Two Things Missing That Are Vital For Success

As I look back at times that I've failed in business, or times that I've watched as others have failed, I can see two things that were missing in my own life at the time. I know that the failure rate in MLMs is up around 97%. I've also heard all the excuses, as have you all about how they were not trained well enough by their upline, or maybe a lack of skill got the blame. I could write this whole post on the reasons people give why they failed. These days most people don't want any of the blame so the biggest reason that everybody fails supposedly is because what ever they were trying was a scam.

Let's face it, A lack of training can be compensated for through a variety of ways. These days there is no real excuse for a lack of knowledge if you are willing to learn. You can recieve training through books, the internet, or possibly even by finding someone in your business to mentor you.

As far as a lack of skill goes, it's been my experience that with most things in life, when it comes right down to it, you have to be bad before you can be good. True you have the individual that is a natural, but that is the exception rather than the rule.

No I believe that really just about all the failures you see in this business come about due to the lack of two simple things. Determination and the ability to spot opportunity when it strikes.

Determination, I would say is the single most important key to seeing success. Many people get into business then when they don't find success in the first couple of months, or maybe they even hang on for a year, but they quit. If you really want success you have to approach your business with the attitude that it may take a year, it may take 15 years, but if it takes you the rest of your life, you are determined to go out successful.

If you don't approach it with that attitude you're not going to be successful. You may find some level of success, but eventually hard times will come and you will quit. I've had some very successful businesses in the past. I can't say that I've had one yet though that didn't have hard times. As a matter of fact I can't think of any that there weren't times that I felt like a complete failure. Determination is needed to get you through those times.

Secondly, you need to practice developing your ability to spot opportunity when it surfaces. Many times when opportunity presents itself, it kind of sneaks in the back door, possibly disguised as misfortune or even disaster.

We tend to look for opportunities when things are exciting but we really need to remind ourselves to also keep an eye open for it when things are bad. When things just really are not going your way, and maybe everything just seems to be falling apart, sit back and try to figure out a way to benefit from the misfortune. I've been amazed at how many times things seemed to go wrong, but then those very situations opened up avenues that would have been closed to me otherwise.

In closing, maybe you are going through hard times right now. Maybe you are even considering quiting. Before you make any big decisions, I'd like you to sit back, relax for a moment, and think back to other times in your life when it seemed like everything was going wrong. I'll bet you can remember times when you really didn't see how you could make it through the month. Maybe things that you thought were secure just seemed to fall apart in your hands. But now that you are on the other side of it, looking back, was it really as hopeless as it seemed at the time?

Just remember, things are rarely ever as bad as they seem to be. Make up your mind to stick with it. Look for opportunities even in the bad times, and you will be successful.

http://www.hartlinefinancial.com/

Irena Sendler: A True Hero

Irena Sendler: There recently was a death of a 98 year-old lady named Irena. During WWII, Irena, got permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto, as a Plumbing/Sewer specialist. She had an 'ulterior motive' ... She KNEW what the Nazi's plans were for the Jews, (being German.)

Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of the tool box she carried and she carried in the back of her truck a burlap sack, (for larger kids..) She also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers of course wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking covered the kids/infants noises..

During her time of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids/infants. She was caught, and the Nazi's broke both her legs, arms and beat her severely. Irenakept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and kept them in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her back yard.

After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived it and reunited the family. Most had been gassed. Those kids she helped got placed into foster family homes or adopted.

Last year Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize .....

She was not selected. Al Gore won, for a slide show on Global Warming instead.

http://www.hartlinefinancial.com

The Lesson Of R.U. Darby (true story)

An uncle of R.U. Darby was caught by the “gold fever” in the gold-rush days, and went west to dig for gold and get rich. He staked his claim and started digging with a pick and shovel. It was hard work but he was determined to find gold and after weeks of digging he was rewarded with the discovery of gold.

He needed machinery to go deeper so he quietly covered the mine and went back to his family in Maryland to raise the money for machinery. After telling his family and some neighbors about the strike, the money was raised, and he and R.U. Darby headed back to Colorado to work the mine.

The first car of ore was mined and shipped to the smelter. The results proved that they had one of the richest mines in Colorado. A few more cars of the ore would pay off all the debts and then would come huge profits.

Needless to say the hopes of R.U. Darby and his uncle were very high but then the vein ran out. They drilled on for a while but never found anymore gold. Finally they decided to quit.

They sold the equipment to a junk man for a few hundred dollars. The junk man checked out the mine and brought in an expert who told him that the vein should continue on. He told the junk man that he wouldn’t doubt that the vien continued only a few feet past where they had stopped drilling.

Sure enough after the man who had bought the equipment started drilling again, he found gold just three feet past where R.U. Darby had stopped. He ended up bringing out millions in gold because he knew better than to give up before seeking expert advice.

R.U. Darby paid back every penny of the borrowed money to his family and neighbors and latter did find much wealth himself, selling insurance. He said that the owed his success to the lesson he learned through that one mistake. He would always remind himself “I stopped three feet from gold, but I will never stop because men say ‘no’ when I ask them to buy insurance.”

http://www.hartlinefinancial.com/

Merry Christmas

Hello Everybody,

I want to thank each of you for visiting my blog or site depending on where you are reading this.
I also especially want to wish each of you a Merry Christmas. I know that many places have gotten away from using this expression and some work places even forbid their employees to use it. But here, I do not wish others "Happy Holidays" for the simple reason that I am not celebrating a holiday. I celebrate Christmas. I do not greet you with "Season's Greetings" because I wish to honor a Saviour rather than a season.

Let us remember this Christmas what the true meaning of Christmas is. Yes, I know that we do not actually know the day Jesus was born, but I really don't see why that matters. I do know that he was born and I also know that the reason he was born was to die for the sins of the world. As far as I'm concerned that is reason to celebrate, and Dec. 25th is as good a time as any.

