Want to Work from Home?

I have been looking at various blogs and sites that help women who want to make money from home. As I find them I will add them to this post. There are so many work from home blogs and sites that are trying to sell you something or sign you up to be their downline. I am looking for sites that are helpful, informative, and genuine.

Here are some quality sites for you to check out:

The Work at Home Woman
Full of ideas and is a hub of information that will help you pick the best work from home business for you.

Work at Home Now blog
This is a collection of articles written by various authors about working at home. Chalked full of information.

Not all Phone Directories are Created Equal - A Phonebook can be "Carbon Neutral"

How many people think that a phonebook is a tree killer? According to Facebook a lot. Well the Canpages phonebook has been certified carbon neutral and is environmentally friendly.

• Canpages is the first directory publisher to be certified carbon neutral
• Canpages directories are completely recyclable and use the highest percentage of recycled paper fibres
• Canpages has added an eco‐choices section to each of our directories
• Canpages also generously donates to a variety of environmental groups whose purpose it to ensure a lasting legacy of wildlife and habitat in Canada.

So what does this mean for your business? If you are an advertiser with Canpages in Canada then you are part of an award winning environmentally friendly product which is gaining usership in Canada. As a phonebook user, you can be assured that you are helping the planet when you use a Canpagese Phonebook.

It's exciting because a company that traditionally is seen as a wasteful necessity is now a certified carbon neutral product and is still a useful tool for the marketplace. At some point everyone uses a phonebook directory to find a product or service; even if it used by a household once a year it has provided a benefit for both the advertisers and the consumer. Most of the marketplace is dulled to advertisements and feel that if they want something they will go and look for it. One tool every household will use at some point is a phonebook, another tool is the internet directories like Canpages.ca

Links:
How to survive a recession
Are You going to survive the recession
Have a Leaner Better Business
Do You Measure Advertising?
How is Your Business Special?
Ecoprint is proud of their CanPages ad.
Search for Businesses on your Mobile Phone with CanPages App

What do you do? What makes Your Business Special? What's Your Elevator Pitch?

An elevator pitch is your 30 second commercial that creates interest in your company, product or service. An Elevator Pitch has to create interest through curiosity and be open enough to inspire questions. Are you trying to create an elevator pitch? Not sure if your elevator pitch is good enough? or Do you have an elevator pitch you like? Share it with us and provide a link to your business website or email.

If you want feedback and help list out what your business and product or service is, how it helps your customers and what makes it different from anything else on the market. What benefit does it give the customer? What features are different from your competition? What message do you want to get across? List out your elevator pitch and ask the community for feedback in the comments section.

Every small business person is a salesperson and has to have sales skills like the elevator pitch. This 30 second commercial will either create curiosity for the prospect to ask questions or will tell them too much and cause the prospect to make a decision at that point. Make sure your elevator pitch is consise, informative enough but doesn't provide too many details.

Easy? Depends on how well you know your market, prospects, and customers. Do you know why they buy from you? Knowing the reason your best clients choose to purchase from your company will help you understand what questions you want the prospect to ask and create curiosity from that.

As an example I will go through my process:

Benefits of what I do: Help the marketplace find the business, product or service they need when they need it. - The result is I help my clients increase the traffic to their businesses.

My product is different from indirect competitors: It has a longer shelf life. It is used by the marketplace to find what they need when they need it, as a result, they find the businesses that utilize my indirect competitors and thereby, increase the return on investment for the client when they use my indirect competition.

Message I want to get across: I help businesses differentiate themselves to the marketplace when the consumer needs them.

Why do my Customers Buy: They know that they need to be where the marketplace goes to find a business or service they need. They understand that the return on investment my product provides is better than any other media available. MOSTLY: they want to grow their business and understand how I can help them.

Notice I haven't mentioned the company or the product? It's because my product is unexciting but what it does for the business is exciting.

Elevator Pitches I can use with this information:

1. I help businesses get to the next level.

2. I help consumers find the business, service or product that they need when they need it.

3. I realize that you have a marketing and advertising program in place, I increase the return on investment of that program.

4. I'm a matchmaker between businesses and consumers.

5. I bring businesses customers.

Good luck creating your elevator pitch and ensure that you share it with us and how we can ask you more questions if we are interested.

Christmas Spending Results and Economic Outlook for 2009 - Is it a Good Thing for Your Business?

