3 Simple Ways To Make Affiliate Commissions Without Having To Sell

January 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Daily Affiliate Tasks

If you have a blog, write for a blog or would like to start a blog, you need to know all about affiliate marketing.  It’s a great way to make money online and if you’re not doing it, and doing it right, then you’re leaving money on the table.

My good friend and business coach, Susanne Myers, has affiliate marketing down to a science.  She is so successful at affiliate marketing that she was able to quit her full time job and bring her husband home.  You may know her best as the Hillbilly Housewife.

 

By Susanne Myers
www.DailyAffiliateTasks.com
The thing most of us struggle with when we first start to run an online business is that we’re not comfortable selling. The good news is that you don’t have to go out there and make a hard sale, practically shoving a product down your reader’s throat. There are some subtle strategies you can use that actually work a lot better. Here are three of them that I’m currently using. Give them a try and see if you don’t start making some affiliate sales while giving your readers exactly what they are looking for.

1) Contextual Links
One of the simplest things to do is to add links to affiliate products throughout your content. For example, if I mention the popular autoresponder service Aweber, I will link to my affiliate link for this service. Similarly, if you’re writing about potty training tips, you may link to a potty training guide.
Just make sure that your hyperlinks are in blue and underlined to make it easy for your readers to recognize them as such. Including one or two links into most pieces of your online content can lead to quite a few affiliate commissions over time.

2) Free Trials Or Samples
Find some free trial offers or samples and mention them on your blog, website or on social media. Your audience will love getting something for free and should they decide to buy the paid product or continue a membership, you will get an affiliate commission.
The same holds true for very low cost trials like $1 for the first month to join something. Give it a try. It’ll be easy to make the offer to your readers and you won’t feel like selling.

3) Product Reviews
Last but not least, let’s talk about my personal favorite – product reviews. Find a product or service that you are currently using that has an affiliate program. Write a simple review that introduces the product, explains what it does and highlights the features and benefits. Tell your readers what you like about it and what you don’t like about it. Then let them know where they can order the product and use your affiliate link. That’s all there’s to it.

People actively search for reviews online all day long which makes it easy to get some free search engine traffic for those product reviews. Once they land on your site they are very close to make a buying decision and may just decide to click through your link and buy. It’s a great way to make a sale without having to do any hard selling.

Ready for more tips on how to grow your affiliate income? Join Daily Affiliate Tasks.com for $10 per month and work on things that actually work to bring you more traffic, more subscribers and make more affiliate commissions working as little as 30 minutes per day. Learn more and join today at www.DailyAffiliateTasks.com

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Chocolate Lovers Will Love This: Dove Chocolate Discoveries

October 4, 2011 By 13 Comments

Dove Chocolate Discoveries $79 Starter Kit

October is Women’s Small Business Month and quite frankly, any month is a good month for chocolate so when I was asked if I wanted to share the yummy goodness of owning your own business and the deliciousness of chocolate – how could I resist?

So I’m going to break this post down into 3 parts.

  • An Opportunity to Start Your Own Business
  • An Interesting Discussion about Chocolate
  • An Opportunity to WIN some Chocolatey goodness

You still with me?

Good.  Let’s get started.

First off let me tell you that making money outside of having a “real j.o.b.” does exist.  I do it every day from the comfort of my own living room, sometimes in my PJs and always in my flip-flops.

I started working from home to make extra money but I quickly realized that I could do it full time, make more money that working at the local retail outlet AND create a lifestyle that my family absolutely loves.

There are many ways to start a business from home and outside of starting up a blog there is no easier way to get started than via a direct sales opportunity. Dove Chocolate Discoveries is one of those companies.

An Opportunity To Start Your Own Business

DOVE CHOCOLATE DISCOVERIES™ launched in February 2007 as one of the latest ventures from Mars, Incorporated. In the 1880′S, when Frank Mars was a young boy, his mother taught him to hand-dip chocolate. With his wife, Ethel, Frank started a home candy-making business in Tacoma, Washington, that eventually grew into Mars, Inc., a world-wide industry leader in chocolate confections.

Going back to its direct-selling heritage, Mars created DOVE CHOCOLATE DISCOVERIES™. Since then, the Chocolatier sales force has taken off. There are now Chocolatiers in 48 states.

