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AHBBO Home Based Business Information Return to AHBBO Archives
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A Home-Based Business Online Issue 101 : September 24 Sent to 10,146 Opt-In Subscribers Editor: Elena Fawkner Publisher: AHBBO Publishing http://www.ahbbo.com Contact By Email 1. Welcome and Update from Elena 2. Home-Based Business Idea of the Week - Reunion Organizer 3. Feature Article - Creating a Professional Image For Your Home-Based Business 4. Computing Tips from The Newbie Club 5. Motivational Tip for the Day by Jan Tincher 6. Subscription Management 8. Contact Information 1. Welcome and Update from Elena Hello again and a warm welcome to all the new subscribers who have joined us since the last issue. This week's article is all about creating a professional image for your home-based business even if it IS being run out of your spare bedroom. Although it's back to business as usual for AHBBO with effect from this issue, I do want to draw your attention to an excellent article by j.l. Scott which is something of a "call to arms" for all online business owners and what we can do, in practical terms, to support and strengthen the economy during the upcoming months of anticipated uncertainty. 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 . Confused about all the web hosting jargon and what services you really need? At Homeport you're never alone, each of our customers has a dedicated account manager assigned to them. Our elite professionals are ready to assist you in all aspects of your web site! You can rely on them for all of your questions. 2. Home-Based Business Idea of the Week - Reunion Organizer Ever tried to organize a class reunion? If you have, then you know what a headache it is to track everybody down, issue invitations, process responses, organize the function room, catering and entertainment. Who has the time, right? Here's where you can come in. If you're a born organizer and enjoy dealing with people, why not set up shop as a reunion organizer? As a reunion organizer, you can do much more than just organize class reunions. How about family reunions, company reunions and wartime reunions? The process is pretty much the same in all cases. Obviously you need to be given a list of prospective attendees by your client and as much information as they have about their whereabouts as possible but from thereon in, you can take the ball and run with it. The greatest challenge, of course, will be in tracking everyone down so you need to be part detective to do well in this business. Because some reunions will be easier to organize than others (there may be fewer attendees, or you may be given a reasonably complete, up to date list of attendees' addresses) you may want to charge for your services on an hourly basis. If you do decide to charge a set fee for your time, though, do so based on ranges, for example, $500 for up to 20 attendees, $1,000 for 20 - 40, $1,500 for 40-60 and so on. Then add on your expenses such as telephone calls, postage, faxes etc.. Payments for caterers, entertainment and venue should be paid directly by the client. Charge more or less depending on the services that you provide. For example, if you will also be arranging travel and accommodation for out of town attendees, factor that time into your costs as well. To generate custom, target alumni associations (for class reunions), genealogy associations (for family reunions), returned service personnel organizations (for wartime reunions) etc. and advertise in publications that reach these groups. ----- 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. Feature Article: Creating a Professional Image For Your Home-Based Business © 2017 Elena Fawkner 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: 123 Cherryblossom Way, Apt. 103, Suburbia or 123 Major Blvd, Level 37, Big 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. ------ (Articles are no longer being made available via autoresponder due to large numbers of bounced mails due to full mailboxes.) ------ entrepreneur. Are you marketing to the over 50 crowd? Can't afford a research dept or consultant? Get affordable, cutting edge market research By subscribing to the Over50Marketing Newsletter It is monthly and delivered online. Get a free sample copy! 4. Computing Tips From The Newbie Club Icons can be swapped out for a different look. Tired of the same old happy face staring joyfully at you? Zap it and replace it with a frowny face! Or whatever you want. This applies to program icons you've installed... not to the icons that are a part of your Windows operating system, such as My Computer, Recycle Bin, and Network Neighborhood. Here's how to change the other guys: 1. Right click the icon you want to modify, and choose 'Properties' from the context menu. 2. On the Shortcut tab, click 'Change Icon'. 3. Click the 'Browse' button and locate your icon files. They end with .ico. If you need to find your icon files, just search for *.ico using Windows' Find Files and Folders feature. 4. Once you've located the icon you want to use, click Open, OK, and OK again and you're done. You'll see the new icon appear in place of the old one in a flash. ----- Tips brought to you by Tom Glander and Joe Reinbold of the Newbie Club. Get to know your computer without all the techie geek-speak ... How Much Extra Money Can You Make With Affiliate Programs? Working together with other entrepreneurs makes sense when the product, support, and commission make it worthwhile for you! Find out more about how an affiliate program can add monthly revenue to your internet business, tips from one of the most successful internet entrepreneurs ever. 5. Motivational Tip For The Day by Jan Tincher Do you know that if you stop the circulation of money by holding on to it and hoarding it, that particular action -- or nonaction -- will stop its circulation back into your life? Never has it been more true. The more you give, the more you get. If you give freely and without hesitation in all things, you cause a continuous flow. If you stop the flow, you stop receiving. If your flow has stopped, find someone to give something to. Even if it's only your love and appreciation. Start generating that flow and keep it going. Feel how good it feels. ------ 6. Subscription Management To SUBSCRIBE to this Newsletter:
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8. Contact Information Elena Fawkner, Editor A Home-Based Business Online Contact By Email http://www.ahbbo.com
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