You have a coach to play softball or volleyball.Think about it. You have a coach for football or basketball don’t you? You generally need a coach to get you through childbirth. But do you need a coach when you are commencing a new business? OK, maybe it isn’t essential and there are a lot of businesses out there that were started without the help of a business coach. But having a business coach on board definitely puts you ahead of the majority.

A business coach is there to give entrepreneurs an objective perspective on their business and tips they need to become successful. A competent and trained business coach can see the vision and then help the entrepreneurs put into place the steps required to make that vision come true. And that’s something you can’t do when you’re in the midst of putting your life on the line [with a] startup.A business coach can give your business an outsiders perspective. They are able to see things that as an owner you can’t as they are not emotionally invested and have also had a lot more experience than most new business owners.

Business coaches can also offer other advice which is not just objective in nature but specific business related ideas. For example tips on where to register you website to such things as applying for patents on products.Your business coach can help you swim through the complexities of starting your home based business.

When you start a home based business the main problem you will face is getting leads or customers to your website. It can be very overwhelming when you look at all of the ways that you can advertise your business especially online. A good business coach can alert you to good and not so good methods of marketing and also help you with the administrative side of running your own home based business.

Finding the right coach is key, as success depends on the chemistry and communication between the two of you. Girard-Ruttenberg (founder of Girard & Assoc executive business coaches once said,”Whether it’s through work with a coach [or with a group], one of the most important things for an entrepreneur to do is to have an outstanding circle of human resources–individuals who are formal mentors to them.”

For more information and to let me help coach you to succeed in your home based business please visit my website and leave your contact details and I will get back to you. Please visit http://www.karlievalentine.com

One of the attractions to working from home is that there is no schedule to work to, however this then means that you have to be organized and responsible in managing your timen yourself. I have put together some tips to help you get organized and keep you office organized which will then allow you to be productive and successful:

1. Have your work area in a separate, closed off area in your home. This can be as simple as setting up a large desk and a file cabinet in the corner of a room-as long as it is your defined work area. Keep it organized, clean and neat so you can easily find the materials you need to manage your business and do your work.

2. Learn how you work best. What type of work environment allows you to work at your best? Are you able to work well and make decisions whilst lying on the couch or do you need to be sitting at your desk to get you in the right frame of mind? Make your home office personalized. It is your special area so fill it with things that make you happy such as family photos and material work-related such as resource books.

3. Prepare yourself mentally to fulfill your set tasks. Plan your day depending on how you feel. If you think most clearly in the morning, do your most important and difficult tasks during this time. If you regularly go to the gym, exercise at the same time during the week. Respect yourself for these choices and scheduled appointments and you will find your inner self will reward you with a clear head and great energy even at the times you are very busy.

4. Set specific “opening hours” when customers or leads can contact you. Many people may assume that because you work from home, you are available to them 24/7. Avoid stressful interruptions by setting specific office hours when other people can contact you. Make sure people know what your opening hours are by placing them not only on your website but on your emails and also any voicemail greetings you have. This will avoid any embarrassment on your part when you have to tell people you aren’t available and your customers will respect the guidelines you have set and appreciate your work times.

5. Be aware that working from home and the lifestyle it provides needs a lot of planning and prioritization. No matter how hard you try to keep them separate, your personal and business lives will mesh and, at times, collide. Learn to take interruptions in your stride. Learn to break from work mode and become efficient by focusing on the urgency of the interruption and resolving it so you don’t have to worry about it. Then get back to your regular work schedule. Soon, you will learn to mentally maneuver and have a healthy balance between the two worlds without tension or guilt.

You need to ensure you have the right mindset as an entrepreneur. No matter how many interruptions and distractions happen, you can and will succeed. Each night, let the stress of the day pass by taking a deep breath and thanking yourself for completing something that fuels your passion. Re-energising your emotional battery is vital and will then allow you to prepare for the next days opportunities.

