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A Home-Based Business Online
_______________________________________________________________
Practical home business ideas, opportunities
and solutions for the work-from-home
entrepreneur
Issue 137 : June 17, 2002
Sent to 13,498 Opt-In Subscribers
Editor: Elena Fawkner
Publisher: Fawkner Publishing
http://www.ahbbo.com
Contact By Email
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IN THIS ISSUE
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1. Welcome and Update from Elena
2. Home Business Idea of the Week
3. Feature Article - When Worlds Collide
4. Surveys and Trends
5. Success Quote of the Week
6. Advertise with AHBBO
7. Subscription Management
8. Caveat Emptor
9. Contact Information
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1. Welcome and Update from Elena
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Hello again and a warm welcome to all the new subscribers
who have joined us since the last issue.
This week's article is about the importance of keeping your
business and personal lives separate when working from
home and how to keep your worlds from colliding. "When
Worlds Collide" is at segment 3.
As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this
week's issue.
Remember, AHBBO 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 .
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2. Home Business Idea of the Week - Online Copywriter
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Here's a business idea for those of you out there who are
good at putting words together. Why not refine that skill
by learning what it takes to be a good copywriter in the
online environment and offering your services to those in
need of such a service? After all, there are plenty of them
out there.
There are many, many resources for learning about copywriting
online, some free, some not. When you start your research
you'll quickly learn the common denominator - AIDA - Attention,
Interest, Desire, Action. Master the AIDA principle as it applies
to online copywriting and you will be well placed to offer a
valuable service to internet marketers without the time, ability
or inclination to master the skill of effective copywriting for
themselves.
You'll find as you progress in your research that copywriting
for the online environment is a very different proposition to
what works in the offline world. One major difference is that
your copywriting has to be geared with the search engines in
mind. Anyone looking to you to create copy for a home page
will, even if they don't express their needs in these terms, be
expecting that the copy you produce will be written not only
to grab and keep the attention of the reader and motivate him
or her to action, but also to optimize the page for search
engine purposes. This means understanding the importance of
keywords and how to write keyword-rich copy without
compromising the effectiveness of the message of the copy.
This can be tricky.
For this reason, your greatest investment in this business will
be the time you need to spend to equip yourself with the
necessary skills to be an effective online copywriter. Once
you have this skill mastered, however, it's simply a matter of
creating your own website (which, of course, will be a shining
example of the quality of your work) and generating publicity.
In terms of what you can offer from your website, consider in
addition to copy for webpages, add-on services such as
drafting of sales letters for use by your clients in their
autoresponder marketing campaigns, preparation of press
releases and a classified ad service. You may then want to
extend your reach to more general site promotion areas such
as optimization of existing webpages for improvement in
search engine rankings to a fully-fledged promotion service.
-----
This is just one of over 130 ideas from the new "Practical
Home Business Ideas From AHBBO" e-book. Find out more at
http://www.ahbbo.com/ideasbook.html .
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Start your own on-line recruitment agency / Jobsite with
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advertisements and automate the recruitment process.
WorldPay integration is included for on-line payments, so you
can start making money from selling jobs and advertisements.
See http://mocv.magicobject.com/ for a demonstration.
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3. Feature Article: When Worlds Collide
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© 2002 Elena Fawkner
For many people, working from home sounds like an ideal
arrangement. You don't have to waste time commuting to
and from the office, you can be home for your children
when they come home from school, you don't have to
answer to anyone but yourself and you can work the hours
that suit YOU, not your boss. All very well in theory.
On the other side of the coin, though, are the challenges
of working from home. Working your own hours all too often
means working all hours if you don't set a workday schedule,
while rowdy children can become an almighty challenge
when you need to present a professional image to the
prospective client you're speaking with on the telephone.
The fundamental key to a successful transition to a home-
based business is to keep your business and personal lives
as separate as possible. Decide up front how many (and
which) hours of the day you're going to allocate to your
business and stick to this schedule. What you don't get
done during today's business hours can and should wait
until tomorrow. Don't succumb to the temptation of allowing
your business to encroach on your personal and family time.
One effective way to keep your business and personal lives
separate is to have separate areas of the house for each. If
at all possible, allocate a room of your house or apartment
exclusively as your business office. Make sure that all
members of your family understand that when you're in that
room, you're working and not available except in an
emergency. Likewise, don't use that room for any non-work
activity such as a TV room (this is also an important point
if you intend to claim your home office as a tax deduction).
