your GUIDE2success

Did you know that FORTY percent - 40% - of young people want to be their own boss someday? That’s a LOT of aspiring entrepreneurs. Millions, in fact.

Truth is, only a fraction of those people ever really start a business. Some get comfortable in a lifestyle that they can’t afford to give up. Others realize just how hard it is to be an entrepreneur and never try. Sometimes life just happens and makes entrepreneurship unattainable.

Of the few that actually try to start a business, many fail. The ones that succeed, though, have a few things in common. You may not need to have all 15 of these abilities to succeed in business. But be willing to learn them or hire someone who can cover your butt if you want to get out of the rat race and be your own boss someday.

Be a Salesperson

Never underestimate how important it is to be able to sell. It’s at the top of the list on purpose. Even if you never have to sell to clients (unlikely), you will have to sell your ideas to investors, sell your company vision to prospective employees, and sell consumers or customers on your brand. Selling is absolutely critical to your success, so if you have an aversion to it, you’d better get over that fast.

Delay Gratification

No business is successful on day one. Almost no businesses are successful after year one. If you think entrepreneurship is the ticket to instant riches, you need a reality check. Not only will you have to work hard for a long-term goal, you will probably have to work hard in the face of what seems like certain failure at times.

Discipline

Discipline isn’t just about working hard, but you do have to do that. Discipline is also about managing your entrepreneurial tendencies. Many natural born entrepreneurs are blessed with a mind that is an idea-generating machine. The good news is that some of those ideas are gold mines. The bad news is that if you continually pursue new ideas, old ideas never get developed to fruition. And I’ve watched one multimillionaire in particular run his business into bankruptcy because every week he was working on something new.

Take Risks

Just leaving the rat race is a huge risk in an of itself. No wonder so few people do it. And if you have a spouse or significant other, realize that they are risking with you - whether they like it or not. Everyone has a need for some level of certainty, so if you can’t find it in your business, plan on finding it elsewhere - maybe for several years at a time.

Build Rapport

Note that this is not called ‘Making Friends’ - important, yes, but not the same thing. Building rapport means building respect, a reputation, and hopefully key alliances along the way. Donald Trump doesn’t seem to be the kind of guy you’d call your BFF. But he does have the ability to get people to listen and trust him. You will need to build relationships as an entrepreneur, no business is an island.

Be a Leader

While you may be a natural born follower, as a business owner, you will have to be able to lead. That means trusting an inner compass to guide you when there are no outside indications as to what step to take next. It means having people rely on you. And it even means forgoing the ‘road less traveled’ forbushwhacking your own path.

Be Uncomfortable

Nobody thinks that running a business is easy. But generally people underestimate just how hard it can be. There can be times as a business owner that for months on end you will be in a state of stress, worry, anxiety, and discomfort. Being an entrepreneur means being able to live and function in this state for extended periods of time, and being able to find a way to shut it off so that it doesn’t consume your personal life as well as your career.

Inspire

To be an entrepreneur you need to be inspired. You will likely have to inspire others such as employees and your first customers - who will have to believe in you with no track record. But most of all you will continue to have to inspire yourself, because sometimes your vision is the only thing that can lead you out of one phase of your business and into the next.

Focus

Related to discipline is focus - the ability to tune out ‘noise’ that can distract you from your goal. That noise could be people who doubt you, busywork, doing too much “social” networking, or perhaps worst of all, the noise inside of your own head of self-doubt, fear, or unrealistic expectations of yourself. Personally, I’ve only heard about these things, I can’t say I know this from experience. 

Understand Numbers

I am extremely number-challenged. I’m the biggest of big-picture thinkers. So there are times when I am working on a project that I think is going terribly - only to finally force myself to build a spreadsheet or break out the analytics and find that I’m actually doing better than I had thought. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true, when I think that I’m kicking ass only to find that the actual return on investment of time, dollars, etc. isn’t where I thought it would be. Truth be told, this is one of the number one reasons people go out of business - they don’t pay enough attention to the cold, hard numbers.

Analysis

Related to being able to understand the numbers is the ability to look at the numbers in a variety of ways. Sometimes what looks like a dip in traffic/sales/whatever might also be a roadmap to a previously undiscovered opportunity. There are benefits to being a stats-a-holic, which can often times be a key source of consumer insights that larger companies pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for.

