Category Archives: Micro-Business

Do-It-Yourself Wireless Range Extender

Sooner or later you will find yourself needing a way to get a reliable wireless connection between one part of your house and another such as between your workshop/studio and your living quarters.

After you try the commercial solutions to the problem, I suggest you construct this Do-It-Yourself wireless range extender. Total cost was $8.00 and it allows me to access the Internet through a wireless router that is 200 feet away. Continue reading

Posted in Challenges to overcome, Handy things to know, Micro-Business | Tagged | Leave a comment

How to get by with a little help from your friends

When I think about the vital necessity of networking, I do not view it from an academic viewpoint. Finding new friends and linking up with them for our mutual benefit is how I have supported myself since I left the mothership (Sun Microsystems) in 2001.

When I occasionally do career counseling and use the dreaded word "networking", it is not unusual to see the beginning of an eye roll or a curl of the lip as "networking" has been downgraded for many people to an exchanging of business cards at job fairs or business mixers.

The truth of the matter is that an independent business person selling directly to customers is always networking whether he delivers music lessons, custom framing, or handling bankruptcies. It is an attitude one creates that makes customers want to refer others to you for services.

It is an attitude that you carry with you of wanting to help others. If you truly want to help others, it shows in your conduct and it prepares you to discuss what you do at the drop of a hat.

When you meet someone, one of the first questions that gets asked on both sides is, "What do you do?"

Continue reading

Posted in Basic Business Concepts, Dealing with hard times, Expanding Your Opportunities, Micro-Business | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

YOUR VOIP PHONES CAN BE LISTED IN THE CITIZENS TELEPHONE DIRECTORY

This is a great deal for a growing number of Internet Phone users. If you have switched from a traditional landline telephone to one of the new Internet telephones (VOIP), you can still have your telephone number listed in the … Continue reading

Posted in Dealing with hard times, Expanding Your Opportunities, Micro-Business, Trends to watch | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Why does your customer do business with you?

If you could adopt your customer's viewpoint of your business, would you be able to understand why that customer does business with you? If you learned the truth behind your success or lack of it, could you use that information … Continue reading

Posted in Basic Business Concepts, Dealing with hard times, Micro-Business | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment