After the Sale? 2 Words, 1 Action = More Money For You: Follow-Up

Do you follow up with customers, affiliates, or employees?

Many businesses believe that once a sale is made the follow up process should end. Unfortunately they are losing a significant opportunity to build additional rapport, satisfaction, trust, credibility, lower returns, and increase knowledge of items purchased.

Follow up is for more than just prospects.

Customer Follow Up:
Post purchase follow up is overlooked by many businesses. Utilizing this process after a sale can benefit overall consumer satisfaction significantly.

• Training to teach a customer how to use a product.
• Answer commonly asked questions before they are asked.
• Teach about lesser known features.
• Reduce returns.
• Provide support contact information. An auto-responder can integrate with any existing shopping cart system utilizing a feature known as “email parsers”. These permit the ability to automatically build a list of customers within an account.

Affiliate/Reseller Follow Up:
In most affiliate or reseller programs over 90% of affiliates never do anything. By properly following up with new affiliates you can help increase the percentage of affiliates that actively promote and see results.

• Provide promotional material.
• Teach effective promotion techniques.
• Product education.
• Reminders to get the affiliate to take action.

Employee Follow Up:
Training new staff members on various company policies and procedures is a perfect example of effective follow up. Dumping a big manual on their desk the first day is likely to never be read. However, if you “drip” that same information to them over a period of time they are more likely to read and retain that information.

What’s Next?
Learn how autoreponders enable blog and RSS publishers to take advantage of their data to increase repeat visitors and ultimately overall revenue. If you’re serious about getting your message in front of thousands of eager prospects, then you’ve got to seriously check out an autoresponder system.

Split testing allows you to test an idea or change to see if it helps improve results.

For example, if you were testing your web form to improve the number of people who sign up for your newsletter you might try two different colors for your headline. One in black and one in red. You then alternate showing each form to different visitors as they come to your site. The one that generates the most new subscribers has the resulting best conversion rate.

Web Form Split Testing:
Creating and testing different web forms is easy with an Autoresponder. Web form generators allow you to easily create different versions of web forms and then automatically rotate them on your website to see which one generates the best conversion rate.All of this is easily accomplished by copying a single line of HTML to your website.

Tips for testing web forms:

• Type of web form. Embeded in the page, pop over, pop under,exit popup, regular pop up.
• Location of the form. Top of the page, bottom, side bar.
• Headline text.
• Headline length.
• Headline color.
• Headline pictures.
• Field order. Ask for the name, then email or email then name.
• Number of fields. Does asking for phone number, address, or otherincome affect opt-in conversion?
• Time delay for pop up appearance. ie 5 sec, 10 sec etc.
• Link to privacy policy.

Broadcast Newsletter Split Testing:
In the same way you can split test web forms, split testing anewsletter can have a measurable impact upon overall conversion.In this case you might be trying to achieve higher open rates ormore click thrus. A good
autoresponder provides the ability to test up to 4 different versions of a broadcast and easily measure the open rate and click thrus of each version.

Tips for testing broadcast newsletters:

• Subject line variations.
• Subject line personalization vs. no personalization.
• Subject line date inclusion.
• HTML vs Text
• HTML with images vs. HTML without images.
• Different HTML layouts and colors.
• Pricing variations.
• Call to action variation.
• Time of day sent.- Day of the week sent.

What’s Next?
Learn how follow up can be extremely important for prospects before they buy but also for customers after they buy, partners, employee training, and many other uses.

Did you find this article helpful? If you did, then take a look at the step-by-step video tutorials here! http://www.make-more-money-today.net

Double Your Profits – Part 2 – The Essential Pieces

by Beth Schneider

These days I find myself doing a lot of writing. I have a whole routine; grab a cup of coffee, close down all programs except for a word document, since I like to scribble notes I keep a pad and pen handy. I also like to be comfortable, so yes, I have special writing pants.

Even with the routine, I often find myself sitting and staring at a blank screen. Tapping my finger on the pad, scratching my head and getting frustrated, which makes it hard to think, which makes it harder to write. UUUGGGHH!

People ask me all the time how to get started with putting systems in place. It dawned on me that these same people might have their own routine. They get motivated, put on their special systems pants and then stare at a blank screen. Focusing on HOW you do thing in your business is the key to squeezing 2-3 times the results from your existing team, and marketing efforts so lets make this easy to get started. No more starting at a blank screen. Oh and special system pants are not required.

There are three essential systems that every business, no matter what the size, must have. In my Outrageously Effective Systems club, we call these the core systems.

1. A system for Overcoming Sales Objections

2. A system for Setting Up New Clients

3. A Project Management system

Overcoming Sales Objections
My friend, Sharla Jacobs of www.rejuvenateyourpractice.com calls this “dancing with concerns”, which I think this is a great way to describe this task. Take a close look at the excuses . . .er . . .I mean reasons people tell you they are not ready to buy. Then one-by-one, create a list of things to say and do to turn those reasons to walk away into reasons to buy. The biggest complaint out there is, “I don’t have enough clients.” This is an essential piece of your business because it keeps the clients coming.

Setting Up New Clients
I bet you’ve been in this situation. You go into a store and the clerk follows you around, attending to your every need. That is until you hand over the cash. Once you’ve given up your money, all of a sudden it’s like you are invisible. What do you do to your clients once they’ve said yes? Every marketing guru in the world will tell you it’s easier to sell more to an existing client than to go out and get a new client. So what are you doing from the start to make sure your clients feel like royalty? Lay out all the new client steps ahead of time so each and every one feels completely taken care of. When your clients feel good, they buy more from you and then they tell their friends to buy from you.

Project Management
The dream is to be able to kick back and enjoy your life while your business runs without you. Unfortunately, the more common scenario I see are stressed out, overwhelmed and stuck business owners. Mostly this happens because they’ve fallen out of the driver seat and their business is driving them rather than vice versa. You can get back into the driver seat by laying out pieces of your business as if it were a recurring project. For example, my client Michele takes each and every client through a series of steps and tasks. By documenting those tasks she made it easy for her team to understand exactly what she needs them to do and how to do it. For your own situation, pick something that happens over and over, maybe coaching clients, launching products, doing teleclasses, etc. Lay out each and every step so that you can repeat those same steps instead of reinventing the wheel.

Next time you sit down to figure out how to free up your time and make things easier, think about the core system

Beth Schneider, President of Process Prodigy Inc., www.processprodigy.com, along with her team of highly sought after operations consultants, reveal the insider secrets billion-dollar corporations pay thousands of dollars for. Specializing in process creation, Process Prodigy tools and techniques have helped entrepreneurs increase productivity by as much as 600%, and revenues by as much as 250%. Visit www.processprodigy.com/ezine and grab your FREE systems starter kit valued at $297.00

Double Your Profits in 2009- Part 1

by Beth Schneider

Today was my day to talk to potential clients. I had a successful, determined woman we’ll call Sally, on the phone. I listened as Sally told me about her plans, frustrations and fears. You see she was determined to grow her company, but had a bad experience. Sally took steps that were intended to move her forward, instead things went wrong – quickly and she lost $20,000.

I wish her story of loss was unique, but unfortunately I hear those kinds of stories all the time. Things like:

* I just spent all this money on my marketing, but all my expensive leads are all falling through the cracks because I don’t know what to do with them. Now I’m out the marketing dollars and I still don’t have any clients.
* I just hired this person, they messed up everything I gave them so not only did I end up doing it myself, but first I had to fix what they did so it took me more than twice the amount of time it should have.
* I have all these ideas, but I can’t seem to connect all the dots so I feel like I’m just going in circles. Nothing changes, nothing gets done . . .even though I spent a fortune on live events, coaches and products.
* I could easily get more clients just by asking for referrals. But I can’t because it takes so much time to close the sale – time I don’t have and then I have no idea how we’d event fulfill the work. I’d really like to grow, but I just don’t see how it’s even possible.

You see, I felt for Sally when she was telling me about her $20,000 loss. Yes, that’s a lot of money, but the bigger loss was that her confidence in doing anything differently was shaken. If she gives into a fear of growth and expansion then that certainly will cost her a whole lot more than $20,000.

The answer to Sally’s problem (and the others listed above) is to be prepared for growth by making the shift from thinking about “what” needs to be done to “HOW” to do that. I’m sure you’ve heard a million times not to worry about the “how”. Dream big and it will all come together. Well, when you are talking big picture, then yes, dream and dream big. But when it comes to taking action, if you don’t want to lose your shirt you have to think about HOW things will get.

This series is about just that.

