Working at home online is great, but there is always so much to do and only 24 hours each day. Do you find yourself struggling to complete your daily tasks? Do you get distracted by children or neighbours? Having a daily time management system is the answer.
Only you can work out what system will work for you. We all have our own concept of time and what it means to us. Using a system can be the difference between enjoying the time you spend working, or not.
Planning your day, having a daily, weekly and monthly to-do list, making sure friends and neighbours know when you are unavailable, having a set routine are all ways of making sure that your day runs as smoothly as it can.
Following on from yesterday’s blog, I thought I’d include an article here I wrote a couple of years ago on effective goal setting: HOW TO ACHIEVE GOALS Copyright Ros Bott BA (Hons) 2006
Whatever you want in life, you have far more chance of achieving it if you set a clear goal, written down, with a definite time scale.
For example, if you want to lose weight, set a target weight and a realistic date for reaching this target.This way you will be more committed to actually forming a plan to do something about it, and keeping to it.Follow this step-by-step process for your goal.
1.Once you have decided what it is you want to achieve, make sure you have a clear vision. Really see it, feel it, hear it, taste it. If you have a goal to lose weight, imagine how you will feel when you have reached your target weight - how will you feel about yourself? How will you reward yourself? Put up pictures or inspirational quotes that you will see very day to remind you of what your goal looks like.
2.Secondly, make your goal measurable. Something like losing weight is quite easy in this respect - you set a target weight that would be right for your height etc. If your goal is something like ‘be more spiritual’, this is more difficult to measure - but imagine what you would be doing, feeling, being if you were more spiritual. Catch the essence of what it means for you. Think of something specific that you could do if you were more spiritual and make this your goal. This is vital - if you don’t set a measurable goal, your goal will always be vague and you don’t really know exactly what you are aiming for, which will decrease your motiviation.
3.Thirdly, set a date for when you will reach your goal. Write it in your diary or calendar. Tell your closest friends and ask them to ask you whether you’ve taken the actions you need in order to reach your goals. If other people know this is what you are doing you will be more motivated to carry out whatever it is you need to do.
4.Decide how you will reward yourself when you achieve your goal.This is very important.We often do not pause to pat ourselves on the back when we achieve something, and often our achievements go by almost unnoticed.Make sure you have a definite reward set out that will be a way of acknowledging yourself and giving yourself a confidence boost.
5.Set out the steps you need to take to reach your goal and work out when you need to do them – put these in your diary or calendar – and then keep to them!
6.There will be days or maybe periods of time when you feel de-motivated, disheartened and perhaps begin to wonder why you thought you could do it.Don’t allow these moments to stop you.This is just your internal saboteur – perceptions you have built up from past experience that have created self-limiting beliefs.Use the following guidelines to keep you motivated:
If you are stuck, ask yourself the question ‘How can I get round this obstacle’ - you may be surprised how easily you will answer yourself.
Keep your goal in mind - bring it to life by imagining how you will feel, how your life will be etc.
Remind yourself of the consequences of NOT achieving your goal.
DON’T feel guilty if you are not achieving as quickly as you would like - guilt is destructive - just review your goal and re-structure if necessary.
Ask yourself if you’ve taken on too much - how realistic is your goal? Does it need simplifying, or a longer time period?
Remind yourself of what you HAVE achieved so far - and give yourself a reward.
Take a break - stop thinking about it for a few days - and then start again. You might find a few new ideas.
Make sure you have the right people supporting you - if you have anyone putting your project down, don’t discuss it with them.
Ask your most supportive friends to help - get them to ask you regularly what you are doing to achieve your goal.
Refuse to listen to any negative thoughts in your head that tell you you can’t do it.Every successful person has these – but their success is result of the ability to ignore these thoughts.
Remember that your goal IS achievable.Everything comes from our beliefs.The successful person is successful because they believe that it’s possible.The unsuccessful is so because they believe that it’s not.It’s really that simple.So believe that your goal is possible.
Above all, be good to yourself. Don’t give yourself a hard time - there is nothing wrong with you if you are finding it difficult to keep to a goal. It’s perfectly normal. However, if you are finding it difficult to achieve your goals, you may be suffering from low confidence, or a self limiting belief - why not discuss it with a life coach?
Ros Bott
To find out about my Career and Confidence Coaching Service, click HERE
To find out about an online Personal Development company where you can get training and a money-making opportunity, click HERE
To find opportunities for building your own home business, click HERE
Most of us want more money at some point in our lives, but how is it done? Millions of search terms on Google are about money, people trying to find how to earn lots of money or how to reach financial goals.
