We’ve seen a lot of loss in the U.S. stock market this week with the Dow going down below 9000 for the first time in 5 years. Our bad economy is having a global effect hitting the Asian markets, the European market, and all others too, I’m sure. Despite the crisis with financial institutions and it’s effect on housing and mortgages, The Wall Street Journal and others in the know agree… it is lack of confidence that is driving this poor economy. Yes, we had problems, and we put a safety device in place but it caused a lack of confidence in people and now fear is causing more problems than we started with. t’s like when someone screams fire in a crowded building and everyone panics. They all run for the exits and people get trampled and hurt, even when it’s a false alarm.
We’re being told that we should not panic even after this “black week” of seeing the Dow go down below 9000 for the first time in 5 years. It’s hard not to panic, yet we really have no other choice but to be calm. When you’re in panic mode, someone telling you “don’t panic” just doesn’t always seem to sink in. If you think of this as the same advice they give in any emergency situation, then it makes sense. Fear and panic puts you (and everyone else around you) in harm’s way.
Recessions Can Make Millionaires!
It’s recessions (or crashes) like these that can make millionaires out of investors. If you keep a steady head and refuse to panic you can make money but you have to think long term. Warren Buffet makes his money solely from the stock market and is he letting fear dictate him in this market? No way! Warren just surpassed Bill Gates as being the richest man in the world by making over $8 billion in this past month (earnings from the end of August to October 1.) As Warren has said many times before, all we have to do is think smart and use this and every recession as an opportunity to buy low and sell high just as we are supposed to do. He puts his money where his mouth is and he buys low (but of course low to Warren Buffett can be considered very high to the rest of us! lol) and when he does sell, he sells high. Warren invests for the long term and he doesn’t panic and pull all of his money out of the stock market while it’s down… and neither should we.
Are You Buying HIGH and Selling LOW in the Stock Market?
We all know the first rule to the stock market is to “Buy low, sell high” but historically that’s not what the average individual investor does. Most of us don’t usually make much money in the stock market because we do the EXACT opposite. Individual investors tend to only buy when times are good and they hear how well the stock market is doing in the news. As a result, they make a few bucks here, and a few bucks there but the minute the market goes down, most individual investors actually SELL their stock and get out… so not only do they not make any money in the stock market, they lose money. Then they go back and do the same thing again when times are good and the market goes up. (and it ALWAYS goes up!)
Many people stop putting money into their 401K plans, IRAs, and mutual funds when they hear things are bad in the market. When you do this, you miss out on a great opportunity to be buying stock at a low price which is the whole point of investing. If you keep putting your money into your fund regularly, you’re buying shares in the fund at a low price and that is GOOD! (You’re buying low and you’ll sell high later on!) The worst thing someone can do is to close their 401 or retirement plan just because the market has crashed. Not only do you lock in your losses, you also have to pay the capital gains taxes on those losses, and a 10% penalty on top of that! Wow, talk about a loss…
Don’t act out of fear!
So don’t act out of fear! Keep a level head and know your options. If all of this talk about the stock market really bothers you, then just don’t look at your statements for a while. I know it sounds crazy, but that’s what the experts advise and hey, we really don’t have many other options, do we? If you’re already in the stock market you have to ride it out, and look for opportunities to buy some good stock if you have the money right now because there are deals to be had (and there will be more!). The only other alternative is to take a loss. It’s your money and your choice, but don’t let fear rule your actions
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Professional image for your home business
Like it or not, there is still a segment of the population who
will erroneously conclude that you and your business are
less than professional and competent just because you run
your business out of your home.
Dumb? Obviously. Narrow-minded? Yes. Wrong? Absolutely.
Unfair? No question. Want their business? Well ... yes. OK,
then you're going to have to play the game and beat them at it.
Here's how to do it. It's a little sneaky, but hey, all's fair in love
and home-based business.
HARMLESS FICTIONS
The name of the game is creating the right image ... employing
a few harmless fictions, in other words. First off, incorporate
or register a fictitious business name. Nothing screams
"PROFESSIONAL!" to Potential Client as an honest-to-
goodness corporate or business name on your letterhead and
business cards. Never mind that anyone can spend ten bucks
and register a DBA, it at least *looks* professional, and that's
what counts.
OFFICE ADDRESS
The next problem you have with Potential Client is that
you don't want your home address to give you away.
What do you think looks more professional in Potential
Client's eyes: Blk123 Toa Payoh st 3 #05-18
or 123 Major Blvd, Level 38, Suntec City?
The answer is a serviced office. These don't have to cost a lot
of money if you use them pretty much as a post office but they
CAN give your business all the big-city prestige your potential
client is looking for. You can also use a post office box for
this purpose but many a Potential Client will be on to you in a
flash. They didn't just fall off the turnip truck, you know. (Right.)
An additional advantage is that you can use your serviced
office to meet with Potential Client. After all, the last thing
you want is to have him coming to your REAL office. Heaven
forbid! Most serviced offices will make meeting rooms available
for a flat fee.
TELEPHONES
This is probably the trickiest part of all. How do you know
it's safe to answer the phone in your home office even though
the sounds of your young children playing just outside your
office door will be heard by the caller? You simply don't.
There is a simple way of dealing with this. Only give your
home office number to existing clients. They already know
you are professional and competent and should therefore
have no issue with the fact that you work from home.
For anyone else, give out the number of an answering service
that will answer the call in your business name and can tell
callers that you're in a meeting with another client and take
a message. Your serviced office will offer this service as well.
You can then return the call at a time when you know
tell-tale background noise won't give you away.
