Maintain a Success Circle in Direct Sales & Relationship Marketing

Archive for June, 2010

Mindset has to do with the way you think, and the way you think has a direct bearing on the type of results you will realize from starting your online business.

When you made the decision to start a business online, you did so based on research that what you had to offer could be marketed online.  You will be marketing something you already know something about, or recently took the time to learn about; and it may be something that you are passionate about.

If you’d decided to for a corporation and purchase a franchise offline, you would have to give yourself a specific designation on the Articles of Corporation.  Your title would probably be CEO or President.  You have instead started an online business!  You do not need to set up a corporation to start an online business, but it it very important to keep in mind that because you’ve started a business, your mindset must be the same.  You are the CEO/President/Owner of your own company, and as such, you are responsible for the planning, goal-setting, and other activities associated with running a business. Read the rest of this entry »

Many people scoff at positive affirmations and hold to the theory that they do not work.  Do they really work?  What are affirmations? Affirmations are basically a form of self-talk.  Look at this realistically.  Every day, several time each day we talk to ourselves, and no not because we’re crazy.  Unfortunately, most of it is negative.  Don’t think so?  Let’s look at these two scenes:

1) You get in your car in your driveway and you suddenly remember that you left your cell phone in the house, but it’s important to have it with you. You immediately start berating yourself on being forgetful and may call yourself harsh names for not placing the phone by your keys as you usually do.

2)  You just got back from the office supply store and you slap yourself on the forehead as you just remembered the main reason you went to the store was to purchase copy paper and you have a 30-page e-book you want to edit before uploading to your website.  You may begin to call yourself stupid, ‘I never can remember anything’, and quite a bit of negative self-talk.

This type of talk is not up-building,  it does not make you feel good, and does nothing for your self-image.

Positive affirmations, on the other hand, affirm the best in you and focus on your good qualities.  They encourage you to improve in areas in which you’re having a challenge.  “I’m getting better at remembering things,” “Everyday I learn from my mistakes and avoid repeating them.”  These are examples of positive affirmations as they help you to see yourself as you would like to be and the goal you are reaching for.

Author, Julia Cameron, notes that “Affirmations are positive statements about positive beliefs.  They help achieve a sense of safety and hope.  If we can become one-tenth as good at positive self-talk as we are at negative self-talk, we will notice an enormous change.”

What can you affirm about yourself today so you that could have a positive impact in your business?

Do you have small children?  Are they home for the summer or will be off from school soon?  Are you dreading the disruption in your home-based business schedule?  Many mothers who work from home are already agonizing over the adjustments they will need to make, and it’s understandable.  But instead of adding to your stress by worrying about it, may I suggest you take a moment and reflect on the fact that one of the reasons you were attracted  to a home-based business was the flexibility it afforded you.

As women we wear many hats and being an entrepreneur,  a business owner, comes with it’s own challenges.  However,  while it’s essential to have systems in place so that you can manage your business successfully, these systems cannot be so rigid that you can’t allow for  changes in your schedule when the need arises.

I will admit that when I’m working to meet a deadline or have a number of projects I’d schedule to be completed within a specified period, I’ve felt annoyance when I had to stop and take care of something that I’d not planned for.  Having a sense of humor often helps and I try to laugh at myself at how ‘worked up’ I’m allowing myself to get over nothing, do what I have to do, and get back to my project.  That’s flexibility in action!

During the time I’m working in my business, I’m my own boss so I can take some time off if I need to.  You can too and  try to view flexibility as a means to add diversity as you work from home.

What are your thoughts on flexibility in your business? Please share in the Comments.

People chose to work from home for different reasons.  Many persons who work from home do not have an online business even though they use their computer extensively.  In order to be efficient and productive and thereby contribute to your success, it’s important to have systems in place. Systems are defined as a set of detailed methods, procedures, and routines established or formulated to carry out a specific activity.

Here are three systems in your home office that could be great time savers, but at the same time can rob you of your time if not used wisely.

1.Your Computer As a Time Saver: I cannot imagine running a business from home without a computer.  Your computer allows you to store huge amounts of information and retrieve them with a few clicks of your mouse.  The volume of software on the market allows you to be creative, and of course, access to the internet allows you to communicate quickly and effectively, as well as do research quickly.

