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When companies look for outsourcing help, they often look to home based businesses. And although the term ‘home based’ can imply one person working from a house, it can take on a different, larger dimension. And that’s what many companies look for: a larger sized business operation.

What does that mean? In a word, reliability. For example, can you be counted on regularly? Or will there be times when you take on too much work or not enough, need to adjust accordingly – and then… what will happen to their projects?

Well now you can get a grip on your company size and handle workloads large and small. Here are ways that you can increase your home based operations without physically crowding yourself out of workspace or blowing your budget for future project handling opportunities.

Joint Venture – Team up with a partner, company or other entity and help each other. Combine a product with a service – something or yours with something of theirs. Then farm out work as necessary.

Interns / Students – Contact colleges, universities, high schools and other education centers in your area and ask about intern and student opportunities. Many places allow you to participate in their programs; fill out their forms, post flyers, actively recruit, etc. Keep some help on hand and put them to work.

Subcontract – Check with your local Chamber of Commerce, surf the Internet, post for help on forums, etc. Find companies for farming out some of your work and keep their information handy. Give them a try when you’re not too busy, so that when you ARE, you’ll know they are a good fit for your clients and you.

Helpers - Hire part time help. Place an inexpensive classified ad in the local newspaper and search for hourly help. Call the places that leave flyers on or around your mailbox or front porch and have them distribute ‘Help Wanted’ flyers in your neighborhood for you. Call your church, fitness center and / or other organizations with which you participate and have them post a notice on the bulletin board. Get help and keep a list handy of those seeking extra income.

Profit Center – Seek help from others experienced in your chosen field of interest and set up a profit center or two to generate additional opportunities. Many can be automated today so that they are pretty much hands-on. They all you have to do is market. This way, when times get lean, you can increase your marketing efforts. And when times are too busy, you can ease up.

As the Boy Scouts say, Be Prepared! Don’t let your lack of preparation be an excuse for being too small and unreliable.

Ever find that some ads just don’t quite get the pull as well as others? Maybe some flounder while others even failed miserably. And you just seem to have a little difficulty figuring out what works and what doesn’t.

Well, start counting. Here are some pointers on what makes good ad copy work.

1. Compelling Headline – Look around. What grabs your attention in today’s newspaper or main ezine headlines? Check the New York Times and USA Today. Use buzzwords or whatever it takes. Reach out and grab your targeted industry reader.

2. Sub-Structure –Readers today have tired eyes. The Internet and email keep growing and cranking out more and more each day. So make your copy appealing. Chop up your copy by using sub-headings and bullet points. Don’t make people read endlessly to find major points.

3. Contact – People want to communicate and not just toss money away. Offer a phone number with a human on the other end. Skip the automated menus and elevator music. You don’t like it; your clients don’t either. You are busy; so are they. Tune into THEIR needs.

4. Order Options –Buyers want choices. So give them some. Set up ordering via as many ways as possible; email links, toll-free phone and fax number, online and postal forms. One size doesn’t fit all here.

5. Free-something – People want free samples, trials, bonuses or anything.

6. Price – Don’t shy away from sharing price – at least a range. Don’t irritate readers and make them search. How much? Make it clear.

7. More info – Offer a place for people to learn more. Make they reply email address a domain name with information, maybe a free ebook or report with photos, testimonials, etc. In other words, don’t have readers reply to info@yahoo.com; have them reply to free_report@MarketingTools.com. Be creative!

8. Ad Errors – Test your ad BEFORE it goes out. Do you links work that you mention? Does the phone number work? What does the voicemail recording say on the phone? Does your email address work that you’ve included? Make sure to check details and look for spelling and grammar errors.

9. Legibility – Can you read it? Is there so much content that your ad is too tiny to read? Make sure to see a proof beforehand. Then print it out and look it over.

10. Font – Don’t get fancy & use scripts that people can’t read. Keep it simple!

In summary, before you head to the press with your next ad copy, count and see how many good points you’ve covered. Put your copy to work and make it a return on your investment, not a write off.

Helping others is very rewarding for you, your business and your workers, associates and clients, as you see those you help reap benefits while earning some recognition for your company efforts in the process. Plus check out the words from inspirational pro Zig Ziglar, “If you help enough people get what they want, you will get what you want.” Here are tips to help with your own fundraiser marketing campaigns.

1. FLYERS – Create flyers for bulletin boards of the organization involved in the fundraising and for local area stores, shopping centers, community centers and other places. On the flyer, make sure to include complete contact information with your website, email address and a phone number. To save on full color printing, print with standard black ink on colored paper.

Along the bottom of the flyer, have tear out tabs with your website link and phone number on them so that people can tear them and off and take them home. Tip: pull off the first tab to get the motion in action. Otherwise, passers-by will think your flyer is too pretty to tear and won’t take any strips home for following up.

2. COORDINATE – Make sure the group or organization you are helping takes part, too. Have them cross promote, linking your fundraiser web page to their own website. Create a special email message for them to send to co-workers, their own clients and other contacts. And help by submitting a newsletter article about the fundraiser to their company newsletter. Speak often with the person coordinating the fundraiser within the organization to develop and follow through with your joint marketing plans.

2. PRESS RELEASE - Announce your fundraiser to local media; print, radio and television. Have digital photos on hand to supplement and plenty of information for follow up in a media kit – online is great for quick reference and handy downloads. Include a link to your media kit in your press release. It helps to have someone available for speaking opportunities. Radio and television hosts may want to interview someone about the event. If you have an open house or kick-off event, invite the media, too. Have media kits on hand to distribute (in print and on CDs, if possible).

So reach out and help others with fundraiser marketing. Helping others is a great way to help yourself, in the process. And do remember to include your website and email address on all of your marketing tools.