The Professional Chef |

Abhishek Agarwal asked:


During summer one of the places in the house that most people would like to avoid spending would be the kitchen. But every homemaker still needs to feed their family and there are certainly ways where one can ideally avoid cooking on gas stoves or ovens which tend to generate plenty of heat making the kitchen not the best place to be in during the hot sweltering summer months. What you can do is to learn crock pot cooking which is the most ideal way to cook during summer.

You must be wondering as to how cooking in a crock pot is going to help reduce the summer heat. Well, using a crock pot for cooking lets out less heat into the air than when cooking using a stove or an oven. So what better reason do you need than to use a crock pot for cooking your meal during the harsh summer months? By using a crock pot you can be assured that your air conditioners do not have to work overtime to keep your home cool because of the excess heat generated when cooking on stoves.

Crock pot cooking entails that you incur less cost than when you cook using traditional stoves or ovens. Most of these stoves or ovens which can be operated by gas or electricity tend to not only generate lots of heat energy but also end up consuming so much of it that using these methods for cooking can burn a hole in your pocket. Crock pot cooking means that you can be assured of saving on electricity and gas bills.

Most people think that crock pot cooking means cooking simple meals and preparing winter meals. But we should realize that crock pot cooking is the best method when it comes to preparing meals as there are so many ways in which you can use the crock pot to cook your meals. You can use the crock pot to bake just about anything, and make exciting and innovative meals.

Why to use a crock pot to cook?

Using a crock pot for cooking not only helps you to save on costs but there are

Other additional benefits too! The best part is that crock pot cooking means you get to start quite early everyday when you are most enthusiastic and not at night when you would rather like to relax after a hard day at work. When you begin early in the morning you will not miss out on any ingredient that needs to be added to your cooking and you will certainly not have your meal spoilt as you will be cooking in a leisurely manner. We normally tend to botch up our meals especially when done in a hurry or when we are exhausted after a hectic day.

In crock pot cooking most of the recipes use plenty of vegetables and that takes care of all the nutrients the body needs. Cooking in a hurry deprives us of nutrients.

When you cook in a crock pot there is no messy kitchen to clean up as a full meal can be made using the crock pot. So forget about all the washing of greasy pots and pans whether by hands or using the dishwasher or both. So you will save time not only while cooking but also when it comes to cleaning the dishes. Now you need not slave it over stoves cooking in the kitchen while you miss out on the joy of watching the lovely sunset or helping your children chase firebugs or just waiting for the first star to appear in the night sky.

Be assured that crock pot cooking is the best method to prepare meals. Isn’t it time for you to search for the crock pot which is lying in a corner gathering dust somewhere in your kitchen so that you can get cracking to prepare the most delicious and healthy meals with great crock pot recipes.

Allison Merlino asked:


Cooking and Nutrition have been incredibly hot topics over the past couple of years. Other hot topics such as anti aging and fitness exercise are discussed in correlation with cooking and nutrition on a regular basis. At the same time the rise in Cooking Television Shows has been exponential. This craze has resulted in a cooking channel! A channel devoted to a plethora of cooking shows! These television shows often have associated websites where their recipes are cataloged and made available.

Technology has allowed us access to these websites and recipes at a moments notice but in order to organize and keep your favorites on hand it may be necessary to create a file or use a software package. I have researched and will offer a review of a few software products that I recommend. These products will allow you to import, catalog and print your recipes in a variety of convenient formats.

1. MasterCook Deluxe 9.0 by ValuSoft

Product Features

• Meal-planning software with 8,000+ recipes and 100s of international recipes

• Thorough search capabilities; expert nutritional analysis

• Professional tips, cooking for a crowd, and essential cooking techniques

• Enjoy 400 savory baking recipes with step-by-step instructions

• Print shopping lists for single recipes or entire menus, or download to PDA

2. Cook’n for Every Holiday by DVO Enterprises

This instructional computer software includes 582 recipes, recipe manager, menu planner, and more!