I have successfully coached many likeminded home based entrepreneurs to success with my high end home based business. Please visit me to learn about this wonderful opportunity and work with a great, motivated, energized team. Visit http://karlievalentine.com

You’ve probably heard of Twitter, even if you aren’t sure what it is.Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service–think public instant messenger stream.These mini-blogs are named Tweets and can contain up to a max of 140 characters. These messages (Tweets) can be accessed by others online and you also have the ability to sign in and follow the Tweets others post and get quick updates posted by them.

As a home-based bussiness entrepreneur, Twitter gives you an open door to connect not only with other entrepreneurs but also other companies, marketing experts and more. As home-based bussiness entrepreneurs, these tips, connections and opportunities can spell great marketing options for you.

The bottom line is Twitter can help you grow your home-based bussiness.

Want to know how businesses use Twitter?

A restaurant tweets daily specials.
Ticketing agents can post their latest tickets or tickets about to go off sale.
Licensed Real Estate Agents tweet new home listings..
Public Relation firms can post publicity occasions/events.
An entrepreneur tweets co-marketing opportunities.

Many business people I have worked with over the years have said that Twitter can be a valuable use of time and energy. “I have never gotten a client directly from Twitter,” one says. “But have had several referrals from people I’ve connected with on Twitter.”

Using social networking sites likes Twitter or Facebook or LinkedIn can be extremely useful. Instead of providing instant sales, Twitter is another way to build relationships and develop credibility and trust.

I think the key to using Twitter is to see it as a way to get to know other people, not necessarily as a way to get clients directly. The old methods of marketing are getting stale now that social media marketing is gaining credibility. People want to find out who’s behind the company–the real person. I have fun using Twitter; giving updates on everything from how many cups of coffee I’ve gone through in a day to web links to things I found especially useful or informative.

Twitter Builds Relationships

After using Twitter for a bit, you start to absorb clues about people’s personalities. You can learn stuff like what they are interested in, seminars and courses they attend and so on.You can then provide them with much more personalized customer service.
To do that, you must submit updates that are helpful, useful and educational.You will be wasting your time if the only tweets you post are sales type ads. The best way to post is to only post a couple of tweets a day so you don’t get marked as Twitter spam.

Advice for Twitter Beginners

Start using Twitter to follow people whom you find interesting. It doesn’t matter whether they are in the same company as you, or event the same industry or have no connection with your business but just sound interesting to you.Use your own photo rather than a company logo or other icon–people want to see who they’re connecting with. Ensure you actually introduce yourself to others. Think about how you’d react if you were meeting these individuals in person and act accordingly. If they follow you, they’d like to get to know something about you, so share more than just the latest sale you’re holding, specials you’re offering or blogs you’ve posted.

And most of all, have fun with it! When you start tweeting, you can find me @karlieval

What happens,commonly, at the end of financial years is that we see a lot of small businesses engaging in inefficient tax strategies where they aim to purchase big, high cost equipment and machinery to benefit from tax incentives.Other common practices undertaken, often after consulting with their financial advisors, is to buy stocks for the following year, pay some overhead expenses early and try and delay debt collections until the next year all with the aim to reduce profit and tax liabilities.

Any business owner that has utilized these strategies will be faced with many challenges at the start of this new year.

These strategies will impact on their business by :

A:Reduced cash flow, restricted by the increased expenditure
B:A reduction in funds able to be put into marketing and product development and therefore inability to attract new leads and customers
C:Because of the reduced profit recorded, the overall value of the business entity will be negatively effected
D:Inability to accurately measure and analyse business performance, due to the delaying of account receivables and prepaying of expenses

If this is you, then don’t fear. It is not the end of the road and you can change the direction of your business if you start now. In my experience with small businesses, I’ve found that there are five top strategies for businesses to start fresh in the new financial year.

