The best example of leadership is leadership by example.
~Jerry McClain

For over eight years, I have always heard this quote.  I totally agree with it that if you are a leader, you must lead your team by example.

In my business, if I want my team to build their businesses, I cannot just ask them to do the tasks or just tell them. I must also do the same business building tasks for my personal business and show them how to build their business.

I have to lead by example by building my own business and partnering with those that are showing me they are committed to building theirs as well. Through that, new leaders will rise and lead their teams.

A true leader is not a dictator or a boss. A true leader is encouraging, uplifting, positive, able to give constructive criticism when asked, and also able to keep moving forward and not getting sidelined.

Is a leader a motivator?  Only to a certain extent. A leader can motivate to a point by offering encouragement and having belief in the team before the team has that belief. But motivation comes from within. No one can be a true business builder if they don’t have motivation inside themselves that will keep them going when the going gets tough.

As you build your business or decide to build a business, know what it takes to move your business forward and do it. Lead by example, not by words

~Melanie Crowe~

So what does a day in a life of a work at home mom look like?  Here’s a schedule of my typical day:

6:30 have my coffee, help the kids get their stuff together, and they leave for school at 7:15.  They are all in middle & high school.

7:30 read the news, check the weather, and make my plan for the day

8:00 Bible study- I want to keep God in my daily plans

8:30 Treadmill/shower/dress/pick up/throw clothes in washer

10:00 I’m in my office, ready to work, there are 30,000 people daily looking for a home based business.  My job is to find them.

10-2:00 Work activities include interviewing people, setting appointments , making presentations, helping new partners get started, following up

2-7:00 Kids are home, finish housework and daily chores, attend kid’s sporting events, help with homework, prepare dinner, and hang with my family

7-9:00 back in my office for evening time.  I can only do this a couple days weekly, because of other obligations, like church and volunteer activities.

I also spend time on training and personal development because my income and growth depend on it.  Those things are done in off-business hours, because what I am doing during my office hours are income producing activities, and training isn’t income producing but it’s absolutely necessary.  Think about starting a new job or career.  You wouldn’t be able to walk into that without learning the job.

Not everyone has this kind of time to devote to their business, and that’s okay.  It’s important to understand your time investment determines your income.  You can spend less time and earn less income or it will just take you longer to reach your goals.  You decide!

Organizational skills and prioritizing your work hours are critical to your success.  It’s extremely easy to be distracted, and find excuses while you work at home, so a solid work ethic is important.  You have to treat your business like a business and not a hobby if you want to see the results.  The #1 cause for failure in a home based business is EXCUSES.  Things like I have laundry to do, my kids need me to plan a room party, my soap opera is on.  Sacrifice is necessary if you want to be successful.  You cannot fit 10-20 hours of business activity into an already busy life.  So what are you willing to give up to be successful?  Let’s face it, nothing changes in your life until you change something and doing the same things over and over is the definition of insanity.  So make a decision, don’t look back and get to work.  Your family will thank you for it.

http://www.saferchemicals.org/resources/obesity.html

I choose green living made easy!

1.            Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder w/Talc

2.            Crest Tartar Control Toothpaste

3.            VO5 Hair Conditioner

4.            Clairol Nice-n-Easy Hair Color

5.            Ajax Cleanser

6.            Lysol Disinfectanthouse

These are the top 6 cancer-causing products  in the average home.  Why do you use these?  Should we really trust the labeling of the manufacturers?  Labeling laws just don’t protect the consumer.  Do your homework and choose household products that are safe.  I did!

[Source: The National Cancer Prevention Coalition]

www.preventcancer.com/consumers/general/dirty_dozen.htm

Setting goals is the key to success.  The greatest achievers in the world have all succeeded because they mapped out their plans for their visions.  They set goals and referred to them daily to ensure they were on the right track.  Why does this seem to be such a difficult task for most people?  Simply writing down your goals will not get them accomplished.  You have to be committed – and stay committed – throughout the year if you really want to see them come to fruition.  You have to actively engage in accomplishing them and to do that, you must understand why you are setting them.

So here are 3 reasons that you should set goals:

1.  Know “WHY” before you get lost in “HOW.”  If you know the Why, you will figure out the How!  If your Why is big enough the How is easy.  BUT, if your Why is not identified or significant, then any level of difficulty in the How, will be enough to defeat you.  “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
2. You cannot hit a target you cannot see.  “If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.” ~Yogi Berra.  The world is goal-oriented.  An airplane needs to have a destination set in order to design a flight plan to reach it.  When you get in your car, you have to know where you want to end up even before you pull out of the driveway.  When you know exactly where you are going and focus on that point, you will go directly to that end.  Without a focus for your direction in life, you will wander aimlessly until you are hopelessly lost and confused.
3. For what it makes of you.  Set big goals that challenge you to ignite the great potential that lies within you – to become the person you were meant to be.

