How Can You Make Your Business Successful When Working By Yourself?

These are uncertain times, and it can cause even the bravest soul to think twice before launching a new business.

• Will I be able to pay the mortgage?
• Can I put food on the table?
• Will my kids have clothes and shoes?
• Can I do this on my own?
• Is there any way to know I will succeed before I begin?

I can hear you now: "I want some assurances!"

Unfortunately, there is no blueprint for success, no surefire way to tell if a person can make it in the land of the self-employed. However, most successful entrepreneurs have a few traits in common, a few habits and ways of thinking that push them toward success.

Here As Some Traits I Think Are Most Important

They believe in themselves. The most important trait successful entrepreneurs have in common is an unswerving faith in themselves and their ability to get the job done.

They know they are capable of completing any task, no matter how daunting. Even if they don't know exactly how it will get done, they know they can figure it out and make it work. Even just this attitude sets them apart from 99% of the rest of the world.

Successful entrepreneurs know they can go head-to-head with anyone and come out on top. They thrive on competition and improving themselves through battle in the business arena.

They don’t shy from competition, they see it as part of the fun they have in this game.

“It's kind of fun to do the impossible.” Walt Disney

They visualize success. Successful entrepreneurs keep what they want to manifest forefront in their thoughts.

Successful entrepreneurs SEE the business they want to create and keep a picture of it in their heads all the time. And visualization isn’t all they do: they write down their goals and strategies to be sure they stay focused.

• They see themselves acquiring product and moving it out to distribution centers.
• They see the product moving off shelves and reorders flowing in.
• They see the service they provide helping their clients succeed.
• They see themselves shaking hands with business partners, closing deals, and the deal working out smoothly to the benefit of all parties involved.

Entrepreneurs have an unswerving belief in themselves and their ability to get the job done. They may not know exactly how they will accomplish a given task, but they know they can figure it out because they see the success they will achieve even before they start.

They don't think about what could go wrong.

They never, never, never worry about what could happen.

Believe me, if you're worrying about all the things that can go wrong, you're not keeping the success-vision of your business at the forefront of your thoughts. You're not visualizing success. In fact, you're visualizing the bad stuff that can happen and all your energy is going into creating it!

And since what you think about most EXPANDS, be sure to think of all the success and goals you have to achieve and let them be utmost in your thinking.

Here’s something I learned from a good friend who happens to love to ride his motorcycle when the weather is good.

We’re taught to look ahead, down the road, see where we are going. If we focus on the pothole ahead, invariably we drive right into it. Stay focused ahead!

Great advice for those of us in business, too.

Don’t get me wrong: it's completely different to see possible pitfalls in the road ahead and plan accordingly. That's just good business sense. Steer clear of the problems and don’t obsess or fret about what might go wrong.

Visualize success and you won't create a mess.

“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.” Henry Ford

They commit. Successful businesspeople are committed wholeheartedly to what they are doing and the line of work they are in. They have an inner drive to succeed and their ambition carries them forward no matter what obstacles confront them.

Okay, I heard a plumber friend say once, “I sell low-flow toilets, Charlie. I have to visit worksites and torn up bathroom, the smell of sawdust makes me sneeze, and I hate getting my shoes filthy."

I completely understood. Sometimes necessity puts us in places we'd rather not be. But I asked, “can you find something about the job to love? Low-flow toilets save water, which cuts down on the energy needed to pump that water, which saves trees, which cuts down on pollution.

“Think about all the good you're doing. Think up 100 reasons to be enthusiastic about your product, and sell the heck out of those toilets.”

Walt Disney once said he loved Mickey Mouse more than any woman he had ever known. While I'm sure this news didn't thrill his wife, it showed his devotion and commitment to his “product.”

Commit, commit, and commit some more to your product or service. Believe in it and people will believe in you.

They concentrate on their strong points. Too many people worry about their shortcomings and lose the power of what they do best.

• Maybe you're a great writer and can really get your passion down on paper.
• Maybe your words stir people into action and give them the extra boost they need to succeed.
• Maybe your thoughts open people’s minds to new possibilities, new ways to see their lives.

Great. Stick with the writing.

Maybe you are a natural networker. You love to meet new people and pick their brain about topics near and dear to your heart. Fantastic. This is a crucial skill to have for any businessperson.

So you're great at writing and networking, but maybe you have no idea how to go about getting your words online. Maybe the thought of organizing all those contacts makes your head spin. Just because that comes naturally to ME doesn’t mean it is easy for YOU.

Okay, get some help organizing all those business cards and getting your work online. It doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg.

Maybe you can trade the work for a service you provide. Or you could look into getting an online assistant. Online assistants can be found on Elance.com and Guru.com and Craigslist.com.

You'll be amazed at how inexpensively you can find help when you know where to look.

Stick to your strong points and get help for the other stuff and you’ll find life so much more enjoyable!

“We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them.” Kahlil Gibran

They make goals. How can you know if you’re succeeding if you don’t have written guideposts against which you can judge your progress?

For example, you need to have certain ingredients and to take precise steps to bake a loaf of banana bread. You need bananas, of course, sugar, flour, eggs, buttermilk, baking soda, and baking powder.

Sift the dry ingredients together. Blend the bananas, eggs, and buttermilk until it's a nice, homogeneous mixture. Add the dry into the wet and stir until just incorporated. Add some chopped nuts, pour into a buttered pan and bake at 350 for 1 hour.

In the end, you'll have a golden loaf of delicious goodness.

It's the same with an entrepreneurial business.

You take certain ingredients and mix them together in just the right ratio. The end result will be a successful business. (See my other blog post, Successful Entrepreneur – Recipe For Success here on this blog!)

The only trick is you have to know what you're making in order for it to come out the way you want. To bake bread, use a bread recipe, not one for a fruit salad.

As the fathers in the musical, The Fantasticks (by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones), sing:

Plant a radish
Get a radish
Never any doubt
That’s why I love vegetables
You know what you’re about!

You have to know WHAT you want before you can get it.

If you know you want to have a successful wine distributing company: good. But, if you can be more precise, it's even better.

You want a wine distribution company that services all the counties in northern Iowa, and you want to be the sole agent for Leaping Polecat Vineyards. Within six months, you want to be moving 500 cases of wine a week. In a year, you want to be moving 1,000 cases.

Now THAT’S a precise recipe.

With that recipe, you can see what needs to be done. Right off the bat, you see that you don't have the retailers in line to handle 500 cases. So you need to make some more connections, find more stores that are willing to sell Leaping Polecat.

You also see that you'll need to have wine to deliver once the orders start coming in. You'll need to call your contacts at the vineyard to see if they are willing and able to handle the increased volume.

With a precise vision of the business you want to create, seeing the steps you need to take to make that happen becomes easier and easier.

“Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.” Henry Ford

They connect with people. No matter what type of business you have or want to start, it's all about people.

• People buy your product
• People talk about your product
• People sell your product.

Connect with as many people as possible to keep them buying, talking, and selling. Make a goal of connecting with all of your contacts every 30 days. Make an additional goal of acquiring ten new contacts every week.

The more people you know, the more others will seek you out for your contacts.

Connecting with people should be on your core goals list no matter how big or small your business. Talking to your contacts is a wonderful way to learn.

Maybe you've just discovered a new way of doing something that could really make a contact's life a lot easier. To paraphrase JFK, always ask yourself what you can do for your contact rather than what your contact can do for you – you’ll be MUCH more successful when you do.

This website, UltimateWorkAtHomeDads.com, is great for connecting with people. You'll make many valuable contacts here and get a lot of help and support. We're glad you're here.

Be sure to leave comments. Agreeing with something (and expanding on it) OR disagreeing with something (and saying why) will get people to know you.

Then be sure to leave some of your contact information below your name so people know WHO you are and WHERE they can connect with you.

These entrepreneurs learn.

I'm not talking about going back to school and getting a degree. You certainly don't need that to be a successful entrepreneur (though I certainly don’t scoff at those of us who do).

What you do need is an open mind and a willingness to learn new things and new ways of doing old things.

Stay on the cutting edge of technology or before you know it, your competition will be using the newest, latest and greatest whatever and you're left in the dust.

Subscribing to a few relevant blogs (like this one!) should keep you up-to-date. Find more at one of my favorite websites: AllTop.com

“My biggest motivation? Just to keep challenging myself. I see life almost like one long University education that I never had – every day I'm learning something new.’ Richard Branson

They work. Forget all the get-rich-quit proposals and know that you have LOTS of work ahead of you.

“Wow, Charlie, this self-employment gig sounds like a lot of work."

Yes, it is. That's the last trait all self-made businesspeople have in common.

They work. A lot.

Channel your energy, passion, and drive-to-succeed into your business and you will be unstoppable.

Launching a successful business is a tall order. Only the cream of the crop can make it work. But you know what? I have every faith that YOU are the cream of the crop and can make it work.

