Home Business Resource Blog

New home based business entrepreneurs often think that they only need to share their business once before they acquire a new customer. Since the vast majority of people do not make a decision upon first exposure – no matter how compelling the offer is.

So this means it will take multiple exposures because these days it more about being an ‘education process’ than a ’selling process’. All new businesses need to put a primary focus on Marketing - no matter WHAT business they are in.

 Marketing is the process of keeping people interested in what you’re saying long enough to educate them in the benefits, to build trust, and possibly engage the law of reciprocation.

If you succeed in maintaining a person’s interest long enough they will generate the reasons or ’story’ that will compel their purchase.

This current methodology is often called ‘dripping’. Rather than shooting for the ‘grand slam’ (i.e. – the sale’) we focus on a series of communications that offer real value to our prospects.

We also want to make sure our intention of service, and for matching out product and service to people - rather than try and make every single person we meet a client. There is little chance that everyone needs what you’re offering. By trying to appeal to everyone you becoming so ‘vanilla’ you end up appealing to practically no one!

So your action step is to determine how you will now approach prospects in a manner that does not cause them to see you as a salesperson looking to just push a sale. In today’s environment you need to elevate yourself to ‘Trusted Advisor’ position.

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People who learn Public Speaking skills can revolutionize their income.  

Notice I said LEARN. Public speaking is something practically anyone can learn to do effectively. It is a skill set like most any other except it pays far in excess of practically any other skill set you know.

Many speakers start their Public speaking engagements at the local Lions Club, or better yet at their local Toastmasters Club. The point is you can start with a friendly ‘laid back’ audience in order to hone your skills.

Toastmasters offers wonderful resources and the coaching/support that can transform a person from a ‘Nervous Nelly’ into a compelling force.

Home Based business entrepreneurs are especially suited to learn this skill for several reasons.

First, we have expressed numerous times that new businesses need to invest a good 60% (or more) of their time on Marketing. Giving a talk on your field can easily put you in front of dozens of prospects at a time.

Better yet, those people listening will see you as some sort of ‘expert’ - just by the very fact that you are one giving the presentation/talk. Once you are seen as the ‘expert’ - people stop thinking of you as a ’salesman’. That in itself offer HUGE benifits.

There are tons of resources for entrepreneaurs to learn to be an effective speaker. I’ve already mentioned Toastmasters  Steve Siebold is someone who I deeply respect and he comes from the ‘Bill Grove’ line of training (you’ll be stunned to learn about the number of household names that have also followed this school of training). Lots of Great information at Steve’s site: http://publicspeakersblog.com/

Home based business entrepreneaurs should put ’Public Speaking’ near the top of skill sets to master because it offers huge leverage in being effective and efficient with your time and credibility.  

John T. Kelly

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Are you one of the many home based business entrepreneurs who are typically wearing multiple ‘hats’ to run your business? Are you the marketing person, the fulfillment person, the secretary, the accountant – among other activities?

Add to that the ongoing avalanche of emails, phone calls, solicitations, and general information overload. Sound familiar?

I know how I felt: Frustrated, stressed-out, rushed, distracted, and at times; plain angry that my business seemed to be going backwards - rather than forward with genuine velocity. Overwhelm will do that to you…

Know the feeling?

One of the key reasons I came into the home based business arena was because I wanted my work to conform to my lifestyle – rather than the other way around.

There are only a few critical elements that a business owner should be focused on at any one time. They are:
• Your business Strategy (online VS. offline, or both? Top quality or price?)
• Marketing – should be where 70% of your attention and time are focused
• Creativity – offer a product/service that is unique & therefore avoids becoming a commodity (which is priced by your customers/competitors)
• The Vision – identifying the current key ‘Constraint’ - and keeping focused on it until it is removed. Result: Your business is catapulted to next level.

Another technique involves using the 80/20 rule extensively. When you examine your time and the income associate with those activities you’ll magically discover the following:
• The first is that is that 80% of your income comes from the activities associated just 20% of you time.

• The next is that 80% of you ‘problems’ come from just 20% of your clients.

• The third is that 80% of your work satisfaction comes from just 20% of the activities you’ve been engaged with.

The 80/20 rule can be  - and should be – applied to partically ever area of your work and lifestyle in order to maximize the good and effective elements and to cut-out or farm-out the remaining activities whenever  possible.

So, in order to get past overwhelm the trick is to remember that your focus is needed in just a few critical areas mentioned above.

