| 811 | How To Get New Business Preview: Market, Market and then market some more. So many small and home-business owners do what we call spot marketing. They market hard for their business, get a response then stop marketing. Marketing must be an ongoing process. Let's repeat that...Marketing Must Be An On Going Process. In addition, you should have multiple marketing strategies. For ... (more) Published By: Chuck and Sue DeFiore Submitted: 23 April,2002 |
| 812 | Organizational Techniques - Tickler and Chron File Preview: One of the biggest problems we encounter in our consulting with businesses, and our students, is time management and organizational techniques. This article will concentrate on some good organizational strategies. Two of the best organizational techniques I have found over the years are the Tickler File and the Chron File. This article will concen... (more) Published By: Chuck and Sue DeFiore Submitted: 23 April,2002 |
| 813 | My Family Doesn't Take Me Seriously! Preview: I can't tell you how many times I hear from working mom's that people don't take their home based business seriously. Unfortunately, when I ask them how they react, they don't have real definitive answers for me. Remember, unless you take your own business seriously, no one else will. You must establish working hours, rules that family members m... (more) Published By: Chuck and Sue DeFiore Submitted: 23 April,2002 |
| 814 | Networking 2 Preview: Another way to network is by using an 800 number and establishing a network of experts to refer your clients/customers to. An 800 number provides a way for your customers to reach you. You can answer information needs, resolve problems and obtain information from your customers. You will of course need to publicize your 800 number in your promotio... (more) Published By: Chuck and Sue DeFiore Submitted: 23 April,2002 |
| 815 | Getting Started Preview: One of the first things we do with our Partnering For Your Success students is to have them plan out how many hours they can spend on lease purchasing. We know that many of you are working and want to start part-time. Well the best way to do this is to take a calendar and to put in the times you will work your lease purchasing business, or whate... (more) Published By: Chuck and Sue DeFiore Submitted: 23 April,2002 |
| 816 | Businesses - Leisurely Dining Or Fast Food Preview: It occurred to me the other day, that so many people today liken their businesses to the way they eat - fast. Think about it. All over the web we are inundated with... make $1000's of dollars a day, make $10,000 a month, make a million by the end of the year. Everyone is looking for the magic formula or the magic bullet to get rich quick...fast. T... (more) Published By: Chuck and Sue DeFiore Submitted: 23 April,2002 |
| 817 | Networking 1 Preview: As a new business owner you must wear many hats. You will need knowledge of accounting, marketing, advertising, management, administration, inventory, sales, etc., in addition to knowledge pertaining to your industry. Since you may be very proficient in some of these areas, but not in others, reading and learning about these other areas is impera... (more) Published By: Chuck and Sue DeFiore Submitted: 23 April,2002 |
| 818 | How To Improve Your Negotiating Skills Preview: Negotiation will be an important area for every homebased business owner, especially in lease purchasing. Whether you're dealing with suppliers, employees, or prospective clients, you're negotiating. The following tips will help you to negotiate better. A. Know what you want. Establish a goal and what will satisfy you. B. Develop a plan. Develop... (more) Published By: Chuck & Sue DeFiore Submitted: 23 April,2002 |
| 819 | Keeping Abreast Of Your Domain ...Updates and Keeping Up With It All Preview: Another major complaint that most business owners have is all the reading they need to do to keep abreast of what is happening in their business area. Again time management and organization can be a tremendous help. Be sure to put your reading times in your daily schedule. Schedule a half hour in the morning to read at least one article in a mag... (more) Published By: Chuck and Sue DeFiore Submitted: 23 April,2002 |
| 820 | Marketing Tips 5 Preview: Typical methods of advertising-newspapers, radio and television are effective if used properly, but there are other, less expensive ways to get your company's name out. Local or cable television is an inexpensive alternative to the traditional forms of advertising. Even if you have no experience advertising in this medium, there are companies who... (more) Published By: Chuck and Sue DeFiore Submitted: 23 April,2002 |
