The SweatpantsM A N I F E S T O

20 theses for gettingmore time, money, andfreedom than you ever thought possible(without changing out of your sweatpants!)

successinsweatpants.com

by Trish Lambert

The Sweatpants Manifesto—Take 2© Trish Lambert. All rights reserved.

Please send this booklet to anyone you think would find it useful and motivating.You are welcome to offer it as a downloadable document on your site, blog, or anyplace else

in cyberspace that you think it would make a difference. (Please cite my authorship when you do so.)

Introduction to Take 2

This is a second take on the manifesto I first published in 2006. In the three years since publication, there have been some changes in the business and Internet world that require my revisiting the original 20 theses I created in support of at-home service businesses.

The most obvious change in this edition of the manifesto is the inclusion of only 19 of the original 20 theses. The assertion that home-based service businesses were leading to the death of freelancing has beeneliminated because I had a lot of pushback from people who consider themselves freelancers, so much so that I had to revise my notion that freelancing as a vocation is dying.

I’m not sure why solo service providers feel the need to cling to the label of “freelancer.” I still believe that it is a very limiting pigeonhole to put oneself into. Why only be a writer when, with a little creativity andorganization, one can be an information product provider? Why be a website designer when it doesn’t take much more to be a turnkey website production manager?

I also believe that prospective clients have a limited view of freelancers, considering them low-cost one-trick ponies. They are unlikely to turn to a freelancer to manage a larger project, or do anything outside the one area that the freelancer provides services in. Again, I can’t understand why a solo business owner would want to stick with the label when the opportunities for growth are so limited.

In spite of the limiting nature of the “freelance” label, many people who provide creative services seem to have an emotional attachment to it, so I have cried uncle. Freelancing lives on, not because it is lucrative business niche, but because of some other need that the people who call themselves freelancer fill by using that label to describe what they do.

So, the manifesto now consists of 19 theses, updated to reflect the online marketplace as it exists at the end of the first decade of the new millennium. My intent is to spark your energy, start you thinking, give you the go-ahead to make your own success—in your sweatpants!

TrishRollover for original intro.

19 theses of the sweatpants manifesto

1. The world has flattened . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ GO ]

2. The service economy has spawned service micro-economies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ GO ]

3. Businesses are increasingly reliant on outside services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ GO ]

4. The quality of the service providers that a company selects will significantly impact its competitive standing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ GO ]

5. The vendor-client relationship has become a critical success factor for businesses that hire outside service providers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ GO ]

6. The Internet has revolutionized service micro-economies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ GO ]

7. A home-based service business can compete successfully in the flattened world . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ GO ]

8. A home-based service business can have the same public presence as a multi-person company in a physical office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ GO ]

9. One person in sweatpants can run a global service business from home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ GO ]

10. One person in sweatpants working at home can build a 6- or 7-figure business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ GO ]

11. Freelancing is quickly becoming commoditized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ GO ]

12. It is difficult for a freelancer to build a 6- or 7-figure business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ GO ]

13. A home-based service business has a competitive advantage over a freelancer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ GO ]

14. A home-based service business offers a compelling value proposition to clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ GO ]

15. The internet has spawned new marketing channels that can speed the growth of a home-based service business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ GO ]

16. A home-based service business accommodates a higher billable time slice, which more than offsets its lower rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ GO ]

17. A home-based service business allows an “any time/anywhere” workflow that opens up schedules and allows flexibility in the work day . . . . . . . . . . . . [ GO ]

18. A home-based service business owner can honor priorities and goals from other aspects of their life without adversely impacting revenues . . . . . . . . [ GO ]

19. Success in sweatpants offers an unprecedented level of personal and professional freedom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [ GO ]

1. The world has flattened

In his book, The World Is Flat, award-winning New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman crystallizes the trend we have all seen over the past ten or twenty years.

Technology in general and the Internet in particular have changed so many things. Thanks to automated teller machines and supermarket self-checkout, I don’t have to have superficial, time sucking interactions with clerks and tellers. Thanks to online banking and bill management I don’t have to deal with stampsand envelopes. My credit score has risen in part because I have automated the bill paying process so I’m never late.

I can conduct all kinds of personal business from anywhere on the planet that has online access—and there are very few locations in the areas where I travel that aren’t plugged in to the Internet. And I communicate on a daily basis with people all over the world via Twitter, Facebook, and Skype.

