If you save money, the money will save you

The problem with most peoples finances today is that they are not getting enough income to satisfy their needs and wants. People are naturally going to buy things they want even if it means spending more than they have (credit cards), and they know in the back of their minds that they cant afford it, but they will get it anyway. I think people will develop their own budgeting scheme when their income meets their wants then they will be budgeting masters, all by their selves. But till then there will ALWAYS be people in debt no matter how much you preach!

I think a solution to some people money problem is to teach them how to make extra money first, and then teach them how to budget and save it. Americans really donÂ’t want that much; it is the hobbies that get people in trouble, bills, spending too much on golf clubs, car parts, computers, things around the house etc.

I donÂ’t know about you but this is how I feel about life. Right now, I am working a 9 to 5 job making $3200 monthly. I donÂ’t want to be stuck knowing that I will be ‘working’ for the rest of my life, taking orders from bosses, putting up with BS and other peoples attitude, having to get up in the morning when I want to sleep in and that fear of getting fired. Currently, I am in this situation but will not be soon. There are people right now making well over $20,000/monthly working for their selves and they are everyday people that you see walking their dog, in supermarkets or even that person arguing with the McDonalds cashier. If these people ever do go back to work for someone else they can do it “stress free” even if the job is stressful (think about that).

Before, you can work for yourself you have to decide one thing: If you really want that responsibility. If you said yes, you have gotten over the biggest hurdle and you will not be limited to the income your employer is giving you. I know what I am about to say will be over simplistic but I will save the details for you to research on your own. Here is a breakdown

1st: determine if you really want self-employment
2nd: decide what area of business you want or good at.
3rd: If step 2 requires money, their are program out there that can help you get started in internet business, selling or something else before you start in what you want to do. For example, “I want to own a photography shop but it costs $10,000 to get started. Well, if I sell product A for a year I can do it”. You never know, whatever you get into before your dream business may make you $50,000 a month and you may forget all about that photography shop. I can help you here too.
4th Research, research and do more research. Find out what you competition is. Find out how much money they are making. Find out where they are advertising. Find out what it takes to get started. Find out where your customer are etc, etc, etc..research
5th EXECUTE!! I mean once you have confidence go do it.

They say that 90% of home businesses fail for the first time. And you may fail, but all you have to do is try and try again, please donÂ’t give up. Believe me, you will get it right and when you do, you will be very successful. The percentage of people who fail for the second and third time is much lower than the first timers. Well sorry to talk yall half to death, I can go on and on about this stuff.

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com

Luke is an independent entrepreneur helping others make money.
Website: home.coastalnow.net/~lukejea/
Email: lukejea@coastalnow.net

A business name can be a huge factor in the ultimate success or failure of the entity. Unfortunately, many people fail to give a lot of thought to it prior to moving forward. There are many factors to consider including something memorable, a name related to your area of work and, potentially, the availability of the domain name.

Married?

Picking a business name is like getting married. You are going to have to stick with it till the bitter end. It is estimated a prospect will need to see your advertisement and business name at least 22 times prior to doing business with you. Once they associate your business with a certain name, making a change will be disastrous. Once you pick something, stick with it.

Naming Your Business

If you are going to be married to your business name, you need to make sure the bride isnÂ’t already married to another suitor. There are four significant issues to consider.

Initially, you must determine whether the name is already being used in your state. The Secretary of State controls the names of all corporations, LLCs and partnerships. Most also have a web site where you can conduct name searches. Even if you are a sole proprietor, you should check the name against those already registered in the state database. If the name is being used, you will need to consider an alternative.

Assuming the name passed must with the Secretary of State, you should check it against existing trademarks file with the Patent and Trademark Office. The “PTO” maintains an online database. As with the Secretary of State, you can conduct an online search to make sure no other business is using it.

In this day and age, many businesses incorporate a web site as part of their business model. If you are in this boat, you need to check to see if the business name is available as a domain. If it is, you should register it immediately. If not, you can either change your business name again or focus on a domain name incorporating your service or product instead of the business name.

Avoiding Problems

You business could be devastated if you do not take these precautionary steps. Imagine the negative impact on your business if the name has to be changed three years down the line. Take a breath before you select a business name. Like a spouse, it can be either a good or bad choice.

