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Archives
May 13, 2010
The Key to Making Fewer Mistakes... Where to Find Your
Next Moneymaker... Success for the Underdog... Goals are
Essential for Info Marketing Entrepreneurs... and More.
The Key to Making Fewer Mistakes
By Adrian Newman, Founder of e-Wealth Daily
When you start your own business, you're going to be tempted
to work all the time and put in a lot of hours to make sure your
venture is a success. I see it all the time, particularly with sole
proprietors who are relying on themselves only. However, you
need to know that burning yourself out could lead to disaster.
You want your business to be successful, right? Of course you
do. And there's nothing wrong with that. But when you push
yourself too hard, you end up making careless mistakes.
On a very general level, think about when you're tired and at
home. Maybe you forget to turn off lights or the television or
forget to put the milk back in the fridge. These things are very
minor omissions, but when it comes to missing things in
business, there's no such thing as a minor mistake -- they all
end up costing you.
If you put in 12-hour days and push yourself to the brink of
exhaustion, it's only a matter of time before you will make a
mistake. You will forget to make a deposit or make a payment
to a supplier. You will forget to make a loan payment or call
back a customer. Small mistakes or omissions can result in the
loss of business, credit problems, or something worse.
Also, when things start going wrong, it can be difficult to break
free from the snowball effect that can occur. Meaning that
when you have to go back and fix something, the next task on
your list will suffer as a result.
If you're burning yourself out, then you're probably not
allowing yourself to recharge. I realize that having your own
business requires attention, but if you're feeling that you are
working yourself too hard and you start to miss things, you are
making mistakes, or your personal life is suffering, then it may
be a sign that you need help.
If you can't afford a full-time employee, then enlist the help of
someone on a part-time basis. You can even get the help of
your spouse or a family member. You won't have to pay them
a huge amount, but it will take off some of the pressure that
comes with overworking yourself.
Don't be afraid that if you're not attending to the business 24
hours a day, seven days a week, something will go wrong --
it's not an inevitability.
Focus on utilizing your time to its fullest when working. Make
every hour of your day count. Budget your time so that you can
fit everything into an eight- or nine-hour day. You can do this
by working out a schedule for certain tasks and sticking to it.
Schedules might need to be adjusted as situations arise, so you
also need to give yourself some leeway for such occasions.
Also allow for some downtime in your day for lunch and for
making follow-up calls to customers or cold-calling new
customers.
Don't forget about when you have somewhere to be, such as a
family event or something equally important. Make sure you
attend. If you begin to burn yourself out and your personal life
suffers, your business life will inevitably start to suffer as well.
So make time for yourself. If you know you are pushing
yourself too hard, take a step back and recharge your battery.
You can make up for lost hours, but remember: mistakes are
much harder to recover from.
Where to Find Your Next Moneymaker
By John Hurd, Chief Wealth Researcher
When you're looking for new and exciting ways to make
money, you may begin to worry that you can't come up with a
great idea. What I want you to know is that you don't have to
worry.
That's because big ideas are around you almost every day; it
just takes some creativity to uncover them.
You can start searching for your big idea by considering your
own personal needs. What would make your day-to-day life
easier? What do you need to get things done faster, with less
effort, or to get them out of the way for the last time?
Your big idea doesn't have to be an invention; it could be a
service missing from your community or a new way to access
information you want to know about.
You've probably heard the old saying, "Necessity is the mother
of all invention." And you may find that what you need most
could be exactly what you're going to think up.
Now, maybe you're pretty comfortable and can't really see
what would make your life a bit better. Then take it one step
further and consider the needs of your friends and family.
You could uncover a way to help your elderly relatives get
more things accomplished in a day. It could even be something
small that saves just a few minutes.
To go another step further, you can also consider the needs of
your community. Scan the newspaper for important topics in
your local area. These could be a great source for inspiration.
Many local success stories can be traced back to a strong
connection with the community they started in. So, get to know
your neighborhood and your city. There is probably a lot to
uncover.
You're going to want to stick to what you know or what you
can learn about in the beginning. You may be following huge
national issues and hot topics and start coming up with ideas
that could help. Remember, though, you can't solve everyone's
problems, so start small and build your way to the top, because
big ideas have a tendency to grow for a long time.
Success for the Underdog
By Michael Newman, Self-made Millionaire
Yesterday, I wrote about the importance of setting limits and
determining how much you're willing to risk in order to grow
your business.
I mentioned the importance of listening to what people have to
tell you. After all, you can get plenty of valuable insight from
experienced business people who can teach you the tools of the
trade. However, there may be times that you don't like hearing
what they have to say.
Sometimes, you have to put the naysayers behind you and
accomplish what you truly believe you're capable of -- within
reason. After all, anything is possible in this world.
