assessing your eligibility for funding.
Why is monitoring your credit rating so important?
The higher your credit rating, the better. A high credit rating can become an invaluable bargaining tool when you are trying to raise money for your home based business. Checking your credit score regularly allows you to assess exactly what your credit rating is, and as an added bonus, can alert you to any fraudulent activity on your account (such as unauthorized charges against your credit, or identity theft).
How important is follow-up?
Once you have determined there are errors on your credit report and you have forwarded a written explanation to the relevant agency, it's up to you to do a follow-up. Check your report again within the next two to three month to ensure your record has been adjusted.
Since your focus during this time frame will be in improving your credit score by consistently paying off your present debt, make sure that is now reflected in your credit history. If no action has been taken to remove any inaccurate reporting, contact the disputed credit grantor to determine whether or not you can have the item removed from your credit profile. It may be possible to have a consumer statement put on your credit file.
Get it in writing
And remember, talk is cheap (and worthless in a dispute); therefore, all requests should be made in writing with a copy maintained for your records.
Note added Nov. 18, 2006: Each person in the U.S. can request one free credit report yearly from Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. Thanks to HomeBusinessWiz reader Robyn McMaster for this tip.
The above article is intended for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial or legal advice.
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the free HomeBusinessWiz newsletter to get a brief email notice when new "how-to" articles are posted.
It's easy to check if your site has been indexed by Google.
Just type your entire URL (starting with http) into Google. If your site is displayed as a result, then you know it's included in Google's index.
For example, to find out if HomeBusinessWiz is listed, I would type http://www.homebusinesswiz.com into Google's search box. If it comes up blank (no search results), I know that my site is not listed. If it comes up with one or more search results, then I know it's listed.
So what do you do to get your site listed?
You don't have to do anything; in the vast majority of cases it will happen automatically. It can take 30 - 90 days before they get around to your site, though. Patience is required.
To make sure you've done everything within your power to get your site listed in Google, go here for tips on what to do.
An autoresponder is an automatic email reply. Once you set it up, the reply gets sent when someone sends an email to a specific address or fills out a form on your website.
For example, I could set up an autoresponder called subscribe@mywebsite.com. In the body of the email reply I might have some information about my business and perhaps a discount
coupon encouraging the recipient to sign up for a program.
If someone sent an email to subscribe@mywebsite.com they would instantly receive the autoresponder email reply with the information and discount coupon.
What's the benefit of using autoresponders?
Using autoresponders saves you time. You don't have to manually send an email to every person who enquires about your services.
Also, autoresponders are a powerful marketing tool. For one thing, you can collect prospects' email addresses (the autoresponder asks their permission) for your database. In addition, you can set up multiple or sequential messages to go out to your prospects or clients. In other words, the recipient will receive a continuous flow of email replies spaced out over time at intervals you specify.
What autoresponder service do you recommend?
There are dozens of autoresponder services on the Internet. Most cost in the neighbourhood of $20 a month. I've used Aweber for about two years now, and I really like it. It seems to be the one that is most often recommended by people who know about these things.
I have step-by-step instructions on how to set up an autoresponder in Aweber here (coming soon, check back in a couple of days).
Every business needs to keep in touch with past, current and potential customers. There are lots of ways to do this, including phone, in-person meetings, flyers, etc. One of the easiest and cheapest ways is by email newsletter.
What is a newsletter or ezine distribution service?
I'm sure you have subscribed to email newsletters in the past, so you probably know the drill. There's a box on the company's website that says "sign up for our newsletter" or something to that effect. You type in your name and email address, and then you get an email asking you to confirm that you actually want information from that company. This is called double-opt-in. It is required by law and ensures that companies don't send you unwanted email.
In fact, if you fill out the "GET EMAIL HIGHLIGHTS" box on this page, you'll go through a similar process.
The two newsletter services I recommend
Building a mailing list of people who are interested in what you offer is an important part of marketing. There are two services that I recommend to automate this process for you. The first service is called EZezine and it is free (Note added June 6, 2007: Ezezine is no longer free, but it is still very low-cost. Worth checking out.) It is strictly a newsletter mailout service.
The second service I recommend is Aweber. It is a newsletter mailout service as well as an autoresponder service. I explain what this means in a separate article here. For now, I just want to focus on explaining the pros and cons of EZezine.