I love Mars’ products.  Although Dove is pretty yummy, who doesn’t love  M&M’S®,  MILKY WAY® and TWIX?
And frozen Snicker bars are my absolute favorite – eaten layer by layer.  How do you eat yours? The quality of the company’s products is pretty outstanding.

Direct Sales is perfect for women that would like to get out of house and help with the family budget.  But did you know that you can also use direct sales as a way to conduct fundraisers and even build a business around your family?

Here are six benefits of choosing Dove Chocolate Discoveries:

  • Freedom: Work for yourself and be independent, setting your own business goals.
  • Flexibility: Set your own hours and schedule work around family priorities.
  • Finances: Pay bills, take that special vacation or replace your full time income. How much you earn is entirely up to you!
  • Fuel your development: With top notch training programs and tools, you’ll gain entrepreneurial business skills and savvy that will make you a hot commodity in any market.
  • Friends: Meet new people through Tasting Parties and a supportive network of Chocolatiers.
  • Fun: Love what you do and share that joy. It doesn’t feel like work when you make people happy! After all who doesn’t love chocolate?

What does it cost?

Every Chocolatier needs a Business Kit, and we offer two! Choose the Standard Business Kit or step up to the Master Chocolatier Kit. Both Kits provide enough products and printed materials to hold your first four to six Chocolate Tasting Parties. There’s even a rolling cooler bag to help keep products cool on your way to parties!

 Standard Business Kit: $159 ($300+ retail value)

Master Chocolatier Kit: $449 ($800+ retail value)

The kit I received was the Introductory Kit (pictured above) $79 ($200+ retail value)

The chocolate made it into the house just fine and I live in Florida.  It was packed nicely in dry ice and nothing arrived short of perfect.  I did, however, have trouble with a certain teenaged boy trying to “borrow” the chocolatey goodness.  I did relent and let him and the other two kidlets share a bit of the milk chocolate and while I was going to save the bounty to share with my Ladies Fellowship this weekend, I have to tell the truth and let you know I sampled a piece or two, you know, just to make sure it tasted ok before I took it.

In the kit I received a bottle of their chocolate martini mix and I’m just dying to find some good recipes for it.  Oh! and I got mousse mix and brownie mix and chai tea mix and I just can’t wait to try them.  When I do, I’ll try to remember to share the memories and some pictures with you.

 An Interesting Discussion About Chocolate

Didja know?

•    American consumers average 10-12 pounds a year, while our friends in the UK eat almost twice that

•    Aggregated, this is 2.8 billion pounds of chocolate per year consumed in the U.S. – nearly half of the world’s supply

•    More than 50% of adults prefer chocolate to other flavors

•    Men and women purchase chocolate in equal amounts

•    More chocolate is consumed in winter than any other season

•    $16 million in chocolate was sold in the U.S. in 2010

•    While milk chocolate is the preferred chocolate flavor, dark chocolate consumption has increased perhaps to its suggested health benefits.

Do you know any odd or interesting chocolate facts?

An Opportunity to Win Some Chocolatey Goodness

Giveaway Alert

Want to win a Dove Chocolate Discoveries Starter Kit of your own (you are under no obligation to join as a consultant – merely enjoy the taste of chocolatey goodness).  Here’s what you need to do.

  1. Visit Dove Chocolate Discoveries on Facebook and Like ‘em – come back here and let us know you did
  2. Visit Moms In A Blog on Facebook and Like Us  – come back here and let us know you did
  3. Leave a comment on this post with your favorite chocolate tip, hint or recipe

This contest is only open to US Residents and will end at Midnight (Eastern), Monday, October 10, 2011.

Winner will be chosen via random.org and will be notified via email so make sure to include it.  You will have 3 days to respond with a shipping address or another winner will be chosen.

The Introductory Starter Kit Includes (see the image above)

Products

1½ Pounds of Milk Chocolate
1½ Pounds of Dark Chocolate
4 Chocolate Mousse Packets
1 Chocolate Martini Mix Bottle
6 Chai Tea Packets
1 Blue Heart-Shaped Fondue Set
1 Truffle Fudge Brownie Mix
1 Box Chocolate-Covered Almonds

Printed Material

1 Welcome Pack
1 Tasting Party DVD
1 Share the Sweet Life DVD
25 Host Coaching Guides
25 Tasting Party Invitations
25 Fall/Holiday Catalogs
25 Fall/Holiday Entertaining Guides
50 Order Forms

 

Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of DOVE Chocolate Discoveries and received a Starter Kit to facilitate my review.