You have what it takes and you search out articles like this one to learn new ways to think. If you didn't have what it takes, you wouldn't still be reading this article.

Successful people are willing to do what unsuccessful people don’t or won’t. Never give up and keep searching for a better way.

Like riding a bike or playing the piano, these traits can be learned. Read this article every day for ten days and make these actions and attitudes part of your life.

Remember: successful entrepreneurs are self-made men and women. They mold themselves into the people they want to be. They set goals, build strategies to accomplish them, and keep moving toward the goal line.

They know that NO ONE needs to crown them the victor or call them a success – they just make their own way once they have studied what they want to do and have set their goals in writing.

They know they have the right stuff. I know that YOU have the right stuff.

Now get out there and make it happen!

“Success is a matter of understanding and religiously practicing specific, simple habits that always lead to success.” Robert J. Ringer

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
A Work At Home Dad since 1983, succeeding in this economy

PS: You can find me here:

http://twitter.com/UltimateWAHDads

http://facebook.com/CharlesSeymourJr

http://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesseymourjr

To learn more, stay in touch with my blog – I'll keep you informed so that YOU won't have to do the heavy lifting. Charlie Seymour Jr's Blog – Click HERE To See More!

PPS: Do you have trouble writing? Turn Your Words Into Gold – Go Here To Learn More! NOW is the time to start.

Follow Charlie Seymour Jr On Twitter!

Keep this with this article, please:

Charlie Seymour Jr is an entrepreneurial evangelist and success-marketing coach helping individuals and companies (up to $100MM) explode their success through online and personal-touch marketing. He specializes in blogging, podcasting, photography, video, Facebook, and Twitter applications. Visit his blog at Charlie Seymour Jr's Blog to learn more about his successes.

Friends, if you like this post, please leave a comment, join our email list to get updates sent to you, and retweet it. And I've made it easy to retweet – just click on the icon below. Thanks!

Successful Entrepreneur – Can I Make It As An Entrepreneur?

.

How To Set Up Your Business From Home

So you're thinking of leaving the security and comfort of your day job and voyaging into the world of the self-employed OR you recently started working at home and aren’t sure what steps to take first.

Congratulations! Nothing beats the feeling of accomplishment you get from growing your own business from scratch, from taking on the world with nothing but wits and a lot of hard work. I've been working at home since 1983 and haven't regretted it for a moment.

Here are ten tips I've learned along the way to help make your journey a little easier.

Tip Number One: Set a schedule.

Time management can be problematic when you're self-employed.

It's easy to get sidetracked when you're working from home and before you know it, the morning is gone. You probably had to be at your old job at a certain time so do the same thing with your business. Resolve to be at the computer, on the jobsite, or with a client by 7:30 AM (or earlier) and stick to it.

For me, no matter what time I go to sleep the night before, I’m “at it” by 7:30 the next day. Some days I’m walking with my voice recorder creating WalkAbout Marketing podcasts and some days I’m at my desk. But it’s important to get started as soon as you can.

And turn off your email: don’t let it beep every time you get a new message. I literally average 837 emails every day. Most should never see the light of day, though some are important. But nothing is so important that I have to be interrupted twelve times an hour to reply to it. In fact, I only download emails to my computer ever half hour and only look at them a few times each day (when I can reply to several emails in one short stretch of time, and then back to finishing my goals for the day).

Tip Number Two: Tailor your workspace to your personality.

How do you work best? Do you like to work with music in the background or do you like it perfectly quiet? Do you like pictures of family to remind you of your goals (and the reasons you work so hard), or do you prefer motivational posters and superhero action figures to spur you on to greatness? Find out how you work best and set up your space around your preferences.

And speaking of space, I use a spare bedroom for my home office. When we bought this house in 1998, I picked out this space for my office. I can see the driveway when FedEx and UPS show up and it’s at the other end of the hallway from our bedroom. OK, so a 20-foot walk to work isn’t bad, I admit it!

However, when the door is closed, the office is closed and I don't think about work (well, usually – I admit that I work at the kitchen table when Pam and I “watch” TV together. I can always look up for the replay or when a news report catches my ear).

If you aren't able to have a separate space for an office, a room divider or curtains could do the trick. Just find some way to separate your space from the rest of the house and family and to hide your workspace from view so you don't have to look at it all the time (and be reminded of all the work you should be doing).

