I was sitting with my daughter watching her shows, because she was home from school. We had a snowstorm and it had been snowing for most of the morning.There were about 7 inches on the ground already.

I was new at this but I found I was still learning, the learning process had more than one focus, my home candle business. There are many aspects to learning...I have to learn how to be a parent to my 7 year old who thinks she is a teenager....I was just getting used to the 6 year old she was.I can't imagine what my life will be like when she is a teenager as it seems hard now.
I am learning how to deal with being disabled and not being able to work as a nurse any longer. That was all I knew..I worked in Obstetrics and NICU...I really loved my career. You never really plan for "what if?"....
something should happen and you can no longer work.....
you have no income and use all of your life savings to pay bills.....
you have to care for not only yourself but a young child who doesn't understand life yet.....
care for your child who has her own set of medical problems.....
and you need to do it all alone because your husband wants a separtation because he wasn't prepared for the "For worse" part of the marriage vows......
So, I had to learn how to.....
care for my daughter and her medical problems, which I think I have managed to come to terms with. I have now accepted that I will always be a nurse, I won't lose that knowledge I have, but I needed to find new ways to help people.I have to find new ways to make an income, because my daughter means everything to me, and She deserves a good life!

I have met some wonderful people along my journey. They have helped me to learn what I needed to survive. They have become the inspiration and source of knowledge I searched for. I had to become independent.

I did a lot of online research and found a way to work from home and MLM. I have met some wonderful people along my journey. They have helped me to learn what I needed to survive. They have become the inspiration and source of knowledge I searched for. I had to become independent.

A good friend got me started in online marketing by becoming my business partner.I found the Gourmet Candle Home Business and it feels like the perfect fit and what I needed to accomplish all of my goals.

So, about the business....

As my investigation continued, I needed to accomplish my goals. I suffered from "Information Overload".I was overwhelmed. I had been a nurse for twenty years. This was new to me. I didn't know how to navigate the computer and the Internet. I stayed up late at night and searched for everything I could find. I tried to absorb everything I found.I wore out my printer in a week.

I learned to develop my website,advertise and market myself(because my product speaks for itself. But no one knew me, so I learned about blogging and created a blog!
I am happy to say,I am now more knowledgeable about life,my daughter's medical problems and my own disability and struggle in life. I know how to support us. I am more knowledgeable about my Home Candle Business. I can,finally,raise my strong willed 7 year old to become a mature Young woman with confidence.

Don't get me wrong, there is so much more learning to do.I now have a purpose and goals to guide my success as I journey through this life.And as for Hannah, she still remains oblivious to it all.

Starting a Home Business is hard work and requires dedication and commitment on your part. You must be willing to invest time and energy to that business in order to become a success.

Being fairly new to the network marketing business, I started by reading anything I could find out there on the Internet. That process has led me to a wealth of information.

Here are some things that I found to be important as you build your business:

1. Building your business is not only selling the products:
The first and most important fact is that you need to sell yourself first. People need to see you as someone who is committed, knowledgeable and trustworthy. You need to convey your professional side to them. Let me ask you, would you want to buy from a complete stranger?
I would be wary if a stranger came up to me and said he had the next best thing and I would be a fool not to buy. I need to know more before I take that leap. The more people know about you, the more they are willing to listen to what you have to say and they can trust that you know what you are talking about.

