Enhance your Corporate Identity with your Business Card

Business Cards and the Home Business Equation

Whether you are an event planner, a restaurant owner, or a freelance writer, owning a business card is a must to define your explicit brand value. The visual imagery on your business card is a great way of conveying across a set of principles and a sense of purpose to your clients. We are here to tell you how to go about acquiring this strong corporate identity through your new business card.

Significance of Business Cards

Business cards can become a powerful medium of advertizing for your small business, if handled correctly. The design of your business card articulates personal business values that you want your target customer base to associate with your products and services.

Your business card  is also responsible for bringing consistency to all the out going communication from your company. It represents your true corporate identity especially when you distribute it during business round tables and during your local chamber of commerce meetings.

What to Include in Business Cards To start with, the heading of a business card will constitute the name of your company followed by your name. The heading can also be your job title. This piece of important information is usually in the center or at the top of the card with large and bold formatting. Next, your business card should communicate information about the product or service you are selling through an appealing visual statement. This can be done by using an eye-catching logo, a compelling picture, or a combination of colors. A slogan gets across the main purpose of your business, or your personal/ company value. While providing your contact details, try to include as many avenues to reach you as possible. A cell phone number, a voicemail number, an e-mail ID, a website address and perhaps a Twitter address  are all indispensable today. What to Watch Out for in Business Cards

• A clear and straightforward design to convey your precise message to your customer community

• A standard size 3.5” by 2” business card for it to fit in a wallet, or a card organizer

• A large supply of your business cards available with you at all times

• A professional quality print job to signal that you are a dedicated home business owner and mean real business

• Use of a paper or any other writable surface on the reverse side to note down any impromptu information

Methods of Designing Business cards

There are several online business card designing systems that will guide you to create professional looking business cards on your own. A step by step wizard will guide you through the process to generate affordable and personalized business cards.

Besides these systems, there are a number of business card software packages in the market. The programs allow you to explore the potential hidden artist with in you, or simply work with the many templates, images, and logos offered. Most of the software packages also provide additional options for creating envelopes, greeting cards, etc. You can print them out using  a desktop printer on business card stock. The benefit is the amount of time that you save. If you haven’t used any of these packages before, your best bet is to use the templates available in MS word and print your business cards. MS word does an excellent job of printing business cards on business card stock. You can also customize each print run for specific applications. Use a color laser printer if possible and search the MS Word help system to learn how to use these templates.

You can also go the traditional route and hire an experienced graphics designer and printer.  Make sure that the designer understands your company message and your personal vision. After meticulous planning, researching, and designing, your new identity is established.

The Business Card Quality Checklist

So you already have a design ready to be sent to that business card printing service. You had a whirlwind session with your graphic artist, and you are extra enthusiastic of how it will turn out. Hold on however. Before spending all that money in business card printing, you have to review every aspect of your business card before it gets produced 100 or 500 times over. Any mistake or design error that isn’t caught early enough can be detrimental to your business card. So reviewing them thoroughly  assures you that you will be getting the best quality business card that you can produce. This is what separates a great business card from other poorer quality and cheap business cards.

To help you out in reviewing your business card design, you need a checklist. Below is the standard business card quality checklist that most professionals go through to review business cards. Go through it one by one, and see if your business card options and designs are up to current standards.

Paper Stocks – First, and foremost is the business card paper stock or more specifically its card stock. Not all business cards are printed in the same type of card stock. There are differences in the thickness, coatings and textures for each type of business card stock. To be sure that you have the best quality business cards, aim for the card stocks that offer protective coatings such as UV and moisture resistant card stocks. Some card stocks may also have a sheen or glossy effect that makes it look better. Just ask your business card printing service for your options regarding business card paper or card stocks.

Now, for the quality of your card stock, simple try to bend it a bit and see if the paper follows the fold immediately or not. If the paper stock is easily bendable, then you have lower quality paper stock and you may want to change it if you like. Also try to test if the paper stock easily absorbs water, and if it sheens or not. Lack of moisture resistance and light reflectivity is also a sign of a not so perfect business card.

