VOLITION Home Business Blog

Evaluating Your Business Idea

2009-07-27T13:50:00.000-07:00

You may have several ideas for a new business or only one. Before you start pouring your effort and money into an idea you need to see if it will stand up to some analysis. Try a SWOT analysis. This requires you to think about the Strengths, Weaknesses, and Opportunities your business will have, and the Threats it may face.

A high level of skill with a range of equipment, or a friend that is prepared to loan you some money would be strengths. If you have never run a business before that could be a weakness. A ready, enthusiastic market would be an opportunity, while several businesses almost identical to the one you are thinking of starting or a weakening economy would be threats. This type of analysis can show you if your business idea is viable and should encourage you to exploit opportunities and help you decide how to tackle threats.

Decide on your Unique Selling Proposition...

Why should a potential customer come to you and not a rival? Will you specialize in a certain area? You should be able to identify where and how you can contact your potential customers and have an idea of the demand for your type of service or product.

Write a Business Plan...

There are many versions and it seems every bank and business advisor has slightly different requirements. However every version should keep you focused on what you want to do with your business and the strategies to achieve this in a certain time frame. It should identify the services or products you intend to offer initially, and those you hope to expand into later. Remember the plan is a working document. If you miss deadlines you should be able to modify the plan to get your business back on course.

Once you have decided on the type of business you want to start do some research to see if there are any gaps in the local market. Find out your competitor's pricing. You could get friends to ask for quotes from the competition, or use a more direct approach and have discussions with a local expert. Remember, a company could be a potential competitor or a potential joint venture partner. Perhaps you could approach them with an idea for a product or service that would complement theirs.

When setting prices do not immediately assume undercutting is the only solution. You need enough income to cover your overheads and a low price may give the impression that your skills and work have little value.

Cash flow is another important element in starting and running a business. Make sure you do not have to make too big an investment before you get paid. You should know how much you have to earn to at least break even.

After working through your business plan and giving cash flow a good deal of thought you should know whether your proposed business is viable.

The Benefits of Outsourcing Your Business Functions

2009-07-20T13:29:00.000-07:00

Whether you own a small or large business, chances are very good that you can benefit from outsourcing some of your business functions to outside vendors. Ideally, you want to be in a position where you are working on your business, rather than in your business.

Running and operating a business positioned for growth requires many different key functions. For starters, you must handle accounting, administration, customer service, as well as sales and marketing. Many new small business owners attempt to tackle all of these functions on their own, and find that they work long hours and can begin to burn out quickly. By outsourcing some of your routine tasks, you can leverage your time to spend on the functions that you do best in order to grow your business.

When trying to determine whether outsourcing will benefit your company, you need to determine how much money your time is worth. A simple way to figure this out is to estimate how much money you would like to make in a year, and divide that into productive work hours. Most of us are only productive about 2-3 hours a day. For example, if you'd like to make $200,000 this year, and you work 3 productive hours each day, 5 days a week, then your time is worth roughly $260 an hour. With this scenario, you could benefit from outsourcing any function that you can pay someone to do for less than $260 an hour.

In order to outsource effectively, you must understand your own business and processes. Take some time to write down job descriptions for different functions, as well as the processes you use in your business to accomplish certain tasks (like how you enter your invoices and receipts, how you generate new leads and clients, etc.). As part of this exercise, include clear expectations of what you hope to accomplish. A clear vision and business plan is key to setting up clear expectations. Once you have written down the job descriptions, you'll have a better idea of what you would like to outsource first.

There's no hard and fast rule as to which job functions you should outsource first, but many business owners like to hand off the functions that they enjoy the least. If you really dislike customer service, you may want to find a customer service rep first.

You have many options when looking for companies or services that will handle your outsourcing needs. Check with others in your industry to see who they use to outsource their functions. Many outsourcing firms not only specialize in certain functions (like customer service), but also in certain industries (like real estate). You can use freelancers, virtual assistants, or any number of outsourcing firms.

Many business owners hesitate to outsource some of their functions because they want to have complete control over their business, or they believe that it will be too difficult to train someone to do what they need. If you fall into this category, you may want to try outsourcing some very simple, routine tasks to get started. It will be well worth the effort!

When choosing an outsourcing firm, or freelancer, make sure you set clear expectations up front. Share your vision about how you see that function growing your business, and offer incentives for work well done, or work done under budget, or before a deadline.

In addition, take time to properly document how the work should be performed. This can be done easily with screen capture video software, and/or written processes and procedures.

Taking the time to properly train and motivate your outsourced personnel will benefit your business greatly. By now, you will see that outsourcing some of your business functions will help free up your time to work on your business, rather than in your business.

Build Excellent Lifetime Relationships!

2009-07-13T14:25:00.000-07:00

Do you realize relationships begin shortly after birth and are ongoing ways of life for every person on the planet?

An important part of life depends on how we develop our relationships with others. Perhaps, if we consider examples of this development, a better understanding will enable us to think more clearly before we interact with others.

Examples:

1. At birth we acknowledge a relationship with our mothers

2. Growing up, we build friendships with family members

3. In school, relationships with peers and teachers are normal

4. Most begin their dating relationships along the way

5. Searching for first employment, relationships must be formed

6. To market products, relationships are tried, tested, used

Most sports require close relationships to build a winning team. How far would the space programs have gotten without close working relationships? Would we marry without an excellent relationship with our partner?

As people mature in life, many relate an emptiness that is often difficult to understand or comprehend if a relationship has not been established with our creator. This personal relationship will fill a void that no other can fill. This is the most important relationship of all in every life, for complete fulfillment and joy.

The purpose for these examples are to enhance our willingness and desire to work on developing meaning in our lives, our families, and our businesses to become better persons and better marketers with positive relationship building goals.

A few very important traits in relationships are integrity or honesty, trust, and a willingness to open ourselves to others and be examined.

Have you ever seen failure? Perhaps it was caused by the lack of trust or integrity in another. Can relationship building with other persons prevent failure? Would your business become more successful with many great relationships? Think on these statements and make the adjustments in your life that you feel may improve your disposition.

These basic groundwork ideas on relationships are written to jog thinking and perhaps increase your business skills until they direct you to where success in business is inevitable and joy in your work becomes a normal lifestyle.

You may find varied and rotating articles on relationship building on our website, along with tips you can possibly use for your business.

Many times along the path of life, failures occur. It is good news to recognize and know the importance of earning good relationships during these trials and to be well prepared for the needed improvements.

Expect the best, prepare for the worst, and take what comes, is a great buffer for the many trials that happen in life.

Great relationships developed over a lifetime, yield great rewards!

Why Should You Have a Business Plan?

2009-07-06T13:49:00.000-07:00

Are you planning to start a new business? Or are you considering expanding your current business and require a bank loan or investment from outsiders?

If you are going to look for an investment of capital it is quite likely that you will be required to have a business plan. If you are starting a business, despite the work involved, a business plan can prepare you for the obstacles ahead and help ensure your success.

A business plan is something that many small businesses fail to create, however, many business owners are adamant that having a written business plan is one of the keys to their present success. Creating a business plan forces you to contemplate possible obstacles to your business and prepares you to find solutions that will help you to overcome them.

To find investors or get a bank loan, they will want to see that you have the experience or resources to run the business. They will want to see your projected income as well as your suggested repayment plan already laid out. Taking the time to do this is not only important for them, but it gives you a measuring tool to verify if your business is growing properly. You can gage your success on how close to the plan your business has actually performed. Perhaps you'll do worse, or perhaps you'll do better, either way it helps you determine how well your business is getting on.

If you have never seen a business plan before you may be concerned that is is too difficult a proposition for you to manage on your own.

While there are services available where you can hire someone to write a business plan for you, depending on your needs it may be wise to familiarize yourself with a business plan's layout. This will not only help you to provide the necessary information, but may encourage you to try your own hand at it.

There's a free tool at www.bdc.ca which will assist you in creating a business plan. Some of the topics you will be required to explain are your Market, Customer, Competition, Marketing Plan, Research & Development along with financial forecasts. You may consider hiring someone to help you with your financial sheets after completing the written part of the Business Plan.

Your Business Plan will become your guide and silent business partner - indicating where you need to improve and helping you stay one step ahead of your competition. Make it a priority to have this crucial road map for your business.

Team Building Icebreakers

2009-06-29T13:44:00.000-07:00

The first challenge you will encounter on any teambuilding exercise is personal introductions. Members of the teambuilding course need to become acquainted with each other and the course leader. These initial exercises are commonly called 'icebreakers' as they break down any barriers between team members.

The most popular icebreaker is for the team leader to arrange the team members in a circle and ask them one by one to stand up and tell the group a little about themselves. Each member of the team will stand in turn and give their name and some brief details about their work and/or hobbies by way of an introduction. If the members of the teambuilding course work for the same large company, often it is a good idea to ask them to describe the department they work in and their job role. In this way it allows other members of the team to position them in their mind. Sometimes the team members may already have relationships that they are not aware of - possibly they have spoken on the telephone, or have emailed each other in the past as part of their job function.

Another great icebreaking activity is to assign each member of the team a partner whom they have never met before. The pairs are given a short time (10 minutes is suggested) to get to know a little bit about each other. The icebreaking task is then for each team member to describe their partner to the group.

At icebreaking sessions it is also a good idea for the team leader to encourage laughter. Laughter and humor are great icebreakers. Possibly each member could be given a sheet of jokes and asked to stand and tell their favorite joke to the group, and then give the reasons why they chose that joke. As well as breaking the ice this is a clever way of learning a little about a person - the reasons they give for choosing the joke will give a little insight to their personality.

Remember when leading a teambuilding session the importance of icebreaking. This is the most important part of the course and sets the foundation for the work you will do over the coming hours or days. Setting your icebreaking session around breakfast or coffee can help as these are natural times of social interaction - watch as team members help each other with the simple task of making and pouring coffee.

Are You A Born Leader

2009-06-22T14:31:00.000-07:00

People are not born with any particular skill. We are all born afraid of falling and of loud noises, but after that everything else is learned. So it is to become a leader.

Leaders are made not born. Leadership skills are acquired over a period of time based on several factors. Here are 5 of them.

1. Leaders come in all different shapes and sizes. It is interesting to study effective leaders. At face value they are all different. They all have developed their own style based on their own personality and what works for them.

2. A true leader accepts responsibility. Everything from how they speak to how they act is part of being responsible. It is easy to follow them because you know where they are going and know they will lead you as well.

3. Leaders work at being leaders. They are always improving their skills and learning from the situations they are in. They study people and have learned how to effectively interact with them to get what they want.

4. Leadership starts at the top, but is best achieved when developing a team atmosphere. Leaders know they can do better when people are working together for one common goal. Sharing in leadership is part of this process. Making everyone accountable for what they do, but judging success on the overall efforts of everyone.

5. Situations call for different types of leadership. A well-rounded leader is able to adapt to their surroundings and lead accordingly. Coaching a football team is an example of this. Sometimes the players need a kick in the rear and other times they need a pat on the back.

6. Leaders are respected for what they have accomplished in the past. A real leader can speak from a position of practical experience and know they will be listened to because they speak from that vantage point. A respected leader is able to command more from his people than a leader who is not.

7. Leaders seek opinions and compile ideas before forming a game plan. Good leaders know that they cannot come up with every idea that will work. By allowing input they are able to make a more responsible decision.

As you can see leaders have skills and they use them to accomplish something every single day. You can become a good leader if you are willing to work and to learn how to become one.

Teambuilding for Any Business

2009-06-15T13:34:00.000-07:00

Teambuilding can be an important way of developing your businesses most valuable assets, its employees. Especially when hiring new employees or starting a new business, building a relationship within your team is of prime importance.

There are many companies that offer teambuilding courses, both residential and in house. Teambuilding courses can be expensive, so let us explore the options so that you are sure to choose the right teambuilding exercise or teambuilding course for your staff and company.

In-house teambuilding, done on the site of your company, is the cheapest option as you have no accommodation fees to pay. If you need to keep the cost really low there are many teambuilding guides available on the internet that will allow your human resources department to create their own teambuilding course suited to your companies needs - all without employing an external teambuilding consultant.

Having a teambuilding consultant visit your company for a day or a week (the length of course is something we will discuss in a later article) can be cost effective however if you have no spare resource in your HR or personnel department. This can also be more convenient for employees who may not prefer to stay overnight away from home.

Teambuilding exercises usually begin with an icebreaker, which is a term used to describe a 'getting to know each other' session. Each person will usually be asked to stand up and describe themselves in some detail. This is often surprising even when you have worked with a person for many years as there may be many things that you did not know about them.

Other exercises throughout your teambuilding course will focus on interaction between members of the team. Common exercises include building bridges or crossing rivers. Tasks undertaken on teambuilding courses should be ones that would be impossible to complete as an individual, but easily manageable as a team working together.

Often members of a team will be struck by how simple exercises draw on the different strengths of team members. One person in the team may be a natural leader, another has good analytical or engineering skills, and another may have great communication or personal skills. All different skills come into play and will be brought out of your team members as they work through the exercises.

Often after teambuilding sessions members find they have new found skills to apply to work situations, and are ready for new challenges, which is great for business!

8 Ways to Gain Expert Recognition

2009-06-08T14:31:00.000-07:00

No matter what business you are in it always helps to be seen as an expert. If you were calling someone to fix a drain or sell your house you would approach the person you saw as most credible and reputable in that area of expertise.

To become an expert takes hard work and experience. It can involve study or the honing of practical skills. It demands high standards of work. But after all this effort will you be perceived as an expert? If you feel you've earned the mantle of expert but are not recognized as one, here are eight ways to start establishing your reputation.

Publish a book or series of reports or articles

The internet has made this much easier. You can now create an ebook that can be downloaded without having to involve a publisher. There are ezine owners always looking for good quality articles and reports for their ezines. A well-written book or series of articles will establish your reputation as an expert in your field.

Publish a newsletter

Set one up on the internet and distribute it to your customers. This is an excellent way to regularly keep your name in front of your prospects as an authority on your subject.

Write press releases

Used correctly these can gain you a lot of positive publicity. Make sure the press release looks like newsworthy information and not like an advertisement.

Create a website

Set up a user-friendly website that will appeal to customers and you have expanded the reach of your reputation. Keep it timely and informative, and people will continue to return to your site. If you don't know how to set up a website there are plenty of web designers who do. Alternatively enquire at a college teaching web design. Some students might want to build a portfolio.

Join associations

If you are a member of an association it will enhance your credibility. But don't just be a member. Be an active member. This will build your reputation among your peers and lead to useful introductions. Membership can have many benefits, and it will certainly keep you up to date in your field.

Networking

You can boost your reputation and influence by speaking to the right people. Keep your name in front of your prospects. Organize mutually beneficial ventures. You cannot predict what may come from a contact so make as many as you can.

Public Speaking

Even speaking to a local group of people can establish you as an expert and get you referrals that may lead to a wider audience. If you are not sure you can speak in public, preparation and rehearsal are the keys to success. Make sure your presentation is aimed at the right level, follows a sensible sequence and will not sound like a dry textbook-like monologue. Write your main points on small cards so you are not relying solely on your memory and start in front of a small audience.

Teach workshops or seminars

If you have knowledge that people would like to tap into you can pass on your expertise. If your presentation is well planned you will be seen as an authority in your subject. You will also meet people who are likely to recommend you to others. If you are teaching a hot topic you will also be gaining a useful income stream.

Any of these methods will start building your reputation as an expert. Use them all correctly and you will gain the sort of reputation that will have potential clients approaching you without having to seek them out.

Strategies for Business Success - Buy or Lease?

2009-06-01T13:29:00.000-07:00

You are starting or expanding your business - great! But you are looking at many more demands on your finances: office equipment, tools, furniture, computers and peripherals, vehicles, etc. Deciding whether to buy or lease what you need might seem overwhelming.

Leasing is tempting to many, as it requires less cash up front. Having enough cash is essential for survival when beginning or expanding your business, as you will also need to invest in many intangibles such as marketing, licensing, or hiring help. But, leasing usually costs more in the long run, often quite a bit more, and you are normally committed to a contracted time period. There are advantages and disadvantages to both.

Let's look at some of the pros and cons:

Some Advantages of Leasing:

1. Lower Costs at Start-Up

Few businesses have "more than enough" cash on hand, especially when just beginning or expanding. Lower start-up costs can give you more time to get settled into the marketplace and get the word out about your products and services, giving you a much better chance of surviving those risky first years. You can get a lot more for a lot less immediate expenditure by leasing. Buying 20 computers will cost you thousands of dollars; leasing 20 computers may only run you a few hundred dollars per month.

2. Support and Maintenance

Leased equipment usually includes ongoing support, maintenance, upgrading, and possibly even training for you and your staff. You can even "lease" your business management software and services by way of online subscription. This can enable even the smallest business to have the latest software versions automatically provided, and support staff on-call in the event of trouble. (You might be amazed to learn how much time is lost and headaches created in many small businesses by confusing and challenging management and record keeping software and systems.) With hardware, it is far easier, for example, to call the lessor and have a broken copier replaced immediately than to wait for the repair serviceman for your purchased copier, wait out the downtime, and then face the bill for his services.

3. Flexibility

When you buy something, even if your needs change or better technology becomes available, your investment is tied up in the purchased item. Leasing may allow you to update or replace your equipment or furniture when you need to, or even get rid of the commitment if you no longer need the item.

4. Tax Advantage

Most lease payments can be fully deducted in the year you paid them, whereas major equipment purchases may have to be depreciated over several years. Since your money will likely be tighter in the beginning months and years of your business, the ability to offset lease expenses against your initial investments may help you greatly at tax time.

Some Advantages of Buying Equipment and Supplies Outright:

1. Lower Lifetime Costs

Many things will cost you far less in total if you purchase them outright rather than leasing. You might pay $300 for an ergonomic desk chair that will serve you well for many years. The same chair, if leased, might run you $30 per month. You would then be paying $360 per year for the leased chair.

2. Lower Monthly Overhead

When you lease, you must pay the lessor on time, regardless of the level of cash on hand. If the income of your business varies widely from month to month, you can choose to only purchase equipment when you have the cash on hand and you will have fewer problems meeting your monthly budget.

3. Assets Rather than Liabilities

What you buy outright becomes an asset of your business, and so enhances your "bottom line." Lease payments, on the other hand, qualify as liabilities, and so lower your company's value. This may be important if you need to get a business loan or decide to sell your business. If you move or go out of business, your assets may be sold or taken with you, but it may be much harder to dispose of your lease contracts.

4. Tax Advantage

Since the IRS allows you to deduct a large amount of your business purchases from your gross income, if you are having a good year you may save significantly more by purchasing outright rather than leasing.

So, obviously there are pros and cons of buying as well as leasing. Here are some tips to help you make the best decision:

* Leases are best for more expensive items, and cash purchases for less expensive items. Lower cost items can usually be afforded from income on hand, but it may not be advisable to deplete your funds to make larger purchases. If you lease the larger items, you can budget to save and purchase your own later, and still have management and promotion funds available now.

* Check with your tax advisor. Find out the financial and tax implications of leasing versus buying for your individual situation.