Predictions regarding the decrease in consumer spending for the 2008 Christmas Season have started to hit the news wires. All agree there is a decrease in dollar spending, as a result of both less spending and deep discounts. So what does this mean for your business? That consumers are still spending money just less of it - will they choose to buy from your business?

According to the NY Times, ShopperTrak's earlier predictions were opptomistic when compared to the reality of both traffic and dollars spent:

Releasing interim data on Wednesday, ShopperTrak said the full report would most likely show that customer traffic for the full holiday season plummeted 16 percent, and that total retail sales sank 2.3 percent. Those are darker than previous estimates, of a 9.9 percent drop in traffic and a 0.1 percent increase in sales.

We won't know the concrete actual results of December spending until January 8th but as it stands it may be worse than expected. This is a result of people being cautious about their spending habits and starting to save more resulting in a worsening of the recession. So will you still be in business when these consumers start spending more money again?

In Canada the results were better and show that although we are in a recession as well, it isn't the recession to the south of us. Our recession is a result of both a slowing economy and consumer assumptions that the American numbers are the same as ours. The difference is that our nation didn't have the creative mortgages the States had and as a result we don't have the same credit crisis that caused this recession.

Canadian retail sales for the holidays have not been released yet – Statistics Canada typically has a two-month lag in reporting – but the figures from October show sales were 0.9 per cent less than September, standing at $35.9 billion. When compared with October 2007, however, sales were up 4.1 per cent.

Despite losses in furniture, home furnishings, electronics, cars and other big-ticket items, the agency said price reductions were the prime factor in the monthly decline. When taking price changes into account, sales volume actually rose by 0.1 per cent.

The prospects for 2009 are not looking good, even north of the 49th parrellel. However, I believe that these numbers are very pessamistic for the Canadian economy. Although our economy was inflated and needs to contract down to a healthier level of growth, I don't see it as a bad thing for anyone, business owners included.

"Never before, in December, have we been so pessimistic regarding economic growth for the upcoming year," says Dale Orr, chief economist at Global Insight, which is forecasting that the Canadian economy will contract by 0.4 per cent in 2009.

That's a relatively optimistic prediction.

Scotiabank, for one, sees the Canadian economy contracting by three times that amount in 2009, or 1.2 per cent, with employment falling by 170,000 jobs, or one per cent, and the jobless rate rising to an average of 7.7 per cent from 6.1 per cent in 2008.

Another forecast, this one from TD Bank, predicts an even greater 1.4 per cent contraction in 2009, with virtually all provinces in recession. The jobless rate, after reaching an average of 7.7 per cent in 2009, will rise to an average of 8.2 per cent in 2010, the bank said.

Why is a contraction in the economy a good thing? Because it cleans it up and weeds out the bad apples thereby strengthening the good apples and the economy at large. The reason for the US crisis was too many bad apples in the mortgage market, too many people who shouldn't be getting mortgages were getting mortgages. Too many people who shouldn't be buying new expensive cars were buying new expensive cars. The market was being inflated beyond healthy growth by credit and not healthy spending. When the credit ran out so did the spending and as a result the demand dried up and equity went bye bye.

The results have shown that healthy spending is continuing. The decrease in spending is a result of the credit spending or unhealthy spending not being there this year. People are still spending money, you just have to understand where the money is coming from, their actual pockets and not the banks.

How to survive a recession
Are You going to survive the recession
Have a Leaner Better Business

Marketing Predictions for 2009 - What Small Businesses NEED to Know from the GURUs of Marketing.

I wanted to quickly pass on a link to a site that has a list of what the guru's of marketing are saying about 2009 and how small businesses can take advantage of the slowing economy. I've said it before and I'll repeat it - the recession is a great opportunity for you to strengthen your business and realign yourself as a leader in your market. You have to be smart and you have to get your story out into the marketplace while the rest of your competition is cutting back on their marketing / advertising budgets.

Recession doesn't mean there are NO buyers, just LESS buyers - Are they going to be calling on you or your competition? That depends on who they see, remember, and can find easily.

Links:
Check out duct tape marketing's list of what the guru's are saying for 2009.

Do You Measure Advertising?
How is Your Business Special?
Can Your Business Survive a Recession?
6 Tips for Businesses to Survive a Recession.

Do You Measure Results and Activity? How do you Plan on Being Better if You Don't.

