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It’s worth it to do whatever you can to build a business others can become fans of.  Why?  Because fans are LOYAL.

My husband is a football fanatic.  In 11 years of marriage I think the best gift I gave him was tickets to a Steelers playoff game for his birthday.  He had to fly from Alaska to Washington, DC, drive several hours to Pennsylvania, and make quite a trek to get there.  But I’m sure he’d say it was 100% worth it.  And if the Steelers hadn’t won that game he’d still have been thrilled to be there because he’s a loyal fan.

What’s your favorite sports team? Favorite place to shop? Favorite restaurant to eat in? Favorite author or actor? What is it about those people and places that makes you love them?

Take some time to consider what it is that makes you a fan of the companies, products, services and people that you’re always raving about, and then figure out how you work that into your own business and build your fan base.

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This week I took the kids and flew to Anchorage (that’s the “big city” for us Alaskans) where we celebrated my Grandmother’s 80th birthday with her. She’s had a very long life and it was wonderful to spend some time together with so much of my extended family in one place.

Then I got the news yesterday that a wonderful lady I knew online had passed away. I’d known Denise Willms for years – she ghostwrote articles for me, helped me with press releases, and I did website design and hosting for her. She was a wonderful person, full of kindness and she always inspired me. I can hardly believe she’s gone.

It’s been one of those weeks where I realized that life is so unpredictable. We never know whether it’ll be 80 we make it to… or whether we’ll leave the world much sooner than seems fair.

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Today I want to share a fantastic video from Stanford University’s Entrepreneurship Corner that offers a great look at how to think more like an entrepreneur.  (Thank you to Shel Horowitz for sharing this video with me.)

Thinking outside the box.  Changing the rules.  Not allowing yourself to be limited to by the “means” you’ve got.  Check it out.  Then think about the problems or challenges you’re facing in your business and try to look at them from a different perspective.

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If you’re a law of attraction / positive thinking fan, you’ll like these cards I created a while back. Each card has an inspirational quote at the bottom and space on the top for you to write down your tasks to complete and then things that you need to allow/trust the universe to bring you.

Just click here to download free. No opt-in required.  The link is to a ZIP file which contains three PDF files.

If you’re not into Law of Attraction don’t panic – you don’t have to download these, and I rarely post about these sorts of topics.  I’m still analyzing a lot of stuff in my head, to be completely honest.  :)

If you’d like, you’re also invited to sign up for the mailing list (top right corner of the page) and get even more great free stuff from me including worksheets, checklists, and special reports, and then weekly business articles from me. Or connect with me on Facebook using the box on the right side of this page.

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A couple of weeks ago I was reading on Michele Scism’s blog and ran across a video with some great ideas about staying motivated. If you struggle with staying motivated, you’re not alone!

Here are some great suggestions from Adam Urbanski on how to keep yourself going when you hit those tough moments where you want to give up (or, turn off the computer and crawl behind your couch and hide…)

I pin up note cards on my bulletin board, and keep a folder on my computer that has screenshot images of nice things people say about me online or via email. It definitely helps on the challenging days. If you don’t have a “Fans Folder” or positivity file yet, you may like this post I wrote last year on how to create one to help you through those confidence crises we sometimes run into when we run our own businesses: http://michelleshaeffer.com/handling-a-confidence-crisis-with-your-own-positivity-file-2/2009/02/17

What do you do to stay motivated? Please share your tips in the comments!

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When I was in 4th grade I got my hair cut in a short bob.  By 6th grade my hair cut required the stylist using clippers it was so short on the sides and back.  So when I decided to grow out my hair, it wasn’t a one month kind of goal.

A few years later my hair was waist length.  It’s not a gigantic goal, but it is more impressive when you know that I worked as an espresso barista at a hair salon during this time period.  Every day the talented stylists would give women gorgeous haircuts.  And there I was… watching it all… wavering… LOL

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Last night I opted-in for a free report on building website credibility (it’s something I talk about on my blog so I was curious what others were saying).

I actually feel the need to wipe the slime off me after reading it. It just felt wrong to me, and relied on little “almost illegal” (their words, not mine) tricks to build credibility in the eyes of website visitors.

The perspective wasn’t how to BE credible, it was how to APPEAR credible – and I realize after reading it that those are two completely different goals.

There were a few good, honest suggestions like adding your contact info to all your pages.  But among the other suggestions:

• Add a live chat box, but add it with the knowledge that you won’t make it active or actually allow customers to contact you with it.
• Fake testimonials from gurus by making it look like they endorse you when you’ve really just used something cool they said without asking their permission.
• Buy a cheap ad in Newspaper X and then add “As Seen in Newspaper X” to your sales page.

There’s more but I’ll stop there.  Maybe those aren’t technically lies.  You might change your mind and decide to login to be on the live chat sometime (even though you have no intentions of it).  A guru might like some aspect related to what you’re promoting (but has never seen your product).  If you have an ad in the paper technically you could be seen there.

Do these tactics work?  I’ve never tried them.  Clients probably won’t realize what you’ve done to sway them to purchase.  But do you want to make sales at the expense of your ethics and honesty?
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“Everything you want is just outside your comfort zone.” ~Robert Allen

The comfort zone is a behavioural state within which a person operates in an anxiety-neutral condition, using a limited set of behaviours to deliver a steady level of performance, usually without a sense of risk.
- Alasdair A. K. White “From Comfort Zone to Performance Management”

Is your comfort zone keeping you from going after an opportunity, helping more people with your products/services or finding success in a bigger way?

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This is a special guest article reprinted with permission by Sue Painter of Confident Marketer.  I came across it in her ezine and thought the five points she offered were fantastic for anyone trying to transition from working a job to creating their own home business.

I promised to answer some of the questions you gave me when you took my survey a few months ago, remember?  One question that several people asked was how they could build their own business when they were already working a full time job.  From the questions, I can tell there is a good bit of frustration, exhaustion, and worry going on about this topic.  So I decided to pull together some ways to build a business even if you are working.
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The lines between work and play can be blurred if you’re running a business you love.  I often loose track of time when I’m writing or designing.  But no matter how much you love it you need to get time away to recharge your batteries.  If you don’t take time out for yourself and your personal life, your health and relationships will suffer.  You’ll also find yourself exhausted and prone to making mistakes you wouldn’t otherwise make.

It can be challenging though to take time away from the office when the office is at home.  And it can be tough to slow down and relax.  Start small with a commitment to disconnect from your business for an hour or two each evening.  Then add one day off.  Just one.  If you’re concerned about staying in contact with customers or clients have a virtual assistant check email for you or setup an auto-response on your email account.  Step away from the computer, the blackberry, the iPhone, the sewing machine, those paints, the camera or whatever it is that you get paid to do.  And you may not count mopping your floors or cleaning out a closet as relaxation unless it’s really something that does relax you.  Be honest with yourself.

Here are some ideas of things you can do either to pamper yourself or reconnect with the people around you and recharge yourself:
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