Work at Home Success Guide

Five Things You Need to Know Before Deciding to Work at Home

1. Working at home is NOT for everyone. Don’t fall into the trap of believing that “anyone” can work at home. Working from home and running a business of your own takes a lot of work, dedication, focus, determination and patience. Not everyone has the personality to be able to run a business out of their home. Make sure you take a good look as to the type of work ethic and tenacity you have before making a decision to run a home based business.

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2. You need to be in it for the long haul. Work at home success will not happen overnight. To be honest, it most likely won't even happen in the first 6 - 12 months - depending on the type of business. Most businesses take up to 3 years or more to start seeing a true profit. During this time, you need to be able to continue your focus and keep your eye on the prize, so to speak.

3. Friends and family may not be supportive. When you decide that you want to start a career working at home, those closest to you may not be ready to jump on the bandwagon with you.

Without realizing it, they may actually work against you in your success by their actions and words. Expect that you will need to win them over, which will take time. Many times, a spouse will need to see the fiscal success first in order to be your cheerleader.

4. Running a business is hard work. While many people dream of being able to work from home – mainly for the freedom from a “real” job that it offers – they fail to realize that to gain that sort of freedom, they will need to work hard. With most home-based businesses, you will need to wear many hats for your business to operate successfully. You will be the one who is selling, marketing, purchasing, billing, fulfilling orders, etc. Most times, you will put in more hours than you do at your regular job in order to build up to the type of success that offers you that true freedom.

5. Expect to spend money. No matter what business you choose, there will be some sort of costs involved – more than your initial investment, no matter how big or small that amount may be. These costs can include; office supplies, marketing materials, advertising costs, website and technical fees, phone and internet costs – just to name a few. Don’t be blind by jumping in without first finding out what your cost of running your business will be.

The majority of individuals, who are looking to work at home, desire to spend more time with their family, to be their own boss, and to be in charge of their own future. Working at home can be very rewarding and tens of thousands of people are living the life they were hoping for. Unfortunately, there are many more who venture out, rush forward, and don’t have all the facts they need before making a decision to run their own business. If you are on the road to seeking that work at home adventure – do it wisely – take your time, make a game plan, and most importantly, be realistic about what you are about to endeavor upon.

Seasons

On this first day of spring - I thought that this was appropriate. Something I wrote a few years ago:

Winter...Spring ...Summer...Fall... new beginnings and fresh starts. Use each new season as a fresh start for your home based business. Time to clean out that office and get rid of all those "things" that you've been hanging on to for whatever reason. Toss the old papers, old post it notes, and get rid of unnecessary clutter. Put the old magazines and books up on the shelf so you can actually see the top of your desk again. Come to think of it, just how many pens and paper clips does someone really need within a hand's reach?

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Don't forget another important area to clean up; your thought processes! Let go of what is holding you back. Sometimes we can be so stuck in our ways that it can hinder our business. We are used to doing things a certain way and don't have the nerve to try something new. Look around and reach out to your peers to pool together some great ideas that you all can benefit from.

Use the next new season as a fresh start for your business. A time to become refreshed and revitalized in what you do. Find that excitement once again; the one you had when you first started out.

Go back to what it was that sparked that idea in the first place. Rediscover your passion for what you do and watch the changes it can make in your business and level of success.

Fine Tune Those Ethics

Is there something you are doing in your business endeavors that causes you to pause and wonder, "Should I be doing this?" or "Is this right to do?" If so, then you are more than likely engaged in behavior that is a bit questionable and need to listen carefully to your inner voice.

Many times people will get caught up with desiring to have the highest volume in sales, the most traffic to their site, or wanting to look better than a competitor. When these feelings of greed, envy and power take over, beware. It is at this time you need to be the most honest with yourself and take inventory on how you are conducting your business.

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Remember that old saying "what goes around comes around", and even though things may appear "rosy" now, there may be times ahead where you reap the consequences for your actions now. Play it smart and always use
integrity in your actions and words.

Ask yourself the following questions and see how you measure up:

Am I using copyrighted or licensed material without permission? (this
includes both large companies and small companies material that you may
be using)

Am I putting down others and their services to try to gain more business and look better than my competition?

