working from home

Retirement income ideas, add excitement to your life

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Do You Make These Simple Mistakes In Writing?

Retirement income ideas and adding a reason to get up in the morning. Let's look at a few ideas that can help fill a day with enthusiasm.

Why would you want to work in retirement anyway?

Work is something you do because you have to.
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Certainly we don't want to go digging ditches or laying paving stones on a hot day. We want to do something that is easy and in our own time.

First of all a bit about me. Bordering on 80 years old, small business owner, consistent blogger averaging about 15,000 words a month, a couple of eBooks, Stock trader, Crypto convert, warrior for Global warming, grandfather to twelve, swimmer and fit in a 4lkm walk on most days.

Therefore you would say I am fairly productive. My problem is that I need to live a lot longer to do all the things I want to achieve.

Naturally I have a lot of friends around the same age, some working, many retired. Those that continue on with a demanding schedule are the better thinking of the lot.

Wasting away days and waiting for the end.

There will be time for that much later on. Whilst we still have the marbles let's do something with them, and get an outcome that we can be proud off.

Perhaps you can do a cross word or a colouring in book but what is the satisfaction level.

What you need is a bit of excitement, a buzz that gets you up in the morning, grabbing a sabre and rushing into the world with a purpose.

Having a project gives you purpose

First of all I shall take you to the dark side and talk about The Crypto market.

A bit like the stock market on steroids. It is the future of all that we do however it comes with high risk and higher rewards.

Throwing some play money at this will give you a bit of excitement and should earn a bit of coin along the way.

Think of it as building an asset that in a few years will increase greater than Real Estate and not shrink in value like cash.

If I have stretched you too far and you don't want to extend your brain outside a safe parameter we will move on to more things to consider.

Is it worth buying Crypto in an erratic market

What about a bit of writing

First off all it is hard to make a lot of money blogging until you are well down the road.

However it will release the creative you from under a rock. We all have something to say and this is an ideal way to unleash the budding writer.

It may be the start of a journey or an entry to something bigger that is your path to find.

How do you make money from blogging is a great question.

First off all I have acquaintances making five figures a month that becomes a recurring income so every month not just one time.

This is easy to learn and there is a whole bundle of training starting from a free base at Wealthy Affiliate. You can be up and going in a short time and furthermore know where you are heading and why you want to get there.

Retirement income ideas and getting paid

Affiliate income and advertising to generate funds

Affiliate income is being paid for passing a new customer to a sale by a partner.

A good example is having a link on a page to the great Amazon. Someone clicks on your link and goes to Amazon to look at a book or something bigger like a Running treadmill.

If they buy the product the Amazon pays you a commission being a percentage of the sale.

It might be a $2 on a book or $200 on a Treadmill. In the early years this was very lucrative however Amazon have really tightened the commissions so it is now a lot harder.

Every product you can think off has an affiliate offer.

Therefore if you want to write about Hairdressing ( as an example) you may recommend Scissors, dryers or even high priced chairs.

Off course throw in a bundle of products that people must use and you have quite a few opportunities.

Then the advertising revenue comes

When you get a bit of traffic, (people reading your blog), the advertisers will pay to pop up on your site.

You get paid for just clicks or a commission. The famous people with a million or more followers can earn millions of dollars this way. maybe you are the next one.

What is your input into the whole exercise

You are in charge. You are working when you want and at a pace that suits.

However you need to do a bit of training first. Learn to build a website and a bit about SEO and keywords before you blast off.

Hey this is a long term venture so let's start off the correct way so the road gets easier as you go.

Importantly none of it is hard. However learning the fundamentals is necessary to be successful. Again your starting point is Wealthy Affiliate.

If you play around on this site and look at some of the 400 odd posts I have written you will start to build ideas, like the all important “what to write about.

Retirement income ideas from a talking head

The talking head

This one is not for everyone however some of you will quite like the idea of telling your ideas live to a captive audience.

You Tube is a search Engine that people go to to get answers. They want someone to solve a problem for them.

An ex hairdresser( as a example) may talk about undercuts, Plats, Dreadlocks, types of colours, scalp conditions, equipment, product, kids etc. The list just goes on.

Doing a video is really simple. It may be with your computer, iPhone or a proper camera and mike.

The kids can do it so nothing is stopping you. Again money can be made the same ways as blogging in affiliate income of advertising revenue.

I watch a daily episode on the Crypto market. I pay the man $20 a month to get the most up to date information. James has several thousand followers so a nice little earn for him

I also watch others on You Tube where an add pops up every five or so minutes.

Start out by reading a bit about it at Vidnami a builder of Videos that make it possible for anyone.

Taking the easy route to success

We talked about learning the basics being a necessary start and many off you want hand holding.

There is nothing like a great Mentor to guide you on your way. However, and important, is that there are many ways to waste money searching the web.

It is full of scams and high priced commodities that teach nothing, but take a lot. Believe me I have a whole cupboard full of wasted time and money.

I have narrowed the field down to one guy that promises success. My Mate Roy Carter has been doing this for years and in fact is now retired to an island play ground to live the life.

Roy does not take on anyone however with my recommendation you have a chance of being accepted.

Concluding Retirement income ideas

In conclusion of chasing an income the easy way

This is just the tip of a massive market and a million ideas.

However I believe they are the easiest ways and provide the greatest opportunity to success.

Let not age stop you. I have friends in the mid eighties and over that are extremely productive. In fact one 85 year old lady in Alaska just converted her garage into a writers den. She wanted the perfect place to release her creative self so she built it. (including a big Fireplace )

There are opportunities in Social media and you will include these in your journey along with many others.

I have offered a bit of balance, the Crypto Gamble, the learning curve and a mentor to hold your hand. I use all three but take them one at a time and get them working before you move on.

Retirement income ideas, add excitement to your life by Peter Hanley

Best SMS marketing tips for small business growth

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SMS Marketing

Best SMS marketing tips for small business growth. There is no better action based marketing than with SMS. We tell you how to make it easy

Why use SMS anyway

First of all over 90% of people will read an SMS immediately and a percentage will act on the message. This depends off course on content

best SMS marketing tips have legal implications

Using the legal bits to better use

What the heck are the legal bits and how do they affect you?
You can not send random messages to anyone. You need prior consent gathered within your business dealings. However you should build your list at every opportunity. Get those names, emails and mobile numbers so that you can market to them at any time.

Every country has different laws so if you are in doubt please check with the local authority.

Secondly you must offer the receiver the option to Opt-out of future messages and maintain a register so you don't continue to bombard them with mail.

Importantly it is a good thing when they do choose to leave you. They are not your customers and never will be so don't waste your time on them.

A nice tidy list is far better than a random base of numbers.

Gathering your contact list

sms marketing

Your contact list has a real value. Not only will it provide a regular flow of business it will also be a valued asset on your balance sheet.

You can sell your list on the sale of your business based on the long term returns you may expect. This could be in the hundreds of thousand dollars so it is important.

