home business hints

BECOME A REFERRAL SOURCE.

I am a huge proponent of the idea that there is plenty of business for everyone. I believe generous gestures – such as recommending others for work I am unable to do, or putting other people in touch with people I know can help them – go a long way toward establishing your character and credibility as a home business owner.

I was at a party the other night and within a short time had met three different people with whom I held three very different conversations. One was about buying a house for the first time, one was about taxes and self-employment, and one was about online writing and website marketing.

As each conversation evolved, I realized I had really great contacts I could refer for each one of those people. I have a mortgage broker who works with first-time buyers and I know a real estate agent who works in the neighborhood we were discussing. I know a CPA who can provide expertise in taxation and working from home, and I shared what I knew, personally, about web content and marketing.

Imagine going into a party where you don’t know anyone. You’re not sure how it’s going to go, whether you’re going to be noshing at the food table all night and avoiding everyone there, or you’re going to be drawn into conversations you’d rather not be having.

Going into it with an eye for how you might help someone get what they’re looking for (there’s that entrepreneurial problem-solving thing again), makes the whole game a lot more interesting.

What about when someone has product lines that overlap with your own? You don’t want to miss out on a sale by sending someone “over there” for a product you don’t sell, do you?

Sure! Why not?

I buy products myself from a woman whose company competes with my own in the marketplace. But my company just doesn’t sell everything under the sun so I have no qualms about buying non-compete products from her – and sending others her way for those products as well. I refer her and she refers me. We both win.

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