AMVA - Amanda Moore Virtual Assistant

by Tove Kou

Having a home based business is great - you can set your own hours, work in your pajamas, and be there for your children and your family at any time. So, when it comes down to it, advertising your home based business the affordable way is an absolute must, because you normally have a small budget, to start with.

You have to be able to draw people in, and you need customers in order to have your website work. You have to have traffic to, whatever site you have, for your home business, and this is important to do, no matter what type of home business you have.

However, not a lot of people that start up a home based businesses are wealthy to start with, and you might find that you don`t really have a budget for advertising. But if you have just started your home based business you might look for an affordable way to advertise, to keep your budget. It is very important to set up a budget, when you start a business online or offline, and to keep the budget.

There are many ways to get lots of advertising but it must be affordable for you. There are things that you can do with limited funds, to make sure that you are getting the customers that you need. First of all, you have to be sure that you are putting up advertising in the correct place.

Are you having a business from home that caters to just your area, such as a hair salon or a photography businesses? If so, then your advertising should be in print, because you don`t need the whole world to see it.

If you are localized, don`t bother spending your money on internet advertising, just do print advertising with your website on it. This is the best way to advertise, and you can always do this affordable by finding a cheap place to have posters and business cards made up.

Advertising your home based business the affordable way could also be fun, because you get in touch with a lot of people when you hang up posters at your local supermarket.

Some of the best advertising in the world is FREE. The best place for your business to be positioned is to be the business on the tips of the tongues of the people asked to make the referral. Tell Your Friends, Family & Everyone You Can About Your new business. It`s called word of mouth. You can do it in person, with a personal letter, a phone call or with an Email.

When your friend is asked to make a referral, they will recommend you. When people ask your friends for a referral and your friend mentions your business, that is passive referral networking.

Active referral networking is when you can get your friends go directly to their friends and say “Hey, I have a friend who just started a business. If you are in need of what he offers or you know someone who will need his services, would you please give my friend a call or make the referral to his business?”

If you can get even a portion of the people in your own circle of influence to actively refer your business, then you have built the foundation to build an advertising campaign even more effective than the average local television advertising campaign.

However if you are running a home based business that is on the internet, this means that you want the whole world to have access to it. In this case, you could also put up flyers in your home town at the local merchant and supermarket.

You can find many free online blogs, that will let you post a link to your site, and there are many places that you can get your name out there. The fact remains that you just have to do it - you have to spend several days surfing the web and getting your name out there in whatever way that you can.

Running a home based business offline or online is the same ,when It comes to advertising the affordable way. The point is that you must always remember to advertise or your business will die slowly because no one know where to find you.

Tove Kou invites you to visit her website design website for more ideas, articles, and products. To see how she earns money at home
please visit her website here now: http://www.tk-cash-flow.biz/

Article Source: Keyword Articles

By: Lisa Burkhardt

As an owner of a home-based business, you will have to learn to stay focused on your goals/reasons why you originally chose this direction. It is so easy to become distracted when you are working from home; since there are always a hundred other things that need your attention. Think about all those days when you were at your j.o.b. and you would think if I were home I could be getting so much done. Training yourself to stay focused on your home-based business can prove to be a challenge.

The most common distraction many of us face on a daily basis are; children/family, friends stopping by to visit, laundry/house cleaning, interruption from the phone, mail/email, television (your soap operas can wait) and many more.

As a home-based business owner, always remember what your goals/reasons were for bringing your work home. Was your goal to own a home-based business so you could avoid day care raising your children? Was your goal to become debt free? Was your goal to work at your own convenience and having the freedom that comes along with it? Was your goal to make money for yourself instead of that demanding boss?

Here are a few tips to help you stay focused when starting out with your home-based business:

1: Always keep reminding yourself of the reason why you started your home-based business! If you forget about your why you will loose focus and you will be returning to your j.o.b. very quickly. It is far too easy to get distracted from initial reasons why you wanted to be home and when this happens then end results are sure to prove negative.

2: Act as if you are punching a time card; keep your day as if you were reporting to a regular j.o.b. Some go to work for the social aspect or to get out of the house; while others go to work to make money. Usually those earning a commission have a stronger work ethic and stay focus attitude even when they are working for someone else. They are not usually the type that report to work to socialize. When working for yourself, your salary is directed by productivity. No productivity - no positive results = no income. Focus, focus, focus this is the only way to see positive results and usually these results can be met working a shorter day.

3: Scheduling around the families activities is very important and is usually a juggling act. However it is workable; as long as you dedicate a minimum number of hours each day. It’s a good idea to block out this time on a calender so everyone involved knows this is when you will be working. With small children this could be done during nap time or in the evening after the children are in bed. When the children are older, it becomes much easier to tell them that you will be working between certain hours. Your family and friends must realize that there are certain hours of every day that you focus on your home-based business so unless it is an emergency you are not to be interrupted.

4: The biggest challenge you will run into is from your friends and family who misunderstand what working from home really means. Many misinterpret it or forget that you actually have to do work to see the end results. Therefore you might be constantly targeted to babysit or have constant visitors for that cup of coffee, early morning chat session. Family can be your toughest critique always trying to offer you advice on finding a j.o.b.

You must stand your ground on this one. Don’t try to argue the point that you do have a real j.o.b just make them understand that during specific hours you are to be treated as if you are at that j.o.b. even though you are at home. Remind others how important this is to you and if they wish to have that cup of coffee to call first so you can work it around your work schedule. It is up to you to make sure everyone close to you understands how important your work is to you; this is the only way you will get their respect.

5: To keep yourself productive, especially if your time is limited; dedicate a certain time of the day to answering emails. The best time for this would be first thing in the morning and just before leaving the home office for the day. Give yourself about two hours a day to complete this task. Answering email can consume your business and cause a negative result in your productivity.

6: Don’t get side tracked by the meaningless daily activities. For example, if you find yourself focusing on the book work instead of the important tasks that are needed to keep you business running like advertising or returning phone calls then it may be time to out source. Maybe find yourself an assistant to take care of the book work so you can keep your focus on the needed daily tasks.

At the end of the day your results are completely dependent upon you and the decisions you make everyday in running your home-based business. Remember your goals/reasons for starting your home-based business and always keep these reasons as your focus. The only way to see success is by staying dedicated and true to your home-based business; without it your business will not survive.

Stay focused on your goals/reasons with strong work ethics along the discipline necessary to reach your success and dreams. It will be a reality as long as you stay true to those goals!

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Author Resource: By Lisa Burkhardt Editor of http://www.work-home-today.com; great resource for work at home ideas and opportunities.

Article From Niche Article Directory

by: Tawnya Sutherland

You can slash prices and offer all types of sales promotions at your online business but unless you can create client loyalty, you’ll rarely be successful. You need to keep clients coming back to your website over and over again. Sounds easy but how does one create this loyalty?

Stay in regular contact with your clients by sending out a regular newsletter monthly or better yet every other week.

After every sale you have from your website follow up with a client appreciation survey. It’s a great way to find out what your client really thinks about your business. Offer them a free gift or discount on their next order as a thank you for filling out the survey.

Why not award a bonus box of chocolates to that client who just made a big purchase from you or signed up as a large retainer client? Better yet, don’t charge shipping on orders over $100 or give discounts for large retainer packages.

Always respond to inquiries within 24 hours from receipt of the email. Better yet, respond as soon as they arrive in your email box. Set your email to notify you of new mail every 15 minutes. Responding immediately will gain you the upper hand against your competition and most likely land you that next project or retainer client. Why? Because the customer feels like you care since you responded so quickly and they are more likely apt to put their service needs into your hands since you appear prompt and efficient. This extra attention makes them feel you will get their job done on time.

Have a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) area on your website with phone number and email contact visually prominent for anytime they need a question answered.

Send thank you, birthday, get-well cards or a simple Thinking of You e-card to your clients as the occasions arise. It will bring a smile to their face to know that you thought of them.

Be alert to your client’s interests if you see something like a website that may benefit your client or maybe you read a newspaper article that may relate to your clients business. Email them the URL or mail them the newspaper clipping. It makes your customer feel important.

