Home Based Solo Entrepreneur - Insurance

Let's get right into it...
Today is "Hump Wednesday"!!

Ahh, insurance. I'm not referring to health insurance this time, though it's important too. The kind of insurance I'm referring to is business insurance.

Many of you are repairing computers, detailing cars, cleaning homes and selling your own products on the internet mistakenly thinking incorporating is the perfect protection against lawsuits.

The reason this comes up now (it was important before you got started but better late than never) is the gloom and doom being tossed around regarding the economy. When people start herding together in fear, suing anybody and everybody over trivial issues becomes a reality.

As a Solo Entrepreneur, you are the most vulnerable one on their immediate horizon and you might appear to be their answer for a personal piggy bank instead of playing the Lotto.

Even if you have formed an LLC or Corporation, if you haven't considered getting some type of insurance for your business, you are walking around with a currency sign on your forehead. Remember a civil suit against you personally can wipe out your personal assets and leave your business intact.

Here's where I got the idea for this post, Jonathan Stein's California Small Business Blog where he gives a darn good example of a solo entrepreneur bank-in-waiting.

Accountants and bookkeepers are encouraged to get E&O (errors and omissions) insurance before they get their first client for this very reason - someone, somewhere is going to look for someone to blame when they screw up. I'm not an attorney and not offering legal counsel, but you can visit that link and get more details on where to start looking, questions to ask and resources to get you started.

Have you been looking for a few tools that can help in operating your business better or just to keep from tossing your computer through the nearest window? Be sure to check the Free Tools Section at Small Business CEO. Most I've probably mentioned previously, however if you're looking for tools that won't cost you an arm and a leg, like free forms to manage your operations - give the page a look. I'm always on the lookout for resources to help me stay organized and it's a pretty good starter resource.

Are you using video in your marketing arsenal?
More and more, I've noticed any idiot with a camera is posting video on Youtube. Now, I like some of the videos on Youtube because I'm constantly learning, looking for new ways to get customers to take action or operate my business better or something. But....some of these people should be medicated or switch to decafe!

My take on using video to market your service or product is the same with any kind of marketing - keep it relevant! Copying the style of Ed Dale would no more work for me than his trying to copy me...so, why do I see every idiot with a camera thinking they can be as skilled a marketer as Ed, (although he does remind me of my strange neighbor).

Learn from him? Yes, absolutely and anyone else using a marketing tactic you want to use in your business. Copy his style? No, because your style is part of your personality and that's what people are going to pay you for.

You may not know anything about Ed Dale except he co-founded the 30 Day Challenge, but if you watch his videos, he has mastered this marketing tool! As Solo Entrepreneurs we can hope to be as good, but please...don't mimic other people in your marketing or become the village idiot. It doesn't get you customers, and remember my last warning post...Don't Piss Off Your Paying Customers!

That's it for today and I leave you with this -

"Understand that you need to sell you and your ideas in order to advance your career, gain more respect, and increase your success, influence and income." ~Jay Abraham

Branding Strategies for Solo Entrepreneurs

While reading posts on other blogs, it occurred to me that many of us have no idea what to call ourselves. Self employed? Sounds too much like we've traded one job for another. SEO Marketer? Try explaining that one.

So how are you branding your business and making it stand out from everyone else doing what you do? What snappy way are you telling the world what you actually do all day (besides play Luxor Mahjong , which is eating up my spare moments)? Here's one I liked and I'm claiming it: Georjina Sinese, Chief Information Maven!

What I do is write, edit and make dang certain there's good to great information readily available when it comes to my publishing business.

How are you distinguishing your solo venture from the rest? I'm waiting for Emperor of Septic Systems or Affiliate Promotion President....Silly? Probably not because if you really believe what you offer is the best, why not separate who you are from the rest?!

It's been a chaotic week but here are a few thought provokers to help in managing the dragons in your business.

Let's get to it -
John Carlton writes a newsletter famous for getting down to the nitty-gritty of making marketing work. This quote comes from a free trial of that newsletter and I think it goes for Solo Entrepreneurs especially:

"It is sheer lunacy to write bland copy in order to avoid offending some imagined part of your audience. It is brilliant marketing to risk pissing off a few people to get your message across to those who want what you sell.