You need to measure results in order to understand what is working and what isn't so you can funnel your resources into what works and avoid what doesn't. Do you take a shot gun approach to your advertising or are your a marksman? It is my job to help businesspeople reach their goals and I reach mine by measuring my activity everyday.

So how do you measure results? Do you count how many consumers come through your door and how many of them buy something? Do you ask consumers how they heard about you AND where they found your contact information? Do you keep records on sales, what is selling and what is sitting on the shelves?

It's not enough to just ask where they heard about you and how they found your contact information - you have to keep a written record. Think it's hard - not really just have a chart that shows where your advertising dollars have been spent. Add a tick wherever your customers say they heard about you and how they found your contact information. Your creative advertising and your directional advertising will need to be seperated to understand how each work together to drive customers into your business.

Directional Headings for your chart:
Yellow Pages Phonebook
CanPages Phonebook
Other Phonebooks
Yellow Pages Online
CanPages Online
Other Online Directories
Word of Mouth / Referal gave contact info.

Creative Headings for your chart:
TV Ads
Radio Ads
Newspaper Ads
Direct Mail
Magazines
Other publications
Word of Mouth / Referal gave me your name.

After a period of time count up the ticks and tally at the bottom of each column. What is working what isn't? Which is bringing you good return on investment, which isn't?

The only way you can make good business decisions is if you understand how your business is working and where it's not. It doesn't take much effort, just some good record keeping. What's your close rate? What's your activity levels? Are your employees productive? Where do your customers come from? What do they buy? Why do they buy? All it takes is asking the questions and ticking off a chart.

Links:

Should You Advertise?
Tracking Where Your Clients Found You is Important
Advertising - Can People Find Your Business?

6 Survival Tips for Lean Times - Article from the Vancouver Province Paper

6 survival tips for lean times
Don't panic, stay strong, nurture key customers and find new ones

Fiona Walsh
Special to The Province

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Small-business owners have one question on their mind these days: How do I survive this recession? This economy is a lot tougher than the one we have enjoyed over the past few years.

Over the last two weeks I have fielded a lot of phone calls from panicked business owners, asking for advice on how to keep going in a recession.

So here are my six tips for making money in this economy:

1. Your attitude determines the dollars. If you give in to panic and think that you won't be able to survive, you are probably right. In this kind of market, your attitude will determine your survival.

What you believe about this market determines what will happen to your business. I have clients that range from sole business owners to multimillion-dollar companies, and they have clearly divided into two camps: those who whine and complain about how awful things are and those who see opportunity and go after it. One client supercharged her prospecting program over the last two weeks and has already landed three new accounts.

Even in a recession, people are still doing business. The opportunities are always there, but you won't see them if you close your eyes and hide away.

2. Do more. Now is not the time to shrink into the background. Get busy doing more marketing and promotion. Sit down and identify opportunities. Take advantage of low-cost online marketing tools like blogging, Facebook and Twitter if they are a good way to reach your target market.

Do a co-promotion with another company to attract new customers. Get out and do more networking, more prospecting. The more people you get in front of, the better chance you have of making sales.

One cleaning service I know is offering their services as part of a buyer's package with a real-estate agent and it's working -- they sold three properties this month.

3. Protect your key customer accounts. Many businesses do not spend enough time thinking about the quality of relationships they have with key customers.

Do you know why they buy from you? Are there things they would like you to improve? Do you thank them for doing business with you? Improving those relationships will make you less vulnerable to poaching from the competition.

Put a plan in place for each of your key customers, focusing on how you can build a stronger partnership. One of my clients, a health product wholesaler, put a distributor sales-rep training program into place and in less than one year on the market, has become a top-selling product.

4. Follow up on every lead. Many small business owners hate selling and they make excuses for not following up on leads when they come in. They treat it as something optional that they do when they have a "spare moment."

They think up all the reasons the sale won't go through before they even follow up. That kind of negative thinking is costing you money and opportunity. Some of my biggest deals came from following up on long shots. I teach all my clients to never assume. You won't know which lead will turn into a sale until you do the follow-up.

5. Prospect! Prospect! Prospect! The more prospects you have in your sales funnel, the more sales you will close. This is a fundamental law of business. To keep sales coming in, you have to keep uncovering new opportunities and new customers on a regular basis.

Successful business owners are always focused on finding new prospects. Sit down and build yourself a list of potential customers that would benefit from buying from you, then start working that list every day. You can't just sit there and hope that they come through your door.