AND THE WINNER IS…..

JUDY!

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Can I Afford To Stay Home?

June 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment

There are many times when a Mom questions her choices.  One of the most difficult decisions is whether to work at an outside job or stay home.  I know from personal experience that this is not an easy decision to make.  When our daughter was born, I knew I wanted to stay home.  But, how would that be possible?  How could I stay home and still pay all the bills?

I also know that summertime brings this question back up for many Moms of school age kids.  When kids are home from school, it’s difficult to go to work every day for several reasons;  you’re paying daycare costs again, and you’re missing out on all the fun.

Revisiting the debate about working outside or staying home is frustrating.  I know.  It took us almost 3 years of struggling with this decision and working out the details… but we did it.  I am now a stay at home Mom.

Here I share a list of a few things we put in place that eventually allowed me to quit my job and become a full time stay at home Mom.  Read through them and see if they give you any ideas if you are struggling with the same decision.

  • We paid off all credit card debt and cars to get our overall bills down.
  • We knew we wanted to move and buy another house… to make sure we would qualify for a good loan with a low interest rate, we purchased the new home before I stopped working. Of course we made sure we could make the house payments without my job income.
  • We cut down on a lot of extras like a big satellite package, cell phones, and eating out.
  • We sat down and did the math. We listed all our expenses, figuring in that I would no longer have to commute every day which would save us in gas, work outfits, makeup, and lunches, and of course without the cost of daycare. Then we looked at the money coming in without my salary. When that was enough to cover all costs and then some, it was time for a trial run.
  • For the next three months, I continued to work, but we lived without my income… it went straight into a high-yielding savings account that would become our safety net. With just one person working, you need a good emergency fund in case that person loses his or her job and you’re left with no income at all.
  • After the three months we sat down and were pretty frank with each other what we did and didn’t like about living with quite a bit less money to spend. In the end we both decided that the sacrifices were worth being able to raise our child instead of having her in daycare or with a sitter.

As you can see, this decision wasn’t easy… or fast.  But, we’ve never regretted it.

We lived quite well for years with my job being to run the household, raise our daughter, and make our dollars stretch as far as possible. That meant creating a budget, cooking a lot more from scratch than before, shopping smartly, and coming up with fun frugal things for our family to do.  Because my husband was on board with our new frugal lifestyle, and our daughter was too young to notice any changes, these cut-backs were not difficult.  However, getting your family on board when older kids are involved will take a real commitment from everyone.

Once our daughter started school full-time, we had another decision to make.  Would I go back to work outside the home or continue staying home?  Working outside still had it’s drawbacks, like not being available for after school time, having to juggle work with school programs and other family fun, and of course, summer vacation.

That’s when we explored a third option… instead of being considered a stay-at-home-mom I would become a Work-At-Home-Mom.  I did a lot of research and started doing something I already liked – sharing frugal tips with other Moms.  My website HillbillyHousewife.com is the result.  Through the years I’ve learned a lot and have used that knowledge to produce a respectable income working right from home, while having the freedom to spend time with my family.

I know many families are struggling trying to raise a family on a limited income.  I also know that some families feel they have no options available to them.  I want you to know that becoming a Work-At-Home-Mom was a decision that I will never regret.  There is no such thing as easy money; working at home takes, well, work.  But, the rewards are well worth the effort.  Just looking at the relaxed smiling faces around our dinner table is reward enough!

Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to visit me here on MomsInABlog.com.  Be sure to scroll down and leave a comment when you get a chance.

Warm regards,

Susanne – The Hillbilly Housewife
www.HillbillyHousewife.com

p.s.  Feeling stressed and overwhelmed trying to support and raise a family is not a new problem to our modern times.  Whether you work outside the home or you stay at home trying to make ends meet, it’s not easy.  Please read this interesting story and see if you can relate to any of the feelings the mom is having:  A Homemaker’s Story

Image of DollarCurvesAhead: scottchan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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An Online Store-Tips for Opening Your Own Shop

February 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

More and more people are beginning to shop online these days. With trusted sites like Paypal who ensure that those who shop online are secure from theft when entering their credit card information or paypal account name and password, people can buy what they need without ever needed to venture through crowded malls or trudge out through feet of snow in the winter.