* Last but certainly not least, don't be tempted to buy what you don't really need. If you are just getting started, use thrift-shop desks and other furniture, settle for a good telephone with answering machine rather than the full inter-office network being promoted, and watch for office or industrial close-out sales or auctions, where you can buy still-serviceable supplies for pennies on the dollar. If your company is to grow and thrive, cash in the bank is worth much more than beautiful furniture or the latest techno-marvel.

How to Succeed at Public Speaking

2009-05-25T13:49:00.000-07:00

If you are afraid to speak in public, don't feel bad. You are not alone. Over 40% of the adult population is. In fact, fear of speaking in public is the highest ranked fear that all people have. Mostly this is due to a feeling that you won't succeed but rather fail and be ridiculed or laughed at and no one wants that. Some people avoid it at all cost, including the potential to succeed or excel in their field. It doesn't have to be this way for you. We've got some tips for you here which, if implemented should help you tremendously.

For most people, the most common place where they need to speak in public is in the workplace. Usually, you either need to inform your coworkers of the project you are working on or you need to sell an idea across to people higher up in the company. Don't panic yet. If you take some time to plan it out you'll do ok. Preparation is key.

One of the most important things before speaking in front of others is to know your material thoroughly. Make sure you've covered all areas of what you will be discussing. If you know what you are talking about, you won't feel as nervous or flustered. Try to anticipate what questions others may have and be ready with an answer. If it's at all complicated, try to think of different ways to say it, so everyone will understand. Diagrams may help you here to illustrate your point. Once you've done this, practice out loud somewhere by yourself if possible at first then in front of a friend or coworker later if it's important.

If it's appropriate you may want to hand out either an outline or a few illustrations. It may help to have some eyes looking at these occasionally and not all of them looking at you all the time.

As much as it's humanly possible, try to relax. Breathe deeply. Since most people fear public speaking, others know it's not easy and will be rooting for you not against you. If you are the type that can make small jokes, you can try one if appropriate. It helps your audience to relax as well.

If someone asks you a questions you don't know or aren't sure about, you can say something like "that's a good question" and think for a few seconds, then if you know the answer great, answer it, and if you don't you can say something like "I'm not sure about that, I think Bill might be able to answer that for you". Make sure you name someone who you think would definitely know the answer. Other wise, you can tell them you will check into it and get back to them.

Arrive early to your meeting or presentation to make sure everything is there that you need and working properly.

Don't say anything about being nervous to your audience, some people may not notice and you don't want to bring it to their attention if they don't. You may do better than you expect.

Try not to speak too fast, semi slow and clear is the way to go. Try not to speak in a monotone voice either. Add some inflection to your speech.

Keep things simple and to the point. Try not to drag on if at all possible. You don't want to bore your audience.

A lot of people in sports use visualization to imagine themselves accomplishing their goal. This can work for you too. Visualize yourself succeeding with your public speaking.

Public speaking is a valuable tool you can learn and use throughout your life. The more you practice it and gain confidence the better you will get.

Mastering Sales Psychology

2009-05-18T13:42:00.000-07:00

To be a successful entrepreneur, it is imperative that you understand and use sales psychology. Internet Marketing gurus have this ability honed to an art form. Sales psychology is an advantage whether you are in a conventional brick and mortar business or an online one. The great thing is that sales psychology is not difficult to learn. Essentially all you need to do is put yourself in the place of the prospective buyer.

One aspect of sales psychology is that people respond to specifics more than generalities. If you sell photocopy machines, saying a particular unit is a high-speed duplicating machine is not impactful. But if you say that your machine produces 10 sheets of A4-sized copies in 12 seconds with the ability to automatically collate documents into correct order, then it seems more impressive. In sales, rounding off figures dilutes its impact so state numbers without rounding off. Of course, the facts and figures must be believable.

This aspect of stating things in specific terms also applies to targeting your prospects. People must know whether your product or service is for them or not. Hence, the term 'Home Owners' is not as good as 'Gardening Enthusiasts'. And 'Gardening Enthusiasts' is not as specific as 'Tropical Plant Lovers'.

Another aspect of sales psychology is that people are interested in how they can benefit from your product or service more than what the product can do. In other words, benefits always win over features. For example, if you sell pianos, tell the prospect that giving his child a piano today will enable the child to have a career in music in future. This is far better than to use the old cliche, 'Give your child the gift of music' or to stress the features of the piano. It is important to mention features because people must know what they are buying but the trigger that makes them buy is always the benefit not the feature.

Sales psychology also takes advantage of human individuality. Everyone likes to feel special. So the smart entrepreneur would make his prospect feel exclusive. That is why Internet Marketers present a product in 'beta' version that is in pre-launch and tell their prospects they are the exclusive few who get to purchase it. But after sales for the beta version is successful, the product will be released to the general public, often at a higher price. So three elements, the timing (it is pre-launch), the version (beta) and the price (cheaper) combine powerfully to create the sense of exclusiveness.

In an increasingly competitive business environment, smart entrepreneurs utilize sales psychology triggers to get their prospects to buy from them. Therefore in whatever you sell, always use as many of these elements of sales psychology as possible.

How to Handle a Difficult Discussion

2009-05-11T13:24:00.000-07:00

Whether it involves talking with your teen about sex or drugs, your spouse about finances or housework, or your employee about attendance or performance issues, the prospect of initiating a difficult discussion is daunting to many, if not most, people. Mix in the tendency to procrastinate tackling unpleasant tasks, then feeling guilty about putting something so important off, and you can wind up feeling even more miserable and anxious about the impending conversation. You might even lose sleep over it.

Initiating such a discussion doesn't have to be nearly so painful. With the proper mindset and some preparation, you can learn to handle even the most difficult topic with ease and confidence. The following tips will enable you to do just that.

1. Realize that by having the discussion, your goal is to benefit others as well as yourself. Whether or not he shows it, your teen will most likely appreciate that you care enough to talk to him about things that concern or matter to you. In the case of the employee with the performance issue, she will have an opportunity to correct or improve on it, or face consequences. In either event, the other members on your team will certainly appreciate that you took steps to address the situation, because they will see the poor performer either stepping up to the plate or terminated.

2. Focus on the possible positive outcomes of having the discussion sooner rather than later. The employee's performance could most certainly improve. Or you may have the opportunity to replace a poor performer with someone more willing and able to do the work and follow company or departmental policies. Either way, the performance of your team as a whole will benefit, which will be a positive reflection on your own performance.

3. Prepare for any possible reaction to the discussion. Have contingency plans for handling any behavior or response to what you have to say, whether it be anger, denial, silence or disbelief. Knowing in advance exactly how you will deal with any of these will give you the confidence you need to proceed. Understand that you cannot control a person's reaction, and in many cases you cannot predict it either. But you can always prepare for any possibility.

4. If the topic for discussion is an especially difficult one for you, have a reward planned for yourself when you complete it. Take a half day off to do something you enjoy, or treat yourself to something you ordinarily would not. After all, you just accomplished something that doesn't come easily for you. You deserve something special.

Following these tips will not make handling difficult discussions any more fun, by any means, but doing so when the necessity arises will make you a better and more competent communicator, manager, parent and/or spouse. And who wouldn't benefit from that?

Positivity in Business and Life

2009-05-04T14:25:00.000-07:00

When life hands you something that you don't naturally agree with, or when you seem to be having all sorts of problems, it can seem all too easy to get down about it and to get upset and negative. However, there are many reasons that you should always attempt to be as positive as you can – whether you are dealing with the stresses of family, of your job, or of your life in general. Being positive is going to help you make sure that you never need to worry about anything else.

There are always times where it seems like it is tough to look on the bright side of things. It can be that you have too little time on your hands and too much to get done, or that you have stresses that you simply cannot combat no matter where you go. However, usually, with some practice, you can learn to see the positives in these things as well, and you can learn to train yourself to always look on the positive side.

The first step to staying positive is to be able to step back from the issues at hand and to learn how to look at everything as a big picture. This is very important because it means that you are going to be able to look at everything put together as a whole, and you won't need to worry about all of the small details. As you begin to pull away and look at the big picture, you are going to see the positives that are there – you might have very well behaved children generally, who are very smart and strong – and suddenly the spilled soda on the floor doesn't seem so bad. You might have a great career with a boss that you respect, and suddenly the issue with one project doesn't seem as important or as huge as before. If you can learn to pull yourself away and look at the big picture, chances are good that you will learn how to start to look more positively at your entire life.

Studies have shown that when you are able to focus on the positive, you are going to be able to attract even more positive energy to yourself. People who are more positive are more attractive, more comfortable with themselves, and are in better spirits – and these things attract only good things and opportunities as well. Therefore, the more positive that you can be about the world in general, and about your life, the more positive aspects you will be able to attract to yourself.

Whether you are dealing with a business, your home life, or with anything else that might be going on with you, you are going to find that there are lots of great things for you to consider about each of the parts of your life. And, the more that you focus on these positive and great aspects, the better you are going to feel about your life in general.

How Do You Improve an Existing Product or Service?

2009-04-27T13:31:00.000-07:00

If you already have an existing product, how would you go about finding ways to improve it? One way would be to conduct a focus group where you get a group of maybe ten customers or even people that did not purchase your product, and ask questions. What did they like if they purchased, and if they did not purchase, what caused them to hesitate? Is there something that could be done to improve the product in their eyes? Did the copy fully explain what the product does for them and how it will be valuable to their situation? Asking for suggestions and comments will often prove to be invaluable marketing advice and sometimes can come as a surprise.

A meeting can be over a conference line or it can also be a netmeeting online. Whichever feels most comfortable to your participants would be ideal.

The objective of the session is to not become too long, say maybe two hours and have the participants brainstorm the product. It is very desirable that the participants do not know that you are the owner of the product so that they feel free to give ideas and opinions without any retribution.

The moderator should be able to get people to feel uninhibited by asking questions of the group. What hot buttons are there that can be investigated? Questions regarding the product's method of use or lack of creativity can spur direct comments from the participants that will become very valuable.

The idea is not for the participants to be negative or destructive, but to try to build on or improve the product being presented.

The ideal time to have this brainstorming session is when the product is new and not fully developed. The session might present new ideas that can be incorporated and used which will only help the marketing and sale of the product.

The brainstorming group participants will surely feel their comments and suggestions are welcome and that they have a good feel for what the product is trying to present. Maybe advising them that they will get a free product when the item is finished, will make them want to provide clear and purposeful ideas. Anything that makes the new product more useful and more direct on the subject matter, will be welcomed.

Any ideas from potential users must be considered so that the new product will be totally successful. Have fun with your brainstorming group and do not become discouraged if some comments do not seem to be helpful. Taking the participant's comments and improving the product or service is the goal.

Choosing an Accounting Package

2009-04-20T13:52:00.000-07:00

Accounting is all about numbers. These numbers are collected , summarized and analyzed before creating reports and statements. This is then distributed to management and even stockholders. It takes time to put all these numbers in order which is why an accounting software is often used for this purpose.

The advantage of using an accounting software for starters is that you can reduce the time needed to collate data so you know almost immediately if the business is making money or not.

Another advantage of using an accounting program is that aside from being fast, it is as accurate as the information you put into it. The best part about accounting software is the fact that you only pay once in order to get the whole package. This saves you money as accountants will charge a professional fee each time you require them to do a particular task.

Most accounting programs in the market are easy to use, set up and navigate. This means you don't have to be a certified accountant to use it. Generally, you are given a step by step guide that will help you throughout the entire process.

There are a few things to look out for when you decide to invest in an accounting software. First, this should be reliable. Some software programs look good in the beginning but then fail to deliver later on.

You can talk with other companies that are in the same industry you are in to find out what software they are using. Since these software programs are sold more openly in the web, you should get in touch with current users to see how well it has performed or read reviews written by various organizations that spend time browsing through the program.

Although accounting uses the basics of mathematics, there is more to it than that especially when various sheets are compiled together. You can ask for a 30 day trial period to see if this is what you need. Should the features and all the numbers come back with the same results, then you know it is worth buying.

If it has a lot of features that you don’t need, you should just look elsewhere and get the kind that suits your needs. There are various ones in the market like those used for payroll or to compute for taxes so you should focus only on what you need.

The last thing to consider is the price. Given that you know what features you are after, you don’t even have to buy the most expensive one in the market. Compare prices. There are cheaper packages that can perform just as well.

Reliability, features and price are the three most important things to look for when you decide to purchase an accounting software for your company or organization.

Set Up Your Mind For Wealth

2009-04-13T14:11:00.000-07:00

People have been rediscovering inspirational books, such as Napoleon Hill's "Think and Grow Rich" and James Allen's "As A Man Thinketh," in which wealth is achieved by one's thinking habit. It is based on the premise that you are what you want to be, you are what you think. It is no wonder that Rhonda Byrne's "The Secret" became a bestseller, for the book also believes that wealth comes to those who want it.

We do want to achieve great wealth. But is it enough just to think about wealth and it will automatically come?

Of course, it is not as easy as it may seem. However, achieving wealth really starts with the mind. For example, if you set your mind as an employee, you will start to look for a job and be satisfied to work for someone else. But if you set your mind to attain financial freedom, you are able to see opportunities and means to get wealthy.

This article will suggest ways in which you can set your mind for financial wealth.

1. Be aware of your thinking process.

The poor will say, "I cannot afford...." while the rich will say, "How can I own...?" What is the difference between the two? The poor focuses on the problem while the rich tries to seek for the solution. Now, who do you think will most likely achieve his goal?

2. Work to learn, rather than earn.

It is all right to be an employee, but do not stay one for too long. As an employee, your income may be guaranteed, but it is limited. You will have what is called a "linear income", in which you need to produce more or put in more time and effort to your job to earn more.

As you work on your job, learn the business in order that you may later become the employer.

Come to think of it, if you work for somebody, then you are surrendering the control of your finances at your employer's mercy. Your future is shaped by that person and not by you. Therefore, it will be of importance to you to control your future, especially in terms of money matters.

3. Have an objective.

There once was a teacher who asked his students to cross from one end of the room to the other. There were thirty students, and each one crossed the room according to his or her own way. The teacher had shown that once you have an objective, the means of getting that objective will present itself. There is often more than one correct way of achieving one's goal.

Many inspirational gurus will tell you that if you visualize your goal, put a lot of emotion in it, and believe that you have already have it, you will surely achieve your goal.

4. Make a budget and stick to it.

Companies, to become successful, formulate a budget and stick to that budget. They track their sources of money and determine where their money is going. They do this to control their cash flow.

How many people have ignored making a budget, or not sticking to one, and find out that they have spent more than they have earned? They get mired into debt in which there seems to be no way out.

5. Control your fear.

Most people are afraid of going into business because they fear they might lose their money if the business fails. They say that going into business is risky. But, with the present economic situation, isn't it riskier to stay being an employee? If the company you are working for goes down, you go down with it. And with no job security, the company can give you the pink slip anytime.

Going back to our example of the teacher, what if one student stayed in his place and did not cross the room? No matter how much energy he applies in visualizing his objective, he will never get across the room.

Ultimately, it is the actions that you take that will determine if you will achieve your financial goals or not. However, without that goal, that "compelling why," how can you achieve it?

Choosing a Business That Is Right For You

2009-04-06T12:56:00.000-07:00

So, you want to be in business for yourself. That decision is a great first step! How do you go about choosing a business to start? What is it that you love? What is your biggest passion? You need Really you need to decide what will get you out of bed every morning excited to work on your business.

Here are 6 things to think about:

1. What is your passion? Is it crafting, health, real estate, children, history, or something else? Within those subjects, what specifically are you enthusiastic about? Is it scrapbooking, exercise, buying foreclosures, kids' birthday parties, or the Civil War? Make a list of all your interests.

2. How can you use your passion or talent to build a business? How can your enthusiasm for this be helpful to other people? The key here is to think about how your knowledge or skill in this area can help others. If you begin by focusing on how this will benefit you financially, you are almost doomed to failure. The key to success is to find a way to help other people. . .then, the money will follow.

3. How much time and energy do you have to devote to your business? Are you going to do this part time or full time? Online or offline? This will make a difference in the size of your business. For instance, if you want to open an accounting firm with several employees, you will need to devote some full-time effort. However, if you just want to publish some information about exotic pets, then you could probably get away with a small website and some part-time effort. Think realistically about the time and energy you have right now. In the future, you may be able to set aside more time, but do not expect more from yourself than you can reasonably give or you will be frustrated and discouraged.

4. When choosing a business, determine what your strengths and weaknesses are. Do you need a partner or can you go it alone? Do you need someone to keep your books for you, handle sales, create graphics, or design your website? Make a list of what you are best at and what you are not. Decide where your efforts are best spent and delegate the rest. Come together with people who complement your own abilities by contributing what you lack.

5. What resources do you have available? Of course, money is your most fragile resource. Are you starting your business on a shoestring budget? Are you going to take out a home equity loan? Are you going to bring on an investor? Whatever your financial source is, determine what your limits are. Do not leverage everything you own on your business no matter how successful you think it will be! If you plan well, then you will know how and when to spend the money that is available to you. Don't forget also to take stock of all your non-monetary resources also.

6. Now, you are ready to consider if the idea is financially viable. In order to do that, you will need to do some homework. You MUST put together a business plan (even if it is just a rough, non-detailed version) to determine thoroughly whether or not your idea will actually make some return on your investment. After some analysis, you may have to tweak your initial idea. Whatever you do, do not skip this step... do your research!

When deciding what business to choose, your idea does not have to be original. However, you do need to give it that extra little "something". You need to provide a more user-friendly solution or improvement that others aren't offering. If you choose a business that you are familiar with, you will know what things currently frustrate or annoy users of that service or product. Supply a great solution, and people will flock to buy from you!

Is Your Business Destined for Failure?

2009-03-31T13:54:00.000-07:00

This is a difficult world we live in. People die everyday from disease, starvation and murder. So the question has to be asked: is this a destiny that was laid out for them beforehand, or could they have possibly changed their karma?

Some people will say yes and others no. But why?

To say your new business is heading for failure and there was nothing you could do about it would be silly, now wouldn't it? Of course the horrid examples listed above couldn't compare to losing your business now could it?

Well, let's say your new business venture is the key to changing the future of your kids. Things are looking grim, you lose your job, and with the economy the way it is, another job making reasonable pay just doesn't seem realistic at this point. If this is you or someone you know, then maybe the point is being made. Is there really a major difference between you and some pour soul who can barely feed herself? Well yes and no, because you have your problems and they have theirs. Some are bigger than others, yes, but when it concerns the individual at hand, no matter the dilemma, it can appear huge and overwhelming.

So your business is failing. It isn't producing any profit. The prospects are untargeted and uninterested in what you have to offer. The whole thing is a step away from dying and you are preparing to throw in the towel.

Is this what you envisioned when you first started out? No. But it's happening and you just can't find away to turn things around. Your husband or wife is nagging for you to find a real job and your kids aren't eating the way you would like because you just can't afford it right now.

What can you do? What will you do? Will you just roll over and die?

Do you need a reason to keep going? How about your husband or wife and kids. Owning your own business can be the greatest investment you will ever make in your own future, as well as that of your family. You already know this, but you just don't know how to make it work.

Then answer yourself these questions:

1)Are you willing to learn?

2)Are you capable of sticking to one plan of action, rather than dabbling from one business to the next?

3)Do you like what you are doing?

4)Are you responsible with your business spending, rather than throwing away money on useless software, gadgets and schemes that bring you no return?

5)Are you a leader, rather than a follower?

