SailingToSuccess

This summer I was able to sit in on a wonderful series of classes on blogging taught by Lynette Chandler of TechBased Marketing.com. It was wonderful, detailed, very thorough and oh so easy to follow. She has unbelievable step by step videos of what to do and when so even if you've never even LOOKED at doing a blog for yourself yet you could do it.

AND she's offering 'Monthly Assistance' with every sale. It's like having a personal blogging coach for free!

CLICK HERE to read more about The Blogging Starter Pack

I got this in my email inbox today and thought her practical help was so great! You can make up these bags/boxes and send them to her (a great project with the kids) or just send them the funds to make up the boxes themselves. Great stuff!

GEARING UP FOR ANOTHER MISSION TRIP TO SOUTH MS FOR HURRICANE RELIEF!

Want to be a part?

WE NEED YOU!

On this trip, we plan to carry in bags of goodies and focus on street ministry. It will help us to use every second we have on the streets if everything is packaged and ready to go. On the last trip, we spent the first day just dividing out what we had. Then, we had to re-package it. This time, we are working hard to have everything in kits that are ready to pass out.

Here are the themes of what we need gathered and packaged together:

PACK-A-BAG MINISTRY... Pack a bag full of groceries. Each bag will minister to one family! Here is what we need:

Juice
Bar of Soap
One pack of Toilet Paper
2 Boxes of Macaroni and Cheese
Box of Hamburger Helper
Can of Spaghetti
1 lb bag of Spaghetti Noodles
1 can of green beans
1 can of corn
1 can of fruit
1 box of crackers
1 jar of peanut butter

OH! We do need a few bags that would be good to share with diabetic patients. Please mark them so we can separate them easily.

PERSONAL CARE KITS or HOPE IN A BOX KITS... This project began with MOPS in CO. We have some of these coming in for the next trip. These are PERFECT kits to give out in the next trip. Here is the link: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/CindyRushton/22534/

Here is what we need for them:

PERSONAL CARE KIT:
1 - bath towel
1 - hand towel
1 - wash cloth
1 - comb
1 - toothbrush
1 - tube of toothpaste (4-7 ounces)
2 - bars of soap (bath size)
1 - container (non-aerosol) deodorant

Seal all items in a one-gallon plastic bag with a zipper closure and roll in the bath towel.

HOPE IN A BOX KIDS KIT:
1 – Rubbermaid® Clear Impression shoebox with lid, 6.5 qt., or other flexible clear plastic 6.5 qt. box with lid
1 – small stuffed bear
1 – small soft ball
1 – harmonica, or other small musical instrument
1 – 6'x9' non-spiral bound pad of regular or construction paper (60- 100 sheets)
1 – Slinky® (metal or plastic)
1 - yo-yo
1 – comb
1 – toothbrush
1 – tube of toothpaste (4-7 oz.)
1 – box of 24 crayons
1 – large eraser
6 – new pencils with erasers
1 – pencil sharpener
1 – ruler (12")
1 – pair blunt child's scissors

Place all items inside the Rubbermaid® shoebox, close lid, and tie securely with ribbon.

MISC ITEMS: Brand new packages of underwear for men, women and children of both sexes, all sizes for all of them.
Diapers, wipes, formula (ready to drink) and onesies all sizes.
Depends, Ensure for elderly.

BIBLES/BOOKMARKS/DISCIPLESHIP MATERIALS... We are looking for nice Bibles and goodies for helping new believers begin their walk with Christ. Think of your quiet time. Maybe pack these in a tote (below are instructions) or send them ready for us to pack into totes. These will be very precious! Think of ministering to a new Christian during this time of need. This will be a treasure for life!

"WITH LOVE" TOTE BAGS.... Have you seen the project that Titus Two Ministries is working on? This may be a great project for any of you with little ones wanting to sew! Here are her links:

A Project in Mind--"With Love" Totes!
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Titus2/23127/

Free Pattern for Sewing Totes...
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Titus2/23281/

Another Free Tote Pattern...
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Titus2/23352/

Any of the things above would be great to tuck in a tote. If you want to sponsor a tote OR just make totes for us to stuff, send them to us at the address below.

Okay!! That one last detail! Our address:

Send your things to this address:

Rushton Family Ministries
HURRICANE RELIEF
1225 Christy Lane
Tuscumbia, AL 35674

or drop off for CINDY RUSHTON at Highland Baptist Church CLC in Florence, Alabama.

Below is an article I found by a gentleman who works with large and small companies helping them to "get noticed". But the things that he mentions about "branding" apply even to your small home based direct sales business. With hundreds, maybe even thousands of reps with the same company name, you need to think through how to set yourself apart from the rest. Branding can do that... read on...

If you're reading this article, chances are your surfing the net. You and millions of other people, from your same town,from your same country, from your same continent and all over the globe. Now with all these readers how did you come to read my article. I own a printing and promotional product business in Montreal, Canada. Chances are you've never been to Canada and if so chances are you've never been to Montreal. So how did you get here.

Did I invest thousand of dollars for an SEO (search engine optimization) company to use tricks to push my company to the first page of Google, Did I use pay per click to drive traffic to my site or did I use some trick to send thousand of emails to unsollicted email addreses to get you to come to read my article? The answer is no, no and no. These techniques while sometimes effective for the short term, are not the answer to your problem. If you want traffic to your site you need to brand your site. If someone is driven to your site unwillingly, chances are they will have a negative opinion of your company.

Maybe it's me, but I believe in making a good first impression. The first thing with your website, store front or business proposal, is you must decide on what image you want to project. If your able to attract the right client, your window to sell them is limited. Your pitch must be concise, direct to their needs and worth their while. Today nobody has lots of discretionary time. Be direct, tell them what you or your product is about. Next you must explain how your wonderful product can benefit them. Again be concise and precise. Vagueness or generalities tend to lose prospects. Finally, why should they buy this product or service from you and not your competitor and why Now!

Remember plan your campaign thoroughly. Make sure everything looks nice, works and is ready to impress. If it's not, there's a 95% chance you'll never get a second chance. Ask someone who has had many blind dates what they feel about giving someone a second chance.

Now how do I go about branding my company or site without blowing my budget. The cheapest and most effective referals come from word of mouth. Get out there. Mingle and schmooze it up. Go to local meetings, PTA meetings, charity events, sports leagues and talk up your site or business. Next advertise. Investigate who your potential market is and see where they get their information from. Local newspapers, daily papers, t.v., radio, internet, or billboards. Reinforce your company with free give aways. They don't have to be big, they don't have to be expensive. What they need to be is clever, effective and useful for the end user. Today almost every item can be branded with your name. Be careful though when you brand your item not to "overbrand". Your name should be visible but not to visible that the person will never use the product. There's something to be said for being discreet. Once you've invested in advertising look at the administartion side of your business. Be consistent with your logo from your business cards, to your invoices, to your envelopes, to your sales literature. All these items are a reflection of your company. people tend to forget to brand their company to their existing clients. This is one of the most important groups who you need to brand to. You want to keep these customers, and have them thinking only about your comapny, when they think of your product.

I have over 20 years experience helping Fortune 500 companies, medium and large size companies with their marketing and branding. Between our printing division and our promotional product division, we should have you covered. If you need more help, give me a call at 514-337-2238 or visit us on the web at www.solutionsink4u.com

Steven Schneidman

Steven Schneidman owns a successful printing and promotional product company. He started off teaching finance at a Canadian University and working at the head office of the secong largest bank in Canada. Solutions Ink works to help all size comapnies grow and prosper.

I've really enjoyed learning from some of the best of the best in internet marketing over the past few months. Many of my favorites are getting together for a tele-seminar that will be GREAT and are doing it as a fundraising effort... For a Greater Cause. To participate all you have to do is donate SOMETHING to the hurricane fund... $10, $20, $1000..whatever and you can get on the call too. It should be really good!

