If there's one thing many people dread when running a home business, it's promoting them. It's not a comfortable thing for most. You're taught for so long not to brag that talking about yourself, your skills and your business becomes quite uncomfortable. Unfortunately for those who aren't comfortable, it's also quite necessary. The trouble with this is that you are assuming that your offer will be rejected, that it is unwelcome. You don't know that this is the case, but you assume so.
The reason you often feel like what you are going to say is going to be unwelcome is that you think of it as sales pitch. No one enjoys listening to a sales pitch. But they can enjoy hearing about something you are enthusiastic about. I did medical transcription from home for 3 years. When I told people about it, obviously I wasn't trying to sell them on the concept. Yet I constantly had and still have people asking how they could get into it. My enthusiasm and interest in that career brought out their dreams of working from home. Then there's one of the easiest forms of self promotion - the business card. If you keep a stash of business cards with you, you can hand them out any time someone wants your contact information. They get just a touch of information about your business at the same time.
That's one of the best ways to talk about your home business. Any time you can guide the conversation towards work issues, it has the chance to come up naturally. The people who are interested will ask you. Of course, if you aren't recruiting but only selling you will want to guide the conversation toward something relevant to that. The key is to keep things relevant to both yourself and the other person. If you do nothing but talk about how great your product or opportunity has been for you, that's great for you, but may not be so interesting for the person you're talking to.
Then there's one of the easiest forms of self promotion - the business card. If you keep a stash of business cards with you, you can hand them out any time someone wants your contact information. They get just a touch of information about your business at the same time. When I told people about it, obviously I wasn't trying to sell them on the concept. Yet I constantly had and still have people asking how they could get into it. My enthusiasm and interest in that career brought out their dreams of working from home.
Find what works for you. If it's not comfortable for you, it's not going to work.
Talk to other people with home businesses and find out what they do to promote themselves and their business. Even if it's not something you would do, you may find inspiration. And don't forget to have fun. If you aren't enjoying your business, why stay in it? The best ways to promote your business can be fun. |
