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A Home-Based Business Online IN THIS ISSUE 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 8. 10. 1. Hello again and a warm welcome to all the new subscribers who have joined us since the last issue! In this week's issue I've included a new occasional section, "AHBBO Recommends". It's at segment 4. In this segment, I want to introduce you to a couple of genuine opportunities that are well worth your investment of time and effort to check out. I know how difficult it is to find the time to wade through all the hype that hits your inbox each week looking for the occasional, oh-so-rare gold nugget. Special thanks to Cathy Bryant at HomeBizJunction () who brought these opportunities to my attention. This week's article is all about freelancing. What's the difference between freelancing and a home-based business? Beats me. So, if you're thinking about a home-based business and have a particular talent or skill that you think you could make a living at by freelancing, this article is for you. As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this week's issue. Remember, this ezine is for YOU! If you have comments or suggestions for topics you would like to see addressed, or would just like to share your experiences with other subscribers, I want to hear from you! Please send comments, questions and stories to Contact By Email . 2. Rubber stamps are one of the necessities of a mail order business. You need to have at least a rubber stamp with your name and address on it, not only for envelopes, but also for commission circulars and ad sheets that you co- publish. Other rubber stamps you may want to have on hand are ones that say, in large block letters, things like "SPECIAL!!!," "ORDER NOW!," etc. If you read ad sheet and mail order publications, you may see dealers selling rubber stamps. How are they doing this? There are three ways to sell rubber stamps. The first, and easiest, is to act as a broker for a rubber stamp producer. This is similar to being a printing broker. Contact a stamp maker in your area, and outline your plans for selling rubber stamps by mail. Explain that this will add business for him that he wouldn't otherwise get. The stamp maker should offer a commission to you (or free stamps) for taking orders. Then, advertise your stamp-making business in ad sheets and other publications that mail-order dealers regularly read. When you receive an order, take your commission off the top and forward the rest with the order to the stamp maker. The second way is to produce the stamps yourself. This is something you can set up in your basement or a spare room. Spread the word around the printers in your area that you are looking for used rubber stamp making equipment. If you can, find someone who is currently in the business who is thinking of getting out. Learn the process from them, and you can probably get good terms on the equipment. The third way can be done if you have a computer and laser printer, or access to one. Anything you can print on your laser printer can be made into a stamp in 20 minutes by a special "Polly Stamp" machine. It uses a light sensitive rubber -like liquid resin and is very easy to use. You can get a good refurbished unit for under $500. Rubber stamps are a vital tool for mail order dealers. If you offer this service, you will greatly expand your customer base. Be sure to send your latest and best offers with the customer's stamp, and you'll get even more orders. ----- There are many more ideas like this at the AHBBO Home Business Ideas page at free home based business ideas with more being added all the time. 3. © 2017 Elena Fawkner What's the difference between running your own home-based business and freelancing? (tick, tick, tick ...) Give up? Me too. If you want to work for yourself from home and have a special talent or skill that you think others would be prepared to pay for on an hourly or per-project basis, why not stop thinking in terms of the traditional "home business" paradigm and start thinking in terms of freelancing instead? WHAT IS A FREELANCER? Quite simply, a freelancer is an independent contractor who earns his or her living by contracting for projects on a project by project basis. A freelancer is not an employee of anyone and so he or she must actively seek out work, negotiate the terms and conditions of the project (the contract) and complete the work to the satisfaction of the client. Once the project is complete, the freelancer seeks out and enters into another contract for another project. Alternatively, the freelancer may have obligations under a number of different contracts with different clients at the one time. Another variation involves the freelancer producing work and then seeking buyers for that work. A freelance writer of magazine articles, for example, would fall into this category. WHO HIRES A FREELANCER? Those who hire freelancers are as diverse as freelancers themselves. In some cases, companies will hire freelancers to complete a short-term project as an alternative to hiring a new employee. This is often the case where the work in question is spasmodic or ad hoc and the