The WAHM Weekly

One WAHMs Word

5th April 2012.

Top 5 Mistakes WAHMs Make and How You Can Overcome Them

‘They’ say that we are better off learning from other peoples mistakes so that we can avoid them ourselves.  ’They’ also say that if we keep making the same mistake, then we haven’t learnt the lesson we are meant to.

Whatever!

I say that as long as we are taking action and moving forward, there are no mistakes, just creation.  All creation is good.  Sure, some creations are more successful than others.  Improvement is the key!

Anyway, here are 5 things that we can take action on today, which will improve our current circumstances.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.  Failing to Plan.

Again, ‘They’ say, If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.  Write what you want to do on paper, look at it.  Every day.  Make adjustments.  Utilize it.  Interact with it.

You will gain no benefit from having a beautifully edited, 100 page business plan and have it shoved in your drawer.

I prefer mine on a whiteboard.  A BIG ONE.

Divide it into 3 areas:

Yearly Goals.

Monthly Action Steps.

Weekly Action Steps.

There, business plan is done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.  Pricing.

You are in business.

Identify your market, very specifically.

Create your product to serve that market.

Price accordingly.  Remember, they purpose of a business is to fill a gap in a market for PROFIT.

 

3.  Doing Too Much Yourself.

Identify what you are good at and love doing.  Do that.

For the things that you are not good at, or hate doing, you are going to pay.  Either with time or money.  Decide which way you are going to pay.  If you do the sums, paying with money is much more cost effective than your time (and energy!)

 

4.  Time Management.

Yes, being a WAHM is busy.  Therefor it is even more important to sort out your time management.  Set a schedule and stick to it as best you can.  Here is an example of what I do:

4 – 6am:  Get 2 hours of work done.

6 – 11:  Mummy time.

11 – 1:  Get 2 hours of work done.

1 – 7:  Mummy time.

7 – 8.30pm:  Get 1.5 hours of work done.

Of course this doesn’t happen every day.  But having my business plan done on a whiteboard and a set amount of work hours allocated to my business stops the WAHM Guilt.  I know my work is going to get done during those times and I am free to be the best Mummy I can during the rest of the day.  It works for me.

 

5.  Turning Your Hobby Into A Business.

Most people dream of turning their passion into an income producing business.  The trouble is though, when you ‘do’ your passion for a living, it is not so much fun anymore.  Make sure you find something new to be passionate about, for fun!  If you do that, your whole world is a lot more enjoyable.

Any other tips you would like to share here?

 

26th March 2012.

I went to a fantastic event on the weekend.  You know the ones that you take HEAPS of notes at, come home, read them over and think, where on earth do I start?

My vision has always been one of my greatest  strengths.  It has made me headstrong, and some say intense (I prefer focused  but it has always served me well.

One of the key points of the event that I attended, was that YOU are a brand.  YOU are also the person behind the brand that you are engineering in your business.  Just as YOU have a system of values that you stick to in your life, a system of values needs to be established in your business.

These values dictate EVERYTHING in your business.  How you treat your customers.  How you treat your staff.  Your reason WHY you are running your business.  EVERYTHING.

Most coaches will tell you that you need to be clear about your target market.  BEFORE you do this, be clear about your businesses values.

I would love to hear YOUR businesses VALUES and what it stands for.  Feel free to share on our Facebook page.

To be fair, here is what The WAHM Weekly stands for:

The WAHM Weekly has been created for those Work At Home Mums who know how important Networking, Education and Accountability are to the success of their business.

Due to the choice of being a WAHM they find it difficult to attend traditional events to participate in those activities.

They are not at the stage of business, yet, to make the commitment to a business coach.

And so, The WAHM Weekly is commited to providing Networking opportunities via our Live Web Events and participation on our Facebook page.

The WAHM Weekly is commited to delivering topics and guest speakers to help educate WAHMs to build a successful business.

The WAHM Weekly is commited to providing an accountability programme that encourages WAHMs to keep themselves accountable in a supportive environment.

WAHMs are our business, we are one of them, we love them and are here to serve.

 

 

4th January 2012.

WOW, that is the first time I have written 2012. It feels good, I much prefer even numbers than odd, but I am a bit wacky!

I have been thinking a lot about the use of Facebook in the growing of our businesses. This morning I had a huge realisation. Now, this may seem obvious to all of you, but it has only just been made clear to me. Here it is, think of Facebook like you are hosting an ongoing ‘real’ networking event.

At a ‘real’ networking event you would:
*welcome people as they arrive
*make it clear the intention of the event
*be professional
*instigate meaningful conversation
*be INTERESTED IN THEIR BUSINESS, not just collecting cards
*share content that will be of interest to the audience
*be open to feedback

If we apply all of these points to our Facebook pages, yes our numbers will grow, but so will the income and reputation of our businesses. So here are some ideas which I will be implementing to my Facebook experience:
*rather than ‘liking’ a page and dropping YOUR details on the wall, try interact with the page on something you have in common, or some feedback.
*remember, your not ‘interesting’ untill your ‘interested’
*have a reason WHY they should like their page, and not just because you reciprocated
*beware the balance of putting YOU in the page, too much = self indulgent, too little = too corporate
*people buy from people they like, so be your true self and people will like you

What do you think? Leave a comment on www.facebook.com/thewahmweekly