1. Brainstorming Your Business Name and Tagline
   Brainstorm Your Business Name and Tagline
   Your business name and its tagline can create excitement and buzz for your home business and will be an important part of your later marketing efforts.
2. Establishing an Address and Phone Numbers for Your Home Business
   Completing this step early means that your home address and phone number won’t become public record when you do register your business.
3. Checking into an Employer ID Number with the IRS
   Even if you’re not required to have an EIN, getting one is often a good idea. For one thing, it makes it easier to open a bank account in your business name and it will help keep your social security number private.
4. Opening a Business Bank Account
   Part of having a business identity is to keep your business finances separate from your personal finances. There’s just no better way to do that than to open a business checking account.
5. Creating Your Business Logo
   A good logo goes a long way in establishing your business identity. Your logo should reflect what your business does. It should be unique, eye-catching and easy to identify.
6. Ordering Your Business Cards
   Since a business card is often your first impression on a prospect, you don’t want to jeopardize getting new business because you didn’t bother to have your business cards professionally printed.
7. Creating and Ordering Your Business Stationery
   You can buy stationery or create it yourself. Again, you can use tools like Microsoft Publisher for this purpose, and plenty of design templates are provided to make creating custom stationery easy.

8. Establishing an Online Presence for Your Business

   Websites serve as a useful form of inexpensive advertising for most businesses. Even the most basic of websites can work well as your online brochure. You may also decide to set up a blog for your home business - either in conjunction with, or instead of, a home business website.

Let’s start with a fact: You need to be online to have success in today’s times.  There is no debate here (I hope).  With BFY.com, you can be online in a matter of moments.

Just think about this scenario for one second.  You meet somebody who is interested in your services (whatever they may be) based on the tee shirt that you are wearing (or the truck you may be driving) with your business logo on it.  Or, maybe they overheard you talking about what you do for a living.  Next, they ask you how they may be able to contact you.  What could be better than giving them a simple domain name through which they can access any information about your business?

On the other hand, let’s say that somebody sees your business truck while stopped at a red light, and you have your website printed on there.

The underlying point is that having a website is not only a lot easier than having to get out a napkin and writing down all of your information, or having someone try to remember a phone number while in the car, but it also looks much more professional.  Professionalism is a huge quality when trying to do business, and people will start to take notice.  Do yourself a favor and get a website from BFY.com.

http://www.uneeknet.com/services/tips/articles/without.phpAlthough the article talks about churches without websites, the same can be applied for a business without a website. It really is like having no sign in front of your store. There’s a business there, but consumers just don’t know it’s there because they can’t find it. They will search and search until they find the right business for their needs, and if you are not on the web, they have a 0% chance of finding you.

The article also talks about paying companies up to $250 a month for website building tools. That doesn’t include a domain name, hosting, or business e-mail. BFY includes all of that for only $479.88 per year. So you are paying less than twice the price of other companies for more than 12 times the value.

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=99952

Like it says on our home page, 82% of consumers use search engines to find local businesses. This is why small businesses cannot keep up without an online presence.  The article above shows the percentages of consumers that use specific means to find the products and services they are looking for.  Without an online presence, small businesses are losing these potential customers.