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So you wanna work from home?
A few tried-and-true ideas to get started now!
Work from home careers idea #1: The Internet
If you are looking for work from home careers, you really don’t
have to look much further than the Internet. A quick search on the internet and you will find literally hundreds of work from
home careers to choose from.
Among your choices are setting up your own Internet-based store
and selling goods. Or, you can simply do as many have done and do your product selling through eBay. With the Internet, you
can even set up a website filled with interesting content and sit back and let the site make you money using Google ads and
affiliate memberships. Or, become a member of the many survey sites on the Internet that pay people just for sharing their
opinions on up-and-coming products. In addition, the Internet is the source of literally hundreds of freelance job opportunities
for those with a skill, such as writing or web design, to offer.
Work from home careers idea #2: Fairs and Arts
& Craft Shows
Fairs and arts & craft shows are an additional source of
work from home careers. If you enjoy creating your own crafts, you can do it from the comfort of your home and then sell them
at fairs and craft shows. Or, you can purchase wholesale goods and turn them over for a profit by selling them at these fairs
and shows. If you do not have a family or other obligations keeping you firmly rooted, you can even travel to nearby states
and take advantage of the many shows and fairs around you. You can certainly keep yourself very busy in that way.
Work from home careers idea #3: Consignment Shops
If you are not interested in traveling to sell your wares,
you might want to look into consignment shops. With consignment shops, you don’t have to spend your time traveling to
fairs and shows and you don’t have to wait for customers to come by. Although you will have to pay the shop owner a
small percentage of your earnings, this can be well-worth it in the time and trouble it saves you.
Work from home careers idea #4: Filling a Need
When searching for work from home careers, the best thing you
can do is look around you and determine what there is a need for. In other words, if you live in a bustling business district,
there may be a need for someone capable of business writing or graphic design.
Or, you might be able to really start a solid car wash
business in this area, particularly if there are no or only a few car washes in the area. In
addition, offering a twist to your car wash business that is not offered by other car washes such as the ability to take the
person’s car while he or she is at work and getting it clean may set you apart from other car washes. At the same time,
a car wash business may not be so successful in a small rural town where most people are more concerned about their tractors
than their cars. So do your research and select your work from home career carefully before diving in.
What's She Got I Don't Got?
Why does a competitor's business expand while yours stays still?
It might be only the difference of making a few easy tweaks in your branding and image.
But exactly what is branding,
anyway? Think of branding as defining what a company is all about in the minds of its clients. Good branding differentiates
your products and services in a positive way that really sticks in the minds of potential customers.
Let’s say you have been traveling around town without
your morning coffee and are getting just a little cranky. Quick! What’s the first coffee shop chain that comes to mind?
Chances are, you thought of Starbucks. Why?
* Attractive and easily read logo;
* Consistency of product,
décor, signage, and interior; and
* A great product
Assuming your product is fabulous, it all comes down to image.
Graphic design can play a huge part in that image. But what are some key things to consider?
A great logo is key.
You have already given a great deal of attention to your company
name and believe that it speaks to who you are and what you do. Great! Now you need to wrap a graphic image around that name
to carve out a prime piece of real estate in the mind of your target customer. That is exactly what a great logo can do.
Whether or not you eat fast food and regardless of your opinion
as to what might constitute the best in fast food, my guess is that the name McDonalds conjures up an immediate image of the
golden arches. Those golden arches really work as a logo!
The McDonalds logo is a good example of merging a symbol with
a letter in the company name. It is also a good example of simplicity, another key element to great logo design. A good logo
also:
* has a strong, balanced image with no little extras that clutter
its look;
* is distinctive and bold in design, making it easy to see at a glance;
* has graphic imagery that looks
appropriate for your business;
* works well with your company name;
* is done in an easy to read font;
* communicates
your business clearly; and
* looks good in black and white, as well as in color.
Consistent visual identity is also key.
