When you’re a business owner or if you work on your own, any mention of an upcoming recession trigger a very loud alarm in your head. You have the choice of being scared and paralyze or you can do something else that will surely let you have more sleep at night.

Think about your first reaction when you started reading in the newspapers every day that the stock market was plummeting and recession was around the corner. Did you feel fear? It is a natural reaction, don’t be ashamed for that. The life of your family and that of your employees -if you have them-, depend on your business. If it is gone, what will you do?

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[NOTE: This article was written in response to actual conversations between small business owners and our Web design and development firm.]

Hello. My name is Mr. Smallbiz Owner, and I own A Small Company in a smallville town USA. My shop has been in business for a number of years, at least since the 1990s. I have recently been approached by many representatives of Web design and development firms, trying to sell me on all the reasons as to why I, the small business owner of one shop in my local region, really needs a Web site in this day and age of the 21st century and how my small business cannot possibly survive any longer without a business Web site.

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Let’s kick off your sales this year with a Diva Dare.

There is something about a DARE that I have always loved…it absolutely brings out the kid in me! Now unlike my little sister whom I dared to eat dirt mudballs, open the car door when we were driving down the highway (hey - I was only 8 years old!) and leaping from the top bunk to the dresser…

I have a Dare for you…(no mud pies involved!) Your dare? (It actually comes from my dad!)

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I admit it.

On the week-end, I had an Endurance Hula-Hoop contest with my 8 and 11 year old nieces! They had a fabulous time laughing at their aunt as I fumbled with the purple hula hoop.

Of course - they had NO PROBLEM keeping that plastic tube flying!

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Many clients and friends have talked to me over the years about wanting to improve their sales presentations and closing ratios. Your sales schpeel, presentation, closing techniques and tactics can make or break your marketing you know. It’s not enough to do outstanding marketing to obtain new customers and do continuous marketing to your database for referrals and repeat business, but you also need to be able to ask for and close the sale – or it’s all a big waste of time and money!

How is your sales ratio? Is it 50% or 1 out of 2? Is it much higher like 85% or 8.5 out of 10? If you are closing a small percentage of the leads or potential customers that come through your doors then maybe it has to do with your sales presentation or process?

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Once you’re about to start a work from home business, you should bear in mind that your subconscious get fuel from thoughts of defeat or success. You can think about it as a chain reaction. Whatever you choose to think about, or dwell on will have a deep effect on your mind, which will influence everything you do.

It has no matter what your goals are set to be, your success level will only be as high as you allow it to be. Think about following : If you get frustrated, give up and call your task a failure, that frustration will become a heavy burden to carry towards your work from home business success.

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Marketing your business online is all about showing that you have something to offer your visitors that your competitors do not have. Marketing your small business online means reaching out to your current customers as well as prospective customers and setting yourself apart.

Successful small business Internet marketing is all about establishing relationships. Just as customers in your brick and mortar store have a chance to come in and get to know you, online customers need to be given the chance to learn more about what you do and to decide that they want to do business with you.

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Great New Ideas with No Proven Market, Equals Little Chance of Success

Offering an innovative service is sometimes difficult to “sell” to customers simply because past history for the “need of service” does not exist. Revolutionary business concepts require educating the public. For a sole entrepreneur with a small business, this is nearly impossible as it is too time-consuming and much too expensive. Nonetheless, introducing an innovative service that provides a solution to a public health problem nearing epidemic proportions, as documented by U.S. government agencies and U.S. health organizations, allows for an excellent opportunity to get a foothold into a new, and sure to grow, industry. By exploiting major corporations who are “in the know” and who are aggressively spending millions of TV advertising dollars on inadequate solutions to the problem, an entrepreneur with a small business can “piggyback” on the marketing efforts these unintended advertising partners.

Poor Indoor Air Quality is Causing Health Problems in Epidemic Proportions

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