Ink Quality – Next, we have the ink quality. The business card printer’s ink quality can depend on the printer itself. There are several types of this. It can be offset printing, digital inkjet or digital laser jet printing. Each has a different way of embedding inks into paper, and also they have different types of ink. To test the ink quality, simply run down a few drops of water in front of your design. If the ink “runs” and is easily water soluble, you have a mark of a bad quality ink, and printer. So check this on your sample printing when it comes.

Design Composition – Next on the items in our checklist is the design composition or layout. This refers to the positions of your design and content elements in your color business card. It can be the placement of pictures, the positions of certain text, their font styles and of course the overall theme. Basically, you need to check if all the design elements mesh together to form a coherent design. This design must match the image that you want to project, and it also has to match the prevailing design standards of the time. If you design looks outdated or messy, then it might not be up to snuff for the best business cards out there.

Content Thoroughness – Lastly, be sure to have all the content that you need printed in your business card. The content must be as thorough as it can possibly be. Be sure to have your name, job title, company name, address, contact numbers, website information (if applicable), company logo, tag line and sample service/product list all included in your content information. Be as inclusive as possible so that you can maximize all the information that you want to give in one business card delivery. If your business card content is not this thorough, you may find yourself wasting time physically writing in the missing information which can be difficult. So check the content before going to printing.

That should be a wrap for the checklist on business cards. By going through a review process using this checklist, you should be able to print business cards that are high quality, professional looking and very attractive to business contacts. You won’t be wasting your money in business card printing if you do so.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit Business Card Printing and Cheap Business Cards

A Business Growth Consultant ? Helping Small Businesses Through Growth Pains

Growth for a business is vital and Charles Preston knows how to help a business through growing pains as well as help them actually begin to grow. Today, more than ever, a business has to differentiate itself in a crowd. The strongest survive! Getting the right business growth advice will help your business thrive.

Thriving isn’t without growing pains, though. Let’s assume that there are two types of growing pains.

1. You want to grow but you don’t know how

2. Your business is growing but you don’t feel like you have control over what is happening and you don’t want things to go wrong and jeopardize your success.

A business growth strategist would know how to help you in either case and can work directly with you to help your business get through growth as painlessly and as profitably as possible.

A lot of small businesses either don’t know how to grow their business or find that their business is spiralling out of control as it experiences growing pains. When people find themselves in either position, an experienced business growth consultant can help them guide their business in the right direction.

No Pain, No Gain?

They’re called growing pains for a reason! Growth can be painful but it can also be very productive. Many businesses just don’t know how to approach it or handle it on their own. Perhaps they’re now at a stage where they are in the black and earning money and want to ensure there is growth. Or, maybe they’re earning enough to be able to expand. Maybe they’re seeing their market share slip and they want to do something about it before it’s too late. Expanding a business requires expending some effort and some money and it definitely requires some expertise and knowledge about how to grow a business in the 21st century.

A great way to expand any business is to foster online growth and an experienced consultant can help you do that. The internet presents smart business people with a multi billion dollar sales opportunity and despite an economy that’s suffering, internet sales continue to grow at a rapid pace. Those who don’t leap into the world of e-commerce can find that their businesses don’t stand a chance against competition. Avoiding cyberspace is sentencing your business to archaism.

A local following can definitely be a great way to earn a living but opening up the floodgates to the masses online can do a great number of things for you.

When you focus on your online target audience, you have the ability to get more business locally and expand your business so it can become borderless.

How does the internet help you get more business locally?

When folks need something locally, they don’t reach for their local telephone directory any longer. Most people among the masses, whether they live in a big city or a smaller town, now reach for their mouse. Most of them would prefer to click their way through online search engine results pages looking for what they seek. Businesses, even small local businesses, that don’t have any online presence whatsoever are leaving money on the table. When you plan for business growth, expanding your online presence could make a massive difference for you.

What could a small business profit growth engineer like Charles Preston do for your company?

Charles Preston has many years of experience in helping online and offline businesses succeed and grow. Through understanding the way e-commerce works, understanding how search engines work, and understanding how to position a company’s site so that it appeals to both the search engines for traffic purposes and to the visitors for conversion purposes, he can help a company strategize and brace themselves for exponential growth. His knowledge and skills take the pain out of that growth.

