Relationship Marketing | Build Your Online Business

I've never considered myself a ‘pack-rat' but I must admit I have a challenge with throwing things away – ‘just in case I'm going to need it.’ We are shaped, in part, by our childhood and I often wonder if I hold on to things because of my mother's painful experience when I was a child. I grew up hearing about the unfortunate day she cleaned out drawers and destroyed some very important documents that were irreplaceable and were closely tied in to her family history. That may have created my reluctance to throw out papers.

Are you a hoarder or is your philosophy like my husband’s, “If you haven't used it in six months, you don't need it?”  What does this have to do with our business?  A lot!

What is your work environment like?  Is it cluttered? Even if there is a resemblance of order, are you surrounded by outdated and irrelevant materials that take up space but have no real value?   As I look at the shelves in my home office they are weighed down with three-ring binders of different sizes and colors, neatly arranged but packed with lots of files. I've finally come to grips with the reality that I need to go through those binders and get rid of files that are no longer relevant.  I have to make office decluttering a goal!

When I started my online business at the end of 2008 I basically stopped buying shoes and started buying programs, packages, and training manuals  of all kinds that I hoped would guide me on the path to  success with my online business.  I printed everything!

Unfortunately, with the passage of time and changes in technology, etc. some of these are no longer relevant. For example, there is a binder filled with an entire training series – free and paid – on Facebook.  Facebook has undergone so many changes in just the past year alone that there is very little value in those files anymore.  There are other binders that contain information I can refer to that can help with research, but will I ever take the time to do so?

In addition, before starting my online journey, I had offline businesses, and there again are several binders with information on prospects and customers, training materials, etc. Those will be on their way out!

Of course, my shelves are also filled with valuable eBooks and training like Dennis Becker’s $5 Bucks a Day Report, Willie Crawford’s 20 Ways to Make $100 and Denise Wakeman’s Online Visibility Secrets.

My paperback collection of business books include Connie Ragen Green’s Huge Profits With Affiliate Marketing, Michele Scism’s Makeover Your Business in 6 Weeks or Less and Bob Jenkins’ Take Action Revise Later among many others.

This decluttering project is one of my projects for the first quarter of this year. How about you?  What is your working environment like?  If you work from home, does it motivate you to produce your best or does it sap you of your energy.  Make decluttering a goal rather than  a ‘New Year’s resolution!' Set a goal with a completion date. You will be glad you did.

Is decluttering a challenge for you? If not, what suggestions do you have to keep this recurring? Please share your experiences with us and leave your comments below.  We can support each other 🙂

If you work from home you invariably have multiple responsibilities.  You may be a work-at-home-woman or a work-at-home-man. Your reasons for working from home may differ, but ultimately the goal is the same: To earn an income from the business activities you engage in from home.  Note that I mentioned “from home.”  While home is the base for many of us, our actual work activities may take us away from home for chunks of time. On the other hand, some jobs may involve spending the majority of time working in your home office.

Set a Schedule and Learn to Say “No”

The challenge for many of us at the end of each day is answering the question,  “Where did the time go?” People who work from home usually fall into one of two camps: 1) Those who set a schedule and try their best to stick to it 2) Those who ‘go with the flow.'

If you have a schedule, do you stick to it or do you find yourself constantly engaged in non-business activities during designated business hours?  Do you find it hard to say “No” (more…)

New Year Resolutions?  Why wait?  At this time of the year many people start to focus on what they want to achieve in the new calendar year and so they make a list of their new year resolutions.  But as I started thinking about it, I wondered if it would not be more beneficial to start those processes right away.

The main advantage is that when 2011 starts, you will already have begin to implement the changes you resolve to make and would have strategies in place to get the desired results.

Reducing clutter important.  Experts confirm that in order to expand and grow, you must remove or reduce clutter in your life.  For those of us who work from home this can be clutter on your computer, clutter on your desk, and clutter in your home office in general.

Declutter Your Computer. Does your desktop look like a billboard with neon colors?  Do you have folders (more…)