Small Business Success Strategies

Attention Stay At Home Moms: You Can Make Money Online

Stone Evans, our official Home Business Expert

Home business expert Joy Atkisson of http://www.FigureIncome.com is now showing other stay-at-home moms--and anyone else who wants to make money online--the information they need to launch a successful, money-making website.

Right now, Joy is offering those interested in tapping into the unlimited earning potential of the Internet a free download of the e-book, "Dotcomology: The Science of Making Money Online" by renowned marketing expert Stone Evans.

"There is nothing better than starting a successful business and then working from the comfort of home," Joy states. "The businesses I feature on my website really do allow people to have the best of both worlds."

Read Stone's entire article Stay-At-Home Mom Learns to Make Money Online

Walking on a Dream: Take Baby Steps To Succeed

Dr. Valerie Young, our official Career Change Expert

Taking Baby Steps on Behalf of a Dream: What One Man's Story Can Teach You About Living the Life You Want 

In the last issue of Changing Course was the story of Angela and her dream of living in Spain. Angela's unfulfilled dream prompted this response from a very engaging fellow named Liam Hughes from Milwaukee, Wisconsin who also dreamed of living in another country.

Regardless of whether your dream is to travel internationally, start your own consulting company, or set up shop on eBay, Liam's story offers lessons to anyone who wants to turn their dreams into reality. Here is Liam's story in his own words:

For years I had been going to Ireland to visit family. Then in 1989 a cousin in Ireland told me that a cottage close to the family farm was up for sale. Although it had been empty for several years and required a lot of work, I knew I had found home. My great grandfather came from Knockahopple in the mid-1800s and I was returning. I put a bid on it and after some back and forth, I was happy to say I owned a very nice cottage on two acres.

Happy but broke. Not because I paid so much for the cottage but because at the time I wasn't in the best shape financially. I needed a car in the worst way but the prospect of owning a cottage in Ireland was so exciting that I forgot about how badly I needed a car. Money was so tight then that I wasn't able to get back to Ireland for another two years. The point is I made sacrifices. But without a doubt it was the best investment I probably will ever make. The Euro came in and my property value went through the roof.

Read Valerie's entire article Taking Baby Steps on Behalf of a Dream:

The Ultimate Decision: Your Money or Your Life

In their thought-provoking bestseller, Your Money Or Your Life, authors Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin lay out their nine-step plan to help readers achieve "financial independence." The quest for financial independence should not be confused with becoming independently wealthy. Instead, being financially independent means "having an income sufficient for your basic needs and comforts from a source other than paid employment." Central to creating a more fulfilling life independent of paid employment is the recognition of the price we pay for the money we earn. The Trade Off This cost is described by the authors in terms of "life energy," meaning, the precious and limited time each of us has here on this earth. When you go to work each day, you are, in essence, trading your life energy for money. The popular pitch "buy now, pay later" takes on new meaning when you start to really assess the price of spending so much of your life energy earning money so you can buy more things. "If you spend your life energy on stuff that brings only passing fulfillment and doesn't support your values," the authors point out, "you end up with less life."

Read Valerie's entire article The Ultimate Decision: Your Money or Your Life

Valerie Young, our official Career Change Expert

Bringing Your Product Idea to Market

The great thing about traveling is opening my hotel room door in the morning to find that day's edition of USA Today. In just about every issue of this national newspaper (a great stroke of entrepreneurial genius itself) is an article that gets my entrepreneurial juices flowing.

The February 4th issue featured a story about the growing trend among baby-boomers for more natural, at-home, eco-friendly funerals. Or as the article puts it: No embalming, no funeral directors. No sticker shock.

