Archive | March, 2015

Work From Home – Drive Traffic Instead of Being Stuck in it

By Lowell on March 12, 2015 in Blog

Seriously, this is not funny. Have you ever calculated how much time and money you spend commuting to and from your job? It is serious, stressful work for which you are not being paid, and in fact is costing you money.

When considering whether it would benefit you to work from home, start right there with how much you spend on gasoline, bridge tolls, parking, car maintenance, or public transportation. You will probably determine that right off the bat you would be saving several hundred dollars every month if you worked from home. If you have small children then you could add the cost of child care and the transportation related to that if applicable to get the best picture.

Then you can also include the fact that you have various tax benefits you can claim for the ‘business use of your home’. It is a percentage of square feet of your rent or mortgage, your utilities, your Internet connectivity, phone, etc. that can be deducted from your earnings. Be sure to check the official government website for the exact laws and requirements as they do change.

Of course it is a smart idea (maybe critical) that you start your home business while you still have some sort of an income as it does take time to build and develop any business. You must survive in the meantime so you want to be sure that you have that covered. Never speculate that you think you will earn money by any given date. Protect yourself by having the money well ahead of the time when it will be payable.

There are still tax benefits although to a lesser degree when you are working at a ‘day job’ and working at home in your spare time to start a business online. You can deduct business expenses even if you are not making a profit. You can do that for a few years, but then if you are still not making money your business will be determined to be a ‘hobby’ and you will not get any tax benefits. (so work it!)

These are some of the tangible benefits of working from home, and there are also many intangibles such as being able to spend time with your children rather than having them raised by child care workers. You know it is necessary for you to work, but to a child’s mind all they know is you are not there most of the time. Naturally being human, you may be tired and need some space when you do get home. Of course you sacrifice a lot for your family in many ways, but ‘you can’t give away more than you have’. You are the foundation of your family and as such you need to take care of yourself, too.

There is also the reality that you may not be that happy working for someone else for whatever reason. Many corporate and retail environments are very hostile. There is normal or good stress from working, but then there is destructive stress from political or personal relationships with your peers, managers and customers. Add that together with the stress of whether or not your paycheck will stretch far enough as costs escalate but salaries are stagnant. It can spell ‘heart attack’ if you are not careful to take care of yourself.

So not saying working at home for yourself is a piece of cake because it does involve work and some stress for some of the same reasons, but I am sure if you compare working outside the home you will find that having your own business in your home can be so much more pleasant and productive in every respect. So give it a try today! Just go online and start to research ways you might be able to start your own business and work from home.

Starting an Online Business – Focus is your Friend

By Lowell on March 11, 2015 in Blog

‘Focus’ may be one of those ‘by-words’ that people just take for granted that they understand. They believe they are focused because they commit to sit down at their computer and ‘do’ business for X number of hours. If you really take stock though of what you are spending your time on, you will find that much of it is actually wasting your time and in fact you are not focused at all on what you need to do; the worst part is if you foster that type of activity you will start to spin your wheels.

Spinning wheels means you are not going anywhere. You are not making any progress and you just start to sink like quicksand in all the information. Then you may figure you just can’t handle it or it just isn’t for you because you just don’t understand it all. Spinning your wheels is cousin to ‘information overload’ and ‘paralysis by analysis’. It also has relationship to what may be called ‘the kid in the candy shop’ who wants one of those and two of these and five of that. He will end up with a tummy ache and if you are talking information as candy you will end up with a headache. (candy being an analogy for biz opps, tools and gimmicks addiction).

The number one reason we do this is because we are always looking for that magic sauce. You will be the one that discovers that amazing secret that people who are making it know. Every day you will see a new, exciting email or ad that promises you the moon – the ‘don’t leave home without it’ thing that will carry you head and shoulders above the rest. It is notable that while we are doing this, we are ignoring the instructions we already have, not doing what the experts we already trust are telling us what to do.

It is true there is just so much information coming at us from all directions when we are first starting out. Especially if we are looking at ‘free’, because this usually means that in order to be able to afford to give something away for free, businesses have to justify this by at least having the privilege of trying to convince you to buy something in the future.

