Posts Tagged ‘free’
Does It Really Take Money To Make Money (Online or Offline)? A Reality-Check of 2 Case Studies
The short and simple answer to this question is NO!
Now, before you start screaming that I am crazy, out of my mind, have lost my marbles and all the other things that generally get tossed around when someone has the nerve to state something like that, let me clear a few things up.
It does not take a monetary investment to get your business off the ground (aside from the everyday items you already have around your house).
It does take time, effort, drive and determination on your part to do it though, a good dose of imagination, sprinkle in some luck for good measure and most importantly, it takes a dream. Now I am not going to go into any of the usual dream-building, nor will I tell you exactly what to do, or how hard you have to work to do it. You already know the answers to these things.
NOW, to make it big (and trust me, what you consider to be ‘big’ may differ greatly from every other reader of this article) it will at some point take monetary investments. There, I said it. At some point, if you really want to break out and make some serious money, you will have to invest some money in your business.
But that does not mean you can’t get started for free, work hard, and see your cashflow begin to roll in. At that point, reward yourself, you’ve earned it, maybe take your loved one out for a dinner, because he/she probably had to put up with quite a bit already.
Being an entrepreneur is not hard, but the dedication it demands can be hard on any relationship, so take a night off.
Ok, now we’re back, had a great and wonderful evening, time to get back to work. The next step is to take some of the money you are making and if at all possible, invest it all in growing your business (after all, you probably still have a job that pays your bills at this point).
If you reinvest at least a healthy part of what you earn from your new venture, you can achieve the success you dreamed of, but beware, it can be an pretty strong temptation to start tossing your money out the window, but I know you are strong enough, deep inside (go ahead, grab yourself by the collar and shake a little) to overcome it.
Let me give you two examples from my own experience that I hope will inspire you to take your dream, embrace it and get you rolling with your own vision.
Case Scenario 1: Offline Food Delivery Service
While still living in San Antonio, I was working part time at a Pizza joint delivering pizzas a few nights a week. I had a full time job as a dispatcher, but with a wife (now ex-wife), two kids, a dog and a cat, and all the bills that come with a family, things can get tight. The team that managed this little franchise was doing a pretty poor job at marketing, and an even worse job at managing. Well, enough of the ugly picture, it just gets worse. Time to talk shop…
I wanted to do something a little different, help my colleagues (who were just as fed up as I was), so I happened to notice that most of the deliveries (and probably the only thing really keeping that pizza shop going) was the local Air Force training facility.
So I sat down one weekend, with my ex-wife and laid out the plan (You have to have a plan. Let it start as a vision and a dream, but make sure you write it out step by step).
The plan was simple, take orders from the Airmen, pick up food, take the food to them, and get paid. Easy, huh?
Ok, here’s what I did, I made some flyers on my beat up old computer, used a freeware contact management software to keep track of customers and an old tin lockbox I had in the garage for a change drawer. Bingo, N.E. Deliveries was born.
We would take calls from the local servicemen and my ex-wife would jot down their order. She then paged me, since I normally hung out (if I wasn’t on a run) near Fast Food Central (a little corner where a bunch of the main chains all had a shop). I called her back from the payphone (I didn’t have a cell phone at the time), took the order, grabbed it from the store and took it to the Airbase. Cost to the Airmen? Price of the food, plus a $5 delivery charge and whatever they wanted to tip me. Understand the scenario please, these men and women, come out of basic training and haven’t even seen a Big Mac in ages. Now they are at a technical school, which still doesn’t give them the freedom to run down the street and grab a taco.
It only took one weekend and I had made more money with this venture than I had during the whole week of delivering pizzas every night.
But here’s the kicker. Word spread real fast, I got too busy and I was even getting orders to go pick up pizzas at my old shop (they couldn’t deliver fast enough and people were willing to pay the delivery charge for good and fast service). We even started getting calls from the local neighborhoods, were our fliers had spread to, or other personnel, who were not in training at the airbase, lived.
Uhoh, we ran into a big problem, too much business. (What a wonderful problem to have). It happened that I kept running into some of my former colleagues, and boy I tell you, the first few times they saw me show up at their shop to grab a pizza and then a little while later some others saw me deliver their pizza to the airbase, wow, what a rush that was and it was the turning point for my company. 4 of the drivers that I was pretty close to and that I had great respect for came on board with me instead.
The end scenario was that we delivered a lot of food to hungry people and made everyone happy in the process. And the drivers were able to make more money as well.
