Guess what? Yup, I'm reading another business book. This time I've started reading The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It by Michael E. Gerber. You may have heard of his books before or his company E-Myth Worldwide. What I find most interesting about this book so far is that it makes you ask yourself the question, "Are you working on your business it, or in it?" Anyone who is self-employed can tell you they are probably working in their business.

This is especially true for freelance workers, contractors, or anyone with their own brick and mortar business who does all of the work. When I took off on my own, I thought how much happier I would be by working for myself. Grant it, I am very happy. I don't experience any of the stress or the long commute I once did, however, I do still experience the burnout of doing the same work I did in my previous job. I basically have traded one job for another, except now I have much more freedom in terms of time and choosing who to work with.

Now I am working on freedom from doing all of the work. I rather work on my business instead of in it. When you become self-employed, you also take on multiple roles. You become the project manager, the technician, marketer, and any other task that is needed to keep your business going. Many self-employed individuals actually find themselves working more hours than they had at a previous job.

Like myself, what used to be your passion becomes your downfall. I used to really enjoy web developing but now I view it as a chore. I used to enjoy reading programming books and learning new techniques. I'd make web applications for fun and learning. The thought of cracking open a web related book bores me. New web projects frustrate me. The passion is gone.

I know I lost the desire for my work because I do it all. Outsourcing is not an option for me due to quick turn-around times. My passion now lies in affiliate marketing and network marketing. Both are exciting and both create residual streams of income. Best of all, there are no clients to answer to (another reason I've lost my passion.)

My goal is to actually move away from the labor and create revenue streams that allow me to be free to do the things I want. If you are finding yourself in the same boat, I suggest reading the following books:

• The 4-Hour Workweek, Expanded and Updated: Expanded and Updated, With Over 100 New Pages of Cutting-Edge Content.
• Cashflow Quadrant: Rich Dad's Guide to Financial Freedom
• The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It

All three books will make you think hard about your business model and what you truly want out of life.

photo credit: zachd1_618

It's easy to get caught up in the daily tasks of working for yourself. Every now and again, I think it's important to take a step back and ask yourself where you can make improvements. I'm big on reading self-improvement books and reading other blogs in which the authors give out their best advice. Below are some questions that you may ask yourself in order to keep making progress.

Is it Time to Raise Your Rates?

This is a big question for those who do freelance work. I wouldn't be surprised if you have wondered whether or not you are under charging your clients. Chances are, you could make much more by raising your rates. You don't necessarily need to raise them with current clients. You can try setting your price higher for new clients and see how it works out. You have to have the confidence to know that you are worth what you charge.

I read a story recently from another blog (sorry, I cannot remember the source) which went something like this:

Someone hired a carpenter to repair a squeaky floorboard. The carpenter nailed a nail into the floorboard in the right spot to stop the squeak and charged the customer $100. The customer asked "why so expensive?" and the carpenter replied, "$1 for the nail and $99 for knowing where to put it."

Sorry if I hacked up the story for anyone who is familiar with it, but basically the point is, don't underestimate your worth.

Is it Time to Outsource?

Do you want to get more done or expand your business to take on more work? It may be time to consider outsourcing to take the stress off of you and to get more done. Consider the daily tasks you do every day that could easily be done by someone else after you have given them direction. Wouldn't it be worth it to you to outsource those tasks in order to get more of the important stuff done? There are tons of places to outsource to and I am considering it myself as I develop a long-term plan.

Set New Goals

Are you setting any new goals for yourself and your business? It's easy to fall into a rut but it's important to keep growing as well. Maybe you want to make more money or work less while increasing your income. Or maybe you want to try a new career all together. Set some new goals and take action every day to get closer to accomplishing them.

Improving Yourself

Are you growing as a person? I believe there is always room for self-improvement. Maybe you are weak in some areas. You may be a very creative person but so unorganized it feels like nothing ever gets done. There are tons of self-improvement books that you can read. I just finished reading Personal Development for Smart People: The Conscious Pursuit of Personal Growth and the sections about relationships and money were very good.

Learn Something New

It's important to never stop learning. I am constantly seeking out new information in terms of business, marketing, web programming and more. It's a good idea to learn new things and apply them to yourself and your business. You just never know what could develop from trying something new.

photo credit: surroundsound5000

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.

photo credit: ArtemFinland

Now that the new year has arrived, it's as good a time as any to really plan out your business. Rather than making a long list of New Year's resolutions this year, I decided to create a solid business plan. If you are anything like me, you may find yourself jumping from project to project and not accomplishing much of anything.

A business plan will help to keep you on track and if changes occur (which they most often will) you can always revise your plan. The key is to stick with it so that you are finishing projects and actually seeing results, whether they are good or bad.

Even negative results are a good thing because you are learning from your mistakes. I plan on creating a business plan for my online business as well as creating minds maps.

You can create mind maps for free using bubbl.us

Have you already created a business plan? Do you hate planning? Share in the comments!

photo credit: Sterlic

A while back I wrote a post about how using a white board (dry erase board) can do wonders for your productivity.  I also decided to change up how I keep track of my daily tasks.  The white board now serves as a place to log my long-term goals as well as posting up ideas that may strike throughout the day.

For daily tasks, I used to use some of the many web versions of the to-do list.  All of them were nice to use and some even emailed your daily list to you.  However, after using them, I would begin to feel even more stressed out.  Although the web versions were convenient, I was gettting tired of the constant signing in to update my lists.

I picked up bunch of school composition books.  They are very cheap so I bought about 6 of them.  One of them I am using for my daily to-do list.  So far, I find it much better to keep up with.  I write down in order of importance what I need to get done for the next day.  I check them off as I go along.  Whatever I don't get to, I carry over to the next day's list.  Done.

I think pen to paper is one of the best ways to keep life simple and organized.  If you are feeling overloaded with your work day, give the old school way of keeping a to-do list a try.  It has done wonders for me.

It is hard finding a good internet business training program with all of the scam products out there.  If you're like me and signed up to some of the better known internet marketer email newsletters, then you are probably bombarded with new product launches every week.  Not all products are scammy.  You just have to make sure they are offering something that is useful to you.

What determines whether you should consider purchasing a new program or system can include:

• Your trust in the person who created the program.
• How best do you learn? Is the program available in video, audio, ebook or all three?
• Does the program cover topics you plan on using in your own business?
• Read reviews - sometimes these are not so helpful but if you can find a review from someone who you trust, it can help.

Another thing to consider is how much action have you taken already?  For instance, do you already have a web site up and running?  There isn't a need to purchase a training program that will teach you how to market your site if you do not have the first step completed which is having a web site built.

I understand how it is to want to buy a new product.  You get sucked in by the sales page and think about how it could really help you take your business to the next level.  While this is possible, it's important that you have met your first set of goals first.  Otherwise, it is easy to end up with information overload and you get nothing done.

You can end up trying so many new methods and never stick to one long enough to find out if it can help boost your business.  Most internet business programs will remain for sale for years to come so don't ever feel rushed to purchase the latest and greatest.  Figure out if you are at the point in your business to need it and if not, finish what you were doing before you make the next investment in another product.

I have a background in web developing.  I do everything myself for all of my web sites.  I feel that anyone who plans on running their own business should at least have a basic company web site up as a place for customers to get in touch with you.  Regardless of whether or not you develop your web sites or outsource the work to someone else, there are several basic things that beginners should know.

I will be putting together some quick tutorials that users new to the web will find helpful.  The topics will include basics such as:

• How to purchase a domain name
• How to set-up web hosting
• How to use FTP to upload your web site
• And more as I think of them

Knowing the above even if you don't plan on building your sites yourself can help you a lot in the long run.  I feel that everyone with web sites should have enough knowledge to modify things if they have to.  If you would like to know when these tutorials are posted as well as have access to them, you can sign up to my newsletter located to the right.

photo credit: Samuel Mann

For months I have been wanting to get a white board (dry erase board) up in my home office but kept putting it off - why?  I don't know.  I think it became one of those "I'll get around to it later" deals.  I finally picked up a nice sized one from Wal-Mart for about $7 and hung it up.  I wish I had done this sooner because I am writing down my goals, ideas, important to-do things almost every day and sticking to them!

I just glance up at my board and read my list and say, "oh yea, I need to do that" and get to work.  Usually, I'll have something in my head and by the end of the day I totally forget what it was I intended to do.  The funny thing is, being on the computer all day, I have tried using those reminder/to-do list services and never could stick with it.  Leaving notes on paper also didn't work because paper notes get lost or trashed.

The dry erase board is the only thing that seems to work for me as far as getting things done.  The best part is when I get an idea and I jot it down.  I also love seeing my goals listed at the top to remind me every day that I will succeed.  It is one of the best investments I've made so far and I'm glad I finally got one.  If you're trying to find a way to stay organized and productive test out a whiteboard.  They are inexpensive and you will be amazed at how something so simple can boost your productivity.

If you are turned off by any type of web programming yet, have multiple web sites, you may want to think twice about learning a web programming language like PHP. You may have read it before on other sites that it helps to know HTML, PHP, etc. I have to say it is really true. Luckily for me, I have a background in web development so I have the ability to do 100% maintenance on all of my web sites.

This saves myself so much time and money. For example, I use various banner ads on my other sites and I wanted them to rotate out with each visit to a page. All I did was write a few lines of PHP code to randomize the banners and boom, I'm done. I didn't have to outsource it and it was done right away. Little things like that help a lot.

You don't have to be a super programmer to maintain your sites. A little PHP can go a long way. If you find a script that you want to use on your site, you will at least know how to tweak it or fix any errors when installing it. You don't need to use PHP as your language of choice, however, I recommend it because it's what I am familiar with. It works great for web sites, Wordpress is built with it (which is what I use for my sites), and it's fairly easy to learn.

You can start learning PHP online. There are tons of web sites dedicated to it. If a book is easier, check out the public library or purchase one online. Mainly, just practice every chance you get. Even to this day I am constantly learning. Fortunately, I enjoy web developing, otherwise I would have to outsource every little thing.

If you're like me - on a budget, a bit of a control freak, and like maintaining your own web sites, then learning a little PHP can do a lot for you.

I am subscribed to various information marketing newsletters and what I have noticed on a couple of them are the way these marketers funnel their contact information into one location by using an online help desk. What's cool about it is if you're extremely busy, you can implement a web site dedicated to collecting support questions or general contact info. You can then check your help desk at your convenience or outsource the work to someone who can supply answers to help desk issues that are submitted.

This type of set up is great for anyone that sells products or services online. A typical help desk can include help for:

• Product or service support
• General questions or comments
• Private contact

You can direct people to your help desk through your web site, email signature, or autoresponder. This will cut down the time you are checking your emails and will place all contact inquiries in one central location. The marketers that I've seen using this system set up a unique, easy to remember URL just for this purpose. If you search for "help desk software" you'll find a ton of them for sale. I discovered a free version located here. I have yet to install it and try it out. Since it is free, do use it at your own risk.

I think a help desk system is a great way to save time and keep your inbox clutter free.