I’m going crazy working from home!

As seen on Yahoo Answers…

Does anyone else work from home?

I was just wondering if others here work from home and how they keep it together? 6 months ago I went from working in an office to working from home (same job) and I find myself missing the interaction with the real world. I am currently in a situation where I cannot work outside the home. So I was wondering what others do to help with the monotony? I take breaks and go for walks but then just end of feeling miserable and guilty because I should be working. How do others cope with the downside of a home business?

My Answer…

I have worked from home for over 16 years and I really love it. I have lots of interaction on the phone and through email with customers and vendors.

Here’s what I recommend:

1. Plan breaks - sounds like you may be taking “unplanned” breaks, so maybe you feel guilty because you haven’t given yourself permission. Realize that these breaks are very necessary to your optimal productivity.

2. Schedule intervals of people contact - make a phone call, go to a networking meeting, get involved in an online discussion group that will assist your work at home with information or ideas.

3. Listen to motivational cd’s or videos while you work. Depending on the level of concentration you may or may not be able to do this. If you can still get your work done while listening this is an excellent way to inspire yourself and keep you from getting bored or sleepy.

The following story is a great analogy -

There was once two men cutting wood. One man just chopped away without stopping even to eat. Finally after chopping wood all day he was done and completely exhausted.

The second man started by sharpening his ax, then he chopped for a while, then stopped to sharpen his ax. This continued until about lunch time - half way through his day. He had chopped double what the first man chopped and he was not exhausted.

The moral of the story is much more can be accomplished when you take time to sharpen your saw. It is not very productive to work yourself in to exhaustion — or bordom!

You were Born to be Rich

I have found a new source of inspiration…Yahoo Answers. I love it

Okay, here’s the question…

Looking for sales (marketing/advertising) jobs that my husband and I can do while traveling in my rv? We both have extensive sales experience in mortgages and real estate. I also have a BS degree in education. We want to travel the country while we earn our income. Open to do Trade Shows, etc.

Most of the answers received were invites to consider various opportunties. Some of them might be just what this couple is looking for, but chances are really good that they could still be looking when the day is over.

Here’s my answer…

Let me ask you this first…

What is it that you want to do?  What are you passionate about?

Do you love managing money and financial topics? Then you might want to sell a financial services package.

Are you passionate about health topics? Then you should look for a quality health product to represent.

With your background are you passionate about the real estate or mortage topics?  You could travel and train people how to develop wealth with real estate investments.

Or because of your degree in education, is there an educational product that resonates with you?

What have you been dreaming of all your life that you have told yourself  “Someday”?

Seek your passion first. Your passion will invigorate you and propel you into situations and circumstances that fit your interpretation of success.

Any questions?  I’d love to chat.

Not that I don’t have various opportunities that I’d love to tell them about, but ultimately I want to invite them to re-discover their passion. Is there passion really sales, because that’s what they’re asking for… In our culture we’re so programed to make money first and have a purpose later; when we were really created for just the opposite.

Follow your passion and everything you need or desire will be within your grasp in abundance.

Get More Business Podcast- Marketing Best Practices - David Frey

David Frey, of Marketing Best Practices and the Small Business Market Bible will be our guest next Friday at 9 am Pacific.

David tells me he has 106 different strategies for generating referrals. Well of course there are some Key Elements.

On the call he promises to share the 3 Main Elements for Getting all the Referrals You can Handle. And he will explain why a small business owner needs a system to manage the relationships that are used to build a business by the referral - a GOOD referral system will produce consistant, repeatable and PREDICTABLE results!

Why is Word of Mouth system of referrals not a reliable system for generating more business to rely on? Is there a way to automate the system for generating referrals - really good referrals?

Listen to David Frey on Get More Business Podcast.

Check out the tool that David Frey uses to automate his entire referral system.

Heard in the Universe!

Guess what?!!!

I had a conversation with a representative of Bob Proctor’s Life Success Coaching System yesterday. I am preparing to start training with Bob Proctor and Paul Martinelli to teach Bob’s material.

The story get’s better from here.

I am now in training with Bob Proctor and Paul Martinelli in the LifeSuccess Consultant Program.

My training begins now with master mind groups, DVD’s, conference calls, lots of reading and finally I will be at the Ritz Carlton in Florida in October for one week of intensive training.

I can be reached for speaking and training your organization with any of Bob Proctor’s courses:

• Science of success
• Goal Achiever
• Born Rich
• Mission in Commission
• Your Winner’s Image

To kick this off I am putting together master mind groups on Napoleon Hill’s book, “Think and Grow Rich.” If you’re ready to use the power of thoughts, ideas and organizezed plans to not only accumulate the wealth you desire - but also receive every thing else you desire - lasting friendships, harmonious family relationships, sympathy and understanding between business associates, and inner harmoney and peace of mind - email me for information on one of my master mind groups.

This master mind group will be done with emailed lessons and privately recorded teleconferences.

The really wonderful thing is that this first master mind groups is FREE - It’s my gift to you!  The downside is that I only have room for 12 people in the group. Once it fills up we’ll start and once it fills up I don’t know how soon I am going to start another one.

Email me if you want me to reserve your spot.

So how’s that for the Laws of Attraction!?  Oh, and I’m interviewing Paul Martinelli (Bob Proctor’s partner) on one of my podcasts.

Publicize your Podcast or Blog using Feedburner.com

Using RSS feed at Feedburner to promote your podcast or blog.

1. Open an account and burn your PODCAST feed at www.feedburner.com

2. Create a Headline Animater (feature of Feedburner.com)

    Headline Animator: Create and customize an animated banner that cycles through your feed’s five

    most recent items. It’s an easy way to promote your content anywhere you can place a snippet of

    HTML.