I really began to consider this last night, while watching a
playoff hockey game between the last-seeded Montreal
Canadiens and the current champ, Pittsburgh Penguins.
Montreal won the game to a force a deciding game seven. If
that's not impressive enough, they already knocked off the
number one seeded team from the playoffs during the previous
round. Before the playoffs started, no one gave them a chance.
All the newspaper and television analysts predicted an early
playoff exit for Montreal, and definitely not an opportunity to
be in the second round with a chance to knock off the
champions.
However, the team kept their heads down and focused on what
they knew they were capable of and, so far, they've
experienced success.
I believe the key to their success, much like the success
experienced by successful entrepreneurs, is to take
incremental steps. By focusing on one task at a time, they aren't
setting farfetched or lofty goals. Rather, they look at the
immediate future and tasks before them, and come up with the
best game plan.
As you break down what you must accomplish and begin to
topple smaller feats, you'll build confidence and recognition.
This makes toppling other goals easier, while at the same time
showing people who may have doubted you that you are, in
fact, capable and have a viable idea.
If you're working on something that you really believe in and
have been making solid progress, keep up the good work and
convince others that you're for real!
Goals are Essential for Info Marketing Entrepreneurs
By James Burt, Online Marketing Expert
Let's be honest here: there's no magic trick to having your own
business become a success. None. You have to work hard and,
well, you may need a little luck, too. It's always a gamble to try
to establish your own business. But it's a good gamble if you
have the drive and endurance; there are plenty of reasons why
you can have the success you want.
There are, however, some things you can do to always improve
your business, either when you are getting started or at various
stages of your professional career. When you get some spare
cash, you can advertise. If you go out to a party or social
function, you can give out your business card. If you get the
opportunity, you can do a joint venture with another party.
These little changes can make gradual improvements to your
business and build up personal success over time.
Recently, I completed a freelance gig that included
proofreading a local entrepreneur's business plan. He was
soliciting a small business agency for new equipment funding.
It was a fairly thick, 30-odd-page document, complete with
every piece of info you could ever ask for about this guy's
business. His work history, the new location of his business,
how he was going to spend the funds once he got them, and
just about everything else. He had done a good job and my
edits were few. I truly hoped he would get the funding he
needed. He was a true pro and his business plan showed that
repeatedly.
I can recommend getting a business plan together to all info
marketers out there. The great thing is that it can be used at any
stage of your career. Say you want to get some cash or a loan
to get started, or you've come to a crossroads where you want
to get a promotion deal to further expand your business. A
business plan can help.
The other good thing about a business plan is that there is a
definite structure that you can follow to put it back together. I
was lucky to have the job editing my colleague's plan and took
many notes along the way that I can pass on to you. Here they
are:
--- Know what you want to do: As fun as it would be just to say
to someone that you just need extra money, handouts are
realistically not common in the business world. Money is tight,
both in the banking and subsidy worlds, and it will not be given
out just for fun. You business plan needs focus and you have to
know what you are going to do with the funds you intend to
receive. It might be for advanced gear, a new location, or
access to better info sources. You have to know exactly what
you want to improve your business and direct the attention of
that focus in writing to the parties who are going to consider
your proposal.
--- Get detailed: The business plan I mentioned above was just
over 30 pages, an average size for a business plan. It might
sound like a hefty size, but the reason for this is that the parties
considering your plan need to know everything about your info
marketing business and you. The history of your business, the
people who are in charge of it, and strengths and weaknesses
are all things that interested parties are going to want to know
about. Don't be afraid to go online or to the library and get a
business plan template to help you structure your plan with the
necessary information.
--- Get help if you need to: If you're an info marketer, your
writing and editing skills are probably as good or better than
anybody's out there. However, you could be a very busy info
marketer and don't have time to do all of the writing of the
business plan yourself. Or your writing skills are more geared
to info products and not to a structured planning style. Either
way, you might need help in getting your business plan
together. But don't worry. There are other writers and editors
who can help you with the creation and execution of your
business plan. Search out a business plan writer online or
through your local small business consultation agency. They
can help you cheaply.
--- Don't worry about rejection: There is the chance that your
plan will not be given the support it deserves or will be rejected
outright by the people you pitch it to. Whatever the case, don't
fret. This happens more often than you think. Just go back to
what you were doing before and come back to the plan later.
Like failing your driver's license test, you can go back to apply
again with a newly charged business plan. It might be a better
time for those considering it to support you or they appreciate
your ideas more now. Like everything else in your info
marketing business, good stuff takes time and patience.
Persevere with your intentions and the support will come later.
A good business plan is like the handbook of your info
marketing business. Those reading it can see the real
professional that wants to make his or her business better.
Consider it as an option to make your info marketing business
that much better. It can be a great help.
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