Where are all the good people? I often get asked this question when new people first join me in a home based business opportunity. You see, we have been conditioned to follow the pack and do what everyone else is doing, even if its the wrong strategy. I see many leaders preach about duplication and follow along on how they made their fortune in network marketing. The problem with that strategy, is what worked well for them, may in fact not work well for you.In today’s article, I will outline 3 areas of where you can go to find and locate good quality people. Many people are probably familiar with the first two areas, but not necessarily realize the advantages of organic search results, especially if you are just starting out.1. Warm Market – Is this still a good way to build?We have all heard the stories about making a list of 25 or 50 people that you know, get some training and start calling them to build your home based business opportunity quickly. Hey, I am the first to suggest doing this only if you feel comfortable doing so. That may be a contradiction to the super star network marketers advice, but here me out.Let me repeat, call your warm market (circle of influence) if you are OK doing so. If you are not, then you will need to explore other effective ways to build your home based business. The fact is, you will likely utilize a variety of methods to build your business opportunity anyways. I am just tired of the 1 approach fits all mentality to this business. I am still in the trenches day in and day out. Over the years, I have found that I no longer want to approach too many of my friends. Its a personal choice, but one you should consider as you build a business.2. Social Networking Sites – Are they effective?Several years ago, I reached out and started working the social networking sites. I really knew little about the process and wanted to make sure before I tried building my home based business opportunity by this method, that I understood the rules and how to maximize my time. What I learned over time, you should never try and sell something to someone in social networking sites. It is far better to get to know people, make friends and in time, people will ask you what you do.I have seen too many people try and come in, make up a MySpace, Twitter or Facebook page only to fail. The problem is there approach. Their home page is a like an advertising billboard. Most people ignore them because they have become conditioned seeing them all the time. If you want to stand out, build a nice profile, without all the in your face approach and reach out daily to make friends. In the course of a year, you could have several hundred close contacts and some may even join you in your business.3. Organic Search Results – What is this all about?In the past couple of years, I had a desire to finally start learning about driving traffic to my websites via organic search results. The problem was I didn’t know, what I didn’t know. So after searching around, I found some good people to educate me on the fine art and science of SEO. You see, I believe this is by far the best strategy overall for my situation. But there are some really good reasons for it.During the past 10 years, I have been involved in a few home based business opportunities. I really never made a lot of money, but I certainly learned a tone of skill sets by some great mentors. The problem was after I made a decision to leave, I had to start over. Well, I’m tired of starting over each time and decided that if I went with another company, I would build my home based business much differently this time.I wanted to only build by organic search results. You see, what happens in 2 years down the road if the company I am currently involved in goes bankrupt, they change the compensation plan or I simply decide this is not a good fit for me. Well, what do I do if I build the traditional ways. You got it, I am left to start over yet again.So this time, via search engine optimization (SEO), I have decided that no matter what happens with Company A in the future, by having my websites at the top of the search engines, I will always be able to make money in a home based business. If Company A goes under, all I need to do is look for another company that I like, change the links on my websites and within a short period of time, I am back in business because of traffic coming to my website.Each of us has to decide what methods we should use to build our particular home business. For many people, they enjoy the one on one interactions, doing home parties and building by traditional methods. Hey, that’s OK with me too. Many people are choosing to go online and look for ways to make money. You need to take some time, educate yourself and understand there are pros and cons for each method. No matter which method you choose, understand it will likely take 2 to 4 years before you make any serious money. None of the methods are instant wealth creation methods, but rather long term viable options.Make it a great day,Darrell Lischka

Are you interested in starting a home based business?

Starting your own home based business is a smart thing to do because it will enable you to earn income either part time or full time from home, take control of your financial future, give you more time with your family, ease the stress burden in your life and so much more.

But where do you start? How do you find a home based business that is right for you?

There are lots of work at home scams online today that will leave you broke before you can even ask “what happened?” This article will help you to find the right home based business by simplifying the search process.

