THE DIARY OF A HUSTLER

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Definition of a Hustler (to me)

The term ‘hustler’ is looked upon negatively by many people, so I feel the need to clarify my  personal definition .  Since the root word ‘hustle’ (that is the teacher in me) means to move quickly, I think a hustler is someone who is always on the grind, that is, constantly moving to reach the next level.  Answers.com’s definition is: An intensely energetic, enthusiastic person. I will go with that because I can be described as such, but here is my official  definition of a hustler:  a go-getter, someone who seeks out  multiple legitimate opportunities to be able to live the lifestyle that one desires. This person is a wise risk-taker and is willing to go extremely hard for what they want-whether that is success, money, fame, education, or anything else-the goal is to reach their dreams.  Every move is well thought out and has a purpose which ties back into the ultimate goal.  That is my definition, that is me!

I hope I have clarified the title of my blog. I was thinking about changing the title of my blog to The Diary of A Go-Getter or the Undisclosed Entrepreneur, but it just doesn’t have a ring to it. What do you think? Leave a comment and let me know.

Well, whether I leave the name hustler or change it to go-getter, you are reading my diary of my journey to financial freedom.  This blog is designed to document my road to success from the beginning (well almost the beginning- I just recently began my new mlm and my shift to online and attraction marketing). The main goal is to  hopefully help others have success by learning from my mistakes and successes along the way. I want this platform to serve my readers.  My hope is that my you get value from my posts and learn how to have the spirit of a hustle so that you may seek your life-long dreams.  

So what is the history behind my hustler’s spirit.   I find it interesting because no on in my family ever owned a business or even went to college, so I used to wonder where my go-getter’s spirit derived from. I think I have figured it out.

A HUSTLER IN THE MAKING…

So ever since the age of 12 I have worked.  My first job was at a beauty salon. I washed hair and kept the place tidy.  In exchange, I would get my hair done for free every week ( a big deal in 7th grade).  Then I moved on to summer jobs and have kept a job ever since. 

During college, I worked as a teacher’s assistant and a waitress.  I liked both jobs, but waitressing was so cool because I could go into work broke and leave with cash in my pocket!  As graduation approached,  I knew that I couldn’t live in the real world off of tips. But how could I go from getting paid everyday to waiting two weeks to get paid?  This was my main concern. But something happened…

I was introduced to the concept of network marketing while still in school.  The teachings blew my mind! I learned the power of leverage, the difference between passive and residual income, and the importance of assets vs. liability.  Did I say this stuff blew my mind?  I will be talking about those things in detail in later posts because once you understand those concepts, you will understand the reasons why the poor gets poorer, while the rich get richer.  I have some issues with network marketing practices, but one thing I can say is that the trainings were priceless- they taught me something about money that I never learned in school.

THE BIRTH OF A HUSTLER

Now instead of being concerned with getting paid daily, I began to focus on getting paid without trading my time for dollars b.k.a leveraging.  We all depend on our jobs.  If we lose our jobs, we depend on disability, unemployment, and savings.  These things are in place to help us temporarily.  What if our illness or inability to find a job is beyond temporary? What is the backup then? 

 I began to learn that it is absolutely necessary to have assets (other income sources) so that I am not dependent upon one company’s check. This is true financial freedom! Knowing that you have money coming in from a multitude of sources relieves you from the stress of what if’s- like what if I loose my job, what if I don’t like my job, what if I want to stay at home with my new baby for a year (which is a joy that I am greatful I was able to do), what if , what if, what if.

  And no more living check to check.  Counting down the days to the next check. I wanted to set myself up so I didn’t have to do this.  Well, I did join a network marketing company and purchased a home (rental property). But now it is time to move on…

THE MIND OF A HUSTLER

See that is the thing about wealthy people (no I am nowhere near wealthy or financially free yet).  But I have a wealthy mentality.  Wealthy people know the power of assets- yes that is with an s-plural more than one.  I love teaching middle school, but is that going to make me financially free, so that I don’t have to worry about the what if’s?  Of course not. Will my rental property put me in that position?  Uh…no. It helps, but why not own several if you can? That is my thinking. How about my business?  Now, I know that it can definitely put me on this path, but I also know that it is not the end all be all.So that is why I joined another company, began online marketing, and I have a few other things that I have up my sleeve once I graduate with my MA on May 12th (yay).

What I am saying is…I am always open for new opportunities to create assets.  I am an open-minded person and I am willing to take risks (wise ones of course).  I think that this is necessary to live life to the fullest. We all want more out of life, but few are willing to take the risks that are necessary. Same actions produce same results. If we want something different we have to do something different.  Not for the money, but for the peace of mind we all deserve!

This is my diary of my journey to financial freedom. 

Join me. ..  My motto: Learn, Teach, Inspire and you will receive all that you Desire.

This happens way too often, right?  The check just got cashed and the money is gone already.  How about the money is gone before the check is even cashed.   Yup, we’ve spent the money in our minds before it reached our hands.  Smh (shaking my head) I hate when that happens!   And the crazy thing is, the money almost always goes on bills.  Well, at least it should, right?

Anyhow, whether it’s bills or personal spending, the fact still remains that there are days remaining before that next check.  What do you do?  Well, we make it stretch. We borrow. We rob Visa to pay Mastercard and Peter to pay Paul. Did I say we borrow?- payday loans, credit cards,  friends, family.  Sounds familiar?  Living paycheck to paycheck is no joke.  In fact, many people are just one check  away from being broke.   Or don’t let something happen…like a blown-out tire (one of my car’s tires costs $140 bucks and good luck trying to find a used one) or an appliance konks out… There goes the little bit of spending money. 

How do we stop living paycheck to paycheck?  Well obviously we need to add extra income.  But how? Get a second maybe third job.  I always say that two jobs are meant for two people.  But the reality is that in today’s economy two and three jobs are necessary…. that is of course… unless you have another income source.

So what are some other options?  Well, a home-based business is always an option. Real estate, but is it a good idea to get involved in that with the economy the way it is today?  Maybe, but it definitely depends on how you do it. What else? Network marketing could be a good choice. How about selling products?  These are just a few ideas. 

 But the point is, it will take doing something extra in order to have financial control over our lives and to free us from being enslaved by paycheck dates.  It will take working smarter not harder.  We have to have a side hustle or maybe a few especially if you are striving for financial freedom.  And why not strive towards that?  Even if you love your job, such as myself, push yourself to do more.  If you can provide a market with somethng well-needed or wanted, then bingo!  Push yourself  to think outside the box. Don’t be complacent; our children deserve it.  Just think how great it would be to leave an entrepreneur legacy behind to our children.  I’m sure they would be greatful!

So here is your call to action- Think about what you would like to do to make more money without getting another job.  Can you think of anything you love to do or would like to do?  Post some suggestions and lets talk about it.  Be on the look out for my post “Business Ideas”.

 In the last post, I did a review of two virtual call centers.  Since then I have found several more. In this post, I am simply listing sites that provide jobs you can do from home. I can’t vouch for any of these, but do remember that they are jobs-not businesses-so you should not have to spend any money to get hired. Read about the difference between a home-based business and a home-based job if you need more clarity. 

If you worked for or get hired by any of these companies, please leave a comment and share your experiences!

A great site is www.wahweekly.com.  This site provides weekly postings of work at home jobs.

Typing/Clerical

Speak Write www.speak-write.com

Escription www.escriptionist.com

ChaCha www.chacha.com (look under “guides”)

Customer Service

Westat - www.westat.com

LiveOps - www.liveops.com

Odesk - www.odesk.com

Alpine Access - www.alpineaccess.com

VIP Desk - www.vipdesk.com

Freedom Telework - www.freedomtelework.com

West www.west.com

1.800. flowers - www.1800flowers.com look under employment and scroll down through customer service at home

American Airlines www.aa.com  look under AA careers under reservations  (must live within so many miles of actual reservation center)

Extended Presence www.extendedpresence.com  view recruting site, click on Independent contractor  

Accolade Support www.accoladesupport.com look under contact us, click employment

Working Solutions www.workingsol.com

I will add more if I find more.  Remember www.wahweekly.com posts home-based jobs weekly.

My motto: Learn, teach, inspire, and you shall receive all that your heart desires!

 ttyl,

Na’sia

If you have not read my post on the benefits of using postcards and greeting cards in your business as a follow-up tool, then you should check it out before reading this post.  You can click here to find that post. 

In this post I suggest that the automated card system you use has 3 features to make your cards effective.  Here they are:

1. Effective Cards Are Personalized

Personalize your cards. You should use the recipient’s first name in the card. Don’t simply use a mass-produced, generic message. Begin your message by addressing them with their first name.

     2.     Effective Cards Are Handwritten

The main, personal message in your cards should be handwritten.

Think about it…

What feels more personal to us when we read a store-bought card? The generic message printed on the inside of a card or the hand written note jotted down underneath it?

Now fortunately with today’s technology it’s possible to create a “handwriting font” of your own writing. So you don’t have to worry about the time it takes to “hand write” dozens of cards.

      3.     Effective Cards Are Personally Signed

Personally sign each and every card with your signature. After all, personal messages are personally signed.

Again, if you are trying to build a personal relationship with the reader of your card you need to sign the card with your own signature.

Of course there is a way to add your signatures to your cards digitally.

The sytem that I use effectively does these three things and the things I discussed in the 7 ways to use cards  post.  Your card system shouldn’t be expensive.  There is a real company behind the system, of course, who actually mails out the real card that you create, but you shouldn’t have to pay an arm and a leg.  The company I use is very reasonable and user-friendly.  You can check them out if you like or you can feel free to contact me for more information if you need to.

ttyl, Na’sia

My motto: Learn, teach, inspire, and you shall receive all that your heart desires.

“The fortune is in the follow-up.”

 Most business people recognize this as a true statement.  Initially when you present your product or service to people, it might not be the best time. But over time, needs change, situations change.  And if you are a network marketer, you know the power of following up- that is with your prospects, customers, and downline.

But what is the best way to follow up with your customers? 

 Most of the follow-up methods being taught and used in network marketing are painfully ineffective (believe me, I know). The reason why, is that people are simply too busy these days to pay attention to your follow up efforts.   Heck, often times weare too busy too even make an effort.

