katies hugs

Tweet!

2009-02-02T13:05:00.001-07:00

I spent most of the morning integrating Twitter into my website and blogs and even added it to Facebook and Myspace.

Im not sure how it will all work out but I believe it might just turn into a great business tool. Being able to let everyone know when you have made changes or updates is simple and easy.

So far Im liking it.. If you Twitter let me know and be sure to follow us!

http://twitter.com/katieshugs

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Check out the new lists!

2009-01-26T10:27:00.001-07:00

It's been a long time coming but the new survey lists are finally up at It's Free!

You can now sign up with the Top 40 Survey sites (the ones that send the most surveys) or you can search through the Verified survey lists and ALL lists are now alphabetical and listed with the incentive they provide most often and which countries they accept!

We've also added a pics-n-pans section where we have listed every survey site we could find, the good the bad and the awful. Here you can share your thoughts on the companies and see how other members feel about a particular site BEFORE you sign up.

Take some time and check them out. A lot of new survey sites were added in the re-vamp. http://www.itsfree.proboards43.com

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Why do we fall for the scams

2009-01-22T13:07:00.001-07:00

Reprinted from www.wahmscam1.blogspot.com

This is easy to answer and hard to answer all at the same time. It seems like when people in general get on the internet they tend to believe whatever they see. Kind of like believing whatever you read in a newspaper or watch on television.

For instance why do you think those websites promising hundreds of dollars a day while you sleep are still up and running? Ever see the websites promising data entry jobs and they have thousands of companies in their database you can work for? All you have to do is pay a one time fee of $39.95 and of course this is the discounted price for one week only. Bet if you go back a month from now they are still offering the discounted price. I would also bet that once you pay for access to their wonderful data base you will find out there is no job at all. Just a way to run a pay per click business and that business will cost you a lot of money if you don't understand what you are doing.

These places are still in business because we make it profitable for them to be in business. With the mindset of it it is written it must be true we fall prey to their promises and send in our hard earned money.

The internet is really not any different than the outside world. The internet does offer us a information and a lot of it on any subject we wish to explore but it cannot make jobs magically appear with just your credit card number. It cannot promise you work instantly. Just because it is written doesn't make it so.

Before you hand over that credit card number do some research and make sure you know exactly what you are signing up for. Stop and think about what it is you might really be purchasing and make sure you will be able to live with your decision.

Tags: wahm, work at home, scams

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You do What?

2009-01-06T13:53:00.001-07:00

I was reading through a thread at It's Free for a Court Researcher position working at home. One of the members posted that he felt it was a job to gather the information that allows the internet "Gurus" and late night infomercial shysters to send spam.

I got to thinking about it and had some mixed feelings so figured I would air them out here.

There are many ways to work at home and not everything is for everyone. One large sector is adult based. Many work at home moms are busy talking on the telephone and entertaining adults. This isn't something I could do simply because I would be too busy giggling.

I watched a show the other day about a lady who runs her own webcam shows during the day. My best estimate was that she was making around $10K a month! Again, not something I could do because I don't think many people are that interested in seeing me dressed up as little bo peep.

Another common "job" that comes around is posting ads on Craigslist. Now obviously it's against Craigslist rules and you run the risk of losing your priveleges but many people are happily doing it. Once again, not me, I am a little bit attached to my Craigslist account.

I guess what Im saying, is that any company who wants to buy a list is going to get it from somewhere. Take those late night infomercials about working at home. You know the crazy like a fox spots that promise you will make lots of money and are missing out if you don't call? A lot of research has been done and the last I remember, you are actually giving out your information to someone on the other end of the phone (probably working from home no less) and that information will then be forwarded on the Herbalife. Now what do you think Herbalife will do with it? Someone else working at home will be calling you and trying to get you to sign up.

So really, if the Court Researcher position is legit but you are gathering information for someone who will eventually sell it, is that really bad? Someone is going to get paid for gathering that information.

Tags: work at home, type at home, court researcher, work at home moms

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What is Affiliate Marketing?

2008-12-26T17:46:00.001-07:00

The first question to answer is probably what is an Affiliate Marketer? The best way I can think of to answer would be to say an Affiliate Marketer is comparable to being a salesperson.

You basically "sell" something for someone else. You can "sell" through your website, through writing articles, blogging, and many other ways.

Your first step is to find out what you want to sell. There are many affiliate sites that will help you get started.

Clickbank is popular for those just starting out. They deal with a lot of ebooks.

Some of my personal favorites are:

Linkshare and Logicalmedia

Once you are signed up you can pick the websites and companies you want to "affiliate" with. Once you are accepted you will get an "affiliate link". This is the link you will use to "sell".

Place the links and banners containing your unique ID on your website, in your forum signatures and in your articles (if allowed).

Now when someone follows your banner or link, you will get paid. Well okay, it's not that easy. Usually your visitor will need to make a purchase or sign up for a service. THEN you get paid.

This is the short version. For more in depth discussion please visit us at http://www.itsfree.proboards43.com/index.cgi?board=affiliates and feel free to ask questions!

Tags: work at home, affiliate marketing, get paid, make money

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Will you sell your soul to make a buck?

2008-12-03T09:54:00.001-07:00

So it's finally official.. We are in a recession and have been for over a year. What does this mean when it comes to working at home? It means more people are looking for ways to make extra money at home. It also means if you are already working from home you are probably looking for more ways to supplement your income from home.

Which brings us to the point of this article. There are many make money from home ventures floating around. Every work at home forum you visit has the spammers.. you've seen them. A common ploy is the "As seen on Oprah" work at home scam. It's a cash gifting scam similar to the old fashioned chain letters, "send one dollar to this person, then they send one to you and the next three people".

That one is a pretty obvious work at home scam but there are others that aren't so obvious. There are all the "Buy my ebook and resell it" schemes. Not really scams but they don't really help the person buying the book either.

Then we have another classic, "Data Entry at Home". Send in $35 and they tell you how to post the same ad and get money when people request the training materials from you. The training materials, of course tell your customer to place the ad and do the same thing all over again. This is also ran as a work from home job under "Processing Orders" or "Order Processor".

My point is, there are lots of legitimate ways to make money from home for free but none of us are getting rich. It can be tempting to try one of these work at home schemes or scams just to make a little extra money. You may have already even thought about trying one of them out.

What's stopping you? Your sense of honesty? Your integrity and morals? You just KNOW it isn't the "right thing" to do?

Good for you. Give yourself a pat on the back and KNOW that there is something out that WILL help you boost your business or help you find that perfect work from home job. The good people DO come out on top.

Tags: work from home, work at home scams, data entry at home, typing at home, make money

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THE Affiliate Program To Join

2008-11-07T11:29:00.001-07:00

I know you’ve been struggling to find an affiliate program that actually takes you by the hand and HELPS you to become successful.

I recently heard about Russell Brunson’s new TheSecondTier and I think it might be just what you’re looking for.

If you haven’t heard about TheSecondTier before, it provides unique, innovative promotional tools in addition to being the web’s top affiliate training center.

I’ve personally been part of TheSecondTier for a while now and it’s like an online affiliate club... members only! And the members ever pampered!

I knew you’d be interested so I included a link to TheSecondTier so you could check it out:
http://photomom04.thesecondtier.com/thesecondtier

No where else will you find such powerful resources in one place and for free! It doesn’t matter what level you’re at as an internet marketer because TheSecondTier will train you to become an overpaid super affiliate.

If you want to know more about this awesome new resource, click here:

http://photomom04.thesecondtier.com/thesecondtier

For me personally the Second Tier has been more effective than any other resource I have found.

I highly recommend creating your personal membership (FREE) now!

P.S. You'll also get unlimited access their live training calls every monday morning.

http://photomom04.thesecondtier.com/thesecondtier

Tags: affiliate marketing, make money online, make money from home, free dvd

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Finding your Niche online.

2008-10-15T19:35:00.001-07:00

I have just tonight discovered again how important finding your niche is. As some of you know already I recently discovered Squidoo all over again. I have also recently discovered the power of couponing.

Well naturally I thought "If I had to learn how to really use coupons, others need and want this information." So I started a Squidoo Lens about couponing.

Now I had one lens that was started way back when Squidoo first got going and another one that I started a few weeks ago and then I started the one about saving money at the grocery store.

Imagine my surprise tonight when I checked on the lenses and found that the NEWEST one has had the most traffic. Three times the traffic that the older one had.

Why is this? Well I believe it's because I found a niche that people are hunting for right now. The economy has been and is in a downward spiral. Everyone is feeling the pinch and looking for ways to stretch their dollars. The easiest and most obvious cutback is always groceries. They are looking for the information that I put out there and finding it.

Sounds simple enough and it can be. If you are looking for your niche, think about what it is YOU are looking for. If it's something you have to dig deep to find and it helps you, chances are that it will help someone else as well.

Tags: squidoo, saving money at the grocery store, saving money, couponing

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Give yourself a raise!

2008-10-07T12:35:00.001-07:00

One of the benefits of working at home especially with your own business is that you can give yourself a raise when you need one.