If you answered these questions in the negative, there is still hope for you. What you need to do is reevaluate everything you are doing from the top to the bottom. There is a very good chance you know exactly what you are doing wrong. Let's start with number one.

Will you dedicate yourself to learning new techniques on a daily basis? Will you read more? Knowledge is power. You must first understand what you are doing and why in order to implement it. OK, now two.

Stop dabbling from business to business right now. Stick with what you've got, no matter how good that new start-up appears. Stop buying into other programs and make the program(s) that you are now using work for you. Your distractions will become limited. This is important. Get to work on what you have and make a point of marketing every single day without fail, whether it is a simple article or adding content to your blog. Get it done. Now three.

If you don't like what you are doing, then why do it? Find something else. This is your business. It should be everything you want it to be. Now four.

Please do not buy anything on impulse. Check it out thoroughly on the Internet before purchasing. Now five.

In order to succeed in business you must become a leader and in order to do this you must conquer a particular niche. Read and learn. Grab people's attention by becoming knowledgeable. If you don't lead you don't succeed. That is a fact, and today is the day to get started on your quest to become that special someone people will look up to. Start today by picking up a book, magazine or other reading material, and make it a point to learn something new about your business every day.

If you really want your business to fail, keep doing what you are doing. Then maybe the naysayers are correct; a man or woman really can't change their fate.

Prove them wrong. Make a change and watch your future become what you want it to be. The key to it all is believing, followed closely by doing.

Benefits of Online Learning

2009-03-23T14:08:00.000-07:00

Teaching online is becoming increasingly common. There are many benefits to learning online. However, it needs to be remembered that online education is not a 'silver bullet' or panacea. It is just as easy to develop inflexible and inappropriate instruction online as it is with other methods. Nevertheless, there are good reasons that both students and teachers are making greater use of the Web for educational purposes.

Perhaps the greatest benefit is that of convenience. The online classroom is always open. It can be reached from anywhere with an internet connection. Greater access is useful for students living in rural areas, students with disabilities and those who cannot attend campus because of other commitments such as work or child-rearing. It can also reduce costs if there is less need to travel. Of course, providing material online can also result in reduced access where students have limited access to the internet.

Online learning is typically self-paced. This can suit students who are shy; those who are not native speakers or slower learners who need to take extra time to develop answers. The student can review material as many times as they want and references such as dictionaries can be consulted.

Online teaching tends to be more student-centered where the role of the teacher becomes that of a facilitator. It is often said that the teacher changes from being a 'sage on the stage' to a 'guide on the side'. Students are able to access a huge range of resources on the internet. These resources are not necessarily just text-based. The types of resources available include text, audio, video, graphics and animations. However, as there are no gatekeepers on the web and anyone can publish just about anything, students need to be taught how to evaluate and discriminate among these resources.

Being able to critically evaluate the wealth of material available on the web is just one skill that online learners develop. Students also get experience with technologies and methods that are used in many careers. For example, online courses often make use of computer-conferencing which is widely used in many industries. Hopefully, the skills that students attain can also help them become life-long learners.

Technology has the ability to enhance learning and teaching. However, if used inappropriately it can also interfere with learning. It is important to choose online methods in education for pedagogical reasons rather than let it be dictated by the availability of the latest technologies.

The Importance of Retirement Planning

2009-03-16T14:03:00.000-07:00

Are you planning for retirement? If you're not doing any planning, then you should be. Retirement is lasting much longer today than it did for the retiring generation 20 or 30 years ago. You now could have 30 or more years to provide for in your retirement, which is a considerable amount of time compared to your working life, which may have been 50 years or less. Government pensions are not going to do anything but provide you with the bare necessities of life -- a bleak outlook for the vast majority of retirees.

It doesn't have to be that way if you implement a bit of prior planning. The problem is that most people like to live for the moment and get swept away buying the latest gadgets and technological wonders. There's so much to spend their money on that it's extremely difficult to put a little money aside for retirement. Suddenly the big "six-oh" looms up, retirement is almost upon you, and nothing has been planned.

Younger people can learn from the mistakes of their elders and use the help of innumerable resources, including online and community sources, and/or private investment advisors. In fact, investment advisors are a great help, but be sure to choose a reputable one. There have been too many stories of people losing their life savings from taking bad advice, or worse still, being completely fleeced by disreputable advisors. So always do your due diligence.

There are many ways to save for your retirement, from government subsidized programs to employee pension plans. You can invest in real estate or put your money into blue chip stocks. But keep away from speculative investing. This money needs to be safe and should be in a variety of vehicles, so that if one investment fails you don't lose everything.

One common "alternative" to retirement planning is to have a good time while you're young and have the money, and then live on the bread line when you retire. Some people see plenty of sense in this approach when they're young, but then panic as reality sets in later in life.

If you are lucky enough to own a house, then you at least have a life line. You can sell the house and buy something cheaper. You could go live with your kids. You could even rent a mobile home to live in. If you do sell the house and free up your equity, then you can use some of this money to live on and spread the rest around in some decent investments to bring in a little extra income.

Think about your retirement now and decide how you would like to live when you reach that stage in life. Start to plan for retirement now. Do not leave it any longer. It could soon be too late.

Why Creating a Vision is so Important in Achieving Your Dreams

2009-03-09T13:46:00.000-07:00

While goal setting and planning are activities that are important to achieving your dreams, creating a vision is an important first step. You need to know first what you want to achieve in life. What are your dreams? What kind of a person do you want to be? What do you want to build? What is the legacy you want to leave behind?

As you answer these questions, start visualizing how you will be when you have achieved that vision. Do not dismiss this as day dreaming. Consistent visualization done daily will attract the right resources to you. This is the power of the mind.

Creating a vision board will help you tremendously. A vision board is a poster board on which you can paste pictures torn out of various magazines. Look for pictures that reflect your dreams and desires.

Go through the magazines and tear out pictures that fit your vision of what you want to be. Have fun with this. Do not paste the pictures yet.

Once you have selected your pictures, lay them out on the poster board. Eliminate the pictures that do not fit. As you do this exercise, you will typically intuitively know which pictures you like.

You could organize the board such that different sections may be for different aspects of your life, like career, family, spiritual, social and others that you may have in mind. Some people like the images to be spread all over the board. Choose what feels best for you. You then paste the pictures.

Once you have pasted the pictures, you can then use markers to write anything that you want on the board.

An excellent idea would be to paste a photo of you looking radiant and happy right at the center of the board.

Put up the vision board somewhere you will see it often. Each time you see it, besides the pictures you see, add your emotions to your thoughts. Imagine as if you already achieved what you have created on your vision board.

Play with this. Bring out the child in you.

While vision boards have become popular when it was talked about in The Secret, it is not a new concept. People have been using this concept for a long time.

The vision board helps you to energize and give life to your visions. As this vision that you have painted in your mind becomes stronger, you will naturally find yourself beginning to take new directions. You will find that you meet different people or find reading materials which are aligned to your vision.

When surfing the Internet, your searches may lead you to something that you would not have intentionally looked for.

This is about the power of attraction. Whatever we attract into our lives is based on the thoughts we have in our minds. If it is negative thoughts, then we attract what is negative.

The beauty of having a vision is that we can visualize it and create positive thoughts. We then attract the appropriate energies from the universe to assist us in achieving what we created in our vision.

Some people question if this can happen every time. People who have practiced this say that if their vision did not happen, something better than that happened. Or sometimes, it just took longer but happened at a better time with greater value.

The beauty about creating a vision is that you do not depend on anyone else. Furthermore, you can have fun creating a vision board. Then each time you look at it, imagine and feel as if you already achieved it. You can even just imagine it without a vision board and it still works.

Start creating a vision. Visualize it daily and see the magic happen in your life.

Work ON Your Business, Not IN Your Business

2009-03-02T13:31:00.000-08:00

Business owners everywhere are working seven days a week, struggling to sell their products and services, as well as attending to all the daily tasks of keeping the business going. The paperwork alone can be a full time job. Few seek help, often saying, "I can't afford to hire someone... I barely make enough to pay myself!"

The truth is, you can't afford not to hire help for those mundane tasks. This is especially true if those tasks require expertise you don't have. Every minute you spend learning how to do something is precious time you could be spending on developing your business.

Self-made millionaire, Cory Rudl, said the best business decision he'd ever made was to hire someone to help him. Although he was paying out almost half his earnings to his employee, that move freed him to develop his business into a money making machine, to the tune of millions of dollars.

You can do the same for your business, and it won't cost half your earnings either. By creating "mini projects" you can hire a freelancer to do those routine chores and pay them for the hours you need them.

Creating those mini projects will take some effort at first. It means you have to stop and think before you tackle a task, "Is this something I have to do myself, or can I delegate this to someone else?" Even after getting started on a task, it's important to be aware of your time spent - if it takes you too long to do it, you're wasting your time! That's the signal to hire a freelancer who can do the job for you.

Although many freelancers can come to your business office, you can save even more money with "virtual assistants." The craze for virtual assistants has taken the Internet world by storm.

Virtual assistants are capable, competent people in every country who are looking for work they can do from their own office. And their rates are incredibly low. For $2 or $3 per hour, you can have your website developed, all your QuickBooks transactions entered, have a software program developed to make your life easier...the options are endless.

For a few more dollars per hour, you can hire the best available copywriters, marketing gurus, graphics designers...you name it. The key is to define your mini project, decide what you're willing to pay to have it done and get the word out.

The Internet is a great way to get the word out about your project. Websites such as www.GetaFreelancer.com, www.ScriptLance.com, www.Elance.com and www.RentaCoder.com have hundreds of professionals eager to work. Post your mini project on these websites and you'll have 20 bidders or more in a few hours. In a very short time you'll be able to choose the best qualified professional for your project, at your price.

So, if you're working in your business, doing everything from sales to bookkeeping, decide now to get help. If you want your business to grow, you can't afford not to.

Telecommuting Basics

2009-02-23T13:16:00.000-08:00

In today's day and age, the internet has completely changed the way many people approach employment. This is because the internet has greatly expanded the ability for companies to outsource work. Really, this should not come as a surprise. The laptops and personal computers that a person owns in the home are really no different than what you would find in an office setting. In some cases there might be a need to purchase certain software to perform the required duties. This however, is hardly an impediment that is difficult to overcome.

Yes, the ability to work from home has created a number of advantages for many people. But, it is important to never lose sight of the fact that certain activities must be employed in order to make a work from home venture successful. Often, people ignore these criteria and do so at their own peril. So, let's look at the most important aspects of making telecommuting successful.

Find a Schedule and Stick To It

Don't pay any attention to those lame television commercials professing the ability to sleep until noon and still make mega bucks. Working from home is not about working at your leisure. It is about working without travel and overhead expenses. Haphazard, lazy schedules are extremely self defeating. Don't use your telecommuting opportunity as a "goofing off" opportunity. Draw up a schedule and stick to it. Success will soon follow.

Set Up a Specific Work Area

Don't try to do your work lying in bed with our laptop on your chest. This is a be "no-no" because it really cuts into your ability to be efficient. Instead, set up a particular section of the house as a work area. This will provide the cohesion and organization needed to make the workday effective.

Dress for Success

Similar to the aforementioned workspace tip, it is also important not to dress too leisurely when working form home. Remember, anytime you are too leisurely in your approach , your ability to be efficient will be limited. You don't have to wear a suit and tie or your power outfit, but you should wear something conducive to a professional approach to your work.

Keep an Eye On Those Tax Deductions

If you are employed on contract as opposed as an employee, be sure to take those special deductions related to working from home. For example, you can deduct a percentage of your rent or mortgage based on the amount of space your work area takes up. The other expense deductions can add up so be sure to keep tabs on what you spend related to your work.

As you can see, there are some things to keep in mind when setting up to telecommute. When the basics are followed however, it can be a win win situation for the employee and the employer.

Reducing Debt

2009-02-16T13:15:00.000-08:00

Debt is the curse of our time. We owe so much it would make our ancestors' heads spin. For some their income can cope with the repayments. For others their income simply does not cover all the outgoing and those debts are rising to ever more unsustainable levels.

The current world financial woes have just heightened the problem and raised the spectra of collapsing economies and the resultant pain and poverty that will inevitably follow. There is no time to be lost. You simply have to set your house in order. Firstly, grab all the family credit cards and lock them away or destroy them. They are way too easy to get into trouble with. Next make a complete list of all your debts. Put them in order of amount borrowed and by the highest interest rate charges. Determine the lowest amount that is required to be paid collectively each month.

Now you need to work out your new budget. List all your monthly expenditures. Do not forget to make a monthly allowance for those periodic payments like rates and insurances. Go through the budget and delete all unnecessary items like membership subscriptions and cable TV subscriptions. Delete everything that is not necessary to everyday living. If there is money left over after this analysis you can look at reinstating those things again later on.

Now work out outgoing compared to income. Hopefully, this will now show a surplus. If this proves to be the case use this surplus to commence paying off the debt with the highest interest rate. Get the first one paid off and then work on the one with the next highest debt. You will now have a higher surplus each month so maybe you can reward yourself with reinstating cable TV or the gym membership, but take it slowly.

If after doing your budget you are still behind the eight ball, you will need to look at reorganizing your debt into one single loan at a better over all interest rate. Shop around to find the best deal. This may prove difficult but keep trying. If all else fails, try getting a better job that pays more or look at moonlighting in a part time job. Maybe you could live with relatives until you get back on your feet.

There are always alternatives but you must make a start on killing off the debt. Nothing will improve if you do not take action. Remember to break the credit card habit and write out and commit to a budget.

How to Develop Leadership Skills

2009-02-09T14:04:00.000-08:00

Leadership abilities come naturally to some, but for many, leadership skills have to be honed and developed. Observe the following requirements to improve and build upon your leadership skills.

Be Committed & Responsible

People are more likely to follow you if they perceive you as committed. Show commitment by following through on your promises. Accept responsibility for your successes and failures - playing the victim is not an option. Follow up on issues and review projects regularly to make sure you have done all you can. Keep an eye on projects so that you can head off problems.

Don't accept failure. Look for ways to turn failures into successes. Think outside the box and make an effort to improve your weaknesses.

Education and Training

If your level of education is holding you back, bite the bullet and sign up for the appropriate course. A curious mind is an asset, as leaders are expected to have a good standard of education and general knowledge. Choose a topic and spend half an hour a day researching it - this should build your knowledge base.

Positive Mental Attitude

Be the best you can be by spending time on self development. Condition your mind to reject negative attitudes - try NLP (Neuro-Linguistic programming) to channel your mental energy. Read self-help and motivational books, and the biographies of prominent leaders. Immerse yourself in the arts: do an art appreciation course. A commitment to positivity will bring about that relaxed countenance that many successful leaders exhibit.

Inner Circle

Besides your family, cultivate an inner circle of people who build you up. In your work environment, surround yourself with colleagues you can trust; people who have the right skills for the job. Spend time with friends who make you feel good about yourself.

Be Disciplined

Always arrive early for appointments. This shows that you are disciplined and respect other people's time. Seek the support of your family in everything you do.

Be Courageous

Strength and courage in the face of adversity is a must. Trouble comes with the territory but be determined to face it off. People will respect you more if you show courage.

Optimize Communication Skills

People make assumptions about your level of education based on the way you speak and write. When speaking, pay attention to the way you form sentences and pronounce words. If need be, do a business English course.

In written communication, avoid long, drawn out sentences. This is frowned upon, as it represents the old style of business communication. Plain English is now the acceptable standard for business English. Sentences should be short and contain simple phrases. Know your audience and tailor your communication appropriately.

Keeping Your Employees Motivated

2009-02-02T14:12:00.000-08:00

Keeping your employees motivated with high morale is the most important function of a supervisor. This article provides a list of actions that can be taken to keep employees producing for the success of the organization.

The first three suggestions are related to the physical characteristics of the work place:

1. Make sure that the work place is clean and well-lighted.

2. Give employees the proper equipment (furniture, computers, machinery) to perform their jobs efficiently and comfortably.

3. Design the work flow such that there are few bottle-necks and downtime.

The following are suggestions for keeping employees' morale high:

1. Reward employees with the highest rank and status justified by their aptitude, performance, and contribution to the success of the organization.

2. Provide salary and wages based on the employees' performance and value to your organization.

3. Provide a meaningful annual review which includes recognition for work accomplishments and an honest assessment of areas where the employee could improve.

4. Give employees effective feedback on their work, including giving reasons for work assignments, the assignments contribution to the organization, and how the assignment contributes to the success of the organization.

5. Delegate as much authority to employees as they can handle effectively.

6. Provide positive incentives rather than negative incentives.

Consider the following actions related to communicating effectively with your employees:

1. Listen to employees--really listen.

2. Allow employees to air their grievances--even if they reflect on your perceptions of your own performance.

3. Give credit for actions, ideas, and suggestions for improvement to operations. (Never take credit for actions or ideas of your employees.)

4. Organize your operations so that everyone can make a contribution by offering suggestions for improvement. Consider all suggestions seriously. If you find that the suggestion can't be implemented, give a full reason for not adopting it.

5. Show a genuine interest in each employee without becoming a bore.

Now that you've been presented with a series of actions that you can take to improve the morale and motivation of your employees, here's one more important point to remember:

Each supervisor comes into the job with a set of attitudes and behaviors that have developed over a period of years. In most cases a new supervisor needs to take stock of his or her attitudes and behaviors that might not be effective in their role as a supervisor.

Most new supervisors don't take the time (or even realize the need) to assess their skills related to being an effective supervisor.

Let the list above serve as a checklist of areas where you need to make improvements to be successful as a supervisor.

You Can Have Fun At Work And Increase Effectiveness

2009-01-26T13:19:00.000-08:00

Would you believe that you can have fun at work and increase your effectiveness? The happy fact is that this is true.

In the offices and often even at home, we make notes on small pieces of paper, use paper clips, staplers and other stationery. The standard stationery comes in boring standard colors and implies boring work.

You can easily make a few changes to make this fun and yet get your work done. Get different colored post-it notes, colorful folders, colored clips amongst other things. Make a visit to the stationery supply store and you will be amazed at the number of fun things you can use at work and at home.

Your to-do items can be written on post-it notes. You can use different colors for different projects. Prioritizing is easier with post-it notes as you can physically arrange and re-arrange post-it notes when prioritizing them. If you wrote a list, then you may need to rewrite when re-prioritizing.

It will also be fun, if you can have a clipboard that stands on a base. You can stick the post-it notes on it and it will stand up above any clutter that may be on the table. It can also be moved around.

The post-it notes should be organized in a certain pattern. One way can be the most important ones go on the top left hand corner and the least to the bottom right corner.

Add drawing to the notes. If you are writing a report, then draw a symbol that indicates a report. A drawing of a personal computer can indicate that you need to do some computer related work. There is no fixed picture to indicate each of these activities that need to be done. Let your creative self have fun with this.

What will really make a great impact is to celebrate the completion of each activity. Normally, people will just draw a line across to indicate that an activity is completed. You can draw a star to indicate a job well done. Draw a champagne bottle being opened. Be like a child and you can have great fun with this.

A physical calendar is another item that you can have lots of fun with. Use different colored highlighters to differentiate activities.

Choose a vibrant color for holidays. Stick some pictures based on where you will be going for your holidays.