In fact, a trick some people who work from home use when
returning calls is to run a tape of office background noise.
This both gives the impression you are working in a large
office AND it masks any slight tell-tale household noises that
may, despite your best efforts, give you away.
Once Potential Client becomes an actual client and you've
proved to his satisfaction that you are professional and
competent, you can tell him that you've decided to start
working out of your home to reduce unnecessary overheads
and give him your direct phone number.
No matter how enlightened your client-base is as a general
rule, it is imperative that the telephone be answered in
a businesslike manner. I don't care how sympathetic,
supportive and admiring your clients are of your decision to
balance your work and family commitments by running a
successful business from home, there is nothing cute
about a five year old answering your business line. It's
unprofessional, not to mention downright annoying.
So have a separate phone line for your business and
lay down the law to your household that no-one, NO-ONE,
is to answer it but you (unless, of course, you're employing
your teenage children in your business in which case they
should be instructed on how to answer the telephone in a
professional manner). If you're away from your office,
divert your calls to your answering service.
EMAIL
Something else to think about is the image of your email
address. Which is Potential Client to consider more
corporate/professional: maryann@isp.com or
m.entrepreneur@mycompanyllc.com?
It's worth spending $35 a year on your own domain name
just for the professional email address, even if you never
intend to create a website. Mind you if you're going to have
your own domain why NOT create your own website? But
that's another article ...
STATIONERY AND PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS
It goes without saying that your stationery, business cards
and other promotional materials should reflect a professional
image. If you have incorporated your business or registered
a fictitious business name as recommended earlier, this is
a good start. A company or business name on letterhead and
business cards can't fail to convey a professional image
provided they are professionally printed on quality stationery
stock.
OFFICE EQUIPMENT
There's no point having quality stationery if you're going
to use a cheap and cheerful inkjet printer for your
correspondence. Invest in a medium quality laser printer
instead. They don't cost a lot of money these days and
you can get a unit that triples as a fax machine and
photocopier for only a few hundred dollars.
So, what do you think? You may be thinking "I wonder
whether it's really worth the effort to try and please just a small
number of potential clients". Is it worth it? Well, look at it this
way. Are these suggestions really anything more than basic,
common sense, professional business practices? Regardless
of what your potential and existing clients may think about
the concept of businesses run out of their owners' homes,
first impressions DO count.
will erroneously conclude that you and your business are
less than professional and competent just because you run
your business out of your home.
Dumb? Obviously. Narrow-minded? Yes. Wrong? Absolutely.
Unfair? No question. Want their business? Well ... yes. OK,
then you're going to have to play the game and beat them at it.
Here's how to do it. It's a little sneaky, but hey, all's fair in love
and home-based business.
HARMLESS FICTIONS
The name of the game is creating the right image ... employing
a few harmless fictions, in other words. First off, incorporate
or register a fictitious business name. Nothing screams
"PROFESSIONAL!" to Potential Client as an honest-to-
goodness corporate or business name on your letterhead and
business cards. Never mind that anyone can spend ten bucks
and register a DBA, it at least *looks* professional, and that's
what counts.
OFFICE ADDRESS
The next problem you have with Potential Client is that
you don't want your home address to give you away.
What do you think looks more professional in Potential
Client's eyes: Blk123 Toa Payoh st 3 #05-18
or 123 Major Blvd, Level 38, Suntec City?
The answer is a serviced office. These don't have to cost a lot
of money if you use them pretty much as a post office but they
CAN give your business all the big-city prestige your potential
client is looking for. You can also use a post office box for
this purpose but many a Potential Client will be on to you in a
flash. They didn't just fall off the turnip truck, you know. (Right.)
An additional advantage is that you can use your serviced
office to meet with Potential Client. After all, the last thing
you want is to have him coming to your REAL office. Heaven
forbid! Most serviced offices will make meeting rooms available
for a flat fee.
TELEPHONES
This is probably the trickiest part of all. How do you know
it's safe to answer the phone in your home office even though
the sounds of your young children playing just outside your
office door will be heard by the caller? You simply don't.
There is a simple way of dealing with this. Only give your
home office number to existing clients. They already know
you are professional and competent and should therefore
have no issue with the fact that you work from home.
For anyone else, give out the number of an answering service
that will answer the call in your business name and can tell
callers that you're in a meeting with another client and take
a message. Your serviced office will offer this service as well.
You can then return the call at a time when you know
tell-tale background noise won't give you away.
In fact, a trick some people who work from home use when
returning calls is to run a tape of office background noise.
This both gives the impression you are working in a large
office AND it masks any slight tell-tale household noises that
may, despite your best efforts, give you away.
Once Potential Client becomes an actual client and you've
proved to his satisfaction that you are professional and
competent, you can tell him that you've decided to start
working out of your home to reduce unnecessary overheads
and give him your direct phone number.
No matter how enlightened your client-base is as a general
rule, it is imperative that the telephone be answered in
a businesslike manner. I don't care how sympathetic,
supportive and admiring your clients are of your decision to
balance your work and family commitments by running a
successful business from home, there is nothing cute
about a five year old answering your business line. It's
unprofessional, not to mention downright annoying.
So have a separate phone line for your business and
lay down the law to your household that no-one, NO-ONE,
is to answer it but you (unless, of course, you're employing
your teenage children in your business in which case they
should be instructed on how to answer the telephone in a
professional manner). If you're away from your office,
divert your calls to your answering service.
Something else to think about is the image of your email
address. Which is Potential Client to consider more
corporate/professional: maryann@isp.com or
m.entrepreneur@mycompanyllc.com?
