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  "Make More Money and Have More Fun"
with your small business!

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July 19, 2001


Next
A FREE electronic magazine...                       July 19, 2001
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B I G   B U C K S   I N   A   B A T H R O B E
Make More Money & Have More Fun With Your Small Business!
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Publisher:  Dave Balch, "The Stay-at-Home CEO"(tm)
    Comments, suggestions, or questions are always welcome!
(Scroll to end for subscribe / unsubscribe instructions)
=================================================================
I n   T h i s   I s s u e . . .
=================================================================
   - About "Big Bucks in a Bathrobe" Newsletter
   - Article "Exploit Your Very Own Goldmine"
   - Ask Dave - Can I Help You With a Business Problem?
   - Who the Heck am I, Anyway?
   - How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe
(PLEASE FORWARD THIS to each of your friends who have small or 
home-based businesses; they'll LOVE you for it!  Thanks!)
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A b o u t   "Big Bucks in a Bathrobe"   N e w s l e t t e r
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Welcome to my first issue! You are receiving this because either:
   -I know you personally and thought you'd like it
   -I asked you if I could send it and you said "Yes"
   -You requested it after seeing me at a speaking engagement
   -Someone forwarded it to you because they thought you'd
    like it.  Scroll to the bottom for subscription instructions.
If you don't want to receive future issues, simply forward this
message to unsubscribeez@DaveBalch.com and you'll be removed
from the list.  No harm, no foul, no hurt feelings!
My goal is a bi-weekly newsletter that will:
   -help you with your small or home-based business
   -share articles of interest
   -be informal and informative
   -answer specific questions asked by readers
(c)2001, A Few Good People, Inc.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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A r t i c l e   "Exploit Your Very Own Goldmine"
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By Dave Balch, the "Stay-at-Home CEO"(tm)
I was in a store last night and they had a mailing list sign-up 
sheet on the counter.  It said "Give us your address so we can 
let you know about specials, sales, and news about our store."  
Good idea!
Every business owner has a private gold mine just sitting there 
and very few seem to be taking advantage of it: their current 
customers.  We all know how expensive it is to get a new customer, 
but how many of us are getting all we can from the customers we 
already have?  This isn't rocket science; you are providing a 
valuable product or service and your current customers already 
know and trust you.  Be in a position to make special offers to 
them to get the biggest bang for your advertising buck.   To do 
this, you must know who they are and how to reach them.  To do 
that, create a database that is just for customers.  Anyone who 
has ever bought anything from you or inquired should be in it.  
START NOW, EVEN IF YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW YOU WILL USE IT; it takes 
time to accumulate the data and enter it.  Then, when you decide 
how to use it you'll be ready to rock 'n roll!
Collecting the data may be easy or it may not, depending on your 
situation.  The retail merchant I mentioned earlier only had 
walk-in traffic, so they had to ask for the information.  There's 
nothing wrong with that.  It's actually better, because their 
customers are ASKING to be sold to!  If your business is mail 
order, you already have shipping information; be sure you have 
their mailing address as well.   If you want, you can even keep 
track of what they buy, so you can send them specialized mailings.  
If you owned a pet store, for example, you could note whether 
they buy dog or cat products.  Then you could send specialized 
mailings for each type of pet.  
When you are collecting the data, however, be sure to get their 
e-mail address.  It costs nothing to ask for it, so ask for it!  
Here's why:  when you do decide how and when to contact your 
customers, you can send e-mail instead of an expensive mailer to 
everyone with an e-mail address.  You save money on labor, printing, 
envelopes, and postage.  Plus, it gets there in minutes instead of 
days.
What should you send to your list?  How about special offers to get 
people to come to your store during slow periods, or sales on 
slow-moving merchandise?  You can start a newsletter; it doesn't 
have to be fancy, just keep your name in front of them and give 
them something useful such as recipes or "newsy" things pertaining 
to your products or services.  Give them value.  They'll give you 
business.
Do not miss this incredible opportunity!  Start building your 
database now.  Trust me, you'll figure out how to use it and when
you do you can be very, very effective in very little time.
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A s k   D a v e
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   (Can I help you with a business problem?  I will field 
   business questions in every issue.  Send them to
   DaveEZ@DaveBalch.com)
   Ask whatever you'd like... all letters will remain anonymous.
   Maybe my 2-cents'-worth will make you "Big Bucks"!  
   (Maybe not!)
Today's question:
----------------
Dear Dave:
Working from home is a benefit in SO many ways, but I find 
myself pulled to do many non-business things during the day 
(answer phone calls, purge the dead food from the fridge, pull 
a weed or twenty on the way back from the mailbox).  Have you 
found a good way to reduce personal distractions during 
business hours?  The line between work and home becomes so 
blurry when work is AT home!  Thanks in advance,
                                 M.J., California
   Dear M.J.    
   Interruptions and distractions fall into two categories:
   those you can control and those you cannot.  Let's start
   with those you CAN control such as scheduled repairs and
   household chores.  Make them part of your daily plan but
   schedule them in the afternoon if you are a "Morning"
   person or in the morning if you are a "Night" person.  In
   other words, schedule your time so you can do your work
   when you are at your best and the other things when you
   are not. For those things you cannot control, see if there
   is a way to control them.  For example, phone calls seem
   uncontrollable but actually can be controlled with 
   "Caller ID".  This service, offered by most phone companies 
   in most areas, displays the name of the caller BEFORE YOU
   EVEN ANSWER THE PHONE!  Now the interruption is limited to
   looking at the Caller ID display before you answer.  If
   it can wait, let them leave a message and you can call
   and interrupt THEM when it is convenient for YOU!  This
   could be a problem, though, if THEY have Caller ID... 
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W h o   t h e   H e c k   a m   I,   A n y w a y ?
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I generated over $5 million from my own home-based software 
business and I have a lot to share with you about how I did it 
and what I learned along the way.  Now, as a professional
speaker, I offer programs that will help you and your employees 
"Make More Money and Have More Fun" with your small or 
home-based business!  
Visit me at http://www.DaveBalch.com for descriptions of 
the programs that I offer.
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H o w   to   S u b s c r i b e   o r   U n s u b s c r i b e
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Please note:
   - This newsletter is sent every other week.
   - Subscriber information is NEVER shared with 
     anyone for any reason.  PERIOD.
   - Contact me at DaveEZ@DaveBalch.com
   - HOW TO SUBSCRIBE  If this issue was forwarded to you 
     and you would like to receive your own copy,
     send any message to subscribeEZ@DaveBalch.com
   - HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE  If you would like to unsubscribe,
     forward the ENTIRE newsletter to unsubscribeEZ@DaveBalch.com
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