This Mom Grew Multiple $6-Figure Businesses From Home

If you’ve ever thought about working from home or starting a home-based business, you'll want to familiarize yourself with Carrie Wilkerson, also known as the Barefoot Executive. The Barefoot Executive is a website, community and bestselling book that she created to help work at-home professionals.

This Mom Grew Multiple 6-Figure Businesses From Home

The site quickly grew into an empire with tens of thousands of subscribers, leading her to become a sought-after speaker and sales trainer. While she built multiple businesses from home over the past 19 years, she was also raising four children, getting out of six figures of debt and losing more than 100 pounds. Named Internet Marketer of the Year in 2009, Wilkerson has been featured on Forbes.com and Fox Business News and has worked with clients such as Google, John C. Maxwell, Zig Ziglar and more.

Related: Here's How This Freelancer Made the Move to Business Owner

Clearly, she has a lot to teach us about success, so I visited her Texas home recently to ask how she built her powerful brand and how other entrepreneurs can build a successful empire from home.

1. Look for a need in your closest market.
Wilkerson got her entrepreneurial start at a direct sales company, but soon realized she could have a separate business offering a service to her fellow independent consultants. She began by asking those she knew if they could use an email newsletter. Eventually, she was making newsletters for 200 clients -- and that was with consultants from just one direct sales company.

“I started my business like everybody does -- with just who I knew. I sent out an email, I worked with one client for free for two months to get my systems down, my processes done in exchange for her recommendation and her referrals,” Wilkerson explains. “And it literally was like ... you tell two friends, and she tells two friends, and she tells two friends. So we grew by referral very rapidly. At one point, we were growing by 10 to 12 clients a day.”

Consider your current immediate community of fellow moms, marketers, engineers, whatever -- what is a need they have? Wilkerson says you don’t start an empire, you start with who you know and “grow into it.”

2. Truly commit.
Entrepreneurs are not known for patience. Sometimes, in an effort to move fast and wear many hats, they struggle with focus -- and focus is a key component in the stories of the successful people I interview. Wilkerson’s life changed when she committed to going all-in on her new service business for three months.

“[My husband said,] ‘Just give it a good Carrie Try for two to three months before you give up.’ And I think as entrepreneurial-wired people, we sometimes want it to work right now or not at all," she says. "At the end of three months, he was exactly right. We had [approximately] 70 clients on a recurring basis already by then, and we knew we were on to something.”

Most entrepreneurial people are creative, resourceful and efficient -- a force to be reckoned with when focused. Make sure you are truly giving your idea or business your full attention to get it off the ground.

3. Consider a service.
“Service businesses are probably your fastest path to fast cash," Wilkerson says. "Everyone has some kind of skill that they can generate money with.”

Wilkerson added an interesting point here, explaining she wasn’t passionate about creating email newsletters. She was passionate about why she was doing it: getting out of debt and being home for her kids. Unlike the standard “follow your passion” advice, Wilkerson advises that you need passion for why you do what you do as an entrepreneur, but not necessarily the what.

4. Create a strong brand.
Wilkerson started the Barefoot Executive website because she knew there were other aspiring work-from-home executives and entrepreneurs who needed guidance. She also knew that working from home can feel lonely, so she tried to create a community that solopreneurs lacked. Her subscriptions grew quickly, as did her Twitter following.

Related: Party of One: Setting Up Your Single-Person Corporation

Soon, she was receiving speaking and coaching gigs organically, and publisher Thomas Nelson reached out to her about writing her first book. The key was her recognizable, relatable brand. Wilkerson says your brand must be visible, known and serve an audience.

“Really know what your message is, what is your story? Being a good speaker or great writer is not enough," she says. "You have to know what your thing is and you have to be true to your thing.”

5. If you want balance, create boundaries.
For the work-from-home executive or the home-based entrepreneur, boundaries ensure success. First, you must train yourself to stick to policies, such as when you wake up, when you have closed-door time to write or when you have phone-free time to be with family. Second, you must train your family, friends and spouse. Make sure the boundaries you create with your loved ones are truly what’s best for your family. That way, you’ll believe in them enough to stand firm and say no when needed. Lastly, train your clients, vendors and staff. Wilkerson also recommends you use software and create systems to create boundaries that keep you from doing everything yourself, which won’t allow you to scale.

“You have to create what's important for your family -- whatever that family looks like, even if it's just you -- and then you have to be firm enough in that belief, that you can tell other people, 'that doesn't fit in my schedule right now, thank you for thinking of me, I can't do that right now,'” she says.

6. Foster real relationships.
“Real relationships matter, not the numbers of followers. ... People are still blown away when I send a thank you note. What a shame, people shouldn’t be shocked by that,” Wilkerson says. 

She says showing up online and at events, making connections and finding a small, genuine like-minded community have been vital to her success.

7. Don’t compare.
If you’re building a brand online, it’s difficult not to compare it to your colleagues and competitors, especially if you’re building a personal brand as a speaker or coach. Wilkerson doesn’t watch or read other people’s content. Comparison, she explains, only serves two purposes: It will either make you feel badly about how behind you are or inflate your ego because you’re ahead. Neither serve your business.

“My number one piece of advice is to not compare yourself to everyone else," she says. "You can defeat yourself. You can literally freeze yourself in your tracks, either with comparison or envy.”

8. Add massive amounts of value.
How did Wilkerson grow her speaking career to working with clients such as Zig Ziglar and Google? The answer is simple.

“Opportunities are rooted in the value you provide, in the work you’re doing.” she explains. In a social stat world where everyone wants to be an expert, Wilkerson says, “quit trying to be an influencer and try to serve” and everything else will fall into place. 

