No more Robots Calling my Business Phone!

Starting September 1, consumers should experience far fewer telephonic interruptions of the automated variety. “American consumers have made it crystal clear that few things annoy them more than the billions of commercial telemarketing robocalls they receive every year," Chairman Jon Leibowitz said in a statement and reported by Christina House, For The Times. The federal regulatory regime currently will exclude political robocalls from most telemarketing regulations.

And yet, Robocalls are made by all political parties in the United States, as well as unaffiliated campaigns, 527 organizations, Unions, and individual citizens. In addition, Robocalls fail in three areas that are crucial for any direct response campaign: they are intrusive, they are impersonal and they offer no incentive for voters to listen all the way to the end of the message. Robocalls are pre-recorded messages that can be sent out to tens of thousands of voters at a minor cost through computer automation. While Robocalls have been used for legitimate campaigning and public opinion polling, they have also been used for vote suppression, false endorsements, and negative campaigning that borders on fraud. So why is it that they were excluded from the new law going into affect to prevent intrusion and running up our cell phone bills?

Consumers received the robocalls at home, work, and on their cell phones, sometimes several times in one day. Those unwanted prerecorded commercial calls, soliciting services such as carpet cleaning or car warranties, will be a thing of the past unless telemarketers have written permission from consumers that they want to receive these calls. Despite the regulation, there will still be telemarketers of the human kind. The Better Business Bureau recommends the following advice for consumers who receive robocalls or telemarketing calls; never give personal information, including Social Security, bank or credit card numbers, over the phone to an unknown telemarketer. The commission will exempt calls that aren't trying to sell goods and services to consumers; that category would include debt collections and those providing information, such as flight cancellations and delivery notices. "If consumers think they're being harassed by robocallers," Leibowitz said, "they need to let us know, and we will go after them. Consumers who receive an unauthorized call starting Tuesday can file complaints with the commission online at http://www.ftc.gov/



So the question will remain –How do I get off the political robocall list?? The answer. You don’t. Once again, our politicians make laws and regulations that do not apply to them. I don’t know about you, but I will not vote for any politician that sends me an automated call. If he doesn’t have the time to arrange for a real person to chat with me, why should I take the time to give him my vote?

You may ask yourself, what is this blog doing in the middle of all my life balance and self improvement blogs? Well I do have an answer for that. First, I hate it when I put a customer on hold to answer the other line right quick, only to find out it was an automated voice at the other end. I hate that they use up my cell phone minutes! In addition, my last post talked about slices of pizza. Part of keeping myself educated in that particular slice is to pay attention to marketing trends. All those companies are going to be looking for a new way to market their product as the $16, 000 per call fine is a little steep to risk. As a direct marketer, I pay attention to the trends in the business world. It is part of MY pizza!

Have a Properous Day
Cheryl Matthynssens
My Advertising Funnel

Life is Like a Pizza!

No, Really, it is.



First, for a happy life, you have to enough "slices" of variety to make up a life of balance and success. And just like a pizze, each of us have a preference as to what is on those slices. For me, my slices are my online career and friends, my counseling work, my family, my personal well-being, my education and my spiritual life.

An unbalanced pizza brings complaints. A pizza without the right combination of toppings is not appealing. So it is with life. Why do people add things to their life things they really hate doing and are not actually a "must?" Like saying yes when they want to say no? For me, that is like putting anchovies on my pizza. I do not want it! I will not eat it and I definitly will not enjoy it. Yet people do this every day. Add things to their life that they do not want and then .. they... complain about it? That is like you putting anchovies on your pizza personally, baking it and then whining that you can't eat it? How does that make sense?

That is the cool thing about life though. We decide how many slices will make us happy and in balance. We get to decide each day if we are putting extra cheese on that slice we are working with. And best of all, we decide what the basic recipe is.



So for those of you whining about the slices of pizza on your plate of life, why are you making it that way? Or worse, why are you letting someone else decide what goes on your pizza? Make the decision of how many slices is the best for you. Make the decision on what the basic recipe is for each slice. Then, each and every day, not only will you enjoy your day, but you can decide if it is time for a little dessert pizza to reward yourself!

Have a prosperous day!
Cheryl Matthynssens
The Balance Guide
(never let me eat pizza when blogging.. see what happens?)

