Is your family, including a significant other, supportive of your decision? Do they believe in you and your ability as strongly as you do? Things will be a lot easier for you that way. You will need a good support system, and that is best provided by your family if possible. Have you worked out care arrangements for any young children in your home? Will you be able to spend quality time with them that they need? You don't want your business to take over your life, and even Internet based ventures can do that.

Don't forget a social outlet. If you worked at a regular job, chances are you were able to socialize at least a little with coworkers. If you are working at home, you may spend hour upon hour cooped up in your home office. Of course, there's email, visiting forums, perhaps some phone calls, that will help with some of this, but make sure you'll still be able to get amount of social contact that's right for you.

Take a look at your work conditions at home. Do you have a comfortable, quiet place to work? While you built your business part time, kitchen table may have been fine. But now you'll be spending longer hours sitting at computer, so you may need to upgrade desk, chairs, and office equipment. Be sure to budget for that.

Finally, don't neglect both your physical and mental health. If you work at home at a desk all day, you will likely not get as much exercise as even walking into your old office provided. Watch your eating habits and exercise regularly. Be sure to take time away for yourself, your family, and your community.

John Calder is the owner/editor of The Ezine Dot Net. Subscribe Today and get real information YOU can use to help build your online business today! http://www.TheEzine.Net

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MARKETING TIPS:

1. Select Free Vista offer & don’t worry about their imprint on back. Tell your customers, prospects, friends and everyone else that they can also get free business cards at this place, save expenses and pass along savings to their clients like we do. (Clients do like to know that you watch your budget!)

You can play around with different promotions and order a couple different types of these Vista cards, too. For example, here are two kinds used with OhioHelp.net:

- One color coordinates with website and simply states services; Marketing, Public Relations, Freelance Writing Services. Along one edge of business card, recipients are invited to a section on website with Freebies. You can do this, too, by setting up a page that offers visitors a free report or newsletter…something from which your clients might reap benefits.

- The other card is actually a fill-in-the-blank mini-marketing plan. It’s colorful and great for wallets, desks, etc. to remind business people to regularly refer to their plans. You could create your own special card, too. Add copywriting or marketing tips, maybe some spelling/grammar tips for email, for instance. Or add special tips that focus on industries you work with.

2. With at least one style of your business cards, use “Keep it simple” theme. Period. Don’t use fancy sayings or mottos that could be outdated by time you distribute cards. And no he-man gimmicks or slang so you have an equal chance with nonprofits, woman owners, male marketers, etc.

3. Play around with re-directing people to your site via different URLS or domain names, inexpensive now through places like GoDaddy.com. And set up special pages (cyber-doorways) for them. For example, note these pages all go to one main site & can be tracked, reporting site statistics for later use with future marketing / budgeting plans:

http://movingaheadcommunications.com http://ohiohelp.net

http://cyber-help.com

Have fun & enjoy! Be creative and experiment to see what works best for you.