Click below for more information.

Club Mom is a great organization and you can join for Free! Get great parenting tips, coupons, as well as fun ideas for moms. You'll love it! Hosted by Meredith Viera, this is a great site, chock full of great ideas for moms!



Enjoy- Annette

7 Strategies to Stop Procrastination

Wow, I was going to write this article last month but time got away from me...it really did! You see, I am human just like everyone and every now and then there are things that I know I really should do but I just don't seem to find the time for them. How often have you felt the same way? Is there something that you have to get done but you keep putting it off and putting it off until pretty soon it becomes a "do or die" situation? I really admire people that "have it all together". I'm sure you've seen them too! They are the ones who walk around with 10 items on their "to do list" for the day and it's only 9:00 a.m. and they are crossing off the last item on their list. As for me, I learned that if I do something that is not on my list, in order to justify the time spent doing the task, all I really need to do is add it to my list and cross it off! Come on, I know you've done that too! Yep, I stopped at Starbucks! It wasn't on my list, so I'll just add it and then cross it off so it looks like I've done more!

I have to admit that I am pretty much one of the worlds top procrastinators. It took me three months to read "EAT THAT FROG" a book on procrastination by Brian Tracy. In fact, it was while I was reading "THE SUCCESS PRINCIPLES" by Jack Canfield and he mentioned "EAT THAT FROG" that I realized I had begun the book a few months ago and never finished it! So, before I read another page of "THE SUCCESS PRINCIPLES" I dug out my copy of "EAT THAT FROG" and sat in my library reading, underlining, highlighting and making notes until I finished the book, which took me all of one hour.

I felt better when I finished it! You see, all of us feel great when we finish something we start. Sometimes we just have so many things going at one time that we are not sure where to begin. I believe that I thrive "under pressure", because I constantly find myself in critical situations. It's not that I don't know what to do, I just find a way not to do it. How about you? I once had a consultant tell me that she would rather "scrub toilets" than make telephone calls! She knew how important the calls were to her business but she continually found herself working on other things to avoid making calls. I believe it's the same with all of us! We often avoid doing the things we really NEED TO GET DONE! So, how do we end the procrastination? It's not easy, but it can be done. Here are a few things that work for me.

Write down your goals. This is where it all begins! You need to know where you want to go first before you decide what you want to do! Write down your goals for the next week, the next 30 days, the next 6 months, the next year, the next 5 years. If you know what you want to accomplish it will be much easier to complete the next step!

Decide what is important. Often my "to do list" has so many things on it that I become overwhelmed with it and struggle with what is the most important thing I need to get done. Often the most important thing you need to get done is the one that you have been avoiding for awhile. Look at your list and determine what is "your do or die" item that need to get done right now. There are things that are more important to get done than stamping your catalogs. By the way, I've been told it is best to make this list the night before, but I just never seem to get "around to it"! I do however make sure that I begin each day with a list!

Do your most important task first. As Brian Tracy says in his book EAT THAT FROG, the frog isn't going to look any better later on so "eat it first". I know that the longer I avoid doing my most important task the less I get done during the course of the day, because I keep going back to it in my thoughts. If you are at all like me, you too, probably find it hard to focus on too many things at a time. If you get your most important task done first, it frees you up mentally and physically to get other items on your list done.

Determine the steps to take. If you have trouble getting started with a task it's often because you are not sure what step to take first! The first step should always be writing down your action plan. Let's say your most important "to do item" is getting at least 6 bookings on your calendar for the next 3 weeks. What are the steps you need to take? Well, first you need to make a list of names to call. OK, so where are you going to get the names from? Your list could include previous hostesses, guests who attended a party but didn't book, someone who told you to call her later, someone you just met, etc. Once your list is compiled make sure you put notes to each person's name and phone number about how you know her so you will remember what to say once you have dialed the phone. To help with this I used to sort my list into categories, previous hostesses, customers, "maybe later" people, new acquaintances, etc.

Prepare a calling script! Don't leave this to chance, be prepared for your calls. Next decide who you want to call first. This is the hard one! Do I want to call someone who I'm pretty sure will say "NO" just to get her out of the way, or do I want to call someone who I'm pretty sure will say "YES" first. Personally, I liked to get my "NO" out of the way first! It's like eating that "big ugly frog" first! Pick up the phone and dial! The great thing about dialing a "NO" first is that you were mentally prepared for her to say "NO" so it doesn't bother you when she does and if she happens to say "YES", well you've just started your calling session on a powerful high! Set either a time frame or specific results you want to accomplish during your calling session. Example, I will make call continuously for 30 minutes or until I get 3 new bookings. Don't quit until you have either called for 30 minutes or until you have 3 bookings, whichever comes first. Be prepared to "not let yourself off the hook"!

Categorize the remainder of your list. It's not fun if everything on your list is a "must get done today" item! Where do the rest of the items on your list fit in? Do they have to be done today or is it OK if they are done by the end of the week? Are there any items that really don't have to be done at all? Are there any items on your list that can be done by others?

Eliminate items that you can live without doing. Yes, there really are items that we put on our list that don't need to get done. Take a close look at your list and decide if you are "majoring in the minors". Ask yourself this question, "What's the worst thing that will happen if this never gets done?" If you can live with it not getting done, drop it!

Delegate items when possible. There are things on our list that can and should be done by others. I used to add everything to my list; working out (I'd really like to delegate this one but I don't think it would work), picking up the kids from football practice, packing my suitcase for my parties, writing up parties, making phone calls, planning monthly meeting, cleaning house, cooking dinner, etc. We all have a ton of things to do. For some of the things, I found other people to help me do them. I realized it wasn't really necessary for me to pick the kids up from practice everyday when all the other moms were picking up their sons too. Car pooling became an essential part of my life and I found that other moms were just as happy as I was to have a few days off to do other things. Cleaning house was never one of my "favorite things to do" but none the less it needed to be done, so I delegated one party every month to pay someone to clean every other week. This is the best delegation I've ever done for myself. I also hired someone to help out a few hours a week in my office. High school kids or stay at home moms who could use a little extra cash work out well to do the small office chores that come along with your business. Other leaders were assigned a part of monthly meetings so I didn't have to do it all. Life become easier when you decide to delegate.

Even though I try very hard not to procrastinate, every once in awhile I find myself slipping back. There is no "Procrastinators Anonymous" for me to attend since no one has gotten around to starting it. There are very important things that I need to get done today, this week, this year and during my life and so I will keep making my list, prioritizing, doing what needs to be done first, adding things to my list that I have already done (it's a sense of accomplishment). I've always gotten everything done on time, but just once I would like to feel what it's like to have something done "a week ahead of schedule"!

This newsletter is copyrighted ©September 2005 by Phelps Positive Performance Inc. You may share this newsletter as long as this copyright information and web information is attached. www.karenphelps.com

Kelly Ling is a work-at-home, homeschooling mother of five. She has mentored many homeschooling and work-at-home moms over the past fifteen years. Kelly also owes a home-based web design business. When not doing web design, she is constantly updating her homeschooling/work-at-home websites - the Homeschool Internet Yellow Pages (http://www.homeschoolyellowpages.com) and ChristianWAHM.com (http://www.christianwahm.com).

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And let me know what you think...either shoot me an email by clicking here: Click here send an email to Annette or leave a comment to this post.

Thanks! Annette #34

Mileage reimbursement rate raised by IRS

By Vicky Collins Submitted by: DSWA

Great News! The Internal Revenue Service announced on September 9, that is has raised the standard mileage reimbursement rate from 40.5 cents to 48.5 cents per mile. This is the single largest increase ever and has been issued due to the surge in gasoline prices over the past year. The new rate will apply to business travel from September 1st through the end of this year.

Direct sellers, other home-based business owners and employees who use their vehicles for business can deduct their actual expenses or the standard mileage rate on tax returns. The federal government and many private employers use the IRS rate when reimbursing workers who use their car on the job.

The bigger deduction is particularly good news for direct sellers, who traditionally drive many miles each year for their business. The new rate still probably falls short of the actual cost. Direct sellers are reporting costs as much as $100 or more to fill their Yukons and Suburbans. Still, the increase is quite helpful and it makes keeping the mileage log even more important since miles driven after September 1st will provide a greater tax deduction than miles driven prior to September 1st.

Besides business-related travel, the IRS also raised the mileage rate for deductible medical or moving expenses from 15 cents to 22 cents a mile. That new rate also applies for the last four months of this year. The mileage rate for those who volunteer at charities is set by Congress and remains at 14 cents per mile.

Traditionally, the IRS sets the rate each fall for the following year. The new rate for 2006 will not be announced until later this year. IRS said it would wait to see if the predictions that gas prices will drop dramatically prior to year-end come to pass. If so, expect a lower rate for 2006.

Vicki Collins is the Prosperity Center Director for the DSWA, a CPA/CCPS and a Certified Public Accountant. She specializes in helping direct sellers keep more of what they earn by managing their money properly and maximizing home-business deductions.

Print The use of Learning Center material is granted only to DSWA members for non-commercial purposes and must be accompanied by the author's name and the following byline. Article provided by the Direct Selling Women's Alliance Copyright 2003

CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE DSWA TODAY!

CLICK HERE to add your LINK to Assist.com

Assist has great resources to expand your business... advertise, get a free blog and network with other WAHMs in Direct Sales and more.

Join Assist.com by clicking here!

I've been so happy to be on Cindy Rushton's email list so I could learn of her tremendous effort on behalf of the folks in need South Mississippi! The needs are GREAT and they're making trip after trip to help and bring supplies! If you want a tangible way to help the people in this terrible tragedy, then see her blog now... she's got an address where you can send your gently loved clothing, toys, etc... it's great!

We feel so helpless and so far away but here's a way that we can help! Thanks Cindy!

CLICK HERE for Cindy's info!

I just got my first edition of this fabulous new newsletter and I'm excited! Can't wait to grab my afternoon tea and read through from cover to cover!

Kelly was great in 3 hole punching the thing too so I could put them all in a binder right away for easy reference! Love it!

Thanks "Editor Kelly"

Click Here To Get Your Issue of the WC

I can't wait to get my first edition of The WC - a print newspaper for WAHMS!

I've been a fan of Kelly's for almost a year now and anything that she puts out is GREAT. I was so excited to see that she's started this venture.

Here are the details from her website:

What: A Print Newspaper for WAHMs.

How Often: Monthly

When? Mailed the first week of the month.

How Many Pages: Minimum of 12 to start.

Why? So you can relax on your couch and enjoy great business topics and keep up on what's new in the WAHM Community.

Where? In your mail box (the one out by the road!)

Click Here To Get Your Subscription! Don't Miss Out

Working to help the hurricane victims in my own small way....

I'm working with my company to do matching donations, but for now, all my personal profits from sales on the Noah's Ark website for the rest of this year will go to Katrina Victims. So order holiday gifts for all the kids (and "big kids") in your life and help the victims as well.

To order:
Go to: www.noahsarkworskhop.com
Click here for Noah's Ark Workshops
Shop for your products
Use my crew member number in the referring crew member field - 34
Finish your checkout
email me here to let me know so I can follow up with the home office that it registered
I'll donate all my commissions to the cause

I'm also working with other crew members to coordinate sending stuffed animal kits to ALL of the kids of this tragedy. If you're interested in helping in that regard, please email me for details.

Click here for Noah's Ark Workshops