One of the first things you do when starting a business is to have business cards made up. The next thing you need to do is give them out. If you keep them in the card holders or the box in your office, they are not doing what you got them for.

You should send a card out with any correspondence you send. You should tell all your friends and family what you are doing. Give them a bunch of cards to give to others.

Do you go to a dry cleaner? A special car repair place? What about the grocery store, do you like to go to a particular checker? All of these people should have your business card, and know what you do.

One of the first things we tell our PFYS students to do is to get their name out there. We tell them to get cards made up and give them out to everyone. With lease purchasing we emphasize that we offer referral fees. For example, we gave cards (a bunch of them) to our video store. We told the owner that if we do a deal with someone who got the card from his store he would get 10% of whatever the assignment fee was. Well, guess what, he received a $500 check he wasn't expecting. Well you can imagine his surprise and shock when we dropped it off. He was ecstatic, and told
everyone and we mean everyone about us! In fact this particular owner received numerous checks from us.

Remember, for those of you in creative real estate, or wanting to get into real estate we show you how to do this as a business. This avoids you always having to look for the deals, we show you how to get the deals to come to you.

So even if you are not doing creative real estate, think about a way you can set up a referral program. For example,let's say you do manicures. Give your cards out to a hair salon and tell that owner that for everyone she/he sends you, you will pay a $10 referral fee; and will recommend their salon for haircuts. Or you could both work together and give discounts to each others' customers. There are a number of scenarios that could work for a salon and manicurist.

Use your imagination, and you can come up with many different ways to work with others and have them promote your business.

Just don't forget your business cards do you no good sitting in your office. You need to give them out EVERYWHERE.

Copyright DeFiore Enterprises 2002

Sue And Chuck DeFiore

Chuck and Sue DeFiore are the founders and principals of DeFiore Enterprises. DeFiore Enterprises is comprised of the following divisions: Home Business Consulting, Real Estate Investments, Publishing and Coaching.

Chuck and Sue DeFiore are investors, consultants, and coach/mentors. They specialize in two areas. The first, a niche of Creative Real Estate known as Lease Purchasing; the other, in the establishment of home-based businesses. Through their consultations and investments in Lease Purchasing, they help sellers move their property in 30 days or less; and help buyers get into their dream home today, that they can buy tomorrow. Chuck and Sue are active both locally and nationally.

They are the authors of "Who Makes It Happen, We Do: Back On The Road To Success With Creative Real Estate", and "The Anatomy Of The Deal Series: The Co-Operative Strategy: How You Can Generate Quick Cash Flow In The Creative Real Estate Niche Of Lease Purchasing" and "The Anatomy Of The Deal: Consulting Your Way To A Six Figure Income In Creative Real Estate".

They have published numerous articles on lease purchasing and have five extraordinary manuals, considered to be the most complete in the industry. In addition, they have produced tapes sets on Lease Purchasing, Home-Based Businesses and their extraordinary Expert Tape Series.

They have developed a revolutionary coaching program. The Partnering For Your Success coaching program is geared towards those folks who want or need to change their financial situation. This is a unique program where you work with Chuck and Sue for one full year. It has a low initial cost and together they share in your success.

They are renowned innovators for the home-based business market, through their newsletter, Home Business Solutions, and their support group. They have coached individuals in business start up and all facets of home office development.

They have written numerous articles on operating a home-based business, and have been written about in New Business Opportunities Magazine, Small Business Opportunities Magazine and Income Opportunities Magazine to mention a few.

Chuck and Sue’s motto is "Who Makes It Happen, We Do"

The DeFiore’s currently reside in Fresno, CA where they operate a successful Lease Purchasing and consulting business.