Job Got You Down? You Too Deserve a Business You Love!

I recently read a story in Susan Crandall's inspiring book
"Thinking About Tomorrow – Reinventing Yourself at Midlife"
about a man named George O. George earned a degree in
horticulture, worked for the USDA, and later had a thriving
career in the banking industry. He had been successful in
all of his careers, but none were his passion. To the
amazement of his friends and family, George left banking
and bought a small-town zoo. He is now a happy zookeeper,
passionate about his new life.

What made George reinvent himself in his mid-forties? A
wake-up call came when his brother-in-law was killed in a
plane crash. This made him realize: "I could die tomorrow
and miss out on something I really wanted to do." This is
George's lesson from his reinvention:

"Owning a business can mean longer hours than you'd ever
imagined working, but suddenly that's more than okay.
There's a new calculus when you're doing something you
love."

Midlife reinvention is becoming the passion of many of us
baby boomers, who are finally willing to listen to that
quiet inner voice telling us it's time to move on and find
a life we truly love - before it's too late. I, too, chose
to listen to my inner voice and left a corporate job I had
for 24 years. I now consider myself happily "unemployable".
Owning and operating two businesses is stressful and
exhausting at times - but I would never trade my new life
for the old one. I prefer having the freedom to make up my
life as I go along.

Do you feel that you're gifted or talented in a particular
area, but you've never had the time to find out if you're
right? Is there something you've been dreaming about doing
your entire life, but have been too busy raising children
and paying the mortgage to give it a fighting chance? There
comes a time in our lives when we realize that it doesn't
matter how gifted, talented, or attracted we are to
something if we choose to ignore it and bury our heads in
the routine of everyday life. And then the question in your
mind becomes, "How old is too old to pursue my dream?"

Here's another example of midlife reinvention or
re-creation, from Positive Thinking Magazine, Jan/Feb 2007.
Judi W. retired from a successful 20-year career to pursue
her lifelong dream of becoming a flight attendant - at the
age of 62. This was her second new career. At the age of 42
she earned her funeral director license. Although she loved
taking care of people, it was difficult moving up in that
male-dominated field. However, she worked hard and became
the first female funeral director at the company she worked
for. This experience gave her the confidence she needed to
move into her real dream career as a flight attendant. Now
she flies 12 legs over four days, then has 10 days off.
Judi says, "By the end of the 10 days, I'm chomping at the
bit to get back to work". Here are Judi's tips on how to do
what you love and love what you do.

"You're never too old! I took on new careers at 42 and 62."

"Look out for #1. When you take care of yourself, no one
else will need to."

"Have an attitude of gratitude. Be grateful for everything
you've been given."

If you're thinking about re-creating your life, here are
some thoughts for you to consider.

Seeing your life as little and insignificant doesn't serve
yourself or anyone else. Recreating yourself may be just
the thing you need to do to serve the world. You were born
with the power to create yourself in whatever manner you
choose. However, the changes you want must be done through
you - not to you. No one outside of you can give you a
magic potion that will bring you the results you are
looking for. These results must be earned by your
willingness to see in new ways and by letting go of old,
limiting beliefs.

If you're looking for peace in your decision to make the
changes necessary to recreate yourself, first find the
peace within yourself by finding your truth. Your strength
to make life changes comes from knowing yourself and what's
true for you. What compels you to live fully and
passionately? If you can't find your truth, then the time
may not be right to make a drastic change in your life.
Making changes at the wrong time can lead to stress; and
stress robs you of your peace, good health, and well being.
In my life, I have found that anything that feels stressful
is not a right decision. If you already feel physically ill
and overly stressed, anxious, nervous, and unable to
function at your full capacity, consider waiting and
reevaluating the changes you're considering. The time may
be right at a later date.

Take it one step at a time. Drastic changes are difficult
to undo. It may be best to take baby steps on the way to
your re-creation. If it's a career change, you may need to
take a vacation and spend part of it "walking in someone's
shoes" who is already doing what you think you want to do.
There is nothing like the education of actually doing the
work of your aspired profession. There are resources on the
internet that offer "career tryouts", which would place you
in a volunteer internship lasting 1 to 30 days. This would
allow you to be a silent observer or active participant,
depending on your level of skills and courage.

