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by Leah Grant

Your elevator speech is a verbal business card or billboard. In order for it to be effective it must be compelling. You want it to draw in the prospect yet leave them wanting to know more.

It is one sentence, two at the most, and serves as your benefit statement. Your elevator speech needs to be just what its name implies, short enough to share on an elevator ride.

It should provide clear, jargon-free information about who you are, what you do and what’s in it for the prospect.

Craft your elevator speech when you have a crystal clear picture of your business. Simply stating your industry and title is too vague. You must be able to articulate the main problem your specific type or business focus solves for your target market.

You must also know your target market and what motivates them. For example, when I was networking with financial planners, I tested a few elevator speeches to see which got the best response. Read the rest of this entry »

by Melissa McCreery PhD,ACC

As you start the New Year and a new decade, it’s a good time to give your business success skills a quick check up. Do you have what it takes to get you where you want to go? As you review your tools and strategies, I’d like to suggest an area that many savvy business women overlook—and this error of omission costs them big. One of the most crucial skills for any thriving solopreneur or professional is the ability to take excellent care of herself. After all, aren’t you the most important asset your business possesses? I know what you may be thinking. Many of us entrepreneurs have so much on our plates that it’s impossible to get to it all, and often, self care or “me-time” is one of the first things to go. It’s not essential. It may feel self indulgent or you think it’s rather a luxury. You tell yourself you can get to it later. Not true.

Here’s what THRIVING business owners know (and many of us learned it the hard way). The way you care for yourself counts and it counts big. You can’t show up powerfully in your business or your life unless you are showing up powerfully for yourself. Taking care of YOU is not a luxury, it’s an essential part of a successful business plan. Read the rest of this entry »

by Leah Grant

You’ve been talking about pursuing your dream since high school. You’ve been stuffing a file with places you’d like to travel since you got your first job. You’ve envisioned what your boutique store would look like for years, even driving around searching for the perfect location, yet you’ve never taken that next step.

So, what’s stopping you?

In my coaching with clients they regularly share the obstacles that are stopping them from moving forward. At least fifty percent of the time, these items are perceived, not real.

Here’s a list of the most popular ones I’ve heard and how to avoid them:

1. I’m too old.

Years ago I heard the story of a 70-year-old woman who lifted a car off her grandchild and saved his life. When she was interviewed, instead of being ecstatic, she was melancholy and admitted that if she could lift a car to save a child what else might she have been able to do that she never tried. The interviewer asked her what she’d always wanted to do, but hadn’t tried. The grandma replied, “Go to college.” The interviewer challenged her, “So why not do it now?” And so she did. Read the rest of this entry »

by Denise Willms

Have you been dreaming of working at home for a long time now, but still haven’t figured out how to make it happen? The old saying is true, if you want your life to be different, you have to do something different.

Here are some things you can do to take positive action and make this the year you really do start to work from home.

1. Make a choice. What are you going to make money from home? A lot of people get stuck on this very first step. I think they’re overwhelmed by all their choices, and afraid of making the wrong one. The worst choice you can make is not to choose anything! If you choose to follow a work-at-home path and later on decide it wasn’t the right one for you, that’s not a mistake. It’s a learning experience, and an important part of learning how to work from home.

2. Start saving. Very few people who work at home make a profit immediately. Start saving now so you can afford to invest the time you need to get your work at home business up and running. You may even want to take a part time job so you can afford your startup expenses.

3. Build relationships with others who are working at home successfully. They may be in your community or online. Ask them what they’re days are really like, and for any advice they have for you. Knowing how others make it work may give you the kick-start you need.

4. Seek out quality information about working from home. Make sure your information comes from reliable sources, and has actually worked for the people who are giving it to you.

5. What has been keeping you back from working at home in the past? Do you have a fear you need to address? Are you lacking confidence? Or do you need to develop a skill? Evaluate what has held you back from making this move, and come up with a strategy to overcome it.

Let’s make this the year you start working from home too!

