On Friday night/Saturday morning I was standing in line at a certain mega-book retailer, waiting with my fifteen year old son to purchase a certain book. We arrived at 11:40 pm and were handed a wristband and directed to go to "Line 5".
"Wow, Line 5," I said to Eric. "That's pretty good! We should be out of here in no time!" Well, it turns out that Line 5 followed lines A through Z, so we had some quality waiting time. My son was elated to learn that Line 5 snaked down the middle of a row of science fiction paperbacks, so he was happy to spend the time reading. Shortly after the New Year's Eve type countdown at midnight, I struck up a conversation with the man who was standing in line next to me. He spotted me checking email on my cell phone – his "geek radar" must have been finely attuned. We began a discussion about web design and quickly learned that both of us work from home creating web sites. Over the course of the next two hours, we discussed everything from web hosts to SEO to affiliate accounts.
What we didn't do was exchange business cards – because neither of us had one.
An opportunity lost? Perhaps. A lesson learned – definitely! If I am going to be serious about working from home and building my brand, I need to be prepared at a moment's notice to promote the work I am doing. I need business cards, a working bio and resume, and letterhead. But more than these, I need the guts to seize opportunities to spread the word about my work.
Home-work for today:
- If you don't already have them, order business cards for your home business. Try VistaPrint for quick, affordable online service.
The Bookshelf:
Working at Home: Making It Work for You
Reading Room Resources:
Blog posts from this week related to Working from Home.
Connected Mode: 10 Ways to Stay Productive with Online Work
The Fastest Scheduler Around
Living with a Man with Two Brains
Maximize Your Home Office Space
Should I Work from Home?