Be aware of how this re-creation will affect the parts of
your life that are most important to you. It's likely that
a career or life change will take a great deal of your
time, at least in the beginning stages. If spending time
with your family and friends is a high priority for you
right now, consider this in the choices you make about
career directions.

Be willing to face and embrace the unknown. Trying to look
too far ahead may keep you right where you are. If I had
known what was ahead of me, I'm not sure I would have made
the decisions I made. I would have missed out on my new
life that holds all the unlimited possibilities of freedom
and abundance.

Contrary to what the media would have you believe, there's
plenty of time to re-create your new life. Remember, it's
the feeling behind the form that tells you what you really
want. Consider this - if you can find a way to create that
feeling right now, your steps to creating your new life
will come easier and more quickly, if you decide to move
forward.

----------------------------------------------------
Sandy Reed, Certified Life Coach, ex-corporate manager, and
small business owner, is the coach to call for support when
you're ready to break out of the corporate prison, and
create a life of freedom and flexibility. Visit her website
at http://www.innerclaritylifecoaching.com for more tools
and information and to sign-up for her free mini-ecourse "7
Steps to Personal Power".

Guarantee First-Rate Relationships With Mexican Businesses

Formalities are an important part of doing business in
Mexico. Unlike the U.S. where people often start addressing
each other by the first name, Mexicans adhere to a more
formal manner of addressing each other. For initial
greetings, you should use the person's last name preceded
by Señor for men or Señorita for women. Do not address a
woman as Señora. Using Señora assumes the woman is married,
and assumptions can be dangerous. If the woman is married
or elderly, she will be flattered you addressed her as
Señorita. If the woman is married, she will let you know.

Professional titles are very important in Mexico. Two of
the most common titles are Ingeniero for engineers and
computer programmers and Licenciado for attorneys.
Licenciado is also accorded to any professional who has a
college degree. Licenciado is for men while Licenciada is
for women. Lic. is the abbreviation for Licenciado/a and
Ing. for Ingeniero/a.

Learn the person's title as soon as possible and start
using it. If the person you are talking with is a
Licenciado, instead of having to say Lic. Perez each time
you want to address the person, you can simply say
Licenciado. The use of the title by itself is perfectly
acceptable. We often use titles when speaking to certain
people such as "Officer", "Counselor" and "Doctor".

Your Mexican host will probably refer to you as Licenciado.
In its own way, a title lets you know how the other person
views you. If you are doing business, whether by phone or
in person, most Mexican professionals will assume you are a
Licenciado meaning you have a college degree. If you are
introduced or addressed as such, just accept it and realize
they will be calling you Licenciado during your
conversation.

Understanding titles is critical because you will use them
in all of your communications. A few years ago, I was at
one of the largest industry trade shows in the U.S., the
Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). I met a
Regional Sales Director for a large U.S. manufacturer,
Dunlee. This company sends products to Canada and Mexico so
I expected a director to know the fundamentals of Mexico's
cultural etiquette.

The Director had arranged for a follow up letter to be sent
to me. Since I was representing companies from Mexico, the
Director may have made a note that the letter should be
addressed to a Mexican professional. Imagine my surprise
when I received the letter from this international company
addressed to Mr. Lic. Villasana. What does this tell me
about the company? Someone in that organization has no clue
as to how titles work in Mexico.

If I were a Mexican business person receiving this message,
I would know the company had taken no interest in knowing
the absolute fundamentals of how to address me. It means
whoever addressed the letter, the Director or a
subordinate, did not understand that "Lic." is not an
abbreviation for a name.

I told this story to a couple of Mexican professionals. One
simply could not believe U.S. businesses could make such a
mistake. After the other professional stopped laughing, his
comment was similar to, "That's terrible!" The
professionals both agreed this disregard or ignorance with
titles showed, at the very least, a careless attitude
toward doing business with Mexican companies.

I tell you this story to better represent the significant
need to understand how fundamental titles are in your
communications. Get this right and you will have set the
foundation for good business relations in Mexico.

----------------------------------------------------
Want to enter Mexico's trillion dollar economy and maximize
your return on investment in the shortest time possible?
Through his company, Richard Villasana, The Mexico Guru,
has created a system through seminars and workshops that
allows clients to quickly generate profits in Mexico while
avoiding cultural mistakes that cost companies such as
Microsoft millions of dollars every year. Go to
http://www.TheMexicoGuru.com to learn more.

The 6 P’s of Personal Marketing

Unless you're using every advantage of Personal Marketing ,
you're not achieving all of the potential success that is
sitting there waiting for you to grab. Personal Marketing
means that you're providing the right impression of your
small business, right down to the smallest detail. If you
want to be more successful in all your various endeavors-
and especially in the case of a small business- you need to
know the six "P's" of personal marketing. These are a set
of concepts developed by business and entrepreneurship
experts that give you the key to unlocking your potential.

PERSONA

Who are you? What is your small business all about? What
kind of customer service do you provide? What are your
business values? What are you proud of ? What makes you
different from the competition ? These are questions
potential customers and clients must answer for themselves
in a short period of time. How they answer them depends
not just on what you say or what kind of persona you have
managed to convey to them. Your policies, atmosphere,
customer service, integrity, and overall quality are all
factors that you can usually control. Your business
"personality" has to shine through , so don't waste time
wondering if they'll like you. Simply be yourself and they
will.

POSITIONING

Everyone knows you have to be at the right place at the
right time and know the right people-right? While this is
true to some extent, more important to realize is that you
can put your business in the right place when the time is
right and get to know all the right people. Positioning is
how you do it- and this simply means you want to make sure
you're always in the best position possible.

PACKAGING

Just like you make decisions about the products you buy
based on their packaging, so do prospective customers and
clients. They make a decision about your business as a
whole by the atmosphere you put forward, the quality the
packaging of your specific products implies, and the
additional support, guarantees , and other peripheries that
you offer. When it comes to personal marketing, packaging
is a behind-the-scenes kind of preparation that's only
really obvious if you don't do it, or if you don't do it
right. If you've ever wondered how someone gets to be "the
whole package" it's because they put the time and
forethought into all the little things that many others
overlook. Just a little attention to your own packaging
can help you market yourself much more effectively.

PRESENTATION

Just as important as making sure you're "the whole package"
is paying close attention to every aspect of your
presentation. Again, this is a lot of little things that
can add up to a big impression-and you always want to make
a good one. It's an unfortunate reality in today's world
that appearances do matter, and they play a large role in
how prospective and current customers see you. Those who
market themselves effectively know that how you present
yourself is of the utmost importance, and it goes beyond
just having a fancy exterior. Providing quality service,
standing behind your products and services, presenting
effective follow-up, and maintaining an overall
professional and polite impression are all crucial elements
of your presentation.

PROMOTION

Perhaps the most important element of personal marketing is
promotion- shameless self-promotion. You know your
business, including its strengths, what makes it stand
above the rest, what makes it a good "deal" and what
qualities you possess: it's absolutely crucial you convey
this to potential customers.

PASSION

Last but certainly not least in the concepts that make up
personal marketing is passion-for what you're doing, for
who you are, and where you're going. Customers are looking
to know you-so don't waste time trying to be something
you're not. Instead, let your passion- your enthusiasm
and energy for the job you're doing and the things you
love-shine through and you're sure to meet with the kind of
success you've always dreamed of.

Remember, the key to effective personal marketing is
confidence. Don't be afraid to let others know what makes
you great, and why you're the best choice there is.

----------------------------------------------------
Robert Moment is an innovative small business coach ,
speaker and author. Robert specializes in teaching
entrepreneurs how to start a small business that profits
and grow. Visit http://www.howtostartyoursmallbusiness.com
and take the FREE Small Business Coaching 7 day e-course
titled, "Turn Passion into Profit: Small Business Startup".

Marketing Strategies For Your Business / Creating a Client Referral Process

As you may recall, I mentioned in last month's article that
there are several marketing strategies to fundamentally
build a business. The strategies are simple but not always
easy, however if they are coupled with vision, vigor and a
little tenacity, both business and life can be enjoyed with
ease and results produced with velocity.

Remember as these strategies unfold in your reading each
month, I never said it would be easy, however I am saying,
it "can" be done with ease AND velocity with the right
energy going in the right direction.

And you must keep in mind that you will have to address
what I call the "human condition."

The thing that will come between you and success is the
"human condition"; your self imposed barriers, road blocks,
and what you think you already know. Be aware of the
barriers and road blocks as you read these.

Yes, I'm repeating this each month intentionally. Why? The
two most prominent reasons are: to shift how you think in a
way that builds your muscles to understand the fundamentals
of marketing AND to address the human condition that stops
you from implementing them.

Keep in mind that Vision must be first… Another critical
part of effective marketing is the "Client Referral
Strategy".

This strategy is simple, you create a process or system for
having your clients refer business to you.

A client whom you are providing excellent service to will
often see value in your services and will refer business to
you.

Most people wish their clients would refer business. Some
clients do and some don't. I say, the reason clients aren't
doing so is because there's not a process in place, however
if you create a "client referral process" then clients
would refer business more often.

Now, it is important to insert here that there is an
assumption you acquired the client through the process of
previous articles, which would mean they are your ideal
client, one you chose to work with.

If that is the case, then the client referral process
should include:

A Request – you must ask the client to refer business to
you.

Commitment - a commitment from the client to refer business.

Inspiration – you must regularly inspire them to share your
services or product with others. After all, they know best
how valuable it is.

Motivation – you must regularly motivate them to do so by
educating them on the benefits of others having it. Or
motivate them in your own way.

Dedication and truth – you must dedicate and commit
yourself to nurturing your authentic relationship with the
client. This will also create a sense of loyalty and
dedication to you as their service provider or retailer.

The last one is critical as you must bring authentic
relationship to your client. Meaning you must be genuinely
interested in your client and they too will most likely be
genuinely interested in you.

There are many ways to create the process. The key is to
have a process or system that keeps your clients actively
pursuing new business with and for you.

Therefore, your system must also include a follow up
processes as well. Some clients will forget that they are
to refer business so you must remind them.

Create a Client Referral Process and your clients will
always look for ways to refer business to you.

Critical points of this article!

• Know your vision

• Know your ideal client

• Build authentic relationships

• Create a Client Referral Process and System.

• Remember, you also must "implement" the strategies
channeling the right energy in the right direction to have
them be most effective and reflect success in your business.

You don't have to be in business alone or struggle to make
it successful.

----------------------------------------------------
The Power, Passion & Purpose Group, brings over twenty
years experience in business, relationship and individual
life coaching. Join the P3groups mailing list to receive
their online magazine - The P3 Power Boost Magazine for
Women at http://www.TheP3Group.com .

Is it Matt Dillon or are you carrying 45s ?

If you been around the network marketing business for more
than a couple months you are certain to know your business
will not build itself magically. In fact, your business
will NOT grow unless you or someone in your organization
takes action. That is Massive action. Remember what you do
today normally will show up and pay off in 90 days. Oh yes
that another article. Back to the colt 45 kid and the power
of his 45s. Unfortunately, no one will build your business
for you. so if you truly want success, you must take the
bull by the horns and get in the action. This means
stepping outside your comfort zone.

I know stepping out of your comfort zone is not easy. In
fact, sometimes it is difficult to even take the first
step. But to truly succeed, you have to be the one to make
a commitment to yourself and to your business. This
commitment must be a commitment to not accept mediocre
results. Your commitment must be to take consistent action
and accept the fact it is up to you to take action to get
the results you want. To build a solid long term residual
based business, you need to build on a solid foundation.
That foundation can only built by you. This means you have
to begin learning the skills to take action and take those
actions consistently over a sustained period of time. If
you are unwilling to take such action, you don't belong in
the business. You belong in just a job.

