The day we received the money to incorporate, I called the lawyer and made the arrangements. Later that day, I went to visit my husband at work, to let him know the money was coming in. I met him coming from the office, carrying his toolbox. He greeted me with, “I’ve been laid off, indefinitely.”

My first reaction was one of panic. Pull BACK! Keep the money! The safety net of one steady income was gone, how could we justify the $500 for the incorporation?

In the next instant, a calm settled over me. I felt strongly that the Lord had planned it that way – the money first, then the lay-off. That if we went forward, it would be ok.

It is one of the best decisions we have ever made. Kevin came home for good. Incorporation has been good for our business also – it makes us take it more seriously. It makes others take us more seriously also.

If you are a sole proprietorship that operates from a home, it is hard to get people to see you as a going concern. The failure rates for home businesses are very high, and part of that has to do with the fact that everybody and their dog claims to have one nowdays. Before, they’d ask us, “What is your business structure?”, we’d tell them “Sole Proprietor”, then they’d ask us “Are you a home business?” and that would be the end of the conversation. But a corporation means something different – they don’t even ask you anymore if you operate your business from home. I guess the statistics for home businesses that are incorporated are not so dismal!

We survived the first year. At a loss, but with paychecks. Sometimes I wondered how we would survive – and now that we are into the second year, I still wonder. But this time this year is better than this time last year. So growth is happening. I can live with that.

I don’t regret that choice to incorporate. I believe it has helped us to grow at a rate we could not have grown at if we had chosen to pull back.

In the process of expanding a business, we sometimes decide to go in more directions, when what we really needed to do is more in the same direction.

Business growth can get sidetracked if you try to do too much in too many things. Sometimes we also feel that we need to reach all markets – that if someone says they got good results here, that we have to do it too.

Business can get fragmented in two ways:

1. When we take on additional lines before we are solid in the ones we are already running.
2. When we try to market in too many directions or venues.

You can’t do everything. It pays to focus on what is going to make the most difference, and let the rest go.

You may find that a Ryze Network helps to bring traffic. So you may think that a Yahoo Group, a FastPitch Group, and a Google Group will help you too. Pretty soon you are pushed to keep up with them all, you cannot promote all so some flounder, and you are stretched. It is often better to focus on one successful method over five halfway methods.

Some people do this with blogging, websites, and article writing as well. Those things are all time intensive. Managing one blog, one website, and promoting one thing through article marketing is one thing – doubling, tripling, or quadrupling that effort is quite a different picture. You can lose your ability to keep up really fast.

Consider the time investment before you commit to a new thing. If you feel the desire to do more, find out what you can do within what you are already successfully doing – build on success, instead of dividing and floundering.

I have to say that teaching classes through the University of Wyoming Enrichment Program has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. Frankly, I have to state right here that I could not do it on a daily basis – it would make me nuts! But teaching a major course each quarter and a handful of smaller ones suits me to a T.

The benefit to our business has been wide and long. Here are some of the things it has given us:

1. I am far more comfortable doing public speaking. To the point that I can speak in front of almost any group, train virtually anyone, and have a great time doing it.
2. Our business credibility rises each time we inform someone that we also teach enrichment courses on our business specialty.
3. We are now getting other speaking and presentation opportunities.
4. We have received referrals from the Enrichment Department for work in our specialty, not just for presentations.
5. My husband, Kevin, has gained confidence within our profession by being with me when I teach. He has learned more of our business this way, and he has gained the ability to help the students as well.
6. It has given us a peripheral product to sell, since we create our own curriculum (it does not exist for what we teach), so the curriculum becomes a secondary product.

As far as endeavors we have pursued, this has been one of the best. It is something that I recommend  wholeheartedly to anyone who feels they have the capacity to teach topics related to their profession.

How did I stumble into this? Really, I did sort of stumble into it. I mean, it was something I WANTED to do, and had a good deal of curriculum prepared for.  I began by asking a regional educational organization. They could not provide me with a sufficient student base, so I dropped that. I sounded out another. They also could not provide a reasonable student base at that time. Finally, one day, while on the phone with a staff member at the local Chamber (of which we are a member), I asked how one went about finding teaching and presentation opportunities. She suggested the University, but I did not know how to contact them.

One week later, I got a call from the University. Turns out, THEY had called HER, asking for someone to teach Web Development! I sat down with them and discussed possibilities. That fall, I taught my first class… a 12 week, 2 hour per week class. It was an amazing experience.

It does not pay well enough to do full time. Last winter, due to getting stuck in town overnight for TWO nights, due to closed roads, we lost money on a set of four classes. We will make a little on the one we are doing now – but not enough to fully compensate for weeks of preparation and three Saturdays teaching from 9:00 to 4:00. But the fringe benefits make it all worth it.

Besides just the ways it has benefited our business, I must say, the students are the greatest. They are dedicated, smart, and enjoyable people – the same kind of people I get for clients. Associating with them has been priceless – and they are honest with me about helping me improve myself as an instructor.

If this is something that you have a desire to do, I highly recommend it. Go and find an organization that can help you become an instructor – and then do it, even if you have only one student sign up. Because the things you will gain will be immeasurable, and will impact your business long term in ways that go far beyond the money the individual class pays.

Offline networking is the traditional way of doing business. Some people assume that because the net is newer, that it is better. While you CAN network successfully online, and it does have its benefits, you’ll find that you can often gain more power, faster, offline. This is especially true for service businesses, and local businesses.

Offline networking has two principle benefits:

1. By bringing you into contact with your prospective customers. Trade shows, fairs, or B2B events are good places for this if they fit your target market.
2. By bringing you into association with your competitors and collaborators. This helps you develop greater expertise, gives you people to draw knowledge from, and helps you find people to work alongside. It is valuable, but only if you understand how to use it. Chamber membership, and other business groups are good places for this.

You’ll want to select a venue to meet your goals – don’t choose a business to business venue if you sell retail products for end consumers. It won’t be a good match.

In order to network effectively offline, you have to consider two basic factors:

1. Where is your target market hanging out – in other words, what kinds of events and meetings can you participate in where you’ll naturally meet your target market?
2. What kinds of networking are you comfortable with, and which ones allow you to market through your strengths?

You CAN learn to be comfortable with new types of marketing. But you’ll do best, especially to start with, if you build on your strengths first.

Offline networking can be done in some of the following ways:

1. Chamber membership – you have to BE THERE. Show up to events, get to know other people, pay to be at trade shows.
2. Business events, expos, and fairs. Choose those that bring in your target market, and that you can afford to attend.
3. Host events, throw a party, etc.
4. Volunteer to make presentations or training seminars, look for teaching opportunities, etc.
5. Beat the streets – if you do this, build relationships, do NOT go to sell!
6. Attend classes and citizen’s groups where you are likely to meet people.

One of the more important aspects of networking offline is just getting your name out there, and letting people know what you do. You have to tell them over and over, they don’t remember the first time. And you have to do it without pushing.

So look for places where you can hand out your business card, or events where you can send people home with something.

Offline networking still takes time and persistence, but has the potential to be much more powerful than online networking because it is more personal. Choose a venue that brings people to you, and you are well into the process.

If you want to build a network of friends, and if your target market haunts MySpace or FaceBook, they might work for you – but remember, these are primarily social, secondarily business, so they absolutely do not work for some kinds of businesses.

Ryze, Merchant Circle, or FastPitch might work for you if you like how they work, and if you can regularly check in and participate in forums or browse profiles for connections. They have a distinctly business focus, which works very well for B2B businesses.

One of the keys to choosing networking venues, is to choose things you enjoy doing. If you like it, you’ll do it more regularly. At the same time though, you MUST balance your day! You have to know when to read the posts, and when to skip them, and how to put business first when necessary.

Many venues offer chances for event participation. Choose the events by the same criteria – by whether your target market is likely to be there, and whether you can communicate effectively with them there.

Look for Trade Associations also – many have networking options available. Some of them do a better job of reaching CUSTOMERS, others do a better job of reaching associates. Each has its value, just make sure you are choosing it for the value that you want!