If you are passionate about something and have often thought about what it would be like to run your own store online, now is the time to get involved. Before you open up your one online store though, you will need to do some research and check out your potential competition. This helps you to find out the prices that products are selling for and what types of marketing methods your competitors are using to drive in their business. Often times when browsing around, you will see things selling that you never thought would be that popular.

You can either choose to sell products that are already manufactured and can be purchased at wholesale prices, or through the use of a drop ship company(this means no out of pocket expense for you for inventory), or you can make your own products if you love to do crafts, needlework, pottery, or any other hobby that generates a nifty little product someone might find enjoyment or use from.

Choose a Specific Niche
If you have not decided on an inventory yet, you need to take the time to think about a specific niche. This is a small category of products that are specific to a certain group of people or target market. You are too small of a person to compete with the likes of companies such as Walmart who can afford to sell everything and anything to the general public. To be successful and grab a piece of the internet e-commerce pie, narrowing in on a small area of a market will net you the best chance.

If you stick to a niche that you are familiar with and know pretty well, you will be able to stay interested in your business and be able to share more about the specifics of products and uses with your customers. Many people are more eager to do business and come back again if they can trust your experience and knowledge.

Many wahms find success in using their sewing skills to make things such as baby clothes or cloth diapers. Others make candles, soap, chocolates, gift baskets, embroidered accessories, crochet booties, hats and scarves, or almost anything you enjoy making and giving as gifts, will more than likely find success if you create an online store and get your products in the faces of the best target market.

I am a writer, therefore it seemed only logical that I would write some books and try to sell them. I started out writing about my experiences online, what I learned that made money, the programs I tried and how to use them, and anything that could benefit another stay at home parent make money from home enabling her to save money on child care.

I have always had a passion for children’s stories and have written several. I am now in the process of having those illustrated and selling as well. And finally, I am 50 pages into a romance/mystery novel which I hope will one day soon be on the shelves for others to enjoy.

I have a sister who sells gift baskets and if you choose the right themes and products, you can find a popular selection that many people will enjoy. Gift baskets are great to sell in an online store because you can make so many varieties that you are most sure to please everyone who is browsing. Gift baskets are becoming quite popular to buy these days because people just do not have the time or the imagination to go searching for that perfect gift. With baskets, they can see things at a glance and it becomes a no brainer, just purchase, receive in the mail and one happy recipient.

Research Your Store Options
Once you have decided on your inventory, you will need to set up your store. If you are not such a techie person, you may want to go with someone like Yahoo, wahm cart, shopify, or any of the other options where the store is already pre-installed for you on hosting and you just simply need to purchase a domain name for it and load up your product pictures, descriptions and price.

If you are more of a techie geek, you can use the free sources like OS Commerce, Cube Cart or Zencart which are included in most hosting account Fantastic control panels, or you can pay for WordPress ecommerce shopping cart plugins, or other standalone options like Magenta. The cost of these programs will be anywhere from the $10 hosting fee cost upwards to $200 a month depending on which you choose to go with. You will want to do a lot of research and try talking to other store owners on forums or social networks before you decide which will work best for you.

I used Cube Cart for the longest time, and then I tried places like E-junkie, and the more I learned about html and such, I soon ended up just building my own individual sales pages for my download-able e books. While I have these on their own pages, I have still set up a plug in much like a store for the affiliate program though.

You will want to make sure that whatever option you choose to go with for your online store that you have reliable hosting service. The last thing you need is for the server to go down and you lose out on potential sales. You can also choose to set up stores on ebay or ioffer where you will have help in getting those targeted customers you are looking for.

Network with Other Store Owners
It is a good idea to be a regular member of a forum with other wahms. In this way, you can find those others who have stores and band together with them to swap banners and promotions to help get traffic and sales for everyone. Many wahms find that the things they sell compliment other wahms well and there is enough business for everyone to get some income happening without feeling like they are losing out to competition. Marketing is a big aspect of your business and once you have your online store looking just the way you want it, you will be spending the majority of your time bring in the traffic and making sales.

