Posted by Lisa Roberts on January 08, 19100 at 10:50:55:
In Reply to: work from home posted by Gary Everett on January 06, 19100 at 08:25:40:
Gary, this is the type of home business (word processing, writing, editing, etc.) I first started out with about 12 years ago (as outlined in my book, "How to Raise A Family & A Career Under One Roof"). My background was very similar to Wendy's who also responded to you -- I had a B.A. in English and a background as an Administrative Assistant before I became a Mom and decided to work at home so I can stay with my newborn daughter. What I did was start off with the type of work that could be done in short spurts of time -- i.e. word processing, database management, typesetting -- and then branched out into copywriting and editing after I had built a solid client base.
With your skillset, your best bet is to drop the business opportunity mindset all together and go straight to the formation of a sole proprietorship -- building your business one client, one project, at a time. Pick a target market -- say nonprofit organizations or doctors or law firms or small business owners or universities (professors, staff & students) or whatever type of people you most enjoy work with. Then create business cards, a brochure describing your services and a portfolio with a few samples of your work and simply go door-to-door among your target market and introduce yourself.
Always carry business cards wherever you go. You never know when you'll need them. Post flyers, too, and buy a low-cost classified ad in your local paper. Even more effective, get a business line and a bold listing in your local yellow pages under "Typing" AND "Writing." If your skills are strong, you'll get more business than you ever imagined.
Best to you!!
Lisa