company cannot justify hiring an employee for such work. Companies also hire freelancers to help smooth out the peaks and troughs of workload. Again, where there is a temporary oversupply of work, the company will hire the freelancer on a short-term basis to help cope with the backlog. In other cases, companies hire freelancers for their special expertise in a certain area. A company may want to create a new website, for example. Hiring a freelance website designer for such a project makes more sense than hiring a website designer as an employee since once the website is complete, the function will no longer be required. Magazine and newspaper editors also hire freelancers or, more precisely, buy rights to freelancers' work. A freelancer in this type of situation may write a piece and submit it to a number of different editors in the hope that his or her work will be "picked up" by that editor and published, in return for which the freelancer receives payment. By its nature, such an approach is speculative since the freelancer can't be sure that anyone will actually buy the work. Of course, once the freelancer has been published, it is relatively easier to get the editor to buy the freelancer's work in the future and, as the freelancer's reputation grows, so too do the opportunities for future business. WHAT QUALIFICATIONS DOES A FREELANCER NEED? To be financially successful, a freelancer obviously needs marketable skills. A freelancer therefore needs the same qualifications, skills and talents as someone who had been hired as an employee to do the job would need. In other words, if you are seeking work as a freelance website designer, you must possess the same skills and qualifications that a full-time employee website designer would possess. IS A FREELANCER RUNNING A BUSINESS? In short, yes. If you do not have an employer, if you have to source your own work and negotiate your own terms, if you have to chase payment, if you have to pay your own taxes (i.e. no one is withholding them from your check), you are, in essence, self-employed. Ergo, you are running your own business. There are a number of consequences you need to think about. The first is taxation. You need to set aside from every payment you receive an amount sufficient to cover your state and federal taxes on the income you receive. Likewise, you need to keep proper books and records so you can claim the deductions and expenses you are entitled to as a self-employed person. As a freelancer, like any independent contractor, you will also be expected to provide your own equipment and supplies. If you are a website designer, you need to have your own computer, software and other tools of the trade. The party hiring you will not provide this stuff for you. Similarly, if you are a freelance editor, you will be expected to have all the reference materials and style books, word processing programs and other sundry items any editor would need to do the job. From a legal point of view, you should also give some thought to the legal entity of your business. Will you be a sole proprietor or will you incorporate? If you incorporate, will you choose S-corporation status? There are important tax consequences of each of these alternatives so be sure to get advice from your accountant before starting. Think also about what licenses you may need as well as insurance (health, life and liability depending on the nature of the work). WHERE DOES A FREELANCER FIND WORK? OK, onto the nitty gritty. You've decided to start work as a freelance website designer. You have the appropriate qualifications, training, experience and equipment and you've consulted your accountant to determine the most tax-effective business structure and your lawyer to set up your new company and advise you in relation to issues such as business licenses and fictitious business names. You're ready to hang out your shingle. Now what? => Approach Your Warm Market Start with who you know. Where did you get your website design experience? If it was with an employer, consider whether that employer may not be a source of business for you. That will obviously depend on the circumstances under which you parted company but if you left on good terms and didn't burn any bridges on your way out, by all means contact your former employer and let him or her know that you are now in business for yourself and ready, willing and able to take on new projects. If possible, get a reference or testimonial too. That will come in handy when it comes to touting for new business from strangers. Next, turn to your network of business associates you developed while working for your former employer. Note, we're NOT talking about clients of your former employer, rather your own network of colleagues. Contact them and let them know about your new venture and your availability for project work. Be extremely cautious about approaching clients of your former employer if your current business puts you in even indirect competition with that employer. You may be constrained from approaching former clients if you signed a non-compete covenant in your employment contract, for example. => Create Brochure/Resume Go to the time and