Establishing A Professional Image When You Work At Home

Establishing A Professional Image When You Work At Home
by BB Lee (C)2002

(542 Words)

It is often difficult to appear professional if you are working
out of the home, among noisy children, barking dogs, hungry
spouses waiting for dinner. And certainly many potential
clients express open disdain if they call your home and hear
screaming children in the background while you try to converse
professionally.

It's unfortunate, but many ill informed clients assume that
home based business owners are not as serious about their business
or that their work is not as good as a large company. If the
home based business owner wants to survive in this highly
competitive world he must demand respect and project the image
of a professional business person who is capable of handling
any job, large or small.

Let's tackle a few ways you can appear professional, even if
your office is a small space in the corner of your bedroom. I
am assuming you have a complete computer set-up already. This
would include your computer, printer, scanner, fax.

Purchase an answering machine and use it on a separate telephone
line employed only for business calls. This will establish a
professional image, especially if a client calls and you are
unavailable. Plus, your telephone line will not be tied up with
personal calls for the family.

Or if you prefer, you could opt for voice mail. You can easily
purchase this through your local telephone company. For a modest
fee per month, through your existing telephone number, you can
set up several mailboxes to take messages when you are unavailable.

Another way to project a very professional image is to purchase,
or print up on your home computer, business cards. The information
on your cards should include your name, business name, your title,
address, telephone, fax, email address, URL address, cellular
telephone number. Give these business cards out when ever possible.
These cards will help to remind potential clients of
your services and make it easy for them to contact you.

And of course you will need suitable business stationary to keep
in contact with your clients. If you are on a budget, print up
your own stationary on the best paper you can afford. There are
many inexpensive software programs you can use to handle this
project.

Purchase brochure paper at your local office supply store and
print up your own advertising material with all your contact
information included.

You might also want to establish a one page web-site on the
Internet to serve as an Online business card to potential
clients. Include all the information you've printed on your business
card, plus, a little background information about your company.
Remember to register the site in all the major search
engines.

You live in a residential area and receive a large quantity of
packages. In order to appear professional, plus cut down on the
neighborhood traffic congestion, set up an account at a local mail
drop center. Many of them will give you a professional sounding
address for all your business mail.

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BB Lee is Editor/Publisher of SmallBizBits Newsletter.
Practical Advice For All Your Home Business Goals.
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http://www.angelfire.com/zine/smallbiz
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