In my line of work I probably come across more people than the average person, just due to the fact that my job requires me to constantly interact with new people. During this time of year I see so many people who are stressed out, not just during the Christmas Season, but because of it. I had a man the other day tell me that as far as he was concerned it was just another day, due to the fact that his family didn't get together.

I really believe the problem with most folks is that we have done like the people who changed the word Christmas to Xmas. Even if we are not conscious of it, we have gotten so involved with buying presents and getting ready for family get togethers that we have in a very real way taken Christ out of Christmas. Sure we take 30 seconds before our meal to thank him and mention somewhere in the prayer that we remember the reason for Christmas but as soon as the prayer is over we tend to dismiss it.

When you take Christ out of Christmas you have taken the meaning out of it. When the giving of gifts doesn't remind us of the gift God gave us, then it is just something that cost us money and creates hard times next month. Sure it's fun to watch others, especially our children as they open the gifts, but without the significance of why we give those gifts, many of them are just simply bought because we feel obligated.

Even if you truely enjoy Christmas time, which I do by the way. If the enjoyment of the atmosphere or the getting together with family is where you gain meaning for Christmas, it can be taken away from you, like the man I mentioned before who no longer sees any difference between Christmas and any other day. His family doesn't get together so he doesn't see the point.

In conclusion, where it is all fun to me, Christmas is not about recieving presents. It's not even about giving. Christmas is not about family, although I love spending it with them. Christmas is about one thing and one thing only. It is the celebration of the fact that God Almighty himself loved us enough to leave heaven and be born a little lower than the angels, his own creation. And he didn't come to live a great life or even so much to show us how to live, although he did accomplish that. He came for the singular reason to die for us.

I know that some of you might say that Jesus wasn't God Almighty, he was the Son of God. But consider this:

John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

This passage tells us plainly that this "Word was God." It also tells us that the "Word" was the creator that Genesis tells us of, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." It does say that "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." So keep in mind that the "Word" was the Creator God.

John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

So, yes, Jesus was God's only begotten son, but he was also God Almighty who created everything that has ever existed. If we keep in mind the wonder of it all that God himself would come to earth to die for us, then Christmas will have great meaning for you regardless of your situation on this day.

So again I do not wish you "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings." I do though wish you a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

http://hartlinefinancial.com/

Identity Theft and Medical Fraud

Hey,
Once again I am writing about Identity Theft. I believe that this is an area that everybody needs to be aware of. Experts say that it is only a matter of time before everybody had had their Identity Stolen at least once. We are all aware of the dangers of having our Identity Stolen with credit cards but there are just so many ways in which it can be stolen and so many area’s of our lives that can be effected by it that I figure to write several articles about this subject.

Today I would like to look at Identity Theft and medical fraud. This occurs when an individual obtains medical care using someone else’s stolen identity. Many times you can remain entirely unaware that it has even happened unless you happen to get a hospital bill or are contacted by an insurance company with questions about the procedure.

This can effect you in many ways ranging from serious to possibly fatal. Many of your large companies obtain medical reports before giving certain promotions due to needing to find out if you are medically able to perform the duties that would be expected of you. Having had someone else use your identity for heart surgery or some other serious problem could keep you from being able to advance in your career.

How about applying for insurance. You might be a perfectly healthy individual. You are applying for health insurance and expect to not only have your application accepted but also expect to get a preferred rate. Then depending on what procedures someone else who has used your identity has had done in your name, you might get a very high premium or even be denied coverage.

Or even worse, you are having surgery or some other procedure. It might not even be something that would ordinarily matter, but your medical records indicate that you have conditions that you don’t have, or are taking medications that you are not taking, or could even indicate that you have a different blood type than you actually have. These little things could turn something minor into something deadly real quick.

You might would think that these problems would be easily fixed, but in reality they are not. First of all many times the problem may not even be identified until it has already hurt you. Secondly, many times you will find that after a Doctor has been notified that more than one person share a singe medical record it becomes very difficult to obtain you file just to see what problems their might be.

Even after obtaining your file though, getting the false information taken off just about takes an act of God. I’ve heard of a woman once who was billed for the amputation of her foot. She liked to have never got it fixed even though she still had both her feet. Unfortunately, common sense has very little to do with what goes on these days.

One thing that everybody needs to have these days is Identity Theft Protection. It is really the only way to make sure you are protected. I recommend the plan at this site it is a great plan and it is affordable.

http://www.hartlinefinancial.com

Could Your Identity Be Stolen Though The Postal Service

Hello my friends,

I would like to write today about one of the ways criminals are gathering information in regards to Identity Theft. I’m sure everybody reading this is aware of what identity theft is. We tend to only consider the dangers of putting our social security number into web pages or using our credit card at unsecured locations though.

Actually there are many ways that criminals use to gather information that would be used to steal your identity. One that you may not be aware of is very simply by getting the U.S. Postal Service to send it to them. You say “what?’ Read on.

Anytime you change your address you are able to get your mail forwarded to that new address by going to the Post Office and requesting a change of address form. This is a post card sized form that you fill out with your name, old address, and new address. Your mail, which is still addressed to the old address, then comes to you at your new residence.

This usually works for at least a month to three months giving you time to get a change of address to everybody who needs to contact you. Unfortunately this is one of the popular ways for a criminal to steal your identity also. They fill out a card with your information on it and they’re address then they just go to the mail box and gather your bills, credit card applications, bank statements… I’m sure I don’t have to go on.

So what to do. Take notice of the amount of mail that you are used to receiving. If all the sudden you are getting less or maybe even none. You might want to check with the Postal Service to find out what is going on. It might be nice not receiving any bills in the mail but with the information that tends to be on them you sure don’t want a stranger receiving them for you.

One thing I would personally encourage you do to protect yourself is, get some good Identity Theft Protection. You can get some here for a very affordable price.

http://www.hartlinefinancial.com/

What Sets Ameriplan's Compensation Plan Apart From The Rest

You might wonder what my relating this particular experience has to do with the subject but read the entire article and you will understand.

