This is very exciting news!

A new Direct Selling Certificate program will be available to community colleges across the country in the spring of 2012. Even more exciting is that direct sellers can participate in the pilot program for free. It’s being offered at three Community Colleges starting on October 17 or 18, 2011.

Get the details now by clicking the link >>> DSEF Direct Selling Entrepreneur Certificate.

The Direct Selling Education Foundation (DSEF) partnered with the National Association of Community College Entrepreneurship to offer this program. According to DSEF Program Director Robin Diamond, “This new educational program will help direct selling entrepreneurs build their businesses by combining strong entrepreneurship skill training with direct selling-specific learning.”

Some of the reasons why I find this program so exciting :

• A certificate program further legitimizes direct selling as a serious, professional business.
• Many direct sellers start with little or no business experience and a strong desire to succeed. Additional education will certainly go a long way towards achieving success.
• Offering the program through community colleges will help keep it affordable and accessible for many more direct sellers.

Check it out today. The free pilot program starts in in Massachusetts, Minnesota, and New York in mid-October on a first-come first-served basis. It will be available to community colleges across the country in the Spring of 2012.

Get the details now by clicking the link >>> DSEF Direct Selling Entrepreneur Certificate.

Thank you @JenFongSpeaks for bringing the program to my attention.

Image courtesy of sidewalk flying

Direct Sales Classroom is launching Direct Sales 102 with a series of free coaching videos.

In the first video Lisa Robbin Young reveals a bit about how she came to learn and practice the principle that makes her successful, and she invites you to learn it too. Click the link to watch the introduction to the free direct sales coaching.

In this 2nd short video, Lisa answers the question, “Why your husband says ditch your direct sales biz.”
Click the link>>> 2nd video about free direct sales coaching.

The 3rd video is an introduction to Income Producing Activities and Lisa’s asks if you are doing “whatever it takes” in your direct sales business.

Let me know what you think.

While many of us have always dreamed of working from home, it’s not the right choice for everyone. If you’ve been thinking of starting a home business, but aren’t sure if it’s right for you, I just found something that might help. It’s a quick quiz that will show you if you’re suited for working at home and what type of business might be best.

The quiz only takes a couple of minutes and it’s anonymous. Click the link to try it out:
Work at Home Readiness Quiz.

It’s just 10 quick questions and you get your results immediately, along with some tips and resources to help you get started. Yes, some of the suggested resources are paid resources, but you don’t have to buy them. For the few minutes it takes for the quiz you’ll get some interesting insight into what might work for you.

Good luck!

Indicates an affiliate link (Why tell?)

Updated June, 2009 because things change. Comments posted before June, 2, 2009 refer to the original version posted last July.

I just finished going through a stack of email notifications for my new Twitter followers and it prompted me to let followers know how I decide whether or not to follow in return.

Some Twitter users believe that etiquette dictates that one return the favor by following anyone who follows you. As much as I’d like to always return the favor of following, I just can’t. I can only read so many tweets so I just can’t follow everyone.

At least once a week I go through my Twitter notifications and look at the profiles of everyone who is following me. Here’s how I decide whether or not to follow you:

• If I know you personally or have developed an online relationship with you through some other online venue, I’ll follow you.
• If I don’t know you, but your profile and tweets reveal who you are, and you are someone I think I can relate to either personally or professionally, I’ll follow you.
• If you interact regularly with someone I already follow, I’ll probably follow you.

NOTE: Post edited in early June, 2009 to add:

• If it seems like you use programs to automatically follow anyone and everyone you possibly can, I won’t follow you. It’s my preference to use Twitter in a more personal manner and therefore I do all my following and unfollowing manually.
• I don’t mind if you personally recommend products and use affiliate links. I do mind if you allow a service to send ads through your Twitter account. I try not to follow anyone who participates in some sort of auto advertising program for Twitter.
• If I follow you but you don’t follow back, it’s okay. I understand and I won’t automatically unfollow you.

If I don’t follow you, please don’t hesitate to ask me to reconsider after you update your profile or when you start tweeting more. Or if you think I overlooked the notification or made a mistake because you meet one of my decision criteria above drop me a line. I can be persuaded to change my mind.

If you are following me, thank you. I appreciate it.

If you aren’t following me and you’d like to see what I tweet about, you can click here to find and follow me on twitter.. If I don’t meet your expectations, you can always stop following me. (Don’t worry, I won’t feel bad about it.)

How do you decide who to follow on Twitter?

