Rabu, 05 September 2007

The Secret to Becoming Rich

by: Elise Fisher

Napoleon Hill, the author of Think and Grow Rich, believes that a person does not have to be a genius to become rich. Any person can become wealthy if he thinks positively and has a deep desire to achieve his goal.

Positive Thinking: You must see your financial dreams and know that you will be able to attain them. You must already own them.

If you begin making up every rationalization under the sun why you can't succeed, pinch yourself. You have to discipline your body and mind to think positive thoughts. Teach yourself that those kind of thought patterns are unacceptable. You can obtain greatness, even if you are not the smartest, most talented, or best looking person in the world. Success is your if you'll just allow it to come into your life. Don't underestimate the power of your thoughts.

Burning Desire: Hill tells a true tale of a man named Edwin Barnes who desired to become Thomas Edison's partner. Most of us would have scoffed at him had we lived back then. Edwin Barnes was a nobody. Nevertheless, he had a deep desire, a life dream, and he was determined. He went to Thomas Edison and convinced him to hire him. He did not instantly achieve his dream, but he worked hard and ultimately became Thomas Edison's partner. This was a feat everyone thought was impossible.

Edwin Barnes followed these 7 steps to gain this great success:

1. Choose a definite dream.

2. Put all your energy into that dream.

3. Be willing to do menial work at first.

4. Visualize your dream.

5. Form a strategy.

6. Endure through the hard times.

7. Eliminate any way to retreat.

As you focus on obtaining your goals, answer these questions: What is the exact amount of money I want? What am I willing to sacrifice for it? What exact date do I want this money by? What is my strategy?

Don't forget, to successful people, there is no such thing as "defeat." What looks like defeat is no more than a great opportunity. Start creating opportunities out of failures and being successful today!

NOTE: Use of this article requires links to be intact.

The Magic Move to Being in Business

by: Heather Dominick

Lots of entrepreneurs that I speak to spend a lot of time "being busy." They're attending meetings, answering emails and a ton of activity that fills up their schedule. They have great ideas in the middle of it all, but are so overwhelmed they fall into "productivity paralysis" and are just plain perplexed about how to really get to that next level. There's a magic move to being productive and profitable in business that no one is talking about.

Before we get to the "Magic Move," we have to first acknowledge that as an Entrepreneur you should always be striving to work on your business rather than just in your business. You open up the energy around this by setting up systems. This approach allows you to be set up for growth and actually implement all those fabulous ideas you have. For example, if you're an acupuncturist instead of only treating patients all day you can explore ways to treat and reach more people at once-leveraging your time and your income. Strong systems in your business operations will create that space. I have entrepreneurs I coach who either set up or strengthen their systems as a must. For the sake of this article, we accept that as a given. Now, step into the magic move-the one that has you in joy with everything you're doing, rather than just trying to catch your breath and stay one step ahead (or filing you your time with "stuff" because you secretly feel lost about what to do next).

Often, I've found that even when you have the tightest of systems, you can find yourself feeling like something is missing. Your energy is a bit blah and you don't feel jazzed to create. Even though the systems are crankin', you feel stuck. Just about every time I hear this from an entrepreneur, I know the magic move is missing; there isn't anywhere in the systems that allows for time to just be. Incorporating this move makes all the difference in the world and it's the one that is most resisted (including myself at times). Interesting, right?

Let's get clear about exactly what I mean by "time to just be." I'm not talking about time to watch TV or be with family and friends-although this is important and should be part of your systems, too. I'm talking about time to really connect to that part of yourself which is a direct connection to divine, inspired action. These are the ideas, solutions, and "how tos" that cannot be conceived of, created, or tapped into when you are busy "doing" and "going 24-7." And it's the powerful, magic move that no one in business is talking about. Frankly, I believe it's because they're scared to.

Traditional business doesn't operate from a place of stillness. The battle cry is, "if you're not in motion, you're losing money!" Meanwhile, money is being left on the table everywhere because folks are rushing by and too busy to see it. Even all the latest buzz about the Law of Attraction is filled with insistence to, "use this tool, this exercise, this strategy." Be sure to understand, these are very helpful, but the point of them is often lost; to bring us to that deep place of knowing that comes from being able to be.

