Three Steps to a Professional Image
One of the biggest reasons home-based business entrepreneurs often fail to attract customers is that they also fail to create a professional image. A professional image is an element of your credibility and without credibility winning customers is an uphill battle.
Think of it this way: would you give your hard earned money to a guy selling products out of an alley? Probably not. For one, you would wonder where the good had come from. It would also be inconvenient because your method of payment options would be limited. You would also not have the peace of mind of knowing you could get a refund if it turns out that your purchase is defective or does not live up to your expectations.
Just as you would have these concerns, so will your customers if you do not create a credible image.
Many home-based business owners feel they can't afford to create a professional image on a small start-up budget, but not only is creating that image possible even with limited funds, it's something you can't afford not to do.
Here are a few ways to create that image:
1) Provide Multiple Payment Methods
Most modern shops and businesses accept a variety of payment options, including cash, checks, and credit cards in order to make it more convenient for customers. Money orders and debit cards are also payment options widely accepted. You should try to accept as many of these payment methods as possible.
Additionally, online stores must be prepared to accept international funds or risk losing a percentage of their audience.
Accepting checks is the easiest method you can incorporate into your business. However, keep in mind that most people will be wary about making the check out to an individual when they feel they are doing business with a company.
So you will need to create a business checking account. These accounts can be opened at any financial institution.
Unless you have officially registered your company through the government and received an identification number, your account will be listed as you doing business as (dba) your company's name. With the account, you will be able to cash checks made out to you or your business.
Credit card, debit card, and international funds, on the other hand, can be more difficult matters. At least initially, you may want to use a service such as Paypal to handle these transactions.
A PayPal business account will cost you nothing to open, but a small percentage of the funds will be automatically subtracted for each transaction. You can also use Paypal to accept electronic check payments.
2) Provide Detailed Contact Information
Customers like to know who they are doing business with and how they can reach them if there is a problem with their purchase. However, many home-based business owners don't want to put their personal contact information online where it is accessible by millions, and you do want to protect your family's privacy. So instead, you need to create business-specific contact information.
First, you need to rent a post office box. Various sizes are available, and payments can be made every six months or every year.
You can use your post office box for all of your business correspondence and can safely display it on your web site.
Second, you should either get a second phone line or a cellular phone which is dedicated to your business. Not only does this allow you to keep your family's privacy secure, but it also prevents your children or loved ones from answering important business calls in an unprofessional manner.
Also consider investing in a fax machine or using an online service such as efax. Including your fax number with your other contact information, not only provides customers with an additional method of communication, but also creates an image of professionalism.
3) Deliver on Your Promises
It can be easy to start taking customers for granted once they have paid for their product. After all, once you have their money, the hard part is over, right? Wrong! Customers can become repeat customers if they are treated well; they can also bring additional customers your way via word-of-mouth referrals.
Treating them well means delivering on your promises, including shipping products on schedule, standing behind your guarantee, providing effective customer service, and promotion products honestly. Doing these things sends a message to your customers that says not only that your company is professional but also that you care about your customers.
These three ideas are just the beginning but they will help you begin developing the image you want and need your company to have if it is to succeed..
Vishal P. Rao is the owner of http://www.home-based-business-opportunities.com - One of Internet's leading website dedicated to starting, managing and marketing a home based business.
Houston Community College Increases Job Placement
Job placement for certified Network Cabling Specialists from Houston Community College's C-Tech programs were at approximately 50-60% in mid-2001.
This was not acceptable to HCC's Max Saravia, Department Chair of Industrial Electronics, who used DOL/Texas Workforce Commission grants to hire Anna Fowler to improve the rate of job placement for C-Tech programs that produced approximately 200 certified technicians in the past year.
Anna set herself a goal of 85% by June, the end of the academic year.She reached that goal, and more, by the end of May.
How did she do it?
"A lot of hard work!" she says.
She began by calling employers.
In addition to inquiring about job availability, she invited potential employers to visit the HCC Network Cabling Specialist program two weeks before graduation, and some 20-30 employers have done so.
"Once they come," says Anna, "they come back."She also worked hard to establish trust and a connection...
