Hello Fellow WA Buddies!

Welcome back. 

This post addresses what you've got to clean up before you start your Internet marketing business. It starts with personal finances. If you can't manage your own money, how will you manage the profits from your business?

I Address 2 Topics in 2 Parts:

1) Cleaning up your own money.

2) Hitting targets to create money that you can reinvest into your business.

We'll Tackle the Tough News First - Part 1 - Cleaning Up Your Own Spending Habits First

Cleaning up your personal spending and saving habits.  I know there are some of you who dislike this news, but if you can't manage your personal money..., then how will you manage your business money?

Strong offline and online businesses require working capital (money).  Even when you're first starting out online, you'll have some initial expenses related to a) educating yourself..., and b) advertising yourself using free means.

That means, in order to build your list, you'll have to spend at least $19.99/month for your autoresponder and at least $30/month for WA. Then..., you'll have to maintain a bank account carrying you through the lean months of early business start-up. 

What happens when you clean up your personal finances -- you take the pressure off yourself to make money online before you're ready.  I'll be honest. This early phase of business takes time. You're learning and growing skills you can later monetize (or charge people for).

And..., your personal finances directly and indirectly govern the success of your business because you must find a way to make money at the end of every business day..., and you must find ways to also pay your personal and business expenses.

Cleaning Up Personal Finances

I'll start with the most obvious and even sometimes painful points. If you're going to operate your own business, there are times where you're taking your own personal money and you're putting it into the business.

Don't do this if it will cost you your present lifestyle.

You've got to find ways to get paid while you're learning your Internet marketing. One of the best ways to pay you (before anyone else will) is that you have to look at the money you presently have (...say from a current job)..., and you have to then take that money and move it around. I call this redistributing present, private assets.

Here's the fastest way to save yourself money. Tackle your credit card debt. When you pay off your debt sooner rather than later, you'll save yourself thousands and thousands of dollars spent by paying those bankers excessive interest.

Here's how:

1. Know How Much You're Spending

Creating and sticking to a budget takes discipline, but it's the best way to watch what you're spending while setting something aside for savings.

2. Stop Racking Up More Debt

Avoid charging more than you can pay off each month. Put the credit cards away if you have to.

What I do -- I own one credit card and it carries a lower than average limit. I use it for the business. If I use it at all for personal expenditures, I pay off the bill in full each month. If I can't do that, I don't buy what's not essential.

For your business -- you should be spending about $100 - $120/month for early operating costs. In other cases, you can reduce this spending to about $100/month.

3. Save for a Rainy Day

If you don't have an emergency fund to cover at least three months of basic expenses, you should save money and pay off your debt at the same time. By having cash on hand to pay for emergencies, such as car repairs or a job layoff, you'll be less likely to sink further into debt.

4. Consolidate to Lower Interest

Transfer your high-interest rate debt to a low-rate card. Look for low rates on the life of a balance transfer so you don't have to worry about playing the transfer game every year. Cut up the other cards and close the accounts.

Part 2: Finding A Way To Make Seed Money Supporting Business Launch

The most common reason why many businesses fail is -- people don't have the money they need to operate their businesses, and people don't have the wherewithall to use money they do have to their fullest advantage. I say this much with respect.

When you're new to business ownership, you will make mistakes.

As part of earliest business learning, you'll either spend yourself out of business before you get it going strong (the larger majority), or you'll be so conservative that people will think you squeek. I'm saying this with all humor intended.

The smartest business people take most of their earliest seed money (up front) and then they reinvest those profits to grow the business further. Without this discipline, you'll lose your business. So yes, business ownership isn't easy.  If it were, anyone could do it.

So let's assume you're the one who's in the top minority of business ownership. You've chosen to do what most do not tackle. You've chosen to become the top 5% of the total population!

Find a Way to Make Money Up Front

In a prior post, I talked about finding and working a 'self-funding proposal'.  This is a way to make that money you'll need to keep your business afloat.

It doesn't have to be a fancy plan. You could call your early business money the money you earn from your present job or another second job -- however you're going about earning this money.

REAL LIFE EXAMPLE:

Here's something I actually market on the front end of my business to generate money covering my early (Phase 1) operating expenses.  I share this information NOT to push a service your way, but to share tidbits which show you what I'm doing. Then..., perhaps this idea will help you generate your own "seed money" you can then put into your business...thereby supporting growth of your Internet marketing skillset.  If you don't yet have an article marketing, pay-per-click, website, keyword research, or ad copy skills yet in place, that's okay.  I will tell you that these skills take time to develop.

So here's what I'm doing further --

I market ...as it turns out...credit card consolidation for people paying too much interest on their current credit cards. I help them lower their interest rates. But, this marketing effort helps me generate the monthly income needed to support the growth of my business on the back end  -- which is another marketing endeavor. It's actually Internet marketing education for newbies.

This early money pays for my Internet marketing education, it pays for my long-distance business phone, it pays for outsourcing (hiring expertise I don't yet possess), it pays for my Internet infrastructure telling people what I am about, and more.

The targets I set for this first, initial marketing campaign help me generate $1,600/month consistently. Sounds like a small figure, but this seed money doesn't yet account for the larger numbers I'll generate later on. 

In business ownership, you start small and then you build your way into your next growth phase. That's why your personal money ties into your business money. At first, the two are very related. Later on when you're more profitable, you can split your personal and business money into different accounts. 

But..,  the goal is to generate $50,000 - $100,000. Now that's money that won't necessarily put you 'on the easy track'. Point is -- it's a start.  This is a figure you can sink your teeth into because..., by speaking in honest terms, when you first go live online, you're going to make 'cash donations'.  Pay-per-click advertising does take adjusting as you work on your target market.

But..., the target for every one of my business days is to contact 200 people/day, closing at least 1 - 2 people/week. Over time, I'll pick up the pace to close more each week.  While this skillset isn't something WA promotes, it's only one example out of many. 

I do use the phone, but the point I'm making is that I'm showing you what I'm doing in order to stay in the Internet game working into 'bigger profits' without touching personal cash savings. This last thought moves us into what's needed to run a real but sustainable business.

The True Business Reality Is

...it's a misnomer that you can go from $100 - $1,000,000 in one, fell swoop.  Experience has taught me in business that you get to $1,000,000 by starting at $200, then creating another $200, and so on and so forth.

When you can create $200 consistently, you're on your way to generating multiple thousands per month. Then.., it's a matter of generating $10,000/month. 

When a marketer is earning that kind of money..., then put into the Internet marketing infrastructure (for automation), now we're on our way to $1,000,000.

I hope something makes sense.

Please -- above all -- feel free to connect to any marketer at WA who has already learned how to create true wealth. 

Your success is closely related to your ability to connect to other helpful experts. In my case, I work directly with three very talented Internet marketers. I call them all the time. I work with them on the phones and online every day of the week. This is what's needed to gain the expertise you'll need for your own business operations.

Supporting Your Success Using Proven Internet Marketing Means,

bkb2012