I enjoyed this UK Mac ad in which the PC suggests that the home be run more like an office. Hmmm….
Happy Friday!
Promoting Your Home Business: What’s On Your Print Materials?
One of the easiest mistakes when promoting your home business is overlooking your business information on your print materials. Yvonne Russell at Small Biz Mentor points out that simple mistakes like forgetting the area code on your phone number can cause a problem.
Another item she points out is that it is not wise to use a stamp on product brochures from suppliers. It can get smudged, and it looks unprofessional. Here are some things Yvonne suggests that could be done differently with supplier brochures:
- *Use a sticker or label.
- *Staple your home business card to the brochure.
- *Ask for custom printing.
You want to make sure that clients and potential clients can easily reach you, so make sure your home business contact information is easy to find and legible.
What Type of Home Business Should You Have?
When it comes to setting up a home business, you need to decide what sort of organization you will have. We will look at six different possibilities in the upcoming days, guided by a post on home business choices at Problogger:
1. Sole Proprietorship
2. Partnership
3. Limited Liability Partnership
4. Limited Liability Company
5. S Corporation
6. C Corporation
Each has different tax advantages and different structures with regard to payroll and other items. Hopefully, after this series, you will have a better idea of which would best suit the needs of your home business.
Promoting Your Home Business: Digital Keychains
When it comes to promoting your home business, it can help to have something unique and interesting. One idea is to give out digital keychains instead of the standard pens and magnets that other businesses use.
If you are ordering in bulk, it is possible to get wholesale prices on keychains, and many companies will also engrave the name of your home business (and maybe even a logo) on the back. Digital keychains are fun for the recipient, and they are useful. Take them to conferences and send them as gifts to regular clients.
Other unique ideas for promoting your home business include:
*Odd-sized business cards.
*Mousepads.
*Bookmarks.
*Re-usable shopping bags.
Yes, I DO Have a “Real” Job
One of the items of concern that many work from home moms (WAHMs) face is the idea that they don’t have a "real" job. This is something that gets talked about, a lot it seems. But for good reason. It is very hard, in some cases, to garner respect as someone who has an actual job. Society just hasn’t quite fully accepted the idea that one can work from home and still have a "real" job.
Relatives and friends think that you are available for favors. Life partners don’t understand deadlines. Kids think that anytime is playtime. This can be especially difficult to handle during the summer when kids are out of school and vacations, trips and events are in abundance.
The best thing you can do is to try to maintain some sort of schedule, and learn to say "no" when you have to. After all, you have a job to do.
America the Beautiful: Happy U.S. Independence Day!
Ray Charles sings "America the Beautiful."
Happy 4th of July!
13 Writing Jobs You Can Do As A Home Business
One of the least complex (from a supplies needed and office set-up standpoint) home business ideas is writing. It’s actually what I do for my home business. There are many different types of writing that can be done, and the Internet has only expanded the options. But I found this handy list over at Home Biz Notes that includes 13 writing jobs you can do as a home business:
- Travel writing
- Copy Editing
- Column writing
- Blogging
- News Reporter (yes, many of these are freelance)
- Ghost writing
- Compiling and editing anthologies
- Web site design and writing
- Newsletter production (print or online) for businesses
- PR writing for businesses
- Educational writing
- Publishing print and e-books
- Publishing a magazine or e-zine
Freelance writing and blogging can be very rewarding, and I love that I can still do my job no matter where I am in the world. Well, as long as I have an Internet connection, anyway.
Is there a type of writing that you do for your home business?
Learn From Your Mistakes
In the home business, it is possible to make mistakes — just as it is in a job outside the home. You still have to make decisions about product, service and dealing with people. And that means the potential for making mistakes.
If you do make mistakes in your home business, it is important to try to fix them, and to learn from them. And to look for patterns that may be causing you trouble. An excellent example is from The Buzz Bin, in which Geoff Livingston analyzes his five worst professional mistakes.
He learned from them, and so can you.
Need an Afternoon Boost? Take a Short Nap
Sometimes, and I’m sure you’ve noticed the same thing in your life, I get SO TIRED sometime after midday. But I feel like I need to power through, whether I am getting work done for my home writing business, or whether I’m playing with my son.
But now, research shows that maybe you don’t need to power through — and that maybe an afternoon energy drink isn’t the answer. It could be as simple as a short nap, reports Edutopia:
"Sleep researchers still do not fully understand how the brain works
during sleep," says Michael Twery, director of the National Center on
Sleep Disorders Research, "but the evidence so far suggests that short
naps can be good for those looking for a refresher during the day."
That’s right. If you can spare 5-15 minutes to take a short nap, you can be more refreshed than if you took some sort of liquid stimulant. And perhaps enjoy increased productivity as you take your home business work into the afternoon. I look back on the days when I used to meditate in the afternoon, and I vaguely remember a feeling of refreshment and well-being.
So today, while my son has his quiet time, I think I’ll take 10 minutes for my own nap.
(Hat tip: Dave Neubert.)
Work from Home: 3 Things You Need
There is no shortage of work from home tips. However, when it comes to your work from home job, there are 3 main things you need to be successful:
*Planning.
*Workspace.
*Focus
These three things offer you a chance to really develop a home business or get into a work from home environment that actually, well, works. You can add other work from tips to these three, but if you don’t have planning, workspace and focus, your success may not be as great as it could be.
Over the next three posts, we will look at these 3 things that a home business needs to be successful, and how you can apply them to your work from home job.