Managing Personal Stress in Business

Managing stress in the workplace successfully needn't involve powerful medications. Managing stress requires taking an active role and to take responsibility for your own thoughts, feelings and behaviors. We cannot escape every deadline or every assurance, so, rather than trying to eliminate stress entirely, we need to attempt of managing stress as much we can. You need to develop strategies for managing stress, especially if you find yourself becoming constantly ill, or you feel nervous much of the time. Managing stress is not only the key to having a happier and more tranquil life, it is also necessary to remain successful in the work environment.

Stress is a portion of our daily lives. Stress is either acute (short-term) or chronic. Stress Management is the ability to maintain control when situations, people, and events make excessive demands. Also stress management techniques can provide us with a way of keeping our stress levels under control that tends to affect our physical, mental and emotional health. A particular stress management technique may be effective on one occasion, but not another, so we need to be ready to implement new ones at any given time. Effective stress management is not easy and stress management takes time and practice. These five tips are in no particular order.

The first important technique is the use of Relaxation. Relaxation techniques are extremely powerful in managing stress. Relaxation lowers blood pressure, slows breathing and pulse rates, releases muscle tension and produces a sense of well-being. Relaxation is most effective if it is incorporated into our daily life. Meditation can create a deep sense of relaxation and mental clarity. (There delightfully soothing relaxation music available. My favorite is Brainsync )



Whether in quiet or listening to something calming, first step is to relax yourself: close your eyes, and try using imagery of waves of relaxation running down your body from your scalp downwards, washing out stress. Feel the muscles in your body relaxing as the waves of relaxation wash over them. Spend time just visualizing this, even if you have to do at your desk. From massage to mediation to yoga, AARP recently described many methods of relaxation to help you reduce your level of stress. If you do incorporate this or any relaxation technique into your life you may notice an increased awareness of whether you are tense or relaxed. Learn a muscle relaxation routine, and practice it regularly. Include rest and relaxation in your daily schedule.


Another important element is that dreaded word - Exercise. Exercise is very important in stress and health management. Exercises form an outlet for your frustrations and anger. It also aids in putting a stop in the nasty cycles of stress-eating, indulgence to alcohol, cigarettes and drugs. Exercise also helps lift one's spirits and decrease depression. It has a number of other positive benefits you may not be aware of: It improves blood flow to your brain, bringing additional sugars and oxygen that may be needed when you are thinking intensely. Most medical experts have discovered that doing physical exercise can help you with the constant flow of stresses.

Of course, you cannot leave out sleep. Getting adequate sleep is another very simple but effective way to manage stress. We all have our own ideal amount of sleep, and if we don't get it, our performance and resilience suffer. Most people need about 6-9 hours of sleep per night. Loss of deep, restorative sleep can be attributed to stress and can lead to insomnia. People not sleeping can then stress about losing sleep, and another cycle begins. Allowing you adequate sleep can be a powerful part of your stress management program.

Feelings management is also an important tool to stress management. What is important is how you handle your feelings. Learning to express feelings and to deal with tensions in constructive ways is vital to your emotional and physical health. This will help prevent you from releasing your feelings in an ineffective and unacceptable way, such as snapping at your children or being argumentative and short with your spouse and becoming more aggressive generally. Your feelings can also greatly influence your judgment. Stress has fewer negative effects for people who admit their feelings and accept them. Repressing and denying feelings decreases energy and can cause irritability, depression, or physical problems. Keeping your feelings bottled up within yourself is like gradually building a potent bomb and will increase stress levels.

Setting goals is another good stress management procedure. Without goals, we are likely to spend time and energy in an aimless way. Setting realistic goals for your day and year helps you feel directed and in control. Set realistic goals and time frames for yourself. You will see results more often if you select goals that are specific and achievable. If you have only broad long-range goals, you are more likely to experience frustration. The degree to which short-term goals are accomplished will help you assess the practicality of long-term goals. Hand in hand with this is time management. When we mismanage our time, whether on work projects or towards personal goals, it increases stress and impacts performance.

Most stress arises due to feelings of life being out of control. - Have realistic expectations (personally and professionally) - No matter what, always maintain your sense of humor - Never bottle up your feelings, share it with someone you trust - Never try to control others - Manage your time well - Do important tasks first - Get quality sleep - Exercise regularly - Eat well - Keep the intake of sugar, caffeine, alcohol, tobacco, habit forming over the counter drugs to a minimum. If you implement even a couple of these suggested techniques into your daily routines and life style changes you will find that not only are you feeling more relaxed and at ease, but that the bottom line is positively impacted as well. This is just one more step in creating a life of happiness and balance.

Life Balance and Happiness at Least As Important as Income Goals

In today's hectic and competitive environment, it's increasingly difficult to achieve life balance and happiness. 67% of business owners surveyed, believe that issues to do with economic and social justice, public services, poverty, work-life balance and happiness are the most important in measuring a country's performance. This means that life balance and happiness are at least as important as breaking arbitrary revenue goals to the majority of business owners.

Happiness doesn’t just hang out there in the ether, waiting to be picked up like an email. Happiness is part of the fabric of our lives. The search for happiness is further complicated because the factors which most affect our personal well-being are commonly ignored or given very low priority in work and training, and in the media too. In schools also, life balance and personal happiness are largely ignored, and rarely explored or recommended as worth pursuing. Consequently throughout our lives, we don't find it easy to consider properly the issues which actually determine our own personal life balance and happiness.

One of the first items to impact both balance and happiness is your health. Sleep, nutrition, and exercise are vital in today’s world. Improving an individual's health in each of these categories, wellness practitioners believe, can lead to improved overall life balance and happiness. These include holistic practitioners who help people reach their health goals through nutrition, exercise, spiritual healing, counseling, and getting enough sleep. If you are not in the pink of health or not feeling very smooth in things that you do, you should MAKE AN EFFORT to improve the situation. Be sure to take vitamins given the dropping nutritional values of our natural food supplies.

Having unfinished business and clutter in our lives can cause us confusion, making it difficult to think clearly at times. Having a sense of humor in is also a contributor to personal and business success and anxiety reduction. It is important to live your personal and business life around your values as well. If you pay attention to these factors, you will find that: You cope with additional business demands with ease – knowing that you are still delivering excellence to your customers, you are seen as a great boss to work for and you feel great within yourself as a result. You enjoy more quality time with your partner and or family in a way that leaves you feeling happier, relaxed and with the peace of mind that you’re are living a life with no regrets.

We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy. The better you are at knowing yourself, understanding what positively motivates and inspires you, and creating a balance for yourself between your career/work life and family/home life, the easier it will be for you to predict that you will live a happy life. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy. The question is, what are you doing to insure that you are choosing a life of happiness.

Remember the first step to achieving life balance and happiness from the inside out is healthy diet plans and fitness routines. When your own health, life balance and happiness improve, you can act as a role model for your clients, and inspire them through your own experience. Get to know your real self. Knowing yourself is vital both to understand what factors most affect your life balance and happiness, and also for finding a satisfying purpose in life. This ensures you will achieve your objectives and gain your ideal triangle of life balance and happiness that you seek.

Cheryl Matthynssens
The Balance Guide

Ideas for the New Online Business or Marketer

You sit down excited to start an online business. Maybe you are surfing for one or maybe you had one but now want to bring it onto the web. You type in your first phrase and thousands of opportunities pop up at you. Everyone claiming to get your website to the top. Everyone claiming they have the magic get rich quick solution to today's chaotic financial picture. You quickly find yourself in a maze of honest and deceitful entrepreneurs and no idea how to move forward. In fact, this picture probably feels familiar.



So how do you find your way through the maze of millions of websites, promises and opportunities. How do you find a solution before your spouse threatens to take an axe to the computer you have been enslaved to? The maze can be so complex that the new entrepreneur will end up in withdrawal symptoms when away more then five minutes for fear of missing that right link, that perfect opportunity or driving just one more lead to their business site.

First, do not do Internet business with anyone that won't give you their real name, address and phone number. Without this signature of legitimacy, how do you know you aren't dealing with a computer savvy 12 year old? A real ethical business or Internet marketer will be willing to share who they are with you and where they are.

Second, there are some huge scams the new business owner needs to be aware of while working online. One of the most hurtful to a new business is the scam in which the customer will offer to buy multiples of a product but they can't use their credit card through a legitimate site. They will offer to send a money order or a certified check. These are cleverly disguised fakes that are often not discovered till after the business owner has already shipped the product, leaving the business owner holding the bill. There is a list online of current Internet scams, be sure to monitor them.

