Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Life is a GPS

Anyone who owns a recent model car with a GPS system is familiar with the turn by turn instructions it provides. When you remain on course it simply tells you how many miles until your next turn and whether it will be a right or a left. If you are off course, however, it will either tell you to recalculate or make a legal U turn ahead.
Life is like that GPS system. We go along on one course until circumstances dictate a change in direction. Many people are now recalculating their career path due to the economic conditions. When you honestly review exactly where you are at the moment, how does that match your goal projections? Are you on target to achieve your goals? When you think about your day, do you get excited and happy to go to work? Do you dread Monday mornings?
Your immediate feeling when you wake up and think about starting your day indicates your feelings about what you are doing for a living. If you are excited and grateful for the opportunity, wonderful. I suspect that is not the case or you would not be researching opportunities for home based businesses. What you do for a living does not have to be drudgery. When you are your own boss and you have total control of your future, it is exciting, challenging and rewarding.
If your work feel like being a salve to someone else’s dictates and desires, maybe it is time to have the GPS of your life recalculate your future and change directions. Life is too short to be miserable. Miserable and under paid really deserves recalculating.
In order to reset the GPS to a new direction, we need to define exactly what destination might be best for you. There are several questions to ask yourself.
What are you doing when you are the most happy?
What are you doing when you feel the most productive?
What are you doing when you feel the most challenged and liking it?
What are you doing when you feel the most profitable?
What are you doing when you are learning something new and liking it?
The answers to these questions give you a clue as to the new direction you would like for your life and career path to follow. It really is possible to earn an ideal living, enjoy what you are doing and know you are giving real value to people at the same time.
The ideal situation is to get out of bed every morning like a child on Christmas morning. I have heard Dr. Srikumar Rao, legendary professor at the Columbia School of Business and the London School of Business, says you should feel so grateful for what you are doing for your career that you want to get down on your knees in gratitude.
If this level of excitement and gratitude does not resemble your feelings about what you do for a living, it is time to explore the idea of recalculating the GPS for your life.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Pay Attention to Your MVP

Sports fans will think of MVP as Most Valuable Player. Good thought, but not this time.

In terms of your home based business, the term MVP means Most Valuable and Profitable activity. One of the 5 things every leader focuses on every day is income producing activity. These are your profit producing activities. Lead generation, customer needs focused conversations and follow up are crucial ingredients to any sales funnel.

Lets break it down. Without leads entering your sales funnel to read your web pages, receive your autoresponders and have the opportunity to speak with you, your entire sales process is DOA, dead, stopped cold and totally worthless. You can have the most attractive web pages, brilliantly written autoresponders and a silver tongue to speak with people; however if you do not have any leads, it is about as useful as art behind a locked door which no one can see and appreciate. Or to keep the sports analogy, a football team without a football. The game will not progress.

Goal one is obviously to get leads. Your goal is to have a minimum of 100 leads per week. Top producers will generate over 200 leads a day. Don’t push the panic button; it will take time to work up to that volume. There are many sources to generate leads and I absolutely recommend you self-generate your leads. When I started in this industry I was told to buy leads. In many cases buying leads is an expensive way to get frustrated. Some leads have been sold several times and may be 30 or more days old. Other leads may have been incentivized – they were told to enter their information in order to win a toaster or a camp stove. The only thing being heated up and burned in that situation is the person buying the lead. Stop being the kindling for someone else’s fire. Generate your own leads which you know are fresh, original and interested in your offer.

All of the sources for lead generation are far too extensive to detail in this article. Contact me at Elaine@ResultsForLife.net to gain access to all lead generation resources.

The next step in the income producing activity process is meaningful conversations with prospects. Focus on them. No focus on yourself. Ask about their interests, their current occupation, their desire for a job or a home based business, and their reasons for wanting their own home based business. This process is all about serving them and their needs, desires and goals. If their desires fit your opportunity, great. If not, be honest enough and caring enough about them to allow them to make whatever decision is best for them. This conversation is all about serving them and fulfilling their highest and best purpose. Never put your personal financial interests ahead of caring for the prospect.

If it appears to be a fit, give them access to more information and schedule a time for them to review the information. Set a follow up appointment right now for a future time and date. Some leaders prefer to call the prospect at the scheduled time and others prefer to have the prospect call them. I request the prospect call me. It helps me gauge how serious they are about making a decision. If they are serious, they will either call you at the appointed time or notify you that they prefer to reschedule. Communication is key.

Never neglect your Most Valuable and Profitable activities. MVP is a daily activity.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Keywords are the Key

Targeting your audience is so important in marketing. It is the difference between using a scatter gun or a laser to hit your target. When you shoot a general blast from a scatter gun, the odds of hitting a specific target are slim and none.

Let’s put it in a dating analogy. You do not say I want to marry someone, anyone will do. You select the gender, you describe in detail each characteristic you desire and probably the characteristics you do NOT want. That is narrowing the field to specifics.

Key word targeting works the same identical way. You select a general category and keep narrowing until you reach your specific criteria. For example, if you were seeking a dentist, you would first type in dentist and then narrow the search to dentists in your geographic area. You would then enter "dentists in Denver, CO." From that list you would narrow the choices to the dental specialty you were seeking. You might say, “cosmetic dentistry." From that list you might narrow it to the dental offices close by your house, or years in business, or specific cosmetic procedures performed, or even those who accepted your insurance. The more specific you are, the more likely you are to be pleased with the one you select.

Google loves relevant content. Google expects your keywords to match your ad to match your landing page. The more consistent and targeted, the better Google likes your ad campaign. Google is all about having the person who is searching the internet find exactly what they expected to find every step of the process.

For instance if your keyword was "cosmetic dentist in Denver," the searcher would not be happy to find that the ad talked about a home based business selling juice. That will get your page slapped in a heartbeat. Even having a page that talked about pulling your wisdom teeth would be a disconnect. Both cosmetic dentistry and pulling teeth are in the dental field but they are not related enough to give the searcher the specific information they were seeking. Relevance is so critical to Google. Yahoo and MSN are not quite as strict yet. Why not learn to do it correctly from the beginning. . .

Articles, blogs, and videos also function better with specific keywords. Vague keywords will give you the scatter gap effect. Know exactly who you wish to enroll in your business. If your home based business is health products then you obviously want to target someone who is interested in be healthy. People who belong to a gym or frequent health food stores or are steady customers of fresh fruit stands. You would not go after Norm from Cheers who likes beer, does not exercise and perhaps smokes. That would not be your target. Even though that person would benefit from being healthy, they are probably not in the market for health products.

Weave your targeted keywords throughout your article, blog, video and internet advertising.

If you are promoting a home based business, the key elements are always marketing and mindset. You must have both. No business anywhere thrives without marketing and a mindset for success. Use your keywords to target your specific audience. Sprinkle them throughout your blog, articles, video and your internet ads. Having the main idea keyword in the opening sentence is good. If it works into the title and still is a title that sizzles and creates interest, great. If not, keep the title which creates interest. Use the keywords and language that relates to the keywords. For instance if your theme was related to dentistry, use words a dentist would relate to and words a person seeking a dentist would likely type into the search engine.

Keywords are key to marketing success. You can have the best article in the world, but if no one types in those words and finds it, it is still a lost effort.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Communication is Essential

Communication is a 2 way process. Communication is not just about speaking and presenting your point of view. Communication is also about listening. Too often we find people listening for a break in the conversation so that they can speak. Or people listen for just enough information to present their point of view. Very rarely do people listen for the intent and purpose of truly hearing the other person.

Listening is a silent form of flattery. Being a focused and interested listener is a way of demonstrating the value we place on the other person. One of the sweetest gifts you can ever give is showing you are truly interested in the other person.

