Friday, January 16, 2009

Re-Opened for Business

So here's the thing: my job is in jeopardy. The old company was acquired by a new company and they're shredding my job and paycheck to the point where I don't even recognize them anymore. I'm just sick about it and have been searching desperately for a new job, but those are not so easy to come by.

But....I own a very small medical transcription service which has been toddling along unassumingly for a couple of years now (I've been in business overall since 1997). It used to be bigger, but when I lost a large client to electronic medical records, I didn't work to replace them but instead took a job as a supervisor at a large national service.

Now that my job is about to be gone, I suppose the reasonable thing is to try to ramp up my service again and start searching for new clients. I run the business from my home, all audio and documents are digital and run through a secure site. Clients can either call in their dictation or use a digital handheld and upload. It's a really sweet setup and works like a charm.

But the problem is that I'm not a salesperson. I'm a great transcriptionist and supervisor, but I suck at marketing and sales.

So how do I go about selling my business and finding new clients? What's the best way to market online and target the audiences that would be looking for a medical transcription service?

I'm hoping someone out there is a sales/marketing genius and is willing to share the love....um I mean advice.

8 comments:

Claire said...

I hope this works for you; I've been thinking about doing something from home, too, since I lost my job. I have no marketing ideas, sadly.

Angie Ledbetter said...

Find a sales dynamo and partner up with him/her. Win-win! You could also offer current clients a job discount for referals.

Kathryn Magendie said...

I was goign to say "I bet Angie will have an idea" - she comes up with the best ideas, whereas I'm always the deer in the headlights.

But, I am hoping your business grows!

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Jennifer Taylor said...

When I was laid off in 2000, I decided to freelance from home. One thing I did besides create a website and upload my resume and work on every writing site and professional service site possible, I joined www.elance.com. Once you build a platform on there, you can do pretty well. It does cost a fee to be on elance, but it is a real market where you can pick up business. You would bid on jobs, just like people bid on projects at ebay. Elance was actually bought by ebay, I think. I hope the best for you.

Terri Tiffany said...

I'm so sorry for what you are going through. I too am job hunting since my husband's layoff and it is really hard. We are going the self-employment route at the same time and I did start a website for my husband. He actually got a call from it. I did it through Yahoo business as it was cheap. I'll be praying for you!

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