Scenario 2: Online and offline Telecommunications Brokerage
Unfortunately, N.E. Deliveries had to stop when we were transferred to Japan (thinking back, I know I could have sold the concept and kept it going, but I was still new to business thinking).
So, here we were, overseas in a new country, not a lot of jobs to even start with, what to do.
I happened to notice that a lot of the phone services for calls back to the States were very expensive and even more so in my case, since most of my family lives in Germany.
I also happened to have noticed this online company, which was giving away free dealerships for long distance calls, callback programs and a few other telecommunications services. And who doesn’t like free? Not only that, but their rates were pretty good, they offered not just one service from one company, but a lot of them together. So I sat down at that old beat up computer again, cleared out all the contacts from N.E. Deliveries out of the same old freeware contact manager, and created some new flyers. I was able to hang them up in a lot of areas at no charge and started to get some calls in. Now, part of my online business meant, I could literally just send them to a website, let them pick the service they wanted and just wait for my check. The problem I saw though was that a lot of military people overseas at the time were not familiar with what a callback service is, so I decided to help. I put my phone number on the flier, and when someone called, I explained to them briefly the cost, how it works and what makes it better for them than using, say a calling card. I would even go visit them to show them how and even set up an account I used for myself as a demo account and would allow them to call home to the United States for 5 minutes for free, just so they could say hi to someone special in their life.
Just doing something simple like that (and it really didn’t cost me much on my phone bill) generated a lot of extra sign ups, since I went out of my way to give them more information than any of the other companies that were trying to push their services.
Ultimately, this lead to a steady, monthly stream of income and several other opportunities to work with other companies as a telecommunications consultant. The best part? I learned everything I needed to know from the online company I signed on with, I still learn a lot even now. I am still receiving paychecks from clients that signed up with me all those years ago, who now have services through me in either the United States or in some of the other countries they are now stationed in. And once I took some of that income and placed a small display ad in the local military paper, wow, things really started to take off.
The overall thing I want you to leave with after taking the time to read all of this is plain and simple: YOU CAN MAKE MONEY OFF-LINE AND/OR ON-LINE, without investing any additional money (I only gave you two examples, but your imagination will guide you well, as long as you think outside of the box). And you can grow your business even more by reinvesting some of your earnings (if not all) into your new venture.
I know you’ve heard it a thousand times before, but I have to say it anyway. If I can do it, so can you. I have no special education (aside from the school of hard knocks), no degree, none of those things. I am just an average guy, with a computer, an internet connection, a printer and most importantly the dream, desire, vision and determination to succeed.
Here’s to your success,
Xavier Nelson is the publisher of eBusinessCornerNews, your source for reviews, articles, free resources and more. Get your free subscription at http://blog.makemoneymarketingonline.com right now.
Don’t forget to grab your free copy of the new, rebrandable ebook “Time to laugh” at http://freestuffbazaar.com/timetolaugh and promote your website and grow your list further. My gift to you.
You Should Interview the Interviewer, Too
I know what you are thinking. You’re thinking, “Wait a minute. Wouldn’t that be somewhat presumptuous if I were to ask the interviewer questions?” No. The truth of the matter is they want to see that you have enough intelligence and business sense to ask questions requiring informative answers. Most human resource professionals and hiring managers believe having an applicant ask questions is one of the most important aspects of the interview. They are able to tell more about you by the questions you ask than the answers you give in response to their questions.
Most everybody expects to have an opportunity to ask questions. However, many assume the interviewer is expecting questions that consist of compensation matters and they don’t want to appear to be focused on self centered issues. Invariably, they pass up the opportunity to delve further for more information about the job.
What they don’t realize is they should be asking questions regarding what will be expected of the employee and opportunities for growth in order to learn more about the job offered. Finding the right job and finding the right applicant is a two way street. The employer is looking for somebody that can and will meet their needs. You, on the other hand, are looking for a job that will fulfill your career aspirations.
The interviewer will obviously get to question you and your abilities so they can decide if you will be a good fit for them. You need to ask the questions to determine if the position is the right fit for you and this stage of your career. They want to know that you are coming into the employer/employee relationship with them with a good understanding of the expectations on both sides. Posing your own questions also demonstrates your communication skills in addition to showing your ability to accurately assess matters at hand.
Here is a list of five questions to ask that will show them you are someone they can count on to dig deeper for more answers, especially in high pressure situations.