If you are going to capture that prime piece of real
estate in the customer’s mind, you must provide not only a compelling image, but a consistent one. Use one logo and
image and repeat in on everything. Don't try to mix and match similar items; it just dilutes your branding. For instance,
if you sell golf equipment and use golf clubs in your logo and brand, don't use golf balls on your cards, and golf tees
on your website, etc. It's confusing.
Each of the three images has its own distinct personality.
You may be tempted to give your stationery, website, business card, brochures, and other marketing materials different visual
personalities.
All of the materials that represent you, from business cards
to brochures, need to have image consistency in order to be immediately recognizable by your customers…and potential
customers…as being related to the unique brand that is your company.
Logo, color scheme, fonts, and layout that are consistent from
letterhead to business card and from envelope to ad suggest credibility and stability, in addition to taking up more of that
prime mental real estate by virtue of repetition. Inconsistency of graphic elements among materials not only suggests uncertainty
and sloppiness, it is just plain forgettable.
Creating a great logo and maintaining consistency among all
your marketing materials will take you a long way towards creating a memorable brand that just might make your competitors
mutter, “What does she have that I don’t?”
The Good, Bad and Ugly of Leads Sources
Have you ever bought leads? Been successful with them?
In the honest opinion of most mlm pros, right now there are very few quality lead sources out there. Before
we show you a highly effective method of calling bad leads, let’s define what a bad lead is. We would define a bad lead
as:
1. Someone who is not looking, or
2. Someone who has filled out a form for information but has
received so many calls they are not interested in talking to anyone, or
3. Someone who claims to have no money, or
4. Someone who is not interested in this industry, or
5. All of the above
Let us know if we missed someone.
If you do what most networkers do when calling bad leads, you
will first try to qualify the prospect. They will try to find out if they actually did fill out a form. They will want to
know if the phone number is correct. They will want to know if the person on the list actually lives there.
All networkers do these things, and they tip off the prospect
that this is a sales call. They also do something that is fatal to the networker… they hand over control to the prospect.
Now here is a very important point: when a prospect is given control, and they believe they are about to be sold something,
they will end the call.
Read that last sentence again, because it is very important.
Here is what most opening calls sound like:
Typical Networker: “Hi, Bob. This is John Smith in Ohio.
How are you tonight? Bob, do you remember filling out a form requesting information on starting a home-based business?”
Okay, if this is a bad lead, you are not going to get much
further than this. You have just given the prospect the opening to end the call, and most prospects will take it. The opening
was asking them if they remember filling out a form. Never ask that question. And, John Smith in Ohio? I don’t know
anyone from Ohio. The prospect thinks this is another amateur salesperson. How fast can I get this person off the phone?
Here’s an example of another opening:
Typical Networker: “Hi, Bob. As a fellow networker, I
thought you might be interested in this business I’m involved in. Is this a good time to talk?”
In this opening, you’ve tipped your hand right away (which
is okay, by the way). The problem is, if the prospect has negative feelings toward the industry, you just put yourself in
a hole. If they don’t have negative feelings about the industry, the next sentence, “Is this a good time to talk?”
gave the prospect the opening they needed to end the call. We will show you what we mean in the next example.
In both examples, the networker is trying to qualify the prospect.
If you want to be more effective in calling leads, you must try to disqualify the prospect. In Conversational Recruiting™,
you will use three moves to open the call. The first move is to cause confusion. The second move is a “set-up”.
And the third move will disqualify the prospect.
Here’s a more effective way of opening the call:
Conversational Recruiter: “Hi!” This is Kevin,
and you are? Hi, Bob. I haven’t caught you at a bad time, have I?”
So why is this opening better than the other two?
First, we didn’t use the prospect’s name. When
the prospect’s name is used to open a call, three bad things can happen: 1) The name could be wrong on your list sheet.
2) That person might not live there. 3) You just tipped off the prospect that this is a sales call (which is okay if you handle
the next two steps correctly).
