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Self-Employed Freelancers & Small Businesses:5 Tips for Journaling Your Home Based Business Plan
by Barbara Carr Phillips
Journaling
is an effective way to reach your goal of starting your own
home-based business.
Whether you want to be a freelance writer,
a silk florist, an academic tutor – whatever your dream
is, journaling your home based business plan is a way to realize
it.
Start with a small notebook dedicated to your business plan.
Take it with you everywhere.
Following are five journaling
tips to home-based business success:
Tip
#1: Write About Your Big Idea.
The first step to
save the business venture you have splashing around your head
is to throw it a life preserver. What type of business do
you want to start? Write your big idea in permanent ink. Write
about the advantages to this type of business, as well as
the disadvantages. Write about the characteristics you possess
that make you the perfect person to operate this type of business,
and the characteristics you need to strengthen. For example,
if you want to lead summer reading workshops for children,
ages 8 through 10, but you don't remember what it is like
to be an 8-year-old, volunteer to teach the 8-year-olds' class
at church. If you anticipate the downside of your business
along with your weaknesses, you will be prepared to overcome
them when they arise.
Tip
#2: Research.
And Again I Say, Research. Go to the
library or bookstore and get two or three books about your
business. Read a general book about launching home-based businesses
as well. As you are reading, take notes in your journal. Interview
a few people by phone or e-mail who are operating a similar
business. Before you contact them, write the interview questions
in your journal. Also record their responses. When I started
an academic tutoring business, I called three area tutors
and asked them about their qualifications, fees and tutoring
methods. This helped me decide how my qualifications compared
and how I could better qualify myself. It also helped me to
set a competitive fee, and plan activities for my students.
Tip
#3: Get Your Finances In Order.
You will not focus
on building your own business if you are worried about your
utilities being disconnected. Sit down with your journal and
list how you will get your finances in order. Do you have
small bills you can pay off quickly? Are your income and expenses
balanced? Draw your financial picture in black and white.
Ideally, you need six months of living expenses in the bank
before your quit your day job. If you don't have that, hold
a garage sale or sell items collecting dust in your attic
in the classified ads. Instead of working full-time, work
part-time so you have a steady paycheck plus extra time to
devote to building your business. List your financial goals
in your journal and check them off as you achieve them. Write
specifics about how your business will generate the income
to support yourself financially. For example, a freelance
writer can diversify and tap into several income streams.
The writer can write how-to articles for magazines, write
a book, teach workshops, speak at events, write resumes and
prepare content for newsletters.
Tip
#4: Develop a Marketing Plan.
You may be the best
writer in the world, but your work is not going to get published
if you don't know anything about marketing your writing. Take
a marketing course at your community college. Check out copywriting
books from your library and learn how to create marketing
materials. Even freelance writers have to write "sales
letters" promoting their work (known in the freelance
writing business as "queries"). Take notes in your
journal about marketing, and develop a plan that will make
people who are not interested in your product and service
pause just because you are so creative. Journal about the
types of marketing materials you will need. They may include
business cards, a web site, direct sales letters, postcards
and fliers promoting your business or an ad in the local paper.
Get a haircut, eat well and exercise. You are your home-based
business, so keeping yourself in good shape will give you
confidence when looking for clients.
Tip
#5: Brainstorm Session:
Who Needs Your Product or
Service? Brainstorm in your journal about who needs your product
or services. If you don't have any experience in the business
you want to launch, give free products and services to a few
of these people. For example, my friend, Kelly, loved creating
silk flowers and wanted to make it a business. When I was
planning my wedding on a shoestring budget, she offered to
create my flowers for the cost of materials. She also asked
if I would give her one of my wedding pictures so she could
start a portfolio of her work. I gladly provided a copy to
her. Another reason it is a good idea to give away a product
or service is to get feedback from your customers. Follow-up
with a phone call, e-mail or reply card. When you get praise
for your product or service, write the comments in your journal
so that you will remember them and be encouraged. Also, add
the testimonial to your web site or marketing materials (with
permission, of course). Testimonials are great incentives
for others to buy your product or service.
Journaling
is the best route on your journey to your goal. Essentially,
you are writing your own book about how to start a home-based
business. Journaling is not just about planning. It's also
about recording the small successes along the way. It's easy
to forget time you've invested in a goal and progress you've
made. A journal will show you that, day by day, you are moving
forward with your plans.
Barbara Carr Phillips, journal instructor,
believes dreams come true when you learn to journal your way
to success. Visit http://journalworkshops.com
to order your one-on-one journaling session or to sign up
for her free e-zine.
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LIST OF FREELANCE FORUMS & MESSAGE BOARDS Looking to get together with other freelancers? Want to network? Want to ask questions about freelancing that you can’t find the answer to anywhere else? Look no further than the freelance forums that we have listed below. Feel free to let us know about forums that we have missed.
The followup to Brendan Sinclairs successful Web Design Business kit is a comprehensive look at all the business aspects of working as a web designer. It's thorough and has some excellent advice in it.
A complete, secure, online billing application that maintains hourly service billing, flat fee billing and recurring charges. Integration with Authorize.Net and other leading payment gateways provides hands-free recurring billing with a sophisticated CRM system.
Browse through our extensive list of free Business, Computer, Engineering and Trade magazines, white papers, downloads and podcasts to find the titles that best match your skills and interests; topics include management, marketing, operations, sales, and technology. Simply complete the application form and submit it. All are absolutely free to freelance professionals who qualify.
All Freelance Work is a Community for Freelance Workers Including Free Portfolios, Job Search, Job Posting, Helpful Articles, Forums, & More for the Self Employed.
