Working from home – most of us absolutely love it – but it can be challenging.

Here are a couple other challenges we face when we work from home…

Challenge – Feeling like you’re not getting your great ideas accomplished and the business isn’t moving forward.

• First thing in the morning take a few minutes to picture what you want to create for the day. Envision your success. Write it down in your journal.

• Limit yourself to three top priorities to accomplish today. For example your day might include scheduling appointments, spending quality time with each child and exercising for one hour. This way it’s easier to see your results.

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If you provide a service – as a coach, nutritionist, interior designer, VA, etc. – then you’re a problem solver! You probably work with your ideal client all day long so you know who she is, what problems or challenges she’s experiencing and what she needs from you to improve her life.

You answer questions and problem-solve on the spot every time you work with your client, and the problem-solving probably comes quite naturally to you, and your clients  value the information you provide.

The question becomes how can you reach a broader audience of ideal clients who need you to solve their problems? One answer is to create an information product that will meet their needs.

So you can make this happen quickly, the key is to figure out what you know TODAY (without any extra learning and that’s already in your knowledge base) that you can use to help others.

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Entrepreneurs who work at home are confronted with a whole set of challenges that other working people don’t have –  your four year old interrupts you with “Where’s my toy?”; the laundry and sink of dirty dishes stare you in the face; a stack of magazines you want to read or a TV program you want to watch tempts you…

But if you want to move your business forward and successfully juggle your responsibilities, you have to learn survival skills. Here are two common challenges we face and some suggestions on how to cope with them.

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Social networking is a fantastic avenue to connect and form business relationships. The key to being successful is learning how to use it authentically and to create meaningful connections. The platform I’ve spent the most time on is Twitter so I want to share with you some of the ways I’ve found to really connect through Twitter.

I believe the first step is to go into social networking with the right mindset. I have an upcoming class about the Art of Connection where I explain the difference between connecting and collecting when you’re networking.

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Have you ever had a case of entrepreneur envy? That’s where you keep looking at what everyone else is doing… Maybe they’ve got a great new teleseminar that’s sold out. Or maybe they just landed a spot on TV. Or their blog has lots of comments and you can’t get any! You start focusing your energy on everyone else and what they’re doing instead of thinking about the authentic marketing of your special brand of business.

I love to “follow” entrepreneurs that I admire and see what they’re up to and what’s working from them. There is incredible value to be found learning from others. But the danger is losing yourself in the process. Every single one of us is so different.  So yes learn from others, but ultimately you have to get it done in your own way.

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Have you ever felt like you’re not having fun in your business and you’re not doing what you’re meant to do?

Maybe you’re not earning what you want. Maybe you’re not having the fun that you want. Maybe you’re not working with the clients you want. Maybe you’re just disillusioned.

Are you suffering in silence?

The fact is no matter how successful you are as an entrepreneur, it’s a fact that we all hit  major roadblocks now and then and I believe they’re part of the entrepreneurial process.

It is in the rising up from the dark times that provide us with an opportunity for our real learning and growth.

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I have an important follow-up to a confession/blog.  The other week I was procrastinating (to the point of watching movies in bed in the middle of the day) until I followed my own advice!
I’ve been brainstorming about a new program to help entrepreneurs quickly create a whole new source of income by providing the “how-to” steps to create an info-product. I know this program has incredible value and appeal but I’ve been stuck.

Why? Because I wasn’t clear on who my “ideal” client for this program is even though I’d just written an article on why that’s so important!

The problem was that the client I was initially visualizing for this program just wasn’t fun for me to work with… In fact the person who kept popping into my head was my mother! And although she helped me come up with the idea for the program I just couldn’t visualize working with her. So even though I knew I was sitting on this great idea, I couldn’t move forward.

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Imagine a business where you have really great referral partners and ideal clients. You have clients seeking you out and referral partners who believe in what you do and really want to share your work with their friends and communities.

The question is… how do you go about finding these ideal clients and partners?

The answer is to connect effectively with a broad assortment of people.

Business is all about people and all about creating relationships. We all do business with those that we feel connected to. Some of those relationships can be cultivated online and others need to be nurtured in person. Regardless of your method you have to put yourself out in the world and give yourself the opportunity to connect effectively, meaningfully, and authentically.

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As creative entrepreneurs, we want to make our wisdom available to as many people as possible. A great way of do this is to take valuable material we have already created and, through repurposing, present it in different formats. We can be of greater service to others as well as making our own lives easier when we do this.

How can creative entrepreneurs and others benefit from repurposing?

Repurposing saves you time and energy because you don’t have to start from scratch. Instead of procrastinating, you’ll start realizing how much you have to offer, maybe things that you previously took for granted. Here’s an important mindset reminder for creative entrepreneurs – what you know has value.

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It was National Procrastination Week (March 1 – 7, 2010) so it’s a good time as busy entrepreneurs to think about how to conquer procrastination. When you work at home it’s so easy to procrastinate. Why? Because you’re always busy.

You can confuse being busy with being productive. They are not the same thing.

For me, having three children and a home-based business make for a very busy day (as I’m sure you can relate to). There are lunches to pack, carpools to run, emails to answer, and calls to make. While all these tasks are necessary for me to run a household, and care for my children, I can use them as an excuse to procrastinate important projects that will help me grow my business.

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