This article was provided by a business owner with a message that serves online entrepreneurs as well as those of us running a small home based business in the virtual world. As you read it try to think of ways that you can ‘give’ your knowledge away, building trust, credibility and loyalty from your home business prospects.

Give It Away Now - The More You Share, the More You Sell!

Give away your knowledge, and you’ll make money. How does this work? Isn’t this counter-intuitive? Let’s think about this.

If you get early adopters (Seth Godin would call them “sneezers”) on board and they like what you have to say, they’ll talk about your ideas. They’ll share it with their friends, they’ll put it on their blog, and they’ll invite others to try it out. Low risk because it’s free, except high risk because really you’re putting your reputation on the line.

The more they talk about it, the more it will hit the mainstream, and eventually you’ll hit a “tipping point” where it’s the next great thing that everyone has got to have. At that point, you can charge these people money, because not only will they buy what you’re selling, they’ll tell their friends who will tell their friends, who will all buy your stuff.

Another thing that you’ll find is that people that you give things away too are far more likely to be grateful for what you’ve given them, and are often flattered that you were willing to share what you know/what you sell with them for nothing, and will recommend you to their friends, again decreasing the amount of time it takes for you to reach that magical tipping point.

It sounds easy enough. Now, do you have the guts to make it great and give it away now, or do you think you can’t afford to? What you really should be asking is: “Can you afford not to give it away?”

(Editor’s Note: To learn more about Seth Godin and how this type of business practice will affect your bottom line you simply must get a copy of Seth’s new book “All Marketers Are Liars” available at amazon now.)

Phil Gerbyshak leads a team of IT help desk professionals in Milwaukee, WI, and finds that sharing his knowledge is a crucial component in his success as a leader and as a person. Phil’s personal philosophy is paraphrased from Tim Sanders’ fantastic book Love is the Killer App: “Share your knowledge, your network, and your love. The rest will follow.” Feel free to read more of Phil’s musings on his blog at http://makeitgreat.blogspot.com

A Plan Gets Your Home Based Business Off on the Right Foot and Keeps it Moving!

A good business plan can not only help you secure funding but it can also define and keep your home based business on track.

I recently read that in 1993, AT&T conducted or commissioned a study of small or home based businesses. The study results stated that small businesses with a written business plan were more likely to succeed than their less organized and documented counter businesses.

Yet only 42% of the small businesses surveyed had a formal business plan and this stat likely hasn’t changed much since 1992.

Why don’t more small business owners take the time to write a business plan and stay on track?

For many the trouble begins with the entrepreneur’s mindset. Many home based business owners are creative sorts that don’t like to be bogged down with the paperwork or sticking their business mandate in a confined ‘box’ of what-we-do-and-don’t-do. Many home based businesses will ‘do’ whatever it takes to bring in the income - whether it fits their mission or not.

Here’s another factor…

Many small business owners are too busy working the business to run the business.

Sadly though most small business start-ups fail within five years and, as we’ve seen in past studies, failure rates are higher without a formal written plan.

Do You Need A Business Plan?

A business plan can be as simple as a mission statement and some home business accounting software, to analyse and document growth from month to month or year to year. However if you ever require a small business loan or credit you’ll need something more concrete for the banks to consider your application.

A more formal business plan, used for loans or lines of credit should include:

• description of the business, including an executive summary, mandate, etc.
• marketing plan, including a what sets your product/service apart statement
• financial data, this includes balance sheet, breakeven analysis, profit and loss statements and cash flow breakdown
• a section on home based business owner, or small business managers including executive bios

So why not get busy and begin your plan for your home based business today? As stated it can be as simple as a mission statement and statement of accounts. Remember that a business plan is not just a way to secure a loan but a way to reflect your vision of the future of your home based business.

Since we’ve been on the topic of advertising for small business this week let’s carry on the theme by talking about some promotion methods that work well for start up home businesses.

If you’ve just started your home based business chances are that you don’t have the money to hire an advertising agency and even if you had the knack or talent you likely don’t have the time to dream up a really good campaign for your business.

On the other hand, if you want to eat this month or grow your business at all, advertising is essential!

