THE DIARY OF A HUSTLER

 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