By strictly separating areas in this way, you'll reinforce in
your mind (and the minds of other family members) that
your office is a place of business and is to be treated as
such. Just as your family will learn to respect these boundaries,
it will also help you to "switch off" at the end of your work
day if you can literally shut the door of your office and return
"home" to your family.
There is one temptation that, if indulged, can easily blur the
line between your business and personal lives. That's
attending to non-business tasks during the hours you have
allocated to business. Avoid leaving your office to run a load
of laundry, unload the dishwasher, clean the bathroom or
organize the kitchen cabinets ... any of the myriad of things
that can assume an almost overwhelming urgency in the face
of that business task you're putting off starting. These sorts
of distractions will only serve to keep you in your office much
longer than necessary.
Another important tip for keeping your two worlds separate
is to have separate business telephone, modem and fax lines.
Do NOT allow your children to answer your business phone.
You may think it's adorable but trust me, it isn't. It's
annoying. Arrange for a voicemail service to take your
business calls during your non-business hours. Similarly, when
you're working, try to ensure your children are otherwise
occupied when you make business calls. The last thing you
need when trying to convince that prospective new client
that you should win his account is a screaming five year old
right next to you.
If you have very young children, hire a sitter for the times
of the day or week when you know you'll be conducting
business on the telephone. If you have older children,
deputize one or more of them to occupy younger siblings.
You might want to pay your 'deputy' for this service as a
way for him or her to earn some income or pocket money.
The money you spend on sitting services will be more than
offset by the new business you'll win as a result of the
professional image you will be able to project to prospective
and existing clients and customers.
As important as it is to choose for your business something
you love to do, don't allow your business to take you away
from your family. After all, your family was likely one of
the primary reasons you decided to work from home in the
first place.
It is one thing to be present physically. It is quite another
to be present mentally and emotionally. The more rounded
you are as a person, the more you bring to the table both
personally and professionally. The enjoyable activities you
engage in in your non-business hours can energize your
business life. So, instead of thinking about the work you
could be doing on Sunday when you're at the beach, think
of the fun you have on that day as an investment in your
business for the coming week.
Give 100% of yourself to work during the time allocated to
work. Then shut the door on it. Your family deserves 100%
too.
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** Reprinting of this article is welcome! **
This article may be freely reproduced provided that: (1) you
include the following resource box; and (2) you only mail to
a 100% opt-in list.
Here's the resource box to use if reprinting this article:
------
Elena Fawkner is editor of A Home-Based Business Online ...
practical business ideas, opportunities and solutions for the
work-from-home entrepreneur.
http://www.ahbbo.com
_______________________________________________________________
Learn How To Start and Manage Your Own Profitable Online
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Discover the secrets of successful web marketing, search engine
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_______________________________________________________________
4. Surveys and Trends
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© 2002 Ryanna's Hope
=> PRIORITIES AND REALITIES
US ADULTS STILL BELIEVE FREEDOM IS KEY
Harris Interactive polled over 2,000 US adults between 23
and 29 May 2002 to find that 87% of Caucasian Americans
are proud to be Americans. This compares to 68% of African
Americans and 83% of Hispanics. Most US adults (78%)
believe freedom is the "most important element" of the
American dream, while other characterize the key element
as being financially secure (45%), democracy (42%),
owning their own home (40%), getting a "decent" education
(30%), having a good job (23%) and expecting their children
to do better than they (17%).
=========================
Marketing & Advertising Time Line...
1918 - A New York toy firm begins manufacturing the Raggedy
Ann doll; the doll soon grows into a $20-million-a-year business
1920 - Drug, toilet, and household preparations output for
domestic consumption is $765 million, up from only $40 million in
1879.
=========================
=> SATISFY CUSTOMERS BY COMBINING ONLINE AND
TRADITIONAL BUSINESS
A survey highlights the importance of customer service to a
company's overall business strategy and reveals that
businesses that have both an online and a traditional, physical
presence deliver the best overall customer satisfaction.
According to 49% of online users, companies that conduct
business through both mediums provide better customer
service for online transactions than companies that exclusively
operate online. A mere 9% of users find greater customer
satisfaction from Internet-only retailers. (Source: Andersen)
=> THE TREND TO "HUMANIZE"
You probably know how frustrating it can be to get customer
support on the telephone, and if you offer support services
yourself, it's easy enough for you to feel your customers' pain.