A traditional marketing consultant who doesn’t know how to unleash the power of the web is going to cost a company a fortune and probably won’t bring about much in terms of results. But, work with someone like Charles Preston who has the business knowhow both online and offline and you’re giving your company a chance to get ahead of the curve so that it can meet the growing needs of its target customers.

If Your Small Business Can’t Afford to Rent an Actual Office – We Can Help

For businesses that can’t afford to or simply don’t want to unnecessarily spend thousands on a full-time office… we offer a physical office address, phone, fax, reception and meeting space access for a fraction of the price.  A New York Virtual Office may be just the solution for you. Find out today with our July 2009 Virtual Office Address Trial Offer for only $12.50 per month.

Within one business day you can open your New York office on Broadway in the trendy Flatiron district taking our advantage of our trial office of US$12.50 per month, for 2-months of service including a physical New York office address with reception and access to meeting facilities.  

During the trial period, you receive everything you would at the standard rate.  Mail handling is available as well as meeting rooms, phone service, fax service, and all the extras!  All the benefits of having a real staffed office (not a mailbox or a fake suite number) without the overhead or headaches.

VIRTUAL OFFICE TRIAL
$12.50 per month for 2-months of Virtual Office. Virtual Office address includes:
-Physical Office address on Broadway with reception and meeting facilities.
-Mail handling privileges including mail-forwarding
-Meeting room rental privileges

For more service details, visit:  http://manhattanvirtualoffice.com/virtualoffice.html

To apply for this offer, simply click here to access the online application.

<em>Offer valid for new approved clients only. Offer may not be combined with any other offer. Not valid on renewals or reinstatements. Applicants must order and have their completed applications approved prior to July 31, 2009. After the 2-months are up, you can opt to renew service. Renewal rates revert to standard rates.

The Franchise Opportunity, Make Honest Franchise Business Choices

Many people looking for a better way to earn a living are looking at becoming self employed with one of the franchise opportunities available. A franchise business can be a wise choice in that statistically they have a higher success to failure ratio that going to business totally on your own. Franchisers claim about 97 percent success after 3 years, almost the inverse is true for a regular small business.

As good as franchises sound on the surface, there can be things to watch out for. It is important before making such a large commitment of time and money that you look to all the factors and variables involved. The franchiser will make it all sound quite nice, but remember, they are selling something. You, on the other hand are investing money, time and a big chunk of your life – don’t take it lightly.

Researching in depth the company you are considering getting involved with is key, which should also include contacting existing operators of the brand. The only way to get true first hand information is from those that are doing it, those that are experiencing the ups and downs. Don’t let yourself allow the only source of information you use to make a decision be the sales rep for the franchise company.

After checking out the company and some of the actual operators some of the other important factors to consider are:

Investment required:
This includes your initial franchise buy in cost and your operating expenses for 2 to 3 years before your business is well established. And as pointed out above, you must be real careful in assessing these factors in order to get as close as possible to the reality of the real costs involved. In general, the more you pay up front, the more you will receive from the franchiser.

Time required:
This is a huge point to pay attention to. Depending on the size of your business when you open and the cash flow, you can be in for long hours. A larger business that can easily support high levels of management will allow you to not be present as often as a smaller business where you are the manager.

It is very common for the owner to end up spending 60 to 80 hours a week in the business in order to manage it as well as take care of the behind the scenes work. This factor is much the same with opening an independent non-franchise business. The weekly cash flow will determine your actual job position and the hours you must work.

Time to get into profit:
This can vary and also be misleading. If you have the funds to pay all the initial fees up front, it will seem that you can get into profit sooner than if you are making additional payments for some of the fees. Where in actuality, even if paid up front, you should look at the cost of those funds as part of your overall expense. You took that money from somewhere, how long does it take to pay it back. If you can’t pay it back, then the business is truly not in profit. You must look at what else you could have been using that money for. If you could have been earning 8% in the stock market, you must earn that much as well, or that investment is loosing money.

Calculating when you will be in true profit is a tough question to answer. It must be well researched and analyzed. It’s easy for your wishful thinking along with the rosy picture painted by the seller to underestimate the time to profit. Make sure you include all your upfront costs in this calculation.

Time to get investment back:
I covered this for the most part above as it directly relates to your true profitability. So easy is ti to just forget about your initial investment when you are looking for that point of finally being in profit. But, as I said above, you must look at the up front costs as an investment. And an investment should earn a return. Otherwise, maybe you are just buying yourself a job.

Employees:
Most franchise businesses will require that you have employees. The hiring and management of employees is an ongoing job. I’m sure you are aware, if you have worked anywhere, how tough it is to obtain and keep really good employees. Usually, business owners are hiring often to keep the staff at the required level. And when an employee does not show up for work, many time it means you must jump into action on the ‘front lines’ in order to keep things going properly.

Also, you will find yourself dealing with all sorts of people with reasons and excuses as to why they don’t do a good job or show up regularly to work. You must become a firm but fair manager, establishing and maintaining the kind of work environment you want.

Work environment:
This is an area not normally considered by most. but I include it because I think it is important to consider your quality of life in all this. Getting into a business is a big decision which will have an effect on all aspects of your life. Certainly a higher stress level will effect all aspects of your life, with poor cash flow and employee problems being some of the causes. The other consideration is where you will be spending a large amount of your time. Yes, in your place of business. But is this going to be an environment you want to be in for this amount of time? Only you can answer his question.

Most people are accustomed to being away from home for long periods of time when working a job, so the time factor may be similar, but remember, in your own business you can’t leave as long as something needs to be done – you are ultimately responsible. So, again, you may be away from home even longer with your own franchise business. Only you can answer as to the use of your time with the daily lifestyle you want to have. If you end up spending 16 hours a day in the business each day when you were really hoping that the business would allow you to change your lifestyle, and have more time for your family, you may be disappointed.

This is a big decision you are considering, It’s important that you make an informed decision so you won’t be slapped with any big surprises. It would not be good if you had invested a large sum of money into a franchise and then at some point realize the condition of the business is way off from what you thought, this can turn your attitude sour in a hurry. If you are in a business that you resent but are stuck with, life can become very difficult.

The decision boils down to two main factors, analyzing the numbers properly and analyzing why you want to go into business. You are looking to invest a lot of money and time into this business, know that it is right for you up front. How is it too serve and fit into the lifestyle you want to be living? Take your time to determine what you are actually looking for in making this change to your life, does a franchise business actually support these desires or not.

How you want to experience life day to day should be the greatest factor in considering what you will be doing with your time. Time is your most precious commodity, far more than money. Money can be acquired, time cannot. You will be committing your investment monies plus making a commitment to the future use of your time.

It’s wise to consider the lifestyle you want when deciding what to do with the next several years of your life. For most, a business is a vehicle for getting what they want, which is more than the money that can be generated, it’s usually about supporting a lifestyle. Perhaps other alternatives are worth looking into before making such a commitment.

Network Marketing Internet Business Breakthrough

For a network marketing internet business a whole new world has opened-up! That ‘world’ is Web 2.0 social interactive sites! People are online… therefore network marketing needs to be where the interested people hang-out!

The Skills Required For Interactive Marketing

Are you a visual learner? If so… you will love the available click-by-click social marketing training on videos. You can learn ‘how to’ take the mystery out of using the likes of Twitter.com, writing blogs, squidoo lenses, hubpages, video marketing and many more Web 2.0 interactive tools. The arrival of and acceptance of these interactive methods has reinforced the ‘shift’ to a network marketing internet business.

The ‘time’ for network marketers could not be better. People are using these new Web 2.0 tools with gusto! The trend has gone from solely searching for pure relevant information in text… to adding interactive tools to listen to and read about targeted information… and adding your comments to that information.

Target Interested People

Unlike offline network marketing the internet allows you to target interested people. You can be specific in targeting people either for your business or your product. Generally never a good idea to mix them though. The real beauty is that only interested people put their hand up for more information on your network marketing internet business.

Using Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, blogs, and squidoo lenses to display a ‘tiny url’ that takes people to a video… that delivers your message… is one excellent way of tageting people. If you are in the video and your messages directs viewers to your business… there’s a high chance they’ll visit your website. Video marketing is a powerful method, however it should be used with all the other content and social interactive marketing methods.