Here’s a great opportunity to learn how to become a profitable blogger. Moms Talk Network is offering an awesome blogging education with their blog internships. A new session starts soon and at the end of the 10-week program, interns will be very well-prepared to run their own profitable blogs using WordPress.

If you can make a firm commitment to the program and the very reasonable time requirement, and you can learn from constructive criticism, this is an unmatched opportunity to gain the skills necessary to run a successful blog. Interns don’t have to lay out any cash for their education, but are expected to contribute blog content.

I wholeheartedly recommend the program which is run by Kelly McCausey, an inspirational coach and highly successful home business owner and blogger.

Learn more about the Blogging Internship at Moms Talk Network.

That’s it… I’m not going to respond to one more offer that comes into my email inbox, gets posted on one of my favorite blogs, or that my Twitter friends recommend. Not even the free ones!

Why?

Because I’m in information and implementation overload. Everyday I get incredible offers for products and projects that are of great interest to me and that I want to participate in. But I have countless numbers of these products and projects that I’ve already downloaded and that are waiting for my attention.

Before I accept another offer I need to digest and implement everything I already have.

Of course I’m already worried that I’m going to miss out on something extremely worthwhile (like this Sweetie Saturday Report Coupon Offer), but in reality, if it is worthwhile it will have staying power, and I can participate after I’ve finished my other projects (not the coupon of course, but the membership will be there when I’m ready). Many things I’ve already downloaded never made it off the back burner anyway, so waiting wouldn’t have made a difference.

Of course learning is always important, but action is critical to success. I need to take action on some of my projects before I plan any more.

I’m taking a six week hiatus from accepting new offers. If I still have too many products and projects waiting for me I’ll extend it. I’m hoping I’m pretty much caught up, so I can start anew!

How about you? Are you on overload and what are you doing about it?

Sorry. This guide is no longer available.

Being a business owner has many challenges and rewards and the start of the year is a good time to reflect on the past and make improvements for the New Year. A New Year, A New Outlook for Your Business is a practical guide to making important business changes. It contains 10 New Year’s business resolutions to help you improve your business and boost profits.

In just a few weeks many of us will be making New Year’s Resolutions, and many are likely to resolve to start a new home business. But with so many choices, it can be difficult to find the right one. I know someone who can help you make the right choice.

A couple of months ago I met Steve Little. After talking to him for only a few minutes, I knew that his message was one I wanted to share with everyone who is looking to start their own business. Steve can teach you exactly how to sift through all the thousands of businesses to actually find the one that’s right for you…. the one that is perfectly matched to your entrepreneurial DNA.

And he’s made what he knows available for you on his video blog for FREE!

On there he is talking about entrepreneurship and how “soon to be” entrepreneurs should go about finding a business to start.

He has systematically broken down why most new businesses fail and what he found was it wasn’t how they were doing business, but actually that they were in the wrong business to start with. He created a step by step formula for finding a business that is perfectly matched to you and your entrepreneurial DNA… and he is giving it away right now on his blog.

Go check it out and let me know what you think.
http://www.chooseyouropportunity.com/perfectbizvideo/

Here’s to the perfect New Year’s business!

Please note (added December 29, 2008): This program has temporarily closed to new members, but apparently you can get on the waiting list to be notified when it re-opens, possibly in January.

Yesterday I read Justin Brooke’s ebook, SEO Lies, and had the pleasure of hearing him speak at a webinar. Justin’s advice is practical, easy to understand, and can be implemented today to immediately start improving your site’s search engine ranking.

If you’re confused or intimidated by all the search engine optimization advice out there, or you don’t know where to start, grab your copy of SEO Lies for a clear path to results. You have nothing to lose. It’s only $1 right now! (No, that’s not a typo…. it’s just ONE dollar.)

Click here to instantly download “SEO Lies”.

Sorry. This guide is no longer available. Here are some alternative resources:

Linda Stacy Recommends Blogging

Smart Blogging Skills

Blogging is one of the easiest and most inexpensive ways to market your direct sales business on the Internet. A blog personalizes your business, helps increase your search engine rankings, helps you build relationships with customer and prospects, and enhances your credibility in your business field.

One of the best parts about using a blog to promote your direct sales business is that it’s very easy to get started, even in you have no website design or coding experience.

Our new blogging business guide explains everything you need in order to get started and you can be set up and posting to your blog in a matter of minutes.

Click the link to grab your copy today!
Blogging for Direct Sales Business Success