The answers about setting goals are usually concerned with being specific, being realistic and setting a timescale. In other words, how much do I want, how much can I earn and by when?
But there is a more powerful way of doing this. Too many of us focus on the money, as if that was the end in itself. In fact, apparently a significant minority of people search on Google with the term, “All I want is money”.
Really? You mean, you want small pieces of green paper, round bits of metal or black figures on a piece of paper? That’s it?
I don’t think so. You see, money itself is not really motivating. What is far more interesting is what we want the money for. A four berth yacht? A house in the country? Four holidays a year? A sense of freedom? Your kids’ education? To set up a charity?
You see, when you start to focus on what you want to use the money for, there is a greater motivation, and using these as your goal instead of the money itself, makes a more powerful goal: something that will get you out of bed every morning to take action.
Of course, we need to know how much money we need for these things - by all means, set your income goals, and put a date in your diary for when you want to be earning this amount - but make sure that when you visualise, you are visualising the yacht, the house, your kids’ future, your lifestyle, the results of your contribution.
Running an online business from home is a great way to earn a part or full time income - but it is not for everyone. Contrary to the impressions some people have, it is not about getting rich quick or earning money for nothing. It is hard work. If you’ve ever wondered, What do I need to start a home business?, here are a few answers:
Patience. There’s a saying that is often used in this industry: “This is not a sprint, it’s a marathon.” It is very true. People who sign up for an affiliate program thinking they’re going to make money overnight will be disappointed. It takes months, sometimes years before you can make good profits. That, of course, is the same in any business.
Determination. Another saying is: “There are no failures, only quitters”. There will be many times during your home business career when you come across obstacles, when things are not going as quickly as you wanted or you get overwhelmed by what needs to be done. These are the times when your strength is tested. You can choose to quit, as many do, or you can choose to be unstoppable. Which would you choose?
A Positive Mental Attitude It may have become a cliche - but it really is the best attitude to have in this business. It is necessary to focus on the positive, which will create more positivity. Focusing on the negative always brings more of the same.
A Sense of Humour Oh, yes - if you can see the funny side when things go wrong, and not take yourself too seriously, you will do well.
A Thick Skin. Inevitably you will come across people (sometimes friends) who think what you are doing is crazy, or they will criticise the program you are in, or they may even be aggressive in rejecting your business opportunity. You must be able to not take these comments personally and know that they are the ones who lose out. You have to be able to let them go and move on.
A Budget. In order to get going with an online home business, you will need a small amount of cash, but no more than $50 to $100. Setting your own monthly budget and keeping to it is very important, as it is very easy to be swayed by clever marketing. The only money you need to spend at first is for hosting a website, upgrading your affiliate program and setting up an autoresponder. All this can be done without a huge amount of capital.
All the other skills that you will need can be learned on the job, such as internet marketing skills, html, article & blog writing skills etc.
If you think that you have all the qualities listed above, you are fully qualified! It is people like you that makes this business work, and I would love to have you on my team. See my website for opportunities.
I hope this answers the question, What Do I Need to Start a Home Business?. You can find a program to suit you, and plenty more information on how to run a home business, at my website, Financial Freedom from Home.
Ros Bott
Writer, life coach and home business entrepreneur.
Working online at home? Sounds good, doesn’t it? No boss breathing down your neck, no commuting in heavy traffic, no tedious staff meetings and no-one to tick you off if you’re five minutes late. You even get to choose the brand of coffee you drink! Yet, for all its benefits, there are a few downsides, such as distractions from family and friends, self-discipline and loneliness. My article, How to Work at Home , will give you some tips on how to manage these few problems to make your experience of working at home the best it can be.
I have been working at home for about five years, and I would not want to return to working for someone else. But it can be a tricky transition to make from employment to self-employment. In particular, if you have an online business and you are not getting out of the house and meeting people you can miss the buzz of being with others all day.
For anyone working at home, especially with an online business, click HERE to go to my article, How to Work at Home.
I hope you find it useful - and please feel free to comment.
I have been self employed for about five years now, with various small businesses, including life coaching, freelance writing and more recently, affiliate marketing. I have used several website hosting companies for my various websites and I have to say that one stands out above the others by a long shot. It’s the most professional website hosting I have come across, and it has several benefits.
