Cindy Greig's Home Business Weblog

2006-05-22T09:57:00.000-05:00

Home Business - How to Start?

So you want to start a home business. Great. The big question that arises for most people is where to begin.

Well there are a few ways to look at this.

One, if you have a product already, start marketing it. Make sure the method you use of marketing matches the amount of product that you can actually produce. For example if you make some type of widget in your garage and you can only make 1 or 2 pieces of them a week - do not market on the internet. Your supply will not be enough to meet the demand. Try putting up some flyers around your neighborhood. Grocery stores, bulletin boards, and flyers on cars in malls are a good place to start.

Two, if you don't have a product of your own or have no idea on how to market them, don't worry. Most of us in home business didn't either when we started. This is the category most of home business owners fall into - you are not alone.

Start looking in the internet. Be careful here, there are a lot of garbage opportunities out there. Do your due diligence when speaking with potential opportunities. Shop around and make comparisons. Check out your sponsor, talk with them openly about yourself to see if it is a good fit for you. Ask lots of questions about the products, compensation plan, etc. Make sure you completely understand how you make money with that home business.

Generally you want to now something about the company as well. How long have they been in business? Where are they located? How will I be able to get in touch with them? How is the customer service? How long does it take to deliver the product to the customer? Do I have to stock the product? How do I market the product? What forms of advertising do they use? Will they teach me how to do this?

As a rule of thumb, I do not ask how many people are really successful in this business. That question is really difficult to quantify. Success in home business is really up to the individual not the opportunity. Most opportunities out there have great potential to make money, but it is up to you to actually make them work. So when this question is asked, it is really difficult to say exactly what everyone in the company is doing in regard to the effort they are putting into their business. It varies from person to person. To me I could really care less what every one else does, I only care about what I know that I can do and am capable of. Get out of the herd mentality and into positive self mentality.

The most important question you really need to ask yourself is "How does this home business suit me?" How much effort will I put into this business in regards to time, money for advertising, etc.? How much do I really want to make my home business work for me?

You are the ultimate reason why your home business will work or not. Period. So get real with yourself. Will you just "test the water" or will go all chips "in"? That is the #1 factor that will dictate whether your business will flourish or sink. Wishy-washy thinking will get you nowhere fast. Make a commitment to yourself and your business and you will soar - guaranteed!

Remember these few key points:

- All home business requires some sort of working capital.
- Your success depends solely on you, not the opportunity or your sponsor.
- Make sure your choice of home business suits you. Do you like and use the product you are selling? Do you have enough hours in the week to commit to your business?
- Set a monthly income goal. Do you want to make $500 a month or $10,000 a month. This will help you greatly when speaking with potential home businesses and making a decision.

Good luck and happy hunting!

For more info and to contact me go to http://www.cindygreig.com , fill out the form and I will contact you in 24-48 hours.

2006-05-15T12:06:00.000-05:00

A thought for today -

"When life boxes you in, box back." - Unknown

2006-05-15T12:01:00.000-05:00

Goal Setting - "The Magic Pixie Dust to Success" in Network Marketing

Why do we need goals? How do we set them and achieve them? How do we now that the goal itself is the right goal for us to achieve what we ultimately want?

The answers to these questions are easier than some might think. For some people, this very concept may be the block that is holding them back from success. Let's explore this a little further.

Goal setting is the number one factor for motivation and achieving what you want. You must first clearly define what it is that really moves you - this is different for everyone so it must be done by you. Your goal should make you feel very uncomfortable in the "how am I going to do this". It should be so big in your mind that your palms sweat, your heart races, your mind is going a million miles an hour, and creates excitement within you. This is the ultimate goal for you.

It could be a goal for one year or even five years from now and you know, no matter what, you will achieve this. This goal is your ultimate driving force to success. Without this key ingredient, motivation is not there. Create excitement for yourself from this. Go over it daily. Feel it, see it, touch it, hear it, have it come alive in all your senses. Be in tune with it so much, that it is a part of your life right now. When you achieve it, it will seem like no big deal because it has been a part of you for so long. That is the #1 key to goal setting in the big sense of the term.

Now let's break it down a bit. Smaller goal setting will be the "baby steps" to achieving the big goal. Set 30 day, 60 day, 90 day, 120 day goals that will bring you the big goal that makes you sweat and brings a smile to your face and to your heart at the same time.

Another important part of this whole process is putting these goals down in writing. It could be anywhere. I suggest some 3x5 index cards. Keep them handy and refer to them at least 3 times a day. Put them in your wallet or on the fridge or on your desk. Go over them in your mind and "feel" the goal as it is already in your life, right now.

Some of you doubting Thomas' are saying to yourself right now - "Yeah, I have been doing that for some time and not getting the results I want". So what.

Don't attach yourself to the time frame of the goal - attach yourself to the goal.

So what if you don't achieve your 30 day goal in 30 days. Reset it for another 30 days and keep going forward. Eventually you will get there.

These shorter goals should make you feel that they are very easily attainable. The long term goal is the one that makes you sweat. Remember, "baby steps". The short term goals are the roadmap to the ultimate big goal. Plan carefully and make the short goals easy.

Soon the big goal won't seem so big at all. It is easy. Keep reminding yourself of this. It is easy and a free flowing experience.

This concept of goal setting can be applied to anything - finding the right mate, the right car, starting a new business, changing careers, etc.

I use this concept every day in my own successful network marketing business. This is the "magic pixie dust" that everyone who comes to network marketing is looking for. So ask yourself this "Do I do this every day?"

Get clear on your goals (crystal clear), set the bar high, and see your road to success and a better life!

For more info on this topic, you can contact me at cgreig@greigenterprises.com

2006-05-11T08:58:00.000-05:00

The secrets of the top 3% in Network Marketing

I have found that there are three types of people that come into network marketing systems. The first are coming from inspiration and the second from desperation. These two types of people are most likely to succeed due to motivation. It is the third type of people that I want to talk about here. They are the ones that are what I call the "hopefuls".

Unfortunately, this category of people never understand what the top 3% network marketers know, understand, and believe about themselves and their business. These people enter into this new world, so to speak, HOPING that this will work. They are very comfortable in their current situation, enough money to pay the mortgage, food, cars, etc. So they are hoping that this will work to get a little more money in their pockets.

This is truly why it doesn't work for them - they are just hoping it will work. That is why I am calling them the hopefuls. This is the majority of people that enter into network marketing and struggle to succeed. They come in wanting a little extra income and may start off doing pretty well, but after a few encounters with rejection, they feel that this is idea is maybe not such a good idea after all. So when things get a little tough, they give up on themselves and their dreams. They feel uncomfortable and are unwilling to grow a little, well they have enough money anyway to pay for things they need, so they just quit.

This is where the ones coming in from inspiration will succeed and the ones from desperation have to succeed. The ones coming from "hope it works" quietly lose enthusiasm and fade away. Then they mope around for awhile, but are still looking for another network marketing company. Eventually they sign up for another one under the guise this one will work better, it is easier, it has a better compensation plan, better leaders, better products, etc.

Well guess what folks, all network marketing plans follow the same plan (lead generation, initial contact, information, follow-up, and sponsorship). So really has anything changed? No. If you have been whith several network marketing plans with basically the same results, the answer isn't really what, its WHO?

The answer is YOU.

Are you doing the same actions over and over again and expecting different results? Are you willing to make subtle changes within yourself to really succeed? These are the changes the top 3% are doing, taking action on and getting the results they want.

90% of what you will need for moving from the hopefuls to the ones getting results will come from making these changes. So what do you do? How do you get the support you need? More training? More reading? A better sponsor? A different product? Do you just give up? ("They were right, Network Marketing doesn't work!")

No, No, No! The answer lies within YOU. You are the problem, but you are also the solution.

Make those adjustments! Get out of the hopefuls and into success.

As long as you are open to new ideas, coaching, and all out massive success I would like to speak with you and set up a plan with you that works for you! I am here to help you succeed 110% and I am totally committed to my integrity and your success.

Contact me at cindy@kcsuccess.com so we can set up a time to chat!

2006-05-04T08:39:00.000-05:00

12 Ways to Increase Your Online Sales

Entrepreneur.com has a great article on 12 Ways to Increase Your Online Sales. The idea here is "To improve the sales effectiveness of your site with one of those guaranteed ways to turn visitors into buyers". Now that is all very fine, well and good. Reading the article is very easy, the obstacle we must overcome is to actually use that information and put it into action! :)

2006-05-03T18:17:00.000-05:00

Increase your PPC (pay per click) campaign with your website

Have you ever run into the problem of running your Google Adwords campaign and getting alot of clicks and no one takes any action of filling out the form on your website or buying any product from you? You keep scratching your head trying to figure out what's wrong? The answer may lie in your website.

Really good marketers actually create the website first, with rich keyword content. They make their first few paragraphs contain most of the keywords they want to target. Then they go and do the rest of the website with those same words sprinkled throughout it. Be careful here. Google and Yahoo will spit you out of indexing if you overuse your keywords in your site. Your website metatags should also contain no more than 10-20 keywords in them that you want to target.

A good strategy for internet marketing is to use a few different websites targeting different series of keywords. For instance, you may be selling various items on the net like stock market tips, real estate tips, and other services related to those. Well on your website that you are driving traffic from PPC only go for one of those ideas so that your 3 line ad on Google ties to it. This is critical for success. Make a website for the stock market tips and another for the real estate tips, etc. The first form of communication is your 3 lind ad. It must tie directly to your website. I have seen so many mistakes out there from people that their ad is not related whatsoever to the first paragraph or two on their website. Be focused here and start with the website first and then your Google ads. Try it out for a while. You will thank me later....

For more info you can contact me @ cindy@kcsuccess.com

2006-05-03T17:34:00.000-05:00

Writing articles to increase website traffic

This is a great way to increase your website traffic for FREE! The concept is very simple, without getting into any internet mumbo jumbo here it is. Write a short article, around 400 or 500 words, on a topic you know about and submit it to article submitting sites like www.goarticles.com or www.ezinearticles.com Then include a short bio about yourself on the bottom of the article with a link or two to your website(s). The instructions on how to do this are on each of the two sites I just mentioned.

The concept here is called backlinking. These links you are providing in your short article on whatever topic you choose that go back to your website is a one way linking. Don't get this confused with reciprocal links or link exchange, these are two way links. The search engines put more weight to how many backlinks (one way) are pointing to your website when they decide index or page rank for your site than they do for link exchanges or two way links.

You are also piggybacking your link from the article submitting site that probably has a much higher page rank than your site does. The article site has so many links coming to and going out of that site that the search engines love them and are constantly scouring them for new info. The search engines are constantly looking for fresh content to index, so give it to them! Do this technique once or twice a week, and watch your traffic soar!!!!!!

2006-05-02T11:39:00.000-05:00

Keywords and PPC Campaigns in Google

There are so many ways to advertise on the internet these days. One option that will get you running right out of the gate is pay per click advertising on Google. If you are new to internet advertising, this is probably the number one way that most people start out. It is how I started and then I ventured out into Yahoo and other search engines. Google is easy to set up and they only require about $5 to get your account going and then you pay them at the end of the billing cycle. Not a bad deal, you are actually getting traffic to your site and a possible sale before paying for your advertising.

So many people have asked me "What makes a good Google campaign?" In order to really understand your campaign(s) effectiveness, you must first define the market you are targeting. If you sell coffee cups, you definately want coffee drinkers, etc. I think you get the idea. You want to be very specific here, so you make sure the right people are seeing your paid ad. Then you need to pick certain groups of keywords. This is where alot of people get stuck. I recommend you get yourself a good keyword analyzer tool that will work with the three top search engines - Google, Yahoo, and Miva.

The keyword analyzer tool will show you similar types of words, how often they are searched, how many other people are advertising in them (very important). This information is critical for you to make a decision on how much you want to bid on that keyword and how much traffic you can generate to your website within your budget.

So many people make the mistake of wanting to be in the number one position in every keyword they choose and then watch Google suck their wallets dry. They blow their entire weekly budget in one day. This is very easy to avoid. Do some research on the keywords you are selecting so you can make an intelligent decision on what types of words you want to use and how much you will pay for them each day. The keyword analyzer tool that I use is called Keywords Analyzer Tool, it costs $97 and can really save you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in advertising costs. Do yourself a favor, go get it now.