They are as follows:
1.Create a financial growth strategy for the next 12 months. Businesses need to be setting 2009-2010′s KPIs and performance drivers now.It is essential that you have a structured plan in place to work with and measure against. This will aid the performance and ensure your business is successful.

2.Elevate costs associated with both marketing and iniative schemes. Marketing is the key driver in growing your business and securing future revenue and cash flow.

3.Reduce non-marketing, non-advertising and non-production expenditure. Ask for better deals from suppliers, and reduce the high value expense items, whose absence doesn’t disrupt the business, first.

4.Fast and swift debt collection. You don’t have to do what everyone else is doing and carry out jobs on account.You have every right to expect payment at time service is provided or even in advance.

5.Get rid of your obsolete and surplus stock as quickly as possible.You would be surprised at how much cash you can generate by getting rid of excess stock.

The new financial year presents the best time for business owners to seek more than just tax advice, and develop a strong working relationship with their accountant. Your accountant has all the information about your business, and is in the best position to help you achieve your performance goals.But because you are the business owner, you also need to have sound financial education and be aware of all aspects relating to the financial side of your business.

Staying up to date with financial education and continuous learning are extremely important.

For more information about some fabulous software and education packages please visit me at http://www.wmitoday/karlieval

MLM duplication is an often talked about subject but far too many people misunderstand it.

Just 3 days ago I received a telephone call from an “old school” network marketer who had been following the same old techniques for that last 20 odd years and who had been quite successful in his efforts.
He was a little irate in fact when I got on the phone with him even! His main argument was that this internet way of doing things was not duplicatable and that it was only something technical wizards were able to perfect.

He even said that you needed to be an internet guru in order to even get started with it and that there was no way to create MLM duplication with it.

How about we get straight into it and understand MLM duplication and how it can apply to not only your business but this whole industry.

What are we really talking about when we talk MLM duplication here? Growing your downline right?
Well that’s wrong. There is a million different ways for you to grow your downline but first lets delve into what MLM duplication is concerned with.

If you have been following old school network marketing principles then you have probably been talking to as many people as possible and waiting for someone to listen to you and believing your script. Do you feel foolish doing this constantly?

Don’t get me wrong. There are many people around the world who have built very successful businesses and huge downlines like this, but they are few in numbers. The majority of marketers fail horribly with this technique.

You may now be asking why are there some that are successful with this and some that aren’t? The answer simply lies in personality. If you have the right personality for this technique then of course you are going to succeed. Some people out there just have “the gift of the gab” and are great talkers and good skills of persuasion both over the telephone and in face to face interactions. It may be that they have learnt these skills over the many years in the industry however the majority are born with it. This is definitely not MLM duplication, just skills learnt over time.

But that isn’tMLM duplication or duplicatable at all. Obviously you cannot duplicate personality traits and simply keeping talking to everyone you meet is no way of filtering flow along to your downline.No matter what you say, each and every person is different, and some will be more successful at it than others when you approach it like that.

Just think for a moment what it would be like if you could talk to 10 people and 1 out of everyone of these 10 wanted you to send them more information.What if this happened every time?
I think that would be the type of duplication many of us would like in our business wouldn’t it?
Now you are asking how is that done? You can duplicate like this if you use a system and every person who uses it has the exact same “thing” that is being presented.

How can you do this?

By conducting your MLM business online.

Here is what I mean. If you do your network marketing online, and you ensure that you, your upline and downline send all leads to the exact same landing page, then you can get exactly the same results as all leads are receiving the same information.

This is how you make your business duplicatable.
If on your web page, for every 10 visitors you get, you get one lead…..then your downline will get one lead for every 10 visitors. Think then what would happen if you let your downline use the same kind of ads that you use. I mean exactly the same ads with no changes in wording even.(hint hint….this is what I do with my downline and it works like a charm for them)

They will get the exact same results. THAT is how to create MLM duplication in your downline and foster real, long term, life changing growth in your business.