Technology has flattened the world by eliminating physical space and compressing time. Messages travel around the world in seconds. Financial transactions can likewise be almost instantaneous.

“The flap of a butterfly’s wings in Central Park couldultimately cause an earthquake in China.”

The “butterfly effect” of chaos theory—the assertion that small and apparently insignificant incidents can have far reaching consequences—is more apparent than ever in our flattened world. One sentence entered on a screen in New York can produce staggering results in Singapore, all in the blink of an eye.

Technology hasflattened the worldby eliminatingphysical space and compressing time.

2. The service economy has spawned service micro-economies.

The rise of the service economy was noted a number of years ago. Business experts like Theodore Levitt chronicled the increased importance of the service sector in industrialized economies.

Services account for a higher percentage of the gross domestic product of the United States than 20 years ago, and this trend is likely present in other countries around the world. Another interesting fact is thatthe list of Fortune 500 companies contains more service companies and fewer manufacturers than inprevious decades.

The increasing significance of the service sector has had a trickledown effect. Now there are service micro-economies, smaller, localized portions of the market that use services that weren’t even available a couple of decades ago. Both personally and professionally, many of us routinely use service providers to:

• cleanourhomesandoffices • washourcars • buyourclothes • runourwebsites • writeourbooksandarticles • keepourfinancialrecords • manageourschedules • overseeourworkouts,etc.

Local economies (including the economy of the Internet) have changed in much the same way that macro-economies have changed because of the rise of services as a significant marketplace component. And the demand for services in these micro-economies is on the rise.

Services account for a higher percentage of the grossdomestic product of the United States than 20 years ago.

3. Businesses are increasingly reliant on outside services.

Labor costs can account for 50% or more of a company’s operating expenses. As companies have scrambled to find ways of cutting costs, outside service providers have stepped in to roles that once were the soleterritory of salaried staff. Entire functions may lie outside a firm’s walls, and some of these functions areessential to the business.

One characteristic of the flattened world is the never-closed customer service desks of many technology firms. No matter what time of day you place your call, you will get a live person. And for all or part of the day, that person will be sitting at a computer thousands of miles away, most likely in India.

Whether we like it or not, outsourcing has become “business as usual” in many ways. Large companiesroutinely outsource “noncore” functions like facilities, payroll, and human resources management. Small companies lean on outside providers for more business-critical functions so that they can take advantage of skills and expertise that they can’t afford to hire.

The advent of internet-only businesses has brought about even more inclusion of service providers into the inner workings of a company. Many internet entrepreneurs keep their immediate companies lean and hire contractors for everything—their administrative assistants, their webmasters, their sales and marketing staff. Many successful companies are comprised of the owner and a team of contractors, with some or all of those contractors sprinkled over a vast geographic area.

Whether we like it or not, outsourcing has become “business as usual” in many ways.

4. The quality of the service providers that a company selects will significantly impact its competitive standing.

With outside service providers occupying more and more strategic roles for their clients, the ability to select the right providers will ultimately have an impact on a company’s ability to compete.

Selection criteria must go beyond the simple and potentially dangerous one of price. In the vein of getting what we pay for, most of us recognize that hiring the lowest-priced provider is asking for trouble. The risk of hiring high priced providers is not as obvious, but exists nonetheless.

The appropriate selection criterion, and one that creates a number of sub-criteria when applied properly, is value. Though this term is often overused in business media, it is still an important consideration. To state what is probably pretty obvious, value relates to what a company gets for what they are paying.

When focusing on value, there are a number of other criteria that will indicate the right provider choice. Which criteria are chosen, how they are prioritized, and how they are applied to provider candidates will vary from company to company.

Companies that take the time to arrive at effective criteria and then apply those criteria in a disciplined manner are the ones that will get the right providers for their needs with the least amount of extra work or problem. And since many companies don’t take this approach, those that do will come out ahead in the competitive landscape.

Selection criteria must go beyondthe potentiallydangerous oneof price.

5. The vendor-client relationship has become a critical success factor for businesses that hire outside service providers.

The nature of the vendor-client relationship has changed. In the “olden days,” this relationship tended to be feudal, with the client expecting the vendor to ask “how high” every time they said “jump.” The “customer is always right” mantra encouraged subservience in vendors, which made for an unequal dynamic in therelationship.