Remember to keep your site simple and easy to navigate. Make sure all order buttons are visible and if possible provide them a way to contact you directly on the site live if they have a question while they are browsing. You can find these chat programs for free or paid and can get them installed without much fuss. Then when someone wants to ask you a question, you will be notified on your computer just like you would with an instant message from Gmail or Messenger. You may want to include a 1-800 business number on your site as well so your customers will be able to call and talk to you live if they have a problem after a purchase.

No matter what you would like to sell online or where you decide to set up your store, by following the tips outlined here, you should be on your way to building a successful business.

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Build Your Business: Find The Right Mentor

February 22, 2011 By 5 Comments

One of the smartest things I’ve done recently to build my business is to get some help.

If there’s one thing I’ve finally realized it’s this:

I. Can’t. Do. It. Alone.

I’ve tried to surround myself with people that I respect in the internet marketing sphere and at times, it’s been hard to separate the wheat from the chaff but I’ve found my “comfortable few”. Those people that I have gotten to know personally, that I actually like and trust them to guide me through my own business because they’ve been where I am AND most importantly, they care about the people that they connect with.

Unfortunately, I can count those people without having to use my toes!

If you’re like me then you’ve been searching high & low for someone to give you information you can implement to build your business but often you’ve shelled out your hard earned cash~sometimes when you really couldn’t afford it~to get some answers. Then you find that it was the same old rehashed crap that everyone else is selling and to get to the real meat & potatoes they try to upsell you into a more expensive information product.

So~to save you any more aggravation I’m going to share with you my favorite people~guaranteed to give you:

  • a ton of free information
  • quality paid products
  • and most importantly, ethical business practices in an otherwise crap-filled environment.

Some of these people you already know and that’s wonderful to my mind ;-) Others might not be as “visible” [yet] but I’m telling you they know they’re stuff and bear getting to know.

Now, on to my list (in no particular order):

As time goes on, I’ll be sharing more information about each of them and how, exactly, they’ve helped me develop both as a person and an internet entrepreneur.

Finding your way through the crap to the juicy goodness can be hard. The path is filled with people who just want your money. While the list above is not exhaustive (there are plenty more people I could mention and will one day soon) it is a good place to start. A place to get valuable information that can save you time, money & frustration on YOUR journey to the internet marketing lifestyle.

Who is your mentor?  What types of experiences (good or bad) have you had while trying to find good, quality information?  I’d love to hear what you have to say.

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Time Management-The Key to a Productive Day

February 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment


When you are a work at home, there are many things you need to schedule into your day. As children can often be a little unpredictable and you may never end up knowing what day you may have to take an unexpected trip to the hospital or the children may skip their daily nap, you need to learn to be as productive as you can in the time given to you each day(as I write this, my 2 year old is climbing up on my lap for some “mommy time”, and who can resist such a big wet kiss and hug?)

When I first started out online, I was still working a full time job and had no children that needed me on a full time basis(my two older children were teenagers 6 years ago and hardly ever around) I was pretty much free to schedule my time as I wanted to fit in my online work. As the years progressed though, I ended up getting re-married, having 2 more children and life suddenly became super busy.

When your children are babies, it is easy to just work around their sleeping habits but as they get older and don’t sleep as much, the task soon becomes a little more of a challenge. Taking the time to plan out what you need to do each day at night when the children go down for a nap, will allow you to see what time slots you can fit your tasks into.

For example, a typical day for me now goes something like this:

