Page 127 - 597 Business Ideas You can Start from Home - doing what you LOVE! (Beginner Internet Marketing Series)

Step 6. Create Your Executive Office 119

Instead of the fax appearing on your fax machine (which you
do not have), it is routed to your computer via e-mail or the host­
ing company's website, where you then can log in and print it out.
People sending the fax don't know it is not going through to a fax
machine.

If you fax electronically, you also need a scanner (which you
may have on an all-in-one printer), because you may have only a
hard copy of a document you need to fax. (If you have a document
electronically, you needn't scan it to fax it.)

Even if faxing seems outdated, many retail outlets will fax pur­
chase orders, so you need the capability. Oh, and never do the
"same phone line as fax line" thing. It sometimes doesn't switch on
properly and it screams "home office" when you give someone the
phone number and say it's the fax number too.

Phone Etiquette

As long as we are talking about phones, let me give you a few tips
about phone etiquette.

• Answer the phone with a standard, friendly greeting.
• Always return business calls within twenty-four hours. If you

delay, you are sending the message that their call is not impor­
tant and also that you are disorganized.
• When you answer the phone, you shouldn't have children's
voices yelling in the background. Better for a call to go into voice
mail than for a potential buyer to hear the chaos of the family
home in the background as they are trying to do business with
what they thought was a "real company." Your customers expect
the same level of profeSSionalism from all vendors, even if they
are working out of a home office. Oh, and no doorbells, bark­
ing dogs, lawnmowers, and typical residential noises either. Be
well insulated. Make calls from a closet if necessary. (Been there,
done that!)