Years ago when I was earning my degree I worked at Hardees to pay my way through college. While working there I remember this man that used to come in just about every afternoon. You probably all know someone like him. He was loud. He talked to everybody, not really so much out of friendliness as to impress you with what he saw as a vast store of knowledge, and most of the knowledge that he would impart was really just useless.

Most everybody tried their best to ignore him, but I’ve got to admit I kind of found him entertaining and would talk with him each day just to see what he would say that day. Interestingly enough one day he asked me one of his typical questions that stuck with me and to tell the truth I believe demonstrates more truth than he really realized.

The question? If you were being hired for a temporary job that would last 30 days. You are given a choice of getting paid $1,000 per hour, or a salary starting at 1 penny a day that doubles each day, which payment would you choose.

Needless to say, most of us would say without even thinking that we would take the $1,000 an hour. With an 8 hour day you would be talking $240,000 over a 30 day period. But if you think about it first, that penny a day doubling on a daily basis will actually bring you in much more by the end of the 30th day.

By the end of the first week you would still only be making 64 cents a day. By the end of the second week you would be making $81.92 per day. Still doesn’t look good does it? By the end of the third week though you would be looking at $10,485.76 and on the 30th day you would have a $5,368,709.12 for just that last day‘s work. For a grand total of $10,737,418.23 .

So why do I bring this up? I mean it’s kind of neat but so what, it’s not like you are actually going to be offered that choice on a job, right?

Well the reason I bring it up is that, no you are not very likely to be offered that choice for any job, but the concept is sound. One thing that sets Ameriplan’s compensation plan apart from any that I have ever seen is not just that it offers residual income, many companies offer residual income of a sort but they don’t offer a level residual income. Ameriplan does.

Most companies might offer a 30% commission with a 1%-2% renewal. Which means you get 30% for the first year then a 1-2% on every year after that. Say one year you signed $100,000 worth of business. You would get paid $30,000 the initial year and then you could expect $1,000 for every year after that. If you stuck with it for 20 years you could expect to have a $20,000 yearly residual income coming in at by that time. You would have made $50,000 that last year but you would have to continue to work unless you could afford to retire with only $20,000 coming in.

As I said, Ameriplan has a compensation plan that I’ve never seen anything like in this or any other industry. Ameriplan pays a level residual income. That means if you write $100,000 worth of business that first year you would get paid $30,000. But instead of only getting a small portion of that for renewals your second year that $30,000 will be coming in again. So say you did the same amount of business the second year you could expect to bring in $60,000 your second year. Then with the same amount of business written for your third year you could expect $90,000.

This is why Ameriplan can deliver on the promise that with 2-4 years of effort you can expect to have a 6 digit residual income.

Say though that you are really below the average, but are at least willing to work at it and not quit. There is no way, if you put any effort into Ameriplan at all, that you will not be making the kind of money that others only dream about within a few years. Considering that even then you will be learning and getting better at it you could still expect it in that 4 year period. Just remember, even a very small amount becomes a very large amount when it is compounded over time.

I’ll be looking for you at the top!

Alex Hartline
http://www.hartlinefinancial.com/

A Carrot, An Egg, And Coffee

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up; she was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, ‘ Tell me what you see.’

‘Carrots, eggs, and coffee,’ she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, ‘What does it mean, mother?’

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

‘Which are you?’ she asked her daughter. ‘When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.

The happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can’t go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

http://www.hartlinefinancial.com/

New Contest

Any Team 2000 IBO that recruits 5 or more IBOs between today (Dec 21) and Jan 31, will win 1 free week in a luxury condo at the famous World Golf Village in historic St Augustine FL (the countries oldest city). This place has all the ammenities you would want too. Check it out at: http://www.site.worldgolfvillagecondo.com/

If you have any questions, or if you qualify to win .. email or call me, ok? Contact info below:

Alex Hartline
(256)679-0853
alexhartline@hartlinefinancial.com

http://hartlinefinancial.com/

Why Do Individuals Go Into Business For Themselves

Have you ever considered the question about why people choose to go into business for themselves. I've met some people who think that it will be easier than working for somebody else. Boy are they in for a surprise if they ever try it. The hardest working people I know are self employed. I've heard others talk of financial security and yet others just site greater income as the reason.

There are many misconceptions about being self employed. First of all, you do not start your own business for financial security. If you want finacial security you keep working for somebody else so that you can count on a consistant paycheck coming in every week. People who choose to be self employed do it not for financial security, but rather for financial freedom.

We like the idea that we are in control of our own financial success. Nobody else decides what our work is worth. Noboldy else decides how much work we are allowed to do. And when we work it is for our own benefit, building our own fortune, rather than building the fortune of somebody else.

As I said before, we definately don't make this choice because it is easier than being employed by others. I've found myself, that I work harder for myself than I will for others. Also, as before mentioned, I have found that the hardest working people I have known are business owners.

So how about the greater income? Well, many times at first you have to work hard to make ends meet. But if you are persistant and stick it out through the hard times, you will tend to make much more money than you would working for others. Let's face it. Even if you are making a great salary, the fact that someone is willing to pay you the amount they do, is because they are one way or another making a profit from those services.

If you are thinking of starting a business just remember. Most business owners are grossly underpaid at the front end, and grossly overpaid at the backend. Stick with it and I'll see you at the top.

http://www.hartlinefinancial.com/

My Mistake

I started my business this last year. When I got started I was very excited. I have a friend who had been doing this for about 9 years now and has become a millionaire several times over. I'd seen him take the last two years off to deal with some family problems and still bring in around $30,000 a month consistently.

So I jumped in and almost immediately bought a $200 course on marketing my business online then I spent another $200 to get the advanced membership to this forum and invested money here and there.After a few months I realized that I've spent time and money doing everything I can think of to get my business ready for the hundreds of people that might be looking for what I'm providing, while neglecting to just get out there and start talking to some people and making even that first sale.