6. Ask for referrals. Lots of people won't ask for referrals because they think they are being pushy or they might hear no. That's ridiculous. Asking for referrals should be an automatic part of your sales process.

Yes, you will hear no sometimes. But many times, if you ask in the right way, you will get great introductions to solid prospects. And that kind of endorsement from happy customers is the best kind of marketing you can have!

Don't be content to listen to the doom and gloom; don't panic. Instead, get serious about your sales and marketing activities. Look for opportunities and act on them.

Fiona Walsh is a Vancouver-based business coach with worldwide clients. She can be reached at fiona@fmwalsh.com.
© The Vancouver Province 2008

Should you Cut Back on Advertising During a Slow Economy?

Ever Had a Bad Day and Just Don't Care about Your Prospect?

Today was one of those days! After dialing for 2 straight days and not booking any appointments and listening to lame excuse and misinformed businessness people I just didn't care anymore. I didn't care if they succeeded or not, I didn't care if their business went under. I just didn't care if they found another customer or not. If this happens to you after talking with prospect after prospect or client's that think they know more about your business then you do - It's time to take a break.

Your frustration, demotivation, and not caring will come across in your voice, your mannerisms, and your interaction. You can try your best to cover it up, be cheerful, use positive words the whole 9 yards, but if you don't care about the prospects needs, they will know it.

So what can you do? That was the million dollar question today at the office. When you are at the end of the line and you just feel you can't get one more sale, or one more project done, it's time for fun and rest.

1. Stay home and watch the funniest movie you can find
2. Go to the spa and relax
3. Go out with friends and be as silly as possible - Alchol may be needed.
4. Curl up in your favorite chair, turn off the phones and read a good book.

What other ideas do you have to turn around the sales blues or funk? What do you do when you are near the end and need just one more heroic push to make it over the finish line but you just can't seem to?

Cold calling is a hard way to make a buck and trying to educate business people who think they know what your business is about is even more frustrating. The only way cold calling works, or any telephone type sale or customer service call works is if you are smiling, cheerful, understanding, sympathetic, and genuine. If you just don't care about the prospect then you'll be working harder and harder and harder and getting no where fast. You need an attitude adjustment at this point in time, so go have fun, relax, and get a new outlook on life. Then try again tomorrow.

How do Customers Find Your Business? Really I Want to Know How You Attract Customers!

If you are not advertising or marketing your business how are customers finding you? Some small business people I talk to tell me they do not need to advertise or market their business because they are a one person business. If this is the case how do customers find out about their services or their products?

As a small business owner how do you find customers?

Can Your Business Survive a Recession? Work Smarter, Harder and Leaner

Back in June when I wrote that I thought many industries were already in recession and the US economy as a whole was on its way to a recession many were in disagreement. With the stock markets taking a hit and banks going into receivership I think we are already way beyond recession and now heading for a larger economic downturn then most would say. I don't even want to use the word depression but when you look at the historic reasons for the depression you can't help but see parallels. Banks going under, stock market values falling, people loosing their homes and jobs.

The big difference is the governments willingness to inject cash into the market sooner rather than later which will hopefully keep things from getting worse. The economy was being supported by borrowed money for so long it shouldn't be a surprise that it ran out.

As a business owner what can you do to survive this economic downturn?

Simple answer be smart about credit and spending. Longer answer:

1. Don't plan to expand in the next year, if your business plan called for expansion right now, revamp it and create a maintenance plan for the next 2 years at least.

2. Don't borrow right now. Get your inventory levels under control with systems that enable you to have more just in time deliveries and less overhead. Figure out a system that will enable you to turn over inventory more efficiently and cost effective. If possible negotiate longer payment terms then you currently have with suppliers.

3. Bring in more "must have" items, by this I mean necessity consumable items that people have to buy that are similar to what you offer consumers now. Keep luxury items at a minimum.

4. Advertise, but don't be stupid about it. You still need to get your story out into the market place and let people know that you are still in business. If you stop advertising your present customers may think you are no longer in business or worse, that you are going out of business. Advertising is an investment not a cost. Make sure you advertise where your customers see you and in the most affordable manner.

If you have a full colour ad in Yellow Pages you may want to cut back to a black and white ad that is the same size or look to their competition for more affordable advertising: Canpages being their number one national competitor.

Look at going to community newsletters for affordable advertising rather than the big ads in the newspaper. Community newsletters are relevant to their readers, are delivered to consumers homes, and is much more affordable then newspapers.

Instead of independent direct mail fliers that get thrown into the round file, advertise with direct mail catalogs like UPTOWN which provide recipients with articles and relevant information. These magazine's will stay in a home longer than your independent flier and cost you a lot less.

Know where your customers hear about you and find your contact information and then focus on those areas of advertising first.

5. Network, Network, Network....... Attend as many networking functions as you can without breaking the bank because this is affordable word of mouth advertising at its best. Don't go in expecting to make a sale right then or to sell everyone on your business. Go with the expectation of meeting new people and finding new services and business that you want to use.

Have a good 30 second commercial that will spark interest in your business and how you can help their business or personal lives. Don't go in spouting how great your product is and then leave and never return, networking takes an investment of time and interpersonal skills.

6. Merge your resources with another business. Cooperative marketing or cooperative advertising will help both businesses cut costs but at the same time provide both with exposure to the marketplace. Partner with a business that is a complement to yours and not your competitor. Put a plan in place together and write out the responsibilities and expenses of both parties. This will act as a contract for both of you to understand expectations and responsibilities.

7. Hire Professional Advisers. Professional advisers can help you look at the problems you face in a different creative way to ensure that you will come out ahead in the long run. Ask people who they use, google them, read their blogs or articles, and contact them to make an appointment to discuss your business.

Surviving a market downturn, especially one as ugly as this one could be will take planning and commitment on your part. If you continue to run your business in a reactive way instead of proactive you may find yourself in a huge hole that you can't get out of. If you want to be a successful business person, you have to foresee any circumstance and have a plan of action for the long run. By planning, working hard, being smart, and understanding your customer base you will come out of any recession ahead of the game.

Other entries on this topic:

Is the US going into a Recession?

Should you Cut Back on Advertising During a Recession?

Advertising Can People Find Your Business?

Consumers are Spending Less

Home Based Business - Mobile Cold Laser and Microbrasion Skin Treatments in Calgary Alberta

Balanced Beauty is able to offer their clients something other laser centers can't - the convenience of in home laser treatments. Their mobile cold laser system provides a safe and comfortable alternative to help heal skin afflictions from acne to wrinkles. Looking younger with clear skin is one of many benefits of Balanced Beauty's mobile cold laser and microbrasion services.

Indy has built a business that has brought her the freedom of a home based business and provided for her and her son. She trains others who want to become cold laser technicians and has big dreams for her business. She travels around Calgary and surrounding area bringing her equipment to those who want the time saving convenience of in home cold laser treatments.

Home Based Business - A Mobile Esthetician in Calgary Alberta

I met with a wonderful home based business woman today that has a mobile esthetician service in Calgary Alberta. She provides her clients with in home service for enhanced nails, manicures, pedicures, waxing, and eyebrow extensions.

She has organized her Honda to be a spa on wheels for individuals and groups who want a spa experience in the convenience of their homes. Spa parties are lots of fun for a girls night and she has partnered with mobile massage therapy businesses to provide a full spa event.

This business has enabled her to be home with her 3 year old and gives her freedom to work outside the home. Her schedule is hers to book and she has large goals for this venture. She teaches other women who want to be estheticians and they work with her until they are able to strike out on their own as a Charismatic Carolyn Mobile Esthetician business.

She may be small now but with her passion and ideas the sky's the limit.

To find a business in Canada.
Home Based Business Ideas

Links:
Do You Measure Advertising?
How is Your Business Special?
Can Your Business Survive a Recession?
6 Tips for Businesses to Survive a Recession.

Tracking Where Your Clients Find You is Just as Important as Tracking Where the Heard about You

Tracking where clients hear about your business is common practice for many business owners who want to manage their limited resources more effectively. What many forget to track is where the customer found their contact information. Isn't that the same thing? No it's not. They may have heard about your company or service from a friend, an advertisement or an article but they got your contact information from somewhere else.

Creative advertising is the type that raises awareness and is very expensive. If you want to be top of mind in your customer and prospects mind then you need to continually get your name in front of them one way or another. Newsletters, magazine advertising, community newsletter advertising, direct mail, TV and Radio are all ways of getting your brand in front of the marketplace.

You will need to ensure a few things are present in all your creative advertising:
1. Picture - Images of your Product being used should and invoke the viewer to desire it
2. Creativity - Must stand out and make the viewer to want to pay attention
3. Slogan - Must be catchy and memorable
4. Participation - It needs to inspire the viewer to participate
5. Brand - This is your Logo, Image and marketplace's perception of your product
6. Location - Where can they go for more information or to try it out.