In targeting your specific person you need to have a web address and email address that reflects your target theme. So your website needs to also stay ‘on theme’ throughout. You can have a link to a landing page where you require your site-visitors to leave their first name and email address to subscribe to your newsletter. Their again your newsletter needs to stay on your target theme. In this manner targeted people will come from all your interactive marketing methods where only the truly interested people will join your subscriber list and seek further information on your network marketing internet business!

Create An Independent Website Business

Replicated websites as used by network marketing companies… are ineffective in a network marketing internet business! Plenty of people will tell you they are ineffective in offline NWM too. However they do have their use for members to place orders and check on teams etc. Apart from that… they are company promotion sites. To be effective on the internet… you have to promote yourself! Prospective business partners have to be ‘sold’ on you.

Therefore having your own content-powered information website is vital! That’s not all though… natural search will deliver a measure of site-traffic, however the use of other content marketing and social interactive marketing ensures good traffic numbers of pre-sold people. You create a real internet presence through your website, blog, squidoo lenses, hubpages, YouTube pages, sites like Digg, Stumbleupon, Twitter, MySpace and Facebook, through article-writing, and press-releases.

Using the above together… you’ll attract the like-minded partners in business you need and plenty of them. This is the new direction in a network marketing internet business. That’s not all though… you do monetize your business and maintain cash-flow through various income sources unrelated to your network marketing.

How To Monetize Your Website Business

Having multi-streams of income is essential online! The internet is such that it lends itself to having multi-income sources that are related to your theme. People can come to your web-pages, blogs, or Squidoo lenses etc from various places. Some may be solely interested in your business. Some may want more information on your network marketing internet business and subscribe to your newsletter. Some may lose interest in your site theme, but be interested in a program, product or course you have links for. Others may click a few Google Ads before departing.

Having multi-streams of income… allows you to maximise income off your site traffic. Remember your in business to make money. The internet has many and deverse ways of doing that!

Although your network marketing… remains your primary business… your income from these other sources can be substantial. This makes for a huge difference when you try to compare a modern network marketing internet business to ‘old model’ NWM! Old model network matketing is dead!

No matter what your business is about you’ll find affiliate programs, hard goods products, ebooks and software related to your site theme. Using incontext text links is the best way to draw attention to these products. Text banners and small banners are OK, but the hyperlink within your content text is more natural. Also it has been proven to be more effective in delivering results.

As your site traffic numbers increase… you’ll have opportunities to place affiliate referral links on your site. ‘Cost per action’ (CPA) referrals are an excellent income source. Another valued income source that most internet marketers use are Google Ads. Google pay by the number of clicks to these Ads. This income source is relative to the number of site-visitors. You do have some control over what type of Ads appear in these Google Ad blocks, but really losing a possible prospect to someone else’s Ad… simply means that the person was not ‘sold’ on you anyway!

Conclusions

Earning some income from as many site-visitors as possible and spending time with your business partner prospects is the new style network marketing internet business! The big drawback in ‘old model’ network marketing was the high time and monetary cost in finding business partners. Then later to find they were not interested in following you with the same time and monetary commitment.

A network marketing internet business has a… ‘time-well-spent’ feeling! You see results for low cost. You do spend time in the set-up of your website, blogs, etc and you’ll work to a plan to bring all these content and interactive marketing tools together. Because you spend your time training people who were interested enough to put their hand up to be involved, a high percentage of these people will follow through and take action on the training you offer them.

This is far superior to ‘old model’ network marketing and the quicker the old ways are buried the better! A network marketing internet business is a multi-income business. Basically, a foreign concept to the network marketing companies. They are locked-in to a company controlled… commission paid sales-person mindset! The origins of network marketing distributors can be traced back to the ‘peddlers’ of the nineteenth century. Really you must use the tools that work best… today. The internet is a wonderful gift of our time… that is also the most effective marketing tool available.

To help with online network marketing… training in a click-by-click follow-along style is available in a unique course. This is excellent to learn from… and actually ‘do’ as you go. You can pause the video and do the steps as per the click-by-click instructions. This type of training is powerful and direct. Many people will find training this way… a blessing!