1. What are the top priorities of the position?
2. What are the major challenges facing the company in the next few years and how does this position contribute to overcoming them?
3. What do you believe my weaknesses to be and how do you think they will affect my performance?
4. What do you see as my strengths and how beneficial do you believe they will be for the company?
5. Does this company value employee growth and, therefore, provide opportunities to further one’s training or education and career advancement?
This is another chance for you to show your willingness and desire to be prepared for the job. If asking intelligent questions of the person conducting the interview seems to put them off, it could be a clue to you that this isn’t the right job for you. If you see them sit up, take notice, and answer your questions readily, it’s a clue that your input as an employee will be valued and respected.
Go ahead. Now that you understand the importance of interviewing the interviewer go prepare your own list of questions. When it’s your turn to pose your questions, pay as much attention to body language as you do the verbal answers. By the time you leave the meeting you will probably have a good idea whether or not the position is a good fit for you if you are offered the job.
Compelling, targeted resumes that will open doors to interviews developed by Angela Betts. For more career and job search tips sign up for our free newsletter at http://www.resumeritr.com. Contact Angela at 501-467-8768 or info@resumeritr.com to request a free resume critique or resume development services.
How to Start Your Own Affiliate Program ? Internet Marketing
This is how most entrepreneurs become filthy stinking rich! EVEN Ebay has an affiliate program!
The truth is its hard generating traffic on your own and if you want massive amounts of traffic this is the best way I know of. The great thing about creating your own affiliate program is you don’t have to pay a cent until one of your affiliates makes a sale.
However in order to get affiliates to want to promote your product, you do need to make it enticing for them. If you’re selling a digital product where you make basically 100% of the profits then your affiliates will be expecting a decent cut of the profits. After all, advertising can be quite expensive. It needs to be worth “their” while.
If your digital product sells for $97 ++ and you offer a 50% commission? your not going to have any troubles getting affiliates to sign on and promote your product (unless of course your salescopy isn’t up to scratch or your product has a bad reputation, I’ve seen that happen before).
Writing up your affiliate page and making it easier for your affiliates to promote your product will be of great benefit to you as well. After all, writing up email promotions, ezines, banners etc? is going to be a whole lot easier for you then what it will be for your affiliate because NO-ONE knows YOUR products as well as you do!
So how can you get an affiliate program?
Well there are quite a few options? Probably the most popular affiliate program would be ClickBank’s. Once you make your first sale (and they also give you the option of making the sale yourself) then they will index your site in their affiliate programs to promote. This gives you a large audience to find eager and waiting affiliates.
You can also get other affiliate programs that give you greater control and tracking, just do a search in Google for “Affiliate Software”
© Joanne King – http://www.joesy.com
Get your Free book on “Affiliate Marketing ? Quick Start Guide” by visiting http://www.joesy.com.
You are welcome to reprint this article on your website or send to your mailing list however it may not be edited and the link in this bio must stay active. Cheers =)
Best Abdominal Exercises to Get the Sexy Six Pack You Deserve
The key to getting those sexy abdominals lies mainly on what abdominal exercises you choose to perform.
Here are the best yoga Exercises for Removing Abdominal Fat Permanently!
1)Dhanurasana-Bow Posture
Technique:
1. Begin lying down on the stomach, reach back and grasp the ankles. Inhale.
2. Lifting legs, head and chest, arch the back into a bow. Retain breath, then exhale and lie flat.
3. Repeat three or four times.
More advanced:
While in the Bow position, rock back and forth, then from side to side. Slowly release and exhale.
Benefits:
1. Massages abdominal muscles and organs. 2.Good for gastrointestinal disorders, constipation, upset stomach, sluggish liver. 3.Reduces abdominal fat.
Warning:
Not for persons suffering from peptic ulcer, hernia, or cases of thyroid or endocrine gland disorders.
2) Naukasana-Boat Posture:
Position:
Lie on the back as in Shavasana position, stretch the legs with your feet together and raise them about 10″ to 12″ above the ground.
Stretch the arms around the head on the ground and raise the arms along with the chest upwards after taking a deep breath, while balancing on the buttocks at the same time.
Now, let both the arms lie horizontally to the ground with fingers pointing towards the knees. The body in this position looks like a floating boat.
Breathe normally in this position and return to Shavasana position slowly after 10 to 30 seconds. Perform Naukasana at least 8 to 10 times per session.