And let your phone go to messages rather than letting every caller interrupt your work when they have the whim to call you. Batch the messages together, find time twice a day to return calls and make all of them then. AND, better yet, if someone wants to chat with you by phone, SET AN APPOINTMENT – I don’t take phone calls that aren’t prearranged – believe me, your clients will get used to it when you help them see the importance.

Tip Number Three: Market yourself.

Now I don't mean paying for advertising, creating glossy brochures, or doing weekly direct-mail piece.

This website is FILLED with ideas for you so read my blog!

Also, do you have a Facebook account? Keep it up to date and post often. (You can friend me at http://facebook.com/CharlesSeymourJr – be sure to send a note when you friend me: you should ALWAYS send a note, and this way I’ll know why you are asking to friend me.)

Start a blog and use it like a diary. Think of all the things you are doing that clients and customers might be interested in. I post lots of videos to my blog (and to my Facebook profile, which acts like a mini blog for me).

Keep friends and family informed of what you're doing. Word of mouth can be the best advertising and it's free (but you have to give them something to talk about!).

Tip Number Four: Show that professionalism counts.

Present yourself with a businesslike demeanor. That doesn’t mean that you can’t have fun and enjoy life when you are with other people, but what people think about you is built on MANY little interactions – what’s the saying, it takes A THOUSAND “atta-boys” or “atta-girls” to equal ONE “uh oh, I screwed up.”

Show your clients that you take your work seriously and they will do the same. You don’t have to take YOURSELF too seriously (laugh, enjoy life, laugh at your mistakes – you’ll make LOTS of them, so enjoy them as they race by every day).

If you have a website or Facebook page for your business, make sure it is professional. It’s great to share your personality and family activities when they help to round-you-out as a whole person but as you look at other people’s websites and Facebook pages, see what feels right to you and what stands out as inappropriate – learn from what others are doing.

Tip Number Five: Talk to your clients.

Communication is a two-way adventure. Keep your clients updated on your progress, any changes or snags, and let them know that things are going smoothly and right on schedule.

For example, consider that you're building a house for someone: you'll want to update them frequently. They will need to know when the foundation is poured, when the electrical panel is installed, or when the roof is on. You can do this by email, a phone call, or a face-to-face. The most important thing is keeping your client in the loop and aware of the job's status.

AND, be sure to ask your customers and clients what they WANT from you. There’s a great story about a Printer creating a company’s business cards. For years he did a great job. One day the office manager walked in to pick up the latest batch of cards and told the Printer that they just had some great stationery printed at another shop. The Printer was dismayed to learn that he had never asked his client about other needs: the client didn’t know that the Printer printed letterhead – the Printer was only thought of as the “card printer.”

I communicate a lot through email. I don’t trust my memory for all the details when a job is ongoing. And it’s always best to be sure I CLEARLY understand what my client wants. And I keep all correspondence in separate folders in my email server so I can quickly access all email from each of my clients.

If the client wants to make a change, get it in writing. It's important to get the original Agreement in writing, but it's equally important to get any changes documented and approved. This way, any project overruns or questions about the final project can be verified and justified.

Some people like Project Management software such as Basecamp, activeCollab, and Projecturf to keep their jobs organized. Most of mine aren’t that complicated, so emails work fine.

Tip Number Six: Keep your financial accounts separate.

Don't mix business and personal accounts. Get a separate bank account for your business.

Get a credit card for your business (preferably the cash-back type) and use it for all business expenses. We get a few hundred dollars back each year because we charge everything possible and pay it off each month.

And since I have a proprietorship for my Photography business and an LLC for my Online business, I have TWO business accounts and TWO credit cards, in addition to my personal account.

Once you get used to them, it’s easy to work with this way.

Tip Number Seven: Work hard after setting your goals.

Sometimes you'll take a job because you need the money. You won't always be able to pick and choose your clients because you believe in what they're doing, or the job intrigues you on some level. Some months you'll just need to make the rent, or payroll, or quarterly taxes and you'll take whatever work presents itself.

This isn't selling out. It's just a fact of life. You can still take on those projects close to your heart when the money isn't so tight and your business is running smoothly.

Look for ways to augment your income. When you're self-employed, there may be times when there's no money coming in. Investigate passive income sources, such as ebooks and affiliate marketing, to see if one is right for you.

But don’t fall into the trap of taking just anything that comes along: people will get really confused WHO you are and WHAT you are doing. Set your goals and stay as close to them as you can.

Tip Number Eight: File everything.

