But you can’t really create an effective strategic plan until you know “where you want to be” …until you know what success should look like.

Your vision statement is NOT what’s wrong with life as you currently know it. It’s what your business/lifestyle is going to look like when you successfully arrive at where you’re going …and when things are working really, really well.

It’s about writing out something that gets you excited, makes you want to go to work each morning and work through the inevitable challenges that will come up en route to an INSPIRING long-term outcome.

We covered this in great detail in the Fast Start webinar found in our new “Knock It Out Of The Park in 2011!” program.

But in order to be effective, a vision statement include certain things… 1) It must be inspiring 2) It must be written down 3) It must be shared with others

I have my best ideas when I wake up and last week, I woke up and remembered that I had written a vision several years ago. I had completely forgotten about this vision since “visioning” was not a priority like it is now..

Never the less, it had all 3 characteristics of a good vision statement. It was inspiring – encompassing how I would integrate my work, family and ministry. It was written down – I actually wrote the vision as the preface in my book, “A Father’s Stew”. And I had shared it with the hundreds of people who bought my book!

And here’s the cool thing …almost everything has come to pass just as I had written it down 8 years ago! This visioning stuff really works!

If you want to see what I wrote, just scroll down to the bottom of this post.

Also, if you want to see our BEST strategy of 2010 – the one that has added thousands of email subscribers to our list – and got Big Players in our niche to co-create a product with us and then turn around and promote that product to their HUGE email lists – then you need to watch the encore presentation of “Our Best Strategy of 2010!” http://www.familyebiz.com/best_strategy2/

This is not a replay link. We are doing an encore presentation tomorrow night at 9pm Eastern. That’s Tuesday, December 21 at 9pm Eastern. Make sure you register here: http://www.familyebiz.com/best_strategy2/

Before 2011 starts, write down your vision statement. Then create a strategic plan that will implement the vision you just created.

Blessings,

Stephen and Kerry Beck

From the preface of “A Father’s Stew”…

The Bible states that without a vision, the people perish. I have a dream, a vision if you will. In my dream, I wake up excited to start another day at work. Surely, you must be dreaming you say! No, I am excited because I know that this work is the very work that God has called me to do.

My wife is my right hand in this work and I know that God could not have given me anyone better suited to this task. My children are involved in my work and it proves to be a tremendous training ground for them. For my daughters, as they submit to me and follow my leadership, I am able to train them to be godly wives and mothers someday. For my son, I am able to teach him to obey God and one day, lead a family of his own. Younger men are also involved in my work and working side by side gives me the opportunity to teach them to apply God’s Word with wisdom and understanding in their daily affairs. My wife ministers to younger women as well, teaching them to honor their husbands and love their children in a godly manner.

My children see these young men and women grow and are encouraged to one day disciple younger believers on their own. The younger men and women see my children and realize that the Bible is true and a godly family can be achieved. My work blesses my family and my ministry. My family helps me in my work and provides concrete examples for my ministry. My ministry provides helpers for my work and motivation for my family.  For you see, work, family and ministry are all ingredients to a stew. A stew that is described in Phil 4:18 as a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God.

Why not worry?

The answer occurred to me while I was singing in church yesterday. The words we sang continue with me this week….”How Great Thou Art!”

God is so much greater than anything that happens on earth …and that includes the economy. Steve & I are thankful that we have someone greater than ourselves who is looking out for us.

All you have to do is look at history and see that we will make it through the downtimes of a spiraling economy. Of course, we should also learn the lessons from history. We’ve repeated some of history’s mistakes and that is what got us here in the first place. But, we can rest assured that God is greater than our mistakes …even our country’s economic mistakes.

Another song that comes to mind during these difficult days goes like this:

Our God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, our shelter from the stormy blast, and our eternal home.
Under the shadow of your throne your saints have dwelt secure; sufficient is your arm alone, and our defense is sure.

Isn’t it comforting to know that God is sufficient for us, as we ride the “stormy blast” of America’s economical fall. We truly believe that God will provide our needs and see us through this

Here is a nice email I received this week:

“If you could not aford a new car you must not be very successful
at business.”

     Note: If you are going to write a nasty email, make sure
     you can spell “afford” correctly.

Here is another one…

“I have a successful home based business. I love marketing and
promotions. Wanted to learn more, but don’t care for Deceptive
Marketing practices.

The one about the truck fire kind of crossed the line. If in fact
you are as successful as you make out to be, that should not be
an issue.”

And here is the best one of all…

“Steve,

I’ve been on your elist for a while now.  I’ve looked at your
products and have been mildly interested.  I have never liked
your “I’ll be your best friend and tell you how to make lots of
money” advertising slant, but just wrote that off to a difference
in preference.  However, your latest “truck fire advertising” hit
a new record for a low-down, dirty marketing approach.