Product Features:

• Search thousands of recipes in seconds–just tell it what you have on hand

• Adjust recipe serving sizes automatically

• Demonstrate preparation techniques with video clips

• Display hundreds of full-color food photos

• Organize your own recipes

• Print your recipes on decorative 3×5 cards

• Create weekly menus

• Make grocery shopping lists

• Analyze the nutritional value of your recipes

Recipe Manager:

• Organizing your family recipe collection in the computer is easy with Cook’n. You already know how to put in your recipes, that’s because Cook’n’s recipe window looks just like a recipe card. And, “Quick-Fill” editing does much of the typing for you.

• Cook’n has simple cookbook-like chapters and categories that make it easy to find your recipes fast.

• Cook’n’s Recipe Manager makes entertaining a snap. Simply select the number of guests you will be serving and enter it into your favorite recipe. Cook’n calculates the new ingredient amounts for you.

Menu Planner:

• Build your own weekly and monthly menus

• Drag and drop meals to make your menus

• Combine recipes and food items to make complete meals. Then, drag and drop meals to make your own weekly or monthly menus.

Grocery Shopping Assistant

• Compiles your family’s shopping list automatically

• Organizes shopping list items by aisle

• Converts to package sizes (e.g., tablespoon tomato paste to 8 oz. cans)

• Calculates your grocery cost

Personal Home Nutritionist

• Analyze the nutritional elements of recipes and menus (even the ones you add!)

• Choose between brands to satisfy dietary needs

• Cook’n will analyze the nutritional value of any recipe or menu (even the ones you add!). Easy to read…Cook’n nutrition facts window looks just like the label on a can.

• Cook’n has nutrition facts from the labels of 10,000 food products. You can choose between different brands to see what the nutritional effect is.

• Now you can plan menus based on dietary needs and tastes. Prepare one delicious meal for the entire family.

3. Home Cookin: Recipe Software by Mountain Software

Product Features:

• Easy to Use Interface – Home Cooking uses a simple tabbed interface that is easy to operate while providing all the features you use most. You can create as many chapters as you wish. Home Cookin will keep everything sorted alphabetically so you can quickly browse through your collection, and find your favorites easily.

• Easy Recipe Entry

• Import and Export Capabilities – Thousands of free recipes can be found on web pages, newsgroups, and various mailing lists. You can easily add these to your collection by importing them into Home Cookin. Most standard formats are supported.

• Meal Planning – The meal calendar makes it easy to plan your upcoming meals. Locate your desired recipes, then add them to the calendar. Add personal notes if you plan on eating out, want to indicate a holiday, or to reference recipes in other cookbooks. When you are ready to prepare the meal, you can access the recipe quickly from the meal calendar.

• Grocery Management – The Home Cooking grocery manager will make quick work of preparing your grocery shopping lists. Start a new list, select the items you need, and print. A cost estimate is calculated as you select each item, so you’ll know ahead of time how much you’ll be spending on your groceries. The printed list is compact and sorted by store and location to make your shopping trip as easy as possible.

Websites provide us with recipes at a moments notice but in order to organize and keep them handy and get the most use of them it may be necessary to create a file or use a software package. I have provided a review of a few software products that I found to be of good quality. These products will allow you to import, analyze, catalog and print your recipes in a variety of convenient formats including a grocery list!

Michael Goudelock asked:


Multi level marketing companies are companies that rely on a different sort of method for advertising their products; basically, it is wherein an independent representative or spokesperson refers other potential buyers to the company they represent. This is done through e-mail and other online means. The MLM advertising tactic has been increasing in popularity over the years, and today, it has produced numerous companies that rely on that strategy in order to make sales. This article will cover the best and most well-known multi level marketing companies that people frequently search for in various search-oriented websites.

Herbalife is the single most popular among the multi level marketing companies. It is a company dedicated to nutrition, helping individuals by selling a myriad of vitamins, all manufactured by Herbalife itself. The variety of pills offereed range from ones that can assist in weight management to stress management vitamins. The company has its significant share of success stories that have played in a role in getting Herbalife to where it is today.