Every website, page, post or blog should carry a link that your readers can subscribe to.
I have installed one below that goes directly to my SMS base and confirms with you that you are a valued customer.

Every, invoice, quote, order or collateral should have a way of gathering your contact information. Make your staff aware and insist they develop a habit if gathering the vital data.

Your data base is an Asset just like Real Estate so treat it with respect

Using newsletters to gather data

Using automation


This is the age of automation where your contacts get loaded to a list instantly and welcomed as premium customers that can expect more from you in the future. Be nice early and get liked for your presentation so that they will trust you sometime enough to buy from you.

have a link on your Social Media. your web pages and anywhere else possible. Every new customer has a real value to you therefore treat them extra well

Have your list in a format that you can use at any time with a simple cut and paste.

Personalise your list

It always helps to address your recipients by name however you must also remember that this takes up valuable characters. Hello Mr Jonathon Armstrong blows away about 28 of your available 160 characters therefore consider if the benefit out ways the return.

The advantages of a fixed number

Many of you will either ignore this advantage or simply be blissfully unaware that it has a 5X impact.
Most businesses use a bulk SMS generator that uses a variety of numbers when sending mail.
In a large blast they may use a dozen or more different numbers.

In fact my daughter queried with me how her Doctor and Dentist shared a number. Her appointment confirmation came from the same number. By coincidence both services used the same carrier and the number had been generated from both. She had saved it in her folder for future use however it would never receive return calls.

I always encourage the use of a fixed number even though it comes with a small monthly cost.
It should be considered part of your branding and provide both ways access at any time.

Your phone will recognise the incoming mail and advise who is messaging thus instant recognition.

Todays customers are busy and the use of SMS is proffered to any other form of communications. My older generation may make a phone call but we are a dying breed as technology passes us by.

Let them message you straight to your email so that anyone can handle the query and it is not lost on a Mobile phone with a flat battery.

Best SMS marketing tips for great results

Instant gratification

Because most messages are looked at immediately on receipt the user has a decision to make, either delete or reply.
The reply provides instant feed back and is ideal for instigating a small test market.
Message a small number from your base and then see what the stats say. Then make any changes that you think are necessary

Sending an offer and offering excitement

There is no better way than to build excitement than with an SMS.
Many had waited for a new product line and were told to register an interest. An SMS on the appropriate day had punters lined up at opening time to beat the rush.

Should businesses give product away

Cost per click return beats most marketing measures

Over 90% of SMS messages are opened immediately and most are acted on. Whereas emails have a 30% open rate and may sit for days before a response is initiated.

Cost of a message is immaterial, cost of return is everything.

A busy health provider sent out about 500 messages saying they had not seen the customer in their Gym for some time and would love to have them back. The cost was about $100.
Forty three people reacted and signed a new term contract returning $12,000 in income.
Furthermore it was done in a very short time.

A busy restaurant has the occasional quiet night. This is a restaurant that is hard to obtain a table on most nights. However they are staffed for a full house so they need to fill more tables quickly. Taking a slice from their data base they send a message offering a quick booking with a special offer, the offer is all ways taken up. Cost a few dollars the return a few thousand dollars.

Wholesale supplier has monthly trade meetings where clients are invited for an early morning meeting. After trying several ways they found that a message one week prior and then one hour prior bought a maximum attendance.

Large plumbing supply group tried a quarterly car park sale. Press advertising was over
$10, 000 a time with average results. They found that SMS messaging lifted the response and cut the cost by about two thirds thus bigger profit.

How could a SMS marketing plan work for you.

Outsource your work

Sometimes you are just too busy to do everything required of you. You know you should but don't have the time or the suitable personal to do it.

SMS in marketing

When we host your base all you need do is tell us what you want to say, and when. Then wait for the sales to come in.

Contact us for more information

Depending on volumes and time a small cost my be added for labour content.

My SMS wrap up

Having seen this work so well, so many times for many years I am confident that it will deliver results every time. However it can be overdone so it requires good forward planning. Therefore set out your annual calendar, plan the events and no in advance what you want to achieve. Furthermore you may add other forms to the mix. Email is a great support act and even a cold call as a reminder depending on the time between contacts.
A multiple touch method will capture a slightly larger group and stick in the minds of the recipients that bit longer.

Best SMS marketing tips for small business growth by Peter Hanley




Yes, please add my mobile number to your SMS mailing list

5-Affiliate marketing mistakes (and how I learned a hard lesson)

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Why planning is important

5-Affiliate marketing mistakes (and how I learned a hard lesson). Not understanding these basic inputs will provide no chance of success

Affiliate marketers have a battle to be seen

Unless you are read and followed no one will click your links and thus no sales will result.

A pretty simple formula really however the big question resides around being read.

First of all you must be on page one of a search term. Over 80% of searches never go past the first three free listings so if you are not there you will not be found.

Keyword understanding is essential.

Understanding Key words is paramount to success

Key words or more correctly Key phrases are the basics of all search terms. It is a balance between competition and traffic and both need to be on target.

Fortunately we have some tools to help us with this otherwise it would really be a difficult task.

When someone searches for anything they type in a series of words and those words are the Keywords that take them to a result. Google ranks all those words and positions them according to their rules.

I use three different tools to gain the information needed to make a wise decision. Remember I said traffic and competition, well, too much of either and you wont be found, similarly too little has exactly the same results. No one looks at you.

I looked up affiliate marketing for beginners and found among others two results

Same page and vastly different results so what went wrong.

Seeing your traffic makes a difference.

Using the tools before and not after

The first is Jaaxy a Wealthy Affiliate product .

This tool will give you most of what you want in terms of volume and competition. Pick volume of around 100 a month and competition under say 50 or 5 pages.

Next we look at Ubersuggest by Neil Patel. a bit more difficult to read but more information.

Finally the important Google search. Google writes the rules so they know.

Ubersuggest also has a Chrome extension that provides the estimated visitors numbers as seen above. They will add to the traffic count.

Using a headline tool helps write great introduction text.

Now we have a headline and Meta description to complete

The above examples both appeared on page one so why did one get more traffic?
The first thing is the headline.
Affiliate marketing for beginners 7 steps to success makes a promise.

I struggled with this for a long time until I found a great free tool by Monster Insights. This tool rates your headline and tells you what you are doing wrong, or right in some cases.

Many experts will tell you to keep your headline short however they are wrong. The headline needs to draw readers in to answer a question, provide hope or come up with a solution to a problem.
7 Steps seems to be better that 2021, ( what's more you wont have to change it)

You need power words and promises to pull them in.

Next is the Meta description the lines below the headline. This must explain what your article is about and whether it is worth reading for them. It needs to contain your key phrase as well.

These three items are a package that need to be the best available on the page. Your time to grab a reader is only about 2 seconds so it must be good.