How Business Directory Can be Helpful to increase business

The business directory is a concept to communicate various businesses around the world in a single place. There are many business directories available on internet that helps users to find out the business in their local area and the business which they want.  You can get opportunity to find the business of your choice and in the location that is specified by you in a business directory. For the business owners, the business directory is a customer attracting tool. Business owners place promotion of their business to the business directory. General public will search for the services they want, and may find your business listing proper for them, by this way your business can grown more and more.

We are going to explore the advantages of business directory for the business owners. The facility of listing their business online is very nice for any business owners. There are many websites that provide you such facility for free or charging you affordable money. You can also get a chance to promote your own business to the world and get more sales and more profit.

The first advantage that you can find is to promote the advertisement of your business to the world! You can promote your ad to the global customers by placing it on the business directories. You can attract global public towards your business by listing your business to the business directory. You can upload each information about your company such as name, location, contact number, detailed description of your products and also prices of them. You can add information in a professional manner in the business directory.

Another good advantage is the targeted audience. You can categorize your business on the business directory. Choosing the appropriate category is important step in order to publish it on the web. If you choose wrong category, you may get more people to your business but they may not buy anything from you. Choose right category of your business when you place the information of your business on the internet business directory. Categorized listing will always give the right traffic of customers to your business and help you a lot to increase your business.

You can also post various promotional offers by your business on the web directory. When you promote offers, be sure to remove them when they are expired or you don’t have enough stock of the specified product. The promotional and selling offers are nice ways to attract buyers. Post various offers advertise on your listing of business directory and get more number of buyers to your business.

You can also keep track of the market by using the news alerts given by the business directory. Whenever something new is announced, you get information about it from the business directory. When you register to the business directory, the doors for your success are open for you! There are so man advantages offered by the business directory for you and you can utilize them in order to increase your business and earn more profit.

Three Major Business Card configurations

Business cards have three major configurations. These configurations are used for certain kinds of custom business cards of different purposes. If you are a wise business man, you would do well to know these types of business cards. Using a combination of different configurations of these custom business cards should make your business networking task more effective since each has a specific area in which it can excel.

Simple 2-color cards:
The first configuration for business cards is the simple “two color” business cards. These are the most common type of business card out, and is the most widely used in most countries. As its name suggests, this kind business card has only two colors. You have the color of the paper stock or background of the card, and you also have the color of the text itself. The simplest setup here is the black and white business card, with a white background and then black text. However, other people have often tried to change the background color to different ones to stand out among other business cards. If you want a standard business card that you can give to almost anyone, and if you are just starting out in business card printing, then this configuration should be your best choice.

Full Color cards with images:
The next most common configuration are the full color business cards. Also called “four-color business cards” (which relates to the CMYK printing process), full color business cards offer one of the best looking business card configurations out there. This configuration is usually used if you want to place an image or symbol in your business card. This might typically be a logo of your business, or it might even be your own photograph. Regardless of the content however, these types of business cards are printed in the highest quality color printing to make those graphics look the best that they can be. Use this kind of configuration if you have a large printing budget and an eye to improve your business image. If you deal with and talk to a lot of clients, customers or investors, full color business cards are always a must.

Special Configuration:
Lastly, you can also have special configuration business cards. These are the cards that have custom aspects to them that you specify for a certain kind of purpose. For example, you can print extra information at the back of a business card like a marketing message or advertising slogan. Also, some people print calendars or something similar on their business cards as a way of adding more usefulness to them. These special configurations are usually best used by people that want to do more than just gain a business contact. Typically they would usually want to directly sell something, or they want to improve their company reputation or any other types of specific objectives.

As you can see, you can print business cards with certain kinds of configurations for a specific type of purpose. By knowing what your main purpose for business card printing, you should be able to produce the most apt business card configuration that fits your goals.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit Business Cards and Custom Business Cards

Is There a Home Based B usiness In Your Future? – Business Coaching

Every day there are people who are deciding to delve into a home based business for many reasons. Wanting to fire their bosses, downsizing because of economic conditions, wanting to stay at home and raise their kids, and supplementing their incomes and retirement. Many have experience in executive settings and can assist medium to large corporations. There is also huge potential for small business that many are failing to target. They are behind the times. Could this be your niche? There are over 1000 people every day deciding to start their own at home businesses. Why not be there when they need help?

