Home Business Resource Blog

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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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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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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As someone who is following the Oprah internet show featuring Eckhart Tolle’s new book - ‘A New Earth’; I am amazed at how strongly it applies to Home Business Entrepreneurs.

From my experience in business coaching, a huge obstacle to many home business owners is staying on track. Between the many, many distractions, obstacles, disappointments, etc - it is easy to become discouraged and quit.

Eckhart offered more good advice on the March 24th show that is invaluable to the entrepreneur.

He spoke of ‘being transparent’, which means receiving negative feedback (criticism, rejection, etc.) and allowing it to ‘pass through’ ourselves without being effected negatively by it.

When a person criticized, rejected, etc. - the Ego (in its constant need for power and control) – generates negative emotions and judgments to defend its position on the situation. It always wants to ‘be right’ - and it wants the other person to confirm that it’s right.

When this doesn’t happen, the Ego goes into overdrive and we people easily get ’swept up’ in and further engaged in the ego’s tirade. Since everybody’s ego thinks the same way it should be no surprise this causes friction between people.  

‘Opinions’ turn into disagreements, disagreements can turn into arguments, arguments can turn into violence, violence can turn into battles, etc., etc.

With a little consistent effort, we can train our awareness to recognize when the Ego is engaged. When we gain awareness we can then choose - instead of automatically going along with ego’s charade - we can choose to be ‘transparent’ and allow that storm cloud generated by the ego to pass by harmlessly.

That’s right; we choose instead of automatically reacting from Ego.

By doing so we avoid getting bogged down in its drama, its righteousness, and its inflexible opinions. Most of the crap Ego dreams up is just that anyway – crap.
It looks for excuses to be offended, to generate doubt, mistrust, jealousy, and anger.

Since we would ALL be far more pro-active entrepreneurs without those thoughts, you can begin to see the power of Eckhart Tolle’s, ‘A New Earth’.

Eckhart says that we step out of the ego’s ongoing mental chatter we can be present in the current moment – and be far more effective at whatever it is we happen to be doing. It is also the most precious gift we can give ourselves – LIVING in the present moment.

John T. Kelly ~ The Home Business Evangelist
 
 

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Prospecting is a skill new Home Business entrepreneurs struggle with more than any other. All businesses require customers to survive. To acquire customers (and ‘team members’ in Network Marketing) the people need to be exposed to your business. It’s just common sense, but it doesn’t make the process any easier for a person not used to picking up the phone to prospect.
 
Oprah’s special internet show based on Eckhart Tolle’s book, ‘ A New Earth’ offers some wonderful insights that we can apply to helping people who struggle with picking up the phone.

The first two ‘A New Earth’ shows revolved around the human ego and its characteristics. Eckhart teaches that the ego acts like a spoiled little child in many respects. It generates a non-stop conversation in our heads. This chatter is all about ‘identifying’, labeling, judging; and keeping you involved in what it suggests is your Identity.

He offered an example of some people in Japan who when fired from their job actually committed suicide because their ‘identity’ was so attached to their job. We may recognize that level of association to ‘identity’ is silly; but we are likely to be almost as guilty in other areas of our own lives.  

The fact is the identity we adopt is not really who we are. In fact it is VERY small representation of our magnificence. Even ‘important’ labels such as Mother, Husband, Soldier, Doctor, etc. actually do us a disservice if we limit ourselves only to the parameters those labels imply.

Regarding prospecting; it is your ego that struggles with picking up the phone. It is so worried about being rejected because that ‘threatens’ the ego. The ego wants total control and since that isn’t possible it generates a mental environment that is always in turmoil.

What to do: Start ’stepping back’ from the dialog of the mental chatter and recognize these thoughts are like passing clouds. Observe them rather than ‘own’ them. Recognize that feeling of judgment, fear, shyness, etc. are not actually of your real self – but are projections from your ego.

Treat these projections as you would fog – and walk right through them. God has given you the desires that live in your heart. We need to consider ourselves God’s Ambassadors and use our Faith to stand up to the ego’s imagined fears and limitations. As with anything, you will need to be persistent with using this new perspective. Soon it will become second nature. 