Key Phrases are the startsearch for traffic and competition
A great headline is necessaryAbout 55 characters is ideal
Meta descriptionGet them in with a promise
Recap

Affiliate marketing mistakes and bad links

Use your links sparingly and distance them apart

Being an affiliate marketer gives you the opportunity to link to many and varied income sources. Most of us have a whole bundle of affiliate links depending on what we are writing about.
First of all writing for Mobile content is necessary at all times because this is where Google takes its ranking from.
However having links close together for a mobile phone creates a blurring of the data and they can't be used.
Secondly readers are there for information and too many links creates distrust in what your article is about. Links must be directly associated with your article and provide more information.

Finally you have several link types but three are important

Internal links Linking to other data within your blogs
External LinksTaking them to further information
Authority linksUniversity's, Health services even Wikipedia
Use them at appropriate times

In conclusion, limit your links, write for mobile optimisation and include authority.

Using good SEO is also critical to success

WordPress is my media of choice so I am able to use Yoast SEO. In fact I use the premium version because SEO is so important.
Content structure must be designed with readers in mind. Lots of headlines, short sentences, a few graphics and no spelling mistakes.

Writing must be positive and use ample transition words to connect structure.

You are not writing an engineering white paper. You are there to entertain and keep readers on the page from beginning to end. Provide a solution or answer a question is your destination.

Keeping them on page creates an opportunity for taking them to a destination where you get paid.
You are an affiliate with an ambition to make money. Therefore getting readers transported to the money page is your objective. Your blog or article is the devise to the printing press.

Don't get all hung up on prise winning articles, find the hot spot that gets action and exploit it as well you can.

In most cases the web page you are directing your readers to will be designed to sell the product, that is their job. Your roll is to build interest and move them on to spending money.

Affiliate marketing mistakes and good SEO

Good SEO is importantTry Yoast SEO
Entertain and informinclude references
Move readers to a saleUsing great linking structure
Summary

Understand your history and analyse your results

When you don't know where you have been, can't see where you are going and have no idea of traffic you are in the middle of a nightmare.

Firstly Google analytics is available free to everyone. It has such an extensive range of stats
that can tell you many variables. If you are using WordPress then a great plug-in is Monster Insights. ( The same one for your headline analyser) This puts all the vital stat on your front page so you are reminded constantly to check your results

My conclusion to affiliate marketing and the lesson I learned

The principal lesson is that many variants make the whole and they all need to be in line. Like music it is not just one note but a range of inputs to create a tune.

Affiliate marketing is like that. You need to line up all the ducks to capture interest and intent in a part of a second.
Therefore you should concentrate on each variable and get them all correct every time. Any one failure may well cost you a reader and importantly a chance of income.

You are an affiliate to make money and we sometimes get so wrapped up in our content that we forget that important principal.

The best place to start an affiliate journey is with the training at Wealthy Affiliate. From starter to professional there is something for everyone and your entry is free.

They understand the business better than any one so even being in the forum provides healthy tips and advice.

Furthermore you can get answers on a range of issues in several ways designed around a quick finish to your issue.


5-Affiliate marketing mistakes (and how I learned a hard lesson) by Peter Hanley

Companies that give away free products ( should you do it)

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Companies that give away free products

Companies that give away free products ( should you do it), The answer lies in risk and reward however we all have freebies so it must work

Count your free stuff and think about it

As I sit at my desk and look around I can see about six products given to me by suppliers.

There is the Real Estate Calendar, a Pen from a Tyre store, a Water Bottle from a Gym, a note pad from the local shire . In my top draw a host of Thumb drives and of course the ever present stress ball.

The list goes on with Golf balls, and equipment and probably a dozen caps with various logos.

On the fridge there are magnets from all over and Bottle openers on the cabinet, with the beer can holders all displaying a logo.

Therefore it is still happening however does it work?

You can never judge a return on investment

I have never had anyone wander in and say they want to buy something because I once gave them a free gift.

However I have used them as a referral item.

It is not just branding although that is close.
It is more a compulsion to return a favour or imagining you owe something in return.

I get regular note pads and calendars from local Real Estate agents. I am not in the market but they appear in my post box so I use them.

A while back I was selling a property and wanted a couple of quotes, for one I used the contact details on the note pad I was using at that time. Just might have earned him a big commission.

Go big or go small which is best?

This really depends on the occasion. Giving a fifty cent pen to everyone does not really cut it.
We all have a bundle of them so there is no perceived value.

The best items are the unique ones that make a statement.

The next best are those that will be in every day use.

Finally, those of a higher value that really come with an obligation.

Your aim is to get a bit of front of mind when decision time is close. Will they remember you and ( Know you) naturally (Like ) you now trust you as a reputable business. If you get this Know, like and trust going you will be a winner every time, it is the basics of marketing.

If you are selling a $50,000 car branded floor mats are always welcome however to entice a customer it might be a cocktail evening and test drive that gets them in.

The super Market chains make you buy your gifts. The recent miniature food containers at Coles required a certain level of spend and boy did it generate results. In one campaign a 5% increase in turnover for the group.

Companies that give away free products and show bags

The trade show bag is always a winner

I had an email this morning offering me collateral (probably the reason I am writing this) and one items was show bags at us$1.00 each however in a quantity of 5000 at a time. These were printed and delivered ex China.

companies that give away free products

However with a bag you need stuffers to fill them up. A great way to do this is use your supplier channel to come up with the goods.

Not just tradeshows.

We have a lot of success with inhouse trade meetings. You get a guest speaker a sausage sizzle and invite your VIP list for a special presentation.
Off course you make sure they leave with something to remember you by. A Showbag.
This can be a breakfast group , lunch or evening depending on your cliental.

Free stuff with complements

Or free stuff with complaints. Both of these have an image problem of buying a favour.

If you complain and get something for free it is often not near enough to compensate for the inconvenience and may be viewed as a bribe.
This was done at a restaurant recently when two meals in a group of six were considered cold. The waiter said no problem I won't charge for one of them. This was not what we wanted but set up a conversation at the table of should we have gotten both for free?

The reward was probably generous and needed not to have been offered however it was not seen as a good result.

Free stuff with compliments can be great when it accompanies an action by you. Perhaps you just bought a box of nails for your trade people, a good few dollars worth and a good sale. Enclosing a hammer as a freebee would really cement the deal.

Valued tickets to events

Your customers may queue up for these if they are good enough. For many years I sponsored the local Opera company and was given half a dozen tickets to every performance. We would invite different couple to join us on the evening to something many would not venture to.
This worked well in customer bonding.

A customer of mine had a box at the Local football for a once a year event. He shared the cost with a supplier and invited about 20 people to join the day. Believe me we all had our hands up for this one,

What collateral works the best

This really depends on who your customers are and where their interests lay.
People are different and have many interests that need to be satisfied. Footy tickets to a wife with thee kids, who barracks for an opposing team will not be seen as value. Nor the tea evening at the local baby shop for the man of the house. Ok I am not allowed to generalise like this any more but you get the point I am making.