As you know, home based businesses come in a number of formats. For example, a mom may run a daycare out of her home, a dad may make handmade toys to sell from home, or a cosmetologist may run an in-home salon out of the garage or basement. In terms of home based businesses, the options are endless. They also vary in size. Most are self-employed; working for themselves and by themselves. Some hire outside help.

Anyone can start a home based business. Someone who has a dream or a passion or wants to leave the dog-eat-dog corporate world behind can start a business and right from their own home. There is a growing trend though. That trend is parents who want to work from home. Some want a work-at-home job, meaning they are employed by a company, but perform their tasks at home. There are others, who want to capitalize on a talent or hobby and start their own business. For parents, starting a home based business provides them with unlimited flexibility and control.

Do you need proof that people want to start their own business? If so, perform a standard internet search with the phrases “work-from-home,” and “home based businesses.” You will get thousands of results. There is a lot of information available online to assist these people, but they need more. Just because a parent has a good product or service and a website, it does not mean that they will make money. That is why they can benefit from using your services as a business coach.

The first step in working as a home based business coach is to find clients. If you have a website, include home based business coaching as one of your services. Then, seek out these individuals. As previously stated, a lot of information can be found online. Most websites are informational sites, but some are online communities, like message boards. Join; insert yourself into the community. Add a link to your business website in your profile and signature. Join in on the discussions. If someone asks for tips, provide them with a few. Never give out too much information. Members will wonder how you know so much and who you are, so they should click on your links. If they want or need your service, they will use it.

Once you acquire a client, it is time to get to work. Home based business coaches tend to have more responsibility and tasks. This is because many home based business owners setup shop on a whim. They realized they could make money doing something they love and ran with it. Some did not even have a plan in place. If your client does not have a business plan, coach them through creating one. This plan should include what they sell, who their targeted market is, how they intend to generate income, and how to market their product to the public.

Business coaching involves encouragement. You need to encourage home based business owners to take a step in the right direction. Show them their potential. If they truly have a great product, show them exactly how a solid marketing can increase sales. Even if their marketing plan results in five new customers a week, calculate for them the additional yearly profit. Also, given them ideas to run with. Do more than just say “you need to market your business.” Give them specific examples, watch implement, and offer feedback.

While catering to new home based businesses may seem very daunting, you will get many more customers. If you plan “your” business correctly, it should simply being able to reproduce yourself only with a different product. The techniques you use, the software you use, how you interact with clients, how you research to stay on top of new trends, should be the things you will train your new clients in. A key to making a great income is being able to reproduce yourself. Helping new entrepreneurs is always exciting and you will meet a great brand of people.

Still Searching for that Million Dollar Business Idea?

The idea of starting a business is alluring to so many people.  There is the vision of wealth, providing opportunities and security.  Also there is pride and purpose- knowing what you’re doing is for you and your family.  And of course, one of the most appealing reasons is the freedom of being able to work from home and choose your own hours.  

These visions are wonderful and, in many cases, attainable.  In fact, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, there are over 17.6 million businesses with one or more owners but no paid employees.      

So why are so many aspiring entrepreneurs left on the sidelines? 

It turns out, there are three reasons.  One, as you can imagine, is good old fashioned fear.  Fear of the unknown.  Fear of failure.  Believe it or not, fear of success.  The second reason is a lack of knowledge.  “Where do I start?” “I don’t have enough resources.”  “I don’t know anything about marketing.” And the third reason, which I will be discussing in this article, is about the business idea, itself. 

Business Idea Paralysis

What is business idea paralysis?  Quite simply, it’s a condition that prevents people from starting a business because they get held back in the idea generation stage.  Basically, they are stuck in neutral.  Below are the two most common reasons why:

 The Pet Rock Syndrome

In 1975 a gentleman named Gary Dahl created a product called the pet rock.  Many of you have probably heard of it.  In case you haven’t, it was nothing more than a rock set in a box on some straw.  Within 6 months, Dahl had sold over 5 million of these pet rocks for $3.95 each.  It cost him less than 30 cents to produce the rock.  So, when you do some basic number crunching, he made over 15 million dollars in just 6 months – selling rocks.   