By staying focused on those and farming the rest out you’re able to enjoy significant time & mental and emotional space. That position assures you can rise above overwhelm and direct your Lifestyle ’ship’ (which includes your business) to the destination you had in mind when you started the home based business in the first place.

John T. Kelly

PS: Visit www.TopHomeBusinessSecrets.com for you free ebook packed with cutting edge tips and techniques to bring Your business to the next meaningful level.

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As you have likely noticed - the number of pasts to the blog have ’slipped’ recently. The reason can now be revealed.  Our new eBook, ‘Why a Home Based Business Can Make This Year Your Best Year Ever!”  has just been completed and released.

It is packed with powerful information, key tips, and cutting edge strategies that will save tons of time, money, and heartache to those who wish to make their life’s dreams a living reality. This includes people nw to home based business as well as seasoned entrepreneurs.

We welcome people’s feedback and comments (both good and bad) because our purpose has everything to do with being of service to as many people who are seeking this information as possible.

The eBook is free and can be found here: www.TopHomeBusinessSecrets.com

John T. Kelly

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One of the key reasons I’ve chosen to be a home based business entrepreneur has to do the quality of life I wish to live.  In this brief posting I want to share what I refer to as my ‘Level 3 Freedom’ strategy.

‘Level 1 Freedom’ occurs primarily in the field of personal development.  This level of freedom indicates we have recognized the limitations we have adopted from our upbringing and society in general.  Limiting beliefs, bad habits, been overly controlled by ego; these or all elements that need modification in order to perform the activities that lead to success.

‘Level 2 Freedom’: At this level we have become a business owner or entrepreneur and have developed the systems necessary to free up our time and generate significant cash flow.  As Michael Gerber has articulated in his book named  ‘Power Point’; way too many business owners have become slaves to their business. This is because they are working in their business rather than on their business.  In other words, they have failed to develop the systems that allow them to be an absentee owner.

‘Level 3 Freedom’. Living life at level 3 freedom means to me a person has progressed to the point where level 1 and level 2 freedom are firmly in place. At this point free time and sufficient money are no longer an issue in a person’s life.  This means that you are now able to devote the vast majority of your time to activities and endeavors that really make your heart sing.

For many people that may mean devoting oneself to volunteer work in order to help those less privileged. For others it might mean traveling the world. For others still it could be to focus on art, music, or literature. Each and every person on earth has at least one special song in their heart waiting to be sung. Most of us have more than one song wanting to be sung.

For me, it makes perfect sense to live life at ‘Level 3 Freedom’. In the coming months I will be elaborating on many of the specific steps that may be useful to others who wish to achieve a ‘Level 3′ lifestyle.  I welcome your comments and suggestions.

John T. Kelly

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Most home-based business entrepreneurs will tell you that their biggest ‘enemy’ are the people who have a bad opinion of Network Marketing. Most of these people accepted that opinion from their neighbor of friend.

Unfortunately, few of these folks actually have the education of experience to make a rational decision about the industry.

Hey, we’ve all been taken advantage of at some point. We’ve had bad meals at restaurants too – but haven’t stopped going out to eat have we?

I’ve been screwed by regular brick and mortar businesses too. No business or business model is perfect – because people aren’t perfect.

The REAL Enemy is…

You. More specifically - your Ego. Among other issues; the ego is responsible for the endless stream of mind chatter that never seems to stop. Most of that chatter is based on what happened in the past or what might happen in the future.

Either way, the trick is to focus on this moment in time. The benefits for staying in the present are plenty –and several are VERY important.

First; when you are focused on the ‘now’ – you can not be feeling fear. Fear drains us of our emotional energy, our physical energy, our psychic energy. Fear of failure keeps most people out of the game of life – at least out of the ‘big leagues’ level they would otherwise play at.

In addition, many people who had the courage to at least start playing big – end up quitting because their fear surfaces after their initial enthusiasm fades away.

Not being present keeps us from our true power. Great things are MUCH more likely to happen to the person who stays in their ‘present moment’ power.

Start seeing the doubts, worries, and fears that ego generates as passing clouds in the sky. Go face to face those feelings – not in judgment –just observing them – and watch them fade away into the distant.

After a few repetitions of this behavior pattern you’ll likely find that those feeling stop presenting themselves altogether!

Eckhart Tolle’s book, ‘A New Earth’ ;  is a wonderful  guide to transforming your perspective from which to live an extraordinary life.
John T. Kelly  ~ The Home Business Entrepreneur

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The angels are so enamoured of the language that is spoken in heaven, that they will not distort their lips with the hissing and unmusical dialects of men, but speak their own, whether there be any who understand it or not.                         -Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Today’s Tip:
Like never before in the history of man, we only have a few seconds to grab a person’s interest.