* HOW to set your production to run with out you
* HOW to set up your contractors and employees for success
* HOW to streamline your efforts so you get more done, with fewer steps
* HOW to get more out of your marketing efforts

The “how” are the specific steps taken to complete something. For example, if you were setting up a teleclass, there are a number of steps you go through. Put up a web page for registrations, write the copy for the web page, write the email announcements, send the emails on a specific schedule, create the email schedule, etc. You see, it’s bringing together all the pieces and connecting all the dots.

When the dots are connected, then you have the control without having to it all yourself. You maximize your efforts and reduce waste. You get more from your people because you’ve set them up for success.

Here’s the formula: HOW = success for you, your people and your business. It’s a win-win-win.

See you at part 2.

Beth Schneider, President of Process Prodigy Inc., www.processprodigy.com, along with her team of highly sought after operations consultants, reveal the insider secrets billion-dollar corporations pay thousands of dollars for. Specializing in process creation, Process Prodigy tools and techniques have helped entrepreneurs increase productivity by as much as 600%, and revenues by as much as 250%. Visit www.processprodigy.com/ezine and grab your FREE systems starter kit valued at $297.00

Freebie Friday- FREE Download: Sell More Confidently to Your List

by Erica Brooks

If you’ve ever struggled with getting your mailing list to take you up on your product offers…or if the mere thought of selling to your list sends you into mild panic, click here to instantly access an audio recording + full transcripts that answers the following common email marketing concerns:

• Can I make money even if I don’t have a large list?
• How do I know the people on my list are qualified/quality leads?
• How do I track my email offers?
• How soon should I start selling to my list?
• What if my subscribers unsubscribe when I sell to them?
• How do I sell without seeming too pushy?
• My last offer bombed. What did I do wrong?
• …and a bunch more.

Claim your free download today!

Start Your Spring Cleaning Early for Maximum Profits

by Erica Brooks

One of the biggest barriers to true success for online business owners is a lack of focus. It keeps us from doing well with any one thing and can cripple us with the stress of having too much going on.

It’s no wonder. The Internet is a source of many distractions and so many ideas that we can easily become overwhelmed with all the little projects we are contemplating or already have on the go.

If you are dying to clear out some of the clutter from your online business to boost profits, grab your free lesson “Taking Your Business Inventory” of Spring Cleaning for Maximum Profits. There’s no obligation of any kind and you don’t even have to give up your email address to get it.

As soon as I’m done here, I’m going to finish my own inventory. It’s definitely an eye-opener and the first step to a super-focused new year.

Are You Charging Enough?

by Carrie Wilkerson

Women are often hesitant to assign a fair value to what they sell or do. Pricing is a very important part of a business, especially when you are dealing with goods and services.

Running an at-home business requires prudence with pricing for the simple fact you probably do most of your sales online or through mailings. Retaining customers is imperative, but when it comes to pricing, you first need to know the type of customer you are attracting.

About.com categorizes customers into a few basic sub-groups:

-Economical Shoppers. These are the women who dig through piles of clothes and discount items in order to find the perfect sale. Or they get to the store at 5 a.m. for the “early bird specials” during the holidays.

-Status-oriented Shoppers. This type of shopper could care less if she pays one dollar or a thousand dollars for a pair of pajamas, just as long as they are a particular brand or from a particular store.

-Convenience-oriented Shoppers. This woman is on a schedule, and she is willing to pay extra for convenience.

-Assortment-oriented Shoppers. This could classify a majority of women, especially with the rise of major department stores and shopping centers. These shoppers are the one-stop-shop kind of ladies.

-Personalizing Shoppers. At-home businesses and boutiques focus on these shoppers because the women like to spend money at places where they know the person or feel as if they know the owner.

Once you know the kind of customer your at-home business attracts, setting a price for your product or service can be a little easier. There are some essential steps to follow when setting prices for your business, and powerhomebiz.com sums them up nicely in seven easy steps.

Step One: Keep your prices realistic. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to follow the crowd when setting your prices. Your business has certain cost structures and expenses to meet, and your pricing should reflect this.

Step Two: Cover all your costs. Make sure when you set prices that you are meeting overhead. Your pricing should also reflect what you paid to get the merchandise in the first place. Your goal is to hit the middle line and not set your prices so high that you can’t meet your expenses, or too low and you can’t cover the initial cost of the product.

Step Three: Keep in line with inflation. Inflation doesn’t just affect the housing market. It plays a role in your business too. Keep your prices in check with inflation because as it rises, what you pay to make or sell a product will also rise. This may require you to raise the cost of your product once a year, but explain the rise in pricing to customers.