It's worth spending $35 a year on your own domain name
just for the professional email address, even if you never
intend to create a website. Mind you if you're going to have
your own domain why NOT create your own website? But
that's another article ...
STATIONERY AND PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS
It goes without saying that your stationery, business cards
and other promotional materials should reflect a professional
image. If you have incorporated your business or registered
a fictitious business name as recommended earlier, this is
a good start. A company or business name on letterhead and
business cards can't fail to convey a professional image
provided they are professionally printed on quality stationery
stock.
OFFICE EQUIPMENT
There's no point having quality stationery if you're going
to use a cheap and cheerful inkjet printer for your
correspondence. Invest in a medium quality laser printer
instead. They don't cost a lot of money these days and
you can get a unit that triples as a fax machine and
photocopier for only a few hundred dollars.
So, what do you think? You may be thinking "I wonder
whether it's really worth the effort to try and please just a small
number of potential clients". Is it worth it? Well, look at it this
way. Are these suggestions really anything more than basic,
common sense, professional business practices? Regardless
of what your potential and existing clients may think about
the concept of businesses run out of their owners' homes,
first impressions DO count.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
It is possible to make money from home business
Would you like to earn money by starting your own home-based business? People choose to work from home for several reasons including the desire to stay home with their children, the need for extra income, or simply being dissatisfied with their current job. A home-based business will provide you with an exciting way to earn money and be your own boss. Numerous opportunities are available to internet marketers.
When starting your home-based business you should develop a business plan and research your options thoroughly. Making wise decisions and following your business plan each step of the way can help you in creating a steady stream of income. Operating a home-based business will require hard work and effort. You will not become wealthy over night. It will take determination to succeed as an internet marketer. The amount of money you make will be directly related to the amount of work you are willing to do.
When making your business plan, include both short and long term goals. Determine how you will achieve those goals and put your plan into action. Affiliate programs are excellent home-based business programs and there are numerous other internet marketing offers that will create steady income if you are willing to make the effort. Some of these opportunities may require an initial investment from you and others are advertised as free. Research all internet marketing opportunities carefully to make sure you understand the terms and conditions.
As an internet marketer, you will have to distinguish yourself from the competition if you want to succeed. You should know your target audience and know your competition even better. Do not let self-doubt stop you from accomplishing your goals. Every successful internet marketer gives their business the very best effort possible. Hard work and determination will make your home-based business a success and provide you with a steady stream of income.
Starting a home-based business is one of the most exciting and challenging endeavors you will ever undertake. A sound business plan and the will to succeed will set you apart from the competition. Choose the products or services you provide carefully. Make certain your services will be needed over the long term and make customer service your top priority. A loyal customer base is the key to the success or failure of your home-based business. A home-based business is an excellent way to gain independence and financial freedom. A sound business plan and a strong work ethic are all it takes to succeed.
When starting your home-based business you should develop a business plan and research your options thoroughly. Making wise decisions and following your business plan each step of the way can help you in creating a steady stream of income. Operating a home-based business will require hard work and effort. You will not become wealthy over night. It will take determination to succeed as an internet marketer. The amount of money you make will be directly related to the amount of work you are willing to do.
When making your business plan, include both short and long term goals. Determine how you will achieve those goals and put your plan into action. Affiliate programs are excellent home-based business programs and there are numerous other internet marketing offers that will create steady income if you are willing to make the effort. Some of these opportunities may require an initial investment from you and others are advertised as free. Research all internet marketing opportunities carefully to make sure you understand the terms and conditions.
As an internet marketer, you will have to distinguish yourself from the competition if you want to succeed. You should know your target audience and know your competition even better. Do not let self-doubt stop you from accomplishing your goals. Every successful internet marketer gives their business the very best effort possible. Hard work and determination will make your home-based business a success and provide you with a steady stream of income.
Starting a home-based business is one of the most exciting and challenging endeavors you will ever undertake. A sound business plan and the will to succeed will set you apart from the competition. Choose the products or services you provide carefully. Make certain your services will be needed over the long term and make customer service your top priority. A loyal customer base is the key to the success or failure of your home-based business. A home-based business is an excellent way to gain independence and financial freedom. A sound business plan and a strong work ethic are all it takes to succeed.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
The importance of branding
If you think only big corporate names need to think about things
like brand names, think again. Your brand says a lot about you
and your business, and that's as true for a one person home-
based operation as it is for a multinational conglomerate. In this
article we look at how creating a strong brand for your business
can help you set yourself apart from the pack and lay the right
foundation for the future growth of your business.
WHAT IS A BRAND?
Your brand is more than just the logo on your letterhead and
business cards or your business name. It is your corporate
identity. An effective brand tells the world who you are, what
you do and how you do it, while at the same time establishing
your relevance to and credibility with your prospective customers.
Your brand is also something more ethereal. It is how your
business is perceived by its customers. If your brand has a high
perceived value, you enjoy many advantages over your
competition, especially when it comes to pricing. Why do you
think people are prepared to pay stupid money for items of clothing
with the initials "CK" on them? Perceived value. Perceived value
as a result of very effective brand promotion resulting in very high
brand awareness.
Now, I'm not saying we all need to rush out and start creating
brands that are going to be recognized the world over. Most of us
simply don't have the time or other resources necessary. What I
am suggesting, however, is that it is possible for your brand to
dominate your niche.
WHY DO I NEED TO CREATE MY OWN BRAND?