Every time I've coached a client around this magic move more money has appeared. I have one client who just created $4,500 in a half day. The inspiration to pursue this means would never have appeared had she just still been going, going, going. It works.

Call To Action:

Start by scheduling some "be" time. Just take it and see what happens.

Write down anything that comes to you.

Let it go and then return to it a week later. Mark what that experience is like (you might be surprised what happened in the week between!).

Freelancing as A Career Option

Home bound workers can either consider telecommuting or freelancing. While telecommuting may keep you out of your home for some hours a week, online freelancing is a good way to make money if you are forced to stay at home. For example, homemakers, part-time students, retired folk, or others who wish to supplement their income from jobs or businesses can all consider freelancing.

Freelance Skill Sets

You can start earning as a freelancer as long as you have skills that someone is willing to pay for. For example, writers, web designers, photographers, and programmers can earn a substantial income by creating articles, websites, portfolios and software from home. The Internet is a hot and viable source of income for freelancers from around the world. Your target customers can be webmasters, online business owners, blog owners etc. For example, blogs and wikis are hot sources of income for freelance writers nowadays, and there's no reason why you can't tap into this market if you possess good writing skills.

Freelance Income

On the flip, your income may fluctuate from one month to another. As with all businesses, freelancing does not guarantee a stable paycheck at the end of the month. So keep a small kitty reserve for dry days or have another source of income for which you can work part-time. Be prepared to accept boring, low-level work initially just to keep the cash flow strong. Once you get a good reputation for providing original, high-quality work at reasonable price, then clients will flock to you.

Freelance Advantages

Probably the best thing about freelancing is that you get to work at your pace, in your own hours, from home, and be your own boss. That means, your shop is open 24x7. And as long as you provide good quality work and meet deadlines, your clients will remain happy with you.

In order to be visible, you also need to be seen and heard in the right places, like forums, blogs, online groups, etc. Spend time everyday to visit such sites because they are invaluable repository of freelance gigs and email addresses of prospects. Alternatively you can sign up with freelance sites like Elance.com, GetAFreelancer.com and Scriptlance.com where you can start bidding on projects and snag a few as early as today!

To conclude, a freelance business is one of the best ways to earn money from home and to work for your own self. If you've got a fair amount of time on your hands, maybe you too should consider freelancing as your full-time career alternative or supplementary income source.

(Hint: While you can find plenty of lucrative freelance assignments on Elance, the other sites mentioned above generally tend to feature lesser-paid projects. However, if you're just starting out as a freelancer, the competition on Elance can prove to be really tough. So you might want to first try GAF and Scriptlance to build up your portfolio, and then go for Elance.)

Starting A Business Partnership

Obinna Heche

You and your best friend are looking into starting a business together. You have done all your research on the type of business you want to start. You have talked to some financial backers and are ready to go. Or are you? There are at least three things you should know before starting a business with a friend.

Get it all in writing: You may have been friends since kindergarten but money does strange things to people. Its in the best interest to you both to sit down and get all of your business details in writing. Who is the owner and who is the co owner. How much profit from the business does each person receive? Make sure that all of these business related details are fully documented, dated and signed by each person. This is just one of the precautions you should take prior to the beginning of your business partnership.

Prepare for the worst: If in the event you and your friend have a fall out, be prepared. When partnering with anyone in business affairs you risk having to battle it out over company events and money. People can become very power hungry, selfish and greedy. Money after all is the source of all evil. If this is to happen its best that you have all of your business details documented as stated above. Also make sure you have mentally prepared yourself for such an event. It can be a heart wrenching and stressful occurrence. It is healthier for you to have at least considered that this is a possibility.

Protect yourself: Be wise in what you do with the business. Take care of your finances. Save money when possible and keep detailed track of both incoming and outgoing cash flow. If there was a falling out of sorts between you and your business partner you want to make sure you are financially secure. You protect yourself this way as well as keeping good book keeping records. Once again people do become a type of Jekyl and Hyde with money. Its not selfish to be sure that you are safe. Business affairs can become scandalous and overwhelming. You just want to make sure when its all over you come out on top.

