How To Achieve Great Success From A Home Based Business

Profitability is the most important factor to success with any home based business. A home-based business can run for a long period of time as long as you make it profitable.

However, as many businesses don't make a profit to start with this is often the first goal of the home-based business owners, and you should achieve this goal as soon as possible.

To achieve this goal you should focus on business development, be careful with your expenses and focus on what you are offering.

Focusing on growth is a key way to build your home-based business profits. In order to influence your results you should have the right mindset. If you don't have a profitable mindset then you are likely going to stay where you are.

Rather focus on growth and have the mindset to notice opportunities when they come along that can lead to gain, and then take action on these opportunities right away before they are gone. Again, success loves speed.          

Next you must pay attention to your expenses seriously. All businesses have some expenses when they first start out even home-based single person businesses. Make sure you set up a budget that includes things such as advertising, utilities, office supplies and anything else that may be necessary to the specific home-based business you are considering.

On your list write down the expenses that are necessary for operating your business, these should be items that you need in order to make your home-based business profitable.

You will likely run into some expenses that you don't really need to operate your business. These are the expenses that don't make your business grow and only take away from the profits of your business.

Carefully consider before you truly need these expenses and if they don't make any profit then you should cut them for something that will actually help with the growth of your business.

However, you can only move your business so far by restricting your expenses. You also need income in order to gain profitability from your home-based venture.

Promotion is the most important factor to developing any business and gaining profitability. Basically you should focus on making your business known to people.

You can't expect to do business with them if they aren't aware of your company. While this may seem like an obvious point, the fact is that many businesses (home-based, store front, and internet based alike) fail simply because individuals don't spend enough time promoting their business. Once again, promotion is the key for your success.

If you have more than one product that requires promoting then consider focusing on just one main product for your business since you can focus most of your attention on marketing one product and once you get interested customers or visitors you can tell them about the additional products.

This will make it easier to run your business and you will also have better results from your actions. Remember, it isn’t impossible for you to promote many products at the same time, just time consuming and has a habit of dividing your concentrations.

These tips don’t just apply to those who are starting a new home-based business. You can still use these helpful advice to let you move your business in the right direction if you have been working on it for awhile and just can get it to work for you. By applying these tips you will be able to have success with your home based business no matter how long you have been in business.

Don’t forget that I am here for your success, if you have any topics that you want me to cover, drop me a line and let me know.

Accounting Principles

Yep, another one on accounting, but trust me when I say that this is only going to help you to make a successful transition out of the rat race into a successful lifestyle that you want, deserve and will enjoy.

 If everyone involved in the process of accounting followed their own system (or no system at all) there would be no way to truly tell whether a company was profitable or not. Most companies follow what are called generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, and there are quite a few books in libraries and bookstores devoted to just this one topic. Unless a company states otherwise, anyone reading a financial statement can make the assumption that company has used GAAP.

If GAAP are not the principles used for preparing financial statements, then a business needs to make clear which other form of accounting they've used and are bound to avoid using titles in its financial statements that could mislead the person examining it. 

GAAP are the gold standard for preparing financial statement. Not disclosing that it has used principles other than GAAP makes a company legally liable for any misleading or misunderstood data. These principles have been fine-tuned over decades and have effectively governed accounting methods and the financial reporting systems of businesses. Different principles have been established for different types of business entities, such for-profit and not-for-profit companies, governments and other enterprises.

GAAP are not cut and dried, however. They're guidelines and as such are often open to interpretation. Estimates have to be made at times, and they require good faith efforts towards accuracy. You've surely heard the phrase "creative accounting" and this is when a company pushes the envelope a little (or a lot) to make their business look more profitable than it might actually be. This is also called massaging the numbers. This can get out of control and quickly turn into accounting fraud, which is also called cooking the books. The results of these practices can be devastating and ruin hundreds and thousands of lives, as in the cases of Enron, Rite Aid and others.

I promise, this will be the last dry post on accounting, but I cannot stress enough that proper accounting will keep you out of the hot seat.

Again, make sure to subscribe, 2016 is the year that you can change your destiny.

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The Basics

Basic Accounting Principles

Going off of my last post, I have gotten some feedback that indicates that accounting is one of those areas of contention for new start ups, so I will hit on the subject in a little more detail.

Professor of Accounting at the University of Michigan, William A Paton, is defined as having one basic function: "facilitating the administration of economic activity. This function has two closely related phases:

1)      Measuring and arraying economic data;

2)      Communicating the results of this process to interested parties."

Ok, before you tune me out, I know that was a little dry, but I can’t stress that your business is going to comprise of many “dry” things that project your business forward.

As an example, a company's accountants (if you are a solo act, this is you) periodically measure the profit and loss for a month, a quarter or a fiscal year and publish these results in a statement of profit and loss that's called an income statement.  These statements include elements such as accounts receivable (what's owed to the company) and accounts payable (what the company owes). It can also get pretty complicated with subjects like retained earnings and accelerated depreciation.

Much of accounting though, especially if you are just starting out, is mostly concerned with basic bookkeeping. This is the process that records every transaction; every bill paid, every dime owed, every dollar and cent spent and accumulated. 

But the owners of the company, which can be individual owners or millions of shareholders are most concerned with the summaries of these transactions, contained in the financial statement.

The financial statement summarizes a company's assets. A value of an asset is what it cost when it was first acquired. The financial statement also records what the sources of the assets were. Some assets are in the form of loans that have to be paid back. Profits are also an asset of the business.

