Oct 23, 2011

Life is a choice - you have the power

"Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it. When something comes up how do you handle it? I use to get frustrated, worried, and stressed. Now I look at things that happen and ask myself, What can I learn from this? How can I make it better? What is the best solution? If I focus on the problems, I get more of them. I don't even see things as problems anymore; I just see things as results. The joy is in the journey, and the little challenges you have along the way are just the Higher Powers of testing you to see how bad you want something." ~ Adam Packard, Stay The Course



I live my life by the first part of this quote. You cannot change what does happen to you, but you can chose how to react to it. Things happen and they happen for a reason. People, opportunities, sadness, happiness, hurt, pain, joy, pride.... any of it can happen to you at any moment and there is never much you can do about it other than chose how to react to it.

The above quote is like the story of my life. I too use to be one to get frustrated, worried, and stressed when things happened. I use to look at things in such a negative way mainly because I would have preferred them to be different, but that isn't something I can control. I can only control how I let it affect me. You have the same choice to make to.
The three questions mentioned in the quote, "What can I learn from this? How can I make it better? What is the best solution?" ... Ask yourself these questions. Make it a habit. See what a new and different perspective it will open your eyes to.

Adam is right. You won't see things as problems anymore. You will see them as results. Results of how you chose to react to the things that happen to you. If you don't like the results you are getting, change what you are doing. Figure out what it is that will get the results you want.
If you want something bad enough, the challenges you face to achieve what you want won't hold you back. They will only test you to see how badly you want it.
How bad do you want it? Are you going to let the small bumps in the road stop you? Are you weak enough to give in an give up?
Life is a choice. And you have the power to chose. Only you can control your thoughts, your actions, your emotions. And only you can chose how things will affect you, how you will react to them.

How will you chose to react? Will it provide the result you are wanting? Will it lead you to where you want to go?

Oct 8, 2011

Be Your Own Boss - A No or A Go?

Recently I have been introduced to an online job opportunity that offers the chance to become your own boss and build your own business. Even though I am usually very apprehensive on joining such a business, after viewing and hearing the opportunity I decided to sign up.

The company is SendOutCards (SOC). Though I am a distributor for the online company, I do not work for anyone. I have access to promote and make commission off the online product. There is great potential for earning, but how much I earn is based off how much time and effort I put into building my customer base and adding to my team.
I have the ability to earn money two different ways: building customers and building a team.

To build customers is as easy as opening your mouth and asking one question, "Do you know anyone who could use this?" If they say yes then its a matter of taking 20 minutes to sit down with them and show what they get with an account and how easy it is to send a card that is completely customized. It's inexpensive (less than a dollar), convenient, personalized, has a contact database that allows you to set up reminders for anything specific to that person or business, and plus many more options. Most people will either know someone who would really enjoy the benefits of an account or could see themselves using the account themselves. There are two options for an account: Basic retail or a whole sale. Retail is great for those who want to send cards to friends and family. With a retail account you pay around 15$ a month which covers cards and postage, and are able to send anywhere from 4-6 cards (depending on how customized you want each card). Wholesale is great for businesses who want to show their customers they care or send reminders to customers about services or appointments. The Wholesale account has a start up cost of just under 400$ and a subscription every month after of 20$ (covering cards and postage). With a wholesale account, the cost of your normal greeting card is roughly $1.40 with postage. You receive around 100 cards with sign up, 2 personalized fonts (take your handwriting or someone elses handwriting and signatures and creates them into an actual font to use on your cards), plus a few other items.

SOC also offers the availability to earn extra income by purchasing an Entrepreneur package which gives you a license to promote. Out of every self starter business I have been introduced to (which has been many) this one is the least expensive to start and there is no real selling involved. Keeping track of customers is easy with their database provided with their account. It allows you to make dated notes with each contact and will post a reminder not only to your account but through your email. It is almost impossible to forget someones birthday, anniversary, party, or whatever event they may have in the future.

The second way to make money is to help get someone started as a independent distributor. Each person you get signed up to do what you are doing becomes part of your team or network. They don't work for you, but become more like a support and encouragement group. You do earn a little income off what they do, but anyone that you sign up or they sign up can surpass you in earning potential depending on how hard they work to build their business. (This is where the company is not a pyramid scheme). Your job is to help them get started and be encouraging. They aren't making you money, they are there to make them money and start their own business. To understand this more, takes more of a visual explanation than what words can possibly express.

To be your own boss has great potential. To start your own business has many benefits. The one thing to remember, both take hard work and dedication. It is not a make money quick scheme. It does take time and effort. Depending on how much effort you put in will determine your earning potential. Many people get sucked into job opportunities that promise quick money only to find out not only do they have to begin with spending a lot of money to get started, but to also stock up on products, find a way to track customers and purchases, and that earning potential is not as great as what they say.
With SOC, it does take time to build and it is up to you on how quickly you want to build your business. You do not have a product that you have to stock up and store somewhere. Your office is anywhere you have access to a computer and the Internet, and customer purchases are left to the customer (depending on how many cards they want to send).

I am always a skeptic on these type of jobs, but the potential of what I can earn is amazing and the capability to get started wasn't difficult or leaving me behind in bills. (Which I have a lot of and only work part time). For an example on what the possibilities are for earning: I have a friend who is in the business who worked as a dealer for Acura (sold new, high end cars). He was very successful in the car business and made a really decent living from selling cars. He began his business with SOC as a side job. With his drive to become his own boss and have his own business (with every perk that comes along with it) in less than a year he completely replaced his income and was able to quit the car dealership.

To be your own boss - Its a no if you do not have the drive or motivation to make your way and put in the effort if you find a business/product that is worth taking a chance on.
Its a go if you are self motivated, driven, and want to only have to answer to yourself.