  • 7am- Rise and shine with the 2 children
  • 7:30am- Breakfast and cartoons(I sit with them for this time and spend a little time chatting with them so they feel like I am giving them top priority before I do anything else)
  • 8am-I turn on my computer and check my emails, answer clients, respond to customers inquiries, and tend to affiliate stuff if there is any
  • 9am-Check into facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and see what all my other internet marketing friends and followers are up to for the day(I will retweet those posts that I believe will help anyone on my list)
  • 9:30am-Do some client work
  • 10:30am-Take a break and have a snack with the kids. Maybe read them a story or two.
  • 11:00am-Write up an article for Hubpages, Ezinearticles, or one of my blogs. I have several blogs I work on every week and schedule it so that I post to one each day.
  • 12:30pm-Take another break to make lunch and chat with my kids, maybe we make up a story or song while I prepare lunch and they color at the table.
  • 1:30pm-Housework time
  • 2:00pm-4pm-This I know is my most productive time of the day and the time I need to make the most of since both the kids are usually down for a nap-I can do client work, work on a new book or project, do some research, talk to a client in person and discuss some jobs, write more articles,or do more marketing. Whatever I have on my list for the day that requires quiet time and concentration gets done right now.
  • 4pm-Kids are up and want me to sit with them for a bit, have another snack or maybe do a craft(we go outside for a walk or play in the backyard when it isn’t winter).
  • 5pm-Finish up any work
  • 6pm-Make dinner and have some family time

The rest of the evening is usually for the family and whatever comes along, although often I am still researching or doing something to plan for the next day or week.

Every mom knows that each day is different and something may or may not get done. If you write out a list of priorities the night before and make sure that you schedule the most important things to be done during the time you know you will have the most uninterrupted time, you can end up having a productive day. Also, if you do not multi-task yet(although I don’t know many moms who don’t do that), you need to get started practicing how, it is a true life saver when getting the most from each day.

Here is a quick list of other ways you make can make the most of time management:

  • Don’t get stressed out when something doesn’t get done.
  • Don’t schedule things you are unsure you will be able to finish on time-this means not being afraid to say “No” to something

that you don’t think you can do(this means in both business and personal life).

  • Write out everything you need to get done for the day and break it up into time manageable slots. In this way, you will

not feel like you were unproductive if you did not manage to finish the whole project or list

  • Always be prepared to be interrupted. If you are not interrupted and manage to get more done than you thought you would

for the day, you can feel really pleased with yourself, but will avoid discouragement if you don’t.

As you spend more time working at home and managing a family, you will learn what works well together and how to get projects done quicker in the time you are given. It is a work in progress but organization and time management will always allow you to feel productive and successful with both business and family life.

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Home Business Ideas: Start A Blog

November 16, 2010 By 1 Comment

You really can make money by starting a blog.  It’s as simple as sharing your ideas and passions.  However, there are some steps you need to take to build your blog into a place that people want to visit….to hear what you have to say.

A blog has the possibility of making its owner money.  The amount of money to be made depends on the types of monetization you choose as well as how much work you put into it.

Yep! It. Takes. Work!  Hard. Work.

I’ll be sharing more on they whys and wherefores in the near future, however in the meantime, Jill Hart of CWAHM.com

Start a Blog

shares some tips on getting started.

Three Tips To Get You Started Blogging for Business

Over the last several years blogging has become the foundation for social media campaigns of businesses big and small. Where Facebook and Twitter help keep companies in the limelight, spreading the word about special events, discounts and newsworthy items, blogs are the place where companies build their reputation and make sales.

As popular as blogging has become, I often hear from home-based business owners who are trying to figure out exactly what a blog consists of and how they can use one to benefit their business. Below are three tips that can help maximize the impact of your business blog.

1. It’s All In The Name

Be sure to choose a name for your blog that is both descriptive and easy to remember. Try to stick to either your business name or the name of your star product/service. If none of these are available consider using your name or business tagline. Also, consider possibly adding in your keywords … such as Publicity Virtual Assistant.

2. Use Keywords Effectively

When you write posts for your business blog be conscious of the words that you choose. Pepper your posts with keywords relating to your business, products, services and brand. These keywords will trigger Search Engine results and help you reach the top of the results for your keywords. Be careful not to overuse keywords, though, because readers will get frustrated and the Search Engines consider that against the rules.

Also, consider keyword phrases – often called long tail keyword phrases (why, I’m not sure!). Long tail keywords are simply a sting of words that make up a phrase that represent your keywords. Think, what would people type in Google to find me. Examples, “how to start a business.” Think … how can I define my blog more (or this particular post). I wrote this blog post on … (fill in the blank), now what keywords do I need to put in so others can find me?

3. Quality Information (No Fluff!) & Fresh, Regular Content

Another thing to consider when writing business blog posts is to keep your posts informational. The more quality content you offer to readers, the more often they will visit your blog. Also, by posting regularly your readers will get to know the schedule and tend to visit your blog on a regular basis because of it.