Allocate different colors for different projects. Here again you can draw pictures or use stickers. Writing can be in different sizes and styles and also in different colors.

Celebrate work finished by giving yourself stars. This way, when you look back, you can easily see the successes that you have enjoyed and feel good about them.

Remember, just completing a job is successful. If you finish it ahead of time and get very positive feedback, then give yourself more stars and accolades.

Do not be overly tough on your self, and give yourself a star only on a rare occasion. Remember that you are doing all this to motivate yourself and have fun on the job.

Are you one of those type of people who like to leave piles of papers, related files on your table or on the locker beside you? Meaning you do not organize them and put them away and only take them out when you need them.

There is good news for you. Apparently, there are some of us who work best in this way. Although papers and materials are scattered, these people are able to scan quickly and pick up exactly what they want.

Beware anyone who tries to help by organizing the materials. You are in for trouble as the clutter is needed for these people to perform the activities well.

So, if you are one of those people who has a messy workplace and finds it difficult to keep things organized, it may not be a bad thing.

You can also have fun at work by having a few of your personal items that might make you feel good. It could be a photo of your loved ones, it could be a little gadget that you like to play with to get your creativity going or just some goofy toy that brings a smile to your face.

Being in a place that reflects you and your personality helps you to feel at home and deliver better work than in a sterile office environment.

Just look around your workplace and you will be able to find some ways to have fun at work. Effectiveness and productivity increases as a result of having fun at the workplace.

Is Working At Home Right For You?

2009-01-19T14:15:00.000-08:00

To many the idea of working from home is very attractive, especially if you have young children or are in any way immobile. But working at home does not suit everybody and there are some questions you need to ask yourself before you commit to work from home.

First of all there are a number of ways you could work from home. Many big companies encourage it these days, especially if you are in a job which can be performed from anywhere. Equally you could setup your own business working from home supplying services to your local area, or you could go online with your own internet business.

First consider where you will work. Is there a spare room or a room you could set aside as an office where you could set yourself up and not be disturbed, or distracted, from normal family life? If not, make sure you set aside your own workspace and that your loved ones know it is where you work.

Next think about what equipment you will need to work from home, whether you can afford it, and how and where you will set it up. It is likely you will need a computer, printer, a desk, an office chair and a reliable internet connection as a minimum. It is as important to consider Health and Safety implications as it would be in a regular office environment.

Next consider the impact on the family or those around you. Set down some ground rules so your loved ones know when you are working and therefore can't be disturbed. Equally let them know your working hours and stick to them. Working from home has many advantages, but it can sometimes be difficult to switch off at the end of the day, so set your boundaries, including what you are prepared to do, make sure they are fair to everyone and meet everyone's needs, and stick to them.

Finally, and most importantly, ask yourself whether you have the temperament to work effectively from home. Are you the sort of person who needs the buzz of the office, or do you prefer to get your head down and get on with it. Do you need to get out of the house in the morning, or are you happy to stay within your own four walls every day? Asking yourself these questions will determine whether you will be happy working from home. If you are at all doubtful, don't despair, are there things you could do to make it work? For instance you may need to work harder on your social life, join a gym or a local networking group.

Asking yourself the above questions before you embark on your working at home will really help you determine whether it will suit you or not, and therefore whether it will work for you.

The Importance of Planning For Your New Home Business

2009-01-12T14:23:00.000-08:00

You've decided to start your own home business, perhaps because you hate your current job and loathe getting up early in the morning to travel to work every day, or maybe because you regret not being there to see all the milestones in your children's growth. You could be approaching retirement and worrying about the lifestyle you will be forced into.

Whatever your reason, starting your own home business will give you flexibility and if done well, will bring in that extra income you are after. Even if your funds are very limited, you can still get going by starting part-time while you work your regular job. The important thing is to plan, know what you want to do and then get started. Plenty of other people have built a very profitable online business working from home and so can you!

Be aware that almost half of all small businesses fail in the first five year of operation and that your profits may not come as quickly as some advertisements would have you believe, but if you plan well, are committed to action and just keep following the steps, you will make it happen.

The following are basic steps to follow that will help you keep on the path to success with your own home business:

1. Vision

Know the big picture of where you want to go, what you want to achieve and why you want to achieve it. See it in your mind, imagine that you have already reached your goal and feel how that would feel. The more emotion you put into your vision, the more likely you are to succeed. Most entrepreneurs have had such a clear vision.

2. Planning

This is where you set your goals; make them:

(a) specific

(b) measurable

(c) achievable

(d) timely, meaning they must have a deadline

3. Options

Consider all your options then decide on one course of action that suits you best right now. Some things to consider are:

(a) What kind of work can you do from home?

(b) Suitability - What fits with your skills and your interests?

(c) Costs - Work out what you can afford to spend to get your new business established and then see what home business model fits within this budget and your interests.

(d) Business structure - You can be a sole trader, form a partnership, a company/corporation or perhaps just start out as a hobby. Some of these structures cost money to set up, but may suit your personal circumstances better. As always, understand the options, then decide what is best for you.

(e) Registrations, tax and other legalities - These will depend on local regulations and the business structure you choose, but whatever they are, you need to make yourself familiar with them.

(f) Personal and family issues - It's always best to discuss your business plans with your family, even when they will not be involved in the business side. You may need to share resources, such as computer/internet time, perhaps desk or table space if you will not have a separate office, you will probably have family commitments, but you also need to make sure you will be able to have quality time to work on your business and not be expected to drop it for other family matters just because you are at home. It's important that everyone in the family acknowledges that you are running a business and not just toying with it.

(g) Enjoyment - You have to like this work! You will appreciate (and studies have proven) that when people really enjoy their work, are even passionate about it, they willingly put more time in, are less likely to give up and therefore are more likely to succeed.

4. Action

Consistent ongoing action, small steps + consistency = success

(a) Do something on your business every day for 21 days. This will form a habit of doing it and make it easier for you to commit your time.

(b) Prepare a brief outline for each day of the week. This lets you start right in on the task planned when you might otherwise be tempted to spend time reading emails or web surfing. The outline can be very brief, just one line for each day is OK. Your list will depend on your business and the time you have available, but could be something like this:

i. Monday - write a draft for an article

ii. Tuesday - post to your blog, send an email follow-up to your list or submit comments on someone else's blog or a forum

iii. Wednesday - polish your article and submit to article sites

iv. Thursday - list another product on eBay or on your website

v. Friday - research for new products, articles etc

(c) The weekly planning session is also a good time to evaluate how the previous week went. If things did not go as well as you hoped, don't be disheartened, see how you can do it better next time.

5. Repeat this cycle over and over. You do not always have to have the same business model, but the steps will apply to any model you choose.

6. Success will come inevitably when you follow this pattern.

To make it easy to remember, these steps are labelled WHY, WHAT, HOW, NOW steps (where Now means Action or DO IT!)

The importance of planning sufficiently or effectively cannot be stressed enough. If you want your business to be successful (and you do, or else why bother to start at all?), make sure you plan well and then keep taking action based on your plans.

Stop and reassess your progress periodically, make changes where you can see a better way, but keep the momentum rolling and your home business will be a success.

4 Ways To Use Social Media Marketing To Make Money Online

2009-01-05T13:28:00.000-08:00

Social media marketing is a way to promote your business on the internet via social networking. This has grown to encompass a very large number of websites and methods.

The savvy internet marketer is learning how to use this powerful marketing method to grow their business and make valuable contacts for the future.

Of course this also means making more money if you do it right. Let's take a look at 4 ways to use social media marketing to make money online.

1. Blogging is a very strong way to combine various forms of social media marketing all in one place. If you do not have a blog you are losing ground to your competitors who do.

2. Social bookmark your blog posts to create traffic from social directories and as search engine bait for search engine traffic.

Be sure and use a quality blogging platform such as WordPress. They offer a terrific plug-in that makes social bookmarking a blog post very simple.

Social bookmarking gives you a way to get backlinks to your blog very quickly. You should be bookmarking to social directories such as Technorati, Digg, Stumbleupon, and Propeller.

Also go get a Twitter account and learn how to make friends and use it to drive traffic to your blog. This is fast becoming one of the top social sites online.

3. Video such as You Tube is becoming a favorite way for bloggers to add some excitement to their blogs, but it is also much more than that.

For example many affiliate marketing programs now offer videos embedded with your affiliate i.d. that you can use to pre-sell a visitor before sending them to your affiliate website.

Many bloggers are also easily creating videos and putting them online on their blog. This is a very powerful form of social media that is giving your visitor what they want. Many people are a product of the TV generation and like to learn by watching as opposed to reading.

4. Discussion forums are a great place to make friends and sell products if you do it right. They can also be an excellent place to create joint ventures and millions of dollars are sold online now because of these.

There is much more we could say about social media including social networking in places such as FaceBook, My Space, and many others. The bottom line is making money online via social media all comes down to finding a way you enjoy and then mastering how to use it to your business and personal advantage.

Mastering Sales Psychology

2008-12-29T13:58:00.000-08:00

How To Set Up Your Own Office Anywhere

2008-12-22T14:37:00.000-08:00

Modern technology makes it simple to set up an office almost anywhere. Cell phones, email, laptops and updated office situations offer unlimited opportunities to start your own business. Whether you want a full-time enterprise or a part-time income, you need the right setup to be successful. Take advantage of advanced technology to have a convenient, functional office on your own terms.

Home Offices

Renovate your garage, family room or even a large closet into your own office space. Create a corner in the house just for your work. Have a designated area for files, your computer and other business essentials. Stay organized so you know where everything is and don't have to waste time looking for it. Scattering your work around the house makes it difficult to run a successful enterprise no matter how large or small.

Go Mobile

Sometimes occurrences at home make it impossible to focus on the business at hand. Have a laptop and cell phone ready so you can work at your favorite park, coffee shop or library. If peace and quiet are impossible to attain in one spot, take your work elsewhere for awhile. Often the change of scenery helps you regain focus so you can get back to business more effectively.

Virtual Offices

Virtual offices provide a designated business address, telephone number and fax number along with an answering service and receptionist. For a monthly fee, you can set up a virtual office in almost any major city in the world. Virtual offices also create a presence in a metropolitan area and give your business image a boost. If you need a professional space to meet with clients, most virtual offices have conference rooms available on short notice. Having a virtual office also makes it easier to work at home. You have someone else receiving packages, telephone calls, faxes and mail so you can work without interruption. A virtual office also maintains the privacy of your home address and phone number.

Managed Offices

Managed offices are run by a management company that rents out rooms and suites to various businesses. Everyone has a shared receptionist, answering service, security and common areas such as lobbies, restrooms and conference rooms. You can rent an impressive single office or suite in a local business area without a long term lease or buying office space. This gives businesses more freedom to expand, downsize and relocate.

Outsourcing

As businesses expand, they often seek virtual offices and managed offices for the access to receptionists and clerical staff. Another option for small enterprises is outsourcing. Use a freelancer to handle writing, research and public relations as you work on other aspects of your business. Hire a virtual assistant to manage appointments, telephone calls and client data. Get help to make your business more profitable and productive.

Start your own business, gain credibility and build profits by customizing your offices to suit your unique needs. Whether you want to quit your day job or supplement your current income, you can create your own perfect office anywhere and anytime.

Decision-Making for Good Leadership

2008-12-15T13:21:00.000-08:00

Decision-Making is of prime importance for good leadership. Generally it is thought that a good leader makes all the decisions and they have to be the best.

In this modern age, it is impossible for one person to make all the decisions and for all the decisions to be the best. There are too many unseen variables and too many people involved in implementation for a leader to make all the decisions and for them to be the best ones.

However, understanding the types of decisions and the people involved in making them can help the leader to manage the complexity of decision making. The factor that makes decision-making easier and the types of decisions are given below.

Decisions are Data-Based

A good leader makes decisions based on data, which is analyzed for patterns of information. The information is then used to make decisions that are well thought out.

While it is true that you cannot know everything, doing an analysis of available data about a predicament will, nevertheless, lessen the risk of failure.

While all decisions need to be data-based, there are at least four different types of decisions:

1. Paradigm Decisions

Paradigm decisions are those which provide guidelines for decision-making for all people in an organization or team. Decisions such as: Having a smoke-free organization, having a non-discrimination policy, etc. are paradigm decisions. They help team members and leaders to make the right decisions when they are faced with a dilemma.

Such decisions need to be made with the involvement of everyone affected. The consensus process is a very useful methodology to make such decisions.

2. Policy Decisions

Policy decisions are necessary to provide resources and official permission for the operations of an organization.

For instance, if the Performance Appraisal Process needs to be reviewed, then a couple of policy decisions need to be made. A decision needs to be made to set-up a committee which will analyze the existing process. The different teams in an organization need to volunteer a representative to become members of the committee.

The management team needs to allocate money and time for this team to function and come up with an insightful report.

All decisions that are made to ease the functioning of the teams are policy decisions.

Policy decisions are made in a participatory mode with the involvement of everybody who will be involved in the execution of the task.

3. Procedural or Functional Decisions

Procedural decisions are made by a few people who will be carrying out the plans/policies/goals of the organization or who will be impacted by the decision. These are decisions that will help implement a process.

For instance, outlining the procedure of recruitment and selection in an organization is a process of detailing the actions that a team will take when they follow this procedure. It will also detail the actions to be taken if there are exceptions.

4. Structured Decisions

Structured decisions are made by individuals who are directly executing the plans of the organization. These decisions are informed by the data available to the employee, the procedures/structures that have already been put in place, and the knowledge of the policies and paradigms of the organization. The decision-maker could be the CEO or the security guard at the gate.

Understanding the kinds of decisions – and the people who need to be involved in making them – provides the leader with the confidence to make decisions; sometimes alone and sometimes with others.

This will also give the leader confidence in the decisions of his team members, as they are made with an understanding of the values and procedures of the organization.

Know Your Audience Before You Speak

2008-12-08T14:09:00.000-08:00

You can make a significant impact in public speaking if you put in a little effort to know your audience before making the speech. This does not have to be a mammoth task if you know the kind of questions to which you need to get answers.

1. What Are The Needs And Wants Of The Audience?

The topic of your speech is about what the audience needs to know. However, not everyone is excited about hearing what they need to know. It helps if you can figure out what they want to know.

To know your audience will require you to know how they perceive that the need will be of value to them. Just giving them the content will not be sufficient. It is important that you are able to show them what is in it for them to make an impact.

Just providing them the knowledge or content is only the first part but igniting enthusiasm about what you are talking about will be what will make the difference.

2. What Does The Audience Already Know?

It is so easy to bore your audience if you tell them what they already know.

Taking a little effort in finding out as much as you can about the audience you will address is actually your first step to helping succeed in making your speech. If they are new to this topic, then you will need to cover the basics. If not, then you may want to summarize the basics, before you continue with the rest.

It is also a good idea to inform the audience of the level of prerequisite knowledge required on the subject matter. There have been speakers who have been known to do a preparatory session for people who are new to the subject before actually doing the presentation proper. People, who already know basic content, are appreciative of this as they do not have to sit through information that they already know.

The intent of knowing your audiences' knowledge level is not about impressing people with how much more you know than your audience. Rather, it is about imparting information and knowledge in such a way that will trigger something in the audience for them to make a decision and/or to take action.

3. What Does The Audience Understand?

Knowing a subject and understanding it are two completely different things. This whole idea of knowing but not understanding enough to get value out of what you hear is costing lots of people time and money.

People attend seminars and quite often they tell themselves that this is stuff that they know. Question is do they understand it sufficiently to take action. Even if they decide to take the first action, do they understand the underlying impact of how much work and actions are actually needed to complete what they are starting.

Again, the level of knowledge of the audience will have an impact on how detailed you may need to go to ensure that you can bring them to a level of understanding. Or, at least to inform the audience of the level of details that is covered in the session.

4. What Does The Audience Fear?

When you know your audience enough to know about what they fear, you can be in a very effective position.

Fear can be of two kinds. One is when the person fears something and the other is when the person does not fear.

Lots of people know and understand things but are afraid to take action. For these people, if what you say and how you say helps them to overcome their fear and give them confidence, then you know that you have done a good job. The audience will go away feeling good as they are in a much better position to take action.

This might be the case with people who want to start on internet marketing but are afraid to take the initial steps only because they have never done it before. Instead of just rushing over it, breaking it down in simple steps might make it simple enough for people to overcome their initial fears.

How about the audience that does not fear? In this case, there may be a need to share areas and extent of risk.

A good example of this would be anti-virus protection on personal computers not only for office but also at home. Speaking of the details of what is anti-virus protection and how it can be prevented is definitely good knowledge. Additionally, getting the audience emotionally involved in the kind of risk and loss that they will get into, will improve the extent of involvement in listening to you.

To know your audience does take a little bit of effort, but this is well worth it as you will have a much better impact and audience response. The next time you have a speech to make, get to know your audience and find out for yourself the difference that you can make both to your audience as well as for yourself.

Business Undercover: Finding the Holes in Your Business

2008-12-01T14:32:00.000-08:00

OK, so you have been working your business for a while but yet you seem to continue having issues with your business planning. Have you considered that you might have holes in your business plan?

What are holes? Glad you asked. Holes are those things that may cause you to lose money unaware or along potential business clients to slip through your fingers.

Some examples of holes are as follows:

Income funnel not present: an income funnel allows you to build your mailing list while also allowing you to upsell your products to your mailing list.

Missing outsourcing opportunities: outsourcing opportunities allow you to hire others to handle tasks that would be more financially reasonable for someone else to complete.

Not holding teleseminars: when you hold a teleseminar, you can also record it so that you can sell the audio or transcript as a product via your website.

No financial plan: in order to understand where you business is going financially; a plan must be in place. The plan will help you by showing when you should make changes in your business too reflect growth.

Lack of a crisis management plan: having a crisis management plan in place will help you be ready to handle tragedy when it happens. Examples of tragedies are computer failure, fire destroying office equipment, or flood damage to office.

The above list is just a short list of holes that you might find in your business. Regardless of what type of holes that you find in your business, you need to take action to fix them.

One final area that would be considered a hole is not have a business mentor. A business mentor is some who provides sound advice and direction to you as you manage your business. Some of the characteristics of a good business mentor are:

~ Ability to give you constructive feedback

~ Successful in own business

~ Experienced at mentoring business owners

~ Able to be real and truthful to you

~ You are open to receiving their feedback

~ You respect their opinion

These are just a few of things that you should consider when looking for a business mentor. Just keep in mind that a good business mentor will fit well into your business plan. If the mentor does not fit, you need to give more thought to whether you want to keep them or get a new one.

So be an undercover agent and work to find the holes that may be holding back your business.

Top 5 Work at Home Mistakes

2008-11-24T14:32:00.000-08:00

Before you even begin to start working from home there are a number of important matters that you must consider first. This article outlines the the top 5 mistakes that you can make when working at home. Pay careful attention to these as they might make a huge difference as to whether you are successful or not.

Mistake 1. Scams.

If you want to make sure you don't fall for a scam do your research. There are a number of good places to do this research online. Just Google 'how to spot scams online' or some similar term.

You have to become educated on this topic because if you fall into a scam then you are likely to be targeted again. Yep, there is a scammers network out there. Take your time and learn all you can.

Could you miss out on a good, legitimate offer? Yes, but it is far better to err on the side of caution.

Mistake 2. Analysis paralysis.

