Grow Your Business Online And From Home

Work-at-home entrepreneurs have many choices when it comes to marketing. Below you'll find 50 simple ideas that you can adapt to your own needs.

Some ideas are geared toward online audiences while some target your neighborhood and involve getting to know local businesspeople.

It's a good idea to choose a few methods from each category and make them work for your own business. Give each one a try to see which works best for you and your business.

Online Marketing Ideas

1. Start a Blog and write 2 – 3 times a week. Start simply at WordPress.com or Blogger.com.

2. Post articles online that others can use with your byline and signature information – visit EzineArticles.com.

3. Regularly comment on blogs that relate to your business – you can find some great examples at AllTop.com (which list the top blogs in the world and divides them into categories for easy searching). (In fact, look for my RaisingGreatFamilies.com blog there! We're proud to have it listed.)

4. Visit Meetup.com and instigate a gathering relevant to your line of work OR join an existing group.

5. Check out Podcamp.org or Barcamp.org to see if they work well for your business.

6. Create your own Facebook profile.

7. Join groups on Facebook that relate to your business and post regularly.

8. Create your own Facebook PAGE and use it like a mini website to promote your business.

9. Become a source on HelpAReporterOut.com.

10. Suggest a story about work-at-home entrepreneurs to a blogger or offer a post for other people’s website by joining BloggerLinkUp.com.

11. Write an ebook and offer it for free on your own website or Facebook Page.

12. Send a press release about your business to PRWeb.com or PRLeap.com.

13. Reply to questions on Wiki.Answers.com and similar sites.

14. Open a Twitter account and send 2-3 tweets a day about what you are doing in your business.

15. Distribute monthly eNewsletters to your clients (having captured their names on your website or Facebook Page).

16. Put your business in both online and print directories.

17. Use Google to search for forums that are in your niche (use your keyword followed by the work “forum” to find these) and become involved with the chatter on the forum (NEVER “sell” on these – participate and leave your name with your contact information below it).

18. Write pieces for other companies' eNewsletters.

19. Keep in touch with classmates through Facebook.

20. Search Twitter for people who tweet about your type business and begin to tweet back and forth with them (find them using keywords at Search.Twitter.com).

21. Optimize your blog by using keywords in the titles of your posts.

22. Videotape short weekly talks and publish them online.

23. See if Affiliate Marketing is right for you – search Clickbank.com.

24. Trade blog ads with other work-at-home entrepreneurs.

Neighborhood Marketing Ideas

25. Join groups like the Lions Club or the Chamber of Commerce to Network.

26. Ask potential clients about their needs and follow up with them – don’t be bashful: if they say “NO” you’re in the same place as if you hadn’t asked them; if they say “Yes,” then you have new business!).

27. Ask clients for recommendations.

28. Send out a mailing to local businesses and then follow up with two additional mailings (we call that Sequenced Mailings).

29. Get other work-at-home entrepreneurs to package their promo material with yours.

30. Offer referral bonuses to clients.

31. Offer the first meeting for free with a potential client.

32. Mark the end of large projects with your clients in a public place – make it festive, memorable, and fun.

33. Attend local business mixers to meet new people and collect THEIR business cards – it’s less important to give yours out (though certainly do that if someone asks for it). Then follow up with everyone you met and keep them informed about how you can do business together.

34. Print and distribute business cards, using BOTH sides of the cards (and make an offer on the back – something like “Email for my free report, 7-Steps To Business Success.”

35. Leave your brochures with businesses where your target clients might frequent – but make this brochure gives an offer for some free information NOT a three-panel brochure about your business that most people don’t want to read (just as you don’t read most other people’s brochures like that).

36. Sponsor a local event that would appeal to your target client and then tell them.

37. Print coupons and put them on local bulleting boards – again, offer some free information.

38. Speak about your business at local events.

39. Partner with an entrepreneur who has a business related to yours.

40. Schedule a regular mastermind meeting with several entrepreneurs in your area – make time to chat about what each is doing and find out how you can help each other.

41. Visit your local bookstore each week to plan your schedule (I call that my Dreaming, Planning, Scheming Time) and chat with folks who are there – you never know what other local business person might need your services.