Today, service providers who recognize the strategic value they bring to their clients approach the relation-ship as partners. While excellent customer service is still a key to the services they provide, these business people will shy away from the old feudal behavior and stay with clients that take a win-win approach in their dealings.

The companies that take this approach with their providers, therefore, will attract and retain the bestproviders. The inclusion of these top-notch team members will steepen these companies’ growth curves ina big way because they will have partners who truly care about and work toward their clients’ businesssuccess. And unlike their less partner-oriented counterparts, these companies won’t experience “vendor churn,” which will allow them to be far more productive over time.

Companies that stick to the old model of, “I’m paying, which means I can be as demanding and rude as I want,” will be unable to keep providers that can become key team members. At best, their providers will provide exactly what they have been contracted for, but they won’t be motivated to see the interaction as anything other than another business transaction. At worst, providers will cut and run mid-project, leaving loose ends and wasted investments that end up stifling business growth.

Service providers who recognize the strategic valuethey bring to their clients approachthe relationship as partners.

6. The Internet has revolutionized service micro-economies.

In the 1980s I offered marketing services to small companies in my immediate area. I was your average freelancer—I owned a job, not a business. I had to work really long hours to generate the level of income that I needed and I attended to all the operational details myself. I loved steering my own ship but Idefinitely didn’t love having the business dominate my whole life.

Today I own 4R Marketing, providing similar services but in a very different way. The internet has spawned so many tools and options for business owners to cut down on overhead tasks that I can stay on top of finances, marketing, and selling in a fraction of the time that it once took. Best of all, my work day now averages eight hours, rather than the 12+ of my previous business.

None of my clients are in my own city, so I have no need to drive the highways to meetings. I create new connections on a daily basis through Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, so local networking events are a thing of the past. My car stays in the garage most of the time. My work clothes are shorts in the warm season and sweatpants when it’s cold. It’s been so long since I took anything to the dry cleaners I can’t remember where they are located. I have time to visit with friends, ride my horses, take my dogs for long walks, read books, and do crossword puzzles.

Oh, and 4R Marketing has grown so much that I now have a team to get all the work done.

All because of the difference the Internet has made.

The internet has spawned so many tools and optionsfor business owners to cut down onoverhead tasks.

7. A home-based service business can compete successfully in the flattened world.

A home-based service business has key advantages over its “on the street” counterpart that make it acompetitor to be reckoned with.

A home-based business doesn’t incur as many overhead costs to secure work as a physical business. On-the-street jobs require face to face meetings, which require unbillable time, gas and mileage, and supporting stuff like appropriate clothing and the dry cleaning to maintain it. This all translates to expenses in time and money to bring in revenue—and that money and time must be covered in the billing rate.

Virtual jobs don’t require anywhere near the same amount of time to procure, can be won without traveling, and don’t require dryclean-only clothes. I can bid on more virtual jobs in a week than I ever could with live business development. Because I spend more time at the keyboard than driving around town, I can log more billable hours in a work week with virtual work.

With significant savings on the expense side and additional hours on the billing card, is it surprising that 4R is a 6-figure business?

I can bid on more virtual jobs in a week than I ever couldwith live business development.

8. A home-based service business can have the same public presence as a multi-person company in a physical office.

The battle for business is based on perception. If prospects like what they see, more than half the battle has been won. In the internet-intense marketplace that we have today, home-based businesses can go toe-to-toe with large companies when it comes to attracting prospects, and can give them a real run for their money.

A service business, small or large, home-based or not, is only as good as its content—in the eyes of themarket, that is. Without a tangible product available for appraisal and evaluation, a service provider relies on the written word, client testimonials, and samples from past projects to attract prospects.

Because of this a home-based service business can look the same (or better) as a “bricks and mortar” company. A well-designed and informative web site, well-placed articles and press releases, and email that comes from the company’s domain (rather than a free or ISP-based email) are all factors that will level the playing field in terms of prospects’ initial perceptions.

A service business, small or large,home-based or not, is only as good asits content.

9. One person in sweatpants can run a global service business from home.

A computer, an internet connection, and a web site are all the infrastructure needed for a global home-based service business. Of course, the business will only be as good as the quality of its infrastructure, so having the right computer, connection, and web site is really important.

Make sure that your hardware matches the type of service you provide; a writer, for example, won’t need the kind of memory, hard drive storage, and graphics card that a graphic designer needs.

A desktop computer with a broadband connection will be less costly and do everything you need it to do. On the other hand, if taking the company on the road with you is part of the plan, set yourself up with alaptop that can do it all with a WiFi connection.

At an absolute minimum, your web site needs to be an “electronic brochure” that clearly communicates who you are, what you do, and why people should use your services. Add interactivity (a blog for people tocomment on, a link to your social media pages), and from there, the choices are up to you, your creativity, and what pulls in business for you.

Your main communication channel will likely be e-mail, with the telephone being used from time to time.If, like me, you want mobility, you might want to have a mobile phone as your main business line. But you don’t even need a telephone these days— services like Skype and Vonage give you the ability to run your phone calls through your internet connection. You can even get a Skype mobile phone that will pick up a WiFi signal!

Finally, it’s easy and cost-effective to form a company (an LLC or corporation, check with your financialadvisor), and there are many advantages to having a formal company. Plus, all the paperwork can be taken care of on the internet, so you don’t have to change out of your sweatpants!

A computer, aninternet connection, and a web site are all the infrastructure needed for a global home-based service business.

10. One person in sweatpants working at home can build a 6- or 7-figure business.

In less than two years of its launch, 4R began generating a 6-figure revenue. Today I have a solid client list and a team of contractors who work with me to deliver the goods.

I had no idea when I started out that I would get so far so fast. It has been a very pleasant surprise to find that I can own and operate a successful company without renting office space outside my home or hiring lots of people as in-house employees.

The good news is that the business world has assimilated the internet in the way it works. Companies arebecoming more and more accustomed to working virtually. Services that used to be “in person only” arebeing contracted to companies thousands of miles away.

Earlier, I talked about the infrastructure needed for a home-based service business. I also talked about how a home-based business can generate more opportunities for less overhead expense. That’s the beginning.

Turning a home-based service business into a 6-figure earner takes focus, follow through, and quality. Once you’ve attracted the right prospects and they’ve decided to award you their work, the path to big revenues is the same as with any type of service company—deliver on your promise and take really, really good care of your ideal clients.

Companies arebecoming more and more accustomed to working virtually.

11. Home-based service businesses have more potential than a freelancing practice.

Freelancing has traditionally been for people who want to make an income without leaving home.Freelancers are answerable to no one but themselves and only need to put on shoes if they are going outto meet with a client face to face.

A home-based service business owner also works at home in bare feet, but is not freelancing. He or she owns a full-fledged enterprise with its own identity. The company can grow and develop the same way any service business does; the main difference is that its solutions are delivered electronically and all client interfaces are via phone and/or internet.

Today, it doesn’t cost any more time or money to operate a home-based service business than it does to be a freelancer. A home-based service business can compete with freelancers on price because its lower over-head allows lower rates, and because it offers far greater value for the money.

A home-based service business retains all the advantages of freelancing and is much higher on the service provider ladder in the business world. It can grow beyond its initial offering into a company with multiple service lines and a team of professionals. Output doesn’t depend solely on one person’s abilities andexpertise. Clients view the provider as a company rather than as an individual, and are more likely to expand the relationship over time than they would with freelancers.

The bottom line is that from a buyer’s standpoint, there’s no reason to hire a freelancer these days when a home-based service business offers more benefits for essentially the same price.

Today, it doesn’t cost any more time or money to operate a home-based service business than it does to be a freelancer.

12. It is difficult for a freelancer to build a 6- or 7-figure business.

A freelancer is generally incapable of building a six-figure business. One reason is that this kind of earning power requires that the solo practitioner command higher fees, or that additional personnel be included in order to multiply capabilities. In either case, the freelancer stops being a freelancer and becomes aconsultant or a business owner.

There is another much more significant wall that keeps a freelancer from breaking into six figures. It’s what I think of as the starving artist mind-set, characterized by a “I must suffer to succeed” mantra. The starvingartist is in love with the drama of the struggle to succeed. The pain of failure feels good to this mind-set.

Also, freelancers think small. They are risk-averse, preferring to stay with what they know rather thangrowing new skills. They are hyperfrugal, often cutting corners where it matters most (web site, brochures, computer, applications, other tools).

Small thinking infests the way that freelancers interact with clients. Many freelancers I have known over the years are extremely sensitive about being “mistreated” by clients. They get huffy about being treated with respect, and get really nasty about how stupid their clients can be. I have heard freelancers talk about the companies and people for whom they work as if they were enemies to be conquered with rather thanpartners in whose interest they work.

Finally, many freelancers see their work as more of a hobby than a business, which also puts a cap on their revenue levels. As a client, I have had freelancers disappear into thin air in the middle of a project, tell me the day after the deadline they agreed to that they aren’t going to do the job after all, and neglect to keep me posted on progress. This kind of behavior won’t build a 6-figure business. Heck, I’m surprised it even brings in five figures!

Many freelancerssee their work as more of a hobbythan a business.

13. A home-based service business has a competitive advantage over a freelancer.

A home-based service business can out-compete a freelancer for the same reason that a freelancer can’t earn six figures: mind-set.

A home-based service business owner has a different view of the market than a freelancer. Where afreelancer wants to keep the status quo, a home-based service business owner wants to stretch and grow, which makes them perceive and act on opportunities quite differently.

The home-based service business owner markets the company as a whole rather than one individual, and interacts with clients as a peer and a partner, not as an adversary or enemy. Home-based service business owners are more risk tolerant that freelancers, and will invest money in activities or initiatives that have a good chance of paying off.

Because of their low overhead, a home-based service business can offer the same services as a freelancer at about the same price. And because the business can often offer other services as well, the client will get far more value from bringing them on board to provide a range of services than from hiring and managing multiple freelancers.

Look at it from the buyer’s point of view: Why deal with freelancers when a home-based service business can do so much more without a lot of extra cost?

A home-basedservice business owner has a different view of the market than a freelancer.

14. A home-based service business offers a compelling value proposition to clients.

A home-based service business offers something that all business want in their service providers: Value.

Because of their low overhead, home-based service businesses can compete on price with their “on the street” counterparts and can compete on professionalism and expertise with freelancers.

So, a company that procures services virtually pays less for comparable quality...and that’s a prettycompelling value proposition!

A home-basedservice businessoffers... Value.

15. The internet has spawned new marketing channels that can speed the growth of a home-based service business.

The biggest difference between the “on the street” business I owned the 1980s and the business I run today is the internet. Like many other home-based business owners, I use the internet as my primary marketing channel. But unlike many of my peers, I have grown revenues to six figures in less than two years. Theprimary, possibly only, reason I’ve been able to do this is Elance.

Elance.com is an online project board where buyers of services can post requests for bids, receive bids from the global services talent pool, and have access to key information from the bidders to make the rightselection. Between them, Elance and its primary competitor, Guru.com, have taken over the online services brokerage market. Even though there are other boards, none of them have anywhere near the same muscle power of these two.

With Elance, I can keep my sales pipeline full all the time. I can post more bids in an hour than I used to do in a month. And because Elance has a secure financial transaction feature, I can work for clients all over the world and get paid via credit card through the service.

Elance charges me a fee for the privilege of bidding on the projects it offers, and also a commission for every job I get awarded. In essence, they are my sales staff, and I don’t begrudge a penny that I pay to get access to clients that I would never encounter without them.

Though my client list now includes companies that don’t use Elance, every single one of them is no more than three degrees removed from the online board. Clients that came from Elance have referred me on to their associates, and some have become strategic partners.

With Elance, I can keep my sales pipe-line full all the time.

16. A home-based service business can log more billable time, which more than offsets its lower rates.

To repeat points previously made, virtual jobs don’t require anywhere near the same amount of time toprocure, can be won without traveling, and don’t require changing out of my sweatpants. And I can bid on more virtual jobs in an hour than I ever can with live business development.

Because I spend more time at the keyboard than driving around town, I can log more billable hours in a work week with virtual work. With savings on the expense side and additional time on the billing card, the lower virtual rate at least equals (if not exceeds) the on-the-street rate when it gets to the bottom of my profit/loss statement.

I can log morebillable hours in a work week withvirtual work.

17. A home-based service business allows an “anytime/anywhere” workflow that opens up schedules and allows flexibility in the work day.

“Have WiFi, will travel,” has become my motto. Because of the way my personal life is set up, I need to be able to do business from the house, from our boat in the marina, and from our RV. And because I love to travel, I want to be able to work anywhere I go so that I’m not trading revenue for time off.

