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Posts Tagged ‘start your own business’

To Succeed, You Have To Be Seen

Posted on: January 16th, 2012 by Beth Heilman

To succeed in business, just like in any area of your life, you need to put yourself out there. You need to be seen.

That exposure…that standing in the spotlight, can scare the bajeebers out of some people. And it will kill any chance of succeeding on any big scale.

It will kill your dream.

For the purpose of what we're talking about here today, we're talking about your business but it could apply to any area of your life.

Whenever you start anything new, like your own business, there's always the the initial start-up jitters. A thousand questions race though your brain simultaneously.

"Will it work?" Will people buy?" "Am I really cut out for this?" Round and round goes the brain till it looks a lot like Danica Patrick on a NASCAR track. Vrooom!!

It's really easy to head for pit row and want to stay there. It's safe.

You look like you're getting things done. There's a flurry of activity going on, but you don't have a chance to win unless you get back out on the track.

You have to be seen.

I've been stuck there, I know how it feels. You want so much to be one of those people you hear about who don't just make "get by" money.

They're freakin' killin' it and takin' it to the bank!!

Friends, they didn't get there overnight and they didn't get there by hiding in their home office. They got out of their comfort zone, put
themselves out there and got seen.

There are plenty of ways to promote yourself and your business. One of my favorite and most fun (not to mention far-reaching and cost effective ) is getting in involved in Social Media.

Just the number of people on Facebook alone is more than the population of many countries!! Imagine for a minute being able to reach out to someone halfway across the world with the click of a mouse. That was unheard of just a few years ago.

Think of the possibilities of building strong relationships with people who can't wait to do business with you because of how your share things about your life and the products and services you offer.

Think how gratifying it will be to be of service to people not just in you local area, but all over the world.

All because you let yourself be seen and you used Social Media (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn) to do it.

It's no secret that things in the economy have gone crazy. Not just here in the US, but all over the world. And it's the small business owner that cares enough to put themselves out there that will get this mess turned around.

If you're already busy promoting yourself and your business, good on ya!

If you've been playing small and waiting until you have everything perfect…STOP!

The world needs you! It's time to be seen… 

What are your feelings on being seen in the marketplace and using social media to do it? Leave me a comment below, I'd love to know what you think. Until then…

To Your Success,
Sonrisas (smiles),

Beth

 

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How To Get Started Doing What You Love…Knowing Your Why

Posted on: December 19th, 2011 by Beth Heilman

Today's post is the next in the continuing saga of "As The Business Turns" or more aptly named "As The Mind Changes" (read the previous post if you haven't got a clue what I'm talking about) 

On our last episode we talked some about the frustrations we encounter on this entrepreneurial journey doing what we love when we pretty much love to do everything…and we make ourselves crazy trying to decide what the heck to do.

Here's something that's helped me narrow down the field of business possibilities and keep from banging my head against the wall (too much 🙂 )

First, before you try and figure out the "what" (or what's) of the thing you're going to be earning a living at, it's important to know your why.

Along with your why is the question, what do you want your life to look like?
 
What I mean by that is it will do you absolutely no good to choose a business running a used book store because you love old, rare books if you're a free spirit and want to be able to pick up on a whim and fly off to Tibet. There's not much whimming allowed when you have a brick-and-mortar store to open up everyday. The freedom to travel you long for will be sacrificed for the day-to-day routine of running a store.

Can you see yourself feeling stiffled? Maybe even resenting the business after a while because you feel tied down? Best to figure that out at this stage…BEFORE you order the bookshelves, agreed? Thought so…let's keep going.

Figure out your "why" and write it down.

Next, take out a blank sheet of paper and start listing out all the things you love to do. Really let your creativity flow. Nothing is too
silly or insignificant at this point. Pen ready? Ok…let 'er rip!

(Clock ticking…Jeopardy music playing in the background) Ding!

Ok. Did you come up with a good sized list of things? It doesn't matter if they all relate or are polar opposites of each other. Just get 'em on paper.

If you're like me, some will relate and some just make me wanna go, "huh?" Doesn't matter. What you love to do and the ability to make a living doing it is part of your DNA. It's time to start tapping into it.

Now, a little caveat here. There ARE those things that should be done just for the sheer love of doing them because quite frankly, there just ain't a market for it. Here's an example (and I'm making this up); say you love collecting chicken feathers.

You have the most extensive collection of domestic chicken feathers in the northern hemisphere. You're an extremely proud chicken feather collector and would love to open up a chicken feather museum. Do you see where I'm going here? Thank you.:-)

Not much call for a chicken feather collection unless you're a balding chicken. That, my friend is better kept as a hobby. Hobbies are a happy thing, too.

Back to our regularly scheduled program…

What I want you to think about now, and until the next post, is possible different "profit centers" using the items on your list.

Are there ways you could turn you passions into an information product like an ebook, book or mp3 that people would pay for? Could you do a how-to workshop in your town?

How about making an actual physical product that you could sell and distribute is a local shop or maybe put on ebay. There's a zillion ways to market and distribute both physical and digital products. 

What I want to do here today is open up your imagination and let you know that you really can have the life of your dreams doing what you love. Just apply that creativity of yours and watch what happens.

That's enough brainstorming for now. Keep going over your list and next time we'll talk about how you can do what you love even if you're still working a regular J-O-B (for now 😉 ) Leave a comment below and let me know how your list is going. I'd love to hear all about it. Until next time…

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Deciding On A Business When You Love To Do …Everything

Posted on: December 12th, 2011 by Beth Heilman

After you've made the decision to strike out on your own and be an entrepreneur, deciding on a business to go into should be easy, right?

I mean you know what you're good at. You know what you like doing.

Hmmm…there's the issue. You like doing EVERYTHING!!

Now, I may not be talking to all of you here. Some people just know what they're meant to do.

Then there's those of us who are decisionally challenged who can flip-flop daily (or hourly) on which business avenue to pursue.

Want to hear some good news?

You don't have to decide.

What I mean by that is you can create a business that incorporates your talents and your passions and you don't have to pick just one way to earn your living.

Matter of fact, given what we've been through these last few years in the economy, it's smart NOT to have just one way.

I'll use myself as an example. After I was downsized from my job four years ago, I knew I could sell houses. Problem was the market wasn't all that pretty plus I was suffering from a serious case of don't-care-if-I-never-sell-another-house-again burn out.

Not good when it's only thing you've done for a living for the last 17 years. I knew I'd always keep my real estate license, but  also knew that I had other passions I wanted to pursue; passions that had been put on hold in the pursuit of a Real Estate career.

So I started looking, and looking, and looking. If looking could've been turned into a career, I'd be sittin' pretty right now.

Everyone said to really focus on the real estate, and even though I love working with my buyers still to this day; it didn't hold the same excitement that it used to. There had to be something more.

The search continued…I dabbled in a couple network marketing companies. I fell in love with internet marketing and put up some
websites. I started a little mobile marketing company. I wanted to do it all. Everyone said focus on one thing…and I just couldn't.

Then I came across the coolest book. It's called "Refuse To Choose" by Barbara Sher. When I started reading it it was like finally someone was speaking my language.

While I'm not going to do a full-on book review today, I'm giving it my whole-hearted recommendation for anyone who loves to do a bunch of things and would love to make a living at them, but doesn't have a clue where to start…or where to start first.

There are those people (like me) who have a lot of knowledge in a LOT of different areas and they love ALL of it.

When I tried to come up with my "one big thing", I took a look at all the experiences I've had. Let's see…

I was a military wife and mother for 20 years. At one point in time I added up all the time I held down the fort by myself. It totaled almost 12 of those 20 years. I could talk to Military spouses and retirees…

I've sold Real Estate for the last 20 years in the highly crazy Las Vegas market.I could talk about real estate…

Most of the time I sold new homes and worked so hard (my fault) that I developed Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue. I could help people with the same thing and let them know what to do to feel better…

I'm a mom of four awesome kids. Two of them have special needs and my youngest, Emanuel, I adopted in Colombia, S.A. as a single mom in 2004. Maybe I could help parents of special needs kids or adoptive single parents…

Maybe this, maybe that…eeeeeek!

It was driving me nuts. That's when I found Barbara Sher's book. What I found was there are certain people who do lots of things well. You'll learn that you can actually earn a living doing lots of different things. And you'll learn that it's OK.

I'm going to be talking about this more in future posts and I'm gonna be giving you different examples of how to turn those things you love into income.

Stay tuned and be sure you sign up for my free report to the right. If you've even thought about starting your own business; read it, today's post will make perfect sense.

Let me know what you think about having a passion for and making a living with a bunch of different things. Look forward to hearing from you…

 

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The Other Veteran’s Day Hero…The Military Spouse

Posted on: November 10th, 2011 by Beth Heilman

Tomorrow, 11-11-11 is Veteran's Day here in the US. Its a day to remember and honor those who serve our country, the men and women who defend our freedom everyday; Our Armed Forces.

It doesn't matter which branch of the service these brave souls choose to serve in. They are all heroes.

But there is also another Veteran's Day hero who stays in the background, supports without question, sacrifices and keeps things running smoothly at home without complaining or even giving what they do a second thought.

I'm talking about the Military Spouse. These wives (and husbands) of  Active Duty Military personnel are heroes in their own right. They put up with long deployments; time periods that can last from a few weeks to a few months and even longer.

They are left home alone to take care of anything from kids to car problems; from balancing a lean budget to fixing a leaky faucet. They do double duty; things that both a Mom and Dad, husband and wife would tackle together they do alone. How do I know?

Because I was one.

Not many people know this, but I was an Air Force wife for nearly 20 years. So when I tell you that I know what it's like to be the one left behind, to be the one who was both the Mom AND head of the house, I speak from experience.

I also know what it's like to want to be the supportive spouse and have a career of my own. One of the most difficult things about being "married to the military" is the uncertainty of knowing if you're going to be in one spot long enough to put down roots and establish yourself  in a job, much less a career. It can be frustrating.

Military pay wasn't much then and it still isn't much. When a spouse works and has to pay child care, it almost doesn't pay to work. Until now.

When I was raising my kids, the internet as we know it today didn't exist. Back then it was Commodore 64's and DOS programs and blinking cursors.

Today, thankfully, the possibilities are unlimited. Any military wife with a laptop (or smart phone) and an internet connection can start and run her own successful business from home. 

Some hot trends right now range anywhere from being a Virtual Assistant, to starting an e-commerce website to information marketing. Social Media Management and website content management for small (and some large) businesses can both be done from home and worked around kids schedules and TDY's. That's "temporary duty" (short assignments for a couple of weeks to a couple of  months at a time) for any non-military folks. 🙂

There's almost nothing in business that can't accomplished over the internet. For military spouses, it levels the playing field in the job market like never before.

So to all the Military wives and husbands who think they may have to settle for whatever low paying job they can get, think again. You really can create your own business (and do what you love) using today's technology. Do some research. Find a business that really gets you excited…and will pay you what you're worth.

Dream again…you've earned it.

Are you or do you know of someone who's a Military spouse, Vet or service member? Please pass this along to them and as always, please leave me a comment below and let's talk. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Happy Veterans Day…I salute you.

Until then…

To Your Success,
Sonrisas(smiles),

Beth

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Ask and it shall be given…

Posted on: September 19th, 2011 by Beth Heilman

Ask and it shall be given…

Ever have something virtually smack you in the face every time you turn around. It could be a song, a book title or in my case this past week a Bible verse.

"Ask and it shall be given, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened"

Must have seen or heard that verse or seen a reference to it at least a half dozen times between Monday and Thursday.

Coincidence? Possibly, but God has talked to me in weird ways for years and sister (or brother)… I know when to listen. There are three parts to that verse. Let's look at each one.

First, when you need something and there's a burning desire in your heart, do you ASK (boldly), believing that what you've asked for will be coming your way?

Or do you ask (with small letters) hoping (or more accurately wishing) that you might, just maybe, be lucky enough to receive what you're asking for? You have to ask boldly to get what you want.

Second, do you seek what it is you're wanting or do you wait for it to drop in your lap? Always be on the lookout for a way to fulfill the
desire that's been put in your heart.

Maybe it's the new business you want to start, or the new house you want to buy or it could be something really cool like funding your favorite charity. Whatever it is, there's always a way to do what you want or have what it is you're meant to have, but if you don't know the "how" you have to ask. The answer will always come.

The last part of the equation is knocking. If after you ask, and the answer doesn't seem to be anywhere on the horizon…keep asking. That's the knocking the verse is talking about. I love the phrase "Don't give up before the miracle". Your answer is usually right around the corner.

"Ask and it shall be given, seek you shall find, knock and the door will be opened".

Keep asking and never give up. Sometimes it takes persistence to get what it is you're after, but if you're not willing to be persistent is what you want really worth the effort anyway?

Just sayin'…

What's your experience been with asking, seeking and knocking? I'd love to hear what's going on in your life. Talk soon 🙂

 

Sonrisas (smiles),

Beth 🙂

 

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