Where this comes into play in the very beginning is when you are trying to create business accounts at a bank, get loans, or lines of credit from suppliers.

In what's called double-entry bookkeeping, the liabilities are also summarized. Obviously, a company wants to show a higher amount of assets to offset the liabilities and show a profit. The management of these two elements is the essence of accounting. javascript:void(0);

There is a system for doing this; not every company or individual can devise their own systems for accounting; the result would be chaos!

I know, I know, it bores me at times too. I just noticed that this was an area that new business start ups have a problem with, so I am doing what I do best, informing the masses. If you can use this information, great, if not, keep reading future posts they aren’t all this dry.

I have actually had a few start ups and when I first created my business, it lasted about three years, all because of not keeping accurate accounting records, so I can’t stress enough that if you haven’t got a good accounting system in place, start one immediately.

The shoe box of receipts in the bottom of the closet doesn’t work when your business actually starts bringing in revenue.

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Love Your Accountant

 

Even if you are great with numbers, you should still have an accountant or CPA go over your numbers just to double check. Remember, these people are trained to find things that you may overlook.

The accountant is the person that generally gets overlooked in a business until tax time comes, but a good relationship with a great accountant all year round can and will be an asset to your business.

It doesn’t matter if your business is just you and a computer working from the library, (My business model for almost a year) or if you run a corporation with multiple employees, your accountant will help keep the numbers straight and the IRS off of your back.

What Is Accounting Anyway?

Anyone who's worked in an office at some point or another has had to go to accounting. They're the people who pay and send out the bills that keep the business running.

They do a lot more than that, though. Sometimes referred to as "bean counters" they also keep their eye on profits, costs and losses. Unless you're running your own business and acting as your own accountant, you'd have no way of knowing just how profitable - or not - your business is without some form of accounting system in place.

No matter what business you're in, even if all you do is balance a checkbook, that's still accounting. It's part of even a kid's life. Saving an allowance, spending it all at once - these are accounting principles.

Every business and every individual needs to have some kind of accounting system in place. Otherwise, the finances can get away from you; we wouldn’t know what we've spent, or whether we can expect a profit or a loss from the business.

Staying on top of accounting, whether it's for a multi-billion dollar business or for a personal checking account is a necessary activity on a daily basis if you're smart. Not doing so can mean anything from a bounced check or posting a loss to a company's shareholders. Both scenarios can be equally devastating.

Accounting is basically information, and this information is published periodically in business as a profit and loss statement, or an income statement.

I, myself, have always had issues with numbers; long story going back to 7^th grade and a teacher that didn’t like me much…but I digress. Anyway, in business, it is important to know the numbers but it is also one of those jobs in your business that you can turn over to a professional and concentrate on whatever it is that you do that makes your business money.

Remember that anytime you are doing something in your business that takes you away from what it is that brings in the money, you are losing money.

That being said, the next few posts are going to be about accounting, because even if you have the best accountant in the world, you still want to have an idea of where every dollar goes.

The History of Email Marketing

Most of us jump on our work and personal computers several times each day to check our email. It has become an effective method of communication for work, personal relationships, and marketing. You may have noticed you get more emails encouraging you to purchase items than ever before. This is because email marketing has come one of the most popular methods of reaching consumers who make purchases online.

 

Email come into existence in the 1990’s as the internet was starting to become more popular. Businesses quickly found this was a great way to reach customers and clients. It was also less expensive than mailing out advertisements to homes. By 1995 the number of email advertisements sent out that year was more than the number sent out by regular mail. Businesses spend a great deal of money creating email marketing campaigns that won’t be confused with spam.

 

In fact, email marketing hit a huge roadblock when spam filters became so popular. Many email marketing campaigns had to be revamped as the filters were wiping them out. Businesses were losing money on the marketing campaigns and not getting any results. However savvy computer programmers and businesses soon learned that effective email marketing titles and headlines as well as using their real email address helped get the emails past the various spam filters.

 

Shopping online has become a part of life.

 

The internet was once used for research, entertainment and work related functions. The idea of shopping online has become very convenient in our society. After all, it allows you to compare prices in a flash. Most of us are too busy to run from store to store.

 

Shopping online has given those in remote locations the chance to get all the gadgets out there they desire. It is only logical that consumers are paying more attention to email marketing since this is the method they are using to do a large portion of their shopping. Email marketing has become mainstream. Almost every website gives the consumer the opportunity to give their email address and consent to being solicited with email advertising.

 

On the other side of the coin are those who hate getting their email filled up with email marketing ploys. This is why every email sent from a business has to include a link that gives the consumer the opportunity to opt out. Businesses have to respect this choice made by the consumer to remove themselves from the mailing list. This was the result of legislation stepping in when the idea of email marketing started flooding every email address out there. There are rules and laws in place now to protect consumers against having their privacy invaded. The penalty for violating these laws includes expensive fines and even the possibility of jail time.

 

However, with the acceptance of email marketing by consumers comes their demands for effective advertising that meets their needs. Getting the email to the consumer is only half of the battle. The information you send them has to grab their attention and entice them to take the link to your website and make a purchase. Your email should be a teaser that is going to make the consumer curious enough to go directly to your website at that very moment. There is a lot of competition out there and businesses have to come up with wittier and smarter email marketing campaigns to keep their consumers interested.