| 821 | Marketing Tips 3 Preview: This tip is so simple, that many people we've talked with never bother using it, but it is highly effective. Prepare a 30 second verbal commercial about what your business offers. This should be 50 words or less, and practice saying it until it becomes second nature. End it with phrases such as "I'd love to have you as a client" or "I'd like to do... (more) Published By: Chuck and Sue DeFiore Submitted: 23 April,2002 |
| 822 | In Business, Image Isn't Everything; It's The Only Thing! Preview: We have all heard this lament, but how much do we practice it. With all the relaxed rules today, do we really present ourselves in the best light. It seems all the articles I see today are about how old fashioned today's workers find their supervisors or bosses to be in the way they dress, the policies they implement and the old fashioned ways in ... (more) Published By: Chuck and Sue DeFiore Submitted: 23 April,2002 |
| 823 | How To Realistically Set Your Fees - Part 3 Preview: Effect of Benefits We have previously examined realistic billable hours and the effect of business expenses on your hourly rate. Now we'll look at the effect of benefits. Once upon at time, when we were employed, we received a benefits package from our employer. This usually included health, life and disability insurance. Many firms also had ava... (more) Published By: Chuck & Sue DeFiore Submitted: 23 April,2002 |
| 824 | Marketing Tips 1 Preview: This month we will deal with the issue, Where Can I Get Clients From? The following tips have come from a wide variety of sources; some from other successful businesses we know, some from our Home-Based and Small Business Support Group meetings and some we've developed by trial and error. Some of the ways to get clients are: contact previous empl... (more) Published By: Chuck and Sue DeFiore Submitted: 23 April,2002 |
| 825 | Marketing Tips 2 Preview: This month we will deal with the issue "How Can I Get Name Recognition". Some of the ways in which to get your "name out there" are to call your local television and radio stations, and ascertain whether there is a medium you can get your name in. A very good source are public stations that hold auctions, at which you can donate your services. Tal... (more) Published By: Chuck and Sue DeFiore Submitted: 23 April,2002 |
| 826 | How To Realistically Set Your Fees - Part 2 Preview: Effect of Expenses The last article examined how to calculate your realistic billable hours. If you remember, we arrived at approximately 1100 hours in a year. To earn our mythical $46,000 per year, you needed to bill at a rate of $42 per hour. Now we need to take into account the expenses of running a business and see where those put our hourly ... (more) Published By: Chuck & Sue DeFiore Submitted: 23 April,2002 |
| 827 | Defining Your Goals Preview: Probably one of the most important things we do with our Partnering For Your Success students is to help them define their goals. We discuss their need for both short and long term goals. This might sound trite to you, or you might say, Yeah, everyone says to define my short term and long term goals. Well, this is said and emphasized for a very ... (more) Published By: Chuck and Sue DeFiore Submitted: 23 April,2002 |
| 828 | Staying Focused Preview: Three of the biggest areas of concern to our survey participants were repeat sales, getting new business and staying focused while working at home. First, let's discuss staying focused at home. Remember, to have a separate office or to delineate one area and one area only to your home business. This can be your kitchen table, a desk in your dini... (more) Published By: Chuck and Sue DeFiore Submitted: 23 April,2002 |
| 829 | The Angry and Sometimes Grumpy Children of the 1950's Preview: A bunch of us in our late 40's and early 50's got together the other night, and after the evening was over I started thinking that many of us born in the 1950's are in a crisis stage. People can't understand why we are so angry and grumpy sometimes. This article discusses some of the issues we have with society today and might enlighten others (th... (more) Published By: Chuck and Sue DeFiore Submitted: 23 April,2002 |
| 830 | Reminders For Running A Better Business Preview: The following tips are from an article we contributed to Compute magazine. These are ideas that we all should know, but many times forget. It constantly amazes us how quickly a basic tenent of business can be shoved by the wayside in the heat of daily transactions. If we all try to keep these simple principles in mind, they may keep us on the str... (more) Published By: Chuck and Sue DeFiore Submitted: 23 April,2002 |