Invest as much as possible in your web site as well. Try to choose a web host with great features and service rather than basing your selection entirely on price. Better performance from your web site will translate to increased profits as you create a virtual corporation that looks like big business. If possible, purchase the services of a professional web designer and copy writer, at least to get you started. You can learn what works and what doesn't in web design and copy as you go, and it will be better for your business if you start out with a superb site and simply learn to maintain that level of excellence.
Also, spare no expense in your personal comfort level. You're going to spend a lot of time sitting at your desk, so make sure your chair is both functional and comfortable. If you find you can concentrate better when you are able to change your environment once in a while, consider investing in a laptop with wireless internet access so you can move your "office" to another room, or even outdoors, when you feel stuck or unproductive. Maintaining personal enjoyment is an important aspect of any successful business-especially when you are the only one you have to please.
Make Money
Virtual corporations offer unique opportunities for the savvy internet user. The more time you spend online, the more you will be able to spread your company across cyberspace and create a presence that is hard to miss. Because web pages are often left active even after the owner stops updating them, any place you can post information and a link to your company will remain in existence for years. Eventually you can build a network of hundreds or thousands of links to your site flung all over the internet, all without spending a bit of advertising money.
Web sites with substantial internet presence get noticed by search engines. This translates to page one rankings, which brings more visitors to your web site and generates even more links and network connections. Which makes you more money-especially after you have learned to optimize your web site and translate visitors to sales at a higher percentage than what you started out with. Establishing a strong web presence often takes time and effort, but in the long run your profits will increase exponentially.
Info Dump: Tips, Tricks and Tidbits for the Virtual Corporation
Virtual corporations are complicated entities. Outside the illusion, there are several aspects of a business that must be addressed in order to keep things running smoothly. The following section covers the remaining issues you should be informed of while running your online business.
Time Management: How to Get Things Done When You're Not
Living by the Clock
Once you start working for yourself, no one will tell you when to punch in and punch out. This means you're responsible for making sure the work gets done yourself, and it's far easier to be distracted in a home office setting. There are dishes and laundry waiting to be done, errands that need running, carpets that should be vacuumed; they're all waiting just outside your office door, and no one will tell you that you can't do them. Unless you really enjoy scrambling at the last minute to get everything done on time, you must develop your time management skills. Here are some prime tips for staying on target in the home office atmosphere:
* Stick to your guns...er, schedule. It's important for the virtual corporation owner to make a schedule, and actually stick to it. You should determine approximately how much time you'll need to put into your business each week and plan a schedule with enough hours to accomplish everything, whether you work straight from 9 to 5, or go from 10-ish to 3-ish, then get back to work around 7 or 8.
* Delete your way to concentration. Your computer comes pre-packaged with a little nest of distractions called Games (as long as you're using a Windows platform). Solitaire, Hearts, Minesweeper and more all await you, begging to be clicked on. There is an easy way to resist these tempting little time-wasters: delete them. Yes, really. Go into your Control Panel, select Add or Remove Programs, and delete away. No, Microsoft will not hunt you down and take away their software for removing their precious programs. If they aren't on your hard drive at all, you won't be tempted to play them. And while you're at it, go into your Favorites folder and delete all those links to online game sites. Your productivity level will thank you for it.
* Rules and regulations. Your rules are your schedule. As a business owner working from home, you need to lay down the law for other household members. You cannot manage your time if it isn't your time to begin with. Make sure everyone in the house knows your schedule and abides by it. If you take business calls and there are certain times you don't screen them with voicemail, let everyone know it's quiet time when the phone rings. You can even develop a signal to let them know if it's just Aunt Ruth, so they can chatter away. Also, make it a rule that no one is to enter your office (or your work corner) without your knowledge and permission.
* Get wired. Other than automating your e-mail and telephone systems, there are several other areas that can be handled over the internet. If you sell products, you will probably be dealing with Federal Express or UPS on a regular basis. Either of these delivery companies will allow you to set up an account, schedule regular pickups and deliveries from your home office, and even deliver shipping supplies right to your door. You don't even have to waste time on the phone to schedule a pickup-you can do everything online. Also, if you send a lot of snail mail you can buy postage online rather than making trips to the post office. Consider investing in a postal scale so you can determine proper postage.
* Discover your inner octopus. Seek out ways to accomplish more than one task at once. Invest in a telephone headset so your can type and talk on the phone simultaneously. If you must run an errand, use the time waiting in line to plan or make notes. Perform groups of similar tasks at the same time so you don't have to continually switch activities and mindsets. Multitasking boosts your confidence in yourself and helps save time you could be spending on other things.
* Try Plan B. Life has a tendency to interrupt our best-laid plans and good intentions. Be sure you have a backup plan in case one of the kids gets sick or the dog throws up all over the carpet. You have more flexibility in a home office environment, so you can plan to work on the weekend if you must take time off during the week. The virtual business owner is ready for anything!
* It ain't over 'til... you close the door and walk away. When you're through working, be through. You must separate your work life from your home life, and that means closing the door of your home office (or separating your work area with screens or curtains) so you don't look at the pile of work that needs to be done and become preoccupied with doing it. The reverse is also true: when you're in your office, try to be physically separated from the rest of the house so you don't end up staring at that pile of dishes that needs to be done and become preoccupied with doing them.
