Working, working, working.

Nothing spurs you on to work hard more than the need for money. Right? Yet, working for yourself is a bit different than picking up an hour or two here and there: the gratification is often not instantaneous. Even a 9-5 job that pays per hour each two weeks is often more reliable. But we did choose to work from home, right? Why did we do this?


Answering "WHY" is important. If you need money fast, working for yourself is not always the best option. If you need money and have time to obtain it, it's a perfect option and can possibly earn you the needed money and keep you from a future need of money (because you'll already have it via your business). If you simply want to work from home, for whatever the reason (I personally did not have kids so others can raise them), then, duh, working for yourself is more than ideal.


Here's my personal deal - we are military and were told my hubby is deploying to a scary place. We made plans, we made decisions, and we put all my businesses on hold (writing, victim's advocation, ChaCha researching, and AtHome America consulting) until he left.  Except, nearly $8,000 later, they changed his assignment (many times in the course of two months) and left us hanging.  We don't WANT hubby to leave, especially to be in such a dangerous position, but we would have NEVER EVER made the decisions we made, in particular the financial decisions, nor had me stop my work if we had known there was even a 15% chance he'd be deployed as planned. If we thought there was any possibility in having his orders changed, we'd have waited and made decisions accordingly.


Now, we need money.  Now.  We have not only lost our entire savings and reserve, but we have four unexpected high payments to make before the end of the month; last month, with company, an 18th birthday, graduation, and seeing our son off to college, we were already at the end of our rope.


Putting this into perspective, I know it'll pass and we are not going to die from the lack of money.  This fact alone pushes the stress level way down.  Still, writing is lucrative in general, though the time and money ratio is extremely off balance in a negative way... I simply don't know when the money will come in, as each publisher is different.  So that's out for quick monetary relief.


Since being a victims' advocate costs us money, we cannot even consider pushing it harder.


AtHome America is the practical and obvious money maker.  But... no one is booking at the moment in Hawaii. Dang it.  The best I can do is beg a few mainlanders to host online parties in exchange for bonus free homewares, which will take at least two weeks to host the party and close it, but if I do, I can have an immediate 20% cash back reward (AtHome Specialists earn more than 20%, but for immediate money, that's the highest amount, the rest is delivered via direct deposit).  


That leaves me to my only other option:  ChaCha!


ChaCha pays when you have earned a minimum of $150.  It's also direct deposit; I won't even have to wait for mail or the bank.  I guess you have it.  I'll be working ChaCha as much as possible.


What do YOU do when you need fast cash?  Do you sell things? Do you babysit? Do you pick up the slack on your home business?  I'd love to hear from you, though if I plant the seeds right, I'll be sowing enough green cash to make sure we're never in this predicament again.


By the way, if you'd like to be a part of my ChaCha! team, follow the link, fill out the application and be sure to let them know Teraisa@gmail.com referred you.

Tired?

Are you ever just tired?  Tired of virtually everything?  I am, but I know this is one of the pitfalls of working from home and I have to pass it.

The first thing to do is try to identify the reason behind being tired of it all.

Could I be weary of cold calling and getting nothing positive from it? Maybe I'm tired of working my butt off and seeing no extra money?  What about positive feedback; are you getting any?

Second, we must figure out what motivates us?  What do you need to make you excited again? What excited you so much, you decided to work from home, to be your own boss?  What makes you feel like you can "do anything?"

Lastly, you try to "fix" the reasons, make them obsolete if you can, and you attempt to recreate the excitement.  Even in love, you have to go back to basics, to start over once in a while, lest it become stale.

Your home business, emotionally, is much like love (the kind that leads to and resides in marriage).  Home business (as is marriage) is NOT a feeling.  But feelings do dictate your actions oh-so-many times!

As you are following my personal journey and trials of working from home, I figure I may as well let it all hang out:

Oh. My.  News text alert, BRB.

LATER:
Ironically, as I wrote this earlier, something happened that pretty much changed EVERYTHING. With Osama bin Laden's death, I can't possibly concentrate, as we are a military family (if it's in the news; it's safe to use™ - IIItNIStU™) and are on alert. Work your business while you wait!

Is Being Honest Negative?

In the home party business, and I've been successful in a few over the past 25 years and not so successful in others, I've noticed a new trend - God forbid we are just honest with one another and what's going on!  It's like instead of being honest with your downline or your upline, because, GASP!, they might take it negatively (when it's really the dishonest person contributing to all negativeness) and... what?

When you are not honest and realistic with the people you work with, in your own business or any other, lest someone takes it the wrong way, guess what? They're going to take it the right way.  Yes, the RIGHT WAY.

If your business is great, then why does it matter once in a while when you admit something could use improvement?

Macy's, the huge department store for years and the inspiration and genius of the Macy Day Parade, knew that good salesmanship was honest salesmanship.  If there's something your company cannot or will not do, just admit it!

When Macy's said something to the effect of, "You're right, you can get it cheaper at so-and-so, and by the way, here's the quickest route and store hours so you don't miss the sale," customers loved them more and were more loyal, spending even more money to shop Macy's than elsewhere because of their integrity and honesty.

