Archive for business

Business, Money & Delusions of Grandeur

Saturday, February 27th, 2010

In the early days of my business I was about 80% percent delusional about how to run a business. I really thought that I just needed to work really hard, believe in the business and everything (ie. THE MONEY) would work itself out. Problem was I had no clue how to really manage my cash flow.

There was no plan. I just got the money, had a spark of an idea and flew with it. My first ‘real’ business was a soapmaking business. I got into that business based on the fact that my hobby was soapmaking and I loved it. I thought that was enough: Some money to get started (borrowed from my parents) and a love of soapmaking.

That’s all you need, right?

Business & Money Management Starts With a Plan

You hear from any business development adviser that you need a business plan. It’s true. But your business plan really doesn’t have to be 30 or 100 pages. It just needs to be clear. You need to know how you are going to make money, how much money, how much you need to survive and how it’s all going to balance out.

You don’t hear many blogs talking about online business tips and advice around money and managing your business money and I wonder why. (or maybe I’m just not finding the right business/money blogs – if you know of any good ones comment and let me know, k?!)

I’m thinking it’s for one of two reasons:
1. People who are great at money management come by it so easily it seems like a no-brainer to them.
2. The people who are terrible at it are keeping their mouths shut because they don’t want other people to know.

I know I fit more into category #2 than category #1. But since I opened up the floodgates in this post I’m ready to just be totally open and honest about my previously lacking money management skills. As Dr.Phil says “you can’t fix what you won’t acknowledge”!

So we know that money is important in business and making sure you run your business in a positive cash flow is a basic business principal that’s often overlooked.

How do you manage you money in business?

Well here are my tips that I’ve learned from being seriously out of control to moving back into control of my money:

- watch your money like a hawk (I use lots of spreadsheets)
- be obsessed with making a profit! (don’t always work for FREE!)
- don’t justify ‘another money making course’ when you can’t afford it
- cut out the time wasters (which are money takers)
- cut out expenses you don’t really need

I’ll be talking more about money on my blog because I think it’s truly important.

What do you think? Is money management hard or easy for you? Any tips on how to keep your business budget in check and profits on the rise?

Angela Wills
Angela Wills

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Please join me as I bring to you national bestselling author Asha Tyson. You don’t want to miss this. This teleseminar is one of a kind and promises NOT to be just another teleseminar… You will gain real take-home value that you can use right away to get that book done once and for all. You will. . .
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Categories : internet marketing
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What is Your Strength in Business?

Saturday, May 2nd, 2009

If you’re trying to make money on the internet there’s no doubt that you’ve been inundated with emails, websites and information on all the latest and greatest marketing methods you MUST do in order to make your fortune online.

I’ve recently come to realize it’s not the how that matters at all.

That’s right, I said the marketing doesn’t matter.

There are probably a million ways to ‘market’ your business. What you need is something that fits just perfect, that you can commit to and that you will be consistently motivated to continue with.

If you’ve tried every trick in the book to get more visitors to your website or make more sales and nothing seems to work, it’s time to really get to know YOURSELF and understand your strengths.

How do you find your strength? Here are some ideas:

What Do People Tell You You’re Good at?

Yes, you’ve heard this before and sometimes this question is just annoying. What if no one tells you you’re good at something – does that mean you’re good at nothing?? Not at all! It just means you’ve got to start doing more and different things, until people start to RAVE about what you’ve done for them.
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In a Print Book! Work at Home Success Bible..

Tuesday, March 17th, 2009

wah-successI’m so excited to tell you that today I got my copy of the Work at Home Success Bible by Leslie Truex. I had Leslie on as a guest a few weeks ago and we had a great conversation on working at home.

I submitted my story about how I got started working at home to Leslie last year and now it’s right there in print – how cool is that?!

Here’s a little except from what I submitted:

As soon as my son was born I felt very strong desire to work from home. I had always wanted the freedom of being my own boss, but having a child fueled that motivation enough for me to make it happen.

I knew I wanted to work at home and on the Internet, but it took me a long time to decide what really suited me. I spent a lot of time online going to various work-at-home forums…

If you want to read the rest you’ll have to grab your own copy of the book!

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Seven Lessons Learned The Hard Way

Friday, March 13th, 2009

You could probably call me a ‘serial entrepreneur’.

Over the last seven years I’ve been involved in about five different businesses (and about twenty-five websites or more).

I’ve been a Soapmaker, a Canadian Registered Education Savings Plan rep, a Soy Candle rep, a Virtual Assistant and an Internet Marketer.

