An odd but frequent barrier to prosperity is the belief that we’re the “wrong type” to live an abundant life. This comes down to a whole attitude about ourselves which places us as a “misfit”.

This is quite usual among those who are on a Spiritual Path. I had this barrier at one time, and have discovered that it’s completely irrelevant.

Eccentric millionares are wonderful examples of personal uniqueness being no barrier to prosperity. There are stories of the “wildcat” oilmen earlier this century in Texas who were the ultimate nonconformists. They made a mint! Unfortunately, one can encounter on the way up those who would want you to feel minimized by your uniqueness. These are rarely the ones with any true power (although they would dearly love for you to believe that they did). Depending on my mood, I treat them with compassion for their envy or simply ignore them.

You are here to express your individuality. If you read the history of the truly wealthy, you will see that they had this in common; they believed in their vision whether others did or not. Rarely do you hear of the success story where the prosperous individual worked 9 to 5, obeyed all the rules, dressed in the “conformity uniform” and always followed the party line.

If you don’t want to be rich, but simply be “comfortable”, that can set you apart as well. Some of the non-conformists of my aquaintance are exceptionally talented in areas they have no real interest in. I’ve been told I’d be a wonderful and wealthy salesperson (yuck!). It’s vitally important that you understand yourself and your own needs, and then refuse to budge. Whatever you know that you truly want, that’s what you are supposed to have.

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Janet K. Ilacqua is a freelance writer based in Tracy, California. She specializes in academic writing and ghostwriting of books and manuals for individuals and small businesses. For more information about her services, check her website at http://www.writeupondemand.com.

jilacqua@aol.com

Thoughts are very powerful. An intention held long and hard enough will eventually manifest itself physically. A negative or positive action will stir up negative or positive thoughts long afterwards.

To have a better future, you must behave better now so that the thoughts that come to mind are more likely to be positive rather than negative. After all, the cause comes before the result, and the result is exponentially more than the cause. Thoughts to cultivate include:

? A generous state of mind

? Being sensitive to how our words and actions impact those around us, taking joy in being constructive and helpful in our actions, taking joy in the success of the people around us, pursuing deep states of concentration and meditation on a regular basis, being compassionate, keeping our promises, maintaining an awareness for the larger questions in life.

? Being aware and concerned for our physical surroundings and those of employees, feeling gratitude towards others, being dependable, respecting the property and space of others, listening to what others have to say, maintaining a sense of purpose, pursuing an understanding of how things work, maintaining a recognition of the order of things, having respect for integrity.

Thoughts to avoid include:

? Anger, jealousy, dishonesty or deception, pride, living for the recognition of others, actions or talk aimed at splitting people up, useless talk, malicious talk and gossip, holding ourselves out as someone you are not, dishonesty in the people you associate with, speaking harshly to and about others, taking pleasure in the misfortunes of others, wishing misfortune on others.

? Enjoy the money you make, by keeping your minds and bodies in good health while making this money. In this regard, the key to a healthy mind is taking regular and structured breaks from the business and our other commitments to allow the true power and potential of our minds to work for us.

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Janet K. Ilacqua is a freelance writer based in Tracy, California. She specializes in academic writing and ghostwriting of books and manuals for individuals and small businesses. For more information about her services, check her website at http://www.writeupondemand.com.

jilacqua@aol.com

Having been in business a number of years, I?m amazed at the number of people who don?t have the slightest idea of what customer service is. Customer service is not a way of doing things ? it?s an attitude.

I always love it when company?s send their people to seminars to learn about customer service. All the seminars will discuss the customer?s needs and expectations and the orator will package these ideas as new and cutting edge when in fact these very ideas were in practice over 30 years ago!

Somewhere along the line, we forgot the customer in favor of the bottom line. Some of this may also be attributed to different mind sets over time and how people tend to treat one another.

Let me wax poetic here a moment. When was the last time you could go to a gas station and have an attendant in a white shirt and tie wait on you, check your oil, clean your windows, and fill your tires just as a way of saying thanks for your patronage?