Think about it…

Scenario 1-  Most of your phone calls go unanswered and many of your voice mails or answering machine messages get no replies. (And it’s not because your prospects and distributors want to ignore you… They simply don’t have the time to reply.)

Scenario 2- Do you have time to make follow-up connections as much as you should? Chances are no, especially if you have a huge organization or clientele base.  You might follow up here and there, with the people that you feel are the most significant, but what about the others….

And if you are following up by email,
things aren’t much better…

With today’s over-aggressive spam filters, many of your emails are either not getting through, or they are winding up in “bulk” or “junk” folders. And of the ones that DO get through, many never get opened or replied to.

My wealth mentor introduced me to the idea of using post cards and greeting cards.  I can’t believe I never thought of that.

Why do postcards and greeting cards make the perfect follow-up tool?

Because they do 3 important things…

1. They almost always get delivered, opened and read.Think about it… remember back to the last time you received a greeting card in the mail, sealed with your name on it.  Did you open it?  Of course you did, it wasn’t a bill!  We’ve been trained since childhood to open, get excited about and read greeting cards that are sent to us. (Remember how great if felt to open a card on your birthday, especially if it had a buck or two in it)  The same thing is true for postcards. With postcards there’s not even an envelope to open, so you’re almost guaranteed your message will be read.
2. Greeting cards and postcards make the recipient feel good, remembered and appreciated. Again remember back to the last time you received a greeting card or postcard, how did that make you feel? How did you feel about the sender?  After all… who sends us greeting cards and postcards? Our friends and family of course!  So sending a heartfelt greeting card to your customers, prospects and distributors will view you as a friend or at least a close associate.
3. They remind the recipient about the valuable benefits of doing business with you, consuming your company’s products and joining or building your opportunity.  Because of the warm feelings and positive associations people have for greeting cards and postcards, your messages will show that you care and be accepted much more easily and effectively.

Here are 7 fast and easy ways YOU can begin using cards to build a more successful and productive business:

1. Send cards to your existing distributors…

Sending cards to and following up with your existing distributors can have an amazing impact on your business. Far too often when new distributors are recruited into your organization, their excitement and enthusiasm levels die off over time.  Some of them die off before they even hit the ground running.

The key to retaining distributors, keeping them active and maintaining high levels of product sales volume, is to build and maintain relationships within your organization. At first, when your group is small this is pretty easy to do.  But when your organization grows beyond your ability to have personal relationships with each and every individual, cards can come in handy.

This is where is the tremendous power of sending cards on a regular basis to the distributors in your organization will pay off big time. When individual distributors within your group begin receiving warm, heartfelt cards from you, they will begin to feel as if they know you and that you care about them. This makes it possible to build strong relationships and intense loyalty from individuals in your organization that you may have never even met in person.

Just a few of the many reasons and opportunities you have to send cards to your existing distributors are…

• On their birthday.
• On the anniversary of them signing up to become a distributor.
• Congratulations cards when they hit higher levels or milestones.
• Holidays and special events.
• Reminders about upcoming events, promotions or product releases.
• Cards educating them about, and encouraging consumption of your company’s products. (This is a great way to quickly boost sales volume in your group!)

The number of reasons you can invent to follow up with your existing distributors is limited only by your imagination.

2. Send cards to your existing customers…

If you have an existing base of retail customers buying your company’s products, then the fastest and easiest way you can maximize the size, frequency and loyalty of their ordering is by following up and staying in contact with them using cards.

The exciting part is… when done properly you can not only encourage repeat ordering using cards, you can also warm them up to the opportunity at the same time.

In fact what you’ll find is, as you build your relationship with your existing customers using this method and give them multiple exposures to your products and the opportunity they have to become a distributor themselves, they’ll begin to approach you to sponsor them.

But this simply will not happen without building the relationship and keeping your message in front of them with a consistent (yet non-pushy) method.

Just a few of the types of cards you can (and should) send to customers are…  You probably can think of more…

• Thank you cards for each order.
• Reminders that it’s time to reorder.
• Educational cards about your other products.
• Cards designed to warm them up to the opportunity.
• And of course birthday, anniversary and holiday cards.

By becoming creative and brainstorming reasons and occasions to send cards to your existing customers you’ll find that your customers order more, order more often and will be far more likely to join your team as distributors.

3. Send Cards to prospects…

One of the best ways to warm up a prospect before you even offer them your opportunity is to send them a friendly card.

You shouldn’t try and sell them at all in the card. Simply focus on introducing yourself and opening the door for them to request more information. You could even send a “friendly reminder” to your prospects about an upcoming appointment that you guys set, they probably would be more likely to show up.

4. Send thank you cards after speaking with a prospect…

You shouldn’t stop at just sending cards before you offer your opportunity to your prospects. What about sending out a thank you card to EVERYONE you speak with, sign up, or sell a product to expressing your gratitude and offering to answer any additional questions they may have.

A thank you card reminds them about you and your opportunity (and does it in a friendly, non-pushy way.) In today’s busy world, people will often forget or lose interest in your message, even IF they were interested, simply because “life gets in the way”.