Another popular, well-respected MLM company is Mary Kay. With the popular slogan “enriching women’s lives”, it has taken the world by storm and offers a wide range of beauty products. It even provides consultation services to women who wish to improve their appearances. Aside from skin care products, Mary Kay also offers makeup, perfume and spa and body treatments. Boys won’t feel left out; it is also not just all about women, for the company also has a division dedicated to men’s beauty products, too. Its reputaton has made it one of the most formidable multi level marketing companies around.

The third most renowned multi level marketing company focuses specifically on multilevel marketing. As the self-confessed “gloal leader in multilevel marketing”, it provides numerous business opportunities and unique products of its own. It sells its items worldwide, and enables regular people to start their own Amway business and become an Amway business owner. The items it sells ranges from vitamins to skin care products, to water purifiers, exemplifying the wide scopes of the company itself. Amway is on a different level compared to other multi level marketing companies.

Arbonne International is another beauty-oriented company that, unlike others, is available to the entire world. With creams that help prevent skin aging, assist in weight loss and improve skin care, no wonder Arbonne products are widely used. It is a company with the customer’s best interests (and looks) at heart, and will not cease in trying to make the world a more beautiful place.

The fifth but not least popular of all multi level marketing companies is Pampered Chef, which makes online sales of kitchen tools. Everyone needs food, and what better way to make excellent food than with the best equipment? Pampered Chef certainly has this in mind, because it offers kitchenware, bakeware, cookware and more. Gift certificates are also available, and all products can easily be ordered online! MLM companies like Pampered Chef are living proof that multi level marketing can help send a company straight to the top.

Abdrew Krause asked:


Turn on any food show today and you’ll find a huge assortment of ethnic offerings. From Chinese and other Asian cuisines to French, German and even British cooking, every corner of the globe where people put food to fire is represented. Most of these are relative newcomers to the global food scene, whereas Italian food has been on every cook’s slate for decades. This explains why there are so many free recipes for Italian desserts around: they’re delicious, and there is a dizzying variety available.

Cheesecake, of course, is by far the most popular Italian dessert. That’s curious, as it actually is not terribly Italian in its composition. It’s an American invention, although Italian-Americans are most often credited with both finding and perfecting the recipe and preparation methods. No reputable Italian restaurant would ever be caught without at least one cheesecake on the menu, and very often you’ll see competitions within a city between the top-tier Italian joints to build the highest, richest and best creations. It’s no surprise that some of these recipes make it into the vaults of free recipes for Italian desserts available online.

The true heart of Italian desserts, however, are the gelatos, those ice cream-like creations that come in an insane variety of flavors and top the finest efforts of frozen treat confectioners from around the world. In Italy, gelato shops are almost as common as Starbucks coffee houses are here in United States, and the sweets they purvey are like no others. From the classic hazelnut or chocolate to more exotic flavors like mango, lime and graham cracker, you’ll find something for every palate.

My personal favorite Italian dessert, however, is the cannoli. There’s a reason why “Leave the guns, take the cannoli,” is one of the most identifiable quotes from the “Godfather” movies. This mystical synergy between a crunchy pastry shell and a lightly sweet pastry cream, sometimes with nuts or a drizzle of chocolate added, is simply unbeatable to many Italian food connoisseurs.

All of these have made it into the archives of free recipes for Italian desserts. With a little hunting, you can find whatever you seek!

Ted Goldberg asked:


Luscious desserts and low-carb diets typically do not mix.  Sugar is, of course, a carbohydrate.  How can you have something “sweet” without using sugar?

Those of us who cook know that using artificial sweeteners changes the recipe, drastically.  Things like saccharin have less “bulk” than straight sugar.  So, trying to bake a sugar-free cake can be very difficult.