The power of using the worldwide web to enhance your business can not be underestimated. Real duplication is very achievable. It is well and truly one of the easiest ways to add numbers to your downline also.

Click on the link below to learn more about my amazing automated marketing system which is definitely duplicatable http://www.karlievalentine.com

Yeah, yeah, a million dollars ain’t what it used to be. But it’s more than 90%+ of all U.S. households have. So who wouldn’t want to be a millionaire?
This article is based on things that I have learnt from watching and studying what millionaires around the world have practiced.

The key tips are:

1.Your priority should always be financial security.
2.Ensure that you have more income than expenditure
3.Save and invest regularly.
4.Pay off your debt as quickly as possible.
5.Aim to own your home.

The above tips are simplistic and extremely reliable.Before we go into the above points in more detail I would like to focus on a few other important pieces of theory first:

If you haven’t got a plan, it’s way too easy to lose your way: spending money on stuff that isn’t important, taking on debt that’s toxic rather than helpful, giving in to despair when markets turn against you. Having a long-term goal, and a long-term view, are essential to keeping your balance.

I bless my Depression-era mother, who grew up poor, knew how to pinch a penny and put a high priority on savings. Importance should be placed on “paying ourselves first”. With that I mean you should look to save at least 10-20% of your gross pay, each and every pay. Credit cards should only be there for emergencies and you can get yourself into big debt by carrying credit card debt.

Again, automated investing plans really help. We invest regardless of whether the market is up, down or sideways. I invest no matter what position the market is in. This is because I have learnt that a solid, well-rounded investment portfolio will win over any other investment in the long run, even if we have to go through some bumpy periods along the way.

Keeping your housing expenses to 25% of your gross pay, for example, will help ensure you’ve got enough left over to fund your other goals and have some fun once in awhile.

Owning a home has always been the dream of people in countries such as the US, Britain and Australia.Among the richest 10% of households, 96.9% are homeowners, compared with 69.1% of all households.

Obviously it is going to be a lot easier to achieve you goals and have money left over to enjoy and use for fun if your salary/income is continually rising.So things that I have done to aid this is to commence my own home based business, invest in my education by reading and researching and am continually looking at ways to improve myself and keep abreast of new opportunities that present themselves. This is especially important in todays society when the worldwide economy is so volatile. It is essential to be open to learning new skills and following different directions when needed.

And I have probably left the most important point until last: My husband and I don’t live just for tomorrow. We put importance not both our long term goals and focus but also live life to the fullest each and every day. What use would it be to us to have a million dollars in the bank but not be able to enjoy our lives and spend time with people whom are important to us. So we appreciate the financial mileposts when we achieve them, but we know there’s more — a lot more –to life than money.

For any more information or for a look at our home based business then please visit me at http://www.karlievalentine.com

