The summer is wrapping up and I have inadvertently been missing in action!  This was definitely not planned but some how life took me on a little ride and I wasn’t very focused on business.

That was then and this is now. Love that statement!  I am working on a few projects.  Angie Newton (my accountability partner) and I are starting service based business venture.  You will have to keep your eyes open for some more on that.  We are also working once again on the accountability report.  These should be up and going within the next month.  So I would say by the end of September you will know all about it!

I am doing a little bit more on Squidoo right now.  My Squidoo lenses have always made me money.  Sometimes a little sometimes a lot.

Fall is a new start!

For whatever reason every season (weather wise) helps me to re-evaluate my business and my life.  This has helped me in many ways to keep things new and exciting for me!

What about you?  How does the change of season effect you?

PS. Tell me what you are going to do with your business this fall?!

photo credit: M_Shahab

Do you want to have your own business?  If so, what will you do for a business?  Most people that want to start a business start out with one of two objectives.

• The first is creating business out of their passion.  They already have a passion and possibly an idea of how to make a business out of it.  This is one of the best ways to start a business.
• The second is that they want to have a business but don’t know what their passion is.

Creating Business Out of Your Passion

This is the best way I believe to start a business.  Some success stories you may hear are about people who just happened upon a business when they were following their passion!  I have always envied people like this because I have always been a “Jack of all trades master of none.”

Starting a Business Not Knowing Your Passion

I have fallen into this category!  Over the last several year I have tried many things.  I have been successful twice at eBay.  The last time I ran eBay business I was a power seller!  But that didn’t work for me because I didn’t enjoy it!  I have run a health and wellness business out of my home but it was taking so much time away from my family.  I was successful at that and I still receive a check every month from that company.  So last year I decided to start a business online.  I knew It would be a journey because I didn’t know what my passion was.  So I started a few things. It seems that all of these roads have led me back to a niche which is my true passion!

Have You Been Ignoring Your Passion?

I have been ignoring my passion for many years now.  It all started when I was 8 years old.  I was given genealogy from my parents to copy so that I could use it for my own purposes later in life.  Well a few years after that genealogy software came out and I started inputting all my genealogy!  As I got older I started doing a little research.  The first time I discovered family members I didn’t know existed, I was hooked! There was a rush or a high that was so exciting.  I felt connected.  Like I belonged in this world!

Over many years there have been months that I worked on my genealogy non-stop.  Then I would get burnt out and not work on it at all.  So I have had my ups and downs.  The one constant is I have always wanted to be a Professional Genealogist.  This has always been a constant but I have often let that dream fade away because of one obstacle or another.  At the beginning of this year something inside started to stir.  I discovered I have been letting the sleeping giant sleep too long and now he doesn’t want to go away! I found my niche, my passion and what I love to do!  This is something I could live, eat and breath doing.

Last week I attended the National Genealogical Society annual conference.  I actual attended two genealogy conferences.  As I sat learning for six days from 8am-6pm each day I realized how I loved this.  This was not work to me at all.  I was excited everyday to go to the classes and I was more excited each night to go use the things I had learned!  The obstacles that were in my way for so many years have kind of faded away as I realize others are making a living doing this.  It is possible!  I also realized I am not alone.

I Found My Passion

Now that I have found my passion.  I am deciding on how I can use what I have learned over the last several years to implement a different business.  I want to work online as a Professional Genealogist.  In the next few weeks as I process all that I know, I will share with you what exactly I have decided to do with the knowledge I have.

It has taken a long time for me to find it but I am so grateful for a niche that I am truly passionate about!  This is something I will never want to stop doing.  It is something that I could do all day long and no realize the day has gone by!  As I was at that conference I also realized that I had finally come home and I wondered why I have been away for so long!

What is your passion?  Have you found it yet?  If you haven’t don’t stop looking you will find it!

