We need to imagine that we’re running a huge, multi-million dollar money churning machine in order to achieve that kind of status. It’s pointless to say that we cannot expect to expand our business widely if we’re running it in an irresponsible manner.
You have to imagine that you have a boss kicking you – mental or physical – either way, someone’s got to do some kicking. Most likely it’s either an imaginative boss or just you, mentally telling yourself to pull up your own socks.
In order to do this, you need to know the basics about running your own business. And here are some articles to help you along your journey to self-empowerment.
1. Make this a habit. Talk to yourself. It’s a really simple thing to do. Step infront of a mirror and start talking. You’ll find yourself getting the hang of it. There’s nothing more powerful than self-empowerment or self-lecture, in my personal opinion. Even successful authors and self-help gurus can tell you the same thing – talk to yourself.
Everyday, get infront of the mirror, dresss yourself up real nice and then start talking. Start motivating yourself to move forward, talk about the things you need to achieve for the day, the to-do list, the total sales for the month, the number of people you will approach and talk to today about your business…etc.
It’s not silly. There was one time my son, Joshua, caught me talking to myself in the bathroom mirror and he asked me, ‘Mamma, are you talking to the mirror?’ and I just bluntly told him, ‘Josh, Mamma’s in a meeting. I am talking to myself. Excuse me, yeah?’ and you know what he did? He shrugged and walked away without saying another word.
2. Your to-do list is like your lifeline. Organize yourself and write a to-do list everyday. You need to religiously write down the things you’re going to be doing for the rest of the day either in the morning (right after brushing your teeth) or you have to do it the night before. Either way, your to-do list have to be so handy that you can’t do without it. I should be big enough to write a whole toilet-roll length of things to do but also small enough to fit into your handbag.
I have a small business designing and printing bookmarks and notepads – so, I use them and place them in my handbag. Whenever I am watching TV or answering nature’s call or something and a thought hits me, I grab the notepad and jot it down. At night, I will review it and write down some more. During the day, I refer to it and tick off in bold red pen the stuff that I have done.
3. Draw the line. Yes, you need to draw the line between home and business. The importance of this cannot be downplayed. Yes, we all stayed home to start a home-based business because of a personal preference or because of our family – either way, being home makes it easy for us to be lazy.
If possible, don’t combine your bedroom with your office. But we’re not all as lucky, like me. My bedroom IS my office and that is precisely why I had to struggle for the first few months, getting adjusted to the fact that I am not allowed to touch my bed or cushy chair while I am at work.
When I sit on the computer and start working, I would have to tell myself out loud “Start working now – get serious”. It’s true, we have to be serious about our work and our business. Otherwise, no one would be serious about us, our products and our work. It really reflects on the way we do things.
4. Be available. One of the biggest point for me, is being available all the time. That’s why I have the tagline: The freelancer that never sleeps. Not only does it reflect my committment to my job and work, but it is also quite catchy. There have been times when I have answered to my client’s calls and emails in the wee hours of the morning (I work better at those hours) and they commented, “Gee, Marsha. You really don’t sleep, huh?”. And I just smile.
Obviously, being human, we all have to sleep.
But it’s how you organize the time and also make yourself available whenever you know your client needs to reach you. Being in the Internet Business, I would have to be available to clients everywhere, considering the fact that some of my clients are physically located halfway across the globe. I still hold conferences with them over the Internet using my Voice Conference Room. I have my Chat system and also my Instant Messengers up day and night whenever the computer is on, or whenever my son is playing his Barney and Mickey Mouse softwares on the computer, it is still on. When someone is trying to get me, I would still know.
5. Selling doesn’t stop. I have no idea why some people have such reluctance to accept the fact that even MLM companies are legitimate businesses. Sure, we cannot deny the fact that some of the products are just so WAY OVER PRICED because of the comission structure that the company has to pay out, but it IS still a business.
And the reason why I am using MLM companies as an example is because of this – selling never stops.
In a business, you never stop selling, not even when you’re sleeping. You eat out for dinner with your family and there are potential customers everywhere. You sleep, and you dream about a new way of penetrating a new market. You’re having coffee with a close friend and your friend’s boss’ niece is a potential client.
So, we all need to learn from MLM-ers. Selling never stops, unless you want the sales to.
Marsha Maung is a freelance work at home graphic designer and writer who resides in Selangor, Malaysia with her husband, Peter and 2 kids, Joshua and Jared. She is the author of “Raising Little Magicians” and other work at home books. For more information, please visit