The skill is finding the correct balance between price , perception and reward. A trinket may work as well as a high priced freebee.

After my free trial I would send the customer by courier a green box containing all the documents to sign a packet or two of jelly beans, a pen and a note pad.

Until this day I often see the green boxes in a customers office being used for storage. We had a set pp fee included in the price so the cost of collateral was more than covered.

The product was also a recurring billing situation that could go on for years and be well worth promoting.

Companies that give away free products and free trials

Giving away a free trial

This can have many benefits and is a favourite of mine. The trial is a soft close. It is generally a love / hate occasion that saves you a lot of the legwork.

I drove into a car sales late one afternoon. Grabbed a salesman and said I want to have a look at a new Ford Explorer. He handed me a set of keys and said take it home for the night, show the family, take them for a drive and we will talk tomorrow.
Gosh , I was sold at hello.

In another business we generally provide a two week trial. While it seems generous it gives us both time to work out what we want and saves any future problems.
This has gone on for years and interestingly only a handful of customers don't sign on after the two weeks.

A free trial needs to be seen as value and not just a shoe-in. Many SMS services, as an example, will set up an account with the first 10 messages free however then you pay.
A low cost and low return method.

The lolly give away that worked

The business had some bags of Jelly beans produced in small printed packages. They were personalised and given out to every new customer.
A result was that customers would continue to ask for them every time we had contact.
A fifty cent product that returned the value many times over.

A local Mechanical repair group have small packets of Tissues on the counter, these were branded and worth very little. However they were great to have in a glovebox for emergencies and I rarely failed to grab one when visiting.

The Battery retailer has a little torch, based on a AA cell and bright lamp. Branded and produced in China at a very small cost they are an excellent give-away. In this case however they rarely use the promotion that will stick with the customer and consider it a cost not an asset.

Furthermore In these matters the staff need to be fully involved to ensure a great result.

My giveaway conclusion

First of all the gift lingers in the mind for a long time. It is not about value or cost it really comes back to perception.

You all love something for free however it must come without strings and given with thought.
Certainly it will bond your customers for the long term which is the aim.

Does it work, off course it does however don't just be random really think about what you are doing and do it with Gusto. If you want to give stuff away then do it and to hell with the cost.

Finally other ways to promote your business

Companies that give away free products by Peter Hanley

Did The Corona Virus Really Teach Us Anything About Business

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Did The Corona Virus Really Teach Us Anything About Business. It really did and here we look at the ways to improve your results

Business in times of a Pandemic

I work with a range of businesses and therefore see a whole variety of results from very good to really bad.
Where you are and how your government operates will have a huge impact on what you get.

Lockdowns stop traffic flows however they also contain the Virus spread and limit the long term impact.

it may be a pandemic, a Flood, a fire or even an earthquake however they all take a toll on your business.

Action has been the operative word

As quoted by a politician in a recent press conference “you only get one chance to act early” and this has certainly been proven correct over the past year.

The sit and wait approach has not worked and just ask Donald Trump or Boris Johnson if they would do things differently. Both countries try to normalise exitance in a still growing Viral community stretching recourses to the maximum.

Similarly Brazil, Mexico and others ignored world medical advice and applied a wait and see attitude resulting in substantial death rates and business loss.

On the other hand Taiwan, New Zealand, Iceland to name just a few stopped the spread and Death toll by going early and going hard.

I live in Western Australia where a lockdown policy has hardly been applied but tight border controls stopped almost all the spread. Most business has survived however there are always casualties.

Businesses needed to adopt the same model

We watched as businesses closed their doors whilst others adapted to change and continued to move forward.
The Work From Home world quickly became the norm as industry struggled to keep pace with office closures and distancing restrictions.

I watched as schools struggled to continue lessons with lockdowns. I have one Grandchild in a private college where online learning was introduced in three days where the government school system could not supply a lesson in weeks as the kids watched Netflix.

There were those businesses with a high mortality rate and I include the Travel industry in that group as International travel ground to a halt. However the local accommodation model expanded as more people holidayed near home and high booking rates were experienced.

We saw restaurants close however the quick turned into take home meals to profit from the change.

Unemployment ballooned as doors closed and Government welfare was the only way to keep spending afloat, and spend we did.

The renovation business went balistic

With movement restricted we needed to find something to do so we renovated. Lighting, Plumbing, Carpets all went into overdrive and sales were well above pre pandemic times yet some still remained closed.

They were the lucky ones at the right time to make the most of misadventure however others made the changes.

A local Pizza house when locked down for inhouse dining cooked Bread and scones for the take away market and made a killing.

So if you are in the lucky group work it hard because it will surely slow

Hasty innovation is one answer

Not a wo is me moment but a planning session for change. It may be a big change or a simple one as long as it has some success.

The businesses with online shops did well and those that raced to catch up came into the trend whilst those that said it is too hard died.

Online shopping will continue to grow

Do you have an online presence, if you are into sales you must now join the trend because it is not going away.
Therefore your social marketing needs to grow to meet the customers. Retargeting and remarketing along with Social media advertising has become the new media.
Have a look around you and see the messages flooding your mobile and computer. Be in it or be sorry are your choices.

We have quickly adapted to online shopping and it will continue to grow into the coming years.
Is retail dead? have a look at the chain stores that have closed the doors and walked away.
Your local shopping precinct with closed shops will change to fast food and convenience stores because we are now buying online.

All the major brands are pushing online shopping like there is no tomorrow so that will really grow to new levels in which we must compete.

Corona Virus and business your future planning

Have a plan and be prepared

Many of us got caught short with the pandemic and would not have survived except for Government support where available.

Maybe this is a one off occurrence or maybe it will return to bite us again. However we should always plan for a disaster. Next time it may be different however the consequences could be the same.
You get one chance to act early.

The early birds get the action so make sure you are one of them.

Take the lessons and apply them

We have had a chance to look this in the eye, during the storm and in many cases post pandemic and work out what we did wrong, or even right and perhaps even a few “I should have” moments.

I will happen again in some way so take the lessons to heart and move on.

To those who's health has been compromised

This is a business post however many of you, or people you know, will have seen the consequences and suffered the results and to you and those that did not make it my heart felt sympathy. Some countries were far worse than others and I hope you are in the lucky group.

The Cure has now appeared so over the coming months we will hopefully see a big decrease in Illness and Death. it will be a welcome site.

Conclusion

I was in the lucky group however my business suffered and only Government support enabled me to maintain my staff and ongoing business.
We had to get smarter to rise above the problems as many businesses simply closed their doors and went out of action.

Our marketing had to be sharper and more consistent and we had to work harder for a dollar.
We got through because we adapted change and went where the customers wanted us to be.

I provided free services to many of those worst affected. In most cases they returned to us when things returned, a small cost to not loses a customer.

Some of our changes will be implemented in the future because, they quite simply worked.

Finally keep some hand cleaner ready, a few Facemasks in the draw and a plan of attack ready for the next wave, you never know.

