Archive for June, 2009

By Shelly Hill

As a Direct Sales business owner, I am often asked, “How do you find the time to work on your business?” My answer is always the same, “You need to have a work schedule.”

When we work out of our homes, we often get distracted. There are soccer games, cheerleading practices, grocery shopping, meal planning, school functions and so forth. Don’t get me wrong, these things are important, but so is your home business.

A common mistake I see in network marketing is that people ‘think’ they can work their business around family time or other things. This type of schedule rarely works. If you worked outside your home in a corporate job, you would be working a minimum of 40 hours per week and have a set schedule.

I recommend that you sit down and come up with a business plan. Figure out how many hours you can spend working on your home business, then split those hours up into 4-5 working days. Another thing to consider is…what time of the day will work better for you? (morning, afternoon or evening hours.)

Example: Let’s say you want to spend 20 hours a week working on your business. You could work 5 hours per day for 4 days or 4 hours per day for 5 days.

Your next task should be scheduling in specific blocks of time that you want to work on advertising, marketing and networking your business. I recommend that 1/2 of your working time be spent on those 3 business tasks. (half of 20 hours would be 10 hours per week) If you are working a 4 day work week, 2 1/2 hours of your day should be focused on achieving those tasks.

The other 1/2 of your working time should be spent on: taking customer calls, filing paperwork, submitting customer orders, registering new team members, mailing out catalogs, demonstrating home parties and assisting your teammates.

Once you come up with a business schedule that ‘fits’ into your lifestyle, you will find that you will become more consistent with working your home business. The more hours you put into working your business, the more successful it will be.

About The Author

Shelly Hill has been working from home in Direct Sales since 1989 and is a manager with Tupperware. You can contact Shelly at: Web: www.classybusinesswomen.com and my.tupperware.com/Ravish30.

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com.

By Roger Moody

Are you treating your home based business like a business or a hobby? Unfortunately most people fail in network marketing because they do not have the discipline necessary to win. As leaders it’s our job to teach new reps to think like a successful business owner.

Think about your home based business like any other brick and mortar business. If you go down to your local strip mall, what do most store fronts have in common? They all have hours of operation posted clearly for all to see right there at the front entrance. That is a commitment made by the business owner to conduct business. Without consistent hours of operation their business is doomed to failure.

It takes discipline and commitment to become successful no matter what industry you are in. The network marketing industry is no different. What would happen to that traditional business at the strip mall if the owner woke up each day and THOUGHT about opening or THOUGHT about being successful but never opened the doors to customers? They would fail and fail miserably. Your home based business is exactly the same.

Ask yourself this question: Are you really open for business?

You can blame failure in the home business industry on the company, your sponsor, the product, etc…but if you never really opened for business YOU are the reason you failed. Most network marketers fool themselves into thinking their operating a business when in reality they treat it like a hobby. A hobby is something that you do when you have spare time and you feel like it.

Be honest with yourself. Are you working or playing office?

Consistently opening your business is not enough, sure it is the first step toward victory but it’s not going to guarantee your success. The next step is finishing. By finishing I mean closing out each day on a positive note.

Every day that you “open” your business you must also “close” at the end of the day. As your hours of operation for the day come to an end are you simple turning off the lights and locking the door? I will submit to you that properly closing your business each day is vital to your success.

Let’s define “closing”. In network marketing the phrase “closing out your day” is commonly used but if you don’t know how you must learn. Properly closing your day means doing the final daily invitations to the next event. The next event can be a conference call, a hotel meeting, a webinar or simply setting appointments with your upline.

Remember that a hobby does not require an opening or a closing but every successful home based business must have hours of operation and by definition therefore an open and a close.

Roger Moody is a Nationally Recognized Top Producer. Full Bio and Free Tips and Techniques can be found at www.RogerLMoody.com.

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com.

