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Welcome to Chickadee.Net
Step by Step Training for Starting Your Own Business
Today
you can have a business that is "traditional"
as in business before the Internet was so prominent in
our lives. Or an Internet based business as in depending
primarily on the internet to present and market your business.
Some
of the advantages for an Internet based home business
include:
- Less
initial financial outlay for equipment, property, buildings,
and parking.
- Conduct
your banking any time of the day or night,
- Give
your customers the information and service they want
instantly, without loosing sleep,
- Keep
your business open 24 hours around the world
- Set
your own dress code.
- Communicate
through email - much cheaper, faster, and dependable
than the regular mail.
My
suggestion is to combine both traditional and internet
based businesses. Living in rural Alaska offers the unique
situation of not having a large local market, and not
always having access to the internet either. For that
reason I've found that combining the two offers the best
chance for an income year around.
Tax
advantages of a home based business
Starting
a business on a "shoestring budget" is no harder
than starting one with lots of money. It just takes more
time. Here's what you need to do - step by step.
1
- PLAN FOR SUCCESS
Most important is having a plan, "run the numbers",
see if your idea is even feasible before you sink money
into it. Learn
Now
2
- SET IT UP LEGALLY
Now you need a business license, and someplace to work.
An unused corner of your home works fine.
3 -
DOMAIN
NAME
Your
domain name is your web address, and the name that everyone
will know you by. The world's link to you and your business.
NOT getting your own domain name can cost you more in
business and traffic than you may realize. For
more information on benefits of Domain Names.
Register yours for only $15/year. Register
domain today
4-
If
you are serious about an online business you will need
a professional hosting service. One that is active 98%
of the time, that has GREAT technical support, and that
is financially feasible. Adgrafix
has packages starting at $19.95/month. That's
the one I use and I highly recommend it.
5-FREE
Email
It is essential
to communicate with your prospects and customers. The
easiest and cheapest way to do that is through email.
I'd suggest getting at least 3 email addresses - One for
serious business correspondence, one for when you submit
your site to the search engines (you will get a lot of
advertising back), and one to use for your discussion
groups. FREE
eMail.
6 - MARKETING
There are a lot of ways to advertise your business. You've
created a marketing plan when you were planning your business.
Now is the time to try various advertising means to get
your products/service in front of your target customers.
Remember that, while free advertising is great for testing,
and will bring in some customers, it's a good idea to
budget a percentage of all your income back into paid
advertising.
7. FOLLOW-UP
It is a fact that follow up is needed to sell your product/services,
and to keep your customers buying. Statistics state that
it will take between 7 and 10 messages before your customer
will buy your product. and YOU know how important it is
for a customer to feel like he is more than just a number.
Keep the customers happy and they will continue to be
your customers.
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