Am I original in my ideas or do I copy what others are doing to get ahead?

Am I truthful to my clients, peers and other companies I do business with?

Am I being responsible and paying my bills?

Am I keeping my word and abiding by written contracts I've signed?

Think twice before making a decision, especially if you have questioning
thoughts. You have either everything to gain or everything to lose by the way you do business. The choice is yours.

Golden Nuggets

I wanted to share with you some of my favorite and most powerful quotes that I've come across for women. I have found many of these to either give me the extra encouragement I needed, a gentle push in the right direction or the ever necessary "reality check". I hope you will find some of these helpful for your life and your business.

"Our job is not to straighten each other out, but to help each other up." Neva Coyle

"Your example is much more powerful than anything you can ever say." Elisabeth Elliot

"The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain." Dolly Parton

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"It is easy to love those who are far away. It isn't always easy to love those who are right next to us. It is easier to offer a dish of rice to satisfy the hunger of a poor person, than to fill up the loneliness and suffering of someone lacking love in our own family." Mother Teresa

"One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar". Helen Keller

"It is not how many years we live, but what we do with them." Evangeline Booth

"When we are away from God, He misses us far more than we miss Him." Ruth Bell Graham

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome." Anne Bradstreet

"Whatever our situation in life...we can and should surround ourselves with friends who not only understand us, but also inspire us to make the most of our current calling." Beverly LaHaye

"Originality is not doing something no one else has ever done, but doing what has been done countless times with new life, new breath." Marie Chapian

"I have learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances." Martha Washington

"Some people believe holding on and hanging in there are signs of great strength. However, there are times when it takes much more strength to know when to let go and then do it." Ann Landers

"A mode of conduct, a standard of courage, discipline, fortitude, and integrity can do a great deal to make all women beautiful." Jacqueline Bisset

"Face your deficiencies and acknowledge them: but do not let them master you. Let them teach you patience, sweetness, insight. When we do the best we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another." Helen Keller

"It's never too late - in fiction or in life - to revise." Nancy Thayer

Networking - Making or Breaking Your Business

One of my favorite business authors is Harvey Mackay. He has written many books on networking and success. He has such wonderful simple principles and guidelines that if we all would follow them, we would see a drastic change in our businesses. I'd like to share a few of my favorite bits and quotes from his book "Dig Your Well Before You're Thirsty" (A Currency Book, Published by Doubleday Copyright 1997). Even though this book is geared towards networking, there are many truths and thoughts to bring into any business. And really, in essence, our business will die without us actively pursuing the practice of networking.

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"No matter how smart you are, no matter how talented, you can't do it alone."

"Prepare to win. Then prepare to dazzle."

"Why don't you try to capitalize on what you do best?"

"A network is an organized collection of your personal contacts and your personal contacts' own networks. Networking is finding fast whom you need, to get what you need, in any given situation and helping others do the same."

"The really big networking mistakes people make in their lives come from the risks they never take."

"Find an outfit to join that recognizes you have something to offer, and find out what they can offer you: contacts, exposure, experience. It's all there - in exchange for a little effort."

"The wise person isn't the one who makes the fewest mistakes. It's the one who learns the most from them."

Networking is, in my opinion, one of the most critical areas of your business that you need to constantly keep on top of. Your "network" needs to consistently be growing for your business to continue to prosper. When you are tuned into networking, you will become aware of the fact that opportunities to network are presented to you each and every day, in almost every situation.

Has Your Fire Gone Out?

Have you found that you've lost the initial excitement of having your own business? Do you find you are experiencing burn out?

One solution for this is to find someone who still has that spark in their eye and bounce in their step that comes along with being the proud new owner of a home based business. What better way to get a little jolt by looking at a reflection of yourself when you first started out. Not only will you benefit by watching and listening but you can offer your mentoring and experience to someone who is just starting out. We can tend to get into a routine, which, if we aren't careful, can bring us into a slump.

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Another trap that many fall into is thinking that they cannot learn from someone who hasn't been around the block, so to speak. Sometimes those who are just venturing out have more to teach us than the seasoned veterans. The mistake is thinking that they don't.

