I would love to have a home-based business but I need help! I am hoping someone will point me in the right direction.

Here's the lowdown:
I am a graphic designer and web designer with over 10 years experience. I have had my own freelance business from home, which I loved. But now, I find it very hard to make ends meet. People are not spending like they used too and my business has been suffering. Also, I have had a lot of trouble with clients not paying for services that I have provided. So, I have been trying to get a full-time job (back in the corporate world) but the market here is brutal.

After hanging around here for a while, I would really like to start my own home-based business selling cool and unique products. I started to make bath and body products and have had a lot of fun with it. The products are pretty generic, but I hope to corner the market with the design of the pacaging and labels. (use what I know, huh?)

The thing is, I don't think I can make that much from this. I can't really find any markets to sell other than farmer and craft fairs. And if I do sell, it would just be a very slight profit margin.

I really like the home-based business idea and would love to succeed at this. If not bath and body products, maybe something else.... I guess my question is How can I put my creative design talents to use? --without going back to my graphic and web design business. (I am sick of people not paying me!!)

Thanks for any help anyone might have.

If the only reason you're not going back into design is because of people not paying you, you should be looking at your pricing practice, not leaving the biz.

Who are these people that have not paid you? What was the agreement? Did you get downpayments? Why haven't you taken them to court, or sent it to collections?

I would like to help you, just need some more details.

Scott Stratten
http://www.WorkYourLife.com
Enjoy Life, Now.

Creator of "Un-Marketing: How to sell your product/service without spending a dime"

E-mail me at Smcin79534@aol.com

Scott,
Thanks so much for your reply. I guess I should explain more.

I did get down payments, and yet I can not get these invoices paid by some of my clients. I thought about the whole collections/court thing... but I guess it's just more trouble than it's worth to me. It just really bothers me that some people refuse to pay for a service that I provided. I mean, don't they have a conscience?? Karma?? Anything? Maybe this just comes with the business, I don't know. I'm just sick of playing the heavy and would just love to back to being a designer again.

Your book sounds interesting to me. I am not a business person (as you can probably see) and I never really knew how to market myself. I have read other books but for a quiet, artist type like myself, some of these tactics seem very intimidating to me. But I am always open to new ideas and would be interested to know more.

Thanks again for your time!

(hurries off to finish writing his book, since two people have asked abou it) :-)

Almost done...

Beth,

I think if this were any closer, it would be nibbling on your nose. You have 10 years of experience in graphic and web design, and you like to make bath/body products...

Why not create a fantastic and extremely appealing website to market the products you enjoy making? Stop spending time peddling soap on a farm when you can obviously design an attractive website, market it, and get your products out to a much larger market than Farmer Enis, his four hogs, and a few people looking for cheap antiques?

Package your products with themed designs, even. The "Romance" package with red-colored or rose-smelling items and accordingly romantic-like designs on the labels. The "Free Your Spirit" package with very zen-looking designs for your green tea bath soap, salts, etc. These would be great for guys searching for a birthday or anniversary gift for their sweethearts - and for gals looking to drop a not-so-subtle hint (and no, the hint isn't "Please bathe"...)

Selling packages such as those should help increase the profit margin (especially with people purchasing as gifts) as you're adding considerably more value.

The idea here isn't to sell "A bar of soap you can scrub your armpits with", it's to sell a "Romantic Experience", or a "Zen Infusion". If you believe you have the skills to make some creative masterpieces, then go for it!

Good luck,

David Badurina
http://www.davidbase.com
Custom Database Design and Expert On Demand

Thanks David for your reply!

Everything you say makes total sense to me. And I have thought of that... but I think my brick wall is "How do I get people to come to my website?"... more marketing, huh?

Also, my funds are a little low now. Too low to afford an ecommerce site. Yes, I can do the design, but I don't know how to make a shopping cart system. And the ones I have looked into are thousands of dollars. That's just not practical for me now.

But I really like your message... targeting different markets.
I will do that! Thanks again!!

Beth,

It's a lot easier than you would think and doesn't need to cost you anywhere near thousands of dollars.

For e-commerce, start small, with Paypal, because it's basically free (they may take a very small percentage of incoming payments, but it's nothing compared to full ecommerce hosting).

Their shopping cart is simple to use, it's free to sign up, if I can do it, you can.

As for marketing? Consider distributing an online newsletter. I sound like a broken record suggesting that to people on these boards but you have to understand that it's a fantastic way to get your name out.

Your newsletter could cover beauty topics, tips on aromatherapy and skin care, ideas for romantic gifts, really anything. Make it free, distribute it once a month, promote it like all heck on newsgroups, bulletin boards and the like, and you'll have lots of people giving you their email - once you have that, use it responsibly to market your products. With the newsletter send some special offers. This helps get your name out.

There's tons of ways to market a site, that's just one, but it's a lot of fun if you don't mind writing the content, and it's great waking up in the morning and seeing that 50 people signed up for your newsletter while you were sleeping.

You can't be worried abour marketing yourself because if you don't, you don't have a business, you just have an idea that nobody knows about. Consider finding some trade shows, or getting involved with local networking groups where you are. Maybe a good idea would be to network with some business owners in your area and offer bulk discounted products for associates, secretaries, salespeople in their office, etc.

Don't worry, this can all be done very inexpensively, and effectively. I'd suggest signing up for Scott Stratten's newsletter at workyourlife.com if you haven't already - he has a great teleseminar coming up in September that can expand on a lot of this - I signed up for the last one and it was fantastic!

Best of luck!

David Badurina
http://www.davidbase.com
Custom Database Design and Expert On Demand

Beth,

I see you've been getting some good ideas and advice. I second Donna's suggestion that you view the Secrets to Their Success private web site. Since it shows examples of so many different individual entrepreneurs and how they've tweaked their ideas to profit from them, it will you thinking about new strategies.

Through Idea Cafe's referral, you qualify for a 90-day trial membership. Check it out at:
http://www.businessownersideacafe.com/cgi-bin/jump.cgi?CRudl_0806
(But don't be turned off -- the visuals there won't impress you and the sales pitch is much more relentless than necessary. Just get into the private site and read.)

About your packaging idea... you may be right about the low profit margin... like can you charge enough to pay for the superior packaging without charging more than people will pay? Keep in mind that in order to get paid more for the upscale/specialty packaging, you probably have to develop a brand, especially if you plan to sell online where people won't be able to see/feel the subtleties of the packaging.I think David's concept of the "Romantic Experience" approach could be successful. (You've probably created brands for clients, so if you're ready to build a brand for yourself, you know how to proceed.)

Best of Biz!

CyberHost at Idea Cafe
"A FUN Approach to Serious Business"(sm)
Serving Small Business Owners online since 1995
Business Owners Idea Cafe
http://www.businessownersideacafe.com

Hi Beth,

There were a couple of things in your post that absolutely took my attention. First that you are professional, capable and creative. Those traits absolutely jump out of your post.

I am a NetWork Marketer and I coach others in NetWork Marketing, relax this is not a pitch :-) I do see some things that resonate though and I am suggesting two books that I often recommend, because I think these issues are the keys to success regardless of the game, or biz.

Both books are available through Amazon, and both are available as free PDF downloads from my site.

MachII With your Hair on Fire - by Richard B. Brooke - this is one of the best books on vision I've ever read. You have a vision Beth, we all do, the question is how to make your vision serve what you want.

Spiritual Marketing by Joe Vitale - Success starts with the inner game.

To pick up the free PDF just go to
http://greatestnetworker.com/is/maran

scroll down click on the peanut butter jar on the left side of the page

then click on either title

A cyber-librarian will pop out and ask you to sign the book out, just your name and email address

Best to you on your journey
Maran from Ft. Lauderdale

Thanks Maran for your response!
Those books look worth the read, so I will be checking them out. Thanks so much for your input.
-Beth

I use PayPal for my shopping cart. It's a bit tedious at first but once you get the hang of it, it's a breeze. The problem is that the shopper has to be signed up with PayPal to pay you. But I've not had a problem with it so far.

Good luck to you!
Isabow
www.isabow.com

IF you are still looking for ideas then please go to http://bizbb.com/RWGroup/ this is my business bulletin board and you will find some different ideas there. If you need any help please email me. Good luck with your business ventures.

This book by Shannon Kinnard is very good. Published by Maximum Press, Gulf Breeze, Florida.

Good luck.

Liz
http://www.its-gold.com

Another good book. by Peter Urs Bender and George Torok.

www.peterursbender.com

Liz

Hi

There's a great book I recently bought
that helps creative people
to market themselves.

It's got lots of great ideas.

"Self-Promotion for the Creative Person"
by Lee Silber

You can find it at Amazon.com

Also, regarding your soap biz idea
I subscribe to Secrets to Their Success
http://www.mycreativecash.com/Success_Traits_Web_Sites.html

and they profiled a lady that started making
soaps from her kitchen - who now has corporate
accounts with company's like Johnson and Johnson.

So don't restrict yourself to narrow thinking
about this. Apparently, there's lots you can
do by putting a twist on an idea.

Another great book for bringing out your
creative ideas can be found here:
http://www.creativepops.com

You can download a free chapter and see what
you think.

Donna

http://www.mycreativecash.com

Donna,
You are absolutely right about not restricting your thinking. I keep my mind open and it usually starts flowing with ideas before I know it. (I've got several pages of ideas for my website that I have to get to implementing.)
One of the best ways my generates ideas is by my posing a question. Like, "How can I generate more targeted traffic and improve my website at the same time?" and then letting it germinate in the cranium for a while. I was right in the middle of editing a sentence for a manuscript
when an idea hit me. The pen went flying from my fingers, the said digits attached themselves to my computer keyboard, and the result was this.LOL (http://www.uniquecritique.net/BookDrive.html)
Also, others are starting to implement some of my ideas. (My colleagues are starting to use my label concept.LOL I use a standard mailing label, put my logo, a few kew words of text-only a few, because less is more in this instance-and my web address. I then slap it diagonally on the bottom of EVERY piece of mail that I send out. It looks great, is not obtrusive, and the message is digested before they even open the envelope. I think of it as a free mini-billboard. One of my colleagues thought that it was "cute" until I pointed out to her how many hands that envelope goes through before reaching its destination. She did the math and made up her own set of labels.*grin* I work for an agency and have to send things to them weekly. I slap 'em on that. Pretty soon, mailings from THEM included their own labels like mine.LOL
It's a unique attention-getter and I encourage everyone to use them for their business.)
I don't just think outside the box. I recycle it, too.
Have a good day.

Lynette
http://www.uniquecritique.net
"If it needs to be written, you need us to write it"
http://www.uniquecritique.net/WritingServices.html
Sign up for our book drive. You could win a bestseller of your choice!
http://www.uniquecritique.net/BookDrive.html

something that is working for me.....I exhibit at wholesale trade shows, all new customers must pay their 1st order with c/c or COD then 30 days for subsequent orders. About a year ago, I came close....very close to folding my business because of cash flow, thousands of dollars in receivables, much of it over 120 days.At the last two trade shows, those who were slow in paying, I requested their c/c and told them I would give them 30 days, and if the account was not paid in 30 days, their c/c would automatically be debited. This is the first fall I have not had cash flow problems!
And, I had to process very few c/c's!

Just want to add a thought that came to me as I was reading several of the replies here.

If you want to market soaps and add unique packaging since you have the skillset to do that, and use the internet, why not market soap baskets or something like them to people doing searches on the net for bridal showers, weddings, baby showers, engagement parties, etc. You could even market them to wedding planners and that area.

A just had this picture in my head of a wedding with a take-away gift that is actually useful. Borrowing from David's idea of making it romantic, most people attending a wedding or bridal shower are excited about a romantic thought...

Not done brainstorming the idea, but it's a start.

Mark
http://www.homefinancesadvisor.com

Hi Beth keeping it as simple as I can, check out the link and let me know what you think. I'm principly looking for partners who want to learn how to support and balance the human immune system. http://www.theanswerto.com/ede

Regards Spence

1) Half of my business clients come to me because they're stuck somehow. They've run successful businesses, and whether it be market conditions or whatever, they're at a standstill. So far, I've been able to help them restructure and reevaluate and take their businesses to the next step... and increase their income. So my first answer would be to do this. I can tell you that my web clients are making money, saving money and gaining new clients, too.

2) If you aren't passionate about your current business, I'd do #1 anyway... and use the business to help you float to your next business.

Depending on where you live, you can take some courses on making products... or you can sell the products of others on your site. There are many options.

If you're not passionate about crafts, then find out what you are passionate about... you can use this article to assist you. www.coachmaria.com/ebooks/career3.html It's called Finding Your Ideal Career (or Business) as you create a Life Resume and is downloadable file you do like a worksheet. It has 10 parts and it really does help people come up with 4-8 skills they're passionate about. YOu can add some of those skills as marketing skills to use in your business or you can use some of those skills to create your next business.

Best of success,

Maria Marsala
www.Coachmaria.com