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Running a home based business is one of the simplest
things you can do. It can also be one of the hardest.
It can be amazing running a business from the comfort of
home. Get up when you want. Set your own hours. No
pressure from a boss. Even business casual takes on a
whole new meaning. ;) Yes, working from home is great,
until you lose your focus for the task at hand. Then a
home based business can quickly turn to drudgery.
As with any venture, a home based business requires work.
There are certain tasks that must be taken care of
regularly. You must be disciplined and focused to ensure
your business continues to grow and move forward.
Think about this.
If you have a web site or newsletter, you need to be
adding new content on a regular basis. Are you
advertising? You need to spend time developing and
tracking your ads. Are you developing new products?
There's research, planning, and development involved. What
about joint ventures? Are you researching your potential
partners, contacting them, and setting up your ventures?
Do you promote affiliate programs? You need to be tracking
your efforts and planning your ads.
Everyday there is something you can do to build your
business. The trick is staying focused enough to
accomplish the steps required to achieve your goals.
If you are unable to maintain your focus, your business
will soon cease to exist. Or, you will be working hard,
putting in a ton of hours trying to get caught back up.
Luckily, all this can be avoided by focussing on the task
at hand.
How to maintain your focus
Staying focused is simple if you have an action plan. Here
are some quick and easy tips for keeping your focus
through a simple action plan.
Set goals for your business. For example, if you have an
ezine, you need to develop new, original content every
issue. Thus a good goal for an ezine would be to create
new content every week.
Next, you need to develop a plan for achieving your goal.
Let's take the content idea and break it down.
How do you create new content?
First, you would need to brainstorm topic ideas. Then,
choose an idea that has appeal for your ezine audience.
Next research the topic and develop an outline with 3-5
headings. Start refining your research using your outline.
Start writing, filling in the outline based on your
research, experience, and knowledge. Then, review what you
have written, revise for clarity, and finalize. Finally,
publish it in your newsletter.
Once you have developed an action plan, break it down into
small chunks. Put the chunks into a daily to-do list.
Something like this could work for the ezine example.
Monday am- brainstorm topics.
Monday pm- choose a topic, begin research.
Tuesday am- continue researching topic
Tuesday pm- develop your outline
Wednesday am- pinpoint the research based on the outline
Wednesday pm- begin writing, fleshing out the outline
Thursday am- revise and refine, make it shine
Thursday pm- watch Survivor and CSI
Friday am- After a great nights sleep, reread, correct any
errors, and give it that final spit polish.
Friday pm- gone fishin'
Saturday am- Publish your ezine with the new content and
take the rest of the weekend off!
This is just an example of how it could work. Break it
down according to your work habits. If you can do it all
in two days, go for it.
I do recommend you wait at least 12 hours between the
final draft and the final proofread.
We've covered keeping your focus, using an ezine for an
example. These basic principles will work with any
business. Just remember,
1. brainstorm to find the right idea 2. research your idea
3. develop your idea 4. refine and revise, make it shine.
Put it up for peer review, and use the advice you receive
5. take it to market
Break it down into daily tasks and write out the list. Now
stick to the list and mark off the items as they are
completed.
Continue to keep your focus. Achieving your goals and
before you know it, you're business will be taking off.
Common Sense Marketing is Jeff Stephenson's latest creation. Jeff appeals to beginners and seasoned veterans alike with his insightful views on internet marketing and home based business. To grab a free copy, http://www.escoweb.com
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