 

Contrary to some online marketers, email marketing is not dead and will continue to evolve as those sending email campaigns find innovative ways to capture the attention of the consumer while getting ahead of their competition.

 

Don’t expect email marketing to be replaced any time soon.

 

Millions are spent each year on email marketing. With that volume comes more responsibility on the end of the businesses that use it. Not only do they have to follow the laws and regulations set, they have to respect the consumer as well as appeal to them. Businesses know that email marketing is on the rise so they have no choice but to participate in it or be blown away by the competition.

 

Law Of Success: Part II

 

Welcome to the second part of this special three part series commemorating the 21st Century Edition of Napoleon Hill's landmark work, “Law of Success,” in which he reveals the 17 Principles of Success based on his 25 years of research studying the lives of over 500 of the world’s greatest achievers. (To read the first part, look in the archives for "Law of Success: Part I").

 

Principle # 6: Imagination

 

“Imagination is the workshop of the human mind and creative power of the soul,” as Mr. Hill states. “First comes thought; then organization of that thought into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination.”

 

In his book, Hill explains that there are two types of imagination: synthetic imagination and creative imagination. Synthetic imagination involves rearranging old ideas into new combinations that produce new solutions. Stimulating creative imagination involves a repetition of highly emotionalized thoughts that can be combined with visualization, meditation, and prayer focused on a main goal or purpose or the solving a difficult problem, and then surrendering the thoughts to infinite intelligence to come up with new ideas, combinations, and plans.

 

Artists, inventors, and even entrepreneurs frequently use some combination of both types of imagination.

 

For example, writers will often intentionally stop writing in the middle of an uncompleted paragraph at a particularly challenging point in the plot and “sleep on it.” During the rest of the night their subconscious mind, through the powers of creative intelligence, will work on the solution, and by “sleeping on it,” the writer will come up with a better story than if he or she merely hammered at the keys until it was finished.

 

Artists will often times, leave a work in progress for a few hours or even days to come back and look at it with “a new set of eyes” or a new perspective, in other words.

 

Entrepreneurs will often brainstorm and write down all the ideas, challenges, and available solutions and resources concerning a challenge or problem and then “forget about it.” They might go on vacation for an extended period of time. On returning, or even while they’re on vacation, new ideas spring up that help solve the problem.

 

Note: I will break routine and go for a long hike or camping.

 

To further develop your imagination, study yourself; find out you personal motivations that drive you forward on certain tasks while avoiding other tasks like the plague. Study other people and their behaviors as well. If you want to know what the other person will do (whether a customer, boss, employee, partner, or competitor), use your imagination to put yourself in their shoes.

 

What would you do if you were that person? By being able to look from another’s perspective, you not only help build your imagination muscles, you also help build bridges.

 

Tip: Something that has helped me with getting into other people’s shoes is by understanding SocialTriggers. This guy knows his stuff. Derek has helped me figure out a lot about how people tick.

 

Principle # 7: Enthusiasm

 

Enthusiasm comes from the Greek root “entheos” which literally means God within. Enthusiasm is the vital force that impels action. Great leaders not only act, they inspire others to action from their own enthusiasm, which becomes highly contagious.

 

“It’s not so much what you say as it is the tone and manner in which you say it that makes a lasting impression,” Hill adds.

 

I can remember a few years ago (more than I care to mention), while living in Arizona, I worked two jobs. Job 1 was for a hotel, while job 2 was for an athletic club. The level of work that I did was about the same at both. I went above and beyond in both.

 

The difference was, that in the hotel job, I had issues because I had worked years prior in landscaping and there was a situation where late one night there was a sprinkler head that had popped off. Rather than just report it to the grounds keeper and allow it to just keep running, I fixed it; a 10-minute fix versus hundreds of gallons of water in the street.

 

Anyway, grounds keeping manager expressed that he felt I was trying to take his job and began a campaign to get me terminated from my position, which HR couldn’t actually find anything to get rid of me on because I was a good employee, but following the perspective of the manager instead of viewing the whole situation, they began working toward forcing me to resign.

 

Now, job 2, working at the same time as job 1, I used the same work ethic. In this job, I saw a problem that I could fix; I fixed it and reported on the problem and what I did, just as I did in job 1.

 

The difference is that in job 2 I received employee of the year after only working there 4 months, $500 bonus, an award, and public recognition at the company party in front of 300+ employees and managers.

 

What is the take away here? Job 1 saw employees as an ‘expense’ and therefore a liability when a manager felt his job was on the line, while with job 2 all of the management saw their employees as ‘investments’ and worked to keep them happy, knowing that it would reflect through the employee to other employees and customers.

 

Like I always say, your customers should be your second biggest raving fans, your employees should be your first.

 

The companies that will turn out to be champions in this new information based economy are the ones that treat their customer service and sales staff as VPs of Customer Relations.

 

These organizations will have a HUGE competitive advantage by investing just a fraction of the money (money that would normally be lost to poor service) towards paying above industry average rates to retain quality customer service professionals, investing in their professional development, teaching basic human relations skills, and helping to create a better work environment and see employees who go above and beyond as investments and not threats.

 

Principle # 8: Self-Control

 

Staying on this vein, Hill points out that self-control directs your enthusiasm. A wise businessman will keep cool when others are hot. As Hill says, “Those who control themselves usually boss the job” or, in other words, Self-Control = Leadership.

 

It’s amazing how much more business one can drum up and how many more happy customers one can get by simply counting to ten, taking a couple of deep breaths, and thinking of something pleasant for a few seconds before making or taking an important call or going into a meeting.

 

Never retaliate against those who offend you. Be a leader by being a person of poise and self-control.

 

Principle # 9: The Habit of Doing More Than Paid For

 

“Giving people a little more than what they expect is a good way to get back more than you’d expect” - Robert Half

 

Again, going above and beyond. We get back in life what we give. By getting into the habit of always doing more than you’re paid for, you will meet with opportunities for expansion, advancement, and promotion at every turn of the corner. (You might not get these opportunities immediately with your current employer; but eventually competitors could take notice and will gladly provide you with plenty of opportunity if your employer will not).

 

Napoleon Hill offers numerous real-life examples of ordinary people reaching extraordinary heights of achievement and success using this one principle alone in his book on success, “Law of Success: The 21st-Century Edition.”

 

Principle # 10: A Pleasing Personality

 

Mr. Hill says that a pleasing personality is a person that attracts. It’s all about your character and how you carry yourself. Are you dressed for success as it relates to your field? Do you speak with self-confidence? Are you someone that genuinely likes to be friendly to everyone around you?

 

Do you offer a firm handshake and a warm smile, or a limp, ‘dead fish’ handshake with a rigid, forced smile? Or have problems looking someone in the eye when speaking to them?

 

The best way to develop a pleasing personality is to show a real interest in other people.

It’s so much more FUN and PROFITABLE to have a pleasing personality!

 

Principle # 11: Accurate Thinking

 

“The facts, just the facts, ma’am” – Sgt. Friday in Dragnet (if you are old enough to remember that show)

 

Don’t believe everything you read in the news. Much of it today is propaganda and agenda-based partial truths. It doesn’t matter which political side you are backing, or anything like that, it’s just that the news used to be about facts and now it is interlaced with editorials projected as news.

 

Get into the habit of basing your decisions on factual information and avoiding gossip, rumors, hyperbole and conjecture. Always remember that partial truth means that some of it isn’t true. Make sure that you get all of the facts before making decisions based on the information, or worse yet, passing the information on to someone else.

 

Even common day practices that are widely accepted can be based on wrong assumptions. For example, in the middle ages, bloodletting was a common practice that was believed to help cure a variety of illnesses. It was a common belief among doctors that bad blood caused disease and so they bled patients for every imaginable ailment under the sun. This crude and ineffective medical ritual continued for 2,500 years until it was discovered that germs, not bad blood, were responsible for disease.

 

Imagine people willingly allowing someone to put leeches on them to remove their blood, that is disgustingly gross and the thing that nightmares are made of.

 

I think we need a new name for 21st Century bloodletting. I think we need to add the term moneyletting to the dictionary.

 

If someone makes a sweeping statement that raises doubts, you can ask this person the question that Napoleon Hill likes asking: “How do you know?”

 

We haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of accurate thinking. But to get to the heart of Hill’s main idea, accurate thinking is about separating the important facts from the unimportant ones and I would add to that and say that, whenever possible, emotion should be removed from the equation.

 

In politics, campaigns get to illicit negative emotional responses from people to turn them against their competition. The same concept is used in advertising; ads trying to make someone think that they will be better, healthier, stronger or happier with their product.

 

I hope you enjoyed Part II of this “Law of Success” series. Part III is just around the corner, keep an eye out for it. 

 

In the meantime, share these principles with your peers, discuss the concepts and teach other people what you’ve learned. There’s no better way to learn than by teaching others.

 

If you haven’t already, I’d highly recommend getting a copy of Napoleon Hill’s classic bestseller: “Law of Success: The 21st-Century Edition.” It really is a great read and I rank it in my personal top 10 list.

 

To get your copy just visit here or visit your local library.

 

 

Leadership: Is It For You?

 So I received an email with this question;

"I recently been reading what you have been writing on leadership and had to ask, 'what if you don't think you are cut out to be a leader?' I mean I just want to improve my life, not be in charge of other people." ~Jamie

There are so many directions that I could go with this, but the topic intrigued me enough to write the following, so I hope that you are reading this Jamie.

Leadership is something that is fundamentally part of a society. It is necessary in any good society that someone stands up and takes charge. Leadership is essential, we know that, but does that mean everyone out there is a leader? The fact of the matter is that some individuals are not made to be leaders. They are followers. And just as important in society as leaders are followers. So, where do you lie? Are you going to play leadership roles within your life?

For many people, the instincts to take those leadership roles just come to them. It is just something that happens. They step up to the plate when needed. They respond first in class. They take charge of the baseball game on the playground. They step up to the plate on the job. While you cannot be first in every case, individuals that have leadership skills will often be seen and heard throughout their lives.

But, not all leaders are born with this talent. Many of them must learn it. People with an ambition to be a leader can do so by taking classes and studying the necessary skills that it takes to be a leader. While all of this may sound simple, it can be quite a task to learn. It is hard to teach a person to react in a situation that is not planned well.

Because leaders are determined by their actions, we often see that leadership roles are filled with individuals who put themselves out there to be chosen, so to speak. But, this is not always the case. In many cases of emergency, leaders are those that take charge long before anyone else reacts. In that, these individuals will have a cool head about themselves and be able to see the necessary work ahead while others are worrying, panicking or simply in shock. These are probably the true leaders in our society.