Did The Corona Virus Really Teach Us Anything About Business by Peter Hanley

Did The Corona Virus Really Teach Us Anything About Business
About me

Only one chance to act early.

Corona Virus and business.

How to start a business with no money

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Making money by blogging

How to start a business with no money and expect to be successful. I did it and I want to show you 8 great ways to the top.

I lie, you do need a computer or smart phone and internet access

It is unrealistic to make money out of thin air with no experience, nothing to sell or no problem to solve. However we will look for some starting opportunities.

You start by trading your time.

It is no good moaning or dreaming it is all too hard because it's not.

What is hard is the first step, making a decision and starting a journey. We all had to do it and now it is your time to grow up, muscle up and make some decisions to go forward.

Anyone can make money on line, it does not matter who you are or where you live, if you are male or Female, young or old the internet makes you invisible.
However it also provides an opportunity to empower yourself and project your image to garner a following among like minded people.

First of all let's look at a real business

There are endless businesses you can build from scratch and they will include;

Table of contents

I think of a good business as one that provides a growing customer base and income the longer you are in business.
More importantly one that provides a recurring income

How do you learn to create a business with no experience?

You are going to trade your time for a period to learn the basics.

If you wanted to play good tennis you can't just pick up a racket and hit like a pro, you will need some lessons and a lot of practice to be just average. Then over time you will become better and maybe reach your goal.
Starting a business is no different except that you need the right coach or you will be taken on a wild ride of despair.

The very best place to start is with the free training at Wealthy Affiliate,. Here you can complete a basic course and find what is suitable for you.

I did this to start my journey a few years back, I skipped through because I new it all only to find that cheating never works.
I then went back and started again and did it properly to gather a full working knowledge.

However there are other places as well depending on what you want to do.

Is blogging a career option?

As a blogger I will be biased however I love writing and talking about business so it suits me.
All you need is a website , some affiliate links and traffic and you are in the money. Furthermore the opportunity to make extreme income is possible, however, the time taken will be a lot longer that many other options to establish your following.
You will get income from selling advertising, from referrals and even flogging products that you have made or recommended.
When you have a following the repeat income starts and slowly builds to a viable business.

Affiliate marketing the best business in town

Where else can you sell a product you don't have, not do any billing or customer support and get paid handsomely along the way. Plus have the opportunity for recurring income that builds a monthly return for years to come.
There are millions of affiliate opportunities however you must find the one that suits you.
You have to love what you are doing or you will simply get bored and give up.
It is no good selling Tennis Rackets if you play basketball, maybe they are both sports but quite different.
First of all you will need a website, marketing and SEO knowledge and a product.

When you know nothing about websites it is time to learn the basics and gather a general understanding of what is required.
If you have the website basics covered then it is gathering products to sell and finding the buyers.
Finally you need to understand the ability to gather customers and induce them to part with their money.

As stated the best place to start is Wealthy Affiliate however the training at Amazon will also give you a good grounding. In Days past Amazon was a great starting block but they have reduced commissions so far in is now a volume business.

How to start a business with no money with an online shop

Your own online shop

This is a product that has really boomed in 2020-21 with Covid lockdowns promoting online shopping. The industry offers really cheap entry establishment.
You need a free or cheap website on WordPress with a WooCommerce plugin and some products, how easy is that.

Sell your own products or those from somewhere else and have them drop shipped.
An example;
My wife just bought a Cheese board as a wedding gift. It was from a good looking webpage that had a good discount and free shipping.
However the product was faulty so she took a photo and sent it back to them. They replied that we should go to the manufacturer who would cover the claim. The manufacturer said no worry new one on the way. My point is that the shop that had made the sale had the manufacturer supply the product direct in what is called Drop Shipping.
Sort of affiliate marketing with a difference.

Marketing by Social media

Social media is responsible for many sales of product from companies across the board.
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest all represent selling opportunities.

Understanding these ideas can provide you an opportunity to do this for local clients. It is
simply getting a basic understanding and then going to clients and selling the idea.

The big growth area is in Retargeting and remarketing both hard to understand for businesses but easy to get the basics. Online learning is bountiful and it is an easy journey to successful business.
I have a client that focussed on Facebook and was offered a career position within 6 month of starting the journey because she represented value in the offer she had.

How to start a business with no money by writing for a career

Writing as a career

No not best selling novels and maybe not even eBooks however there are countless other opportunities.
One off course is Blog writing for others, simply get a direction and post to a clients website or simply become a freelance writer on Fiverr or similar.

In the next heading we will look at emails and newsletter that also require writing input.
Grammar and spelling are easily covered by using a free version of Grammarly to correct your work.

eBook writing for others can be quite good and a lot of commercial templates are available to construct a nice readable product for your clients.

Email and newsletters

Every business should produce a Newsletter, it is a two week or monthly product talking about what they do as a business or offering advise on how to achieve certain ambitions.
However it is one of those annoying jobs that is put on the back burner for a later time.
That however is not good enough, consistency is required to keep the readers focused on your content .
I recently wrote a piece that headlined:
“If your customers are not reading your Newsletter they are reading someone else's”
marketing is a front of mind opportunity and this is a perfect vehicle.

I know it sounds hard but using a service like Constant Contact that is all built on templates so very easy to do and you charge the service fee to the client plus your time.

You then have regular work and income that can be projected well ahead.

You don't need a website however it is all internet access. Constant Contact have great training manuals so there is no reason to not be successful.

Akin to this is programming email flow to the future using an Auto Responder. This is simply a set of emails that will be dispatched over time.
A client makes a Tennis racket inquiry but does not buy. They are put in a series that will induce a buying decision over time. Today might not be the correct time but next week, next month or even six months time they may well act on impulse.
management of this role can be your work from home occupation.

How to start a business with no money by making videos

Providing company videos

Believe it or not this is by far the easiest task of them all, Why make such a bold statement when it takes Cameras and Sound and script writing to make a simple video.

First of all does anyone need to make business videos and put them on YouTube or on their website.
YouTube is searched nearly as often as Google so it is a formidable business, Ok a lot is kids and music are searched however business videos really work.
Have you ever looked up a “How to Video” Try it now search, How to string a tennis racket, so we stay on a theme and you will see several Videos that rank above the Google searches.

Secondly If it was too hard we would not even suggest it but with technology anyone can make a great video.

Finally look at Vidnami a free writers book and an opportunity to try the product and keep all your videos. I use it and you can to.

What's more you can either do this for others or simply become an affiliate and recommend the product. Off course it has an ongoing fee but not until you have a customer you can bill for the service.

This is probably the fastest growing area of the internet and the easiest to learn and sell.

Other ideas that will give an instant return

The list is endless and only as good as your imagination.

Collecting road side Junk and selling on eBay
Growing and selling plants
Making costume jewellery and selling on Etsy
Hiring out clothes or other items of common use
Set up a training course on something you know well.