=> Differentiation
We touched on this in the previous section when we looked at
what a brand is and how it can be used to increase the perceived
value of your products and services. The main reason for creating
your own brand is to differentiate yourself from your competition.
New websites are a dime a dozen. So are home-based
businesses. You need to constantly be looking for ways to set
yourself apart from your competition. Your brand can do that for
you.
=> More Effective, Efficient Marketing
Another good reason for creating your own brand is to make your
sales force (even if that's a sales force of one - you) more effective
and efficient.
Imagine if you didn't have to spend the first 50% of your time with
a new prospect explaining who you are, what you do and how you
do it. What if your brand had already communicated that for you?
You can spend 100% of your time focusing on sales rather than
educating your prospects about your business
Another benefit of branding is that the efforts you expend increasing
your brand awareness through promoting and marketing your brand
to your target market automatically transfers to your products and
services. So, even when you're advertising your brand, you're
indirectly also marketing your products and services.
HOW DO I CREATE MY OWN BRAND?
OK, so you're convinced you need to create your own brand.
Where on earth do you start?
We saw earlier that your brand needs to say who you are, what
you do and how you do it. It needs to do all these things at the
same time as establishing your relevance to and building credibilty
with your prospective customers. Needless to say, it is absolutely
essential, if you are to build your own brand, that *you yourself*
have a firm grasp of who you are, what you do and how you do it.
If not, you're going to have the devil's own time getting that
message across to anyone else, let alone establishing your
relevance and credibility.
=> Write A Mission Statement
So, let's start by creating a mission statement. What is the
mission of your business? Obviously you're in business to make
a profit. But making a profit is a byproduct of a successful
business. Focus instead on how you choose to achieve that profit.
What are your core values?
A good place to begin thinking about your mission is to put
yourself in the shoes of your customers. Put yourself in their
target market. Let's say your business is web hosting. If you're
in the market for a web host, what things are important to you?
Different people will be looking for different benefits but you can
bet that they want their website to be accessible to site visitors so
reliability will be high on their list. Price is also likely to be high
on the list as is 24/7 technical support. What about add-on features
such as unlimited email aliases, cgi support and what-not?
These things will be highly important to some and less important
to others. So focus on the benefits that are likely to be highly
relevant to the majority of your target market. Let's settle for our
purposes on reliability, price and technical support.
Your mission statement might read something like this: "I strive
to earn a fair return on my investment of time and money by
providing affordable webhosting with guaranteed 99% uptime and
24/7 telephone technical support". That's a pretty general
statement and if you decide to focus on a particular niche of the
webhosting market, such as small business, you may want to
more narrowly focus on that group in your mission statement.
Now that you've written your mission statement, you can begin
thinking about creating a brand that reinforces and supports your
mission. So, getting back to the fundamental questions of who
you are, what you do and how you do it, you can now begin to
think of your business in these terms. You're a webhosting
provider, you host websites of small businesses and you do that
by offering cost-effective webhosting solutions, guaranteed 99%
uptime and 24/7 telephone technical support.
When you create your brand, you need to keep the who, what
and how firmly in mind but also use the brand to establish your
relevance to your target market and build credibility with that
market.
Let's turn now to the nuts and bolts of creating your brand.
=> Describe What You Are Branding
List out your business's key features and characteristics, your
competitive advantages and anything else that sets you apart
from your competition.
Using our webhosting example, you'll focus primarily on the
objectives from your mission statement namely, reliable, cost-
effective webhosting solutions supported by 24/7 technical
support.
=> Identify and Describe Your Target Market
Decide whether you want to target lthe entire webhosting
community or only a segment of it such as small business
websites. Describe your market.
=> List Names that Suggest the Key Elements from Your
Mission Statement
The key elements from your mission statement were reliability,
cost-effectiveness and customer service. List names that are
suggestive of these elements. Let's use Reliable Webhosting
for our example. (I don't claim to be a creative genius.)
Don't limit yourself to real words, though. A coined name with no
obvious meaning is a perfectly legitimate name provided it conveys
something about your business. You will find coined names easier
to trademark and secure domain names for too - a definite plus!
=> List Tag Lines that Reinforce Your Mission Statement
We'll use: "Outstanding reliability and technical support at a
price your small business can afford". I know, I know. You can
do much better, I'm sure.
HOW SHOULD I USE MY BRAND?
=> Create a Logo for Your Brand
Your logo is NOT your brand but your logo should allow your
brand to be instantly recognized by those familiar with it. To
this extent, your logo helps create and reinforce brand
awareness.
The logo you create should be able to be used consistently in a
variety of different media. It should be suitable for corporate
letterhead and business cards, as well as for your website and
corporate signage (if any). You do NOT want a confusing
mishmash of logos and banners and heaven knows what else.
Everything you produce needs to use the same, consistent
style of logo so that, over time, your logo becomes synonymous
with your brand. Instant recognition is what you're going for here,
so don't dilute it by using several different logos for different
purposes.
=> Consistent Usage of Company Name, Logo and Tag Line
Going back to our webhosting example, putting the brand name
and tagline together, the physical manifestation of your brand
will be:
RELIABLE WEBHOSTING
Outstanding reliability and technical support at a price
your small business can afford.
To establish brand awareness, this branding needs to be used
consistently and frequently in everything your produce, whether
that be letters to clients, business cards, brochures, quotations,
invoices, advertising, promotion, on your website, on the front
door of your principal place of business and on your products.
And don't forget to be consistent in your use of color schemes.
These can be powerful brand reinforcers.