More than likely the station you went to had an attendant who?s appearance was disheveled, wearing more jewelry than you own, and here you are passing money through a bullet-proof panel!

It is said that Doctor?s make the worst patients, well my friend I?m here to tell you that Customer Service people make the worst consumers! With all the customer service people I?ve known over the years from both sides of the fence there?s a real lack of wanting to ?champion? the cause of the customer. Few people posses that trait and those that do don?t last long as they?re viewed as oddities and pushed out in favor of the group consensus.

On the other hand, I have also met customers who no matter what approach you used they were bound and determined to make your life miserable. These people make the ?fight? personal and will never be satisfied regardless of what you do.

Delivering great customer service is easy! We just need to get back to the basics that were laid down decades before ? what we?ll call the tried and true methods.

How do you deliver great customer service?

1. Smile on the phone. This simple act will set the tone for the entire conversation.
2. How may I help you? You?re asking their permission to assist them.
3. Use a proper salutation when talking to a customer unless permission is given otherwise, ie: Mrs., Mr., Ms., Sir, etc.
4. Listen to their concerns. No one likes to be ignored. Everyone wants to know that not only are they being heard but that they?re being understood as well.
5. Repeat back to the customer what it is you heard them say.
6. Be genuine. A lack of sincerity comes across easier than you think.
7. Care for your customer. If you think your customer needs you, you won?t be in business long. This means what it says ? too many times I?ve been in meetings where this was paid lip service and its importance downplayed.
8. Put yourself in your customers shoes ? What are their concerns? Are they legitimate concerns? Do you have a plan to assist them?
9. Customers are looking to you to help them put to rest any fears, doubts, or apprehension they may have regarding a recommended repair, service, etc., do you posses the knowledge or skill to assist them? Often time people will try to guess at an answer rather than appear less knowledgeable when in all actuality the customer would prefer honesty.
10. Be honest and sincere in your deliberations with a customer. This one simple act will be welcomed like a breath of fresh air. You have got to know that by the time a customer has reached you they are upset and feel that they?ve been getting the runaround or have been lied to.
11. Never promise the customer anything you can?t deliver. That goes equally for a follow up phone call. If you tell your customer you will call ? do it! Even if it?s to tell them you have nothing to report. I don?t have enough fingers to count the number of times a customer was surprised to get a return phone call.
12. Never forget what it?s like to be a customer! We are all customers in one way or another and deserve the same respect we demand from others.

By doing these things you will inspire a customer base that?s loyal and will return to you again and again. These customers will also provide the best free advertising imaginable ? word of mouth!

By the same token one bad customer recommendation can cost you a large number of potential sales by the time they?re done spreading around how they were treated. Additionally, today?s consumer has the advantage of the internet to not only entertain but to educate them as well.

This is not rocket science just basic common sense and treating people the way you would like to be treated. Somewhere along the line, we lost this concept, and along with that, revenue, repeat business, our initial customer base and free advertising.

If your customer genuinely feels wanted and appreciated, you have succeeded in delivering exceptional customer service and you will have set in motion a winning formula that will guarantee your success!

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Chas is a Home Based Business Owner, Motivational Writer, and an Independent SFI Marketing Representative and may be reached at: http://work-from-home-make-extra-income.com or brothec@msn.com

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in, forget them as soon as you can.

Tomorrow is a new day, you shall begin it well and serenely…”
–Ralph Waldo Emerson

One of the fastest ways to increase the success of your homebased business is to do a thorough house cleaning. Sounds silly? It works. By clearing out the physical clutter and debris in your working area, you will correspondingly clear out mental clutter that prevents you from manifesting abundance. In addition to this, by disposing of unneeded items that no longer serve you, we are making space that can be used for new items to replace them. The important point is that you focus on developing new and more effective ways of doing, finding new markets, and streamline your working area so as to get the maximum results from your freelancing.

Decluttering Checklist

Here are some guidelines for clearing the clutter from your life:

1. Check your computer. Delete duplicate files and files that you haven?t used in a year. If you have a mass of documents in the My Documents folder, this is time to organize them and classify them under folders. Devise a tracking system for your queries. Review your ideas and see which ones can be developed into good articles. Delete the rest.

2. How much of the contents of your desk haven’t been used in over a year? Out they go. Be ruthless. Remember, you’re holding in mind that your success is on it’s way and you need to make room for it.

3. Check your bookcases. You can extend the one-year rule a bit here, but you must be realistic with yourself. Are you actually going to make use of these items in your work? Throw away what you must, sell what you can and give the rest to charity.

4. Start bringing a higher level of order into your life. Are there people to whom you owe a letter? Have you balanced your checkbook? This is the time to either create or refine your “to do” list and make it stick. Carry it around with you and add to it as you think of new items. You will find that many of the items that you add to your list will directly affect your level of success. The reason for this is that success flows in the presence of order. Just as water is disturbed into rapids in the presence of major outcroppings of rocks, so is the flow of success disrupted by the disorder of cluttered schedules, incomplete duties and broken agreements. You may note that it is very rare that a prosperous individual allows their affairs to be chaotic.

All of this doesn’t have to happen in one weekend. In order to make it work effectively, daily progress should be happening. Choose one cabinet to clean out per day or one letter to write. Make your progress towards greater order a tangible thing that you can recognize. The results will be well worth it.

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Janet K. Ilacqua is a freelance writer based in Tracy, California. She specializes in academic writing and ghostwriting of books and manuals for individuals and small businesses. For more information about her services, check her website at http://www.writeupondemand.com.

jilacqua@aol.com

For a quick boost to your home business success, consciously generating energy can help. Employ this technique of energy generation whenever there’s a slump in your income.

This will get you back on track and manifesting your natural prosperity once again. Here are some ideas:

• Call old customers. Find out if they’re ready for the next service or product, or ask if they have a friend who’s ready for what you have to sell extra to help support them At the very least, your objective perspective can help with brainstorming, that is, coming up with fresh ideas to help your partner increase his/her income.

• Check out online forums for your specialty. To find these, do a keyword search on Goggle. You will be amazed at the amount of support and unbiased information there is out there on the web. If you can?t find a forum for your specialty, check out the home business forums. My favorite is Home Based Business Opportunities at http://www.home-based-business-opportunities.com.

• Write articles about your business and submit them to your favorite publications and websites. This will give you some publicity.

• Design and teach classes in your specialty. Community colleges and Parks and Recreation Departments are always looking for new and unique classes.

• Give away your skills or products for free to a worthy charity

• Think of other ways that you can market your talents or products. For example, maybe, you can sell your products on EBay. Maybe, if you have been marketing on a nationwide level, maybe it is time to look into marketing your services locally.

• Check out the business networking clubs in your neighborhood. This includes not only trade associations, but such organization as the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Clubs, Leads, Toastmasters, and son.

• If you are in business with someone else, think of what can you do extra to help support them? At the very least, your objective perspective can help with brainstorming, that is, coming up with fresh ideas to help your partner increase his/her income.

• A self-employed person can advertise in a favorite publication, talk to their best customer, and spend time honing their tools and skills.

• Take classes to hone your skills. Classes not only offer you the opportunity to brush up on the skills and to network with others in your field.

• Take a few days off and visit somewhere you have never been before. Oftentimes, the stimulation of visiting new places will stimulate your thinking and you will have new insights into your business.

Don’t be surprised if additional income begins to appear, but not from the sources you’ve put energy into. This is often how manifestation occurs. The point is that you’ve put your good energy into your universe and now it is circulating back to you. It simply returns through the clearest and most available channel.

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Janet K. Ilacqua is a freelance writer based in Tracy, California. She specializes in academic writing and ghostwriting of books and manuals for individuals and small businesses. For more information about her services, check her website at http://www.writeupondemand.com.

jilacqua@aol.com