Best,

PS. Check out my new website on genealogy at Start Your Family History.
photo credit: Yvonne R Thompson

I have been in Spring Cleaning mode here.  Up until yesterday we enjoyed seventy degree weather for a few weeks.  It was wonderful!  I have basically reorganized and purged most of my home!  This week my husband and started a Square Foot Garden.  SFG is container gardening.  We have not yet planted anything because it  is too cold still.  The day after my husband build the box and put in the soil it snowed!!  As I was thinking about the seeds we are going to plant and the harvest we will receive in several weeks, I started thinking about business!

What kinds of seeds are you planting?

As you know with any plant there has to be a growing period.  You have to nourish that seed.  You need to protect that plant.  Then harvest at the right time!  So what seeds are you planting.  In other words what do you want to harvest?  When I was at NAMS in January Mark Hendricks talked about how you need to have the end in mind.  This is the same idea! Do you want to build a list?  Have an increase in traffic?  Or do you just want an increase in income?

What will you do to nourish that seed?

So the seed has been planted in your mind as to what you would like  to harvest, now what?  It is time to go to work.  With a garden you have to consistently weed and water.  So how do you nourish your seed?  To build a list you need to get the word out, provide an incentive and maybe do a Telesummit or guest blogging.  To increase traffic do link building, guest blogging, consistent blogging on your blog, maybe some pay-per-click or advertising some other way.

The nourishing of this seed needs to be consistent.  This will be every day work or at least several times a week work.  It will be work where sometimes you get really dirty.  This is essentially the work you will do to make the harvest all worth while.  If you forget to water for a week your work will be a loss, so don’t let things slide! Read more »

Last week I shared with you some changes I made to my business.  I was trimming the business fat.  It feels great to be rid of the extras and I have to admit there was a little bit of a mourning period for me.  I had to let those other websites go and it wasn’t easy!  Now that I have some focus I have realized I am dealing with other issues.

How to Take Action?

I have not been doing much with all the extra time I have now.  I have just been making plans, plans and more plans but no action!  Let me tell why (be prepared for an excuse).  This is what I do.  You may do this to.  I plan too much in my day and have to rush from one thing to another.  Yes, I do get things done but after doing that day in and day out.  I feel strained, stressed and emotional!  After feeling this way I trimmed the fat!

Now I have all this time to think!  I have realized so many things I have not be doing in my home, business and family.  It has been eye opening and sad at the same time.  I want to do a lot in my life and I am not doing it.  I am really at a breaking point.  I have planned a lot and not taking action…Why?  No real reason!  I could analyze it but I don’t want to.  The bottom line is I am just not taking action!

Take Action Now

If you want to go on vacation it takes planning, right? Planning is only the first step.  If you are really wanting to go somewhere you have to take action.  The next steps are save up money, reserve a hotel, rental and buy plane tickets.  There is not much more than that except to get on that plane or get in that car to get there!  If you miss any of these steps you won’t have a successful vacation.

Take Business Action

This is the same with your business!  Planning is important.  You need to know where you are going, how to get there.  But don’t stop there.  Take action.  Blog every day or several times a week.  Build links going to your product pages.  Advertise your service.  Do article marketing.  Participate in social media.  Whatever it is that will make your business successful do it!  This is what I am doing.  Each day I have a list of things I need to do to become successful with my genealogy website, to help you Start Your Family History.  I have to create brand.  This week I will be setting up a blog on my new website Family History Queen (it is not live yet).  I will be branding myself the Family History Queen!  Also I am also going to a genealogy conference at the end of the month.  I just joined the National Genealogical Society last night and will be taking their home study course. I will being blogging and marketing my free e-course that will create a following.

I Have a Lot of Plans…

But if I don’t take action I will not get anywhere I want to go.  Above there is a picture of a turtle.  Just like the story of the tortoise and the hare, keep taking steps every day and you will get to your goals and achieve your dreams!  I challenge you to think about what you can do to take action in your business!  Have you been putting something off for a long time?  Have you been wanting to write and ebook?  Do you want start a membership website?  Take action today!

Gotta go get something done!

photo credit: denn