I hang out with other mommies. No, I am not a "Mister Mom" or a "Househusband". I do have one enviable situation, though. I work from home and I have flexibility to say, "This morning I am going to spend with my daughters. I can play with them. I can sing with them. I can laugh with them. I can clean up their ice cream that drips all over me."

Or I can say, "This morning I am taking my daughters to play center, where they can play with other children, sing with other children, laugh with other children and spill ice cream on other children instead of on me."

So I hang out with other mommies.

I've noticed that many mommies want to start a home daycare. The reasoning seams to go like this.

1.I'm at home within my own children anyway. 2.So far I have remained relatively unscathed, with few permanent injuries. 3.How much trouble can a few extra children running around spilling ice cream on rug cause? 4.Let's tempt fate.

I have two children, a toddler and a baby. They are enough of a handful, and baby can't even climb on counters...yet.

Have you ever had a client/customer that was more trouble than they were worth? Maybe they were always late to pay, or didn't do what they said they'd do. Maybe you just had a personality clash, or they expected more than you were able to offer. Whatever situation, chances are you had an inkling when you first met that client...a tiny voice that you didn't listen to, that was probably overshadowed by bigger voice that said, "Hey, it's business; I'll take it!"

Learn to say no to those clients, before they start draining your energy! The key to being able to do this is understanding Your Ideal Client. Once you know how to recognize who is ideal and who is not, you can practice turning down business from latter. If you have trouble saying no, you'll need to learn this critical business skill...and what to do to get rid of problem clients you already have; see resources at bottom of this article. If you have a coach, ask them to help you complete Ideal Client exercise, or to role-play those "saying no" conversations.

How to discover YOUR Ideal Client There are many ways to approach Ideal Client/Customer Profile. You can sit down and imagine best, most wonderful client you could have...whether that is an abstract entity, a celebrity (what writer wouldn't want Oprah as a customer, for example), or a specific demographic profile. If your customers are more likely to be companies, you could look at your current client list, and pick company that gives you most business, most joy, least heartburn.

The Ideal Client Profile Whoever you pick, start a profile matrix with two columns: "My Ideal Client Is:" on left; "My Ideal Client is Not:", on right. In column on left, list all characteristics of that type of person or company. Use questions below as prompts to get you thinking about all different aspects that client might have.

Then, either think of opposite of all those aspects, or pick "client from hell" and fill in corresponding traits in right-hand column. Be really honest with this exercise! If you'd rather only have clients who make over $500,000, put that down! Your clients who don't fit your Ideal characteristics, whether you write them down or not, will eventually "know it. May as well get that over with early!

Prompts: Consider these aspects of your Ideal Customer or Client: