Recession: Real or Virtual Mind?

I received this story about what recession mean. It is about a man who once upon a time was selling hotdog by the roadside.
He was illiterate, so he never read newspapers. He was hard of hearing, so he never listened to the radio. His eyes were weak, so he never watched television. But enthusiastically, he sold lots of hotdog. He was smart enough to offer some attractive schemes to increase his sales. His sales and profit went up. He ordered more and more raw material and buns and use to sale more.

He recruited few more supporting staff to serve more customers. He started offering home deliveries. Eventually he got himself a bigger and better stove. As his business was growing, the son, who had recently graduated from College, joined his father.

Then something strange happened.
The son asked, "Dad, aren't you aware of the great recession that is coming our way?"
The father replied, "No, but tell me about it." The son said, "The international situation is terrible.
The domestic situation is even worse.. We should be prepared for the coming bad times."

The man thought that since his son had been to college, read the papers, listened to the radio and watched TV. He ought to know and his advice should not be taken lightly. So the next day onwards, the father cut down his raw material order and buns, took down the colourful signboard, removed all the special schemes he was offering to the customers and was no longer as enthusiastic...

He reduced his staff strength by giving layoffs. Very soon, fewer and fewer people bothered to stop at his hotdog stand. And his sales started coming down rapidly, same is the profit.

The father said to his son, "Son, you were right". "We are in the middle of a recession and crisis. I am glad you warned me ahead of time."

Moral of The Story:It's all in your MIND! And we actually FUEL this recession much more than we think we do! What can we take away from this story ?

1. How many times we confuse intelligence with good judgment?
2. Choose your advisers carefully but use your own judgment
3. A person or an organization will survive forever, if they have the 5 Cs
    * Character
    * Commitment
    * Conviction
    * Courtesy
    * Courage

The tragedy today is that there are many walking encyclopedias that are living failures. The more practical and appropriate views on this economic recession is:
"This is the time to reunite together for any small or a big organization,
this is the time to motivate and retain people which are the biggest asset,
this is the time to show more commitments to the customers,
this is the time show values of our company to the world,
and this is the time to stand by our Nation".

Technorati Tags: Recession,Economy

Mompreneur: A Day in the Life

By Lisa Druxman

As you'll learn, becoming an entrepreneur while being a full-time mom is not only entirely possible, it's desirable for many women. If you've ever wondered whether you could hack it as a mompreneur, here's your chance to find out a day in the life as a mompreneur.

Name: Gretchen Vogelzang

Name of Company: KDCP Productions, MommyCast Weekly podcast that focuses on topics of interest to mothers.

Founded: 2005

What's an average day in your life, starting with waking up? Because my business partner and I are moms, we fit everything around kids and family. I usually have time between getting my 15-year-old off to school and getting my 10-year-old up. That's when I check e-mail, check up on the site, do work on our social networking site (Facebook), etc. We talk a lot about current events, so I always have one ear to Good Morning America listening for potential topics. Our schedule is such that we podcast once a week--usually recording three or four shows. Then twice a week I sit down to edit the shows, do show notes and links, and post them to our website. I usually do this later at night when the kids are in bed. With our new video show, we go into the studio once every four to six weeks and do a blitz of shows. Sometimes we can record 20 to 30 shows per production stretch.

What's your biggest challenge in being a mom entrepreneur? Probably not becoming all-consumed by it. I think it's hard when you work out of your home to sometimes shut it off. I try hard to resist sitting at my computer while my kids are around doing homework or other evening activities. And on the weekend, I try to keep my focus on family. Besides, it's all potential story material for our shows. It's great when your job is your family, and even better when your other job is your family.

What's your best tip for success as a mom entrepreneur? Be passionate about what you do. You need to really love it or it'll become drudgery. A lot of people start businesses because they think they can make money. That ambition will only sustain you so far. And I think you're less likely to be successful if you don't have a fire in you that allows you to really believe in what you're doing. People gravitate toward sincerity and enthusiasm.

Do you make time for yourself? How? Yes. That's another perk when you work for yourself. Because my kids are older, I have a substantial part of my day when they're at school. I try to exercise or play tennis at least five times each week, because sitting at the computer for extended periods of time, I really need it.

If you could start over in your business, what would you do differently? Nothing. Our business has been one pleasant surprise after another. We've enjoyed every step, and I can't really think of anything I would do differently.

What's your favorite book? The last book I read that really touched me was 'Water for Elephantsby' Sara Gruen. It's rare that I get to read for pleasure.

Technorati Tags: Mompreneur,Success

Virtual Assistant Specialist

Retrenchment, financial uncertainty. With all the financial and economic dramas around the world, you will be thinking twice on hiring an assistant to do your office work. Don't look far because Halo Secretarial Services is on the way.

Laurie has a long history as an in-office legal assistant/paralegal. She began her career working as legal secretary soon after receiving her honours diploma in paralegal studies in 1993. She worked for a sole practitioner for a few years then worked as legal assistant in a large lawfirm and finally as both a legal assistance and then paralegal for a governmental legal department. Soon after the birth of her third child, she founded Halo Secretarial Services.

"Really it is about making the best use of your time. If you delegate tasks appropriately, your business will function better. Success is not only about working hard but working smart." her response on why people should hire a virtual assistant. Very true indeed since Laurie has helped her clients to save on the cost of hiring full time employee by using her professional services.

With her extensive legal assistance background, Laurie is perfectly suited to help lawfirms get more work done. Halo Secretarial Services is an independent contractor to business without paying direct wages. Halo Secretarial also offers general virtual assistance to small business owners, entrepreneurs, mompreneurs and freelancers.

On a personal note, she has three wonderful sons and a life always lived on the go. She shares her life with an amazing and supportive husband who keeps her on track.

