Let’s talk about how much fun it is to be an online business owner.

You get to work when you want.  You wear whatever you want.  You decide what has to be done each day.  You take breaks when you want.

You’re the boss.  There are no “rules.”  Seriously, it’s just you.  What possible rules could you need?

Well . . . I hate to burst your bubble.

I know your boss’s references to the “policy manual,” and the squelching of your entrepreneurial spirit that comes with being made to follow the company’s “rules,” are exactly what you’re running away from when you start an online business.

But if you dive into your online business without having any rules, you are going to fail.  Really.  I see it every day.

Take comfort, however.  At least you get to make the rules.

And while this gives you a great deal of flexibility, I’m completely serious in insisting that your online business have a policy manual.  That is – a written document that details how you handle certain aspects of your business.

I don’t care what you call it.  If you need some creative, anti-corporate title for it, I give you license to put any name on it you want.

Having the document, and actually using it, are the crucial points for today.  Because if you’ll do this, you’ll be able to build a more successful online business in less time and with less effort.  Who can argue with that?

Your policy manual will be a living document, which means you will always be adding to it.  And changing it as your business grows.

Your manual will undoubtedly be different than mine.  But, there are many policies that need to be part of every online business owner’s manual.  I’ll give you 2 to get you started.

1.  The Hours You Will Work in Your Online Business

2.  Problem-Solving in Your Online Business

I put this policy in place one day after spending 2 hours trying to get my scanner to work.  That was a ridiculous amount of time.  But, when I have a problem, I don’t like to be defeated.  So my “stubborn will” had overtaken my common sense.

The Magic of Discipline

Don’t be tempted to say you can do it without a policy manual.  Writing down how you are going to run your online business will go far towards seeing that you actually do run it that way.

One of the biggest reasons online businesses fail is because their owners simply lack the discipline to get it done.  Your policy manual will provide the structure you need to increase productivity, make quicker decisions, and consistently spend your time on the “money-making” activities.

Get started today and see the difference today.

JENNIFER HERNDON is a work at home mom with three fabulous kids, ages 3, 5 and 7. She has been enjoying the time freedom and financial benefits of working at home for over 13 years. Jennifer’s passion is empowering others to personal and business success through a positive mindset and consistent action.

Jennifer credits the turn-around in her online business to Jim Rohn’s One Year Success Plan, the perfect tool for planning a successful life. Here’s your chance to be inspired and guided daily by the world’s greatest business philosopher. Create your future with Jim Rohn’s One Year Success Plan and start improving your life and your business today!

You may recall that back in September I told you it was time to start planning your 2012 online business strategy NOW.  While it is possible to instantly change your mindset, putting the new you into action – and seeing results – takes time.

Which means that if you wait until December 31 and come up with a list of “New Year Resolutions,” 2012 isn’t going to start off for you much different that 2011 was.  And that can be kind of depressing.  And it can make you give up on your resolutions before all the streamers have been cleaned up off the streets in Times Square.

So, if you listened to me, and began to plan your 2012 online business strategy months ago – good for you!  January is going to be a great month for you.

But, if you never quite found the time for that, I understand.  Sometimes it’s hard to get your head around today.  Thinking about next year is out of the question.

Which is why I am going to share with you three things I’ve put into practice to make 2012 my best year yet.

When I look at all of the planning I’ve been doing to take my online business to the next level in 2012, these things are the early winners in the category of what’s really making a difference.

1.  Hire a Coach

I mean pay someone every month to personally coach you.  I don’t mean choose a mentor and read their blog every day and purchase every course they’ve ever put out.  While that’s certainly a way to find a coach, it’s no substitute for having a coach.

You must have direct phone and email access to your coach.  She must be available to answer your specific questions, to hold your hand through your challenges, and to hold you accountable in your online business.

And you should be paying her just a little more than you’re really comfortable with.  Just to make sure that you take it seriously.

Every successful person I know has a coach.  The millionaires I know pay their coach six figures a year.  The rest of us pay five figures a year so we can learn how to get in a position to lay out six figures a year.