42. Give a class in your area of expertise – local school districts often sponsor these.

43. Volunteer your time to local charities.

44. Write some ‘case studies’ that closely parallel work you just completed and send them with a PostIt Note greeting to prospects.

45. Contact local businesses to find the right person to invite for an early morning cup of coffee – and suggest s/he tell you more about his or her business – when you offer to learn about someone, they often tell you a LOT (much of which can help you find more business for THEM and for YOU).

46. Create a 3-part postcard mailing campaign to prospects in your area.

47. Keep in touch with former clients.

48. Develop a contact at an employment agency for leads.

49. Put coupons for your services in gift bags.

50. Track down local giveaways and donate something.

Some of these ideas will cost a bit of money but many of them are free and only require your time and thought.

Make time each week to explore a new marketing option. Be creative and see how you can tailor each item to your specific needs and let us know how you're doing.

Give us progress reports so we can all be inspired by each other's success. And leave a comment here with YOUR ideas that can be added to this list – let’s grow it to 100 Simple Marketing Ideas!

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
A Work At Home Dad since 1983, succeeding in this economy

PS: You can find me here:

http://twitter.com/UltimateWAHDads

http://facebook.com/CharlesSeymourJr

http://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesseymourjr

To learn more, stay in touch with my blog – I'll keep you informed so that YOU won't have to do the heavy lifting. Charlie Seymour Jr's Blog – Click HERE To See More!

PPS: Do you have trouble writing? Turn Your Words Into Gold – Go Here To Learn More! NOW is the time to start.

Follow Charlie Seymour Jr On Twitter!

Keep this with this article, please:

Charlie Seymour Jr is an entrepreneurial evangelist and marketing-success coach helping individuals and companies (up to $100MM) explode their success through online and direct-response marketing. He specializes in blogging, podcasting, photography, video, and Facebook applications. Visit his blog at Charlie Seymour Jr's Blog to learn more about his successes.

Friends, if you like this post, please leave a comment, join our email list to get updates sent to you, and retweet it. And I've made it easy to retweet – just click on the icon below. Thanks!

Marketing Ideas – 50 Simple Marketing Ideas You Can Use To Grow Your Business

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How To Set Up Your Business From Home

So you're thinking of leaving the security and comfort of your day job and voyaging into the world of the self-employed OR you recently started working at home and aren’t sure what steps to take first.

Congratulations! Nothing beats the feeling of accomplishment you get from growing your own business from scratch, from taking on the world with nothing but wits and a lot of hard work. I've been working at home since 1983 and haven't regretted it for a moment.

Here are ten tips I've learned along the way to help make your journey a little easier.

Tip Number One: Set a schedule.

Time management can be problematic when you're self-employed.

It's easy to get sidetracked when you're working from home and before you know it, the morning is gone. You probably had to be at your old job at a certain time so do the same thing with your business. Resolve to be at the computer, on the jobsite, or with a client by 7:30 AM (or earlier) and stick to it.

For me, no matter what time I go to sleep the night before, I’m “at it” by 7:30 the next day. Some days I’m walking with my voice recorder creating WalkAbout Marketing podcasts and some days I’m at my desk. But it’s important to get started as soon as you can.

And turn off your email: don’t let it beep every time you get a new message. I literally average 837 emails every day. Most should never see the light of day, though some are important. But nothing is so important that I have to be interrupted twelve times an hour to reply to it. In fact, I only download emails to my computer ever half hour and only look at them a few times each day (when I can reply to several emails in one short stretch of time, and then back to finishing my goals for the day).

Tip Number Two: Tailor your workspace to your personality.

How do you work best? Do you like to work with music in the background or do you like it perfectly quiet? Do you like pictures of family to remind you of your goals (and the reasons you work so hard), or do you prefer motivational posters and superhero action figures to spur you on to greatness? Find out how you work best and set up your space around your preferences.

And speaking of space, I use a spare bedroom for my home office. When we bought this house in 1998, I picked out this space for my office. I can see the driveway when FedEx and UPS show up and it’s at the other end of the hallway from our bedroom. OK, so a 20-foot walk to work isn’t bad, I admit it!