Benefits:
It helps strengthen the muscles of the abdomen, neck and shoulder. It also relieves constipation.
Caution:
Severe backache and hip joint disorders are contra-indication for this asana.
3) Kapalbhati:
This is one of the best abdominal exercises for removing abdominal fat.
How to do it.:
Sit comfortably in a cross-legged position.Breathe normally for about a minute. Once composed, you can begin.
First, Exercise the diaphragm by exhaling suddenly and quickly through both nostrils, producing a “puffing” sound. Don’t focus on inhalation. It will be automatic and passive.
The air is exhaled completely from the lungs with a sudden, vigorous stroke while simultaneously drawing inwards the abdominal muscles.
The breath should be expelled fully. Inhaling is automatic – the abdominal muscles will relax automatically.
This abdominal exercise should be done in three rounds, each consisting of 10 strokes (for the beginner). Each round should take about a minute.
A little rest can be taken in between the rounds as convenient. Throughout the exercise, the chest should be kept still without expansion or contraction. Only the diaphragm is used for breathing and not the upper chest.
Over a month, the number of strokes per minute can be gradually increased from 10 to about 30.
Benefits:
Clears toxins from your body and lungs.Tones the abdominal muscles and burns fat.
Practising the above mentioned yogic exercises regularly will take 10 minutes of your time daily, but they have a profound, long-term effect on your overall health and fitness.
Abdominal flab lost in this manner doesn’t return easily and you remain happy and young for a long long time. Hence it’s definitely a smarter way to look sexy and stay healthy.
Get more cutting edge fat burning secrets in my Free 5 day email ecourse delivered straight to your inbox by subscribing to my newsletter at: www.eweightlosstips.com/weightlossltr.htm
Rajesh Shetty
Expert in weight loss principles of Ayurveda Medical Science and Author of the Best selling book, “Proven weight loss secrets revealed”.
Spend a Little Time, Get Free Books Online
There’s just something so gratifying about owning your own books and creating an in-home library. Not only does book ownership provide you with hours, and hours of escape and enrichment, a well-stocked library is a great heirloom for future generations.
What’s not gratifying about the pursuit, however, is the ever-rising cost of books both paperback and hardcover. With prices for some novels topping $30 USD, it’s hard for an avid reader to keep up a respectable collection.
Did you know you can build your own library without breaking the bank?
There are lots of places where you can turn a little bit of time into viable merchandise. You can get all kinds of freebies on the Internet by completing offers, answering questions and even playing games. The rewards are many and even include ways for you to get free books online!
Rewards programs know how to help you expand that library without emptying your wallet. All it takes is a little investment of your time and you could begin receiving product freebies, including free books online today.
It’s true! You can cut the costs of building a personal library by completing offers and receiving free books online. Great book offers are out there, you just need to know where to look to get free books online. In addition, there are literally hundreds of sites that offer other freebies in return for filling out simple forms. Save your cash, build your library and get free books online by letting incentive programs help you locate the best places to find free stuff!
You can earn free books online, reduced-price books and a wide assortment of other free stuff by:
Completing offers, shopping online, filling out surveys.
It doesn’t take a lot of work or time to begin getting freebies online. There are plenty of advertisers and manufacturing companies that want your opinions and your business. To obtain both, they’re willing to give you freebies. Companies are ready to reward you for your efforts today. Are you ready to begin racking up freebies accepting great book offers?
Gerardas Norkus is a successful author and publisher of http://www.1st-in-rewards.com
Great tips on receiving free merchandise and money from top online rewards programs.
(c) Copyright 2004, http://www.1st-in-rewards.com. All rights reserved.
Publishing Guidelines: You may freely distribute or publish this article provided you publish the whole article and include the copyright notice and links in full. A courtesy copy is requested upon publication.
Credit Report Hassles
There is no end to the amount of pain that your credit report can cause you. If you have a bad credit history this is something that can follow you around and wreak havoc on your life without you even knowing it. Do you know how many people did not get a job because their credit report was awful? Thousands and how many do you think realized that that was the reason they did not get a call back? I would venture to say a big fat zip. Credit counts for everything nowadays and it is only going to count for more in the future.
Whenever you apply for a job, an apartment, a loan or for credit your report is likely going to get looked at. No one wants to get involved with an unreliable person, especially those who are going to have to depend on this person for some important reason, like a rent check or to keep their business running. That is why people with bad credit find themselves getting the short end of the stick all of the time.
