Note from the Editor

For those of you who read last week, yes I did survive having a crowd of 5 year olds at my house. My daughter’s party was quite the hit. I’m just so glad she enjoyed it but also that it’s done!

When you have a home business it can be hard to not treat such events as distractions. There were certainly times that I wished for easier ways to handle my daughter’s party, but I also love doing that kind of thing for her. There were shortcuts I could have taken but didn’t because I wanted it to be special and something I did for my family.

And it was fun!

How to Recognize Your Own Creative Potential

The biggest barriers you face in running a home business are often in your own mind. Many people simply don’t have enough faith in their own abilities.

This is especially true when it comes to creativity. I very often hear people complain that they aren’t creative. I don’t believe it.

When you aren’t feeling creative it’s time to take a look at what you have to offer and realize what it really means for your own creative potential. Odds are that you are very creative and just haven’t thought of yourself that way.

The first thing you do have to realize is that you will be creative in your own way. When I speak of creativity, I don’t necessarily mean artistic, a great writer, etc. These areas are often what people are talking about when they announce that they are not creative. But even in these areas you can surprise yourself. It’s quite common to be your own worst critic.

We’ll start with some of the elements it takes to be creative.

1. Knowledge is important. It’s really hard to be creative when you don’t understand your topic.

2. How is your memory? Sometimes a big part of being creative is remembering the right thing at the right time. This works alongside knowledge.

3. Are you curious? Being curious is overall a big advantage in business as it encourages you to do the research that might just help you to build your business and to be aware of trends. Even being curious about off topic things can help. You never know when something utterly unrelated will prove to be inspiring.

4. You don’t believe everything you are told. Just because everyone says something doesn’t mean it’s true. Creativity can be found in striking off on your own. That’s a part of starting your own business, isn’t it? Ignoring the naysayers who tell you all about how most businesses fail and trying anyhow.

But you should also recognize your own creative strengths and weaknesses. Many of us aren’t any sort of artist, whether it be with a pencil and paper or on the computer. That doesn’t point to a lack of creativity; it means you aren’t an artist. And that’s fine.

But you could be brilliant at writing. Or finding obscure niches to focus on. Or marketing. Any of these requires creativity, a different way of looking at things. You just have to convince yourself of this sometimes.

We all have those times where we just don’t feel creative. But what it is more likely to be is a lack of inspiration or a tendency to work in an area that isn’t right for our abilities. Know your limitations and take advantage of your strengths.

Technorati Tags: creativity, creative potential, working at home

Note from the Editor

Ever wonder how some people build their home business so fast while you keep struggling along? I think today’s article might give you some ideas. It takes a little more money than you may be used to investing in your home business, but the payoff can be well worth it.

This is something that I’ve always been challenged by. I never feel like I have the money to spare. You may be able to understand that feeling.

Are You a Do-It-Yourselfer?

When you’re running a home business, it’s easy to make the mistake of trying to do it all yourself. Website creation, content, marketing… not to mention whatever needs to be done around the house. Have you ever thought about how much you might be limiting your business by doing so?

Which of the business activities you do yourself earn you the most money? Do you think you would earn more if you had enough time to work on them, rather than crowding them into a busy schedule?

Hiring someone to do work for you can be a painful decision. It feels like you’re spending money to have someone else do something you know how to do. You have to remember, however, that by hiring someone else to do the work that brings in less money for you, that you are more free to work on the things that bring in more money.

You don’t have to hire employees, with all the added headaches and expenses that brings. You can hire freelancers, and just use them as much as you need them. There’s still a little more paperwork involved, but it isn’t so bad as it could be. Finding quality freelancers is worth the effort.

Bookkeeping is a good example. Do you do it yourself or have you hired a bookkeeper? While you need to know whether or not you’re coming out ahead financially, someone else can handle the details for you.

This is an area I have long struggled with. I finally decided to accept the cost of letting someone else handle my website submissions to directories, for example. I’ve always done them myself, but it’s ridiculously time consuming.

Article submissions I’ve been better about letting someone else handle. There are two good companies that I am familiar with. I’ve used iSnare for a while now, but I’m switching over to Article Marketer because I realized that they include some article directories that are very important to me. They both do a great job, though.

If you dread writing, have someone else do it for you. It may take a few tries to get a writer you like, but once you have one, you don’t have to do the writing you dread. If you love writing, make sure that it is really worth your while to be doing all the writing yourself. It might be worth hiring someone to do some of the writing.

Website designer, programmer, copywriter, researcher… if it doesn’t absolutely have to be done by you, figure out if it will be worth the money to hire someone to do it. Sites such as eLance are great for finding affordable help.

While it’s not easy to find that balance between the time you have available to work on your home business with the money you can afford to invest in outside help, this is something that will really help your business grow over time. Why waste time doing the parts of your business that don’t earn money or you don’t really enjoy? A little help can do more than pay for itself.

No matter your business, at some point someone is going to say no to you. No, they don’t want your product. No they don’t want to join your opportunity. No, the solution you have suggested is not acceptable.

Rejection happens and it’s up to you to deal with it professionally. While you may not be able to help this person, you don’t want to leave them with a negative feeling about you, your business or how you run your business.

If someone doesn’t want your product or services, remember that you can’t be the perfect fit for everyone. There are few things in this world that everyone needs, and even then you will find a wide range of opinions on exactly what people want. Ever try to get a group of friends to agree on a pizza?

Even though just about everyone says they need more money, not everyone is willing to do the same things to earn it. That’s why so many people will not be interested in your home business opportunity if you try to recruit them. It might not be the kind of thing they’re interested in selling, or they might not want a home business or maybe they just don’t really understand the opportunity. However, you have to know when it’s time to take no for an answer.

If you recruit someone into your business opportunity, do you really want someone who isn’t going to go anywhere with it anyhow? They’ll waste your time and energies. You’re better off working with the people who really do want to be able to earn money from home, whether it be a little or a lot.

Then there’s the time when you just can’t satisfy an upset customer. Perhaps something beyond your control went wrong, and you haven’t been able to fix it. Such is life. At that point it’s up to you to figure out what you need to do about it. Sometimes it’s as extreme as refunding the entire purchase and refusing more help. Other times all you have to do is really listen to figure out an acceptable solution. If a customer is rejecting your solutions, make sure you understand what it is that they really want from you.

You aren’t always going to understand why someone rejects what you have to offer. Maybe they keep admiring what you do, love what you sell, but when the time comes they just don’t want to join the opportunity. Or they join and do nothing with it.

Never take the rejection personally, and try not to show your frustration. It’s hard being told no when you know that you have the perfect solution, but such is business. Be prepared to be there if the opportunity to help arises again and keep those lines of communication open.

Technorati Tags: business opportunities, rejection, being professional