So by sending out a thank you card, you not only bring yourself back to the front of their mind, and establish yourself as a professional, you also do it in a way that makes them feel valued and appreciated. (Which in turn strengthens your relationship with them.)

5. Send thank you cards to those who say “no” to the opportunity… (Turning them into retail customers.)

Let’s face it… No matter HOW effective your prospecting and follow up system is, there are going to be some people that simply won’t join. This is just a fact of doing business.

But… When you have an effective follow up card system in place, it becomes easy to turn those “no’s” into profitable retail customers. (In fact, due to human psychology it is actually easier in many cases to get someone to say “yes” to becoming a customer AFTER they have said “no” to becoming a distributor!)

All it takes in many cases to turn a “no” into a customer is a simple, sincere thank you card. Particularly if in the card you tell them that you respect their decision and you don’t pressure them to change their mind.  This builds trust and respect and makes it more likely to give your products a try.

6. Generate referrals using cards….

And as professional Network Marketers we shouldn’t neglect the amazing, business building power that generating referrals can have.

The problem with most traditional referral methods is that you have to continually keep asking. Which for many people is not an easy or comfortable thing to do. Asking in person or over the phone for referrals often feels awkward or pushy (for both the person asking and the person being asked).  Even if the product of service is great, most people don’t want to just give out a friend or family member’s information to you.  If you ask for referrals in the card, they have time to get permission and they do not feel obligated or on the spot and or more likely to email you or call you with the referrals.  Sending cards is a more sublte approach and they might even show the cards to other people, which of course is even more exposure.

7. If you are a network marketer, you know the power of duplication…Automate and teach the process so it’s duplicateable by your downline…

Once you experience the power and effectiveness of using cards in your own business, you’ll undoubtedly want to make sure every person on your team is following your example and sending out cards on a regular basis.

OKAY, I know whay you’re thinking—who has time to run back and forth to the store and post office!—I thought the same thing when I learned about this method.

I was relieved to find out that there are systems out there that will do the work for you.  Remember in the keys to leveraging series (if you haven’t read it, I encourage you to check it out) I talk about automated systems, such as autoresponders, well there are automated card systems that will send ou t real greeting cards and postcards.   Isn’t technology amazing? 

You can do a google search for them and check a few out,  but  before you do, check out my post about the things you need to make sure a system can do for you in order for the card to be effective. 

ttyl, Nasia

My motto:  Learn, teach, inspire, and you shall receive all that your heart desires

In previous posts, I have discussed the importance of leveraging time and the benefits of leveraging knowledge and education.  Another lever to success is technology.

Technology Leverage

Finding technology leverage is all about thinking about how you work, and using technology to automate as much of this as you can.

Depending on your needs, technology can help at all levels.  I am still having a hard time wrapping my brain around the power of technology.  At a simple level, you might find that all you need to keep you in touch with home and work is a laptop computer. Or you might need a personal digital assistant (PDA) to help you conveniently maintain files and such.

If you’re a slow typist, voice recognition software can help you dictate documents and save time. Tools like Google Desktop Search (http://desktop.google.com) can help you manage and find documents in such a way that you no longer need to file digital documents. And Google itself provides a great, quick way of finding relevant information online. 

At a more sophisticated level, you may find that you can use simple desktop databases like Microsoft Access to automate simple work processes. If you do a lot of routine data processing  you can find that this saves you a great deal of time. 

If you do a lot of email marketing, you may find autoresponders such as Aweber and GetResponse to be extremely useful.  These tools allow you to write unlimited emails in advance and set a time and date that you would like them to be executed.  It’s like having your own personal assistant, but better. You do the work one time and the system does the rest!

If you have a clientele base, a good way to stay connected is to use an automated card system. Greeting cards can be used for a variety of purposes, such as thanking a customer for a purchase, updating your customers on new offers and specials, or reminding them to renew a subscription, to name a few.  Depending upon how large your consumer base is, an automated card system could save a huge amount of time while maintaining a personal relationship with an unlimited amount of people.

 You only need to set up a process once with tools like these- afterwards the process will be executed the same way each time, by whomever initiates the process.

There is software to solve almost every problem.  Some of these can automate or simplify tasks that are otherwise very time-consuming.  Websites, web-based catalogs, online store fronts can give clients easy access to up-to-date product information, and help them place orders simply and easily. Blogs and email-based newsletters help people stay in contact with thousands of people quickly and easily. All of these use technology to provide tremendous leverage.

(I will continue to add more so check periodically for more suggestions)  Here are a few ways that I have learned to leverage technology:

Automated card system:  This system is an incredible way to automatically send cards and gifts to an unlimited amount of people at once. So suppose you already have a clientele base and a group of customers have made a purchase.  You can send a real greeting card to that group to personally thank them for their recent purchase.  You can even use this system in your personal life as well. If you are the type of person who sends cards and gifts to friends and family, you don’t have to ever worry about forgetting another important day.  Simply enter their information, create the card, select a gift if you choose, and tell the system the date to send it. I am sure there are many companies that provide this service.  The company that I use give you a free gift account so that you can check out the quality of the cards and the cards are very reasonable.  I think the highest amount you will pay for a card is $1.50.