=> Marketing and Promotion of Your Brand
Once you've created your brand, you need to market and
promote it, in addition to your products and services. This is
how you establish your credibility and relevance to your target
market. You can hopefully see why your brand needs to be
suggestive of your mission statement. If, at the same time as
you're selling your products and services you also push your
brand, your brand becomes synonymous with your products
and services. And vice versa.
A properly descriptive brand and high brand awareness amongst
your target market will allow you to more easily introduce a wider
range of products and services when they're developed without
having to start by again selling who you are, what you do and
how you do it first. Your brand has already presold YOU. Your
job then is to sell your products and services.
like brand names, think again. Your brand says a lot about you
and your business, and that's as true for a one person home-
based operation as it is for a multinational conglomerate. In this
article we look at how creating a strong brand for your business
can help you set yourself apart from the pack and lay the right
foundation for the future growth of your business.
WHAT IS A BRAND?
Your brand is more than just the logo on your letterhead and
business cards or your business name. It is your corporate
identity. An effective brand tells the world who you are, what
you do and how you do it, while at the same time establishing
your relevance to and credibility with your prospective customers.
Your brand is also something more ethereal. It is how your
business is perceived by its customers. If your brand has a high
perceived value, you enjoy many advantages over your
competition, especially when it comes to pricing. Why do you
think people are prepared to pay stupid money for items of clothing
with the initials "CK" on them? Perceived value. Perceived value
as a result of very effective brand promotion resulting in very high
brand awareness.
Now, I'm not saying we all need to rush out and start creating
brands that are going to be recognized the world over. Most of us
simply don't have the time or other resources necessary. What I
am suggesting, however, is that it is possible for your brand to
dominate your niche.
WHY DO I NEED TO CREATE MY OWN BRAND?
=> Differentiation
We touched on this in the previous section when we looked at
what a brand is and how it can be used to increase the perceived
value of your products and services. The main reason for creating
your own brand is to differentiate yourself from your competition.
New websites are a dime a dozen. So are home-based
businesses. You need to constantly be looking for ways to set
yourself apart from your competition. Your brand can do that for
you.
=> More Effective, Efficient Marketing
Another good reason for creating your own brand is to make your
sales force (even if that's a sales force of one - you) more effective
and efficient.
Imagine if you didn't have to spend the first 50% of your time with
a new prospect explaining who you are, what you do and how you
do it. What if your brand had already communicated that for you?
You can spend 100% of your time focusing on sales rather than
educating your prospects about your business
Another benefit of branding is that the efforts you expend increasing
your brand awareness through promoting and marketing your brand
to your target market automatically transfers to your products and
services. So, even when you're advertising your brand, you're
indirectly also marketing your products and services.
HOW DO I CREATE MY OWN BRAND?
OK, so you're convinced you need to create your own brand.
Where on earth do you start?
We saw earlier that your brand needs to say who you are, what
you do and how you do it. It needs to do all these things at the
same time as establishing your relevance to and building credibilty
with your prospective customers. Needless to say, it is absolutely
essential, if you are to build your own brand, that *you yourself*
have a firm grasp of who you are, what you do and how you do it.
If not, you're going to have the devil's own time getting that
message across to anyone else, let alone establishing your
relevance and credibility.
=> Write A Mission Statement
So, let's start by creating a mission statement. What is the
mission of your business? Obviously you're in business to make
a profit. But making a profit is a byproduct of a successful
business. Focus instead on how you choose to achieve that profit.
What are your core values?
A good place to begin thinking about your mission is to put
yourself in the shoes of your customers. Put yourself in their
target market. Let's say your business is web hosting. If you're
in the market for a web host, what things are important to you?
Different people will be looking for different benefits but you can
bet that they want their website to be accessible to site visitors so
reliability will be high on their list. Price is also likely to be high
on the list as is 24/7 technical support. What about add-on features
such as unlimited email aliases, cgi support and what-not?
These things will be highly important to some and less important
to others. So focus on the benefits that are likely to be highly
relevant to the majority of your target market. Let's settle for our
purposes on reliability, price and technical support.
Your mission statement might read something like this: "I strive
to earn a fair return on my investment of time and money by
providing affordable webhosting with guaranteed 99% uptime and
24/7 telephone technical support". That's a pretty general
statement and if you decide to focus on a particular niche of the
webhosting market, such as small business, you may want to
more narrowly focus on that group in your mission statement.
Now that you've written your mission statement, you can begin
thinking about creating a brand that reinforces and supports your
mission. So, getting back to the fundamental questions of who
you are, what you do and how you do it, you can now begin to
think of your business in these terms. You're a webhosting
provider, you host websites of small businesses and you do that
by offering cost-effective webhosting solutions, guaranteed 99%
uptime and 24/7 telephone technical support.
When you create your brand, you need to keep the who, what
and how firmly in mind but also use the brand to establish your
relevance to your target market and build credibility with that
market.
Let's turn now to the nuts and bolts of creating your brand.
=> Describe What You Are Branding
List out your business's key features and characteristics, your
competitive advantages and anything else that sets you apart
from your competition.
Using our webhosting example, you'll focus primarily on the
objectives from your mission statement namely, reliable, cost-
effective webhosting solutions supported by 24/7 technical
support.
=> Identify and Describe Your Target Market
Decide whether you want to target lthe entire webhosting
community or only a segment of it such as small business
websites. Describe your market.
=> List Names that Suggest the Key Elements from Your
Mission Statement
The key elements from your mission statement were reliability,
cost-effectiveness and customer service. List names that are
suggestive of these elements. Let's use Reliable Webhosting
for our example. (I don't claim to be a creative genius.)