Next: Begin ’seeing past’ people reactions and responses. Just because someone says ‘No’ to the idea of joining you team means nothing in the grand scheme of things – unless you allow your ego to label it as something bad.

If you need to – invent a reason why that ‘no’ was actually a good thing for you – then move on. Your spirit will grow lighter and ever more attractive to others because you’ll becoming from a place of peaceful detachment rather than being needy.

Our society is built all around servicing the needs of the ego. Since those needs as endless we can be assured that our egos will continue rear their head and shout their demands, opinions, and fears. How do we overcome this?

My suggestion is to go the Oprah’s website and review the recorded segments of ‘A New Earth’ show. Read Eckhart Tolle’s book, ‘A New Earth’ and invest time in wallowing in the information in order to embody it permanently.

John T. Kelly ~ ‘The Home Business Evangelist’

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If you are a budding work from home Entrepreneur there are just a few attitubutes you need to aquire to ensure your success. That seems like a rather bold statement in a world filled with ‘How To…’ books, videos, CD sets, personal development libraries, etc.

The sad fact is that most of these purchased items don’t even get read or heard, they just sit on the bookshelf. The people who actually go thru the materials rarely implement them. I told you it was sad…

The good news is that you can easily seperate yourself from that crowd and soar above your competition by employing the attributes of Pigheaded Discipline & Determination.

By developing  those mindset muscles over time you can master ANY goal, any new habit, any business success you set out to achieve. You don’t need to master a 1,000 skills to succeed - just take a few critical ones and pracrice them a 1,000 times.

I’ll give credit for this profound insight to Chett Holmes - a man that learned these secrets early in his quest towards becoming master at Karate.

This post is short - but it may be the most important post you as a home based business entrepreneur every read. Now that you’ve read it - what are you going to do right now to

a.) make sure you never forget it 

b.) begin to implement it from this time forward

One of our mentors, Ellie Drake - likes to remind us that the biggest burden in the world is the burden of wasted potential. 

What’s the size of the burden you’ve been carrying - and isn’t it time to start soaring?

John T. Kelly 

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Okay, so you’ve decided to have or start a work form home business. This decision needs to include the ‘core reason why’ you want to do this as well as determining which fields, products, or services you can be passionate about.

This is post will discuss the next most important decision that needs to be made.  This decision involves choosing the business model which matches your desired end result. 

Example: IF your primary reason for starting a business at home is because you wish to spend more time with your children; then starting a business from scratch may not make much sense. 

That’s because it typically takes an enormous amount of time to develop a product, prepare it for market, set up and implement a marketing campaign, and handle the shipping and receiving, etc.
 
Naturally, during this process you will not be earning any income and in fact will likely be spending quite a bit of money. With significant money being spent and no money coming in, you will in all likelihood be working long hours to reverse that situation. 

The end result is that the ’start from scratch’ business model you have chosen has not brought it closer to your primary goal - which was for more free time with the kids.

You could choose to buy a Franchise. It’s also an expensive proposition, and because of that, a serious time commitment. Once again our goal of ‘more time’ alludes us.

In this circumstance, choosing a network marketing business model makes much more sense because almost all factors noted above have already been handled. 

In addition; since it takes such little money to start a network marketing business at home, you can likely afford to spend quality time with your children. This business model also offers tremendous flexibility regarding the number of hours you work and what hours of the day you do your work.

Gee, it’s looking like I’m a little prejudiced here…

Yes, and for good reason. I’ve already gone the ‘employee’ route and also owned a ‘traditional business’, and in both cases I was still a slave. In our network marketing business I have all the upside potential (actually more) – and none of the downside of a traditional business.

No employees, no inventory, no rent, no business insurance, or any other the other twenty one expenses associated with running a traditional business.

I do get incredible tax benefits, great flexibility with my time and work schedule, my business can be relocated instantly, I can build a re-occurring passive income over time - hey I could go on for awhile here.

Sure, I still run into uneducated people who aren’t smart enough to learn about the networking industry and want to bash it. I can laugh at their remarks because I know these are the type of people who also listen to their neighbor’s advice on which stocks to invest in. The problem is their neighbor is a plumber and NOT a investing professional…

I mean , shouldn’t we talk to someone who actually knows that profession before making up our minds? It makes sense to me.

