by Melissa McCreery PhD,ACC

As you start the New Year and a new decade, it’s a good time to give your business success skills a quick check up. Do you have what it takes to get you where you want to go? As you review your tools and strategies, I’d like to suggest an area that many savvy business women overlook—and this error of omission costs them big. One of the most crucial skills for any thriving solopreneur or professional is the ability to take excellent care of herself. After all, aren’t you the most important asset your business possesses? I know what you may be thinking. Many of us entrepreneurs have so much on our plates that it’s impossible to get to it all, and often, self care or “me-time” is one of the first things to go. It’s not essential. It may feel self indulgent or you think it’s rather a luxury. You tell yourself you can get to it later. Not true.

Here’s what THRIVING business owners know (and many of us learned it the hard way). The way you care for yourself counts and it counts big. You can’t show up powerfully in your business or your life unless you are showing up powerfully for yourself. Taking care of YOU is not a luxury, it’s an essential part of a successful business plan. Read the rest of this entry »

by Candy Dye

6 Tips for an Extraordinary and Fabulous Life! Did you know that being nice and showing kindness to others will lead to a more meaningful, satisfying and healthier life? “It is often the small kindesses – the smiles, gestures, compliments, favors – that make our day and can even change our lives.” This is what Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval say in their book, ”The Power of Nice”. Want to end up being an cranky old goat? Not me! If your want to live a fabulous and extraordinary life, try these six tips from my own life and the advice of some of my favorite authors.

1. Be thankful for everything, good and bad in our life. When life is “good”, we have a sense of relief, and ease. When life is a struggle, we can be thankful that we will grow and learn from overcoming obstacles, forging a new path or taking a new opportunity. No matter what our current situation may be, we can always find many things to be thankful for.

2. Connect with people, make them smile, share a story, tell a joke or chat about their life. I get such a kick from seeing a child’s whole face light up when they are complimented or encouraged. Words or acts of kindness go so very, very far, and can be a life changer for someone on the receiving end of your kindness. Start a conversation with those in a waiting room, or in the line at the grocery store. Give a compliment, ask a question, talk about the weather – just connect! Read the rest of this entry »

by Terri Seymour

When you build your website, you, of course, want to get high rankings in the search engines. There are lots of ways to do this and lots of ways to NOT do this. Below are 10 things to avoid if you want to be in good standing with the search engines.

1. Duplicate Content/Sites – Do not set up multiple sites or site pages using basically the same content with a few different keywords spread around. This does not fool the search engines.

2. Cloaking – Cloaking is when a website or webpage is set up to show different content for a search engine spider than the human visitors. The cloaked page (for the spiders) is stuffed with keywords in an attempt to get higher rankings. What it can get you is banned!

3. Linking to Bad Neighborhoods – Be careful who you link to because you can be found guilty by association. Do not link to adult sites, gambling sites or link farms. Also be careful not to link to sites that use any of the SEO methods mentioned here. Read the rest of this entry »

by Melissa McCreery PhD, ACC

Self- care and me-time are simply not indispensable. In fact, making time for yourself is actually an essential ingredient if you want to thrive in your life and your business. Here are four steps to creating time for yourself and the benefits they can lead to in your business and your life:

1.Examine your mindset about me-time. Are you still struggling with an inner critic who tells you that self care is a pie-in-the-sky luxury? If you want to truly make time for yourself, it’s essential to stop thinking of (and treating) me-time as something that’s nice-if-you-can-get-to-it and start approaching it as a necessity and a priority. Remember, the time you invest in yourself is time invested in LEADING your life (and your business) instead of chasing along behind it.

2.Identify what you need. What DO you need to be you at your best? In my Emotional Eating Toolbox™ program, I call these non-negotiable. Many women who have let self care drop off their radar haven’t thought about this in a very long time. Make a list and include everything you can think of—from vitamins to physical activity, to sex and laughter, reading and consistent time off (just to give you a few ideas). Give yourself enough time to be creative and expansive here. Now examine your list. Read the rest of this entry »

by Denise Willms

“If you’re not in business to make money, you’re not really in business at all.”

The speaker was a successful businessperson whom I admire, and I have learned many sound business principles from her over time, but that one sentence just didn’t sit right with me. Everything inside me told me this time she was wrong.

I couldn’t collect my thoughts fast enough to respond immediately, but her words have stayed with me. I’ve since spent many hours thinking about why I’m really in business. Can I be a successful businesswoman if making money is not my primary goal?

Perhaps it sounds naive and idealistic, but I’m not in business to make money. It’s something I expect to gain from my hard work, but it’s not my main motivator. I can’t escape what the Bible says about the pursuit of riches, particularly:

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)

So why am I in business? Here are some of the reasons on my list:

* Build God-honoring relationships with people who share my interests
* Help these same people reach their goals
* Develop and use my unique set of God-given talents and skills
* Be creative

I do know that money matters. It pays my bills, fills my fridge and clothes my children. But I don’t need to pursue it. If I pursue a relationship with my Lord Jesus first and build up my treasures in Heaven, He will look after me here on earth. His way of providing for my needs may not always be exactly what I think it should, but that’s only because He’s so much wiser than I am.