Pros about EZezine
EZezine gives you the code to put on your website to create one of those sign-up boxes that I mentioned above. When people sign up on your website their name is automatically added to your EZezine mailing list. Then you log into your account at EZezine when you want to write and send out a newsletter.
EZezine is great for a couple of reasons: it is free, (Note added June 6, 2007: Ezezine is no longer free, but it is still very low-cost. Worth checking out.) it is extremely easy to use, it is run by good people and has great service, and it has a good "deliverability" reputation.
Cons about EZezine
There are two things to keep in mind if you decide to use EZezine:
1) EZezine is not an autoresponder service (see definition here). So you can send out email newsletters, but you can't set up an automated series of messages such as a multi-part ecourse.
2) If you decide down the road that you want to go with a service that includes autoresponders, you will need to ask your EZezine subscribers to re-subscribe to your new service. You inevitably lose between 30 - 50% of your subscribers when you ask them to do this. That sounds awful, but in my opinion it's actually a good way to "clean off" your distribution list. The truth is that anyone who doesn't bother to re-subscribe probably isn't reading your newsletters anyways.
Do you cringe at the thought of writing one of those "one page sales letters" to sell your internet based product? You know the ones I'm talking about - ones like this, and this.
Well, if that style of sales letter turns you off, you might like my "low key sales letter" template below. Feel free to use or modify it to suit your needs.
Warning: this sales letter template breaks many of the "rules" of sales copy.
For instance, it doesn't have huge headlines and multiple exclamation marks. It isn't pages and pages long. It neglects to create a false sense of urgency or list $5000 worth of free bonuses. It doesn't beat you over the head.
All of the above things are standard sales copy techniques,that I quite frankly find tacky and over-used (you can probably tell that pushy sales letters are a pet peeve of mine!).
However, lots of people say they work. I'll leave the choice up to you how "hard sell" you want to get. Personally, I prefer short, straighforward sales copy that doesn't hurt my eyes or insult my intelligence.
Low-key sales letter template
Dear __________,
I am writing to let you know that my new _____________ (website, book, CD, workshop) is now ___________ (available for sale, up and running, open for registration). See ____________
(URL if there is a website) to _____________ (purchase the book; check out the site; register today).
I'm very excited with the way the _______ has turned out (here you can say a few things about why you are excited, such as "it provides x solutions for y people) One person who got a peek at the new _________ this to say...
(insert testimonial)
I'd love you to share in my celebration about _____________. With with that in mind I'd like to offer you this special introductory deal.
If you ________(register, purchase, sign up for newsletter) before ______ (date) you will receive ________ (special price, 2 for 1 offer, bonus gift)
To ________(register, purchase, sign up for newsletter) just click here.
I hope you enjoy the _______ and that you'll let me know what you think of it!
Thanks,
Your signature and contact info
P.S. Remember, to get your ________, you need to ________ (call to action) by _________(deadline)
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The best news is that everything you need to write your one page business plan® is already in your head. After all, you had lots of ideas when you decided to start your business. So now it's time to put those ideas in writing.
This article will give you an outline for a one page business plan®, and an explanation of each section of the 5-step business plan.
The five steps to writing a one page business plan®:
1. Vision
2. Mission
3. Objectives
4. Strategies
5. Actions
Step #1 – Vision
Defining your vision answers the questions of WHO you will serve and WHAT you will offer. WHO - get specific about the people who need, want and will pay for your services and products. You're finding a need and filling it. WHAT - be clear about what those services and products are. Envision your success and even take the leap to “guess-timate” your revenue for the coming year, next year, and in 3 years. Create a bold vision for your business that energizes you.
Step #2 – Mission
Defining your mission is about how you differentiate yourself. What makes you, your services or products unique? With the recent explosion of Internet and other home-based businesses this should be your top concern - to set yourself apart from the pack.
Your mission is where your great business ideas come together with your unique characteristics, skills, experience and passion. There is one thing in your business that no one else can duplicate – YOU!
Step #3 – Objectives
Road races have a set distance so we know when we’ve crossed the finish line. It’s hard to know where we’re headed if we don’t measure our progress. Yet, most home-based business owners do not measure key performance indicators to stay on track or make corrections. Pick several important measurements and track them consistently. Measure what matters and watch your performance improve immensely.
