Do you want to get out of your mindless job. Do you want to be an entrepreneur, paid for your innovative creativity?

Can you handle zero separation between your work and your play?

Good questions for the budding 2009 entrepreneur. Do you know why people can’t take the entrepreneurial leap? Fear of losing the patterns that shape their work and private lives. The same patterns that shaped their parents lives and their grandparents lives. Losing the walls that separate the private from the public.

The 9-5 work paradigm is dying

People used to go off to the factory or the office, for approximately 9.5 hours a day including commute, return home, and do their best to leave work behind. But no one really did, did they? It was kinda a lie we all told ourselves. Because the only real way to leave work at work, is to leave your paycheck at work. Your home life is directly affected by the stability of your paycheck, isn’t it? In family life, there is no way to remove the home from the economic situation and if your only income is a job, your job determines the decisions your family makes.

The line between work and home is disintegrating

Even if you have a corporate job there is a growing trend toward telecommuting. And there is a growing trend toward home based internet businesses. Our home life is becoming our work life. The industrial age is nearly dead, and taking its old social patterns with it.

The line between our public and private lives is blurring

The relationships we have in our personal life are quickly becoming the same relationships we have in our business life. Our social networks are becoming our business networks. The people we associate with directly determine our economic success. Our work and home lives are not separate, they are one life.

Change your thinking and change your life

Can you handle exposing your life to the world? If you can, the internet and social media will give you the greatest opportunity to realize your dreams man has ever known. Get over your fear of losing your privacy. If you can’t, you will be left behind.

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This post is written by Christine Olson founder of Christine’s Books.

When we started blogging in 2006 I was making 75K in revenue and shooting for 150K. In 2008 I will do over 200K. Not bad for a one woman home-based business.

Lots of people ask me how I do it. But one of the most frequent questions people ask is…

Where do you find your products?

I am going to let the secret out of the bag. Where do people buy all this product they sell online? Is there a big secret website everyone goes to and picks this stuff up?

The answer to that question is simple. But the reality of finding the right products to sell at the right price is not so simple, but that’s another post.

The big secret…

People find products to sell at Trade Shows. You must travel, you must do research, and you must negotiate deals. You will make mistakes, you will get stuck with stuff that doesn’t sell, you may get ripped off, but you will learn. It can take years to find a set of dependable vendors.

First you need to decide what kind of products you want to sell. Are you going to sell NEW products or discount merchandise? If you are going to sell NEW products you need to find trade shows that specialize in your particular product. If you want to sell Golf Equipment, go to Golf Trade Shows or Sporting Good Shows. Google “Golf Trade Shows” and you will get several results. Do you want to sell jewelry or buy gems to make your own jewelry? Vegas has several shows a year just for jewelry merchants. Not sure what you want to sell? Attend one of these. Do you want to sell discount merchandise? Go to this variety show. You will be overwhelmed, but it will give you great ideas.

While books are the majority of my business, I also sell DVDs, audio books, diaper bags, and other items I find at trade shows that I think will be profitable. In the past I’ve sold board games, knick-knacks, dollhouse furniture, and purses.

To purchase merchandise at trade shows, you must set yourself up as
a business.

After attending several trade shows you will have collected a sizable list of websites and phone numbers. You will start receiving catalogs and things will begin to fall into place.

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Yesterday I posted about 200 people who lost their homes and all their possessions in an apartment fire. 19 Families were living in the local High School.

Today, I read that an anonymous donor gave $1,000,000 to the fire victims. That is over $17,000 for each leaseholder!

Maria Aguilar broke down crying. “We for sure need it,” she said. “Because what I have on, that’s just what we have. Nothing else.”

Jackie Weller says she’ll be able to get a new apartment, bed and couch.

“There might be a Grinch, but he’s not in Burnsville Minnesota, that’s for sure,” Weller said.

What an amazing act of caring and generosity. Lately we’ve heard so many stories about greed, selfishness, and corruption. But this story stands in sharp contrast.

I truly believe that most people are good and will do the right thing when given the chance.

God bless and Merry Christmas to All!

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The Christmas season is about giving.

Yesterday a nearby apartment building erupted in flames leaving 200 people homeless in sub-zero temperatures. 19 families, three days before Christmas, are living in the Burnsville Minnesota High School.

Charles Wylie was doing laundry when the fire broke out. It didn’t
seem like a big deal at first, he says. “It didn’t even look like it
was going to spread to our apartment.”

But the fire quickly spread from one end of the building to the
other. Wylie figures everything he owns is gone, including Christmas
gifts for his three kids.

Many of the people who live in this apartment building have very little to begin with. So if you can afford to give something, here’s your opportunity.

The Goodman Group, which manages the complex, has created a fund
for the victims. There hasn’t been time to setup a website, so if you you’d
like to donate to the victims:

Make Checks Payable to:
U.S. Bank/Burncliff Apartments

Mail Checks to:
The Goodman Group
1107 Hazeltine Blvd #200
Chaska, MN 55318

You can contact the Goodman Group at (952)
361-8000.

Thanks so much for reading steve-olson.com.
The Olson family wishes you all a very Merry Christmas!

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