Customer Reviews

Business Know-How: An Operational Guide for Home-Based and Micro-Sized Businesses with Limited Budgets

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Janet Attard is a familiar name to most people doing business on the Internet, especially on AOL.

She has been the force behind the growth of the Business Know-How discussion boards & newsletter. She plans over 70 weekly live chats, as well as compiling thousands of articles, tips, & hints on every aspect of small business you can name.

This book begins after you've done all the basic start-up work for your business. There is no discussion of the best legal form for your business to take & you won't find questionnaires to test your entrepreneurial skills. Attard assumes you've passed that point & are ready to go to work.

What you will get is insight on topics such as:

=> finding suppliers => mailing & shipping strategies => trade show savvy => selling to the government => building a web site without going broke => making cash flow => how to make a big impression on a small budget => using the mail to build business => choosing & using office equipment

I must admit that I thought Attard would have nothing new or of interest to me. After all, I've been in business for some time. (egotistical, isn't it?)

But, she surprised me with a number of interesting & useful ideas. Briefly, here are a few:

=> make use of a CD-ROM phone directory. Attard suggests one called SelectPhone costing about $150. It will allow you to find customers & suppliers. (p. 84)

=> ask for an editorial calendar. The editorial calendar briefly lists the types of stories that will be covered each month for the calendar year. Newspapers & magazines plan far ahead for special topic issues. (p 91)

=> advertise where your competitors advertise. If your competitors have been advertising for many months in a specific media, their ads are probably working.(p. 104)

=> familiarize yourself with advertising laws. Just because you're small doesn't mean you can ignore or avoid complying with laws regulating advertising.(p 120) There follows a page and a half of laws that might trip up a small business owner.

=> buy US postage stamps at less than their face value. Buy your stamps from a stamp dealer rather than the post office. Stamp dealers often buy stamps in quantity hoping they will go up in value.(p. 149) I really liked this one and * never * would have thought of it.

I could give many more examples, but that wouldn't be fair to Attard, who's obviously put blood & sweat into this book

Let me leave you with some more topics of interest:

=> using the web ferret for quick web searching => the when & how of yellow page ads => what's a press room & why you want to use it => your trade show toolbox -- what's in it & why => what you should know about credit card fraud

You're all getting used to the fact that I'm as much a stickler about the design of a book as I am about content.

This book is well laid out, the type is large enough to read easily, & typefaces are consistent through out the book.

The few gray boxes used are well placed & don't interrupt the flow of the text. My only dislike is this: to make the * tips * boxes stand out from the other gray boxes, all the text contained within them is underlined. They are the only part of the book I found difficult to read & found myself skipping over them most of the time. I know I missed valuable information because of it.

Janet Attard's Business Know-How tells how to make a small business profitable, from obtaining publicity and locating customers without expensive ad budgets to cutting business costs and becoming involved with the Internet. All are excellent business guides with practical information for those just starting out.

Business Know-How tackles all the real-life issues that we small business owners really care about in a straight-forward and sensible way. The chapter on websites, Build and Promote Your Web Site Without Going Broke, is worth the price of the book alone.

The author also handles issues many small business books leave out, like Making Cash Flow.

As an entrepreneur, I'm always trying to promote my services on a very limited budget yet it is critical that I come across as professional. There are some great tips here on how to do that in ways I feel comfortable with.

If you're a small business owner, or thinking about starting a business, Business Know-How has the basics of what you need to know in a format that is both fun to flip through and rewarding to read from cover to cover.

I got the copy of Business Know-How the other day. What a great book! In fact, within hours after getting it I was on the phone with my accountant asking "Why aren't I doing this? What about this? And what about this?" I wish I would have read this book several years go. I know it would have saved me money--and probably a few hard lessons and aggravations too. I especially like the "Shoestring Marketing Secrets" chapter. This is a great book!

Over the years I've come to expect excellence from Janet Attard -- whether at her website, in her books, or on her excellent AOL forums.

So, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that, when reading her newest offering "Business Know-How," I was once again blown away by her ability to take topics that are near and dear to the hearts of all micro- and home-based business owners and make them not only helpful but enjoyable.

The subjects she covers are especially important for smaller businesses -- like how to keep your costs down and how to maximize your exposure and publicity (on and off line). The book is written in a very "user-friendly" style -- short, pointed paragraphs and lots of practical bullet charts and lists.

It's a must read and a good investment in your business.

Years ago the setting up of a business was a relatively easy task to accomplish. Nowadays, however, there is much more work involved in setting them up and keeping them going. Times have changed and so has the way we do business. Janet Attard has written Business Know-How to assist small and home business owners to successfully compete in today's marketplace.

Readers should be interested to know up front that the contents of this book is based upon information shared on the popular AOL online forum by the same name! This is a comprehensive business guide that offers strategies in developing sound business practices in areas such as advertising and marketing, putting the Internet to effective use, making big impressions on small budgets, and generating free and favorable publicity!

Attard offers plenty of sound advice in areas of day-to-day business operations, many of which will save small business owners a lot of time, effort, and money. Learn how to set up an office at home, buying office equipment, setting up a Website, making the most of tradeshow events, making postal and shipping arrangements, properly handling finances, smartly using credit cards and the telephone, avoiding tax problems, and making the best possible travel arrangements!

Readers will benefit from Attard's handling of the use of the Internet. Many businesses have either moved online or have started there from scratch. Either way, Attard delivers sound guidance that will get results. Her treatment of special tradeshow events deserves special mention as well. She provides plenty of helpful ideas to make the most of these high profile marketing and promotion mediums!

Attard brilliantly adapted material gathered from her AOL forum and presents it in a polished easy-to-read format. She offers a well-balanced approach to setting up businesses and keeping them operating in a highly competent and professional manner. Her instruction is concise, yet rich in detail. This is by far one of the best small business books available today. It will be a blessing to any serious business venture. It is must reading!

This book is easy to understand and it's laid out in a very comphrehensive way. It's like my little business bible now, and I keep it right next to my desk. But there are so many excellent ideas, pieces of advice and starting points, that you really do need a highlighter with you at all times!

This book is easy to understand and it's laid out in a very comphrehensive way. It's like my little business bible now, and I keep it right next to my desk. But there are so many excellent ideas, pieces of advice and starting points, that you really do need a highlighter with you at all times!

This book is easy to understand and it's laid out in a very comphrehensive way. It's like my little business bible now, and I keep it right next to my desk. But there are so many excellent ideas, pieces of advice and starting points, that you really do need a highlighter with you at all times!

This is a must have business book to add to your shelf. It has very practical simple advise that you will want to start implementing right away.