And you?

John T. Kelly

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As a home based business entrepreneur, developing trust between you and your prospects or clients is among the top attributes you can establish.

This is not about the benefits of ‘doing the right thing’ so you can sleep well at night. I’m going to assume you’re already smart enough to be doing that.

Instead, I want to briefly review a number of other powerful benefits to building trust which may have slipped under your radar up to this point.

Short and sweet, here they are:

1. Having trust greatly reduces the amount of time it takes for you to make a sale.  Consider the time difference required between new orders from a  prospect or client who trusts you versus the amount of time it takes to get a prospect with whom this trust has nor been established. The difference  is often enormous
2. Using the same example above; now consider the amount of money saved since many of the costs involved in bringing a new client on board are not involved when taking additional orders from existing clients.
3. Clients who trust you also purchase more often and in higher quantities.
4. Clients who trust you are easily approachable for referrals.  These referrals will automatically have a much higher level of trust in you because you have been introduced to than by someone they trust. The cycle repeats itself allowing you to once again save considerable time and expense.
5. Finally, working with people who trust you typically means that the relationship between you is positive and friendly.  Needless to say, these type of people will make your work much more enjoyable and far less stressful.

Most home based business entrepreneurs will recognize that the benefits posted above offer significant benefits when evaluated individually.  Even if the individual benefits provide incremental rewards; when combined together the mprovements can make a profound difference on your bottom line.

Methods and strategies for building this level of trust will be covered in a future post.  For now, begin to consider how you can build trust in your relationships and with every interaction.

John T. Kelly

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Starting a work from home business and becoming a business entrepreneur teaches us many things on the road to success. There are also plenty of things you’ll need to learn over time to maximize that success.

There are many, many books and other resources available that can cover the basics of these various elements.  This post references a more extensive article I published regarding what I feel maybe the three most important categories of all.

Business Strategy:

Category one involves deciding upon your home business strategy.  Far too many business owners launched themselves into the marketplace before a really examining the appropriate strategy for their product or service.

Your business strategy is your overall approach to the marketplace.  For instance; based on your product or perhaps your target market you might decide that Internet advertising on particular websites is your best bet.

Another home based business owner may decide the best way to expand their business is through an attending networking events and meeting people face-to-face.

Researching your marketplace and identifying the best means of communicating to your target market is the key.  Scattering your efforts rather than sticking to a focused strategy is a serious mistake in my opinion.  You cannot own every market; instead choose a niche and master it - only then consider expanding out from there.
The main point is to take the time to consider your marketplace from a big picture perspective. What exactly are you looking to become?

In fact, every project you begin start with the big picture and the end result in mind and work backwards from there.

Once that is established it will be easier if you identify the individual Tactics you would use to implement you work from home strategy.

Marketing:

The second most important category in my opinion has to do with marketing.  It is my experience that for the first two years of any new business approximately three quarters of your time should be invested in marketing.

I am certain this comes as a surprise to many people.  The fact is, until the people within your target market are aware of you and the services you provide, your business is in peril.

Once enough people have experienced your product and service and are excited about the value you provided them - they will begin to spread the story of your business.

After deciding upon your business strategy there isn’t likely a more important element of your business which will decide upon its success than your marketing.  As the business owner is your responsibility to know and understand marketing the thoroughly, and keep a close eye on.

Optimization:

The final category of the three is called Optimization.  Optimization is a fancy word that refers to constant and never ending improvement. 

Dr. Deming was an American engineer was sent to Japan after the second world war.  He was sent there to help Japanese industry rebuild.

He taught the Japanese that every process is made up of a series of steps.  He taught them that each one of these steps could be examined, measured, and improved upon and that this was an ongoing process.

The Japanese embraced Dr. Deming’s teachings and resurrected their economy and companies to the point where they are today (World-Class).

As a business owner is important that you consistently test and look for better ways of doing things.  Small shifts, when added together, often make a massive difference in your bottom line.

The next three categories in terms of importance would include; communication, service, and leadership.  These categories will be examined in a future article in terms of the relation to a work from home business.

John T. Kelly

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