Rules of Money

Week 1 – The New Rules of Money

The new rules of money became established during the 70s after Nixon had canceled the gold standard. No longer would the dollar be worthwhile, as its value would continue to drop over the years. Even now, the dollar’s value is lower than that of many foreign currencies.
Consequently, prices rise while your income remains the same. This causes many problems as you end up spending all your money just to survive. You will continue this pattern until you learn the new rules of money. Once this becomes engraved in your mind, you will have the power to become rich.
Such a concept is maybe difficult to believe. You maybe think that in order to become rich, you must be super-intelligent. In reality, intelligence has very little to do with being rich. What really matters is how you handle your money. This is a skill that rich people always had, though in the olden days the concept was applied differently.
To get a better understanding, take a look at the section below as it will discuss the old rules behind making money.

The Old Rules of Money

1.Get an Education
In the olden days, school was the ultimate answer to financial success. After graduating, you would get a job that you would stay with for most of your adult life. Then, when it came time to retire, the job would provide a pension. Today, not only is it hard to find a job, but getting a pension is usually out of the question. Most are lucky if they even get health insurance.
Outsourcing has not made the problem any better. With a click of a button, a company can hire a foreign person for significantly less money. This leaves Americans with very few alternatives. Some even turn to outsourcing for themselves, especially as freelancing sites become more popular. However, when this happens, they typically work for the same wages as their foreign counterparts. So, either way, they are not making the money they need.
If you are working a traditional job you do not have things any easier. Unlike your parents and grandparents, who stayed with one job forever, nowadays you will work several different jobs throughout your lifetime. Indeed, with today’s work force, you cannot expect one company to provide financial security. Instead, expect to work more than three jobs in your lifetime.
2. Work Your Way Up
In today’s time, you get taxed more as your income rises. As a result, it is possible that you end up paying more taxes than your company’s CEO, (who may have more deductions available).
Warren Buffet is an example. Even though he is a billionaire, his secretary is actually taxed more than him. She is getting penalized for being an employee, something that happens maybe to you too as you use hard work to increase your salary.
3. Put Your Money Away
This strategy worked well in the past, when the US dollar was actually worth something. It can still be useful, but only to a point. If hyperinflation happens, your savings do not mean anything. The $10,000 you were able to save today may only be worth $5,000 ten years down the road.
4. Eliminate Debt
In the past you had to work harder to get loans. This is because credit was not readily available. If you wanted to buy a house, you needed to have little debt and at least 10 percent down. Today, you need credit to build your financial portfolio. You just have to make sure you have a handle on your debt. Otherwise, it will become a stumbling block.
5. Use Your 401K to Diversify Mutual Funds Investments
The problem with this approach is that the mutual fund company takes most of the money. This is while you assume all of the risk. It is just not worth it considering the small percentage you will receive in the end. Plus, if you use your 401K for the funds, you are essentially spending away your retirement money.
Before, you could do this because stocks were just that profitable. They would earn tens of thousands even after the mutual fund company took their cut. Now stocks are not profitable enough to make such a return, especially as the economy continues to get worse.
There you have it‚ the old ways of making money. These are the rules that gave you in the past very happy lives. If they are applied now, you will earn a little bit of money, but you will limit your potential in the process. To become rich in the present day, you must learn the new rules of money.

The New Rules of Money

1.Start a Business at Home
In between your regular job, consider starting a business from home. In addition to being a lot of fun, at-home businesses tend to offer many tax benefits. This is because you are allowed to make more deductions. In some cases, you do not even have to buy anything. Your mortgage and utility bills by themselves could result in a generous deductible.
Do not become too enamored with your business, though. If you do not make enough to cover your household expenses, you need to do whatever you can to keep your day job. At most, you can consider getting your spouse to work a job while you do your business at home.
2. Be Entrepreneurial
To be entrepreneurial, you must think outside of the box. School alone will not teach you this skill. It is obtained through your creative mind. Use it to make money on your talents. For instance, if you love writing, you can make money self-publishing books. If you like to draw, you could freelance as an illustrator or sell T-shirts with catchy slogans. Handymen can help repair problems in people’s houses. The list of possibilities is endless.
3. Invest in Commodities
You should never keep your funds in dollar form. Instead, consider investing in gold, silver and other commodities. These tend to rise in value over time. So, when you go to sell them, you will end up doubling or tripling your original investment.
Going back to Warren Buffet, he was able to make millions with this very method. He invested much of his money in silver, during a time when that type of thing was not popular. Other investors laughed at him. They were not laughing when he sold his silver. Now other investors are earning thousands doing the exact same thing.
4. Make Debt an Advantage
Good debt not only makes you more attractive to lenders, but it can also earn you more money. For example, a business loan of $100K is indeed a big debt. However, if your business can make a decent return, it is a debt that is worth having. Debt can be an excellent leverage!
Your mortgage is another example. If it is paid off in its entirety, you have to pay property taxes out of your own pocket. In some jurisdictions, this could be tens of thousands‚ almost a mortgage in itself. To avoid this problem, consider renting out your property. With the money that the renter provides, you will be able to make a decent return while still letting the mortgage company handle your property taxes.
5. Do not Listen to Salespeople
The get-rich-quick schemes you see on television usually make suggestions based off of the old ways of making money. They sound good on the surface, but in the end only one person makes money; the individual who created the program.
Instead, consider reading materials created by people who do not have an agenda. Entrepreneurial magazines, blogs and similar resources can be used to gather more ideas on the new rules of money. Just remember to find information written by people who do as they say. Anything else is just a ploy designed to sell an over-priced product.
In conclusion, the new rules of money must be learned if you want to get out of a financial rut. The old rules of yesterday just do not apply anymore, even if they seem to make sense. As the dollar continues to inflate, and job security weakens, it is important to keep an open mind towards money-making. Doing so could make you a wealthier person.