Many people assume that if someone is successful it is because they have good leadership skills. Some people assume that if a business is successful it is because it has good leaders. Leadership isn't something that is particularly easy to pass on to other people. Sometimes a company is successful because a past leader was very skilled as a leader and the current leader simply has kept things running the same as before.

Great leadership is a rare skill. For most people it doesn't come naturally. It is amazing how many organizations are successful even though they have only marginally competent people leading them. Many times this is because the structure of the organization helps make up for a leaders short comings. Sometimes it is because a particularly talented staff that makes up for the leaders deficiencies.

Any leadership development training should take into account some of the basic facts, which ought to be made available to the individual concerned for developing his leadership skill and techniques.

The training or program must adequately deal with deliberations on leadership, and not limit the understanding of the term to its limited sense. Any reference to conventional typecast leadership should be shunned. The training should also incorporate a comprehensive understanding of leadership virtues as applicable to individual requirements, and highlight the subtle differences between leadership and management.

The program should also take into account the attitude of people towards the individual qualities of the leader. It is imperative that leadership development training should be ideally structured in relation to the advancement of the individuals concerned, instead of looking for strengths in personal qualities.

While great leadership skills can make someone successful, the inverse is not true. Being successful doesn't make you a good leader. If you are looking for leaders to learn from make sure you are looking for people who actually have good leadership skills and not just someone who is successful. You can't assume that someone is a good leader just because they have had success. Many times people try to emulate people who have had success and try to follow their leadership styles. While this might be a good thing people often end up mimicking the bad habits of individuals.

The leadership development training also tries to make it clear that that collective requirements are of greater importance than individual necessities. Leadership development training tries to develop the quality of an individual to see a vision and look into the future, and develop his ambitions and aspirations.

One crucial virtue that such training emphasizes is that potential leaders should have the capability to see how details fit into the big picture. Such training also stresses the need to have the attitude that helps one to view things from the point of view of other individuals, and also able to comprehend in the proper manner the most suitable approach towards them.

 

For Jamie, and anyone else not thinking that they are leadership material, I suggest thatyou Click Here for more info on a series that has helped a lot of people see what true leadership and success is. Also read anything by Jim Rohn and you will never think the same way about yourself again.

Leadership Is Action... Not Position

 

People respond to good leadership! Period! It is in all aspects of our lives, not just business. A true leader is highly ethical, honest and respected, not only in his/her field of expertise, but as an individual.

 

In our society we have leaders and followers. Are we born to one or the other? No. Do some have more of a natural affinity toward leadership roles, yes. Can you hone your leadership skills and become a great leader even if you don’t have a born knack for it? Absolutely!

 

There are certain attributes of a great leader that stand out. The leaders that I admire for example seem to have all of these in particular attributes that I strive to emulate:

 

a) They think BIG. They have a glass ceiling in place and continuously strive to break it. No limits are set as to how big or how much better something or someone can be.

 

b) Their goals are firmly set in place and they constantly re-evaluate to make sure they are on the right path.

 

c) They effectively present their goals and desires to those around them, causing those around them to become raving fans.

 

d) They concentrate on respect not fear and have a fully developed understanding that they are not the same.

 

e) When goals are met they set new goals or raise the bar. With goals that aren’t met, they re-evaluate, re-implement and strive for a better outcome and do not waste time wallowing in unmet expectations.

 

People will follow your lead willingly if you are honest, ethical, if you are consistent and treat them with respect. Rewarding someone when a job is well done is always appreciated. A good leader will also off-load someone quickly who consistently hinders the group who is just not a team player rather than allowing them to continue to affect and infect the team dynamic.

 

You can improve your own self- respect and become an inspiration to others by becoming the leader that it inside of your. Remember that successful leadership isn’t a destination but a journey. Stay on the path and keep moving.

 

 

Body Speak

Use Body Language to add hidden power to the Message of Your Presentation.

 

“In an orator … we demand the acuteness of a logician, the profundity of a philosopher, the diction virtually of a poet, the memory of a lawyer, the voice of a performer in tragic drama, the gestures, you might almost say, of an actor at the very top of his profession. Here, then, are some of the reasons why a first-class orator is one of the rarest things in the world.”

-- Cicero

 

In any speech or presentation, your body language adds power to the message. It either supports or detracts from what your words are saying. The operative word here that we want to look at is "support". Body language must be in tune with the message. And the corollary is that body language must also not distract or detract from the message you are giving. If they are denying each other, then your presentation will fail.

 

Confidence and sincerity are the absolute basis for this process. If your body is declaring that you are not sincere in what you are saying then your credibility decreases and there is no way your message will have the impact it should have. Think about the tone of your message. Is it relaxed, conversational? Then make your body language relaxed. Is it passionate, strong and powerful? Then create body language that conveys that passion. Is it alert and enthusiastic? Then your body language needs to be reflecting that enthusiasm.

 

Learn to become aware of what your hands are doing while you speak. If necessary, make yourself hold them still. Many people have habits that are terribly distracting and yet they aren't aware of what they are doing. They click or twiddle a pen, play with their hair or their clothes, hold a microphone with fingers unconsciously making a rude gesture (if you know what I mean), take glasses on and off, put hands in pockets only to take them out seconds later and repeat the process continuously. All of these things are not necessarily detrimental in themselves, if the audience is absolutely focused on the speaker and the message. But if there is any reason for the audience's attention to stray (and we all have short attention spans) then they will become fascinated, at best, and possibly annoyed at whatever it is that the speaker is doing with their hands.