However, when the door is closed, the office is closed and I don't think about work (well, usually – I admit that I work at the kitchen table when Pam and I “watch” TV together. I can always look up for the replay or when a news report catches my ear).

If you aren't able to have a separate space for an office, a room divider or curtains could do the trick. Just find some way to separate your space from the rest of the house and family and to hide your workspace from view so you don't have to look at it all the time (and be reminded of all the work you should be doing).

And let your phone go to messages rather than letting every caller interrupt your work when they have the whim to call you. Batch the messages together, find time twice a day to return calls and make all of them then. AND, better yet, if someone wants to chat with you by phone, SET AN APPOINTMENT – I don’t take phone calls that aren’t prearranged – believe me, your clients will get used to it when you help them see the importance.

Tip Number Three: Market yourself.

Now I don't mean paying for advertising, creating glossy brochures, or doing weekly direct-mail piece.

This website is FILLED with ideas for you so read my blog!

Also, do you have a Facebook account? Keep it up to date and post often. (You can friend me at http://facebook.com/CharlesSeymourJr – be sure to send a note when you friend me: you should ALWAYS send a note, and this way I’ll know why you are asking to friend me.)

Start a blog and use it like a diary. Think of all the things you are doing that clients and customers might be interested in. I post lots of videos to my blog (and to my Facebook profile, which acts like a mini blog for me).

Keep friends and family informed of what you're doing. Word of mouth can be the best advertising and it's free (but you have to give them something to talk about!).

Tip Number Four: Show that professionalism counts.

Present yourself with a businesslike demeanor. That doesn’t mean that you can’t have fun and enjoy life when you are with other people, but what people think about you is built on MANY little interactions – what’s the saying, it takes A THOUSAND “atta-boys” or “atta-girls” to equal ONE “uh oh, I screwed up.”

Show your clients that you take your work seriously and they will do the same. You don’t have to take YOURSELF too seriously (laugh, enjoy life, laugh at your mistakes – you’ll make LOTS of them, so enjoy them as they race by every day).

If you have a website or Facebook page for your business, make sure it is professional. It’s great to share your personality and family activities when they help to round-you-out as a whole person but as you look at other people’s websites and Facebook pages, see what feels right to you and what stands out as inappropriate – learn from what others are doing.

Tip Number Five: Talk to your clients.

Communication is a two-way adventure. Keep your clients updated on your progress, any changes or snags, and let them know that things are going smoothly and right on schedule.

For example, consider that you're building a house for someone: you'll want to update them frequently. They will need to know when the foundation is poured, when the electrical panel is installed, or when the roof is on. You can do this by email, a phone call, or a face-to-face. The most important thing is keeping your client in the loop and aware of the job's status.

AND, be sure to ask your customers and clients what they WANT from you. There’s a great story about a Printer creating a company’s business cards. For years he did a great job. One day the office manager walked in to pick up the latest batch of cards and told the Printer that they just had some great stationery printed at another shop. The Printer was dismayed to learn that he had never asked his client about other needs: the client didn’t know that the Printer printed letterhead – the Printer was only thought of as the “card printer.”

I communicate a lot through email. I don’t trust my memory for all the details when a job is ongoing. And it’s always best to be sure I CLEARLY understand what my client wants. And I keep all correspondence in separate folders in my email server so I can quickly access all email from each of my clients.

If the client wants to make a change, get it in writing. It's important to get the original Agreement in writing, but it's equally important to get any changes documented and approved. This way, any project overruns or questions about the final project can be verified and justified.

Some people like Project Management software such as Basecamp, activeCollab, and Projecturf to keep their jobs organized. Most of mine aren’t that complicated, so emails work fine.

Tip Number Six: Keep your financial accounts separate.

Don't mix business and personal accounts. Get a separate bank account for your business.

Get a credit card for your business (preferably the cash-back type) and use it for all business expenses. We get a few hundred dollars back each year because we charge everything possible and pay it off each month.

And since I have a proprietorship for my Photography business and an LLC for my Online business, I have TWO business accounts and TWO credit cards, in addition to my personal account.

Once you get used to them, it’s easy to work with this way.

Tip Number Seven: Work hard after setting your goals.