Lead capture pages:  These pages are set up to give away something valuable for the exchange of some information, usually a name and an email address.  This is a great way to create a list of people who are already interested in your offer (afterall they wouldn’t provide their info if they weren’t). So you have not found just any lead, but a rather hot lead.

Autoresponders:  These are systems that send emails automatically. If you do a lot of email marketing, campaining, or newsletters, this is a must have. Popular autoresponders are Aweber, GetResponse, and Oprius. They all do pretty much the same thing. Some have better features than others. Oprius allows you to create a lead capture page with their system, which is pretty cool.  They are not that expensive, usually starting around 16 bucks a month.  Depending on your needs, you can choose from various packages.

Online meetings:  Use the web to conduct online meetings and trainings with systems such as Gotomeeting and Gotowebinar. This is ultimate leverage. You do not have to meet in person with your team or staff. You can conduct a full training or meeting using this site and meet with people regardless of their location. They give you a 30 day free trial too which is always a plus.

 Social Networking and Bookmarking Sites:   Sites such as Twitter, Digg, and Facebook is one of the best ways to leverage technology.  I will provide specifics in future posts, but I am learning that these are the best ways to bring traffic to your business. Twitter seems to be the most efficient because of the nature of the site.  It seems that it is designed for marketing yourself.  Again I will get into specifics in a later post, but if you are already using these sites or other social networking platforms, it would be wise to take advantage of free exposure.  If your goal is to get your clientele up or drive people to your information sites, you should think of these types of sites as being part of a community. Make a good impression, provide value and solutions to people in your community (don’t pitch to people), give something that make people want to check you out further.  When used correctly, this is one way to leverage technology and your time.  Everything that you post has the potential to be seen by massive amounts of people without you having to leave your home.  Network wisely.

ttyl, Na’sia

My motto: Learn, teach, inspire, and you shall receive all that your heart desires!

“I would rather earn 1% off a hundred people’s efforts… than 100% of my own.”

These are the words of Jean Paul Getty, an American industrialist and founder of Getty Oil Company. In 1957, he was named the richest living american (you can always learn from the wealthy).

So what exactly does he mean by this?  He is describing the concept of leverage—-Achieving Much More with the Same or Less Effort

To do a push-up, you could do it the regular way, the “girlie” way, or using a tool, such as the Perfect Pushup, bars, or an exercise ball.   I personally use the Perfect Push-up and the ball.

Which approach is wiser? Will you succeed without using leverage? Maybe depending on your upper body strength. But you can do so many more on the exercise ball and do it so much more easily!  And the Perfect Pushup device allows you to target different muscles all while putting in the same amount of effort!  In this case you are leveraging your strength by using a device.  The results are: more easier pushups accomplished and more muscles targeted than the normal pushup.

So what has this got to do with your life and career?

The answer is “a whole lot”.   In fact, you should apply leverage  to every area of your life, when possible to maximize your success.  Without leverage, you may work very hard, but your rewards are limited by the hours you put in. With leverage, you can achieve much more.

Some Key Levers of Success : Time, Knowledge and Education, Technology, Financial

How do you work SMARTER and not HARDER?

In this post, I am going to focus on the leverage of Time (yours and that of other people).

Leveraging your time is a key component of success.  Since we only have 24 hours in a day (5-8 in which we use to sleep) leaving us with 16-19 left, we only can accomplish so much with our time.  And if you are trying to build a business along with working a full-time job and raising a family,  such as myself, it seems like there is never enough time!

I am learning that in order to leverage my time I must do the following:

1. Practice effective time management- for me this means having a plan. I plan my day out either in my head or in writing (I stick to it better if it is in writing because I can see things getting acomplished).  But either way will do, as long as there is a plan of the day in place.  I will shut my phone off when I am working (which drives my family and friends crazy) but hey, I am a long-winded person and talking will become a distraction.  Time is so precious… it waits for noone and you can never get it back once it is gone.   I hate wasting time.   I try to take advantage of every hour of the day.  Tip 1. Eliminate the activities that are not helping you to reach your goal for the day. Tip 2. Use technology to automate everything that you can!  Read more about how to do this on my leveraging technology post.
2. Put everything into perspective-   It is so easy to get wrapped up in unnecessary activities that will not give you a great return on your investment.  For example, online marketing requires  networking, but it does not require spending hours aimlessly viewing pics or chatting on facebook (I’m guilty).  It is so easy to spend an hour  or more checking your email, IM, facebook, myspace, twitter, blog stats and everything else(I’m guilty).  For those of you who are new to online marketing, if you don’t take any other advice from me please listen to this: Find a way to control and monitor your networking and information seeking.  It is so easy to get caught up reading material that is not helpful toward your daily goals.  If you come across something interesting, bookmark it and save it for another time so that you will not become distracted.  Put a limit on how much time you will spend on everything and focus on that task for the duration of that time, check it off at the end, and move on to the next task.
3. Set short term and long term realistic goals-     Be very clear on what you want to accomplish every day, by the end of the week, month, year, and in the next five years. Ultimately, you are creating a blueprint for your long-term success. Dreams and ideas are great, but what good are they if not acted upon? Then, they are just intentions.  A person can have the best intentions in the world, but if action isn’t taken, it’s useless.  Setting small goals is like a road map to success. It is important to note that your goals and timeframes should be realistic so that you won’t feel like a failure.  For me, if something isn’t completed, I come down hard on myself by either getting frustrated or disappointed that I wasn’t able to reach my goal.  Sometimes I have to demand less of myself in the timeframe given or admit that what I am trying to accomplish will take a little more time than I expected.  So set goals, write them down, and now it’s time for action!
4. To leverage your time, you cannot and must not procrastinate! “Procrastination is like masturbation, you are only screwing yourself.”  Sorry to be so expressive, but hey sometimes we need to hear that in order to really get the point.  Procrastination is something that I struggle with, but I find that the best way to handle it is to do what you don’t want to do first.  Get it over and done with.  That is why many people exercise in the morning…it is over and done with and you can move on with your day (unfortunately my schedule doesn’t afford me this luxury).  Procrastination can eat away at your time and leave you feeling awful that you haven’t accomplished anything.  I have literally thought about how many things I needed to do for so long that the day would be nearly over and I hadn’t did not one thing!  I have gotten much better, but sometimes that nasty habit creeps up on me.   A great book tovercome procrastination is “Eat That Frog.”  It is on my must read list.