 

If, on the other hand, (pardon the pun), those hands are working to support the speech, they will bring the attention back to the message. They will also give power to the impact of the message.

 

Natural looking gestures are basically the aim. If you are not a natural gesturer, your body will support your message. It is necessary to be aware that you are not repeating the same gesture many times. It may add emphasis the first time, but after that it will distract as much as the others mentioned earlier. Watch television journalists and sooner or later you will notice this.

You can also practice gestures. Join a public speaking club where you can practice in a supportive environment until you are comfortable, and confident that your gestures are not detracting from your message.

 

Of course, there are many books and websites with information about body language and gestures. Basically:

• Gestures above shoulder level support messages about things that are spiritual or uplifting (a church minister will raise his hands in blessing).
• Ordinary messages are supported by gestures at the middle level of your body.
• Things that are despicable or degrading or debilitating are supported by gestures below the waist.
•  

You can use your palms. Held out, palm upwards, they support supplication, requesting a response, or openness. They can be used to indicate division if held vertically with the little finger down. Using a fist is a very powerful gesture. It indicates strong power and passion, and may also be used as a threat. Be careful with that. Take care, too, with pointing with a finger. People don't respond well to accusation or to being singled out, so be sure your gesture supports your message.

 

Your clothes, too, can distract attention from your message. If you have a very bright or unusual item of clothing, if your scarf or tie flaps in a breeze, if your earrings dangle or click, or your necklace or tie pin clicks on a microphone, the audience will be distracted from your message. Again, unless your message is absolutely riveting, your clothes will become the centre of attention just as gestures can, and your message will lose its impact.

 

How you stand and walk works in just the same way. If you are a passionate speaker who simply cannot stand still, then hopefully you will support the passion of your message. Try to use standing still to give the same sort of impact that a pause in the middle of rapid speech would give. If you choose to move or change position just to provide relief because you think your speech is boring; be careful. It may be that your movement will have more impact than your massage. Timing can help so that you change position with a new idea or with a new visual support. Try to make all of your body language work with the movement. So, for example, if you want to walk to give the impression of thinking of a new idea, then set your hand up to your face to indicate thoughtfulness, and speak slowly or stop speaking altogether.

 

Facial expression, too, must be in harmony with your message, or it will work against it, just as your body language does.

 

Everything - body language, image and message must work together to create the impact you have chosen.

Click Here to find out more on body language

 

Power Question:

OK, I have gotten an equal amount of positive and negative feedback about ending with power questions, so my question to you now is, should I keep adding them in at the end of posts, or would you prefer a Power Quote? Or nothing at all? Let me know your feedback. 

Ignore the Voices

Believe in Yourself, No Matter the Opposition

 

 

We all grow up hearing THOSE voices; you know the ones, the voices that say things like,  “Who do you think you are?”

“What are you thinking even trying to do that?” 

“You have failed so many times in the past, why do you think you can do it now?” 

“Why would anyone listen you?”  “Nobody is going to be interested in what you are trying to do.”

Trust me, been there, heard that. And we end up hearing the voices for so long that we end up becoming conditioned to them so much so that our own inner voice begins to repeat the outside voices. 

“You don’t deserve to be successful.” 

“How is anyone going to want what you have to offer? You’re not a professional.” 

 

Obviously, I know the voices all too well. The voices aren’t just against you; get the picture? I don’t need to keep going.  These voices continually playing and replaying over and over in your mind are destroyers of dreams and can snuff out ambition, self-worth and success faster than anything.  I know, remember I have heard these same voices for years and also because others that I have worked with have told me similar stories. Some of these voices I still have to make a conscious effort to ignore.

 

The most important thing is to remember that it’s all about your perspective. If you find yourself with a gift, a talent, an inspiration or idea that is placed in your heart to share with the world then who are you not to share it? Who are you to allow some echoes from your past to stop that dream from coming to pass?

 

When you reach that moment of clarity, the point in which you know you have something to share then that is when you have to make a decision to let the voices, that we have already established are going to be there, control your thoughts and thereby control your actions, or conclude that you are going to share your dream, your talent, your idea in spite of the negative voices coming in from every direction.

 

After a while of just ignoring the negative input, it starts to take on an almost comical role that inspires you to continue and you come to understand that you are qualified; that you are valuable; that you are helping those people that your contribution is meant for and you are effective. 

 

If you have a calling to write a book, or become a mentor, counselor or coach, then you must accept that you are qualified no matter what the naysayers may tell you.  It is you, your desire to achieve your goal, to reach your dreams and your own journey of self-discovery that will make a difference to others.  Not some external standard of what someone else’s will lead you to fulfilling your calling and NOT what the voices say.

 

Allow yourself to see that you are qualified, you are valuable and you are worthy. You can and you will do it. When you find those voices trying to take over, step away from the situation. If it is a voice from someone now, walk away. Explain that you have heard their opinion and respect their right to have one, but you disagree and will not accept the negative input and then remove yourself from that situation. Every successful person that I have had dealings with have stated that one of the first things you need to do is weed out the negative influences in your life and replace them with good influences. 