If you have found yourself getting rejected an awful lot lately you may want to sneak a peek at your credit report to see if that is the reason. Even if you have never owned a credit card you may still have bad credit. They are not the only things that get reported to the credit bureaus. If you have any bills in your name, car insurance, heating, anything at all, whether you make your payments or not are all finding their way onto your credit report.
Everyone should be checking their report at least once a year to see how they are doing. If you want to get yours you can visit Equifax, Experian or TransUnion online today to get your free copy.
Martin Lukac, represents, #1 Loans USA, a finance web-company specializing in real estate/mortgage market. We specialize in daily updates, rate predictions, mortgage rates and more. http://www.1LoansUSA.com
Do You See Clearly?
“I don’t see how I can just make up my mind to be happy and successful; and suddenly, magically, I will be. That seems to me to be a denial of my reality. My life is a mess. I am not happy. My life is not a success.” she wrote.
She was replying to my email response to her first inquiry. She had written to ask how I could write (in a previous article in this eZine) that if you wanted to be happy, you just had to choose to be happy. I had replied, in my first email, that how we felt about ourselves and our life was entirely within our control; and once we had decided to change how we felt, thought and believed, the circumstances and conditions of our lives would change to meet our new expectations.
This conundrum is surely the ‘catch-22′ of self-improvement. You must both accept the reality of where you are at and, at the same time, deny its ultimate veracity in order to create a new, bigger and better, reality.
Now, I am not saying you should go into denial about the facts of your life. That’s a huge mistake. Many people attempt to live with their shortcomings, failures and addictions by being in denial and it does not work. Nothing gets any better that way. Often it gets even worse.
Many people also attempt to change their life by muttering some affirmation like “I am happy, healthy, wealthy and wise,” in a blind attempt to convince themselves that they are not unhappy, unhealthy, impoverished and foolish. This does not work too well either.
I am not suggesting that affirmations are not useful. They can be a very powerful tool and, used properly, they can be a big help in changing your predominant thought patterns, your core beliefs and your basic emotional outlook on life.
However, it is necessary, if we wish to improve our lot in life, to first face and accept that we have certain core beliefs, predominant thought patterns and basic emotions attitudes. Then, we also must accept that it is these very beliefs, thoughts and emotions that have created the reality that we now have in our lives.
Then, we must decide to adopt new, improved, intentional ways of believing, thinking and feeling in order to create the new reality we have idealized and desired for ourselves. This is not denial. It is the acceptance of our co-creative abilities; and, the acceptance our freedom to choose what and how to think, believe and feel. It is the taking on of the responsibility for one’s life, as it is, and as it could be.
It is the facing and accepting of the truth that we cannot blame the conditions and circumstances of our present life for how we feel, how and what we think, what we believe. It is the facing and accepting of the truth that how we have been feeling, how and what we have been thinking, what we have been believing has actually contributed to the conditions and circumstances of our lives.
What we have is a result of what we have done. What we have done is a result of how we have been. How we have been is a result of how we have felt, thought and believed about ourselves and about life as a whole.
If you want to change or improve what you have in life (the conditions, circumstances–the effects), you must address the cause. You have the power to consciously and intentionally choose your feelings, your thoughts and your beliefs. These are the cause of your happiness and success because they control how you act or react, what you do or don’t do and it is what you enact, moment-by-moment, that produces the results you get to have day-to-day.
Yes, it is tough work. However, it is not as tough as living an unhappy and unsuccessful life. Why continue to do so just because you are habituated to doing so?
So, it is not about denying the reality of how life has been until now; it is about seeing and accepting that there is a greater reality in how you choose life will be from now on. Focus your vision on the ideal. Affirm its reality. Feel its reality. Believe in its reality. Act accordingly. Don’t be surprised when it turns out to be just the way you imagined it to be.
© Leslie Fieger. All rights reserved worldwide.
Leslie is the author of The DELFIN Knowledge System Trilogy: The Initiation, The Journey and The Quest plus many more success publications. He also the co-author of The End of the World with Hugh Jeffries and Alexandra’s DragonFire with his daughter Ashley. Subscribe to his free and ad-free eZine at http://www.ProsperityParadigm.com or http://www.LeslieFieger.com.
Reprinting and republishing of this article is granted only with the above credit included. Permission to reprint or republish does not waive any copyright.
Who Says the Customer is Always Right?
We all know the old adage, “The Customer is Always Right.” If you are an online business owner or offline for that matter, you are on both sides of the subject almost everyday.