Okay so I have talked about some ways to leverage your time on your own, but now let’s look at how you could use other people’s time to leverage your time.

1. Learn how to delegate work to other people-  Of course you have to make sure the person is cut out for the job and if they are Great! I love when my mom helps me grade papers, while I am doing lesson plans… This is leverage at its finest.  If you can find help… use it!
2. Train and teach others-  When my students master a concept, I use them to teach other students who may be still struggling.  If you can train or teach someone to do something, it can pay out for you in the end because now you have a qualified person to either help you with a task or move you to the next level of what you are doing.
3. Outsource- Even the smartest person do not know everything.  And if you don’t know ask right?  Well in business, it could sometime be wise to hire people with the experience to do them more efficiently.
   Money that you invest in leveraging other people’s time is usually well spent.  If you are trying to create a website for your company, it might be better for you to pay someone to do it, so that you can focus on other things.  It depends on your needs. For me, I like to learn all that I can so that I can do it myself and this could be a double edge sword.   It is important to distinguish when to use someone else’s expertise and when to learn something for yourself.

Remember that it is normal for us to take on the world and be self-reliant, but this will limit you to achieving only those things that you can do by yourself which could be a complete hinderance to your overall success. 

Check out my other posts on leveraging of knowledge and education and technology resources.

ttyl, Na’sia

My motto: Learn, teach, inspire, and you shall receive all that your heart desires!

In the last post I talk about the importance of leveraging your time.  The 2nd lever of success is knowledge and education.

Knowledge and Education Leverage

Learning something new by trial and error could take a long time. If you can find other ways to learn specific things, such as online courses,  you’ll progress much more quickly.  If you select a good course, you’ll have a solid foundation to your knowledge, and one that doesn’t have high-risk gaps.  It is important to gain a certain level of knowledge rather than simply ”trying something” to avoid having to start all over.

After mastering a skill, remember that teaching sells. If you can teach some one how to do something, you have created a product that will sell. People are always willing to learn, so think of ways that you can teach other people. Maybe you can write an ebook based on knowledge that you already have.  This is leverage…you are using knowledge that you’ve acquired and selling it.  Even if you are not selling a physical product, you are selling someone on you, and in turn, you are branding yourself and creating a fan base.

In order to be successful in leveraging knowledge and education you need to know: what you need to learn and to what level you need to learn it.  Having the knowledge is not enough, you need to know how to directly apply it to your career goals.  Your knowledge can only be used as leverage when it is used to do something useful. 

As a new online marketer, I have made a decision to learn more about online marketing through an online school, called the Renegade University. This online class is one of a kind because it teaches cutting-edge 21st century marketing techniques. But most importantly, it provides step-by-step instructions to force productivity.  This type of knowledge helps me to leverage what I am learning and my time because as I am learning, I am producing.  For example, the trainers will do a video that shows you how to build a blog click-by-click and encourage you to build your own as you are watching the tutorial. I am leveraging my knowledge, because not only am I learning, but I am producing simultaneously! 

 As I have began my online career, I realized that there is an abundance of information that claims to “show” you how to do certain things.  Please choose wisely when deciding which courses and literature to spend your time and money on.  Of course subscribing to newsletters, reading e-books,  and staying current on the latest news is extremely important.  Just keep your goals in mind when seeking new information so that you can stay on task.  I have spent money on many tutorials, some that proved to be helpful in adding to my knowledge bank and others that sent me off track of what I was trying to accomplish.

Here are some ways that you can leverage your education:

take online courses so that you can learn at your leisure

subscribe to newsletters in your field so that you can learn important nuggets on a consistent basis and therefore won’t have to spend a huge amount of time “catching up”

turn your knowledge into something that you can profit from by selling what you’ve learned for monetary gain or in order to build meaningful relationships

You can hire people to leverage of their knowledge and education as well as their resources, but this only works if you choose the right people.   For example, you might choose to use someone to do something that you don’t want to learn how to do. This is only beneficial if you are using selective people who know what they are doing.