Valuing people and treating them as valuable is one of the major keys to leadership. When you hold people at a distance, they can not hurt you, but they will not help you when you are detached from them. Every one of us wants to feel valued. When you listen intently to another and allow them to express their thoughts and feelings, they are more likely to choose to listen to you. The old golden rule still applies to treat others as you would like to be treated. Start that process right now by truly listening to others.

Communication has many aspects. It is speaking, listening, writing, and even video. Body language is significant in all of that expect writing. When you listen to someone, lean forward slightly. Sitting back or crossing your arms across your chest indicates withdrawal or resistance. Crossed arms are also a sign of closing off from someone or something. If you are on the telephone, use these same body movements to assist in focusing on the speaker. It is most distracting and even disrespectful to hear someone typing while someone else is speaking. If you must take notes, either mute your phone or take the notes by hand. Focus your eyes on them rather than letting your gaze wander around the room. An occasional head nod showing agreement also affirms that you are paying close attention. Body language is very important.

When I had the property management company in Steamboat, I would put a mirror in front of my reservation agents. Even the facial expression of a smile or a frown transmits through the phone. Amazing that such a subtle change in the facial expression of the speaker could be received by the listener, but it absolutely transmits. If you believe you can fake enthusiasm or even a positive attitude, forget it. Know it or not, the other person really does pick up on you state of mind. You would need to be a very convincing actor or actress to avoid detection.

One of the greatest communication services you can render is to be genuinely interested in the other person. People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Make it a great day. Happy communicating.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Roadblocks to Success

Are you building your future or a roadblock to your success? So many of us unintentionally build a wall blocking us from the success we say we desire.

Holding on to negative feelings presents a major roadblock to success. Regardless of whether those negative feelings have anything to do with your business life or not, negative is still negative. How can you possibly have a 100% positive attitude toward your potential business partners, your consultants and your associates within the company if you are allowing negative feelings about something to drag you down? Answer, you can’t. A negative feeling that nags at the back of your mind does have an influence on all aspects of your mind.

How can you overcome that mental, emotional downer? The simple answer is to focus 100% on your business and block out everything else. Simple but not realistic. That is the ostrich practice of burying your head in the sand and pretending that something does not exist. That may work for 5 minutes but it absolutely does not work long term.

You can use the “trouble box” method and write down the pesky issue. Stuff the paper in the trouble box and resolve not to look at it or think about it again until the end of the month. When you open the box at the end of the month, you will be amazed to see all the things that seemed so important at that minute were really totally unimportant in the grand scheme of your life. After you have practiced this a few times, it will become easier to let go of little things more easily and quickly. You will learn not to waste time and energy on minor annoyances which do not have long range importance in your life.

Another way to deal with self-imposed roadblocks is detailed in Catherine Ponder’s book “The Prosperity Secrets of the Ages.” She recommends forgiveness. Catherine recommends sitting quietly and thinking peaceful thoughts about the person and situation for 30 minutes per day until you feel peace that the situation is resolved in your mind. She details many examples of the other person actually contacting you in some way to apologize or make amends. She also recommends saying a prayer for the peaceful resolution of the situation and wishing peace, prosperity and blessing to the other person.

Regardless of the method you choose, it is critical that you remove the roadblock. It is challenging enough when life and circumstances get in our way of achieving success. The worst situation is when we get in our own way. The good news about getting in our own path to progress is that we are also the ones who can change and get out of the way.

Examine your life and your business. Determine what actions you can take to move yourself forward. Start right now, today, to take positive action.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Gratitude for Our Opportunity

Whether we like the current president or whether we like the current economy, pales in comparison to the advantages we enjoy in America.

We live in the greatest nation in the world. We have the freedom to worship as we please. There are so many countries where people have to worship in secret. We ring massive church bells to say where we worship. Our religious books abound on every possible sect and religion. Celebrate our freedom of worship.

Our public schools are not only open to all our youth but we very strongly encourage all of our young people to not just be literate but be truly educated. Our service organizations and so many other sources donate thousands and thousands of dollars in scholarships to assist worthy but needy students to enjoy higher education. Temple University was started as an idea when poor black students came to Russell Conwell and asked him to tutor them in college classes. He was so taken with the idea of providing this education that he almost single handed raised the millions of dollars necessary to state Temple University. He did this by traveling all over giving a speech titled “Acres of Diamonds.” This speech and the reason for creating it impressed me so much that I have written an entire article on it.

We have the freedom to start a business of our own. There are so many places in the world where that is not a possibility. Just by thinking of the idea and working to make it a reality, we can create our own business. Greeting cards, lawn services, housekeeping services, painting, handyman, babysitting and cooking to name a few ideas were all available to start as a business. Simply think of an idea. Think what you are good at doing and enjoy doing. Develop it into a business. Every successful business was at one point simply the glimmer of an idea in someone’s mind. If you was something already created, then join a home based business. If you have lots of money to invest, then you might even consider a franchise.

A home based business has a low start up fee and can be started on a part time basis which you continue your job. The point is that we are totally free to start our own business any time we please. We are free to decide and take action.

We have the freedom to travel from state to state and enjoy seeing all of our beautiful country and beyond its borders. We have so many freedoms here.

When was the last time you heard someone say, “If I could just get to (name any third world country), everything would be great.” Heard anyone set out in a rickety boat from Florida just to get to the promised land of Cuba? No. They are all coming here to the land of opportunity and freedom.

Cherish your freedom and be grateful for all of the opportunities we have at our fingertips.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Responsibility Erases the Blame Game

None of us are perfect. We all make mistakes. The mark of a leader and a mature person is the ability to step up to the situation and take responsibility for their part.

Taking responsibility does not mean becoming a door mat or letting people walk all over them. It means accepting your rightful share of the results – good or bad. Jim Rohn, noted business philosopher, reminds us to accept the harvest of rewards without apology when the results are good and without complaint when they are not good.

In business it is all too common to hear the blame game in full force. “I want to change sponsors; my sponsor doesn’t help me.” Or I hear, “My sponsor doesn’t return my calls or emails; I just can’t get any help.” Actually in my company there are over 24 live training calls every week, over 100 hours of current recorded training calls, extensive video and text training, business coaches and a very active forum for questions. The sponsor is not the only source of information and assistance. Yes, having an informed and responsive sponsor is very important, but the sponsor is not the only source of training.

Bottom line is that when you start a home based business, a brick and mortar business or a franchise, it is your business. You have responsibility to learn the training provided and take action on that training. Sitting back and saying, ”come do it for me” is not taking responsibility.

A new business owner will have a learning curve. Learning curves are a part of life. Every time we start something new, there is a learning curve. Some things have a shorter curve than others to be certain, but they all require some effort. You can read about riding a bike. You can watch someone ride a bike. Sooner or later if you really want to learn how to ride a bike you have to get on the bike and start riding. Will you fall over? Yes. Get back on and start peddling again. Having your sponsor tell you how to ride or even watching the sponsor ride will not complete the step of you learning how to ride.

As long as the blame game is in full force, no real learning will occur and probably no real progress either. Progress occurs when you step out of your comfort zone and dig in and start learning and taking action.