Keep a job's agreements, invoices, and notes in one place, preferably a folder in a filing cabinet (electronically and physically). When in doubt, file it. You can always toss it later, but you can't get something back after it's gone. (And electronic storage is cheap – I recently purchased one terabyte for under $200.)

For each project, I have file folders in my cabinet with all signed papers and agreements and on my computer I keep a folder for all email. Be sure to back up your computer to protect what you have there. And while I’m very supportive of “green” living, make physical copies when the information is crucial – even if you used recycled paper OR the back of something you printed before.

Tip Number Nine: Talk with a CPA about your business finances.

Some businesses can run on a “cash basis” right from one or more checkbooks. Some need one of the popular computer-accounting packages. And some need the services of a bookkeeper plus an accountant to handle the monthly P&L and to reconcile the checkbook, file sales tax and employee taxes, and complete the quarterlies.

Be sure to think ahead to see what YOU will need. And at least find a CPA you trust and go talk about how your business will be set up so you know you’re doing it correctly. And at tax time, s/he will be worth her/his weight in gold.

Tip Number Ten: Take the weekend off.

I’m not very good at this one, I’ll admit right up front. Sundays are for church and family (and my well-deserved nap and a chance to watch some sports on TV). But I often work a full schedule on Saturday – but that doesn’t mean YOU should do that!

When you're self-employed, you can't get away from the office very easily. It's both a blessing and a curse to work from home. Yes, it's convenient and the commute is probably under thirty seconds, but it's awfully hard to get away from the job.

You'll be tempted to work after dinner or on Saturday or miss your daughter’s hockey game or your son’s theater performance but DON’T.

One thing we learn very quickly: work is NEVER finish, so sometimes you just need to STOP – it will be there for you when you come back.

You need down time to keep fresh and you need to spend time with family and friends. What is that old story: that on someone’s deathbed, seldom does the person say, “I just wish I had worked longer every day.”

If you need to understand why your family is important, perhaps you need to see one of my other blogs: http://RaisingGreatFamilies.com. Trust me on this one: set your schedule and CROSS OUT Sundays and leave Saturdays blank for whatever you really need to work on. (Or do the reverse – Cross out Saturdays from work and leave Sundays blank to help with the left-over work).

You and your family deserve to spend time together.

Wrap-Up

The Work at Home lifestyle can be the MOST ENJOYABLE you’ve ever known, if you follow these ten tips. Keep it all in perspective, keep your goals in front of you, and know WHY you work so hard.

Hey, life’s to be enjoyed – and let it start at home!

And – Please leave me a comment: what ELSE do you feel this article should cover? Was it helpful to you? What do you disagree with?

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
A Work At Home Dad since 1983, succeeding in this economy

PS: You can find me here:

http://twitter.com/UltimateWAHDads

http://facebook.com/CharlesSeymourJr

http://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesseymourjr

To learn more, stay in touch with my blog – I'll keep you informed so that YOU won't have to do the heavy lifting. Charlie Seymour Jr's Blog – Click HERE To See More!

PPS: Do you have trouble writing? Turn Your Words Into Gold – Go Here To Learn More! NOW is the time to start.

Follow Charlie Seymour Jr On Twitter!

Keep this with this article, please:

Charlie Seymour Jr is an entrepreneurial evangelist and marketing-success coach helping individuals and companies (up to $100MM) explode their success through online and direct-response marketing. He specializes in blogging, podcasting, photography, video, and Facebook applications. Visit his blog at Charlie Seymour Jr's Blog to learn more about his successes.

Friends, if you like this post, please leave a comment, join our email list to get updates sent to you, and retweet it. And I've made it easy to retweet – just click on the icon below. Thanks!

Work At Home: 10 Tips To Create Your Business and Save Your Sanity!

.

Be Your Own Boss – You CAN Do This With Some Help

No one said starting your own business would be EASY. No one said you wouldn't have to WORK at it.

OK… so your dream left you a long time ago, especially as the economy turned south. It languishes still and really doesn't show any sign of improving.

So… you're resourceful (to be a successful entrepreneur you HAVE to be resourceful): you came up with NEW dreams, and you know that only YOU can pick you up and get you moving.

But has the economy improved? Well, small signs are seen, but are they signs that impact you directly?

If you're like most people, the answer is no. You see some signs on the evening news or in the paper, but nothing affecting YOU directly… yet. Maybe some things for larger businesses but not for the type like you and I operate. (And let's face it, the only signs that matter are the ones that impact YOU directly… after all, we all listen to the same radio stations in our brains: WIIFM: What's In It For Me – so we want to see improvement to the economy around those things that impact use directly!)

