UnPublished Secret #11 – How To Balance Childcare With Your Home Business

I am constantly amazed with the number of people who come up to me and ask, “John, How do you do it? You operate a profitable home business while taking care of your kids! Can you share your secrets to being a successful entrepreneur while running your family’s household?” Rather than explain it over and over again to people, I decided to share a couple of my “UnPublished Secrets” for how I achieve so much in my duo-role as parent/entrepreneur and thus, simplify my life in the process.

So here’s how this stay-at-home father of three runs his booming home business and successful home life.

The Art of Self-Discovery in Children: As an active parent in my children’s lives, I coach soccer, do the school pick-ups / drop-offs, prepare the meals, and intimately become engage in reading, homework, and play activities. Unfortunately, in today’s society, I see two extremes. The parents who are absent or don’t care and the parents who get OVERLY involved in their kids’ lives. I believe this second parent, who continuously dotes around behind their children, lend themselves to developing children who have difficulties effectively adapting to future situations when “mommy or daddy” is not available. Whether its dispute resolution with another child or falling off the tri-cycle, I think that kids have an uncanny ability to achieve things without constant adult supervision. I find that a health mix of involvement and near-by observation (to make sure that no one gets hurt) enables both the parent and child to flourish. Your child gets to discover things on his/her own, while the parent get to take a needed break from the monotonous routine of childcare. By filling my mind with creativity, I get my million dollar ideas during this important downtime in my duo-role life.

Managing Client Expectations While Working With A Home Business Owner: When I first started my home business, I was horrified if my two year old would enter my office while I was on the phone with a prospect or client. What I found is that rather than lock the doors and keep my children away from me, I realized that I am more successful with my clients if I manage their expectations and share the importance of my family with them. Being with my family was why I got into a home business in the first place! It wasn’t locking the doors so nobody could bother me (as some books suggest). By telling my clients that I work openly at home, keep regular hours (usually when the kids are napping or in the evening or early AM) and that interruptions from my children may occur, I find that my customers are more loyal, more honest, and more profitable. The ones who didn’t like my operational structure were not a good fit for my services anyway.

At the end of the day, it’s the work-life balance that we’re all looking for. By taking charge of the situation rather than allowing others (clients or children) to control our actions, work hours, or family time, I find myself to be more productive with work and having more fun with my children than ever before.

UnPublished Secret #54 – Reading Junk Mail Can Improve Your Website

Are you wondering why your website may be generating tons of visitors but not converting into sales? Does your website have flashy graphics, cool technology and reads like a brochure, but lacks a compelling offer in the first few lines of copy to drive the reader to purchase? Is your online or offline advertising not producing the ROI that you’re looking for? If so, then let me share with you another one of my “UnPublished Secrets” that can squeeze more sales out of your marketing dollars and bring repeat customers back for more.

My simple and inexpensive way to improve the advertising and website of your small business is to read your junk mail and "steal smart".

Professional direct mail copywriters are some of the most influential writers in the world. It is their job to personally motivate others and get potential customers to purchase a particular product RIGHT NOW. Everyday, you probably receive more than your share of direct mail. If you are like most people, you probably recycle the bulk of it. But inside that waste bin are treasures of ideas and copywriting points that you can effectively swipe from the best minds in the business.

Now, I am not suggesting that you plagiarize copy written material. Rather, I am recommending that you find gold nuggets of creativity and modify these ideas into your own advertising campaigns and website designs. Headlines, body copy, and graphical elements are all fair game that can become the inspiration for your business. This is not uncommon practice in the advertising business or Fortune 500 companies. The old saying, “there’s no such thing as an original idea” is actually true. Major corporations and top-notch ad agencies steal ideas from each other everyday. I know this is accurate because I have worked on both sides of the client-agency relationship and I have done my fair share of idea modifications. The trick is to take the “good ideas” and make them your own.

The top notch direct marketing companies offer their best work everyday in your mailbox. Companies like Dell, American Express, and Bed Bath & Beyond, send out millions of junk mail pieces. Even if your business is not related to computers, credit cards or household wares, you can apply the proven methodologies and copy writing that make these companies great into your small business. For example, take a headline for a credit card and tweak it to fit your automotive business. Though the two seem unrelated, it’s actually the motivational words depicted by the professionals that can get your small business noticed. Look for the action words or the way an offer is presented to the reader. Examples are the CAPITALIZED WORDS, --- dashes ---, bold or italicized words, … dots … and starbursts filled with copy that you’ll want to pick up on and change them to fit your business. The more junk mail that you read, the more ideas you’ll get and the more you’ll notice the similarities. That’s probably because, at one time, they stole from each other. That’s ok, nobody is looking and the customer doesn’t really care. Just so long as your advertising and website do not blatantly plagiarize others and also provides the benefits that you promise.