You know your audience best. What do they want to hear? Need to hear? Solve that problem that you’ve been having and you know others are having too. Consider adding in reviews, recommendations, etc. Your blog can be so much more than you talking about your business. What fun thing can you add? Contest, giveaways, etc.

There are many ways to use a blog for business use. If used correctly, a blog can be a terrific tool to inform potential customers of your business. Be sure to update your blog regularly so that the content remains fresh and people coming back for more great information.

–
Tips from Jill Hart of Christian Work at Home Moms, CWAHM.com and Diana Ennen of VirtualWordPublishing.com.  For more tips visit http://SoYouWantToBeaWAHM.com.  These tips can be used if you include this short bio.

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Do You Want To Work At Home?

September 3, 2010 By 2 Comments

When I first started to make some money at home I was really only trying to make a bit extra each month, something that would supplement my regular income and keep the lights turned on.

Over the next few months I discovered that there were moms who worked at home on the internet full time doing all sorts of different things and it intrigued me.  So much so that I started an internet radio show just to feature these amazing women and learn more about what they were doing.  I had no idea where that would end up leading me but I was definitely inspired.

Do you want to be inspired?

There is a terrific free event planned for that very purpose, to inspire and encourage new work at home moms with awesome stories and solid resources.  It’s called Totally Free Tuesday and it’s coming up on Tuesday, September 14th.  It’s an all day event with multiple speakers, all held in an easy to access web conference room.

Come check it out and who knows?  Maybe you’ll inspiring others one of these days?

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5 Tips To Starting A Home Based Service Business

January 15, 2010 By 1 Comment
Working at home
Image by gibsonsgolfer via Flickr

Ladies, Starting a Home-Based Service Business? Heed These 5 Important Tips

So you’ve been thinking of starting a business from home. You’ve got some skills, don’t have a lot of space for inventory, so you figure it might be a good idea to start a service business. In fact, it’s a GREAT idea – you just have to be prepared to get your business off the ground and balance all the work/life responsibilities that are on your plate.

This article is going to provide you with easy-to-follow tips to do just that, but first, if you still don’t know what type of service business to start, here are a few popular suggestions:

Ghostwriting for the Internet: Write articles, reports and other information for online business owners.

Transcription Business: Create written records of audio recordings, meetings and more.

Virtual Assistant Business: Provide administrative support, secretarial services and more for other companies.

It doesn’t matter what type of service business you start, there will be some challenges along the way. Here are some tips help you as you go along:

1. First and foremost, set your working hours and ensure everyone in your household is aware of them and respects them. If you happen to be a mother or have other interruptions during the day, there’s nothing wrong with setting aside smaller chunks of time where you’ll be working. This isn’t the “real world” work setting anymore – it’s better. You work at home and you can decide when you work.

2. As a service business, you have two very important roles. One of those roles is to provide service for your clients. The other is to FIND those clients and the time involved in this is something many service-providers don’t take into account. Ensure you have enough time for providing services and the marketing tasks for your business – or hire some help to make the most efficient use of your time.

3. Charge a fair and rewarding rate. Even if you charge your clients for each hour you work for them, there are many tasks (administrative, marketing, etc.) that you don’t get paid for. To set a rate that is worthwhile to you, you need to decide what type of overall income you desire and figure out how many hours total (all business activities) you want to be working. If you find you can’t charge a rate that is worthwhile, consider another business idea or target a specific type clientele that is willing to pay the rates you charge.

4. Be choosy about your clients. It can be tempting to simply take on any clients because you may need the cash. Unfortunately, bad clients can drain your time, suck up your energy and end up being more work than they’re worth. Resist the temptation to just take any clients because your business will be more fruitful in the long run if you work with easy-to-manage, low-maintenance clients.

5. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. If you find yourself taking on more clients than you can handle to earn more money, revisit tip #3 above. You may be concerned about giving your clients a good deal, but they actually suffer when you can’t provide the quality service they deserve. Instead aim for fewer clients, charge more and give them stellar service.