If you’ve recently started your own business-or if you’re thinking about it-you have a lot of company.Becom ing a home based entrepreneur is not just a career choice but also a lifestyle choice which more and more people are choosing day after day.
While many individuals go on their own internal reasons-a passionate need to be independent, a burning desire to turn a hobby into a profession, or the love of a challenge-others have chosen the entrepreneur route in response to external situations, including layoffs, frustration with their current workplace culture, or a need for greater flexibility in their lives.
Owning a business has become the twenty-first century version of the 1950s American dream of owning a home. But entrepreneurship is not for everyone.It’s important to consider whether you have what it takes to start a business and run it successfully.
I am sure you have heard the horrible statistics regarding the failure of home based businesses.What you need to know is that around 30% of businesses that are started at home survive longer than 5 years. I am sure you have also heard the instant success stories and the young millionaires out there. RARE,RARE,RARE! The image you need to keep in your mind is of successful entrepreneurs in society that put in a lot of hard work, continuous education, are determined and motivated and have short and long term goals set. This is the type of businessperson that will succeed today. The dot.com era no longer exists.
Entrepreneurship comes with many hurdles both internal and external ones. Within their companies, they need to offer a superior product or service.Of course, they also need to have great time management, organizational skills and ensure that they are educated in managing cash flow to ensure profitability.External forces also play a part such as economic issues, tax/government regulations and fnance.
Many small businesses fail because of weaknesses in general management, financial management, and marketing (Statistics Canada, “Failing Concerns: Business Bankruptcy in Canada”). Michael Gerber cites the “entrepreneurial seizure” as a primary reason for failure in his book “The E Myth, Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work, and What To Do About It.” Gerber says many entrepreneurs pursue the dream of being their own boss but fatally assume that an understanding of the technical nature of a business is enough to achieve success.
To avoid becoming a casualty of the start-up craze, it’s critical to be aware of the pros and cons of running a business.There is no get rich quick scheme out there. The potential sure is there to earn a lot of money and a great residual income but you have to be willing to put in the hard yards and go through the dirty work needed to get there.
Are you the right person to become an Entrepreneur?
One study that has been carried out in recent years was looking to rank traits and attitudes (in rank of importance) that are important for business owndership.
This is what the results showed:
” Perseverance
” Desire and willingness to take initiative
” Being a competitive person
” Self-reliance
” Strong need to achieve
” Self-confidence
” Good physical and emotional wellness

Other attributes that made the lower part of the list were things like desire for money, time management and organization, want for power.Today’s entrepreneurs are more interested in competition and achievement than money or power.
By asking youself these questions then you can start to work out whether you have what is required to successfully start and carry on your own home based business.
” Are you willing to do that hard work and put in the time and effort required to get started?
” Do you want to bear the responsibility for all business decisions and responsibilities related to your company?
” Are you independent, disciplined, and committed to entrepreneurship?
” Are you willing to play a number of roles within your business?
Where Do You Start?

Gather as much information as you can about your idea. Learn about the industry, the best ways to deliver your product or service, your competition, and potential obstacles. Talk to people and read. Stay abreast of trends within your chosen field and keep current on issues affecting entrepreneurs.
Create a detailed plan for your business. This is especially important if you are going to require outside funding to commence your business. These plans are a key building block for any successful business.Goal setting (long and short term) and then breaking these goals down into manageable steps will also help you avoid feeling overwhelmed and ensure you remember where you are wanting to get to.

Networking can begin immediately when starting a business. Don’t burn your bridges at your current job, keep good relationships with current workers. Keep in mind that effective networking creates mutually beneficial relationships.
Other aspects you also need to consider are :
Financial aspects such as amount of capital requirement to start-up and obviously if you can find an opportunity with low start up costs then that is great. However, remember that all businesses need capital to start.

It can be difficult to start from scratch and be assured that there are a lot of entrepreneurs out there who continued to work their initial job whilst starting their entrepreneurial business until things picked up. Be patient.
If you are going to continue working in your current job then it may at times feel quite overwhelming.Remember to carve out time for friends, family, and fun. If you can find a business that can help you along with things such as automated marketing systems, training and support etc then this will help you spend your time wisely and focus on building your business.
Entrepreneurship is not for the faint-hearted. There is no magic formula. But for those willing to work hard and take a chance, dreams can come true.

Please visit me to see a great opportunity to change your life forever at www.karlievalentine.com

How Social Media Can Improve Your Search Engine Visibility
You may have noticed that videos from YouTube and other sites are appearing on the first page of Google’s search results. Those could be your videos.
Your business’s website and landing page addresses could be showing up too. Your (and your employees’) LinkedIn profiles, your company’s Facebook Fan Page, even your tweets can show up, pushing your competition off the first page in Google. You can also use social media publishing platforms like Hubpages, Squidoo or a wiki to target keyword phrases without jeopardizing your Web site’s current ranking.
Also, your company blog and social publishing platforms that link to your Web site can pass it link juice, further pushing it up the search engine rankings.
Search engine visibility is quickly becoming an archaic term. Make this the sole purpose of your marketing.It doesn’t matter where your prospects come from (Google, Yahoo etc), you just need to have them leave their contact details or purchase an application package, etc, etc. You just need them to start along your sales path.
In Conclusion
If you are an entrepreneur, or in small business, and looking to market online, then you must include search engine optimization and social media marketing as your primary components in your marketing campaign; add to this other forms of marketing such as autoresponders, good capture pages on your website and reliable lead tracking techniques and you’ve got an unbeatable marketing strategy that will help your business grow and thrive
If you need help to improve your social media marketing and search engine optimization then please join my team and let me help to succeed.

