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

Work at Home Moms: Let Go of the Guilt

Many people who work from home know what it's like to get lost in "the zone" creating new things for their businesses. They also know what it's like to come out of this flow state and discover their homes transformed into what my mother refers to as a "pig sty."

Many view the chaotic wake left behind a flow state and berate themselves for neglecting their family or other responsibilities. Especially work at home moms tend to feel incredible guilt that they're bad mothers and that their businesses are robbing their family time. 

Still others become frustated when they can't always be "on." They'll have times when ideas and productivity are flowing, but then other times, they can't bring themselves to think of a single new idea or do what's necessary in their businesses. The following video outlines the stages of the creative process that every entrepreneur should know. Please know that the self-doubts and guilt-trips are rarely deserved! They are just part of the process – part of the natural ebb and flow.

In an upcoming course, I'll be teaching entrepreneurs how to minimize the chaotic wake and work with this cycle for a maximum business harvest. I'd love to hear your thoughts, comments and experiences about this cycle! Please leave your comments below.

If this video doesn't load for you, you may view it here.

Children in the Home Business Environment

Operating a home business is seldom easy and interruptions come in all shapes, sizes and forms.

Between the family, friends and neighbors who call or come by, and the telemarketers who insist on ringing your number off the hook, getting through the workday can be a real challenge.

When you introduce children into the home office environment, your productivity and patience can be seriously tested.

Read Stone's entire article Children in the Home Business Environment

Stone Evans, our official Home Business Expert

Faith -- the Key to Transforming Your Business

Faith is defined by Dr. Ernest Holmes, the founder of Science of Mind magazine, as "an idea so inwardly embodied that the mind can no longer conceive of its opposite." But what if your business is struggling and you feel like you are living its opposite right now? What if no matter how hard you try, all you see is its opposite? When you have faith, such as Dr. Holmes described, you don't have to "try" to have faith -- you just have it . . . Here's an example.

When you get up in the morning do you "try" to have faith that the electricity will work so you can have your morning coffee, or do you know and expect that it will?

Read Sandy's entire article Faith -- the Key to Transforming Your Business

Sandy Reed, our official Family Business Expert

How Much Money Are You Leaving on the Table?

If there is one thing most of you would agree on it's that few people have ever come across a situation made worse by having too much money. We all know in the business world more clients = more money.

In a study conducted by Dartnell and McGraw Hill the following statistics were discovered.

80 percent of all sales are made only after 5 or more contacts.
48 percent of all salespeople give up after the first contact.
25 percent give up after the 2nd contact.

Read Sandy's entire article How Much Money Are You Leaving on the Table?

Sandy Reed, our official Family Business Expert

Make More Money by Discovering the Why Behind the What

What makes a customer call you and hire you? Is it the ad you put in the newspaper, or the brochure you mailed to them, or the person who referred you? All of these things may be necessary ingredients in your marketing strategy, but they aren't the real reason a customer takes time out of their busy day to pick-up the phone and call you. The real reason lies behind their desire for a particular product or service.

The reason a prospective customer calls you is the way they hope your product or service will enhance their life.

Read Sandy's entire article Make More Money by Discovering the Why Behind the What

Sandy Reed, our official Family Business Expert

Surviving Technology - 5 Tips to Keep Your Customers from Firing You...

As a business owner, how you perceive your customers trickles down into all aspects of your business. How you feel about them, talk about them, and serve them provides a filter that your employees and service providers see through, and that your customers can perceive right away. This is a filter that your customers are intuitively aware of in their interactions with you. They will be attracted to you, or not, based on how you feel about serving them.

Read Sandy's entire article Surviving Technology - 5 Tips to Keep Your Customers from Firing You...

Sandy Reed, our official Family Business Expert

Is Compassionate Business an Oxymoron?

Sandy Reed, Our official Family Business Expert says:

How do you define a successful business? Is it how many customers you have? Is it how profitable you are or how you stand up to your competitors in the marketplace?

At a recent Seeds of Compassion event in Seattle, a whole new slant was given on the term "compassionate business". Of course, you would expect that to be the case when His Holiness the Dalai Lama was in attendance. Rev. Kathy Hearn wrote in the August 2008 Science of Mind Magazine, "One speaker shared that the "new zeitgeist" or leading edge in business is authenticity, caring, and transparency".

Read Sandy's entire article Is Compassionate Business an Oxymoron?

Life Changing? Are You Really Ready?

Sandy Reed, Our official Family Business Expert says:

Recently I had the opportunity to discover how grateful you can be for the little blessings in life -- like walking normally, without pain. I woke up one morning to a right leg that felt like it was a pin cushion. It felt like pins and needles were sticking in my leg, whenever it was touched. I could walk -- slowly. Somehow, unbeknownst to me, I had pinched a nerve. This was my first experience with sciatica, a common problem among many of us.

After three weeks of small improvements, and more anti-inflammatory, over-the-counter pain medication than I care to take, I decided to see a chiropractor.

Read Sandy's entire article Life Changing? Are You Really Ready?

Marketing Secrets Your Competitors Don't Want You to Know

Sandy Reed, Our official Family Business Expert says:

As you're gearing up for a new year of promoting your business, postcards can make it easy to take advantage of all the opportunities you have to tag onto holidays and milestone events throughout the year. Here are a few quick examples:

January: It's a New Year and I'm clearing out last year's inventory to make room for . . .

Read Sandy's entire article Marketing Secrets Your Competitors Don't Want You to Know