Why do you, a home-based business owner, need
to read anything at all? You already know enough to start your business,
and you don’t have time for anything else.
To start with, you're likely among the 86%
of new-business owners with no business experience at all. That alone
means you need to read about taxes, legal issues, business tools, marketing,
finance, and customer relations. This is in addition to learning all
you can about your products.
The Internet has opened the information gates
to one and all. However, there is so much information in cyberspace,
one person can easily become overwhelmed and get nothing from it. Besides,
much of what you find online turns out to be useless and irrelevant--take
SPAM for example.
A major problem with this information overload
is a resulting loss of focus.
For example, when you are on the Internet
doing anything at all, what happens? You're flooded with pop-ups, pop-unders,
and all manner of banner-type pages you did not ask for. Casinos and
lotteries are all over the place, as well as offers for low-priced university
degrees, long-distance phone services, and low mortgage rates.
These distractions, combined with a lack
of self-discipline, make it hard for many of us to concentrate on our
main reason for being on the Net: our business. We waste too much of
our limited time chasing information online and trying to look at everything.
As hard as it may be, you must stay focused
on your business and put aside these distractions. You'll find that
a little practice at this will make you much more productive.
Keep in mind as well that finding good sources
of the information you need on a regular basis is no accident. In addition
to Websites, there are still books, magazines, and newspapers. Remember
them?
A good place to begin is to determine the
subject areas in which you need more knowledge and/or areas in constant
change. Then, pursue information on these topics on a regular basis.
Some resources may come in the form of daily updates, but you'll find
most of your information in weekly e-zines and e-mail newsletters.
Below, you'll find a list of Internet links
to many common areas of business knowledge that you, as a home-business
owner, should check out regularly. (To get you started, I've included
only a few information Website sources, but there are many, many more
out there). Note that many of these Web pages list suggested e-zines,
and you should subscribe to all that interest you. You can always opt-out
later if you change your mind.
Subject Area: How to Market
Discover a comprehensive list of links to
free online information (articles, e-books, and tutorials) on marketing
and many other small business subjects (http://www.websuccesscentral.com/ebooks/index.html).
Subject Area: How to choose products
Here’s one source (http://www.smithfam.com/news/1products.html)
of information about products you can sell. The site includes links
to products and articles by many experienced Internet marketers. While
you’re at this site, click the E-zine link to peruse the archived
articles from the free Internet Marketing Newsletter, or click the Subscribe
option to sign up.
Subject Area: How to use Internet
tools
A. E-mail
Be wary of spamming by ensuring that your
list of e-mail recipients are double opt-ins. One source (http://www.optinfrenzy.com/lbinfo.html)
for double opt-in help is a software program called Optin Frenzy. It
offers a quick and easy way to build a BIG, CLEAN, and above all, RESPONSIVE
list of subscribers. Prices vary, depending on the size of your order.
B. Autoresponders.
This article (http://www.wilsonweb.com/reviews/proautoresponder.htm)
offers a lot of information about autoresponders, as well as a review
of one popular program called ProAutoResponder.
C. Websites.
There are many URLs dealing with Website
design and development; this one (http://www.web-source.net/) will get
you started.
D. Word Processing Programs
This site gives a lot of mostly free tips
about MSWord (http://www.mvps.org/word/). If you use another program,
visit your software product’s Website. Your local community college
may be another excellent source to learn about these valuable tools.
Subject Area: How to write
A. Articles
You will find a lot of writing help at this
site (http://www.editavenue.com/writing_tips_award.html). It includes
links to prize-winning Websites that specialize in writing tips.
B. E-books
This page (http://www.ebooks-made-easy.com/)
has everything you’ll need to get you started if you want to create
and promote your own e-book; check it out!
C. E-zines
Most marketing experts will tell you that
a newsletter or e-zine is essential for establishing and maintaining
a relationship with your clients or customers, as well as for promoting
your products or services. Here’s where to go for basic e-zine
hows and whys (http://www.smart-web-promotion.com/ezinepromotion.htm).
D. Advertising copy, headlines
Writing good ad copy is essential to your
marketing success. Read these (http://www.promotionbase.com/article.php/753)
ideas on how to do it effectively.
Subject Area: Marketing campaigns
A. How to design a campaign
You'll find many articles (http://www.wilsonweb.com/webmarket/)
on marketing on this Web page. Look for them under the Promotion category,
third column from left, second category down.