On and on the list could go so no one needs to sit and do nothing.

Finally my scam warning

I need to throw this in because many will be enticed by promises of great wealth and instant fortune, often accompanied by a Fast Cars and glamour. Working from the Beach at a holiday resort without a worry in the world. Money coming in for doing nothing.

The only money to be made is in selling this junk to amateurs who are unaware that they will need to keep paying out to achieve anything. Don't be sucked in, stay with main stream offers that have been around for sometimes and don't tempt you with instant fortunes

Finally How to start a business with no money and my conclusion

My conclusion

We could never cover off every thing available for you. My point has been to learn a trade and work it as hard as you can. Choose just one idea and learn everything you can and then monetise it before moving on. Somethings will merge like writing and Newsletters however they are separate skills that first need to be mastered.
Learning to play tennis is a sport like Basketball however the skill sets are very different. Master one before moving on.
If I had to make just one choice what would it be? The one that grabs your heart and fills you with some excitement. It may be a long time career so do something you love and it will never be a just a JOB


How to start a business with no money by Peter Hanley

How to start a business with no money
About me

Small business best offer deals for Black Friday

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Small business best offer deals for Black Friday. I have cobbled a few prize offers for one weekend only and after that bad luck.

Starting with Wealthy Affiliate

The deals have gone but a free trial is here and waiting

Wealthy Affiliate have three levels of participation starting from a free service, that can remain free for a lifetime. A premium service with a lot of extras and a bundled service that has the lot.

Premium Yearly Offer ($395 per year)

We are offering our biggest discount ever on our Premium membership, with $100 saving off of regular price. You are going to get access to EVERYTHING within the Premium membership, the training, 52+ live classes, research tools, the support, websites/hosting, content tools and ALL Premium updates in the year ahead (and we have a bunch of them planned).

The Premium offer includes the following:

  • $100 off the regular price
  • One Free .com Domain
  • $50 in Community Credits
  • 52+ Expert Classes
  • All future Premium updates

Premium Plus+ Yearly Offer ($795 per year)

The Premium Plus+ Bundle is our newest membership, released in early November. It has already gained a lot of traction, with people blown away by the offering and the overall savings they get. Well it is about to get discounted event further for the Black Friday event.

The Premium Plus+ bundle includes everything within the Premium service, plus some additional and higher level access to platforms including Jaaxy Enterprise, our highest tier of hosting, and over 200+ additional expert classes per year.

The Premium Plus+ offer includes:

  • $200 off regular price
  • Two free Domains
  • $100 in community credits
  • Jaaxy Enterprise ($1,188 per year value)
  • Hosting for 50 Websites ($500/mth value)
  • 200+ Additional “Premium Plus+ Only” Expert Classes (can't put a price on it)

Monster Insights

The MONSTER Deal Having used their products for some time I went pro this year .

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Small business best offer deals for Black Friday

Small business best offer deals for Black Friday and Vidnami

Vidnami the YouTube picture company

I have used Vidname for several years and it represents such impressive value everyone should have it.

Small business best offer deals for Black Friday

You will become an affiliate and earn your way with a click of a button at
Vidnami for life.

Conclusion

The above represents the three best WordPress opportunities available.

  • To use them
  • Then market them
  • Earn Affiliate commission
  • Look like a pro

This is a four day opportunity so dive deep today.

Small business best offer deals for Black Friday by Peter Hanley

Small business best offer deals for Black Friday
About Me

The Black Friday and Cyber Monday extravaganza

Customer Service Jobs From Home

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There is no better time than to look for customer service jobs from home. It is just as important now as ever to be a work from home consultant.

Customer service skills

I write this in the middle of the Covid_19 lockdown when millions have moved home and companies have suddenly discovered that Customer service consultants or representatives are an easy application.

First of all are the tools required and these can be pretty basic.

InternetA reliable fast service
PhoneMobile or fixed
ComputerDesk top or lap top
Areas to workYour own little space
ApplicationYour dedication to the effort
What customer consultants need at home.

Customer service skills are learned on the job.

Every job you do will require some basic skills that come with the appointment.

For example, it may be product knowledge, pricing, company knowledge, times of trading etc.

These will be introduced at the time of appointment along with the customer service goals you will be expected to achieve. You can't plan these unless you target a specific consultant role.
Your customer service duties will be provided to you and tips to meet their expectations

However, what you do need to supply is a clear speaking and confident voice if verbal traffic is to be used and natural typing and computer skills even if basic.

Customer service roles to avoid

Importantly is my second piece of critical advice for anyone starting anew in Customer service.

The internet is full of scammers that take advantage of those that are more susceptible to working for nothing.

When we start looking for internet jobs we take the easy opportunities that are presented and wrapped up as great income earning methods for instant wealth. I did them, my wife tried and many others as well but the scammers made the money we paid with time.

This will include surveys, emails, shopping and others offering insignificant returns for lots of work.
Importantly, if you are going to work, then do it for the best return available and not for peanuts.

What most starters don't realise is that you are better off doing a training course than wasting time on $0.20 an hour jobs. It would have made me a lot more money and much quicker with this advice. Wealthy Affiliate training is free to start.

Customer service examples

I just know that you are chaffing at the bit wanting to know what jobs you can do working from home and being a great customer service representative.

I grabbed a short list from Google to start you thinking. These are simply ideas along the lines of what is available.

  • Tech support
  • Online Chat
  • Home Call centre
  • Virtual assistant
  • Tutor
  • Social Media Manager
  • Writer or blogger
  • Bookkeeper
  • Billing and credit management
  • Sales support
  • Cold calling
  • Dispatch
  • Co-ordinator and scheduler
  • Business newsletters
  • Email marketing
  • SMS services

Some will be of interest, others not so much. One factor will be whether you are working locally or nationally.

I have a small business and do all the support activities.
My billing is done by my Virtual Assistant who works part-time from home.
At times I use short term labour for customer acquisition. As a result, we use three different roles in one business.

My best customer service objective

I need to draw a softline between customer service plans and marketing as they do tend to merge at times.

Customer service is a support based activity for a client that wants to keep his customers loyal. or as Wikipedia says;

Customer service is the provision of service to customers before, during, and after a purchase.

Wiki

Everything starts with a plan around the customer service duties you would like to perform. This will include the time you will commit to the opportunity and the skills you bring to the table.

This plan will indicate the direction you wish to proceed and provide the details for your Customer Service resume. You may have to go after a position if it does not walk through the door.

We all have personal strengths and weaknesses as well as likes and dislikes and these should be focussed in a direction that you want.

Using a Job provision company

I just googled a local company that provides work opportunities and found several service jobs working from home part time.

By now you will have an idea of what you want to do so focus your abilities toward a position you will like. If being a bit timid telemarketing as an example is a no go, it is soul destroying for many of us who can't handle rejection.

Customer service jobs from home and finding customers.

Chasing your own Customer service business

Yes, you can go out there and ask for work if you want a local based opportunity. If you have a resume and a plan then it is just convincing someone of the value that you will bring to the table.

Think about debtor collection over the phone, calling to confirm appointments for the medical industry, keeping Facebook up to date for small businesses.
Bulk emails and newsletters

Soft selling to clients for a product or service.
An example may be a doctor reminding people to get a flu injection, a mechanic reminding about car servicing, a real estate company about a new home just listed.

Walk down the local street and put yourself in their hands and dream up an opportunity. It may be for one client or more but it will be the basis of a real business for you.
Design the service around your hour, kids at home or at school when you are free to put in a concentrated effort.

Your clients want results and you want them as often as possible.

Conclusion

First of all, I trust some gaps in your knowledge have been filled. Secondly, I have instilled enough enthusiasm to get you off your butt and to start chasing a dream.

Finally there is no better time than now, businesses have learned to accept remote workers provide a valuable option and that was proven during the stay at home crisis as many moved out of the office.

Importantly, you need to provide a work ethic that will guarantee results. Working from home requires a degree of dedication that an office does not.

Productivity certainly fell during Covid times because most were not structured well enough to avoid temptations when no one is looking.

|I have worked from home for many years and work in set periods of time to make sure I accomplish a good effort and result.

Customer service jobs from home by Peter Hanley

Customer service jobs from home
Peter Hanley
About me



New online business ideas

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New online business ideas for 2020 and the best ways to make money. The world has changed and so has business, so you need to adapt now for success.

The year to date

New online business ideas

That's a really depressing story but one that is repeated world wide.

Every country will be having problems and every business will be in a cycle of hardship.

Online business ideas that make money.

Our favourite over time has been Amazon. this is easy to join and it was an affiliate dream. Things change.

In March 2020 Amazon halved most of its affiliate commissions to a low that makes it almost impossible to get a return.

Amazon announced huge commission cuts, effective April 21st. Here are the cuts:

  • Furniture, Home, Home Improvement, Lawn & Garden, Pets Products, Pantry – was 8%, now 3%
  • Headphones, Beauty, Musical Instruments, Business & Industrial Supplies – was 6%, now 3%
  • Outdoors, Tools – was 5.5%, now 3%
  • Grocery – was 5%, now 1%
  • Sports – was 4.5%, now 3%
  • Baby products – was 4.5%, now 3%
  • Health and Personal Care – was 4.5%, now 1%
  • Amazon Fresh – was 3%, now 1%

That will rock your profits unless you double your sales. Furthermore, Walmart has done the same thing and slashed margins to the same levels. Collusion is not allowed but this copycat attitude really bugs me.

New online business ideas that will make money.

How to make online money

What is selling fast right now? Gym equipment, sporting goods, board games, bicycles, exercise equipment

Most profitable product: Amazon has left the game so you need to find a better affiliate.

Trending products are always a winner so search for the latest trends, they could be Jordan boots or rowing machines.

Define your audience segment. no good selling Jordan boots to seniors.

Concentrate on one great offer and deliver excellence.

Promote it aggressively.

Online business ideas to start

  1. training is a huge opportunity during lock down times. People want to fill in time and learn things so give them an opportunity.
    School training, languages, home exercise, home maintenance.
  2. Cleaning has become a trend product, cleaning materials and even promoting labour or target areas. Consider children's playgrounds when and if they reopen
  3. Homewares have become a big seller including cooking products, carpets, curtains, cushions. Everything busy people don't notice but lockdowns do.
  4. Cooking has become a trend with appliances and books secret ingredients. Herbs and spices.
  5. Blogging is a now thing. people have time to read and want answers to a huge variety of issues.
  6. Making a video. This should be number one on the list because it is so in demand. YouTube has grown in leaps and bounds since lockdown.
  7. Target set groups or ages like seniors or trendies
  8. Podcasts on issues
  9. Finally, spend your money carefully

Save your money when working online

This is important because when we want a quick return you look for easy pathways to instant money. Let me tell you there is no magic fairy. It all takes a bit of effort and a clear plan to take you on the success path.

High priced training programmes are the sucker bait of the day. You can spend thousands of dollars to learn simple principles that are generally available to everyone for free.

Yes, I occasionally recommend paid programs like Roy Carter for those wanting a guaranteed return for a short period of time spent.

However, most ideas are very low investment and high return.

When you have all the basics in place and understand the business, it is time to seek out higher returns.

Now is a great time to grab affiliate income based around good margins and high selling products to maximise your efforts.

If you want to give up on Amazon and Walmart, find a new opportunity near you in a product you want to take advantage of when the time is right.

Google Products Space affiliate to pick from the thousands on offer eg
gym equipment. This simple search found over 100 offers available to choose from

New online business ideas
Ideas to work from home

Ideas to start a home business

For those that are new to the market the fastest way is to get some basic training before you waste time and money.

I am a Graduate from Wealthy Affiliate, the best training site available worldwide and starts out free for the basic course.



In about one week you will have enough knowledge to know what you want to do and how to start. Wealthy Affiliate will teach you to plan and build your own websites so that you will be able to market right along with the pros.

Without the basics, you will chase course after course, throwing money long and wide to gather pieces of the puzzle.

The economy is stuffed, it's time to take advantage.

Like everything that goes down it will come up and the cycle of wealth will return. Therefore you have no time to waste.
Get the basics and chase your dream in a super hot market.

Find your niche, target the buyer aggressively with high income earning products and reap the rewards.

To do this, build your plan on a solid foundation that provides a chance of success.

Ideas with low investment

Yes, you can make money without a whole bundle of capital as long as you learn the fundamentals before you start.

Affiliate marketing is simply selling someone else's product and getting paid for it. Biggest game on the line with people making millions every day.

Affiliate marketing with recurring revenue. This is what I call the best game in town because you can build a real business. The one that pays you every month for years to come.

Blogging is for everyone that likes to write. It takes time to get recognition but when there the returns come from many directions. Affiliate sales advertising revenue and your own products sold directly.

Email marketing. This is still a high profile opportunity for yourself and on behalf of others and has great top end earning potential.
As you build your list you grow your income to whatever level you like.

  • Email sales
  • Newsletters
  • Autoresponders
  • Bulk mail
    email marketing for small business a step further

Social media is a must-do venture that most business owners still don't understand. Sell your services or your products and reap the returns from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn etc.

Over 59 % of all people access Facebook every single day and a reported 64% trust your brand more when seen on Social media.

Selling retargeting, advertising are all there for those wanting to tread this path.


Ideas for seniors

Maybe I should put ideas for students, ideas for moms or dads, those suffering from problems or race or colour.

Online we are all the same, it is, without doubt, the most equal forum on earth because there is no discrimination in any form.

I have a friend who dropped out of college to concentrate on Affiliate marketing and at 20 years old he is killing the money. Another is an 82-year-old lady who blogs with the best. People from many low-income areas in Africa operating legitimate incomes. It does not single you out in any way.
Mothers, students, retirees and those that are out of work and can't find a job are making money on the internet.

