One of the toughest, most demanding things I can think of is the rigors and intensity of becoming and being a Navy SEAL.

I would bet that we can’t even begin to understand the hard work and intense practice that it takes to be one of America’s finest.

The training that SEAL recruits get into is designed to test their minds, body and spirit to see if they are mentally and physically tough enough to pull of some of the most demanding tasks assigned to anyone in the Navy.

I found it an interesting fact that many military vets end up starting their own business.

Is it any wonder? Many of America’s soldiers have been through the crucible of intense training, discipline and supervised risk-taking – perfect training for starting and running your own business!

Here’s a great Business Insider article by a former Navy SEAL that shows you his tips for achieving your goals:

http://www.businessinsider.com/a-navy-seals-tips-for-achieving-goals-2014-5

 

 

 

When you start your own home based business, you may be excited at the thought of waking up when you want, having freedom to work in your pajamas and generally enjoying the freedom of being a home based business owner.

And, while all of those are definitely benefits of working from home, there are a few drawbacks, as well – mostly centered around being able to discipline yourself to “get the work done”.

As someone who has worked from home for most of the last 30 years, I’d like to share a few tips.

1. Create a schedule – and stick to it!

Your daily habits are what will determine your success in your home business.

And I know from experience that, if you don’t intentionally create a schedule, you’ll probably default to “just doing whatever”. And let me tell you, that does not work!

So, the very first thing you need to do is develop a clear working schedule that works for you.

What are your “working hours” and when will you take breaks for breakfast, lunch and dinner?

When will you make time for exercise or just getting out?

Are you intentionally setting up your schedule to take advantage of the “non-rush hours” for running errands? (One of the best benefits of working from home – you can run errands during the daytime hours while everyone else is at their 9-5 job!)

 

2. Stay off TV, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Video Games and any other Time-Sucks!

Oh, this is a critical one. I had to learn this one the hard way, many, many years ago, when I first started working from home…

You see, it’s difficult to stay off of these time wasters, because deep down inside, you want to spend time on things that give you instant gratification – and building a home based business usually does not give you instant gratification.

So we move towards the path of least resistance and usually, that means seeing what our friends are doing on Facebook, or checking out new “pins” on Pinterest, or seeing what this celebrity said or did, or playing a video game, etc.

These all give us some sense of instant gratification or entertainment, but they do not pay our bills!

They do not build our business and they do not get us moving forward!

Be sure to tackle this challenge, head on and defeat the time wasters – these can kill your business and kill your bank account!

Set aside time each day to check Facebook or to spend time on one of these time wasters, but be sure to set it as a reward for getting some work done, not as something you check throughout the day.

If you do this, you’ll be fine!

 

3. Create a daily, prioritized task list

When you start the day with a list of tasks that you must get done that day, you are hitting the ground running, from “minute one” and you are mentally ready to take on the day.

Too many people leave their day to chance or just go from one task to the next, based on necessity.

But when you plan out your days, (preferably the night before) you will be far ahead of your peers.

Start by writing everything you need to get done and then begin giving each item a score (A, B, C or 1, 2, 3) to help you prioritize the tasks.

When you do this, you will then work from the most important task to the next important task, and so on, until all the days tasks are done!

You won’t believe how much more efficient you will be when you write a list. You don’t even have to necessarily read the list – sometimes just the writing of the list is all you need!

4. Outsource wisely

In my business, I have a web designer who helps me build out websites (my own and my clients’ websites) and he is a great help.

In other aspects of my business, I outsource a variety of tasks to people who can do them better, faster or cheaper than my time is worth.

There are a variety of outsourcing websites, such as elance.com, Freelancer.com and odesk.com as well as other micro job sites.

These can be extremely helpful in getting things done that are outside of your realm of skill sets or that are just easier and cheaper to hire someone else to do.

When you outsource wisely, you are taking your “highest and best use” skills and maximizing them while paying someone else to do the rest.

This is a win / win for you and allows you to focus on what you do best.

 

5. Keep things in perspective

Mornings are a great time to enjoy some quiet, reflective time before you jump into your day.

In the mornings, I read the bible, journal and spend some time in prayer and it is a great way to start the day centered and strong.

Other great options you may decide on: meditating, listening to soft music or listening to audios with great teachings. Whatever you decide, mornings are a great time to start off in a centered, solid position and work from there.