 

Now, saying that, I realize that there are some influences in your life that you just can’t walk away from, but you can adjust how much of an influence they are, by taking more control of the conversations and the amount of time that you spend with them. Realize that you are the one that sets the path that you take, not them and just because your direction isn’t the one that they would have taken, doesn’t mean that you are on the wrong path, you are just not on their path.

 

For the inner voices, reflect on where they are coming from. You will find that most are voices from the past that have influenced you. Just like the present voices, CHOOSE not to listen to them. Every time they start to repeat, actively work on replacing the negative output with positive input.

 

As the saying goes, “garbage in, garbage out” so by getting self motivational CDs, reading self-help material, surrounding yourself with people who affirm who you are, you can record over these voices from the past.

 

Now for your own voice; too often we are our own worst critics and so many times we don’t take the first step, or we quit half way through because we start doubting ourselves.

 

This is where faith comes in.  We must know that what we can perceive, we can achieve. All we need to do is not let our own negative programming from past situations, relationships, and failures stop us.

 

Failure is only failure if you choose to not get back up after a fall. If something doesn’t work the way you feel it should have, take on Albert Edison’s perspective; it’s not failure, you just discovered one more way that doesn’t work.

 

You are unique, you are wonderful and you can achieve anything that you put your mind to if you just refuse to let the voices stop you.

 

Click Here for more success

Power Question:

If you do not make changes to your current situation, what would the cost be for doing nothing?

Income: Which is Better, Linear or Passive?

Linear income is also called active income; this is the income that you earn a specific amount of income for a specific amount of your effort. To earn a linear income you also need to be present at your supposed workplace, whether that be a doctor, lawyer, etc., practically every employed or self-employed person is earning linear income. If they don’t attend to their clients, they won’t get paid.

Now what about passive income? It still surprises me as to how many people do not understand the concept of passive income. It is an income that you continue earning even when you are not working. Sound unbelievable? Well believe it because thousands of people have made it, even me. Passive income, also known as residual income, is a stream of income which you can earn many times, with your one specific amount of effort. Here are several sources of passive income:

1.       Royalty income. Authors, song writers and many content creators are paid royalties every time their book, songs, or curated content is purchased or used, regardless of how long ago they made it, depending on any copyright agreements. This is a form of royalty income and the best part is, in many cases, it continues for the rest of their lives.

2.       Dividends. This type of passive income is generally created from an initial investment. It can come from stock investments, where listed companies share their income with their shareholders in the form of cash dividends based on earnings. Dividends also come from mutual funds and angel investing.

3.       Real estate. Your real estates can be rented out to earn a good amount of passive income. Now let me be clear about this, when I say real estate, I am not just talking about housing. Real estate is property and property is anything that you own. You can rent out your house, your car, and your web space; basically anything that you own that you can rent or lease to bring income in is real estate.

4.       Interest income. Interests from savings / fixed deposits, etc. This is most commonly attributed to compound interest.

5.       Websites. This is to expand on what I mentioned in 3. Websites have become an effective place to sell your products and services to the mass and earn big bucks! You don’t have to watch the website 24-7 as your clients will be able to purchase your products / services online without much hassle with the advent of online transaction. Going back to 3, you could “rent” your website out by not even promoting and selling your products, but rather promote someone else’s product or service and receive an affiliate commission for promoting them.

How do people actually get rich? The answer: By having multiple passive streams of income. Don’t have all of your eggs in one basket.

So, would you rather earn linear income or passive income? Why not do both and become financially successful faster? I have published books, I promote multiple affiliate programs and I physically work as a marketing/ copywriting consultant and coach. Remember that money is a tool, not a final goal.

Power Question:

How can you get the knowledge, information, training that you need to accomplish your goal?

Power Question?

What are three worth while activities that you could do this week to move you forward with your success goals?

Your Sucess

Keep a record of all your past successes

Confidence Building for Gaining a Million dollar mindset.

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.”
― Bernard M. Baruch

Being confident in one’s self is one of the keys to becoming a successful. Reread the quote above and see the confidence exuded by Baruch when he expresses this quote. Today’s question is, how do we build up our confidence level to propel us to our goals of success?

Start at the beginning

Start by setting smaller, more achievable goals for yourself at the beginning of your path to sucess. No, I am not saying to thing small, but rather start small, learn to walk before you run. The point of doing this is so that you can achieve all your initial goals. Imagine deciding that you want to me a millionaire and you are going to do it in six months. What happens if you profit ends up lower than that? 

Your confidence would probably tank and you would hit rock bottom. It would take you some time to recover your confidence. It would be more practical to set your target profit at say 5,000 within the first few months and add to that once that smaller goal is met, a goal that you are more likely to hit. After all it could be your first venture and you might have no prior experience running such numbers in your business. Your confidence grows as your hit progressively growing targets. As your continuously hit higher and higher goals, your confidence will skyrocket.

Side note: No matter how old you are now. You are never too young or too old for success.