But, even sugar free cakes are not  low carb desserts.  Flour is also a carbohydrate.  Eggs, milk and cheese are allowed on your low-carb diet.  But, sugar and flour are not.  So, what should you do? 

How about cheesecake?

Typically, New York style cheesecake is made with heavy cream, cream cheese, eggs and additional egg yolks to add richness and a smooth consistency.  Lemons, strawberries or chocolate shavings may be added for flavor.  None of those ingredients are carbs, but of course, most recipes call for sugar and lots of it. 

Once you add the carbs from the graham cracker crust, you have about 25 grams of carbohydrates in a 3.5 ounce serving.  That’s a pretty small slice.  But, cheesecakes can be low carb desserts, if they are properly prepared, without the sugar and “sans” crust. 

It’s difficult (next to impossible, really) to make this kind of cheesecake at home, because, as I mentioned, sugar substitutes change the recipe.  If you do get it to set, you also get an unpleasant aftertaste.  It’s hardly worth the effort. 

But, you can still serve delicious low carb desserts at home, with very little effort on your part.  You can simply order it on-line.

Our own line options for serving a gourmet meal are simply amazing, to me anyway.  We can stick to our diets, eat healthy, cater a dinner party or have a private affair for two, right in the luxury of our own homes.

When you consider the time it takes to cook a meal, the shopping, the cost of ingredients and the likelihood that the recipe will “flop”, I think catered meals are a cost-effective option.  I don’t know about you, but my time is money.

My health is very important to me, but temptations are not always easy to resist.  So, I try to be sure that I always have “healthy temptations”.

If you work full time and commute to your office, by the time you get in your daily work-out and get ready for dinner, you might be tempted to settle for fast-food or whatever’s in the fridge.  That’s what happens to a lot of people, so they end up with an unsuccessful and unhealthy diet.

Cheesecake Delivered.com makes healthy delicious low carb desserts, suitable for a dinner party or an everyday treat.  The taste is delicious and you can store them in the freezer, so that you’re prepared for those unexpected guests.  What could be simpler?

Muna wa Wanjiru asked:


Taste of every food depends on the quality & preparation method of that food. So some foods are excellent & tasty when they either hot or cold. There are two kinds of appetizer recipes like hot & cold appetizer recipe. For these cold appetizers preservation techniques and freezing at proper temperature is very important.

In hotels, restaurants, pubs, bar & in our home, there are recipes of cold appetizers, which makes our meal mouth-watering and tasty. In addition, there are some crunchy snack can keep the fingers of family out from the main dish. Therefore, we can wait for a long time for our lunch and meal if there is a tasty, crunchy and cold appetizers recipes.

In cookery sites, there are various hot & cold recipes of appetizers are available for downloading. These cold appetizers recipes are distinguished according their status like five star cold recipe, four star appetizer recipe & three star cold appetizer recipes. Also from online cookery sites, we can search for latest cold appetizer recipes.

There are some cold appetizer recipes, which are listed below according to their status. First cold appetizer recipe is Blue Cheese and Sun Dried Tomato Dressing. On this recipe, there is dressing of cheese, which is rich blue & dried tomato, which is dried one. We can eat this recipe by taking mixture of spinach salad & croutons, which are made up of garlic.

In addition, the combination of this cold appetizer with romaine lettuce, celery is very tasteful. Veggie pizza is a cold appetizer recipe. This tasty, crunchy vegetarian pizza is made up of cream cheese & there is a rolling of fresh veggies on a crescent crust.

Zesty Party Snack Mix is also one type of five star cold appetizer recipes. This recipe is prepared in the microwave. This is snack mix recipe, which is prepared in a jiffy, cereal, & potato sticks. There is the adding of peanuts, which gives crunchy taste to this recipe.

The next five star cold appetizers is Pita Salad. There is the filling of crunchy vegetables in such Pita sandwich. Therefore, we can use this cold appetizer as a light lunch. This is also called as cold pita sandwich.