Before I started my online business, I was just on one side… the customer. I whole-heartedly believed in the above adage and never questioned it at all. In fact, I would get rather perturbed at ANY business owner, manager, or supervisor that would disagree with any complaint I had.
When I started my own online business back in 1997, I slowly began to learn the “other side.”
My business products are all downloadable. If your business includes downloaded material, you know where I’m going with this one. I get NUMEROUS complaints EVERYDAY about usernames and passwords not working, corrupt downloads, and the big one… “I can’t open the download.” Now I always reply in a very helpful gesture, but my first question is always, “Are you entering the username and password exactly as shown?” This seems to be one of the “biggies” with newbies. They do not understand “case-sensitive” — heck — they don’t even know what that means!
But it doesn’t matter HOW simple I make the instructions and overall download process, I STILL get these everyday. I am accused of being a “scammer” at least 4 – 5 times a week… and that’s on a GOOD week! 
)
The whole point of the above example is NOT that customers are wrong — that’s not the problem at all. Many of them are very new to the internet and sadly, they do not read through the directions most of the time. I have found that I basically have to put myself back into the “newbie” frame of mind — as hard as that is to do! I don’t remember NOT knowing how to download, enter case-sensitive passwords, etc.
You MUST try to understand that customer… at the point of contact, whether by email or phone, they have probably sat there for HOURS trying to figure it out. They are irritated, angry, and they’ve pretty much decided at that point that you scammed them.
Yes, it’s irritating getting these “dumb” questions and emails even when you have them broken down so simply in the instructions. But face it, you’re going to get them and you will get them often as more and more climb on the “web wagon.”
When I get a very insulting email (yes, I HAVE been called the “B-word,” the “MF-word,” and recently a new one that I have never heard before… it was quite disgusting), I do not answer it immediately. I let my initial anger subside. When I can read through it and giggle… it’s time to answer. I find that 80 – 90% of the time, the customer is VERY embarrassed of their initial email by the time I have helped them courteously through their problems.
I had to learn this process through time. Believe me… I am a VERY sensitive person and I used to take these to heart. It HURT! I had to revert back to my “customer side” as well as the “newbie” frame of mind and do my best to understand the person’s anger.
One angry customer can lead to thousands if not millions in lost business revenue! Especially on the internet. That one customer tells one friend who in turn tells another and so on a so forth. You COULD get a real “psycho” customer that decides to start a website all about YOUR company and YOUR poor service or product.
Watch that one spread like a virus! )
On the other hand, exercise great customer service (get those emails answered within 24 hours, folks) and watch the *praise* of your company spread! I guarantee that you just GAINED thousands in sales!
MOST importantly remember these three things:
** LOVE YOUR CUSTOMER
** UNDERSTAND YOUR CUSTOMER
** VALUE YOUR CUSTOMER
You are NOTHING without them. Treat them like gold and you will RECEIVE gold in return!
Diane C. Hughes * ProBizTips.com
FREE Report: Amazingly Simple (Yet Super Powerful) Ways To Skyrocket Your Sales And Build Your Business Into A Tower of Profits! ==>> http://madmarketer.com/diane
An Entrepreneurs Challenge
Living in the twilight zone has its advantages. In the early days of starting my business, I found the limitations of living in a rural area to be restrictive. However, later I realized that those limitations were not an obstacle that could stop me; they were only a challenge that would strengthen me. Since my business would be smaller, I would have the advantage of fewer employees and less strife in the processes of doing business.
Growth, while difficult in a single entity, could easily be accomplished through multiplication. By repeating the business in several locations, it could become the kind of business I wanted to run.
The challenge was no longer in the viability of the business, but in the potential of business development. So, simply put, where do I go from here?
How big was my dream and did I have the courage to pursue it to fruition?
It was BIG and I did. The processes of developing my multi-business center company, connected by computers, people, and a dream was not particularly difficult, nor were there any major obstacles to overcome. The biggest challenge was in the mind.
The process of realizing a dream is pretty much the same from any vantage point. My vantage point was a small town in the mid-west (right between the vastness of the Great Plains and the vertical beauty of the Rocky Mountains). Some of you call this the WEST ? but I’ve been to both coasts ? it is MID WAY between them, trust me.
The challenge was literally in formatting the dream and scheduling the conceptual steps and the processes by which the dream would be realized.
Creating the dream.
A good business fills a need. You must realize a need. Through a need of your own, you may realize that other people have the same need, and the cure for your needs could also be a cure for the needs of others with similar needs.
Quite essentially, while speaking to a friend one day, I said those magic words that spoke directly to my heart, “I wish somehow there was a way to?” Being the kind and generous person that she is, she fed into my dream by asking me what options could possibly provide solutions to that problem. So, for much of that afternoon we ‘brainstormed’ for solutions to my problem. That evening, when I got home, I wrote down a list of our solutions, and put them on a shelf in my home office, where I promptly forgot about them until several months later when another friend was in the same boat.
Realizing the Viability.
A good business can fill the need at a profit. Take your dream one step further; determine if the product/service that could be a solution to your problem is worth paying for.
My friend mentioned that she would actually pay someone to deal with her situation. I frowned at the thought, realizing that it was a signal to me, to put the ‘brainstormed’ solutions into actual practice. My dream became a viable option. I could feel the reality of what I was dreaming, and I could ‘touch’ what it would become.
Conformation.
A good business must have a substantially saleable product. Specifically describe the product/service and how you could build/design/create it. Determine if the value of the product/service is worth the cost of producing it.
When I got home again, I took out that first brainstorming list of solutions and put it on the table along with a pad of paper and a pen. I got a cup of coffee and sat down to work. I needed a product/service that could be sold. From that brainstorming list, I developed a list of products/services that could be sold at a profit, and I began to put together a profile of the company that would sell them. The ‘business outline’ that resulted from these hours of work, was substantial enough to start working on a business plan.
Marketability.
A good business must be marketable at a profit. Developing a market feasibility plan was the next step. By determining the marketability of the product/service and orchestrating the process within the sphere of location, pricing/value, accessibility, and dispensation, it is possible to realize the maximum profit from the product/service within a specific market during the initial phase of distribution. By establishing a marketing plan based on the feasibility of marketing your product/service during this phase of the business development process, your business can become profitable from the earliest stage possible.
Targeting Profit.
A good business must operate regularly IN THE BLACK. Often, developing a profitable business is an accidental event that can’t be explained. More often, businesses fail within the first five years because owners plan to FAIL by failing to PLAN. However, profitability in business can be explained, planned, and projected, if the business owner establishes a plan of business and manages his business according to that plan.
Determine the requirements of making a profit in your business and incorporate that process into your plan. That is what targeting profit is all about; making sure that your business plan has ‘profit’ directly in sight.
Make PEOPLE your priority.
A good business must serve its people. Occasionally a company will forget its purpose for being in business. The only REAL reason for being in business is to help other people. No matter what your product/service might be, your purpose is helping others. When THIS concept becomes genuine within the people who work in your business, they will acquire the ability to serve with objectivity the clients who purchase your products/services. Recognize your business priorities and keep them at the top of the list. Customer Service is not where you want to cut costs.
Plan your BUSINESS.
A good business follows a solid business plan. A solid business plan based on marketing strategies, prioritized business practices, and a sound proposal of profitability will project your company to triumph. A complete business plan will include concepts and procedures for day-to-day operations that will lead regularly to the level of success planned for and projected. If you are following your business plan in an organized manner, with periodic reevaluations for business development changes, your company will have its very own success story and history of success.
Comprehensive Development.
A good business is based on a solidly proven business history. EVEN if you are new to the business industry, there are proven examples of businesses for you to follow. Find a successful ‘mentor’ within your chosen industry and follow their guidance. Trying to reinvent the wheel doesn’t work. It’s been invented and it works, so why mess with perfection by trying to reinvent it. This means that there is a proven method of doing business, and it does work, so when you find a person who is successful in your chosen field, use their proven strategies and update for current technical abilities, but do not try to reinvent the processes.
Consistent Record keeping.
A good business uses a consistent record keeping method. Prepare an office for your business that is capable of tracking daily activities within your business, marketing practices, and financial records. Consistently record financial records in a clearly defined manner that will properly project your financial situation at any given time. Weekly, monthly, and annual reports are necessary for managing the profitability of your business. Be certain that these reports are available for weekly, monthly, and annual evaluation, and religiously do those evaluations based on your business plan. Be prepared to revamp and revitalize your business plan based on the evaluations you do.
NOTE: While ‘weekly’ reports are necessary for this evaluation ? do not adjust your business based solely on the weekly reports.
Use the Three E’s.