So, if you are feeling a little weary in your business, hook up with a new business owner. Gain a fresh perspective, hear some new ideas and let some of their excitement rejuvenate you.

When to Say When

Do you know when to say "when"? Not to stereotype our gender, but it does seem that we have a problem with being able to say "no" to the requests for our time, services and money. When friends and colleagues come to us for our expertise in what we do, we gladly give away our knowledge and insight. Many times though, this can also lead into using your skills and services. If this goes on without keeping it in check, soon you find that what you typically get paid for from your clients, you are now doing free for those close to you, which in turn, uses up too much of your time.

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Don't get me wrong, I am not suggesting that we never offer our help and services, but you need to know where to draw the line. We all are trying to create an income for ourselves and that is not going to be possible if you spend most of your time giving away your services. I mention services here because this is the area where it seems to be most common. (Those who sell products have also had many people approach them wanting a discount on the products which cuts into what their income could be.) When people give away their services for free - this cuts into their time for when they could be either doing work for paying customers or actively pursuing some new customers.

This is something that I have struggled with most of my life. I tend to be the type that loves to give and has a hard time receiving, and I hope I never change in that aspect. But over the last several years, after leaving my full-time job to run a home based business, I have been required to change in the way I think and feel when I do need to say no to someone. I have had to do this because I no longer have the luxury of a steady guaranteed income that came from my job outside the home. After becoming a full time work at home mom, it was a necessity"need" to create a new steady income. I still feel very guilty at times when saying no. But I found, for the first couple years of running my home based business, there were times where literally well over half the time I spent each week "working",giving my services away. Again - nothing wrong with helping others and contributing our time and talents to others IS something we all should do. Many times this is an excellant way to build alliances or barter for other products/services that you need. But you need to get to the point where you put a limit on the time you can spend doing this. If we all had the steady income that we desire, and most of the time NEEDING to bring in, then we wouldn't need to worry about any amount of time and energy spent on free services.

Does this mean you shouldn't help others or offer your services without pay - absolutely not. But it does mean learning to prioritize and coming to the realization that you cannot do everything for everybody and grant every request coming your way. So, know when to say "when" and try not to feel guilty about setting boundaries and limitations for yourself and your business.

Where Has All the Originality Gone?

As time goes on, the internet seems to be turning into a large field of "sameness". Fresh, new ideas and concepts are quickly snapped up by competitors who want to ride on the tails of success of similar companies. These actions of copy cat behavior are not limited only to the internet, but the internet has made it very easy for individuals to take advantage of someone's hard work in order to create a business for themselves.

I know many small business owners who spent years perfecting a business, creating a unique company after much planning and research, only to have someone come by and take all they have created and put up their own "shop" sign without any of the hard work.

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Some have tried to be deceptive, ordering product from a company, to see exactly how things are done, and then attempt to duplicate the concept. Not only is this lazy, but in my opinion, ethically wrong. And....these people are
typically found out which only hurts them in the long wrong.

If you want to work from home, and start your own home grown business, be creative! Be an individual and come up with some original ideas and concepts. While there may be many a business that has similarities, do not blatantly copy what is obviously a business born from originality,
creativity and uniqueness. If you do see an idea by another WAHM that you think is interesting and something that you could see yourself doing,

be on the up and up and contact that individual. Let them know that you find their business model and idea something that you'd like to create in your own area. Ask if they'd be willing to share ideas and resources, OFFER to pay for this sort of consultation as opposed to expecting to get information and direction for free. If they are open to this - great, if not - then you need to decide if you want to move forward with this similar business. If so, make sure that you are putting your own creative twists to the idea and making it your own.

Believe in yourself and what you can create and call your own. You will feel better about yourself and see greater success.

Nice vs. Honest - A Woman's Struggle

Why is it that women have a hard time being "honest"? Honest in the sense that when a colleague or peer asks for advice on a task they've done, an article they've written, or a new project they've created.... women will tend to be "nice" as opposed to honest. Instead of giving them an honest response and critique, women many times will just say, "It's wonderful", "It's perfect', or "I think you did a great job", when in reality they think it needs a lot of improvement.