But what alternative do you have? If you have a website, you
may be in luck. A new service called "HumanClick" lets your
customers connect to your support department online--in real
time. Created by former members of the Israeli Army's software
division, HumanClick allows a user to access a "chat window"
by selecting a button on your website. Once a support
representative signs on, the customer and representative can
exchange information, similar to an instant messenger program.
The software is available in two versions: HumanClick Express
and HumanClick Pro. Both versions are free for download and
use; beginning in 2001, however, a monthly fee was charged
for the more customizable HumanClick Pro. The Express version
will remain free, according to officials.
http://www.humanclick.com
=> DEMOGRAPHICS MAY NOW BE OLD HAT!
The Intelligence Factory, the futurist arm of Young & Rubicam,
says that traditional demographics don't work any more. The
generations blur into one another, with teens acting like 30-
year-olds, and Baby Boomers collecting Beanie Babies and
splurging on jet skis. A 17-year-old dropout and a 42-year-old
CEO may both be new moms, and won't respond to the same
marketing message. The answer? Market to clusters of common
interest, not to demographics.
=> TRENDS OF WEB PERSUASION
The way you use color in persuasion design is very different
from using color for a personal home page or pushing the outer
edge of design avant-garde. A business online has very real
constraints: credibility, legibility, navigation, meaning, download
time, browser compatibility, and more. Ignore these and go wild
with a cutting-edge design exercise, and you'll delight a few
design aficionados but probably alienate the majority of
customers and prospects.
Color isn't the core of your design. There are six basic, equally
important elements that make up effective design: Line, Shape,
Value (lightness, darkness, shading), Blank (white) space,
Texture/pattern, and Color. (source: Webtrends)
=> THE TRENDS OF WEBSITES AND COLOR
Color can play other important roles. It can organize your site
visually. It can draw a prospect's eye to the most important
information on a page and downplay less relevant data. It can
help convey the structure of your navigation. You can color-
code different features or business areas. Color can highlight a
special or limited-time offer. Use it intelligently and
intentionally.
To sum up: Define the mood of your business. Select a limited
palette of evocative colors. Make color an integral element in a
strong design. Make color work for you in organizing your
content. Designing and optimizing with color should not be taken
lightly, or the results could leave you in the dark. (source:
Webtrends)
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Subscribe to "Surveys and Trends" with an email to:
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_______________________________________________________________
****Success Story Of The Month****
My Secret Success Story On How I Made Money At Home
Creating Personalized Candy Bars And How You Can Too
My name is Terrance. I want to tell you all about my super
successful home based business that I operate from the
corner of my living room on my computer.
I sell candy bars. However...I'm not talking about just any
run-of-the-mill type of candy bar.
These are special and they bring me lots of extra money.
They are PERSONALIZED Candy bars.
You wouldn't believe how much money you can make doing
something that is so easy and fun to do from your own living
room.
In fact last week I made $795.00 part time.
To find out exactly what I did and how you can to visit me
at http://www.sellcandybars.com.
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5. Success Quote of the Week
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Men who have attained things worth having in this world have
worked while others idled, have persevered while others gave
up in despair, have practiced early in life the valuable habits
of self-denial, industry, and singleness of purpose. As a result,
they enjoy in later life the success so often erroneously
attributed to good luck.
-- Grenville Kleiser
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To learn more about advertising in the AHBBO ezine,
visit http://www.ahbbo.com/advertising.html .
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7. Subscription Management
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8. Caveat Emptor
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Although all of the information presented in AHBBO is
published in good faith, I accept no responsibility as to the
accuracy or otherwise of the information presented. By making
use of the information contained in AHBBO the reader assumes
all risk that certain information may prove to be incorrect.
**I do not endorse any advertisements unless stated to the
contrary. Your money, your decision, your responsibility.**
All advertisements are accepted in good faith. However,
advertisers are solely responsible for the content and
accuracy of their classified advertisements and I give no
warranties, nor accept any responsibility, in relation to any
classified advertisement appearing in this publication. ALWAYS
carry out your own due diligence! Remember, if it sounds too
good to be true, it probably is.
_______________________________________________________________
9. Contact Information
_______________________________________________________________
Elena Fawkner, Editor
A Home-Based Business Online
Contact By Email
http://www.ahbbo.com
_______________________________________________________________
All Rights Reserved