• Online Entrepreneurship Interview with Tonya Pruitt

    March 12, 2009 // No Comments »

    Recently I had the privilege to connect with an successful online entrepreneur friend of mine, Tonya Pruitt , blogger on Affiliate Home Based Business topics.  Tonya shared some lessons in online entrepreneurship and gave us her opinion on the importance of having a positive mindset as well as personal development in your online business success.  I met Tonya on Twitter several months ago and enjoy following her.

    Let’s see what Tonya had to say…

    How long have you been an online entrepreneur?

    I’ve been marketing online since Oct. 1998.

    Tell us a little bit about your entrepreneurial background?

    Wow, I actually started my entrepreneurial life back in my senior year of high school in 1994. I spent 5 out of 7 classes in business training classes that enabled me to start my first business that year. I started in Network Marketing at 18 years old.  So I’ve now had almost 15 years of business building training and experience.

    What businesses have you created/joined and which one is your favorite?

    Currently I have TLP Unlimited which is the same "business" I’ve had all along though it’s had many different faces. I started off with Network Marketing/MLM and have progressed through the years from that to eBay and now for the past 9 years I’ve been focused on Direct Marketing and Affiliate Marketing as well as web development.

    Personally, I love what Affiliate Marketing provides for the individual who chooses to get into this form of sales. You never have to create your own products (unless you want to).  You never touch the products.  You never do refunds and customer support.  You are able to run a very financially sound business without all the headaches of product creation, and distribution … What more could you ask for?!

    I also love the ability to pick and choose the markets I want to sell in.  Affiliate marketing enables you to be flexible.  I call it a seasonal type of business.  For example, one of my business models (I’m giving secrets away here) is to promote what’s IN SEASON at the time.  During the holidays I promote products that people want to buy then.  During Spring I promote flowers, gardening stuff, etc.  During summer I promote beach gear, travel packages etc.  During fall I promote winter clothing etc.  During winter I’ll promote snow shovels, gear, clothes, etc.

    I also promote the sports products only during their particular season.  It increases sales when you promote while people are really searching for those products.

    How related are personal development, mindset, and an entrepreneurs success in your opinion?

    This is a HOT topic in my opinion.  I personally think if you’ll use the personal development products, and the Mindset products in conjunction with your business development products you will find success. I think the two types of products are NEEDED and very much a part of my own personal system I use to build my success.  They are the key to anyone finding success.

    The thing people need to realize though is that only YOU can change your life .  You can read these products all day long but if you don’t apply what you are reading and put into action the tips you receive you will not succeed.

    The systems in these books won’t work unless you work the system.

    How do you truly gauge what a "successful entrepreneur" is?

    I gage success in any aspect of your life, in how much you help others! If you can provide a good product or service to others and change their lives then you have succeeded.  Otherwise you’re just in it for the money and to me money is not everything!

    What are the 5 keys to online entrepreneurial success?

    Tonya had more than 5 keys here :-)

    1. Education
    2. Action
    3. Consistence
    4. Persistence
    5. Repeating what you do RIGHT!
    6. Learn from your mistakes, and move on. Failure is only what happens when you quit!

    What are your top 3 ways to build relationships online?

    1. Blogging
    2. Facebook
    3. Twitter

    Connection Options: Links to top social networking sites

    1. http://profile.to/tlpunlimited (Facebook)
    2. http://www.myspace.com/tlpunlimited (Myspace )
    3. http://www.twitter.com/tlpunlimited (Twitter 1)
    4. http://www.twitter.com/tonyapruitt (Twitter 2)
    5. http://www.linkedin.com/in/tlpunlimited (Linked In)
    6. http://www.affiliatehomebasedbusiness.com (Blog)
    7. Tons more… will leave ya with this. ;-)

    Visit Tonya Pruitt’s blog at Affiliate Home Based Business dot com.

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    Posted in Habits of Entrepreneurs, Online Entrepreneur Interviews