Since August represents Travel Month here at Home Biz Notes, I’ll take time today, Thursday, to mention 13 travel related home businesses that come to mind. Of course, there will be more, and you may be involved in a type I’ve not discussed here. Feel free to mention it in the comments.
These may be operated from your home or take you away from home, yet be home based.
Travel agent booking at home for your own business or a travel agency
Travel writer who researches at home and on trips.
Bed and breakfast in your home.
Making travel related items you sell in a home shop and online.
House exchange booking agent, working from your home.
PR person for a travel related business, working mainly from your home.
Setting up a blog and doing the blogging for a travel related business.
Writing travel books and self-publishing them.
Planning and doing the packing for people who travel or are taking vacations.
Babysitting a child while the parents travel.
Writing a newsletter for a travel related business…online and/or print.
Offering guided tours in your home area.
Providing entertainment programs (music, comedy, children’s activities, arts & crafts) at local resorts.
What do you do from your home that is travel related?
In Chinese culture, 8 is a lucky number as it sounds like the word for money. So, it’s no coincidence that the Beijing Olympics starts at 8:00 p.m. on the 8th day of the 8th month, 2008.
Use the number 8 and the Olympics to create a buzz in your business with some special promotions e.g.
Buy 8, get one free
Every 8th customer gets a gift voucher or small prize
Red spot discount special at 8 minutes past the hour
Special Olympics themed deals on August 8th, 2008
Gold medal (gold spot) specials on some items or lines
Any other Olympics business promotion ideas?
How are you leveraging Olympic fever to create a buzz in your small business?
As a newspaper reporter and freelance journalist, I learned to “get the most mileage”from my interviews and research. Most of the time, a journalist has far more information than needed for the immediate story. So why not write a variety of articles/stories from it?
The same can be said for your blog posts.
*Some might act as springboards for new ones.
*Some could be revised and used again at a later date.
“Now why didn’t I think of that?” I asked myself. It makes so much sense to print off the blog posts that relate to various aspects of your business. Send them in mailings, include them in e-mails, and use them as hand-outs at your business.
If you’re a fan of the summer Olympics in Beijing and plan on following some of the events, you’ll find Char Polanosky’s post, 30 US Olympians in their Teens of great interest. Char also includes a number of videos of the young men and women.
What’s your favorite event in the summer Olympics?
Also, Many businesses also will be tying their promotions into the Olympics theme this week and next.
Have you done so? Let us know what you’re doing and we’ll mention it here.
Here’s an interesting and entertaining video (3 minutes) from Richard St. John answering the question “What Leads To Success?”
It’s from the TED Conference. TED = Technology, Entertainment, Design.
1. Love what you do
2. Fun - Have fun
3. Be good or get good at something
4. Focus
5. Push yourself
6. Serve others something of value
7. Ideas
8. Persist
Richard St John says
In conclusion, the true road to success is to first look at yourself, see what you like and what you’re passionate about. Is it arts, sports, business, science? It can be anything. After you found what it is you’re passionate about, you need to direct that passion towards a goal.
For instance, if you’re passionate about arts, then you need to decide how that passion will best be expressed and whether it’s becoming art instructor or a world famous painter you need to work hard, focus, push through and persist in order to get damn good at it so you can then achieve your goal..
What is your definition of success?
Video shown here with permission from TED
If I didn’t make my “to-do” list each evening, I’d never have any semblance of organization or accomplishment. At the end of the day, I often find I didn’t get everything done, was interrupted by unexpected tasks, could become more organized. However, if I didn’t make my lists, I’d be batting near zero!
Here’s a great post, 7 Ways to Optimize To-Do Lists by guest poster Corey Freeman at Domestik Goddess. I’m considering utilizing some of Corey’s suggestions to make my to-do list more effective. (However, I can’t spend so much time on my list that I don’t get anything done!)
Some people use planners, notebooks, sheets of paper, 3×5 cards, computer programs, electronic planners. I’ve tried various methods and have yet to find the perfect one.
OK, so now I’ll get out my To-Do list and see how much I accomplish today!
What’s your secret on organizing your daily and weekly tasks? Do you have a T0-Do List or some other method?
Promotion & Business Branding: Be very clear on your business brand.
If you don’t know your own business brand, you can’t “sell” or promote it effectively. The business brand also needs to be clear to the customer.
Franchises like McDonald’s have this nailed. Customers know what to expect.
I visit a hardware store that bills itself as a hardware store but sells everything from hardware to gifts to candy and newspapers. The business brand is confused. The fact that they change the mix of products regularly indicates that they haven’t settled on a clear direction. It’s no wonder customers think of them more as a hardware convenience store than as a fully fledged specialist hardware store.
Is your business the “go to” business for your particular product or service?
Today, I’m hosting Elizabeth Gordon as she stops by Home Biz Notes on her tour of the blogosphere. Elizabeth is the author of The Chic Entrepreneur: Put Your Business in Higher Heels, a delightful book with many great suggestions for women interested in taking their business “from flats to stilettos.”
I asked Elizabeth about advice for home business owners. However, much of what she has to offer can be applied to any business owner…..So Read On!
How to Up the “Chicness” of Your Home Business
Guest Post by Elizabeth Gordon
One of the greatest perks of owning a home business is working in your PJ’s. However, as a business owner, you still need to maintain your professional or “chic” quotient. They say you should dress for the job you want, not the job you have. You should also remember to dress your business for the profits you want, not what you have or as I like to say, “Put your business in higher heels.”
Here are 5 tips on how women with home businesses can become Chic Entrepreneurs:
1. Workspace is work space. No matter how small your home office is, you need to make sure that you section off an area that is solely devoted to your business. If you need to, you can use a screen to make the partition feel more defined. You should also have a separate business line in your home office. The best part is that your office space is completely tax deductible.
2. Put the hours in. You work from home, so you don’t have to work from 9-5, but you still need to set aside time to get your work done. If possible, you should have a routine. Determine when you are most productive and work those hours while avoiding distractions. Avoid your email, turn off the phone and try to focus solely on your work.
3. Make quiet a priority. Your business space should also be a place that is as quiet as possible and away from kids, dogs and other sounds of home. I have heard of home business owners taking calls in their closet to get away from their kids. Of course, you do what you have to, but if you can, find a space where no home phone line, babies crying or dogs barking can be heard. It is not chic to try and close a deal while a Chihuahua is yipping in the distance.
4. Get out of your own box. Spend one day a week working out of the house in a coffee shop, Jelly (http://www.workatjelly.com/), library or other wireless venue. By removing yourself from your home office, you will allow new ideas to flow in and, hey, you never know whom you might meet while you’re out.
5. Professional is as professional looks. You should have one or two things you can easily slip into and look professional instantly. While you don’t need a two week corporate wardrobe, looks still matter regardless of your business. And because you only need one or two power outfits, go a little higher end, if possible.
This applies to your accessories as well. You should have one fabulous bag that will work with your outfits and hold everything you need when you do go on a business call. Keep certain essentials particular to you and your business in the bag at all times like a notepad, pens, petty cash or lipstick - whatever you’d need if you had to run meet an exciting new prospect in a hurry.
Networking has become a buzz word in today’s business world. Depending on whether you’re talking about the Internet or having a traditional business.
However, even though the word is taking on a new meaning, the good old-fashioned term, “making friends,” covers it all.
When we network, we experience the enjoyment of meeting people, finding their interests, their needs, our commonality. We are involved with developing friendships, being a relatable person…and listening.
Networking and making friends, whether in person or over the Internet, expands our world and develops for us a community of people with whom we relate. Think of how networking has expanded your world!
In Chinese culture, 
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