ARE YOU FRIENDING YOUR CUSTOMERS?

Companies and home based businesses that utilize the power of social media are dividing themselves from the competition. Social media is offering us all the ability to get closer to our customers. "How is that?", you ask. It is because it allows entrepreneurs like us that have a successful home based business to see and follow what our customers are saying about our products and services or business opportunity they are affiliated with all in real time the best part is it gives us, as business owners, the ability to respond to any questions or concerns in real time.

When this occurs not only are we responding to our customers but we are also putting it out there for others to see, so if others have the same questions and concerns they get a chance to have a response directly from the ones that are in charge. there was an InSite survey that showed that 26% of American companies do not use social media at all therefore they are not integrating a social media presence in their marketing promotional efforts.

The focus here is not so much about social media as it is about being customer centric. Legitimate entrepreneur opportunities that already integrate social media into the overall marketing efforts have an edge on other home based business opportunities that are lacking in this area. In this industry it is crucial to develop a strong presence in social media for marketing, receiving customer feed back and serving loyal customers.

It is forward focused businesses like this that will build on their current efforts.

This is a HUGE finding for like minded people like myself that offer an opportunity to average people to achieve financial freedom. My company has developed specific facebook training that teaches my business partners how to use social media for prospecting and growing their business. If you are interested in Working With Robert, he is eager to speak to you!

Robert Grissom

CONSIDERING A BUSINESS IN-A-BOX

There is more to selecting the right business opportunity than just considering the price of investment or overhead costs.

For aspiring entrepreneurs that are anxious to start their own home based business, there are numerous companies and business models to consider. Direct sales, franchises, consulting, e-commerce and the list can keep going on and on. Direct sales business opportunities are often called "business in-a-box" because of how easy they are to get started. Each business model will have its own benefits and distinctions and it is up to you to research and find the right fit.

The direct sales models are great low risk businesses that usually require little investment to start and they generally perform very well despite the sputtering economy we are currently experiencing. To show this in numbers, I am familiar with a company that had over 400% growth during the worst economic times we have witnessed in a long time. While the housing market, financial market and wall street were all going down, this model was heading up!

Picking the right opportunity for your lifestyle and passion is crucial, so here are a few factors to consider when making your decision.

--> Attend a group event. Group events are a great, no pressure environment to meet and gather as much information as you want. Tons of companies hold these events and they are very low cost to attend and even FREE so why not go and learn first hand what they have to offer.

--> Spend time with existing representatives of a particular opportunity. Think of it like buying a house. We want to go there in the morning and again in the afternoon and heck even in the middle of the night! See how people grow the business and learn from the experienced.

--> Consider whether the business model is easily replicable. Can the keys or the system to success be easily duplicated? Duplication is a great thing when entering into a legitimate opportunity and is very important when deciding the right company for you.

Trust your gut and when you find the one you are passionate about being associated with, setup a time with your sponsor or mentor within that company and ask some clarifying questions about the up front cost, estimated time and the plan of action to get a return on your investment and other questions that will make the transition into entrepreneurship an easy one for you. We are all here to help!

My hope is that these tips will help you in pursuing the freedom of being your own boss. Would you like to Work With Robert and learn more about his opportunity?

WILL ANYONE LISTEN TO ME?

This question can be especially true for anyone just starting in their network marketing career and chances are you will spend valuable time trying to over come it...only for it to continue haunting you! The SHOCKING part is you have a very valid question.

Will anyone listen to me? Why would they?

We are all faced with this at some point and time because remember we are trying to show people a better way to make a living and earn an income or to achieve some other attainable goal they have in mind. Chances are, the very people we are so driven to help have already tried something like this in the past so they automatically come to you with a pre-conceived notion and are slightly skeptical.

Do not and I repeat, Do not let any of these notions or attitudes diminish your confidence or think for one minute its going to get you off track. Focus and stay the course and be more motivated than ever!