Maybe it worked though – I did buy the product, but I probably
would have been happier buying it if you had just had a sale.
The fact that you are begging for help to fix your truck is
disgusting to me.  You are just playing on people’s emotions by
mentioning that you are in seminary, your daughter had the fire,
many people have died, etc.  You know that many people on your
list are Christians and tend to want to help others in need.  You
are abusing the fact that people trust you.  I’m interested in
your techniques of building a big mailing list, but I never plan
to stoop that low.

If your ebook about growing a big list focuses on manipulating
people, I will be taking advantage of your money-back guarantee.
I’m willing to grow my business a little bit more slowly, but at
least I will have my integrity!  And by the way, part of my
family’s financial plan is a saving account/emergency fund to use
when my truck catches on fire!  A successful businessman
shouldn’t have to beg his customers to help him with a few
thousand dollars to fix his truck.

Also – haven’t you used this ploy before?  Or did you learn it
from someone else?  It seems that I’ve seen a similary marketing
strategy before.  Another marketing ploy that I detest is using a
letter like mine to generate interest!  I’ve seen that from both
you and Kerry.

Sincerely,

A Disgusted Customer”

Okay, so let me address the issues…

First, if you are going to write an email like this, at least
have the courage to sign your name.

Second, I have never had a “my truck caught on fire” sale before.
In fact, I have never had a sale concerning my truck or any other
of my vehicles before this. Mr. Disgruntled must be confusing me
with someone else.

Third, I am not begging. I am offering an incredible collection
of products for a really low price. If that is begging, then
there must also be a problem with “after Christmas” sales or
“clearance sales” of any kind.

Fourth, I can afford another vehicle. I am successful in my
online business. But why not raise the money for another vehicle
by blessing people’s socks off! Why not offer a package that has
such extraordinary value that it becomes a no-brainer to buy it?

Debra Thompson Roedl told my daughter that as she was scrolling
through the package, she was bracing herself for a price tag of
several hundred dollars. When she saw the price, she almost
called me to rebuke me about how low the price was…and she is
one of the Internet marketing gurus!

So, back to the point. I can afford another vehicle. But I wanted
to help people while I raised money for another vehicle. Why
can’t I do both? If that is manipulation, then I have no idea
what the word means.

“What about your insurance company?”

Well, as I explained on the web site, I do not carry
comprehensive insurance on vehicles that are over 5 years old.
That is a personal decision. But it is also besides the point.

Here are the three reasons I had this sale:

1. To help others (by giving them an incredible deal)
2. To help offset the cost of another vehicle
3. To warn others who might have a 2000-2002 Ford (of any kind -
not just pickups) to get their vehicle checked so they do not
have to go through what I had to go through.

And perhaps it is my David and Goliath way of telling people how
shabbily FORD treats their customers!

And here is the crux of the matter…

If you are going to survive in the online world, you will have to
build relationships with people. You have to tell them what is
going on in your life…what you believe and what your struggles
are.

You have to treat them as you would have them treat you.

People who write emails like Mr. Disgruntled do not understand
the relationship concept. They wish to remain anonymous and just
sell widgets to faceless strangers. I take a different approach.

Mr. Disgruntled does not like my “I’ll be your friend and tell
you how to make lots of money” approach. But here is the thing…

I actually LIKE my readers. And they actually LIKE me (except for
a few boo-birds!) and that is why I am successful on the
Internet.

It is all about the relationship.

If I can help you while you help me, then I can not think of a
better way to do business!

By the way, I will be GIVING a FREE 90-minute Teleseminar this
coming Saturday about the seven easy, repeatable steps to
building your online family business.

I will have more details on Tuesday!

—————————————————— 

Want to see what this incredible “My Truck Caught on Fire”
package looks like BEFORE the price goes up on Monday at NOON
(PST)? Then go here:

==>> http://www.FamilyEbiz.com/firesale.htm

—————————————————— 

Blessings,

Stephen Beck
www.FamilyEbiz.com

PS…Please feel free to leave a comment below.

This is Stephen Beck with FamilyEbiz. I usually do not send a
newsletter midweek, but I wanted to follow up on my rant that I
sent on Sunday. If you want to read the rant I am talking about,
go here:

http://www.familyebiz.com/blog/2007/01/21/my-first-rant-of-the-year/

First, I did not have any one company or person in mind when I
listed the ways Christian businesses can be selfish with their
companies. It was amazing how many emails said, “Oh, you must be
talking about so and so.” or “Aren’t you going to make so and so
mad?!?”

These are selfish business practices that I have observed over
the past five years and I felt a need to bring them to light.
Some people chastised me for criticizing other Christian
businesses, but when Peter was messing up, Paul told him about it
(and did so publicly)…and I’m sure that Peter thanked him for
it later.

I haven’t named any names because these are general principles
and not about a specific company. If I had a grievance against a
particular company, I would go to them in private.

Second, I am not saying that ALL Christian businesses should
promote other people’s products. If that is not in your business
model, I have no problem with that. What I DO OBJECT TO is asking
other’s to help promote your products, magazine, forum,
teleconferences, conferences, ebooks, regular books, etc WHILE AT
THE SAME TIME, refusing to promote their products or company in
return.

This is the ONE-WAY street that I am opposed to…all of the
promotion goes one way and benefits one company (usually the
company that is better known).

Again, I am NOT saying that every company has to promote every
product they are requested to promote. And I am not saying that
just because I promote your product that you necessarily have to
promote mine. It needs to be a good fit for your readers and it
needs to fit into your schedule (maybe you have just finished a
large promotion and want to give your readers a rest).

But I am saying that a promotion should be a win-win situation
for everyone involved – the one doing the promoting, the one with
the product and above all, the customer.

Again, this is the Golden Rule.

—————————————–
The room block for our FamilyEbiz Expo expires Jan 30. After that
date, I can not offer you the reduced room rate and I can not
guarantee that you will be in the same hotel with us.

And you DO want to be in the same hotel as us because we are
going to have soooo much fun!

Read all about the FamilyEbiz Expo coming on Feb 23-24 in San
Antonio:
http://www.FamilyEbiz.com/expo.php
—————————————–

This Sunday (on my regular newsletter day), I will give you tips
and tricks of approaching other companies to help promote your
products. There is a right way and a wrong way to do it, so you
will not want to miss it.

Blessings,

Stephen Beck

PS. REGISTER RIGHT NOW for our FamilyEbiz Expo:
http://www.FamilyEbiz.com/expo.php

This is Stephen Beck with FamilyEbiz. Okay, I have to get
something off my chest….

I am sick and tired of selfish Christian businesses!

(Now, before you start thinking this is only a personal rant…if
you own an internet business or are thinking about starting one,
this is something you need to know.)

These are Christian businesses that want you to promote their
products, but they will not promote yours. They ask you to tell
others about their web site, promote their ebook or even hand out
their complimentary magazines, but when it comes time to helping
YOU out…”sorry, but our policy does not allow that!”

The story usually goes like this…

Feel free to recommend OUR stuff, but

- we will not allow any posts to our forums that recommends
anyone else’s product

- we will not put a link on our web site that takes anyone off
away from our web page

- we will not allow anyone to recommend anything on our Yahoo
group that competes in ANY way with ANY of our existing or
potential products

- we will NEVER recommend anyone else’s product to our email list

- we will recommend your product as long as you buy hundreds of
dollars worth of advertising from us

- give us your product and we will sell it on our site, keep all
of the emails of your customers for ourselves and write you a
check for what we sold at the end of the month

What they are saying is…

“WE want you to help us promote our stuff, but we will never help
you promote yours…but, oh by the way, can you give us a freebie
for our next promotion?”

Call this “hard ball” business, call this “smart” business…I
call it was it is: SELFISHNESS!

And small family-run companies fall for this because they think
it is the only way they can get their foot in the door.

So, what is the answer?

UNSELFISHNESS!

—————————————–
I am interviewing Craig Perrine this coming Tuesday at 6pm about
how to grow a huge email list. He is the world’s leading expert
on building an email list and getting that list to TAKE ACTION on
what you are promoting.

For the phone number and private access code to this FREE call,
visit this link:
http://www.FamilyEbiz.com/expo.php
—————————————–

This is the wonderful thing about doing business on the Internet.
Sharing customers and promoting other businesses is the FASTEST
way to grow your own company!

And this is something that non-Christian businesses do A LOT
BETTER than Christian businesses. Non-Christian businesses on the
Internet share customers.

I have lots of non-Christian friends who will send an email to
their list about my course on starting an Internet business (even
though it has biblical content) and in turn, I will send an email
out to my list about their product.

But Christians are slow to pick up on this and this is true even
in the homeschool community!

But we of all people should be the first to want to help each
other out. If your product fits my niche and it will benefit my
readers and we can have a MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL relationship, then
we should desire to bless each other.

So think about how you can help someone else’s business grow. Ask
other online business owners how you can help them promote their
products. If you sense that it is all a one-way street…all the
profits going to them, keep looking!

There are a few Christian companies online that “get it”! We love
to partner with people like Cindy Rushton, Jim Erskine of
Homeschool Radio and Terri Johnson of Knowledge Quest through our
companies FamilyEbiz and Curriculum Connection.

These people know the power of two companies promoting to each
other’s email lists and helping everyone, customer and business
owner alike, in the process.

Next time, I will give you a few tips on how to make this all
work.

Hey, I’m getting ready for my Tour of Texas from Jan 31-Feb 4!
Kerry and I are giving free business workshops in Dallas,
Houston, Austin and San Antonio!