In my discussion, I talked about how many times people try
to get consistent in action but have trouble in staying
consistent. The question came to mind of why this happens.
I dug deep and revealed the fact that there needs to be
balance in action and action needs to be consistent to
ensure results are achieved with any strategy. It seems
most people are not taking a proper level of action,
meaning they are keeping busy but the actions they take to
work with prospects is limited. This can be a result of
many things including undeveloped skills in prospecting and
recruiting. The first step in evaluating level of action is
to do a 6 week test of your actions. This means tracking
your actions for 6 weeks and that the actions taken must be
at a minimum level (your benchmark). Anything less then
that minimum will not give you a true reading of what it
takes you to sponsor one person into your business.

What is the 45s?

The 45s is a principle, somewhat like a mathematical
principle. Basically, the 45 (for short) works to keep a
consistent level of action as a balance point to create
action results. When prospecting there is a certain level
of minimum action required to create the momentum needed to
create results. When we are talking of the 45s, we are
referring to making a minimum of 45 dials of the phone each
week. The number 45 works almost magically as any number of
dials less than 45 will not create the momentum of your
personal action, thus producing less than desired results.
While skill development is essential in enhancing overall
results, lack of action will always yield a poor result. It
is extremely important to maintain a minimum standard of
performance in your actions. Overtime, if you maintain the
minimum standard of action taken, your skills will improve.
the results improve as well. The 45s are real. Based on
national averages, we know that out of 45 dials, you will
get 15 completed calls. That is a call where some one will
talk to you and not just leaving a messege on the answering
machince. This does not count. Of those 15 completed calls,
you will get 5 appointments (prospects interested in taking
a closer look). Of the 5 appointments, you will get 1 new
downline. Now that is a national average. You may perform
above or below that average. The average marketer with
average skills will maintain that average. So, doing less
than 45 dials (per week)( I do 45 dials a day)will keep
overall results low. Maintaining 45 or more dials a week
will have you recruiting a minimum of one person a week.

A Few Tips to Remember When Applying the 45s

•Don't Forget the Selling Cycle!

It is extremely important to NOT forget about your selling
cycle, which is the average amount of time it takes your
prospect to reach a decision. In most network marketing
companies, to get a new subscriber it takes 21 to 30 days.
This 21 to 30 days is our selling cycle. Yours may be
quicker or slower. What matters is you take the selling
cycle into consideration when you are marketing. You see,
what most people do is they forget about the selling cycle.
They take one week and make 45 dials and see they did not
get one new person. So what do they do? They quit taking
action and start searching to improve other areas.The fact
is it will take time for the selling cycle to kick in. This
means you MUST stay consistent with a minimum of 45 dials
for a number of weeks before you start to see the results.
That is why we recommend tracking for 6 weeks before making
your overall plan of action on a long term basis. You must
first understand what it takes YOU to sponsor one person.
Again remember what you do today will pay of in 90 days!

•Track Your Progress!

Form a habit of tracking consistently. This will help you
understand your personal ratios in prospecting and
recruiting. Remember that you cannot improve what you do
not know. Tracking should be done daily to ensure daily
action is taken. Use daily and weekly tracking sheets.

•Use a Contact Management Program!

Using a contact management program will help you stay on
top of your follow-up and helps you make efficient use of
your time. There are many web based and software programs
on the market. I personally use Outlook 2007! which is
designed specifically for sales people. A good contact
management program will allow you to track actions as well
as note histories. This helps you recall prior
conversations with prospects. In addition, your contact
program should allow for you to keep a calendar and
schedule your time.

•The 45s Works If You Put It to Work For You!

Keep in mind that you are at the controls of your business.
You are responsible and accountable for your own personal
growth or failure. The 45s works if you put it to work for
you in your business. What that means is you must take the
necessary actions in your business consistently. To make a
minimum of 45 dials of the phone a week and consistently
over time you will see results in your business. Do NOT
worry about getting everything right as you get started.
Just get yourself in the action. Over time, your skills
will improve as well as the results. Put the 45s into your
action plan today! Be sure to track your actions and do the
45s and watch the business grow and grow larger than you
ever thought.

----------------------------------------------------
If you want a Free cd about what the Heavy hitters of MLM
WILL not tell you or to Join "Robin's Renegagdes" you need
to contact Dr Robin Rushlo at blindguy55@msn.com or start
today at http://www.cashwithbooks .
Remember you can also learn more of the 35 years in Network
Marketing from Dr Robin Rushlo at http://www.blindgevity.com
Have a great day and get your other freebies at
MLMSTRIPPED@msn.com
Thanks

What does Barack Obama have that Hillary Clinton doesn't when it comes to Leadership Persona?

And Why do you care?

If you're Taking the Reins of leadership or have the desire
to become a leader then paying attention to this 1
leadership lesson, which you see played out in the media
each and every day, is by far one of the most important
lessons in leadership you will ever learn.

To take the reins and attract followers you need to have
leadership persona! What is persona and how do you get it?

You begin your path of learning leadership skills by
learning about your-self and how your whole self which
includes your body language, body carriage and body energy
affects others before you ever even open your mouth. Taking
the reins of leadership means you must take the
responsibility for self growth, self-awareness and
management.

Regardless of Hillary or Barack's politics, their views on
the war in Iraq, homeland security or health care in
America… you are either attracted to them or you're not.
That is persona! And what's more no matter how smart you
consider yourself or how up on the candidates particular
political views you are…again you are either attracted to
them or you are not. If you're not then no matter how much
you might want to follow that person or vote for that
person you will find it difficult or almost impossible.

I dare say that Hillary Clinton has more experience than
Barack Obama and therefore may be considered by some to be
the best candidate, but she doesn't seem to be well liked
and therein lays the problem. People do business with and
follow individuals they know, like and trust. Individuals
that have persona! Though sometimes illusive this one thing
can make the difference in our presidential elections and
in your successful taking the reins of leadership.

A list of synonyms for persona is: character, personality,
façade, front, face, qualities and guise. When you look at
this list you don't see anything that tells you why people
respond to Hillary one way and Barack another. In my
previous articles I stated that leadership comes from
within and has to begin with knowing who you are and what
effect you have on people. You either effect them
positively with your persona or negatively and it certainly
behooves you to find out which if you choose to be a person
who takes the reins of leadership.

While it's imperative that you be who you really are, in
other words you must be authentic or people see through you
and do not trust you, you may need to adapt your style to
meet the needs of the situation and the people you want to
lead. In learning your leadership skills you may need to
learn to soften your tone or posture or voice.

When I feel deeply about something then I tend to come
across very serious and stern which is not always
appealing…so I understand that Hillary might be feeling
very deeply about her role and the responsibilities that
come with that role. She may be…now trust me here, I have
no inside track to Hillary…I am merely surmising, that she
is a caring, hard working, and serious minded candidate.
The problem seems to be that again regardless of either
political candidates views they are either just plain easy
to be around and likable or they are not. Therein lays
their success and yours as a leader.

Do you know how you come across to the people you want to
lead? Do you know what your persona is? If you don't then
that had best be the first step in your learning leadership
skills because no matter what else you do…whether
individuals follow you as their leader or choose to follow
someone else…it will come back to your Persona!

My suggestion is to take the first step in learning
leadership skills by learning about your-self and then
learning more about managing your-self so that you come
across as the leader you choose to be. In other words when
you decide to take the reins of leadership then growing
your Emotional Intelligence is essential.