Creative Ads are located in mediums that are not kept, they are located in places people are looking for something else, mostly entertainment. The purpose is repetitive images to keep your product in the minds of the marketplace, whether they want it or not at that moment.

Why does McDonalds and Coke, both leaders in their industries, spend millions of dollars on advertising? To keep their products in the minds of the consumer so when the consumer is thirsty or hungry they will first think Coke or McDonalds. Coke is Cola and McDonald's is fast food. Be the product of your industry through creative advertising.

By asking your customers where they heard about your product you can allocate funds in a focused and cost effective way gaining the most return on your investment. Think you're too small for creative advertising - you're not, you just need to figure out where your customers are and find the most cost effective way to get your image there.

Directional advertisements are on kijiji, newspaper classifieds, and the phonebook. These ads are very different from creative ads because the information in the ad must be different. Consumers are looking at directional ads because they are looking to buy something and need to know particulars about the item and business. The desire to buy and awareness has already been met, now its time to choose where to find the item they want.

Directional ads need to have the following information:

1. Reliability - What makes your business credible and reliable?
2. Approved Brands - What brand names do you sell? Brands have already paid for the Creative Advertising and awareness, now you have to let the consumer know where to go.
3. Special Features - What features does your business provide that consumers may be looking for? Warranties, Financing, Convenience, Delivery.
4. Compelling Reason to call you for what they want, what makes you different from the competition? Why should they call you instead of the other guy?
5. Picture or Illustration of the product or service provided. Pictures get noticed and are worth a thousand words even in directional ads. In creative you are trying to gain interest by showing the product in use or it's benefit, in directional you need to show the product the consumer will be looking for.
6. Location and Contact information.

Creative ads and directional ads work together by creating awareness and desire for a product and then providing the consumer information when they need it. For example, if you have a billboard ad that has made a consumer aware of your product, when it comes time to buy it the consumer is not going to drive to your billboard, they look in directories.

This is why it is important to ask both where they heard about your business and where they found your contact information. In some cases the answer will be the same, other times they will be very different. Make sure you are listed where the consumer will look when they need you.

Check out more creative ads.
Search for a Business or Service in Canada

Should You Cut Back on Advertising During a Down Economy?
Will the Increase in Cost of Living Effect Your Business?

Edie's Framing and Design - A Picture Framing Home Based Business

Part of my wonderful job is meeting new business people and talking to them about their business then figuring out the best way to get new customers. I met with Edie Nellison, a professional picture framer, who has built a quality professional picture framing business in her home.

She showed me some beautiful pieces of needlework that she has framed and some gorgeous fall coloured Canadian Maple Leaves she framed for a client. Clients looking for high quality framing of their special artwork, pictures, and memorabilia call on her. Due to a lower overhead she is able to offer her services for less than a retail picture frame outlet.

Her website shows off lots of her wonderful work.

One of the reasons I want to introduce this home based business to you is to help you find ideas for a home based business for yourself. Do you have a home based business idea you'd like to share in the comments?



Find a Business in Canada

Work from Home - Lots of Options Available but is it for YOU???

Working from home is a dream situation to many individuals but is it for you? You see the pictures of moms with their babies on their laps in front of computers and you think, ya that's what I want. But is it all it's made out to be? Working from home is a commitment and you have to be self motivated, if you aren't guess what - you won't succeed.

There are lots of work at home options out there, some good, some not. So how do you find the one that will work for you? First you have to know yourself, your passions and talents. Be honest with yourself don't idealize what you want to be, be realistic about your skills, habits, and motivations. Second, once you know what your about find a company that will match who you are. If you choose a company that doesn't match you - guess what, you won't succeed. There are more things to consider check out my article on choosing a direct sales or network marketing company, these are the two most important though.

Want to know more about network marketing companies or multi level networking companies?Reviews Articles on various multi level marketing or direct sales companies

When you work from home you have all sorts of distractions, especially if you have young children. You have to be able to compartmentalize your life and your children have to be able to understand that when you are in your office working not to disturb you unless it is an emergency. Your spouse or partner will have to be very supportive and helpful during the time you have set aside as work time. If you don't take your work at home situation seriously, your family won't so make sure you draw the boundaries right away.