2.  Learn How to Outsource

No matter how dedicated you are, there’s a limit to how many hours a week you can work on your online business.

If you have a job, or kids, or both, then that limit may be 10-15 hours a week.

No matter what you have been told in the past, I want to bring you into reality here.  It’s hard to build a 6 or 7-figure online business working just a few hours a week.

Imagine if you could work 40, 80, 100 hours a week – and beyond!  Now we’re talking.

Fortunately, you can.  And the best news is, you don’t have to increase the number of hours you put it.

Find the things that you aren’t good at, that you don’t like to do, or that you simply aren’t getting done and outsource them.  The world is full of virtual assistants, online business managers, and freelancers who would love to take on your project.

Don’t tell me it costs money, because it doesn’t.  Outsourcing makes your online business money, a fact you will quickly discover once you start doing it.

3.  Offer Something New

If you continue to do the same things you’ve done in 2011 ~ while I will applaud your persistence ~ I won’t expect to hear that you are getting any different results.

An excellent way to breathe some life into your online business is to offer your clients something new.  It might be a new ebook, video course, or home study program.  It might be a new coaching program (you may be the personal coach someone needs!). 

Or it might be a new website, a forum, a Facebook page.  It could be any new way for your clients to contact you and interact with you.

Take the one online business strategy that you’ve been most wanting to implement “someday” and make that someday “now.”

I can’t wait to hear how you’ve used these three things to explode your online business in 2012.  I’d also love to know other ways you plan to grow your online business in the coming year.  Please share with me in the comments below!

JENNIFER HERNDON is a work at home mom with three fabulous kids, ages 3, 4 and 7. She has been enjoying the time freedom and financial benefits of working at home for over 13 years. Jennifer’s passion is empowering others to personal and business success through a positive mindset and consistent action.

Jennifer credits the turn-around in her online business to Jim Rohn’s One Year Success Plan, the perfect tool for planning a successful life. Here’s your chance to be inspired and guided daily by the world’s greatest business philosopher. Create your future with Jim Rohn’s One Year Success Plan and start improving your life and your business today!

Do you ever feel like you’re writing and no one’s reading when it comes to your online business?

You post on Facebook, Twitter, and even Google+.  You pour your heart and your knowledge out into your blog on a regular basis.  You’re a content-creating queen (or king!).

And yet the comments don’t come.   The interactions aren’t there.  That “relationship building” that’s suppose to be happening still eludes you.

“What’s wrong?,” you wonder.

While there is no “one size fits all” answer here, there is one thing that you simply have to get right if you ever want things to fall into place.

You must be creating the content that your market wants.

And ~ newsflash ~ this may be totally different than what you know your market needs.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in my home business development is that you must give your market what they want and not what they need.

This can be quite a blow to the ego.  After all, you are the expert.  You are the leader in your market.  To help others, you must give them what they need, right?

Wrong.

If you’re not giving them what they want, they’re not going to read it.  So it won’t matter whether they need it or not, because they’ll never see it.  And your online business will continue to feel as empty as the midnight echo of your voice atop a deserted mountaintop.

But how do you know what content your market wants from you?  Chances are, you thought you were giving them what they wanted.

Shouldn’t they want what they need? Surprisingly, want and need don’t often intersect.

Or, maybe it’s not so surprising.  My online business focus has always been solving mindset problems.  Because I find that most home business struggles are remedied with a mindset fix.

But many people come to me insisting that their mindset is great, can I just teach them how to make money?  So I’m shifting my focus to do that a little more.  And then mixing in the mindset stuff like I hide vegetables in my kids’ pasta sauce . . .

“So,” you may ask, “how do I know what my market wants?”

Of course, if you have an email list, the best way to find out is to survey your list.  Most people I work with don’t have a significant list, so let me share some other fun and easy ways to find out what your potential clients want.

∞ 4 Ways to Find Out What Your Market WANTS ∞

• Start an “Ask” campaign.  Simply go to “Ask” and submit the same questions you would if you had an email list of targeted clients in your online business.  You will get answers.  Good ones.