The following are some ways that I am leveraging my education:

Attending Renegade University which provides click-by-click video tutorials on how to do everything you need to know about online marketing and provide various monetization opportunities

Being a part of a super affiliate program that not only provides video tutorials, but gives away private label rights (plr) materials that I can sell for a profit

Subscribing to blogs and newsletters that provide information that will help me be successful in online marketing

Participating in forums with the purpose of learning and promoting myself

What ways are you leveraging your knowledge and education? Please share.

ttyl, Na’sia

My motto: Learn, teach, inspire and you shall receive all that your heart desires

I think that it is important to explain the difference between a work from HOME BUSINESS and a work from HOME JOB. 

 A HOME BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY- always requires an investment. It could be very small or very big.  This is usually for your materials and products. It also provides residual income and gives you the advantage of leverage.

A HOME JOB -is  a company that will allow you to work as an employee and they will pay you an hourly rate or base pay while working from home. Be very careful searching for an At Home JOB, and NEVER pay to work as an Employee from home. (F.Y.I. as a Home Business Owner there is an investment, a JOB is not a Business)Since I have began my online marketing, I am always of course where? Online-setting up my online real estate, networking, and studying.  During my virtual travels, I come across a lot of information, some valuable others not so valuable (btw, it is so easy to get off track of your goals bec of the wealth of information that the internet provides- so to those of you who are newbies to online marketing-STAY FOCUSED).  Anyway, as I stumble upon anything of value, I like to share.  So here it is:

Remember these are jobs, so you don’t have to pay anything to get started with these companies.

LiveOps- It is a virtual call center that routes calls to agents for various companies, mostly informercials.  So basically, when people call to place an order the system will randomly route the call. When you are logged into their site, the system knows that you are ready to work and begins to send you calls. A script shows up on your screen and you take the call from there. 

From what I read on the site, you get paid by the minute and the computer automatically records your talk time.  I searched the site to find out how much the salary is, but I couldn’t find a dollar amount.  However, there are  I think 5 different positions that you can apply for. All you need is a computer and a land-line phone. The site says that no experience is necessary.

 It seems cool if you have the time to spare and you enjoy doing customer service work. There isn’t any selling because the people are calling into buy a product so that is good- most people don’t like sales.  You can check out the video of a woman who works for them here.  What I like about it is you can literally make your own hours, just by logging in whenever you have the time. And the site states that as long as you take at least 2 calls every 42 days, you will be an agent.

This next job is similiar to the first company. 

West At Home- The site describe their company as a support center for their clients.  The services they offer vary from customer care and live chat to email and incoming sales calls.   The positions range from assisting an individual with resolving a billing inquiry, helping a customer purchase an accessory for their wireless phone, or providing product assistance/troubleshooting. The application process is 35 minutes and you are given a virtual interview (talk about 21st century!). 

Neither of these positions require ever going into an office. Everything is done from the computer.  The pay for both of these companies vary by minute or call depending upon the position. There is no dollar amount given, so I guess you will find that out when applying or you can call for more info. Both sites have phone numbers. 

From what I’ve read the requirements are: a high-speed Internet connection, land-line phone, and the ability to pass a background check.  I’m assuming the background check is to make sure you haven’t been convicted of fraud or identity theft since the position entails dealing with people’s credit cards and personal information. 

I think I might give one of these companies a try this summer while I am enjoying my summer vacation. The only problem I have is there is no opportunity for leverage-that’s because it’s a job(read my post on the importance of leverage in your life).  But it is a way to make additional money from the comfort of your home.

Leave a comment if you or someone you know ever worked at one of these companies. Let me know your experience.

-ttyl Na’sia

My motto: Learn, Teach, Inspire, and you will receive all that your heart Desires!

 So as promised I am providing some work from home ideas for everyone who has ever thought about how they could make ends meet or make  a little extra without getting another job.   This is only intended to be a starting point for each of the ideas. As with anything worth doing,  it actually takes work to achieve results.  Keep in mind that these are just a few, there are countless other possibilities.  Feel free to comment with your suggestions and I will give you more ideas in future posts.  Ok here we go and these are not in any particular order:

