5 Effective Ways To Promote Your Home Business

For those who have made the leap into self employment, and are starting a business from home, it can be scary to know where to start. Even if you have been working at home for a while, and your business is more developed, you will still need to promote it to stay on top of your game. Promoting your home based business may seem like an overwhelming task, especially if you are working completely alone, however there are many ways you can effectively, and often simply, promote yourself and your business. We share out top 5 promotional secrets for success:

Start a blog

1. The best way of promoting your business to potential customers is to get up front and personal. Sharing your thoughts, opinions, tips, or news through blog content is the perfect way to get started. All you need is a good host, some solid tips and advice, and a unique approach to your content.

Social Media

2. Now that mobile media time is greater than desktop, using free mobile based tools like social media is a great way to reach customers. Social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and others, are the perfect platform for sending your message to the busy butterflies this world has become. Being a social butterfly can certainly pay off in the business world. With the potential of reaching out to millions of users across the globe, social media is a no brainer.

Local Marketing

3. Local marketing is even more important now that search engines have become more advanced. Whether online off offline, it’s crucial to be advertising yourself where your customers want to find you. If you have a website, that means having your NAP (name, address, phone number) details clearly displayed and your business added to popular local directories, such as Yelp and Google Places. If you’re promoting yourself offline, you will want to take a similar approach, placing adverts in local establishments with clear contact details, and passing out business cards and flyers left right and center. Fastprint are perfect if you’re looking for quality custom leaflet flyers at low prices.

Join Local Network

4. Get involved in some local network marketing and advertising. Being famous isn’t just for celebrities and musicians. Network with local newspapers, news stations, magazines and blogs to start your journey to fame. Networking in the right circles can open up many doors, especially if you are available to offer something relevant and interesting in return. Another great way of networking is by exhibiting at trade shows and events. Just make sure you have an eye-catching exhibition stand design to attract potential contacts.

Freebie

5. Everyone loves a freebie. If your business is product based, then offering giveaways and promotions online is a great way of promoting your business. It’s also a great way of enhancing your social media engagement and reach, which will subsequently result in more people becoming aware of your products or services. Offering samples is another great way of promoting your products. Reach out to some influential bloggers or journalists in your area or niche, and offer sample products to test. Not only are you generating more awareness for your business, but you may also get a mention or some press of the back of it. Win win.

There are plenty of ways that you can promote your home business, and these are only just a few. It is not an easy task making ends meet through self-employment, but there is a good chance that if you follow the advice from this article, and use it to inspire you to try out other ways of promoting your business, you can succeed.

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Start Your Own Business Without Leaving the House!

Whether you are living in a rented house in the Florida Keys, or own one of the beautiful condos in Montreal, it is possible for anyone to start their own business without even leaving the house.  During the recession, many working age people decided to start a home based business in order to make ends meet, and now they are reaping the benefits of their hard work.  If you think working from home sound like the ideal solution to your financial worries, keep reading for some tips.  This article aims to help you start your own business from the comfort of your own home.

Start Small

It’s tempting to throw a lot of money at a business in order to get it started.  However, it’s a much better idea to start small with low overheads, especially if you won’t necessarily be making a wage for a few months.  A laptop on a kitchen table can be the perfect work desk (at least at first), and your spare room could be the ideal stock room.  Many of the world’s biggest companies started off in the same way: Marks & Spencer’s started off on a market stall, whilst Laura Ashley began on her kitchen table.

Agree Payment Terms

Don’t expect people to pay you on time, as it’s common for companies (especially big businesses) to take their time with payments.  It’s a much better idea to agree payment terms before you begin any work.  If you are building a website for someone, for example, you could ask for 50% of the payment upfront, and the remainder upon delivery of the website.  If you are happy to wait until after you have completed the work, make sure your client’s know when you expect payment to be made, and what the consequences will be for ignoring your payment rules.

Plan Your Finances

No matter what type of business you are running, it’s important to plan everything.  Even if you’re only setting yourself up as a freelancer, you need to have a good idea of how much money you expect to make each month, and how much your outgoings will be.  It can be tough to estimate sales when you’re just starting out, but once you have been working for a month or two, you should have a much better idea of what to expect.  Where possible, try to avoid borrowing money unless you are sure you can pay it back.

Don’t Forget to Market

Marketing can be challenging for home based business owners, so this is one area that is worth investing in.  Marketing is one area where you need to spend money to make money, and you’ll really appreciate the constant workflow that you attract.  Failing to market yourself correctly could lead to huge gaps in your business’ cash flow, especially if you have to spend hours every day looking for new work.  Market your business daily, and you should find that you have a steady stream of custom.

Every home based business requires a significant time investment, but if you have the motivation, you can make it work.  Good luck!

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