By Corrie Petersen

Most moms that decide to work at home do it for a couple of reasons. The main reason is because they want to be at home with their children or they want to be there for them if needed. That’s a pretty good reason I think.

Now, if your children are older they may have homework after school that will keep them occupied for an hour or so and this will give you time to continue to work your business. If your children are not of school age or they are younger, you may need to come up with ways to keep them busy while you work.

You have a couple of options to choose from when deciding what to do. Let’s start with the babies first and then move on to the older children.

• Babies

When your child is young, he may sleep a lot during the day, so you will have plenty of opportunities to get your work accomplished. Making the most of your day during nap times can be tricky, but you will learn how to use this time wisely after a few days.

Once the baby is older, he may not sleep as much and this is where you have to plan very well. Naps may be sporadic throughout the day, so appointments may be a little more difficult to make. You might consider taking your child to a family member for a few hours so you can make appointments or work your business. If your baby is on a schedule, the best thing is to take your baby during the hours they will be awake so you can work while they are asleep and while they are gone.

Another option is to change your schedule and work in the evenings when your spouse is home and can help. This will limit the hours you can work, but if you use your time wisely, you should be able to get a lot accomplished in a few hours.

• Toddlers

Toddlers are a little harder to work with, but it’s still possible. Bring your child into your office and surround him with his favorite toys. Another option is to put a TV in your office or move your office to the family room so you are in the same room as your child. You can purchase educational DVD’s for your child to watch while you work. Another option is to purchase color books and crayons and put your child to work drawing you pictures for your office walls.

• Tweens and Teens

Once your child is over the age of 10, they should be able to entertain themselves for hours. During the school year, they can complete their homework and read books. During the summer they can ride bikes, play basketball, and play with their friends. This will give you more time to focus and get your work accomplished.

Setting business hours and sticking to them is a top priority. At first it may be difficult to stick to them, but you need to try or you are defeating the purpose of working at home. Using creative childcare options will help you stick to your hours and you will be able to get a lot accomplished during these times.

About The Author

Corrie Petersen runs a successful Virtual Assistant business. She enjoys helping others reach their goals and dreams. Check out her website at www.virtualfreedom4you.com.

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

By Tammy Embrich

1) No Flaming: Please be kind to other members and treat them with respect.

2) Advertising: Please keep all your ads in the proper forum.

3) Signatures: Please keep all signatures to 2 text links. No banners. Thanks!

4) Absolutely no spamming other members with PM’s about your advertisements.

5) You must introduce yourself before posting any ads in the ad section of the forum.

Does any of this sound familiar? It should if you’re accustomed to reading and following rules on a forum.

I’m surprised at just how many people come onto a business message board and instantly click themselves in the “post your opportunity” section, spam their ad, and then leave. What are those forum spammers proving to others by doing this? Where does this get them?

Part of being a respectable member of work at home forums is to consistently read the posting rules. Failure to do this can and most probably will jeopardize your forum account.

The above consequence doesn’t seem to matter to quite a few members. Reading the rules of any forum you join is the very first thing you must do BEFORE making your first post, and also your first step toward properly networking with others. It only takes a few short minutes of your time and will substantially benefit you and your business. Business forums are created for business networking, not for spamming.

What exactly is the meaning of “business networking?”

Business networking is building relationships with other business owners and sharing thoughts and ideas, and getting to know one another. It means rationally conversing with others, discussing marketing ideas and techniques, lending support, and consistently adding something of value to the community. Share ideas, ask questions, and consequently gain the trust of the members. And as a result, you will be viewed and looked upon as a competent business individual.

That type of reputation is what it truly takes to make or break the sales, not one who is there just to spam their ads.

Now you should be able to easily answer this question. When joining your next work at home forum, are you joining to spam or network?

Article Written By Tammy Embrich

Tammy offers work at home articles, free work at home job leads, and other business resources on her Work At Home Forums.

You can find more work at home articles and more by visiting Work At Home Jobs.