More Economic Woes; Are You Prepared?

More bad news for employees...massive layoffs from companies who've been riding high for the past several years.

And worse news...companies shutting their doors.

Over half a million new requests for unemployment benefits that will stretch state resources thin.

But there is good news... There are more and more entrepreneurs making a successful transition to their own home businesses. And that trend is expected to continue for some years.

If you've ever thought about starting your own business, there's not a better time. Look at just a few things that you gain:

• control over your time, so you can watch your son's soccer game or check in with his teacher

• the tax advantages of a small business that can save you money

• you're building a business for you, not for your boss
  

There are scams out there...it's just not easy to navigate what's real and what's not. So remember:

• just because "someone" wrote about it, doesn't make it true

• if that "someone" gave up, that "someone" can never succeed

• look beyond the hype; figure out for yourself what you can do and whom you can trust
  

Because there are also real opportunities out there.

And it's worth your time and effort to find the business you can work at home, on or off line, that fits your personality.

Home businesses are work. But it's work you do for you, for your family, and for your future.

The economic news gets worse by the minute. It doesn't have to get worse for you.

Start a home business.

My husband and I have been where you are. We know you you have it in you.

Blessings,
Judy

Law of Attraction or Browbeating? The Result...

I'm a pushover. I too easily think I can travel several paths at once. Which isn't necessarily a good thing when it comes to creating a home business. I've heard before, and I've said before, that you need to be careful, thoughtful, as you choose what direction to head towards your dreams. It's just not a good idea (so they say and so I'm learning) to work "horizontally" on lots of different projects instead of "vertically" focusing on one.

But I want to try this product. It's a bit about the desperation one who has a chronic, off-the-radar, health challenge that often gets in the way of substantial and persistent effort.

My friend is sure that this product will be the answer I've been looking for. The problem is I just don't have enough skepticism, and healthy skepticism is an important quality when looking for either the cure to a chronic problem or the right fit in a home-based business.

The Sponsor was tough...I took a bit of a browbeating. She was interviewing me for this spot, and she wasn't sure and still, apparently, isn't. Ah, well. What can I say.

My friend is willing to take a chance on me anyway; a bit of desperation, I think. But should I again take a chance on a kind of home-based business I've tried before...unsuccessfully?

What would you do?

At the last minute, I honored the lesson I had learned. I'm just not suited for multi-level marketing. My friend was disappointed, and I can't blame her. But neither could I go ahead with a business I finally knew had no place in our overall strategy. Instead of veering off the path we had determined, I remained steady. Phew!

Blessings,
Judy

Law of Attraction? Or Browbeating. What's Your Style?

Hey. I know that there are still people out there who haven't gotten the "law of attraction" message. You know, the one where you attract people into your business by addressing their concerns, answering their questions, and offering solutions to their problems? Gently? With honesty, integrity, and trust?

Some people just haven't gotten the message.

Like yesterday.

I'm looking at a product that I hope will help some of my nagging, chronic, and sometimes debilitating health problems. My friend swears by it and offers great testimonials. I'm well versed in alternative treatments, and I recognize the product's possibilities.

And, she offers a position to me, for a fee I'm willing to pay, that will put me in her group with enough volume to pay for my product. A win-win.

But, my husband and I are involved in developing other businesses, selling our home (and taking a HUGE hit), and relocating from Florida to Virginia in the next few months. I'm willing to give a few hours a week to this new business, but no more.

Red flag! Should I really get this position? Let's three-way with her sponsor...

I really like my friend and value her low-key approach to her business. But her sponsor subjected me to an hour of browbeating. (Why I listened for an hour is another story.)

*network marketing only works face to face...online marketing doesn't work
*you don't need to spend money on coaching or marketing programs or, or, or... (I've loved my coaching with Bob Proctor, Mary Manin Morrissey, Ellie and Charlie Drake; and I've devoured all I can about marketing from the best)
*you need to focus all of your attention on THIS company
*you need to prove yourself to get this position
*you should consider going to convention in two weeks (half way across the country, when I've booked a T.Harv Eker seminar nearby)

Whew!

Now, I don't think Ms. Sponsor would normally have been so tough, so hard, or so, frankly, off-putting. I don't fault Ms. Sponsor for what I see as her protecting her protege who really shouldn't sell the position to someone who will let that leg of her business slide. After all, it's my friend's business, her livelihood. She's spent two years building to this point where she said goodbye to her W-2.

So, a warning. When you're looking for a home-based business, the people you work with are key. The products can be great, the training awesome, the compensation plan the best. The company can be top-notch...and there are a number of terrific companies on all counts.

But it's the people you work with on a daily basis that are key. Pay attention. Browbeating just doesn't fly in this day and age.

Let me know what you think and what you're experiences are.

And I'll let you know how this story ends.

How Do We Help Our Aging Parents? With a Home Business.

Early in October, we were in Virginia for my step-son's wedding. There were yellowing leaves on the birches, yellow day lillies clumping beneath, and a hint of the changing season in the evening air...beautiful.

This was home until just a few years ago when we thought we'd try the sun and surf of Southwest Florida. This is where most of our family now lives.

Like my father-in-law who is nearing ninety. He lives in the home he bought brand new more than fifty years ago, where he raised his four children, and where watched his wife succumb to breast cancer a year after he retired early so they could finally travel.

But he needs help, and his youngest son, my husband, is a thousand miles away. We need to move closer, and we'll sell our home at enormous loss to make that happen.

Fortunately, we have a family of home-based businesses that allow us to work anywhere we can get online. We need to be near his dad, and we can make it happen.

My friend, who also lives in Virginia, cares for her father in her home. She works as a home health nurse, and because she's in business for herself, she can schedule her time around his needs. She and her husband are at a time in their lives where they have money and time to travel, but they feel that her father's care comes first.

We're the lucky ones.

I watched a news report recently about a woman who worked more hours to pay for the care her father required in her home. Did you see it? She set up cameras and filmed the woman she hired beat her father in his bed. This was a woman she trusted. Now, I don't know if this dutiful daughter (bless her heart) could work her job from home, but I bet she wishes she could so she could better oversea her father's care and spend time with him before he dies.

And I watched a giant moving truck today packing up my elderly neighbor to move her to her daughter's home after a serious stroke now prevents her from living in her dream retirement home here in Florida. I don't know how caring for her mother will affect her family.

How about you? Are you in a position to help your parents if they were to need you?

Now, I know that working from home is not for everyone.

But in these economic times a home-based business provides us with so many more choices.

We're thankful that we can make the move, that we can be around to help his dad and keep him company. We saw on our visit just how much that meant.

How much would it mean for you to have that flexibility?

How much would it mean for you to be in a position to care for your parents?

Look carefully at yourself...you can have what it takes.

Blessings,
Judy