Babaqunoush is also a five star vegetarian cold appetizer. We can serve this recipe in pita bread. Shelfish Dip is also one kind of versatile & simple appetizer. We can prepare this appetizer by taking use of flaked crab & we can serve this recipe with chips & crackers.

Traditional Salsa with Baked Chips is also one type of cold appetizer recipe. This cold recipe is made up of vegetables like tomato, onion, peppers & we use cilantro lime juice. We can serve this recipe with tortilla chips and we can make it at home.

Blue Cheese-Pistachio Grapes is a five star cold appetizer recipe is a combination of cheese & fruits. This is a form of wrapper, which is made by the mixture of seedless red or green grapes with cream cheese. You can also use a little wine in that mixture.

coheso asked:


Sharing your recipes with your friends can be a fun hobby for you. Collecting some of the great recipes that are enjoyed in other families is a way to get to know other holiday traditions and foods. Share your own so that you can pass along your family traditions and foods.

There are some great advantages to recipe sharing. The first advantage is that you get to sample some great foods that you may not have otherwise thought of. You are able to see the traditions and customs that your friends have for their special dinners and holiday meals. If you love to collect and share recipes you will want to make sure you have a few things to pursue your hobby in the best way.

Recipe collecting and finding great new foods to prepare for your family can be a great passion for many people. If this is your great passion you should make sure that you have a few things that will make life a great deal easier for you. The first thing you will need is a recipe organizer.

If you are busy collecting recipes from your friends and in magazines you probably have them scribbled on scraps of paper all over your kitchen. You are risking losing these recipes if you don’t organize them correctly. You should invest in a good recipe organizer to get all of your recipes safely in one place. You don’t want to be all prepared to make that wonderful dish that everyone in your family loves and not be able to put your hands on the recipe. A recipe organizer will help you keep them in one central location.

If you are sharing recipes with your friends then you will want to be able to get to your favorite recipes so that you can share them. In addition to keeping your recipes organized and in one place, your recipe organizer will keep them from becoming ruined from food spills and anything else that might make them illegible.

Have you considered your home computer for use as your recipe organizer? You can create a great program or spreadsheet that contains all of your favorite recipes that you can get to at the push of a few keys. This also makes recipe sharing a lot easier. All you have to do to get your recipes out to your friends is to put them in an email and send them on their way. You can receive recipes this way, as well. And if you are receiving the recipe on your computer you can quickly and efficiently put it in your recipe organizer immediately.

When you are ready to prepare a recipe you can quickly print out the file and you will have a hard copy of the recipe to work with. Some recipe organizer programs will also prepare a shopping list for you so that you are easily able to get to the grocery store and not forget any of the items in the recipe.

Brian Garvin asked:


Doris Christopher started Pampered Chef back in 1980. Today Pampered Chef is a multimillion dollar corporation that spans the U.S., Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom and even involved Warren Buffet, the world famous multi-billionaire. Today Pampered Chef is owned by Berkshire Hathaway. Sold to Berkshire in 2002 due to the inability of Pampered Chef to be able to handle the changing standards in the industry.

Their website is offered in 4 Different Versions which are Canadian, Dutch, United Kingdom and of course the United States. A few of the Kitchen Ware products they offer are the 8-Quart Stainless Mixing Bowl, Adjustable Measuring Spoons, All-Purpose Spreader,

Avocado Peeler, Can Strainer, Cheese Knife, Citrus Peeler, Citrus Press, Classic Batter, Classic Scraper and a Clock/Timer.

On the Entertainment side of their website they offer an Appetizer Plate Stand, Appetizer Plates & Caddy Set, Beaded Serving Fork, Beaded Serving Set, Beaded Serving Spoon, Beaded Spreader, Carafe, Cranberry Windowpane Placemat Set (Set of 2), Dessert Plates (Set of 4), Dots Stemware (Set of 4) and a Drink Charms and Dripless Pourer/Stopper.