So, if you live in Texas, come by and see us at one of our
workshops. If you don’t live in Texas, send this to someone who
does!

To get more information on these free workshops, plus the dates,
times and locations, plus the printable fliers…visit:
http://www.FamilyEbiz.com/texastour.htm

Blessings,

Stephen Beck

PS. Only a week and one day to take advantage of our hotel room
block for the FamilyEbiz Expo. After that the reduced room rate
will be gone and I will not be able to guarantee you a room at
the same hotel.
http://www.FamilyEbiz.com/expo.php

I want to find a method, a system if you will, to raise my
children with the least amount of effort possible.

I want to raise children in such a way that it doesn’t cost me
any money, doesn’t cut into my free time and doesn’t require a
large amount of work.

And I want good results too.

I want godly children who are obedient, polite and who love God
with all their strength. But I don’t want spend a lot of time or
effort on this. And I certainly don’t want to be out a lot of
cash. I just want it to happen naturally.

In fact, if someone had a program that would guarantee this or
maybe even some children already like this that I could just
assume responsibility for…then I would be REALLY interested!

Then I could have all of the results (and all of the rewards)
without all the sacrifice. I could have godly children and I
wouldn’t be out any time, money or effort.

How cool would that be!

Hopefully, you are as horrified with the ideas above as I am. And
if you are not disgusted with the idea of raising godly children
without all the muss and fuss of sacrifice, you might as well hit
the unsubscribe button right now!

Now, why the rant about raising children on a newsletter about
starting your own online business…?

Well, just as a person would be a fool to try to raise children
without any sacrifice at all, a person would ALSO be a fool to
try to start a business without any sacrifice at all!

And just as you will not be pleased with the results of raising
children without sacrifice, you will not be pleased with the
results of growing your online business without sacrifice either.

Now, don’t misunderstand me…

Children are MUCH more important than your business. In fact, if
your business is taking you away from your children, you need to
re-evaluate your priorities. That is why I advocate including your
children in your online business. You can begin taking steps
toward freedom AND teach them entrepreneurial skills at the same
time!

So, even though raising your children is VASTLY more important
than starting and growing an online business, there are some
similarities. And there are some principles we can learn from
raising children that we can apply to “raising” an online
business.

And I will cover the first similarity today.

Just as it takes money to raise a child, it also takes money to
start and grow an online business. Not a lot, but it does costs
some money.

I can not tell you how many emails I get from people who want to
start an online business but do NOT want to spend any money. They
want an online business that will:

- help them quit their day job
- give them financial freedom
- get them out of debt
- help Dad to come home and work from the house
- teach their children business skills

…and yet, won’t cost them any money! How absurd!

Those same people fall prey to business “opportunities” on the
Internet or in the back of magazines that promise a COMPLETE
business in a box. The business “opportunity” will provide the
web site, the products and even the customer list…all you have
to do is contact them. It is so easy!

Yeah right!

Face it. If you want start an online business, it will cost some
money. Again, not a lot, but it will cost some money. Here are
some of the costs listed below:

You will have to have a computer with an Internet connection. It
doesn’t have to be a super fast connection, but you will be hard
pressed to run an online business from the Internet at your local
public library. Although I do know of Internet business owners
who run their entire business from Internet coffee shops!

Next, you will have to buy a domain name. Do not try to run an
Internet business off of a “free” domain service…it will not
work in the long run. I pay between $8 – $15 per year for my
domain name.

Finally, you will have to pay for hosting service. Hosting
service is the company that puts your web page on the Internet
for all to see. You can get very reliable hosting service for $50
per year.

After that, the choice is yours. You can download the rest of the
tools for free. The web site creator, graphics program, shopping
cart, ftp program, etc.

So, you can actually start an online business for about $65 per
year if you already have an Internet connection.

But here is something I do suggest spending money on…

Training.

When I wanted to learn to fish better, I hired a guide.

When I wanted to grow my remodeling company, I paid for a
remodeling seminar

When I wanted to become a pastor, I paid a seminary to train me.

When I wanted to be more competitive in combat shooting matches,
I hired an expert to take me to the next level.

When I wanted to grow my online business so I could work from
home, I paid for an Internet marketing seminar.

Do you get the picture?

If you want to start an online business. It you want to take your
online business to the next level. Then you need to come to our
FamilyEbiz Expo on Feb 23-24 in San Antonio Texas.

It is training, pure and simple. It is 8 of the nation’s top
experts in starting and growing an online business for 2 full
days – and I mean FULL days.

So, please. Visit the link below. We have a special bonus for
those who act before Tomorrow at noon and we have a free call
tomorrow night with one of the experts, Craig Perrine.

Here is the link for more information on this one of a kind
training:

http://www.FamilyEbiz.com/expo.php

Blessings,

Stephen Beck