April 2009

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How to Avoid Becoming a Flake in Your Business

April 29, 2009 in Business Success Tips | 1 comment

First off, this post was inspired by my last post which I am sorry to say – I will not be posting an interview with a network marketer. I sent off my questions but never received a reply. Oh well, it happens. The lack of response did get me to thinking how being a flake can affect your business.

No one is perfect and when you work for yourself, it is easy to blow things off more so than if you have to answer to a boss. I have done it a few times and looking back, I’m sure I could have handled the situations a lot better. However, do you ever consider how much your reputation will suffer if you are a constant flake?

Of course people will stop trusting you and stop referring your services. When you promise something and don’t deliver, it places you in a bad light. We all get busy and drop the ball every now and then, but let’s take a look at how you can avoid becoming a flake in your business.

  1. Don’t Bite off More than You Can Chew – This is easy. If you are already booked up with projects, don’t take on more until you know you can give them the time they deserve. When you aren’t able to complete projects, you’ve not only wasted your time but the client’s time when they could’ve went with someone else.
  2. Don’t Make Empty Promises – This can happen in casual situations where someone may ask you for your help and you say yes just to be nice. When the time comes to make good on your promise and you can’t, it will make you look unreliable.
  3. Reply to Those Emails – I even have trouble sticking to this one. It can be hard to reply to everyone when you receive tons of email every day. It is important to reply to your clients because it makes them feel secure and it establishes you as a trustworthy person.
  4. It’s the Little Things that Count – What you think may be insignificant can be a big deal to someone else. I am guilty of pushing off easy items until the last minute. I’ve learned to just take care of them right away. Quick turn-arounds will please the client.
  5. End It – If there are clients that you cannot deal with anymore, end the working relationship. Chances are if you are holding on, you will keep putting off their projects, making yourself look bad. Put an end to the relationship and you will feel so much relief.

Everyone can be flaky once in awhile but it helps you and your business to try and avoid it as much as possible.

Considering a Network Marketing Business?

April 3, 2009 in Self Employment | 1 comment

Why Network Marketing?

Network marketing remains one of the easiest ways to start up your own business. After signing up with a network marketing company you have an instant business. There are many advantages such as small business benefits (tax write-offs), training by your sponsor, being able to work it part-time or full-time, and being able to run your business from a home office.

It has its disadvantages as well. If you have no sales experience you may struggle convincing people to purchase products as well as recruiting people for your downline. It’s hard work in the beginning as you will need to find new customers and prospects regularly.

Is Network Marketing a Scam?

In my opinion, network marketing itself isn’t a scam but it has received that reputation throughout the years due to scammy companies. You could just as easily call internet marketing a scam but it isn’t. You just have to know the difference between the scammers and those who are offering a genuine product.

I see network marketing as a great opportunity to earn extra income or create a full-time business but it just isn’t for everyone. For instance, I tried network marketing many years ago but I didn’t have the motivation or training to do anything with it. If you can’t picture yourself giving presentations, generating leads, and public speaking in general, then it probably isn’t something you would enjoy doing.

There are tons of network marketing companies to choose from now a days. If you’re considering it, I suggest finding a product or service that you would enjoy using enough to promote to other people. Network marketing thrives on word-of-mouth advertising so if the product or service is truly great in your eyes, convincing other people of its value won’t be difficult at all.

I will probably be devoting a few more occassional blog posts to the topic of network marketing as I still find the business model fascinating in terms of self-employment.

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