• Send a direct message or tweet to your Twitter followers.  This may take a little work on your part.  You have to experiment with what works.  But remember, having 200 Twitter followers is the same as having a 200 person list.  They may not all be as targeted as your email list, but you’ll get some great input on what your marketplace wants.

• Ask your Facebook, Google+, and other social media friends.  People want to help each other on social media.  Explain to your friends that you’re trying to serve them better and ask what would be helpful to them.

• Every profitable niche has online forums.  Really.  My kids raise hermit crabs, and it initially amazed me that there are entire forums dedicated to hermit crabs.  But there are.  And you should be connected with at least a couple of forums related to your market.  Spend some time in the forums and see what people are asking questions about, as well as what the hot topics of discussion are.  You can create an endless amount of content from looking at forum postings.

Did you notice the common theme in these 4 resources?

Could it be any easier?  Now, go gather the information and start tweeting, posting, status updating, blogging, and product creating about it.   Your online business will never be the same again!

JENNIFER HERNDON is a work at home mom with three fabulous kids, ages 3, 4 and 7. She has been enjoying the time freedom and financial benefits of working at home for over 13 years. Jennifer’s passion is empowering others to personal and business success through a positive mindset and consistent action.

Jennifer credits the turn-around in her online business to Jim Rohn’s One Year Success Plan, the perfect tool for planning a successful life. Here’s your chance to be inspired and guided daily by the world’s greatest business philosopher. Create your future with Jim Rohn’s One Year Success Plan and start improving your life and your business today!

One of the most basic, yet most important, questions for online business owners is “how do I put up my website?”

The good news is, even the most technically challenged among us no longer has to hire someone to put up a website.  My 7-year-old could do this.

Many online business owners operate on a tight budget to begin with.  The temptation therefore is to use WordPress.com (or, less frequently, Blogger.com).  Both of these platforms allow you to set up a blog for free.

If you are serious about your online business – I mean if you want to make any money at all – resist the free temptation and lay out a few bucks to host your own site using WordPress.org.

When it comes to using WordPress.com versus WordPress.org, you do in fact “get what you pay for.”

Now I don’t always buy into the “you get what you pay for” theory.  I’ve never tasted any difference in the store brand macaroni and the name brand.  But, the $20 jeans I buy my kids do have fewer holes in them than the $10 ones.

And WordPress.com will serve your hobby well, but could destroy your online business.

We could talk about the need for WordPress.org all day, but really, there are two big reasons your home business must have it.  So let’s just get to the heart of it.

→ First, You Need to Own and Control Your Content←

With WordPress.com, you don’t own anything you put on your site.  You don’t pay for hosting – they do.  Which means they make the rules.  And the rules are not online business-friendly.

Here’s a few of the big rules that should make you, the home business owner, run screaming for WordPress.org:

          ◊  No Adsense, Skimlinks, or similar ads allowed (unless you have a really popular blog ~ and then you have to split the profits 50/50 with them.  What?!);

          ◊  No affiliate links to Clickbank allowed;  

          ◊  No promotion of network marketing/MLM companies allowed;

◊  No blogs with the primary purpose of promoting affiliate products or network marketing products allowed.

Even if you have your own products, these rules are bad news for your online business.

Chances are that someday you are going to want to joint venture with others and promote an affiliate product here and there.  Do it on WordPress.com and you could find your blog – and all your hard work – has vanished into thin air one day . . .

→ Second, You Need to Control the Look & Features of Your Blog ←

Three more disadvantages come with not owning your blog.  First, you can’t install a custom header on your blog, which means you’re stuck with their themes.  For branding purposes, you need a picture of yourself in your header – which isn’t happening on WordPress.com.

Second, you can’t install any plug-ins on WordPress.com blogs.  For SEO purposes and for tracking your business stats, plug-ins are a must.  You’ll also want special plug-ins to enhance commenting and sharing of your blog posts.  Again, not happening on WordPress.com.

Finally, if you host your site on WordPress.com, everyone knows it.  For example, my website would be www.JenniferHerndon.wordpress.com.