Conclusion

The right time to start your opportunity is now, not tomorrow and not next week.
Above all, you are not too busy and you have enough money. Consequently, this is no place for excuses. In addition, this is your ah-ha moment so grab it with two hands

However, only you can supply the effort. All the nice words in the world will not help. Plan a journey and follow the paths to success, enjoying some of the bumps along the way.

Remember you go to College for five years to learn how to get a job, where you spend a lot less time learning a highly paid business.

Finally: Tread your own path.

New online business ideas by Peter Hanley

New online business ideas
Peter Hanley
About me

How to 10X your sales

Working from home: 8 tips for success

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Best way to work online from home for easy success

Working from home: 8 tips for success by someone who cares. Working from home has a downside but it can also be a great place to play and stay. Here's how.

How to work from home and enjoy the experience.

Let me start by saying that other than about 8 years working from home I am unqualified to offer Professional advice other than good old common sense. However, I have survived the experience of running a full-time business and blogging many articles at the same time.
I have experienced the full range of emotions that you will go through and come out the other side. My staff have survived the same experience and my wife and cat have learned to ignore me.

Your tip #1 Planning

Nothing beats knowing where you are going and how you will get there. It really is a matter of laying out a plan and following through on it.
I have an annual plan of what I would like to achieve and where I would see myself at the end of a year. IT IS IN WRITING.

Next, I break that down into monthly, weekly and even daily goals. No, it does not all go to plan and yes I made some changes but we do stay on track.

It is a goal to write 200 posts a year. Posts to average 1500 words in length and meet certain standards. Not such a big elephant until you break it down to 16 a month or four a week.
A post generally takes about 4 hours so my week is shortened by nearly three days.
Not to plan that would be really counterproductive and I would never succeed in my goal.

My day business is similar to where I run support and sales-based services. I have planned things to do every day: emails, social media, contacts etc. At the end of the week, I can pat my back or kick my shin depending on what is achieved.

Everyone is different so your planning will be based around your personal goals.

Working from home: 8 tips for success at Wikipedia

tip # 2 Where to work from home

Working in a family environment presents its own challenges. You must make it clear that work times are so many hours a day and social interruptions should be kept to a minimum. Having a separate office is ideal but not always possible, however, make a position you own and claim it as your sacred site.

Doing household chores is allowed but within your time limits. Many are early starters, so by mid-morning a good start to the day is achieved. Nipping to the shop or dropping the kids off does not disrupt a whole day's activity. On the other hand, don't let these activities take over because the work period is sacred and the plan must be achieved.

Moving to tip #3 A daily todo list

Your daily list. There is some dispute over the validity of lists and the overall effectiveness of adhering strictly to A-Z priorities.
There will be daily commitments that must be achieved and in a hurly-burly world, they can be forgotten unless written down. This could be paying bills, making appointments, contacting someone or achieving certain goals by a set time.

There is a myriad of ways to make a list, some great online products, written sheets or the back of an envelope. Personally I have a daily diary where I list the most pressing items and tick them off as completed.

A list in the head is prone to failure. Writing it down deepens the resolve and helps to ensure compliance. So pick your list and list your pick.

When to write your list? Again, the experts will argue for the best time. At day's end or days start, which is better?

It matters not, it is good to start the day all planned out and ready to go but it is also great to sign off on a day when finished. I do both depending on mood however the important thing is I do one of them.

Let's go with # 4 Power working

Power working helps with concentration and results. Set a task and work until complete. Avoid all distractions and apply all your energy to a time zone. It may be half an hour or an hour but stay until it's finished.
Our day is full of distractions and irrelevant information that needs to be consumed. It happens to us all.
By setting mini goals we can accomplish goal completion without having a string of things half done. Distraction is a time killer and can haunt your day when a degree of boredom sets in.
You will get lazy periods and these are the times our minds wander to entertainment, some are ok, too much is just non-productive mindless meandering. All of this leads to a big-time killer.

Social media is my # 5

Consuming and creating social media are two different things. Many will do a daily Facebook post, Instagram picture or YouTube video as part of your marketing. This is a productive effort and part of your ritual.

however, the Youtube vortex can take you down roads of hilarious entertainment for hours on end. You have been there, just look at one more, and one more and then I shall share it with someone and we will both get a laugh.
Facebook is no different as you plough through pages of important social information. So what should I do? Have certain times you do it and limit the times. It is not urgent that you ever read another post, they will wait for you.

Working from home: 8 tips for success with social media

Email management tip # 6

Emails are important, well about 10% are and the rest are junk to be dealt with as such. Your computer has a junk file so don't hesitate to fill it with rubbish.

Unfortunately, many email producers are experts at headlines designed to get your attention and connect you to an interesting site and take your time away from what you should be doing.

Again, there is no fixed answer. Some would advise checking emails twice a day and other forms of control. As I run a service business my emails are constant however I only respond to any urgent requests.

My delete button is very active because the hundred-plus emails every day are not all-important, in fact many are selling things I don't really need.

Customer service opportunities.

You are in control of your incoming mail so manage them to suit your time.

Training is tip # 7

Increasing our general work knowledge is a constant challenge. It may be on social media, online marketing or more industry focussed however it needs to be done on a regular basis.

The weekend is a great time to accomplish this because it does not take you away from general duties.
Late afternoons can be a quiet time and also a consideration, particularly if you limit it to, say, one day a week in a two-hour window.

More importantly, is to choose a time that suits you, early in the morning, at night, weekends whenever you get the least disturbance.

Further training is important in a fast-changing world and a regular update can keep you on top of the many changes that happen and can possibly affect your business.

Facebook changes on a regular basis and Google makes hundreds of updates a month. These are issues that can impact your business and need to be addressed regularly.

I use Wealthy Affiliate training as a regular source and furthermore as a support service for those nagging issues you can't easily solve.

Meeting control is tip # 8

When you are part of a group and working from home, some of the rules change. You will need to relate to other members and even have arranged meetings.

Meetings are normally a talkfest of general chatter meandering along to a semi-conclusion.

Make sure you have an agenda and a timeline for all meetings and phone hookups otherwise you will lose all control.

A lot of your general contact information can be done via email. it is faster, more efficient plus you have a permanent record. Always ask yourself the question, is a long telephone meeting really necessary? The answer will often surprise you.

Conclusion

We can go on for hours with more ideas and things to do however I just wanted to cover off the important issues to keep you focussed on the agenda.

It does take some self-control to manage your day and achieve a good day's work. It does not matter if a day is two hours or ten it is your choice but you must make then good hours.

I really dislike the end of day feeling of what I have done, when the answer is not much.

You control the workday so the end results are yours to manage.

Your results come with effort and not procrastination.

The results are in your hands, best of luck.

Working from home: 8 tips for success by Peter Hanley

How to become a virtual assistant

working from home: 8 tips for success
Peter Hanley
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