Don't limit yourself to real words, though. A coined name with no
obvious meaning is a perfectly legitimate name provided it conveys
something about your business. You will find coined names easier
to trademark and secure domain names for too - a definite plus!
=> List Tag Lines that Reinforce Your Mission Statement
We'll use: "Outstanding reliability and technical support at a
price your small business can afford". I know, I know. You can
do much better, I'm sure.
HOW SHOULD I USE MY BRAND?
=> Create a Logo for Your Brand
Your logo is NOT your brand but your logo should allow your
brand to be instantly recognized by those familiar with it. To
this extent, your logo helps create and reinforce brand
awareness.
The logo you create should be able to be used consistently in a
variety of different media. It should be suitable for corporate
letterhead and business cards, as well as for your website and
corporate signage (if any). You do NOT want a confusing
mishmash of logos and banners and heaven knows what else.
Everything you produce needs to use the same, consistent
style of logo so that, over time, your logo becomes synonymous
with your brand. Instant recognition is what you're going for here,
so don't dilute it by using several different logos for different
purposes.
=> Consistent Usage of Company Name, Logo and Tag Line
Going back to our webhosting example, putting the brand name
and tagline together, the physical manifestation of your brand
will be:
RELIABLE WEBHOSTING
Outstanding reliability and technical support at a price
your small business can afford.
To establish brand awareness, this branding needs to be used
consistently and frequently in everything your produce, whether
that be letters to clients, business cards, brochures, quotations,
invoices, advertising, promotion, on your website, on the front
door of your principal place of business and on your products.
And don't forget to be consistent in your use of color schemes.
These can be powerful brand reinforcers.
=> Marketing and Promotion of Your Brand
Once you've created your brand, you need to market and
promote it, in addition to your products and services. This is
how you establish your credibility and relevance to your target
market. You can hopefully see why your brand needs to be
suggestive of your mission statement. If, at the same time as
you're selling your products and services you also push your
brand, your brand becomes synonymous with your products
and services. And vice versa.
A properly descriptive brand and high brand awareness amongst
your target market will allow you to more easily introduce a wider
range of products and services when they're developed without
having to start by again selling who you are, what you do and
how you do it first. Your brand has already presold YOU. Your
job then is to sell your products and services.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Why do home businesses fail?
Why do so many fail with their home business opportunities? Is it for some of the reasons listed below?
Lack of Training
No Marketing Budget
No clear direction
The wrong company
Poor Sponsor
Free programs
No Time
No Sales
Poor Products or Services
Rejection
1. Lack of Training.
While most home based business companies do have great training "on their products or services" most fail due to the fact that their training is not professional, is not market tested and not focused on business building and skill development. This has lead to a 95% failure rate in this industry with most never earning more then $200 a month.
2. No Marketing Budget.
When would be entrepreneurs are looking for a home business opportunity, they are not thinking about one of the key components of success. This is to create a home business plan. This plan includes a realistic marketing budget. While most home businesses can be started relatively inexpensive compared to a traditional business for just a few hundred dollars vs hundreds of thousands for a traditional business. Still a small home business will take a marketing budget of anywhere from $100 to $300 a month to get your business growing.
3. No Clear direction.
When starting a business you must set your goals. What do you want to accomplish in the first 30 days? In the first 90 Days? Then you must focus on these short term goals, with consistent daily action, to reach these goals. If you focus on long range goals years away, there will not be that sense of urgency to accomplish it.
4. The wrong company.
This is rare but does happen. It really pays to do your due diligence "Information" when investigating any business opportunity. Does it offer a product or service? Is the product good the service exceptional. This industry is a word of mouth business, the internet will not do it all for you. The company may go out of business, this occurs quite often with new start up companies.
5. Poor or absent sponsor.
This does not mean that your business will be a failure or that someone that is new to the business is the wrong choice. Today with the resources for proper business training even having a poor or absent sponsor you can still learn to market and grow your business.
6. Free to Join Businesses.
Most free business will never make you any money unless you and others are moving products and services. Without an investment into a business most people will have no commitment to even work at it.
7. No Time.
Many people work two jobs today to make ends meet. The question is where would you rather spend your time? Working 60 hours a week or more to make someone else's life comfortable or give up a little tv time to produce a secondary income?
8. No Sales.
Here is another big issue with most people wanting to start a home based business. I don't want to sell!!! Then you need the site hotjobs.com. A business is all about sales, the difference is in how you sell. As a home business owner you have to like your products or services to recommend them to someone else. You have to be willing to teach others also how to do this. In a business you need to gather customers and also business partners, its the power of leveraging your time and others.
9. Poor Products or Services
In order to keep any business moving ahead they must offer great products and services. This is probably one of the biggest reasons a business fails. Most large chain stores offer the cheapest products or services they can. The reasoning behind it is they know that most of us will not return the product for a refund. This allows them to sell ineffective products. In a home based business we know more about our products and services, we have our own personal conviction on how good it is.
10. Rejection
Rejection = Success! The fear of rejection can be caused by low self-esteem, the lack of self-confidence. The most successful people in this industry are the ones that receive the most rejection!!! To be successful in all aspects of your life you must not be afraid of rejection. When you plug into proven training offered through a home based business or one of the support companies, in time you will gain the skills and confidence to over come this #1 reason why people fail in home based business opportunities fail.
Lack of Training
No Marketing Budget
No clear direction
The wrong company
Poor Sponsor
Free programs
No Time
No Sales
Poor Products or Services
Rejection
1. Lack of Training.
While most home based business companies do have great training "on their products or services" most fail due to the fact that their training is not professional, is not market tested and not focused on business building and skill development. This has lead to a 95% failure rate in this industry with most never earning more then $200 a month.