Sometimes you'll take a job because you need the money. You won't always be able to pick and choose your clients because you believe in what they're doing, or the job intrigues you on some level. Some months you'll just need to make the rent, or payroll, or quarterly taxes and you'll take whatever work presents itself.

This isn't selling out. It's just a fact of life. You can still take on those projects close to your heart when the money isn't so tight and your business is running smoothly.

Look for ways to augment your income. When you're self-employed, there may be times when there's no money coming in. Investigate passive income sources, such as ebooks and affiliate marketing, to see if one is right for you.

But don’t fall into the trap of taking just anything that comes along: people will get really confused WHO you are and WHAT you are doing. Set your goals and stay as close to them as you can.

Tip Number Eight: File everything.

Keep a job's agreements, invoices, and notes in one place, preferably a folder in a filing cabinet (electronically and physically). When in doubt, file it. You can always toss it later, but you can't get something back after it's gone. (And electronic storage is cheap – I recently purchased one terabyte for under $200.)

For each project, I have file folders in my cabinet with all signed papers and agreements and on my computer I keep a folder for all email. Be sure to back up your computer to protect what you have there. And while I’m very supportive of “green” living, make physical copies when the information is crucial – even if you used recycled paper OR the back of something you printed before.

Tip Number Nine: Talk with a CPA about your business finances.

Some businesses can run on a “cash basis” right from one or more checkbooks. Some need one of the popular computer-accounting packages. And some need the services of a bookkeeper plus an accountant to handle the monthly P&L and to reconcile the checkbook, file sales tax and employee taxes, and complete the quarterlies.

Be sure to think ahead to see what YOU will need. And at least find a CPA you trust and go talk about how your business will be set up so you know you’re doing it correctly. And at tax time, s/he will be worth her/his weight in gold.

Tip Number Ten: Take the weekend off.

I’m not very good at this one, I’ll admit right up front. Sundays are for church and family (and my well-deserved nap and a chance to watch some sports on TV). But I often work a full schedule on Saturday – but that doesn’t mean YOU should do that!

When you're self-employed, you can't get away from the office very easily. It's both a blessing and a curse to work from home. Yes, it's convenient and the commute is probably under thirty seconds, but it's awfully hard to get away from the job.

You'll be tempted to work after dinner or on Saturday or miss your daughter’s hockey game or your son’s theater performance but DON’T.

One thing we learn very quickly: work is NEVER finish, so sometimes you just need to STOP – it will be there for you when you come back.

You need down time to keep fresh and you need to spend time with family and friends. What is that old story: that on someone’s deathbed, seldom does the person say, “I just wish I had worked longer every day.”

If you need to understand why your family is important, perhaps you need to see one of my other blogs: http://RaisingGreatFamilies.com. Trust me on this one: set your schedule and CROSS OUT Sundays and leave Saturdays blank for whatever you really need to work on. (Or do the reverse – Cross out Saturdays from work and leave Sundays blank to help with the left-over work).

You and your family deserve to spend time together.

Wrap-Up

The Work at Home lifestyle can be the MOST ENJOYABLE you’ve ever known, if you follow these ten tips. Keep it all in perspective, keep your goals in front of you, and know WHY you work so hard.

Hey, life’s to be enjoyed – and let it start at home!

And – Please leave me a comment: what ELSE do you feel this article should cover? Was it helpful to you? What do you disagree with?

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
A Work At Home Dad since 1983, succeeding in this economy

PS: You can find me here:

http://twitter.com/UltimateWAHDads

http://facebook.com/CharlesSeymourJr

http://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesseymourjr

To learn more, stay in touch with my blog – I'll keep you informed so that YOU won't have to do the heavy lifting. Charlie Seymour Jr's Blog – Click HERE To See More!

PPS: Do you have trouble writing? Turn Your Words Into Gold – Go Here To Learn More! NOW is the time to start.

Follow Charlie Seymour Jr On Twitter!

Keep this with this article, please:

Charlie Seymour Jr is an entrepreneurial evangelist and marketing-success coach helping individuals and companies (up to $100MM) explode their success through online and direct-response marketing. He specializes in blogging, podcasting, photography, video, and Facebook applications. Visit his blog at Charlie Seymour Jr's Blog to learn more about his successes.