So what if it’s not pretty, you say?  Well, that’s not the point.  You are not going to be taken seriously with “wordpress” in the middle of your domain name.  Not by potential JV partners, other marketers you want to connect with, and (depending on your niche) your customers.

If you are 100% unable to make the change today, you can spend a few dollars and buy a domain name from WordPress.com and they will redirect your blog to that domain.  This means “wordpress” won’t show up in your domain name.

But this is a temporary fix only.  It doesn’t fix any of the above problems that we talked about.  It just makes you look good.  Which is nice, but not near as nice as being good.  And that’s what WordPress.org will do for you!

JENNIFER HERNDON is a work at home mom with three fabulous kids, ages 3, 4 and 7. She has been enjoying the time freedom and financial benefits of working at home for over 13 years. Jennifer’s passion is empowering others to personal and business success through a positive mindset and consistent action.

Jennifer credits the turn-around in her online business to Jim Rohn’s One Year Success Plan, the perfect tool for planning a successful life. Here’s your chance to be inspired and guided daily by the world’s greatest business philosopher. Create your future with Jim Rohn’s One Year Success Plan and start improving your life and your business today!

Making Money Online is Easy!

I used to go crazy when I heard such nonsense.  I have to admit, it still makes me scream “stop lying!” on the inside.

But, if making money online isn’t easy, it must be hard.  Right?

Well, in many respects, yes – it is hard.  But that doesn’t mean it has to be a struggle.

Unfortunately, for many people who dream of making money online, their online business is a struggle.

You’ve probably had people ask you what your biggest struggle is in your business.  Perhaps you’ve even thought of yourself as “struggling” to make money online.

And really, any way you look at it, “struggling” is not a good thing.  It has negative connotations all the way around.  It smacks of “failure,” and “worry,” and “unhappiness.”  Not pretty descriptors for your online business.

The good news is, you can stop struggling today.  Right now in fact.  By simply declaring that you are no longer struggling.  And of course, believing that the struggle is over, and in fact never even existed.

No, I’m not going to give you affirmations that haven’t worked for you in the past.  Or tell you that with “positive thinking” the struggle will end.

But, you will have to significantly shift your mindset.  Happily, I’m about to make that easy for you.

Think about a baby.  At 11 months old you see her starting to stand without holding on to anything, cautioning a step every now and then – only to immediately tumble to the ground.  You don’t tell people she’s “struggling” to become a walker.  She’s simply learning to successfully walk.

When you plant a lettuce seed in your garden, and you come back a week later to see a 2 inch plant, you don’t say that your lettuce is “struggling” to grow.  It’s doing exactly what it’s suppose to be doing to become an edible head of lettuce.

And when you check the pot of rice on your stove half way through its cooking time, you don’t say its “struggling” to get done.  The rice is simply taking the amount of time nature determined for it to become soft and edible.

The baby, the lettuce and the rice are all doing exactly what they should be doing.  Are they working?  Yes.  Is it hard?  Yes, in some ways.  It takes a lot of practice to walk.  The tiny lettuce plant has to survive the elements, and the rabbits.  The rice has to make it from the field, to your pantry, to being cooked just the right amount of time.

Your online business is exactly like the baby, the lettuce and the rice.

You are doing exactly what you need to be to doing to start consistently making money online.

You aren’t going to wake up with $10,000 in your bank account 30 days after your website is up, any more than a lettuce seed is going to wake up as a full head of lettuce the day after it’s planted.  It’s just not the way the world works.

If you are taking daily steps to develop and grow your online business, stop thinking of the process of business growth as a struggle.  And even more importantly, stop letting marketers that fill your inbox with “how to make money online” offers convince you that you are struggling and that they can magically stop the struggle.

Put your credit card away.  Because shifting your mindset is free.  And if you will shift your mindset from one of struggle, and see that you are simply walking a proven and necessary path to success, your online business journey will be easier, more fun, and less costly!

JENNIFER HERNDON is a work at home mom with three fabulous kids, ages 3, 4 and 7.  She has been enjoying the time freedom and financial benefits of working at home for over 13 years. Jennifer’s passion is empowering others to personal and business success through a positive mindset and consistent action.