The most obvious benefit lies within its name: Host4Profit. Host4Profit pays you $10 per month for every person you refer for as long as they maintain their account. This means that once you have referred 3 people, the hosting pays for itself. After that, everything is pure profit. If you are looking for low cost website hosting, then this is a definite contender - especially if you are an affiliate marketer already, as it will not take much to promote this program.
But this great commission system is not all H4P has to offer. It really is a highly professional and easy to use system. I have only had to contact Support once, and they were very quick to reply. As it happened there was no real problem - just a minor blip during maintenance. But I know many colleagues who use this hosting service that say the same thing - their support is quick, friendly and professional.
The space they give you for the modest monthly fee is a full 800MB with all the features anyone needs in a website. This is the best website hosting I have experienced.
That’s still not all. H4P have several products that you can re-sell on your website. A free holiday to the Bahamas if you sign up 500 accounts within six months, and a lifetime membership to the top marketing forum on the net, the Warrior Forum.
So, what’s the catch?
I honestly can’t think of one. If you truly want professional website hosting with all the benefits you could possibly need, this seems to me to be a no-brainer.
Yes, it’s true. Affiliate online sales can be a bit hypy. Sometimes they can even lean towards the hysterical. Quite often they appear too good to be true.
I don’t like hype. It makes me feel uncomfortable. I like straight forward, honest, level talking. I don’t like sales pages with lots of exclamation marks, flashing capital letters and unrealistic promises.
But, let’s stand down a little bit from our high moral ground. At the moment (who knows, maybe things will change), that’s the way things get sold on the internet. I mean, it works, doesn’t it? I have, despite what I have said above, been sold by “hypy” ads, so I am living proof that hype sells.
So, if I then discover that the reality of the thing that I have bought doesn’t quite live up to the original sales page, am I going to scream FAKE! and throw my toys out of the pram?
Er… no. As long as the program is sound and I actually like what I’ve bought, then I am not going to allow a little over-enthusiastic marketing spoil my day.
Unlike a recent poster in one program’s affiliate forum I belong to, who was SO incensed by the fact that the original sales page had told him that changing his website would be easy and then found there was a little bit more to it than he thought, that he decided to quit a perfectly good program, bawl everyone out and leave a lot of negative energy into the bargain. (By the way, the sales page was this one)
It was a perfect example of victim mentality, and allowing one small sales page exaggeration (which was completely subjective and a matter of personal interpretation anyway) to ruin what could have been a great business.
What you focus on is the reality that you create. This guy was so focused on one small thing that was wrong, that he couldn’t see what was right!
If you hold something bad up to your face, that’s all you’ll see, folks.
The point I’m trying to make?
Nobody’s perfect - particularly not affiliate online sales writers. But that does not mean that what they are selling is bad, wrong, dodgy or a downright scam! It is up to us to look behind the hype and decide for ourselves whether something is right for us or not. We need to take responsibility for our own choices, and when we find something is different to our expectations, realise that our expectations are, after all, based on our own interpretations. And, if we threw out everything that was slightly less than perfect, what would we have left?
Ros Bott
My own “less than perfect” (but full of good stuff!) website is at Financial Freedom
After years of changing careers, sometimes employed, sometimes self-employed, sometimes not employed at all, I have arrived at a place in my late 40s where I can be sure of something I’ve never been certain of before: my future security. This is not the first time I have tried starting a business at home, but the difference this time is that I know it will work.
Why? Because when I was self employed before I had no-one to refer to but myself. No business or vocational training can prepare you for the difficulties of trying to make a success on your own. But I have found that setting up a home based business online using affiliate marketing has been completely different. If I have a question, there is somebody to ask. If I feel discouraged, there are people to support and encourage. When I have asuccess, there are people to congratulate me and spur me on to greater achievement.
Starting a business at home can be a lonely experience. It is difficult to maintain confidence on your own when sales figures do not go in the direction you were hoping. However, with an online business, I have found a wealth of training and support where I have had very little before - and all just at my fingertips.
Also, I know that although my initial earnings may be modest - they will grow. That is inevitable in this business as long as you keep working at it. Unlike other businesses that can fluctuate up and down, this business can only go up. It may feel painfully slow at times, but it’s always the right direction!
So how did I start? I was introduced to Success University via a writing client. I was unsure. I had been involved in network marketing before, and I did not like cold-calling or talking to people face to face about the business. But I really liked what Success University had to offer. I joined under the 2 week free trial - but even though I loved the personal development side, I was still unsure I could make it work as a business.