I went to London last year on a business/pleasure trip. During the week when I wasn’t in meetings, I holed up at the Starbucks near my hotel and worked on projects. My clients didn’t even know I was out of the country!

Last year I spent St. Patrick’s Day at a local pub with free WiFi. While I worked on delivering on the day’sdeadlines, I listened to Irish music, soaked up the party atmosphere, and generally enjoyed myself. And once the deadlines were met, I treated myself to a pint of Guinness!

And I’m writing these particular words from King Mountain Ranch in the Arapaho National Forest inColorado’s Rocky Mountains. I highly recommend it as a working vacation!

The internet, and especially the wireless version of it, allows a home-based business owner to do their work anywhere and anytime, which lets them schedule around other parts of their lives without losing a beat. I have a virtual fax service that lets me send and receive faxes online, and there’s always Skype for the phone calls that my cell phone can’t make.

With my WiFi-enabled laptop computer and my cell phone, I am a walking office, and my clients can reach me no matter where I am. I have more freedom to build my schedule and manage my time than I’ve ever had before. It’s great!

The internet allowsa home-basedbusiness owner todo their work any-where and anytime.

18. A home-based service business owner can honor priorities and goals from other aspects of their life without adversely impacting revenues.

That “anywhere, any time” aspect of home-based business ownership makes is possible to balance thepersonal and professional sides of life.

• Ahome-basedservicebusinessistailormadeformotherswhoareathometakingcareoftheir families and who want to stay in (or re-enter) the business world.

• Itisagreatoptionforsomeonewhohasweariedofcorporatelifeandwantstodrivetheirown fortunes without spending all their savings to get going.

• Itisperfectforsomeonelikeme,whoistoorestlesstostayinoneplaceforlongbutunabletojust take off for days on end without attending to business.

A home-based service business will let you enjoy your kids and all their activities. It accommodates the need to care for elderly parents. It adapts to any lifestyle, all without sacrificing revenues.A home-based

service business adapts to anylifestyle, all without sacrificing revenues.

19. Success in sweatpants offers an unprecedented level of personal and professional freedom.

Owning a home-based service business spells F-R-E-E-D-O-M: Freedom to pursue your own goals, freedom to grow your own venture, freedom to construct your life exactly the way you want it.

I could not achieve freedom when I worked for someone else, and I’m betting you’ve found the same to be true for you. It is one of the reasons I started 4R Marketing. And it is why I now coach other home-basedservice businesses under the Success in Sweatpants banner.

Buying home-based services also spells freedom: Freedom to select from a global pool of qualified talent and freedom to get the best value for your money.

And, really that’s it. It’s all about freedom—no excuses!

I could not achieve freedom when I worked forsomeone else.

These theses make the case for the home-based service business, but they don’t get into the nuts and bolts of building and operating a thriving company, nor the ins and outs of selecting a home-based serviceprovider with confidence.

If you want more insight into how to build a 6-figure home-based service business, or how to takeadvantage of the home-based service market as a buyer, I can help.

Success in Sweatpants is my coaching practice, focused entirely on home-based service business owners. I offer one-on-one coaching services, along with self-study and group courses. As a certified Book Yourself Solid® coach, I base my services on the Book Yourself Solid system for marketing and selling, the system I used to book 4R Marketing solid. It’s a simple and efficient method to get clear on your business and get the most from your marketing activities.

4R Marketing is going strong. Today, my services align with my coaching practice, and I help clients with whatever they need to get their marketing in gear, whether it’s simply writing their web site copy or all the way to planning and implementing a marketing strategy that works. If you need online, offline, or socialmarketing assistance, let me know!

As the “bert” part of Swimbert, a marketing joint venture, my associate Karen Swim and I create websites that work. Using the Wordpress platform, we build out a site that a home-based service business owner needs to connect and engage with their target market, then turn it over to them to self-manage. Ourpackages are designed to be cost-effective and marketing-effective. I offer a free 20-minute websiteassessment, so if you want some input on your site, let me know!

Speaking of Swimbert, Karen and I are sponsors of No Guru Zone, which endorses coaches and consultants who take a real-world, walkin’ the talk approach with their clients. We also host a BlogTalkRadio show of the same name.

If you have any questions or comments, I’d love to hear from you. You can reach me attrish@trishlambert.com, on Twitter @trishlambert, and on LinkedIn and Facebook.

Where to from Here...

Ebook design by