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com

Richard A. Chapo is a San Diego business lawyer with www.sandiegobusinesslawfirm.com – providing legal services and legal advice to businesses in San Diego, California.

Every business owner says it; “Do I really need a written contract?” The answer is “YES, YES and YES!” Using a written contract is like buying insurance for your business deals, but much better.

What Is A Contract?

Simply put, a contract is an enforceable agreement between two or more parties. The contract contains the promises made by the parties to one another, which is legally known as “consideration.” These promises define the relationship being undertaken as well as what happens if the business relationship doesn’t work out. If one party fails to act according to their promises, then they have “breached” the contract and can be found liable for damages. The damages typically equate to what the non-breaching party would have received if there had been no breach.

Oral Contract v. Written Contract

You go to a party with a friend and meet someone interested in your product or service. Eventually, you agree to provide him with 1,000 units of your product in exchange for a discounted price. You have created what is known as an “oral contract.” He has promised to order products and you have promised to provide them at a discounted price. Is the agreement worth anything? Unfortunately, the answer is probably no. Why? In most states, oral contracts are not enforceable if they carry an inherent value in excess of $500. Since it is so difficult to establish the terms of an oral contract in a dispute the legal system tries to discourage them. In fact, this legal restriction is generally known as the “Statute of Frauds.”

Turning back to our example, what if you thought you were going to give a 10 percent discount and he thought it was 20 percent? What if you can’t resolve it and he insists you provide the discounted products? You will end up in court with the dispute coming down to which party the judge or jury believes. Are you really willing to take that gamble?

With even a simple written contract, you can create a clause containing language that states you will give a 10 percent discount. If the dispute ends up in court, he is asked if his signature is on the bottom, the clause is read and you win. The contract should also contain a clause requiring the “prevailing party” to be reimbursed for their attorneys fees and costs. In short, he has to pay your legal bills as well.

An additional benefit to using a written contract is the due diligence element. I realize you will be shocked to learn that there are unethical businesses. In negotiating a contract, very specific requirements are put in writing. What if the other party starts squirming? It may be a sign they are unable to meet their obligations. Might that give you pause before you commit to tying up your inventory? You can save yourself a lot of headaches by discovering this information in advance.

In summary, even a simple written contract should be a mandatory bullet in your arsenal. Much like car insurance, you will be glad you have one if a business transaction falls apart.

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com

Richard A. Chapo is a San Diego business lawyer with www.sandiegobusinesslawfirm.com – providing legal services and legal advice to businesses in San Diego, California.

Frederick W. Smith attended Yale University and wrote a paper on the concept of overnight package delivery. SmithÂ’s professor did not agree with his futuristic possibility and only gave Smith a C for the paper.

How many times have we let someoneÂ’s opinion dissuade us from doing what we want to do? How many times have we given our power away by letting one personÂ’s opinion stop us from achieving our goals? Smith did not let his college professor stop him. After he was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps, Smith implemented his overnight package delivery service in 1971. The name of his business was Federal Express.

1. Smith never gave up on his passion for his concept for an unmet need

During Fed ExÂ’s first two years, the business lost $27 million and almost went bankrupt. Smith came close to losing $80 million that he raised from investors, including personal money from his brothers and sisters. Smith was able to renegotiate some loans.

Many of us have financial challenges. Smith was about to lose tens of millions of dollars that he raised to implement his passion for an unmet need: overnight package delivery. Smith knew he was able to answer the classical marketing question: what is the unmet need? Smith answered the question very well and persevered.

2. “Naivete was also a big part. I didn’t know that I couldn’t do this.”

Smith was quoted as saying in a 1998 interview. How many of us put so many demands on ourselves and are always thinking that the worst will happen? Is it the fear of the unknown? Are we that much attached to our comfort zone? Also in a 1998 interview, Smith said that “…the currency of exchange in Fed Ex was just money, it wasn’t people’s arms and legs, or lives.” This quote was in reference to Smith’s experience in the Marine Corps in Vietnam. Apparently, Smith’s philosophy was that losing money was not like losing lives. How many of us deal with situations in which lives are at stake? Medical professionals can experience situations in which they need to save lives. Can losing money ever compare to losing lives?

3. Smith never lost his confidence

Smith did not want to let down people who signed up with him to make Fed Ex happen. His philosophy went back to his Marine Corps days. He had said, “I knew I had put this thing together properly and that it was going to be all right.” Have you graduated from college? If so, you put together a plan and succeeded. Smith was confident about his passion and stuck to his plan. He did not let the threat of losing tens of millions of dollars and going bankrupt stop him from losing his confidence. Have any of us faced as much financial difficulty as Smith did? Smith also did not let a grade of C on his paper at Yale deter his confidence.

4. Smith took advantage of his learning resources and had great mentors

Frederick Smith said “The Marine Corps is the best when it comes to teaching people how to lead other folks.” Smith made the most out of his military training, which was a foundation for his ultimate success at forming and maintaining Fed Ex. What have we learned from our experiences and how can we better utilize them? Who are some of the people that have greatly influenced us? Staff Sergeant Jack Jackson and Father Vince Capodanno were two people who had a big influence on Smith. Sergeant Jackson was SmithÂ’s platoon sergeant in the Corps. When Smith first met Sergeant Jackson, he had grown a mustache and smoked cigars. Smith wanted to look older than 22 years old. Sergeant Jackson told Smith, “Well, the first thing, shave off that ridiculous mustache, and quite smoking the cigars — because you look absurd — and be yourself.” Sergeant Jackson told Smith the he “looked like a smooth-faced kid trying to be something that (he) wasn’t.” Smith said what Sergeant Jackson said stuck with him to this day.

Father Capodanno was SmithÂ’s battalion chaplain, who received the Congressional Medal of Honor. In 1966, Father Capodanno was assigned to Vietnam, with the Third Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment. On September 4, 1967 he was killed in action, in Que Son Valley. He was giving last rites to wounded and dying Americans in the heat of battle. Father Capodanno showed the utmost in self-sacrifice. Most people, including Smith, though it was an honor to have known such a great man.

Smith suggested that young people take advantage of the tremendous access to information that we have, especially the Internet. Support from others can help us in our quest to accomplish our goals. Support from others can help us overcome barriers, much like the “C” that Smith received on his paper for his Federal Express idea. Many of you possess so many great ideas. Don’t let naysayers discourage you.

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com

Sean North primarily helps writers gain focus, motivation, remove mental blocks that help to unblock the writing process.

EVERYONE who writes has been stuck at some point in his or her career. You do not have to accept these mind-boggling roadblocks!

seannorthstn@aol.com

(586) 216-7516

As a business owner, time is of the essence. Running a business is demanding. You are either performing the day-to-day administrative work or you’re working in your business, attending to your customers or clients. What is the best use of your time? The answer is simple. Your time should be spent doing what you do best. The day-to-day administrative tasks can be delegated. It’s so much easier to review work than to do it yourself! Here are some suggestions to get you started.

1. Secretarial services. Don’t do this yourself. From answering phones to managing your correspondence, hire a secretary or a service to handle these everyday, but very time-consuming tasks.

2. Research. Need to find market data, special software for your business, or research a particular issue? Don’t spend valuable time doing it yourself. There are online researchers, virtual assistants, and even college students who have access to the latest and greatest research databases and tools.

3. Word processing. This is a wonderful task to delegate. You can make it even easier by recording your thoughts and then passing a tape or digital recording to an administrative assistant for processing. Word processing assistance is especially helpful if you’re producing large volumes of books, workbooks, or other word-intensive products as a part of your business.

4. Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentations. Why be a Microsoft guru, mastering each and every one of their products? Instead, delegate the preparation of your presentations. It is far easier to critique the finished product produced by someone skilled with the software than to try to create it from scratch.

5. Data processing/database management. Managing a contact database can be a time-consuming process even if you have a small number of clients or customers. Instead of processing add, change, and delete requests yourself, spend your time adding new customers to your business. You may even be able to find a system that, once set up, automates people coming into your business through your website or eZine.

6. Desktop publishing. Publishing a newsletter or eZine? Sounds easy, but it’s a lot more time intensive than you might think. Crafting a publication involves writing content, formatting, editing, and distribution. It may be time to call in a ghostwriter and/or an experienced desktop publisher to help with these projects.

