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It is often difficult to appear professional if you are working out of home, among noisy children, barking dogs, hungry spouses waiting for dinner. And certainly many potential clients express open disdain if they call your home and hear screaming children in background while you try to converse professionally.

It's unfortunate, but many ill informed clients assume that home based business owners are not as serious about their business or that their work is not as good as a large company. If home based business owner wants to survive in this highly competitive world he must demand respect and project image of a professional business person who is capable of handling any job, large or small.

Let's tackle a few ways you can appear professional, even if your office is a small space in corner of your bedroom. I am assuming you have a complete computer set-up already. This would include your computer, printer, scanner, fax.

Purchase an answering machine and use it on a separate telephone line employed only for business calls. This will establish a professional image, especially if a client calls and you are unavailable. Plus, your telephone line will not be tied up with personal calls for family.

Or if you prefer, you could opt for voice mail. You can easily purchase this through your local telephone company. For a modest fee per month, through your existing telephone number, you can set up several mailboxes to take messages when you are unavailable.

When it comes to collecting art most people feel inadequate or intimidated. We have been led to believe that you require specialized knowledge to be an art collector. The critics and most experts don’t offer any help either. Some are more interested in selling their particular showings rather than educating you how to become an art lover and a long term collector.

Collecting art can be very profitable and enjoyable. It is one of few areas where you can have your proverbial cake and eat it too. Anyone can become a successful art collector. All it takes is to learn a few ground rules, most of which are common sense. Since you have read this far you have demonstrated that you possess common sense, now all you need to learn is a few basic rules.

However, before I get into basics one point needs to be clarified. I am not writing about collecting works of masters such as Dali, Monet, Van Gogh etc. For this type of collecting you do indeed need specialized knowledge that comes from years of study. Most of these works have proven their investment quality and serve as motivation for us to find next great masters. And there will be new masters! The only question is which ones.

That’s where fun in art collecting is! You just may be one of few who started buying early works of an artist who suddenly becomes famous. It is possible! Imagine for a moment having purchased some early works of an unknown artist named Picasso. Early in his career his works were affordable and easily available to anyone. Now, look where prices for originals have gone to – some sell for millions. And since we have already established that you will be buying art anyway, why not buy art as an investment? Who knows, in 5, 10 or 20 years artist may be next Dali.

Collecting art for investment purposes is much like treasure hunting. You have to dig through a lot of dirt to get a few gems, but they do exist. Collecting art is very affordable. Remember we only want to buy works of yet undiscovered. There is a lot to choose from so be discriminate.

In order for you to build a collection, a valuable collection, lets go over a few basic rules. I call them basic because it is enough to get you started with confidence. Once you begin you will be able add to your knowledge from your own experiences. The great part about treasure hunting is that there is always something new to discover. So never stop learning!

Now to basics…

Collecting Art for Profit and Pleasure