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Commitment.
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Consistency in work, in advertising, in your quality.
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Develop a mission for your life and for your business and compare all decisions against those missions.
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Develop plans of action. How will you get from point A to point B? Set goals and strategies from getting where you are to where you want to be.
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Use a system for tracking your schedule and daily tasks.
Double up on tasks to save time. Use every scrap of time.
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Waste not a minute. Learn to use the odd moment.
Plan ahead and pool projects. Never hide behind busy work. It takes just as much effort to fail as it does to succeed.
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When purchasing a computer, evaluate your software needs first, then choose a system that can fulfill those
needs. Buy as far to the forefront of technology as you can.
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Look for the redundancies in your work and either eliminate or automate them.
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Take advantages of on-line services to boost your business and research your markets.
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Check into RingMaster and MemoryCall services to give your business a professional tone.
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Remember that the order of your priorities in life is just as important as the priorities themselves.
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Set aside a family night one night a week, and schedule ''dates'' with your spouse.
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Set rules and expectations in your family to provide order and security.
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Set family goals and evaluate your progress periodically.
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Survive phone calls by teaching your children to draw what they need, investing in a portable phone, and rewarding and
praising them when they are quiet. (A sound proof room would not hurt either).
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Teach your children the business, and get them involved early in helping.Remember to treat them like you would an
employee when they help. Would you yell and fuss at an employee if they made a mistake? Probably not. They would be out the door in a heartbeat.
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Go the extra mile. Exceed your client's expectations.
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Add a personal touch to all your customer relations. Learn their names, remember their birthdays, and above all else,
treat them as equals.
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Learn from complaints. Use them to make your product that much better.
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Use E-mail, newsletters, and phone calls to keep in touch with clients.
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Arm yourself with a list of rewards for a job well done.
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Remember, the only pat on the back you may ever get will be the one you give yourself.
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Take one day in seven to rest.
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Push the ''record button'' in life. Make lasting memories that can carry you through a lifetime.
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Learn basic bookkeeping and tax laws.
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Take a class at your local community college on business accounting and business taxes.
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Learn to say ''No.''
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Delegate wisely and completely. Learn to trust and listen to the ideas of those you supervise.
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Remember that word of mouth and promotion may be the cheapest form of getting business, but they are the
most effective.
Excerpted from ''Keeping Your Sanity in a Home
Business'' by Marnie L. Pehrson. Learn more about this online course at
http://www.pwgroup.com/ces/ceskeep.html.
Written by: Marnie Pehrson
Marnie Pehrson is a wife and mother of 5, an
Internet developer, writer & creator of
SheLovesGod.com, IdeaMarketers.com,
Ads4Homes.com, and Pros-n-Cons.com. She is
the president of the International Association of
Computer Professionals and also writes on
entrepreneurial and technical topics.
Marnie Pehrson may be contacted at http://www.ideamarketers.com
webmaster@ideamarketers.com.
Marnie L. Pehrson is a writer & developer of interactive Web
communities. Her projects include a writer-publisher matching service at
www.IdeaMarketers.com, a
support community for Christian women at www.SheLovesGod.com
and resources for technical professionals at www.pros-n-cons.com
Other Resources: JobsandMoms
Career Consulting