----------------------------------------------------
Jean Starling has an MBA in International Business, is an
author, trainer, & business consultant. With over 20 years
in leadership, management, consulting & training she is an
expert at leading to break-through results. Author of
Taking the Reins, a book of stories that teach leadership
in an innovative way. Visit her online for your gift,
Become a People Whisperer. http://www.taking-the-reins.com

Contact mailto:jean@Taking-the-reins.com

Take Time Out For Your Home Based Business

Sometimes when life is busy, its difficult to find time to
step back and analyze what you're doing with your life and
whether it's going in the direction you want it to. You
know you want to set a home based business, but you never
seem to have a second to think about it. Here are some
ideas to help you find that time.

1. Take time to dream; somewhere, in the back of your mind,
a little voice is telling you that you want a new start.
You want to be independent. You want your own home based
business. Take 5 minutes to sit back, close your eyes and
dream about it. Does your dream appeal to you? If it does –
it's time to look into it further.

2. Family; parents, partner or siblings tend to be more
perceptive about us than we are. Ask them what they think.
Would it be the right thing for you to do? What areas
should you look at?

3. Social life; in the early stages of you home based
business it is important that you realize your social life
will suffer. If that is too big a hurdle for you, then
perhaps building a home based business is not for you and
it could be time for a rethink.

4. Holiday time; perhaps taking a break from work could
give you useful think time. Time out to reflect can be just
what you need and if you're positive that a home based
business is what you want. Perhaps you can even take the
first steps towards getting it up and running and go back
to work with a new spring in your step!

5. Commuting time; if you travel to and from work by public
transport, then use that time to good effect. Switch off
your phone and concentrate on your home based business. Jot
down ideas, start to write up your business plan, write
yourself a to do list. It's time effective.

6. Walk; If you have a dog, take it out for a long walk. If
you don't have a dog, borrow one! Fresh air is good for
creative thinking. An early morning walk will give you time
to think and plan the day ahead.

7. Talk to your boss; if you think your boss would be
sympathetic, then share your plans with them. If you have
been a valued employee, they will be sad to lose you, but
you never know – depending on the area your home based
business is in, your old firm could be your first client,
or your first supplier, or even just a good place to
advertise.

8. D.I.Y.; sometimes doing some jobs around the house,
painting or digging the garden, can provide you with some
useful think time too. And you'll end up gaining points
with your partner!

9. Have a bath; instead of racing in and out of the shower,
take time to have a soak in the bath. Again this will give
you time to take stock of where you want to go with your
home based business.

10. Lunch time; at lunch time get right out of your work
environment. Take a picnic to the park or visit your
favorite coffee shop. This will give you valuable extra
time. Take your notebook with you and keep working on those
ideas!

In short, use every available opportunity to focus your
thoughts on your home based business. Do this and your idea
will take root and begin to grow!

----------------------------------------------------
Scott Oliver offers free video coaching to help you build a
profitable home business FAST. Get an hour of "Website
Traffic Secrets" and "Minisite Creation Tactics" for FREE
-- immediate access here:
http://www.InstantWebsiteBusiness.com

A DJ's guide to managing your audience

This is one of those areas of life that is all about your
brain. You know the phrase "fake it to make it" - well, I'm
not actually recommending that you fake anything, but what
I am saying may surprise you (if you're still an
inexperienced performer).

As an inexperienced DJ, I used to hang out and study the
professionals in my area. One DJ in particular - actually,
and sadly unusually, a young woman - took pity on me and
began to befriend me, mentoring me a little. She would chat
to me in-between tracks, checking out whether I was able to
explain back to her why she had made particular sequencing
choices; asking me what tune I would be planning to play
three records ahead; or getting me to tell her which
segments of the audience that were not dancing at that
moment she should aim some tunes at within the next 20
minutes or so.

(You do think in these ways yourself, don't you, when
running your set? A pro-DJ should be highly audience-aware,
and be planning ahead to ensure that as many segments of
the audience as possible get to hear tunes that suit them.
That's good business. It also takes a lot of gigs to get
your antennae working effectively!)

Anyway, what happened is this: one night, in a moderately
busy club at about 1 p.m., my mentor popped to the toilet.
Except she didn't pop; she disappeared altogether. I was
standing there waiting for her to return as the track -
"You're putting a Rush on Me" (what a joke!) - neared its
end.