Keep these three things in mind, documentation, preparation and protection. This information is not to make you feel paranoid. Its not meant to make you suspicious of your friend either. These are just pieces of information that are important in keeping you safe. Its a simple fact in the world of money. Business is serious and should be taken so. Think before you leap and you and your friend will both start on a safe path to a beautiful business relationship.
Article Source :
http://www.bestmanagementarticles.com
http://entrepreneurship.bestmanagementarticles.com

How to Brand Your Company Online with Blogging

Jason Oickle

Name branding is an important aspect of choosing and keeping your company name. Branding is also important when considering how to package your next product, what name to give it, and how to market it.

The process of branding can be as simple as choosing between star and stellar when labeling a product. Or it can be as complex as choosing what colors can best convey the worth and mission of your company. If you play your cards right, your company image can stick indelibly to your prospective customers minds, and you can have them coming back for more.

Branding is a huge issue in Internet marketing, simply because the Internet is an environment driven by visual impressions. The most beautiful websites gather the most visitors; the most informative websites, even with all their authority and worth, can go unnoticed if they are not well-designed or easy to navigate. Even website text has to be formatted in a customer-friendly manner. Non-serif texts are preferred over serif texts. Colors have to be matched against a background, with dark text over light backgrounds preferred, and text size has to be easy to read.

Branding your company can be easier if you use blog software, and if you maintain a blog. Blog software is used by individual web surfers to maintain online diaries, but it has also found use in designing simple web pages, creating online newsletters, and even keeping prospective customers updated about the activities, products, and services of a business. Keeping a blog also gives you the chance to reach out to customers. Many blog software packages include the ability to make comments or give instant feedback on a blog page, which can make your blog appear all the more people and customer-friendly.

If you are interested in using blogs to brand your company online, then you have to know your company thoroughly first. What are your goals? What is your mission and vision? Are you offering products that will last through the long term, or are you making products that will be updated regularly? Are you offering services that can be carried out only online, or are you offering services that will take place in your brick-and-mortar store? How much time and money are you willing to invest in updating your blog?

As soon as you have all this information, you can design your blog to fit your company's needs, and to brand it online. The key to successful branding is to create an image that will be remembered, and that will allow easy recall. Use your prospective customers visual memory when designing your blog site and choosing your layout and colors. The first thing that customers will remember, along with your name, is your logo. Use your logo colors in your blog site, and design your upper banner line or masthead so that it contains your company logo and name.

The world of Web 2.0 is a paradigm that describes the interactivity of todays Internet. People now go online not so much to do research, but to make their voices heard, and to interact with other people. Give your prospective customers a chance to have their say by installing communication software or programs on your blog, such as a guestbook, a testimony board, a forum, or comments boxes. This can allow your customers to voice their opinions, and to give you feedback about your products and services.

Interactivity, however, also comes with a price. You need to have such interactive environments moderated and guarded closely because they can easily be dominated by spammers or flamers, or anyone who wants to destroy your company. Farfetched as it may sound, online forums suffer from such people and have to be constantly watched so that other forum or group members are not offended. Do the same to your blog, let your customers have their say, but take out any post that seems to be malicious and not constructive in intention.

Although this can appear like censorship, you must remember that, as in the real world, internet communication has its limits. Slander and malice have no place on your site, so state your position clearly and make sure that your prospective customers understand if their comments are not accepted, or if they are banned. You can do this by posting editorial guidelines or a set of terms and conditions on your site, and by asking prospective customers to read them before making comments on your blog.

Lastly, update your blog constantly, and post information that can be important to your prospective customers. Do not stop at merely showcasing your products and services, or explaining your company name. If you are in the jewelry business, give daily tips on how to maintain the shine of silver jewelry. If you are in real estate, give daily tips on how to pick the best houses for a person's or family's needs. Always show customers how much you care, and they will remember you for your consideration.

Branding is not a new concept, and it requires only a good understanding of people's tastes and your markets whims. That said, engage in branding only after you have studied your market thoroughly, and after you have truly determined and embraced your company's aims and vision. If you can take advantage of the best of the blogging arena, you can brand your company online and see your profits soar.
Article Source :
http://www.bestmanagementarticles.com
http://internet-marketing.bestmanagementarticles.com