Many of my friends have work from home companies (like Mary Kay, Pampered Chef, Tupperware) and use a large part of their friend base as clients. However, that sometimes can lead to pressure sales or even misunderstandings.

Can you separate your business from your personal life? Can you not take it personally when friends don't want to host parties, etc?

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Come Black Friday and Cyber Monday Shopping With Me In ONLINE BARGAINS

I think it's difficult, but I'm speaking from the "friend" point of view. I used to get multiple invites per month from acquaintences (not close friends), I finally had to just start ignoring them/throwing them away with no rsvp. Constantly having to tell people no became aggravating, and I just don't have any spare money to spend on anything, and yet the invitations kept coming.

I also had someone invite me to a "party" years ago, not expecting anything more than a friendly get-together, and it ended up being a MLM pitch. A few people got downright angry and left, and friends were probably lost that day. No one signed up for the program and we all left, some of us more gracefully than others. There's a right way and a wrong way to do things, unfortunately it's the wrong way I've experienced.

I know direct sales can be successful, but constantly bombarding friends with invites & sales pitches is not a good idea imo.

I think it comes down to who you are and who your friends are. If you "trick" your friends into a party, then that's just rude. If you are close enough to your friends and you actually have something to sell that they might like and for a good price (who isn't looking for a bargain), then I would offer them the deal. If they declined then I wouldn't be offended and if the tables were turned I would hope they would feel the same way.

I agree with the others. If you "trick" someone into coming then I don't think you're much of a friend. You can only go to so many of those things at a time. I have been on both sides and I wasn't upset if one of my friends didn't want to host a party for me. I found that mlm and I don't fit. I'm not much of a sales person in that department.

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Life is what you make it. So make it dessert and extra sweet.

Our business is part of our lives - it is our job to model positive behavior for the boys that are with us ... that means they get the good and the bad. The times that we are completely alone, as a family, are very special times for me. I work very hard to keep those times completely separate from the boys. Those times are few and far in between. We are looking into being able to take summers off or at least a big part of summer. Crossing my fingers on that one.

I have been able to physically separate my business from personal family life. Having a walkout basement enabled us to have a separate entrance for the piano studio, and a separate space for business use only for tax purposes. The family can go on with their usual routine, while I teach downstairs. But, they still hear the music in the background, but it's not too loud since there's a door that closes at the top of the steps.

Each program suggests using your friendS. What is a real friend? Seariously, money making is one thing and having so-called "friends is another. The classic marketing "pose" requires us to be friendly with every one. This question is a bit embarrasing to me. God is my only true friend. The rest of the entities are enemies, comrads and / or relatives. Business is business.

Look, I tell em, as cold as it may sound, "Pay up when you're supposed to regardless" If I had a mushy attitude and mixed friends with business, I would actually be broke and starving.