Ask for Help

Quite honestly, I don’t know one entrepreneur that embraces asking for help. We seem to have a natural aversion to it, in fact. It doesn’t make it any less important - in fact, it makes it more important, because it usually means that when an entrepreneur finally does ask for help, they probably needed the help something like 2 months ago. If you have a natural knack for asking for help, good grief, I hope you aren’t reading this, because you should already be working for yourself!

Know Thyself

Every entrepreneur has strengths and weaknesses. A good entrepreneur plays to his or her strengths. A great entrepreneur plays to their strengths AND builds a business that can compensate for their weaknesses. That means knowing what you aren’t good at, admitting it, and structuring your workflow so that you don’t get in your own way.

Balance Ego with Humility

You have to have high self-confidence to make it in business. I’d go so far to say that a little bit of a big ego can actually be an asset - it helps to get people talking about you and can help to increase your visibility. But there is a very fine line between a healthy ego and being an egotistical maniac. But bring too much humility to the game, and it comes off as self-doubt. Walking the line between the two will never please everyone, either - sorry, it just comes with the territory.

Persistence

Most of all, to get out of the rat race, you need persistence. You need to fall on your face and get back up. You need to make big mistakes and learn from them. Sometimes you even need to fail - it may be the only way to succeed. To quote some of my wonderful peers, “Your recovery strategy is what’s important; avoiding mistakes is not.”

I use Paypal for all my online invoicing and payments. Paypal is secure, reliable and most important of all - easy to use.

Here's how to set up a Paypal account for your business.

1. print out these instructions

2. click here to Set Up Paypal Business Account

3. scroll down and click where it says: "sign up today"

4. choose whether you want a personal, premier or business account

If this account is for your business, you should choose Premier Account or Business Account

Here's the only difference: a Paypal Business Account allows you to set up the account under your business name. But you need to have a business bank account and wait for your Paypal Business Account to be approved.

If you don't have a business bank account but you want your Paypal account under your business name, here's how to get around it: sign up for a Premier Account, but instead of putting your name in the name field, put your business name. For example, if your business name is Acme Consulting, put "Acme" in the "first name" box and "Consulting" in the surname box.

5. choose your country

6. click Continue

7. fill in all your info (see note above about business name)

8. click Continue

After your account is set up you can pay someone by Paypal, or request payment (send an invoice) just by going to www.paypal.com and logging in to your account. It's very obvious how to do it.

The above article is intended as general information only and should not be construed as financial or legal advice.

Just last week my brother asked me how he could make money on the Internet. My answer was this: There's lots of ways to make money on the Internet, and there's even more ways to LOSE money on the Internet.

Scam artists are just waiting for you

That's because there are so many scam artists just waiting for inexperienced people to respond to their "make money fast" schemes. These scam artists are very, very good at persuading unsuspecting folks to sign up for their program. And because it's so cheap to set up a website, the scam artists can have very convincing looking websites that make them look more legitimate than they are.

Internet business requires high attention to detail

The other thing that I told my brother is that all Internet businesses require a lot of work before they start making money, and a lot of attention to detail to maintain that success.

ATTENTION TO DETAIL - something that my brother and I both know is not his strength.

My brother's an idea person, a big picture thinker. Details bore him. At the very least, my brother would need to learn how to outsource (hire other people) the detail work. And for him, even doing that would require too much attention to detail.

Are you suited to an Internet business?

If you are the type of person who lets mail pile up, or can't be bothered to check bank statements to make sure all the charges are accurate, and if the idea of analyzing statistics makes your eyes glaze over...then an Internet business probably isn't for you.

Because by definition an Internet business requires paying attention to details.

Think about it - what is the Internet? It's all about information. So if you're going to have an Internet business you're going to be dealing with information - lots of it.

And you'll need to turn into a bit of a computer nerd

You're going to need to learn at least the basics of html (that's the gobbleygook code that makes up webpages), search engine optimization (that's how to get your websites ranking high in Google), and social media (that's stuff like Facebook and Twitter).

But the good news is that if you do have good attention to detail, and if you're willing to put in long hours over a period of a year or more to learn the ropes, you can start an Internet business with relatively little money (compared to a bricks and mortar business).

It doesn't take a lot of money to start up, but it's not a get rich quick thing

Wendy Peirsall from Sparkplug.com says that although anyone CAN make money online, not everyone WILL make money online, because making money on the internet takes a long time to learn, and most people give up because it can be extremely frustrating.

So, where do you start? Wendy gives these pointers:

1. Pre-packaged programs only work as much as you can customize it and make it unique and your own. Even then, techniques that work for one niche won't work in all niches.
2. Be wary of any "system" that promises instant results (especially anything that sounds like a get-rich-quick scheme!)
3. Knowing the basics of html, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), social media, and traditional marketing and sales are a must.
4. Every business is made stronger by specializing in a tight niche. Know your audience and stick to it.

1. Affiliate Marketing

   What is it? :: Promote other company’s products and services on your website. When a sale is made, you get a commission.
   Most important skills needed :: PPC (Pay Per Click marketing), sales copywriting, web marketing
   Best learning resources :: ReveNews, ABestWeb Forum, ShoeMoney,Rosalind Gardner, Affiliate Classroom
   Recommended Book :: Make a Fortune Promoting Other People’s Stuff Online by Rosalind Gardner

2. Blogging

   What is it? :: A chronologically based website filled with articles, reviews, or journal-style writing. You can sell advertising or incorporate affiliate marketing on a blog to earn money.
   Most important skills needed :: Copywriting, social networking, affiliate marketing, web marketing
   Best learning resources :: ProBlogger, JohnChow, DoshDosh
   Recommended Book :: ProBlogger, Secrets to Blogging Your Way to a Six Figure Income by Darren Rowse & Chris Garrett

3. eBay & Auction Selling

   What is it? :: Selling or reselling products via an online marketplace likeEbay, Amazon Auctions, or Craigslist. You can sell used goods, buy goods wholesale, or use a drop-shipping service.
   Most important skills needed :: Merchandising, sales copywriting, customer service
   Best learning resources :: Our very own eBay Selling for eParents, Ebay Learning Center, SaleHoo Training Center, JennyHow
   Recommended Book :: eBay 101: Selling on eBay For Part-time or Full-time Income, Beginner to PowerSeller in 90 Days by Steve Weber

4. E-Commerce

   What is it? :: Selling products or a technology-based service on your own website.
   Most important skills needed :: All of the above, below and then some!
   Best learning resources :: Entrepreneur.com’s Online Business Startup Guide
   Recommended Book :: The Complete E-Commerce Book: Design, Build and Maintain a Successful Web-Based Business  by Janice Reynolds

5. Arts & Crafts

   What is it? :: Creating and manufacturing your own product lines and selling them online.
   Most important skills needed :: Creativity, sales, e-commerce
   Best learning resources :: eMoms’ CraftBoom, About.com Craft Business 101 Series, Barbara Brabec
   Recommended Book :: The Crafts Business Answer Book: Starting, Managing, and Marketing a Homebased Arts, Crafts, or Design Businessby Barbara Brabec

6. Internet Research Business

   What is it? :: Doing internet research for corporations, law firms and other small businesses.
   Most important skills needed :: Librarian-style research skills, customer service
   Best learning resources :: Entrepreneur.com’s Information Consultant Startup Guide
   Recommended Book :: Building & Running a Successful Research Business: A Guide for the Independent Information Professional by Mary Ellen Bates

7. Freelance Services

   What is it? :: Providing professional services such as copywriting, design, photography, illustration, and programming usually billed on an hourly rate.
   Most important skills needed :: Sales, customer service, trade-specific knowledge
   Best learning resources :: Our Freelance Parent channel,FreelanceSwitch
   Recommended Book :: The Business Side of Creativity: The Complete Guide to Running a Small Graphic Design or Communications Businessby Cameron S. Foote

8. Recruiting

   What is it? :: Recruiting candidates for companies who pay a fee when a hire is made.
   Most important skills needed :: Sales, relationship building, networking
   Best learning resources :: RecruitersNetwork, HireAbility
   Recommended Book :: Start Your Own Executive Recruiting Business (Entrepreneur Magazine’s Start Up) by Entrepreneur Press

9. Consulting

   What is it? :: Providing your specialized industry knowledge to corporations, entrepreneurs, investors or other businesses.
   Most important skills needed :: Trade-specific knowledge, sales, customer service
   Best learning resources :: Entrepreneur.com’s Consulting Business Startup Guide
   Recommended Book :: The Business of Consulting: The Basics and Beyond (CD-ROM Included) by Elaine Biech

10. VA (Virtual Assistant)

    What is it? :: Providing administrative and business support to other business owners and small businesses.
    Most important skills needed :: Customer service, organization
    Best learning resources :: VirtualAssistantStartups,Entrepreneur.com’s Business Support Startup Guide, VirtualPABusiness
    Recommended Book :: The 2-Second Commute: Join the Exploding Ranks of Freelance Virtual Assistants by Christine Durs