Now I can say I have found that for my own business, there just doesn't seem to be any substitute for just simply talking to people. I haven't given up on getting a presence on the internet. But I think many times we focus so much on doing all the big things and getting ready for where we want to be in a couple years that we forget to do the little things that all the other big things are built on.

http://www.hartlinefinancial.com/

Route To Success

You know I've always found it interesting when I talk to people about the reasons they choose to do one thing or another in their business or for that matter just in life itself. It's interesting how many times we choose to do certain things simply because it is easier or maybe cost less. By doing this we many times make descisions that either just don't work or even if they do eventually get us to our goal it takes us much longer than it should have.

Personally I've found the best way to think of business or even life is to treat it like a trip that you might would take in your car. When you are going somewhere you sit down first of all and look at where you are wanting to go and how you plan to get there. As you drive along and come to a stop you don't look at the condition of the road straigh ahead and to either side and decide which way to go according to how smoothe one is compared to the others you take the road that is going to take you to your destination. Above all when traveling if I do manage to get lost somewhere along the way, you won't come along and find me just sitting there on the side of the road deciding whether or not to quit. I might ask directions or consult a map, but one way or the other I keep going until I reach my destination.

http://www.hartlinefinancial.com/

Advice From The Bible For A Happy Life

You know I have always believed that the only person that can ruin your day is yourself. I mean others can do things or say things to you that are agravating but when it comes right down to it, only you choose what you are going to focus on that day.

I know a preacher that once told me that you can't help it if birds fly over your head but you don't have to let them roost in your hair.

Today while reading my Bible I read this verse.

Philippians 4:8
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

I've never been one who believes that positive thinking changes what happens but I do believe that what you focus on can make a big difference in your ability to handle the bad along with the good.

http://www.hartlinefinancial.com/

Exciting News for Diabetics

Hey, I’ve got exciting news for any of you who might have diabetes. Ameriplan now has a new diabetic plan available for members that saves an average of 50% off your diabetic supplies. We ship your glucose meter, test strips, lancets, lancing device, control solution, battery, and carrying case to your door for free.

With this diabetic plan you will never run out of supplies, and you will save hundreds of dollars on your supplies every year. If you have been a member with Ameriplan for very long now, you are familiar with how easy it is to work with, but you may not realize that this is an option that is available to you. Just like the rest of the services that we provide, there are no prequalification’s so everybody is accepted.

If you are already a member and want information on how to get this coming to you call me at (256)679-0853. If you are not a member and are interested in becoming one you can reach me at the same number.
http://www.hartlinefinancial.com/

Ameriplans New Apflex Program, This Is Unbelievable!!!

Just when you think that things could not possibly get any better, they prove you wrong once again. How could the #1 Home Business in the U.S. possibly get any better? Ameriplan has taken everything that is great about their compensation plan and added a whole new bonus system to make even greater levels of income. This will make getting to the 6 Digit Residual Level even easier and a whole lot quicker.

The cost of starting up at this level is $150 instead of the $50 but the earnings are so much greater that even at that price, this is an investment with insane levels of return. If you come across somebody that just cannot afford to start at that level, Ameriplan does still have the other opportunity where you can get into business and still make a six digit income within two to four years. I mean let’s not forget that the $50 opportunity was rated as the #1 in America last year, but I would encourage all your prospects to come in at the $150 level. The compensation is so much greater and lets face it, even $150 to get into an actual business is nothing.

If you are currently making money with Ameriplan and have not read up on this opportunity, call me for information at (256)679-0853. This new system could literally make a difference of an extra $100,000 a year in your income. There truly has never been a better time to be in business for yourself, nor has there ever been a more exciting time to be in business with Ameriplan.

See you at the top,
Alex Hartline
http://www.hartlinefinancial.com

Lessons Learned From Dad

Growing up in my parents house, I was taught many things. Some things I learned just from experiences others from the lives that my mom and dad lived before me. There were still others that my parents would tell me straight out that I needed to learn this or that and remember it. Some of these things I was told over and over until I had grown enough to move out, get married, and start a family of my own. The number of these lessons would never fit into a book and I really don’t have the time to even try to write one if they would. So, I would like to mention just three of these things today.

These are three things that I can give my dad credit for teaching me. I’ll be honest with you, many times when I was being told these things, it was not what I wanted to hear, especially at that particular moment. But now that I am grown, I see so many people who are unhappy and unsuccessful due in part because I personally believe they were never taught these things, and within myself I am once again thankful that my dad did drill these lessons into me.

The first of these lessons was that, “the world does not owe you anything.” You know, it seems like every year, I see and hear more and more people with a sense of entitlement. I’ve come across people that were having a hard time and given them money, others maybe I bought food for them and they just accept it like it’s their due, and walk off. I used to train new drivers for a particular trucking company. I owned my own truck and due to the fact that I was diabetic I had a fridge in my truck since I had to eat a certain way. I let my students put stuff in it, but did have to put a limit on it. I had one student who actually tried to get me in trouble over this. Now he knew that I owned this fridge, so it was not company property. But rather than be thankful that I shared, he was upset because he felt that he was automatically entitled to at least half of it. Every time I turn on the TV, I see people, whether politicians or news announcers, talking about our rights to this or that. They seem to forget that happiness is not what we have the right to, it is rather the pursuit of happiness that we are guaranteed the right of.

You might ask how does this make it where people are unhappy or unsuccessful? I would say from my own experience that there is certain amount of happiness that comes from simply being thankful. When you are given something that you feel is owed you, then you never experience the happiness of being thankful for the actions of others. Also have you ever noticed that many times the people who are the least thankful, and seem to have the most of a sense of entitlement, tend to be the ones who have the least. Now the question I would ask is, do they feel entitled because they are poor, or are many of them poor because they feel entitled and so are unwilling to do for themselves?