Go that extra mile with your clients. Always give them more than they expect. Kindness goes a long way so always be polite on the phone or in online correspondence. Remember the golden rule too “The Customer is Always Right” whether they are or not. And if you happen to make a mistake, make sure you make it up to them in a big way with a future discount or freebie on the way to them in the mail tomorrow!

All of these suggestions can help build your client’s trust and admiration in your business which leads to loyalty. A loyal target market is the bread and butter to your business.

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Learn more online marketing tips by signing up for Tawnya’s TNTs ~ FREE Weekly Tips & Tactics for online business owners at http://www.virtualassistantshop.com/newsletter.htm

Tawnya Sutherland, founder of Virtual Assistant Networking (VAN) and author of The VAS System, a Virtual Assistant Startup System, is a Certified Internet Marketing Specialist sharing much of her online marketing experience at VAN to help aspiring and successful VAs turn clicks into cash at their websites. Contact her at tawnya@mediamage.com.

by Tia Peterson

This article is written particularly with virtual assistants in mind.

Anyone reading this article has probably heard of or read the book Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office by Lois P. Frankel. The book highlights some common mistakes women naturally make that may prevent them from breaking through that highly controversial notion of the “glass ceiling.” The book is very good, actually, and if you haven’t read it, you should, particularly if you have been or plan to ever be part of “corporate” America.

But I have another angle on this that I’ve been thinking about recently. What about the home office? Is there a difference when it comes to women’s natural tendencies (to bring cookies and other goodies and leave them at our desk, to bring in our kid’s fund raisers, to put others first, etc) in the home-based business realm, vs corporate America?

I’d love to see some responses and comments to this. Women in home-based businesses tend to be in industries we expect them to be in - virtual assistants (like myself), home/personal products, shopping, etc. Some of the very successful are in more mixed pools - graphic design, coaching/consulting, etc. A lot of men in home-based businesses are found in major money-making MLM businesses, finance (like home-based accounting and tax services), real estate investing, technology and media. Of course, all of this commentary is without research into this - this is just my observation.

Case in point: I’ve never been a “brick-and-mortar” administrative assistant professionally (a few times during college temporarily). I have a BA in technical writing and until recently worked in IT as a tech writer, then product manager, and then lead business analyst. But when I decided to work from home, I chose virtual assistance. Why? I don’t really know. I just enjoy it a lot. That’s all I can offer for an explanation.

Women seem to thrive in “helping” businesses like virtual assistance. Does that make us servants? Most definitely not! But if you ever find yourself feeling that way a bit, don’t fret, I’m sure we all do at some point. I recently came into negotiations with a potential client that didn’t go very well. The essence of the conflict was a philosophical one. The potential client (a man) worked from home and probably enjoyed a lifestyle that anyone would - lots of income, low overhead and free time. But he didn’t anticipate that I would be in the same position as he is. When it came to negotiations in terms of my rate and my work schedule, he expected me to work 24/7 for peanuts. That’s ridiculous. Needless to say it didn’t work out between us.

Anyway, the issue I’m really getting at is that it’s obviously possible for women to be very successful in home-based business (many, many women do - just look at Ali Brown and her prodigies), but it isn’t by giving stuff away, acting like a servant, lowering our rates or devaluing our services. It’s by sticking to your guns. Set a price and a schedule that you want and that reflects your desired lifestyle (see my blog about Lifestyle Entrepreneurs) and then don’t waver. Men rarely do that (in business or in life) but as women we’re so good at rationalizing our changes that we talk ourselves into things like “I’ll lower my rate for just this one client” or “It really shouldn’t take 2 hours to do this task so I’ll only charge him for 1 1/2 hours.” Resist the temptation to do this!

Whether or not you believe in “you reap what you sow”, law of attraction, karma, “you get what you ask for” or something similar, the truth is that you will get out of life exactly what you expect to get. So set your expectations high! If you want lots of money and a 2 hour workday, expect that. You will then find yourself researching businesses that allow this sort of lifestyle and the next thing you know it will be yours.

So be nice, but be real. Don’t bend down for clients, reach up for them.

To our success!

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Tia Peterson is an entrepreneur, author behind Entrepreneurship Junkie and owner of All-American Admin She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Technical Writing with a minor in Public Relations and Advertising. She currently lives in Erie, PA with her son.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tia_Peterson