Stop worrying about pleasing people who are not in your target audience. And start obsessing about pleasing the people you're asking to send you money."

It's amazing how many times entrepreneurs chase 'suspects' and totally loose sight of the people who are important to their bottom line. I've done it, and I'm sure you have too.

Jim 'JF' Straw is an old school solo entrepreneur who swears by using your talents and having fun working for yourself. In a conversation he had with his Dad growing up, it seems 'Young Jim' got some advice we all need to remember. This is especially for those of you catering to the cheap eats crowd:

Poor folks can't help you become rich. For some reason, people believe they can help more people by being poor - but - if you really want to help people, get rich. A rich man can help more people in one day than a poor man can in a lifetime.”

Recently I've seen a glut of new ebooks and sites promoting starting membership sites for $5 to $10 a month. Let me make this real simple: Say your total expenses are $1200 a month. You start your part-time business and charge every member $5. Divide your monthly "gotta have" by $5 and you'll need at least 460 people every month paying you. Any less and you miss your income target.

I've gone over this basic math before but it bears repeating. I'm hearing too many solo entrepreneurs falling for this faulty logic when it comes to making money. They spout the 'make it up in volume mantra' that works for Wal-Mart and Starbucks, not for solo entrepreneurs. Remember, you're translating 'volume' into real people. How much 'volume' are you going to need paying for your services or products for you to stay in business???!!

That brings me to a rant, but this time I'm not the one doing the ranting! This one comes from Bill Bonner, founder of The Daily Reckoning an investment newsletter that comes very opinionated and thought provoking.

The world seems to be taking a form of financial steroids...and maybe taking too much of it. Yes, dear reader, love for old-fashioned values seems to have given way to price boffing...and the romance of real business ventures has been supplanted by the wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am of money-shuffling hustlers...

The truth is, it's not only those in banking and investing hustling the public to make a quick buck. Who are you taking your cues from?

That's it for today and I leave you with this to ponder:

"We Have Met The Enemy and He Is Us"~ Pogo

Target Your Email Marketing - Relevance Matters Most!

I receive a lot of email and I'm sure you do too. Today I have a serious rant:
Why won't those using email marketing just get to the point in the Subject Line?!
For example: 'Open now before it's too late!'
Sorry Bud, it's already too late for you. Unsubscribe!

Then there are the ones that start with something that's supposed to make you curious:
"Wordpress Blogs Hacked!" Ok, I don't give a rip but how are they being hacked so I can protect my non-Wordpress blog? I open the message, got to be something good in there, right? Not likely!

Here's the actual Message:

There are laods (sucker can't spell either) of WordPress plugins but
you don't have to worry because you can have my new widget that cost me $1,000,000 today for the measly price of $27. But you must get it today!"

What?! That little bit of crap could have been put in the subject line and at least I wouldn't have wasted my time reading your stupid email!

Increasing Your Email Marketing Positive Response Rate
isn't rocket science! It means making your emails relevant and for your long
time subscribers, something with good information they can use. Getting a
positive response and the desired action of taking a look at what you
are promoting starts with.... Not Pissing Them Off!

Maybe I'm being a bit harsh making that statement.
Maybe your subscribers consider themselves "Dummies" or "Stupid". Maybe having
the Rich Jerks talking down to them is awe inspiring. I don't know, maybe this is
what your subscribers respond to best.

But when your subscribers do not laugh when being insulted, they get offended when
you insult their intelligence, they are not looking to be 'amused' by your cleverness
nor consider themselves losers..............

Your spam complaints will go through the roof, you don't really have a trustworthy business and no self-respecting hacker would spit on you - You Are A Schmuck!

Solo Entrepreneur Tip: Treat your email marketing the same as you would your best paying customers. People are busy, trying to get something done and the faster they can get an answer - the better.

I'm not saying don't share a great resource you found or the joy of your new baby. Just keep it in perspective and consider your readers time. (Yeah, so sue me! I write a lot.)