So what can a small business owner do?

Here are some ideas, and one may be the magic tool that will work for you.

Social Gatherings and the Small Business Owner

“What do you do for a living?” is an overused opener when two people are standing close together at social gatherings and have to produce some small talk. “I work online with my computer” may be the truth but it won’t set you up for business. Worse you’ll end up getting a slew of calls for the next month or so from all of Sally’s friends who are having trouble logging into their service provider or getting their new printer to work. Sally’s the kind of person who says “Oh! I know someone who knows so much about computer they work online! You should call him!”

Now if you’d told her that you “help start-up entrepreneurs get traffic to their websites and make more sales” then you’d save a pile of time by not having to field remedial calls and all of Sally’s referrals would have been actual or potential clients for your business.

Once you have your standard answer to the “what do you do for a living?” question, write it down! It has just become your new home based business mandate. It will define how you spend your time throughout the day. If an activity isn’t within the framework of your answer then stop doing it.

But whether it becomes your business mandate or not, that statement is your first bit of free promotion - the word of mouth model.

Next steps, cheap advertising for your home based business:

• Go Postal! Most government run postal services have deals for small businesses. Check with the business manager at your postal office for details but generally you can get your mail advertisement to every household without having to address and envelope each home.
• Get Connected: Business Associations in your neighbourhood can be very helpful and is one step up from word of mouth campaigning. Make a deal with the local churches, recreation centers, and similar but non-competitive businesses in your area and offer your product or service to and even through them at a discount.
• Cross Promote: Work with one of the non-competitive business from above and hand out promotional advertising literature for each other.
• Testimonials from Past and Repeat Customers: Always ask your customers for a testimonial and use it on your website, your flyers, and even your newspaper ads. Remember to get permission from your customer first.
• Barter for Ad Space: Wherever you want to advertise your home based business, try to barter your services for their space or time. This works with newspapers, radio stations, and even local cable companies.

Starting an Easy Home Based Business

Become an eBay Trading Assistant and Work From Home

EBay?s online auctions have created business opportunities for thousands of people. Now the Trading Assistant program is making it easier than ever to start a business from home.

Trading assistants act as brokers, selling merchandise for others and keeping a percentage of the profits. The profit potential can be great, especially when selling high-value items.

Though there are millions of registered users on eBay, many people still don?t know how to sell goods themselves. A trading assistant fills a need in the marketplace, allowing you to make a profit while helping others unload their stuff. Almost everyone has a box of items in their garage or closet that they would like to sell.

Getting Started with Your Home Based eBay Business

You will need to decide what types of products you are willing to sell and may want to set a minimum value on merchandise you accept. It can be difficult to make a profit on $5 items, so many assistants require the products have a minimum estimated sales value of $10 or $20.

Most assistants set their fees between 20%-40% of the ending auction price. You may also want to charge a per-item listing fee of $1-$5, and possibly deduct this from the commission if the auction ends successfully.

As a trading assistant working from home, you will list the item for sale, handle all buyer questions, collect payment and shipping fees from the buyer and ship the item. You may also need to do some research on your customers? items to determine their value. Search the closed listings to find out what similar items have sold for and list your auctions accordingly.

You should create a simple contract that your customers sign to indicate that they agree to your services and fees. You will also need to decide how to obtain the items from your seller. You could offer a pickup service and visit customers? homes and complete a contract there. Or you can offer a drop-off service, where customers bring their items to you. Many assistants operate from their garage so buyers don?t have to enter their homes.

Promote Your Home Based Business on Ebay

eBay offers a directory of eBay trading assistants that consumers can use to locate home based business eBay selling services in their geographic area. To get listed in the official trading assistant program, eBay requires that you have a feedback rating of at least 50, have sold at least one item in the past 30 days, and maintain satisfaction rating of 97% or higher.

A listing in the official directory is free.

