Homemade Craft
Did you know that all people are natural-born sellers? It’s just that not everyone realizes it. The first thing that comes to our mind is the fear of doing a home business. This is because you are in doubt whether you could sell your product or service. Most often, fears of selling come in several forms. Either we worry about not being liked, or being perceived as pushy, we worry that our product or service might not perform as we say or we struggle with the idea of rejection. Knowing the source of your fear (sometimes it can be a combination) is an important part of overcoming your fear of selling.
Next it is important to take action to address the source. In this way, you are taking action to overcome your fear. In some cases, this might mean that you improve your product or service (you can use customer feedback for this), or you can find ways to share your product/service in a way that feels more authentic and natural to you. You can also find ways to “bounce back” after rejection which is easier to do if you don’t take “no” personally.
Start small. Very often, people tend to tackle projects much larger than they can comfortably handle. When you want to overcome your fear of selling you should start small. Maybe you will share your new business with a few trusted friends first and then gradually find ways to expand your sharing to include a larger circle. The most successful business people are those who interact with others in an authentic, passionate way so find a way that feels comfortable with you and stay with it.
One other technique to overcome the fear of selling as you go on with your home business is to tap into your passion and enthusiasm for what you are offering. You can make a list of all the really wonderful benefits and successful outcomes of past customers. You can hang this list nearby where you can see it everyday and it will definitely boost your confidence.
Keep track of your successes by keeping a “wins” or success journal nearby and record your achievements in it each day. This will help you stay aware of just how much you do right. We sometimes tend to forget this.
Have fun with it rather than approaching this from a heavy “have to” or “doesn’t feel good” perspective. Find a fun, interesting way to share your knowledge or passion.
It is also important to stay focused on your desired outcome. Most people take actions and reach their goals because they stay focused on the benefits of doing so. Sometimes, reminding yourself what you want, why you’re doing this can help you take the next action and the next.
And finally keep practicing. Like any other business skill, “selling” gets easier the more you do it. So get out there, start small, and keep practicing!
The idea of working from home appeals to a lot of people. There are often stories in the media of different people who have given up their nine to five office jobs and have managed to run a successful business from the comfort of their own home. The idea may seem appealing but it is not always that simple to pull off, in this article I am going to give advice on what it takes to make a home based business work.
Anyone who works from home needs to be able to separate their home life from their work life. This might seem quite simple to do but in reality it can be quite difficult. When you go to work in an office you do not even think about the washing, the washing up, the television, the ironing or the fact that the house may be untidy, you are able to fully focus on the job you are doing. When you are working from home all of these duties are in your face and it can be very easy to fall into a trap where you are doing more household work, than your actual business work. It is therefore very important to be strong and disciplined. I have been working from home for around ten years, I set myself my own hours, for example I will work from nine in the morning, until two in the afternoon. I have an office which I will only leave if I really need to, maybe to make a drink or to go to the toilet. I love to watch the television, therefore I do not have a television in my office.
To succeed at working from home you need to have a great deal of self belief in your own ability. There are likely to be peaks and troughs, some months you are flying away but in others everything seems to go wrong. Having a confidence in your own ability is essential in helping you to ride through the negative periods.
I always feel that it is worth saving money from the periods when I am doing well to cover the periods when the business slows down.
People who work from home need to be able to keep motivated. There is no boss to make us work or other people to bounce ideas off. Some people find that working from home can be quite lonely and soon return to an employed environment where they are able to have greater contact with other people. It is important to remember all of the benefits of working from home when we have a drop in business or when we feel a bit lonely.
In my opinion there is nothing better than being self-employed and working from home. I am sure that many other people could also make it work as long as they have the right attitude.
There are many ways you can use email video marketing to enhance your business. By building an email list you can build rapport with the people on your list by teaching them some skill that will help them. Once you do that, you can make the occasional recommendation for a product or service that will benefit them and they will be likely to buy.
