Archive for Resources
Home Business: The Refuge of the Downsized
Posted by: | CommentsThere was an article in the business section of our paper yesterday. Nationwide there are about 3,000 attorneys who have lost their jobs. These are people who never thought they would be out of work because there was a sense the law profession was recession-proof.
Now what?
Afterall, these are people who were earning good salaries and most had good benefit packages. Suddenly they need to find a new source of income.
Since few law firms are hiring, they need to find other sources of income. For many, that means starting their own law firm and in many cases that will be a home based business.
One of the biggest challenges they face is learning new skills. Now they need to know how to market and run their business. They need to find ways to balance their time between all of their responsibilities.
Why is this important to you? This story may be about attorneys, but it’s true for many segments of our economy. People getting downsized and having few options for a new job.
Consequently, more and more people are starting their own home business, but just like the attorneys who have great job skills, many of these people don’t have business skills.
If you’re one of them, be sure you give yourself the best chance for success. Learn what you need to be successful. Surround yourself with good advisers. Get trained in what you need to do to run your home business or hire people to do what you don’t know how to do (or want to learn).
We do have a Home Based Business Starter Kit that is available. Certainly not a have-to-have, but it provides a solid foundation for all you need to know make your home business a success. You can read about it at Home Based Business Starter Kit.
Acres of Diamonds in Your Home Based Business
Posted by: | CommentsHave you ever read the story "Acres of Diamonds" by Russell Conwell? If not, the story has a powerful message and I suggest you pick up a copy from our Resources Page.
The short version of the story is that a man leaves home and travels the world to find his fortune. He traveled all over never finding the riches he was searching for. He came home penniless and died a pauper. Meanwhile, in the back yard of the house he’d sold to chase his fortune was one of the richest diamond mines ever discovered.
He never looked in his own back yard.
Recently a friend told me the results of an interesting survey:
The people surveyed were prospects for a high end product . The question they were asked was about how the salespeople had followed up after they’d said they wanted to think about the purchase before actually buying.
The overwhelming response was that the salesperson hadn’t followed up at all.
The people were also asked if they would have purchased the product if they had been contacted and overwhelmingly they said, "yes."
Business owners often complain about not being able to find qualified buyers. Yet this survey shows that many sales are lost because of no follow up.
Money and resources had already been spent to find the prospects who wanted to think about it before buying but they were allowed to slip away.
The salespeople (in the case of the survey) were off spending more money to find more leads.
The diamond mine in their back yard (their database) was ignored. This company operated under an assumption that the qualified buyers were in the outside world.
Are you effectively mining your database? It’s easier and more cost effective to sell to someone who already knows, likes, and trusts you.
The lesson: Look in your backyard before traveling the world.