Often times we ARE intending to be focused and we may for example, attempt to get some information on ONE thing; and yes you got the free eBook, but along with it you got 20 emails telling us about 5 more things that you can get. (and off we go, out of focus again). So it is no wonder we get lost and start to drown in information rather than to be able to focus long enough to actually try to learn to use something we need.

One way to FOCUS is make lists and commit to doing at least one thing on the list. Then stick with it until you thoroughly explore it as a possibility. Make a date – Tuesday you will do the research and find whatever it is you need and then Wednesday you will actually try to determine the best idea and try to use it. Ignore everything else you see until you do that one thing. Then move on to the next thing.

It’s probably really a good idea to ignore most of your email at this point – glance over only the email that is from known senders (programs you are participating in or products or services you already have, and people you know). (note the word ‘glance’ here – don’t get involved!) Your email inbox looks like a war zone, right? So make folders or labels for each program or product. Just shuffle the emails into the appropriate folders. Someday when things calm down and you have your direction, you can go back and be sure you didn’t miss anything.

Starting a New Home Business – Do You Already Know It All?

By Lowell on March 10, 2015 in Blog

It is said that the only person who can’t learn anything is the one who thinks he already knows everything. This is logical since knowing it all, they believe that they do not need to pay attention. Unsure where in our ego this shut-down process happens but it seems likely we may have an ‘authoritarian’ complex if and when it does.

It is likely our disdain for authority comes from having been ‘forced’ to obey and to believe what we are taught whether or not we agreed. It is a natural reaction for people to resist force. In the extreme however, part of the authoritarian psychology is that we are not to question authority. We must just accept what we are told and believe as they dictate. If not there are often consequences to various degrees.

Therefore it is ideal if parents, while asserting what the child needs to learn, are not too domineering but more like ‘suggests’ that the child ‘cooperate’. Then we will have a more balanced person who realizes they have the right to either accept or not, whatever they are told. Then they can learn to make their own decisions when they are older.

In the case of Internet marketing, there seems to be people who distrust those that have had success. On the one hand they may ‘join up’ with the marketer or ‘guru’ (expert) to get whatever they can from them, but at the same time ignore his recommendations and be more willing to follow their peers as far as techniques and strategies; (it seems the other reason for this is jealousy – just to make sure that person doesn’t make another dime especially from them).

They say that if you are learning a new thing or being in a new environment that you should associate with those that are more successful than you are so that you can learn from them first-hand; not just their techniques but their mindset, theories, etc. This makes sense. Nobody is forcing us but we can really make a note of the things about the person’s personality that may indicate why they are a success amid so many that fail (because they quit).

… But for those who distrust authority, it’s as if they assume the person who has had success has had the breaks they never had – maybe higher education or someone has financed them to get started, or that they somehow are already rich and can afford to spend money on a business, for a few examples. Actually that may be easier for them to believe because that gives them an excuse to fail if they don’t want to follow the directions.

In reality people who succeed are more than likely just people who have paid attention. They are not afraid to work hard and they know how to ‘walk in faith’ – they just have that little thing that causes them, no matter what the adversity, to believe that they CAN DO whatever it is – and this seems to give them the impetus to ‘Just Do It’.

There is nothing to be ashamed of to admit you have never had your own business, you are new to the Internet and you will need some time to get acclimated (do not have a clue what to do). Then if you will find some good training in Internet marketing and you will humbly if not follow, at least pay attention to the directions and instructions and at least give it a try, you never know if you will be the next ‘star’.

What is meant by ‘give it a try’ – it doesn’t mean read it and maybe do something one time and then complain because it ‘didn’t work’. If you are realistic you will see that nothing is going to work instantly or by magic. You have to learn and then try to do it correctly, the best you can. Then you need to keep doing it consistently over time and perfecting it – or learn something else if it truly doesn’t have the results you hoped for.

We also need to realize that only a small percentage of traffic will respond. This doesn’t mean we are not doing it right, or that our teacher led us astray; it means the traffic is either not interested or just not ready to take action. We have to accept that fact and keep trying to find the right traffic. Then, we have to give whatever technique it is time to produce results – it will not happen instantly (in a week or maybe even months). Give it time!

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Archive | March, 2015