Need some accountability in your online business journey?  Jim Rohn’s One Year Success Plan is your perfect companion.  This is your chance to be inspired and guided daily by the world’s greatest business philosopher.  Get Jim Rohn’s One Year Success Plan today and leave your struggle behind.

Happy Labor Day!  The “Happy Labor Day” weekend always brings some mixed emotions for me.

The “official” end of summer.  But oh how I love summer!  (Fortunately, it was still 100 degrees here two days ago, so I can pretend).

I am sad at the thought of closing my pool, packing up all the kids’ short sleeves, not having my Saturday trip to the farmer’s market.

The “Happy Labor Day” weekend is also one of my favorite weekends of the year because it is my first-born’s birthday.  She is a beautifully energetic child.  And the weekend is always fun-filled and action-packed.  Because it’s a long weekend, my family from 4 hours away is always able to join the celebration.

So, this “Happy Labor Day” weekend has been great.  But as it begins to wind down, my attention is drawn to the next chapter of life that is about to unfold.

There’s a four month push to the new year.  But really, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and New Year Year celebrations, there are only three months left.  I like to plan it like three months so that I can actually take the time and enjoy my friends and family over the holidays.

You may know that I am not a fan of New Year’s resolutions.  I think they are artificial and overwhelming and usually set you up for failure.

But, I am a fan of planning.  You know the saying — those who fail to plan, plan to fail.  And the planning of your successful online business in 2012 needs to begin now.

December 31, 2011 before you head out to a New Year’s party is too late.

If you want 2012 to be extraordinary in your business, you need to make a plan for how you are going to pull that off.  Now.

Here’s why.

The new level of success that you desire to rise to will not happen overnight.  Or in a month.  Or really, even in a few months.

Your success is going to involve meeting several goals.  You will get to each goal by accomplishing a series of small steps.  And that takes time.

Rome wasn’t built in a day.  Your successful online business won’t be either.

So if you start planning for success on December 31, 2011, you won’t meet your 2012 profit goal.  Because you are going to spend much of 2012 figuring out how to build your business and doing the construction.

If you want to quit your day job in 2012, or show a profit for the first time in 2012, or double your profits in 2012, then you need to start working on that now.

Think of it like this.  You are opening a new physical store.  You want to unlock the doors to a grand opening extravaganza that brings out thousands of new and excited customers.

Would you go lease the building on December 31 and plan to throw the doors open on January 1?  Of course not.

You’d plan for months to get everything just right for your January 1 grand opening.

So start thinking about January 1 as the grand opening (or re-opening if you’re already up and running) of your online business.  And start making some preparations.  Or on January 1 you’ll be sitting in an empty store, with an empty wallet, scrambling desperately to get your store set up and attract customers.

And another year will slip by without you leaving your j-o-b, or taking that vacation, or volunteering to drive for your child’s mid-day school field trip.

Happy Labor Day!  Now get to work.

JENNIFER HERNDON is a work at home mom with three fabulous kids, ages 3, 4 and (as of yesterday!) 7. She has been enjoying the time freedom and financial benefits of working at home for over 13 years. Jennifer’s passion is empowering others to personal and business success through a positive mindset and consistent action.

Now is the perfect time to start your One Year Success Plan. Don’t wait for next year. Get Jim Rohn’s One Year Success Plan today and jump-start your 2012 business and personal success.

I learned early on in my network marketing career that “the only way to fail is to quit.”

And indeed, every successful person I know has a story about not quitting.  And about how eventually, often on the brink of giving up, he has had the breakthrough that led to multimillion dollar success.

You’ve probably heard me tell you to take action.  And to just keep taking action, until your online business is the success you dream about it being as you toil away long past midnight.

No doubt, consistent action is the key to success.

But I had a conversation with a frustrated online business owner the other day that made me realize something I probably overlook too often.

Not just any action will do.  You must take right action.