Step #4 – Strategies
Following a daily “To Do” list is not enough to build a sustainable coaching practice. Without long-term strategies, it’s easy to fall into the trap of reacting to situations rather than creating what we want. Being strategic means we are working on our business using systems, principles, policies and values that authentically reflect our business vision and mission.
Step #5 – Actions
Decide on actions that support your business vision, mission, objectives and strategies. It’s hard enough to juggle all the activities of running a business. An action plan recognizes all the functions, sorts out what to do and what to delegate. Take time to write down the most important work to be done, who will do it and by when.
Summary
I hoped you've enjoyed this three part series on the one page business plan®. In summary, writing a one page business plan® will have the following benefits:
• You will have a focused vision of what your business will accomplish, bringing passion, satisfaction and fulfillment
• You have a compelling, clear and consistent way to describe your business with others, bringing confidence and attraction
• You will have a realistic measure of your current results as well as a way of tracking your improvement, bringing clarity, honesty and a sense of accomplishment
• You’ll be strategic and relaxed instead of reactive and stressed out, bringing structure, freedom and consistency
• You’ll have a unified plan of action that saves you time and effort, bringing results, positive habits and peace of mind
Isn't it amazing just how much difference one page can make?
This is the third in a three part series about creating a one page business plan®. You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.
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This post was written by guest blogger Amy Grossman, MBA. Amy is a One Page Business Plan® Certified Consultant who makes it easy for solo-preneurs to write a business plan. For more information, get Amy's free 7-part e-course "Top 7 Business Plan Myths Exposed".
Today I'm talking about copywriting - specifically, what words to put on your website home page.
If you are in business, the point of your website is to get customers to buy your product or use your service. You mainly do that by the copy you have on the page. So you need to think very strategically about what words to put on your website home page.
You must show how you solve the customer's problem
The simplest way to think strategically about what words to put on your website home page is to put yourself in your customer's shoes. It doesn't matter how beautiful, intelligent or fancy your web page is, if it doesn't solve the customer's problem it hasn't done its job.
Think about your own mindset when you look for something on the Internet. Normally when you go to a web site you have a question in mind. It might be "what's the weather going to be on the weekend?" or "where can I buy a replacement part for my broken Cuisinart" or "I wonder if I could find a workshop on that topic" (these are all actual questions that I looked up on the Internet today).
Visitors to your website will also have very specific questions in mind
It might be "how can I get my teenager to listen to me" or "how do I get out of debt" or "where do I go next in my career". You need to write copy that shows visitors to your website that you have the solution to their problem.
Listen to your market research
You need to do some market research. This can be as simple as talking with people to find out what problems they have that you can address in your business. Take lots of notes, and then pull out the specific types of problems that people talked about. And write your home page copy using the exact language they used to describe their problem.
Use the exact language your customers use
Note that I said "the exact language". This means exactly what it says: the exact same language. This will probably be much more down-to-earth and colorful than what you would come up with on your own. That's good. Down-to-earth and colorful will catch your potential customer's attention amid all the flowery language and hyperbole on the Internet.
So if you're a parenting coach and in your market research you found a trend of people saying "I don't know what to do, my teenager is driving me crazy" - use those exact words on your website.
For instance, you might say "I provide workshops that give practical techniques to help people whose teenagers are driving them crazy". This is much more effective than saying something flowery like "I empower parents to create loving relationships within their family".
Short, succinct and specific
In short, your copy needs to follow what I call the "3-S" rule: it must be short, succinct and specific.
Hiring a copywriter can be a good investment
Copywriting is a skill, and some people have more flair for it than others. If you know that wordsmithing is not your thing, consider hiring a freelance copywriter. You can get excellent writers for very reasonable fees by posting your requirements on websites such as www.getafreelancer.com, www.guru.com and www.elance.com
And remember, writing about yourself is probably one of the most difficult writing tasks imaginable. EVERYONE finds it easier to write about someone else than to describe themselves. So if you find copywriting painful, don't sweat it - do yourself a favor and hire a professional.
A client of mine (let's call him Pete) created an Internet-based business to offer emotional support to people. You might call it a form of counselling or coaching. He used his passion for helping others and his technical know-how to create a prototype for his business.
