No? Me neither, but that’s what people seem to think.

I’m a self-employed copywriter working from home. I do go out to meet clients and to go to networking events, but most of the time I’m at home, working. I’m a single parent so I work round my daughter’s routine.

A typical day goes something like:

• Leap smiling from bed, refreshed and perky (Oops, forgot. This is fact not fantasy)

• Emerge reluctantly from insufficient sleep in response to announcement that (young) daughter has had a poo

• Get coffee

• Jot down idea for copy that has just come to me

• Remind daughter calmly what hurry up means

• Make self and daughter presentable (ish)

• Provide real time example of hurrying up

• Check computer

• Breakfast

• Shout reminder of what hurrying up means. Repeat.

• School run incorporating dog walk and avoiding people who may want to chat and hold me up

• Clear chaos

• Finally, blissfully, a clear run at work… ignoring home phone

• Lunch at desk (I dread to think what lives in my keyboard)

• Work whilst ignoring text messages /pretending to be out when door knocks / both

• School run

• Reinstate chaos

• Check computer / jot down idea for copy / work

• Some sort of after school activity (which if I’m lucky means a quick mums’ trip to the pub)

• Check computer / jot down idea for copy /work

• Daughter’s bedtime

• Work

• Collapse in heap

And then there are the holidays, teacher-training days or when the kids have a day off school sick. A friend of mine who’s self-employed doesn’t tell her clients that she works from home. So if her kids – all three of them – are home and she’s on a work call, she has to run away from the children, dodging them as she goes from room to room in search of silence, all the time keeping up a brilliantly professional and calm telephone manner.

The other day my sister rang. She was taking a walk during her lunch break and wanted to moan about her bosses. She asked if I was working. I said, ‘Yes I am, but I can talk for a minute.’ She talked for the next 40 and then said, ‘Well, I’m back at work now so I’d better get on. Bye!’

I know I could have interrupted her, but that’s not my point. And I’m not such an automaton that I don’t welcome the odd interruption: I love talking to my friends and family. My point is that my sister viewed my time as less valuable. I’m at home so therefore in a relaxed, domestic environment which doesn’t equate to the world of working, of doing business and creating wealth.

This seems to be a common view. But why? More and more businesses and organisations are moving to agile working and encouraging staff to work at home some of the time. And thousands of people who have been made redundant have set up their own business and are now working from home.

So I like to think that the future is bright for us home-workers, that a new dawn of understanding is on the horizon. Soon we’ll work a full day without someone thinking, ‘Ah, Sarah’s at home. She’s not doing anything.’

Perhaps there should be a forum where those of us who work at home can chat and share our experiences, declaring to the world that although we’re home we’re not just hanging out. We’re working.

Then again, chatting on forums isn’t working either!

Sarah Russell is a freelance copywriter. www.sarahrussellwriting.co.uk Writing that works.

]]> http://www.comparextraincome.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=97 0 http://www.comparextraincome.com/blog/?p=90 http://www.comparextraincome.com/blog/?p=90#comments Wed, 04 Apr 2012 21:00:47 +0000 Hailey Watson http://www.comparextraincome.com/blog/?p=90

Having worked since the age of 14 I have always needed to be able to support myself and keep busy. At the age of 21 I had my first child and suddenly the ability to work any job, any hours and as many jobs as I needed was swiftly swept away from me! Shock to the system!

A Working Mum.

Firstly, we must argue with ourselves that we do not need to be home twenty four seven with our children, nursing, cooking and cleaning in order to be “a good mum.” “I work” and my children spend a proportion of the day without me, and no they are not disturbed, unhappy or pulling heads off dolls and worshipping the devil!

Secondly, gone are the days I can come home from a long shift on my feet all day, flick the television on, throw a pizza in the oven and open a bottle wine. I must admit my child running to greet me with open arms far out ways any of the mentioned. Now time to cook the tea (something nutritional of course! No throwing fish fingers and chips in the oven!), bath time, playtime, story time and bedtime. Kids in bed and the house looks like a bombs hit it! By the time I can consider sitting down and unwinding before another hectic shift tomorrow, ooops I’ve fallen asleep on the sofa arm!

Thirdly, Monday morning, massive deadline at work, all the big wigs are pouring in from head office, got my best suit on, just walking out the door to drop kids at school and… no warning! The two year old has shared her cornflakes, milk and last night’s cottage pie with my freshly dry cleaned suit! This is far beyond the usual “there’s nothing wrong with your elbow your going to school!” routine. You can’t argue with yesterday’s dinner! I won’t comment on phone call to the boss as this is a family article!

Fourthly, Child care, I am sorry but it had to be brought up! I worked out that if I worked full time I would be earning £50 a week after paying for child care. So basically I am working to pay someone else to look after my kids! That makes no sense! Although some days I must say it’s tempting for both my sanity and their safety!

Last but not by far the least, the sports day, school play, their first words, their first steps, all the little treasured moments money cannot buy back. Ask for a day off, an hour off even and you suddenly find your hours cut and the size 8, six foot blonde on reception has been promoted!

In January 2012 I finally said “goodbye” to employment and “Hello” to self employment! I work when I want and take time off when I want. I love it! And my three kids learn the value of working for a living as well as get Mummy home when they are ill, in school holidays and to their sports dayswww.companyforwomen.co.uk the business that gave me and my family freedom!

Hailey Watson

In my opinion 99 percent of people that fail in this industry simply haven’t prospected.  For many the thought of talking to absolutely everyone they come across everyday is too much to deal with. 

Prospecting simply means “speaking to people” its networking.  Making sure everyone you know and come into contact with is aware of your opportunity and that YOU are offering it to everyone.  Contrary to belief this does not mean you need to be “selling” or “recruiting” or trying to persuade people to join your team.   There is no need to “pester” your friends and family either.  By simply letting them know what you have to offer and how well you are doing or how much you enjoy it, you are leaving the door open should they ever wish to join.  Do not assume that everyone knows you are recruiting for your opportunity.  If you do not let everyone know they may go and join with someone else! 

The main issue people have with prospecting is the fear of someone saying “No” to them.  Well with a team of over 150 myself I can tell you it probably took at least 15000 “no’s” to find the 150 “yes’s” and I m still alive!  Not one of those “no’s” did me any harm! 

 Network marketing is a numbers game and a game of being in the right place at the right time.  It’s about getting as many “no’s” as possible in order to get that “yes.” It is about catching the right person, at the right time, in the right circumstances.  It’s about the lady that said “no” to you last month but took your card and when she got home from being made redundant today your card was sat on her kitchen table!  It’s about the mum who just picked her son up from school and received a letter about the school trip that she can’t afford.  All her sons’ friends are going and as she walks into the shop to buy a loaf of bread, there is your card in the shop window…

If you want a big team and you want to make big money you need to be speaking to at least 100 people a day.  Sounds a lot but with technology this is not a hard target.  Here is an example of activities you can do to reach your 100 people a day; these are all extremely low cost or free.

• Shop window adverts
• Online advertising
• Social networking
• Speaking to people at schools, mother and baby clubs, work (wherever you are during the day)
• Knocking on doors
• Prospecting in town centres, talking to people and handing out cards
• Asking your customers if they or anybody they know would be interested
• Advertising on your car

When you are talking to people make sure you are well presented and positive, you are selling yourself as much as your opportunity.  There are plenty of other people within your industry that a potential prospect could choose to join with.  Make sure it’s you they come back to!

Happy Prospecting

The selling of products is fairly straight forward and most people are comfortable with this side of the business.  However the Team Building part of network marketing is often the component on the work from home industry that gets people into trouble or gives the industry a bad reputation.  Find a company, product and pay plan you are happy with and team building is a fantastic opportunity, as long as you have a good mentor and realistic expectations. 

Lets take a look at a few facts about whats involved with building a High Performance Team:

• Spending hundreds (even thousands) of pounds on advertising or purchasing leads will not guarantee you sign ups into your team.  Many people spend £100’s and only gain one or two team members from that campaign.
• You cannot build a large team sitting at home.  Whilst you may get a few leads from printed and online advertising, the most effective and cheapest way to get people in your team is to GET OUT and SPEAK to people about your opportunity.
• YOU will have to push yourself out of your comfort zone in order to recruit new team members.  You are in a sales industry so you will have to approach people and SELL your opportunity in order to become successful.
• You will need marketing materials to recruit and money for fuel and other expenses.  It is important NOT to spend more than you can afford.  Remember why you joined in the first place, most probably because you needed an extra income.  I personally have worked out a system where the commission I earn through the sales part of my business is re invested into recruiting.  This is the beauty of this business, it funds itself!
• You will NOT make a lot of money (if any at all) for maybe the first year or two, depending on how fast you grow your team.  A common mis conception is that this is a get rich quick and easy business, it DEFINATELY IS NOT.  It can provide you with a large residual income but only with a lot of hard work as for any business.
• Once you have recruited people into your team you MUST look after them.  Provide them with your contact details.  Give them all the tools they need to succeed.  Train them regularly.  Share your knowledge and experiences with them.  Keep in regular contact with them and keep track of their progress.  If they are not achieving their goals then help them to do so.  If you do not look after each team member they will most likely quit or their sales will be lower than someone you do look after.
• PLUG your team members into the “system” immediately.  Add them to your teams facebook group, sign them up to all the newsletters, make them aware of all trainings, gatherings, meetings and opportunities.  If they feel “part of something” they will be more likely to stick around.  The more opportunities you give them to learn and grow the more likely they will be to succeed.
• Remember that everyone has different needs, goals and dreams.  Work with your team members individually to achieve “their” goals and don’t push them towards your own goals.
• RECOGNITION is a key part of your business.  Reward, recognise and praise your team members for their achievements, even if they seem small to you.  We all want recognition and want to feel special, it only serves to make us feel worthwhile and drives us to achieve more.  Set incentives now and then for all your team members and watch your team sales increase!
• DON’T  waste your time with team members that are lazy.  If they don’t work then don’t waste your time trying to get them to.  Concentrate your precious time and energy on those that deserve it and are trying and working hard.

Above all else I believe there are two golden rules to building High Performance Network Marketing Teams.

Care more about other people’s success than your own, and your success will grow naturally.

Ensure you sign up to your opportunity with a GOOD sponsor that cares about YOUR success, then make sure you become that good sponsor yourself.

I’d like to get some genuine feedback from people considering working from home, and agents offering opportunities. Tell us all what your thoughts are, what pitfalls you’ve come across and any tips you can share. Read Hailey’s thoughts for this topic

Get posting!

We teach our children to stay at school and university, work hard and get good qualifications, assuming this garuantees their future.  As a mum of three kids this report is very worrying.  Should we encourage our children to go to university?  I feel more inclined to tell mine to get good grades through secondary school and then set up their own venture.  The alternative seems to be wasting many years studying hard and getting into debt just to be left without a career or job at the end of it.

I wonder if network marketing and working from home as well as starting up your own company are the future “jobs?”

BBC Youth unemployment report.

I want to retire early and enjoy life.  I know most people dream of such a luxury too.  That is why I am prepared to put the hard work into my network marketing business now.  It is hard work and comes with many knock backs, but those that keep at it and don’t give up are those that retire early and enjoy life : )

Express Report

Sky News Report

With the ever increasing pressure of increasing living costs and need to work parents are feeling that they are less effective parents to their children.

You can read the BBC report here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12201262

As in any business you will have costs.  Costs will vary depending on the opportunity you sign up with.  So do your research!  Costs can include, purchasing catalogues, fuel, delivery costs, marketing materials such as leaflets, newspaper and shop adverts (if you wish to promote your business and build a team).  So if basic commisson on sales was for example 25%, remember your costs must be deducted from this also.

If you manage to find a product that will sell well (more on this in future post) then you may make a good spare income from sales despite your running costs.  However the real money in network marketing lies in recruiting and managing a team.  This involves costs and once again research your opportunity before joining it.  At first you will most probably find your costs exceed your earnings when trying to recruit.  Like any business these work from home opportunities take time and effort as well as money to build.  However if you stick at it and build a team you will soon notice you start to get into profit.

A good way to build a sturdy business using a network marketing model is to use the money made from selling your products and put it back into your business.  For example if you make £50 profit in January from sales, re invest this into printing leaflets or placing a newspaper advert to gain team members.  If you need to keep some of what you earn from sales then allocate a percentage of it to put back into the business.  As your business grows you will be able to invest larger amounts and momentium will build.  This can be a slow process and sometimes become frustrating, but stick at it and be patient and your home business will grow.

Take my advice, however tempting it is, do not grow your business faster than you can afford to!  This is a classic mistake.  It is better to build slowly rather than rapidly and get into financial difficulty.  Remember why you started your home business in the first place.  Be patient and remember there are plenty of free ways to promote your business too (a future post on this subject soon).

Watch out for a brand new comparison table on comparextraincome.com coming soon.  We will bring you as much information as we can about the running costs of each opportunity, including catalogue prices.

My first experience of working from home was with Kleeneze, a long established direct sales company.  I sold products by posting catalogues through people’s doors directly.  After leaving Kleeneze I recently joined Avon, another well known and established direct selling company.  I also use the same catalogues through doors technique to sell Avon’s products.

The main difference, and the most obvious, between Avon and Kleeneze is the fact that Avon has territories.  You can only give catalogues to friends, colleagues and family and anyone in your territory (around 100 to 200 houses).  With Kleeneze you can drop your catalogues anywhere you like, regardless of other distributors.  Avon’s territory rule does restrict your income massively.

In my opinion Avon’s products are easier to sell and better quality than Kleeneze products although I had no difficulty in selling either product.  I do generate the same amount of sales from Avon as I did from Kleeneze with a much smaller customer base though.  Avon’s products are more competitively priced too.

Avon feels more like a job than a business opportunity if you stick to the selling side of it and don’t recruit a team.  Avon employ area sales managers who have targets to hit and they will call you to make sure you have placed an order in time and if you have a team you will be responsible for making sure they place their orders.  There is a new catalogue every 3 weeks so you do earn commission every 3 weeks instead of every 4 like Kleeneze.   With Kleeneze it is up to you if you place an order or not and you may get some “encouragement” from your sponsor (the person who recruited you) but you wont have to answer to anyone.  With Avon you have to let your area sales manager know if you are not ordering on time and why.  Just like having a boss! 

Kleeneze do pay higher commission levels on larger orders than Avon do.  The maximum commission you will receive on a personal Avon order is 25%.  Kleeneze pay up to 37% commission depending on your sales value.

If you decide to team build and grow a business I think Kleeneze definitely have a better model in place for this.  You can recruit anywhere in the country with Kleeneze and with modern technology you don’t have to meet this team member face to face.  Avon requires you to make at least 2 visits to new team members which restrict you to the distance you are prepared to travel.

Avon’s order management system can take a bit of time to get your head around too and you have to keep track of all your team members and chase them to place their orders in time.  With Kleeneze you train your team members using video, online training, group meetings, telephone, face to face or any way that works.  That team member is then in charge of their own business and can use you as support when needed.  If you don’t place an order you don’t make money.  We are taught to work with the people that work for themselves and anyone not bothering is not worth our time.

 My Summary to Avon versus Kleeneze would be this…

Avon has easy to sell and well priced products.  It is a good opportunity to make a little extra cash every 3 weeks but the amount you can make is restricted to the amount of people you know and how many orders you can generate from your territory.  Avon’s catalogues are small and easy to manage and carry about.  If you want to make a career from Avon and more money you will have to recruit a team, however this is also restricted as to how far you are willing to travel.  The “no money up front” and low start up costs of Avon make it easy to recruit new team members.

Kleeneze products sell and the commission levels are very competitive.  It’s an excellent opportunity to earn an unlimited income from selling products.  There are no restrictions, this really is a business and I believe the no territory rule produces healthy competition that all business’ face.  It truly gave me business building skills and taught me to “think outside the box” in order to rival my competitors.  The catalogues are large and bulky and I did find I needed a car to really get the maximum catalogues out there in a short period of time.  Building a team for Kleeneze is also non restricting and highly rewarding.  However I would say that it is harder to recruit into Kleeneze as the start up costs are fairly high in comparison.

My Conclusion…

Avon is behind with the times in my opinion.  This is definitely more of a job than a business.  If the restrictions were lifted this would be an excellent business.  The fact is Avon’s products, prices and catalogues are excellent and very sellable.  Whilst many have made a great income from Avon I think if you are in business then competitors create a healthy drive and allow growth and personal satisfaction.  Personally I feel restricted and my need to strive and build is heavily repressed by Avon’s restrictions.  Avon will suit those that are not so confident and want to earn an extra income but I feel Avon would have a lot more big earners if it allowed it’s entrepreneurs to grow a business without restrictions and with healthy competition.

Kleeneze’s lack of restrictions and business model are not without flaws but in comparison they are far superior in my opinion.  There products and catalogues are not as good as Avon’s in my opinion but they do sell so you can’t argue with that!  Kleeneze do charge quite high prices for their catalogues but you only need to buy them every 6 months compared to every 3 weeks with Avon.

My personal conclusion would be that if Avon’s products and catalogues were combined with Kleeneze’s business model, I would have the perfect business in which to thrive.  However I would say Avon is well suited to someone who doesn’t mind following the rules wants to build a business and is capable of doing this with restrictions.  Kleeneze is for someone who wishes to think for themselves and has the drive to go get what they want no matter what! 

There are success stories for both opportunities but I guess for me personally I have just never been any good at being told what I can and cant do!

It’s all about confidence, beleiving in your product and portraying that to potential customers. It’s the same concept with selling through party plan or catalogues. I remember being extremely nervous about putting catalogues through peoples doors. Especially on my own doorstep, I didn’t want neighbours to see me as a pest. Once I actually did it though the response was so positive my confidence grew fast. Instead of people thinking I am a pest they actually welcomed the catalogues and even passed them on to friends and family for me. The orders streamed in and my belief in my products and selling method grew and so did my confidence.

Working from home requires you to build up your confidence and the only way to do that is to get out there and just do it, however much you dont want to!

They offer a superb range of Greetings Cards & Accessories at very competitive prices.   I have purchased Phoenix cards myself and they have lovely designs on quality materials and cost less than cards in the shops.  A fun and innovative range of quality greeting cards, giftwrap, stationery and accessories. Over 40,000,000 cards sold a year including 10,000,000 Christmas cards sold in support of Cancer Research UK.

For further information take a look at Glenda Hayes testimonial.

The beauty of network marketing is that everyone starts at the same place.  Network marketing does not discriminate according to your qualifications, financial situation or experience.  Everyone starts with the same starter kit and same compensation plan.  This industry has many rags to riches stories, however they should not be confused with the stigma of “get rich quick schemes.”  Behind every genuine rags to riches story associated with a network marketing company you will discover hard work, long hours, dedication and self discipline. 

Just like any other business, network marketing takes a lot of hard work to make decent money.  What differentiates network marketing from starting a business from scratch is it’s low set up costs, proven system, which if followed will guarantee your success and it’s ability to make anyone successful as long as they are prepared to put the hard work in.

A computer and internet access is a must these days.  I think wether it be to place your orders, communicate with customers, update your accounts or have a website for customers to purchase from you, the internet is a necessity these days. 

A telephone is essential to your home based business.  Although we can communicate via the web in so many different ways now, customers still like to be able to contact you via a telephone.  You are most likely to have clients that do not use or have the internet and wish to contact you via telephone.  Try to make sure there is someone to answer the telephone during office hours.  however if this is not possible ensure you have an answering machine with a personal message. 

If you store your products at home make sure you have a good space or room dedicated to your stock.  Keep things tidy and organised so you know what you have and where.

If you work from home you need to monitor what you spend each hour of the day doing.  It can be so easy to get distracted and find you have not spent more than a few hours working by the end of the day.  Keep an accurate time record, each night write down what you will do for each hour the next day.  Always keep a timesheet to ensure you stay on track.

If you would like a chat about the website, need some advice or just want to say hello, then add yourself to my msn messenger contacts using email comparextraincome@hotmail.co.uk

The social networking sites allow us all to communicate and stay upto date with all the latest info and news on the subjects that interest you whilst allowing you to join in and have your say.  Communication is so easy and fast these days so theres no excuse not to stay in touch or have your say!

Our motives and needs are constantly changing as life throws new demands our way, and we need to be vigilant  to this.  The opportunities we have also change from time to time.  This website was designed to present opportunities to you.  We like to keep upto date and therefore these opportunities change also from time to time.  We have taken Xocai off the site recently.  An opportunity to sell “Healthy Chocolate”  whilst their business plan could offer genuine earnings I am not so sure the product is in high demand.  The contact distributor we had for the company has left the business which left us with the question “is this a saleable product?”  There are thousands of network marketing companies with good compensation plans but some of the products out there just don’t sell.  It is very important when deciding which company to choose that you consider the product you will be selling.  You need to have an interest in that product and believe in it or else you just wont sell it.  After all chocolate is not meant to be healthy, it’s one of life’s naughty luxuries.  The product contradicts itself and whilst I can see what they were trying to achieve with this product I don’t think people would buy it in the quantities needed to sustain a healthy business.  If we want to eat something healthy we eat an apple! 

People have many reasons for leaving a business and sometimes they just can’t be bothered to put the effort in and then blame the product or company for their failure.  However I have removed “the healthy chocolate company” as people cannot relate to the product. 

You will find new companies added to our site very soon too.  We are always looking for new opportunities for you!

I leave this debate open if anyone disagrees with me please speak up!

There are so many creative ways to earn a living these days, no longer are we confined to the “9 to 5″  slog ( although I think the term “9 to 5″ is now understated and should be changed to “9 to 6″ at the least).  Times have changed dramatically.  No longer can we go to university get excellent qualifications and have earned the right to walk straight into a well paid “job for life.”  For a parent such as myself it leaves you in a very uneasy dilemma of how to best advise your kids and set them up for the future.

Although times have clearly changed, we seem to be in a transition stage, too afraid to go against our parents advice to get a good education and a well titled job.  Definitely petrified to preach anything remotely different to our own off spring.  I believe a good basic education and therefore sound understanding of the basics of life are highly important to everyone.  I wouldn’t tell my kids school is not important or unnecessary, a basic knowledge is important to us all.

However I do wonder if advising them to go further than secondary education is the “right” advice or rather the “best” advice I can send them into the big wide world with.  If you have a strong desire to become a doctor, lawyer or other title that requires further education then obviously this path is unavoidable.  Most adolescents at this stage in their lives don’t have a path mapped out and have no idea what life should have in store for them.  Yet I believe at such an age you are at your most courageous, imaginative and creative stage of life.  You have no inhibitions.  Anything seems possible and you still have that innocents and arrogance to go ahead and believe it’s possible despite society telling you “you can’t.”

In fact negative words such as “impossible, no, cannot be done”  only further encourage an adolescent mind to actually do it.  This attitude has created many a new product and company along with success stories for those that created them.  The qualities that we have seen as “bad behaviour” and an “attitude they will grow out of” in our adolescents are actually an assetto them if channelled correctly.  I certainly encourage my kids to think for themselves and be creative.  Every child is unique and has a talent that can be strengthened.  I don’t believe we all need a degree displaying this talent and a huge debt, to put them into best use any more however.

I guess the million dollar question is “Whats the best path?  Self employment or a job?”