As someone with a home based internet business, you know the siren lure of staying for an extra hour or two at the computer - just one more job, one more email. That next ping might be the big deal that boosts your business, big time. It's very easy to get wrapped around the spindle of your work and let your home life suffer.
Letting your home life suffer will cause your business to suffer. It's important to schedule some time away from the computer; it's even more important to do this for things relevant to your business. Networking is critical in any kind of field, and it's no less true in Internet derived businesses than it is in more traditional ones.
So, having resolved to do this, it's time to put resolution into action. First, make a list of old friends and colleagues, and make a point out of talking to them on the phone, or even better, over lunch, to keep up on developments with them, and within your field.
If your friends don't do the same sort of work you do, think about how you'd explain it to them - this is valuable practice for talking to potential clients. Your old colleagues may know people who need your services, or may be able to cover for you if you want to take a vacation...and if you don't keep the lines of communications open, you'll find them less willing to help you out.
While face to face is good, there are other ways to keep in touch, ranging from Instant Messenger programs like AIM or Yahoo Messenger (or even better, a multi-service package, like Pidgin) to social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn and MySpace. These are also ways to get client referrals and to promote your own products.
It's worth noting that internet connected time tends to go 'faster than expected' - when dealing with communications at the speed of text, people type at about 60 words per minute, and speak at about twice that rate (and read at about 400 words per minute, all told).
Budget it appropriately, and in spite of the need to keep in touch, keep yourself on a tight budget, including scheduled times when you're NOT going to be checking emails and instant messenger prompts. This is an important tool set for keeping in touch with your clients and colleagues, but it's also an incredible way to lose productive time.
Another venue to look into is a place called Meetup. This is a social marketing site that's geared around making face to face meetings of people with common or related interests happen. It's a great tool for organizing professional brunches and the like, and a great way to stay in touch with professional organizations dealing with your profession.
Finally, there's the issue of relating to clients over the internet. The first rule is being timely. The second rule is that typing in SMS "textese", even if it's faster, is going to come off as unprofessional. And it's very important that you maintain a strict discipline about office hours, if you don't want clients to pester you non-stop about the status of work you've got for them.
If you have decided to work at home, congratulations. It's definitely a great choice. However, it is very easy to procrastinate and deal with distractions when you are working from your home. If you want to make sure that your home business produces income, there are a variety of things you are going to need to do. Here are five of the top income producing tasks you need to do for your internet home based business.
1) Stick to a Schedule
One of the first things you need to do is to make sure you stick to a schedule. It's very important that you do this so that you don't end up spending a lot of time not getting much done. While you have the ability to have a flexible schedule, for the most part you should come up with one that works for you and then stick to it. Keep track of the hours that you are working. If you need to, set a timer and stop when it finishes. You don't want to work yourself to death. You'll get more done if you stick to a reasonable work schedule.
2) Focus on Marketing Your Business
Another important task you need to do is to market your business. Without good marketing your business is going to go nowhere. Marketing tasks are considered to be activities that are going to be generating more income for you and spreading the word that your business exists. These tasks are very important. It's easy to let unimportant tasks take up your time. Make sure that you have plenty of time for marketing so you bring in more business and income.
3) Spend Time Networking
Networking with other business owners will eventually lead to great word of mouth advertising. While you definitely need to have a limited time for this to avoid it taking over your whole day, this is another important task that is important if you are going to make money with your internet home business. Networking is important to any business and often your success does hinge on who you know.
4) Evaluate Your Business Practices
Make sure that you take the time to evaluate your practices for maximum effectiveness. From time to time you need to step back and take a good look at the business practices for your home business. Are you working efficiently? Can some of your everyday tasks be outsourced? There may be some practices that you can improve upon to make them more effective so you spend less time working and you end up making even more money with your business.
5) Insure You Invoice Regularly
Invoicing regularly is definitely an important task for producing income. After all, if you don't get paid by your clients, then you are not going to make much money. Take the time to invoice on a regular basis so you have money coming in on a regular basis. Invoicing regularly will also help you notice any irregularities in receiving payments so you can address them promptly.
posted by Chris Simpson
1 Comment »
"TOP PICK" OPPORTUNITIES
Jobs!
Offering multiple income sources. 90 day no questions asked
Risk FREE Trial! Start earning TODAY!
Subscribe
To The HomeNetPro.Com
Chronicle
