Guest Author: Debbie LaChusa

Raising a Happy, Healthy, Wealthy Home-Based Business

by Debbie LaChusa
NAHBM Founder, President & CEM
(Chief Entrepreneurial Mom!)

I remember when I was a brand new mom and my daughter Brianna was just an infant. Of course I had read books about baby development, but I still used to get so worried about things she was or wasn't doing.

For example, she was never one to sleep much during the day. I worried that she wasn't getting enough sleep. Then, she went through a stage where she cried for hours every evening at 6pm. We tried everything to calm her and finally took her to the doctor because we were convinced there was something terribly wrong with her.

Turns out lots of babies cry uncontrollably in the early evening hours. Whether you choose to call it colic or not, it's just a phase they go through. As a parent, you learn to accept it, get skills to cope with it, and you know that "this too shall pass."

Pretty soon I realized that each stage eventually ended ... and when that happened a new one began! I learned to stop worrying about each stage, because I realized it didn't do any good. I came to understand that's just what happens with a baby as she develops. And I learned to go with the flow and appreciate her and each stage she was going through.

Your Child's Development Stages
As a mom you watch your kids go through different development stages as you raise them. They go from baby to toddler, from child to tween, and from teen to adult.

And while you may sometimes be anxious for them to get out of one stage and move on to the next (for example, those terrible twos!), you accept that each stage is part of their development and you do your best to support them in whatever stage they're in.

You know you can't skip a development stage, and you also know you can't "rush" that stage in order to get on to the next one.

Did you know your business goes through those same stages, too? And much of the same patience and support is required if you want your baby business to grow into a healthy, happy adult business.

But often we get anxious. We want to skip a stage. We want to be at the stage where we see other businesses. But what we don't realize is those other businesses have already gone through the stage we're in.

The Six Business Development Stages
There are actually six main stages you and your business will go through. Once you become aware of these stages, and accept and welcome them, you can relax and enjoy your business, instead of always wishing you were in a different place.

To be continued...


Debbie LaChusa is the founder, president and CEM (Chief Entrepreneurial Mom!) of the National Association of Home-Based Business Moms (NAHBM). A former marketing executive, Debbie began her work-at-home journey nearly 20 years ago when her daughter was born. She has run her own home-based business since 1998, has coached thousands how to market their own businesses, and is the author of the book, The Career-at-Home Mom. Register for your Free Special Report, "Secrets for Raising a Happy, Healthy, and Wealthy Home-Based Business" and Home-Based Business Growth Chart, plus get a Free Starter Membership in the National Association of Home-Based Business Moms at http://www.nahbm.com

Marketing Strategy 6: Relationships that Count-2

Part 2


The rule books have changed somewhat. Social networking has opened the doors for relationships to be created across the miles. I have hundreds of friends on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Plaxo that I don’t know, have never met, and will more than likely never meet in my lifetime. (Yes, go ahead and connect to me, I like making new “friends”). How do I know these people? Through relationship building. The written word is now King. If you can write, and write well, you can create relationships. Those relationships will open doors, and I mean big doors.

Learning what makes up a good relationship is the key in the real world as well as the virtual world. This year I published a lady that I “met” who has become a good friend of mine. Our first correspondence was sometime in 2008, and while we have never met face-to-face, we’ve exchanged hundreds of emails and at least several marathon phone calls.

She and I connected at the invitation of a mutual friend on Facebook. We got to know each other and when she presented me with her manuscript on teaching children to write fiction (and she is a published children’s novelist), I was interested in taking a look. I loved her work. With some additions and suggestions from me, which she quickly implemented, we had a new Media Angels product. Susan K. Marlow added another book to her ever growing list of accomplishments, "Reach for the Stars: A Young Fiction Author's Workbook." Sales have already surpassed expectations.

This took place through relationship building. Hers and mine. Relationships, the best kind, are mutually beneficial. People who look at things from the perspective of “what’s in it for me” tend to be labeled early on as takers. Those who are very helpful on the other hand can be taken advantage of as well. It is important to set some boundaries and work within your comfort range.

I recently joined a women’s business networking group in Ft. Myers. Now I was face-to-face. I couldn’t hide behind my words. It was me and them… a sea of them, many professional business women use to getting up in a group, introducing themselves and their business, and they had talent. It didn’t take me long to become acclimated. Why? Because I watched, and I learned from the pros.

We have a one-minute introduction about ourselves, our product or business, and what our needs are from the members in the room. I watched women who stated or stumbled over their intros, and others that asked several questions of the members, or spoke about making lives easier with product X-Y-Z.

If you remember my opening post, I claimed that I resorted to humor when I was in a nerve racking situation. This was no different. When it was my turn, I quipped I could barely say my name in one minute let alone tell about my business. The clock was ticking...was I prepared for this? No...but I was able to muddle my way through and the second time I was more knowledgeable about what to expect. This group is all about making relationships in order to refer each other's businesses and help with brainstorming sessions, meeting with speakers and an array of other worthwhile endeavors.

As an author you may wonder how this would help you. Word of mouth, especially women’s mouths, can be a very good thing, or not. If they like you or your product everyone will know. My husband was a member of a similar networking group but found that once work picked up he was unable to attend meetings. You need to use what works for you. In this situation, I can represent my business, as a consultant for aspiring authors but still give out business cards for my husband’s remodeling business. Relationship building is at the forefront of this endeavor.

One other note here, I quickly began telling my friends who were in business about this group, and soon an email from the group leader was sent out to all of the members. I was surprised to see my name signaled out as the person who had invited four new guests to the group, being I had joined only two weeks prior. I thought this was normal. Don't keep something good to yourself, share. This is how relationships work.

Relationships… making them is much harder than breaking them.

Next: My top ten list of making Great Working Relationships!