Using video is an easy way to increase your response rate. People online are rather short of time and attention span. A good video will help grab their attention and hold on to it. If you make a series of good quality, short (3 -5 minutes) videos that will help them with some problem or issue that they have, you can gain their trust and respect and they will stay on your list for a lot longer and even buy things from you on occasion.
Make sure that your videos are easy to understand. Don’t use a lot of jargon or big words, that isn’t the way to establish yourself as an expert, it will most likely just annoy people and they will stop watching.
Instead make sure that if you do use jargon, you explain what it means. Use these videos to educate people and not just as one long sales pitch. Use emotion to create a sense of urgency so they will buy from you.
Take this example, if you are selling a diet aid you can make a short video that explains why your diet aid is better than the others. Instead of making it boring and filled with a lot of technical drug names explain that your diet aid will help them look great at the beach this summer. Or that your diet aid will allow them to get the tight hot, abs they’ve always wanted.
Use emotional words that conjure up a positive mental picture. It’s ok to mention the facts but don’t get too caught up in the technical side of things. Always include plenty of ’emotion’ words. Emotion is what makes people actually make the purchase, logic will give them a reason to justify it.
When you’re making your video, don’t worry about making it perfect or think you have to have a flashy presentation. The less you have going on the better. The video portion should only compliment the audio. Keep it simple. You want people to focus on your message and not just some flashy graphics.
Do make sure that you speak slowly and clearly when you record your audio. If it helps, make a script to follow so you won’t forget to cover any of the important points. Don’t try to sound overly professional, just be yourself. Of course, that doesn’t mean you should be stammering or stuttering but you can just act as though you’re talking to your friends. Keep it casual and easy.
Use email video marketing to provide all the people on your email list with so much valuable and helpful information that they’d never consider hitting the ‘unsubscribe’ button. Give to them what they need and they’ll return the favor by buying the products you recommend. Using video just makes the process better.
Good marketing, whatever form it takes, always meets certain criteria. That’s what makes it good. The following 10-Point checklist will help you determine if your marketing passes the test.
I challenge you to evaluate one of your recent ads, promotions or other marketing activities to see how it measures up.
1. Does it focus on the solution or benefit you provide?
Too often ads simply list product or service features. Don’t make your prospects work that hard to figure out how your product or service can help them. Tell them straight out.
2. Does it have one, clear message?
What’s the one message you want to communicate? Make sure it’s not buried in too much information or it may not get across.
3. Is it focused on one, specific group of prospects?
Do you know who you are talking (and marketing) to? Make sure your marketing is targeted at one, specific group of prospects – it’s the only way to make sure you are addressing their needs.
4. Is it written in language these prospects can relate to?
If you want your message to resonate with your prospects, make sure it speaks to them, both in content and in the tone and language you use.
5. Does it feature your Unique Selling Proposition?
This is the ONE thing that sets you apart from every other product or service your prospect could possible buy to fulfill the same need. It better come across loud and clear in everything you do
6. Does it have one, compelling point of focus?
Ever see an ad with so many things in it you didn’t know where to look first? Your prospects won’t know either if you try to cram too much into your ads or promotional materials.
7. Does it accurately communicate your business’ personality?
Yes, your business has a personality and everything you do should reflect it. You want your prospects to feel like they “know” you. If you change your personality every week, they won’t come to know and trust you.
8. Does it give prospects more than one reason to respond?
Not everyone is ready to buy, or take the one, primary action you want them to take. Make sure you give them another reason to respond, or they are simply a lost lead.
9. Does it give prospects more than one way to respond?
Make it easy and convenient for prospects to take action. What if you only offer an email or web site address and someone doesn’t have computer access, or they’re away from their office but they want more information right now?
10. Do you have a specific objective for the marketing?
If you don’t know what your marketing is designed to achieve, then how will you know if it was successful? Always have a plan and an objective for everything you do.