Having been cautioned on looking out for scams, don't suffer from inertia. At some stage you just have to dive right in and do it. Try to find something that you feel really comfortable doing and then... Just Do It!

If you over analyze everything you could end up with analysis paralysis. If you find yourself stacking up more than a handful of likely offers you might be in danger of becoming so overwhelmed that you don't take action on anything. Part of your education is to try something and find that it wasn't what you thought it would be. This way you will be educating yourself.

Mistake 3. Not Getting Educated.

While we are on the subject of education let's be blunt. Not getting educated is a big mistake. It will severely restrict your prospects of being successful. You could fall for a scam. You could lose a lot of money.

However, let me repeat. Part of your education is jumping in and getting your feet wet. As you become more experienced online you will notice that all of the honest 'gurus' have gone through this process to some extent.

Mistake 4. Not Networking.

This simply means that you join other like minded people and share your experiences. One of the best ways of doing this is to join one of the many forums online. If the scheme you are contemplating has a forum then dive right in and sign up. This is also another way of getting your education.

If your scheme or project has a forum that is a good indicator that it is legitimate.

Networking is an important part of the process. Trying to do it on your own rarely works out in your favor.

Mistake 5. Not being professional.

This is a biggie. So many people seem to think that because they are working from home they don't need to be professional in their efforts. Wrong.

Often, if you have a day job, the presumption is that you intend to quit it at some stage. Even if that is not your intention you still need to be professional. If you only want to supplement your income you must treat your online efforts seriously. If you do this and work diligently, sooner or later you will have to quit your job to keep up with your online efforts.

These are a few important things for you to consider when contemplating working from home online. Get these right and you are well on your way to success.

Positive Thinking Your Way To Success?

2008-11-17T14:09:00.000-08:00

You've heard it said before, "Think Positive, and You Will Succeed!" Is it really that simple? Well, there is a little more to it than that, but Positive Thinking is certainly a great starting point.
Whether you realize it or not, your thoughts have a big impact on your life and especially your business. Learning to monitor and change your thoughts is a big task, but it is essential to making your dreams a reality. The way your mind works has a direct effect on the way your business and life develop.

How exactly does your thinking affect your life? Scientists are just beginning to figure out the intricate relationship between your mind and the results you get. There is a lot of evidence that proves that your results are directly determined by your thinking.

But monitoring your thoughts day in and day out can get overwhelming. It does not come naturally to people to censor their thoughts. If you have ever tried to do this, you know how difficult it can be to go through your day and evaluate what you are thinking about every moment.

Fortunately, there is a short cut to monitoring your thoughts. Your positive thoughts create positive results, but there's a step between your thoughts and your results. That step is your feelings. Your thoughts create feelings, and your feelings create the actions that you take. Ultimately, your actions determine your results.

You can instantly know what your thoughts are by monitoring your feelings. The way you feel is related to what you are thinking about. If you are feeling bad, you are thinking of things that are taking you away from your main purpose. If you are feeling good, you are thinking things that are fostering your purpose.

Once you decide your purpose or your goal, your thoughts will either move you closer to your goal or away from it. You can tell what you are thinking, based on how you feel. If you feel discouraged, depressed or otherwise down, you know that your thoughts are not aligned with, or supporting your goals.

The easiest way to make sure you are thinking positively is to monitor your feelings. If you feel bad, steer your thoughts into a positive direction. Sometimes this is easier said than done. In times like that, read something uplifting -- a success story or some motivational quotes -- to help you turn your thoughts positive.

There may be some effort required to keep you on track. Remember, every time you overcome a negative experience, your confidence grows, and you will feel better. The better you feel, the more supportive your thoughts are and the closer you are to making your dreams a reality.

How to Organize Your Home Business Routine

2008-11-10T14:14:00.000-08:00

Having a home business is a tremendous accomplishment and will provide you with income as well as pride in yourself. Being able to stay at home and to forgo the daily commute to an office through congested traffic, is worth a lot in terms of stress relief.

Once you have settled into a niche that makes money online, there are many ways that a person can make their environment a little more efficient and more productive.

One such method is to take a look at where and how you work. Does your office produce a real working environment and a goal oriented space? That means, you should keep a desk that has the necessary papers and tools available within easy reach so that you do not have to waste time looking for things. Recommendations are: a blotter with dates, a stapler, a filing system with trays or with folders, pens, CD discs, a phone, a scanner and printer. You can have a mailing station set up on another table if you do a lot of mailing packages, tapes, or cds. Have all the accessories you need such as mailing envelopes, tape, address labels, zip code directory, etc. available and within easy reach.

Keep your main desk clean and use space so that there is a feeling of "productivity" when you sit at your computer. Do not have schedules of the kids and other things in your life imposing on your work environment. When you are at your desk, spend the time contemplating your work and what you want to accomplish for that time because it is so very easy to wake up and find you have spent two hours reading email and checking out links.

Making a check list the night before to keep on track of your next day's activities, is a very good method to accomplishing more than you think possible. Crossing items off your list makes you feel like you have worked hard and gives you a good sense of pride. This helps propel you into your next activity and refresh you for the coming situations. Keeping the list in priority status also keeps you on track and gets the most accomplished for the day.

Having some diversions like soft music is also a good relief for the mind. Creating a background that keeps you in a good frame of mind makes for more productive work as well.

It is also a good idea to get up and stretch once in a while.
Go to the refrigerator for a water or get an apple to eat while you contemplate the computer screen and your work. Remember, you are your own boss, so there is no one to tell you that you cannot eat at your desk! However, there is also no one to tell you that you should not spend working time playing games online, either, so you have to make yourself do what is on your schedule and your priority list to grow your business. It is just a matter of learning the appropriate methods to enable you to work in the manner that seems best and most efficient for you.

Once you are serious about your work and your workday, you will find a tremendous sense of confidence and pride and will know that your abilities are more than enough to fulfill your life's dream and ambition.

Don't Let Anyone Steal Your Dream!

2008-11-03T14:20:00.000-08:00

Do you have any dream killers in your life? Dream killers are those people who discourage you when you are trying to change your life. It's amazing how many people tell their friends and family that they cannot succeed. This is especially true when you are trying to do something "outside of the box" like making money online or starting your own business.

The main argument these dream killers have is that your goals are unrealistic. They will advise you to be more "practical", and pretend they are offering you sound advice.

Many of them believe they are doing a favor by discouraging you. They think they are helping you live a life in "your best interest". But really, they are encouraging you to a live a life without vision.

If you are really motivated toward success, doing anything less than your ambitious goals will be unfulfilling for you. You end up wondering what could have been. You continue to live your life for other people, instead of yourself.

Your friends and family who discourage you from trying something new are only giving you insight into what they would do in your position. They do not have the vision and the drive that you do. They are only reacting out of their own fear.

Other people take the path of least resistance, but that does not mean that you have to. Your goals are important to you for a reason. You will only be happy when you achieve them. Giving up on your goals because other people think they are unrealistic is no way to live your life.

How do you overcome the dream killers in your life?

You may want to start with choosing who you spend your time with. If you want to be self-motivated, you've got to spend time with other people who are self-motivated. The same goes for the other aspects of success.

If the dream killers in your life are close relatives, and long time friends, try keeping your business goals to yourself for a while until you get going. By the time you've had a little success, they will probably be a lot more supportive.

Finally, the best way to overcome the dream killers in your life is to be confident in yourself and your goals. If you are truly confident in yourself and your ideas, then no one can stop you.

Keep your goals and dreams in front of you all the time. They will be your motivation, when some of your "well-meaning friend" try to discourage you.

Don't let anyone steal YOUR DREAM!

The Art of the Human Phone Conversation

2008-10-27T14:23:00.000-07:00

It's missing in a variety of situations these days, from having friends, to meeting singles, to these so called quick businesses that you can run without even having a brain. You've seen them, so "turn-key" that you could literally purchase one for your pet monkey. Today, advanced technology has saved literally millions of "man hours," and dollars by using automated phone systems. Gone are the days of Lily Tomlin and "one ringy dingy." We can do everything from pay our bills to refill prescriptions, without even a human transaction. Of course some people prefer it that way, especially when they are giving out financial information. But is automation really better than a human?

Today the online community is global. You can run a business without leaving your home, and do most of what you need with a computer. Email, which just a few short years ago, seemed like a futuristic way to communicate "in the moment," has now been upgraded with "instant messaging." Literally having a real- time conversation with someone without ever speaking a word.

As far as normal business operation is concerned, this type of communication is fine. Just as communicating with your family and friends this way is fine too. However, people are taking this modern technological marvel and using it in other ways.

There are the people who are trying to meet other people. So they build these online "profiles" to describe themselves and to network in communities where there are others like themselves. This can be so extremely deceptive, as we know from the countless news stories of predators waiting to attack unknowing children.

How about in business. Maybe you are trying to start your own home or online business. You do tons of research amidst the ocean of endless possibilities being offered. You go to what looks like a beautifully designed professional website. It seems to have all of the things you're looking for. Will you plunk down a chunk of change on what seems to be that golden opportunity? It looks great, right? whether it's an Ebay business, or Ebooks, or affiliating products, such as health supplements, the promises are out there. The testimonials are there too. It must be the thing!

But alas, as experience would show, it seldom works out that way. There may be different reasons for failure, and these reasons may be as unique as the individual. Or it may be as simple as not taking the time to make phone contact.

The art of the human phone conversation is not difficult, nor does it require a certain etiquette. It's as simple as making contact, asking a few questions, and then observing both your gut feeling and your hind site. It is the best way to find out what you are getting yourself into. With time and practice it WILL show you the difference between a scam, and a real company trying help you, the customer, and make a living too. Anybody can get a website. They can be deceptive and misleading. If they don't offer a contact phone number, that should be a red flag right away. If you email some companies you can generally get an idea of how their customer service works (or doesn't) but when you are about to make a substantial investment, you really want to check further.

It's not always so much what you ask, as it is just asking anything. When the phone rings, does anybody answer? Do they have a voice mail, that is on all the time. This might not be your best opportunity. Especially if part of your business is to refer other people.

Remember Columbo? The TV detective in the 1970's with the trench coat, who, just before leaving an investigation would always say "just one more thing..." That always seemed to be the question that helped him figure out the case. Sometimes the question is irrelevant, you may just be looking for the reaction or response. That's the key. The response.

When you call, are they pleasant? Are they knowledgeable? Do they seem to enjoy where they are? Remember you are both professionals communicating in business. You have a right to make the call and inquire. If the business is a nutritional affiliate, you might ask about side effects, or dosages or even shelf life. No question is a stupid question. If this is a legitimate business they will welcome any question you have.

Another wonderful thing about the human phone conversation is, you can find some wonderful human to human connection. If you work at home, it can sometimes get lonely. An upbeat conversation can really make your day. You got to experience the life of a fellow human being. It's an opportunity to say something nice and even make their day. Communication is how things get done, period. It is always a step toward your goal.

It can get even better. If you are in any type of wholesaling or dropshipping business, and you do everything in automated fashion, you may be missing out on some bargains or discounts. Sometimes all it takes is some pleasant communication and you'll find someone who will go out of their way for you. You will build relationships and limitless possibilities. You will feel proud, accomplished and like a real business owner. As opposed to the guy or girl in "their underwear" and "isolation" at the kitchen table. Do you want to be in your underwear all day long with no one but yourself to talk to? A great phone conversation is a mood elevator and a catalyst to a chain reaction you may not even see for days or weeks, or even months. None of those possibilities apply if you try to do things the automated "turn-key" way.

You can start out by making calls to anyone. Call local businesses and ask about things in their store or business. Find a name of a business that might be confusing, and just call and ask what they do. Not everyone will be nice, but it's all experience, and they don't know you anyway! Some will be quick and others will take the time with you, even helping with something other than what they do.

So as you can see, with just practice, you can develop the art of the human phone conversation. The questions are all your own, and the answers will enlighten your way. You may find bargains, you may find wonderful words of encouragement, you may find new relationships. You may find that you can be of some help to someone else too. And isn't that always a great feeling? What you definitely will find is gains in valuable knowledge and experience, that you can teach others or even keep to yourself!

So go work on your art to the human phone conversation, you still have some anonymity, so you don't have to be embarrassed, just go, and keep going. You will develop a business (and personal) tool that will be invaluable.

A Home Business Requires Discipline

2008-10-20T14:35:00.000-07:00

Choosing to have a home business is a great step towards achieving self-reliance and financial independence. But often times when people start working from home their level of productivity drops. Why is this and what can be done to change it?

Most people's productivity at work is a direct reflection of their pier group there. At work you had many people on which to compare your level of productivity against. Now that you are working from your house you often have no measure of how productive you are, so most people's activity levels drop.

Also, while at home there are many distractions during the day, which can lead you astray. Television, newspapers, internet, phone calls, and laundry all lead you astray from your good intentions to get work done.

On key thing you can do to increase your productivity is to plan your day out, and write what you want to achieve for that day and stick to your plan. Some activities require a certain amount of time to be put into it, while for other activities you need to achieve a specific outcome. Often times it is better to set daily goals as specific outcomes, otherwise if you just set time limits, the level of importance for that activity swells to fit the time you gave it when instead you might have been finished earlier with better results if you had focused on the outcome rather than the time put in.

Another tip to feel more productive at home is to dress like you are going to the office. Every morning, get up, shower, and put on office clothes. Wearing your work clothes will put you into a different state of mind and will make you more productive. This will be a clue to your mind that now it is time to work.

Having a designated office area is another important thing. If you can have a room that doesn't have a bed in it that would be great. Also, make sure your office is clean neat and try to work with the door closed.

Also, many people who work from home feel shut in. It is important to get out of the house a couple of times during the day and go for a walk or drive. Going to the mall is great for a quick walk and seeing people.

If you decide you really can't work from home; look into renting cheap office space somewhere. In many office buildings you can find a room to rent somewhere, which is much cheaper than renting a whole office.

Working from home is great if you have the discipline to keep at it. It takes consistency and drive just like any other job, but it can be a great experience. Start by making your to do list for tomorrow, today.

Reaching the Top, One Step at a Time!

2008-10-15T14:45:00.000-07:00

What do your dreams and goals look like?

Are they so immense that they make your stomach hurt a little? Or are they small, reachable goals that bore you when you think of them?

Dreams and goals can run the gamut from being larger than life to small and humble. Which type of goal is better? There are actually good reasons to have both types of goals.

Having huge goals that "scare" you a little is important. Goals and dreams are supposed to stretch your imagination, your abilities and your character to transform you into someone new. Your goals should help you live the ideal life that you want to live, no matter how far away the goal may seem.

History tells us about individuals who dreamed big, despite people around them who told them to get their head out of the clouds. In fact, most successful people, whether they are politicians, business people, authors, athletes or humanitarians, have been told at some time throughout life that they were dreaming too big.

Don't be afraid to have big dreams and goals. Set your sights on something that at the present time seems so far out of your reach, that you know you were absolutely successful when you achieved that goal. Thinking of your big goal should make you nervous and excited at the same time.

On the other hand, it is also important to set small reachable goals for yourself. Your success depends heavily on your belief in yourself. If your big goal seems too out of reach, start setting smaller goals. By reaching those smaller goals you prove to yourself that you can achieve more.

Small reachable goals can be something as simple as working out a certain number of times per week, or reading a certain list of books. When you reach any type of goal, it feels good and gives you a boost in your self-esteem. If you start with small goals like these, while keeping your eye on the big goal in the future, you will build the confidence that you need to achieve that big goal.

As you achieve the small goals and check them off your list, your confidence and the belief in yourself will grow to the point where you look at the small goals as stepping stones, that will take you to the top.

Success comes from setting goals of both types. You need the big goals to motivate you toward success, and you need the little goals to help you gain confidence and discipline along the way.

Try Outsourcing

2008-10-13T14:20:00.000-07:00

For many people, working from home in an online "virtual office" can be a tedious chore with many jobs being very technically challenging.

If some jobs are out of your comfort zone why struggle trying to accomplish them when you can outsource the work and better spend your time working on the things which you are most competent at doing. You will also enjoy your work much more.

If your talent is for writing but building websites is an utter mystery find someone to build the sites and you can supply them with the content for the sites or at least source and rewrite plr articles to make them your own. Similarly you can find people to promote and market your web site and probably far more effectively than you ever could yourself.

Cost can be off putting but then how many hours can you waste trying and often failing to get your site up and running correctly. Especially when you want all the extras like videos and pop ups and all the rest. Probably your time is much better spent on producing good quality content and ideas.

The cost does not have to be great though. An advert in your local paper will very likely uncover a teenage genius who is a whiz on computers. They will probably be happy to jump at the chance to earn more than they earn working at the local fast food store. The advantage of using somebody local is that you have easy access to them and the chance of good face to face communication.

There are of course all the online resources with contractors from all over the world looking for work in every aspect of online business. The prices can vary hugely and English may not be their first language but you can generally question their competence and ability to understand English well enough for you to communicate with them. Try to get some testimonials from previous employers and if you do employ them be sure to watch the progress of your project to see that your instructions are adhered to.

A quick Google search should uncover a number of outsourcing companies with very reasonable rates.

Well if nothing else it is an idea worth exploring because so many people get bogged down in all the technology that they do not achieve anything. This is just part of getting yourself organized. Being organized is essential for getting action.

Blogging: Some Thoughts for the Beginner

2008-10-06T14:31:00.000-07:00

The derivation of the word blog comes from web logging, as it used to be known. It has changed a lot in its development and now blogging is a front line tool in the Internet promotion tool box. It is now used to promote products and services and presents another platform to to communicate with the visitor and develop a lasting relationship with them.

Having created the the business blog you can then monetize it as well as personalize it to your own requirements. Once created, you can make money out of the blog by syndicating it through RSS to your business website. If you have decided that you will set up a blog for business, below are a few tips on how to make it one of the more interesting and popular blogs.

1 - Your audience.

You are writing your blog post for your audience to read, so don't forget that what you write is of interest to them. They have searched for through a keyword, or keyword phrase, and arrived at your blog. So, make sure they are happy with what they find and even interested enough to look a little further into your blog, and maybe visit your website.

2 - Words fail - see sketch.

A large block of text can become very boring when reading, especially online. A picture or graphic or two placed within the text breaks up the strict framework of the post and keeps the reader interested through to the end. It is especially true if the picture is relevant to the subject of the post.

3 - The content needs to be relevant.

The posts made to your business blog need to be relevant to the subject of the blog. In other words the blog is set up around your niche market and with keywords and keyword phrases that are relevant to the subject. The intent is to draw traffic to your blog based on those keywords and keyword phrases. The business blog needs to create a special relationship with its visitors with the aim to sell products or services. If you consistently write good quality posts to your blog the visitor will return for more of the "good stuff," and will eventually trust that you know what you are talking about and buy one of your recommended products or services.

4 - Keep things simple.

The art of good communication is to keep things simple. Keep away from the technical jargon unless absolutely necessary and try to keep the sentences short and to the point.

5 - Make it interactive.

Audio and video are very good interactive methods, but all blogs come with a "comments" facility for each post made. Make sure that this feature is not turned off, and all comments must be approved before publishing them.

Before starting out with your blog you will need to do some pre-planning as to how you will personalize and monetize the blog, as well as how often you will post to it. An important fact to resolve is where will the content for each post come from. A good business blog needs a steady stream of interesting and relevant content in order to become a profitable venture - how will you complete this task? Remember that no plan is a plan to failure.