If you keep these things in mind, your transition to a work-at-home service provider will go much more smoothly. It’s not always easy and when you’re first starting out, it can be tough to find that balance and a schedule that you can work with. But stick with it and keep refining your process and you’ll find yourself owning a very rewarding business that you absolutely love.

Recommended

To get more at home business ideas, be sure to visit Just Add Sweat – they’re your source for step-by-step guides for starting your very own home-based business. You’ll find the guidance you need to get your business off the ground, find real-life success stories from women just like you and more.

Click here to go to Just Add Sweat

Already have a service based business?  You might be interested in learning how to Attract Clients

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Home Business: Getting Your Kids Involved

September 13, 2009 By 6 Comments

When you work at home, you have the perfect opportunity to teach your children skills and options that they may not have learned otherwise.

Even at a very young age children notice our moods or emotions, and our work ethic. They see things like the way we handle responsibility and accountability, and as they grow up beside you in a home business they get a firsthand view of it all.

It doesn’t happen overnight. Like all other aspects of parenting, much of what we teach our children is a slow process of consistent training, and of the examples we set as their primary role models.

I have been working from home for almost 13 years now, since my children were 5 months and 5 years old. They are now 13 and almost 18, and I am finally beginning to see the fruits of my labor as a parent. As they become young adults, they are each displaying behaviors I once thought would never stick.

Our children hold a certain amount of skepticism about everything that we say, or attempt to teach them. They are dead set on learning things for themselves, knowing the reasons behind the rules, or seeing the proof. That old saying of “do as I say, not as I do” just doesn’t hold water.

The proof is in the pudding for kids. I’m feeling fortunate that I fed my two plenty of pudding over the years. :D

For a long time, my childrens’ only real interest in my home business was when I would be done for the day, or how much expendable cash we had. Over the years I often wondered if they would ever take an interest in the actual business, or what they might choose to do when they came of age to consider jobs and careers themselves.

It was only a few years ago that they began asking more detailed questions. They understood that I worked from home, and that I had an online business, but the questions finally started: What is it you actually do?

It was a proud moment for sure, but it almost made me realize that I could have involved them much sooner. They both took a genuine interest in the concept, and of course went back to their own busy little lives. I took that first show of interest though, and gradually shared more and more of my workday with them as opportunities arose.

Timing played a big part in finally getting my children actively involved in my home business. They were reaching an age where they were considering jobs and an income of their own. And my business was reaching a point where I needed more help and more tax breaks.

I consulted with my CPA on all of the options, and discovered that I could pay each of my children up to $2,400 per year tax-free. We also discussed the forms I would need to employ them full-time, and the tax breaks and details associated with higher earnings. You’ll want to discuss this with your own CPA of course, but there are definitely very nice benefits to employing your children in your home business.

In addition to the financial benefits for you as the owner, you are also teaching your children solid lessons in money management. Not to mention valuable skills and experience that will come in handy to them in future jobs and opportunities.

What you employ your children to do in your business will depend on your unique business model, and the skill levels and ages of your children. Fortunately children today are very good with technology, and super fast learners.

You have nothing to lose by giving them this opportunity, and the whole family has much to gain. You might start small by teaching them a specific task in your business, and see how well they do. If they do a good job, or are willing to learn and improve, you can offer to pay them to do that task for you for one week while you work on getting something else done.

Put the emphasis on needing their help. Children love to feel needed, and they love to do things that get your positive approval. Teach them patiently, and reward them by letting them know how impressed you are with the results.

Start small so that you can both get a feel for how things will work out. It should be fun and rewarding for everyone, without pressure or frustration.

It’s a great way to bring your family even closer, while growing your business at the same time!

LynnLynn Terry is the dynamic force behind ClickNewz . Her blog is  updated daily with internet marketing strategies, affiliate tips, search marketing tutorials, website traffic ideas and ways to build passive income.  She’s also the founder of Self-Starters Weekly Tips where as she describes it – “SSWT” is my way of sharing what works, and what doesn’t, and helping others achieve the same success online that I have myself. It’s definitely a labor of love, but over the years I have created an incredible community of like-minded people here, and it has been well worth the time and energy invested.”   Join Lynn in the Elite Forum of Self-Starters Weekly Tips,  a wonderful mastermind & brainstorming group that will help you take your business to the next level.

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