Rather than using long drawnout explanations about your product or the value it offers, consider using an analogy or metaphor to quickly bridge your communication gap.

Analogies:
The vast majority of human learning happens by comparing something that is known to something that is unknown. 

Example: if I was communicating to someone who had no idea what ‘Residual Income’ was; I might use a an analogy such as; ‘Well you know how a best selling author does the work of writing her book once, and yet they get paid royalties over and over for years?”

This simple analogy acts as an example that the person I am speaking to can relate to and immediately understand.

Not only do analogies help people understand what you are communicating, but it also drastically cuts down on the required time to make them understand.

Metaphors:
Metaphors are often use to embellish a description.

If I wanted to make a dramatic point regarding the current mortgage crisis, using the metaphor of, ‘Mortgage Meltdown’, would immediately be understood by the party I’m speaking to.

Using a metaphor, ‘addicted to oil’, would quickly communicate the direction of the conversation involving our oil crisis.

The creative use of both analogies and metaphors will go a long way in getting and keeping the attention of the person you are communicating with.
Home-based business entrepreneurs have a great advantage because we are not regulated by ‘canned responses’, and can design our own verbiage to use when prospecting and otherwise communicating with clients for maximum effectiveness.

John T. Kelly ~ The Home Business Evangelist
  

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Building habits and behavior patterns that serve you as a person and as a business owner is critical stuff. Habits either act as our willing Servents or as our Masters.

What I mean is this: Whatever habit you’ve picked up, it’s either helping you reach your desired outcome - OR it’s pushing you further away.

Simple Examples:

• If you like the idea of living a long and high quality of life - then a ’smoking habit’ is driving you away from that outcome (and acting as your Master).
• If you’ve developed the habit of contacting 5 new prospects for your home business every day - this habit will serve you well and help generate a thriving business.  

 Habits (good or bad) take some time and attention to develop. Most behavioral scientists estimate it takes between 25-30 days.

During that time you’ll need to remember the new behavior you looking to adopt as well as how to perform that activity.

Once you complete that 25-30 day poeriod you”ll notice the new activity begins to come to you naturally. This is actually an amazing thing because whereas in the beginning stages contacting 5 new prospects a day may be a real struggle; but 25-30 days in the activity becomes far easier and you need for stuggle or willpower diminishes significantly.

I’ve found a very simple visual tool to help people ‘post’ their goals and keep track of their progress. It’s called ‘Joe’s Goals’ and you can find it at joesgoals.com . It’s free…

John T. Kelly ~ The Home Business Evangelist

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Home business entrepreneurs are approaching tax time just like everybody else, so I wanted to remind everyone of just a few of the many, many, legal deductions we are entitled to.

This article is not intended to replace a competent tax expert’s advice nor is it legal advice. This post’s purpose is two-fold.

First it is meant to alert people who have not yet started a home business that they are missing out on something HUGE (ie – LOTS more money in their pocket).

Second: To inspire people who do have a business to educate themselves completely on wide range of deductions available.

Some of the deductions which may be applicable to you are:

• General Overhead: your home office, phone service, cell phone, utilities, office supplies, computers & programs, internet service, fax & printer, insurance, maintenance, office cleaning, landscaping, etc.
• Training/Education: Seminars, business conferences, books, fees for organizations (BNI, Chamber Commerce, etc), trade magazines, etc. 
• Marketing: Tradeshows, any type of advertising (classifieds, internet, flyers, car signs, radio, TV, etc), business cards, mailing lists, market research costs, etc.
• Automobile: Vehicle purchase/leasing, mileage, tolls, parking fees, car washes, insurance, repairs, registration & plates, etc.
• Travel: Car rental, cabs, air fare, tolls, mileage, travel memberships, etc.
• Administration Costs: Postage, P.O Box, stationary, office supplies, copies, printing, etc.
• Gifts & Donations to Charities: Chartable donations and gifts to clients, prospects, vendors, etc.

Keeping viable records is essential (it makes you audit-proof) -and only takes about two minutes daily.

This list is far from complete. Do NOT depend on your tax preparer to know of (or want to use) all the deductions you are entitled to.  This needs to be YOUR responsibility because it’s YOUR money, and nobody will take care of it like you will - period.

There are several excellent books available on legal tax deductions for home based business available at places like Amazon.

John T. Kelly ~ The HomeBusiness Evangelist

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