Step Four: Don’t forget to factor in salary. This is critical, so pay close attention! Your efforts with an at-home business need to be recognized in your salary. So price your items with this in mind. You are the one keeping the business going, right? Well, don’t forget to pay the hand that rocks the cradle.

Step Five: Low pricing won’t always bring in sales. Having your prices set too low doesn’t always mean you will attract more customers. This goes back to knowing your clientele. There are shoppers out there who pay extra money when they know they are getting an exclusive or high-quality product.

Step Six: Price low, but keep it smart. If you’re just starting out with your at-home business, having a solid, but low price can be a prudent way to get customers knocking down the door. Just bare in mind you are shooting for repeat customers and if you need to raise prices later on, you might loose clientele. So be smart if you feel you must start low and make sure you customers know the product is quality.

Step Seven: Use Discounts Cautiously. This last step is important to follow because at some point in your business you will need to hold a sale or special discount. Discounts are great to use when you’re trying to get rid of bulk items or out-dated merchandise. It is also nice to offer discounts for bulk purchases or large orders by your customers. And when sales are down, using the discount can help pick things up a bit.

Pricing might seem as intimidating as purchasing a three-thousand dollar Waterford vase, but it’s really a sheep in wolf’s clothing. You just have to know your financial status and where you want the business to go before setting a price for your goods and services. As your business grows and prospers, your pricing will move right along too.

Carrie Wilkerson is the voice of experience. From corporate life to teaching high school to direct sales, she has ‘been there and done that’ professionally and personally. An ‘overnight mom’ to 2 toddlers through adoption, her priorities instantly changed and so did her workplace. She’s now built several businesses and coached others to do the same while overcoming extreme debt, losing 110lbs and having 2 more children, for a total of 4 children, ages infant through 12! As ‘The Barefoot Executive’, Carrie and her network of experts have quickly become the definite resource for helping women achieve extra income and career goals while working from home. the-barefoot-executive.com

Starting a Small Business – Twelve Questions to Consider

by John Huegel

Here are twelve questions that you should consider when starting a new business.

1. What is your product or service idea? Are you making a product or delivering a service?  What is the need in the market that you will serve?  This is the “what”.  If you can define the specific product or service you want to deliver in a paragraph or two, it will help you to focus on the “how”.  Try not to be too general.  Instead of “Photography” consider refining it to “In-home baby, child and family photography” or some other more specific area.  You can always broaden it later.

2. What geographic area will you serve? If you intend to run a mail-order business, you may not have geographic limitations. However, if you have a product or service that is locally deliverable, such as a store, restaurant or in-home service, a pin on the map will define where your business will exist, but from what demographic areas will you draw your customers?  Will these demographics change during the week or year?  If you have a business where you travel to your customers, consider making a map to clarify your served area. Draw a shape to enclose the area where you want your primary market to be, from which you expect to get most of your business.  Make another larger one which would be areas you would consider servicing but in which you would incur higher costs or longer times to deliver your product or service.  And then define the third area, in which you may consider delivering services for a higher price or other consideration.

3. What is your competition? Do some research.  The phone book, internet, chambers of commerce and personal contacts are all good sources of information.  Try to identify each of your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses, and think of ways you can operate your business that will overcome their strengths and will take advantage of their weaknesses.

4. What skills are needed to operate this business? Think beyond the actual craft or product.  You’ll need marketing, selling, customer service, accounting and bill paying, web and computer skills and more.  beside these tasks and skills, note which things you do well and don’t do well.  Be honest, and think about a plan that will either improve your skills, or will bring into your business someone who can coach your or will do these things for you.

5. What equipment or resources do you need? Again, thinking in terms of three levels is helpful.  First level, what do you need to barely operate the business out of your home or a small space?  You may have most of all of these things now.  You don’t want to go into large debt just starting your business, so keep this level “bare bones”.  Next level, what would you need to establish a firm base for growth?  That may be better equipment, a better place, or more machinery.  You can take this list and make it your “grow as you go” list – as your sales come in, you can divert those early profits to growing your business to the second level without incurring additional debt.  Third level, think about if your business was making $1 million per year, or per month.  What would that business look like?  That distant view may help you lay a stronger foundation in the first two levels to support growth.