Playing the blame game is avoiding responsibility. Leaders and top producers never waste time and energy on non-productive emotions, actions or words. Blaming others is an absolute waste of energy. Leaders take responsibility.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Weekly Awesome Awareness

Life is to be lived, enjoyed and appreciated. Every day is a day to be celebrated. Sounds like I am viewing life through rose colored glasses? No. I do have a life filled with gratitude.
When you look at your life and choose to celebrate the good things, you will find that you receive more blessings. You will always receive more of whatever you give your time, energy and focus. Why not focus on the things you choose to receive?
Could life really be that simple? As reality sets in, we realize that thinking positive is the first step. Step two is taking the action to support that decision. Step three is cultivating the expectation of success.
Step one defines the positives in your life:
1. What activities or thoughts were awesome today?
2. What events both major and minor can you celebrate today?
3. What and who are you grateful for today?
4. What activities are producing the best results for you in your business?
5. What activities are producing the best results for you in your personal life?
6. What progress have you made toward achieving your goals?
Step two implements every item in step one:
1. How can you take even more positive action to improve each activity and thought?
2. When you truly celebrate the little victories and learn the reasons behind them, the easier it is to re-create them and build them into big victories.
3. I keep a gratitude journal in which I write at least 10 items every day. They are rarely the same 10 even though some of them repeat on a regular basis.
4. Tracking your results is a key factor in the wise use of your time, energy and money. Where are your sales and top networking contacts finding you?
5. Your personal life absolutely affects your business life. Even though we try not to allow business to dwell upon our mind during personal time, let's be honest, it does creep into our thoughts. The two are intertwined. How can you maximize your personal life for your own sake and that of your loved ones? Make the personal an asset to boost your life inside and outside working hours.
6. As you reflect at the end of the day, have you been busy or productive? A carefully designed priority list for the day and adhering to that schedule helps insure that your time will be spent on the important and urgent or at least the important details rather than wasted on trivia.

Step three emphasizes believing in yourself and your goals with such strong focus and emotion that you already see the goals achieved before they are a reality in your bank account or paper documents. Visualize the goals already achieved. See every detail in living color. Experience each one with all 5 senses. Hear the words of praise, see the victory celebration, touch the evidence of accomplishment, smell the sweet scent of victory in the air and taste the congratulatory kiss from your loved one. Truly place yourself fully into the experience as already accomplished. Hold that image and take the action steps to make it come true.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Life is a Garden

As a Kansas farm girl growing up, we had rich black soil. Everything we planted seemed to sprout up and grow happily. Years later I moved to Norfolk, Nebraska where we had hard clay. It felt like I needed a jackhammer to drill a little hole to plant a flower. The flowers choked for nutrition and struggled to survive.

Your mind is like that soil. Is your mind the fertile black soil which nourishes and brings forth value? Or is it like the hard clay which is closed and unreceptive to new ideas. The beauty is that you have the opportunity to choose. Every day you can decide to be whichever one you choose. Why not choose to grow and flourish. Jim Rohn, noted business philosopher, said that in order for us to receive more, we must become more.

Tony Robbins speaks about not going to your garden and chanting "There's no weeds, there's no weeds." Of course there are weeds. Weeds must be pulled out. He chooses not to see it worse than it is but truly as it is. Ideally see it better than it is and go to work to make it so.

There is the story of the beautiful garden on the garden tour. One of the visitors walked by a lovely garden and seeing the owner there decided to speak to him. Not wanting the owner to take full credit for the beautiful garden, the visitor said to the owner, "you and God have a beautiful garden here." The owner replied, "Yes, without the seed and the soil and the sun and the rain, it would have been very difficult. But, you should have seen it 2 years ago when God had it all by himself."

We are given everything we need to not only survive but thrive. We each received gifts: talents and abilities. Those gifts are the seed and soil for our personal growth and future prosperity. The sun and the rain are the opportunities we encounter in our life. We have the opportunities to learn and grow by reading, masterminding with other leaders and listening to educational materials. Opportunities to expand our mind and our self-worth abound. It is up to us to tap into those resources and increase our value to the marketplace.

Your mind can be like the fertile black soil and produce a beautiful garden for all to enjoy or like the hard clay and be unhappy and broke. Your choice. Your garden. Choose flowers or weeds. Choose prosperity or poverty. Life really starts and ends with our choices.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Play the Match Game

Picture yourself ordering in a restaurant. First you order a chef salad, then you change your order to a pasta salad and then you change your mind again and order a hamburger. What are the odd that you will receive exactly what you want at the moment the food arrives. Slim and none and slim just left town.

This is the way your subconscious mind feels when you keep changing your mind about what you truly desire to receive in life. Your instructions must be crystal clear and very specific. You can not say, “I want to earn a lot of money” and expect your subconscious mind to know exactly how many dollars that represents. The subconscious mind can only match your desire to your results when you are very specific. Set the exact goal you intend to achieve and the exact date by which it will be accomplished. For instance, if your goal is to lose weight, you might say that you will weight 124 pounds by October 1, 2009. That is very specific in goal and time to be accomplished. The subconscious mind and go to work on that goal. The next step is to match your actions to the goal.

Purchasing a chocolate cake and a gallon of ice cream immediately after setting that goal would not match. Even though chocolate cake and ice cream are very tasty foods, eating them right now does not match the intention of losing weight. If you have found a way to pig out on dessert and lose weight at the same time, that is most unusual.

The point is that your goal must be very specific with a very specific completion time. All of your actions must match the desired outcome.

Match your current goals to your behavior. How is that working out for you?

If you have a home based business and you have a strong desire to replace your current income from your job, let’s set the intention. If you are currently earning 48,000 per year, that is 4,000 per month or 1,000 per week (based on a 4 week month to make calculation easier). You can set your goal to be earning 1,000 per week in your home based business within 30 days from today – whatever date that might be.

Set your actions to be consistent with your goal. For instance if you are earning 200 per sale, that means you must generate 5 sales per week. If you close one sale for every 10 people in your leads list, you will need to have 50 leads per week. Match your actions to follow through with your goal. Do whatever actions you need to take to generate 50 leads per week. Break your actions down to daily tasks and follow through.

Every time you think about an activity, ask yourself if it moves you closer to your goal or farther away. If it moves you closer – if it matches the result you are seeking – do it. Remember the ice cream and the goal of 124 pounds? The same principle applies to playing video games on your computer all day instead of generating leads.

Your instructions to your subconscious mind must be specific with a time deadline. Your actions must match your goal or it will not be achieved. Specific, clear, focused goals and absolute specific goal-oriented actions achieve desired results. Goals and actions must match. Play the match game with your goals and actions? Match – great. No match – change the actions. You can start fresh every day. Play the match game.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Fear is the absence of faith.

Fear gives all control to the negative aspects. You will always receive more of whatever you give your time, energy and focus. When you allow negative thoughts to creep into your mind, they become negative feelings and then negative expectations and thus negative results. Fear is nothing more than requesting negative results. That is not to say that none of us ever have challenges and setbacks. Of course we all do. The key is conquering the negative thought and replacing it with courage. The enemy is not outside us but inside our thoughts. Franklin D. Roosevelt reminded us that “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Fear is the greatest enemy of mankind. When we allow the emotion of fear to create anxiety, stress and depression, we have given it control of our lives.

Simply developing the habit of courage and determined self-confidence opens an entirely new realm of possibilities. If fear were not a factor, what would you dare to do? Would you finally start that business you have been dreaming about for years? Would you take that trip to visit another country? Would you have the courage to tell someone that you loved them?

Courage, like fear, can be learned. Repeat a thought or behavior until it becomes a habit. Looking on the positive side of every situation becomes a way of life. Your thoughts become conditioned to fit into that pattern. When you really look at your life and examine your thoughts, words, beliefs and actions, what pattern have you established for yourself?

Good news. Even if you have allowed fear and hesitation to hold you back in the past, you are free to start changing that pattern right now. Just for today, start reframing every negative or fearful thought into a positive. Start by doing that for ten minutes. You can convince yourself to do anything for ten minutes. Wait awhile and repeat another ten minutes or even twelve minutes. By gradually increasing your time, you start forming a new behavior pattern. You will find that you feel better. Your step has a bit more spring to it and your soul feels more peaceful and content. Celebrate that good feeling and commit to enjoying it more and more.

With more positive and courageous thoughts and a more peaceful feeling, you will start taking more constructive steps in every aspect of your life. Your relationships will become more congenial. Your business dealings will increasingly demonstrate more goodwill. The snowball effect will continue to expand until your life reflects more courage and confidence.