Getting in your car and driving from California to New York without a map would take much longer than doing it with a triptik from AAA.  AAA are the experts.  They know how to get you there.

And building a successful online business is like driving from California to New York.  Some stretches will go easier than others.  You will get tired.  You’ll have to stop and rest.  But not for too long, or you’ll never get there.

And, you’ll need the right map if you ever want to get there.

Here’s what I see far too often.  (And yes, it’s what I did too, for far too long!)  Serious, committed online business owners who pick up a new and different map every 30-60 days.  Inspired by the promise of a quicker and easier route to success.

So you end up starting in California and driving to Colorado every 30 to 60 days.  But you never make it to New York.

The key to building a successful online business is finding a map that will get you there and staying the course.

And the map that promises you can make the trip in 4 hours, or on one tank of gas, or without stopping to sleep, is wrong.  Don’t follow it.

If you find yourself purchasing a new Ebook, membership site, or magic software on how to make money online every 30 or 60 days (or more often!), quit.  If you want to build a successful online business, quit.  I don’t care how good the sales letter makes it sound, you must quit.

You must start building your business like you’ve rented a space at the local strip mall and are preparing to open the doors for your customers to walk in and buy.

You wouldn’t do that in a weekend, and you won’t build your online business in a weekend.

I know it can “feel” better to buy a new “how to make money online” product than to write a sales letter or contact a potential JV partner.  Because you are buying hope.  And hope feels good.

But, while hope is a good thing, it won’t build your business and it won’t pay your bills.  Your sales letter will.  Your JV deal will.

So close your email, put away your credit card, and get to writing.  Your success depends on it.

JENNIFER HERNDON is a work at home mom with three fabulous kids, ages 3, 4 and 6. She has been enjoying the time freedom and financial benefits of working at home for over 13 years. Jennifer’s passion is empowering others to personal and business success through a positive mindset and consistent action.

Looking for a proven road map to success? Jim Rohn’s One Year Success Plan pointed me in the right direction and still keeps me on the success path. Get started today!

When I talk to people who are interested in starting an online business, I always ask them how many hours a week they have to devote to their new business.

Typically, the new business owner has very little time to really work on her venture.  Maybe 10 hours a week.  And usually after (or before) going to a full time j-o-b that is often a daily grind.

Fortunately, you can launch a successful business in 10 hours a week.  But, many people don’t.  And for years, I was one of them.

And oh how things changed once I figured out why.

If you are devoting a specific number of hours and a specific number of days to your business, but aren’t making the progress you want, all is not lost.  You simply have to figure out what you are doing wrong.  And fix it.

To do that, here are 5 things you must analyze about how you spend your time “working on your business.”

First, do you have your time mapped out?

Let’s go with the example of having a 2 hour block to work on your business.  You must sit down knowing what you can realistically do in those 2 hours.  And 75% (at least) of what you do must be income producing.

Second, how do you start your business-building time?

The first thing you do sets the tone for the rest of your work time.  Make it the least attractive thing you need to do.  It will feel good to get that out of the way and inspire you to move on to the “easy” stuff.

Checking your email and sliding on over to Facebook for “just a minute” is NOT the way to start.  I don’t care how big of a part social media plays in your business strategy.

Third, what’s your social media plan?

Speaking of social media, you have to strictly limit your involvement here or you’ll blow your 2 hours (and more!) every time.  It’s not enough to say “I’ll get on Twitter and Facebook and get off when I’m done.”  Social media is never done.

Set a timer for 30 minutes and do everything you can in that amount of time.  Schedule your tweets.  Update your Facebook status.  And move on.

If you have an extra five minutes outside of your 2 hour block of time, you can come back later and do more.  But unless social media is putting at least 4 figures a month in your pocket, don’t spend more than 30 minutes a day on it.

Fourth, are you using all of your time?

When you have 15 minutes left, do you think “well, I can’t get much more done,” and slide back into email, or Facebook, or just pack it in for the day?  Don’t.

What you can accomplish in just 5 minutes can be incredible.