B. How to track results
This site (http://websitesecrets.com/newsletters/wss-30-5.htm)
discusses several ways to track your ads so you can know which ones
to continue and which ones to drop.
Subject Area: Accounting and management
A. Time
Be more efficient with these ideas (http://www.ianr.unl.edu/pubs/homemgt/nf172.htm)
time management.
B. People
Have you considered hiring telecommuters
(http://www.career-intelligence.com/sbs/HrforHomeBasedBusiness.html)?
This article discusses why you might want to consider hiring a staff
and why telecommuters might be the answer.
C. Customer service
If you neglect this business function (http://www.customerfocusconsult.com/articles.htm)
you’ll have no business at all! This link provides a comprehensive
list of links on Customer Focus, Customer Service, Customer Loyalty,
and People in general.
D. Financial
In the U.S., the Small Business Administration
(http://www.sba.gov) is the place to start to learn about starting,
financing, and running your small business.
E. Tax and Legal
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service’s
page (http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/index.html) for small businesses
and the self-employed provide valuable tax information for the home-business
owner.
Subject Area: using software
A. Free net tutorials
Here's enough (http://www.freeskills.com)
information to keep you busy until next year! Besides many free software
tutorials, this site also provides links to online courses at a reasonable
cost.
B. Forums
This is (http://www.softwaretipsandtricks.com/)
only one of hundreds of discussion areas where software users share
tips and suggestions and answer each other’s questions. You can
find an answer to just about any software-related question here.
Subject Area: Opportunities for
additional income sources
A. Network-MLM, Affiliate Programs
You will find many possible businesses on
the pages (http://www.home-business-directory.com/Business_Opportunities)
of this Home Business Directory.
B. Mail Order
Find out about this (http://www.henroy.com/mailinfo.htm)
popular home-based business. Free articles tell you why and how a mail-order
business can be profitable.
C. Franchises
This site discusses many franchises (http://ifa.expoventure.com/uploads/splash/homebasedfran.htm)
for home-based entrepreneurs.
D. Other
Check out this Web page (http://www.thefrugalfamily.com/page12.html)
for some unusual business ideas and cottage industries.
Part 1 of this article introduced you to
some of the top business issues and topics available online. The next
installment (Part 2) will cover other business resources available offline
in magazines, books, and newspapers as well as some other Internet resources.
Look for it in a future MoneyPak later in the year. And don't forget
to check out the monthly e-mail business book review that comes with
your IAHBE membership.
Above all, remember that because your time
is limited, you MUST decide what information you need to know now. Place
priorities on reading and learning to designate subject areas important
to your business. Then, leave the rest.
It is suggested that you use this article
as a flexible guide. For example, here’s one way you can use many
of the “How To” articles you'll find that contain lists (like
this one):
1. Print it out so you can manually arrange
the priorities of items and delete information you don’t need.
2. Next, copy the printed article to whatever
text editor you use (i.e., MSWord, Notepad. etc.). Make additional changes
and move items around to meet your needs.
3. Schedule a little time daily or weekly
to pursue the "how-to" items important to you.
It's important that you do these things regularly.
It's also vital that you make reading about your business a habit. In
this way, you can form habits that will help ensure your home-business
success, improve your time efficiency, and get only the important information
you need.
For your review, here is a list of the resources
mentioned in this article and in the order they were cited:
http://www.websuccesscentral.com/ebooks/index.html
http://www.smithfam.com/news/1products.html
http://www.optinfrenzy.com/lbinfo.html
http://www.wilsonweb.com/reviews/proautoresponder.htm
http://www.web-source.net/
http://www.mvps.org/word/
http://www.editavenue.com/writing_tips_award.html
http://www.ebooks-made-easy.com/
http://www.smart-web-promotion.com/ezinepromotion.htm
http://www.promotionbase.com/article.php/753
http://www.wilsonweb.com/webmarket/
http://Websitesecrets.com/newsletters/wss-30-5.htm
http://www.ianr.unl.edu/pubs/homemgt/nf172.htm
http://www.career-intelligence.com/sbs/HRforHomeBasedBusiness.html
http://www.customerfocusconsult.com/articles.htm
http://www.sba.gov/
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/index.html
http://www.freeskills.com/
http://www.softwaretipsandtricks.com/
http://www.home-business-directory.com/Business_Opportunities/
http://www.henroy.com/mailinfo.htm
http://ifa.expoventure.com/uploads/splash/homebasedfran.htm
http://www.thefrugalfamily.com/page12.html
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