Second, when we said, “I haven’t caught you at
a bad time, have I?” we asked a negative question. You see, most networkers will ask if this is a good time to talk.
The bad lead has heard this dozens of times, and has learned to say ‘no’ – which, in most cases, will end
the call. The prospect has done this so many times; he now does it without thinking. But when the prospect says ‘no’
to our questions: “I haven’t caught you at a bad time, have I?” saying ‘no’ causes the call
to continue.
The prospect is thinking, “What’s going on here?”
This is a very subtle, yet highly effective, move. The prospect
gets a sales call, and they give their standard reply (which is given on autopilot). They expect the call to end (as it has
dozens, if not hundreds, of times before), yet because of their response, the call continues.
The prospect then becomes slightly confused. When someone is
confused, the last thing they want is control. They want someone to lead them out of their confusion. Who is in control of
the call now? You, of course!
Real Men Sell Candles
I don't really think that much about candles. Meaning
that if my wife is burning one of her Mia Bella candles I’m OK with that – if she’s not burning one, I’m
OK with that too. If we have friends coming over, I’ll help by lighting up candles because they sure do help the house
smell nice.
I’m helpful that way.
It wasn’t until I got roped into helping my wife at a
craft show that I realized how important I was.
Did you know that women prefer to buy candles from
men?
I’m sitting at the back of the booth doing my best to
fade into the sides of the tent, minding my own business, when a customer practically runs over my wife to come over and ask
me a question about the candle. Now I’m embarrassed – I have NO IDEA what the answer is! I feel like the kid who
walks into class to discover that its mid-term exams and I didn’t study! I mumbled something semi-intelligent and my
wife comes over and rescued me! Thanks, hon! Whew! That was a close call!
But it kept happening!!
Women, in droves, would walk around my wife to come over to
me – huddled in the corner – and ask me about candles, fragrances, jars & which one do I prefer. Now, at this
point you may be thinking – this guy must be some kind of gorgeous hunk. Sadly to say, nope. My wife disagrees, but,
honestly, I’m just a thin, middle aged guy who’s unfortunately balding. There’s no George Clooney or Tom
Cruise here -- just a guy sitting in the back of a candle booth trying to disappear.
Against my better judgment and to prevent my wife from killing
me, I agreed not to run screaming from the booth if “one more woman asks me what my favorite candle fragrance is.”
Then, I actually started to enjoy the attention. I mean, seriously, when do thin, middle aged balding guys get the undivided
attention of 100s of women??? What the heck do I know about candles??? But these women were paying attention. I discovered
I knew quite a bit about these candles – it’s amazing what you can pick up living in the house with a candle business
owner and serious candle lover.
I started telling these ladies about how the candles are double-wicked,
triple scented and practically soot free. I recommended fragrances that I thought their husbands would like. The ladies were
hanging on my every stuttered word. At some point I think my wife decided to take a nap and let me go on with the show. Now,
I’m pretty sure that if I hadn’t been at the show those ladies would have asked my wife the same questions, but
you never know. My wife claims that between my charm & her great candles that we do better at shows when I help her. I
can’t quite tell if she’s serious or if she’s pulling my leg. But I, and my ego, am willing to take her
compliment at face value.
I’m helpful like that.
I own my own painting & wall covering business. When I
finish up a job I started taking over one of my wife’s Mia Bella candles as a gift to the home owners. It’s rare
that I don’t have my customers asking me about my wife’s candles. I often take orders for more candles. Women
love to ask me about the candles and the different fragrances.
I have to tell you – if men out there are really looking
for a way to attract women, forget fancy cologne and a designer car! I recommend that you sell candles! Just ask any of my,
errr, my wife’s customers – Real Men Sell Candles!
Tony Saimond is the long-suffering husband of Sande
Saimond, the owner of a successful http://www.MiaBellaGourmet.com>Home Based Candle Business with Scent-sations Mia
Bella Gourmet Candles.
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