Lets change our frame of thinking for just a moment. I want you to start thinking differently for a second. Think about your line of work or if your a part of my home based business opportunity think in terms of VALUE. To people that know you, its true, you may be no expert in their eyes but to others, IF I knew just a little bit more than them and I could show them how it could be of VALUE, then I am an instant expert right then and there!

Lets face the facts, if at all possible we all would prefer to follow an expert when it comes to important decisions, right?

So in concluding this post, even if your brand new to the industry, looking at becoming an entrepreneur, or if your experienced and looking to build a residual income working from home.....by simply learning some basic training and techniques, learning basic business concepts and reading some books about "whatever" VALUE your products and services adds to people lives...

That ladies and gentlemen DOES IN FACT make you an expert specific to your industry.

This doesnt mean you know everything, however if you position yourself to help your prospects and potential customers get to where they want to end up, thats is plenty to establish yourself as a credible expert and authority in your market.

Robert Grissom

ENTREPRENEURSHIP: IS IT WORTH THE RISK?

Entrepreneurship is most definitely a way of life, NOT just the act or process of starting your own business. Is it a risk? Think of it like this, you are essentially trying to create and start a legitimate and viable business from scratch......from the ground up beginning with its very foundation and all you have to go on is a great idea (in your eyes), however where we differ is in the next steps. Along with that solid idea and firm foundation, an entrepreneur also has one key component that they need to make it work...THE WILLINGNESS TO FOLLOW THROUGH!

It took me several months to finally decide to step into the entrepreneurial world. I can tell you working along side my wife in our business opportunity is a wonderful feeling. Its true, at this time we are building our business in our spare time but the key there is, we are building, and we cant wait to arrive at the point to go all in. After all, if we can have the success we have had thus far in our spare time, the sky is the limit if we are able to devote all of our time. Lets have a look at some of the risks that are faced when starting a venture but keep in mind you have to have the willingness to follow through!

MAKING BETTER DECISIONS

Lets face it, being your own boss is absolutely awesome however I will be the first to admit that although being able to pull the trigger is one of the key benefits of entrepreneurship, I still have a problem making important decisions and I am sure others would agree.

The act of making a decision is so powerful that many don't realize the effect it can have. For example in my entrepreneur opportunities, I am not focused so much on products, or growth rate or statistics. Instead my focus lies within my team of dedicated leaders and the simple act of making a decision can inspire so much confidence in these leaders that you would be amazed at the ripple effect it could have throughout your organization.

For the readers out there that are like minded (as myself) and love the fact of being your own boss and watching as you share, help, inspire and motivate others to achieve and exceed their goals, sometimes would be a lot easier if were easier to decide on what to do and what to skip or put off until later. Would you agree that if you are able to make better calculated decisions that you would be viewed as a better leader which would lead to better overall organizational results? My answer to that question is ABSOLUTELY and I look forward to hearing some of your comments. Here are just a few tips I can offer and share just based on my business endeavours.

• Let your brain rest. Try turning off your mind for a few minutes. A lot of insight can come when you least expect it and the same can happen when your focused on making an important decision. Turn to a different issue or work on something not related to the decision at hand. By resting your mind, you will give your brain time it needs to scan through all the information it has stored.
• Remember to decide, not solve a problem. There are lots of times where decisions can and will in fact solve a problem but this is not always the case so don't always try to solve a problem with your decision. Honestly, I have found that lots of decisions skip the analysis phase and are more "gut" or intuition. Always ask yourself, what feels like the right thing to do?
• No one is perfect, stop seeking it. This bullet can be summed up fairly quickly with this: Don't wait for everything to be perfect. You will never know everything before you decide. That just isn't possible especially when you have an entrepreneurial mindset. There comes times (more often than not) that you have to trust your gut and faith and leap all in without having all the answers and build from that point.
• Admit it, sometimes we just get it wrong. Maybe we didn't think it through, or maybe we did but the end result still ended up leading us in the wrong direction. Admit this and then lets get to correcting the issue. You will earn much more respect if you fess up to a mistake which will in turn build more loyalty with your team of leaders.

Decisions are a part of life, making good decisions is great for your home based business and can be a true influence among others so don't shy away from them.