The second lesson I’ve learned from my dad is that life is not fair. I remember as a child, and later even as a teenager going to my dad and complaining “that’s not fair,” and his response would always be, “who said life’s fair?” Man, I hated that. That is really not the response I was looking for, but it was a valuable lesson that has helped me in my adult life. Life isn’t fair, and unless you realize that fact, you will spend much of your life discouraged, angry and will likely become a very bitter person. I don’t know how many people that I’ve come across these last few years that would quit this or that, and when you talk to them about why they quit, they tell you about how their “feelings were hurt,” and how it was so unfair. I always feel like saying, “yep, sounds like life.” I mean really, when you really look at the situation, maybe it was unfair, but by quitting, and limiting themselves of benefits that they could have had if they had only kept going, they are just in turn treating themselves unfairly. Most people just need to realize, ok, life’s not fair. Now let’s just get on with our lives.

The third and last lesson I would like to mention today is about not quitting. I don’t know how many times one of my brothers or my sister, or myself would want to quit at something and my dad would tell us, “Hartlines don’t quit. Get back in there.” I can’t say that I have always lived up to this lesson but I can say that some of my best times came about due to the fact that I didn’t quit when life got hard. Also some of my biggest regrets are due to times that I did quit during hard times and later wished I had not. Am I saying that everything you ever start, you should never cut your losses? No, but the fact that things have gotten hard or maybe just aren’t going your way at that time is not a good reason to quit. I would also say that if you do drop something, don’t do it at a time of pressure. You should never make an important decision when things are going bad or even when things are going great. If you are feeling discouraged put off that decision for a month and see if it is still looking as bleak at that point. We as Americans really quit way too much. I would say that before you quit, you need to look objectively at whatever it is that you started. Try to figure out why it’s not working for you, and is there something that you could change that would make it work. If you do this you’re going to be happier because of less regret, and because many of your defeats will have been successes instead.

So in conclusion, remember, the world does not owe you anything. Life’s not fair, and but when it knocks you down, get over it, and don’t quit. If you apply these lessons to your life you will not only be a stronger individual but you will be happier and much more likely to make a success of your life.

Why Do Some Fail While Others Succeed

Why do some people fail in this industry, while others succeed to levels that most people only dream about. You have many people who live their dream lives with the income that they make from this industry, many have even attained millionaire status just simply working the system while others never sponsor more than 1 representative or customer.

On the surface the reason may seem very obvious. They quit, or they didn’t plug in, or maybe they didn’t participate. These are not the reasons though, but rather the symptoms of the reason.

The reason for this though, really is very simple. The difference between the two cases is simply a difference in the core desires of the individual. On one hand you have an individual that their core desire or their passion is to be successful and boss free. They don’t care what it takes, how long it takes they are going to be successful. It’s really not a question of if, it’s just a question of when.

Others simply don’t have the desire at a level to push them to accomplish their goals through their new business. When you come right down to it, in their mind they didn’t really purchase a business they purchased hope, mainly to quiet that part of them that keeps nagging them to make changes in their life.

Once they buy the business, and they don't make $1,000 in the first week, they can then justify their fear of change with the "logic" that it just "didn't work", and that they knew it was a scam to begin with... This is especially true with opportunity seekers.

Let me ask you a question. If you are in a business are you investing your money and your time to make yourself better equipped to succeed in that business. Are you just willing to give it a shot for a month or so, or are you willing to stick it out even through hard times, rather than suffer defeat. Basically do you approach your business with the attitude that you are going to succeed no matter how long it takes or what monetary sacrifices you might have to make.
If this is your attitude then I know of a business that it really won’t take all that long before you can see great success, if it’s not you attitude though I would advise that you just keep working for somebody else, not because you can not make it, but rather because you will not make it.

I’ve talked to people that say, “Some people just don’t have what it takes.” On one hand I would disagree with them. Anybody can be successful in their own business. It just takes work and a willingness to stick with it long enough to see the fruit of your work. If you plant a field full of vegetables and then give up and move because you can’t see where it has accomplished anything, you have not only lost the investment, and the time spent in work, but also the fruits of your labor that you would have benefited from if you had only stuck around.

Many people, as a matter of fact I would say most people that get into their own businesses, invest money to start a business. Maybe it really takes off immediately, but sometimes it doesn’t. They work at it, they talk to others about it, but nobody seems to be buying anything. Maybe for a whole month, they don’t make a sale. And they get discouraged and quit. What they don’t look at is that all those people they talked to that month, they’ve been planting seeds. Not only would they have benefited from the people that would have been customers if they had only kept on, but the ones that were not interested would have one day had a need that they could have filled, and if they had only still been working at it, guess who they would have come to.

Like I said though on one hand I disagree with the notion that “some people just don’t have what it takes,” but on the other hand I’ve got to agree with them. What they lack though is not the skills, those can be learned. It’s not the money, that can be earned. Really what some people lack that they need to succeed, is simply the drive and passion to succeed that is needed to push them to success and keep them going in the bad times leading up to that success.

I would like to say one last thing before I sign off. Maybe you are reading this today and you are just ready to quit whatever business you have gotten into. Now I don't know what you might be doing, but before you just write it off as a scam, look first at your product. Is it a good product that there is a real demand for? Look at others in the same business. Are they making money. If the product is a good one, and others are making a good living selling it, then it isn't a scam. I'm not saying that the problem isn't that you haven't worked hard at making it. But I would like you to consider something before you just quit, and cut your losses.

There are some people who can start a business and make $1,000 the first week, without even seeming to have to try. There are others who have to work hard to get a business off the ground. Most businesses take a lot of work getting established, but if you stick with it until it is established you've got it made after that. And if you think about anything that you've done in your life, remember that with most, you have to be bad at it before you get good at it.

I've worked in offices with groups of others who were also self employed, and I've been part of other groups that maybe didn't meet in an office every day, but were all also business owners. It has been my experience that the ones that fail, generally do so for one of two reasons.

Most of them just simply did not have the self motivation to work if somebody else wasn't looking over their shoulder. They would do their business full time, but they wouldn't get up and come to work until about noon, then they needed to leave around 2:00 for this or that. And of course when they didn't make it, "it was because that business was a scam." The business wasn't a scam, they were just lazy.