7. Web design and maintenance. If your online presence is a critical part of your business, and especially if it is more complex than most (using shopping carts or interactive databases), ask someone with technical expertise to help you out. While it’s a good idea to understand all aspects of your business, even how to manage your website, hiring a helper is the best solution in terms of productivity.

8. Shopping cart setup and maintenance. Setting up a shopping cart to sell your products and services is easy to do. But, easy as it is, it can be extremely time consuming depending upon the number of items that you sell. Teach someone how to do this for you. You’ll be happy that you did.

9. Transcription services. Going hand-in-hand with word-processing, transcription should definitely be delegated. As an added bonus, the project you have transcribed might turn into a product you can sell to your clients or customers in the future.

10. Bookkeeping. Accounting is probably one of the most frustrating tasks of any business owner. Of all of these areas, it is definitely one that should be farmed out to a professional. At a minimum, keep your records organized in folders so that they can easily be transported to and handled by your accountant.

11. Purchasing services. Are you spending considerable time buying office supplies, collateral or even products and services, which you resell to your customers? If so, find someone skilled in purchasing and negotiation. They’ll help you find what you need much faster and probably at a lesser cost.

12. Writing & editing services. Unless you’re a talented writer and editor, you’ll want to hire a professional. The written word, whether it’s in an article, in a brochure, or on your website, speaks volumes about you and your business. You can’t afford anything less than the best when it comes to writing.

13. Marketing services. As a business owner, you need to do a certain amount of marketing for your business. But when it comes to publicity, advertising, or other types of paid marketing efforts, hire a professional. They have the contacts that can make a difference to your future success.

14. Personnel services. If you have employees, that means doing payroll and possibly administering benefits. The paperwork, alone, can be overwhelming, not to mention the rules and regulations related to tax and legal compliance. Don’t even think of trying to do these tasks yourself. You’ll save yourself a lot of frustration.

15. Personal errands. As a business owner, hiring someone to do your personal errands will free you up to work in your business and will provide you that much needed break when you just want to be at home relaxing. Having someone to do personal errands like renewing subscriptions, handling snail mail, dry cleaning, and even providing food delivery or in-house chef services can free up considerable time that can be spent doing things that you most enjoy.

© Copyright 2005 Alicia Smith

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com

Alicia Smith is a Coach and Trainer whose specialty is helping coaches to Make Money Now. To learn more please visit:
www.90DayMarketingMarathon.com
www.discninja.com
www.InternetAssessments.com

Permission to reproduce granted if all attribution & contact information is included.

A virtual assistant is an individual who provides business services to other professionals. They’re considered virtual because they perform their services from a remote location. Communications with their clients take place through telephone, fax, email, and snail mail. As a business owner, you can save time, money, and energy by hiring a virtual assistant. Best of all, you’ll have more time to do what you do best – running a business!

1. You do not need to provide a physical workspace. A virtual assistant works from their own home or office. This is especially convenient if you are running a business from home or if you have limited space at your own office.

2. You do not need to provide costly equipment. Virtual assistants use their own equipment to provide services to you. This can result is tremendous savings especially if the virtual assistant has access to equipment that you don’t already own. Also, you don’t have the worries of dealing with the maintenance and upkeep of office equipment.

3. You save valuable time not performing tasks you don’t have time for or are not able to do. As a business owner, the highest and best use of your time is to work in your business. Delegating important and necessary administrative tasks like web design and maintenance, bookkeeping, writing, shopping cart setup, and other tasks will allow you to spend time developing your business and building relationships with your customers or clients.

4. You do not have to deal with payroll, taxes or benefits. You can hire a virtual assistant as an independent contractor which frees you from spending time dealing with tax filings and compliance issues. You also have the added benefit of hiring them just for the task at hand, paying them at an hourly rate or by the project. This is much more cost efficient than having a full time employee who you might not be able to fully utilize.

5. You can accelerate growth by finally having the time to focus on the most important issues of your business. The administrative tasks related to running a business are overwhelming, even for a one-person business! The best way to grow your business fast is to concentrate your energies working on your business and leaving everything else to your virtual assistant.

6. You have the freedom to work on growing and improving your business/life skills, knowledge, and relationships. We have a vision for our business. We are constrained by time which limits how quickly we can move towards achieving the goals which underlie that vision. With the help of a virtual assistant, we’ll have more time to do the things that matter most to us, the things that will bring richness and enjoyment to our life.

