Bossing Yourself

Can you be the boss of you? Running a home-based business or working from home requires that you can successful run you. "Are You Your Own Worst Boss?" from Mashable has some words of wisdom about motivating yourself.

Get the tools to help you do a better job. Don't make yourself work harder than you have to simply to save a few dollars by not upgrading computer or other essential equipment. Be frugal, but practical.

Continue learning. Whether through workshops or formal education, make sure you're staying up-to-date on the ins and outs of your field.

Value your work, services or products. Don't price yourself so low that you end up working more hours. Think about what your product or service really costs and price accordingly.

Reward yourself. When you land a big client, or finish a large project, don't forget to celebrate. It could be a day off to go to the beach or an hour spent reading your favorite novel--whatever will help you to observe the event.

Be a good boss to yourself and reap the benefits of having such a positive work environment.

Until next time,

Sarah

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Small Business Revenue

Intuit recently released a new report showing the health of small businesses. The report found that small businesses in the technology, scientific and professional fields have revenues that exceed pre-recession levels. Health care and social assistance businesses had a small drop in revenue but only beginning in 2011.

Overall, Intuit found that small businesses are slowly recovering from the recession, which is good news for home-based businesses.

How's your business? Let me know by using the contact form on my website and I'll post the results in an upcoming blog.

Until next time,
Sarah

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Content Creation

Finding content to post on your blog, website or social media can be a daunting task for anyone, but especially for small businesses. In "5 Ways to Create Dead On Content," John Jantch gives some pointers.

Questions. Think of things your customers have asked you about your business. Or perhaps brainstorm with some friends about what questions come to mind when talking about your business. Then create content around those questions.

Other blogs. Subscribe to other blogs via RSS feeds and see what's being talked about in the small business or home-based business worlds. You might find interesting topics to cover from a fresh perspective.

Publications. Newspapers, magazines and other publications can have news or feature stories that would make a great jumping off point for a blog or other content.

Bookmark Sites. Sites like Reddit and Delicious let you see what others are bookmarking. That might spur some creative thoughts for your own content.

Intentional reading. Look at books or articles with a purpose in mind. In other words, if you're thinking about dog training, read books related to that topic, such as dog training manuals, and tangential books as well, such as human behavior manuals or how to train people to be leaders.

These five points should help jumpstart your own content planning.

Until next time,

Sarah

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May At Home News Features Caterer/Chef Profile

Ever wonder what it would take to be a caterer or chef? Then check out the May issue of At Home News, which profiles Mary Hindle with The Green Bird, which caters local, organic, vegetarian or vegan to-go food.

If you're not a subscriber, you can sign up for the free monthly e-newsletter by clicking on the Newsletter tab. I never sell or give out my subscriber list.

Until next time,

Sarah

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Professional Email

With email now the most popular form of business communication, maintaining a professional demeanor with email is paramount to making a good impression on clients, both new and old.

AOL Small Business has an article on "How to Avoid Office E-Mai Disasters," which outlines several common email mistakes that are easily avoidable.

First, treat business emails like formal correspondence, not an informal message to your BFF. Use proper English grammar. If you're unsure about a sentence structure or word usage, check out GrammarBook.com or Grammar Slammer for help.

Use spell check. Most email programs have spell check, so sending out missives with misspellings is easily avoidable. I use Outlook Express and have it set to automatically check spelling when I hit the send button. That function has saved me from many an embarrassing typo.

Use proper formatting. Line and paragraph breaks and proper punctuation allow for the reader to more easily digest your message. Without those, the email can look like one huge run-on sentence or collection of meaningless words.

Lastly, make sure you respond in a timely manner. This means answering the actual email within a reasonable time frame, but it also means making sure you take time in crafting your answer. We've all hit "reply all" when we didn't mean to, or sent an email to the wrong person because we didn't slow down enough to check the name in the "to" box.

Email is a great communication tool, especially for home-based businesses. But poorly written emails can produce the wrong impression and could cost you clients or customers.

Until next time,

Sarah

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Revisiting Tax Returns of Yesteryear

A recent Wall Street Journal article suggests revisiting old tax returns to see if there were any deductions or other business-related items you missed. The returns also can remind you of deductions and carryovers for this tax year.

Personally, I find using Turbo Tax for Home and Business extremely helpful in ferrating out deductions I can take for my home-based freelance writing business.

Until next time,

Sarah

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Keeping Your Business Skills Sharp

As professionals, albiet those with an office down the hall from our bedrooms, we all need to stay in tip-top shape when it comes to our business skills. A recent article in the Sun Journal gives some good tips on how to "Sharpen Your Business Skills".

Check out online courses in your field. These often cost little or no money and can provide valuable insights.

Investigate the "tools" section of the U.S. Small Business Administration's Web site for articles and other information on running a business.

Look at your local college or university's courses to see if any would enhance your business. Often you can audit a course without enrolling as a student.

Finally, SCORE provides numerous resources for the small-business person that can help you succeed.

Until next time,

Sarah

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Avoid Credit Card Financing

A recent study found that credit card usage to keep small businesses, including home-based businesses, afloat can be deadly to their well-being. "A recent study by Robert Scott of Monmouth University found that every $1,000 increase in credit-card debt increases the probability a firm will close by 2.2 percent," Alan Zell posted in SCORE's online Listserv, as quoted in a Herald-Tribune story about credit-card financing.

"Credit cards are more prevalent for funding start-up businesses because traditional sources of financing have become less available during the Great Recession and financial meltdown," the article says.

Instead of using credit cards for your at-home business, consider saving money before expanding, cutting expenses to the bare bones and growing your business slowly. I offer more ideas on how to finance your home-based business in my book, Hired @ Home.

Until next time,

Sarah

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