I'm sad to know I come across a bunch of people who speak before they know the answers, and always to defend something that's not even defensible.  What the heck, it's an observation, in most cases.  It's someone remarking, hey, I noticed this and it's not really working, and guess what, there's a way to make it work, easily, and make even more sales for us and the company. The people sabotaging possible greatness are the very people who would most benefit, since they make money off the lower end, which propels them into business starshine status and yet, they are sabotaging themselves in the longrun.

For instance, when I first joined AtHome America, I was devastated to learn there was no direct shipping - behind the times!  And instead of anyone saying, wow, you know, I see it works, and even if there was no one else doing it, I can see how it's necessary in today's world, they told me all the reasons it was okay, to avoid the question at a home party (yes, someone told how to do that!), and well, you know me, I wrote nearly daily about what was needed and how it can happen and guess what?  Less than 6 months later, the very people who told me how to deal with it and how it's okay and so-and-so company doesn't have it and we have the best company (yada, yada, yada) are the very ones who exclaimed loudly how great our company is because guess what, now they're doing this and they're so great, etc.

What I am saying is that it's okay if you are not perfect and you admit it. Those who admit it can change, those who don't, especially for the sake of "looking good," will forever be dependent on someone else for their good fortune.

Me, I'm changing. I'm changing for the better.

Wanna Be On My Team?

In between writing and waiting (for checks), I work a home party business (and online), AtHome America and at ChaCha (as a Specialist and a Generalist - let them know Teraisa@gmail.com sent you). If you're interested in earning a few dollars here and there (more if you're willing to work!), please click on the links and join me.

Happy Easter everyone; God bless you and Us.

Perfectionism

It could be from my life as a competitive gymnast, and it could be that my mother was so smart, I had too much to live up to, but I am a serious perfectionist.  It's horrendous because it leads to procrastination, which leads to depression and feelings of inadequacy and worthlessness.

This DOES affect my home businesses.

I spend HOURS writing a thank you letter, for instance, making sure it's just right and second guessing what each word may mean to the receiver, regardless of what and why I wrote in the first place.

Even here, on this blog, I never ever re-read and edit it because to do so is death.  I would never get anything published. I have to close my eyes and push "publish post."

Great ideas are easy to come by in the wonderful world of writing-I write on the wall ideas all day AND night long. I have ideas for books, articles, screenplays, essays, poems... you name it. And they really are great ideas (I know because after a while, someone else thinks of it and makes a ton of money), but that first word gets me each and every time. It must be perfect. It has to be right or I cannot go on.


I self edit as I write, yet I'm a one-draft-deadline writer, and here's why:  the first chapter of The U-Haul Murders is the Littlest Angel/The Last Day; it's been rewritten more than one hundred times and I'm not joking.  No matter how good it is, by my standards for fellow readers, it can always be improved. Knowing Shakespeare and the Bible can be rearranged and changed for improvement - two perfect works of art (Shakespeare=all his work) - doesn't make me feel any better or edit any less.

I've been trying to earn the ChaCha bonuses (tell 'em ChaStriss sent you so we can be on the same team!), but I'm slow because I want the answers to be perfect. I want to earn 100% on the quality scores.  As a former ChaCha user, I know for a fact I'm too hard on myself compared to others, but still, I sweat it each and every time.  It's a hindrance, I tell you.

When I decide to make cold calls for my AtHome America (which, yes, I am re-instated and working until June to see what happens and how the customers deal with the new direct shipping) business, it's the same thing. I take hours to prepare and make sure I know the specials of the month and the next month. I make sure I have everything at hand, either the hard copy or the reproducibles on the computer... and I'm scared to death that I'll either be asked something I do not know, or worse, I'll know the answer and will not be able to recall it, even with everything in front of me.

Now, I know that no one is perfect and I also know that I probably won't lose a penny by a stutter or two, yet, there I am, striving to get it right before I start.

By the time I've gathered my wits about me and am ready for ChaCha or the cold calls, I've pretty much gone into the next time crunch for me, where the kids are home and I need to work on homework, or dinner's supposed to be ready, or the time zone where the customer lives is wickedly late... always something.

This perfectionism not only does not work, but it works against me.  By wanting to be perfect, I am earning less money by researching less on ChaCha and earning less money by having less home/online parties/sales with AtHome America.  0% of 0 is $0, no matter how perfect it is.

Taking the five minute idea and the knowledge my way isn't working, what if I spend just five minutes a day on ChaCha and five minutes a day making cold calls with NO PREPARATION and let whatever comes my way... come my way?

As for the writing?  I'm going to have to change it up a bit more.  No more "freewriting" because I know it's just a bunch of rambling with no intentions ever of going anywhere.  Instead, I'll have five minutes of completely unedited REAL WORK that has a preplanned purpose.  Every other day I'll write, and the next day, I'll take five minutes (and only five minutes) to edit the piece and improve as needed.


Practice makes perfect; nobody's perfect.

