homebiznotes.com

June 28th, 2007

7 Tips for Promoting Your Home Business

In my previous post, Promote Your Home Business Every Single Day, we mentioned a few strategies for doing something each day to market or promote your business, ways to get your name  (business and/or personal) out there where you’ll gain recognition or become a brand (that popular buzz word nowadays).

What are you doing?  What can you do?  Possibly you have a very limited budget. Also, time is at a premium for you.  So how do you find time to squeeze in promotion?

What about making out a check list for yourself?  Then do at least one item on it each day, preferably more.  Some of these take less than five minutes.

Here are 7 tips or items for starting your checklist:

*You’ve developed a blog.  Post something on your blog frequently.  It doesn’t have to be long or eloquent.  Actually short pieces are read more regularly nowadays.  People don’t have a lot of time for reading long, detailed posts and news articles unless they’re looking for specific information, knowledge, or instructions.

*Send out press releases to print and online media.  Keep these short, too.  When I was a newspaper reporter, we liked the short, to-the-point releases.  If we wanted more information, we could contact the person…as long as they included contact information.

*Make a call to one potential customer.  It may simply be a friendly, making a connection call until you’ve found how your business will benefit this person.

*Follow up with a customer.  See if they have any questions about an item they purchased or a service.

*If you have postal addresses for customers, write a quick post card.  I find many people like to receive a post card or note in the mail, even though there’s e-mail for contacting them.

*Check into opportunities for interviews, either in person or by e-mail.

*Develop a jar or container for drawings for prizes at your place of business.  Customers can drop in business card or simply fill out a slip of paper with name, address, phone and e-mai.l If online, you draw from customers who register at your site, leaving their e-mail.  These usually are potential customers or return customers.

What have you been using for promotion strategies in your business? 

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By Mary Emma -- 0 comments

March 2nd, 2007

Choosing a Name for Your Home Business

“What’s in a name?”

When you consider a name for your home business, determine what you want to achieve, the customers you desire to serve, and the products/services you offer.  Nowadays, choosing a name for the image or impression you wish to project also might be included in the idea of  branding your business.

*A unique name will catch attention.  However, if it’s too far out, it may have the adverse effect.  If it’s mundane, it won’t capture your customer’s imagination.

*In addition to being unique, will your name adequately describe your business?

*Is someone else using that same name?  If your business name is exactly the same as someone else’s, you may be asked to stop using it.  This can be costly if you have signs, business cards, advertising, web site, etc. designed and printed with this name. 

*Do some research. You could start by checking the phone book and Better Business Bureau, then your state agency for registering business names.  Generally if the name reflects your name and/or initials, you can use it.  Those are “yours.”

When I operated a dressmaking/alteration business from my home, I used part of my sewing room for displaying and selling readymade original clothing and accessories.  What should I use for a name that incorporated all aspects of my home business?

I chose “MEA’s Boutique,” utilizing my initials.  I didn’t realize at the time how well this captivated customers and how well it stuck in their minds for years…even after we moved from that location to another home.  Also by using my initials, the name was mine.  For my home publishing company, MEA Productions, I’ve used my initials again. 

*Sometimes you can use a play on words that will catch attention, such as The Dirty Worm for a greenhouse or gardening operation, The Dusty Mop for a cleaning business, Wedding Wonders for a wedding planning business.

What name can you come up with for your business that will catch attention or “brand” it?

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By Mary Emma -- 2 comments

February 10th, 2007

Developing Loyalty and Brand Awareness with your Home Business

Developing a rapport with your customers so they’ll remain loyal and keep returning for your products and services is an important aspect of generating income for any business, including home businesses.  Some call this branding…others regard it as developing customer/client loyalty.

Ron at Brand Curve presents an interesting discussion about loyalty (Care to learn “loyalty”?) and points out how loyal football fans are toward anything connected with their team. 

So….how does a business, or home business, generate such loyalty in their customers?  How will you develop a business whereby customers return repeatedly for your products or services?

*Produce a quality product; never shortcut on quality.

*If yours is a service, give your customer good measure.

*Always meet deadlines; if you can’t, let your customer know and have a good reason.  Then let them know when you will complete the job.

*Have return policies and guarantees stated from the very beginning, in your shop or in the contract.

*Decide beforehand how you’ll handle difficult customers.  You can’t anticipate every situation, but have a good idea how you will do this.

*Have a payment policy stated beforehand. This leads to less misunderstandings. (For instance, when I made quilts, I asked for one half upon starting the item…this gave me most of what I needed to purchase supplies…and the remainder before mailing it or when the customer picked it up.)  If you’re selling online or by mail order, it’s very important to have payment agreed upon.

*Become a good communicator.  Lack of communication often leads to dissatisfaction and thus displeased customers.

*Smile…even when you aren’t face to face with your customers.  It comes across in your voice.

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By Mary Emma -- 0 comments

January 18th, 2007

Home Biz Notes Included in Carnival, 6th Edition

The Carnival of Entrepreneurs featured the sixth edition this week, which includes many business oriented blogs.  My post about Branding Your Home Business appeared in this edition and has received numerous comments.

Participating in carnivals (gatherings of bloggers who contribute posts relating to a theme) are enjoyable and bring you in contact with others with similar interests.  Ben Yoskovitz, of Start Up Spark began the Carnival of Entrepreneurs to bring business bloggers together.  This carnival also gathers together a source of information for readers so they don’t have to search all over the Internet. 

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By Mary Emma -- 0 comments