If you’re in Direct Sales, for example, you can use your computer to send your customers an e-card.  I like to send an actual greeting card through the US mail and my customers invariably call to thank me.  Just for reading my post, go ahead and click the greeting card link and send a card to yourself or someone you care about.  I’ll pay for your card and your postage. Read the rest of this entry »

This is a post I wrote in March 2009, and today my thoughts are running in the same direction, so I thought I’d share it today rather than write another post. The event that has me unsettled is not malfunctioning machines as it was then, but the loss of another young friend in her 30’s.

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As I sat in my office this morning and thought about what I wanted to write, I realized that for my thoughts to flow, I would need to take a moment to pray, think and then write. You might wonder what was so special about that?

On my ‘Things to Do List’ this post should have been completed by 6:30 a.m. and it’s now almost 8:30 a.m. Instead of being able to start writing at 6:15 a.m. I had to deal with issues with my Internet connection and while waiting for that to be resolved, worked on faxes and mail. The flow of thoughts I had were disturbed and it seems that while outwardly calm, negative emotions were creeping in. It was time to pray and ask for God’s direction and peace…and I received it. Read the rest of this entry »

You have heard that the money is in the list; however, successful marketers will tell you that this is only partially true.  If you are new to Internet Marketing one of your first goals is to build a responsive list.  There are many important reasons for that, which we will discuss in another post.

It’s important to note that the level of responsiveness that you will receive from your list of subscribers is in large part due to your efforts.  I firmly believe that communication is the lifeblood of any relationship, and building a relationship with your subscribers, your readers, even other online marketers, is cemented by communicating with them. Read the rest of this entry »

A short while ago someone made the comment to me that she could never work from home as she would find it boring.  Asking questions made me realize that what she would find boring is not being able to interact with people of a regular basis.

Many people love working alone. Others hate it! They miss the rapport with co-workers, the watercooler chit-chats and jokes, and face-to-face interactions with people. Depending on the type of business you’re pursuing, you may not necessarily have regular interaction with people face-to-face and on a one-on-one basis.

If you work with clients/customers mainly on the telephone, why not arrange to meet them in person from time to time? If there are networking events in your area, why not make arrangements so you can attend one or two each month?

Online forums in your niche are great places to interact with like-minded people.  Over the past 16 days over 200 people have become part of a 30-day blog challenge (#blog30 on Twitter) and it has been interesting to see the level of interaction and support among participants as we visit each others blogs, leave comments, and promote each other on the social networks.

Perhaps like me, your spiritual activities also allow you to interact with another level of like-minded people.  When it’s all added together I never have time to be bored and feel isolated, but this is not the case with some persons.

How about you? If you work from home, do you feel isolated, and how do you deal with isolation?  Please share your thoughts in the Comments.

In my last post we highlighted how easy it is to allow ourselves to become distracted from our focus.  Here are 5 recommended action steps to help you to maintain your focus:

1.  Be specific in your objective. This makes a huge difference in reducing the level of distractions as your objective can be as broad as the ocean, which leaves you with a lot of room to flounder and get lost; or it can be narrow or focused as a little pond in your backyard that allows you limited freedom, but provides a place for growth.

For example: If your objective is “to make money online as an internet marketer” that is way to vague and you will lose focus by becoming bedazzled by all the information on the internet.  On the other hand make your objective more specific; perhaps, “I am going to be the best Affiliate Marketer I can learn to be in the next 6 months.” That will be your focus for the next six months so you will ignore all the other ‘opportunities’ that are offered to you. Read the rest of this entry »

For someone new to marketing on the internet it can be like taking a four-year old into a huge specialty candy store.  There is so much to see and so many appealing and delicious type of  candies for that child to choose from that she becomes overwhelmed! Imagine that the parent said, “Remember, you are only allowed to choose one.” A typical reaction in a whiny voice could be, “I don’t know which one to choose!”

One of the things I struggled with and am still working on is to avoid clicking on emails with a really good subject line. Sometimes it’s nothing new, perhaps an e-book with a catchy title.  I know I’ve heard the topic before, probably have something similar in a binder on my shelf or on my hard-drive, or may even be in a class on the topic, but natural curiosity impels me to take a look to see someone else’s take on a topic.  I may open the document and just scan it.  Five or 10 minutes later I’ve learned nothing new, but that’s five or 10 minutes lost.  That’s time I could have spent doing something in and for my business.  One solution I’ve implemented is to unsubscribe from a number of lists. Read the rest of this entry »