A quiet little grin will cross your face as you think about how your life has changed. You’ll wonder why you didn’t start that process years ago. We can’t go into retrograde but we can start today to live a life of courage and banish fear from our thoughts, words, feelings and actions. Live the live you desire. Life is a choice. Choose to have a good one.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Change is Unavoidable

Every one of us encounters change in some manner every day. There are basically 2 ways that most people handle change – fight or flight.

You may choose to stand your ground and wage a battle – fight. Take the example of the termination of your employment. Many companies are downsizing right now or moving their offices off shore or even more permanent, closing their doors. If they are downsizing, you may choose to present your views on why they should retain your services. If they are moving off shore, you could possibly transfer to another department or another location. If the company is closing down all operations, then staging a plea for the retention of your services is futile. No company equals no job opportunity there.

You could choose to flee from reality and deny the existence of the pink slip, but that is naïve and non-productive. You could race to the unemployment office. You could go home and lick your wounds and feel sorry for yourself. None of these will bring any immediate positive result.

There is a third option which is totally positive, productive and perhaps even inspiring. You can embrace the opportunity.

Look seriously and objectively at your recent, but now past, career. Ask yourself some truly insightful questions.

What did you enjoy most about your job?

What did you enjoy least about your job?

If you could change something about the job, what 2 or 3 things would you change?

If time, training and money were not an issue, what would you truly enjoy doing for a living?

Yes, I know, money seems like an issue at the moment. Just for a few minutes, let’s pretend that money is not a factor. Dream a little. What would you really like to be doing? When Jim Rohn was 25, he told his mentor that he did not have any money. Jim’s mentor told him that was not a problem. All this time, Jim had thought not having money was the problem. The problem was lack of an idea to create money.

Think about your current situation. When you embrace change, you create the ideas where you not only earn money but enjoy your life in the process.

Now you know that you have three choices to deal with change – fight, flight or embrace change. My personal vote is to embrace change. Enjoy the full benefits life has ready to offer you.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Leadership Is Empowering Others

Leadership is empowering others to reach for their full potential. In Brian Tracy’s “The Treasury of Quotes,” he describes leadership as “… the ability to get extraordinary achievement from ordinary people.”

No one ever gets to the top alone. It takes the combined efforts of several for anyone to reach the top. In order to be a leader, you naturally must have followers. We do not succeed without sacrifice; it is either our own sacrifice or the sacrifice of others which brings a leader to the top. Leadership implies that the leader has not only personally achieved goals but also knows how to guide others to achieve their goals.

As a leader, there are a few questions which are always in the forefront of my mind.

What things do you feel that I am doing right?

What could I do to be an even better leader?

What do you believe that I am not doing well?

Feedback is the food of champions. There are usually three different realities for a leader. There is the leader’s view of each situation. There is the follower’s (team member) view of each situation. The truth or actual facts are frequently somewhere in between the two. We each see things through our own lens. Our view is tainted by our own experience and our perception. When we brush away the interpretations and expose the facts, it can be an entirely different reality.

If an employee is not happy with their supervisor, they may tell other employees, their friends, their family and perhaps even the ladies at the nail salon or the boys at the bar. The only one who does not know is the supervisor. Unfortunately, the supervisor is the only one who can make it better.

The leader, supervisor, can ask employees to rate their satisfaction with the company culture and their employee status on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being excellent. If the rating comes back as a 7, all the leader knows is that the employee is not totally happy. If the leader follows up with the next question, “What will it take to make it a 10,” then there is solid information to improve the situation.

Feedback not only helps the leader but it clarifies for the employee as well.

No one gets to the top alone. The wise leader brings others up to the top with them. A true leader never allows ego or insecurity to push others down in order to keep themselves on top. The old expression, “it’s lonely at the top” has no merit when the wise leader brings others up to the top with them. At that point, the top is never lonely.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Are You Busy or Productive?

Ever have days when you seemed to be busy all day long, but at the end of the day you did not have much to show for the time? There is a distinct difference between activity and accomplishment. Do you relate to that feeling? Me too.

My solution revolves around time management. Each evening I write my “to do” list for the next day. Back in my property management days, it meant looking at not only new items to be accomplished but reviewing the completed work orders to determine what had been completed. Frequently it also involved a site visit to personally inspect the work performed. With a home based business, the buck stops right here at my own desk.

I am responsible for the action items placed on the schedule and I am responsible for the follow through to be certain they are completed. Anyone who has ever owned a small business understands this very well. Owning a home based business generally means one person, or perhaps a couple in the case of a partnership or marriage, shoulders all of the responsibility. In this case, “if it is to be, it is up to me” has absolute significance.

Scheduling time slots for specific tasks and committing to a complete and focused performance of that specific activity and only that activity during that time slot is imperative. Avoid answering personal emails or personal phone calls or any other distraction. If you have to lock your office door and seclude yourself, then do it.

Schedule specific times for the five things every successful entrepreneur does every day.
1. Meditate and visualize your goals in absolute detail using all 5 senses. Be certain your goals are SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely)
2. Income producing activity – lead generation, conversations with potential business partners and follow up conversations.
3. Personal development – personal development always precedes financial results
4. Mastermind with other leaders who have the same forward-thinking goals and mindset for success
5. Cultivate the expectation of leadership. BE the leader, DO what the leaders do, and you will HAVE what the leaders have.

These rules apply whether you have a home based business, a small business, or a franchise. These principles apply regardless of the industry.

Schedule your time in 30 to 60 minute blocks depending on the task. Plan ahead so that you know you can and will adhere to the schedule.

Time management insures that your time will be more productive rather than just busy. If it helps, you can set a kitchen timer or the alarm on your watch or the timer on your phone.

No one wants to face themselves in the mirror night after night and admit that nothing was actually accomplished that day. A day is a precious commodity, don’t waste it.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Juicy Slice of Life

Summertime may be drawing to a close but summer melons are still in the stores everywhere. Look at the juicy watermelon treat from a totally different perspective.

W – Together WE accomplish more than each one of us could alone. No one gets to the top of the ladder alone. It is always with the help of those before and beside us.

A – ATTITUDE is the absolute controlling factor in every situation. Life is 97% our impression and interpretation of what happens more than the actual event.

T – TIMING is so important. Wise use of our time is critical. When we run out of time, the game is over. Time is a very precious factor. Use your hours and days wisely.

E – ENTHUSIASM – Without excitement, energy and enthusiasm for what you are doing, you will never accomplish your full potential. Passion for your life and your business is essential to achieve your goals. Greatness requires passion for your pursuits.

R – RESPECT for yourself and others. You have heard it said that you can never truly totally love another person until you learn to love yourself. The same is true for respect. Without self-respect, how can you truly respect the rights and feelings of others?

M – MAKE and keep commitments. Define your goals and objectives and commit to their achievement. Persist with that commitment until it is absolutely a reality.

E – EVERY day must contain come fun. You will be far more productive and happy about your life when you enjoy what you are doing and have fun in the process. Life is to be enjoyed. If your work makes you miserable, it not only drags you down but also drags everyone around you down. You can always make a living doing something you enjoy. Either change what you are doing or change your attitude about what you are doing.

L – LOVE is the answer. Regardless of the question, love is the answer. Love of what you are doing. Love for the people in your life. Love for yourself and others.

O – ONE day at a time. Start with small steps and short time frames. If you have to go in ten minute intervals do it. An alcoholic decides not to drink for ten minutes, and then keep adding another 10 minutes until it is an entire day, then week, then month, then year. You can apply that to not eating chocolate or whatever your big temptation.

N – NEVER give up. A winner never quits and a quitter never wins. Ever see the picture of the frog in the mouth of the eagle? The frog is attempting to choke the eagle as the eagle flies away. Never never give up.