The problem was that although he had put in a year and had the beginnings of a wonderful business, he had not been able to finish the work and get the website launched.
There were many symptoms of this problem, including:
• spending time on details that did not leverage his time well
• feeling frustrated, discouraged
• needed to hire help but wasn't bringing in enough revenue to do it
• feeling "stuck" and couldn't think himself out of his constraints
• no revenue coming in for all his work
• not able to actualize his vision for the business
What we did first
When Pete came to work with me to write a one page business plan®, the first step we took was to work at recreating his business vision so that it was idealistic, thrilling, reflects his values and passions AND is achievable.
This narrowing of focus made the vision more real and gave him a place to begin to heal the world. And included in the plan was that in year 4, after he successfully serves his first target market, he can branch out to other target markets.
The next step was easy
The next step of uncovering his unique message and mission was easy now. He held on to his original passion to provide emotional support, but now he's attracting a more specific group of potential clients, and his message is more direct and targeted to them.
Pete's initial vision was to provide emotional support to everyone who is in pain. The revised vision we came to together was to provide information and resources to divorced dads and their families.
Today my Outlook got completely wiped out and I feel... well, not the way I thought I'd feel.
I pretty much run my home based business out of my Outlook inbox folders. It's my giant electronic filing cabinet, to-do list and template holder. Also my ideas file.
So how do I feel? Not devastated but... oddly relieved. There's this rush of "school's out" energy. FREEDOM.
Interesting! And yes, I do have an external back-up source so I can get them back. But I'm going to wait a few days and see what happens. If the sky doesn't fall I might just leave it and start over! Is this the new face of office productivity?
Update 8 hours later:
The first wave of panic has set in. What about my file that contains the confirmation emails of the 100+ forums, services, affilate products, and software downloads that I am subscribed to? Darn, maybe I will have to recover the email after all.
Update 24 hours later:
I've been thinking about it: Do I really need that information? How many of those 100 can I even remember? I made a list and could only come up with 15. What that tells me is that a lot of the things I've signed up for I don't use anymore (or maybe never used). So why am I keeping the information? It's like hanging on to anything - because "I might need it someday".
And part of it is that I sign up for stuff, throw it in that file, and then never get around to cleaning it out. So my "virtual home" gets cluttered. Sort of like all the stuff that starts to clutter up my "real home".
I remember my brother-in-law telling me about his decision to get rid of all the bubble-wrap he had been saving. He decided that when the time came that he needed some bubble wrap, he'd just go buy a package.
I'm wondering if that same principle could work with my file. The worst that could happen is that I'd have to sign up again, or ask to have my log-in info emailed to me.
So do I really need to recover that information?
Update 48 hours later
I caved. I kept wondering if there was something important in there that I was forgetting. But it's been an interesting experiment. My initial feeling of relief tells me that I have a yearning to reduce the amount of stuff in my life - whether that's email, household clutter or commitments. I'll keep you posted.
Sometimes the decision about where to go next in your home based business gets so confusing that you get frozen and don't take any action at all. At times like this, it's important to take a step back and make an action plan.
Dr. Ellen Weber from BrainBasedBusiness points out that the mind uses questions to move forward, so if you ask the right questions you'll naturally be propelled into action. Here are Ellen's simple but powerful five questions to do just that:
1. What's the target for the next stage of my home based business?
Write your target down along with the reasons why it's a good idea. Also list the barriers that might prevent you from achieving your target.
2. How can I pay for this target?
Be imaginative in considering all types of financing, from loans to reducing expenses. Seek advice from financial professionals.
3. Who can I talk to about this issue?
It’s a good idea to talk to one person, who is successful in the area of your need. And run from pessimists! There will always be naysayers who don't understand the entrepreneurial spirit.
4. Where do I start?
List ten steps that need to be done. Under each step list the component parts, until you have a complete "to do" list. And then check off each task as you complete it.
5. What's my schedule?
Set dates that you can track to see your progress on a weekly basis.
Here's a proposal for a workshop called "Fostering Creativity in the Workplace" that I wrote for the annual conference for the BC Human Resource Management Association.
When you write a workshop proposal, the most important thing is to address the key points that the organization wants. You'll find these key points listed in the "Call for Proposals" that the organization sends out.
To increase your chances of being selected, make it easy for the selection committee to see your answers to the key points. Use sub-headings, bolding, bullet points and short paragraphs to make the key points stand out.