I hate to say it, but I have seen others who worked hard, and still failed at their business. Some of them would even do all right for a couple months then after 2 bad months they would get discouraged and quit. I've done it myself once or twice. I would honestly say though that if they had kept it up, I really believe that they would have ended up hugely successful. They had the work ethic, all they really needed was time to see the fruit of their labor, and also, just to get the experience needed to get good at it.

In closing, I would just like to say that both these situations again come back to what is your core desire. How important is it to you that you succeed at this. If success is a priority, then don't quit.
http://www.hartlinefinancial.com/

I Am One Blessed Individual

You know, I am one blessed individual. Sometimes, I’ll start feeling a little down about this situation or that, nothing really all that important. It may just be the fact that it seem to always be raining around here. A fact about myself, I hate rain. I know that it is needed in the worst way. I love drinking water. And if you look at the picture on my website it is also evident that I do enjoy eating more than occasionally, but I must say it’s a good thing that I’m not God. We would probably all starve to death or if it did rain in your area you would know that you were not in my presence.

But anyway I’ve just been thinking today about really when looked at objectively, what a wonderful life I do have. I’m married to my dream girl. I met her about 10 years ago and I was smitten at first sight. I still remember walking into Hardees and there she was in her Hardees uniform sitting there behind the drink fountains taking her break. It took me over 6 months to finally work up the nerve to ask her out, but now here I am married to her for the last 8 years, and loving every minute of it.

This last December, God blessed us with a sweet little girl. If I didn’t believe in love at first sight before, I do now. I think it took all of 2 seconds for her to completely capture my heart. Really I’ve just got to tell you that she is the prettiest, and sweetest baby in the world. Really, I’m not a bit prejudice either.

But seriously I’ve got a great family. I’ve even got great in-laws. That’s different isn’t it. At a time when so many people are unemployed, I’m able to make a living. I know that when talking about being thankful it is almost cliché to always mention your health, but you know I know of someone that a week ago they felt great and this last week they found out that they only have a few weeks left to live. I must say that I really am thankful for my health. And I am thankful that even if I were to find out that I was going to die within a short time, I’ve lived a wonderful life and my eternity has been already taken care of.
Alex Hartline
http://www.hartlinefinancial.com/

Problems I see with Promises of Universal Health Care

You know, it always amazes me the promises that politicians make when they are campaigning. I’ll sit there and think do they really think that anybody believes this garbage? I mean, much of it defies common sense. The only thing that really amazes me more than the fact that they seem to think we’re stupid enough to swallow their fairy tales is the number of people that do end up believing every word of it.

During campaigns of the past we’ve been told that everybody in the US was going to be provided with health coverage, no matter your health status. And where yes, where this was going to add billions of people who’s health cost would be added to the government burden, it wasn’t going to cost the average American anything. There would be no hike in taxes except on the top 1% and everything was just going to be great. Oh yeah, and although the service was FREE there would be no rationing. Sure it hasn’t ever worked that way for any other country but we’re going to be different.

Now, they are finally trying to push this “promised” bill through and we start seeing this for what it really is. We see that they are proposing two things.

First, every American will be forced to own Insurance or will be fined a large amount of money at the end of the year when you do your taxes. It really won’t matter if you only make $500 a week and your monthly bills run right at $2,000 a month. If you don’t get that $300-$800 a month insurance policy you will be fined several thousand at the end of the year. (I guess they did refrain from calling it a tax hike, but it sure sounds like one to me.)

The Second thing that we’re looking at is something that will be needed for Universal Health Care, although again I’ll remind you that we were promised it wouldn’t be needed. But somehow people believed the promise of no extra taxation. This was all going to be FREE. But they are saying that the only way this will supposedly work is extreme tax hikes for two years up front, before the system starts. Then within five years the goal is to have everybody on this system.
Now, as I mentioned in another earlier article, I’ve sold insurance before. Yes, it is true that I didn’t work in the corporate offices, but I would like to believe that I am aware of some things in the workings of insurance that some may not be aware of. These things are some of the reasons even beyond just common sense that tell me that Free Health Coverage even by the government without any extra taxes is just not going to be possible.

Let me tell you some cold hard facts. The cost of health care, notice I didn’t say Health Insurance, but health care costs go up right at about 20% a year on average. That is fact one. Fact two, even with the extremely high cost of health insurance, and the fact that they will only insure healthy individuals, they really only make a profit off of 3% of those premiums. Can you imagine how high the premiums would be if they took anybody, regardless of health?
But here is my point. The government is always talking about health care reform. Really all they want to reform is the insurance side of the matter which honestly is not where the problem is even at. Consider for a minute if the government decides to take control of providing your insurance needs. If profit is taken completely out of the picture, cost would only go down 3%, and that’s if the unhealthy were still not covered. When you figure them in it prices will go way higher than now. But even if that were not true, what about the fact that health care cost still goes up an average of 20% a year. That tells me that not only will there be a substantial tax hike starting two years before we get the benefits but the government is going to need to increase the money coming in to pay for these benefits at least about 20% a year.

In conclusion, there are things that could improve the cost of health care in America. But the problem is not on the insurance side of the issue. The problem is with the actual health care cost going up every year and this is being caused by trial lawyers who encourage people to sue providers for every imagined wrong. I can see going after a doctor for blatant malpractice, but when he/she is trying their best, but the result isn’t what is wanted, we need to remember that they are called doctor, not God.

Of course when lawmakers are asked to do something about this problem they refuse. Why, I don’t know. But I wouldn’t doubt that a look at where some of their campaign contributions come from might not give interesting results.
http://www.hartlinefinancial.com/

Government Gold - Is History Repeating Itself?

I came across something today that seemed familiar and at the same time very suspicious. Most everybody reading this is probably aware of this particular piece of history but for the sake of anybody that is not aware of this I’m going to go over it anyway before I mention the interesting news that I received today.

During the Great Depression, one of the policies that was passed under Roosevelt was the confiscating of all the gold in the country by the government. The only gold that was allowed to be kept was collectable coins, which interestingly enough was what Roosevelt himself had invested much money in as had many of his friends. When this policy passed everybody had 30 days to turn it in and after that point if you were caught with gold, it was considered contraband. And you could get in some serious trouble for owning it.