You will never look at watermelon the same again. It is all in your perspective. Regardless of whether you have a home based business, a job, a traditional brick and mortar business or no business at all. These are basic principles of life.
Live life as one juicy slice of adventure.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Good, Fast and Cheap

As a rule of purchasing anything, reality dictates that we will only receive two of the three of these at any one time. If you want it fast and you want top quality, you are not likely to also receive the lowest price. By the same token if you want something at a very very low cost, you will either sacrifice quality or the speed of receiving the goods or services.

This rule holds true in the home based business industry as well. Wise business decisions require quality and an investment of time, energy and money.

Life and business do not deliver legality and ethics as a “get rich quick” scheme. A company with integrity and products of extreme value to the marketplace will absolutely require some time, effort and investment to achieve significant short range and long range goals. You made a commitment to yourself, to your sponsor and to WMI when you purchased the products and enrolled in the business opportunity. That was not a five minute or 5 day or even 5 week commitment. Starting a business means giving your all for as long as it takes to be successful.

Make a conscious decision about the 2 you value most in each area of your choices. How much you invest depends on your current financial situation, your belief in yourself and the opportunity and how much you choose to earn. Choosing goals which make you stretch and grow will increase your financial situation. Many of us stretched George (George Washington and the one dollar bill) until he flinched in pain. We were so far out of our comfort zone but we believed in the company and ourselves. Big thinkers go for the gusto; they push the envelope. Big goals require massive action. Great achievements were never accomplished by snuggling in to the comfort zone and hiding there.

“Perseverance is not a long race, it is many short races one after another” states Walter Elliot. Big achievers (big shots) are little shots who just kept on shooting. In the home based business industry as in life, the one who keeps learning, growing and persisting sets the standard for the true success story. Influence with integrity.

As important as personal development is to the home based business industry, so is marketing. Once again the law of good, fast and cheap comes into focus. The best and most effective marketing will absolutely require either time or money and probably both. Once again you can’t place one ad and quit. Persevere and learn all of the fine points of whichever marketing venue you choose. Develop your skill. Become a master marketer. Invest in yourself and your business. Refining marketing will require being good and spending the time to learn. Free leads, cheap leads, may be worth exactly what you pay for them. That is if you do not invest your time or your money, those free leads will probably be of little or no value.

Baby boomers may remember song lyrics that said “I want you, I need you but I am never going to love you” “Two out of 3 ain’t bad.” In business, personal development, marketing and ever so many other aspects of life that rule still holds true. Choose the two which create the greatest value for you in each situation.

Sometimes a decision needs to be made quickly rather than “getting ready to get ready.” If you are making a “reversible” decision, fast is preferable. You may choose fast and cheap. For instance, getting some text up on a web site. Get it up and start marketing. You can tweak the words or layout a bit later and improve the quality. Get moving. Take action.

Another example is calling prospects or applicants. Call them. Don’t wait until you are polished and smooth and know all of the answers. Take action and start dialing. If you make a mistake, so what. In that case, fast is absolutely preferable. Don’t wait to be good. They may even feel good about the fact that you are new and rough around the edges of the script. They will know they do not have to be perfect either to get started.

Evaluate the situation and select the best two out of three. Remember “2 out of 3 ain’t bad.” Out of good, fast and cheap, you will most likely only receive two, not all three.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Slight Edge

Jeff Olson recorded a cd about “The Slight Edge.” This audio clarifies the fine line between success and a mediocre life. The good news is that it really is a slight edge. You may be closer than you think to achieving your goals and dreams.

For instance, he spoke about a nice shoe shine lady in the airport who read a great many books. Reading is excellent. Every great leader recommends reading. Brian Tracy and Dennis Waitley recommend reading for a minimum of thirty minutes per day. Jim Rohn, noted business philosopher recommends reading a book a week. In fact, one of Jim’s weekend seminars teaches how to read a book a day. Every great leader is a reader.

So what is the problem for the nice show shine lady? She was reading romance novels. Nothing is wrong with romance; I am an absolute romantic. Romance novels do not enhance the intellect or provide inspiration or even motivation to succeed in business. What if that stack of dog-eared books included “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill, “The Richest Man in Babylon” by George S. Clason, “The Travelers Gift” by Andy Andrews, “The Prosperity Secrets of the Ages” by Catherine Ponder or “The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People” by Steven Covey? Reading is critical to success but it is not just reading but which books you choose to read.

Your mind is a fertile garden which can be planted with the seeds of greatness or weeds of mindless chatter. It is a slight edge. In many cases, THE slight edge.

Another slight edge revolves around your daily habits. How much time do you spend watching television? Silly situation comedy shows may be fun but what do they do for your mind? How much time do you spend every day watching CNN, which I refer to as constantly negative news? Have you ever noticed that most news stations give you negative news, then a commercial for an anti-depressant, more negative news and another commercial for another anti-depressant? Why not eliminate the negative? What are you planting in that fertile soil of your mind? Are you planting positive thoughts and inspiration or negative thoughts and empty time fillers?

I’m not saying that you should not be informed about world and local events, but filter the essential from the un-necessary negative. I have televisions in my home; however, I probably have not had them on a total of ten hours in a year. My time is spent with good books, educational and inspirational cds and masterminding with leaders.

The slight edge makes all the difference. Start by committing to reading at least 30 minutes per day or at least 10 pages per day. Focus on reading growth-oriented information which will inspire, inform or encourage you. Spend your free time filling your mind with positive thoughts rather than negative. It is imperative that the last 30 minutes before sleep and the first 30 minutes after you awaken be filled with positive thoughts and information.

Success involves a slight edge. Who knows, this may be the slight edge which turns your life from ordinary to exceptional.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Head Games

Sometimes we unintentionally get in our own way of success. We allow the “monkey chatter” to instill doubts and hesitation. Our friends, family and co-workers add to that monkey chatter weakening our resolve to succeed.

I love my family dearly; however, they are not always on exactly the same success track as I have laid out for myself. For some strange reason because I have been successful in the past and I am 65, they seem to think I should retire and stay retired. Personally, I love stimulating conversations and new ventures to entice my mind to grow. The rocking chair and mindless coffee club chit chat is totally unappealing to me.

Co-workers who are set in the employee mindset simply do not understand that drive deep in your soul to create and grow your own business. If they are stuck in the “a job means security and a regular paycheck’ mentality, they resist stepping out of that comfort zone. Paul Zane Pilzer, economic adviser to 2 presidents declares that having a job is far more risk, especially in the current economy, than owning your own business. This is the age and time of the entrepreneur. More fortune 500 companies started during an economic downturn than at any other time in history. A job is risky. You have no control over how long it will exist or your future income.

Jim Rohn, noted business philosopher, reminds us that in order for things to change, we must change. In order for us to receive more, we must become more. Is that always easy, absolutely not. Is it worth the nervous butterflies right now in order to achieve your goals for the future? Speaking from personal experience – absolutely YES. I am psychologically unemployable. I am an entrepreneur. I seriously tried to be a good employee several times in my life and found that I was pushing at the corners and stretching the walls of the box that employment placed around me. I do not belong in a cubicle. I do not thrive in an atmosphere where I am being told what to do and when to do it. Do you relate to that feeling?

Entrepreneurs have a different mindset than employees. We just do. That is not a bad thing. In fact, that exact mindset is what created America in the first place. Our forefathers came to this country to remove themselves from control and build their businesses. When they did not get the freedom they wanted, they rebelled. That very act of standing up for their creative entrepreneurial desires created a great country and freedom for all of us.

Listen to your feelings and your instincts and dare to create the life you deserve. Jim Rohn, also said there are people you can spend an hour with, but not a day or a day but not a week. Respect your family, friends and co-workers but follow your heart and passion. Get in touch with your deep desires for your future. Put a gag on the monkey chatter and refuse to listen to it. You deserve succe4ss. You deserve to have it all.

Life is to be lived, loved and enjoyed. Why condemn yourself to mediocrity when you can step out of your comfort zone and reach for the moon. If you miss the moon and hit the stars, you are still ahead of being stuck in a mud puddle where you are miserable.

