Time to Promote

Effective Ways to Sell / Promote Your Home Business!

When your business is up and running, you need to reach out to the masses so that the public is aware of its existence and the kind of services you are providing. Hence, one of the major steps in setting up a home business is having a marketing plan. Marketing your home business is not necessarily expensive. Read on to discover several effective yet low cost methods to promote your business to all your potential customers!

1. Website / Blog

Set up a simple website or a blog containing all information on your services or products. Consider using free services such as Wordpress which offer templates and some simple customisable features if you are not ready to pay for a website. Having a website gives you access to a bigger client base as you can direct practically anyone you met to your website for details.

2. Social networking

Capitalise on social network e.g. Facebook, Linked In and Twitter. Use them to get in touch with your clients and potential clients as well as to understand their needs. Imagine asking a question regarding your products on your business’ Facebook page and almost instantly you get responses from your clients. Where else can you get such quick and direct feedback?

3. Article marketing

You can do this by publishing articles about your business in online article directories such as Ezine Articles which have high traffic everyone from people looking for certain information on niche areas. Alternatively you can also write your own eBook on any interesting subject, publish and distribute it for free. Give it to your existing clients or make it available for free download on your website. In your eBook, include some details of your business and a link to your website. Those who think your eBook is good will share it further with their friends and family – it is free viral marketing strategy!

4. Business cards

Make your own business cards which provide the details of your business as well as your contact details.                 Having a business card shows that you are professional and are serious  about your business.

5. Ask for work or leads

You can first start off by calling non-governmental organization (NGOs), schools, universities or other businesses that might require your services or products. Bring your business to them instead of waiting for them to come to you!

This is the last post in this series. If you haven't picked up your copy yet, I am giving away a guide, free of charge, on how to start your own home based business.

All you need to do is email me at 12th.pillar.solutions@gmail.com or comment below and tell me what your biggest fear or concern is when it comes to starting u your business.

Home based case study

Home Business Success Stories

Want to be a successful home business entrepreneur but don’t know how? One of the easiest ways is by modelling other people’s success stories. There are many entrepreneurs who are willingly sharing how they start up and develop their home business on the internet.

Sam, a 21-year-old undergraduate from the United States started his own company from his dorm offering advertisement-free electronic invitation cards for formal events. Read Sam’s story here. http://www.womenhomebusiness.com/startup/sam-franklin-going-green-with-an-electronic-invitation-business.htm

Kate and Tamala were working in hospital as occupational therapists before they started their own home business providing occupational therapy to needy clients at their homes. Read their stories here http://www.homebasedbusiness.sbdc.com.au/10_01_casestudies.asp

Andrea, a former online inventory manager, started off her Take My Mac service to help Apple device owners to sell and recycle their gadgets, instead of throwing them into the bins. Read Andrea’s  story here http://www.womenhomebusiness.com/startup/andrea-bebirian-recycle-and-sell-apple-devices.htm

Some common things among these successful home business entrepreneurs above are:

1. They worked on something they are passionate about.

Sam’s idea of an electronic invitation cards is in line with his belief in going green and saving the trees. Both Kate and Tamala have 25 years of experience working as occupational therapists in hospital offered their services to the community through their home business. Andrea wished to provide a solution for Apple devices owners to get rid of their old gadgets while helping the needy (e.g. schools, etc) to have their own Apple devices.

2.  They worked on a niche market.

Sam’s advertisement-free electronic card received good response because most e-Cards come with many advertisements which are sometimes unwelcoming. Kate and Tamala saw the demand for occupational therapies at a community level and hence decided to quit their jobs at hospitals. Meanwhile Andrea’s Take My Mac made it easier for Apple gadget owners to sell their devices as more and more people are using the Apple devices.

3. Things were never easy at the beginning.

All of them have their own shares of challenges and difficulties when they first started their business. However with perserverence and hardwork, their efforts have born fruits.

Plenty of such success stories are available on the internet to serve as a source of inspiration for all aspiring home business entrepreneurs. Learning from their successes and failures will definitely help in building up a successful home business!

In case you didn't catch the previous two posts in this series (128 & 129), I am offering a free guide to help you start your home based business. All you need to do is send me an email at 12th.pillar.solutions@gmail.com or comment below and tell me what your greatest fear or concern is that is keeping you from jumping off the fence..

The How...

How to Start a Home Business

We touched on the why in the last post, now lets touch on the how.

How do you start a successful home-based business? What needs to be in your consideration?

Below is a 6-step guide:

1.       Assess your skills and knowledge

You need to know what you are good at and what you are not so good at. Identify your strong points and your weaknesses. This can help you gauge if you are suitable for embark on a home business. As a home business owner, you will need to run a lot of tasks on your own, from planning, business management to the field work. Make sure you can carry out the tasks needed.

2.       Generate business ideas

Start brainstorming from your interest and passion. Get your family to involve as you will be using part of their space for your business.

3.       Test the market

Shortlist your ideas so that it contains only those ideas that can work for a home business. Be practical. Think whether people will want to spend money on the kind of products or services that you can offer, how much and whether this will generate sufficient income proportional to your effort.  If no, get back to Step 2 for more ideas. Being persistent is important at this stage because many people gave up after facing the obstacles.

4.       Understand the legal barriers.

Check if there are any rules or regulations controlling the starting up of a home business in your state or country. If yes, figure out how you want to get around them.

5.       Determine your capital.

Calculate the amount of money you need to start up your home business. The cost should include the purchase of any instruments, hire of any professionals (e.g. lawyers) and insurance. You might not be familiar with all these so take your time to do some price checking and bargain.

6.       Plan your business – break even points.

Once you have obtained a clear picture from Step 1 – 5, it is time to lay down your business plan. Find out your break-even point and how many products you need to sell in order to get back your investments. 

During this series I am giving away a free guide to starting your home-based business. If you haven't grabbed it yet, do so now by simply sending me an email at 12th.pillar.solutions@gmail.com or in the comment section below and tell me what your biggest fear is for not starting your own business.

How to Make Your First Buck Online

The advent of Internet has made money making easier than ever. Instead of being physically present at a certain location to promote and sell your products or services, you now have the whole world as your potential clients! It is no wonder that more and more people are turning to internet to make their passive income. How to start making your first buck online? One of the simplest way is to develop and market information products or in other words, an eBook.

1. Pick a topic.

Find an area of your interest or something you are familiar with. For example, if you are working in a publishing company as an editor, you can share tips on publishing magazines or self-publishing. 

 

2. Survey the market.

Use “Google External Keyword” tool to find out the search volume for your market. Search volume reflects the interest of the online population on your topic. As long as the “keyword” of your topic has a decent search volume, you can assume that your informational product would have some demand when it is put up on sale.

 

3. Brainstorming for ideas

Keep a list of ideas for your topic, either on your note book or on your computer. The single major benefit of writing down all your ideas as they come in is that you can avoid forgetting about them. This strategy would save you much time if you use it regularly.

 

4. Get a website up

You need a platform to promote and sell your informational product. Start with using free blogsite such as Blogspot or Wordpress. As your traffic builds up and you are really making an income, consider to upgrade to web hosting site where you have more freedom in customising the website for the content.

 

5. Draw traffic to your website

A common strategy is by creating interesting content on your blogsite. This free information serves two purposes: first, to educate the public about the topic and secondly, prime them to purchase your ebook! You can also go to a similar blog, post relevant comments and share the link to your articles.

 

Now you are set to generate passive income online with your informational product!!