| I remember back when I first
quit my well paying government job, and decided to become
self employed, I was quite concerned about the uncertainty
that lay ahead. Even though I was excited about the prospect
of working for myself, I was equally worried about not making
enough money and failure. I mean, here I was with a highly
secure job, earning fantastic money, and yet, I decided to
quit my job and start my own web design business.
I remember everyone in the office asking me "You're starting
a web design business, are you crazy???" Let's just say
there were a few doubters, but I just knew that unless I took
action and started my own business, that I'd be sitting in
that cubicle earning an hourly rate for the next 20 years.
That thought wasn't exactly one that I liked at all.
I guess in hindsight, what I did, was both reckless and quite
brave. I had no plan, no clients, an old computer and a lot
of determination. Really, it could have gone either way, but
I figured even if I failed, I could just go and get another
job -- right?
In the time that I've been self employed, working from home,
I've often heard the expression "Gee I wish I could do
that" which I find it a bit annoying actually. I mean,
if you really want to start your own web design business -
you really just have to go for it! Action is key - you can
talk about it forever.
However, I understand that everyone is different, and we all
have our own unique circumstances. Quite often though, I find
that it's fear of failure holding many people back.
The best way to overcome this fear is to eliminate as much
uncertainty as possible and increase your chances of greater
success. I mean if I told you exactly how to start a web design
business that could not fail - would you do it tomorrow? Of
course you would!
So is starting a web design business really that scary? Will
it mean losing everything? Are you going to die????
Of course not. It just means taking a leve of risk. But guess
what? I have a way where you can pretty much reduce your risk
levels to zero. Want to know how? Read on....
1. Put in for annual leave.
If possible, put in for some time off. Try for at
least 4 weeks, or if you can, try 6 weeks. The longer the
better. You're going to use this time as a "test"
to see what it's like being self employed, working from home.
During this time, you can forget about your job, and pretend
that you are out on your own. The whole time of course, you
still have secure income.
2. Choose a small business type.
Flick through the local paper or phone book and choose a
small business type in your area. Infact it doesn't even need
to be in your area, it can be anywhere, so long as it's not
limited to a particular geographical area. A perfect example
of this would be lets say, dentists or optometrists.
3. Build a simple turnkey template based website.
You may want to do this ahead of putting in for time off
your job, but once you've chosen a particular business type,
then get started straight away on building a suitable turnkey
website that you can offer to the business type that you have
chosen. If you have decided to target dentists, then build
a simple template that would interest dentists in the area.
Remember to keep it entry level - nothing fancy, just a simple
site that you can carry out quick customisations to and offer
at an affordable price. It's important to keep costs down
for business owners -- you want to offer it as being affordable,
quick and easy.
4. Email your prospects
Start directly emailing potential prospects. Send them your
offer. Be sure to direct them straight to your business website
and tell them that you're offering a "specialised package"
for dentists with a turnkey solution. It's very important
that you a) dont get bogged down in change requests, be sure
to offer this strictly as a plug and play solution b) keep
your prices very low. Offer them something that would normally
cost $2,500 for $997. Forget about making millions - you just
want to replace your income.
4. Try for sales, testimonials and feedback.
If you're emailing hundreds of prospects daily, you will
eventually get a "yes". Chances are, you only need
to make one sale a week to replace your income, however if
you're good enough, you may make 2 or 3. That's potentially
$3,000 a week! Be sure though, that you gain some feedback
about your offer, and gather testimonials as you go from buying
customers. These will help build your credibility over time
and generate more sales.
5. Stick with it.
You might think that emailing prospects all day long is boring,
and let me tell you -- it is. But what's worse, emailing prospects
and being self employed or sitting in your day job for the
next 20 years!? Remember, you can always consider outsourcing
to help with the workload. And lastly, once you've targeted
dentists and refined your system, you can begin targetting
other business types with the same system.
Best of luck to you.
John
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