Now fast forward to today. Today I was talking with a broker who works for a very large gold brokerage. As we talked about different forms of gold that you can buy, such as bullion, collectable coins, international gold coins, US government gold coins, and so on, the topic of conversation gradually moved to how much money that some people put into gold investments.
He happened to mention that many of the law-makers in Washington invest huge amounts of money in gold. That in itself didn’t surprise me, but one thing that he did mention that I found very interesting was that, in the last several month, he said, they have been avoiding bullion like it was the plague. As a matter of fact the ones who had invested much in gold bullion had sold it and were now buying, you guessed it, collectable coins.

Does this mean anything? I don’t know. I mean, hey, we all know that the government would never take advantage of us, right? (In case you're wondering, no I haven't lost my mind. Sometimes I can be slightly sarcastic.) But when looking at history, and the fact that since we have printed out such huge amounts of our money, it has resulted in loss of value of the dollar, I sure do find it interesting. It kind of makes you wonder if the government is looking to once again collect it’s citizens gold, while keeping the loophole of collectable coins open.

http://www.hartlinefinancial.com/

Are They Looking To Start A Business Or A Hobby?

You know it always amazes me at how many people say that they wish they could go into business for themselves, and yet when the opportunity arises they balk at investing a hundred dollars in themselves. I always tend to wonder if they actually want to own a business or do they just want a hobby that might make a little money on the side.

I have personally owned 4 different businesses at different times, with different levels of success each time. I had one that I had to invest about $300 with marginal success. On another I invested $5,000 up front and paid about $2,500 a week and just about lost my shirt. On still another I paid $9,000 up front with about $4,500 a week in payments and expenses with great success.

One thing that I can say about each of these is that:
#1 They instilled in me a love of the freedom of being self employed and,
#2 I wouldn’t change my decision to do even the one that failed big time, due to the fact that I learned from the experience and on my next business had more success than I’ve ever experienced at any other time.

The amounts that I invested in these businesses might seem like a lot to some people but in reality it really isn’t much when you look at the fact that you’re talking about starting a business. There are some businesses that it would cost much more to start and maintain and then there are others that do not require near the investment but do require more work to get up and running.

One of these is the business that I’m doing now. It requires only $150 to get started and then $100 a month to maintain. The great thing that I’ve found with this business is although it starts out slower than my other business, there is no ceiling to the income that you can earn with it. It builds up residually so you might start out only making around $500 a month but by the end of the year be bringing in over $1,000 a week with just consistent work. And then in another year you could be making $10,000 a month. The reason it works like this is that you get paid on the business you do over and over every month so every piece of business you do just adds with everything you’ve already done in previous weeks, months, and years.

I mean I don’t know about you but even starting out if you pay out $100 a month but make $500 that’s a 500% gain on your investment, and even that is not half bad. When you take into account the residual income it is unbelievably great.

The truly unbelievable part about this is, that when you come across somebody else who is looking at what you do, and they are interested in doing this themselves because they see the success you are having with it. You tell them about the opportunity and they are even more interested, then you tell them that it requires an investment of $150, and they balk.

I don’t know, maybe they got business opportunity mixed up with an employment opportunity. They are not exactly the same thing. This is a business that you own, it’s not free.

The funny thing is that these same people wouldn’t hesitate to encourage their children to spend and go into debt for 15,000 a year to go to an university so that they could have a chance of being amoung the less than 20% that actually get a job making a portion of the money that could be made in this business. It doesn’t even matter that with that degree, whether or not they even get that job, is not up to anything that they do. Somebody that you don’t even know decides if you get that job. If you do, they decide how much you will make, when you will work, and if you will ever advance up the ladder.

So I don’t know, I guess I could see where paying $150 might be considered a lot to pay for a hobby, but it will always blow my mind that some people view it as too much for a business that provides a good living and at the same time provides financial freedom.
http://www.hartlinefinancial.com/

Is Higher Education Overrated?

I’m writing this article today not so much about the value of gaining knowledge through education but rather the perceived benefit of education in being successful making a living. There is no denying the fact that many people do go on to universities and earn a degree allowing them to get a decent job working in the field of their choice. But the question I’d like to look at today is, is this the rule or the exception.

I remember during the earlier years of life right up through my early 20s, I was always told that if you wanted to make a good living you needed to do good in school so that you would be able to go to college and get a degree.

I didn't do great in school but I did good enough I guess and went onto college and then two different universities. I received a degree in computer information systems, and for the next two years worked in sock mills under the management of others who were at times former classmates who had dropped out of high school and had been working their way "up the ladder" while I earned my degree. After two years, I was wanting to get married but couldn't afford to even move out on my own much less try to support a wife so I decided to get a CDL license and drive a truck.

So, what's my point. I've got friends who even now are paying right around $1,000 a month, trying to earn a degree that will hopefully allow them to get a great job paying a whopping $30,000 a year fresh out of college. I've talked with others who know some that are paying half again as much and still coming out of the universities with close to 6 digits in debt. And the sad truth of the matter is that most of them are having the same experience that I had.I was reading an article the other day. It told of how 80% of last years graduates are living with their parents due to the fact that if they are able to find work at all, many of them are delivering pizzas or working at jobs paying little above minimum wage.

To tell the truth, most of the really successful people that I know either didn’t even attend a university or college, or they have been successful in a field totally removed from the field of their degree. Personally, in hindsight, I wish I had taken the money I spent on education and had used it to get set up in my own business years earlier. I believe it would have been a better investment.

A Comparison of Health Insurance to Health Discount Benefits

I would like to say first off that I am a big believer in Insurance. I've been licensed by the state I live in to sell Life and Health and have been an agent for two different very large Insurance Companies. I could mention the names of these companies and everybody reading this would recognize them but for legal reasons I'll leave that off.

Having sold Insurance I have not only heard the horror stories but have also met the people that they have happened to. So as I said before, I am a big believer in Insurance.