When you work from home the condition of your home could be a distraction if you want to make sure it's clean before your start working. If you can't ignore the pile of laundry during scheduled work time then you won't be able to succeed. You need to ensure that you have planned out your time and you do what needs to be done in it's allotted time. If you keep putting work off to clean the house or do laundry you will never get to work and will fail.

A side effect of working from home is working all the time, it's hard to keep work at work when your home is your work. If your personal home phone is also your business phone you could find yourself answering business calls 24/7. Many people who work from home find they love the flexibility but they also end up working more hours a week then if they had an outside office.

Working from home is a wonderful experience, one I've been fortunate to hold in the past. My husband has freedom and spends more time with the kids, but at times he works all the time and misses out on the kids activities because he can't keep to work hours. He doesn't have to commute further than a few feet but his clients demand on calling any time to book an appointment and show up late in the day to pay their bill. My husband has a successful business but he feels he never gets time off and we have to leave the house to leave the work stress behind. When deciding if you should work from home you need to take the good and bad into consideration before you make a decision.

Looking for Employment in Calgary and Trying to Overcome Disappointment

For those of you following these posts I have a little confession to make, financing for the business I was hoping to buy fell through. Not only that, I am in a position now where I must re evaluate what I want and what my family needs. The reason for purchasing the business never changed, I was buying myself a career that I could turn into a wonderful lifestyle.

Now I am looking for work, not an easy task even in Calgary. The one thing I learned from the experience of purchasing the business was patience and now I need patience more than ever because if I had purchased the business I would have had 2 paycheques by now.

Overcoming the disappointment of loosing the position the business would have given me has not been easy. Then starting over to build a career I want knowing I almost had the career I wanted is not easy to wait for. I am preparing myself to take a position lower on the career latter with my eyes set on the prize. The last month I was creating business plans, financial statements and marketing plans, this month I will need to create a career plan. I'm looking forward to it!

I left my position at as a sales associate for a financial planner in 2003 to stay home with my daughter who needed me. During this time I volunteered, ran a childcare business, prospected for my husband's automotive repair business, and read more books than I can count to increase my knowledge. Still I find it hard to enter the workforce. A couple years ago my former boss offered me my position back at a lower salary and I decided that I wanted to work in a different industry and at a different professional level. Recently he again asked me to come and interview for a marketing / business development position and although I would rather work within a corporation that has a future for advancement I may have no other choice.

The past 3 years have not helped the situation. Positions I took ended up to be a bad match. One I was laid off from after 3 months and another I left after 9 months. The last year of upheaval has not helped either. First we moved to the Okanagan, next my husband got an offer to move to Ponoka and fly so we moved back to Calgary. I decided to stay home for a few reasons, 1. I was a single parent because my husband lived in Ponoka. 2. My daughter's kindergarten was 8-10:30 then my son was off at 2:30. Daycare would have been around the $1,100.00 mark. 3. We thought we were moving to Red Deer for my husband's job and I didn't want to start a career just to quit again. 4. Tried to purchase a business that would enable me to have a career in B2B sales / marketing / and business development. During this time I developed Carennedy Solutions, learned about website development, learned about internet marketing, and read books on marketing, sales, economics, and business. So I stayed busy, tried to increase my skills and my knowledge, still finding a position in a corporation has not been easy because I don't have a job and because I've been out of the workforce.

Carennedy Solutions, my pet project, is my attempt to help women who want to work from home market themselves and provide them with training. I don't make money doing it, it is an educational tool for those that use it and myself. I've been able to increase my skills and meet some really strong women who want to succeed. If I could teach them anything though, it would be to keep their eye on their career in the long run. I've advised them to create business plans and marketing plans, now I want to encourage them to also create written career plans to help them understand what skills they need to be acquiring during their time at home.

Overcoming disappointment and trying to move on has been hard. I'll admit I need to start making money and more than selling my designs online has brought in. My natural optimism and positive attitude help me to keep looking and applying. I hang on to the hope that I will be able to find a position that will lead to the career I've always wanted and try to get fit at the same time.

Musicians like Beverly Mahood Change the Promotion and Marketing of their Latest CDs

Beverly Mahood and other musicians like her are utilizing social networking sites like facebook and myspace to promote their CD releases. The Academy of Country Music changed the voting for Entertainer of the Year from the academy to fans votes. To make it easy for fans to vote for Entertianer of the Year the votes were collected via an internet poll. Kenny Chesney made the comment that, "But I don't think it's right that they picked the one award that means the most, that all the artists sacrifice the most for." He said they changed the category "into a sweepstakes to see who can push people's buttons the hardest on the Internet. I don't think that's right, really" The award has now become a prize for the nominee that can market themselves best on the internet and appeal to the age demographic that lives online. I should note that he made this comment after winning the award.