2. No Marketing Budget.
When would be entrepreneurs are looking for a home business opportunity, they are not thinking about one of the key components of success. This is to create a home business plan. This plan includes a realistic marketing budget. While most home businesses can be started relatively inexpensive compared to a traditional business for just a few hundred dollars vs hundreds of thousands for a traditional business. Still a small home business will take a marketing budget of anywhere from $100 to $300 a month to get your business growing.
3. No Clear direction.
When starting a business you must set your goals. What do you want to accomplish in the first 30 days? In the first 90 Days? Then you must focus on these short term goals, with consistent daily action, to reach these goals. If you focus on long range goals years away, there will not be that sense of urgency to accomplish it.
4. The wrong company.
This is rare but does happen. It really pays to do your due diligence "Information" when investigating any business opportunity. Does it offer a product or service? Is the product good the service exceptional. This industry is a word of mouth business, the internet will not do it all for you. The company may go out of business, this occurs quite often with new start up companies.
5. Poor or absent sponsor.
This does not mean that your business will be a failure or that someone that is new to the business is the wrong choice. Today with the resources for proper business training even having a poor or absent sponsor you can still learn to market and grow your business.
6. Free to Join Businesses.
Most free business will never make you any money unless you and others are moving products and services. Without an investment into a business most people will have no commitment to even work at it.
7. No Time.
Many people work two jobs today to make ends meet. The question is where would you rather spend your time? Working 60 hours a week or more to make someone else's life comfortable or give up a little tv time to produce a secondary income?
8. No Sales.
Here is another big issue with most people wanting to start a home based business. I don't want to sell!!! Then you need the site hotjobs.com. A business is all about sales, the difference is in how you sell. As a home business owner you have to like your products or services to recommend them to someone else. You have to be willing to teach others also how to do this. In a business you need to gather customers and also business partners, its the power of leveraging your time and others.
9. Poor Products or Services
In order to keep any business moving ahead they must offer great products and services. This is probably one of the biggest reasons a business fails. Most large chain stores offer the cheapest products or services they can. The reasoning behind it is they know that most of us will not return the product for a refund. This allows them to sell ineffective products. In a home based business we know more about our products and services, we have our own personal conviction on how good it is.
10. Rejection
Rejection = Success! The fear of rejection can be caused by low self-esteem, the lack of self-confidence. The most successful people in this industry are the ones that receive the most rejection!!! To be successful in all aspects of your life you must not be afraid of rejection. When you plug into proven training offered through a home based business or one of the support companies, in time you will gain the skills and confidence to over come this #1 reason why people fail in home based business opportunities fail.
Friday, February 15, 2008
So, you've decided to take the plunge and start your own
home-based business. Congratulations! You're on your way
to true financial independence. Protect your business and
your livelihood by making sure you have paid proper
attention to the following:
1. Cash Flow
Do you have adequate working capital to support your
business (to support you!)during its early stages? Have you
started your business part-time while continuing to work
full-time to make sure it is a viable income producer for
you and that income is adequate for your needs? DON'T give
up your day job until you can give an unequivocal YES to
these questions.
2. Business Licensing
Have you obtained all necessary licenses and registrations
for your business? Do you comply with ACRA and governemnt agencies
regulations? This is especially important for both legal and
insurance reasons if you expect to have clients visit your
home office.
3. Insurance
If you expect to have clients visit your home office, have
you taken out insurance in case they are injured on your
premises? Your normal homeowner's insurance will NOT cover
business visitors unless you notify your insurance company
that you are operating a business from home and the insurance
company endorses your policy to include this risk.
In all other cases you should take out a separate policy
to cover your business visitors. In this regard, whether
you comply with local zoning regulations may be important.
Your insurance company may refuse to cover you if you are
conducting your business illegally. For these reasons it
is imperative that you obtain all proper registrations and
licenses for your business.
Another type of insurance you should take out is public
risk insurance. No matter the nature of your business,
if you are dealing with other people (and what business
isn't?), you should have public risk insurance to cover you
in case of a claim for negligence.
A third type of insurance to consider is income protection
insurance. If you have made the transition from paid
employment to self-employment, you no longer have the
benefits that went along with your paid job which may have
included disability or income protection insurance. You will
need to purchase this cover for yourself.
4. Benefits
Once you have left the paid workforce, you may find that you
have also left behind your medical, dental and optical
benefits. You need to make sure you purchase adequate
insurance for these expenses.
5. Accounting and Tax Advice
The best time to seek accounting and tax advice is before
you start your new business. Your accountant will be able
to advise you about things such as the most tax-effective
structure for your particular business and what types of
expenses you can claim against your business income. It is
important to obtain this advice at the beginning of your
business venture so you know exactly what records you should
be keeping and whether it is best for you to purchase or
rent capital equipment such as your computer.
6. Time Management
Make sure you have thought through how you will deal with
the day to day distractions that will come up when you work
from home and plan accordingly. For example, if you know
you will not be working from 3:00 pm until 8:00 pm because
this is the time between when your children return from
school and when they go to bed, try to schedule as many
non-business activities for this time period as possible
rather than taking breaks during your business hours. Need
milk? Get it when you're out picking the kids up from
school, not at 11:00 am because it's easier than starting
that new webpage. Remember, self-discipline is your best
friend and vital when working from home. Procrastination,
on the other hand, is your greatest enemy.