expense at this stage to prepare some sort of resume of your experience and services. Get this professionally printed as a brochure and send it, together with your business card, to your former employer and colleagues as a follow-up to your conversation. By giving them something tangible about you, it is more likely that you will come to mind when next they have a need for your services. If you've already provided them with your brochure/resume, when the time comes, the person concerned will think "hey, Joe's doing this sort of thing now. Where's that information he sent? Oh, here it is. I'll give him a call and see if it's something he might be able to do for us." => Approach Your Cold Market Once you've approached your so-called "warm market", it's time to start on the cold. Start by gathering up a list of businesses in your local area or industry that you think would have use of your services. Prepare a letter of introduction and send it, together with your business card, to your list of prospects. Your letter of introduction should make if very clear why you are writing. Identify yourself and the specific skills that may appeal to the reader and why. Follow up in a week with a telephone call to make sure the materials arrived safely. If the other person is approachable, try and strike up a conversation about what you could do for the business. Otherwise, thank the person for their time, ask them to keep you in mind for future work and calendar to contact them again in 30 days' time. Continue to work your market like this. Remember, persistence pays off. Don't be discouraged if you receive little warmth or interest in response to your approaches to your cold market. It takes time and persistence. Just don't take it personally. A good way to approach it is to tackle a fixed number per day. Start out by making a list of, say, 300 businesses you want to approach. Develop your list from the Yellow Pages, local library and the web to start with. Calendar to approach 10 businesses a day for the next 30 days. That means ten calls a day, followed by 10 letters of introduction (together with a copy of your brochure/resume and business card) and a follow up phone call a week later. Where there is interest, you may be able to schedule a meeting. Where there is no interest, schedule for a further follow up call in 30 days. If there is still no interest, schedule for a further call in 90 days. Or maybe you would prefer to do something else to stay in contact. A good way is to publish a newsletter for your clients and colleagues. Make it relevant to the recipient and it's a good way of keeping your name in front of your prospects. A quarterly newsletter is probably frequent enough. Send it, with another of your business cards, to your list and, over time, you will see that it will start paying off in the form of business. => Samples Another idea to think about is to produce a set of samples of your work; a portfolio if you will. Make 8.5 x 11 copies of your work and keep them in an artist's portfolio for presentations when you're able to arrange face to face meetings with potential clients. => Advertising and Promotion Next comes advertising. If you're a website designer, possibly your best advertisement is your own website. But don't stop there. Advertise in the publications your target market reads. Another good way to generate business is to join associations and groups affiliated with your industry. Chambers of Commerce are a good place to make handy contacts. You will probably find that in the early stages of your freelance career you spend more time marketing yourself and your services than you spend actually working. There's a financial cost to that, of course. How do you finance your marketing if you don't have any money coming in? For this reason, the early days will be lean and mean. Make sure you have the financial wherewithall to survive this period. HOW DOES A FREELANCER MAKE MONEY? You will only make money as a freelancer if you charge more that it costs you to do the work in terms of your time, expenses and materials. Factor in a profit component to every job you quote for and make sure that that profit component is in ADDITION to an allowance for your time. For more on pricing your services, see "Pricing Yourself To Get and Stay In Business", at http://www.ahbbo.com/pricing.html . Some freelancers charge by the hour and others by the project. In reality, you will probably use a combination of both methods depending on the nature of the job and the client. You can get an idea of current market rates by surveying your competitors. Don't be obvious about it though; competitors are, naturally enough, reluctant to divulge information about their businesses to their competitors. So you'll probably need to employ a bit of subterfuge here by posing as a potential customer, for example. In fact, it's in your legal interests that your competition doesn't give you pricing information if it knows you're a competitor. Such conduct can be construed as price fixing which can land both of you in extremely hot water. So, keep it safe and use circuitous methods of obtaining pricing information from competitors. PROTECTING