Don’t permit your friends and extended family to put on you. Many people are under the misapprehension that if someone works from home then they are not actually working. They may believe that you are fair game for a social call during the day or that you may be able to run errands that would otherwise mean them taking time off work.

It’s really important to set the ground rules early and then stand firm. You must make certain your friends and family understand that when you are working, then you ARE working and that when your time is interrupted, you will not be earning. You are the only one who can stand up for you. Your friends and family will seldom be able to appreciate your dedication to your business, unless you make the effort to make sure that they have the same respect for your business that you do.

For a whole range of free advise and training products to help you start your online business, visit: http://academyforonlinebusiness.com/

Remember that owning your own business is not the same as being employed in a job. Some people go to work and coast along, playing games or enjoying online social networking (Facebook and co.), some socialise over the kettle or printer, and others, most often those who are paid in a commission or tip environment, go to work to work and to make money. When you work for yourself, what you make in terms of money is directly proportional to your productivity. Therefore, wouldn’t it make sense to stay focused on getting as much done in as short of a period as possible?

Go to work to work and to make money. Leave socialising for when your workday has ended.
For a whole range of free advise and training products to help you start your online business, visit: http://academyforonlinebusiness.com/

Whatever your reason for going out on your own, you must keep your reason in the forefront of your mind. If you forget your reason for starting your own online business, you will not be working for yourself for long. It is far too easy to let circumstance drive you and when circumstance is in the driver’s seat, you are more likely to crash and burn.

For a whole range of free advise and training products to help you start your online business, visit: http://academyforonlinebusiness.com/

Initially writing the text copy for your website seems quite simple. You just tell them who you are, what you sell and how to contact you, right? Err, no actually.
Many business websites drone on and on about when they started, what their “mission statement” is, what technology they use, blah, blah, blah. I hate to be the one to tell you this, but nobody cares. All that prospects and customers care about is “What’s in it for me”.
So the very first thing you need to do is put yourself in the shoes of your potential customer. What problem do they have that they are looking for a solution to by searching around the internet? If they have arrived at your website as part of their search they will look for confirmation that they have come to the right place. What solutions are you providing that solves their problem?
If you were the customer, what questions would you want answers to before parting with your cash? Make sure you answer those questions in your copy.

For a whole range of free advise and training products to help you start your online business, visit: http://academyforonlinebusiness.com/

How to Get Involved With Social Media – Facebook
Many of us have used Facebook for personal networking for many years. But did you know that you can also use if for business? Again, it is a great way to connect with people with similar interests, and it is easy to build relationships by interacting with other people in your network.

You can also create fan pages for your business and post events to advertise particular product launches.

How to Get Involved With Social Media – LinkedIn
LinkedIn is more of a business networking tool than a social one. For example, it is structured in such a way that your occupation and education are featured more than your hobbies and interests. However, it works in much the same way as Facebook in that you can invite people to connect with you and join common interest groups. It also has a feature where you can recommend people, so it is great for asking for testimonials.

For a whole range of free advise and training products to help you start your online business, visit: http://academyforonlinebusiness.com/

There are various social media platforms you can use to deliver messages to your readers and followers. But, before embarking on any marketing activity, it is important to know why it is useful.

Social media are instant, so your messages are delivered immediately. And, most importantly, they are interactive – you are actually inviting comment and suggestion. Of course, the most important point to remember is that search engines love social media because their content is current and fresh. So, your comments will be picked up by search engine. How exciting that is!

How To Get Involved With Social Media – Blogging
A blog allows you post content in the form of text and pictures and engage in a dialogue with people commenting on your posts. You can control which comments actually appear on your pages by approving, deleting or marking them as spam, using your preferred blogging software.

Blogs can be written in many styles, from informal and personal, to professional and corporate. As a small business, it is important to inject some personality into your blog, so that your followers get to know you, as well as read your material.

How To Get Involved With Social Media – Twitter
Twitter has become increasing popular over the past year or so with everyone who’s anyone tweeting their little hearts out. Twitter is a micro-blogging site that limits the length of the comments you can post to 140 characters. So, it is unsuitable for posting large chunks of content, but ideal for posting links to other sites containing interesting information.

Twitter is highly interactive and users often re-post, as well as respond to, other peoples comments (tweets) if they are useful. You choose who you ‘follow’ (ie, whose tweets you read), so it is a great platform for making contacts and establishing relationships.

For a whole range of free advise and training products to help you start your online business, visit: http://academyforonlinebusiness.com/

Customers are the backbone of every business. Without them you will not be in business for long! So, it is important that you not only maximise your numbers of clients, but also that you maximise the earning potential from each one.

If you run a service-based business, you will appreciate the limited number of hours you have available to complete your clients’ work. This is partly due to the time required for the non-billable work associated with running your own business. But remember, you also need time to eat and sleep, to perform other routines tasks and, of course, to save some time for your social life.

One way to maximise earning potential is to work with several clients simultaneously. This means that you can earn more money from the same amount of work, because you are serving more paying customers at one time.

For a whole range of free advise and training products to help you start your online business, visit: http://academyforonlinebusiness.com/