A couple of years ago I was a very busy "part-time" small home business owner. I put part-time in quotations because even with all of my efforts to stay part-time I still ended up putting an average of 7 hours per day into my business. I usually worked Saturdays as well, and would obsess over what needed to be done on Monday all day on Sunday, which was the one day that I forced myself to take off.Busy!Even without my business I was the busy mom of 2 very young children and sifting manually through my purchased leads over the phone every day was cutting into my life as a mother and homemaker in a really big way. So I Took a Hiatus to come up with, and set up a better way.At first I put a newsletter together and mailed it out to my warm market. Yes, snail mail. The stamps and envelopes alone broke my small business budget and I got only a small return of customers who left me after a few months due to lack of follow-up. I didn't want to make an uncomfortable phone call each month to thank my customers for sticking with me. I knew that they would feel weird, and so would I. And since I didn't have the funds to continue to send out my newsletter and send a personal follow-up note I didn't do it at all. This was a big mistake. Follow-up: Where the Fortune is.I knew there had to be another way. An automatic method of follow-up that would allow me to put myself into it one time, and then automatically put me in front of my list of prospective customers and business partners again and again in a tasteful way without any extra time and effort on my part. I needed that time to spend generating new leads, and taking care of my young family. I found what I was looking for.As I searched for answers on the internet (a tool that I was very unfamiliar with back then - except to check my email) I came across an e-book that recommended doing exactly what I was thinking of, and gave me resources to learn how to do it. The e-book explained to me that this kind of automation is a tool that all truly successful business owners use - big or small. It not only allows you to build a personal relationship with each business contact you make, but brings return customers as well. This is exactly what I wanted. I liked that the tool was affordable and it was easy for me to figure out with their video tutorials. Like I said before, I wasn't a computer, or internet wiz and I still found it pretty easy. My favorite tool.It quickly became my favorite tool. Especially considering that I had just dumped over $100 into mailing out 50 newsletters one time. This service offered me unlimited everything (campaigns, emails, broadcasts, etc.) for $19.00 per month. The service also tracks my progress for me. When someone clicks on a link I can get a report about it. When someone doesn't like my content and they complain (which is rare), I get advice on how to fix the problem. There is a spam tracker that helps me be sure that I don't write offensive sales pitch that will land my emails in the junk folder. The next hurdle was filling my emails with valuable content.I just had to go out and find out what kind of content was best for email. Fairly easy to do just by searching online. You don't have to search around. That kind of help is right here on this site. In short, automating my business using the internet has freed up my time to such an extent that now, instead of continually spending my time chasing the next fresh lead only to lose it in a month or two, I have a system where people can easily find me, make an un-begged for choice to be my customer, and then get a periodic (and affordable) "Thanks for being loyal" follow-up from me. I adore my small home business and how it enriches my life, gives me financial breathing room, and (now that it's automated) is there for me when I need to be there for my life. Enjoy automating your own home business.
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