That's it for today and I leave you with this -

Our greatest asset is the customer! Treat each customer as if they are the only one!~Laurice Leitao

Work From Home Tips

Well Folks...I'm Back, again. This time it's to do what I do best: Provide you with tips, tools, rants and raves for surviving as a Solo Entrepreneur.

My last post sent me scurrying over to Pro Blogger for a much needed reality check. I know why I started The Solo Gazette and it wasn't to become a "template editing, program coding, get-it-while-it's-hot" wunderkind.

It was to provide tools I find useful, services that I find lousy, stupidness perpetrated as 'business' and have a great time arming you with good information to use in your business. Hopefully, I can continue to do that without some 'Bucket Head' shutting me down or listening to those people who 'Wish N Hope' instead of 'Get'er Done!'.

I will move The Solo Gazette to it's own home at Typepad (if you have been here a while, you'll remember the fiasco I had with Word Press). Cleaner, better for the way I write and guess what??? No Bucket-Heads!! Just for that nastiness to be gone I'm willing to pay for.

With that said, Let's get to it -

While catching up on my reading, I found this post on Bogus Credit Card Fees. I'm not going to write the entire article, here's the snap-shot of it:

Minimum Credit Card Transactions
You've no doubt seen these signs at your local market, convenience store, and other businesses: "No credit card transactions under $10." Merchants post them to avoid paying the credit processing fees that eat into their profit margins on low-dollar-amount sales. But, guess what? The merchant agreements they have with Visa, MasterCard, and Discover do not allow this practice. Mention it next time you're denied at the register.

You know how I detest Cheap People...but come on. It's a business expense when you accept credit card payments for your products or services. Why put people off by being a cheap bastard!

$0.50 isn't going to matter in the whole scheme of things when I pay for something, but you can bet I'm going to remember that when I look for that product or service again! So will your customers.

Here's the tip for those of you still half asleep: Eat the Fees! So you lose $0.50 in the short term, think looong-term value of that customer coming back and buying more next time. Cheap business owners get cheap customers!

Are you about sick and tired of hearing about the 'down economy' and 'high gas prices'? Me too! You want to know a secret? Unless you're living in a cardboard box in a Calcutta back alley, with open sores oozing pus and no medical plan - Life Is Good!

You either walk, take public transportation, car pool or ride a skate board to work instead of filling up your Mercedes. Simple.

You either increase your sales, cut your overhead and brown bag your lunch twice a week or you grab something at Trader Joe's. Simple.

The economy is what it is and if you want to drive a car, using some type of fuel for to move is what it will take (unless your name is Fred Flintstone and using foot power!).

Another Tip: Do what you need to do and live how you want. You Are Not In Charge! Get over it. My fantastic mechanics didn't give it a second thought when quoting me the cost of repairs on my Baby....I didn't miss a beat in finding the money for them to fix her either! Choices, remember. You're either working on a business or you have an expensive hobby.

Here's a Solo Entrepreneur tip for you 'old hands' who may think you don't need it and works for those just starting doing anything on the net. Get over here and grab as much 'hands on training' as you can stand.

Ed Dale's 30 Day Challenge 2008 is smokin! Ok, I hear some of you groaning.....it isn't about doing any one type of business (even though affiliate programs seems to be pushed hard) it's about The Marketing Tools!

If you are techno-widget-twitter-Linkedin or all things Web2.0 challenged...like someone I know, then hustle your buns on over and register. I'm using because effectively marketing my business better makes me more money and keeps me a solopreneur (cute word, yeah!).

If you do nothing else, watch the video or read the transcript for Market Samurai. Any other tool you've used in the past is obsolete in comparison. I've used it to do a bit of keyword research for this blog, but it really shines in SEO and competition analysis.

So what didn't I like about it? The directions for figuring out what all the colors in the graph meant was a bit vague. The only way I learned to get any kind of meaningful information was reading the 30DC forum post of someone who was having problems finding their niche.

Take a look, see if it's something that will work for you and as always.....take what you can use and leave the rest.

That's it for today and I'll leave you with this:

"Trickery succeeds sometimes, but it always commits suicide."~Kahlil Gibran