Give It Just a Little Bit More....

What's the difference between the very successful business person and the mediocre one? The successful ones always give just a little bit more. That little bit of extra effort can separate the superstars from the rest of the pack. They make that one more sales call, the extra follow-up call. They do the presentation when they wish they were out with their friends. They never forget the thank you note or the birthday card. They give their clients and customers the extra attention that says "you're special" and turns prospects into buyers and buyers into loyal customers.

Ask yourself today - what little bit extra can you do that will take your business to the top?

WBO Logo Contest!

As you may or may not know, we have a new mission at WBO. Our mission will involve building office space for the use of our members in various cities.

In honor of this new endeavor, we are launching a logo contest for this new project. We want to showcase your talent to the nation so get those creative juices flowing. Your logo can launch a nationwide project starting in Houston, TX. We will be accepting entires through the 29th of February and have voting from March 1 - 7 for the best logo. Please email your entries to Gazelle Simmons at gazelle@womenbizowners.org or to Anna Campbell at anna@womenbizowners.org. We will post the url to our logo contest page within the next few days! I can't wait to see what designs you come up with and God bless.

Find out more about our mission here:http://womenbizowners.org/edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=439&Itemid=75

We are building businesses, one building at a time.

What's Your Point?

I took a couple of business prospects to a presentation last Monday. The prospects were eager to see the business, the speaker had been part of our team for several years, he was making great money and was very successful. And yet neither of my prospects joined my team. Why? Because I hate to admit it, but even I got lost during the presentation and I already knew how it worked. And the presentation I said would be 30 minutes long wound up being almost 90 minutes in length. By the time it was all over, my guests wanted nothing more than to bolt for the door and head for home.

Why do most people want to use twelve words when two will do? And what makes them think we are interested in every incident in their lives? The stories may be funny to some people, but when you're trying to get your point across, less is definitely more. Rambling, drawn out presentations only lose everybody trying to listen.

When making a presentation or sharing your business with a prospective client, get to the point quickly. You'll hold your listener's attention much more effectively. Since most people think faster than they speak or listen, if you start to ramble, their thoughts will wander to other things. And you want their attention focused on what you have to say. If you are dealing with a younger person, it's especially critical. It has been scientifically proven that younger people have much shorter attention spans. Their brains are used to processing short bursts of information. These products of the computer and video game era aren't going to sit still for your epic presentation. So lay out your bottom line quickly and succcintly. The Gettysburg Address is 272 words - a mere 10 sentences long. And yet it is regarded as one of the most greatest speeches in history.

How can you become better at making a presentation? Preparation and practice. First, listen to some speakers you like and who capture their audience's attention. Observe other business presentations and note what kept your focused and what caused your mind to wander. Then prepare your own presentation. Make an outline of points you want to make to help keep you on track, but don't write the entire presentation. You'll be too tempted to just read it and that' another no-n0.

Now the most important part - PRACTICE! Give your presentation to your family, your friends, your colleagues - anyone who will listen and give you constructive criticism. Rehearse until you feel completely comfortable. If possible, tape yourself so you can hear and see for yourself how look and sound.

Don't let poor presentations skills cost you business. Keep it short, keep it pertinent, make it interesting, and PRACTICE!

Article Marketing To Grow Your Business

Article marketing - everybody's doing it. Everybody except you? If you haven't yet discovered this method of marketing your company, here's all you need to know.

By writing articles about your area of expertise (your business), you position yourself as an expert on this subject. Once you have written your articles, you gain exposure by making them freely available for publication. Include your bio, contact information, and a link to your website. People reading your article then have all the information they need to contact you!

Busy online publishers love article marketing. It provides them with a source of free content for their websites and ezines. I use "guest articles" in my own ezine - it's one less article I have to write for each issue and it gains exposure for some of my friends and fellow entrepreneurs.

Once you written some articles, which is usually the easy part, you have to find places to publish them if you are going to gain any exposure. There are two ways to do this. You can contact different ezines, magazines, and websites individually and submit your articles to them for consideration. Or you can use an article directory or submission service.

Article directories are like libraries where publishers looking for content can look at articles from a wide range of authors. Each article is available for publication as long as it includes the author's bio and contact information. Some article directories are free while others are membership sites.

Article submission services differ from article directories. They actually submit your articles to publishers and web sites instead of waiting for them to choose your article from the pack. If you use a submission service, be sure they do manual submissions.

If you are really pressed for time and still want to take advantage of this type of publicity, there are now even article writing and submission services. Not only will they submit your article, they will also write it for you.

So write some articles - it's easier than you think. And I'll even give you the first place to submit one. Email your article to me at wealthtogether@hotmail.com and I'll include it in my WealthTogether ezine. (Remember, that's one less article I have to write!). When I publish your article I'll send you a copy of the issue it appears in. Be sure to include your bio and contact information so my readers will know how to contact you!