More (sorry?)

Obviously, I cannot stop thinking about what to do. I shouldn't feel like I'm in turmoil, but I can't help it.  It's just nothing that I saw coming. I didn't expect a positive change to feel negative.

 

I'm still not sure what even convincingly how I really feel.  I'm going to work AtHome America like I have not been able to (thanks to the lovely deployment and all the preparation (we are still waiting, even though anyone else is already gone... we've NEVER seen the changes happen that are happening and it's NOT our first time around...) since I took off in December, and we'll take it month by month.  Should I wait the first month of May to see what happens? Shall I give it until the new catalog comes out for fall and winter?  Do I cut my losses?  I don't want to; what I want is for it to work and become better than ever for us all.  I love the HomeWares, I love the people I've met, and I love the concept I felt and still feel is possible.


As for writing. I have this serious problem.  When I'm helping anyone other than myself, I have time, I do it, I finish it (whatever "it" is).  But when it's for me, it's always last on the list. My list. And even when I'm ALMOST finished (because I am never finished), it's never good enough and I'm ashamed to show it to anyone.  Shoot, even this blog, I'm half glad I'm the only one reading it because I KNOW it's garbage. I know I need to proof-read and edit as I would someone else's work. But why?  If I do that, I'll know that none of this matters and that it'll never be good enough, and that I'll realize how stupid I sound; how stupid I am. And then I'll quit.


I'm scared.  Scared to never be good enough. I wasn't always this afraid, but then again, maybe I was.


The only thing I do right, I'm not happy about. I've been working now and then on a few cases which are close to my heart - Emily Jeannette Garcia (Texas); Jennifer Lynn "Servo" Olson (Texas); Tammy Lynn Leppert (Florida); Jerry Faye, Jessica, and Mackenzie Butts (Texas); Jill Dando; Mary Shotwell Little (Georgia); and Ricky Lenn Dyer, Jr. (Nevada).  I'm not happy because I don't have the answers. I can't call the parents and tell them anything at all to make them happy.  Nothing. 


So I suppose what I need, is to write my own happy ending.  Let's see if we see this one coming.

I'm alone.

I'm writing to myself.  It helps, but sometimes... I wish I wasn't so alone.  As soon as I decided it's best to resign, of course, I'm called with a couple of orders and someone wants to join AtHome America.  What do you do?  


On one hand, I do have plenty of things - important things, like Ricky Lenn Dyer, Jr. - to do. On the other, I love AHA for ME.  On the other, I really do not understand how a business in company for so many years can first of all, not offer direct shipping period.  May, they will.  Great.  But why does it cost more to send it to so-and-so on River Avenue in West Virginia than to so-and-so on Mountain Street in Nevada?  And let's say they claim it's because they need extra boxes.  Well... what if you lose the sale?  Isn't that sale, with the profit worth it?  Isn't boosting sales even 10% by catering to your market worth a little?


It's not even like they're charging by WEIGHT, they're charging by PRICE.  If something weighs three ounces but costs more than the cheap ten pound item... I don't get it.  I just don't get it. Now, that's something MANY companies do. I"ve seen it many, many times, in fact, the majority of time.  Okay. I can handle that and even come up with clever reasons - like items change too often and it's hard to keep up and change with weight and shipping and boxes, etc.


But to charge EXTRA because you are sending to a different address?  Most companies do NOT do that.  Even Amazon asks, do you want to ship all or part of your order to another address?


It's a home business in party sales.  You want your hostess to invite every single person she can think of, not only for sales, but to encourage them to host a party or to become a consultant, right? 


Until May 2, we have to say, by the way, don't invite anyone who you cannot personally deliver their product to, because you'll have to mail it again, yourself, after you repack it and it will not be free.


In that case, um, it's easier to just go to Wal-Mart. I love my friends, I want to help, but in this economy?  Not at the expense of my kids eating.  Seriously!  Yes, there are beautiful exclusive gifts and HomeWares at AtHome America... but it's not enough to justify ordering from my friend and paying shipping and handling, then having her repack it to ship it to me, there are exclusives everywhere.


What do I always advise in business and life in general? If something isn't working, do what you can to fix it or go elsewhere. I did.  I wrote letter after letter and called to give solutions on how to change this AND why it's good not only for the customer and the independent seller, but also for the business.  It worked; they announced recently that May 2, there's to be direct shipping. Now, you can all invite whomever you want - an aside, those of us in the military are often stuck overseas for YEARS and our friends and family are not only NOT with us, but they are generally scattered, too, so we DEPEND on direct shipping!


But, I found out yesterday, it will be an additional cost. Over and beyond what you ALREADY pay to have it shipped and handled.


And they had the nerve to say this as if it was a favor to my customer and myself!  Even WalMart has direct shipping.  Even World Market.  Even Pier One Imports. Even Pampered Chef.  Even Creative Memories.  Even that place that makes vinyls for your wall!  I've used them all.  I've bought gifts for others, and every single one, charged my shipping like normal and sent it where I needed it to go AND credited, when applicable, the hostess of whatever party it is I ordered from.


