Every Sunday evening I submit my upcoming Weekly To-Do List to my accountability buddy. I have found it essential to have someone out there who knows what I am suppose to be doing in a given week and to hold me accountable for accomplishing everything on the list. Otherwise it is just too easy to procrastinate.

My accountability buddy happens to be a good friend who is also working from home. She submits her list to me as well. We reward ourselves with lunch out each time we each accomplish our respective goals for a total of six weeks. That way we are each keenly aware that procrastination will have a consequence for the both of us — the delayed gratification of a wonderful lunch out!

If you are working from home I strongly suggest finding an accountability buddy. The next step is to figure out a way to periodically reward yourselves for accomplishing weekly goals.

It is impossible to overstate the importance of accountability — especially when working from home. The secret is to team up with someone else in the same boat, even if they happen to work in another zip code.

1. Never pick up the phone to call a lead when you are in a bad mood! Even though your prospect can’t see you he or she can sense if you are “off” in any way. Make sure you feel rested, confident and in a cheerful mood before picking up the phone. It is estimated that 75% of closing the sale has to do with your initial attitude over the phone.

2. It helps tremendously to make calls while standing up. I am not sure why, but it’s true. Maybe it has to do with feeling too comfortable in a chair. When you stand up you project more enthusiasm and more of a sense of urgency about your business opportunity.

3. Coffee, coffee, coffee!

4. Develop a script for your sales calls and never make a call without that script in front of you! You will, of course, improvise with each prospect but having the main points you wish to make in front of you in black and white is of immeasurable value.

5. Stay in control. The one who asks the most questions wins. If you allow your prospect to ask too many questions, you’ve lost control of the call. The best way to maintain control when making a sales call is to stick to the script, assure the prospect that all their questions will be answered the day of the actual appointment, and then to be ready with a polite reason why you must end the call.

Think about it!

Fast forward to the other day when I was reading an article about the pitfalls of Multi-Level Marketing Companies, commonly known as MLMs. It occurred to me that the article might have been more memorable if it had been written in the Jeff Foxworthy format. For example, you might be involved in a MLM if… those hyped-up promises aren’t really coming true!

Of all the home businesses out there, old-fashioned MLMs are the most problematic. If you get sucked into one, you risk losing lots of time and money. Of course, someone is always making money in one of these operations but usually those few souls at the top of the organization rely on a fresh supply of people willing to invest time and money in the business.

You might be involved in a MLM if … you feel pressured to increase your own personal volume in order to qualify yourself or your team for bonuses. In other words, are you buying more stuff than you need or want?

You might be involved in a MLM if… you feel pressured to attend meetings that spend more time on cultish team building activities than teaching sound business strategies.

You might be involved in a MLM if…you must carry inventory.

You might be involved in a MLM if…you are ashamed to show anyone your earnings.

You might be involved in a MLM if…you feel guilty about getting people you care about involved in your business.

What should you do if you realize you’re stuck in a MLM?

1. Appreciate that it is never too late to change horses!

2. Understand that your sales background and contacts are worth a fortune.

3. Recognize that there is a home business out there that will compensate you on introducing real products to real people who have a real need. No fluff. No hype. No empty promises.

On the professional side of the equation, now is the time to be taking stock of what has worked over the past year in our home business. It is also time to take stock of what areas need improvement. In that regard, much emphasis — perhaps too much — is typically placed on mega wish lists of all the new things we plan to explore and implement in the upcoming year. But without proper attention to the science behind goal setting (more on that later), much of the effort will be for naught. Change will not come about without a clear plan to make it happen because as we all know, the devil is in the details.

My suggestion for today is to make a list of last year’s successes.

What is working well for your business? Figure it out, put it in writing, and resolve to build upon your areas of strength in the New Year. If you wish to see massive results, you need a massive effort and this is best accomplished from a position of strength — not weakness. Consider this idea when making your home business resolutions.

For me professionally, in this last year, my biggest area of strength have been twofold:

1. Our standing business presentations in the community continue to draw very talented people interested in our message. The economy is bad and that simple fact is driving folks to explore other options.