If It's Your Time to Shine, Let Beverly Mahone Help You Turn on the Spotlight!"

My good friend, author and Baby Boomer Diva, Beverly Mahone, is hosting a Blogging TeleseminarThursday, January 24, 2008 8pm

This teleseminar is for you if:

You've been thinking about blogging but don't know where to begin.
You're not sure what to "blog" about.
You want to learn more about how to attract more readers.
You don't quite understand the "technical" aspects
You want to make money from blogging
These are just a few of the topics that will be covered with a panel of experts:

Heidi Caswell connectsimply.com/blog
Betty Lynch mycountrykitchen.wordpress.com
Karlyn karlyns.com
Kathie Thomas www.vadirectory.net/blog/

Signups are located at: http://www.talk2bev.com.

I'll be there. You should be too!

Time Management Tips

I've had a couple of emails and phone calls this week from friends who told me they are giving up their home business because they don't have time to do it. AAAGGGHHHH!!! That's the point! Getting financially free so you do have time for the important stuff! Sure you're going to work hard for the first couple of years. But after that, if you build your business correctly, you can take time whenever you want to.

Rather than quit, let's use some time-saving tips to help make the hours necessary to build your business.

1. If you haven't done it yet, set your goals. Be very clear about them. Write them down. Once you know what you really want to achieve (and why) it’s easier to make decisions about what needs to be done, and to plan accordingly.
2. Make your to-do list daily. List your top priorities and focus what time you do have on them. You'll be much more effective!
3. Schedule your day. Literally write an appointment in your work planner (you do have one of those, don’t you?) to set aside a realistic block of time for your priority actions.
4. Learn to say no to all of those friends and family members who think that you are free to do whatever they need just because you work from home. Don't let them distract you from your business.
5. Get organized. Create systems for filing, management of information and communication.
6. Learn to delegate. Surely your husband can learn to do laundry. Let the kids do the dishes. Can your neighbor take your kids to soccer practice along with hers?
7. Balance your life. All work and no play will burn you out faster than anything. When you are scheduling your day, schedule family time, spouse time, and a little "me" time.
8, When the day is over, let it be over. Finish what you are working on and "go home." Don't be thinking about that important client phone call when you should be focusing on your spouse. No paperwork at the dinner table or notes while watching TV with your family. Relax and you'll be less tense and more focused tomorrow
9. “Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein.”

Treat Your Business Like a Business

So you have decided that this is the year to start your home based business. Great! Working from home is a great way to be in charge of your own life and make the kind of money you've always dreamed of. It's been life-changing for me. I work when I want to work and relax when I want to relax. Of course, that caused problems of its own when I first started working from home. When you start working from home, especially if you are working in network marketing or MLM, people will not consider it a real business. When I first started and was struggling to make a living, my own husband would ask me how much longer I was going to stay home and play instead of finding a "real" job. You have to remind everyone that you are serious about this. It IS a real business! And you have to be sure you treat it that way if you expect others to take you seriously. Don't think you can invest in a business, pay the startup fees or enrollments fees, and then just sit back and watch it grow. You have to work your business like you would a "traditional" business.

There are some ways to be sure you do this. First, make yourself a schedule each week. Having set hours for working your business will help ensure you actually work on your business. It doesn't have to be 9-5 Monday through Friday. I'm an early morning/late evening person so I do a lot of work between 5:00 - 8:00am and 9:oopm - midnight.

Second, let everyone know what you are doing. You have to promote your business. If you are uncomfortable telling your friends that you are doing network marketing or MLM, perhaps you need to take a second look at your choice of home businesses. If you believe in your business don't be ashamed of it.

Third, dress to go to work. Every morning before I go to my home office, I shower, dress, put on makeup, fix my hair - all just to walk down the hall from my bedroom to my computer. I feel much more professional when dressed for "work" and that attitude of professionalism comes across in my phone calls and other interactions. When you have a meeting with a potential client or dowline member, be sure to dress appropriately then also. Too many times I've gone with downline members to presentations and have been surprised at their appearance. They've invited all their friends to tell them about our wonderful opportunity and so they show up in jeans and a tee shirt or scuffed shoes and stained pants. How are you going to convince your friends that this is the opportunity they've been looking for if you still look like you always did? How will you convince a potential client to take a chance on you if you don't look clean and polished and put together? You don't have to wear designer suits or expensive jewelry. Just be neat, clean, professional, and confident.

Treat your home business like a business! Work hard, don't give up. If you do, you WILL find success! Remember, it's not going to happen overnight. But develop some business discipline now and work on your goals every day. Soon, you'll be working from your laptop on a beach while your unbelieving friends are still tied to their JOBS!