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Is Your Company Safe From Attack?
Yesterday I read an article in the daily paper that contained some rather alarming figures.A survey of British businesses found that fraud, money laundering, and embezzlement cost them over ?40 billion ( $72 billion) a year. The average loss of the companies surveyed was over ?1 million, whereas the loss to the top 100 companies (those in the FTSE 100 index) was ?5 million. Companies were reporting losses of up to 5% of turnover.The significant fact about these figures was that this was only what had been detected. The real losses are certainly many many times greater. And to make matters worse these figures almost entirely represent what is ?inside' crime.
That is, it is crime committed by employees or by outside temporary staff contracted at the time to the company.And furthermore, a large number of the companies had no insurance cover to protect them from the consequences of this type of activity.So what are the lessons to be learned?1. Don't imagine that it can't happen to...
Is Your Company Safe From Attack?
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Accepting Payments Online and the Non-Profit Organization
(ContentDesk) January 26, 2006 -- Non-profit sites, (or not-for-profits) such as political blogs or a public education resources, have special challenges to face online. It is absolutely necessary to accept payments online in order to process donations faster and more efficiently, however, the common solutions of accepting payments or donations online arent always a good fit or are too costly. Some solutions such as Clickbank are only set up for downloadable retail products.The following tips from Acceptiva [http://www.acceptiva.com can assist in the decision-making process.In order to use a processor that is universally available and will show the organizations name on a donors credit card or debit card bill, instead of the payment processors name, non-profit administrators would most likely be interested in an alternative or supplement to PayPal.After assessing options, it often seems the only choices left are traditional merchant...
Accepting Payments Online and the Non-Profit Organization
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The Perfect Gift for Our Customers
It's the holidays again and we all want to do something for ourcustomers, right? We want to let them know how much weappreciate them and their business, and we want to wish them andtheir families a wonderful holiday season. Mostly, though, we'dlike to score some big points so they will continue to be ourcustomers! (Maybe we're just afraid we'll look stupid if wedon't do anything at all?)What to do for them? Buy a gift they may or may not want orneed? Wine? Maybe they don't drink. Candy? Maybe they arewatching their weight. Calendars? Desk stuff? When's the lasttime that you received something like that from someone that youdo business with? Did you like/want/need/appreciate it? Myguess is "No". So what can you do that everyone will appreciatewithout breaking the bank?Consider this: donation cards.
I have used this concept withgreat success. Here's what worked for me.Print post cards that are self-addressed/postage-paid on oneside. On the other side put a holiday message to the...
The Perfect Gift for Our Customers
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Is Bank of America taking advantage of America?
(ContentDesk) August 23, 2005 -- Recently Bank of America sent me a promotional offer to transfer my higher interest credit cards to their company at a special 0% APR. Of course I jumped at the deal and decided to transfer a balance from another card with a higher interest rate. Who wouldn't?View the actual advertisement I received in the mail here:Front of offer:http://www.2koncepts.com/bofa/0APR-FRONT.tifBack of offer:http://www.2koncepts.com/bofa/0APR-BACK.tifNow, here is exacly what I did and how they took advantage of me and probably everyone else that responded to this same ad.My credit balance was $0 and my credit limit on the Bank of America card was $3,500 and I decided to transfer the whole $3,500 balance from another high interest credit card. Sounds good right? Well, when I received my first bill in the mail from Bank of America...
Is Bank of America taking advantage of America?
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Merchant Account Services
Business that are small, home-based, deal with mail order, or operate online can benefit from a merchant account service. The merchant account service allows the customers to pay for goods in an easy and safe manner, while allowing the business owner to accept more modes of payment. There is a "win-win" for both the customer and the business owner.
The business owner can set up these merchant accounts for a low processing fee.
Today, with the advance in the industry and the online business, there are several merchant account providers in the market and each offers similar service with few valued added features.
With more and more consumers today going online to make their purchases or using their credit cards, it would be a wise decision on the part of the business owner to have access to merchant account service. This way he or she would be able to tap into a big customer base.
Having a merchant account service...
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