2. I speak Spanish and love working in my second language. Recently, I’ve made a concerted effort to reach out to the Hispanic Community and the results have been promising.

In the New Year I am resolving to double the attendance at our community business presentations and to set up a parallel presentation schedule in Spanish.

Happy New Year and I wish you and your home business continued success in 2009!

There are many home business opportunities out there that tell their new recruits: “It takes money to make money.”

Obviously, it takes capital to start most kinds of traditional businesses. For example, it would be impossible to open a restaurant or a flower shop without investing real money, and lots of it!

However, the beauty of a home business should be not having to make a big monetary investment. Unfortunately, most off-the-shelf home businesses ask their distributors to invest a tremendous amount in either inventory or training.

Perhaps the biggest offender over the years has been Amway. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met over the years with hard-luck stories about losing money with Amway. The most disturbing part of the picture is that while the distributor lost money, the company did just fine.

While you’re sorting through the home business options, do not lose sight of the simple fact that a fair and ethical company would not ask you to jeopardize your financial well-being by “investing” thousands of dollars in their products and training.

A fair and ethical company would set up their home business opportunity so that everyone involved is a winner — from the business person down to the end user of the product or service.

Think about it!

The proliferation of home-based business opportunities on the web is due to several factors. The idea of working from home, of being one’s own boss, has always held a tremendous appeal to many folks frustrated by traditional work. Given today’s grim economy, more and more people are looking to supplement or even to replace incomes.

Over the next few months, we are going to run a series of short articles on the pitfalls of home business opportunities in the hopes of shedding light on a confusing subject.

1.Never invest in a business with products you would not really be using if you weren’t in the business

This tiny piece of advice seems so obvious and yet all too often people fall prey to business models that emphasize the recruitment of distributors over the marketing of top quality, useful products that real people really want to buy.

2. In today’s economy, steer clear of companies hawking non-essential or luxury items.

In recessionary times, people tighten their belts and look to cut expenses. Stick to businesses that manufacture products customers can’t live without so that they will come back again and again.

Although there are wonderful companies out there promoting everything from cosmetics to clothing to air purifies to pots and pans — the smart choice today would be a home business based on high quality, exclusive products that you personally would continue to buy even if you won the lottery, retired to the beach, and never had to work again a day in your life.

Think about it!

In a nutshell, it was probably hell on earth to work from home at that time in American History.

The other day I was thinking about how crazy it would have been years ago to aspire to work from home. For a woman, that would have meant doing some sort of underpaid piecemeal work, such as sewing or laundry — and supervising a brood of children on top of everything else! It must of have been a nightmare. What woman in her right mind would have wanted such a life for herself or her daughters?

Now, of course, the possibilities from home are endless. Computers and cell phones make it possible to communicate with colleagues and clients around the world from the comfort of a home office. And being at home makes it possible for parents to have more time for family if they wish.

When I tell people I work from home, the most common response is, “Really? You’re so lucky!” My only complaint is that it is such an attractive option my husband has begun using the home office as much as possible as well — although he remains firmly tethered to a job he loves.

Flexible part-time or full-time schedules available.

Learn about a fast-growing, debt-free, environmentally-friendly, Inc. 500 company looking to expand in the metro DC area. We need help!

On the evening of Tuesday, November 11th we are sponsoring a Business Opportunity Night in order to give folks in the community a chance to come learn about us, ask questions of leaders in our company, and be amazed at this recession-proof opportunity. This event will be held in a restaurant on Rockville Pike in Rockville, close to Bethesda. Please leave a comment and we will follow up with more details.

Hey guys, I’m interested, BUT I live in a different part of the country. What should I do?

Most people visiting this site live outside of the D.C. metropolitan area (as much as we love to think of ourselves as the center of the universe!). We invite you to leave a comment as well and we’ll arrange to speak with you over the phone and let you in on one of our many computer presentations.

Looking forward to meeting you!

The At Home On Purpose Team