Entrepreneur.com

10 Home Business Marketing Trends to Watch in 2007

“Throughout 2006, I’ve been watching and interpreting the marketing stats and studies that impact small businesses to give you tips on staying one step ahead. Now, with 2007 fast approaching, let’s look at a roundup of the hottest trends, from changes taking place among consumer audiences through what to watch for in traditional and online marketing. Here’s the info you need on the most important trends and how to make the most of them to increase sales and grow your business in the New Year.

Consumer Trends

1. College Grads
If you’re searching for the most effective way to reach this desirable prospect group, move your marketing dollars into online media. The internet is now the primary source of media and entertainment among college grads, whose top planned purchases upon graduation are professional clothing, travel/airline tickets, health insurance and furniture according to the “Y2M: eGrad College Graduate Survey”. Nearly 80 percent of respondents are online purchasers, making them ideal candidates for your online campaign.

2. Affluent Working Women
The big news is that this group is increasing in size, and the best way to reach them may be online. According to The Media Audit, affluent working women with family incomes of $75,000 or more are growing in number, and 94.3 percent access the internet during an average month. About half are now considered heavy users of the internet, while heavy use of radio, television, newspapers and direct mail has all declined within this group. To increase sales from this expanding audience, alter your media spending to place greater emphasis online.

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Entrepreneur.com

5 Home Design Businesses to Start

There’s a good reason why cable TV networks like HGTV, The Learning Channel and DIY Network have such a huge following from coast to coast: The home design and improvement industry is hot, hot, hot and is showing no signs of cooling off. There may be no better time than the present to tool up your skills and fire up your enthusiasm for a career in this creative and fulfilling field.

But while Americans are keenly interested in home improvement and home design and have made household names out of “Extreme Makeover: Home Editions” Ty Pennington, professional organizer Peter Walsh from “Clean Sweep” and other home design show hosts, the fact is many don’t have the time, talent or inclination to undertake such projects themselves. Or they enthusiastically take up a paintbrush, rearrange the furniture or make a stab at organizing their lives, then toss up their hands in defeat when they realize it’s not as easy as it looks.

All this means there are plenty of opportunities for entrepreneurs like you to start what we are broadly calling a home design business. In our startup guide Home Design Services, we’ve outlined the information you need to start five different home design services: interior design, interior redesign, professional organizing, building preservation/restoration, and faux painting. Here’s a closer look at each of those businesses so you can get feel for the opportunities available in this industry, and what will fit your personality and creativity the best.

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Work at home computer jobs can open a whole new way of life – and you don’t even need to change your field of work. The new breed of computer jobs won’t tie you to the office. You can telecommute or you can choose to be your own boss.

The phrase ‘Computer Jobs’ refers to undertaking work remotely, usually using a computer, fax machine and other technology. Setting up a well-appointed home office can be relatively inexpensive when compared to start-up costs of other home businesses. Access to readily available technology gives you the option of freelancing from home or telecommuting.

The technology revolution combined with changing career attitudes have created a growing in demand for home-based work opportunities according to numerous occupational surveys. Many people are opting for this ‘non traditional’ career path to achieve a better balance between work and home life.

Traditionally, jobs that were ‘technology intensive’ and less reliant on face-to-face contact were those that took place in the IT or programming fields. The reality is that they cover a huge range of industries. Whether you’re a writer, graphic designer, medical transcriber, desk top publisher or programmer, your work is likely to be technology-based.

That should give you some ideas, but there are many more possibilities. And with technology advancing further, these opportunities are expanding. So if you want to enjoy the benefits that IT work can offer, start working on your boss today.

Can you believe how quickly the holidays have arrived this year? It’s not too late to ramp up your home business marketing.

Any shopper headed to your web site now will be in a state of gift-searching PANIC, and it’s up to you to make sure they don’t leave your pages until they’ve got exactly what they need — and in time for the big day!

You still have time to do a few quick things to take advantage of those desperation shoppers and the last few “shipping” days before Christmas.

Because the clock is ticking, here’s a list of 7 quick and easy — but extremely powerful — ways you can increase holiday sales and profits during the final shopping days before Christmas.

#1: Guarantee SUPER FAST shipping!

#2: Offer to ship gifts directly to recipients

#3: Highlight INSTANT delivery

#4: Offer the gift of choice — GIFT CERTIFICATES!

#5: Remind your audience WHY your product makes a great gift!

#6: Feature seasonal specials in the first “fold” of your homepage

#7: Make a personal connection with a festive newsletter or email promotion

Everyone gets busy as the year comes to an end, but just because you haven’t found the time to set up a comprehensive holiday marketing strategy doesn’t mean that you can’t increase your holiday sales over the coming week.

However, you do need to take the time to implement some of these quick tips IMMEDIATELY. And I mean within the next 24 hours! Pick one or two of these tips and do whatever it takes to catch the last holiday shoppers.

The great thing is that all of the tips just given you can be implemented quickly and easily. Most of these tips should only take you an hour or two to set up on your site, and the results will increase your holiday sales so much you’ll wish you’d started much sooner.

Happy holidays from all of us at Work-at-Home-Business.com!

Ultimate Start-Up Directory – Book Review

Ultimate Start-Up Directory is the most authoritative and comprehensive business start-up book available. This book gives you the control to identify the right new business venture for you. Harness the power of this book and unlock the secrets for starting and running your own profitable business.

In this book, discover:

*1,350 great business start-up ideas representing more than 30 industries, everything from home based moneymaking opportunities to high-tech Internet start-ups.
*How much will it cost to start each business, how much money you can make and the special skills or legal requirements needed to operate each business.
*Hundreds of handy resources to get you to the next step toward self-employment success.
*Secrets to successfully starting and running a business from home on a full or part-time basis.
*Real business advice, plus thousands of useful business, marketing, sales and advertising tips that the pros use to start and run winning, money- making businesses.
*How to market your business, secure paying customers and build competitive advantages.
*Real business advice and real business opportunities that people from every walk of life are now effectively operating for a profit, and so can you.

Most important, one of the 1,350 business start-ups featured in the Ultimate Start-up Directory will be the right new business enterprise for you.