Don’t just join a bunch of groups – each takes time to set up a profile and make it work for you. You need to look them over and make sure they have a good chance of benefiting you, and chose those that will help you do so effectively. If they have a lot of fluff, and take a lot of your time, you’ll burn out. They need to be fairly efficient to use, and allow you good tools for doing what you need to do in a successful manner.

If you join a group, and it does not give you what you need, OR, you end up not using it, drop it. Otherwise it is dead weight. In order to make them work, you have to WORK them. Select carefully, between 2 and 10 venues, and then get to work.

The second in the pair of articles on Networking Success, this article will cover the basic steps in offline networking success. Offline networking is faster than online networking, but takes more from you in some ways. This list does not need to be completed all at once, in fact, some tasks are periodic. If your time is lmited, then work through the list a little at a time.

1. Choose an offline venue – this may be an ongoing organization, or a one time event. A future article will go into this in more detail.
2. Sign up, register, or join. Select what you can realistically afford – offline, a little money will get results, and more money will get more results. This means you can select a lower cost option – half size booth, limited membership, etc, and still gain from it while staying within your budget.
3. Get to know the organizers – do this in an unselfish manner, offering to help, or just introducing yourself to them.
4. Prepare good marketing materials – this is especially important for events. Print business cards, brochures if appropriate, get promos if you can afford them (choose wisely). Be prepared at all times when networking opportunities present, so that you can leave someone with something to remember you by.
5. Get to know others around you – in a group, get to know the members. At an event, get to know the other vendors.
6. Learn about what the venue offers. Take the time to invest in gaining the benefits. Go to meetings, work the events, put out your brochures, etc. Make the effort to USE the resources offered.
7. Step outside your comfort zone, a little at a time. There is no need to do it all at once, just stretch a little each time. It gets easier with practice.
8. Find ways to help people. Helpful people get more business.
9. Remember, your goal is to build personal relationships that can help you succeed. Relationships come first, both for customers, and associates.

Assemble good resources, and choose good outlets, and it becomes more effective. It still takes time, but you’ll see results after you give it a sincere effort. Be willing to show up – and keep showing up. Set aside the time for regular appearances, and the benefits will come.

Imagine getting up in the morning with your job on your mind, and a sense of excitement permeating the air. You know you have to shower and get breakfast, but those are mere details to get out of the way, not delay tactics to avoid work.

Imagine feeling like that every day.

When you choose the right career or business, it can be like that more days than it is not. For work at home moms, every day can be a delightful balance between kids you love, and work you love.

Ok, so it isn’t all sunshine and roses. But then, nothing is. But loving what you do makes work very worthwhile. It keeps you going over the rough spots – helps you keep on keeping on when it seems like it isn’t ever going to get you anywhere. Every business has those spots, so getting through them is a milestone to success.

It is more important to choose something you love and are good at than it is to choose something lucrative. Mere money is not enough to get you up every day to face a mire of tasks you hate. But enjoyment is enough to compel you to come back and figure out how to make what you love into a profitable venture.

Every task in your business won’t be fun. But there should be enough fun things to balance the drudge work. Every business takes HARD work, and more dedication than any of us realize when we are starting out. But work that provides enjoyable moments scattered through the day seems less like work than an endless repetition of things we do not enjoy.

When was the last time you thought that going to bed at night was an annoyance? When was the last time you felt like you’d rather finish a creative employment task than watch a movie? When was the last time you were excited about learning something new that helped you earn more?

If you haven’t felt those things, then you haven’t experienced the excitement that comes from doing work you truly love. My brother is not self-employed, but he said of his work, “Sometimes I have so much fun a this that I can’t believe they actually pay me to do it!” My father was the same. They are both loggers. Not something most people consider to be fun, but they loved their work.

As a teen and young adult, I’d have never figured that I’d love the work I do now, but I really do! Sure, there are many days when I am discouraged, and many tasks that I’d love to procrastinate. But overall, I love this, because I’m good at it, and I can genuinely help other people achieve meaningful goals. It gets me up every morning excited to see what is in my inbox.

If you aren’t feeling that a good deal of the time, then what are you going to change in order to get it?