YOURSELF A question often asked by freelancers is "do I need a contract?". Well, to start with, once you've negotiated a deal with a new client you have a contract. The question is whether it's oral or in writing. An oral contact is just as enforceable as a written one but the problem becomes one of proof. How do you prove the terms of your contract if all you have is one person's word against another's? For this reason, a written contract is always a good idea. It needn't be anything too elaborate. In fact, even an exchange of letters will do. Just be sure to include the basic terms: => Describe the job What must you do to perform the contract? Be as specific as possible here and try not to be open-ended. "Create a website for client" is too vague. What would you do if the client came back after you'd finished and said, "but there's no shopping cart, there's no feedback form?" and you hadn't quoted your time for these things in striking the price? Better to say, "Create website at client's direction consisting of (a) home page; (b) products and services page; (c) order page; (d) shopping cart and (e) feedback form". By requiring the client to be very specific about what it is they want from their website, how they want it to look etc. you can go a long way to avoiding misunderstandings caused by vagueness. => Set the price State in unequivocal terms the price you are to receive for the job. This can be either a project cost such as $5,000 or an hourly rate such as "$150 hour or part thereof; minimum of ten (10) hours" or whatever. => State time for performance Performance means not only when you will complete your part of the bargain (i.e. delivering the completed website to the client) but when the client must complete his or hers (i.e. by paying you). FROM THE COAL FACE Here's what real-life freelancers have to say about the freelance life ... => Once you leave the workforce and start freelancing, it can be very difficult to get back in and the older you are the harder it is. Once you've been out of corporate life for any length of time, the more likely it is that employers, rightly or wrongly, will see you as not "corporate" enough to fit back into the traditional 9 to 5 routine. => Isolation and loneliness. No surprise there. It's the same bugaboo that anyone working alone from home must face. For ways of overcoming the isolation monster, see "Overcoming Isolation In Your Home Business" at Overcoming Isolation In Your Home Business . => Procrastination. Again, a common problem for many who work from home without a boss to crack the whip. For ways of overcoming procrastination, see "Overcoming Procrastination In Your Home Business" at Overcoming Procrastination In Your Home Business . => Hard times with no checks in sight. => Pay is usually better. A very good freelancer can generally do much better than the average employee doing the same work but it takes time to develop a reputation that people are prepared to pay a premium for. => You have to chase payment. Not everyone is going to pay you merely because you tender your invoice so be prepared to have to spend precious time chasing payment from slow payers. For more on getting paid see "Getting Paid ... Minimizing Bad Debts In Your Home Business". It's at Getting Paid . => If you don't like cold-calling, selling and marketing yourself, freelancing is not for you. A good proportion of your time will be spent doing exactly that. When you think of all the things the freelancer must do to generate business and income, it quickly becomes apparent that freelancing is really just another term for working for oneself. It brings with it the same challenges and opportunities as any home business and really doesn't introduce anything new to the mix. Hopefully, though, this article may have got you thinking about YOUR skills and talents and how they could form the basis of a home business of your own. For all you know, you may not need to go out and find widgets to sell to start your own business. Start with what's already in your own head and everything else will surely follow. ------ use the autoresponder copy which contains a resource box; and (2) you leave the resource box intact. 4. 1. You should by now have received a special mailing from me on this. I mention it again here to remind you to check it out if you haven't yet. Costs US$88 to join and all you have to do is refer four others within 72 hours and you will receive A$10 for each and every member who is added to your matrix (a forced 3 x 10). If it takes you 7 days to refer your four, your commission drops down to A$5 per member. If you can't refer 4 within 7 days, you'll have to be content with A$1 for each member, or A$80,000. This program gives you the potential to build a list of 80,000 email addresses (just think what YOU could do with a list of that size!). Once you've referred your four, that's all you need to do. Brought to you by the creators of Links2U. Have to hand it to Aussies, don't you? Such entrepreneurial spirits. :) 2. OK, here's a great business opportunity out there for those of you who enjoy, or think you would enjoy, network marketing. Thinking to yourself, "Not MLM!"