Then I found PIPS (PlugInProfitSite). Hallelujah! No cold-calling, no annoying my friends - I could market everything on the internet, including Success University, and reach a global audience.
I discovered it was hard work, and the progress slow - but I also discovered something else: a whole community of people who are motivated and determined, and willing to help others to be the same. I found training that is constantly available, free and easy accessible. I’m hooked.
And I have some very strong goals and reasons for doing this: I’m a writer, and despite some small successes I have yet to earn a living from writing. I hope that I will one day become a bestselling novelist, but until that day, this business will support me and fund my writing so that THAT goal is far more possible than if I had been in a full-time job.
Starting a business at home is not for the faint-hearted, but it’s a da**ed sight better than working for someone else and compromising your dreams.
For anyone who has joined Success University, or is thinking of joining, this is a really important message. If you want to know how to earn money with Success University, you must first take on board the way this program works. Believe me, I just enrolled two people within one week because of this basic concept.
I know several people who complain that they have not been able to enrol people in Success University, and are thinking of giving up because they are paying the monthly fee for nothing…
NOTHING??? Just wait a minute…
If you have mistakenly thought that Success University is just another mlm; just another way of making money online - then PLEASE THINK AGAIN! Selling SU in this way just does not work. Furthermore, if you believe that it doesn’t work for you - how on earth are you going to sell it to anyone else??
Success University is a whole package. The monthly fee pays for the best personal development training you will ever find for such a small amount of money. High quality, top-of-the-industry personal development and success trainers and leaders are all available to you for a fraction of the price you would normally pay.
Ignoring this training is missing the point - and missing the boat. When you learn (and there are plenty of courses to suit your requirements, whatever they are) with Success University, you will become as enthusiastic as I am. You will WANT to sell this to other people, not just because they will make money from it, but because you want them to get the training you are getting. Furthermore, the motivational CDs and DVDs will inspire you and train you to become successful with the business opportunity.
This is the way SU works! You need to get involved with the product, otherwise you will struggle to sell it as a business opportunity. And, the point is, getting involved with the product is not a chore - it’s an absolute joy!
For more information on what Success University has to offer I have a page on my website at www.wealth-city.com/SU.html. Or you can look at SU’s own home page and video HERE.
So, if you’ve been wondering how to earn money with Success University, this is my advice: use the product, get excited about it and tell other people. This time your “sales” talk will be genuine - people will trust you, and they will buy from you because they will want what you have.
When looking to find the best online affiliate programs, many people focus their research on whether the program has a good compensation system, or whether it’s legitimate. Many who seek advice may also be told that it’s the affiliate that makes the program work, not the other way around.
While this is very sound advice, there is something else that I think is often missed. What about making sure you have the right sponsor? I have heard many complaints from fellow affiliate marketers that they have never heard from their sponsor, even after emailing them. For the newbie, having a sponsor who will guide, advise and help you to success can make all the difference. That is not to say that you can’t make it work without a good sponsor - but you might as well give yourself the best chance from the start!
Finding the right sponsor is a matter of research. To read more on this subect, please read my article on the subject.
Personally, my favourite part of this work is the contact I make with my downline. Not all of them respond - but it is a joy to help those who are keen to build their business. For me, this is what this business is all about: By helping others to be successful, we build our own success.
So if you are wondering how to find the best online affiliate program, don’t forget to check out your sponsor and make sure it’s someone you can work with.
Want to work with me? Check me out at my website below!
I am a career life coach and writer and I live in the UK, close to the historic town of Stratford-upon-Avon.
I have found that affiliate marketing and the personal development industry are extremely strongly linked, which is why I have added a motivational flavour to my website (www.wealth-city.com) and the way I run my business.
Subscribe to my FREE newsletter full of tips for running an online home business - and get $147 worth of free gifts!
I have been interested in personal development for many years and I am passionate about the power of positive thought and the law of attraction. I know, through experience, that we create whatever we believe in.
I started in network marketing towards the end of 2007, and I love the amount of support and motivational material there is available for people in this business, if they are prepared to look. I am so eager to help people in this business, I also offer a motivational newsletter to anyone who signs up as an affiliate under me!
My main interest is history - particularly family history, and I write novels that usually have a historical twist.
I am a career life coach and writer and I live in the UK, close to the historic town of Stratford-upon-Avon.
I have found that affiliate marketing and the personal development industry are extremely strongly linked, which is why I have added a motivational flavour to my website 