7. You are able to make better decisions by having a partner to “bounce” ideas off. Having an assistant is a great benefit especially if you are a solopreneur. Their strengths, background, and expertise can provide fresh eyes through which to view your business problems and projects. There’s a lot of truth to the saying, “Two heads are better than one.”

8. You have peace of mind knowing that the details are being handled. Most business owners find themselves swimming in details. There are so many things to handle, from paying the rent, to returning calls, from updating the customer data base, to sending out products. There are literally dozens and dozens of details to remember and juggle which leads to mental and physical exhaustion. By turning over these tasks to your assistant, you’ll get more done faster and with a lot less stress.

9. You are finally able to run your business instead of it running you. At some point during the progression of our business, we start feeling like our business is running us instead of the other way around. Feelings of overwhelm from the countless tasks we must complete can make it difficult to do anything at all. Partnering with a virtual assistant can help us avoid getting stuck. Instead, we can then stay focused on our goals and in control of our business.

10. You have flexibility to assume new, challenging opportunities. With the administrative details handled by your virtual assistant, you’ll automatically be more open to taking on new projects that can benefit you and your business. Your talents and creativity can really shine when you aren’t bogged down in details, overworked, or distracted by things that aren’t directly related to serving your clients.

© Copyright 2004 by Alicia Smith

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com

Alicia Smith is a Coach and Trainer whose specialty is helping people Make Money Now. This article is excerpted from her eBook “Your Home Office How -To Manual. To learn more about her products visit:
www.90DaystoaProduct.com
www.InternetAssessments.com
www.discninja.com
www.CoachingBlunders.com
www.90DayMarketingMarathon.com

Permission to reproduce granted if all attribution & contact information is included.

Most home business opportunities are overdone and oversaturated. With most home based business opportunities that are promoted in magazine and websites the options are all the same; start a day care center, become a personal shopper, site at home and stuff enveloped and so on. While a dedicated person can make income, and sometimes great incomes, from such ideas, the market can only handle so many work at home personal shoppers. Ebooks however, are in a market that is only just starting to see entrepreneurial interest. Ebook authors are starting to be called ‘info entrepreneurs”. They compile high quality information or write their own fiction ebooks and sell them online. Some people are able to secure very comfortable full time careers from this, and yes, they do it 100% from their own home.

Ebook Entrepreneurship

Being an ebook entrepreneur is no easy feat. It will require long hours of research and writing, web design and gaining a little knowledge about ecommerce. However, the payoff could be huge. And unlike many other home based businesses you wonÂ’t be limited to your region. The beauty about ebooks is that you can publish them and then distribute them throughout the world. You could get orders from Indonesia, Canada, USA, France and so on. This global opportunity doesnÂ’t apply to many other work at home opportunities.

Ebook Stores DonÂ’t Open & Close

Another defining feature of Ebook Entrepreneurs is that they donÂ’t have the regular 9-5 hours of operation. You will sell ebooks while youÂ’re awake and while you sleep. Not bad huh? Most of the work that goes along with setting up an Ebook business is done in the beginning stages. This industry is front heavy, but after you set up your infrastructure you can continue to sell with very little daily maintenance.

Not Just For Authors

Likewise, ebook authorship is not just for authors. Anyone who has an interest in anything could write about their interest and convert in into an ebook. Some of the best ebooks are actually from unknown authors and some of the highest selling ebooks have been written by unknown authors who have a knack for online promotion.

If nothing else, Ebook publishing it is something worth consideration. Ebooks may not replace traditional paperback books, but they certainly are gaining popularity at a rate that should make all authors stop to think about how they could use ebooks to their advantage.

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com

Written By John R.
Ebook Architect
www.zizzoo.com/guides/ebook/index.php

Do you really want to change you financial landscape within the next 12 months?

Because if you do, I’m going to tell you how.

You MAY not want to read what I’m about to write because it WILL remove excuses you have. In fact, after this very simple tip, you will no longer have the ready-made excuse that perhaps you’ve used in the past. I will strip it away like Dad rips off the warm covers on a winter morning.