If the next thing on your list is writing a blog post, start it.  So what if you can’t finish it.  Start it.  By doing this, I’ve often found the energy to stay up later and actually finish it.  Or, the excitement to create a little extra time to finish it later in the day.

Fifth, do you have a business plan?

Don’t spend your two hours being overwhelmed.  Yes, you want to get your blog up and perfect, create an opt-in, do some SEO work, make a video, create a product, record a podcast, spend some time learning new strategies, get your Facebook page up, customize your Twitter background . . . . ugh.

Make a list of all of these things in the order of their importance.  And follow it.  If the current task is creating your opt-in, do that.  Until it’s done.  Don’t spend 10 minutes on 12 things and finish nothing.

If you really are devoting the time, but aren’t getting the results, I guarantee that the above analysis, done honestly, will shortcut your road to success too.

JENNIFER HERNDON is a work at home mom with three fabulous kids, ages 3, 4 and 6. She has been enjoying the time freedom and financial benefits of working at home for over 13 years. Jennifer’s passion is empowering others to personal and business success through a positive mindset and consistent action.

Need help mapping out your road to success and staying the course?  (We all do!)  Jim Rohn’s One Year Success Plan helped me make the changes I needed in my life. Get started today!

Because you won’t.

It’s really that simple.  Developing a successful online business has nothing to do with “can’t.”

Those who fail, do so not because they can’t do what it takes to succeed, but because they won’t.

This may sound harsh.  But I’ve put a lot of time and effort into studying success and failure.  And it’s undoubtedly true.

Those who are willing to do the things successful people do, become successful people.

Those who won’t do the things successful people do, won’t become successful.

So, it is simple, yes.  But easy, not so much.

And why not?

Common sense would dictate that if someone said to you – “I will tell you every step to take to build a successful online business,” you would say, “I’ll do it.”  And you would go about doing whatever it takes.

The problem arises when our excuses turn into “can’t.”

When I was building a network marketing business I used to call business opportunity leads on the phone.  Some of the “can’ts” I heard made me so sad.  Because with just a shift in mindset, they could have become “I can,” and led to a dream-come-true life for people.

The top three excuses I still hear today from people are (1) I don’t have time, (2) I don’t have money, and (3) I don’t have the skill needed to run a successful online business.  Maybe you won’t have a successful online business due to one of these  things, but it certainly is not because you can’t.

Let’s look at “I can’t because I don’t have time.”  I feel you.  I’m a single mom with three kids I stay  home with.  And I run an offline business.  I could easily not have time.  And there are days that I feel that way, without a doubt.

But let’s think about it.  What if you got a paycheck for $10,000 a month if you could provide a verifiable time sheet showing 3 hours of work on your business each day, 5 days a week.  Could you make the time then?

Would you get up an hour earlier?  Turn the TV off at night?  Skip your night out on the town this week?  Of course you would.

And if you will work as if you are getting that paycheck as a reward every month, before you know it, you will be!

Okay, but “I can’t because I don’t have any money.”  Again, I don’t want to make light of this, I’ve been there.  But I have two things to say about that “can’t.”

First, you don’t have to have much money at all to get started.  Will it take more time?  Maybe.  But so what.  That time is going to pass anyway.

Second, I have found that we humans tend to have money for the things we really want.  If I told you I would sell you a brand new Mercedes for $1000, if you could bring me the money before the day was over, and you currently had zero dollars, could you raise the $1000?  Some of you, maybe.  Most of you, probably not.  Because you don’t really need/want a brand new Mercedes.  Not REALLY.

But, if I told you that in exchange for that same $1000, I’d turn it into a million dollars, rather than a Mercedes, do you think you’d find a way to get the money to me?

It’s all about how bad you want it.

You’re going to need web hosting for your business.  You can get it for $10 a month.  Are you willing to bring your lunch to work to save the expense of eating out?  To hold off on that new pair of shoes you’re just dying for?  To stay in for the night and rent a movie rather than going to the theater?

If you won’t do those things, then you won’t have enough money to start your business.  But you can.

But still, “I can’t because I don’t have the skill to set up a successful online business.”  I know.  I used to do good to find the “on” button for my computer.

