Discover How You Can Step into Your Divine Success!(aff.)
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Contributing Author: Emily Cardin
They always say that you should dress for the job that you want, not the job that you have. I’m not sure if this axiom applies to the freelance mom working from home.
My typical outfit usually consists of sweatpants, a t-shirt covered in my toddler’s drool, and a pair of slippers that look like the heads of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
As a small business owner, however, this is the last image that I want my clients to have of me; rather, I want to leave my customers with an impression of unwavering professionalism and high accountability.
So how do I act like a pro when I’m working from my basement and my kids are playing with Fisher Price in the next room?
Here are 3 sure-fire strategies to give your small business that big business feel.
1.) Create a designated work area
Believing in your business is the first step to succeeding in your business, and nothing can sap your enthusiasm more than having a three year old crawling on your lap while you are making a conference call.
While it may seem contrary to the whole reason you started working from home in the first place, establishing a clear time and place for your work is critical to creating an air of professionalism with your business.
That means you have a space that is entirely yours, free of kids, noise, and distractions.
What this doesn’t mean is that you have to pretend like your life at home doesn’t exist; instead, give yourself clearly outlined breaks where you can check in on the kids, and take care of those odds and ends around the house.
Even though you’re working from home, you need to remember that you are still at work.
If you don’t take your small business seriously, then who will?
2.) Offer to meet clients on their turf.
One way to keep your clients in the dark about your TMNT slippers is to offer to meet at their place of business.
In this way, you have complete control over the image that you present: your customers will form their opinions based on the self that you decide to share with them, and not based on the décor of your home or the cleanliness of your kitchen.
What’s more, by offering to travel to their business you will further be solidifying the characteristics of courtesy and accountability that you’re striving to exemplify in the first place.
3.) Use affordable call forwarding services.
By using an answering service, you give your customers the impression that you are working from that downtown, high-rise office building that they are envisioning.
These companies specialize in customer service, and tailor their responses to the needs of your small business.
They can take messages, make appointments, and deal with customers, all while representing your brand twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.
Even better though, these services help to create a clear line between your business and personal lives.
No longer will you receive a call on your personal cell phone at 4:00 a.m. about a customer’s “emergency” that “couldn’t wait.”
You can now head out to the kids’ events or take a night off without worrying that you will be missing an important call from a client.
When you start using these strategies, you are on your way to establishing yourself as a powerful, in control, work at home mom.
And who knows, maybe you can even keep the goofy slippers.
About the Contributing Author:
You can learn more about Specialty Answering Service (SAS) via Google + or you can follow them on Twitter: @SpecialtyAnswer