Here’s a short list of people who accomplished great things at different ages…
 
Mozart was already competent on keyboard & violin, he composed from the age of 5

Magnus Carlsen became a chess Grandmaster at the age of 13 years

Nadia Comăneci At age 14, gymnast of Romania scored seven perfect 10.0 and won three gold medals at the Olympics

Pele soccer superstar was 17 years old when he won the world cup in 1958 with Brazil

Elvis was a Superstar by age 19

Jesse Owens was 22 when he won 4 gold medals in Berlin 1936

Beethoven was a Piano virtuoso by age 23

Roger Bannister was 25 When he broke the 4 minute mile record

Albert Einstein was 26 when he wrote the theory of relativity

Michelangelo created the two of the greatest sculptures “David” and “Pieta” by age 28

Alexander the Great by age 29, had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world

Amelia Earhart was 31 years old when she became the first woman 2 fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean 

 
Martin Luther King jr was 34 When he did the speech “I have a dream”

The Wright brothers, Orville (was 32 ) & Wilbur (was 36) when they invented & built the world's first successful airplane & making the first controlled, powered & sustained heavier-than-air human flight

Vincent Van Gogh was 37 when he died & virtually unknown yet his paintings today are worth millions

Neil Armstrong was 38 when he became the first man to set foot on the moon

Mark Twain was 40 when he wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and 49 years old for Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Christopher Columbus was 41 when he discovered the Americas

Henry Ford Was 45 when the Ford T came out

Leonardo Da Vinci was 51 years old when he painted the Mona Lisa

Abraham Lincoln was 52 when he became president

Ray Kroc Was 53 when he bought the McDonalds Franchise and took it to unprecedented levels

Dr. Seuss was 54 when he wrote “the cat in the hat”

Colonel Harland Sanders was 61 when he started the KFC Franchise

J R R Tolkien was 62 when the lord of the ring books came out

Ronald Reagan was 69 when he became President of the United States

Jack Lalane at age 70 handcuffed, shackled, towed 70 rowboats

Nelson Mandela was 76 When he Became President
 

One way you can do this is by keeping a journal. Put all the inspiring stories, any accomplishments, testimonials, etc. Record all of your successes daily, regardless of how big or small they may be. Go through your journal when you need motivation because we all have a tendency in times of stress and distress to forget how far we have come. The journal becomes proof.
 

 “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
― Eleanor Roosevelt

Hang with the right crowd

Associate with like-minded people who are also working to achieve their success goals. It is essential to put ourselves in an environment conducive to grow our confidence levels and to keep us motivated. There is no better place to achieve this than by deliberately placing ourselves among those who are also trying to achieve the same things that we are– to become successful and build a legacy. Join social and networking events to meet more people like you. Not only will you be able to exchange ideas, you will also be able to motivate each other and keep each other accountable.

On the adverse, we need to limit our associations with those who are counterintuitive to our goals. Those who will hold us down and keep us from success are the ones we need to avoid as much as possible.

Confidence comes with growth and success growth doesn’t just happen, it is deliberate.

Power Question:

 Who is your mentor when it comes to accomplishing your goal(s)? Seeking out those who have already accomplished that which you are aiming to accomplish will help you learn from their mistakes instead of making your own.

If you are like me, you don't really have time to read. I found that the best way for me to digest a book is by, what Zig Ziglar referred to as, automobile university.

This book tells a story. It is short, but contains so much information on mindset. One of the pillars of success is the topic of today's post. Here is a link to an audio version that you can listen to while driving.

Secrets of a Million dollar Mindset

Millionaires were once normal people like you and I, except that they now have plenty of cash with them. How do they create those additional cash and turn themselves millionaires over time? This article presents to you the five secrets of self-made millionaires:

Millionaire mindset #1: True focus on what they want to achieve

Set clear goals. Imagine yourself being a millionaire and what you would do to achieve it. As Robert Collier says, “if you see yourself as prosperous, you will be. If you see yourself as continually hard up, that is exactly what you will be.” Don’t focus on the current state of affairs, but rather where you want to be.

Millionaire mindset #2: Work on what you are passionate about

According to a research conducted by Thomas J. Stanley, author of The Millionaire Mind, more than 80% of all millionaires admitted that they would not have been as successful if they were not passionate about what they were doing. Just take a look at the countless rich people in the news today- Bill Gates, Donald Trump, the list goes on. They all talk about their work passionately. The question you need to ask yourself now is, what is YOUR passion?

Millionaire mindset #3: Be a learner, educate yourself

One major hurdle to making money is, surprising, not understanding how money works. Ask yourself, how much do I know about money management, investing, etc? If we have zero knowledge on finance management, how do we expect ourselves to earn any level of financial success? 

Millionaire mindset #4: Grow your assets. Life is a struggle if you live paycheck to paycheck, especially with the forever increasing inflation while your monthly wage stays the same. Self-made millionaires work hard to make extra money for investing and not hording; they put their money where it will work for them and where it will do the most good. If you want to get rich, control and manage your income, just like Benjamin Franklin once says, “He does not posses wealth that allows it to possess him.”

Millionaire mindset #5: Be willing to take risks. If you read biographies of self-made millionaires, you can see many of them have often gone through countless failures. What invariably makes them who they are today is the persistence and never-give-up attitudes that they maintained while going through the rough times.

Out of these five mindsets, #5 is the most important. Never give up, no matter what. My ultimate goal from sharing my knowledge and experience with you is for you, no matter if you are a wantrapreneur, solopreneur, entrepreneur or even a sidepreneur, I want you to succeed, so let me know how I can help.  

When it comes to mindset, one of my greatest mentors was Jim Rohn. I found this on Amazon on sale. If you want to change your mindset in order to get higher, earn more and live more, click the link and get it now. Or, in the very least, check to see if you can find it in your local library.

Power Question:

What research could you do to move you forward in taking the next step toward your success goals?