Do check out all the great services at Halo Secretarial Services

Technorati Tags: Virtual Assistant,Finance,Legal

Shana's Shop: Handmade Magnets With Love

Shana’s Shop was created in August, 2008 by Debbie. The creative process started many years before when she received an opened dollhouse kit missing some pieces. Wanting to put the kit together proved to be a challenge and sparked her interest in creating and designing. The first dollhouse led to a second dollhouse, and soon Debbie was building furniture.

After moving into her own place, Debbie found that it was difficult to find exactly what she wanted in order to furnish her home. Frustrated with her options, she started building her own furniture.

Her passion for building and creating things led Debbie to become an architect by profession. When she is not working, she enjoys creating new items and custom orders in her home studio for Shana’s Shop.

Shana’s Shop has evolved greatly since it was created. Wanting to share her travels around the world, Debbie started making square plastic magnets with her own photographs. These have evolved into round glass magnets with her photographs.

"A few people told me about Etsy and when I looked at the site, I thought I could do this. It took me a while to actually set up a shop,” said Debbie when asked about creating Shana’s Shop. Then she added, “I think it is important to buy handmade items and give them as gifts. I have always enjoyed making handmade gifts because there is more meaning associated with them. My favorite and most meaningful gifts that I have received have been handmade just for me. There is something so special about handmade items that you cannot find in store bought items." 

For Debbie, the biggest challenge so far has been advertising. She is still trying to figure out how to reach people that would be interested in the items that she is selling. With her creativity and lovely work finding the right place to sell her work is probably just a matter of time.

Meanwhile, do check out all her lovely magnets, photographs, and cards at Shana's Shop.

Technorati Tags: Craft,Magnets,Handmade Gifts

Dedicated to Creating the Cleanest Diapers on the Planet

Margarita McClure found that when her first baby was born, she had a lot of extra time on her hands. "For those first few months, the baby doesn't do much," she recalls.

So she filled the hours with a project that eventually became a business earning 2008 sales of more than $1.4 million. In 2005, while her baby slept, she created Swaddlebees.

McClure, 34, began designing and manufacturing organic cloth diapers because she couldn't fathom all the waste created by disposable diapers. "We don't generate much waste from my house, and the thought that I'd need an extra bag or two or three for diapers seemed wasteful," she explains. Plus, "They're hypo-allergenic, and a lot of parents feel better knowing they're putting natural fibers next to their babies' most sensitive areas."

The mompreneur made her first sales on eBay. "I made a dozen orders, put them on the site and sold the first one for $26. At that point, it was an unknown brand. It got me thinking that this had potential," she remembers. Soon after, she found a fabric supplier and developed a website.

Today, Swaddlebees, along with McClure's second diaper company, Blueberry Diapers, sell at nearly 100 boutiques and online stores, many of which are run by other mothers. "Last year, we had almost 200 retailers, but I found that many of them weren't serious about their businesses," she says. "So we set standards that our retailers need to hit certain volumes to work with us." By cutting the number of stores she works with, she has doubled her own volume because she's been able to concentrate on her better-performing customers.

McClure, a former restaurateur, attributes much of her early success to luck. "When I first started out, I didn't advertise. Our customers are always on the lookout for new brands, and somehow they found me."

And while she never had plans to start her own diaper company, now she can't imagine doing anything else. "I'm proud of myself," she says. "We're all having fun here."

Source: Entrepreneur.com

Photo: Swaddlebees

Technorati Tags: Cloth Diaper,Swaddlebees,Mompreneur,Environment

Virtual Assistant Guru

Diana Ennen is a woman with many hats. She is an expert on publicity, PR, book promotions, starting a virtual assistant business, business startups and home-based businesses.

Florida-based Ennen brings together 23 years in business as President of Virtual Word Publishing. She is the publisher of two books (a children's book and a science fiction book), publicist to numerous authors, business owners and actors, and author of numerous books on starting a business including Virtual Assistant - The Series: Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA.

One of her main passions is helping others start their own home-based business. She offers online consulting and mentoring and is extremely active on groups such as VANetworking.com etc.Ennen has successfully been able to get her clients featured in magazines such as Woman's World, Good Housekeeping, Reader Digest, Entrepreneur and numerous newspapers, radio, TV segments.

With the downturn in the economy and pink slips a way of life today, more and more are turning to working at home. In fact, CBS4 News recently did a segment entitled “Working From Home Can Rake in Big Bucks” http://cbs4.com/consumer/economy.job.home.2.792216.html in which it features the thriving virtual assistant industry and how becoming a virtual assistant can be the solution so many are looking for today.

Ennen who was featured in the segment and states that after it aired she received a tremendous response from those who have been out of work and looking to supplement their income. Ennen states, "It has been fabulous to be able to help those in my community get back on their feet. One benefit of being a virtual assistant is that you can work globally so your local economy doesn’t affect you as much as you can secure clients from around the world. Also, in addition to the services CBS mentioned, you can also do publicity and marketing, bookkeeping, database management, etc. "

Virtual Assistant Business is truly one of the best ways you can survive in this gloomy economy. Virtual Assistants are independent contractors and their rates start at approximately $35 dollars an hour but can increase to $95 dollars an hour depending on the services you offer. Ennen says for those who want it, there's more work than you can handle.

Ennen is the mother of three great kids Jeremy, Amanda and Amber and the wife of a very supportive husband Greg. Her greatest accomplishment is raising such wonderful kids and having the opportunity to work at home with them. She is a leader in the Virtual Assistance Industry and extremely proud to be among those who have been instrumental in its success.

Source from Virtual Word Publishing

Technorati Tags: Virtual Assistant,Mompreneur,News,Features,Success