Yeah, I'm against an additional cost to ship HomeWares to a customer already paying ample shipping and handling.  I don't know what to do.

Well, That's Not How I Saw It

So many home party businesses. Even in Hawaii, the majority of them deliver straight to the customer, without an extra charge.  I just learned today that my beloved At Home America, who is finally offering direct shipping (which is extremely important for military families), is going to charge extra for it. So you are already paying shipping and handling, based on the PRICE of an item, rather than weight, I can't do it.  I'm going to resign. Sigh. 


It sucks when you love something and you enjoy it but you cannot with a clear conscience continue with it.  Thank you everyone for your help.  


There's still everything else!  Go writing! Go ChaCha!

Email: Blessing and Curse

When you can't meet a client or hostess in person, and you are unable to contact them by telephone, the next best thing is email.  Email can be instantaneous, however, due to that nature, the wait can often drive you mad or, at worst, it can be paralyzing.


Questions creep into your brain: "Did the email bounce into the SPAM box?"  "Does the client or hostess not want to be contacted?"  "Did the client or hostess change his mind?"  "How soon is too soon to contact him again?  What if..."


To validate your questions, but not your obsessive fear, reread your SENT email and make sure you included your name, telephone number, email address (even though you've sent it via email, you need to include it again in the body of the letter), and physical address if applicable (if it turns out you forget to give contact information, send a follow-up email with a very short message and the information).  If you included contact information, just wait.  Three days for a follow up email (unless time is of the essence), but you can call the following day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SAMPLE EMAIL

for a home-party-based-business to an online Lead
Thank you, Michelle, for sharing your letter!

Dear [Insert Lead's Name Here];


Thank you for contacting us; it's an exciting time to inquire about AtHome America, to host a party and earn free HomeWares or to become a HomeStyle Specialist.


The company is sending you a packet of information, including our latest catalog, and you can also view the catalog online at http://AtHome.com/Teraisa.


April and May have fabulous hostess and customer specials, including HomeWares to share on Mother's Day, which you can have free when you host a qualified home, catalog, or online party or by becoming a HomeStyle Specialist (HSS) yourself.


Whether you are looking to supplement your income, schedule your work hours around your family, travel for FREE, decorate your house, meet new women, or just need to get out of the house, AtHome America (AHA) is the right place to be.  AHA offers the flexibility and the income to do all of these things. Be the first in your area to begin an AHA business with a brand new product line that is sure to please everyone who attends one of your shows.


For starters, you can begin your business for only $49 (INCLUDES tax and shipping and handling) - this means you receive more than $425 worth of products and business supplies similar to those on the attached flyer [be sure to attach any pertinent information].  You KEEP the $49 HomeStudio by submitting $900 in home party sales within 35 days of your HomeStudio being shipped out; you can earn this easily by hosting your own Grand Opening and two other parties ($300 in sales or more each). Talk about parttime!


These three parties not only earn you the HomeStudio, but you'll also receive commission ($225), you'll be on your way to earning a Jeep Patriot (we'll talk!), and you will have earned MORE FREE HomeWares if you hosted your Grand Opening. Don't worry about learning the ropes, once you sign up, you'll have access to training videos and guides, and you can always call, text, or email me (123-456-7890 AHA.Home.Decor@gmail.com) - you may own your business, but you won't be in business alone.


I have been selling AHA since last November and I've enjoyed every minute of it. I can't wait to see what's in store for my team this year. The sky truly is the limit.


If you'd like to host a party, let's get you set up (I'm attaching our hostess and product specials' flyer) [don't forget to attach flyer!] with a date and invitatons your guests.  If you want to join AHA, choose a date to host your grand opening (two weeks from now is perfect) and five friends who will help you practice by hosting your first parties and keep you on track to all AHA has to offer. I'll send you the online application.  Together, we CAN do this!


Teraisa J. Rogers, Hawaii
123-456-7890
AHA.Home.Decor@gmail.com

It Never Ends

Things happen. Good, bad, indifferent, things happen.  We are still stranded at the airport and it's been OVER a week now.  There are ways to bypass this, but after staying at the nearby hotel, feeding the kids, sending hubby home from another city to avoid being AWOL... we are broke.  I'm not kidding. Day by day, we spend less and less on food. I haven't felt this down financially in quite a few years (thanks to my husband, he's a GREAT provider, but this turned out to be an $8000 month).

With the depression-let's call it what it is when you feel like you have NO CONTROL-I have no desire to do anything. This is why people with severe mental disorders (sadness and depression type) probably don't get help; it's like the lower and sadder I am, the less inclined I am to do anything about it. I have no energy. No will of my own (well, it seems that way), and believe it or not, I have most of the tools and things I need to work from anywhere. 

You heard me write. I mean, you heard right. I have the screenplay. It needs work. I have tapes from The U-Haul Murders, I have Ricky Lenn Dyer's case... I have my mind. What's wrong with me?

I know, I'm talking to myself, so I continue... I think it's my self-confidence.  Self, what do you think?