Working from home is the dream of many. Don't let that
dream turn to ashes by overlooking the "basics" of sound
business and risk management.
home-based business. Congratulations! You're on your way
to true financial independence. Protect your business and
your livelihood by making sure you have paid proper
attention to the following:
1. Cash Flow
Do you have adequate working capital to support your
business (to support you!)during its early stages? Have you
started your business part-time while continuing to work
full-time to make sure it is a viable income producer for
you and that income is adequate for your needs? DON'T give
up your day job until you can give an unequivocal YES to
these questions.
2. Business Licensing
Have you obtained all necessary licenses and registrations
for your business? Do you comply with ACRA and governemnt agencies
regulations? This is especially important for both legal and
insurance reasons if you expect to have clients visit your
home office.
3. Insurance
If you expect to have clients visit your home office, have
you taken out insurance in case they are injured on your
premises? Your normal homeowner's insurance will NOT cover
business visitors unless you notify your insurance company
that you are operating a business from home and the insurance
company endorses your policy to include this risk.
In all other cases you should take out a separate policy
to cover your business visitors. In this regard, whether
you comply with local zoning regulations may be important.
Your insurance company may refuse to cover you if you are
conducting your business illegally. For these reasons it
is imperative that you obtain all proper registrations and
licenses for your business.
Another type of insurance you should take out is public
risk insurance. No matter the nature of your business,
if you are dealing with other people (and what business
isn't?), you should have public risk insurance to cover you
in case of a claim for negligence.
A third type of insurance to consider is income protection
insurance. If you have made the transition from paid
employment to self-employment, you no longer have the
benefits that went along with your paid job which may have
included disability or income protection insurance. You will
need to purchase this cover for yourself.
4. Benefits
Once you have left the paid workforce, you may find that you
have also left behind your medical, dental and optical
benefits. You need to make sure you purchase adequate
insurance for these expenses.
5. Accounting and Tax Advice
The best time to seek accounting and tax advice is before
you start your new business. Your accountant will be able
to advise you about things such as the most tax-effective
structure for your particular business and what types of
expenses you can claim against your business income. It is
important to obtain this advice at the beginning of your
business venture so you know exactly what records you should
be keeping and whether it is best for you to purchase or
rent capital equipment such as your computer.
6. Time Management
Make sure you have thought through how you will deal with
the day to day distractions that will come up when you work
from home and plan accordingly. For example, if you know
you will not be working from 3:00 pm until 8:00 pm because
this is the time between when your children return from
school and when they go to bed, try to schedule as many
non-business activities for this time period as possible
rather than taking breaks during your business hours. Need
milk? Get it when you're out picking the kids up from
school, not at 11:00 am because it's easier than starting
that new webpage. Remember, self-discipline is your best
friend and vital when working from home. Procrastination,
on the other hand, is your greatest enemy.
Working from home is the dream of many. Don't let that
dream turn to ashes by overlooking the "basics" of sound
business and risk management.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Some helpful tips for your Home Business
When starting out on your path to financial independence and freedom from the rat race that a Home Business can provide, there is some conventional pieces of wisdom to consider to help guide you from those that have gone on this journey before you. While you will probably blaze a trail in a way that is unique in it's own way, there are nonetheless some tips that can help anyone that is starting their own business. The first tip regards your taxes: Be careful that you do not over deduct. A good rule of thumb is that deducting expenses which are equal to around 60 percent of your income, or more, may be inviting a tax audit. Another important thing to remember in this vein is that if you employ anyone, be sure to pay all the applicable taxes. You must pay unemployment tax, Social Security and Medicare, and of course withhold federal and state income tax. Another tax tip is to be aware of offer-in-compromise. If you are behind on your personal income taxes, you may be able to get caught up fairly easily with this program. If you are just starting your business and are not a Corporation, you are well advised to form one, in my firm opinion. There are too many tax advantages not to and perhaps more importantly, you cut down your personal liability to virtually zero. Just talk to a competent professional about which type of corporate entity is best for your needs. When choosing where to incorporate, The majority of Home Businesses are advised to incorporate in a State in which they do the greatest part of their business. Out-of-State incorporation usually results in additional taxes and/or fees. But not setting up a corporation is perhaps one of the the biggest mistakes you can make. As previously mentioned, a corporation is your shield from personal liability and business debts.
Another important facet of success for your Home Business is to have a Mission Statement. This is like your business philosophy, ultimate goal, and long term plan rolled into one. It will be your guiding light and motivation in dark times. One way to look at a Mission Statement is to consider it the spiritual side of your business. All entities have (or should have) spirits, including your Business. Just do it. A Mission Statement for a real estate development business could be "To provide affordable housing to the maximum number of people", for example. Businesses that have clear goals and a clear mission Statement have a better chance of success than businesses that do not, in my opinion. Remember that once you write out your mission statement, it is not set in stone. You can take it out and modify it from time to time. Have a meeting with the other members of your business and decide which Mission Statement is right for you.
Another important facet of success for your Home Business is to have a Mission Statement. This is like your business philosophy, ultimate goal, and long term plan rolled into one. It will be your guiding light and motivation in dark times. One way to look at a Mission Statement is to consider it the spiritual side of your business. All entities have (or should have) spirits, including your Business. Just do it. A Mission Statement for a real estate development business could be "To provide affordable housing to the maximum number of people", for example. Businesses that have clear goals and a clear mission Statement have a better chance of success than businesses that do not, in my opinion. Remember that once you write out your mission statement, it is not set in stone. You can take it out and modify it from time to time. Have a meeting with the other members of your business and decide which Mission Statement is right for you.
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