Five Things NOT to do When Starting a Home Business
I know what your thinking but this is not another “marketing
errors people make” article. I’m not going to tell you how ugly
and annoying your website is or that even your own mother
wouldn’t buy from you with that horrible sales letter.
What I’m going to help you with may be common sense to some but
it may be eye-opening for others. I have learned from my
mistakes (hopefully) and I’m going to pass on my new found
knowledge.
1. Don’t put an ad on an FFA site with your business e-mail
address (or your personal address or your e-zine subscription
address or any other address that you read regularly).
You will wade through a gazillion e-mails. Now that I have that
basement full of Viagra, I have my 12 credit cards, 3rd and 4th
mortgages, and all the businesses going that I can (and
sometimes can’t) handle, I don’t need to read all of the
“conformation of posting to my FFA site” messages. Now don’t get
me wrong, they do have a great use. I do scan them to catch the
headlines that grab me, and if I’m looking for a certain thing,
I may scan for that too. But do yourself a favor, get a free
junkmail address so you won’t be looking for customers e-mails,
or urgent mail.
2. Don’t sign up for every free program out there.
In order to be successful in an online business, you must know
your business, inside and out. How can you possibly spend enough
time learning about 10 different programs so that you can
promote, answer questions and be loyal enough to stand behind
them? Spread yourself too thin and you will start to forget
things, skip important training, not reply to messages in a
timely manner. I don’t know how many times I have said that I
have too many irons in the fire. I have narrowed down the
programs I am involved in. I stuck with the cream of the crop. I
stay much nicer that way.
3. Don’t believe everything you read.
I love the line from the Billy Crystal movie I just saw called
61*. Micky Mantel says “Well, they said so on TV so it must be
true.” There are some unscrupulous marketers out there,
promising all kinds of impossible dreams, schemes, and riches.
Use your common sense. No one can make a million dollars doing
nothing, you can’t eat, shop and advertise and get paid enough
to do it to make a living. You must sell something, either your
knowledge, services, or products. And you might be able to
eventually start receiving residuals for doing nothing, but my
guess is that you started doing SOMETHING first.
4. Never talk bad about your competitors.
Instead, talk up your business. You can point out what you have,
do or guarantee that your competitors don’t without naming
names. Pointing fingers will only make you look unprofessional
and trivial. Benefits sell, not negative comments and bashing
others.
5. Don’t give up.
Now this doesn’t mean that you should forgo paying for your
mortgage so that you can buy advertising. If you think that
because you have placed your 10 ads, you have put up a website
and you have made your banner and still didn’t become rich, you
should quit, your mistaken. Anything worth doing is worth doing
well. You might need to continue working at your J.O.B. until
you start bringing in enough with your own business to reach
your inner income goals. That’s ok, you’re working towards your
goals and that’s positive. Regardless of what the hype says, you
can’t become wealthy overnight and by doing nothing.
I hope my opinions have at the very least, given you something
to think about.