My mission is to improve the lives of everyone I touch – personally, professionally and financially. Reach for your dreams. I did and I am. I love my life. My desire is that you love your life as well.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Actions Speak

You can make money or you can make excuses but rarely, if ever, can you make both at the same time.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of people make excuses to explain why they did not succeed. It is far too common throughout the world for the unsuccessful to be excuse-makers. People choose to attempt to justify their action or inaction with words. The bottom line is that actions speak with such volume that the words can not be heard. Jim Rohn, noted business philosopher, said that “if your neighbor’s pasture is greener than yours, then perhaps theirs is getting better care.” It does come down to the actions.

If you do well, then you have a right to accept the rewards with grace and pleasure. However, if you did not do well, then accept the results without grumbling. Even worse than griping and grumbling is blaming someone else. It is your result and therefore your responsibility. If that is a bitter pill to swallow then perhaps a strong dose of self-examination and diligent work will improve the outcome next time.

Jim Rohn reminds us that we must become good at one of two things: planting in the Spring or begging in the Fall. Personally I have found that planting, working, in the Spring and Summer make the Fall a much more pleasant experience. Even if it is not fun, I have spent many hours of intense self-examination to determine not only what went right but what could be done to make it even better. The other side of that coin is really taking a serious microscopic look at what did not go well and resolving to find a way to make it better. Just the resolve is not enough, the absolute action must follow. Analyze, take action, re-examine and take more positive action. If it is not moving me toward my goals, then it is probably time for a course correction.

As a home based business owner, I hear all kinds of excuses every day. It is the fault of the stock market, or the fault of their company, or the crackdown by Google. Ronnie Hawkins, David Foster, and many other highly successful entrepreneurs learned that when business takes a turn in another direction, simply adjust and attack from a different direction yourself. The point is that they did not sit and “poor me.” They took action to turn the situation around.

Having your own business, especially a home based business, requires you to be constantly alert and taking action. This is not a time to sit back and rely on yesterday’s methods and technology. Be creative, attack from a new direction. Conduct the intense self-examination, take responsibility and take positive action.

Actions speak with volume while excuses whimper.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Are You Busy or Productive?

Ever have days when you seemed to be busy all day long, but at the end of the day you did not have much to show for the time? There is a distinct difference between activity and accomplishment. Do you relate to that feeling? Me too.

My solution revolves around time management. Each evening I write my “to do” list for the next day. Back in my property management days, it meant looking at not only new items to be accomplished but reviewing the completed work orders to determine what had been completed. Frequently it also involved a site visit to personally inspect the work performed. With a home based business, the buck stops right here at my own desk.

I am responsible for the action items placed on the schedule and I am responsible for the follow through to be certain they are completed. Anyone who has ever owned a small business understands this very well. Owning a home based business generally means one person, or perhaps a couple in the case of a partnership or marriage, shoulders all of the responsibility. In this case, “if it is to be, it is up to me” has absolute significance.

Scheduling time slots for specific tasks and committing to a complete and focused performance of that specific activity and only that activity during that time slot is imperative. Avoid answering personal emails or personal phone calls or any other distraction. If you have to lock your office door and seclude yourself, then do it.

Schedule specific times for the five things every successful entrepreneur does every day.

  1. Meditate and visualize your goals in absolute detail using all 5 senses. Be certain your goals are SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely)
  2. Income producing activity – lead generation, conversations with potential business partners and follow up conversations.
  3. Personal development – personal development always precedes financial results
  4. Mastermind with other leaders who have the same forward-thinking goals and mindset for success
  5. Cultivate the expectation of leadership. BE the leader, DO what the leaders do, and you will HAVE what the leaders have.

These rules apply whether you have a home based business, a small business, or a franchise. These principles apply regardless of the industry.

Schedule your time in 30 to 60 minute blocks depending on the task. Plan ahead so that you know you can and will adhere to the schedule.

Time management insures that your time will be more productive rather than just busy. If it helps, you can set a kitchen timer or the alarm on your watch or the timer on your phone.

No one wants to face themselves in the mirror night after night and admit that nothing was actually accomplished that day. A day is a precious commodity, don’t waste it.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Juicy Slice of Life

Summertime may be drawing to a close but summer melons are still in the stores everywhere. Look at the juicy watermelon treat from a totally different perspective.

W – Together WE accomplish more than each one of us could alone. No one gets to the top of the ladder alone. It is always with the help of those before and beside us.

A – ATTITUDE is the absolute controlling factor in every situation. Life is 97% our impression and interpretation of what happens more than the actual event.

T – TIMING is so important. Wise use of our time is critical. When we run out of time, the game is over. Time is a very precious factor. Use your hours and days wisely.

E – ENTHUSIASM – Without excitement, energy and enthusiasm for what you are doing, you will never accomplish your full potential. Passion for your life and your business is essential to achieve your goals. Greatness requires passion for your pursuits.

R – RESPECT for yourself and others. You have heard it said that you can never truly totally love another person until you learn to love yourself. The same is true for respect. Without self-respect, how can you truly respect the rights and feelings of others?

M – MAKE and keep commitments. Define your goals and objectives and commit to their achievement. Persist with that commitment until it is absolutely a reality.

E – EVERY day must contain come fun. You will be far more productive and happy about your life when you enjoy what you are doing and have fun in the process. Life is to be enjoyed. If your work makes you miserable, it not only drags you down but also drags everyone around you down. You can always make a living doing something you enjoy. Either change what you are doing or change your attitude about what you are doing.

L – LOVE is the answer. Regardless of the question, love is the answer. Love of what you are doing. Love for the people in your life. Love for yourself and others.

O – ONE day at a time. Start with small steps and short time frames. If you have to go in ten minute intervals do it. An alcoholic decides not to drink for ten minutes, and then keep adding another 10 minutes until it is an entire day, then week, then month, then year. You can apply that to not eating chocolate or whatever your big temptation.

N – NEVER give up. A winner never quits and a quitter never wins. Ever see the picture of the frog in the mouth of the eagle? The frog is attempting to choke the eagle as the eagle flies away. Never never give up.

You will never look at watermelon the same again. It is all in your perspective. Regardless of whether you have a home based business, a job, a traditional brick and mortar business or no business at all. These are basic principles of life.

,new

Live life as one juicy slice of adventure.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Slight Edge

Jeff Olson recorded a cd about “The Slight Edge.” This audio clarifies the fine line between success and a mediocre life. The good news is that it really is a slight edge. You may be closer than you think to achieving your goals and dreams.

For instance, he spoke about a nice shoe shine lady in the airport who read a great many books. Reading is excellent. Every great leader recommends reading. Brian Tracy and Dennis Waitley recommend reading for a minimum of thirty minutes per day. Jim Rohn, noted business philosopher recommends reading a book a week. In fact, one of Jim’s weekend seminars teaches how to read a book a day. Every great leader is a reader.

So what is the problem for the nice show shine lady? She was reading romance novels. Nothing is wrong with romance; I am an absolute romantic. Romance novels do not enhance the intellect or provide inspiration or even motivation to succeed in business. What if that stack of dog-eared books included “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill, “The Richest Man in Babylon” by George S. Clason, “The Travelers Gift” by Andy Andrews, “The Prosperity Secrets of the Ages” by Catherine Ponder or “The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People” by Steven Covey? Reading is critical to success but it is not just reading but which books you choose to read.

Your mind is a fertile garden which can be planted with the seeds of greatness or weeds of mindless chatter. It is a slight edge. In many cases, THE slight edge.