In the sample below, the headings that are bolded are the key points that the conference selection committee specified they wanted addressed.
Remember, a proposal is a lot like a resume: it needs to concise and "scannable" because the reviewers will only give it a quick glance to start.
Feel free to use this sample as a template for your own workshop proposal.
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Proposed Workshop Topic
"Fostering Creativity in the Workplace".
Workshop Overview
While many organizations say they value creativity, in practice they undermine this message by failing to support creative ideas. Most organizations have plenty of people who are quick to point out why a new idea won’t work. This discourages creativity and stifles the emergence of innovative ideas. In this workshop, learn how to develop an organizational culture where employees apply their creativity to help achieve the goals of the organization.
Learning Outcomes
During this workshop participants will:
- broaden their definition of creativity
- get an overview of current research on the link between individual creativity, employee wellness, and organizational effectiveness
- learn about influences that discourage creativity in the workplace
- discuss ways to encourage creativity in the workplace
- receive a list of resources for further learning
Workshop Format
My style is highly interactive. I prefer to use a flipchart and elicit content and examples from the participants. I would prefer a room with enough space so that people could break into small groups for discussion.
This workshop is designed to be 90 minutes long.
Speaker's Expertise
Barbra Sundquist works as a consultant and coach with corporations, businesses, and individuals. She started her own human resource management consulting practice 15 years ago, and has successfully brought her knowledge of people and her skill as a change agent to a wide range of clients. Her greatest strengths are her ability to listen deeply, clarify issues and structure practical solutions.
Barbra has been on the faculty of Malaspina University-College as a lecturer in human resource management, organizational behaviour and entrepreneurship. She received her B.A. in Psychology and her M.P.A. (Masters in Public Administration) from the University of Victoria. Barbra is a member of the British Columbia Human Resource Management Association.
Barbra has studied Fine Arts and has been exhibiting her work in BC and Yukon since 1993. In addition to her own painting, she is passionate about introducing the expressive arts to people in all walks of life. Her workshops focus on using the expressive arts for self-discovery, organizational effectiveness and leadership development.
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I don't think compassion and business are mutually exclusive. For me the most important human quality is kindness, and I will go out of my way to support businesses that have kindness as a core value.
For example, I was in a trendy coffee shop in Vancouver (actually, it was the Blenz on the corner of Davie and Granville) when a mentally ill street person came in. This individual made quite a loud commotion about what he was going to order, how much it would cost, etc. It went on for about 10 minutes. Eventually he asked for a (free) glass of water. The staff treated him with patience, kindness and respect.
After the man left, I talked about it with a staff member. She explained that he was a person who suffered from bi-polar disorder and was currently in a manic phase. She said that he came in regularly and the staff tried to keep an eye on how he was doing so that they could get medical help for him if needed.
This is the kind of thing that makes me happy. And from a business point of view, I have never forgotten the kindness of that staff member and by extension, the Blenz coffee shop chain.
What about you? What gives you a good impression of a business?
This article provides a "fill-in-the-blanks" template for how to write a professional bio or "about me" page. By following the template you can quickly and easily create your own short bio.
But if you don't feel confident about your writing, or you're simply in a hurry... you can get a professionally written "fill-in-the-blanks" bio templatethat is specific to your type of job for only $49.
Why do you need a professional bio?
Remember, your professional bio is not a resume
Think of your professional bio as a little advertisement for your business. Ideally, it addresses what I call the “four reader questions” (4RQs). These are the four questions that readers want answered in your professional bio:
1) who you are...
2) your expertise and how it addresses...
3) their problem or goal, and how they can...
