_____FEATURED ARTICLE_______________________

                 It's Laughable!
          ...now that I look back on it

Have you ever had a moment where you reminisced something 
embarrassing from your past, something you hoped was tucked 
away and forgotten?

In an instant, a mortifying memory comes back, at first as a 
trickle, then a flood as the gates of your memory reveal the 
humiliating details.

You flush, then you giggle, and finally transition into 
boisterous laughter.

Congratulations.  You have arrived.  You are ready to look 
back on your past embarrassment with fond memories.  In fact, 
ultimately, you will end up talking freely and fondly about it.

Reminiscing those moments in your life is healthy.  We all 
need to be able to laugh at ourselves, our past failures and 
shortcomings.

But, this article isn't about the time little Johnny pointed 
to Aunt Bertha at your Thanksgiving dinner and asked you why 
she didn't fit in her seat...100 decibels too loud.  No, this 
article is about your business.

So, what does all this have to do with your business?

Simply this...

We all had to start somewhere in our small businesses.  We've 
all made mistakes, some embarrassing, in our humble 
beginnings.  I can pretty well guarantee you that every person 
reading this has had those moments.  I'll even go so far as to 
assert that there will more embarrassing moments ahead.  We're 
all human, after all.

Doing business is an evolving education.  Mistakes happen, 
some you would rather forget, some you would term mortifying.

Don't worry, you're not revealing your weaknesses by talking 
about them.  Rather, you're revealing your humanness and growth.

So, let's talk about them.  I'll start...

Dave and I have been entrepreneurial since long before we met.  
We've started, closed and sold such a variety of businesses, we 
can hardly even count anymore.  It's in our blood.

One of those businesses was a printing business.  We had 
leased a small shop downtown, purchased equipment and hired a 
few employees.  At first, Dave and I had to go door-to-door to 
drum up some business.  Most of our first accounts were small 
and not terribly significant.  One of those first accounts was 
a small restaurant.

We were asked to typeset and print a new menu for the 
restaurant.  No problem.  We spent hours agonizing over 
details and getting everything typeset just right.  As one of 
our first orders, we wanted to make sure this job was perfect, 
and put in extra time and effort to be sure of it.  We faxed 
it to the restaurant for them to proof and get the okay to 
begin printing.  The proof came back almost immediately and on 
went the printing press.

When the job was finished, we proudly delivered the printed 
restaurant menus.  Ahhh, the finished product.  We flipped 
through each menu to make sure there were no printing errors.  
They looked fantastic.  In fact, better than expected.

Some weeks later, we decided to visit this small restaurant so 
that we could proudly order from the menus we had printed.

As we were seated and handed the menus, Dave and I gave each 
other a smug smile and wink.  We were about to open and order 
from "our" menus.

As I opened my menu, my eyes fell on the first large heading.  
Something was terribly wrong.  A horrible feeling started 
in my gut and moved up to my face.  I glanced over to Dave to 
see if he had seen it.  His face green and his eyes open wide, 
it was obvious he had also noticed it right away.

After all, the error was glaring.  There it was in bold-faced 
print..."SOAP OR SALAD."

We quickly glanced around the restaurant to see if others had 
recognized the same glaring error.  We felt as if all fingers 
would be pointing to us.  We wanted to hide.  How in the world 
could we have missed something so obvious?

Although the food was just fine, we sat through an extremely 
uncomfortable, unsatisfying meal.  We were anxious to leave.

Dave and I look back on that day with fondness.  It has since 
been brought up at many a table conversation, and we have 
spent hours guffawing over that awkward moment.  One can only 
imagine how many times we have jokingly offered "Soap" or 
salad at our own dinner table.

Okay, we've all had a good laugh at Dave's and Heidi's 
expense.  It keeps us humble, and gave us a good laugh too.

Now, it's your turn.  There's got to be something in your 
business past that could use some lightening up.  Share it 
with someone today.

If you've got the guts, share it with us at the "Business 
"Bungles" forum at
http://www.homebusinessonline.com/community/forum/viewforum.php?forum=5&1

------
Note: You have permission to reprint this article in its 
entirety with the author's credits below.

About the Authors: 
Heidi and Dave Perry are successful entrepreneurs and founders 
of HomeBusinessOnline.com and PrettyGreat.com.  Sign up for 
their popular HomeBizBytes newsletter at 
http://www.HomeBusinessOnline.com/nsl.htm?hbb


_____DAVE AND HEIDI RECOMMEND_______________

A month or so ago, Phil Wiley sent me a copy of his new eBook 
and asked for feedback.  I took it with me to bed each night 
for a week, read it through once, read it a second time, this 
time with a notebook and pencil in hand.

I've already created several mini money-making sites using his 
straight-forward, step-by-step, how-to method.  It works!  

I couldn't yet tell you about Phil's eBook until it was 
officially out...and it is.  Boy is it ever!  However, now 
that it's official, I must tell you that Phil's book isn't for 
everyone.  I wouldn't recommend this new eBook for someone 
wanting a few extra dollars a month.  No! This eBook outlines 
a plan for making serious money promoting affiliate programs.  
If the latter describes you, then I would highly recommend 
Phil's new eBook.  

His program is, by far, the best I've found for making money 
as an affiliate.  He not only tells you how to create multiple 
free and low-cost mini sites to sell affiliate products, he 
also shows you step-by-step how to get tons of traffic and 
sales from each and every one of your mini sites your very 
first week.  If you've heard of Phil, you undoubtedly know 
he's made serious money doing this very thing. 

Now, he shows you his methods, step-by-step, link-by-link in 
detail.  A small price for the knowledge gained.

Here's a URL for more info...

http://www.homebusinessonline.com/preview/phil_minisites.html


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_____KIND THINGS YOU HAVE SAID______________

What a compliment, Neil.  The feeling is mutual!

  Heidi, 
  
  ...You're one of the few people online I trust :-)

  Neil Shearing
  http://www.scamfreezone.com


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