And oh the lessons I have learned. Here are my top seven:

1. don’t run a business on credit – Yea, I know, it’s obvious, right? Well I’ll admit right here and right now that I’m just bad with credit.

From the time I turned 19 I became dependent on credit for no other reason than it was cool to have credit. I never learned to live without it and I tried to run a few of those businesses above around credit cards. It just doesn’t work.

I’m proud to say that I now run my business completely without credit cards and am definitely planning to keep it that way.

2. don’t chase opportunities – I am impatient. In the beginning and even later on I would fall for the money-talk.

You know that talk where someone tells you how much money they are making in their business and says you should join them. I did that on more than one occassion.

Quit chasing opportunities and start following real goals.

3. don’t try to be everything – When I started my Soapmaking business I wanted to go big, I wanted to be like a company called Sunfeather that produces lots and lots of soap every year.

It was kinda like trying to build the Titanic when I’d never even built a rowboat. You’ve gotta start with the basics and not try to be everything at once.

4. don’t try to be someone else - Oh I tried so hard to be like other successful entrepreneurs I met online. The one that comes to mind the most though is Alice Seba of InternetMarketingSweetie.com.

Alice is wonderful and she’s successful. Alice also puts out tons of great products and content. I wanted to be like Alice, ok, let’s be honest here – I wanted to BE Alice.

but I’m not Alice. I’m Angela. There’s only one me and that’s what makes my business unique, different and great. So now I just try to be me and as much of me as I can put into my business.

5. really, really love what you do

When you love what you do nothing can stop you.

When you hate what you do anything can stop you.

The businesses I really wasn’t digging made it really easy to just slow right down when I had any kind of issues came up.

6. don’t lie to yourself (aka denial) – Don’t tell yourself lies.

Some people tell themselves it’s ok to spend so much money on their business or that they are in the right business and just need some time to get it right.

Make sure you don’t lie to yourself and tell yourself what you want to hear. Know who you are and listen to your internal signals when something isn’t right.

7. if it’s not working, know when to quit! – Seth Godin talks about something called ‘The Dip’ in his book of the same name.

Basically the dip is a point in your business where it gets really hard and that’s the point where most people quit. So I thought I was in the dip a number of times but really afterwards I realized I just didn’t have what I needed to be in the businesses I had chosen – the drive to make them successful.

If you don’t have an unstoppable drive and passion for a business, then it’s just not right for you.

When I did my first show and interviewed Kelly McCausey, she talked about seeing a ‘Big Vision’ for your company. Do you see neverending possibilities for you business? If so you’re probably heading in the right direction!

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Leslie Truex of Work at Home Success

Monday, March 2nd, 2009

Episode #3 – March 2nd, 2009


MP3 File

Leslie Truex

Today on the show we have guest Leslie Truex. Leslie is the owner of Work at Home Success, author of the Work at Home Success Bilbe and the host of the Work at Home Success Expo.

Leslie is a true entrepreneur and has been providing advice on working at home since 1998. On the call we talk about how Leslie got started, some great advice on working and home and why Leslie LOVES what she does!

Leslie’s Sites:
Work at Home Success – Advice on how to work at home since 1998.
Work at Home Success Bible – Leslie’s new book.

One Day Only Bonus Book Specials – Includes a free copy of my own 24 Hour VA Profits report.

During the show I mentioned the wonderful event I hosted at the end of February, the Marketer’s Mojo Virtual Conference. With 22 speakers and over 15 hours of awesome audio you’ll want to check it out and get your copies for download here.

There is no new Marketer’s Mojo Talk Radio this week because the Marketer’s Mojo Virtual Conference is running all week. We’ll be back next week with Leslie Truex, Author of the Work at Home Success Bible.

Yesterday was Day 1 of the Marketer’s Mojo Virtual Conference and it went off wonderfully.

The speakers were as follows:

  • Angela Wills (me), Topic – Marketing Your Service Business Without Sacrificing Your Sanity
  • Shawna Lee Coronado, Topic – I Love What I Do – How Creative Branding and Marketing Saved My Business During A Recession and Can Save Your Business Too!
  • Sandy Forster, Topic – From Welfare to Millionaire: How a struggling single mom took her passion and turned it into a successful internet business – and YOU can too!
  • Donna Kozik, Topic – Become a Published Author, 5 Fast and Easy Steps
  • Crissy Herron, Topic – Connecting With Your Audience

There were some common themes running through all the sessions and I’d like to recap some of the fantastic tidbits I took away. I know each person who listens to the calls will take away other information as it relates to their current situation because all speakers had so much great info to share.

