The Enemy: Words and How We Use Them

As a home based or small business owner you want to exude confidence and authority. You are an expert in your field. How are you conveying your message to your customer? Just like your body language, the words you use and how you use them can take on a whole new meaning.

Some of the words we all have a tendency to use say something completely different to our customers. Let’s say you are placing a call to a customer. When I call I say, “Hi, Joe, I’m calling to tell you about the latest property we have available”. I am very clear, succinct, I have a smile in my voice, and once I finish my reason for calling, I shut up and let my customer or prospect talk.

One of our clients, who we were consulting with on sales, couldn’t figure out why he was having a hard time during his sales calls. What we found out was when he would call rather than being firm and confident, with a smile in his voice; he sounded very tentative, “Hi, I am just calling to see if”. No this verbiage does not work. He did not identify himself, his company, and this client sounded very nervous on the telephone.

So be very careful you don’t use words or phrases that sound as if you are apologizing to your customer right the off bat. In fact, don’t use them at all. Take them out of your vocabulary. Be clear and concise. Speak in an even tone. Nervous people have a tendency to speak way too loudly; or so softly you can’t understand them, or some people speak very quickly. Also, be aware this is not something you are going to fix overnight. These phrases are a habit for many of us. So practice, practice and practice some more. Do role plays and tape yourself. Then listen to yourself, or have family members listen to you and critique you.

Think of the teachers you had in school, or a professor in college who was able to speak in a nice even tone, yet his or her voice carried. Now obviously this is not necessary on the telephone. However, this kind of even toned, lower than usual voice is the kind you want to use.  Try to emulate this person in your telephone calling or in dealing with customers face to face.

The way you speak is very important.  The pitch and inflection of your voice are also very important. If you have a lot of trouble with this you might want to purchase books on speaking that address the issues of pitch and inflection in your speaking voice.  Check out Amazon or Barnes and Noble. They have a wide selection. Again, you are not going to change this overnight. Remember, practice makes perfect.

Two additional  common phrases we all have a tendency to use are I believe, and I think. This is fine for your friends and family. However, as a business owner and “an expert” you had better “know”.

For all of you coaches out there be careful with the “we will hopefully achieve”.  Make a list of all that they will achieve by going with your program, obviously with the caveat that they do the work outlined.

So take inventory of what you are saying on the telephone; your in-person sales and in your dealings with your customers (for those of you in a storefront). Is your “word language” conveying what you want it to. Or like our body language sometimes, are your words conveying something totally different to your customer. Check to see if you are using any of the above phrases and stop!  It may take a while but you will be happy you did.

Help For Your Time Management and Organizational Issues

Many home-based businesses find they have a greater sense of control over how they use time. Working from home affords them fewer interruptions and more flexible ways to work, which makes them even more productive than if they worked in a corporate environment. On the other hand, others have a hard time getting started, sticking to business, and some become workaholics.
Let's start with a self diagnosis of what might be your time management problems.
1. Do you have a hard time getting started and sticking to business?
2. Do you have a hard time organizing your workday?
3. Do you procrastinate?
4. Are you constantly being interrupted?
5. Do you have a hard time getting away from work?
6. Do you find yourself overworking?
If you have any of the above problems you need help with managing your time.
The following will help you to deal with these issues.