My reason for writing this article today is that many people have no idea that there is an alternative or if they are aware of it they don’t really know any details about it or if it compares favorably to health insurance.

The name of this alternative is Health Discount Benefits and today I am going to compare it to Health Insurance side by side so that others can make an educated decision.

First off when you start shopping for Health Insurance you will find that the prices tend to range anywhere from $300 to $800 a month. The price depends some on the company but mostly it is determined by the size of your Deductible, the percentage paid after the deductible has been met, and the max out of pocket per year before the insurance pay’s the balance of the bill. There are also other factors you might want to check such as is maternity covered (this usually adds about $100 $120 a month) or even if some illnesses like cancer are covered. You wouldn’t think this would be an issue but you might be surprised.

Let’s say you decide on a lower priced policy costing around $300 a month. This will have probably at least a $5,000 deductible with you paying 20% to 50% until the Maximum out of pocket has been met. At that point the insurance will pay everything left.

Now before you are covered you have to underwritten. The job of the underwriters is to determine what the chances are that you will actually have to use this policy. Really you might think of insurance as a gamble which you are betting that you will use it and the insurance company is betting that you won’t. Let’s face it, most healthy individuals aren’t going to experience any catastrophic illnesses until after age 65 at which time you are covered by Medicare instead of the Insurance company. There is a chance of a serious accident which is why there is a whole section on the applications about dangerous hobbies and traffic citations. Basically if you are not in good health or they can see reason to believe that you are likely to have a serious accident they will not underwrite the policy or they limit coverage on that policy to not include certain cases.

Don't get me wrong, I know that this sounds very criticle toward the health insurance industry. Even though I sell the competing product, I've got to in all fairness mention that even with these precautions, most health insurance companies only make a profit off about 3% of the premiums. So really they have to work this way in order to stay in business. And let's face it, if there were no profits, there wouldn't be anybody offering the service.

Let’s say though that you are underwritten and that you have an accident the very first year of coverage. At $300 a month your out of pocket cost that year before the insurance kicks in is $3,600 for the premiums plus $5,000 deductible for a total of $8,600. At this point you will only have to pay the 20% to 50% until the maximum out of pocket is paid.

Now what about the Health Discount Benefits. This is a industry that is growing by leaps and bounds. There are several companies providing this benefit, but I know personally about one called Ameriplan which is the largest company providing this benefit so I will use their premiums for examples.

With this benefit you get coverage on Physician Care, Hospital Advocacy, Dental, Vision, Chiropractic, and Prescription. These benefits literally cover everything even procedures that are considered cosmetic. The Vision plan even covers designer sunglasses and Lasic Eye Surgery. And the price for this plan is $39.95 a month.

The reason that this plan is so affordable is that Ameriplan doesn't have to pay medical cost for the members. Basically, in return for providers agreeing to give these discounts to Ameriplan's members, they are sent patients that they would not have had otherwise. This in turn saves them the cost of having to run expensive ads advertising their services.

As far as underwriting goes there isn’t any. This is guaranteed issue. It covers all preexisting conditions, and there isn’t any waiting period. Since is it a Discount Plan, there isn’t any Deductible and you get discounts up to 80%.

Say you have to go to the hospital, the first year. Your out of pocket cost before you get any benefit is $479.40. The amount owed to the hospital is determined by ability to pay. I’ve found where some people haven’t had to pay anything and others had to pay $1,300 out of a $47,000 hospital bill. You might look here for testimonials of individuals who have used this plan.
So I hope this helps. I personally use the Health Discount Plan. $300 to $800 a month is just more than I really want to pay but at the same time I know that I do need coverage in case of something unexpected happening. If your not covered or you are wondering how you are going to afford the coverage that you currently have, I would encourage you to consider Health Discount Benefits.
http://www.hartlinefinancial.com/

What To Look For In A Home Business

When looking to start a Home Based Business there are several things that you should think about. I mean let's face it. A good salesman can make any business seem like the opportunity of a lifetime. But the question is, is it actually something that you can make money doing or selling.

First, How large is the market for it. If you plan to be successful you must have a large market for whatever product you sell. A good example is the Health Benefits Market. I'm personally familiar with this one because I've sold insurance before and currently have a business selling an affordable alternative. But to the point inbetween 70%-80% of Americans don't have health benefits due mainly to the fact that they are so expensive to get and to maintain. Another right now would probably be something with debt management or credit counseling. But whatever it is you need something that will benefit more than just a select portion of the population.

Second, Do you get paid for every piece of business that you write or do you have to build up to a point where you start to get paid. There are some "business opportunities" that in order for you to get paid you must first work yourself up to a certain level before you start drawing any kind of benefit from it. And even once you get to that level you can loose the pay if anybody in your downline quits until you have replaced them. You want to make sure before jumping in that you get paid for your work. And that just because somebody else decides that your product is not for them, you don't loose the benefits of your work. Also if the pay is commission based you might want to check on if there are chargebacks on commissions paid to you if a client drops out.

Third, If at all possible, to make the best use of your effort you want a business that pays residually as well as initially. This means that if you work hard and do the job right you get paid for it from that point on, over and over. You also want to check on what percentage the initial commission is and what percentage the residual will be. I'm in a business now that pays 30% up front and 30% residually, I've been in businesses before that paid up to 45% up front but then only 2% residually. You want a business that has as high percentage residually as possible since this is what will ultimately determine just how successful you are and how long it takes you to become successful.

If you can find a Home Based Business that does provide a benefit that the majority of people need, pay's you for every piece of work you submit without charge backs for cancellations, and provides a residual income on top, Then at that point you just need to ask yourself if you are willing to do what it takes to make that business grow. There are some great opportunities out there, but no matter how good the opportunity, if your not willing to work for yourself at least as hard as you work for somebody else, YOU WILL FAIL.

So when looking for a business to invest in, ask about these things. Use common sense. And be ready to work hard. I've found in my own life that owning my own business is the hardest work I've done. BUT IT IS DEFINATELY ALSO THE MOST REWARDING!!! http://www.hartlinefinancial.com/