I think you're right! I think the fact you had a few leads with At Home America but knew 1) you probably couldn't personally do the party because you live thousands of miles away on an island, and 2) even if you could do the party, you are stuck in the airport and each hour you don't know if you can contact them much less help them in anyway, and all that made it even more depressing. Out of all my work, AHA is the easiest, really, it's all set up.

YES! That's right.  What do you (Teraisa) have to do?  Five minutes. That's it. Five minutes on each.  Can you do that?  I think you can. No, I KNOW you can.  I'm off to watch five minutes of video, write for five minutes, answer five minutes of email, and I'm going to review my work for five minutes.

And that is how you change your attitude: five minutes at a time.


~~~~~~I'm done. I'm finished feeling sorry for myself. Again, I realize I'm the only one listening, but I'm so appreciative I'm not giving up on myself after all, it's not the first time my mind went on vacation and it won't be the last.

Stir Crazy and Business-less.

Vacation is one thing, not that it's really vacation, but a way for our solider to say "goodbye" just in case... but this is ridiculous. We've been out of our home an extra week now, broken up by about two weeks, and it doesn't look like we'll be back tomorrow.  As we plan each day that passes. 

I'm losing At Home America business because I'm afraid to commit. 

Seriously.  I can't even say "YES" to anyone about anything at all because the truth is, every single day, I MAY be on a plane. I MAY have Internet or not. I don't know. I don't know about tomorrow, much less next week.


So, we have these beautiful Easter gifts from At Home America and no way to even earn them much less sell them.  What a bummer.  Catalog parties, however, started now, can go on for two weeks and I KNOW I'll be home. I have to be.  I have to be.  In two weeks, our soldier may be in Afghanistan. I cannot be here, nor anywhere but where he is until then.  Host an online party through me and maybe you'll bring us both good vibes.

Lest you think why I'm not writing or ChaCha!'ing, it's a matter of sleeping in one stinky room with three teens and major lack of sleep. Everything I seem to write (including this) comes out senseless.  Sigh.

Bust Out of Your unCOMFORTable Zone

Let’s get to the heart of the matter. You are uncomfortable and tend to stay where you feel safe and secure. The first step to break out of the mold and step into your comfort zone, is to know what’s going on with you. Why are you uncomfortable? Many of us start businesses without the full knowledge of all that’s involved, regardless of the planning. We don’t know, until we get uncomfortable, that we’ll have any problems.

After talking to successful professionals and extensive research, the biggest problem appears to be making phone calls or asking for an audience (interviews, consultations, etc.). Therefore, we must figure out why. If we believe in ourselves and our products, why is calling on someone to check us out or asking for a sale so uncomfortable?

Business is about selling. Period. If you are a writer, you are selling. If you are a home party consultant, you are a seller. If you are a victims’ advocate, you are a seller.

What you sell is important. If you can’t tell someone how you can help them or how your product can solve their problem, you’ll be of no use and you’ll lose the sale.

But aren’t we jumping the gun? Isn’t YOUR problem that you aren’t even ASKING (calling, meeting)? That’s my problem. I don’t want to mistake me staying within my comfort zone for you, but if it’s not you, why are you here? The least you can do is leave a comment and give us some wonderful suggestions that make us want to jump up and change our evil -sell-less- ways! Come on, do it. Or read on.

First off, what are you selling? If you don’t know, you can’t offer it, can you?

Since I can only vouch for me, let’s go with my businesses as examples. In as few words as possible (get a paper and do this at home with your own work, will ya?), I’m writing what I’m selling. Complete sentences are no-no’s; unnecessary.

Writer — Information, entertainment

Victim’s Advocate — Hope, help, publicity

Do I believe this? All of it? Yes. That is a relief. Now, I already know if I call on someone and they are not as excited as I am, or not at all, it’s NOT me or my products.

But it can be how I present them.

Writing: Know what you are writing about, write the best you can, and presenting it according to present industry standards and revising as necessary. I can tell you my problem. I’m afraid to fail, so I do not sell. That’s my big problem. I have to figure out how to get around this, but you (and I) get the gist.

Solution: Because you cannot write first and then sell, for most writing, I’ll query at least one market once a day and follow up. As for writing, I’ll continue the five minute process and work five minutes or more every single day on writing.

Solution: We recently purchased a new computer with the operating system that will work with our previous website program and will recreate a website WHILE learning more coding, especially understanding CSS-which we’ll learn by reading books and watching training videos. A great alternative is to hire someone, but we produce zero income; my writing income supports True Crime Fanatic.

Victim’s advocate: Be available. They have to know how to find me without even knowing I exist. This is where writing comes in and publicizing. I am great at marketing, because I love it, however, the past few years, I am frustrated about not being able to market in the way that WORKS and in the way I always have since 1997, via True Crime Fanatic. It’s that we changed our operating system and our website program; all the XML/HTML/CSS knowledge I possess is just not enough. Without this website, there is not a lot I can do for anyone, it’s imperative I get it back up and running properly and updated in a timely manner.

Decide what you do and what you are selling. Then, make yourself an easy doable list. Figure out what’s holding you back and work on it. Take a leap of faith in yourself, step out, and just do it.

From today forward, come back to this list when you’re a bit behind and feel the old pain of being uncomfortable sneaking up on you. IYou can make a change and break out of your comfort zone, easily. Remember why you’re in business in the first place, why you chose the businesses you did: because you believe in yourself and your products.

Random Organization Tips

Organization is about knowing where everything you need is at the moment you need it.  What are the five most important tools you use in your business? Can you, without showing physically nor while you are physically seeing everything, explain to a ten year old where to find each of those items?  If not,  reconsider your organization practices. 

 ~Keep a garbage can near the place you most open mail; throw unsolicited mail away immediately.

~If you set up any type of filing system and you find yourself buried in an unorganized paper mess, cut your losses and try a different method.  For instance, someone drowning in un-filed papers might simply relabel their file folders by months rather than by product, bills, receipts, etc.

~Consider using a file wallet for receipts until you know which file system works best for you.

~If you don't feel like doing something now, decide if you'll want to do it later. If not, either do it now and forget about it, or rethink what you're doing.

~Before you put off today what you can do tomorrow, figure out if late fees are involved if something comes up and you can't get to it.

~Don't put that there!  Not taking a moment to put things all the way away will add up to hours searching for that one thing you really need but can't find.

~It's worth your time and effort to set up a space, no matter how small, to designate for your work.  When you need something, it will always be there. 

~Invest in SPAM software if you do not use a big company email (such as Google's gmail), as SPAM is a time thief.

~Use a timer when "checking your email" or browsing the web "for work."  Give yourself five minutes to do what you need to do, then move on.  

~Use your Rolodex for all it's worth - store your passwords with the name and other important information for easy access; when you meet a potential client, use the front of your Rolodex card for name and contact information, use the back for notes that will mentally remind you who the person is and how you can be of help to each other

~Do you currently use gmail?  Google's gmail comes with a calendar that emails reminders when you want and sync's with most smart phones.  Better yet, if you are a Mac user, iCal will keep your days completely organized with a little help from you.

~Look at your calendar at the end of the evening (an hour before bed is great) and add to it if necessary; check out your calendar first thing in the morning - you will save valuable time by incorporating these two small things into your daily life (EXCELLENT for work and personal life)

~Clean up your desk top at the end of the day, this way you won't be tempted to avoid it the next day.

~Need more room?  Use a tall bookcase, a baker's rack, or even stacked crates to give you extra space (if you like the baker's rack in the picture, ask ME how to earn it free by hosting an online At Home America party). 

~Do you use your bedroom for your office space?  Without going into the ramifications of the office on your sleep, utilize all the space you can - use underbed boxes to store things you need, but do not use often.

~Use dry erase boards and/or cork boards near your workspace to keep important papers and information in constant view and easy access.  When you walk by, or sit down to work, you'll automatically be able to see what's urgent and deal with it.

~Unless you are expecting a specific text, resist the urge to "glance" at each text that comes in while working, if you have a hard time ignoring it and refuse to turn the phone off, schedule one minute each half hour to check your phone.

~Never be afraid to answer those who ask for favors "because you don't "really" work," or because you are home "all day long," with a strong and hardy "NO, thank you; I'm busy."

Update on Recent Five Minute Postings

The five minutes did help out, especially considering after I wrote, all three of our kids, at different times, got pretty sick. The kind you have to clean up. YUCK!  That was the end of the five minute sessions.

What came of the five minutes spent getting a signature and a few emails together?  I made another small sale and now need only $683 in sales.  That's my high for the day. My low is something else.  An At Home America prior consultant* who recently rejoined... resigned today.  Less than 49 hours of signing. It's a big blow, but something we'll deal with when the kids are no longer ill.

It's never easy, is it?

And what of the creative juices? They flow.  Five minutes, right?  Once the last of them has lain down and closed their eyes, I just might get those juices to spill. I need it now, more than any other time, and that's just for sanity!

*At Home America uses the term HomeStyle Specialist, however, I'm going to use "consultant" this time because not everyone reading is necessarily rich on AHA lingo. 

Five MORE Minutes - and Then Some

As you know, I'm a fan of five minutes.  I'm NOT a fan of looming deadlines, and that's what I'm facing now.  

In writing. In At Home America. In advocating for victims.

Let me add, thanks to the military, I have no contact whatsoever (for the first time ever, not even when he was in Iraq did I have a day without some sort of communication) with my husband and spent the first lonely day feeling sorry for myself.  That's depressing enough, but when I looked at my calendar, I realized the month spent trying to get our kids on airplanes back to school (and losing precious work, including At Home America parties and meetings) was destroying all I worked for (that's another story in itself, just trust me).

Suddenly, I'm paralyzed. I'm doing nearly nothing.  And then it comes to me... five minutes.  Get back into life.  So I meditated and prayed for five minutes.  Ah. Smart move.