Other Ways to Promote Your Home Based Business

Here are some ideas for getting the word out about your service:

• Create a simple brochure and ask nearby businesses to display them for you.
• Leave brochures or fliers on doorsteps in your neighborhood.
• Place classified ads in the local newspapers.
• Place free classified ads on www.craigslist.org.
• Contact small business owners and offer your services to them. They may want to unload their overstock and your service could provide the perfect solution.
• Post fliers and brochures at colleges, retirement centers, and community centers.
• Ask your kid?s school to mention your home based business service in the newsletter.
• Visit garage sales and flea markets and offer your services to sellers.

Launch Your Home Based Business

Make sure you follow the rules of running a home-based business and check with your county offices to apply for a business license and resale permit. Though online sales are not heavily governed, someday they will be and it is better to comply with business laws.

Also make sure to set expectations with your customers. Since many aren?t familiar with how eBay works, explain the process and set realistic expectations for the final values of sales. Some may expect their items to be worth far more than they can get on eBay, and you don?t want to disappoint, or worse, upset a client by selling an item for less than expected.

If you don?t yet have any experience on eBay yourself, it?s easy to get started. Begin with some spring cleaning and list some merchandise from your home. Make sure you have a good understanding of how eBay works before you represent your services to others.

A trading assistant business is a great opportunity for anyone interested in a relatively easy home based business. Once you launch your business, repeat customers and word of mouth should help your business grow. Your only regret could be that you didn?t start sooner.

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About the Author

Stephanie Chandler, Sacramento, CA Stephanie@BusinessInfoGuide.com
http://www.BusinessInfoGuide.com Stephanie Chandler is the author of “The Business Startup Checklist and Planning Guide: Kick Start Your Entrepreneurial Dreams!” She is also the founder of http://www.BusinessInfoGuide.com, a directory of free resources for entrepreneurs. Sign up for her popular monthly newsletter to receive hot tips and small business resources.

Advertising Your Home Based Business

Many home based businesses don’t have the time or funds to worry about advertising, but it is crucial to your businesses success, so let’s get the conversation going now. Effective advertising will keep your home business thriving and growing. You never want a down time in a home business - it surely means starvation!

If you’ve just started up and don’t have an advertising budget, you might like to stretch your talents further with training in creative advertising. I know, it’s just another hat you must wear, but once your business gets rolling you’ll use your new skills in understanding advertising campaigns when you can afford to contract the service out.

A Variety of Courses that Apply to Home Businesses

Creative Advertising classes are available as night courses in many local colleges. Taking a night course or two is a good way to focus on only the specific skills you need for your home based business.

Available Courses to choose from may be:

• Print Advertising Design
• Advertising with Audio
• Business Communication
• Television Advertising for Small Business
• Effective Business Writing
• Advertising Strategy
• Direct Response Advertising
• Event Planning
• Copywriting for Your Home Business
• Current Trends in Advertising
• Desktop Publishing - Graphic Design
• Public Relations

Choose the area you feel applies to your small or home based business and sign up for a night course! What you learn will serve you in all business, whether you continue on at home or return to the workforce later. After all, after some training you could use that training in the industries listed below.

1. newspapers
2. magazines
3. broadcasting companies
4. advertising agencies
5. corporate communications firms

Are you thinking of becoming an ebook author?

You get to spend your days writing and your afternoons watching the orders come in.

It’s not really as easy as all that, but it is a viable, interesting, work at home business opportunity and many people are trying it and having some levels of success at it.

There are skills involved that you’ll need to have a handle on, but writing is certainly the most difficult of them all. The others can be learned in a week’s time if you’re the least bit adept at computing.

You’ll need to know how to register a domain name, ftp files to your website, create website pages and order buttons, write a decent sales letter, and hunt down ways to generate traffic.

Then, get down to the business of writing!

But before you invest hours writing your ebook…

And before you throw your money at a “How to Write an Ebook” master plan…and hang the Home Business Author sign on your front door…

You’ll want to know if your ebook idea will sell. And if so, how much will it earn you. Knowing this will fast track you to not wasting time over-writing or creating a product that no one wants!

There’s a nifty little ebook for sale on another site called “What’s My Ebook Idea Worth?” It promises to teach you the ropes of smart ebook authors and internet marketers to prevent you from wasting time promoting and writing under-performing products. The ebook is less than $20 right now.

Check it out here: Ebook Idea