The next is vital, anything that sound to good to be true, most likely is. While there has been growth in legitimate network marketing companies, even the most successful will tell you that it is work. The concept that you have to spend money to make money has not gone away. The advantage to Internet businesses is not having to pay for things like office space, other employees wages and other expenses that a brick and mortar business must have. But there are still some basic expenses that will occur. For example, advertising that is free to use will possibly produce some results, but it will leave you chained to the computer. Good Marketing takes a plan, one purposeful plan. The maze of offers can lead the new entrepreneur from offer to offer, nickle and diming them till they give up in frustration. There are some good companies out there offering to teach their plans. There are others that will offer to take your money and do it for you.

The most innovative idea and spectacular website will not make sales without traffic. Meanwhile, a mediocre product or website may have phenomenal sales with a good marketing plan. I have found that I can do all my marketing for less then $200.00 a month and in about 30 minutes a day. But I made every mistake above before I figured it out. I spent hours surfing traffic exchanges and placing free ads; there was no plan. It takes a good marketing plan with targeted selections designed for the type of business that is being promoted. With a solid marketing plan, you can get your business out there. Otherwise, the new marketer will find themselves spending $20.00 here, $9.95 there and even $100.00 here till their budget is mysteriously gone with few hits to show for the time or money spent.

Once you have a plan and a business. The final piece is stick to it. The biggest error online is working something for a month or two and because it doesn't pay off, moving to the next golden carrot. What makes a great online sales manager is the ability to learn what is new but stick to the business they have chosen. For example, do you know what a Squidoo lens is? Do you know how to Tweet? As new technology comes out, being able to learn how it will apply to your business is an essential tool. At the same time, it takes more then a month or two to build a solid foundation. If your business isn't growing, then chances are it is your marketing plan that is at fault. However, even a good marketing plan may take awhile to take hold. Be prepared to stick it out for awhile. Then, once you have a good foundation, you can add additional marketing phases to boost traffic.

If you have limited income to invest, consider multiple small income streams. But do not spread yourself to thin. It is difficult to market multiple earning opportunities unless they are under the umbrella of a single URL An example of this umbrella marketing for those who like traffic exchanges is the Traffic Tornado. Once you set it all up, you only advertise a single URL and can build an income stream from all of the opportunities gathered in the tornado. However, once again, you would make more if you do some investing to a basic paid member. So even if you start as a free marketer with an umbrella opportunity, be sure to upgrade as soon as you can regardless of what you are doing, usually the payout is higher.

There are just some ideas of for the online business beginner. Whether you are working on MLM, Direct Marketing, Promotion or Affiliate sales, there is success online. But just as you can find your fortunes online; you can also be sucked into the maze of scams and be nickled and dimed into dismal failure. Like any business or event in life; failure to plan is a plan to fail!

Have a Prosperous and Balanced Day!
Cheryl Matthynssens

Life Skills Coach - Where are you?

I was asked recently why I did not have a website for my life skill coaching. The answer to that is actually quite simple. I have not needed one. I average 12 clients at a time in addition to helping my business team mates to a certain level. This takes up most of the time that I am willing to work. Being a teacher of balance in life, I will only work a set number of hours a day. The rest of my time is devoted to my passions, my family, my health and my own personal searches of interest. I love to travel and see things in our world. I absolutely love to just sit and watch people. People are fascinating! I even have a membership to the zoo and my children are grown.



My favorite aquarium!

If someone is looking for a life skills coach and is interested in the things they have read from me. Let me be quite candid. A life skills coach is exactly that. They help a person overcome obstacles that the individual puts in their own way. If you need help with past abuses, emotional trauma or an addiction, you need to see a professional licensed counselor. However, if you often seem to fail when you want to succeed. If you give up easily, get side tracked or just are not where you want to be in life, a life skills coach is ideal. You can use both but be sure to choose one that never asks you to be a part of what they are doing. Not a single member of my business team has ever been a client. That would be unprofessional. However, I often help people on my team, once they are there, in a mentor capacity.

What Kind of Things Do you Work On?
This may surprise you. I don't tell them, they tell me. One of the first things I have my clients prepare is the following questionnaire.

What three problems do you feel you need to work on?
What are you willing to do to work on them?
How do you sabotage your own efforts? (shoot yourself in the foot)
How will you know when you have successfully addressed these three problems? (what will life/you - look like? sound like? be like?)

