17 years ago today, my husband and I started our first home based business.
No, we weren’t selling soap or laundry detergent. Not vitamins, or skin care products or diet supplements, either.
In fact, we weren’t selling anything. We were starting a family. And on this day 17 years ago, the first of our children made her grand entrance into the world.
Johannah Elizabeth clocked in at a full seven pounds, 10 ounces, with 10 fingers and toes, a swath of jet-black hair on the crown of her head, and the rest of her girlie-pink perfection. Her first day, and all through the night, she mewed like a little kitten, as if recalling for me the trauma of being born, of leaving the comfort of her home for something big and bright and unfamiliar.
Yes, baby, I told her, nuzzling my nose into the softest place on earth, that spot between her ear and her neck. I know. I was there.
We weren’t planning on this little one. Not so soon, anyway. When J and I first got married, our idea was that we’d wait five years to start a family. To be a couple, and travel, and… just be us for a little while, relatively responsibility free.
Six months after we said, “I do,” I found out I was pregnant. And life changed for us, forever and for good.
I’ve learned a lot from our daughters. About being patient. About living a life of service. About staying in the moment, and appreciating life as it unfolds, even if that unfoldment didn’t happen on my schedule.
Especially if it didn’t happen on my schedule.
And what I’ve learned from being a mom, I can now apply to running a home based business. And I’ve picked up a few network marketing tips along the way, too.
If you’re a parent, you know what I mean when I say that sometimes, things don’t move at the pace you’d like them to. The same is true for your home based business.
Leads don’t always come as quickly as you’d like them to. Your downline doesn’t grow as fast as you hoped it would. And in the beginning, the commission checks aren’t as fat as they could be.
But you know something? Raising children has taught me that life moves at its own pace. And that it’s my job to do what I can, and then get out of the way.
If you’re just starting out in your home based business, or have been at it for a little while but are still not seeing the kinds of results you want, the following network marketing tips can help you to get your over the hump:
Network Marketing Tips – #1: Know Your Outcome
As with anything in life, getting there from here means you must first know where you’re going. Get really clear on what it is you want to accomplish in your business. Is it a lifestyle? A certain level of income? Do you want to fund your kids’ college tuition, or retire within the next few years? Write it down, and post it someplace where you can see it every day. Keeping your outcome top of mind will help pull you through when the going gets rough.
Network Marketing Tips – #2: Remove Distractions
Remove all distractions. As tempting as it is, working from home does not mean plopping yourself down on the couch in front of the television with your laptop. Treat your business like a business. Keep office hours (whatever that means for you). Suit up and show up, and make sure that everything you do during that time is in service to your company.
Network Marketing Tips – #3: Make a Commitment
Growing a successful network marketing company is probably going to take longer than you think it will, but that’s okay. Recommit to yourself, your family, and your business every day, and then get to work. Don’t worry about the outcomes. As Deepak Chopra says, “Focus on the process and the results are guaranteed.”
And above all, be patient. With yourself, with your business, with your team, with your world. Remember that life unfolds at its own pace, in its own time. Do your part, follow the network marketing tips outlined above, and then get out of the way.
In time, your hard work, patience, and persistence will pay off.
Happy Birthday, Baby Girl. Thank you for being a part of our wonderful world.