As mentioned in Part 1, One of the fastest ways to drum up business for is through networking. Networking gets you in front of people who either need your service or know someone who does. In other words it creates sales opportunities. However many people make a number of mistakes during the networking process that keeps them from getting the most out of their efforts. I’ve made a lot of them! Here are 6 more of the biggest mistakes people make when networking. 6. Staying foc

There is little ‘magic’ involved in running a business; although if you do things properly, ‘success’ often seems to occur magically. There are lots of books and other media devoted to business leadership. Dave Ramsey’s EntreLeadership is one of the best. However, sometimes simple ‘rules to remember’ can get us through difficult situations. Here are some of the ‘rules’ I have followed since day one in business: Meeting Deadlines. Only promise what you can realistically delive

One thing I’ve noticed over the last 16 years is that there are times when I have found myself creating misery in my work without actually realizing it. Like many business people I would start out each month with my legal pad freshly filled with notes containing ideas and goals to be accomplished within a particular time frame. I believed that if I succeeded in accomplishing my goals, I would be happy with my business and my life. The tragedy is that we set ourselves up from

“Someone's opinion of you does not have to become your reality.” I don’t know much about Les Brown, but this quote ‘rings true’ for me. My parents grew up during the Great Depression and lived through the turmoil of World War II. They married right after the war and life seemed to work against them. My mother was plagued by health issues, my dad was crippled in an automobile accident; they saw life as unfair and unforgiving and predicted life would be the same for their sons.

I remember waiting for five o'clock on Friday. It did not matter if it was when I was a factory worker waiting to ‘punch out’, or sitting at a desk waiting for the clock to strike five, I lived for the weekend. The problem was; the weekend was never long enough! Saturdays were often spent doing projects; and for our family, Sundays meant going to church in the morning, a leisurely lunch with family, and some social time with friends or neighbors on Sunday afternoon. And then

I’ve been asked to re-post this by several of my subscribers. The latest employment figures showed that about three-quarters of the jobs created were part-time (30 hours per week or less). Now, more than ever, your financial success may depend on whether or not YOU control your earning potential. ‘Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desires to reach their potential.’ - John Maxwell I often ask people: ‘Why do yo

It was a Monday evening. I was at home when one of my route supervisors called, he and his crew had gone to one of their scheduled cleaning jobs and found the building totally vacant. He wanted to know if I knew anything about it, and if so, why hadn’t I informed him? I was as surprised as he was. I called the phone number for the office and got a recording telling me that that office was closed and that I could contact another office in the nearby city. I had an emergency ph

Had enough? Can’t take it anymore? Maybe it’s all you can do to survive the day without pulling your hair out. Perhaps you’ve gotten that dream job, and it’s turned into a nightmare. Do you: 1.) make just enough money every month to make ends meet, 2.) spend just enough time with your kids so they don’t forget what you look like, 3. find you don’t have much time to spend doing what inspires you, 4.) wonder if job stress will ruin your health? Feel on an endless treadmill or i

Newsletter subscribers and some of my book readers are often overwhelmed by the variety of options available to them. Questions arise: “How fast can I grow this business?” Or, “How much money can I make?” So, I am going to start a new feature: taking questions and turning them into short blog posts. In this post I’m going to answer the two above questions. I always suggest that you start as a small janitorial business. The advantage of this is that you do not need to have a l

I discussed in a prior blog about the fact that some people start a business only to get a JOB, and others start a business to obtain freedom, financial independence and a certain lifestyle. So, why the difference? What makes one person end up working a JOB and the other building wealth and freedom from their business? For success you must have the ability to see yourself totally free from the need to work for a living. And you have to believe that your business is your maj