Trust is measured by the feelings that are generated by a process of letting someone get to know more about you than just product, features and price. I know a gentleman who provides a seminar on selling to C-level executives. He says that to sell to the C-level executive you have to be more than a salesperson selling a product or service. To sell to the executive level, you have to be more of an advisor. You have to find needs other than the ones that you can fulfill and help them to fulfill these needs. In doing this, you become a "trusted advisor". They feel "comfortable" that you have their interests in mind more than just making a quick sale and a commission.
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Thousands of people every year are making the big decision to work for themselves to escape the tyranny of the 9 to 5 job and the rules of their boss. Many of these people have never worked for themselves before and are often moving into a new and different area of work.
Does this sound like the sort of thing that you've dreamed of but wouldn't dare do? Here are some simple steps that you can take to make your dream a reality.
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You have to determine if you're ready for a credit card. Having a credit card and treating it responsibly is mandatory if you want to build your credit in the right direction. As a matter of fact, you should have two of them. Ideally, you should pay them off at the end of each month before the grace period ends. If you do hold a balance on your credit cards, make sure you don't spend more than 30 percent of your credit limit.
You must absolutely set a precedent of paying your bills on time, all the time. If you don't, you're going to find yourself in a mess. You will have bills hitting collection agencies, complicating your life and dramatically increasing your payments and interest. You want to be in control of your bills, and this has to do with sticking with your budget consistently.
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One of the first things you need to do is set a budget for your spending. It is important to figure out where your money is going. If you have any questions, you should track your spending for several weeks. Write down each and every cent that leaves your hands, no matter how big or small the amount. Once you have an idea of what you spend and where, start to create your budget. It is important that your budget is realistic, though. If you know you normally spend about $200 on gas a month, do not estimate low and say you will only spend $100. If you do things like this it will throw your budget all out of whack. It is also important that you follow the budget or it will be nothing more than numbers on a piece of paper.
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Why is it so important to have a plan? The long and short answer to this question is so that you won't end up needing a job in order to put food on your table once you've reached retirement age. The sad truth is that many of our retired citizens are finding themselves strapped for cash financially and barely able to make ends meet. If they are fortunate enough to have homes that are paid for, they often find the property taxes are a little more than they can handle without some sort of assistance. Medications are expensive despite government programs to keep costs down for our elderly, and then there are those who are simply living longer than their original retirement plans had accounted for. Combine all these factors with the fact that the cost of living has gone through unprecedented increases over the last two decades and you have some very real reasons to make plans for your future retirement.
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Working at home normally fits into two different categories. You can either work as an independent contractor for a company or you can work for yourself. Either way, you are going to be in charge of your own schedule. You'll need to be extremely self-motivated and work well without having a supervisory presence in your work environment. Even those who choose to work for a company are responsible for scheduling their own time and meeting deadlines without a lot of input from supervisors.
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Practice mindful spending. Rather than keep an exact record of every penny you spend for a month (as many financial experts recommend) spend your time thinking about which of the things you buy on a daily or weekly basis are most important to you. For example, if you love coffee but are in the habit of grabbing a quick bite at your desk for lunch, splurge on good coffee but take a bag lunch to work. Tell yourself that you can have either that double caramel, half-fat cappuccino or a takeout lunch, but not both.
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To help you while you are waiting to become a successful artist, you might try other at home business opportunities. You could investigate the possibility of selling art-related products as an affiliate marketer. Set up your own website that sells items such as posters, various art prints, stationery items and art supplies. Alternately, you could publish a blog or online newsletter and write reviews of artists, art shows and different products related to your field of art.
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