Networking and Advertising Your Home Based Business

Never underestimate the value of networking and advertising your home based business. No matter how you advertise, do not expect to achieve results immediately. Granted, it would be great if you could achieve immediate results, and sometimes you can, but do not expect immediate results. Advertising can take time, you have to find your target market and be able to choose the proper vehicle in order to advertise to your target market.

There are many forms of advertising, in the paper, sending out fliers, knocking on doors, Internet advertising and over the air waves (radio & TV). Many of these forms of advertising require an expenditure of money. Some require more money than others, and sometimes spending lots of money will not produce the results you are looking for. If you are just starting off in your new business, it is useful to get some form of advertising, but you do not need to spend thousands of dollars in advertising immediately. There are other ways to advertise without spending large amounts of money.

Networking is a form of advertising, but I believe it to be a softer form of advertising (and not very expensive). By networking, you are letting like-minded people know that you are in business and are open for business. In return, other people let you know that they too are in business. Sometimes you and the other businesses can join forces and assist each other to attract more customers. There are networking groups all over the country. These groups are sometimes through the local Chamber of Commerce, local business groups, or are lead by other small businesses in the area. Networking may not bring immediate money in the door, but on the flip side, you are not dedicating a large amount of capital to advertise. The advantage of networking is that people and businesses get to know not only your business, but you personally.

The personal touch in business (especially in these tough economic times) is very important. If someone is faced with a choice of going to two different businesses that offer the same product for similar prices, the deciding factor could very easily be if they know you personally or have heard of your business ethics. A good reputation for treating customers properly can go a very long way to attract new business. I truly believe that if you conduct yourself and your business ethically, that will pay large dividends over time. There will be occasions where someone may have gone to the less expensive competitor, but was not treated in an ethical manner. After a bad experience, people will be very willing to pay more in order to be treated ethically and fairly. Also, by behaving in a fair and ethical manner, you will end up getting more word-of- mouth references.

So the upshot is that you do need to advertise that you are in business. One potentially inexpensive way of advertising is by networking, either joining a networking group or creating your own networking group. Again, this method may not pay dividends immediately, but will definitely pay dividends as time goes on.

I will talk more about some other forms of advertising later posts. If you have questions about how to find a networking group in your area, please feel free to contact me and I will do everything I can to assist you (hawgwash1@yahoo.com). If you are interested in some home based business opportunities, please see www.hawgwash.net for assistance.

Until tomorrow...