Cyndi’s Work at Home Blog

2. Do NOT hop onto chat and announce your business special or business opportunity to someone who happens to be online.  This will literally get you nowhere.  I cannot tell you the number of times that I open up chat and within a matter of 10 - 30 seconds, someone that I have never had any sort of conversation with, pops up, without even a greeting, and blasts off their ad to me.  Not only am I not interested, but I typically go in and un-friend them to avoid any further spamming.

3. Do NOT send someone a message via their inbox that is an ad, especially again, if you have not had any previous one on one interaction with them.  This is a big turn off and will make you look like a spammer, and could in fact have your message being reported to Facebook as spam.

4. Do NOT send out invites for your events to everyone of your friends.  Take the time to create different friend lists and use those lists to weed out who should be invited.  If you have an event going on in California, it is most likely that someone from Michigan will not have any inkling of attending.

5. Do NOT be vulgar or sexual. Watch the type of language, conversations and pictures that you post on Facebook.  Facebook is not the place to be vulgar or sexual in your words or actions.  It can and will be a big turn off to many that you hope to network and do business with.  If you are a person whose business is family and children’s products or services, but yet you talk like a trucker on Facebook, you will do yourself more harm than good, and not reap the benefits, customers or traffic that you could.

There are numerous ways to successfully use Facebook for your business, but you need to make sure you take the time and do it correctly. By following our "Do NOT do this on Facebook" rules above, you will have a good start on getting your business noticed the right way.

Don’t give up your dreams and what you see as an opportunity for success, simply because your spouse is not living up to your expectations in regards to your business. Try to find the alternatives that can make it work for you.

This is something that I personally 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 during the first several years after leaving my full-time job to run a home based business, I was required to change in the way I think and feel when I do need to say no to someone. I needed to do this because I no longer had 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 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", I was 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 excellent 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 truly 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.

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

Am I using copyrighted or licensed material without permission? (this includes both large company’s and small company’s 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. There are eyes upon you and your business at all times. You never know who is watching and the reach that they may have in the ability to hurt or help your business. You have either everything to gain or everything to lose by the manner in which you do business. The choice is yours.