Read Valerie's entire article Bringing Your Product Idea to Market

Valerie Young, our official Career Change Expert

Real Life Entrepreneurs Steal the Show:

Real Life Entrepreneurs Steal the Show: Two New Reality Shows Depict Entrepreneurs Going After Their Dreams

One reason for the rise of an entire new television genre known as "reality TV" is that the people in the shows are one of us. There are no trained actors, no scripts. There are just regular people rising and falling, triumphing and struggling, winning and losing. Two new series – one on television and one online - follow the true life stories of aspiring entrepreneurs.

In a recent piece on National Public Radio about ABC's new reality show American Inventor, the commentator posed the question "Can it do for geeks what American Idol did for pop singers?" Given that one of the shows' producers is infamous American Idol judge Simon Cowell, it just might.

Read Valerie's entire article Real Life Entrepreneurs Steal the Show:

Valerie Young, our official Career Change Expert

The Key to Changing Course is to Start: 6 Tips on How to Get Started

Sometimes signs arrive when you least expect them. On a recent dog walk along the Connecticut River, I spotted a large white sign tacked to a tree on the opposite shore. The sign contained a single word: Start.

This simple but powerful word got me thinking of all the different places someone who wanted to change course could start. Here are 6 tips to get you started on getting started:

1. Start where you are. The great tennis player Arthur Ashe once said, "Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can." Let's say the main thing holding you back from is money. You might start by downsizing your life now so when you do take the leap, you'll be better prepared to earn less in the short term.

Read Valerie's entire article The Key to Changing Course is to Start: 6 Tips on How to Get Started

Valerie Young, our official Career Change Expert

Taking Baby Steps on Behalf of a Dream:

Taking Baby Steps on Behalf of a Dream: What One Man's Story Can Teach You About Living the Life You Want

In the last issue of Changing Course was the story of Angela and her dream of living in Spain. Angela's unfulfilled dream prompted this response from a very engaging fellow named Liam Hughes from Milwaukee, Wisconsin who also dreamed of living in another country.

Regardless of whether your dream is to travel internationally, start your own consulting company, or set up shop on eBay, Liam's story offers lessons to anyone who wants to turn their dreams into reality. Here is Liam's story in his own words:

Read Valerie's entire article Taking Baby Steps on Behalf of a Dream:

Valerie Young, our official Career Change Expert

If You Think You Can't Change Course... You're Right

You've heard the expression that some people see the glass as half full while others perceive the same glass to be half empty? Yesterday I had the opportunity to see this difference in perception in action.

My father and I drove to the airport to pick up my some family members visiting from Florida. It was 100 degrees and muggy. "Knowing" there wouldn't be any parking spaces close to the terminal, my father was inclined to head directly to the back lot where we'd be sure to find a space.

Read Valerie's entire article If You Think You Can't Change Course... You're Right

Valerie Young, our official Career Change Expert

Business Planning 101: Do You Really Need a Business Plan?

Go to just about any small business start-up advisor, class, website, or book and they'll all tell you the same thing -- before you do anything you must write a business plan.

Case in point: According to the Small Business Administration, "the importance of a comprehensive, thoughtful business plan cannot be overemphasized. Much hinges on it: outside funding, credit from suppliers, management of your operation and finances, promotion and marketing of your business, and achievement of your goals and objectives."

Read Valerie's entire article Business Planning 101: Do You Really Need a Business Plan?

Valerie Young, our official Career Change Expert

Have a Great Idea for a Business? Test the Waters Before Diving In

Now and then I meet someone (usually a young person) who tells me they really like helping with people, so they’re thinking about going into Human Resources or HR as it’s commonly referred to. They imagine themselves sitting in their large private office eagerly awaiting a long line of interesting employees with interesting problems in need of interesting solutions.

Ask most people who are already in HR though and they’re likely to paint a very different picture. Instead of spending time helping people, most people in HR spend the better part of their jobs days dealing with the "administrivia" of the business world – hiring, terminations, benefits, pensions, payroll, and all too often, petty grievances.

Read Valerie's entire article Have a Great Idea for a Business? Test the Waters Before Diving In

Valerie Young, our official Career Change Expert