What does this have to do with anything?  Well, quite a bit actually.  Imagine how much your life would change if you could sell something as simple as a rock and become a multi-millionaire in just 6 months.  Pretty tantalizing isn’t it?  Unfortunately, it has tantalized people so much that they never end up starting a business.  They only end up chasing their own “pet rock” gimmicks that never catch on.

The reason is simple.  Some people just haven’t been blessed by the idea gods.  The gods have failed to spring upon them the multi-million dollar idea that they believe they need.    No matter how hard they try to come up with the next pet rock, they can’t.  If you don’t believe me, take a look at how many get-rich-quick schemes are being sold today.  If people can’t think of the next great idea, then they will buy the idea from someone else.  Well, guess what?  It doesn’t work.  Mr. Dahl was an aberration.  He hit the winning lottery ticket.  Chances are you won’t.

After you have wiped the pet rock syndrome from your head, beware of the next, equally as paralyzing syndrome that can keep you from getting to business with real, tangible ideas. 

Peace, Love and Happiness Syndrome

On the other end of the spectrum we have the peace, love and happiness camp.  This group is a little more realistic in their pursuit of a business idea.  Their problem, however, is that they love too many business ideas.  In fact, they love them so much that they can’t decide on the best one.  They become paralyzed by trying to figure out which idea is best, and ultimately, never try any of them.

These types of people, I have found, are extremely visionary.  They love to explore all of the different business angles and long term visions.  The problem is they don’t take action because their heads are filled with amazing ideas and forecasts for success.

If you fall into this camp, I have bit of advice.  Stop it!  You need to choose an idea and then let your mind run wild within the boundaries of that idea.

How Do You Find the Right Business Idea?

There are two schools of thought on how to come up with the right business idea.  I’ll discuss them below:

The Traditional Approach

The traditional theory for finding the right business idea states that you should find a need and fill it.  In other words, you need to pay attention to your surroundings and look to see where there might be an opportunity to offer a new product or service that people may need.  Once you do, that’s what you will build your business around. 

There is no question that this method of generating business ideas work.  It has led to many great inventions and innovations over the years.   It is for this reason that pharmaceutical companies make billions of dollars.  They develop new drugs to satisfy a need, such as a heart condition.  You can also see the traditional approach at play with today’s green technologies.  New, “green” businesses are trying to fill the need for clean, renewable energy.

There is one problem with this method, however.  It can be quite expensive and time consuming.  First, you have to develop the product or service.  This includes spending a lot of time and money on market research and sampling.  Second, you have to spend a lot of money on marketing to not only introduce the product or service, but to also convince people that they really do need it. 

If you’re a typical entrepreneur with limited funds and expertise, this may not be the best method of generating business ideas. 

The Give Them What They Want Approach

There is a second school of thought about coming up with a business idea that in many ways is far less risky and is much less expensive.  This theory is based on the idea that you should come up with an idea that already exists.  Or, simply put, offer people a product or service that they are already buying. 

Wait a minute, you may say, but doesn’t that mean there is more competition?  Isn’t the market already saturated?   Um, I would reply, tell that to Netflix. 

In 1997 the originator of Netflix reportedly hit upon the idea for movie rental-by-mail when he was forced to pay $40 in fines after returning an overdue videotape of the film Apollo 13.  Renting movies was not a new business “need” that needed to be satisfied.  In fact, Blockbuster had been renting movies for over 10 years, and in 1998 had served nearly 60 million people who rented more than 970 million movies and video games.  Netflix took a proven market (movie rentals) and simply enhanced the service by offering movie rentals by mail, with no late fees.  The result:  today, Netflix has over 10 million monthly subscribers while generating  an annual revenue of over 1 billion dollars.  Blockbuster, on the other hand, is struggling to stay afloat. 

The point is that if you know what people are buying, a good business idea is nothing more than simply enhancing the product or service and/or marketing message.  It’s a lot less risky and more often than not, a lot less expensive.