“The major reason for setting a goal is for what it makes of you to accomplish it. What it makes of you will always be the far greater value than what you get.”  ~ Jim Rohn

“You will become as great as your dominant aspiration.” ~ James Allen

“Man, alone, has the power to transform his thoughts into physical reality; man, alone, can dream and make his dreams come true.” ~Napoleon Hill

In 1901, cancer was rare: 1 out of 8,000. Since the Industrial Revolution, the cancer rate today has risen to 1 in 3 and is not improving. [The American Cancer Society]  So what can we do?  We take action! We read labels and educate ourselves.  Let’s talk about an ingredient that you may not realize how common it is, and how many of your personal care products contain it.  It’s called Formaldehyde.

Formaldehyde is a highly toxic substance and one of the most common indoor air pollutants. It is a highly suspected cancer-causing agent. It is an irritant to the eyes, nose, throat and lungs and may cause a wide variety of reactions, including skin reactions, ear infections, headaches, depression, joint pain, dizziness, nausea, fatigue, vomiting, sleep disturbances, and many more. How many of these names would you have recognized as formaldehyde? Manufactures can legally use over 30 different trade names for this chemical. Below are some: 

http://www.epa.gov/iaq/formaldehyde.html

• Formalin
• Quaternium-15 (formaldehyde releasing agent)
• Methanal
• Methyl Aldehyde
• Methylene Oxide
• Oxymethylene
• Bfv*
• Fannoform*
• Formol*
• Fyde*
• Karsan*
• Methaldehyde
• Formalith*
• Methylene Glycol
• Ivalon*
• Oxomethane
• Formalin 40
• Formic Aldehyde
• Hoch
• Paraform
• Lysoform*
• Morbocid
• Trioxane
• Polyoxmethylene
• denotes trade name

Think back to your high school science class, they used formaldehyde to soak the frogs in that we dissected and we are embalmed with it when we die.  It’s a cheap preservative used to prolong the shelf life of a product.  That’s it!  So use care when you select personal care products.  Choose a natural alternative.  Your family will thank you!

I can’t help but wonder would my kids have turned out this way, had I worked full time outside of the home?  Did going on field trips with them make a difference in their attitude towards school?  Did greeting them at the door when they get home contribute to their willingness to spend time with me when there are other things they could be doing?  I don’t know.   I am just really thankful and blessed that these are my kids and they do the things they do.

Information is power, and since I am a cancer survivor, I came to the realization that I cannot keep my head in the sand forever.  What about the risk of recurrence for me, and the risk for my kids?  Today, 1 in 3 Americans will end up getting cancer in their lifetime, according to the American Cancer Society.  That statistic is totally unacceptable.   Let’s do something about it.  Don’t be an ostrich.  We need to educate ourselves and others.  That is what I love about what I do, I teach people so that they can make educated choice about where they shop.  Check out this article.  http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/formaldehyde/  I would love your thoughts on this!

So I suffered through, tried some other company’s and finally found one with all the qualities that I really appreciated.  I want to talk to you about what to look for in a business.  There are 11 things you should look for.

1.  Company track record.  Most companies fail in the first 5 years.  Don’t be fooled by that “ground floor opportunity” 
2. Financially sound ~ Is your company debt free or do they depend on the shareholders to make all their decisions?  Remember shareholders are the priority, not the marketers.
3. Strong management ~ What kind of background do they have?  Are they of the MLM mindset that the guys at the top make all the money?  You want fortune 500 management credentials; people who have a solid reputation in the business community.
4. Unique consumable products ~ Do you have to create a need to buy your product, or is something people are buying already. 
5. Competitively priced ~ Do customers have to pay more for your product just to participate in the business?  Find a product that is competitive with name brands, so folks don’t have to spend any new or added money to their budget.
6. High Monthly Reorder Rate ~ This will create residual income for you.  Are you marketing products that people shop for only at birthdays or holidays?  Does your company provide value that results in monthly reordering?  This will create residual income with the simply switching stores concept. 
7. Low Personal Production Requirement ~ Again, no new money, no need for a budget change.  You don’t have to increase your budget and buy things you don’t need in order to work in that business.  Remember, you shouldn’t ever have excess products stored, it’s all personal consumption.
8. Low Entry Fee ~ It’s usually a requirement to start, but a low startup of $29 is practical.  $500- + buying inventory is NOT!  Also, make sure that the enroller is not paid on the enrollment fee, that reeks of pyramid scheme, there no product or service involved.
9. Timing ~ It’s OK to start with a company that has been around for a while.  But even if you have never heard of them, that’s a plus; because it means that no bad news is out there about them.
10. No Breakaways ~ This is where you are penalized for enrolling someone better than you.  Your organization is yours.  Many companies use Binary Plans, which really go against business principles:  Forced to reward the non-producer in order to get paid.
11. NO RISK! ~ Everything is fully refundable.  Your family cannot get hurt and you cannot hurt other families.

So which one of these 11 points would you be willing to take off the page and still throw your time, energy and reputation into it? 

Are you looking for the next one, or are you looking for the last one?  Contact me for details on what I have been doing.  I am working with less effort and time than that other delivery business but have generated far more income.  What do you have to lose?   Just get some details!