A good business promotes enthusiasm, effort, and ethics. Enthusiastically promote what you do. If you believe in what you are doing and put your best attitude toward accomplishing the job at hand, you will be promoting your business in the best possible way, with personal enthusiasm. Be sure that the majority of effort you put into your business every day is intended for profit. If you are working all day and accomplish nothing toward making a profit, your business will not be profitable in the long run. Personal ethics are a choice. If you value your business you will maintain a high standard of ethics. Honesty and Integrity cannot be regained once they are lost.
Don’t allow anyone to take those from you for any reason, hold your personal values dearly and promote your business based on solid values.
Smell the roses.
A good business allows for the enjoyment of life along with the requirements of work. As with any job, burnout is a threat if you don’t take time out to enjoy life while you work. It often amazes me, the number of people who indicate that they have no time for family, fun, and hobbies, as they are working to own their own business. What ARE they working for? If you don’t take the time to enjoy life, you will burnout and be no good to anyone, and definitely not capable of succeeding in your business. Take time out for you, for family, for LIFE. Your job will still be there when you get back, and you will be more capable when you go back to it.
Without the specific details that make a business work successfully toward a profit, you don’t actually have a business; you have a great idea. An idea won’t actually get you very far in the land of profit margins, it actually will cost you more than it will make. An idea is something that is incomplete and surrealistic, until it has been scripted and formatted into the reality of a series of goals that work together to make a profitable business.
What is your NEMESIS? What is your dream? Is your dream going to make you a life? Is your dream worth the investment of your time, effort, and money?
Success is in the details. If you want to make your dream a business, it’s important to develop the details and process your ideas into REAL goals. The difference between a dream and a successful business is in the presentation of the details.
Copyright (c) 2001 – Jan Verhoeff
Printed in the USA
Jan Verhoeff combines 27 years of service in the Free Enterprise domain and a lifetime of education in business development to bring expertise and understanding of basic business principles to new business owners. An expert in the field of business development, Jan presents conceptual information through publications, live presentations, and Power Launch, a weekly live conference chat for business developers. For more information see her site at: http://wahopportunity.blogspot.com
Shop Right, Look Great!
All through history one thing has never changed and that is in any given century, fashion has been of great importance to us. It changes over time and often comes back in style many times over. But why is fashion so important to us? We go to such great lengths to look just right. Lets face it; we are judged by how we look. That may sound shallow but it is true. Just go out anywhere and really start looking at people. Observe your own reaction and thoughts when you see how people dress and carry themselves.
Some people are born lucky with great genes. Others need a little help. In either case we can all enhance our look through clothing, makeup, jewelry and personal hygiene.
Before you shop lets take a look at what you can do to improve your overall look.
1) Look at your hairstyle. Does it really suit you? Is the color right? The right haircut and color can make more of a difference than you may realize. Shop for a good hairdresser.
2) Makeup can change your look from ordinary to amazing, but take note; you’ll want to buy products that are natural. Our environment is polluted enough and we don’t need to add to it by putting chemical products on our skin that can make us break out.
3) Before you go shopping for clothes, stand in front of a mirror and look at your body. Decide what you like about it and what you don’t. What you like about it you’ll want to enhance. Don’t be shy to promote your best body features. There are things you can do to put less attention on what you don’t like such as if your thighs are wider than your shoulders, don’t wear tight clothing. You’ll only draw attention there. Also don’t wear loose fitting tops because it will only give you an overall appearance of being big. It’s all about balancing your figure. You’ve probably observed young girls in the mall with low cut jeans. Some of them pull it off well but when you see belly hanging over it, it’s not a good look as that is all you really see. Also wear clothes that are age appropriate. I’ve seen very young girls and very old women dressed in sexy outfits. It does not come off right and generally meets with a thought of instant disapproval. Also, very important, wear colors that suit you. If you don’t know then get a friend to go with you and hold up colors to your face and see what looks best.
4) Shop for accessories such as a purse that compliments your shoes. You can also make quite a statement by doing something simple like pulling your hair back and putting long dangling earrings and no other jewelry.
In short, know before you go. Understand your body and shopping will easier. You will look better. Remember, people are unconsciously judging you by your appearance. It’s human nature.
Willie Jones
Willie is a freelance writer, researcher, floral designer, and artist. Thanks very much for reading this far. Please come and visit us at: http://www.artinspires.com/for an inspirational poster or two
“Make sure you enroll in the free motivational poster drawing. All winners receive a free framed print.”