Visit me at http://www.karlievalentine.com

Some suggestions to help this process are:
Responses: Exactly how many visitors have you had?
Time spent on site: How long do visitors stick around?
Rates of exit from site: How far to people get into your site before they exit? Is there one are of the site that looks like it puts people off?
The Ratio of Leads to Customers/Closing Sales: Is there a connection between perception and satisfaction?

I challenge you to attempt some of these suggestions and see the leads roll in day after day even when you are enjoying yourself out of your office.

Visit me at www.karlievalentine.com and see what my business has to offer and let me coach you to success.

Generating a lead may be the sole purpose of your site or a small piece of your marketing mix. Either way, it is always about answering a prospect’s unspoken questions and communicating the value of doing business with you.
The main reason people do investigations online is to avoid personally interacting with others – You need to believe that your prospects as being extremely shy and introverted individuals. They come to you with curiosity, expecting you to understand what they need and to lead them along a comfortable path of enlightenment and delight. Every click represents an unspoken question they hope you will answer.
Have you created your landing page and website in a way that will show leads how valuable you can be to them, in order for them to give your business value by becoming a team member? Here, in Part One of this series are three suggestions to get you started
The Persuasive Process
Each and every successful ebusiness relies on persuasion. It makes no difference if your business model is a simple or complicated one or exactly what your business is. Obviously your business models will be different depending on what your business involves but you will still rely on persuasion.

There are always 2 questions that you need to focus on:
Which people are you needing to persuade?
What are you persuading them to do?What exactly is it that you are persuading them to do?
When we are talking about lead generation then you are most likely going to be wanting your prospects to be downloading video information, filling in contact forms, registering for something, forwarding information to others they know or sometimes opting into e-newsletters.
Once you have created the personas, constructions that represent your “who”s, and identified the action you want them to take, you then turn to designing an online experience that incorporates your answer to the third basic question:
What is the most successful and effective method of persuading them?
1. You Must Send a Relevant Message
What are your prospects really looking for? What motivates them to seek you out?Can you provide solutions to the problems they are facing? Can you reduce any of their friction points?Identify the benefits and value your products or services confer. If you can work out what they are looking for and provide a well thought out, logical and relevant message then you have the ability to catch them.
2. Avoid Using Jargon
Try and stay well and truly away from jargon except when, and only when, you are aiming at a targeted audience in which it is required to exude credibility.Jargon convinces folks you aren’t really interested in talking to them, so they’re far less likely to pay attention.Any jargon that you absolutely need to use should be used in a minimalistic way. Those wanting to know if you can really talk the talk will look to find it (and yes, you should have a place for this on your site).
If you’re not sure how folks talk or think about your products or services, conduct online consumer research and speak with the people who interact directly with your customers.Using this knowledge and certain language used by prospects will also make leads feel more comfortable with your website and has the side effect of boosting your search engine rankings.
3. Be Sure Not to “We” Everywhere!
The first rule of online success is it’s never about you. Your focus should be on what the visitors to your site are wanting. You will be successful if you can convey to them that you understand their goals and wants.Make them feel that it is all about them.

Try incorporating one or two of these suggestions and see what happens.Even better, look out for the next installment of this article series to find another 4 tips on lead generation.

Yours to success
Karlie Valentine or visit me at

http://www.karlievalentine.com