Some are screaming for more tax cuts (but you have to earn money to take advantage of those cuts). Some scream for more stimulus, but do we want to pay down that national debt forever?

But YOU can't wait for the government to make things work: YOU have to make things work.

So, what are you doing to be a successful entrepreneur, now that you are your own boss and run your own business? How do you create your own work at home now that you are the boss?

How do you start to improve when those around you are struggling?

My suggestion (especially if you haven't done this yet): set up a blog right now. Blogger is ok but having your own WordPress website is even better. Like THIS one. You're on my site and reading my blog and everything here is created with WordPress.

Notice I said as your own website: yes, use WordPress to create the WHOLE website and then blog from it too, acting like a magnet to Google and other search engines.

You put out great content, Google picks it up, and it tells the world about your information, inviting people to read it.

Find out what you are passionate about and start writing – every other day at least. 250 – 500 works is all that is needed, but more when the juices are really flowing.

Is it marketing? photography? creating music? making a specific product? selling other people's products? creating software? teaching others how to do what you used to do? And as you narrow your focus so people learn about you, you'll find work to do from your home as an entrepreneur.

The writing will be therapeutic (helping to clear your brain and focus your emotions) AND people will learn about you through the information you write (just as YOU are finding out about me right now!). So you will better understand yourself and your desires as you help others learn about you.

Blogging is a great way to get the word out.

Did you think about working for yourself for a long time? Did the Worldwide Economic Meltdown of 2008 – 2009 throw you out onto the trash dump of the unemployed with nowhere to turn – is that why you're on your own? No hope right in front of you because things aren't going as well as you need? No fast lane to the success you've dreamed about? No people to chat with who understand what you're going through and are there to make helpful suggestions?

Well you DO have somewhere to turn and you're learning about it right now.

You CAN do this, it just takes some practice and some advice. Heck, you didn't finish school without some serious work, did you? You couldn't do your previous work without someone talking things through with you, right? That's what's needed now too.

Find someone you admire who's succeeding where you want to and follow him or her: now is the time to change your life and get things going again. You KNOW you can do this, it's time to prove it. And it's time to be smart enough to seek some help even if you are paying someone to consult with you: that's like paying a little bit now for a big return tomorrow.

When a consultant can save you time when you are marching toward your goals, hire him or her immediately. It just makes sense!

And it all starts with your understanding where you ARE and where you want TO GO. And then you must take ACTION.

But doing things RIGHT won't get you there; doing the RIGHT THINGS will – and THAT'S why you often need just a bit of help.

Be sure to sign up for our free electronic newsletter (Ultimate Success Dads Ezine) right here on our site and get thing going!

You've been working on your own for a while: now it's time to SUCCEED!

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
A Work At Home Dad since 1983, succeeding in this economy

PS: Blogging is a great way to tell people about YOU: do it now. See how people flock to you when you understand what you are to be doing with your website and your blog.

PSS: Do you have trouble writing? Turn Your Words Into Gold – Go Here To Learn More! NOW is the time to start.

Follow Charlie Seymour Jr On Twitter!

Friends, if you like this post, please leave a comment, join our email list to get updates sent to you, and retweet it. And I've made it easy to retweet – just click on the icon below. Thanks!

Be Your Own Boss

.

You, Too, Can Learn How To Turn Your Words Into Gold When Following Simple Steps To Profit

• Are you tired of spending hours on your website and blog and getting nowhere?
• Are you not building a relationship with people who might purchase something from you and they just pass you by?
• Are you losing money, taking steps backwards, and not growing a business that you have spent hours creating – making you nervous that you might lose your whole business?

Who Else Wants To Turn Their Words Into Emotional Responses By Buyers?

People often asked me, "Charlie, how can I write better so that after all my hard work, I can actually SELL my products and services?"

Like those asking me this, do you struggle when it comes time to write? Does it seem easy for others but not for you? Do you fear the time when you'll have something to sell but then you'll blow it when it comes to putting words in front of prospects?

You're not alone.

Other than Public Speaking, one of the things that most small business people fear is writing.

Even a blog like this one is a chore (painful chore!) for some people.

Believe me, I'm not a born writer. I didn't get A's in all my English classes. I haven't always enjoyed it or done well with it.

But once I learned how to do it, the fear fell away and my success started to rise.

After all, I sold more than $247 MILLION in real estate and most of it started with direct-mail pieces I sent out… so I had to be doing SOMETHING correctly.