Time management and organization of your office are very much tied together. An unorganized office will cost you a lot of time. Time getting started for the day, time finding phone numbers, letters or materials you need.
Some of the basics elements of Time Management are as follows:
1. Setting up a Work Schedule - Some of the ways to set up a workable schedule are to:
a) establish your schedule around the demands of your work.
b) establish your schedule around those times of the day you work best. For Chuck and I, our high energy hours are in the morning.
c) establish your work schedule around the other priorities of your life. For example, some single dads and moms with children might need to work before the kids get up, stop working, and get them off to school, work during the school day, pick up the kids, and spend some quality time with your family, and then do some additional work in the evening. Others work hard for 3-4 days a week and take long weekends.
d) Organize your schedule around a particular work task. This won't work for everyone, but if your business allows you to break off certain aspects of jobs into different days and time periods, do so.
e) Set up an arbitrary schedule. For some of you, any kind of schedule is better than nothing in the beginning. Eventually you will find your high and low points during the day, which will allow you to eventually establish a schedule for yourself that works best for you and one you can stick to.
2. Getting Started - Chuck and I start working after we walk the dogs. This is our trigger to start our day. When we come back in from walking them we immediately head for the office. For others, it might simply be to walk into your office, or set a timer to go off, or once you drop the kids off.
3. Staying With Business Matters - Once you do get started, don't let yourself be distracted by household items or anything else. Don't procrastinate. You want to be efficient. To do so, plan your day, set reasonable goals, praise yourself for the work your doing. You no longer have the water cooler or coffee klatch around to give you that praise, so you must give it to yourself. In fact, reward yourself for a job well done with something you enjoy doing.
The following are some everyday time-savers to build into your daily routine to help you work more efficiently.
a) Be sure you have organized your contacts, and files.
b) Use time saving technology - a touch tone phone, with re-dial button, your computer, printer, copy machine, e-mail. Prioritize your To do List. Use your mail folders.
c) Learn to say no.
d) Make use of down time. File while your printing something or back up your data during lunch.
e) Build a time cushion into your day. It is much better to overestimate the time it takes to do something than to underestimate.
f) Don't make a big deal over little decisions. For example, supplies.
g) Plan to do two things at once. Read after business hours; or get audiocassettes and listen while doing household chores; proof items while printing or backing up.
h) If you prioritize your To Do list, you will have a bunch of little items that will take you 3-5 minutes to complete; filing, update tickle, proofreading are some of these short tasks.
Some of the best ways to maximize your efficiency are to: plan your workday; safeguard your work from unwanted distraction and interruptions; recognize and sidetrack procrastination; set reasonable work goals, praise yourself for your work and reward yourself for a job well done; take frequent regular breaks; schedule your work so it won't conflict with you favorite activities; and arrange for a change of scenery. By doing all this you keep yourself fresh and able to work at your best.
Some of your most time consuming tasks will be: keeping up to date in your area of expertise by reading. Read only pertinent material. For many items you receive just highlighting or skimming the article will suffice.
Meetings are another area that take up a lot of time. Be sure before you schedule the meeting to ask yourself, is it necessary? Can I do this by telephone, mail or teleconference? If you do have to schedule a meeting, be sure you are organized with an outline of what you need to cover, and a specific time limit. If the meeting does run over, see if you can finish it by phone or mail, if possible, rather than rescheduling.
For those of you in lease purchasing, remember your telephone script. You don't leave the office until you get all the information on the script, check out that information, finalize your numbers, then call the seller to schedule a meeting. When you go to your meeting with the seller, be sure to take your flyers and signs to place after you and the seller sign the contract. Don't waste time having to make a second trip.
Correspondence, projects, phone calls and errands are other areas that take up a lot of time. For your correspondence, set up an efficient routine for processing your mail (See the Articles: Organizing Your Office For The Year 2000, Part 1 & 2).
Keep your errands to a minimum, or schedule a specific day when you do them in a morning or afternoon. To expedite your phone calls, have names and numbers handy, use your egg timer to set a time limit for each call. Ask them to send written material to review, or if they need information from you, you do the same.
For your large projects, break them down into smaller manageable tasks. Give each of these tasks a deadline, and be sure to place all of the information in your project file on a sheet stapled to the inside of the file.
Stress is a part of our lives. When you become overwhelmed or something upsets your day, don't let it ruin the remainder of the day or carry over to the next. Take a deep breath; count to 10, take a break; sing a song that comforts you; take a walk around the block; play with the dogs. When you do get back to your desk - remember - nothing lasts forever, and tomorrow is a new day.
4. Interruptions, Distractions and Procrastinating - To safeguard yourself from the interruptions and distractions of household responsibilities: interruptions from family, friends or neighbors; remind yourself and them that even though you are at home YOU ARE AT WORK. If you were at an office outside the home you wouldn't be able to solve their problems or take a break to spend time with them.
Work out a plan with your family of what your hours are, when you can and can't be disturbed. You need to keep focused on your work. The ability to maintain a deep concentration can prevent you from being distracted.
Procrastination is one the of the biggest problems with many home-based businesses. It is very easy to put off or never get to something you want to avoid. One way to avoid this is to think performance not perfection. If you set small manageable goals to be accomplished you won't fear not being able to accomplish them. You need to recognize and side step procrastination.
Procrastination is one of the hardest things to overcome for so many people. However, if you start by doing the one thing you like to do, this could help you to move on to do the other things you don't like. For those of you that have a extremely difficult time with procrastination, start with your favorite thing to do, and then the next and so on down the line. At least this is a start. Eventually you will be able to put all of these items in priority order, not procrastinate and move on to a normal work day..
5. How Not To Become A Workaholic
a) Close the door on work.
b) Set up a end of day ritual. Some people take an exercise class, others will walk around the block. Chuck and I feed the dogs.
c) Set A Firm Schedule - Set firm beginning and ending times. Yes, these will fluctuate on some days if you have early morning meetings or evening meetings. However, for the most part your day begins at a certain time and ends around the same time each day. Take a day off a week, or two if that is what you need. Be sure to put your off time on your calendar.
d) Take time to get out of the house- You want to schedule time away from home. Whether it is a shopping trip with a friend, lunch with a friend, a weekend away with your family.
Make the above mentioned ideas and tips a part of your business and life. They will keep you on track and help you manage your time so you can run a successful home-based business, without sacrificing your personal life.

The Future Of Partnering

Partnering between home-based businesses is a natural result of corporate downsizing. Many professionals who have left large companies and started home-based businesses are successful and don’t want to return to the corporate world, but they recognize the need for and benefit of alliances.

Partnering will continue to gain respect and recognition among home-based entrepreneurs seeking top talent for short and long-term business needs. Across the scope of business today, joint-venturing is in. When it comes to partnering, the home-based business has an advantage in flexibility, overhead structure and unique sources of talent. In other words, getting together to combine the best of talents, the best of direction and the best of enthusiasm is a win-win situation, period.

A couple of examples would be: you partnering with real estate agents, and brokers in regards to lease purchasing; or to use a specific company for inspections or clean up of the property. Or contracting with a web designer to design pages for your clients.

Tips for Effective Partnering

Choose your partners carefully. Be sure they have the skills and abilities you need, and share your level of commitment. Define the scope of the partnership. Are you working on an equal basis, or will one of you function as the managing partner? What roles will each partner play? How will the compensation be calculated and distributed?

Put it in writing. A detailed, well-crafted partnership agreement prevents misunderstandings, memory lapses and future conflicts. Develop and stick to an operations plan. How will the work actually happen? How and when will the partners interact?

Plan for the unexpected. How do you plan to handle problems and resolve conflicts? If a partner wants to dissolve the agreement, who ends up with what?

Set a minimum “no exit” time period. New ventures take time to become productive. Make a mutual commitment to stick with the partnership long enough to give it a chance to prove itself.

So, who do you want to partner with?

The Summertime Blues

The day is sunny and warm. It's 9 a.m., the sky is a bright blue and the temperature is already a toasty 80 degrees. Work is the farthest thing from your mind. The kids want to go to Waterland. "Come on Mom, can't we go!" Even though you don't feel like it, you insist to them, you have to work. Stop, right there! When you feel that you need a break - take one.

Spending a day with the kids, or just by yourself - doing what pleases you, is sometimes just what you need to rejuvenate yourself.

Remember many times just getting away for a while gives you a new perspective on work and even life! So .......go for it.......indulge in those SUMMERTIME BLUES!

Staying Focused

Three of the biggest areas of concern to our home based business owners are repeat sales, getting new business and staying focused while working at home.

First, let's discuss staying focused at home. Remember, to have a separate office or to delineate one area and one area only to your home business. This can be your kitchen table, a desk in your dining or living area, but only one place for the business paperwork. Obviously, if you have to place supplies in a different area, this is OK. In addition, if you have clients come to your home, you can do this in your living room, or family room area, or an area you have designated for clients.

I know, it's summer and all that sunshine and water beckons you. Remember, folks this is your business. If you need a few days off to get it out of your system, do it. You'll come back more motivated, refreshed, and ready to tackle anything.

Your home-based business is no different than that job many of us had years ago, that when Spring and Summer came along we had a hard time concentrating, and maybe took some time off. However, when we came back we were ready to work. And this time it's your own business, so that should motivate you even more.

Don't forget one of the basic tenets of running a business from your home, set distinct hours for that business and stick to them. When the work day is done, close the door, or clean up that area, and go on to household chores, or outside interests.

Use that To Do List to keep you focused. Make it up at the end of each day. Use that last half hour of the day to set up your work schedule for the next, put your work and To Do List in your tickler file, check your daily scheduler, check your goals for the day, did you meet your goals for the day, if not, why not, and what do you need to do to be sure you meet them for the next day, and for the week. Use your goals to keep you focused on your work day and what needs to be accomplished.

What time of day is it when your focus is wandering. Is it late afternoon, early evening? Maybe you need to get up earlier, and adjust your schedule so that your work day is done sooner, and your down time coincides with the periods of time you are having trouble focusing.

We all go through periods when we need to get away or take time off, even from our own businesses. I don't care how passionate you are and how much you love what you do, sometimes you just need to get away from it all. We say DO IT, have your fun in the sun, pool, golfing, whatever. Then come back with a vengeance to that business with renewed purpose and energy.

Partnering For Progress and Growth

Many home-based entrepreneurs are gaining new ground with partnering arrangements. Although it takes many shapes, the core of the partnering concept is two or more businesses teaming up to achieve together what they can’t do alone. Partnering with other businesses can help you offer a broader product or service package to a particular market segment, provide the resources to handle a single major project, or organize resources to meet your customers’ needs. Whatever the scenario, partnering gives you the image of seamless capacity typically associated with large corporations.

Even though it has been around for a while, don’t expect to find fixed rules for individual partnering agreements. With the concept rapidly evolving, some partnerships resemble entities unto themselves; others parallel outsourcing or subcontracting relationships. Some business owners partner only under carefully drawn contracts; others do it on a handshake. What’s important is developing an arrangement that satisfies all parties involved.

Partnering allows very niche-oriented businesses to serve clients’ complex needs and to compete against large firms that have all the necessary staff in-house. Partnering also allows you to handle a large one-time project without actually hiring employees.

Another advantage of partnering is it provides a home-based business the opportunity to grow substantially without having to move to a commercial location.

Get It In Writing

While partnering enthusiasts claim there are no serious drawbacks to the process, you should still proceed with caution, especially in the beginning. Formalize your agreement with a detailed written contract that clearly defines each partner’s role and responsibilities.

The contract covers what each is responsible for and what the compensation will be. It also includes short and long-term goals. The process of drawing up the contract forces you to think things through and be sure both are on the same page before starting. A business relationship is like a marriage-it takes work and sometimes you have to compromise. Just like a marriage certificate doesn’t guarantee a happy relationship, a contract doesn’t guarantee a successful partnership.

Even so, a contract can provide the foundation of a mutually beneficial business relationship and give you processes to end the alliance should that become necessary.

Think about all the things that could go wrong and how you would deal with them. What if one of the partners wants out? If the partnership splits up, who keeps the clients? Who signs contracts? How will you handle a situation where one partner fails to fulfill his or her obligation?

Consider the issue of liability not only from the legal perspective but also as it pertains to image. What happens if one of the partners either performs poorly or fails to perform at all? An attorney can review your agreement and advise you so you’re protected against legal liability, but you may still be putting your reputation at risk. Take the time to get to know a prospective partner, gain confidence in his or her abilities and reliability, and check references.

Where do you find good partners? They’re pretty much everywhere. Clients may also serve as the catalyst for a partnership, or contacts may be made through various networks.

As successful as partnering can be, don’t rush into it. Define your niche and your client base, and develop trust with your clients first. Once your business is established on its own, then look for ways to enhance it through partnerships.

My Family Doesn't Take Me Seriously!

I can't tell you how many times I hear from working mom's that people don't take their home based business seriously. Unfortunately, when I ask them how they react, they don't have real definitive answers for me.

Remember, unless you take your own business seriously, no one else will. You must establish working hours, rules that family members must follow, and rules you must follow.

I know, you started your business so you could be your own boss, work when you want, spend more time with your family, have more flex time.

Yes, you can have these things, but you also have to make decisions regarding your business. If your business is secondary to all of the other things, then just like everyone else you are not taking your own business seriously, so why should anyone else. Your business has to be the first priority, not your house, your yard, your cooking and cleaning, your kids and/or family. I am not saying your family is not important, they are; but you must make them realize that what you do as a business person is important, and that you need your time and space to do this.

Remind them that when you worked outside the home they couldn't ask you a question whenever they wanted or to talk with you whenever they wanted to. I know, this is one of the reasons you wanted to work from home so that you could better deal with these issues. Well you can, but you have to schedule them in. Put the time in your daily schedule to deal with the unexpected and you will be better able to deal with it all.

I work my business, but still get the other things done. However, I have a schedule and I stick to it. My work day starts after the cleaning is done. I've set time aside Friday morning to shop, Saturday to do a full cleaning. I still have plenty of time to myself and to have fun.

So schedule the fun things in. Time with the kids, and the family. And remember, unless you take your business seriously... neither will anyone else.

Getting Started

One of the first things we do with our Partnering For Your Success students is to have them plan out how many hours they can spend on lease purchasing.

We know that many of you are working and want to start part-time. Well the best way to do this is to take a calendar and to put in the times you will work your lease purchasing business, or whatever business you want to get started.

Your initial planning is the key. The number of hours you can spend, getting your identity package done, setting up your office, making the contacts, making your calls, and setting your goals (both short term and long term). In effect, getting your ducks in order, being sure all your P&Q's are taken care of, and then just getting started.

However, the first step is yours. If after doing all the planning, you never make the commitment, all is lost. You have to implement the plan, and make the commitment to follow through.

And when there are bumps in the road, and believe us, there will be, ask for help, don't just give up. If you just give up, you'll never know what you could have accomplished. Think of the bumps as challenges, and learn from the bumps rather than just giving up. Nothing comes easy. You are not going to be a millionaire by next week (unless you win the lottery), it is not going to work on auto pilot, you need to stoke it and help it grow.

So start planning and doing today. Let this year be a new beginning for you. If you feel you can't do it on your own, check out our Partnering For Your Success program.

Are You Taking Full Advantage of the Web?

Is your site visible, interactive? How's the infrastructure? Are your mailings personalized? What about tracking and consistency? In order to get the most out of your website all of these items are important.

By following these tips, you can build a sense of community for your web site. This in turn can build a loyal following for both your site and your business.

To make your site visible; be sure you prominently feature your URL (i.e., your Internet address) on your business cards, correspondence as well as any advertising you do - newspaper, magazine, broadcast and direct mail.

To be interactive your site must invite visitors to subscribe to e-mail "hot lists" that specialize in the categories that are of interest to them along with specially-priced merchandise they're interested in.

You want to be sure your site has a good infrastructure. If it does, it will allow you to quickly and easily send carefully-targeted e-mail bulletins to customers interested in specific categories of merchandise, so you can quickly and easily inform them of new products and specially-priced merchandise. And this is one of the main reasons you have a site, isn't it!

Personalization is key today. With all the products out there which allow you to do this, there is no reason your mailings shouldn't make the recipient feel "special".

The interactivity of your site isn't doing you any good if you are not sending targeted emails. So be sure to broadcast targeted e-mails to your core market at least twice a month.

All of the above mentioned tips allow you to grow and expand. However, be sure that you have a tracking system in place. This will allow you to track the results of your advertising, so you can see which media generates the most subscriptions to your hot-lists and which lists produce the most profits. This will help you to streamline your site and get rid of products and parts of your site that are not getting the results.