Another slight edge revolves around your daily habits. How much time do you spend watching television? Silly situation comedy shows may be fun but what do they do for your mind? How much time do you spend every day watching CNN, which I refer to as constantly negative news? Have you ever noticed that most news stations give you negative news, then a commercial for an anti-depressant, more negative news and another commercial for another anti-depressant? Why not eliminate the negative? What are you planting in that fertile soil of your mind? Are you planting positive thoughts and inspiration or negative thoughts and empty time fillers?

I’m not saying that you should not be informed about world and local events, but filter the essential from the un-necessary negative. I have televisions in my home; however, I probably have not had them on a total of ten hours in a year. My time is spent with good books, educational and inspirational cds and masterminding with leaders.

The slight edge makes all the difference. Start by committing to reading at least 30 minutes per day or at least 10 pages per day. Focus on reading growth-oriented information which will inspire, inform or encourage you. Spend your free time filling your mind with positive thoughts rather than negative. It is imperative that the last 30 minutes before sleep and the first 30 minutes after you awaken be filled with positive thoughts and information.

Success involves a slight edge. Who knows, this may be the slight edge which turns your life from ordinary to exceptional.

Entrepreneurs Pave the Path to Wealth

What does wealth mean to you? Different societies define wealth differently. Probably the most common interpretation relates to the amount of money one earns. Or perhaps a high net worth. In a third world country, it may be as basic as owning a housing structure or having enough food to eat.

The American Heritage dictionary defines wealth as “an abundance of valuable material possessions or resources; riches.” This definition seems to closely align the American concept. Actually the term “wealth” derives from the old English word “weal.” which means well-being or welfare. Amazing isn’t it how far we have strayed. Current terminology has wealth and welfare at the absolute opposite ends of the economic scale.

The current preoccupation of many, if not most, North Americans revolves around wealth creation. Robert Kiyosaki details his ideas in his cash-flow quadrant. He explains the least likely employment status for financial security is as an employee. As an employee you have very little control over your income, duties or work schedule. Consequently, an employee has the least likelihood of wealth creation.

Self-employed status raises the bar slightly. At least in this capacity, the individual retains more control of time, earnings and creativity. Being a self-employed entrepreneur increases the potential for wealth creation. Michael Gerber agrees that “The entrepreneur in us sees opportunities everywhere we look, but many people see only problems everywhere they look. The entrepreneur in us is more concerned with discriminating between opportunities than he or she is with failing to see the opportunities.” Now take pure entrepreneurship to an even higher level on the cash-flow quadrant. Rise from self-employed to business owner. The business owner has ultimate control over income, work schedule and business creativity. Not only that, but the business owner leverages individual time and effort by also earning from the time, effort and creativity of his/her employees. At the business owner level, income is no longer restricted to personal production. At this point, entrepreneurship not only buds but develops full blown blossoms. Entrepreneurs thrive on creativity.

Entrepreneurs existed from the beginning of history. People have been creating, inventing and trading from the beginning of time. Even though the forms and techniques of business have changed with the evolution of commerce, the basic principles thread throughout history. Entrepreneurs have been creating wealth since the Stone Age. Entrepreneurs are the life blood on an economy. They stimulate the circulation of money. Entrepreneurs in a real sense are the creators of wealth and a stable economy.

Wealth creation remains a primary focus of most entrepreneurs. When we list the wealthiest people of the world, we see the names of Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Henry Ford, and Donald Trump to name just a few. Each and every one of these wealthy men created their fortunes through entrepreneurship. In fact, most of them progressed from self-employed to business owner to investor. Investor is the ultimate in the cash-flow quadrant. With investor status, your money works for you instead of you working for your money.

As a rule, wealth creation is not an overnight process. The only instant acceleration to wealth is likely to be winning the lottery. Personally, I would not count on that method. Becoming an entrepreneur and progressing from self-employed through business owner to investor remains the most likely and most predictable method. Predictable, if you seize the opportunity when it presents itself. When opportunity knocks, the prepared answer the door. The lazy complain about the noise. Are you prepared and ready to seize the moment? Entrepreneurs eagerly answer the door.

Entrepreneurs take risks. They exhibit focus, commitment, determination, creativity and persistence. Is the road to riches always smooth and upward? No. It is not. Study the financial path of most extremely wealthy individuals and you will find scary financial lows immediately before the huge explosion to wealth. Jim Rohn talks about not having $2.00 to buy Girl Scout cookies. That was his turning point to achieve his fame and fortune. Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hanson experienced extreme financial lows immediately before the Chicken Soup series skyrocketed to the top of the charts. No one said the entrepreneurship road was smooth and easy, but it certainly has wonderful results for those determined souls who persist. Winners persist and achieve. To true entrepreneurs, failure is not an option. Opportunities are usually wearing a disguise of work clothes. Or as Ann Landers phrased it “Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them.”

Ah what sweet rewards for those who are innovative, consistent and persistent. Entrepreneurs create wealth. The recently released billionaire list was composed of eighty percent (80%) entrepreneurs. Are you ready for the challenges and rewards of entrepreneurship? Are you ready for wealth? Success is a choice. Wealth is a choice.

Time Trap

Examine carefully the things you want most in life and prioritize your day accordingly. The biggest waste of time in the world is working very hard at something which should not be done at all. The second biggest waste of time is picking up and putting down a task many times and never actually finishing it. How many of you have projects in the garage or around the house which you started and left partially done? Maybe you spend an hour or so on it one day and then do not touch it again for a week or even longer? Do you realize you spend at least half of your time setting up and cleaning up the project which leaves almost no time for actually completing the task? McKenzie in the “Time Trap” talks about single handling everything. Start a project and see it through to completion before you start anything else. Your efficiency goes up, your productivity goes up and your wasted time and frustration go down.

The single handling of tasks is absolutely crucial in your home based business. It is far too tempting to get up from your desk and go to the kitchen, toss in a load of laundry, or make personal phone calls. All of the temptations are surrounding you at all times. Any excuse to avoid picking up that thirty pound phone and making your business calls. There are so many conveniences by having a home based business but there are also the distractions and excuses. Guard your time and your productivity very closely. This is your business, not your hobby. You can easily discover that you have wasted the entire day and accomplished nothing. Taking one day off once in awhile is not a bad thing but forming a habit of it will be a disaster. Waste too many days and you will have a “non-profit business from the discomfort of your home.”

There are several things you can do to effectively manage your time. These techniques are important whether you have a job, a home based business or simply want an organized life. The first technique is to make a list of the projects, tasks, calls, or activities you need to accomplish the next day. Arrange them by priority or by time. For instance if you have a tight time schedule and you need to attend training calls at specific times, call prospects back at specific times, and go to the bank during business hours, you may choose to plan your day in time blocks. The super important factor here is absolute focus during those blocks of time. If you schedule calling back your leads from 9 am to 11 am then spend those 2 hours laser focused on calling your leads and not answering silly personal emails or cleaning your desk or making coffee. Call your leads. Absolute focus on that one task only and accomplish as many productive calls as possible in that time frame. If you schedule a time block to work on your marketing or a time block to work on your personal development, then do only that during that time slot. Be very protective and focused during that “golden time.”

Make your list the night before or plan your week on Saturday or Sunday and stick to the plan. An organized life is always more productive.

You may also arrange your list by priority of task. Decide the most important thing to be accomplished and rank it as number one. Select the second most important and so on. Finish number one before you even look at number two. Remember single handling. One way to do that is to say “If I was to be called out of town for a month tomorrow and I could only do one thing before I left, what would that one thing be?” Circle it on the list to show it as top priority. “If I could do one more task, and one more task. . .” Perhaps set up 3 or 4 or 5 tasks and rank them in order of importance. I can not stress enough that you MUST make a list, plan and stick to your plan.

If you have a job, your boss will dictate some of your time and priorities. As the owner of a home based business, YOU must set your priorities and manage your time. You are the CEO of your own company. You would not want an employee to waste time. As the CEO of your own business, you need to hold yourself accountable for the use of your time.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Is your Bank Account Sobbing?