In their Bakeware area they offer a Baker’s Roller®, Cake Pan Set, Chef’s Silicone, Basting Brush, Cookie Press, Creative Cutters Set, Decorator Bottle Set, Deluxe Mini-Muffin Pan, Easy Accent® Decorator, Flour/Sugar Shaker, Large Scoop, Large Sheet Pan and a Medium Scoop. In the Simple Additions Section they offer Small Square Plates (Set of 2), Appetizer Plates-Cranberry (Set of 4), Coffee & More Cups (Set of 2), Dots 16-Piece Dinnerware Set, Dots Bowl Trio, Dots Coffee & More Cups (Set of 2), Dots Cups and

Dots Dinner Plates (Set of 2).

Finally in their Stoneware Section they offer a 12-Cup Muffin Pan, Deep Covered Baker – Cranberry, Deep Dish Baker – Cranberry, Deep Dish Pie Plate – Cranberry, Large Bar Pan

Large Rack, Large Round Stone, Medium Bar Pan, Medium Round Stone with Handles, Mini Loaf Pan and Mini-Baker – Cranberry.

The Pampered Chef compensation plan is unlike most other multi-level marketing company compensation plans that you will find. To make money with the Pampered Chef compensation plan, you will have to do home parties at the hostess’s house. So you better enjoy toting all the tools around, cooking and talking.

During the show, you are explaining the versatility of the products that Pampered Chef sells and the convenience of their recipes. The “chef” prepares a few of the recipes that the hostess picks out as a demonstration of the tool and the recipes. While the guests then nibble on the food, the “chef” collects orders, books parties and answers questions.

You are paid a percentage of the sales that are created at each party. You are also paid a percentage of what the people you are able to recruit into the business sell. The difference here is that the higher you move up in the company, the less money you make off the people you have placed under you. So really the best way to make the most money is to sell, sell, sell!

Pampered Chef is a good retail business. If you are looking for a way to build a business under you and make more money as you advance within the company, Pampered Chef is not the place for you.

Patricia Kagwiria Makhulo asked:


As a home party consultant and direct sales consultant for a home party plan or direct sales company, it is rather important that you learn how to market your business, find recruits and hostesses, because  Home Party Business is booming, just ask Warren Buffet, the richest man in the world and oh by the way he own three home party companies e.g., Pampered Chef!

Marketing through home parties and home party sales has been be identified as one of the most effective methods of marketing with business opportunity companies.

Home party companies place many restrictions on their home party consultants and direct sales reps. when it comes to marketing!  And yet many are seeing wonderful results

But what separates the struggling, frustrated, heartbroken, cash-poor Home Party Plan Business Owner and direct sales consultants from the confident, pink Cadillac driving, white Mercedes Benz owning, obviously clued-in home party plan marketers pulling in huge numbers and results (EVEN in this chaotic, soul-sucking economy)?

(No, wait ESPECIALLY in this chaotic, soul-sucking economy). While average home party business owners are cowering in bed with the covers pulled over their head the top home party sales representatives are still fearlessly bringing home the bacon, even as everyone else panics and freaks out!

Have you ever wondered how the top earners in your direct sales home party company got to be so successful while you struggle every day to build your organization? 

I can tell you this:

It’s not because they’re any smarter than you are

They don’t work any harder (in fact, they work LESS)

And it’s not because they’ve spent thousands of dollars on high priced

seminars (although I highly recommend you attend the ones I hold and I

they will be reasonably priced ?)

The reason behind their success, get this, is the fact that they implement a system!  I know seems so simple huh!

Home Party Marketing Tip: Create Systems That Will Do The Bulk Of The Work

I practically famous for this quote:

“95% of people fail when they start a business without a system.

95% percent of people are successful when they start a business with a system!

- Entrepreneur Magazine

A system constitutes a set of connected things or parts forming a complex whole, in particular a set of things working together as parts of a mechanism or an interconnecting network. It spells:

S-ave

Y-our

S-elf

T-ime &

E-nergy

M-oney

If your home party plan system involves the 3-foot rule, list of 100 or more, hotel meetings, 3-ways, everyone with a pulse is your prospect, then repeat after me: time to re-group!  Those are all methods, functions and/or processes, not systems.