6. How will you enter the market space? Few businesses succeed without an initial push.  Do you have friends, relatives or local businesses upon whom you can count to give you some business and exposure?  How about a press release and grand opening celebration?  TV coverage is good, as are reviews in the paper and online.  You may want to think about some initial marketing and advertising strategies to get your word out there.  Also think about the best time of year to start, where your investment is most likely to generate sales and awareness.

7. How will you define and market your brand? Every business has a brand identity.  People will associate your brand in different ways.  Are you tailoring your product or service to a value market or upscale crowd?  Will your customers come from retail, commercial, government or industrial areas?  Naming your business and products will impact how people perceive your business.  Would you rather buy from “Joe’s Cheesecake” or “The Cheesecake Wonderland?”  Describing your lower cost offerings as “value-oriented” instead of “bargain” creates a completely different customer impression.

8. What processes to you need to define and standardize? Regardless of what you do, customers will expect you to do it the same all the time.  Consistency or the lack of it will very much impact how much repeat business you receive.  Some key processes are customer contacts (phone answering, greeting), delivering the product, cleaning or preparing your business, soliciting and accepting customer feedback, pricing and specials, just to name a few.

9. What are your compliance obligations? Do you need to collect sales tax?  If so, how much and in what areas?  How often do you need to report tax and income?  Do you have licensing and permitting to deliver your product or service?  Do you have medical or board of health compliance requirements?  Do you have to notify customers of any potential risks?  Are you required to have specific insurance coverage or law enforcement clearances? Sometimes, a conversation with a similar business owner in a non-competing market will open your eyes to compliance issues that you did not originally know.  You may also want to talk about how to structure your business: Sole proprietorship, partnership (lots of risk), Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) or other structure.  If you run a business from your home, there are tax, permitting and zoning implications.

10. What pricing and policies do you want? Pricing will of course affect your profitability.  Make sure you can clear a profit after all of your costs are covered.  As a new business, you probably don’t want to be the highest or lowest price in your served area.  Set prices too high and you may not get any business.  Price too low and you risk being ignored by all but the most value-conscious customers, and being branded as “cheap”.  Your policies will influence your customers’ experiences.  Will you refund money?  How do you handle scheduling, deposits and cancellations?  Will you accept credit cards or bill the customer?  How will you deal with past due accounts?  Will you offer discounts, and if so, to whom?  Will you have employees?  What policies do you need to define for them?

11. How will you fulfill the customers’ needs? Imagine the moment you deliver your product or service to the customer.  How will they receive it?  Will there be packaging or presentation technique that must be followed?  If you deliver a service, how will your appearance, professionalism and quality of work be observed?  Where will you obtain your supplies or services?  Can you get samples and make contacts at trade shows or other venues to develop your supply chain?

12. How will you measure your success? Sales and profitability are just two measurements of success.  How about customer satisfaction?  Will you perform formal or informal surveys?  Will it be obvious to you if your customers are happy or not?  What is their rate of referring you to their friends and associates?  If you don’t know how your business is doing from the outside, you can’t fix it from the inside.

Don’t let these questions intimidate you.  Instead, use them to build a more complete business plan, expose your weaknesses and highlight your strengths.

To continue your business journey, consider joining a chamber of commerce, industry group or web forum where other like-minded business people can offer support and feedback.  Good luck with your business!

John Huegel is a photographer in the Erie, Pennsylvania area who specializes in Seniors, Dance Studio, Families and other groups. He is active in many charitable and volunteer activities in the Erie area. His work can be seen at http://jhphotomusic.com

Entrepreneurship is Like Parenting: Nurture Your Business in Good Times and Bad

by Debra Gould

Your business was conceived the moment you had the idea that would free you from the daily grind of working for someone else. You worked hard to bring that business into the world; drafting a plan, coming up with a name, finding a designer to create your logo, a developer to get your website online, all of that is like labor. That business is your baby.

You were there throughout its infancy losing sleep, doing what you could to keep it growing, healthy and thriving. You put everything you had into it; you read everything you could get your hands on about growing your business just like a new mother devours parenting magazines and how-to books. When a business is new, it’s almost a novelty. It’s thrilling to watch something you created from nothing grow into something bigger. When you’re complimented on your brand you feel proud as a parent showing off baby pictures.

Then as your business moves from its infancy, all of a sudden the adrenaline has worn off a bit. You see how much work it is just to keep everything going. Of course you love your business, your baby, but the long nights are catching up to you, and you’ve been tending to it all by yourself; it’s taking all your energy. It’s at this stage that we are likely to lose our momentum when it comes to building our businesses.

If you’re coming out of the infancy stage of your business as we slip into an economic recession, you might be tempted to give up, more so than if the economy were good. As a parent you can’t just decide you’re bored and discard the baby, moving on to something else, so as an entrepreneur why would you just let your business fade away?

As a parent, when times are tough and you’re feeling challenged, you look for support, whether it’s from a spouse, another parent, or an online network made up of people in the same situation as you. You continue to nourish your child when money’s tight (like you must continue to invest in marketing your business) and you think about how rewarding the entire process will be in the end.

No matter what, you owe it to yourself and your business to realize its true potential. If you give up the moment you start to lose momentum, or you fear the economy will force you out of business you’ll never know what could have become of your enterprise, your dream, your baby. Like parenting, being an entrepreneur is one of the most rewarding things you’ll do in your life.

If you haven’t read The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It (which should be required reading for entrepreneurs) you should pick up a copy as soon as you can. Author, Michael Gerber spends a great deal of time forcing you to look at your business as if it were a child going through different developmental stages. He takes you through the reasons why most small businesses fail and how to prevent that outcome yourself.

Debra Gould, president of the internationally recognized home staging company Six Elements Inc. has no trouble attracting clients. An entrepreneur by the age of 30, she also created The Staging Diva® Home Staging Business Training Program with 1000+ Graduates worldwide & is the founder of the Directory of Home Stagers. To learn more visit www.stagingdiva.com.

A Business Plan- Is It Necessary?

A Business Plan – Is it necessary?
by Carrie Wilkerson

The plain truth is, business owners of any size that take the time to outline what they will offer, what they’ll need to start and what their goals are more likely to succeed.

What exactly is a business plan? It really isn’t a mystery; it is your plan for making your business a success. Not only will a good business plan help you in securing funds for starting your business, it can help you think about every aspect of your business, from who you plan to sell your services to, to what you’ll need before you even start selling your services.

You might even find yourself avoiding some common pitfalls of smaller businesses, such as not anticipating enough funds to keep you going for the first year of business or realizing that you may need assistance in an area you don’t have experience in, such as technical support or bookkeeping.

A business plan doesn’t have to be dozens of pages long, but it should include basic information about your goals in both the short and long term, your business and how you imagine you’ll run it, and what your start up costs will be. The following are a few things that should be included in your business plan.

The first thing in your business plan should be your purpose. Think about what you want to accomplish with your business and what your goals are. From there, describe your business. Here you can describe exactly what your business is, when and where it was formed, the structure of the business, who the owner is and who is operating it.

From there, you can describe your market. Who do you imagine your customers will be? Here, you can also go into better detail about what you’re offering, why there is a need for your particular service or goods, and what makes your business better or different from your competitors. From there, you can go on to explain how you intend to meet the needs of your market. How are you going to produce your services or the goods you intend to sell, and how are you going to deliver your goods or services to your customers?

If you’re not truly a one person business, include information about who your staff is and what they will do, as well your suppliers.

The next thing in your business plan should be your time table. Do you want to reach a specific goal in a certain amount of time? This is the area where you should detail what your financial goals are.

Finally, outline your financial requirements for starting your business. This is not the area to skimp — if anything, overestimate the amount of money you’ll need. Too many small businesses fail to count on enough operating money at the beginning and find that they have to close their doors all too soon. Don’t make this mistake!

Really sit down and itemize everything you’re going to need to get going, including advertising, your business license or fees for setting up the structure of your business, computer software, even keeping your utilities going in your home (if you don’t have any other income), plus the cost of operating your business for a fixed amount of time without profit.

Writing a business plan for your home based business shouldn’t be something to be afraid of. If anything, a business plan will help you focus, get all your goals and ideas on paper, and help guide you in making your business a success.

Carrie Wilkerson is the voice of experience. From corporate life to teaching high school to direct sales, she has ‘been there and done that’ professionally and personally. An ‘overnight mom’ to 2 toddlers through adoption, her priorities instantly changed and so did her workplace. She’s now built several businesses and coached others to do the same while overcoming extreme debt, losing 110lbs and having 2 more children, for a total of 4 children, ages infant through 12! As ‘The Barefoot Executive’, Carrie and her network of experts have quickly become the definite resource for helping women achieve extra income and career goals while working from home. Visit: barefoot-executive.com