Have you spent years developing a career only to feel trapped in it? Earlier generations believed that the secret to long term security was to get a good education, select a stable company, work hard and expect the company to provide for a comfortable retirement. That is no longer true. With corporate downsizing, more and more jobs moving off shore, and corporate closures, the corporation is no long a symbol of security.

Are you working long hours and sacrificing time with your family under the impression that you will receive a generous pension? United Airlines just announced it will abandon the pension plans for its 120,000 employees and retirees. (“Pension Plans in Corporate Cross-Hairs” by Jack Rasmus). This action set off a chain reaction by other airlines. Unfortunately airlines are not the only corporations abandoning pension plans.

According to Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki in their book “Why We Want You to be Rich,” social security will be bankrupt in 2013. Unfortunately, 80,000 baby boomers reach retirement age within the next ten years. That fact alone will overload an already seriously fragile situation.

If you are living paycheck to paycheck now and no longer have confidence in your corporate retirement plan, how do you plan to retire? The average 50 year old today has saved $50,000 and is seriously upside down with credit card debt. No more paychecks, no pension, no savings, and no social security; however, your expenses continue. How do you plan to retire? When do you plan to retire? Being a greeter at Wal-Mart is not an attractive option. How do you plan to maintain the standard of living already established for your family? Decision time is at hand now.

Your best thinking placed you in this financial hole. Do you think the same thinking will bring you out of this mess? Probably not. You need to do something different and you need to do it now. What is holding you back? How long are you willing to wait? Even more important, how much time exists between now and your forced company retirement age?

Are you ready to consider an alternative? Trump and Kiyosaki recommend starting your own business. You can spend a few hundred thousand for a franchise and work sixty plus hours a week for two or three years before you even break even and still have the loan to repay. Or you can start a brick and mortar business and do much the same as a franchise. Consider starting a network marketing business for closer to $20,000 and turn a huge profit within the first year.

The 4 critical criteria to selecting the right business.
1. Choose a product and a business with a huge expanding market.
2. Select unique products which are not readily available anywhere else.
3. You need the right timing.
4. You need leverage for your time, effort and money.

Fortunes are being made with home based business income opportunities. Millions of people will start a home based business this year alone. While not all of them will succeed, a surprising number of them will produce a 6-figure income. Whether a home business succeeds or not has everything to do with the business opportunities their owners chose.

If you choose the right home based business income opportunities, your chances for success go up. Choose opportunities with companies that do not require prohibitive start up investments. Choose a company that does not require you to stock a garage full of products. Select a company that provides you with support in building your business. Choose opportunities with companies that work with you to make your business succeed, that have resources for continuing education and that have products you can believe in.

In the competitive world of home based business income opportunities, select a company with a solid reputation for integrity. Determine that the support and training is ongoing. Frequently in the Australian 2 up system, as soon as you pass up the two sales to your sponsor you become their competition. Support ends. Select a compensation system where the sponsor has incentives to continue support and training for years. Choose a company where you will have a personal mentor available to you to guide you in your efforts. Choose products which are life changing, so you can feel good about representing them. Select essential products people are seeking. Lotions, potions and pills are fine, but are they truly essential and unavailable elsewhere? The right network marketing company will teach you how to use the business to become wealthier than you ever thought possible.

The time is right to start your home based business. You will not find another income opportunity that provides a total package for success and immediate return on investment like the right network marketing company. This is your chance to make your millionaire dreams come true.

If you are ready to take action for the present and plan for a reliable retirement, the time is now. Stop your bank account from sobbing and give it a big smile.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Someday Isle

Imagine a peaceful island with soft breezes, lush green grass, gentle waves caressing the shore and clear blue skies above sprinkled with puffy white clouds. Add an array of reds, purples, yellows and pinks in the fragrant flowers gently blanketing the landscape. Serene, soothing and relaxing. Tempting? Probably, but not very profitable.

Look at your life. Really take a serious look at your career. Are you passing time on Someday Isle instead of taking charge of your life? Are you letting the days slip into weeks and months and years? Oops, retirement age peeks around the corner. Are you hiding your head in the sand like an ostrich and making excuses. If you don’t face it maybe it will solve itself. Not likely. Have you made the decision to stand up and take action? Life is a choice. Choose, take action, or face the consequences.

The old standard belief of “get a good education, work hard and the company will take care of you” no longer applies. Corporations are outsourcing to other countries, downsizing, and dissolving retirement plans. At one point “defined benefit plans” were normal; the company funded your retirement. Now the standard “defined contribution plan” is more common. You contribute to your own retirement and when your contribution runs out, your checks stop. Abrupt, but real. Remember hearing “If it is to be, it is up to me.” Believe, if it is to be, it is up to you. Success is a choice.

The time is now to declare that you are ready. Act. If you are like most Americans in their 50s you have saved $50,000 and invested in very low return mutual funds. Your financial manager probably tells you that you are earning 5 or even 8 per cent. They may even attempt to convince you that you are doing better than the market. Reality check. Inflation is about 10% per annum. If you earn 5% to 8% and the money manager takes 2 to 3% of that, you are going backwards. The money manager is making more than you do. You do the math.

Why are you procrastinating? Why are you putting off decisions? Not sure which way to turn, so you do nothing. Time is passing. Retirement age looms closer and closer and your bank account cries.

Success is a choice. Golden hours, days, weeks, months and years are slipping away. It is time to move away from Someday Isle and join the real world of responsible people.

What are you thinking?

Someday I’ll start my own business

Someday I’ll get serious about providing for my future

Someday I’ll learn how to get out of debt and stay out of debt

Someday I’ll learn how to manage my own investments and make money for myself.

You will never get rich on Someday Isle. Working a job does not provide for your future either. Most people are working paycheck to paycheck. How do you plan to live when the checks stop arriving? What holds you back from taking charge of your life, your finances and your future?

Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki’s book “Why We Want You to be Rich” urges people to start their own business. In Kiyosaki’s cash flow quadrant he lists employee status as the least desirable section of the four squares. Yes, it requires less effort – someone else tells you what to do. They also have the power to tell you goodbye.

Self-employed – ok, you are a step above. At least you stepped away from the “tell me what to do group” and stepped off shore into the unknown. You decided to take action. Congratulations! You earn all the profit from your actions; however, stop working and you stop earning.

Business owner – ah, you are earning from the efforts of others as well as your own work. Stop working for awhile and you keep earning. Much better – this is called leverage. You’re making progress. You still earn all the profit from your efforts as well as profit from the labor of others.

Investor – the top of the mountain. Now your investments earn for you. Your money works for you instead of you working for your money.

Once you reach investor status, go on back to that paradise island. This time you arrive in your yacht with a staff of investments to support you in luxury. Wow, is it ever worth the journey.

Let’s recap how you traveled from Someday Isle to Paradise Isle. Far too many people struggle to achieve financial success at the cost of their personal life. All the typical excuses “I need to provide for my family’ or “the only way to get ahead is to work long and hard.” What price do you put on your life, time with your family, and your stress in the process? Your children are going to grow up whether you are home or not. What are you missing? What are they missing?

Franchises cost a small fortune, take years to recover your investment and still require long hours every day. Brick and mortar businesses control your time, usually require employees, and cost overhead for rent, furniture and fixtures. Network marketing involves a low startup cost, work from your home, and still provides all of the benefits of a franchise or brick and mortar business. Read chapter 27 of Trump and Kiyosaki’s book “Why We Want You to be Rich.” “Why Do You Recommend Network Marketing” clearly explains the reasons to start a network marketing business. Listen to the wealthy if you want to become wealthy.

Your income generally becomes the average of your 5 closest friends. Listen to and learn from those you choose to become. Be careful whose words you give free rent in your head.

Are you ready to make the choice to move from Someday Isle to Paradise Isle? Come on in, the water is warm and the feeling is so nice.