Step 1 – Ask yourself the following questions
A. What are your hobbies?
B. What are your personal interests? Or what do you enjoy doing?
C. What are you passionate about?
D. What do you enjoy doing for family and friends?
E. If you could have a dream job what would you be doing now for a career?

Step 2 – Take an honest look at your answers to the questions from step one and search for a home based business that deals with something that you enjoy doing, are passionate about and could eventually see yourself doing as a full time career.

Step 3 – Once you find a home based business that excites you the next step is to do more research about the company. In doing your research I would use Google, work at home forums or blogs and last but not least the Better Business Bureau because the BBB will give you a report of that companies activities and let you know if the company has a good or bad reputation.

Step 4 – Make contact with a distributor or sales representative for that company. Once you make contact see if there is a pre-recorded presentation you can listen to, Webinar you can watch online or in person sales presentation you can attend. Don’t neglect this step because the more information you have about the company the better!

Step 5 – Before you join ask your recruiter or upline the following questions.
A. How long have you been with the company? If they have only been with the company for less than 6 months watch out because those people are only opportunity hoppers and have no long term success in the industry.
B. How much money have they made in the company? Can they provide documentation of their income? If they can’t or won’t provide income documentation watch out for people like this because they may be lying to you.
C. What type of training and support will they provide? Any company that you sign up with should provide you with the knowledge and support to get going because without adequate training you’re going to be left hanging.

Step 6 – Stay committed to your home based business. This is one of the most important elements that people lack when they join a home based business because the average person that gets involved in a work at home opportunity buys into the false claims on money they can make with very little work and when the business opportunity does not deliver on those claims they give up within 30 days or less and begin to seek another home based business opportunity. For true success in your home based business I recommend that you stay committed to it for a minimum of 90 to 120 days because this is a good bench mark to reach before you ask yourself if the business is going to work out or not.

Step 7 – Stay motivated! Another important thing that the average person lacks in starting their home based business is the motivation to stick with it. Here’s how you can stay motivated.

A. Find a mentor. This person should be someone who has achieved what you hope to achieve in your life. You want to find someone who has the answers to your questions and can provide you with the motivation and encouragement to keep going when you feel like quitting.
B. Hang out with positive people.
C. Start reading personal growth books. I recommend Anthony Robbins, Jim Rohn & Dale Carnegie.
D. Watch personal growth DVDs. You can easily find great personal growth video content on YouTube and just about everywhere else online.
E. Write out your goals and what you want to accomplish for your life.
F. Keep pictures in your house of the things you want to buy, places that you want to go and things that you want to do with your life.

I hope these steps will help you in finding the right home business opportunity and accomplishing all your goals and dreams!

Fundraising Auction Tip: You should always provide potential bidders with a printed Auction Listing of both your Live and Silent Auction items at any Fundraising Auction. A printed Auction Listing is vital for several reasons:

An Auction Listing informs bidders of the order of sale, and what is coming up next. If you keep your bidders guessing, they will simply not bid.

If bidders are not 100% certain of what they are bidding on, they will not bid. A printed Auction Listing should answer any and all questions about what is being sold in order to encourage bidders to bid as much as possible.

Bidders often need time to plan their bidding strategies, especially on multiple and/or larger value items. A printed Auction Listing helps them to do that.

Couples often need time to consult with each other about what they are willing to spend on something. A printed Auction Listing helps them to do that.

Potential bidders need to know the specifics, the benefits, and the restrictions on any item they are going to bid on, especially on travel and/or other higher value items. A printed Auction Listing should answer all of their questions, in writing.

After bidders see that they have lost an item to another bidder, a printed Auction Listing makes it easier for them to re-strategize on what else they can bid on.
Printed Auction Listings generally come in 3 forms:

Printed in the Event Program or Auction Catalog.

Printed on loose sheets of paper and hand-inserted into the Event Program or Auction Catalog.

Printed on loose sheets of paper and hand-delivered to all attendees, or left on each dinner table in the room.
Auction Listings cost practically nothing to produce and they can make the difference between the success and failure of a Live and Silent Auction. You should never conduct a Fundraising Auction without one.