Systems are able to run with very little human involvement.  Think about all the systems in your body.  Do you have to manually pump your heart to get it to force blood to the rest of your body?  As I’m typing this report, I don’t have to think about the position of my fingers on the keyboard, or lifting them up and down.  My nervous system takes care of that for me.  Think about how long it would take to create this eBook without the assistance of the systems in my body.  Hint:  you wouldn’t be reading it right now!

Just like your body, your home parties business needs systems to function, grow and defend itself from outside forces that mean harm.  So get a system and put it to use right now!

And I belive I have just the thing for you, The Little Black Of Home Party  Plan Marketing Success is system like none other, provides tips on how to generate ongoing  home party sales and some of the best ways to promote yor home partys business!

Additionally you get Home Party Plan & Direct Sales Marketing And Training all in one place!  Isn’t it about time you create a cash flow?

Lynn Powers asked:


Part one of Small Steps for Big Work at Home Success listed the first eight steps you can take towards ensuring your business won’t end up in the “failure” category. While most of those steps focused on the overall vision you have for your company, these six concentrate on more specific areas you can zone in on to skyrocket your chance for success.

1. Who is your target consumer? If you sell Pampered Chef, your target consumer is women. If you sell tools, most of your sales will probably be to men. Maybe that sounds a bit sexist, but the proven fact is that women buy more kitchen products and men buy more tools. If you sell baby items, your target consumer probably isn’t seventy year old men. It will be new or expecting moms, as well as those needing to buy gifts for new and expecting moms. If your product is a health drink, your target consumer could be considered everyone, since every person – man, woman, college student, grandparent, etc. – should want to be healthy. However, if your health drink has specific benefits, such as weight loss elements, your target consumer may be slightly different. Knowing exactly who you’re targeting helps you focus your energies in that particular arena.

2. Come up with a marketing plan. What specific steps are you going to take to market your service or product? This could include price setting and offering discounts, plans to develop a new home show presentation, certain advertising aspects, or any number of things to either improve your business or stand out and from the rest and offer something new and different – and better. Ask yourself: what can I do to make my business more appealing to customers?

3. Manage your money wisely. Accounting may turn you off but it’s a necessary part of business. Poor money management has caused many companies to fold, even huge corporations that seem to be thriving. The truth is, no matter how much or how little you earn, the way you manage your finances will determine much of your success. Start by setting up a separate business account and keeping adequate records. If you aren’t an expert in tax laws, be sure to hire an accountant at tax time. He or she may also be able to provide you with some practical tips for financial management.

4. Advertise! Of course, customers aren’t going to come and pound on your door. Advertising is the number one way to let people know what you’ve got to offer. The newspaper, local restaurants, convenience stores, daycare centers, phone directories, the list goes on for places to post information about your company and your product or service. One of the best and most inexpensive ways to advertise is with business cards. Always have a few on hand to pass along to people you meet in the grocery store, at school, church or the park.

5. Utilize the Web. There has never been more potential for acquiring customers and spreading the word about your product than today. The Internet provides countless ways to network and advertise. Join message board forums and networking sites. Start a blog about your business. Create a website. Advertise on www.craigslist.com, a free local listing site. The possibilities are endless!

6. Customer Service. Perhaps the best way to keep customers coming back, therefore increasing your success, is through excellent customer service. When you say you’ll call someone, do it. Follow-up with customers and occasionally call past customers you haven’t heard from lately. Finally, handle problems and complaints (yes, you may get a few!) with grace, dignity, and, most of all, kindness. Nothing turns a customer away faster than rude or poor customer service. But when you excel in this area, you’ll create customers for life.

Starting an at-home business is definitely challenging and may be a little uncertain and scary. But by taking a few small steps, your chances for success increase in a big way!