The Top Five Reasons Why Many Home-Based Businesses Fail

2008-09-29T14:19:00.000-07:00

Everyday there are thousands of people looking to start a home-based business. In addition, there are hundreds more who start a work at home business and then fail miserably. Why? It is because they fail to see that the business opportunity was not viable and junk to begin with! Can this trap be avoided? Yes, if people learn to target the gems and reject the scams. Let's discover the top five reasons why many home-based businesses will never work.

Problem #1: Most new opportunities are totally unproven. The fact is many of the opportunities are too new! The market for the products and services is not well-established yet. Usually, the only people who get rich with these opportunities are wealthy Fortune 500 companies that have tons of money to spend anyway. Opportunities that are too new are too risky! It is important to let others who can afford it pave the way.

Problem #2: Most of the money-making methods are the same old boring plans and programs. Many opportunities claim to be new and innovative, but really are not. Some look new, but in reality are only a facade! With a little research, you will see that there is nothing "new" at all about them. What is important is to get involved in an opportunity that is new, different and better than others, is rock solid, and is part of an explosive combination of the three hottest emerging multi-billion dollar trends.

Problem #3: Many home-based business opportunities only make the promoters rich. Average people who are involved in these plans almost never make any money. Only those considered the "heavy hitters" make the real money; they are the ones who have all the connections.

Problem #4: Many of the hottest and exciting money making opportunities are immoral and illegal. This is something that has to be avoided at all costs! Never, ever, get involved with any opportunity that looks and sounds good, but due diligence shows to violate ethics and laws. Who wants to go to jail? Always ask what is the product or service behind the opportunity, where is the market for this product or service that is supposed to take the world by storm, and would it be possible to make lots of money without all the hype and buzz?

Problem #5: Many opportunities are not long lasting. In other words, they are here today and gone tomorrow! They are pure hype with no type of firm foundation behind them; there is no "real" product or service. When all the hype runs out, the market is gone for good! Never become involved in a home-based business opportunity based on pure hype.

So, there you have it: the top five reasons why some home-based businesses will fail. Carefully look for potential problems with any business opportunity; avoid them, and you will be well on your way in finding a true legitimate business right from the start!

Get All Your Home Business Tax Deductions

2008-09-22T14:40:00.000-07:00

In any small/home business you definitely have more tax advantages than if you were simply an "independent contractor" or "sole proprietor" claiming the income on your personal 1040 tax return. The tax advantages become substantial when you consider how you can improve the profitability of your home business by filing a separate Schedule C for your business income and declaring all of the deductions you are entitled to.

You may be missing some very important deductions. You must itemize your deductions for your home business operation on a separate schedule just as you would for your personal deductions. Knowing which deductions you are entitled to can save your home business hundreds of dollars a year.

Here is some background information on how your income tax amount is arrived at by the IRS.

The U.S. taxation code states that almost all income is subject to federal income tax. The way that you, as the owner of your home business, arrive at the final amount of income tax is as follows:

Gross Income - (All Expenses + Miscellaneous Deductions + Depreciation on Assets) = Taxable Income
Taxable Income x (Your Tax Rate) = Income tax for the fiscal year

Here is a quick definition of the terms in the above taxation equation:

Gross Income: The total of all income for the year after the cost of inventory has been accounted for.
Expenses: All costs of doing business during the fiscal tax year. Examples include payroll, materials, supplies, interest on business loans, etc. To find out if an expense qualifies as a legitimate business expense, consult your accountant or the IRS.
Depreciation: This is a way of spreading out the deductibility of an asset over a period of more than one year. This is done for assets like real estate, equipment and other assets with a long economic life. This method of taxation write-off has certain advantages. Be sure to talk to your accountant regarding proper depreciation rules. The IRS has different depreciation schedules for different business property. These rules are subject to change by Congress and the IRS.
Miscellaneous Deductions: This is an often misunderstood and overlooked way to save a lot of money on taxes. Remember that these types of expenses must be totaled up and declared on a separate schedule of your income tax forms. Always track your expenses and be sure to save at least one copy of every deduction. You will be asked for proof of every transaction that is declared as a deduction if you are audited by the IRS!

Here is a list of some of the most common business related expenses you can deduct from your income taxes:

Airfare
Auto Expenses
Books and Magazines
Educational Expenses
Home Office Space* + a portion of Utilities, Telephone, and Maintenance Costs
Office Furniture
Cleaning Expenses
Meals with Business Clients
Laundry Expenses (when traveling)
Advertising
Bank Fees and Interest
Licenses and Regulatory Fees

* If you own your home you must use the IRS depreciation rules to determine this deduction. If you rent, you may also deduct a portion of your rent.

Check IRS Publication 535 or contact me to schedule a consultation to find out if you can deduct any or all of the above.

As you can see, there are many deductions that are allowable for your home business. The best way to get more information on tax deductions and related information on income taxes is to go online to http://www.irs.gov. There you will find a helpful search engine containing thousands of government publications that you can research and print out if you need to.

Now you have a good idea of the deductions you are entitled to take. So do your research, keep track of your expenses and take all of the deductions you can for maximum profit every year.

5 Tips to Staying Focused when Starting Your Home-Based Business

2008-09-08T14:28:00.000-07:00

Have you decided to start a home-based business? You may be juggling a full time job, a part time job and family life. You know that there are many things you need to do in order to successfully start your business and work from home. How are you going to fit your business project into your daily commitments? It's easy to become overwhelmed and lose focus. Losing focus will cause you to take no action. Action is essential to moving on from where you are now, to where you want to be.

Here are 5 tips to stay focused on starting your home based business:

1. Chunk down

If you have a large task to tackle, it is always easier when you break it down into smaller components. You'll find it easier to focus because you won't feel as overwhelmed. For example, "Register a business name" can be broken down into: "Think of five business name ideas," "Find out how to register business name," "Get registration form" and so on.

2. Keep a "to do" list

Once you've broken down major tasks into smaller ones, make and keep a "to do" list. Always keep a notepad and pen with you so that you can jot down any new ideas as they arise.

3. Schedule your time

Every evening, decide on three to five tasks on your "to do" list that you wish to accomplish the following day. Stay focused on these tasks and only move on to the next tasks on your list once these have been completed.

4. Set goals

There is nothing better for staying focused than setting goals. Visualize exactly where you want to be in a month, six months and a year. In a month's time, do you want to have registered a business name and got all your equipment set up? In six months time, how many clients do you want? How much revenue do you want to generate in a year's time?

5. Just say "No"

Be assertive and carve out more time for your business project. Saying "no" to that extra demand by your boss every once in a while, can get you home one hour earlier a couple of days a week. How about cutting back on the amount of housework that you do? Imagine how you could channel that extra time into your business.

If you put these five tips into practice, you'll definitely find it easier to focus on and achieve your ultimate goal of working from home.

Types of Business Structures

2008-09-01T14:22:00.000-07:00

When you decide to start your own business, there are many decisions to make. A critical decision is to decide what legal or formal structure the business will take. This is important because if you desire to work with wholesale suppliers or establish business credit, you will need to prove that you are a legitimate business. There are four forms your business can take: sole proprietorship, partnership, S-Corporation, and limited liability company. (There is also another corporate entity, the C-Corporation, but this structure is not often used by small businesses and will not be discussed here.)

A sole proprietorship is the simplest form your business can take. It has a very simple legal structure and you must get a business license from your state to get a sales tax license, if your state has a sales tax. The disadvantage of this business form is your personal assets are not considered separate from your business assets. If you sell a product and the product injures someone due to a fault, the victim could sue the distributor of the product and they could sue you. Not only can your business assets be attached, but your personal assets as well. The advantage of this type of business structure is that you are allowed almost all of the business expenses and deductions that corporations can get. If you make a profit this money is added to any salary your received from your job or other income and is taxed at the normal rate. If you have losses, then you can often deduct these losses from your salary or other income.

An S-Corporation is the most common type of corporation used by small businesses in the United States. A S corporation does not pay taxes on its profits. All profits and losses flow through to the shareholders(you) and is considered ordinary income for tax purposes. Ordinary income is different from earned income in that you do not pay Social Security and Medicare taxes as well as federal income taxes. You only need to pay the basic federal income tax. An important advantage of incorporating is it limits your liability. Your personal assets cannot be attached and liquidated by creditors; only the corporation's assets. In addition to limiting liability, an advantage of incorporating is credibility. When your business name ends with "Inc." wholesalers will be more willing to deal with you, it is easier to get into trade shows and it is easier to find trade credit.

A partnership is formed when two or more people sign a partnership agreement and file taxes as a partnership. Partnerships have several disadvantages. If you or your partner are sued, then each of the partners is personally liable. If you and your partner decide to part ways, dissolving the partnership can become messy. A partnership does not enjoy all of the tax benefits nor is it as flexible as a corporation. And partnerships are considered a high value target for an IRS audit. Each partner is liable for a co-partner's wrongdoing. An alternate form of partnership, the limited liability partnership (LLP), is formed when two or more people form an LLC (see below). The LLP enjoys most of the same benefits as the LLC, though each partner is often still responsible for the others' wrongdoings.

A limited liability company enjoys some of the tax benefits of a sole proprietorship, as well as the liability protection of a corporation. There is no double taxation that can occur with a corporation. The liability is limited, in that the owners are protected from liability for certain acts and debts of the LLC, but may still be responsible for any debts beyond the fiscal capacity of the company.

Before any final decision is made about the type of business structure you choose for your business, consult a tax attorney or CPA. They can give you advice based on your individual needs as to what structure is best for your business, as well as additional ways to limit your liability and insure that you pay the least tax possible.

Starting a Home Business? Have You Answered the Five W's?

2008-08-25T14:35:00.000-07:00

Starting a home business has been one of the biggest growth industries in the last decade. There are thousands of new business owners entering the online arena everyday.

No matter what type of business product or service you choose to participate in, there is one and only one starting point.

The only place to be starting your new home business is, in your mind, more importantly your mindset.

It is imperative for you to know the Who, What, Where, When and Why's when considering starting up a home based business. No matter what type of venture you may choose, if you cannot answer the five W's you will greatly hinder your chances of success dramatically.

Let's take a look at the five W's individually.

WHO? Who are you doing this for? Is it for personal gain and notoriety, family obligations or maybe to help a friend in need. If you do not clearly know and understand who you are doing this for, you will have a very difficult time maintaining the motivation to achieve the level of success you desire.

WHAT? Do you clearly know what is you that want to achieve? Is it to attain financial independence? Contributing to your retirement plans? Is it to put a down payment on a new house? Do you want to be able to quit your job, or do you just want to be able to purchase those big ticket items you have always yearned for?

It is crucial to know exactly what it is you wish to achieve. You have to be able to close your eyes and picture in your mind, down to the finest detail, what your life would be like once you achieve success. If you don't truly know what it is that you want, it is almost guaranteed that you are not going to get it.

Achieving success comes from knowing precisely what it is you want. Then next step is to set goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time based, better known as S.M.A.R.T. goals. To learn more about goal setting just do a quick search on your favorite search engine, there is a great deal of information available.

WHERE? Research is the key here. There are countless ways and places to set up a home business on the internet. What is most important here is to keep a level head and an open mind while doing your research to determine your chosen field.

Sales pages are finely tuned to trigger impulses and emotions to get you to buy now, this very second. Fight those urges to click that order button, step away from your computer for a moment if you have to.

Take the time to actually study what is being offered. How much is it going to cost you? Is it a one off, monthly or yearly cost? What is the actual product or service that you are receiving, and is there something else out there that may better serve your needs.

It is highly recommended that you never hit the order button on your first visit. Take a look around and do some comparison shopping, or window shopping if you will. If the original offer was the best you can always return and purchase at a later time.

A quick example. Let's say you find that perfect ebook with resale rights and you just have to have it, and the cost is $97.00. Try this out first. Type the ebook's title into your favorite search engine. You may be pleasantly surprised to find the exact same title for as little as $5.00 maybe even less with the same resale rights. Remember that the first offer you see may not always be the best in value for your dollar. The internet is extremely competitive.

WHEN? Knowing when to launch your business is where many marketers fall short. Ensure that your business is completely ready to go. Test everything before your launch. Check your webpages for loading time, grammar and spelling. Do all the pages and links work properly? Test your newsletter. Does your autoresponder send the messages when they are supposed to go out? Are the messages formatted correctly? Do those links work? Is the payment and delivery system perfect?

When setting up your business try to keep your mindset as if you were the customer. Would you purchase this product or service? Would you subscribe to this newsletter? Is there value being offered? What makes this product or service stand out from the rest? Until you can answer these questions with conclusive statements, you are not ready to launch.

Always keep in your mind, your name and reputation are always at stake. Online purchasers have very little tolerance when things go wrong.

Studies have shown that you usually have thirty seconds or less to grab your visitors attention. If there is nothing of great value, your potential customer will simply move on and probably never come back. Be completely ready when launch time comes. On the internet first impressions are paramount.

WHY? One of the most important questions to ask. Why am I building this business? Why will my customers buy from me? Why is this the best product? Why did I choose this web hosting company? Being able to answer any and every possible question about your business will give you the knowledge and the tools to build your website as well as your compelling sales pages to perfection.

Asking yourself why will clearly give you the right answers to provide your future subscribers and customers before they need to ask.

Keeping the five W's in your mind throughout the planning, preparation, testing and launch phases of your business will provide you with the greatest chances for success. You owe it to yourself and to your potential subscribers and customers.

Your mindset is what is going to make or break your business, after all everything starts with an idea.

Understanding The Pain and Pleasure Principle

2008-08-18T14:07:00.000-07:00

The pain and pleasure principle, also known as the pleasure principal, is universal. It guides us in virtually everything we do, whether we are aware of it or not. Simply put, the pleasure principle states that people are driven to seek pleasure and to avoid pain. In other words, we are willing to do things that will bring us pleasure and we are unwilling to do things that will cause us pain. Sounds pretty obvious doesn't it?

It seems however that the two forces are out of balance. The avoidance of pain often wins over the desire to seek pleasure. Perhaps in the case of physical pain this seems logical, at least to a certain extent. But in most cases, we're not talking about physical pain. Most often, people choose to do things — or rather not to do certain things — in order to avoid emotional pain, even at the expense of doing what it takes to gain pleasure.

People may know very well that in order to achieve the results they desire, something needs to be done. They may even have a high degree of certainty that doing that particular "something" will indeed produce the desired result. But if that "something" makes them feel even slightly uncomfortable, they're out. Of course, logically, this doesn't make any sense. Rationally, we know that we can get to C if we just put A and B together. But the fact is, we are not as rational as we sometimes claim to be. Human beings are mainly emotional creatures. We make decisions emotionally and then we try to manipulate the logic to support those emotional decisions.

Most people would agree that the drive to avoid pain is stronger than the drive to seek pleasure. One of the reasons why this drive is so strong is because it is built into our biological survival system. Physical pain will cause people to automatically withdraw from what they perceive to be the source of their pain. Rationally, we know that physical and emotional pain are not the same, but since the human brain has difficulty distinguishing real pain from perceived pain, most people react to it in exactly the same way.

"So why is this relevant for my business?" you might say. Well, first of all, if this is true for most people, it's probably true for you too. You may not realize it, but you've probably fallen into this trap more than once. More importantly, if you remain unaware of this, you will continue to do so. And regardless of what business you're in, that will hurt your bottom line. If you're in a business where you're dealing with other people, you should be aware that they are subject to the same exact principle. Understanding this principle and applying it will prove to be crucial to your business success. Some of you may already be using it without even knowing it, as it is the foundation for many successful business books and coaching programs.

Many times, we try to move people into action by getting them to focus on the pleasure they can receive by purchasing our product or service. Although this can be very successful, there are many times when your prospect just doesn't seem to get excited about the potential rewards. You may have banged your head against the wall a couple of times with people like these. Perhaps you have mentally labeled your prospect as one of those poor unfortunate folks that "just don't get it"; one of those people that aren't the least bit interested in improving the quality of their life. Over time, you will probably run into a couple of those, but the majority of people you meet will not fall into that category. Most people really do want a better quality of life; they want more free time, more money, more respect and more success. What's holding them back is fear. They fear change and associate pain with taking the necessary actions to make it happen. Obviously, they perceive taking action as more painful than staying where they're at right now. And thus, they choose not to take the necessary actions.

In order to successfully move people into action, you will have to apply the pain and pleasure principle on at least two levels. First, you must apply it to yourself. Look closely at the way you conduct your business and you will inevitably find that there are many things you should begin doing, or do differently. For example, you know you should be prospecting, presenting and duplicating and you also know that you have to be a strong leader to your people (employees and clients). But why aren't you? Simple answer: You associate pain with either one of those steps. In order to change this, it will help if you start associating pain with not doing all those things. Think of how it will hurt you in the long run if you continue not taking action. You will find that when the pain of not doing it gets worse than the pain of doing it, you will decide to do whatever it is that needs to be done.

The second step is to apply this principle to your people. Help them become aware that it is their fear and perception that is holding them back. Help them see that they are simply trying to avoid pain and that they obviously perceive taking action as painful. Then help them associate even more pain to not taking action, and continue this up to the point where taking action becomes the only alternative.

Ultimately, if you master this concept yourself, you will become a role model for those around you. You will find that your people begin to follow your lead because they subconsciously want to be like you and attain the things you've attained. When you later discuss these concepts with them, in their eyes, you will be giving them a great gift — sharing the secrets of your success — not just adding another task to their to do list. They will see you "walking the walk," and it is much easier to convince someone with action than with words alone.

Organize Your Office and Improve Productivity

2008-08-11T14:15:00.000-07:00

Are you frustrated with your office space? Do you hunt for a pen every time you put one down? Is the search for documents a half-day event? Is your paper filed chronologically - working your way down the pile to "one week ago" and unable to pull out "four months ago" for fear of a paper flood catastrophe?

Every office deals with an excess of paper and whether large or small, your business is suffering when you aren't operating in an organized space.

So, how do you clear the clutter and gain control?

SPACE IS ESSENTIAL

The biggest problem with staying organized in an office is that people set up a system and don't give themselves enough room to grow.

If you have spent the better part of a day cleaning out a drawer and replacing the items in organized, labeled files, but you can't squeeze a single extra sheet of paper you've wasted your time and the unfiled papers will grow again.

Be certain to have at least a quarter to a third (more if possible) of growing room when implementing a system. You may need to change over at some point, but having some extra space will encourage you to keep up with the organizing.

This also goes for items such as architectural drawings or other products or documents you may accumulate.

Set aside time to purge unnecessary documents. Not only will this provide more space but will save you time that would otherwise be wasted looking through worthless paperwork.

SIMPLE FILING SYSTEM

Do not make your system too complicated or it will be hard to follow through. Color coding can be the easiest if you do not have too many categories. This is effective for systems which only require "Income," "Expense," "Projects," "Correspondence" or something similar.

For filing of large groups of clients, projects or invoices, use a single drawer for each group of related files. A tall filing cabinet can even be divided into alphabetical or chronological systems.

For items you refer to daily or even hourly you might consider a posting board near your desk. This is a great idea for phone number lists, to do lists and appointment calendars.

