I’ve just come off the phone having been interviewed by Jonathan Miles of BBC Radio Newcastle on the subject of becoming your own boss.

It seems that a lot of people are not getting on with their bosses very well these days. Some of the comments from employees they interviewed included some very strong complaints about their bosses and the way they were treated at work.

As we business folk already know, the best way to avoid this problem is to Be Your Own Boss. (Unemployment is the other alternative, but we won’t go there! 🙂 )

Jonathan raised some interesting questions during the interview and I realised that some of them have not been covered on this website. One key one being which business format to choose when starting up. So let’s tackle that one next….

Don’t play “Hide and Seek” with your customers. Always give clear contact information with a choice of contact methods.

If you are operating from home and don’t want visitors or need a professional image, consider using a PO Box Address and a non-geographic telephone number such as a Toll Free 800 number in USA, or a Freephone 0800 or local rate 0845 number in UK. Other countries have similar services.

To many people “value” means “cheap”. But we all know that, in reality, we get what we pay for – right?

If we pay too little for something and it doesn’t do the job, in truth we have just wasted that money. On the other hand, anything we buy that delivers real benefits is usually worth at least what we paid for it – often more. That’s real value.

So what about the “free” stuff then – is it really worthless? Well yes, sometimes! But more often than not, it isn’t really free at all. For instance, I want satisfied visitors and customers. I want you to feel that I give great value so that you continue to visit this website or remain a member of the Home Business Club.

When I give you something “free”, it is either to say “thank you” for visiting the site or to give you something useful to help you in your business. If as a result, you feel that you have had value for the time you spent with me, you are likely to repeat the experience. You might even buy from me expecting, rightly, that you will get excellent value in return. So, in this respect, “free” isn’t really free at all! You have given your time, attention and support in exchange.

According to direct marketing guru, Jeff Paul (he’s the guy who made millions in mail order sitting at his kitchen table in his underwear!), “my secret of success is to always find a hungry market first – then find or create a product to satisfy their hunger”.

Too many businesses start out with a product they “think” will make them money, then go look for someone to sell it to. That’s probably the number one reason for so many businesses failing to get off the ground. First locate your customers, find out what they want most of all right now – then help them to buy it.

Have you ever wondered why it is so hard to get people to buy, even when you have a really great product that you know will benefit them?

The simple truth is, people buy when the benefits to be had from buying your product outweigh the benefit of keeping their cash in their pocket.

In a world where everyone is competing for every dollar, you have to OVER DELIVER. Make sure your product is the best it can be, then load your offer up with free bonuses to the point where they simply cannot resist. (just make sure the bonuses are relevant to them and of top quality).

And don’t forget, excellent customer service to back up the product is essential – but it is not enough on it’s own as good service is now taken for granted.

Welcome to the World Of Marketing. Online marketing or offline marketing? It’s all the same to me! Marketing is marketing, regardless of the media used. Online or web marketing uses the exact same principles as any other media, whether print, broadcast or word-of-mouth. The purpose of these articles is to give you the best information to make your marketing successful whatever media you choose.