The next thing I do is have them create their wish list - 100 things they would like to do, see or have. Some one asked me if this is like a bucket list? Same concept.. yes! For example, I wanted to see Mount Rushmore. I just crossed that off my list!



If you are willing to do the two above things and would like to retain me as a life skills coach, please email me at Cheryl@thebalanceguide.com with the first four questions, how many sessions a month you feel you would like and I will let you know if I have any openings and my current compensation rates. I will warn you, I am relentless and do not accept the word 'try'. To Quote Yoda - "You either do, or you do not!" (smile)

I posted those above, however, because just by filling that out on your own, without a coach, you can learn a lot about yourself. The 100 things list is a motivator to get going on your goals so you can cross items off. Also, if you are in a business that has mentors, they can use those questions to help focus and get you going.

My advice to everyone. Live today better then yesterday. If you do that each day. If you just give a little more effort, make a little more progress, say a few more "I love yous", exercise or walk just one more minute... etc - Life cannot do anything but get better!

Have a prosperous day!

Is it Safe to Start Up a Business in Today's Economy?

How safe is it to start up a business in today's economy? That is dependent on many factors. What is the idea, is it unique? Will it fill a niche that is not being filled in your area? Does it require real estate location? How much money do you have for start up costs? Advertising? When making a decision to to start a business, these are but a few of the factors that need to be considered.

In July of 2009, the Federal Reserve Board released information that loans were declining. This was due to two factors, banks are tightening standards and terms for all types of business loans. The other factor was that fewer people were applying, most likely because they know that they don't have the credit or fear the risk in the current economy. This means without a unique idea and good credit that a bank can get behind, chances of a business loan are fairly low for starting a business.

A positive note, however, is that the Labor Department also reported in July that wholesale prices actually dropped. This is good news because when wholesale drops consistently, the consumer will usually see a drop. On the reverse, if wholesale inflation remains up, that is eventually passed on to the consumer. If this continues, it could mean the coming end of the current recession. These numbers will have to be monitored for consistent drop before the consumer will see it in the long run, however.

So what do you do if you don't know if your idea is a high risk or if you know you have poor credit. Well, if it is something you make, try a test run with an eBay store. See how the national market responds to your product.

Is it a business you can run from home for awhile? Can you market what you are doing from weekend shows? Can you start online and slowly move out to a solid location? Again, much of this depends on the type of business start up you are hoping to get going. A restaurant without a strong fresh niche may struggle today given that there is much competition and the profit margin on a restaurant is slimmer then many other businesses.


If you don't know what to start, there are many successful home businesses out there. Be careful and chose a company that has a reputation. Some good ones are Amway, Avon, and Nikken but there are many more out there. Some have low start ups for as low as 20.00 without supplies or product. However, if starting up a home business, I recommend that you get some literature and be using your own product. You cannot sell anything well without a passion for your product. So find a company you can believe in. I personally prefer the health and weight loss corner as this area has been fairly recession proof. Regardless of what is going on in the world, people are always trying to look better and feel better.

Other options for starting up a home business are affiliate marketing, this is fairly labor intensive but if you use all the free marketing tools out there, the cost is minimal. Good for part time income. Another one is direct marketing of products from wholesalers, good for eBay or a specific company. Top Tier Direct Marketing is another recommendation that I make. The reason for this is most home businesses market to the 80% of the world with only 20% of the income. Put your efforts into marketing to the 20% who have the money and you will make more. Do you want to sell 100,000 toy planes or one jet? A simplified example but it makes the point.

Regardless of what you choose, home businesses in this market are a safer option. About 70% of home-based businesses will last over a three-year period, compared to 29% of other business ventures, according to the Home-Based Business Institute. In fact, According to IDC, home-based businesses create an estimated 8,500 new jobs daily.

So is it safe? Only you can decide that. Do your research. Make sure you are going to provide a unique service. Try for a bank loan, if nothing else you may get feedback on why they do not see it as a safe option that maybe you had not considered. Look at your capital. Can you keep it afloat for one year till consumers know you are there? Can you get investors? Would it be better ran online or from home? Once you have satisfied yourself with the answers, take the risk! After all, according to the 2009 edition of The Small Business Economy released by Advocacy and posted on sba.gov this year, it was stated. "Risk-taking entrepreneurs are often the generators of the innovations that drive the American economy forward."

Have a Prosperous Day!
Cheryl Matthynssens