For many business owners, freedom is still a difficult thing to come by. The schedules and demands of regular business hours can often be stifling. Home-based business owners, on the other hand, have the privilege of playing by their own rules.
So let's explore that a bit. Here are three rules that have worked well for me.
1. Be Flexible--Because you are your own boss and not tied to a timetable, one advantage you can offer customers is the ability to provide service at their convenience. For me (and for many other home-based workers I know), a major key to financial success has been the willingness to adapt to the clients' requests for unusual hours.2. Open Up Your Day--Include all 24 hours and you can open up your business to national and even international clientele. For example, although I live on the East Coast, some of my most valuable contacts are now in the Pacific time zone. When I'm talking to them late at night, I just don't mention that I'm already wearing my pajamas.
3. If You're Home, Answer the Phone--Don't waste the opportunity for valuable publicity by missing calls from reporters "after hours." In today's media-driven society, it's a mistake to be unavailable when the press telephones, because they'll inevitably call someone else and you'll lose your chance at the limelight.
I actually owe my entire career to a panicked newspaper editor who contacted me at 10:30 one Sunday night, simply because she was unable to reach anyone else. Of course, if it's a potential client on the line, remember rule number one.
These simple guidelines have worked for me. Give them a try and watch your business grow. Good luck.
Tana Fletcher has been writing for newspapers and magazines since 1985. She is coauthor of the book, GETTING PUBLICITY: A DO-IT-YOURSELF GUIDE FOR SMALL BUSINESS AND NON-PROFIT GROUPS. The book is available for $14.95 from Self-Counsel Press, 1-800-663-3007.
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