-•- TheHomeBizDigest Newsletter - Issue 220 -•-
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Marketing Tip
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Speed still matters. Although many Internet users have been moving 
to faster speed connections, there are still a good number who are
on the slower dial-up modem connections. If you have designed your 
site with an emphasis on flash, heavy graphics use, or other large
file types, you could be putting off a lot of people. Even though 
a site might load up fast for you, you're always going to have to 
take into consideration the time it will take for the average user 
to see your site. I'm sure you've heard the old saying that "You 
never have a second chance to make a first impression", and that 
is true on the web as well. Most users to your website will make a
snap judgment in the first ten seconds, and if your website is not
fully loaded in that time frame, you can guess what that impression
might be. I know that this may seem basic to some of you, but when 
I was forced to move from my speedy cable modem, to a slow dial-up 
connection, I was shocked at how slow many sites loaded. I got very
accustomed to pages loading up in no time, and that 10 second wait 
for some pages to load seemed like eternity. Although I'm typically
a cable modem user, my money doesn't go bad when I'm on a dial-up 
connection. I was still online looking for products, I was still on
the hunt for good bargains, and I was still just as valuable for a
website as any other customer. I know it can be tempting to design
a very flashy website, but if you go that route, you have to do so
sensibly. Graphics can often be optimized to save load time, Flash
files can be set to load in the background, and audio files should 
not be started unless they are a not going to slow the page. These 
are just the most basic bits of advice, but they could make a big 
difference in your bottom line. Remember, not everyone is speeding
along at the same speed you are, but their money is just as green
as yours.

 
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Featured Guest Article
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How Do You Know Your Clients Can't Pay More? 

by Marcia Yudkin

"My clients can't afford higher rates."

When more than 330 business owners and self-employed
professionals checked off reasons why their income was
not going through the roof, this statement was chosen
more often than any other.

If you're tempted to agree that what clients can
afford limits you, let me first ask:  are you certain
of that?  You can't make a leap from what people say
about this to whether or not they can find the money
if sufficiently convinced that it's important.  

Years ago, someone starting up a new business called
me for a consultation and told me he could pay no more
than such and such.  It turned out that the most
convenient place for our meeting was his house, which
I could not help noticing had the size and glitziness
of a small mansion, with a market value of at least
three-quarters of a million dollars.  What he named as
his paltry budget reflected what he felt advice on
this matter was worth, not what he had to spend.  By
pointing out how much getting his business onto a
sound footing was worth to him and how much in wasted
expenditures I could save him, I'd have been able to
reshape his thinking on what it was reasonable to
spend.

Another time a client launching a catchy new product
wanted to know what kind of publicity services I could
offer her for a couple of hundred dollars.  I didn't
hear from her again for quite a while, at which time
she told me she'd hired a traditional PR firm, paying
a retainer and fees of more than a thousand dollars a
month.  I'd gotten the impression that she didn't have
that kind of money to invest, and I was very wrong.

At the other end of the spectrum, more than once I've
been startled to learn that a client who paid
relatively high rates without complaint was having
trouble scraping money together for rent.

In truth, until you confidently raise your rates, it's
impossible to know who will go along and who will not.

This is particularly so when you do great work and
educate clients on the value they receive.

Remember too that when you raise your rates, you can
lose some clients and still make higher profits
overall from those you retain.

In addition, you can earn more from each customer
without raising your rates by selling them additional
products and services.  In this situation, they're
paying you more but don't feel they are.

Finally, if you're in one of those rare situations
where clients truly don't have money, consider whether
this is the audience you most enjoy serving or whether
you think you're only worthy of working with them.  In
the former case, it's still often possible to find
outside entities, such as corporate sponsors, to
support your work.

Sometimes what feels like an absolute limit to your
earnings only means you have not yet enjoyed a
freewheeling, creative brainstorming session!

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Marcia Yudkin  is the author of the
newly updated classic guide, 6 Steps to Free Publicity
(Career Press), and 10 other books.  As an author,
marketing consultant and coach, she has spent 22 years
successfully turning words into money.  By going to
http://www.marketingformore.com/survey.htm, you can
read the full results of her survey and download a
free report, "Charge More & Get It," that expands on
four other common self-sabotaging beliefs about money.

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Beware
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After your business becomes successful, be prepared for many 
requests for help - and money. If you believe in what somebody's 
doing and you want to help them by investing some start-up money, 
by all means, go ahead. But don't feel pressured to do so. You 
can't get too involved with everyone else's business and still 
do a good job running your own.

 
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