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This is not to say that you are rude and trash another person's work. But if you are asked an opinion and you know that what has been created is something that will not enhance that person's business or has mistakes in it - be honest in a caring and encouraging way. Point out the good ideas and qualities that you can see in their work and then make the suggestions as to how it can be better.

We owe it to each other to be honest in the feedback we give. And we owe it to ourselves to not take critiques and constructive criticism personally but to be grateful that our friends and associates care enough for us to put our best foot forward.

I have a very close friend in that neither of us holds back anything on our opinions of each other’s work and ideas. I thank God I have someone like that because she has been so helpful with her pair of eyes and providing a springboard for me. We both know and trust each other and would expect nothing but an honest opinion, even if it means throwing out an entire concept or project we had spent hours on creating.

So - keep asking for those opinions of others, and when asked for yours, tell the truth, as you would want to hear it.

Taking Back Your Life

Do you feel like you are a slave to your business? Are you working 7 days a week, with many of those days being 10 - 12 hour work days? If your answer is "yes", you are not alone. This seems to be the syndrome that many work at home moms fall into.

One of the downfalls in running a home-based business is that many are not able to break away as they would if they worked outside the home. It is too easy to walk by your office, pop in for what you think will be a quick 5 minutes, and end up coming back out an hour or two later. When your office is in the home, the hours can blur together, and, if you are not careful, your business will consume you.

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Try creating and setting a schedule as you would for if you worked outside the home. Allow yourself only so many hours during the day to run your business, and stick to it. Just as you would have regular office hours when working outside the home, you need to create work hours for your home based business. Working at home allows you the flexibility to decide what hours they will be, but be fair to yourself and your family by sticking to your plan.

For most of us, the reason we have chosen to work at home is because we want to be home with our children. If you let your business take up too much of your time and energy, you are defeating the purpose of your original goal.

Take back your life. Allow yourself the freedom to be the mom, wife, and friend that you need to be. Your business is important, but so are you. Don't lose sight of what is truly valuable during our short time at home with our children. What you don't get done today will still be there tomorrow.

Too Big for Your Britches?

I decided to reach back and include some "Snippets of Success" bits over the next couple weeks that I wrote a few years back. They are just short thoughts and tips on what can help make or break you in your business. I hope you can learn from these, or they make you think:

Too Big for Your Britches?

I have seen, to my dismay, many women in business who put themselves on a pedestal and snub peers whom they consider to be of no use to their business. These women are making a big mistake. Not only are they losing potential networking opportunities and a chance to learn valuable lessons, but they are also creating a bad reputation for themselves.

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There are some women who feel that their business of choice is much more important than the business of a woman who has chosen, for example, a direct sales company to represent. They want nothing to do with the woman involved in a business unrelated to their field. This way of thinking has always perplexed me.

While you may not share the exact goals or similar arenas in which to obtain those goals, there are certain “business basics” that everyone in business needs. Customer service skills, tax information for a home-based business, balancing career and family life, and marketing resources are common needs for all businesses.

If you are of the mindset that you should only associate with certain women in business, I urge you to reconsider your way of thinking. You may miss out on learning some of the most valuable skills in business from the women you may be tossing aside. Humility, people skills, and piggyback networking, among others, are all tools which can lead to your success.

What Gets Me Thru the Day Plugging Away

as my husband says - I should just have an IV of this hooked up to me. But - it keeps my brain going and my fingers moving :-)

Expert or Not?

The world of the internet is inundated with self proclaimed "experts". These "experts" will sell you their ebooks, information, ideas and seem to have all the answers for those of us who aren't "experts" in the fields they claim to be. Unfortunately many of these "experts" really are not what they say they are. They are only attempting to come up with yet another way to make money online. The sad thing is, many of them don't even realize that they really aren't "experts". They have puffed themselves up to think that they know more or are more successful than they really are.

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For example; just because someone has been able to build a few websites, does NOT make them an expert at creating websites. Just because someone has joined some network marketing or direct sales companies over the years, does NOT make them an expert at it. Just because someone has a degree in marketing, does not make them an expert in how to market a company or product. Talk is cheap, but putting your money where your mouth is, that is what counts - they need to prove their expertise.