2.Building a Business DOES require Work:
There are people out there that are selling get rich schemes, telling you that they can help you build a down line for you with no effort on your part.
The truth is, starting and maintaining your business does require work on your part. No one can build your business for you.Your sponsor and up-line are there for advice and they can provide a knowledge base, because they were in your shoes at one time in their careers.They know the best way to get business off the ground, but you are ultimately responsible for your business.
Another thing, most people are under the assumption that when they start a business they will have a lot of free time. That really is not the case. It is a well known fact that 95% of marketing businesses fail in their first 3 years.Why develop a business to begin with? Well, honestly,it is a long term process. You need to be willing to devote time, and be willing to stick it out for the long haul. You won't begin to see dramatic results until about 3 years into your new venture. You will notice progress along the way, but it doesn't happen overnight, or as the old saying goes "Rome wasn't built in a Day."
You need to devote at least 8-10 hours a week to getting the business started, promotion and advertising, building and maintaining a website and so on. You will also need to devote another 5 to 10 hours or more weekly into educating yourself through books,articles,blogs,and newsletters from experts in the business on MLM,marketing,and networking. Remember to get out and sell yourself by joining networking groups and business forums.
3. Advertising YOUR Business is not the Best way to Promote Your Business:
Remember how we talked about the need for people to get to know you first? You need to market yourself by networking. Join business and networking groups and forums, post advice and questions in forums, create an on-line presence. Make sure your are a frequent visitor to those places because just making one post will not help you in the long run. Create and publish articles and newsletters on topics that you have knowledge about. Be willing to help others by sharing your knowledge.

4.Communication and relationships are what builds your business:
You need to be willing to interact with people. You want to show people you know what you are talking about by creating newsletters, articles, and blogs. Get them published on-line and well as off line. This will also give you a sense of accomplishment that you are working to make yourself a success.

There is much more to learn in order to get your business started but if you are serious about wanting success, set goals for yourself on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis. Devote time to achieving those goals. Get your name out there, educate yourself and others, and finally market yourself and then your business.This is a start, but if you work at it you will find success in network marketing and will get customers coming to you,not only for your product but for advice and assistance in achieving success of their own. This sounds like a win-win situation.

I was listening to the religious channel and the preacher was talking about God. She basically said "What you see by faith, God will give it to you." I am a Catholic and I believe in God. I have faith, and believe that God will help me overcome many obstacles, but there are a lot of people that are not of the same faith as I.

As I sat there and watched the one hour show, I started to think about the power in positive thinking. It works in the same way as faith and beliefs.If you have faith in yourself, and believe you can do something, you will be successful.

Let's take me for example. I am a registered nurse who had worked in obstetrics and NICU for about 20 years. I got injured on the job and had multiple surgeries. I experienced complications and subsequently became disabled. I could no longer work as an RN, in essence I can't even work outside the home. Sure I went through a time of feeling depressed because I couldn't do what I loved anymore, and I didn't know what was out there for me to do. I was a nurse. Nursing was my life, my career. I didn't let my situation stop me. I wanted to make something of myself despite what life had dealt me. I wanted success. I just had to find it.I did a lot of research on the Internet and found out that I wanted to start a home business. As I sat there and listened to what was involved in getting started in a home candle business , I thought at first, how am I going to accomplish this? I have no knowledge of business or the Internet. I told family and friends, and they were skeptical. They told me "What are you thinking?" My husband said "Are you in your right mind?" Well, I needed to prove them wrong. In essence, this gave me the drive and push I needed.

Well, back to the topic, Positive Thinking. You need to have it to be successful in life. You have to work with it, meaning you can't sit there and wait for success to come to you. You have to take responsibility for yourself and work on your success. No one is going to do it for you.It is so powerful, that if you believe and remain positive, along with hard work, you can accomplish anything.

You are going to remain where you are in life if all you think about is what you now have or don't have. Dread and fear are two things that bring about failure. Bad attitude and the wrong mindset can also lead to failure. You can help yourself to change and have a better life if you change your mindset and attitude. You can change what you have or don't have by setting goals. Tell yourself "I can do something about my life." "I can change my situation." Ask yourself these questions:

1.What do I want to accomplish in life?

2.What can I do to accomplish this?

3.What do I want to do when(not if) I become successful?

4.What are my goals? What do I want to accomplish in one week? A month? A Year from now?