Here are a couple of my real take-aways from yesterday:

1. Be a Big Fish in a Little Pond

One thing that’s really important in marketing your business online is that you stand out from the crowd.

The easiest way to do that?

Get out of the crowd!

It makes so much sense to stop marketing your business alongside of so many others, in places where your voice is small, and start going to places where your message is new, fresh, and unheard.

Examples of this:

- Offline – Many offline businesses have no idea how to make money on the internet. The idea is amazing to them yet they haven’t had many people offering them information on the topic. Be the person to bring the message to this market and you’ll stand out.

Crissy Herron had some great examples of how to get offline and attend events, get featured in magazines, approach local groups that would be interested and more.

- Stop Preaching to the Choir – Shawna Lee Coronado talked about getting creative in your marketing and start really thinking outside of the box with WHO you market to. Instead of going to people who’ve heard your message over and over again, find people who need your message but haven’t heard it yet.

2. Write Your Book

Both Donna Kozik and Sandy Forster talked about the benefits of writing a book and how it immediately gives you authority and gives you an advantage over your competition.

I’ve wanted to write a book for quite some time now but have had no idea how to get started. I have so much information I’d love to share in a book but felt like it was overwhelming just trying to think of what to include!

Well, Donna made it really easy with her suggestion to go ‘an inch wide and a mile deep’ with your book topic. I realized I don’t HAVE to share everything I know in just one book and in fact I just SHOULDN’T do that or I’ll also overwhem my readers!

The advantages of writing a book seem almost endless:

  • Establishes you as an expert instantly
  • Gets you more speaking engagements
  • Gets you more media attention
  • Is a fantastic marketing tool
  • Allows your readers to get to know you

So, based on this first day of calls you can expect a book from me sometime this year! There – now I’ve got accountability right here on this blog.

There was so much to learn from all these speakers I definitely need to listen again so I’ll be loading all the mp3s into my ipod after the seminar is over!

Today we have six great speakers and I’m really looking forward to it.

I’m so excited to announce that the book ‘Work at Home Success Bible’ by Leslie Truex has been released.

Leslie is also a member of Mom Masterminds (as I am) and has a fantastic website at Work at Home Success.

I haven’t read the book yet but have got my order in to Amazon and will give you a full review once I get it and read it. Here’s a summary of what the book covers:

  • telecommuting (3 chapters)
  • starting a home business from scratch or buying one
  • two marketing chapters
  • eBay
  • affiliate income
  • info products
  • work/life balance
  • avoiding scams (some info often not included in other books such as how to control those emotions and temptations)
  • and more
  • Just wanted to share my excitement!

    By the way, my profile is about how I quit my full time job to work full time from home as a virtual assistant.

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    Validation

    Thursday, January 8th, 2009

    Wow – I just watched this video and it’s so important to see, feel and do – Validation.

    Honestly it really made me cry like crazy. There are so many people in this world running very low on validation and we can all lift each other up just by saying a few kind words. You really never know how much those words can mean to someone else

    Alex Mandossian (who is a great internet marketer) made a post on twitter which lead me to his blog post here:
    Short Movie about the power of validation

    This is a business skill.

    If you validate the people you work with, say “good job!” every now and then instead of “give me more!”, you’ll see the difference it makes. I know because I somehow have had the instinct to do this with people I’ve worked with in the past. I always try to look at the good of what people have done for me and say “thank you” or “good job” as a way of showing my appreciation.

    As a virtual assistant I have not received the same treatment on some occasions. Some clients do not say thank you, ever, and it really makes me feel under-appreciated and under-valued.

    For the clients who do show appreciation and respect me as a person I feel an entirely different loyalty and appreciation for.

    Make sure you watch this move, it’s important. Click the play below.

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    Categories : internet marketing
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    Here are two very inspiring videos I came across. The first one came from the lastest HARO email by Peter Shankman and then next I got in an email from my friend Anja Gurnig.



    Here’s the story I got from Anja on this one:
    At a meeting of the AARP (American Assc of Retired People) they showed a video that was submitted in a contest by a 20 yr old. The contest was titled ‘u @ 50′.

    This video actually won second place.

    When they showed it , everyone in the room was awe-struck and broke into spontaneous applause.
    So simple and yet so brilliant.

    Take a minute and watch it.




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    Categories : internet marketing
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