If you just jump into your day without this, the tendency is to wind up feeling stressed, frazzled or at best, not at your optimum.

Hey, you have a home based business, right? Why not make the best of it by starting every morning off right?

So there you have it, my 5 tips to home based business success. Take these tips and run with them, and let me know how they’ve helped you!

 

 

 

I often help small / medium businesses with their marketing and recently, I’ve been helping a local Christian school with growing their enrollments.

We are doing PPC ads, (Google, Yahoo / Bing, Facebook) and a few other things to help them reach their goals.

One of the things I’ve been able to do is post on their church’s Facebook page, which has a lot of fans.

I’ve always wondered what time of day and which day of the week are the best to post on Facebook and now, thanks to Entrepreneur.com, we have an answer!

If you’ll click on the link below, you’ll see a helpful infographic that shows the best times of day and best days of the week for posting on those social media sites – these are the times when these sites are being used the most.

(Source: http://blog.surepayroll.com/post-pin-tweet-best-time-to-outreach/)

Now, Social Media is NOT for every business. (in fact, it’s probably not for MOST businesses) So, by showing you this infographic, please do not think that I am implicitly endorsing the use of social media for your business.

Perhaps in a future article, I will go over the types of businesses where social media makes sense and the ones where it doesn’t. Let me know if you’d be interested in that article!

Click here:
 

Let’s face it, entrepreneurs are a different breed altogether.

We don’t do things the way everyone else does things.

We are often stubborn in making our dreams come true.

We long for the freedom of owning our own business and can’t stand the idea of being “restricted” by being stuck in a job…

But this entrepreneur mentality often creates unique situations among our family and friends because they cannot understand us – they can’t begin to “get” what we are trying to accomplish because, often, they’ve been programmed to think differently – more “normal”.

In society at large, it’s even worse, as regulatory agencies and bureaucracies unwittingly conspire against the entrepreneur. (In many cases, they aren’t being malicious, it’s just that they tend to treat entrepreneurs with the same broad brush that they treat 9 – 5ers.

Within pop culture, the entrepreneur is often portrayed as greedy at best and a crook, at worst. Try to think of a movie that features an entrepreneur in a positive light – it’s pretty hard to think of one, isn’t it?

Today, if you’re an entrepreneur, you’re almost an outcast – someone on the fringes who is to be dismissed or at best, ignored rather than supported.

That is the ultimate irony because, entrepreneurs are the dreamers – they are the people who built this Country!

When America was formed, most everyone owned a small business and a very small percentage of Americans were employees.

Today, it’s the opposite – today, the employee is given all the perks and the entrepreneurs have to fend for themselves.

I ran across a great article written by Kevin Daum on Inc.com that helps us understand the “psychology” of the entrepreneur.

Check out the article here: http://www.inc.com/kevin-daum/6-things-entrepreneurs-wish-family-friends-and-employees-understood.html?cid=sf01002

 

 

 

 

I’ve always enjoyed teaching new eBay / ecommerce principles and recently got started creating courses on a new learning website called Udemy.

I’m excited to share my new eBay / Amazon / Internet Marketing video courses with you!

I’ll be adding lots of new courses over the next 12 months, and I can guarantee you that everything I teach comes from real-world, experience, (not theory) so you will get only tried and proven strategies in my courses!

The links below are SPECIAL DISCOUNT LINKS to my courses on Udemy:

• How To eBay Your Way To Fast Cash – https://www.udemy.com/ebay-your-way-to-fast-cash/?couponCode=blogdiscount
• eBay Hacks – Deal-Getting Hacks – https://www.udemy.com/ebay-hacks-deal-getting-hacks/?couponCode=blogdiscount
• eBay Hacks – Listing Hacks – https://www.udemy.com/ebay-hacks-listing-hacks/?couponCode=blogdiscount
• How To Turn Flea Market Trash Into eBay Treasure – https://www.udemy.com/flea-market-treasure/?couponCode=blogdiscount
• Beyond eBay – How To Leverage The Power Of Your eBay Customer List – https://www.udemy.com/beyond-ebay/?couponCode=blogdiscount
• Flipping Cars On eBay For Fun And Profit – https://www.udemy.com/flipping-cars-on-ebay/?couponCode=blogdiscount
• Infopreneur Secrets – How To Become A Successful Infopreneur – https://www.udemy.com/infopreneur-secrets/?couponCode=blogdiscount