The Key to Small Business Marketing Success – Practice What You Preach

I want to talk about an aspect of marketing your small business that is often overlooked, but oh so huge in determining the overall success of your small business.The aspect — practicing what you preach.So, what exactly do I mean by this? Well, too often I see small business owners who don’t practice what they preach in their services, their beliefs about their business, what they do for their own small business, what they’re willing to spend for a service and on and on.Not practicing what you preach leads to in-congruency — whether conscious or subconscious — and that in-congruency will hinder the success of your small business.You’ve no doubt run into small business owners who don’t practice what they preach, right? I know I sure have. In fact, here are just a few examples that I’ve run into…An orthodontist who’s marketing like crazy to get new patients for braces, yet their teeth are horrible. They expect their clients to spend thousand and thousands of dollars getting that perfect smile all the while they look like snaggle-tooth.A divorce therapist who counsels clients on what it takes to have a long and fruitful relationship, while she has been married and divorced three times.A life or business coach who emphasizes that working with a coach will help get your affairs in order and on the right track to enjoy much success, while his life is in complete disarray and isn’t working with a coach of his own.The real estate agent who rents an apartment.The personal trainer who’s 30 pounds overweight.The interior designer who has furniture that’s 2 decades old.The financial planner who’s in massive credit card debt.What do you think when you see a small business owner who doesn’t practice what they preach? Do you trust them? Do you want to do business with them? Do you think they’re worth the price they charge? Probably not.So, my dear small business friends, the question is…are YOU practicing what YOU preach??If you answered “yes” — great! You get a gold star for the day. Keep doing what you’re doing.If you answered “no” or “not really” or “umm, yeah, well, uh sort-of, gosh, I don’t know. Jeanna quit asking me these pointed questions.” Then we’ve got some work to do. There are two main areas where you need to be absolutely sure that you are, in fact, practicing what you preach.Area #1Practice What You Preach in Your ServicesMake sure that you are taking advantage and utilizing the same services that you offer and sell to your clients.What do I mean by this?Well if you’re an acupuncturist, you’d better make darned sure that you go see an acupuncturist yourself. If you’re a business coach, you’d better be working with another business coach for your own business. If you’re an estate planning attorney, you better have a will and an estate plan of your own.Do you buy and utilize the same services that you are offering your clients? If not, then you are not practicing what you preach. If you expect others to buy the service that you offer, you’d better be willing to buy that service yourself.Area #2Practice What You Preach in What Your Willing to SpendMake sure that whatever you charge your clients for your services that you would be willing to spend the same amount if you were going to hire someone like you.So, if you’re a re-modeler and charge your clients $35,000 to remodel a guest bathroom, you’d better be willing to spend $35K to remodel your own bathroom or at the very least value your services enough to know your worth that amount. I don’t want you to miss this aspect, because it is HUGE.If you’re not willing to spend the same amount of money on the service that you charge your clients…there’s a problem. If you don’t feel that your services are really worth the amount that you’re charging…there’s even a bigger problem.Practicing what you preach is a key element in running and a successful small business! Practicing what you preach will help you market your services better and it will help you attract clients faster.Final ThoughtThe best way to build trust and integrity in your business is to practice what you preach. If a few things are off in your business, the time to change them is now. After all you are the best “evangelist” for your services, so make sure you walk your talk.

Finding the Best Business Idea For Your Home Based Business

How many home based business opportunities are available to you? If you want to make money online at home, you really have many options to choose from. The big question is – which one will give you the biggest chance of success? Is there a ‘one size fits all’ answer? The simple truth is that not every opportunity is right for everyone, and not every opportunity will bring you the greatest amount of profit.

So, what are some home business ideas that can make money online for you? The quick and dirty answer is: the one that best suits your particular set of needs. Make a list of your priorities, including a high income; a low-risk schedule; freedom; flexibility; work-life balance; independence; something in your range of skills and expertise; and interesting work that you have an interest in… You can take this list with you and talk to people who are working from home on the same things that you would be considering. Chances are that you will find some great niches that fit your standards and your desires.

But what if you want to get started right away? It’s easy to think that you can jump into a new business idea and be successful immediately, but this often isn’t the case. It takes many different things to make sure that you will be able to get through the hurdles and actually make it to a point where you are seeing profit. If you don’t work at it slowly, you will be setting yourself up for failure. Here’s the lowdown on some different things that you should consider as you create your own business idea:

First, you need to think about what you have to offer. If you don’t have any ideas as to what to do as a freelance writer, a lowdown on finding a niche is very important. Many beginners go into this completely clueless. But if you know that you have a skill that others are desperately seeking, you may be able to provide them with the service they are looking for without having to spend much time building up a website or getting traffic to it.

Another thing to consider is what kinds of products or services would best fit a niche that you would like to get started in. In this case, the lowdown on finding the best business idea for you would include taking a look at what you love to do and what you can offer others. If writing is not your strongest point, but you love to get creative, consider freelance data entry. Freelance data entry does not require a lot of startup capital, but you still need to have the skills that will allow you to be successful in this area. The best lowdown on finding the best business idea for you is to simply start looking at what you like to do and what you can offer others.

There are many other areas of freelance writing that you can explore in order to make the most out of your home based online business. Freelance writers are in high demand online. If you have the skills that are needed to do well in this field, there is no reason that you should not be able to find a great home-based online business that will give you the income that you want.