The most common excuses that I hear folks offer for not getting off their duffs and starting their investment careers are (1) time and (2) knowledge. (The number one unspoken excuse is fear.) For this article, I am REMOVING the time and knowledge excuses. I’ll get to the fear partÂ…briefly.

Okay, if you’re still reading, here goesÂ…but I warn you. You may not like it.

Turn off the stinkin’ TV!

I mean, avoid it like the plague! It’s robbing you blind. To be precise, it’s costing you tens of thousands of dollars per year if you are like most Americans and tune into TV or watch movies for 1-3 hours a day.

What a country we are. The average American buys a TV and then that TV costs many times more than the cost of the set per year in opportunity loss. We buy, bring it into our homes, and give it a place of prominence, and let it steal from us!

As many of you already know, I boldly say you and I can make an extra $10,000-$50,000 per year on a mere 10 hours a week by rehabbing real estate. I know this because I do it.

A little mathÂ…let’s say you watch TV a mere 1.5 hours a day on weekdays, and sports on the weekend at 2.5 hours a day. If you give up all TV, that’s 12 and a half hours a week.

In other words, you can watch a game on the weekends and STILL have 10 hours a week to devote to a real estate investing career.

Let’s say you are someone who is on the LOW end of American TV watching habits and you watch an average of 1 hour of TV a day. (Which means you probably don’t watch sports.) In that case, turning it off means you need to invest a mere 3 hours a week. Do you have 3 hours a week if it pays $10,000-$50,000 per week?

Reality check. If you watch football, you probably watch a college game on Saturday, a pro game on Sunday, and Monday Night football. In that case, that’s a minimum of 7 hours per week of the 5-month seasonÂ…gone! Many football fans watch more!

So what could you do with that time? Get the knowledge you need to start with. How many books or courses can you work through if you honestly devote 10 hours a week? Since the process of rehabbing real estate isn’t rocket science, it’s a process that must be learned, it isn’t going to take many weeks to be flush with knowledge and ready to put a business plan into action.

There will be a few reading this that don’t watch much TV at all. (You are rare indeed!) Examine your habits and see where you time is going. There is often time sinks that you can capitalize on by changing your habits. Do you surf the net for hours on end? Do you spend 2 hours a day pumping iron.

OrÂ…oh, this one might hit close to homeÂ…do you sleep 10-12 hours a day?

Chances are there is a way to eek out some hours by a relatively minor change in habits.

I can hear it alreadyÂ…GIVE UP TV?! That’s not a minor adjustment!

Baloney.

Let’s see how important TV really is to you. There are two ways to think about this.

Approach number 1:

Let’s say I knock on your door and wave ten thousand dollars in front of your face. All you have to do to get it is give me your TV for a year. Would you go for it? What if I offered you twenty grand?

Approach number 2:

Let’s look at what giving up TV would mean to you.

- You wouldn’t be able to talk about what happened on TV last night at the water cooler at work. I mean you could, but you would not have watched it.

- You would miss seeing first hand who beat who to a pulp on the field, or on the court.

- Shows will come and go, and you will have never have seem them.

Perish the thought! You’d miss stuff on TV, but the sun will continue to come up, the Earth spins, and your financial picture gets a lot rosier!

Is the time you spend in front of the TV really worth what it’s costing you? $10,000 or $20,000, or even $30,000 or moreÂ…every year?

I’ll go a step further. You could stop watching all your favorite programs and guess what, your life would be unchanged. If you did something positive with that time you spent watching them, your life will be changed for the better.

For you sports fansÂ…Let’s say “your” team wins the championship this year. Does that change your life in any way? Do you get a raise? Do you move into a better house? Does it really change anything that matters? Sure, you get to tell folks that they are “your” team even when they aren’t and nobody on the team knows you from Adam. In fact, if “your” team wins you will probably be even more into them, spend more time watching TV, so the cost to you goes up!

I don’t mean to sound like I’m on my soap box, but there are many folks who need a wake up call. Capturing TV time and using it to your financial benefit is a relatively minor habit adjustment that can result is some serious financial gain. Spend a month learning, then put a plan into action. That’s how things get changed.

My close friends and family know that I rarely turn on my TV. Years ago, I made the commitment to use my time better and since I have improved my life immensely by doing so. So, I want you to know that I am living my own advice. While it’s true that I’ve never seen a minute of “reality” TV, and I prefer to see my sports live, my life is quite different now! I’ll never look at TV the same again!