4) contact you
Sample professional bio
Look at the sample professional bio below and see if you can identify the 4RQs:
Jane Smith is a small business coach who helps women make the transition from full-time mom to successful entrepreneur. A grandmother now, Jane started her coaching business in 2002 to help other women deal with the sometimes overwhelming prospect of starting a new business while still running a household.Prior to raising her family, Jane spent over ten years as a teacher, corporate trainer and workshop leader. Today Jane offers a wide range of coaching programs and services – from individual coaching, to seminars and keynote speeches. To contact Jane, please visit her coaching website at http://www.janesmart.com
Were you able to identify the the 4RQs in this professional bio? Here is Jane’s professional bio again, with the 4RQs identified:
Jane Smith is a small business coach (who Jane is) who helps women make the transition from full-time mom to successful entrepreneur (their problem or goal). A grandmother now (Jane’s expertise – shows she has been a mother and is now older and presumably wiser), Jane started her coaching business in 2002 to help other women deal with the sometimes overwhelming prospect of starting a new business while still running a household (how Jane helps them overcome their problem or achieve their goal).Prior to raising her family, Jane spent over ten years as a teacher, corporate trainer and workshop leader (Jane’s expertise). Today Jane offers a wide range of programs and services – from individual coaching, to seminars and keynote speeches (how Jane can help). To contact Jane, please visit her website http://www.janesmart.com (how to contact Jane).
Money is usually the biggest obstacle that people face when wanting to start a home based business. To determine if you can afford to start a home based business now, follow these three steps.
Step 1: What do you own already?
Make a list of what you own (these are called your "assets"). Include bank accounts, real estate equity (this is the difference between what you owe on a piece of real estate and its current market value), retirement accounts, and other assets.
Step 2: Figure out how to use your existing assets
Once you have your list of assets, figure out how you might use them to help you finance your business. Do you want to use your savings? Sell anything? Use assets as collateral for a loan?
Step 3: Figure out startup costs
"Start-up costs" refers to what its going to cost you to start your business and run it for the first six months. Why six months? Because that's the average amount a time it takes a home based business to get organized and start bringing in money. Keep in mind that your start-up costs need to include at least a minimal salary for you, because you do need to continue to pay the mortgage for that home based business!
Starting a home-based business is an exciting venture. But before you begin, complete this self-assessment so you're prepared for what you're getting into.
The rewards of home-based business
What do you want out of your home-based business? Having a home-based business has many rewards: the freedom of being your own boss, the personal satisfaction of accomplishment, and the chance to earn an income that is only limited by your skill and determination.
The downside of home-based business
There's no arguing that having a home-based business is a wonderful way to make a living. I've done it for the past 20 years and wouldn't have it any other way.
However, having a home-based business takes a level of effort and energy that many people underestimate. It can place incredible demands on your time, your family relationships, and your money.
And the unfortunate fact is that the majority (estimated as high as 70 per cent) of all new businesses fail within three years. It's rare for a new business to provide any significant financial return to the owner in the first two or three years. Yes, you read that right. Even if your home-based business is successful, it may be three years or more before you are making the kind of income that you would like.
Do you have the personal qualities required?
Are you independent, ambitious, confident, hard working, a risk-taker and a problem solver? Do you enjoy working alone? Successful small business owners often have most of these traits.
Do you have the knowledge required?
Are you knowledgeable about the industry or type of business that you are considering? Are you really excited about your idea? Do you have business training in sales, marketing and production? Do you have the ability to put together a business plan?
Do you know your weak areas?
Are you willing to take training courses in your weak areas? Will you hire experts to do the things that you can't do? Do you have the money to pay for this assistance? Do you want to set up a partnership with someone who has the skills that you lack?
Do you have the family support required?
Do you have the full support of your family? When you work at home you are around family members a lot more hours of the day. You also will likely be working longer hours, at least to start. And the money situation will be iffy. What impact will this have on your relationships? Your prospects for success will improve when those close to you share your commitment.
Do you have enough money?
Starting a home-based business is often more costly than you think. And you won't have a regular pay cheque for quite a while. Are you prepared to spend the money required during the start-up phase? Be thorough and realistic about how much you need right from the start so your business isn't jeopardized after you've invested months of hard work.
And here's an excellent entrepreneurial self-assessment quiz that I think you might find interesting.
You're just starting a small home based business. Do you really need a business plan?
The answer is yes, definitely! But before we get into why you should write a business plan, let's explore a few of the reasons that many home-based business owners don't.
• I’m too busy running the business
• My business is still small – I'll do a business plan later
• Writing a business plan seems way too complicated
Is your "to do" list running your business?
A situation that I see time and time again is people who are working really hard in their business, but not really getting anywhere. They often have a wonderful business concept that they feel inspired by. They also have a daily “to do” list that would keep anyone busy for months. Everything seems equally urgent and so they run around madly trying to do it all. Soon a year or more passes and the business is still not launched.
