Increase Liquor Sales In Ohio

So I am watching the news this morning and I hear that Ohio has a 5% increase in liquor sales from last year. Hmmm, I wonder, could it have anything to do with Ohio being one of the hardest hit states for job loss? (being sarcastic)...LOL... Sounds like all the job loss here is turning people to drink. Yes, Ohio needed an increase in something, but I'm thinking an increase in liquor is not what we were looking for.... LOL.

7 Steps to Starting Your Business

I've finally decided to start my business. Now, WHERE THE HECK DO I START?'

Sound familiar?

This question comes up a lot and I'm always surprised by the "words of wisdom" seasoned entrepreneurs give. Things like "make a website," "get your business license," "buy this software," "read this book," "write a business plan" or "open a business bank account."

This is great advice if (1) time is not of essence and (2) money is no object. Don't get me wrong, those answers are correct. But I find they often miss the point by adding unnecessary burdens like anxiety and expenses to someone who's just starting off. Most people I speak with don't have the luxury of time or money. They want to get their business up and running quickly and start attracting clients so they can start making money to care for their families.

If you fit the latter description, don't despair. I've come up with 7 steps to help you get up and running in no time.

Specify what you do. This is probably THE most important step. You can't start marketing yourself without being absolutely clear on what services you offer. Split your list in two -- services you DO offer and services you DON'T offer. Keep this list handy; you'll find as time goes on, this list will narrow down to what you really love doing and everything else. This first step will help you define your specialty.

Determine who do you it for. You'll often hear people (especially coaches) say you "must" choose a target market, or niche, if you want to succeed in business. It's true that narrowly defining a target market IS important. But when you're starting off, you can't know who you like doing business with until you've had a few contracts. Start the process by listing the types of people or companies you like to work with. Remember, you want to be more specific than saying something general like "stay at home moms," "small business owners," "lawyers" or "baby boomers." This second step will get you closer to identifying your target market.

Decide on your fee. Just because you're starting up a business doesn't mean you have to low-ball your fees. Base your decision on these 3 factors: (1) What is your competition charging? (2) How much are your potential clients willing to pay? and (3) Can you have financial freedom asking for this fee? Your decision may be mostly based on intuition or experience. Remember to ask for what you think you're worth and don't accept anything less.

Get business cards. And I don't mean cards printed on your friend's "really good printer." These days, you can get professionally printed business cards for cheap. Don't worry if you haven't yet chosen a company name; just use your name to start with. Once you've decided on a company name, a logo and have started getting clients, you can order more cards.

Design your 30-second intro. You must be able to answer the "So, what do you do?" question in 30 seconds or less. Remember, your audience is tuned in to the WIIFM channel ("What's in it for me?"). If something in your pitch doesn't pass the "so what?" test, it's best to leave it out (like "Hello, my name is Cristina Favreau and I'm a Certified Coach." Really! Who cares?). Make it compelling. Talk about the benefits of doing business with you. Identify what makes you different from your competition. Get help to brainstorming ideas. Practice it, until it comes naturally to you.

Network. Once you've complete these 5 steps, you need to get out there and start networking. It'll be difficult and scary at first, especially if your pipeline is empty, but the more you do it, the easier it gets and the more your pipeline fills up with contacts. Great places to start are local chambers and business networking groups. You may also want to join a few online groups where the people you identified in step 2 hang out.

Market your business each day. Marketing is telling people what you do over and over again. You have a limited budget, so stick to inexpensive strategies: give a referral, give away a free report, write a newsletter and blog, offer a free introductory session, give a presentation at your local networking venue or anything else you can think of that will get people to start seeing you as an expert in your field, even if you're just starting off.

The trick to these 7 steps is to keep it simple. Just because you have limited cash flow doesn't mean you can't be successful. Your strategies at the beginning should be to get your name out there and to get clients.

Obviously, these 7 steps are not the end-all-be-all of starting a business. There's still more to do. But going through these steps will give you a solid foundation to build on. In a following article, I'll share with you the next steps to take, once you have these ones in place.

Cristina Favreau is Mom to 2 kids under 2 years old. As a Certified Coach and Get Clients Now! Licensed Facilitator, she helps service professionals make marketing & self-promotion easy to understand & implement, starting at your level. Within 3 hours, she’ll help you identify where you’re stuck in the marketing process & come up with an action plan of immediate strategies to gain momentum. Visit www.cristinafavreau.com or blog.cristinafavreau.com

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

And The Countdown Is Off

The return of my FAVORITE show is coming....9 more days to go till kick off time. I love a show that gives the audience so many different plot lines to the story. Where you never know if you are right or wrong. And just when you think you understand something, they throw in another twist.....I Love It..... And I can't wait!

Finding The Time To Work Your Business

When you are working long hours and you have a home based business that you also want to pay attention to and work, it gets very frustrating when you notice that so much time has passed and you have not touched it, worked it or even thought about it.

So this is where the big questions comes into play. How important is it to you? How motivated are you? How badly do you want it?

Is your home business just a hobby, something to do to pass time? Then this won't even apply to you.

I have found that if you designate certain days for certain activities, it seems to work much better. Using Mondays for kids and family time, Tuesdays for their home business, Wednesdays for activities that your children may be involved in, Thursdays for working your business and Fridays for cleaning and errands. (examples).

Some people have the 3-4 hours each night that they can spend working their business. And some do not. They may only have 2-3 hours to spare a couple times a week. And if that is your situation, it can still work. Alot of people have started out working a couple days a week for a few hours, but, over a period of time their business was built and allowed them to come home full time. Of course, more each week will get you home sooner.

So many people have started out in my business with just a few hours each week to work. The key thing to remember is being consistent in what you do. If you can only work on Mondays and Wednesdays, then you need to work those days each week. Stick with the schedule. Allow this to be routine, just like brushing your teethe. This needs to become habit. For every time you call off of work to go out with the girls, you are one day less closer to your goal.....

Cindy Ashworth is the owner of www.successfulwahm.blogspot.com and www.mykidsmywhy.com. Cindy is a single mom, working her way to become a full time work at home mom.

LOL

The Power Of A Woman

If you go to www.danijohnson.com you can join for free. And use alot of the resources she has to help build your business. Of course there are items that you can purchase but for someone just starting out and using a minimal budget, I suggest using everything she has that's free. Dani moves me. Eventually I would love to go to one of her Quick Start Programs, but for now I am happy using her tools. And thought I would share with you all.

Peace And Relaxation

I find this picture so peaceful, relaxing. From past years with my sons father, I found the most relaxing thing I could ever do was to go fishing.....And fishing in the rain is the best. I have not done that in years.....But I can still feel the peace come over me, as I bait my hook and throw the reel in and sit back and wait for a bite. All the problems and worries from the day would just disappear. And peace overcame me. I have not had that feeling in a long time but will make time for fishing this year with my kids and myself.

Where has the time gone?

It's New Years Eve and I am thinking back over this past year. WOW!!! That's what I would say.

I have had a lot of obstacles come my way, but I am still here. Have you ever heard that saying "For every step I take forward, I take 2 steps back"? Well that's about how this last year has been for me.

But that's ok. The Holidays have been enjoyable. Work is very long hours. My son just turned 11 years old. (another wow). My daughter is slowly letting the girly girl in her come out. I have met new friends that I will keep forever. Along with my old friends. And I still have that strong desire to keep moving ahead in my future. To stop working for someone else and come home full time with my home business.

Time has flown by. I really can't believe it's almost 2009. Time really does go by extremely fast, the older I get.... LOL.

So to everyone, I wish you all a Happy New Year with Love, Peace and Happiness.

The correct way to weigh yourself: