Pamela Stewart of Escape from Cubicle Nation blog writes 10 Reasons NOT to go into Business for Yourself, well worth the read. Here’s the last 3 reasons:

Although I spend most of my time evangelizing about the benefits of entrepreneurship, I do want to throw a little reality out there for those who may look at it only through rose-colored glasses.  Here are ten reasons why you may NOT want to start your own business:

#10:  You can’t blame your lame boss for your problems.  As much as you might have complained about your boss or "Management" in your corporate job, you might find yourself missing the person who takes the heat for big decisions.  Whichever success or failure your company experiences is squarely on your shoulders.

#9:  YOU are all the departments in your business.  You must take care of product development, sales, marketing, accounting, customer service, IT, legal, procurement and shipping.  Most of us do not have strengths in all these areas, so you must quickly learn what is necessary to stay within the law and in business.

#8:  No free office supplies.  Did you really ever think about how much a paper clip or manila folder costs?  How about a desk, no-glare monitor or printer toner?  All of a sudden you will become aware of all the "hidden" expenses when you have to do it all yourself.  And no, I don’t suggest sneaking out the back door of your corporate job with a big box of supplies.  Bad karma! (I will sheepishly admit to taking a pad or two of post-it notes in my time, and I am sure I paid for it somehow)

Whenever you write an email, an article, or a web page, Milana Leshinsky of ACCPOW suggests you use it at least three times in various ways. This makes sense; why waste your valuable time and energy when an email can be turned into an article, or a FAQ’s page, or form the basis of many other uses. Here’s is what she shares in her valuable newsletter:

ACCPOW – Coaching Business FastTrack
www.accpow.com

How to Leverage Your Intellectual Property for Maximum Profits

I don’t know about you, but I would like to "squeeze" as much potential (read "profits") out of every minute I work as possible.

If I create something once, I better use it in at least three different ways, or I consider it a waste of time.

A good friend of mine said to me a while ago:

"If it only has one use, don’t do it!"

What does this mean?

It might mean different things to different people, but here is what it means to me:

1. Save all emails you send to clients and turn them into articles.

2. Collect all posts you make on message boards and discussion lists and convert them into a Frequently Asked Questions page.

3. Gather all your articles, organize them by category and create a private membership site.

4. Record your teleclassess and add all of the recordings to your membership site.

5. Turn all your articles into PDF files, burn them onto a CD and sell it as a collection of "special reports." You can also offer it as a bonus to any other product, service, or event you sell.

6. Create case studies based on your coaching sessions,  then add them to your web site for content or as a special report for generating leads

7. Design your programs (seminars, coaching, training, etc.) in modules. This way you can repackage them or sell each module individually in the future.

8. Videotape your live events and offer them as products or bonuses.

9. Create an outline of your new information product (book or e-book). When you write your newsletter, focus each issue on a section or a chapter. By the end of 3 to 6 months, you might have your entire product completed.

10. License your materials (workshops, tools, assessments, coaching programs, systems, etc.) to other coaches and trainers to spread your brand while generating literally unlimited revenue

Here is a recommended resource: http://www.LicensingRevenueSecrets.com

Every minute you spend writing, speaking or coaching, will pay you twenty times over.

How’s THAT for leverage!
Milana Leshinsky
ACCPOW Founder & CEO
ACCPOW Coaching Tele-Summit 2006
AssessmentGenerator.com

P.S. To subscribe to Milana’s worthy newsletter, go here: www.CoachingBusinessWeekly.com

I’ve just posted a brief survey about what people need as far as a newsletter or other marketing strategies.

You are all invited to take this assessment; it will clarify your newsletter challenges, and give me an idea of what people struggle with.

Here’s where to go: http://www.customizednewsletters.com/AssessmentGenerator.html.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Okay, I’m going to let you in on two of my secrets to running a business while away on vacation.

1. Have an ecommerce system set up to run your marketing and sales on auto-pilot
2. Have a great partner who can back you up

Over two years ago, I hired Denise Wakeman to set up my marketing and online sales system with 1ShoppingCart.com. This company is one of the best around. You can’t beat them for pricing, efficiency, customer support, and ease of use. All the same, with my techno-lame brain, I got Denise to train me how to use it properly. I don’t have patience with reading tutorials or instruction manuals.

Using the 1ShoppingCart system, I am able to send out email messages and newsletters while vacationing down in Mexico.

Denise and I discovered blogging a year ago, and saw immediately the power of blogs for independent professionals who want to get known, and get clients by leveraging the Internet. Blogs can be posted on from anywhere in the world.

So we partnered up and formed the Blog Squad, helping professionals to set up and optimize their blogs for building business.

This month we have targeted Annie Dennison’s Smart at Love blog, and are giving her a blog makeoever.

It just makes sense to have automated systems in place so that even if you are working as a solo entreprenuer or professional, you can take a break. Having a great partner also helps (thanks, Denise!).

What are you doing to automate your marketing and sales? Are you able to sell info products over the Web while on vacation or busy consulting elsewhere? Need some help on setting up and learning to use an ecommerce system? Send me an email, we can help.

I hate my email inbox when it gets crowded. By Friday, the unopened newsletters and biz related info emails start to bug me. Here’s a good article on how to manage your online reading tasks, from Soni Pitts, www.sonipitts.com.

I especially like her tip #3: scan the message, cram the relevant points you need, and scram or delete all the superflous info.

If you’re like me you’re lucky to be able to work from home, thanks to technology. Yet you’ve probably experienced the dance we call "shaving the yak!" That’s when everything else at home looks more inviting that sitting down and doing your work.

Seth Godin used it in a blog post long ago. First you decide to clean up your desk, then before you know it you’re down at the zoo shaving yaks!

Well, we may have some answers to the home-based business blues. Listen in Wed. July 27, at 8:30 p.m. ET to our teleseries Conversations with Experts. Our friend and fellow blogger Des Walsh of Thinking Home Business blog is our featured guest. It’s free, but you do have to register to get the call in number.

Here’s what Des will share:

Are You Running a Business, or Running Around?
Wednesday, July 27, 2005, 8:30 p.m. ET – FREE
Guest Expert: Des Walsh of Thinking Home Business and featured in the Build a Better Blog System

Home based business will in the not too distant future be the preferred model for providing the income to achieve an abundant, fully self-actualised life. For many of us it is already just that or fast becoming so. However, a lot of people who work from home do not feel the sort of pride and exuberance you might expect if home based business is that great a model.

A real business owner thinks strategically, not just responding to crises, and is hungry for profit (some home based ‘business owners’ find this a shocking phrase). A real business owner understands that consistency and service will be rewarded. (I am not talking about people whose ‘home business’ is actually just a hobby and they’re happy with that.)

Des Walsh is a business coach and blogging evangelist. A former senior executive in the Australian government service and a home based consultant and training adviser for business and government since 1988, Des helps business owners and entrepreneurs excel in playing the ‘inner game’ on their path to success.

In his popular blog – Thinking Home Business – Des shares experience and practical tips for the thinking home business owner. He is writing a guide for first time business bloggers. Home is Australia’s Gold Coast.

Register:  www.ConversationsWithExperts.com

Conversations with Experts: How to Build Your Business On and Off-line
Hosted by Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff.

Conversations with Experts is sponsored by Build a Better Blog System.

I agree with some bloggers there’s not enough validation and encouragement for being lazy and non-productive. Yes, I really believe in the power of doing nothing. And I’m as ambitious and as much of an over-achiever as anyone.

Here’s how it works: It is really an art to get results with the minimum amount of exertion. Fred Grantzon declares his mission:

The Lazy Way to Success
Hard work is passé. The paradigm-shifting concept is "Smart Laziness" – where success comes through cleverly avoiding work but still getting the job done. In this oasis, we celebrate those magical ways where doing less accomplishes more.

Another favorite blog is The Slacker Manager, which explains itself as "paving the path of least resistance, so you don’t trip and fall."

The great gift of taking a few hours off (for example to watch Wimbledon on TV), is that it refreshes your mind. You come back to your computer completely detached. Urgent emails do not disturb you. You can look your tasks in the eye without fear.

Suddenly you are filled with a desire to focus in on that which really counts.

Well, sometimes at least. I’ll admit there are times when I get way too detached and can’t focus on work at all! That happens when the break is too long, too enjoyable, and whenever I am having so much fun that all ambition hits the trash can.

I found this great blog on the To-Done site that gives some really good tips on how to get refocused and back to work after taking time off.

Please be sure to read these tips, especially if you are taking some time off, you know for 4th of July, or summer vacations.

Here’s to having fun! What are you doing to enjoy yourself (while squeezing in some work)?

P.S. I’m off to play some tennis and may take a book out to the pool afterwards.  I’d go on vacation somewhere wonderful, but since I live here in Del Mar, why travel?