What's going on here?
Michael Gerber author of classic business book, The e-Myth Revisited, describes this trap as working in your business rather than on your business. This means that if you don't plan your actions according to a bigger picture of what you want for your business, you'll fail to get the results you want.
A lack of planning is one of the top three reasons businesses fail, according to the Small Business Development Center. So the old saying, “Failing to plan is planning to fail” turns out to be true.
If you don't know where you're going...
Don't make the classic mistake of assuming because you are just starting out, a business plan isn't necessary yet. Every business needs a business plan, not just big companies.
Every business starts at the beginning and every business starts small. But what separates the successful business from the struggling business is a vision.The founders of a visionary company have a broad and deep understanding of what they are building. Walt Disney was not creating a cartoon character, he was fulfilling a vision.
Some of the biggest benefits of a business plan are its ability to create focus, to encourage big picture thinking and to help you make decisions for the long-term and the short-term in a way that consistently moves you forward.
There's more than one way to write a business plan
The classic outline for a business plan is not designed for small business owners who are financing their own business. It’s too long and requires too much extraneous information. If you're not trying to get a bank loan, you do not need to write one of those long business plans.
A one page business plan® is a simple solution for including just the information you need and no more. This cuts the writing time dramatically.
More importantly, forcing yourself to discover and summarize the important information onto one page provides a laser focus on what is most important to the management and growth of your business. Parts 2 and 3 of this series will describe the components of a one page business plan®.
You can read Part 2 here and Part 3 here.
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This post was written by guest blogger Amy Grossman, MBA. Amy is a One Page Business Plan® Certified Consultant who makes it easy for solo-preneurs to write a business plan. For more information, get Amy's free 7-part e-course "Top 7 Business Plan Myths Exposed".
Do you need to record teleclasses, conference calls or telephone interviews? Good news - the process just got a whole lot easier.
If you're like most busy business people, you don't want to fiddle around with recording equipment and converting files into MP3 format. All you want to do is:
1) easily turn on the recording system on and off
2) get the finished recording in an MP3 format so that you and others can listen to it
Here are recommendations of two online services that I use, along with step-by-step instructions on how to use these services. Either of these services will handle the recording process for you at a very reasonable cost.,
Step one: Get a free bridge line
Go to www.freeaudioconferencing.com and sign up for a free bridge line (this is a fully functional bridge line with your own private PIN number).
Step two: Choose a recording service
I've done a lot of research on this subject and tried out many systems. In my experience the best two services for ease of use, customer support and value for your dollar are:
1) www.freeaudioconferencing.com ($10 per recording - use if you only make one or two recordings a month)
2) www.coach.audioacrobat.com ($19.95 month for unlimited recordings - use if you make two or more recordings a month)
Step three: How to do it
Here is an audio recording on how to write a 15 second elevator speech. And just as important, how to say that speech in such a way that potential clients will be interested in your products or services.
I use Audacity to edit audio recordings. Audacity is free software available here http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ Here is a tutuorial on how to edit audio using Audacity that you may want to bookmark to read after you get the software installed.
There’s also good tutorial at the Audacity site, and after a couple of hours fooling around with one of your recordings and you’ll know everything you need.
If you run into a problem, there is an excellent user forum at https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/audacity-help.
Anytime I have posted a question to this forum I have received a helpful reply within a few hours.
Although you will need to invest some time learning the program, it's really not hard to learn once you have it installed.
Advantages of Audacity:
- free, open source
- full featured
- lots of people use it, so there’s always someone you can ask questions
Disadvantages of Audacity:
- can be a bit fussy to download and install (there’s some sort of driver that you have to install separately, and it caused me a bit of grief)
Once a month I make up a summary of the best articles from HomeBusinessWiz that month. These include:
· my newest "how-to" tutorials
· interviews with successful home business people about how they do it
· the latest updates about ways to make money working at home
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A concern many home based business people have is "will people take me seriously if I work at home?" From my experience, any doubts that prospective clients might have about the credibility of your business can be overcome by being scrupulously professional in all aspects of your business.
Here are six tips to help you present a professional image in your home based business:
1) Invest in well-designed and professionally printed business cards
A well-designed business card is one of the least expensive and most cost efficient ways to promote your business. Carry them with you at all times and don’t be shy about handing them out. Networking doesn’t always happen in a controlled setting and you never know when a potential client will approach you.
Don't be tempted to print your own business cards using the blank sheets from the stationery store. Nothing marks you as an amateur faster than home-made business cards. Professional printing costs less than $50 and is well worth the investment.
2) Use your business logo on everything, and keep it consistent
Your logo should be readily identifiable with your home business and project your company as a professional, well-established operation. This is known as “branding” and has become an industry-wide benchmark for establishing immediate recognition for particular goods or services. Invest in pre-printed stationary, which proudly displays your logo, business name and contact information and use it in all correspondence and invoicing.
3) Don't use your residential address for mailings
Have all business mail directed to a Business Centre or Post Office box rather than your residence, especially in smaller communities where a residential address is easily recognizable.
4) Open a business account for all your banking services
One of the first things you should do as a new home-based business is open a business account for all your banking services. Not only will this allow you to keep your personal and business transactions separate, it will enable you to establish a better rapport with your banking institution, thus providing a ready record of financial transactions should you need to discuss financing in the future.
In addition, you should have your business name printed on all cheques and credit card invoices relative to your business. The more you get your name out there, the more readily recognizable your business will become.
5) Use good telephone etiquette
For most home-based business people, the first contact with potential clients is by telephone. This initial contact can either make or break your reputation as a serious businessperson. This article covers telephone etiquette for home business in detail.
6) Conduct yourself professionally even in casual meetings
Self-promotion is the mainstay of any home based business and marketing your product or service professionally is crucial. Attending local trade venues such as Chamber of Commerce meetings offers a prime opportunity for networking with other like-minded business professionals.
No matter how small or casual the meeting, remember that people form impressions of your business through these encounters. Hence it is important that your appearance and behavior always project a professional image.
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I'm Barbra Sundquist and I'm the person behind HomeBusinessWiz. I’m 49 years old, married with three cats and no kids. Both my husband and I grew up on here on Vancouver Island and feel privileged to live in this beautiful part of Canada.
My first home-based business was selling Regal greeting cards at the age of eight. Believe it or not, my mother let me go door to door in our rural neighbourhood, entering the living rooms of complete strangers and doing my sales pitch. My favorite item in the gift catalogue was the baked potato gadget - a four-pronged thing that I now realize was basically useless to an experienced cook. But I must have been persuasive (or else they just wanted to get rid of me) because I sold a lot of them.
The 30% commission that I earned selling Regal whetted my appetite for more money-making ventures. One time I persuaded my younger sister and cousin to donate all their toys to my "store" and then sold them back for real money! My mom put the kibosh on that little venture pretty quickly.
By my teenage years I was engaged in a more legitimate home-based business: teaching private piano lessons from the basement of my family home. That gig went on for about eight years part-time and put me through university.
After graduating from the University of Victoria with an undergraduate degree in Psychology and a Master's in Public Administration, I decided it was time to enter the "real world" of employment. I got a job in human resource management with the federal government in Vancouver. Good pay, great benefits, wonderful career advancement opportunities - and I was miserable.
This may sound juvenile, but the two things I couldn't stand were: 1) riding up the elevator at exactly the same time every morning; and 2) having to stay at work on slow afternoons when I knew that I wasn't getting anything accomplished. Those two things offended my sense of autonomy something awful.
I stuck it out for two years, then left and moved back to Vancouver Island. I started doing contract work for my former employer and other government departments. After a while, I woke up one morning and realized "I think there is a name for what I am doing. I think I am a self-employed consultant". I decided I better buy a briefcase and get some business cards printed.
That was 20 years ago, and I've been self-employed and working from home ever since (except for an enjoyable stint teaching business management at a university). I look forward to sharing my knowledge with you on this site, so that you too can enjoy the freedom of having a successful home business.
Hi, I'm Barbra Sundquist and I'm the person behind HomeBusinessWiz.
I started this site so that I'd have a place to put all the articles, tutorials and other resources that I've collected over the years. And to be frank, so that I could just point clients to this site instead of having to email them resources!
HomeBusinessWiz has three main characteristics:
1) Simple
I love taking complicated information and making it simple. You'll find all the basics of starting and running a home-based business here, explained in clear, simple language. From the graphic design of the site to the content of the articles, simplicity is key to HomeB