Five minutes of freeing my mind put me on the path to success. First of all, the no contact thing does stink, but I can use it to our advantage.  I imagined four less interruptions each day, then, handing him a check for the money I earned because I used my time wisely.  Also, for us, there's one more thing, he's been waiting for me to send the children's book to the publisher and to type 43:10 (screenplay) into the computer so we can get a new agent...  I CAN do this.  Even if only five minutes at a time.

The next five minutes, about an hour later, I rationally listed my most important deadlines and what I needed to do to meet them.

For instance, as a homestyle specialist, I worked hard the past two months to get to the second of two levels, in order to earn an important all expense paid trip to Chicago to learn more about my company and how to succeed.  When the flight fiasco with the boys happened (and the lovely holidays), I set it all aside. Now, in order to gain the last level and the trip (not to mention a decent check and some free homewares for myself), I have seven days to get $800 in sales. YIKES! I typically only earn about $1000 in sales in an entire month!

Therefore:

Goal - Earn $800 in sales before 4PM Hawaii time on January 24

How - Advertise, beg, motivate three people to host a quick online party

With this information in hand:

In five minutes I rewrote my iPhone email signature and my email signature. Since I need sales right now more than a recruit, I focused on whatever might encourage someone to order ASAP - the fact the Sale-a-bration sale is only through January and only until each item runs out, creates urgency; the fact the items are as low as $2.99 creates a more urgent desire.

In five more minutes, I wrote from my iPhone five letters to friends or family who I truly care about and would normally write.  Hours later, I'd take five minutes and do the same on the computer.  Each day, I'll do it again, but with other friends.  

Results:  I ended up with two online orders.  Both were small, but they are orders I normally would not have. Besides, all orders add up and the magic number is $1000.  I'm now short only $712.

And you can see how the five minutes add up, too. And they're painless!  I'm going to post on Facebook each day a new item under $3 for sale. They have to go through the higher priced items to get to the sale items. Works for me.  I'll take five minutes to go through my address book and call a potential hostess. Five minutes will allow me to check an online party. Five minutes does so much.

With writing... five minutes will give me a minute of screenplay action (I can type a page in five minutes).  I can query three publishers, a literary agent, and print out a proposal. Five more minutes gives me another page. My deadline for the screenplay is a bit longer, I have until February 2. Still, I can take five minutes to figure out how many five minute spurts a day I need to meet the deadline.  Easy.

The most difficult of my home "business" is being a victim's advocate. The reason it's difficult is that it earns nothing and depends on the earnings from the other jobs.  Constantly, I have to stop working on what I truly feel called to do, to do the others.  It's a catch-22, isn't it?

The biggest way I help is through a website.  I've been struggling for the last several years (after years of success) because I don't understand how to create the website in my mind now that I use Mac and Dreamweaver, and therefore, rarely do I get to actually write, research, or help. It's another bit of disappointment.

Yet, again, this is how five minutes works.  Five minutes can allow me to choose a subject in Dreamweaver that I really do not understand, and read.  It's ONLY five minutes, I can deal with the dry and often confusing information in such a small amount.  I can use five minutes more to create a pretty web page as best I can. Another five minutes will be spent sharing information author Sue Russell has shared in her Missing Mondays.  And if I have another five minutes to spare, I can write. I can write about cold cases, real cases, domestic violence, a plea for help.

Yes, in five minutes, I can do it.

Incidentally, it took longer than five minutes to write this and I do wish I had an extra five to decide if it makes sense, but since I really write it for me, to keep me on track, I'd rather take my five minutes and earn another $5.

God bless you and pray for our soldiers.

Change Bad to Good

Twice now, I've received packages from UPS that are so badly out of shape, the items are ruined, or a few are missing.  One box was from World Market, the other from At Home America.  The first time, we didn't even know we had a delivery because it was - ready for this? - delivered through our backyard gate and inside the detached garage side door.  Why would we check there for a package?  That one is still giving me problems and is costing me money. It was from before Christmas and it's the new year and we still aren't happy with the solution from UPS. World Market was great for the most part (they did forget to send the replacement and that's a whole 'nother story), and tomorrow, I'll let  you know how I fare with At Home America.

What do you do when this happens?  First, before you touch it, if it's obvious, of course, take pictures!  Today there's no excuse to document it.  Then open the package and check the items to the packing list.  AFTER you check the list, find out which items are good and which are not. Then call the company and let them know what happened. Offer the pictures, because they need to know if their shipping partner is doing their job.  More then likely, they will NOT want your photos and they will NOT rethink their shipping and handling methods, but you can feel good knowing you did your part.

However, you are not finished. You MUST call the shipping company.  If it only happened/happens once, it's an accident, and they'll thank you. If it happens twice or more, you need to write a letter (documentation) and include the photos.  Poor shipping and handling is NOT acceptable. 