Suddenly, I knew exactly what she had done. I knew this was
a test; I knew she was watching from somewhere in the club.
I also knew that the club's staff, and the regular
customers, had got used to seeing me nearby or alongside
the DJ, and that they would assume I was taking over while
Susie took a break.

So I did. The next record was ready, and I faded it in; and
for the next 30 minutes I was in heaven. I selected the
tunes, monitored the audience, and tried hard to look as
cool and unexcited as I could. And just as many people were
dancing when Susie came back half an hour later as had been
when she left!

What did this teach me (apart from enduring adoration for
Susie)?

Authority, composure, being in control, professionalism,
even coolness - they're in the eyes of the beholder. The
audience and staff that night treated me like Susie's
deputy, and so I was. I even treated myself like it!

It's as though there is a real you and a cartoon you. The
audience sees the cartoon you, not the real you. Stay with
that thought and use it: the cartoon you - the stage DJ -
can have a different persona to your private self.

Even if (like me) you're actually a bit shy, the cartoon
you needn't evidence any shyness.

If you act confident then your confidence is basically a
matter of fact. After all, how does your audience know
you're nervous unless you transmit that to them?

I couldn't have picked a better way to learn that lesson,
and it has helped me make performing relatively easy ever
since.

By the way,if any of you are involved in training, or even
in the same situation that I used to be in and you have
identified a mentor - the type of interaction I described
earlier is, I now have learned, one of the most powerful
and enduring training methods known in the business world.
Most people don't get that sort of detailed, specific,
practical, real-time mentoring. If you can organize it for
yourself from a pro DJ you admire, rip his or her hands off!

----------------------------------------------------
Carlton Brown
http://www.djequipmentsecrets.com

Business Meetings: Who to Invite

Business meetings can fail for many reasons, and one of the
most common is that the wrong people are in attendance. In
planning your business meeting, here are some questions to
ask yourself before deciding who to invite.

--- Who has information that will be needed for discussion
of the agenda items? Issues that can't be resolved because
the person with the information is not there are a
frustrating waste of time. If there are several items on
the agenda, consider having certain people attend only for
the appropriate items. This respects their time, while
allowing the group to have the information it needs.

--- Who has approval authority for the subject under
discussion? If you have a productive discussion of a plan
of action, but someone who will play a vital role can't
make the necessary decisions without approval from someone
else, you've both wasted time and reduced your chances of
approval. It's much better to have the person with
authority in the room while the subject is discussed in
context so that they can hear firsthand the arguments for
and against the plan.

--- Who has the expertise to comment on proposed actions?
If, for example, you are contemplating a project that will
involve large scale introduction of new software, make sure
you have at your meeting someone with the expertise to
gauge the amount of time and resources the project will
require. This will avoid any nasty surprises afterwards.

--- Who will record the proceedings? A record should be
kept of decisions taken even at informal meetings, and
copies sent as quickly as possible to all attendees.
Ideally, the recorder should be someone who is not actively
taking part in the discussion, as it's difficult to handle
both tasks effectively. A competent assistant is a good
choice for this role.

--- Who will follow up on action items? Depending on the
group, sometimes the assistant who records the meeting can
also be responsible for following up to make sure people do
what they committed to do. In this case, it's a good idea
for the meeting leader to announce at the end of the
meeting that this person has the authority to do this, and
ask for everyone's cooperation. This way, you won't put a
staff person in an awkward position when following up with
relatively senior people.

Avoid inviting people to business meetings just because
they're there. If they have nothing to contribute, or no
need to know the results of the meeting, there's no point
in wasting their time or a seat at the table.

----------------------------------------------------
Helen Wilkie is a professional speaker and author,
specializing in workplace communication. Subscribe to her
free monthly e-zine, "Communi-keys" at
http://www.mhwcom.com/pages/communikeys.html and get your
free 40-page e-book, "23 ideas you can use RIGHT NOW to
communicate and succeed in your business career"