Several years ago I LEARNED how to write for marketing pieces. I studied direct response marketing, Dan Kennedy, John Caples, Corey Rudl, and more. And now the list of those who have helped me is VERY extensive, including people like:

One-on-one, conferences and live courses, home-study courses, study by myself using their materials.

Each one imparted great information and understanding.

How can you learn all of this without taking the years of hard work it took me to learn this?

I've done the work for you! I worked hard to create great information for you and packaged it neatly to make your life easy. So you won't have to study: no long evenings, no grad school, no trial and error as you figure things out.

Even if you decide that you don't need my materials, you should look at the "sales letter" which uses all the tips, tricks, and techniques that I share with you.

Turn Your Words Into Gold – Go Here To Learn More!

Discover how easy it can be for you when you know what you're doing. Downloadable pdf, MP3, video tutorial, video demonstration, Live video presentation, and so much more.

Just go here to see what's provided. Heck, even ONE great idea will save you weeks of study time.

So hurry: go there now to see what's available.

You have the chance to create a whole new life for yourself, and it all starts with this first step.

Go there now!

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
A Work At Home Dad since 1983, succeeding in this economy

PS: The help you need is here: Turn Your Words Into Gold – Go Here To Learn More! NOW is the time to start.

Friends, if you like this post, please leave a comment, join our email list to get updates sent to you, and retweet it. And I've made it easy to retweet – just click on the icon below. Thanks!

.

How Many Of The Millions Of Unemployed In This Economy Will Begin To Work At Home?

Are you unhappy at work? Do you find yourself daydreaming about working from home? You are certainly not alone.

Millions of successful, professional people are finding that working at home is the answer, whether they have been downsized, rightsized, paradigm-shifted, or simply couldn’t take hearing another buzzword.

Of course, the work at home industry is not without its own buzzwords. Like freelancing, outsourcing, virtual assistance, consulting and others which continually overlap, making the whole work at home concept very confusing for first-timers.

Perhaps even more mind-blowing and confusing than these word games, though, is the pervasive concept that everyone who works at home does so in their pjs, coffee in one hand, sugary treat in the other, and both slipper-clad feet up on the desk.

Enticing as this image may be, only Hugh Hefner gets away with this trick. For the rest of us, pajamas simply won’t work, and here’s why:

Wearing pjs or gym clothes may interfere with your productivity.

Choosing a blend of casual comfort and professionalism creates the best work at home wardrobe. Our clothes define how we feel and, to a great extent, who we are.

Remember that time you ran a quick errand in a pair of old sweats and a slightly ripped t-shirt? Remember how you ran into Sue from across the street and avoided her like the plague?

The same thinking applies to working at home. Sure, no one is going to see you. Sure, you’re only talking on the phone. But you can see you.

When you dress for the job, you feel prepared to meet the day’s challenges, ready to present yourself as a competent professional. Must you put on a full suit and tie? No. But pajamas aren’t going to cut it either.

If you’ve ever tried it, you know what I mean.

These four tips will help you remain comfortable and productive:

1. Always go for comfort, but not too much. No highly-starched shirts, ties, or wool that drives you nuts. An Oxford-style or Polo-style shirt is great looking, comfortable, long-wearing, (and you’re half-ready for the golf course, just in case).

2. Sweats are for the gym. Pajamas are for bed. Your office is not where you work out or take a nap. Feeling too comfortable and casual may spill over into your demeanor, and this can translate into unprofessionalism.

3. And remember your shoes. Shoes impact work attitude, believe it or not. Barefoot feet say “Relax! Take a load off!” and, while you don’t want to be a ball of nerves, a workday is not a day at the beach.

4. Shave and shower to begin your day. Grooming has a psychological effect on mental preparedness. You simply “feel” ready after a nice hot shower and a shave.

Still believe you can work at home in your pjs?

Not if success is part of your master plan. The concept is simply more sales pitch than professional reality. At the end of the day, reality is what pays the bills.

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
A Work At Home Dad, succeeding in this economy

Friends, if you like this post, please leave a comment and retweet it. And I've made it easy – just click on the icon below. Thanks!

Opportunities Abound For Work At Home Dads, Even In THIS Economy!

How often do we have to hear it from or read it in the news? The economy is the worst since our parents (and for some of us it's our parents' parents) were young. It's really awful.

All indicators are down. My personal retirement fund has shrunk by about 50%. Unemployment is rising (about 6.5% in my county), and if it hasn't touched your family, you KNOW a family it has struck.