MAINTENANCE

A filing system is only as good as the upkeep. You may find it easier to have a small system of files located on or near your desk and daily or weekly transfer the items into their permanent home.

This also works for items which you need close at hand such as current project information or price lists etc.

STYLE OF FILING

Consider if you can realistically maintain a filing system. Perhaps labeled boxes would suit you better (especially if you tend to pile papers). The key is to find something you will feel comfortable maintaining. If papers are sorted and occasionally purged, your system will work.

EVERYTHING NEEDS A HOME

Everything MUST be assigned a home. By giving each item a place you will not lose pens, cell phones, glasses and so on. Don't crowd the items or you will get frustrated. Recognize that all of your efforts will help you run your business more efficiently, and thus productively. Reward yourself for keeping the system working!

Schedule Your Success

2008-08-04T14:11:00.000-07:00

A lot of people dream of owning their own home-based business. They dream of setting their own hours, working when they want to work and with whom. The reality is that very few of these people ever take the time to ensure that they have the right skill set - the right tools - to make the leap to a home-based enterprise.

The first major pitfall that most new home-based business owners face is a lack of scheduling discipline. They just don't plan out their work days. This can cause problems in two ways, under-working and overworking.

Let's look at the first one, "under-working." It's very easy to sit at home, on the ol' PC surfing the web. You might intend on working on your new website or putting up auctions on eBay, but, before you know it, you've spent the entire day reading email and surfing for the latest news and gossip. Sure, you were online and you were doing something, but the things you were doing are not the things that will put a dime in your bank account.

Overworking is pretty easy to understand. Some people simply don't know how to keep business hours. When they work from home, the temptation is there to "work 'til you drop." That's not good, especially if you are building your home-based business on the side and still work a day job. If you spend all your time working, you'll soon feel that you're never getting any "down time," and burnout is sure to follow. Believe me, I know all about this one.

Here's the solution. You must be very disciplined in planning your day. Write down what you need to accomplish every day and how long you will work on each item. Be sure to include downtime in your plan - time for your family, relaxation, exercise, whatever. This is important. after all, you're building a home-based business to build a lifestyle, not to become the richest person in the cemetery!

Your daily plans and goals need to be very specific. It won't do you any good to write something like, "work on project x." What does that mean? How exactly do you "work on something?" Your plan needs to include a definite finishing point, such as "write a new article on dog grooming for page one of the website." See the difference? You can "work on" a project for years and never reach a point where you've had any success. By contrast, when you "write an article on x," you know you're done as soon as you've typed the final period.

If you're in a marketing business, try to farm out as much of the non-marketing related work as you can afford to do. For example, if you sell products or services, it might be beneficial for you to hire someone to help build and maintain your website. The money you'll spend to have someone else do it will be more than offset by the amount of time it will free up. Other areas you can outsource might be bookkeeping, mailing, etc.

Be realistic when planning your day. If you're still working your day job, schedule that from the time you get up in the morning until you get home from work. Don't forget to include commute time. Then, plan out your evening accordingly. Don't schedule a four hour task to be completed in one hour. It won't happen. If you have huge tasks, break them up as much as possible and schedule your time accurately. This will allow you to have a feeling of accomplishment and you'll get a lot more done in the long run.

Don't multi-task. I know that this is the latest buzzword, but in reality, multi-taking is one of the leading killers of productivity for most people. Schedule only one project at a time. You can work on more than one project during the day, but you shouldn't work on more than one project at a time. It's very difficult, if not totally impossible, to do two things at the same time and do them both well. Give one task your undivided attention. Once you've completed that task, move on to another task in that project, or to a different project.

You should also be a little flexible in your scheduling. In any business, there are bound to be interruptions that you couldn't possibly have planned for. In home-based businesses, the chance of distraction goes up exponentially. You'll be working on that hot new project, only to have the toilet overflow or a neighbor ring the doorbell. Plan on it. There will be things that happen that you can't plan for. That's why your schedule needs to include a little cushion.

What I like to do is plan out the items I want to get done and overestimate the time it will take to do them, by say 10%. Then, I have other items which are "on deck." These items aren't quite on today's schedule, but I want to do them soon. If I complete all of my scheduled tasks for the day, I simply look to see what's on deck and start on one of them. It's a bonus.

Sometimes, no matter how well you plan, you just won't finish what you schedule. It happens to everyone. That's when you simply revise your schedule for the next day to include the missed item(s). Don't get hung up on the fact that an item or two didn't get done as planned. Just take it in stride and keep on moving forward. Now, if you find yourself routinely missing your deadlines, you'll need to reevaluate your scheduling. Are you being realistic in your time allotments? Probably not. Adjust accordingly.

These are just a few tips to help you maintain sanity and get your work done. With a little planning and effort, you can balance your home life with your home-based business and literally schedule your way to success.

Tips For Designing Your Home Office

2008-07-28T14:12:00.000-07:00

Setting up a home office is one of the most important tasks you will face when you make the decision to work from your own home. Your home office can be a corner of your kitchen or living room or, if space permits, a former spare bedroom.

Size is less important that functionality. When deciding on where to set up the nerve center of your business, there are some factors you need to consider.

Is the area well lit?

Proper lighting is extremely important. Spending hours at a time in a dimly lit work space can create eyestrain which, after long periods of time, could lead to more serious problems with your vision.

Are there plenty of electrical outlets?

Take into consideration what appliances you will have in your work space. Your computer system will require an outlet for your cpu, monitor, scanner, printer, speakers (sometimes) and other ancillary equipment you may have.

Is the area well ventilated and dust free?

All of that computer equipment needs to "breathe" to remain cool and functioning properly. If you have ever "fried" a computer you know how important it is to keep the fan clean and dust free.

Do you have telephone access?

In addition to having a telephone handy for business purposes, you will also require telephone access for your modem. You may also consider a separate telephone line for your business. It is much easier to track telephone business expenses for tax purposes if you have a separate phone line. It’s also important that your clients can reach you. If your clients have to compete with your teenagers telephone habits, chances are they will call someone else. Make certain that this separate line is set up to receive phone calls while you are online. Most major telephone companies now offer that service. You may pay a few extra dollars a month for it, but it will pay for itself over the long haul.

How much "foot traffic" will there be?

You want your office to be as isolated as possible. Can you imagine trying to speak with a client or figure out html code with kids screaming in the background? Not a very professional picture. If you have no choice but to have your office in a high traffic area, adjust your work schedule to coincide with family activities. Sit your family down and explain the importance of your work and why you need their cooperation. It won’t always work out that way but at least it’s a step in the right direction.

Are your supplies well stocked?

It goes without saying that you need to have normal office supplies. Even if your work is online you still need the pens, pencils, note pads and so on.

Have you set the ground rules?

One of the stickiest challenges you may encounter comes from your friends. People who do not work from home seem to think that if you do, you have all the time in the world to visit. This can become a major problem if you do not set the parameters. Setting out the ground rules is important to the overall health and well being of your business. Let your friends and extended family know your business hours and explain to them that you are not available during those periods of time. The sooner you do this the better.

Do you "dress the part"?

Conduct your business in a professional manner. Just because you work at home does not mean that you should throw out the rule book. Maybe you have read the humorous comment about "working in your pajamas." It sounds good in sales messages, but the truth is you are much better off if you awaken in the morning and prepare yourself for your work day as if you were still trekking off to the office, because you are.

You will be much better prepared to focus and get down to business if you dress the part. That doesn’t mean that you need to squeeze into the normal "office" attire. It does mean that you set the standards for your business and much of that has to do with "mindset" and self-image. Dressing comfortably is a one of the serendipities of working at home, but you will be much better prepared for business if you dress the part.

Lastly, and most importantly...

I have one final word of advice for the new work at home entrepreneur. Having your office right down the hall can be a blessing, but it can also be a curse. Remember to take time out for yourself. Most people believe that working at home comes with certain privileges, and it does. However, it can also become all-consuming and take total control of your life.

Don’t allow that to happen. Create your schedule and live by it. Make sure you turn off the lights, shut down the computer and "go home" at the end of your work day.

Set Goals to Achieve Success

2008-07-21T14:03:00.000-07:00

Despite your best intentions, you will never achieve the success you are looking for if you never set goals for yourself and your business.

Ask yourself, "What goals have I written down for myself and my business?"

Most people never set goals for themselves or their business. One day leads to another and the days continue to disappear without success. How can you get to where you want to be if you never know where you are going?

The biggest roadblock to goal setting is YOU. Setting goals require you actually to write down your dreams and put a date of accomplishment to them. Do not get in the habit of working your business without goals. This leads to apathy and an empty checking account.

Goals are the lifeblood of your business. Statistics have proven over and over that small businesses fail within the first five years. You do not want to become a statistic, you want to become a success.

How do you become successful at setting goals?

The first step you should do is to write down your dreams. What dreams do you have for your life and your business? Write them down. When would you like to achieve these dreams? Put a date of accomplishment to your dreams. Get a pad of paper and start writing. Be bold and write them all down. Your dreams are now your goals.

You now have goals with deadlines. Your first step is accomplished.

Your goals will either be short term or long term. In order for your goals to become a reality you will be required to take steps that will ultimately lead to accomplishment. Look at your list. What actions will you need to take to reach your goals? Write those steps down on your pad of paper.

You now know what steps are required to achieve your goals.

Remember that steps are not huge, but small. Daily steps toward your goals will bring you to the accomplishment of your goals.

Armed with your list of goals and the steps required to achieve them, you can now start each day as a challenge to accomplish those goals. But wait, there is something else you need to be aware of.

"Where did my day go?"

Have you ever reached the end of the day exhausted and asked yourself that question? You look at your goals and realize that you did not accomplish one step toward them.

"Time Wasters" are everywhere. Time wasters have their own agenda: to stop you from achieving your goals. Do not let them win. To achieve your goals you must learn to recognize your "time wasters".

Keep a log for every hour of your day for an entire month. Write everything down that you do. It is easier if you break your day up into fifteen-minute increments. Do this for one month and you will be able to identify your "time wasters". Use the information to learn how to better use your time. The better you get at effectively using your time, the better you will become at achieving your goals.

Success doesn't happen to the uninvolved. Success happens to those who are persistent in reaching their goals. Review your goals daily and modify them as needed.

You should never be without goals. Dream and make goals to reach those dreams. Keep your goals before you. Continue to add goals to you life. Your passion will keep you focused as you accomplish each step toward your goals. Dare to be successful.

7 Tips for Starting Your Home Based Business

2008-07-14T14:16:00.000-07:00

So, you've decided to start a home based business. Congratulations! and welcome to the fast-paced world of entrepreneurship. While there is a lot to learn, your effort will be worth it. The thrill of growing your business, the freedom and flexibility to set your own hours, and the possibilities of ever-increasing financial rewards are all wonderful reasons to start your home based business.

Now that you've decided to start your business, you might be wondering "How can I get it off to the strongest possible start?" These seven tips will help:

1) Set up a separate working space in your home. It doesn't matter if this is a small bedroom, one part of the garage, or a corner of the living room. The important thing is to have some space that you can designate as your working area. This will give you the space and room you need to craft your dream.

2) Stock your working space with materials. This sounds basic, perhaps, but one underlying element of success is that you have easy access to the tools, materials, and other resources you need. Gathering everything close by also keeps you from wasting time searching for it, so this step can be considered a time management strategy, too.

3) Speaking of time management, your third step is to define the parameters of your business. What days and hours will you work? When will you market? When will you provide services or products to clients? How will you keep all of this straight?

4) Balance action with planning. One of the most common pitfalls to successful entrepreneurship is getting too caught up in action without enough planning. Stated another way, this means that you confuse "being busy" with "working on important projects." The best approach is to plan your next couple of goals and then work backwards to create step by step action plans to reach them. Once you have the plan, then it's time to take the action.

5) Network like crazy. One of the fastest ways to grow any business is to make connections with other people. Be sure to share your passion and enthusiasm with others at every opportunity. Let people know who you are and what you offer. Remember, people can't buy if they don't know you're selling.

6) Present a professional image. If you want to be treated professionally, present a professional image. Set up a separate bank account for your business. Install a separate phone and fax line. Create professional marketing materials. Be courteous and pleasant in all your customer facing interactions. Basically, be someone people want to do business with.

7) Automate your business as much as possible. Granted, you are just one person (right now) and might have a lot of extra time to take care of all the details. This might work for now, but won't work into the future as you get busier and busier. It's best to set up automatic systems and processes right from the start to free up your time to concentrate on the most profitable activities.

These seven tips will get your home business started (and growing) in the right direction.

How Can Joining a Forum Help Your Business?

2008-07-07T14:07:00.000-07:00

Online forums are a fantastic reminder of the influence the internet has had on society. Using forums to connect with your market is a natural progression.

Forums are online communities where individuals can discuss topics ranging from fly fishing to breast feeding to internet business. Discussions are conducted by posting notes to the forum. A single discussion is called a 'thread' and most forums have several - even hundreds - of threads going at any time.

What is truly remarkable about the use of forums is the personal quality of the discussions. Read some of the posts on forums such as ivillage.com and you'll soon see that the members become more like neighbors (and even friends) than strangers connected only by the keyboard and monitor in front of them.

Where brick and mortar businesses used to prosper based on their involvement in the community - online businesses now have a neighborhood all their own - online forums.

How can participating in a forum help YOUR business?

NETWORKING:

Online forums are a fantastic place to connect with others who are knowledgeable about your business. You probably cater to the same audience and share a common interest. If your businesses compliment one another you might just find a highly profitable partnership or joint venture.

Even if you don't find a working relationship you may find the referrals or discussions highly beneficial.

TRAFFIC BUILDING:

Along with the referrals you may get when you've developed a trusted online presence with other members of the forum, you are also likely to attract targeted visitors to your website.

If the forum permits you to post a signature (your website URL) onto the posts then you can be sure that some of the members and quite likely some of the 'lurkers' (people who view but don't post) will come check out your site.

EDUCATION:

Using the forums wisely can open you up to a great education. Whether it is from fellow entrepreneurs in your field or experts and other posters - you are participating in an 'inner circle' type discussion that may open your eyes to new developments and opportunities in your business.

ADDICTIVE:

The only downside is the highly addictive atmosphere. With members posting from all over the world it can be difficult to reign in your viewing time on forums.

On the flip side, other members are hopefully as interested in what you have to say and you may quickly develop a reputation as a reliable source for information.

Be very cautious to follow forum rules. Never spam a forum - your aim should be to participate in a conversation, not interrupt it. Have fun and watch your business grow!

10 Necessities for a Home Based Business

2008-06-30T14:10:00.000-07:00

When you make the decision to earn income from the internet you will need to go through a set up process to be ready for business.

Following are the basic steps in setting up for home business success.

1. Attitude

The key to your business success is your attitude.

Treat your business like a business.

This is critical whether you are working part-time or full-time. One of my colleagues is a mother who works from home around her family. She has always put her family first whilst at the same time developing her business. She says, "I work part-time, but I have a full-time attitude."

Put another way, "If you have a hobby attitude you will have a hobby income, if you have a business attitude you will have a business income."

You can be successful working part-time and you can be successful working full-time but it is highly unlikely that you will be successful working in your "spare time".

2. Working Environment

A space that you can call your own, free from distractions for your scheduled time.

A comfortable chair and organized desk.

Stationery supplies as required. For example:

- pens

- highlighters

- stapler

- hole punch

- sticky tape

- note book(s)

- a simple filing system

- ring binders

- manila folders

Consider the value of a broadband connection. Your time is valuable and a broadband connection can allow you to get more done in a given time frame.

3. Schedule

Develop a schedule that works for you, your family (or "significant others") and your business. When you allot a block of time for work then use that time for work. Equally important is to schedule time for your other commitments - family time, self education ( reading, listening and viewing), "health time" (exercise, cooking and eating), and leisure time. During these other times don't work. After all if one of the reasons to work from home is to spend more time with your family then you don't want your working at home time to consume your family time.

You are working for yourself and your schedule (by your choice) is your "boss". When you have people calling you or dropping around unexpectedly or maybe out-of-town visitors may want to catch up with you then you need to make a choice. Are you committed to your own business success? What will be your choice in these situations? Only you can decide what is important to you.

In a family environment you may need to negotiate with your partner and children to have your business time agreed upon, during which you will not be interrupted. Put this schedule prominently somewhere so all family members are aware of your work schedule.

4. Describe Your Business

Be able to describe your business concisely; a powerful one or two sentence description that someone can repeat in describing your business to others. A unique and memorable tag line can also be invaluable for promoting your business.

5. Know Your Product or Service

Once you have selected your product or service to sell, it may or may not be something that you use yourself but you need to know your product intimately. If you are selling ebooks then know the content and its value. If you are selling software then use it know it "inside out". You will develop a reputation of providing quality information and because of your product knowledge you can become the preferred supplier.

It is not practical to use certain products (for example a woman may choose to sell man's shoes or vice versa) in which case the seller won't be a product user, however the seller can still know the benefits and features of the product intimately.

6. Administration

Use good record keeping practices.

This may involve a consultation with a tax advisor who can let you know about the optimal way to set up your financial records and what records need to be kept. Your advisor will also recommend record keeping systems and you can find out what software may simplify this aspect of your business. Additionally your obtain advice on the best arrangement for your bank accounts. You will most likely be advised to have a separate bank account.

You will also need to keep track of your various logins, usernames and passwords. A very handy little software tool for this is Treepad available as either the free Lite version (without password protection) or the commercial Plus or Biz versions. http://www.treepad.com

There are other useful tools for this also from a simple paper notebook to free and commercial password keepers. One popular solution is Roboform that will remember your login details and can automatically fill out your login and other registration forms. http://www.roboform.com

7. Computer Protection

Your computer is the lifeline to your business dealings and must be protected including the data that is stored.

You need a virus scanner, personal firewall, anti-spyware and anti-adware and preferably an email scanner with the ability to delete suspect of spam email from the server before it is downloaded to your computer.

Some suggestions are:

AVG Anti-Virus: http://www.grisoft.com

Spybot S&D: http://www.safer-networking.org

Microsoft Anti-Spyware: www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

Adaware: http://www.lavasoft.com/

Mailwasher Email Scanner: http://www.mailwasher.net

8. A Domain Name

You will most likely need a domain name for your business and one cost effective registrar is GoDaddy, http://www.godaddy.com.

9. Payment Processing

You will need a way to process credit cards; that may be using services such as:

- PayPal: https://www.paypal.com

- Storm Pay: http://www.stormpay.com

- 2 Checkout: http://www.2checkout.com

- Clickbank: http://www.clickbank.com or others.

This is the most economical way to get started. Once your business picks up you may need to look into your own merchant account for credit card transactions.

10. Email accounts

Once you have your own domain you can use an associated email account. This can further assist in the promotion of your business and promotes a more professional business image.

As a final comment on continuing in your internet business, conduct your business ethically, provide extraordinary service and be proud to put your name to the products or services that you are selling and you will be on track to developing a sustainable long term internet business.

Tips for Setting Boundaries: Making Your Office Your Own

2008-06-23T14:18:00.000-07:00

One of the great American dreams is being able to quit a 9-to-5 job to start building a work at home business. More and more people are making their dream come true. But before you quit that job and set up your home office, there are a few issues to consider.

On the plus side, part of your home and related expenses are tax deductible. It's convenient to work while your kids are in school and then be home for them when they walk through the door in the afternoon, and let's face it, not having a boss to answer to is a major plus.

