Work at Home Success Guide

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

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:56:20 -0600

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.

Seasons

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 13:09:39 -0600

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?

Fine Tune Those Ethics

Fri, 23 Feb 2007 07:25:08 -0600

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.

Golden Nuggets

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 13:04:56 -0600

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

Networking - Making or Breaking Your Business

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 13:01:36 -0600

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.

Has Your Fire Gone Out?

Fri, 16 Feb 2007 12:08:37 -0600

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.

When to Say When

Thu, 15 Feb 2007 11:39:33 -0600

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.

Where Has All the Originality Gone?

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 09:20:42 -0600

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.

Nice vs. Honest - A Woman's Struggle

Tue, 13 Feb 2007 09:36:41 -0600

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.

Taking Back Your Life

Mon, 12 Feb 2007 09:09:50 -0600

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.

Too Big for Your Britches?

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 09:04:58 -0600

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.

What Gets Me Thru the Day Plugging Away

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 14:46:58 -0600

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?

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 11:57:25 -0600

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.

Scam Alert - Be Careful What YOU deem as a scam

Sun, 14 Jan 2007 23:04:20 -0600

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?

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

Fri, 12 Jan 2007 15:52:26 -0600

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.