Friends, if you like this post, please leave a comment, join our email list to get updates sent to you, and retweet it. And I've made it easy to retweet – just click on the icon below. Thanks!

Work At Home: 10 Tips To Create Your Business and Save Your Sanity!

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Circle The Chairs In One Of Charlie Seymour Jr's Campfire Meetings At BDR (Business Development Resources)

It wasn't your typical business meeting.

I've been a member of Business Development Resources (BDR) in Media, PA USA for many years. It was my turn to lead the group's educational program, so I decided to start off with something I'm "famous" for: A Campfire.

And Jerry Rafter said after the meeting: “Marshmallows are sweet….but nothing is better than the morsels of marketing knowledge you share for FREE”

As you can see in the photographs, we convert the regular meeting space by bringing our chairs around a paper "campfire" that my younger daughter, Liz (LizSeymour.com), created for me so I could use it in meetings like this.

Pulling our chairs to the center of the room changes how we approach the topic and each other, and let's us get into creative thinking mode, not simply analyze mode.

Today's topic: Improving Your Marketing.

And as you'll hear, we covered quite a few items, encouraging each other to talk, think, come up with new ideas. (Some of the very quiet parts were edited out – only I was wearing a microphone… but I believe you'll follow everything done here.)

Everyone was a great sport and we shared many ideas. Please listen to the MP3 to hear what went on!

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
A Work At Home Dad, succeeding in this economy

Those participating in the meeting included:

Lin Schrack, USHGInsurance.com/linschrack
Virgie M. Vakil, KGPV.com
Carol Mack Warner, Visual-Marketing.com
Richard McCloskey, Simply The Best Move
Cliff R. Silver, InterfaceFinancial.com/silver
Pat Scarano, PatScarano.com and MyNikken.net/lifestrokes
Sara Dobbins, Sara's Sweet Sensations
Jerry Rafter, AllAboardCruisesTravel.com
Marc Kossmann, BlueFireCards.com
Mike Smith, MDSCarpets.com
Dennis D. D'Andrea, 3DFinancialGroup.com
Mike D'Alessandro, SourceCorpTax.com

Thanks to Marc Kossmann for help with some of the photographs.

Friends, if you like this post, please leave a comment, join our email list to get updates sent to you, and retweet it. And I've made it easy to retweet – just click on the icon below. Thanks!

Marketing Power – A Good Theater Background Helps!

I was six and it was my first theatrical production. OK, so I sat quietly licking a lollipop in one courtroom scene at the local Little Theater, but I must have done something right because they asked me back year after year and I went on to create a musical theater group at Tufts University (Torn Ticket, now with the name Torn Ticket II) and worked professionally in theater after earning my MBA from Wharton Graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.

Theater – that team sport of people in the spotlight. And whether directing or acting, it taught me some very important lessons that I use in my marketing today.

Sing Out, Louise

That classic line from the Broadway Musical, Gypsy, is instructive for all of us:

You must stand out for people to notice you!

Have you ever taken the Sunday newspaper (well, it's like that here in the USA) and flipped to the real estate section. Squint a little so it goes out of focus and what do you see?

Nothing.

Everything is exactly the same. It's as if no one wants to stand out and get noticed. It's just a blur of black and white with no stars singing out.

If you make a presentation along with other people; if you give your 30-second "Elevator Speech" of introduction at a business meeting; if you make a proposal to earn some local business and you look like everyone else you will get what everyone else gets: normal results.

Normal. The norm. Average.

And who the heck wants THAT?

Timid you say? Then ACT the part of someone who is not.

Hey, I really don't care that Donald Trump jumped all over one of his Apprentice candidates who said something like "fake it" until she was ready to make it.

Create a character for yourself if you are timid. LIVE through that character. Hey, be true to yourself in what you do and the ethics that guide you, but to blend in, to be a wallflower, to get no attention means you'll get no business.

How Do You Stand Out From The Other Marketers

Dare to be different.

If everyone is presenting his/her Elevator Speech and starting off (as way too many people do) by stating their full name and company (as if anyone cares until they learn something about you), start off with a question!