About the Author:
Denise Willms is a Publicity and Marketing Virtual Assistant and work at home mom of two teenagers. Do you want to know more about how you can work at home too? Visit www.wahm-articles.com and search for work at home articles on the topics you’re most interested in. While you’re there, go ahead and subscribe to the weekly WAHM Tips newsletter. You’ll get new WAHM expert articles delivered to your inbox each week!
Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

by Jennifer May

Many who are already in the work from home industry know most of these terms but those who are just searching and have not understood all that is involved in working from home yet… will not know most of these. This is where educating yourself before searching for work from home is necessary to find what you are looking for. Especially if you want to avoid scams and wasted time on your search.

Below are a list of terms to know when you are searching for work from home or already work from home. This will make it much easier for when you need to disect a word you do not understand in the industry.

Affiliate – An Individual who partners to a product / service and promotes/markets it to others for a commission.

Article Writing – Someone who writes articles online to earn an income or build their opportunity.

Blog – A place where individuals can write and share anything they desire (similar to a journal). You can utilize blogs for personal, promoting, earning an income and/or growing on the internet.

Downline – People you recruit or those under you recruit into your Home Business, Network Marketing, Direct Sales or MLM Company whom are in your organization. Read the rest of this entry »

by Denise Willms

The Problem with Clutter

Did you start your workday with an already cluttered desk? If so, a recent survey conducted in the UK by Avery Dennison Worldwide Office Products indicates you weren’t the only one. More than half of the survey participants couldn’t remember the last time they saw their desks. But, does all this clutter really pose a problem? Sometimes it seems that cleaning up the clutter is more time consuming than working around it.

Clutter interferes with office productivity on a few different levels. First of all, clutter is a time waster in an already full day. Think of the wasted minutes and extra frustration spent sifting through piles looking for that document you had in your hands just yesterday. Secondly, a disorganized environment can leave your mind feeling cluttered too. Being surrounded by so many tasks all requiring your attention makes it difficult to focus on one task or to prioritize your projects properly. And finally, a job doesn’t feel finished until it’s cleaned up. Putting away a finished project provides a feeling of closure, freeing you to fully concentrate on your next task.

The Real Reason Your Desk Is Cluttered

Take heart! Despite your messy desk, you’re not lazy, nor are you a slob. Habit, time management, and your office furniture are all culprits when it comes to desk clutter.
Read the rest of this entry »

by Shelly Hill

When it comes to networking on forum boards, are you building a quality business reputation? Do you even know how to properly network on forums?

I would like to share a few important tips on how to make your networking experience a positive one, for you and your business reputation.

1. Read All Rules and Guidelines. It is very important to read all of the forum board rules, before proceeding with your first post. Rules and Guidelines vary from forum to forum, don’t assume they are all the same. If you feel you can abide by the rules posted, then it’s time to proceed to step 2.

2. Fill Out Your Forum Profile. Your forum profile is very important, so please don’t overlook filling it out. Try to be as complete as possible with the information requested on your profile. Forum members do read new member’s profiles. It’s a great way to let others know about you and your business, without having to spam an Ad. It’s equally important to make yourself a signature tag, while filling out your profile. Most forums won’t allow business links in the body, of the message board post. Read the rest of this entry »

Being a guest blogger is very beneficial for you and your business and for the blog owner. Not only will you increase your exposure and get more traffic, but you will also get inbound links.

Read the rest of this entry »

Here are seven of the plugins I consider essential for any WordPress website I setup. These can help your WordPress site be more secure, more search engine friendly, easier to deal with, and more engaging for your visitors.

To find these plugins, login to your WordPress administrative area, click “Plugins” on the left menu, then click “Add New.” You’ll see a page with a search box you can type the plugin name into and then install the plugin.

Read the rest of this entry »

WordPress is a great way to build and manage a website. Like any online software though, there are steps you should take to secure your WordPress installation and keep it safe from hackers. Some are common sense for any website (secure website hosting and choosing a secure password) and others are specific to WordPress (such as the plugins recommended below). Here are seven steps to secure your WordPress website.

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