You need to sit and make a plan. Set it up with daily, weekly, and monthly goals. Break down the activities you need to do this by daily, weekly and monthly. Re-evaluate your goals and plan weekly and monthly and change it as needed. For example, my goal was to learn as much as I could about the home business I started and the Internet. I set aside 6-8 hours everyday to research books and articles on topics related to marketing because my goal is to have a successful on line business and to promote that business to others who want the same success. So in order to achieve this I had to learn how to market on the web, promote myself, and lastly my business. I listed to what the directors and executives in the business had to say. I approached people and talked to them about what I was promoting. I even wrote articles and posted in my blog about what I was able to accomplish.

Here are a few things to do to promote positive thinking, attitude and success:

1. Make a dream board. This can be a piece of poster board with pictures of objects that stand for each of your goals. Put this in a place where you will see it everyday. It gives you that push you need to keep your positive attitude.

2. Look at yourself in the mirror every morning and say "I am a success." Keep that positive attitude all day as are out and about because positive thinking makes you more approachable to others.

3. Make yourself do something that scares you. Take yourself out of that comfort zone. For me, this was talking to people about my business on the phone. I set my plan to talk to 2 new people each day, and I overcame my fear.

4. Write in a blog or journal daily or when you accomplish something that makes you feel good. This gives you positive reinforcement that you are a success and you can do anything you put your mind to. Go back once a week and read you postings. It will give you a sense of accomplishment which will boost your positive attitude.

5. Write and publish articles. Get out of your comfort zone. Let others know you are successfully showing them what you learned as you worked to achieve your success.

6. Be persistent. You need to keep going even if you might have setbacks along the way. Be consistent with your goals and plan of action. You will be able to see progress, even in small ways.

If you want success, you have to have the right mindset and a positive attitude. You have to overcome your fears. You can't passively sit and wait for success to come to you. You need to be energetic and active in finding what is needed for your success. If you are passionate and have drive, positive thinking will make your success a reality.

According to Wikipedia," Marketing is "a societal process that is needed to discern consumers' wants; focusing on a product/service to those wants, and to mold the consumers toward the products/services. Marketing is fundamental to any businesses growth. The marketing teams (Marketers) have the task to create the consumer awareness of the products/services through marketing techniques; unless it pays due attention to its products/services and consumers' demographics and desires, a business will not usually prosper long-term."

Marketing is a creative process. It requires using creativity to advertise the products and services that your business offers. You are also concerned with anticipating a customer's future needs and wants. You also need to create or reorganize a business to be successful in selling the products/services to the consumer.

So, How are we to do this?

1.Set up our business/Formulate a business plan

2.Develop a website

3.Advertise the business

4.Market the products

5.Seek advice from others in the industry

6.Get customer feedback

Setting up your business:

The first thing you need to do is determine what business you want to get involved with. Do a research on the Internet and look at all the home business opportunities available out there. Look at what each company has to offer YOU for becoming an independent distributor. This is what is referred to as the "compensation plan".

You could base your decision on that alone, but it may end up being a product that you are not really interested in. In essence, what then happens is you don't have the desire to give 110% to something you do not truly believe in. Which brings me to the next step.

You need to find out what truly motivates you. In my situation, The candle business was the perfect fit for me. The compensation plan and the company's mission statement was what enticed me, not to mention my true love of burning scented candles.
Look at what the company stands for. Do they have ideals and beliefs similar to yours? Are they health conscious? Do they offer incentives for business partners to climb in the business? Do they offer training and support? Is this a product or service that the consumer will want or need?

Next decide how much money you are willing to invest to get started and sign up with the company of your choice and choose a starting package.

So, now that you chose the product/service you will base your business on, you need to decide how you want to build the business. Do you want to concentrate solely on the retail aspect or are your looking to truly build a successful business by building a successful team?

First you will need to set up a website. You can decide to build it your self or have someone design it for you. If you are going to use a web designer, it will cost you more in the long run. If you want to start a business without starting with a loss, you need to set a budget. It is possible to get it started on limited funds. That is where creativity comes in.

By putting time and thought into creating your Home Business you will be well on your way to being successful and achieving your dreams and goals.

Reference:
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing