3 Instant Growth Factors That May Be Crippling Your Business

Zero to one million signups in 30 days.

Build a million dollar company this year.

I’ll admit it; I’m an information junkie. If someone has an ezine signup, or an RSS feed to his or her blog, and I see it has value, I’m in.

I scroll through a ton of information every day. And while very little of it offers brand new ideas, I’m a firm believer in the right information appears when you’re ready for it.

But after years of working on my business, I must admit the get rich schemes are circling like never before.

Everyone has the next best thing, and you’re “guaranteed” to make a million doing it. Overnight of course.

After reading yet another promise today, I got to thinking about why 99% of all people who jump on board with this type of material never succeed. Why can they get so excited up front, yet never achieve success with it? And in most cases its little or no success.

1. The dream. How many people out there are floating along without a dream? They’ve worked for years, only to lose their job in hard economic times. They can’t find another one, so they jump into a “proven way to get rich quick”. And they keep dreaming.

Every opportunity does have its success stories. But what makes them a success is they took action. They treated it like a full time career, worked at it HARD every day, and slowly saw it grow.

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What Are You Doing To Plan For The Future?

I sat through a wonderful presentation today in which the presenter shared with us information on planning for the future.

Are you part of the Yo-Yo generation?

The Yo-Yo generation – the “you’re on your own” generation – is the generation that will be entirely on our own to create the retirement lifestyle we’re dreaming about.

As the baby boomers continue to age and retire, their vast majority will completely do away with all the things funding today’s elder population, such as social security and Medicare. Which will leave those of us just behind the baby boomers with the opportunity to create our own financing for the lifestyle we choose to live.

Yes, that may sound a bit scary, but in my mind it really is an opportunity.

For many of today’s 60+, they grew up with the understanding they would be taken care of. They watched their parents have access to full paid retirement plans, and access to health care as they needed it. And now that they are there and needing/using it, its all falling a part.

But for those of us watching what is happening now, we know there’s a great chance it won’t be there for us – unless we plan and make sure we’ve created it for ourselves.

So my question to you is,

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Starting Up A Business Around Your Hobby

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports, the number of unemployed persons increased by 851,000 to 12.5 million in February.  Over the past 12 months, the number of unemployed persons has increased by about 5.0 million, and the unemployment rate has risen by 3.3 percentage points.

The job loss statistics are across the board, blue and white collar jobs. And they are in such mass within segmented industries; many people are simply not going to find work in an area their background matches.

Maybe now is your time to start your own business. 

What do you love?
Chances are there is something in your life you love, and would love to do full time every day.

Maybe it’s playing chess. One of our clients has turned his passion for chess into a very lucrative business.

Or maybe it is photography. Wouldn’t it be amazing to do it on a full time basis, like many of our clients are doing?

Creating a business around what you love has never been easier, thanks to the Internet. You don’t need thousands for rent or for marketing materials. With a website and a blog, you can be off and running, controlling much of what you do every day.

Building The Business
For most people, if you no longer have a source of income, and no chance of finding a replacement because of market saturation, starting a business is your only option.

Over 100 years ago, being an entrepreneur was the majority. It was easy to set up your business anywhere, and do whatever you chose. Then as it became more acceptable to work for the corporation, it was seen as more of a risk to run your own business.

In some cases it’s still tough. You are responsible for your own benefits (retirement, healthcare, etc). But you’re also responsible for your own destiny. If you want to make money, its up to you to put the hustle in your step, and find people to pay you for your services.

And in all cases there is always help just a keystroke away. Search online for whatever you are looking for. Chances are you’ll find an expert ready to help you achieve your next goal.

Creating Connections
It doesn’t take a lot of money to make those connections. In fact, people are ignoring traditional marketing methods more each day. We record programs to avoid commercials. We listen to our iPod to avoid commercials. And we ignore most ads because they are everywhere. How can they penetrate into our mindset when we’re exposed to hundreds of ads every day?

Now is the time to build your business with connections. Using tools like blogs, Facebook and Twitter, it’s easy to reach out to hundreds of people every single day. 

On each of these channels, it’s easy to find a group of people ready to talk with you about your passion. Just do a search based on your niche. You’ll find things like Picture Social for budding photographers,  Or Chess.com a social site for chess players.

The more you connect, the more you build your expertise, the more your business will grow.

Get started today.

image source otbora

Will You Be Ready To Retire Someday?

The last year has done a lot to the hopes and dreams of the worker. Pensions are gone. Retirement funds are hitting rock bottom. Even the threat of losing your job is more probable then ever.

But for some people, all of this doesn’t even cross their minds. They knew it was coming. And they did something about it.

I’m talking about people that went out and started their own businesses.

It doesn’t have to be a full time career. Or even have a master plan. Instead, they simply went out, learned something new, and started making money at it.

Now if you look at a lot of the guru’s on the Internet today, they make it seem so easy to earn $40k every single month – and to be able to pick up that type of income in just a matter of months. Honestly, the one’s you read about are the exceptions – the few that saw things align perfectly, and had everything come together in just the right manner.

But even if you don’t earn an extra $40k per month, wouldn’t it be nice to know an extra $2k is coming in?

That’s one of my goals with Vision Of Success. I’m here to show you how to take your hobby and turn it into an income stream. I’ve spent the last 7 years writing information to help you get started with your business planning, and helping you understand how to turn it into a side income using online sources.

Maybe you’re worried about the longevity of your job. Or maybe you’ve recently been laid off. In either case, its time to start building for your own future.

1. Choose one thing that could help bring in an extra income stream. Maybe you love taking pictures. Maybe everyone raves about your brownies. Or maybe you love scrapbooking. Whatever your interest, there is a way to make money at it.

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How much should an entrepreneur really make?

Have you been slammed with a ton of teleclasses in the past week? I know I have. Everyone is coming out of the holiday season with a ton of energy, and looking to make 2009 their best year yet.

I know I’ve had the same focus. I announced my latest Social Media course right before the holidays, and am excited to start teaching people how to use it to build up their businesses here in just a few days. Plus I have several other programs on the drawing board for early this year.

Anyway, even if I can’t attend the teleclass live, I enjoy listening to the recordings later, and possibly taking advantage of some amazing offers that people are putting together.

One mentor I’ve been following for years, Ali Brown, has put together a new Millionaire Protege Club, and had a special teleclass this past week. I finally listened to it over the weekend, and even through her free teleclass, I learned a ton that will help me over the weekend.

I have a long list of ideas that the call generated. But one thing really stuck out in my mind. She made a comment that only 6 percent of people will make over $100,000, and 1 percent make over $365,000.

Isn’t that amazing?

If you’ve been in the online world for any length of time, it’s easy to get caught up in the “I went from $0 to $1 million in 24 hours” pitch, and think the whole world is making a ton of cash.

 

But statistics show that just isn’t true.

One of the main differences between an entrepreneur and a self employed person is their focus. An entrepreneur puts the focus on building the business. The self employed person puts the focus on the tasks.

I run into business owners every day that focus on getting one more client to pay the bills. That’s fine if you have the desire to continually look for business. One will always lead to one. So you’ll always be in the same position you are in today.

But if you focus on building the business, and looking at how to get people in by the dozens rather than one at a time, you’ll see yourself grow in leaps.

Self Employed Mentality – cold calling to bring in one new client

Entrepreneur Mentality – hiring a cold calling firm to sell a training course on CD

Self Employed Mentality – creating a new business card to hand out while out networking

Entrepreneur Mentality – creating a social profile that markets your business online 24/7, whether you’re there or not

Is it easy to turn around the way you look at your business? No, it does take time. But make a choice to add a few things to your business this year that work for you, instead of you having to work for it.

[To learn all about Social Media and how it can grow your business, join me in Social Networking Bootcamp.]

Try Something New in 2009

According to Albert Einstein, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

Have you been doing that with your business?

If you’ve been in business for any length of time, how is your business? Are sales going up? Do you have new plans and new products?

Even just a year ago, we never could have predicted how the economy is today. Would we have believed that some of the biggest names in business would no longer be in business?

Yet so many people are continuing to market their same products and services in the exact same way. It’s worked for years; why won’t it work now?

 

 

To put it simply, it won’t work because times are different.

Over the weekend, we learned of a photographer who has been in business for over 20 years. He always had a studio filled with customers, and never really thought about marketing. Until now. Now he’s scrambling trying to market as best he can to make sure he can keep his business open this year. He’s let go of staff, and taken on all the work himself. And he’s looking for business anyway he can.

We also spoke with a photographer over the weekend who has continued to market year after year, building up a wonderful referral program that keeps new clients coming into his studio month after month. 2009 may be a record year for them – which is saying a lot after 25 years in business!

The first keeps doing things the same old way.

The second tries new things all the time. They consistently modify their programs to reach out to a new market. They know they’ll be around a long time because they adapt and change as the world changes around them.

How about you? Are you ready to learn something new?

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I’m starting up a brand new Social Media class in just a couple of weeks. Want to learn how social media can help you make money online in 2009? Sign up today – only 25 spots available.

The Return of the Entrepreneurs

Late in the 1800’s, most people were still considered entrepreneurs, or solo business owners. They worked for themselves, and found ways to make money for their family on their own. Then came the industrial revolution. And with it, the word “job” came to be.

In just a few decades, the majority of people went from working for themselves, to working for the corporation. We needed the worker-bees to help build for our future. And what a grand job they did.

Now I think we’re on the path to entrepreneurship all over again. How long until the majority of the population works for themselves instead of the corporation?

Think about the thousands of people being laid off from the corporation each week. These jobs are not just blue-collar type positions. These positions are across the board, affecting the top to the bottom.

Think about benefits packages. Employees are now taking more responsibility for health care and pension funds. And that trend will continue to rise.

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