But it's not always the ideal situation. Starting a business from home isn't always easy on families. There are many issues that will affect your family. First and foremost are financial issues. Will you be able to handle the hit to your wallet when you don't have a steady paycheck? If this is an issue, consider working your business part time while holding down a full down job.

It takes a very dedicated person to work from home. There are always distractions to overcome such as the unexpected visits from family members who think you have lots of free time because you don't work a "real" job. It also seems like telemarketers prefer to call in the middle of the day, and don't forget the neighbors dropping by to see if you'll babysit while they run errands. It's very important to let family and friends know your working hours. Tell them in no uncertain terms that your business is your income and you need to block out regular working hours. Also let them know when you are available.

Along those same lines, it is crucial that you explain to your own family that, although you are home, you are not always available to them. This can be confusing to kids. Set some basic rules for them to follow. Let them know your work hours and tell them you expect not to be disturbed. But occasionally, surprise them by quitting early and doing something fun with them!

Here are a few basic rules that will help you and your family handle the new working situation.

* Make sure everyone knows not to answer your business phone. This will save you in a number of ways. You'll be sure to always get your messages. Kids are never good at getting all the details. You'll create a much more professional business image if you answer your own phone.

* If you're children are typical kids, they will want to "borrow" your office supplies. Give them their own office supply center elsewhere in the house! Otherwise, you'll start losing your much needed supplies.

*Set a work schedule at the beginning of every week and post it in a prominent spot so family members can check your schedule to see when you will be available.

Though these issues can and probably will arise, working from home is still the American Dream for many people. Learning to set, and more importantly, enforce boundaries for family, friends and clients will make your business less complicated.

Staying Sane in a Home Business: An "Overload" Rescue Plan

2008-06-16T14:20:00.000-07:00

At last, you have achieved your dream. You've escaped the traditional, away from home work force and are now self-employed.

There you sit, in your spiffy new office - whether it's in the corner of the sitting room or in a converted bedroom - surrounded by your equally spiffy new toys... your computer, desk and some strategically placed shelves.

Your new multi-function center will print stuff, fax stuff and copy stuff. (It won't hang out the washing, but hey, you can't have everything.)

You've even got work coming-in and the immediate worry about making a living has vanished. Hooray! You really *can* work from home!

At first, working at home is pure bliss. Then you get a week when everybody and their dog seems to want your services. After putting in a few late nights, you meet all the deadlines and think; phew...I'm glad that's over! You decide to relax and give yourself a day off. After all, you worked all through the weekend and earned it, right?

Unfortunately, the following week you find yourself off to a bad start trying to make-up for your day off. Before you know it, you find that you're dropping further and further behind. You reflect gloomily that when you were working for someone else, at least at the end of the day you were finished...what didn't get done didn't get done!

Well, it's time to take heart and set a few simple strategies in place that will keep you in control of your time...and your sanity.

=== 1. Do NOT Accept Any New Work This Week. ===

Take a good look at what you have on your plate now, and carefully plan the week ahead. Your aim is to regain control. Tell new clients that you are fully booked, but you can put them on a priority list to be phoned next week. (This will not only allow you to catch up, but make your services appear highly in demand.)

=== 2. Build In Time For Leisure and Rest. ===

Not only for this week, but EVERY week. A half hour walk; a twenty-minute break in the sun with a cup of coffee; a quick swim or a movie outing with friends - all these activities can recharge your batteries. You will find that you can achieve far more when you are rested and alert. (How many times have you sat at the computer staring at the screen, achieving very little, because you're over-tired?)

=== 3. Tackle Urgent Tasks First. ===

If you're behind, your first step must be to contact all clients and arrange firm new deadlines. Make sure you base these new deadlines on what you CAN achieve, not what you HOPE you can achieve. If any existing client needs your services or products urgently, bump them up the queue.

=== 4. Prioritize Remaining Tasks. ===

Scrap anything that is not essential, and delegate what you can. Consider involving family, business associates or friends to handle some tasks. (Warning: do not hand over tasks that must be carried out only by you as the principal of the business. Your reputation is important.)

=== 5. Set Achievable Daily Goals. ===

If you finish a task ahead of schedule, begin the next... but adhere to a definite cut-off time each day. What you are doing this week is establishing a system that will continue to work for you.

Getting out of trouble when your business is in overload is just like getting out of debt. Your business rating is similar to your credit rating - nothing can be gained by denying that a problem exists. Nothing can be gained by slipping deeper into the mire. Call a halt; contact the main players; set workable strategies in place and you can quickly regroup.

Before you know it, your home business dream will be on track once more.

Taming Your To-Do List

2008-06-09T14:43:00.000-07:00

The worst thing about to-do lists is they seem to breed every time you look away. Just as you think you're getting somewhere, another task needs to be added. It's downright depressing. You might be forgiven for wondering if there is anyone on earth who actually manages to tick off all the items on a to-do list before the end of the day.

Take heart. It is possible to tame your to-do list - and not by taking a pair of scissors to it to cut it in half. What you need to do is look beyond the list, at the way you handle your time.

Don't worry. This is not just another 'time management' lecture that you've heard a thousand times before. It's a simple, workable approach to taking back a measure of control. By following 4 easy steps, you can introduce more flexibility into your working week - and finally tame that list!

Step 1. Think in Terms of Tasks, Not Hours

In an effort to control the way we use time, most of us allocate a certain number of hours to our 'working week'. If you work outside the home, this may be imposed upon you. If you work from home, you decide your own hours.

Then what happens? In comes the out-of-control 'to do' list. You make a list of all the things you have to do. Then you add more. You try ranking them in order of importance, and the lesser things never get done. Worse, some of the semi-important things keep getting bumped down the list. You work all the hours you have set yourself, and more - but the list just keeps growing.

What to do?

Start thinking in terms of tasks to be done, rather than total hours to be worked. You'll find that some tasks can be grouped under a general 'project' heading. You might end up with two or three projects to be completed. (Leave yourself some time for repetitive everyday tasks - email, customer service etc.)

Step 2. Establish A Pool Of Hours

Now allocate a "pool of hours" to each project. Don't use up all the hours in your working week when you create this pool of hours (or several pools). The whole idea is to build in some flexibility, so you don't feel overwhelmed.

How many hours should you allocate to each project? Naturally this will vary according to the complexity of the tasks. Some projects might take only 3-4 hours. Others might need 15 hours, or 30. Estimate the likely time to completion, based on your previous experience. Then look at your deadlines. If Project #1 is due in two weeks and you estimate it will take 12 hours to complete, allocate 8 hours per week to that project. This gives you a couple of spare hours per week. Always allow yourself a small buffer, so you won't panic if it takes longer than you expected.

Step 3. Start With A Sprint

When you begin each project, start by 'sprinting' through a rough outline. This will get you off to a fast start, and the psychological benefits of having an outline completed quickly can last throughout the entire project. Set a time limit to brainstorm the outline - thirty minutes, an hour, whatever works for you.

Then divide your project outline into chunks and start working on one 'chunk' at a time. Be flexible about how you divide your hours. If you're in the mood and everything's going well, you can use more of your pool of hours for this project in one day. If you're hitting a roadblock and you need to let it 'simmer' for a while, put it away and turn to a different project and start dipping into a different 'pool'.

Step 4. Wrap It Up and Reward Yourself

If you've estimated your time correctly, then you'll usually finish your project on time or with hours left over. This may well be a whole new experience for you! Instead of feeling panicked that you are ticking off an endless list of tasks without ever getting to the bottom of it, you have the satisfaction of completing a project when you planned to. If you have a few leftover hours in your pool, you have a choice - transfer them to another project, or use them as 'bonus time'.

It's a nice feeling to actually have a few hours that you can use to reward yourself instead of diving headfirst into yet another job. You'll find that this is a great motivator to avoid distractions - we all work better with the prospect of a couple of hours free to do something we enjoy.

Bottom line: Become task-oriented rather than time-oriented; work from a pool of hours; start with a sprint, then reward yourself by taking some time out using any leftover hours. You'll enjoy work more - and tame that to-do list in no time!

Online Post Office Helps Small Businesses

2008-06-02T14:27:00.000-07:00

When the internet came into popular usage many predicted that postal service would become under used as people relied less on paper documents and more on email.

What really happened is that businesses popped up all over the internet (Amazon, Toys 'R' Us) selling online - thereby increasing the load for home and business delivery. While couriers like UPS initially took over this area the United States Postal Service realized what small businesses would be looking for: convenience, cost efficiency and service.

Keeping up with marketing and mailing needs can easily swamp a home business. Stuffing envelopes, delivering packages and getting stamps and materials eat into time and profits.

Since UPS gobbled up the majority of residential delivery's in the first 'Online Shopping' Christmas season in 1999, USPS has been fighting fire with fire by providing online solutions for individuals and business owners alike.

What services are now available to help businesses like yours?

Ordering Postage and Packaging Supplies

Are you ready to send out the monthly invoices or have a rush shipment but no box to pack it in? Not only can you now order these items online so you never run out, but the packing supplies are FREE! Hard to beat that value.

Order your stamps and boxes ahead of time and you won't be rushing at the last minute to find what you need - or waste valuable time standing in line at the post office.

You can also check out services like stamps.com which allows you to print the postage (think: no stamps). Anything to make business faster and more efficient.

Arranging Pick Up

The competition with FedEx and UPS has instigated a positive change in the postal service's customer service. Just like the couriers USPS will pick up your mail instead of making you stand in another line up. You can even make the arrangement through their website.

Marketing Solutions

Postal services have upped the anti with the creation of mailing services for gift cards, business post cards, periodicals or even letters and flyers.

Business owners know how important it is to stay in contact with their clients, but who has the time to stay on top of the mailings? If you register to create and mail them from your computer there is no excuse. USPS will send one or one thousand — whatever you need, whenever you need it.

The internet has helped small businesses in numerous ways. Now you can get all of your mailing services with the touch of a button. Whether you need to create a mass mailing, get packing materials or pay for stamps you can get it done online - saving business owners time, money and stress.

Using Google Apps For Your Business

2008-05-26T13:39:00.000-07:00

In the modern day of technology Google has become the leading figure in search engine tools, but the thing that most people are unaware of are the valuable business tools that Google has available for free. I'm not talking about Google Earth or Google Maps, I am talking about Google Apps. This free tool offers users the ability to create free email accounts, share files, create schedules, and communicate with people in real time. Although most of these tools are used for personal use, businesses should look into Google Apps. The price is right and it is one valuable piece of software.

Gmail: With Gmail businesses are able to create email accounts free of charge. Sure the email address will have "@gmail.com" attached to it, but nobody wants to pay big bucks for a custom email address when Google offers a solution for free. Gmail also has enough storage for your email needs, and the user friendly interface makes this tool a valuable resource.

Google Docs: Google Docs allows individuals to share files and store data on the internet free of charge. In todays world of technology businesses require files to be shared over the internet and Google Docs is an excellent way to do that. Businesses can create files, make changes to them, and republish them online.

Google Calendar: With Google Calendar people can manage there time better than ever. People can schedule tasks, set due dates, and use time more efficiently. This tool also lets individuals share schedules with others making it easier for people to collaborate with each other. This again comes at the amazing price of free.

Google Webtalk: Webtalk is perhaps the most valuable tool that businesses should use to elevate there business. This tool allows individuals to converse with one another from anywhere in the world in real time. Employees and business owners can conduct meetings from a computer anywhere in the world. This means more business can be done with more flexibility. Webtalk will allow businesses to conduct company meetings, allow employees to collaborate, or do anything else that helps businesses grow.

All of these tools combined will prove to be beneficial to any business. Put all of these resources together, and a business can be run from anywhere in the world. The best way to get started with Google Apps is to create an account with Google and download this powerful application.

Social Media Versus Industrial Media

2008-05-19T13:56:00.000-07:00

People from all walks of life are talking about social media. From college students to new mothers to webpreneurs, everyone is learning how to harness the power of social media. From blogging to forum posting to LinkedIn, people use different forms of social media everyday.

What Is Social Media?

Social media is an online publishing platform anyone can access. No special skills or large fees are required to participate in social media. Students discuss their latest assignments and download music favorites. Parents share photos and videos of their offspring. Business moguls let everyone know about their latest goods and services. Through content, photos and video, people share a variety of thoughts and concepts via social media. Anybody can start their own social media website with little or no capital. Typically it's free to participate in established social media programs such as Google Groups, Facebook and MySpace.

What Is Industrial Media?

Before the dawn of online social media, people had to get the word out about events on industrial media. From birth announcements to death notices to advertisements, industrial media was the only way to share information. Newspapers, television and magazines are examples of industrial media and are owned privately or by the government. For a fee, people purchase space in industrial media when they have something important to say.

What Are The Differences Between Social Media And Industrial Media?

There are several major differences between using social media and industrial media. Let's consider what makes each form of communication viable and unique:

1. Social media requires little knowledge or skill while a certain level of professional expertise is required to use industrial medial.

2. Content on social media appears in real time so news and updates are announced right away. It may take weeks or even months for content to appear in industrial media.

3. Industrial media must answer to society for the quality and accuracy of its content while social media remains largely unregulated.

4. Social media can be owned by any individual or business while industrial media is more costly to obtain and manage.

Why Should You Choose Social Media?

If you want to talk in real time without any specific skills, social media is an ideal means of communication. Update clients and employees immediately, share your latest photos with family across the country and talk to friends half way around the globe. Network to connect with new business associates and friends and increase your circle of contacts. Social networking is easy and enjoyable through online social media.

Why Should You Choose Industrial Media?

Certain announcements are expected to appear in industrial media by law or social obligation. People often seek information about debts, legal actions, birth announcements and deaths in industrial media. Additionally, there are still plenty of people who aren't online. Rather than getting information through a computer, these folks read or watch industrial media. If you don't post content on industrial media, you miss out on networking opportunities with people that don't go online.

Dealing with Communication Overload

2008-05-12T20:07:00.000-07:00

They come via e-mail... voice mail... fax... instant message... pager... PDA... cell phone... Skype. You receive even more during meetings, be they teleconference, video conference, Web conference, or the good old fashioned face to face kind. Even before we get to the office in the morning and, for many of us, well into the evening, we are inundated with incoming communications from these sources and more. It seems as though during every moment someone is trying to inform, teach, solicit to, solicit from, question, update, delegate to, warn, disagree with and sometimes even entertain us.

This tidal wave of incoming communication can be overwhelming, leaving us feeling fatigued, irritable and/or distracted. It can negatively impact everything from our work performance to how we interact with our families and friends. It can result in something as minor as forgetting to buy milk on the way home to as major as being involved in an automobile accident. In other words, communication overload can be harmful to our health.

While for the most part we are unable to control or lessen the amount of incoming messages we receive each day, we can develop strategies for dealing with them more effectively rather than letting them engulf us. Incorporating the following tips can enable you to nip communications overload in the bud:

1. Schedule your time better in advance. Are you checking your e-mail between every other task you perform? Break that habit by trying to limit your trips to the inbox to specific time periods during the day, such as an hour at the beginning and end of the day, or 10 minutes at the top or bottom of each hour. You'll be amazed by how much more time you'll have to accomplish things that matter more to you.

2. Cloak your instant messaging screen name or, if that's not possible, put up the "Do Not Disturb" sign on your instant messenger once in a while to carve out some uninterrupted time. During this span, also let your phone calls go to voice mail and text messages go temporarily unanswered. These actions are particularly important during times when you're interacting with people face to face; except in rare circumstances, live interaction should always take precedence over technological devices. Watch how your interpersonal relationships both at work and and home soar when you begin to give people more undivided attention.

3. Learn to determine and rank the urgency of each message you receive, regardless of means. Delete, file or ignore unimportant ones, and devote as much time as possible to only those that pertain to pressing or essential issues. When you look back on your day, you'll discover that you'll experience a greater sense of accomplishment when you do this.

Taking a few proactive measures to confront communication overload is so much healthier than multitasking your way into a state of exhaustion or allowing incoming communications to control your life. Not only that, but you'll also see immediate improvements in your work, home life and overall sense of satisfaction as well.

Building Relationships With Your Customers

2008-05-05T13:58:00.000-07:00

No matter what kind of business you're in, building customer relations should be one of your top priorities. All customers, whether on-line or off, like to feel that they are appreciated when they shop in your brick and mortar store or through your web-site. It's easy in today's hurry up, not enough hours in the day society we live in, for business owners to get all caught up in their everyday schedules of running their businesses and loose focus on why they have a business in the first place... CUSTOMERS!

Below are 5 techniques every business owner can use to help increase relations and build trust with their client base.

Emails

Email opt-in list building is creating a list or a collection of email's of people who have a similar interest. List building is largely about building relationships with your customers and should be considered your business life line as it can directly effect your prosperity as well as profits.

Building a high-quality, robust and responsive mailing list can be worth it's weight in gold. An opt-in list for your business is and important commodity and should be one of your priorities no matter whether you have a web-site or not. Building lifetime customers is arguably the most important thing you can do for your business and building a successful list can sometimes mean the difference between success and failure.

Ezines

This is a great way of capturing the email address of those who are interested in your products or services. Just place a small subscription form box on your web-site, or place printed forms in your business somewhere, explaining the benefits of your product or service. Launching your own email ezine is a good and fun way to help you build customer loyalty and build a communication link to them other than through traditional advertising.

It builds trust in the eyes of your customers when done right. Doing it right means including useful information about different topics of interest. Make it cheerful and fun so your subscribers will be counting down the days until they receive your next edition.

In addition, be sure to include a note about your special promotions, offers and sales to all members. You can even include coupons that can only be found in your ezine that will allow customers to get secret, un-advertised discounts. This can also help you to track the effectiveness of your ezine. This method will also work with newsletters and emails.

Newsletters

An email newsletter is similar to a regular newspaper but it delivers news directly to your email electronically. Most companies have an email sign up form on their web-site for their newsletters. Your subscribers should be able to set their watches by the arrival time of your newsletter. While newsletters and ezine's are pretty much the same thing it's important to use one or the other to keep in touch with your customers.

Auto-responders

An auto-responder is an easy, web-based email marketing software that delivers your email campaigns, special promotions, sales notices, newsletters, ezine's and follow-ups automatically. This is an absolute must for today's business owners. Once set up, it will allow you to put your marketing efforts on auto-pilot.

The bottom line with auto-responders, and this is extremely important, is you must use a professional auto-responder such as Aweber or GetResponse. Equally important is to use an Opt-in only, type of sign up and I personally would forget about purchasing so called fresh leads.

There are tons of free auto-responder services out there but the simple fact is that they're usually free for a reason; too many advertisements on your out going email messages and deliverability rates to name a few.

Article Marketing

Marketing by using articles can be one of the most effective and least expensive ways to promote your business. This is especially true if you have a web-site. Writing articles about subjects you know about that include keywords related to your business is one of the best ways to get search engines to notice you which can lead to increased traffic to your business. And no, contrary to popular belief, you don't have to be an expert in order to write articles.

Conclusion

Which ever way you choose to promote your business, always remember that the customer is the only reason you have a business in the first place, and you should do everything in your power to make their experience the absolute very best it can be. It's not always about the lowest or cheapest prices either, sometimes it's about how they are being treated that keeps them coming back.