"Do you know how people visit a website and give their name and email address when they feel they can like and trust the person who owns the site, well… I create such websites. My name is…"

Try it.

See how a question engages your audience (even a very small audience). People stop listening when other people drone on, but asking a question connects with their ear and brain and gets them to pay attention.

And before you even open your mouth, know what outcome you want to achieve. WHAT do you want people to know about you.

STOP…. OK, so you can tell them your life story and bore them.

Don't.

Select one or two main points and present yourself in an exciting way. Just as if you were writing a novel and describing the main character, that attractive, talented, clever person that you are!

Are You Saying I Have To Be Entertaining?

I didn't say it because YOU already thought it.

Yes. Entertain, educate, inform, question.

And do it through the persona of the character you want your prospects to see.

What do you want them to remember about you? How do you sound? What words do you choose?

And never waste any opportunity, because you don't know when you'll get another one.

Were You Ever Told To Fit In?

Did you use to work at a corporation where they told you to "fit in"? Be like everyone else? Tone it down a bit?

Those days are over for us entrepreneurs. People must remember us or they'll never call again.

So if you left the Rat Race of the corporate world, don't jump right back into it by mirroring all the things you used to do and didn't like!

Take some risks. Find the kind of work you love and make money with it. Don't set up a corporation, get yourself an office, parade around the same way you used to when someone else was calling all the shots.

When you make it as a successful entrepreneur, you'll do so because you left those old habits behind and took the road less traveled… the path in the wood you've always wanted to take.

And Think Big

Have you ever seen someone accomplish Big Goals by thinking small?

How do you grow your business to a million dollars a year if you are just starting out? I can assure you thank thinking small, thinking incrementally will NOT work.

Think Big. Think multiples, exponential growth. Dream, Plan, Scheme and always think, "What is next."

No billionaire ever achieved success by doing things the way everyone else did things, right?

Think through what you want to accomplish, make your own road map of how you will get there, and then let no one stand in your way.

Share your ideas, your goals, your vision with trusted advisers. Mastermind with people smarter and more experienced than you are (that is IF they will have you – they, too, want people smarter and better than they are).

It's been said that we are the average of the five people we spend most time with – is it time to break away from your comfortable friends and seek others who will stretch your thinking?

Get moving. You won't achieve your goals at the dining room table, on the couch, in front of the TV. Forget those who say "it's easy" to do all of this and know that Nike has it right: Just DO It.

Focus, Focus, Focus. Do one thing REALLY well and get known for it. (I admit I don't do well with this one: there are SO many things I enjoy doing and have abilities to accomplish. But you must get people to think YOUR NAME when they have a need.)

Create a name for yourself like this: Charlie the ______________. Make it short and sweet. If you can define yourself this way, others will be able to do that too. If you CAN'T, neither can they.

Like Charlie the Social Marketer. Charlie the Photographer. Charlie the Marketing-Success Coach.

Charlie the guy who does marketing for individuals, corporations, and nonprofits will NOT get me noticed and remembered. See what I mean.

And then select the best "title" depending on the circumstances.

If you are great at copy writing, web marketing, and photography, choose which label you will use depending on the audience to which you are speaking.

And then NEVER give up.

It's ALL In Your Attitude

Your mindset – THAT is what is most important about the way you project yourself and deal with difficulties and assignments not gained.

Some people, if they don't get that next, prized assignment, feel they have failed. Others take it as feedback and learn from what they just went through (and are back "at it" as soon as they can be).

So… stand out; create the character you want to project; dream, plan, scheme about what you want to achieve; and then let nothing stand in your way.

And I'll see YOU at the top!

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
A Work At Home Dad, succeeding in this economy

Friends, if you like this post, please leave a comment and retweet it. And I've made it easy – just click on the icon below. Thanks!

This blog is devoted to guys like me who are working at home. I'll have musings, new products, reports, quick notes, and other helpful tidbits of information to help all of use thrive in this economy as we work at home

I hope you'll write me, let me know what we can do to help you. Your ideas and suggestions will be passed on to our readers.

This is just the beginning!

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
A Work At Home Dad, succeeding in this economy
Follow Charlie Seymour Jr On Twitter!

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