This doesn't really mean that you automatically start making more money but since you are at home you have more control over what and how you spend the money you do make.

Of course you always take on new projects to increase your income but you can also do some things that will greatly stretch the money you already have.

One of the ways I have been stretching those dollars is by couponing. Over the last six weeks I've been able to spend around just $50 a week for groceries. Prior to that I was easily spending over $125 a week. That's an instant $300 a month extra!

I've started a new lens on Squidoo on how to effectively use coupons and get some great deals and even eat better!

Take a look and get started. I will be adding more to it but it already gives you a great way to start. http://www.squidoo.com/getfrugal

Also be sure to check out the coupon section at http://itsfree.proboards43.com for the weeks best deals to be had with a few coupons.

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Paid Survey Sites

2008-09-12T10:09:00.001-07:00

As most of you know I've been taking surveys for around 5 years now. Since it's my favorite way to make a little extra cash I wanted to share my favorite paid survey sites again. There are hundreds of sites and you can get the full list by clicking here. If you just want to try out a few, start with these ones:

Tags: work at home, paid surveys, paid survey sites, nfo

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What's going on.

2008-09-12T09:39:00.001-07:00

It's been awhile but now that school is back in session it's time to put more effort into work and less into play time. I even have a new blog/website in my mind but that's as far as it has gotten.

If you haven't been to our message board It's Free in awhile, you should definately stop by to visit. We have grown tremendously this year and have lots of new friends. We have also started listing paid focus groups for many areas instead of focusing on only nationwide paid focus groups.

Im working on building my Squidoo lens. I believe I wrote about Squidoo when they first started. At that time I didn't really understand the concept or point. However I've been hearing lots of good things lately and the name keeps popping up so today I went and checked it out again. They have definately made some huge improvements!

There are lots of new modules you can use and it is easier than ever to use and update.

Squidoo is still looking like a great and fun way to make money so if you haven't started a lens yet.. get busy!

Tags: work at home, squidoo, make money online, paid focus groups

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Daily work at home leads!

2008-03-20T10:28:00.001-07:00

Recently our message board at http://itsfree.proboards43.com was revamped. Well at least the work at home section was. Now you can find daily work at home job leads FREE! We have broken it down into specific areas to make your search easy.. data entry, office work, call center and customer service, etc.

If you haven't visited in awhile, take a few minutes to stop by and give your feedback or just say hello. http://itsfree.proboards43.com

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Find the Pinecone Research Banner

2008-02-07T11:15:00.001-07:00

Everyone who is interested in surveys is looking to find the pinecone research banner. Look no further!

PineCone Research is looking for Men and Women ages 18-24, get paid money for giving your opinions PLUS get an entry into a sweepstakes for every survey you take.

Pinecone Research sends out surveys that are generally simple and fast to take and they pay for each and every survey you take... quickly! Just click on the Pinecone Research banner below to get signed up and start taking surveys for Pinecone.

Tags: pinecone research banner, pinecone banner, surveys, find pinecone, money, get paid

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Be a guide for about.com

2007-07-31T13:50:00.001-07:00

About.com has guide positions and this is an excellent opportunity for anyone wanting to work at home.

If you enjoy writing this could be the perfect at hoe job for you. Guides are in charge of writing and updating a blog about a specific subject. They are expeted to update regularly and can make a good amount of money.

There is a training period lasting 17 days so they don't expect to just throw you to the wolves. To find out about the qualifications and compensation package go to: http://beaguide.about.com/

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Work at home reality

2007-07-23T10:14:00.001-07:00

Work at home…. This is something so many people are looking for but have so many misconceptions about as well.

It’s always kind of funny how people seem to “skim” over the word “work”. They believe working at home means setting your own hours and basically do what you want when you want. Funny enough these are also the same people who are only willing to work an at home “job”.

These same people are almost always the ones who also say “I want to work from home but I don’t want to be on the phone and I don’t want to do sales of any kind” “I can type 20 words a min and I have no experience yet but I’m willing to work as long as it is between the hours of 9-11 am” “I also need it to pay at least $10 an hour and offer benefits.”

Well wouldn’t we all like to have that kind of job? Working at home means WORK… plain and simple. You need to be able to treat it as any other job and when you are looking for an actual job you need to realize that it is really no different than the outside work world.

If you want a job you will need a resume and prior experience. You also need to understand that it is a very competitive world. No, you can’t work at home with most companies and have your kids running around screaming in the background that they are hungry while you are working. You will need to have an actual quiet work space. This means that even if you are working at home you might need to have daycare available.

