Released on = May 5, 2006, 11:37 pm

Press Release Author = eCommerceSoftware Station

Industry = Small Business

Press Release Summary = There\'s almost no-one nowadays who doesn\'t have a computer
-- it\'s more-or-less a given that you\'ve got a computer in your home office, and
that you use it almost every day. But are you getting as much out of it as you could
be for your home based business.

Press Release Body =
Keep Track of Customers in a Database.

Once you start to get some customers, you\'ll need to keep track of their contact
details, as well as making sure you know who they are in case you forget. You have a
choice: you can keep a file for each customer in your filing cabinet, or you could
enter their details into a computerized database.

The good news is that if you have some office software, then you should already have
a database package. Starting a database of your customers isn\'t too difficult to
figure out, and lets you do all sorts of things -- you can sort them by the area
where they live, or list everyone who\'s bought one of your products but not another,
for example.


Design Your Own Marketing Materials.

Modern desktop publishing software makes it dead easy to design your own logo,
leaflets, brochures, and anything else you might want. With a little practise, you
can produce things as good as any graphic designer a home business could afford, and
save the money for distribution. Make sure you run your design by a few people
first, though, to check that it\'s readable and there aren\'t any mistakes or flaws
that you\'ve been staring at it for too long to see.

Follow Market Trends.

With Internet access, you can read articles from the specialist press of the whole
world, and keep up to date with all the latest technologies and trends in your
industry. It\'s worth picking out the top five or so most important sites to your
business and spending a few minutes each day checking them. After all, you don\'t
want to get left behind.

Accept Credit Cards.

Many people don\'t realize, but Internet merchant accounts aren\'t just for accepting
card payments over the web. You can also open one to use as part of your home
business over the phone or by post, with you simply entering the card numbers and
amounts into a website to process the payments. This is a powerful way of giving
your customers more alternatives when it comes to paying you.

Promote Your Business.

Don\'t underestimate the effectiveness of the web as a tool for promotion. You should
definitely take the time to list your business on every directory listing people in
your industry -- make sure that someone searching for your profession and the town
where you live would be able to find you listed easily.

Keep Backups!

There\'s one thing, though, that it\'s important to always remember: when you use your
computer to store any data that you can\'t afford to lose, make regular backups and
keep them in a safe place. It\'s really not that much trouble, and if you don\'t do i
then a simple computer failure can devastate your business.


Web Site = http://www.ecommercesoftware-station.com

Contact Details = Paul Sam||1220 North Market Street||Wilmington ,
19801||$$country||||65654567||support@ecommercesoftware-station.com||http://www.ecommercesoftware-station.com