"You must know that in any moment a decision you make can change the course of your life forever: the very next person standing behind you in line or sitting next to you on an airplane, the very next phone call you make or receive, the very next movie you see or book you read or page you turn could be the one single thing that causes the floodgates to open, and all of the things that you've been waiting for to fall into place." ~Anthony Robbins

Robert Grissom

ONE BILLION ACTIVE FACEBOOK USERS IS MY MOTIVATION

So who here has heard of Facebook? You along with one billion other people around the world. Not a day passes that we don't hear something about Facebook, from all its success all the way down to its initial public offering. Chances are you log in and not once but multiple times a day to keep up with friends, family and current events. Did we mention it also has 600 million mobile users!

So whats the point of all of this? In my position as an entrepreneur and my efforts of growing my business, Facebook has become a mainstream marketing tool to share my opportunity with the world. Along with the reports released by Facebook, it does include the median age of its fan base as 22 and it also includes the top 5 user countries: Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico and the United States. Now, this really excites me and it should excite you also if your part of a legitimate home based business. In my particular company, so far we have yet to go international but the Facebook reports gives me insight on how effectively using the social media giant as an online marketing platform can be useful to grow, not only my business, but any business that you may be involved in to build a residual income....GLOBALLY!

Do your research on using Facebook to help assist you in spreading the word of your company or opportunity. You can find lots of motivational material and videos on ways some of the top earners in our industry utilize this platform as a tool to increase revenue and add more rockstars to their team and I hope you do the same!

If you would like to know more about my company's business model visit us at Stars and Cars

We have inherited the past, we can create the future ~ Unknown

Robert Grissom

NUTRITION AND FEEDING CHILDREN

Does it really matter if they are 18 weeks or 18 years old? Parents, start giving your child the decision-making role when its mealtime. This not only satisfies them as being able to decide but it gives them credibility for learning, knowing and recognizing their hunger which leads to building their conscience on health and wellness. Working with them in this manner slowly encourages children to learn to respect and trust their body to start and stop eating.

Now, lets translate! We let them decide but that's not deciding to eat chicken nuggets, pizza buffet or some of the other fast choices readily available today. No! Children for the most part are active little soldiers and when it comes to fitness, they generally are moving from sun up to sundown (At least my two children do!)We as parents still have to attempt and try our best to offer nutritious  and attractive meal and snack options at regular times and then let your child decide if they are hungry or not. Resist the urge to bribe of fight with them, the more pleasant the mealtime, the more your child will come to appreciate their health and wellness.

Lets now take a look at a few options or strategies if you will that may make the healthy options more enticing to your little one:

Strike a balance. Offer foods from 3 to 4 food groups. Serve a protein, Carbohydrate and at least 2 fruits and veggies. This is also a perfect time to implement a heatlhy meal replacement shake at snack time as well to curve their desire for normal unhealthy snacks. Our kids, 8 and 5 both enjoy blending a shake for a quick on the go snack.

Frame the choices. Always strive to offer two good healthy options as a food choice. If you allow the child to pick and choose then likely they will opt to have those cookies or bag of chips however if you give them a choice of two healthy options, they are sure to make a great decision to support a healthy lifestyle! For example, "Would you like orange segments or berries?"

Get them involved. Try involving your child at an early age...its never too late. Usually, children have no control what ends up on their plate in front of them. Change that view by allowing to some involvement and giving them credit for the food that end up on the dinner table Every child can have certain tasks in the preparation process, hey this creates responsibility also. Take them grocery shopping, allow them to search healthy recipes or websites for tasty but healthy ideas.

Lead by example. Children often need repeated exposure to new foods or concepts before they are willing to try it for the first time. Never give up on offering healthy foods even if your child refuses it, just keep serving it, perhaps prepared slightly differently or used in a different way. Eventually they will see you enjoying it and they will be less reluctant and will give it a taste to verify for themselves.

Hey, feeding children no matter their age involves tons of shared responsibility between both he parent and the child because as we all know...parents simply cant control it all!

~We will either find a way, or make one,

Robert Grissom