Starting a business from home is something that many of my readers are interested in, but there is one big hurdle to getting started: not having the technical skills to pull it off. I am talking about both technical skills and marketing skills.
This is a valid concern, especially if you have no idea where to start. But the great thing about this “problem” is that it doesn’t have to to stay A problem. No one is born with technical or marketing skills, after all – these are things that can be learned.
Here’s what you need to know before you get started
You may not need highly specialized skills before starting your home business, but there are a few things you do need to do Required:
- hard work — Getting a business off the ground doesn’t necessarily require a large skill set, but it does by doing Continuous effort is required over the long haul.
- Consent to learn – You may be able to start with limited knowledge, but you can’t expect to stay that way for long.
- good model — Find and surround yourself with people who are successful with a business model similar to yours. Their knowledge and experience will be invaluable if you take the time to seek – and follow – their advice.
The long and short of home-based businesses is that you can start at square one, but you can’t stay there. If you want to be successful, you need to work on your business every day (or almost every day). You need to ask questions from people who have taken the same path — and a great question to ask is “What exactly wouldn’t you do in the beginning?” – This will help you avoid major waste of time and money.
You have to find the knowledge you lack – just do the “next obvious thing”. Chat, join Facebook groups, buy books, take courses, hire experts. Don’t stand still – make yourself work and grow.
No marketing skills? Here’s a crash course to get you started
Many people lack marketing skills because they think that marketing is somehow “yucky”. There is a general perception that anyone who is selling something is “selling something” and no one likes to be sold to.
This is a skewed understanding of marketing. Done well, “marketing” is a way businesses help people solve their problems. If you’re running a business, you’re not in the business of “selling stuff” or “making money” or anything like that Of course they can be part of your goals, but What you are really doing is meeting the needs of your customers and clients.
Those whose needs you do not meet are not your clients. whose problems you can solve is As the primary marketer to your clients and your business, your job is to get in front of your clients and show them that there are solutions to their problems.
There are a few things you need to do to become an effective marketer. These are broad strokes, but they should help you start thinking about ways to market your business — and learn how to market:
- Take the goal seriously. The more targeted your marketing is, the more effective it will be. You can put out a paper flyer to advertise your business in the library, but if your market is online shoppers, that’s probably not a winning strategy. If your market caters to young children, you may get much better results. Ultimately your goal is to be visible where your people are looking. Not sure where to start? Read my next point.
- Find out how people find your solution. You fill a need, whether it’s a need for a pet or a need for information. One of the best things you can do in the beginning (once you are clear about the problem your business will solve) is to find people who have what you have to offer, and have conversations with them. Ask them how they find what they need (do they ask their neighbors? Do they search on Google? Are there Facebook groups where they can ask for recommendations? Do they go to vendor events to find many specialized products and services? Goes? Once?).
- Choose one or two strategies, not every strategy. When you first start looking for information on how to market your home-based business, you’re going to find dozens and dozens of marketing ideas listed. It’s okay to skip a few of these lists to see if there are any valuable insights, but at the end of the day, Focus on one or two marketing strategies. Trying to do more than that will overwhelm you. Pick something and spend a month on it. Then choose something else if you want, but don’t try to do it all at once.
Quick tips for different types of businesses
There are several broad categories of home-based businesses that you can start. Each has its own specialized marketing strategy and business growth best practices, and each is ideal for some people and not ideal for others. Here’s a quick overview of some of the main categories:
- Personal Services: Whether it’s dog walking or home care, personal services will work best with someone who is comfortable dealing with people face-to-face. Your marketing efforts will likely focus on your local area, and your business will likely benefit from a mix of online marketing (such as websites and digital advertising) and offline marketing (such as business cards and local events). Word of mouth will also be a big part of your pipeline.
- Freelance Writing: This is one of the many online services you can provide, but I particularly like this one because it doesn’t require any specialized knowledge from scratch. You must be able to write a decent sentence, but the main “special skill” you need to have is the ability to apply for the jobs you find on job boards. This process is called “pitching,” and there are plenty of good, free tutorials on the web for putting together good pitches.
- Direct Selling: Some people love to be involved direct sales, and for others it is a real struggle. There are two keys to doing well with a direct sales organization: having a product you really love and having a supportive, engaged upline. Direct selling isn’t about hitting up your friends and family over and over again, it’s about networking — and a good upline will be able to show you the ropes.
- Resale: Reselling is especially attractive to people who want to get out of the house to run their home-based business. You must be able to follow sales, find places where your discount products tend to pop up, and keep good records. When you’re selling on sites like eBay and Amazon, you can find specific best practices to get off to a strong start. A large part of your marketing will boil down to good keyword research.
My final advice
Starting a home business is a great idea for many people. Through a combination of consistent effort, following good advice, and learning as you go, you can make your home business exactly what you dream of.
Don’t let your fear of failure stop you from doing something that could be a great thing for you and your family!
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