? Think again. If you have a negative stereotype of MLM (multi-level marketing programs), at least take the time to learn about both sides of the argument. Here's a link to an article I wrote on MLM a while back, "Not MLM! ... Why Ever Not?": MLM Businesses . Here's the lowdown on the CCC program: 1. Costs $9.95 to join. For that, you get a start up package which includes camera ready materials and a 1/4 pound candy sample. 2. You have to purchase products - this is MLM, NOT a pyramid scheme, people! You have to spend $30 a month on product in order to earn your commissions. In the above MLM article, I wrote: "More likely than not, you will have to commit to purchasing a certain volume of product each month to remain eligible to participate in the program. Be sure you understand your monthly financial commitment going in. And, while you're at it, make sure that what you'll be buying is a quality product that you have a genuine interest in purchasing. If you're just going to stash it away in a cupboard somewhere, look around until you find a product that you actually want and will use." The product, in this case, is candy. And very GOOD candy too. So, decide for yourself, is this a product that you actually want and will use? Hmmm ... I thought so. ;) 3. You have to WORK. If that puts you off, stop reading now. If not, then you'll be happy to learn that as part of the system you receive a 30 day training course, one instalment a day. It leads you step by step through what you need to do to ramp up your business and start marking money ... FAST. Although a lot of the promotional and advertising resources are free, you WILL need to spend money on advertising. That's the nature of business ... any business. 4. Now, let's talk payout. Payout on the program is 70% over three levels - 40%, 20% and 10% with up to an additional 15% profit sharing bonus. 5. Other factors to take into consideration: => Products that people actually WANT, not that they are forced to order. => An established, reputable business. These people have been in business since 1983 and started network marketing in 1996. => You get a free website to promote that includes a chat room as well as a forum where you can obtain additional help and support. This free website, along with the 30 day marketing training course, provides a simple system that has brought in more than 50,000 distributors. => Same financial rating as Nestle & Hershey (Dunn & Bradstreet). => I will be developing a separate area of the AHBBO site just for members of my CCC downline. Unlike many other sponsors who leave you in the lurch when you join a program under them, I will actively work with you to build your business. After all, your success is my success! If this sounds like an opportunity to you, you can find out more by visiting my Cajun Country Candies website. Click here: 5. TIP #1: Tested on Windows 98 and above... A cool way to switch between tasks is to hold down the Alt button and press the tab key. A small box will appear showing the various programs that are running on your computer. You just keep hitting the tab key to move through them, then release the Tab and Alt keys to move to that new program. This method allows you to keep your hands on the keyboard instead of reaching for the mouse to switch between programs. The stuff you see to the right of the taskbar is not included in the list when you do the Alt-tab thing. TIP #2: Create instant access to your favorite websites. Using IE or Netscape, visit a web page. Once the page has loaded in your browser, drag the blue "e" using IE out of the address bar and drop it on your desktop. An icon will be created with the title of the page in it. Using Netscape, drag the 'Location' item to the left of the address (URL) and drop it on the desktop. The same thing will happen: an icon will be created with the name of the page as its title. ------ Tips by Tom Glander and Joe Robson of The Newbie Club. The best Newbie Site ever to hit the Web. 6. Bina Omar writes: "Hi Elena, "I've just finished creating my first proper website. I've been playing around with designing websites since 1995. But I never really had anything to create a website about. So, it was just a matter of playing around. "As a stay at home mom, I sometimes have a lot of time in my hands. I don't really have normal mom hobbies - cooking, sewing, gardening etc. But I've always had a passion for computers. Ever since I was eight. And later the internet. "I'm one of those who loves to learn about stuff but have nothing to apply the knowledge to. In the end, I just decided to create a site where I collect all the things I've learnt and share with others like myself. And along the way I discovered that affiliate programs can actually be a comfortable income stream. Hee! Hee! An extra bonus. Cheers, Bina." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you want your site seen by thousands, write and tell me about it! But make sure it's one you've created yourself or have had created especially for you. No self-replicating affiliate sites please. 8. Subscription Management To SUBSCRIBE to this Newsletter:
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