3. Put the code for your Headline Animator on the home page of your yahoo groups AND in your email

    signature. (your email needs to support html)

4. Put the code for your Headline Animator on your Ryze Page, MySpace, Facebook, Squidoo, or other social networking page.

Write titles for your show with the first 3 words to grab attention or with your market’s key phrase or word. Only the first 3 or 4 words are going to be seen in the headline animator, so words like “Episode one” or the name of someone name not universally recognized just won’t draw listeners. Good topics for a woman’s health site might be -

•   Hot flash free
•   Depression and Hormones
•   Never Sick Again?
•   35 symptoms of Menopause

See my headline animator on my Rzye Network Page to see how I use this space to send people to my podcast.

↑ Grab this Headline Animator

Laws of Attraction

I’m sending out this call to the Universe, “I desire to interview Bob Proctor on Get More Business Podcast.” Here’s another request, “I desire to interview Bob Doyle on Get More Business Podcast.”

I just read an essay by Bob Proctor on “Praxis.” Hmmm, never heard the word before I read it today, so I looked it up.

Praxis: Praxis is a complex activity by which individuals create culture and society, and become critically conscious human beings. Praxis comprises a cycle of action-reflection-action which is central to liberatory education. Characteristics of praxis include self-determination (as opposed to coercion), intentionality (as opposed to reaction), creativity (as opposed to homogeneity), and rationality (as opposed to chance).www.sef.org.pk/educatewebsite/educate2fol/glosiconedu2.asp

I really like that word and it’s definition. I think I will focus (and have been) on becoming more of a Praxis style parent. That is I seek to develop self-determination (as opposed to coercion), intentionality (as opposed to reaction), creativity (as opposed to homogeneity), and rationality (as opposed to chance) in my children. I am raising children that pursue their dreams, and contribute to the dreams of others; children they can live they lives they intend and they are not the victims of others poor choices; children that while they can be cooperative to create harmony, they do not become so uniform with their peers that they give up their dreams and act in ways contrary to their true values because of peer pressure; children that are thoughtful about their life choices rather than allowing chance to plot the direction of their lives.

Praxis is also my business style. My business will not seek to fit the mold of what is always been done that way, seeing to discover new ways to fill needs more creatively - not allowing my success to be determined by chance, knowing each day as I wake up what my purpose, dreams and goals are, taking action daily consistant with that knowing ever in the forefront of my thinking.

The Pursuit of Happyness

I was profoundly moved by the movie “The Pursuit of Happyness.” (yes this is not a typo).

From the back of the DVD box:

For his son, one man will reach for the impossible.  Will Smith stars in the inspirational true story of Chris Gardner, a San Francisco salesman who’s struggling to make ends meet. When his girlfriend Linda (Thandie Newton) walks out, Chris is left to raise their 5 year old son Christopher (Jaden Smith) on his own.  Chris’ determination finally pays off when he lands an unpaid internship in a brutally competitive stockbroker-training program, where only one in twenty interns will make the cut. But without a salary, Chris and his son are evicted from their apartment and are forced to sleep on the streets, in homeless shelters, and even behind the locked doors of a metro station bathroom. With self-confidence and the love and trust of son, Chris Gardner rises above his obstacles to become a Wall Street legend.

What a story. As I watched this movie with my children we tried to figure out when was “the worst day of his life.” You know how you go through life and you say to yourself, “This is the worst day of my life.” That day when you think for just a few minutes that it might not be worth getting up the next day even though you know there are not any other options. How many times did Chris Gardner say, “God, it can’t get any worse!”

I especially like the scene where he’s playing basketball with his son. He tells his son how average he himself was at basketball when he was a kid, and that he (his son) shouldn’t spend time out on the court practicing basketball day and night, wasting his time trying to be anything but average. The son looses enthusiasm, kicks the ball against the fence, walks over, picks up the ball and puts in a plastic shopping bag, and begins to walk dejectedly away with his head down and shoulders low. His dad says to him, as they stand up against the fence, “Don’t ever let anyone steal your dream. Don’t every let anyone ever tell you “you can’t” just because they can’t”  I’m sure I don’t have the lines verbatim of what he said but that’s the essence of it.

The two main lessons that were illustrated in this movie for me:

1. Happiness - your purpose - your dream is a pursuit. Victory is made sweeter by the journey. And the obstacles that you face will crumble, eventually, if you push through.
2. Never take advice against your dreams from someone who is not pursuing their own.

Number two is a big lesson. How many times have I heard, “I tried that once and it didn’t work for me, so it probably won’t work for you either.”  I have had people with no money, just filed for bankruptcy,sit across the table from me telling me that my big dream that I’m describing to them probably won’t happen because they’ve not been able to make their dreams manifest.

I’m very selective about what I allow in my ears and eyes. I only watch movies that feed my dreamer and make be believe that I can be more and do more for myself and others. This is one of those movies that I will likely watch more than once.

Get More Business Podcast - Great Internet Marketing for Small Biz Owners - Tom Antion

Listen in to the Get More Business Podcast, as Melody Campbell, interviews Tom Antion, an internationally acclaimed expert in Internet Marketing for small business.

Tom has a very simple “Three Prong Attack” on Internet marketing, which is extremely simple and easy to understand. Tom is not “techie” . All he cares about is where to click to make money and he teaches his students the exact techniques he uses to pull in $75,000.00 to $220,000.00 in a month from his home office. These consistent high profit / low overhead Internet sales have made Tom an Internet Multi Millionaire in a very short period of time. Tom has students in his mentor program who are e-millionaires and many are making 5, 10, 15 or $20,000.00 US per month.

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Listen to the show archive to learn how to Get More Business with Internet Marketing. Listen in to live weekly show, Friday, 9 am PST  brought to you by host Melody Campbell of www.TheSmallBusinessGuru.com