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Does Your Business Name Convey Credibility?

There are various ways to add credibility to your home business and one of them is through the name you choose to represent your operation. Of course, it will depend on what type of business you are in as to how “official” you will want to make your business sound, but the name of the business does convey a mission and mode to your customers and prospects. For example, if there are two beauty shops with two different names: “Cookie’s Cut and Curl” and “Style, Inc.” do you have an image of the salons as being two very different places? … Continue reading →

Wearing Your Ring after Divorce

Dating, marriage, and divorce all seem to have many unspoken rules and characteristics. They almost have an etiquette all of their own. There are questions that people face over how long you should wait until you kiss, how long should you be engaged, and when it is okay to date again after divorce. In addition to these there are many many more dilemmas that relationships can bring up. One such question that I have to address to you today deals with divorce. In a previous article, I discussed a great new business that I discovered. The business sells miniature coffins … Continue reading →

Considering a “Corporate” Structure for Your Small Home Business

There seem to be a lot of “rules” in business. With all those books, periodicals and other resources telling us exactly how to go about things, it can seem fairly cut and dried. Not to mention the fact that people actually get degrees in business so they can come out knowing all the ins and outs of how to run a business. But how “corporate” do we need to go in our home businesses? It seems that any time you have more than one employee in a business, there is a temptation to start to structure the business in a … Continue reading →

Choosing the Right Words to Use in Your Marketing

Ever notice how advertisements and marketing campaigns seem to use words that are targeted to making you want to make purchases? Words like “sale” and “easy” and “best” are all common words that show up in advertising again and again. Have you given much thought to the words you are using as you work to promote your own home business? Your advertising or marketing should influence people to want to use your products or services. In order to do that, you are trying to let them know that your products are great, your services are great, and that they can … Continue reading →

Learning and Borrowing From Business Models–Part One

Perhaps, you have heard the term “business models” before and wondered what exactly it meant? A business model is really just a style or type of business operation. It may seem like there is only one way to “do business”–but that is not true, there are definitely all sorts of different ways to set up and operate a business. Many people find that it is easier and makes more sense to adopt an existing, successful, and proven business model than to try to invent one of their own. In reality, you may already have adopted someone else’s business model in … Continue reading →

Businesses Need Celebrations Too

There is a reason corporations and businesses celebrate grand openings and anniversaries. Yes, part of it has to do with generating sales and boosting revenue, but part of it is that celebrations boost moral and prove very good public relations activities. Even a little home-based business can benefit from incorporating a few celebrations throughout the year. The anniversary of when you started your business is a great event to celebrate. It is inspiring to commemorate the years as you build your business and share it with the customers and clients who helped you get there. You can offer a special … Continue reading →

Could You Be Tempted Away From Your Home Business?

A friend and former colleague recently asked me if I would give up my home business if the “right job” came along. It was an interesting and provocative question as I haven’t really thought of what I would do if I was offered a fabulous, high-paying, perfect job—could I be tempted to give up the home business I’ve been working so hard to build? As I’ve mentioned before, I started work as a freelancer in reaction to a couple years’ worth of job insecurity in my career as a nonprofit fundraising and development professional. I’d operated a business before with … Continue reading →

Are You Better at Facts or Relationships in Business?

Remember that character on television years ago who used to say: “Just the facts, Ma’am.” Of course, as a police detective, he was in the business of working with people and figuring out relationships, but he was determined to stay focused on the quantifiable facts. I think most of us feel comfortable in one world or the other—either in working with facts and figures, or in working with relationships and people. “Facts” people feel most at home working with terms, prices, dates, calendars, contracts, conditions, and other specifics in the business world. Things that can be written out on paper … Continue reading →

Do You Have a Home Business Title? Do You Want One?

Sometimes it is difficult to tell people what we do for a living when we are home-based. I am often jealous of transcriptionists, daycare providers and other home-based careers where the title is pretty cut and dried. The other day I was talking with my preschooler about my husband’s job. He is a police officer. That’s a pretty easy job for a four-year old to grasp. Out of curiosity, I asked her, “do you know what mommy does for a living?” “You play on your ‘peuter’” (computer). “Oh great”, I thought. Her preschool teacher probably assumes I sit around and … Continue reading →

Because Nice Matters – 3 Simple Ways to Charm Your Customers

In my last entry “Because Nice Matters” I talked about why simply being nice is the ultimate home-business tool. Here are a few tried and true ways to charm your customers and gain a loyal following of home-business groupies. 1). Just be nice. Alright, I promise I am not trying to insult my readers by suggesting that you should just be nice. I simply feel it is worth a brief mention. When I was a direct sales consultant, I would often do parties when I really wasn’t in the mood. I had a bad day. My kids were cranky. I … Continue reading →