Utilizing the internet to promote yourself and your business is cost effective, in most cases free, and depending on your target audience effective. Social networking sites like facebook and myspace enable businesses to create pages and advertisements that will show up on their targeted audience's pages. Even if you feel that you don't have the time to play around with these sites, you do need to take advantage of their low cost advertising and create an online presence for your business.

Online polls, forums and comments are a very cost effective way to gain a better understanding of your audience. However, you need to understand the demographics of those that use the internet regularly and those that rarely log on. Which is your target audience? Will you find them online or offline? Kenny Chesney's comment about fans voting for their favorite entertainer has more to do with the age of fans then it does internet marketing. If an entertainers fans are older the chance they will know about voting and will actually vote decreases. Although you need an online presence understand your target audience and ensure they will find you on and offline.

How Green is Your Business?

Click to view design on different products

Is your business green? Eco Friendly products and methods are becoming very trendy and lots of companies are jumping on the anti global warming band wagon. Take some time to think about your product or service, does it have an environmental aspect? Can you add an environmental friendly product or service to what you offer?

I have hundreds of designs, most of which I think are better than this one, however, this recycle message design sells almost everyday. Just watch TV commercials and you can see how the environmentally friendly trend is growing, is your marketing on track?

SC Johnson has changed their marketing focus to Green with their GreenList and by building a factory near a garbage dump to power it with methane. Car manufacturers are building hybrids and more fuel efficient cars. In Brazil cars run purely on ethanol made from sugar cane. Virgin CEO Richard Branson has dedicated billions to finding an alternative energy.



Owners of small businesses tend to be so focused on what they have to do day to day that they don't have time to align their marketing with trends or go after a new market. Take a moment to ask yourself how your business or product helps to improve the environment? Be realistic in your answer, the fur industry is trying to market a green image because they use a natural product to manufacture their fur coats. Only thing is the natural product used to be a valuable member of the ecosystem and real green conscious consumers are not buying it.

All you have to do is Google conserve energy or go green to find out more about how to be ecologically friendly. How can your product or service fit into this trend? Can you add a similar product that your target market will want that fits into the green image? ie. Hybrid cars are still cars and still fit into the target market for the big car manufacturers. Take a day to review your marketing plan and add a green component.

Green Business Magazine - Check out what other Businesses are doing!



Click to view design on Products

Books for the Small Business Woman - WAHM and Businesswomen Ideas and Advice

Reading on a regular basis will increase your skills and tools in business. Here are just of few of my favorites, I hope they will help keep you motivated and find creative solutions for your home based business.

Decisions - Sometimes Outside Forces Turn Good Decisions into Bad Ones

I was talking with a neighbour yesterday about the state of the real estate market in Calgary. In January 2007 they decided to move at first to downsize then they decided to build a bigger more expensive home instead. The market in January 2007 was red hot and house prices were sky rocketing, but by June 2007 house prices were falling and many couldn't sell. They took possession of their home March 2008 and now own 2 houses, both for sale and neither are selling.

We've made a few decisions this last year that didn't work out, not for a lack of trying. The end result is that we are exactly where we were this time last year just poorer financially. Both my husband and I tried to change location, careers, and ended up back in the same house, he re-opened his automotive repair shop and I am unemployed.

So for all the effort to get ahead, make a difference, and build a future we got no where. That said, I did learned a lot about business, internet marketing, myself, and got to spend time with my kids. I read some great books and reconnected with some old friends. I found a new appreciation for single moms who have no help, my hats off to them it wasn't easy. The year wasn't a loss, just a lot of upheavel and uncertainty. I'm ready for stability and routine.

What does this have to do with small business or work at home business, a lot because we all make decisions on a daily basis and some turn out to be wrong. If you have a business plan in place that outlines your goals and where you want to be it will help you to gauge if the decision you are making is best for your business. It will help you to stay on course and keep you from distractions that are all around you. One thing that many work at home women want to do is everything, they want to take on every opportunity that comes along. Speaking from experience, don't take on other opportunities - the distraction will take away from your business, your plan and you'll end up right where you started, just poorer.