I originally started my own computer training business back in May of 1990. At the time, my husband was out of a job. I had a 3 year old daughter and a 5-month-old baby boy. I kept reading in the paper looking for jobs for my husband, and possibly myself. Everywhere I looked, jobs were calling for knowledge of WordPerfect, Lotus, and PageMaker.

I had majored in Information Management in college, so I was well-versed with these programs and had them on my own home computer. I did not want to leave my children in day care, but the more and more I looked at the want ads, the more I thought, "I can do these jobs."

My husband was having very little success, so I went on my first interview for a job that required knowledge of WordPerfect, Lotus and PageMaker. When I got home from the interview, I realized that I just couldn't leave my children, and go off to work. I knew if I did, I'd be in the job world for the rest of my life, and my children would grow up without me being there to experience it.

As I sat down in my kitchen and thought over my situation, the idea came to me to put an advertisement in classified section of the paper offering training on the computer programs listed in the various want ads.

I picked up the phone and placed the advertisement. It cost me a whopping $5.00 to run the ad in the next Sunday paper. The advertisement ran, and I immediately began getting calls. My first two students came from that one $5.00 Sunday advertisement. As a matter of fact, I didn't even have my materials ready for these students when they signed up. I had to hurry and design a course structure. I must admit, I flew by the seat of my pants for the first class I taught in each software package.

I kept running my ads and refining them until I came up with a system that worked consistently. Over the next three years I made many mistakes and learned a lot about software that I never knew in the beginning. I was also able to make the money my family needed without having to leave my children in a daycare or with sitters.

For more info on the author, see Home PC, Jan. 1995, "Secret of Their Success" or Click Here

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This course is a compilation of all the things that I have learned about the training business that I wish I had known when I started it. It is a step-by-step guide for anyone who wants to run a part or full-time training business from their home. You won't get rich overnight, but if you want to start out in your own business immediately making $320-$720 a week (at $20-$30/hour) by working only 16-24 hours per week you'll be glad you bought this course.

You will have access to this course for one full year in which time you can take the course at your own pace and ask questions as needed.

Also included with the course are advertisements, course outlines, brochures, and letters ready for you to customize and use in your new business. They are all saved in Rich Text Format (RTF) and can be imported by most any word processing program. All you have to do is insert your company address and print them out. These documents are a great time-saver not only for the beginner, but also for the established computer trainer.

Two types of training businesses are described in this course -- training from your home, and training at the customer's location. Each type of business warrants different marketing methods, equipment, and fee structures. These will be discussed in detail.

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Why this Business is Recession Proof

I started in my training business in May of 1990. That fall, there was a downturn in the economy that left middle-managers out of work. This was the best season ever for my computer training business. I was working 50 hours a week training 1-3 people at a time in a brand new business. When downturns in the economy occur, and individuals are laid off, the job market becomes even more competitive. Technical competance becomes a deciding factor in who gets what jobs. As a computer trainer, this works to your advantage because people need you to help them upgrade their skills.

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You can either train from your home or you can train people at their home or office on their computer. Each type of training has a different target market and thus a different marketing strategy. Each type will be discussed in detail.

1. You can take a home office tax deduction if you have a designated area of your home from which you teach and work.

2. This type of training has very low overhead. You won't have to drive all over town using gas and time commuting to different places to train.

3. You can enjoy being at home and doing things around the house when you are not working.

4. Your wardrobe can be much more relaxed. Instead of dressing up in a suit or dress to go to a business to train, you can wear slacks and a t-shirt to train people in your home.

5. If you have children, this is a great way to stay home with them. For example, when my boys were younger, I did a lot of training in the afternoons when they took a nap. Or I'd train in the evenings and on Saturdays when my husband was home to watch the children. This gave my students a variety of times for training without me having to pay a baby sitter or day care.

6. Once you have your courses down, very little preparation time is necessary so you can spend more time with your family.

1. You have to be good about making yourself work. You need to be self motivated. Although it doesn't take much motivation to teach a scheduled class, it does take self motivation to follow through with marketing -- such as phone calls and mailers.

2. It sometimes feels like you can never go home. With your work and home life in the same location, it's hard to separate them.

3. You will have to do a little extra work to maintain credibility. Try to look as professional as you can in writing and sales materials to compensate for this. Also be willing to provide guarantees and references.

With this type of training, you can help people customize their programs as you teach them. This is a more interesting experience for you, and you will learn a lot about a variety of business and personal needs. It also gives you a chance to get out of the house.

As more people are buying personal computers, this option continues to grow rapidly. This avenue makes a perfect complement to teaching from your home. For example, I started out teaching just from my home, then as more of my students went into the job world, they told their employers about me, and I started doing on-site training for these businesses. I usually taught individuals at home, and businesses at their locations. Individuals also like to be taught in their homes. People enjoy this private tutoring.

1. Don't try to pretend you are too big. Admit you run from your home and this makes you better able to give individual attention and an inexpensive rate. I refered to myself as a "personal tutor".

2. Don't seem too small, because then some people think that if you run from your home and do one-on-one training you must be swamped and don't have time for them. For example, I once went on a local talk show and spoke about computer training and my business. I got some work from this, but one lady told me she hesitated to call, because she figured I would be too busy to teach her since I taught one-on-one, and since I had the TV exposure.

3. When people call to set up an appointment for a class, never have time for them this week -- even if you really do. The farther you put people off, the more successful they think you are, and the more they want to take a class from you. If they are in a hurry, say something like , "Well, I guess I could squeeze you in next Thursday..." I've noticed that when I've been really busy and had to put people off for a month or so, they immediately change from "thinking about taking a class" to wanting to sign up now.

4. Don't spend a lot of money on advertising. Large advertisements in newspapers and shoppers don't pay off. In this course I'll teach you a more economical (downright cheap) way to get business.

5. The yellow pages sound like a good idea, don't they? Well, they may be and they may not. But remember, you have to have a business line to get a free yellow pages listing. This business line will cost you a base of about $60 per month. Then, if you get a bigger ad, it can cost you around $85 more a month for a one-inch column ad. If you are doing well enough over a 6-12 month period to judge that you can support your business and the yellow pages ad -- even if it brings you no business at all -- then it's worth it. But, if you are barely making your salary, don't do it. This business has peaks and valleys. For example, in the summer months you may get no business from your yellow pages ad. Can you afford to spend $200 a month on phone and yellow pages without any income coming from the yellow pages? If you're barely supporting your lifestyle on what you're making without the Yellow Pages, then the Yellow Pages may sink you. Remember you pay for it every month whether you make anything from it or not.

6. If you decide to go for the Yellow Pages ad, keep it fairly small, unless you are growing rapidly. The Yellow Pages company tends to lead you into bigger and bigger advertisements each year. By raising your rates on your current ad size and telling you that for just a bit more, you can have even bigger ads, they lead you into more costly advertising that may not pay off.

7. Always ask people when they call where they heard about you so that you can make a note of referrals and the success of your marketing campaign. Always give a thank you note or a phone call to people who send you referrals. This keeps up good will, and they will send you more.