A Case Study

Let me share a real-life experience with you. Once I was hired to conduct a Fundraising Auction for a nationally renowned organization. The event was held in a major hotel, in one of the country’s largest cities, with several hundred “black tie” participants attending. It was an extremely professional event, with the music, singing, lighting, speeches, and awards all perfectly timed and choreographed. Everything was done to perfection… exception the Fundraising Auction.

Although I had signed an agreement to serve as their Auctioneer nearly one year in advance of the event, no one bothered to contact me for any advice or help. Approximately one week prior to the Auction date, I contacted the group to see if they had replaced me with another Auctioneer. But they said that I was still their man.

Upon arriving at the event I asked for a copy of the Auction Listing. I was told that there were none. I’m not sure whether they felt that the Auction Listing wasn’t necessary, or whether someone forgot to have them printed. This was never made clear. When I asked what I was to use at the podium, I was told to copy the list of Live Auction items from a committee member’s computer. It took me about 30 minutes to copy three pages of hand-written notes in order to prepare for my role as their Auctioneer.

I knew that they had created a PowerPoint program showing the various Live Auction items. When I asked whether the PowerPoint slide order corresponded to the order of sale I had copied from the committee member’s computer, I was met with a blank stare. The committee member left to check the slide order, and returned to let me know that the slide order did not correspond my notes, and he provided me with the correct slide order… hand-written on a paper napkin. This forced me to re-arrange my three pages of hand-written notes before taking the podium.

There was a Live Auction Table with descriptions of the Live Auction items that were to be sold, but the table was not clearly marked, and it received significantly less attention than the Silent Auction Tables, which were clearly identified. Since the Live Auction Table was located adjacent to the “Raffle Table”, it appeared that most people thought it was part of the raffle and therefore paid very little attention to it.

According to the event program (which did not include an Auction Listing), I knew approximately when I was to begin the Live Auction. At the designated time the Master of Ceremonies announced the start of the Live Auction to the several hundred people in attendance, and introduced me as Auctioneer. As I approached the podium I realized that photographs of award winners were still being taken… directly in front of the podium where I was to stand… which required me to stand aside for several minutes until the photographers were done. Can we say “awkward moment”?

As the photographers cleared, I approached the podium and began my Live Auction introduction. Approximately one minute into my introduction, the “Raffle Committee” approached the podium and stopped my Live Auction Introduction in order to pull the 8 or 9 Raffle Winners. These drawings lasted about 5 minutes. Upon it’s conclusion I was allowed to resume the start of the Live Auction.

When standing at the podium two intense and extremely bright spotlights were pointed directly at the podium. The lights were so bright that I literally could not see the center 1/3 of the room. I could see the tables on the right, and on the left, but was totally blinded when looking straight ahead. It took perhaps five minutes before the spotlights were turned off.

While at the podium and describing Lot #1, I had to ask someone to start the Lot #1 PowerPoint Slide… because apparently no one was assigned that job.

So with only the Auctioneer’s verbal description, and a PowerPoint slide, it appeared that few people in the room had any idea about what we were selling… or when we were selling it… until it was announced by the Auctioneer. As a result, bidding was extremely light and the final results fell several thousands of dollars short of where they should have been
The learning experience is this:

The Live Auction is where you place your better items, and where the real money should be made at any Fundraising Auction. Let bidders know as far in advance as possible what you will be selling, and the order of sale, so they can get excited about the Auction, and plan their bidding strategy accordingly.

Auction Listings are absolutely vital to the success of both Live & Silent Auctions. In my opinion, revenues at this Auction fell thousands of dollars short of where they should have been, because no Auction Listing was provided to the guests.

If bidders are not perfectly clear on what is being sold, including both the item’s specifics, benefits, and restrictions, they will not bid.

When you have a committee of volunteers, especially volunteers having full time jobs and/or very busy schedules, the services of a professional Fundraising Auctioneer can help to keep the committee on track.

And once you retain the services of a professional Fundraising Auctioneer… use the services that you are paying for.