You can do the same. This minor habit adjustment can mean you take the reigns of your financial future and drive it where you want to go.

I knew some of you would not like it, but there it isÂ…the formula to free up a LOT of time and how to gain the knowledge you need to make this coming year the most profitable yet. Will you do it?

Now, what about the fear part? This article is getting kind a bit long, but I have written a six part set of articles to help in that combat fear. I encourage you to click through to my website and click on the “Nothing Held Back” newsletter. There you will find out how to get the articles, or mini-course I call it, at no cost.

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com

Bruce W. Ford publishes the "Nothing Held Back" newsletter, a free service of Rehab Real Estate Central.  Get a free copy of his mini-course entitled "The Mind of the Real Estate Investor" at www.Real-Estate-Rehab.com

Gone: Customers, sales, profits. Following is a simple little tale about how it happens.

“Jones was a typical entrepreneur who worked long hours and wore many hats.

“The problem was that all the hats screamed for attention. Jones solved the problem by wearing the hat that screamed the loudest.

“Unfortunately, this was only a temporary solution since all the hats kept screaming until they were worn.

“There was, however, one hat that never screamed. It never complained, whined or whimpered, even though it was lonely. It knew it was important, whether or not it was worn. That hat was right.

“One day the customers quit coming. The other hats became quiet; they no longer were needed. It was then that Jones noticed the hat named Marketing and how little it had been worn.

“‘Why didn’t I wear the Marketing hat?’ thought Jones.

“For one thing, Marketing hadn’t screamed for attention like the other hats. The other reason was that Jones was afraid the Marketing hat was too expensive to wear and would drain profits.

“But now there were no profits; the customers were gone.

“Jones put on the Marketing hat. It was time to get the old customers back, and to get new customers, too. It was time to wear the Marketing hat regularly.

“Even the other hats perked up.”

(c) 2005 Neil Sagebiel

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com

Neil Sagebiel is a veteran copywriter who has served clients such as Microsoft, The Seattle Times, Lucent Technologies, March of Dimes, Airborne Express and Unisys. To sign up for his FREE expert tips to help you write better and sell more, visit www.neilsagebiel.com.

Studies have shown that successful entrepreneurs possess these characteristics:

1. Self-confidence

This is that magical power of having confidence in oneself and in one’s powers and abilities.

2. Achievement Oriented

Results are gained by focused and sustained effort. They concentrate on achieving a specific goal, not just accomplishing a string of unrelated tasks.

3. Risk Taker

They realize that there is a chance of loss inherent in achieving their goals, yet they have the confidence necessary to take calculated risks to achieve their goals.

Entrepreneurs are people who will make decisions, take action, and think that they can control their own destinies. They are often motivated by a spirit of independence which leads them to believe that their success depends on raw effort and hard work, not luck.

So which of these three main characteristics is the most important? Believe it or not, it has to be self-confidence. Without self-confidence, nothing else is possible. If you don’t believe in your abilities, then the first challenge that arises may knock you off the path to achieving your goals. Here are a few things to keep in mind for maintaining a higher level of self-confidence.

Positive Thinking

Well, it all starts with a positive attitude, doesn’t it? Believing that something good will happen is the first step. Negative thinking simply is not allowed. You must truly believe that there are no circumstances strong enough to deter you from reaching your goals. Remember too, that positive thinking can be contagious. When positive thinking spreads, it can open doors to new ideas, customers, friends, etc.

Persistent Action

Now all of the positive thinking and believing in the world is useless if it is not applied towards a goal. You have to take action, no excuses are allowed. This action must also be persistent. Trying once and then giving up is not going to be enough. Keep at it one step at a time. If you can’t get by a certain step, then find a creative way to try again or just go around it.

At the beginning of this article we identified a few traits that are common among successful entrepreneurs. You should be able to look ahead and see yourself where you want to be. Now just maintain a strong belief in yourself and your skills, stick with it, and don’t give up. If you can do that, you’re already half way there!

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About the Author:
Hans Hasselfors is the founder of SubmitYourNewArticle.com. Find varied business entrepreneurs articles in our article directory. Please visit at: www.SubmitYourNewArticle.com