So what qualifies someone as an expert? In my opinion...success AND experience. They go hand in hand. You can't have one without the other and a person or company cannot qualify themselves as an expert without the two together.

We ALL have experience in different areas of our life and business. And many people could have several YEARS experience. But without success intertwined with those years of experience....the expertise is not there. Even though I have years of experience working with kids in a variety of areas, I would not qualify myself as an "expert" in children's education or children't ministries. My work has been limited and very part time and is not one of the main thrusts of what I do in my life or work.

If you are looking at purchasing some sort of book or information, be sure to understand the person's background and see what sort of success they have really had. Just because they have "done it", doesn't make them an expert. The experience and successes that they have created from those experiences is what can give them honor of calling themselves an expert in their field.

Scam Alert - Be Careful What YOU deem as a scam

For years now, as people are looking at different ways to work from home, I keep seeing people saying things like "that's a scam", "stay away from that company, they are scamming people", or "be careful, I know someone who was scammed by that company". The word scam seems to be tossed around more than italian greens and oil before dinner. But are these businesses really "scams"?

We've all seen ads for working at home. Ads promising freedom, telling you the amount of money you can earn, and the ability to be home with your kids. Are these ads scams?

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Let's look at the dictionary definition - SCAM: A fraudulent
business scheme; a swindle.

So, what this boils down to is that a scam is a business, knowingly committing fraud on individuals. They are set up to specifically swindle money away and in essence, are not offering any sort of job or business opportunity at all.

Believe me, there are many many businesses that are set up to do just this. They have no intention of ever truly hiring anyone or don't offer a legitimate, real business opportunity. Many of these types of companies have complaints with the Better Business Bureau and have a large number of victims that have fallen prey to their claims and tactics

But, what I have seen, is people calling ANY sort of business opportunity or job that "they" didn't see success in, as a scam. If you fall into this thought process, be careful what you say.

To use the word "scam" against a company is a very serious accusation. If you joined a business opportunity, they can take a lot of work to see results. If you gave up, or didn't put in the amount of time or money needed, you cannot call that business a scam, due to your lack of effort. This goes back to the thought process of the fast food society, wanting results quick, with the least amount of effort. Now, if you joined some sort of pyramid scheme, which is illegal, that WOULD be a scam. If you sent away for information, only to NOT receive anything, or NOT receive what was promised you, THAT is a scam. But to label a company a scam due to your own error in judgment, dislike of what you received, or not working as you have been advised or trained - you are only wanting to blame someone other than yourself for a decision that you have come to regret.

So, be careful what you call a scam. Step back and think honestly if you were really scammed by a business, or whether it is you, who is having buyer's remorse.

Biting Off More than I Can Chew, What's a WAHM to do?

Just a very quick blog today.... do you ever start a project and about mid way through it say... "what in the world was I thinking?"

I find myself in that predicament this week. The site has needed a redesign for a LONG time... for many reasons - a big one being the Content Management System we were using. It was NOT url friendly and did not mesh well with SEO. I searched and searched and just could not find one that gave me the kind of control that I needed or wanted. All were too limiting so I made the decision to go back to html and shml pages to manage the content and pages of the site as opposed to a CMS.

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So, I have had a large job in front of me, something that actually could take up to two people doing this full time all week to complete. And, as a typical WAHM, I don't have a staff of two extra people to dedicate an entire week's worth of their work time to do this. Nor, could I afford to pay two people for full time HTML coding.

My solution, is to divide and conquer. Instead of getting overly frustrated and to the point of giving up before the entire project is done (which, yes, in the past I have done and regretted it).... I break the project up into parts and only do so much each day. I make sure that I also step away to work on other projects. This not only keeps me from getting burned out on the existing large job, but lets me come back to it with fresh eyes.

I was able to hire a couple people part time to do a part of the project that didn't require any special training or knowledge of html to do.

If you have a large project, before you start, make a game plan and try your best to stick to it. If you piece it out and spread it out over several days or weeks (depending on what the project is and timeline required to finish), subcontract out what you can afford, if necessary, you'll find that it will be much more doable and won't be as unmanageable as you may have thought.