Many people start businesses because they want to do a particular type of work as a career, or they want to be the boss. If you think self-employment means getting to do whatever it is you love to do forever, you’re somewhat mistaken: Self-employment is as much about selling yourself, your product, or your service, as anything else. And working for yourself, whether you are a freelancing copywriter or the owner of a small eBay business, brings up different challenges than those faced by people employed by others.

As the owner of your own business, you need to think about many things. You need to consider the overhead costs, such as rent, utilities, and salaries. You also need to consider your workspace, your office supplies, how many hours you’re spending working, all the bookkeeping, and whether you’re charging enough to make a profit.

In a big organization, different departments are responsible for different facets of the organization. When you’re a self-employed small-business owner, it’s all on you to make sure you’ve covered all your bases –- and one of those bases is marketing and sales.

So as your own marketer and salesperson, how do you ensure that you have enough work coming in to keep the bills paid?

The answer is to stop wasting time, and get organized:

  • Make a marketing plan to help you define how you’re going to get new and repeat business, and revisit it regularly.
  • Write daily and weekly goals in your dayplanner or on your wall calendar so that your plan is always in front of your face.
  • Track progress as you go.

Stop dreaming and start doing!

Conclusion If the idea of selling and marketing your business scares you, read some books on the subject. We have books to help you from Holly Berkley and Dan Furman in our online stores — just go to our Web store and have a look around.

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