So am I still in business? You bet.

When I look at my list of reasons for being in business I realize that if I focus on these, I’ll have a unique service or product that is valuable to people I’ve developed strong relationships with, and that I’m dedicated to maintaining and improving. Better still, I’m honoring my Lord and His call on my life.

Sounds like the ingredients for a successful business to me.

About the Author:
Denise Willms is a professional article writer and owner of a busy article directory for www.wahm-articles.com”>work at home moms, WAHM-Articles.com. To learn more about starting your own successful home business, visit www.WAHM-Articles.com to sign up for her weekly Work at Home Moms Tips newsletter.
Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

by Jennifer May

Many times people will give up on working from home as family and life get in the way and take over. They will make excuses and act like they do not have the time to fit in a work-at-home business or job. What many should understand is that if they really, deep down want to be working from home successfully, then it should be a priority just like everything else in their life. It should be on the top of their list just like their children, family, job, etc. We tend to procrastinate and make excuses to things that should be very important in our lives by doing the things that are not so important. Like watching that TV show each day that we know is not benefiting us in anyway or cleaning the house until we are blue in the face. Even for those who are currently working outside the home can and will make the time for their work-at-home business or job if they wanted it that much and were willing.

That ultimately is what it comes down to. How bad do you want success working from home? What are you willing to put into it to make it happen? Are you willing to never give up? These are all important questions you need to answer before becoming successful working from home. So, what you honestly need to do is sit yourself down and ask yourself: What am I willing to sacrifice to achieve success working from home? Read the rest of this entry »

by Alicia Forest

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten about writing sales pages is to think about them in terms of having a conversation with someone.

Whether you have a tiny list or thousands of people on it, you can still give all your sales communications – whether it’s a long sales letter, sales copy for an ad, or short sales copy for the products page of your website – the feeling of being personal if you write it as if you were talking to your ideal client or a friend.

Here’s what I mean:

1. Tell A Story

One of the most effective ways for you to write sales pages that convert (meaning people take the action you want them to take) is by relating in some way to your reader.

If you’ve been where they are at now, telling your story can go a long way in engaging your reader, building your credibility, and providing a feeling of comfort to your reader that you know what you’re talking about. Read the rest of this entry »

by Bonnie Jo Davis

Your target audience consists of the people and businesses that are most likely to need and want what you have to sell. Before you create a marketing plan for your business, it is critical that you define your target audience and create an ideal client profile so you can attract this audience with your marketing. Once you have identified your target audience and ideal clients you will find it so much easier to design your marketing plan around their identity and their needs.

Some of the questions you may want to ask when defining your ideal client are listed below. Not all questions will be applicable to your ideal client, so pick and choose the questions based on your needs.

* What is his or her age?
* What is his or her gender?
* What is his or her marital status and do they have children?
* Where do they live?
* What is his or her income?
* What is his or her educational level?
* What is his or her hobbies?
* Is this person involved in any organized sport? Read the rest of this entry »

by Tammy Embrich

It’s natural for a new work at home job seeker to have tons of questions before they begin their search, and also often during their search. There are scams scattered everywhere you look on the Internet and one has to be extra cautious.

Perhaps a job seeker has already been scammed and wants to be reassured they won’t be a victim again? Or maybe they just need to know exactly where to start? The answers to the below questions and the following tips will help.

Q – Do I have to have experience in order to work at home?

A – For work at home in general, one does have to have basic Internet navigation skills and basic typing skills. For a lot of the telecommute jobs that are available, one does have to have certain skill sets. However, it depends on which company you are applying for as to what skills you need to get the job. For each job listed, it usually states “specifics of experience needed” and often times will require a resume from you. A few of the companies will train you on the job and if so, it will be stated on the company’s website. Also some of the companies will require you to train on site for so many months of said company before you are allowed to work at home.

Q – Can I make enough money to pay my bills from working at home? Read the rest of this entry »

by Corrie Petersen

Whether you are being laid off or you are quitting your job, you must be prepared before you can make it happen. Unfortunately there are times when we can’t be prepared, but if you can it will make things so much easier both financially and mentally.

Financial readiness may be a little bit difficult, but you can make it work if you want to and if you put your mind to it. Of course, you may have to give some things up or you may have to change some things in order for it to work, but you can do it.

Some things can’t be done until the time comes, but others can. If it’s possible, you should prepare yourself as much as you can before the day arrives. Again it really depends on your situation as to what you do and how you do it.

Here are some things you can do to prepare yourself in advance for your big day.

1. Write out a list of all your bills and how much you owe for each. Also write down the monthly payment amount and the interest rate if you have one.

2. Write down your current income. This should include any money you have coming in from a business if you are working one at this point. Read the rest of this entry »