Where I live, on the most isolated land in the world, Hawaii (it's true), I understand all the excuses. BUT if this is the best they can do, why do I pay 25% (AHA) when people on the mainland pay only 10%?  I pay the 25% for shipping and HANDLING.  Handle with care. If you don't, I WILL do something about it.

Here's the thing: if they are sending your shipments in a careless manner (and sneaking away), what makes you believe they aren't doing the same thing to YOUR customers?  Do you really work from home to spend extra hours babysitting and coddling a delivery service? 

Take care of it now to avoid problems later.

(Thanks. As you can tell, I"m venting. I do feel better, so thank you!).

UPDATE:  We got a THIRD poorly shipped box, but this time the USPS (not the UPS) acknowledged it with a sticker.  At least I'm not missing anything. And I cannot update that yet, because we were stuck at the airport all day (and will be again tomorrow).  You know I'll be making phone calls and writing letters.

And What Has 5 Minutes Done for You Lately?

I challenged you, and myself, to see what five minutes can do for you. Has it helped?  Does it work for you? Can it work for you?

For me, it's helped me get letters into the mail, email potential hostesses for At Home America, I've written a "filler," and though I've finished half of my script thanks to the 5 minute rule, it's going to help me start it OVER because I goofed.

Today, it's written this short piece.  Come on, you have five minutes to spare, even if you are trapped in Christmas shopping lines. Take out your smart phone and write something, call a client, search for a missing child.  Smart phone on your wish list?  No problem, a napkin, gum wrapper, receipt, anything can work.  Write a list, write a thank you note, write your dreams and goals.  Five minutes can make a difference.

What Can You Accomplish with Just Five Minutes?

When our kids were young, we often called them in for a "quick five minute clean-up." Because there were so many kids in a small house (seven), they often tried to get away with doing very little (yes, even less than a whopping five minutes of work!). You know what we'd do?  We start the time over. EVERYONE pays when someone slacks on a measly five minutes. 

A year into it, I realized they didn't really understand the concept (they were ages 4-13 at the time).  By having each one, separately, set the time and do as much as fast as they can until it goes off, they realized they could literally make a difference-an impact, really-by working gung-ho. Their five minute quick clean up work was usually much cleaner than when they'd take a half hour to do the same job.

For each action is a reaction; a consequence.  Because they took their five minutes seriously, they often didn't have any other cleaning to do for the day.  You can say the reward was immediate AND delayed and, quite honestly, they were proud of themselves.

Yesterday, I wrote I'm on a type of leave from work (purposely planning ZERO home parties with At Home America and letting the writing slide).  Though I do not have a home party planned, I do take a few minutes to find a great sale item and list it in my signature, on a postcard, or perhaps on Facebook.  And that's when lightning struck.

Why not do a five minute quick WRITE UP?  The kids cleaned five minutes. When I was a personal trainer, I would tell clients to exercise even just five minutes, knowing it often led to five more, and so on.  So, why not use the same idea with writing?

Before putting the timer on, I made a decision about WHAT to write (since I usually try to do eight or nine projects all at one time and make little or no headway).  With the decision in place (the screenplay), I wrote. And wrote. And wrote some more.  It's only been fifteen minutes, yet I wrote more, and more seriously, than I have the entire week.

Who'd ever think it'd be this easy?  Just five minutes a day.

Holiday Cheer (pre-AFTER Holiday Sale)

Writing seems to take a backseat near the winter holidays. It's not that no one is buying at this time, it's that I'm busy. Really busy.  You'd think after having seven kids for so many years, it'd be easier now that only three are at home; it's not!  I find I am harder on myself than ever to make things perfect. I feel like I should be better than ever. In other words: I don't give myself a break.

Writing is not the only thing I put on hold, though. My At Home America business is NOT having anymore home shows until January.  Why?  Because it's not worth it for me, personally.  First of all, it's past the date to guarantee that Christmas delivery.  Secondly, knowing people spend less on things they need at this time, in order to give gifts, I know the ones who NEED something can order it online this one time. And they have!

it turns out we have a pre-AFTER-holiday sale.  Over 100 items are marked down up to 80% - there's even something as low as $1.99!  Read on, then scroll to the bottom, I'm sharing some of our sale items here.

Having said all that, the one thing that NEVER takes a backseat?  Speaking out for victims. That never ends because being victimized never ends.  Take a moment out of each day to look up just ONE missing person.  See if you recognize them or something in their last day that may make the world of difference to their families.  I don't care how small the information you have is, report it, share it, and do it quickly. Time DOES matter.  Also check out True Crime Fanatic's Facebook page, they'll update the missing weekly or more.

Go on... check out the missing.  Then, come back and take advantage of our pre-AFTER-holiday sale (using the extra money you earned this season from organizing your business!).

 

For all sales - if you are interested, go to At Home America, or send me a personal note HERE with the NUMBERS of the items you want and how many of each, I'll get back to you ASAP. Thank you and best wishes this week!

If you remember nothing...

then don't worry about anything. But if you can remember one thing, remember this: they don't know how scared you are. They don't know how you feel about yourself and how much you know. Whatever it is you do; write, direct sales (like At Home America), dog watching, or even stamping envelopes... whomever you talk to, they don't know.  Use it and become even better than you already are.