What do they say: it's a Recession when your neighbor loses his job: it's a DEPRESSION with YOU lose your job! It sure feels that way! (Seems to me the only time you feel worse is when everyone tells you that the economy is GREAT but you just lost your job – that happened to me once and that feeling is burned into my brain and heart, still searing my insides.)

And the effect ripples through our town, county, state, country, and world. You can't escape that we're part of a SYSTEM, not a series of individuals. Someone losing a job in Maine doesn't buy as many groceries so the farmer in Texas doesn't plant as man crops and the family in California has to pay more. And on and on and on.

And Bernie Madoff can only account for about $67 Billion of this, so there are many other factors at work.

And when I was a kid, I remember my Dad talking about the economy (he later ran a major real estate firm and was on the Board of the Philadelphia Fed… so he had learned a thing or two).

And if there was one major lesson I learned from him it's that OPPORTUNITY is just as great in any part of the cycle (for indeed, economies are cyclical).

So… that means that there are opportunities abounding right now.

And if you follow Internet Marketing (especially Information Product Marketing), perhaps you just witnessed Frank Kern (one of the really good guys) sell more than $4,000,000 worth of CDs and booklets, teaching people how to succeed in today's economy. And this was in about 26 hours.

But For Many, Where Did The Dream Go?

But for people watching their 401(k)s being drained or their IRAs tumble, it certainly must feel like the sky has fallen. And if you're sitting at home instead of going into that job in an office, store, warehouse, or factory, the pain can be intense.

Or Perhaps You've Been Saying, Take Me From The Rat Race

Or, perhaps you still have a job but are nervous that you might be next to go. Here in the Philadelphia, PA USA area, apartment developer Steve Korman has pleaded with companies (many of which he owns stock in) to remember that firing people leads to more firing. He'd like to see a corporation earn less, but keep all of its people working.

Not many corporations share his thoughts.

Or, You're Already Working At Home And Think, How Can I Turbo Charge My Work At Home

You know how it is to have the freedom of working from home. No commute. No expensive lunches out. No boring meetings that take up so much of your time.

But with the way the economy is now, you really need some help to turbo charge your results. Going back to an office job just isn't in the cards for you, even if the economy had any jobs available.

I've Been There Too

As a Work At Home Dad since 1991 (longer, really, since from 1977 – 1991, I sold $247,368,657.97 worth of Investment Real Estate and though I worked for a large real estate firm, I did much of my work from home), I recognize each of these stories… and each of the opportunities they bring.

Oh, it may not FEEL like an opportunity when you're faced with being fired or the potential of a layoff, but it can be.

So, I've dedicated myself (with the help of some of my very smart friends) to help Work At Home Dads.

Dads Have Been Forgotten – But NO MORE!

When you search the Internet, there are all kinds of opportunities for Stay At Home Moms, but the Dads have been forgotten. And with the economy the way it is, we Dads can use all the help we can get. It's said that 82% of all the recent layoffs were to men!

I have created several family-centric sites (RaisingGreatFamilies.com, ILearnedItAllFromMyKids.com, FathersAndTheDaughtersTheyLove.com among them) and my professional photography business was all related to families (Family Portraits, Weddings, Bat and Bar Mitzvahs, Theater).

Over the next few months, I will openly share information to help Work At Home Dads. The site just starting, so be sure to enter your name and email address and I'll be sure to let you know when those resources are available.

Time We Banded Together, Men: Form Our Own Mastermind Group!

There's nothing like the power of when creative and hard-working men join together. Hey, not being sexist – my wife would smack me if I did that (to say nothing about my two successful daughters), but it's time for us men to band together to make the family economy work for each of us.

I look forward to hearing from you – hearing your ideas, your greatest concerns about working from home, hearing about some of the solutions you have come up with. Let's share this information to help all of us.

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
A Work At Home Dad, succeeding in this economy

Friends, if you like this post, please leave a comment and retweet it. And I've made it easy – just click on the icon below. Thanks!

.

This blog is devoted to guys like me who are working at home. I'll have musings, new products, reports, quick notes, and other helpful tidbits of information to help all of use thrive in this economy as we work at home

I hope you'll write me, let me know what we can do to help you. Your ideas and suggestions will be passed on to our readers.

This is just the beginning!

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
A Work At Home Dad, succeeding in this economy
Follow Charlie Seymour Jr On Twitter!

Please be sure to sign up for our weekly Ezine – see the panel in the upper right corner!

.