1.  BLOGGING.    Did you know that people and companies will pay you to write for their blogs? Don’t tell me you don’t know what a blog is because you are reading one now (smile).   Companies and small business owners hire bloggers for the purpose of writing content on their blogs.   I found a site that update blogger jobs almost everyday. How do you make money? Some businesses will state the type of  article they need written and ask how much it would cost them to have that need met.  So you are charging for your writing skills!  Others will pay you an amount per article or a regular salary based on a contract. In either case you get paid for writing content on a site. I would suggest this work from home option only if you love to write and have significant amount of time to spare so that you are sure to provide quality and value.
2. FREELANCE WRITER.   You may write articles for magazines, advertising copy for brochures, technical manuals and other literary products on weekends or in your spare time.  Write about your expertise or experience. For example, if you are a new bride, you can write articles for wedding and women magazines about the process of preparing for a wedding.  How do you make money?  Based on my research, some writing projects will pay by the hour-usually about $20 to $75 depending on your writing skills.  Most however, will pay by the number of words or by a percentage of the selling price (if it’s a book).  There are a number or resources out there that lists potential markets for various kinds of writing be it poetry, screenplays, articles, books, or web. Start with Writersmarket.com. This site is the “freelance writers’ bible” because it provides contact information for thousands of publishers, literary agents, and editors.
3. CREATE A WRITTEN PRODUCT.  While we’re on the topic of writing… have you ever thought about creating a written product.  It can be a simple how-to article about something you specialize in, such as, how to unclog a drain(just an example).  Or a review of a book, movie, play, ect.  How about writing about your experience?  Produce an article and post it to sites such as ezine.com, hubpages.com, and squidoo.com.   The product is written articles that get traffic from search engines. In order to be successful, the content you produce should be on topics that people search for on Google or other major search engines. The key to success here is high quality, valuable information.  A well written piece of content that does an excellent job at answering a question, explaining how to do something, or reviewing a product or place in detail will be worthwhile reading.  But how do you make money from these articles? One way to make money is through Google AdSense. AdSense places ads that match the content of your writing. Advertisers like placing ads through AdSense since they are so highly targeted. Users will click on the ads if they are interested in them and google will pay you money. The way you generate earnings will depend on the type of ads which have been displayed on your site. You can receive earnings for valid clicks on cost-per-click (CPC) ads and valid impressions on cost-per-thousand-impression (CPM) ads.   This creates a great opportunity for you to make a decent side income depending upon how much traffic visits your article.  I will talk about how to attract traffic in a future post, but if that is something that you would like to learn about immediately, the book  “The Marketers Manifesto” (it’s free…find it under featured books)  does a great job of showing the power of attraction marketing.  More on attraction marketing coming soon!   Another advantage to creating written products is the opportunity to sell your product for whatever price your heart desires (of course you would want to be reasonable and do some research on how much your work is worth to your target market).  Think about it.  You can write an e-book (an online book), report, or manual, turn it into a pdf file (very simple to do), and sell it.  Sites such as Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter are great sites to promote yourself and your items. 
4. NETWORK MARKETING. Many people think that network marketing aka multi-level marketing(mlm)… is a pyramid scheme because of the structure of the industry.  The truth is network marketing is a $20 billion dollar industry and there are thousands of  different mlm companies.  This article explains what network marketing is and why it is not a pyramid scheme.  it also explains where the confusion lies and how to look for a reputable company.  Most people do not realize the value of becoming a network marketer.  I didn’t either until I read Robert Kiyosaki’s (a business guru among other things) book,  Rich Dad’s Business School - For People Who Like Helping People. The entire book is dedicated to the network marketing industry and it cleared up a lot of confusion for me.  Anyhow, how do you make money?  Network marketing companies do not advertise which allows them to pay individual people to  advertise for them.  These companies also reward you for recruiting other salespeople, creating a team.  You then get paid a percentage when they sell an item.  Perhaps one of the most rewarding aspects of these companies is that they pay you a residual income.  The power of this type of income is incredible!  Think about selling a person a service one time and getting paid every time they use it or renew their membership-that is residual income, in music it’s called royalties.  There are literally thousands of network marketing companies out there.  I would suggest doing research to find out how long they’ve been in business, what services and/or products are offered and whether those products are valuable to others and profitable to you.  The rule for me is, if I wouldn’t use it, I wouldn’t sell it. Just my personal philosophy.  But be careful, many people in the industry still use traditional marketing techniques that can take you a long time to become successful.  Be willing to become a learner. I would strongly suggest reading “The Seven Great Lies of Network Marketing”. It is a free report about the traditional marketing strategies that the network marketing industry teach. Next, I suggest reading the Renegade Network Marketer. Both books are written by Ann Sieg and she teaches how to become a successful network marketer of the 21st century.  There are keys to being successful in network marketing and I didn’t discover them when I joined my first network marketing company.  It wasn’t until after I partnered with my second network marketing company that I learned how to truly become successful with this type of home-based business.More on network marketing soon, but if you have a specific question feel free to leave a comment or email me.
5. SELL A TANGIBLE PRODUCT.  The big difference here is that you have to actually deliver a physical product. There are types of products that I think are better for selling online. First, if you can resell high margin products that are small and easy to ship.  Highmarginproduct.com allows you to market and sell their products.  You can market them on your site, ebay, facebook, or any other social networking sites.  The best part is they will ship the product directly to the customer.  I just found out about this company.  I plan on checking out their products to see if there are things that I would be interested in promoting.
6. MORE TANGIBLE PRODUCTS.  Are you creative?  Why not sell something you create. This could be holiday candy, specialty baskets, candles or a product that you figure out how to manufacture.  The key is to sell products that cost little to nothing to make, but are worth good money.  One of my students (I am a 7th grade teacher) make beautiful candles out of crayon!  Those could easily sell for ten, fifteen dollars or more depending on the size and style (and she has many styles).  How much would her investment be? She only needs crayon and wax.  The key is to have a high margin product and a market available that can move them. How do you make money?  You make money when a product is sold. The amount of money you make is dependent upon things such as, is there a market for your product, if you are marketing correctly, the price of the item, just to name a few.  However, there are sites and tutorials for free or little to no cost at all that will show you step-by-step how to set up a website that people can purchase from.  Tune back for more information about setting up a website.