Well guess what, if you can read this, then you can learn.  If you’re a right-brained technophobe like me, it will at times be boring, difficult, and so frustrating you want to throw your computer out the window and go work at McDonald’s.

But you can do it.  Most if not all of the information you need is available for free.  To make it a little easier, you can buy a course to learn the basics.  If you have a little more money, you can outsource things you haven’t learned yet or just plain don’t want to do.

So will you stay up a little later studying how to put up a basic website, blogging for beginners, and/or copywriting?  I don’t know.  But I do know that you can.

Instead of saying “I can’t because . . .”  Start saying “I won’t because . . .”  How crazy does that sound?

You can turn your “I can’t“ into an “I can.”  But will you?

JENNIFER HERNDON is a work at home mom with three fabulous kids. She has been enjoying the time freedom and financial benefits of working at home for over 13 years. Jennifer’s passion is empowering others to personal and business success through a positive mindset and consistent action.

Start your journey to “I can” with Jim Rohn’s One Year Success Plan.

I am SO tired of hype.  I was nearly pushed over the edge the other day when four marketers in the “how to succeed in internet marketing” niche sent me emails claiming I could make thousands of dollars a week if I was simply able to type.  All I had to do was fill in forms and/or write short articles.  I thought I respected these four marketers.  I’m rethinking my opinion.

The sales page for this “magical” no-brainer, no-ability “opportunity” was moving and convincing.  Until you got to the bottom.  In four paragraphs of fine print (which also happened to be much lighter in color than the text of the sales page), I read something I couldn’t believe.  In fact, I read it two or three times and am still flabbergasted and saddened by it.

It seems that the moving story of the man who was suffering medical problems, struggling through a dead end job, and constantly away from his family until he came upon this incredible opportunity, was, in fact, fake.  Completely made up.  Not real.  Didn’t happen.  Provided for “my entertainment” the fine print said.

Hmmm.  I’m already skeptical about the truthfulness behind the claim that the secret to success lies in my ability to type.  Now I see that the sales page is made up.  What else could they be making up?  Don’t they have any real product success stories they could use to hook me?

Before I go on, I must confess that I am going to buy this program.  And try it.  And I’m not going to talk myself into failing just to prove my point.  I’m really going to try it.

But I also must confess that I’m buying it to prove it’s hype (or not).

And here’s what makes me sad.  There are thousands of really desparate, struggling people out there.  They are reading these type of sales letters and pressing the “buy now” button before they ever get to the “fine print.”  That’s just unnecessary legal mumbo jumbo anyway.  Isn’t it?  Who bothers to read the fine print?  You’re on your way to riches and retirement in the next thirty days.  No time to be interrupted with the fact that it’s all a lie.

Too many people are buying the hope these products sell.  It’s not fair, honest or right in anyway to be misleading.  The secret to success is not my ability to type, or to copy and paste someone else’s campaigns.  Or any of the other junk these sales letters claim.

I’m tired of testimonials from those who made $10,000 in their first week.  Because too many times I’ve learned that these people are the product creator’s best friend or relative.  That they had a list of 50,000 people to promote to in that first week.  That yes, they quit their job, but now they’re simply more broke and unemployed.

I’m tired of paying $200 for a product and then being told that I’ll really have to spend thousands more to be successful.  There’s too much misrepresentation and deceit everywhere I turn on the internet.

And none of this is okay with me.  Because I hear from too many people who are truly struggling and desparate.  They should know it’s not easy.  They shouldn’t be sold false hope.  They don’t have the money.  Or the time.  It crushes their spirit.

So, if the secret to success isn’t knowing how to type, what is it?  We’ll tackle that tomorrow.  I’m off to type my way to millions tonight . . .

JENNIFER HERNDON works from home with her kids.  She has enjoyed the time freedom and financial rewards of home business ownership for over 11 years.  Jennifer’s passion is empowering you to success through a positive mindset and consistent action.  Discover the Seven Simple Success Steps for free in Jennifer’s mini-course designed to start you on the path to personal growth and home business success.