You also can’t pay for a job. Just imagine what it would be like if we could go out in the real world and find a company we love and all we had to do was pay a one-time membership fee of $49.99? Have you really ever heard of such a thing happening. When you are looking for a work at home job it is imperative to keep your common sense intact.

There are lists of companies that hire on many websites and job leads posted for free on many websites. Spend some time to research these companies and talk to the people who work at those companies so you can understand what your chances are and what the jobs entail.

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Sell your old gold for cash!

2007-07-17T15:55:00.001-07:00

This is an opportunity that I have not personally tried out but I did a search and could find nothing bad about it at all.

If you want to make some extra cash you can sell your broken or unwanted jewelry.

First request the gold information packet. They tend to have it at your door within two days. Then if you like what you read you can send them your broken or unwanted jewelry and they send you a check in 24 hours!

Plus.. you have ten days to change your mind. If you decide you really were attached to that piece of jewelry after all just return the check and they will return your jewelry!

If you try this out or have previous experience leave some feedback and let us all know what you thought!

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Answering Systems Inc is hiring

2007-07-11T12:14:00.001-07:00

From what I have heard this company has been around for a very long time and is an excellent company to work for.

http://www.call-serve.com/index.html

Nationwide Medical Answering Service seeking Full time work-from-home customer care representative. Must have at least 3 years customer care, home office set-up, Computer, high speed internet, unlimited long distance, clear and pleasant speaking voice; training provided. $8.00 per hour to start. Send Resume with cover letter to employment@ASINY.com

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2007-07-05T13:32:00.001-07:00

Today it's 104 degrees out and we are all playing in the pool.. well the kids are.. I'm obviously hanging out poolside. The point is: How nice is this? Im loving it and just wanted to share one more thing that makes working at home great... you can be mobile! With a laptop you can go anywhere and get your work done. Even without a laptop you can pretty much go anywhere and still get your work done. Think of all the hotels and apartment complexes that have free computer access... even your local library.. while the kids are at storytime or browsing a book.. you can still work! It's fantastic!

Tags: work at home, hotel, apartment, pool, kids

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Court Reseachers

2007-07-03T07:49:00.001-07:00

This would require more than being at home but a lot of the work could be done right at home and it sounds like a lot of fun. Judge Mathis is looking for Court Researchers all across the county. The website doesn't give a lot of information on what it's all about but they have a number you can call to see what is required, look in the upper right corner:

http://judgemathistv.warnerbros.com/

Tags: work at home, court researcher, researcher, home, work, fun

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On point at home is hiring!

2007-07-02T07:49:00.001-07:00

Onpointathome is hiring again. They offer hours from 9 am to 9 pm and you can choose which hours you work but you must be able to work at least 25 hours a week I believe.

Sounds like a really good company. Take a look at the faq's here and see if you want to apply!

http://www.onpointathome.com/faq.html

Got an opinion? Become an NPD consumer panelist and you can win cash for telling some of the world's top companies what you think about the products you buy, places you eat, music you listen to, and more. The surveys are fun, and the cash is for real, join now to win! (US Only) Click Here

Summertime

2007-06-28T16:08:00.001-07:00

Can you believe it's here already? So what are you doing to keep the kids busy while you work?

I was soooo prepared this year! I bought a laptop, I spent weeks learning all about wireless cards and plans and how to make myself mobile.

I yelled at the phone company for not shipping my card overnight when they were supposed to. I spent hours on the phone with tech support to get the card working.

This was two weeks ago. I have had the laptop away from home maybe twice in that time frame!

The idea was that it would make me more mobile. My daughter could go to the park or the pool and I could still get work done.

This is still the plan and we have a long summer ahead of us but all in all. I had no need to be in such a hurry! Still... it's nice to know we can pack up and go whenever we want!

What have we been doing instead? She has had friends over every single day. Yesterday we had two friends over.. today we just have one.... tommorow.. Im hoping for the park myself!

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Keeping up to date

2007-06-28T16:04:00.001-07:00

This is probably one of my biggest pet peeves and one of my own downfalls.

Do you keep your websites and blogs up to date? Do you regularly go through and check all the links to make sure they still work?

How often do you update your blogs and your refresh your advertising?

I am really trying to get better about that this week. Of course right now I have some motivation and incentive to get to work and get things done but wow.. there has certainly been a lot of time in between my getting updated and my being lazy.

I really hate nothing more than going to a website and clicking a link only to find that it no longer works. I also hate going to a blog or a message board and seeing that nothing has happened in months. So guess what I have been doing? I've been letting this happen to my own sites.

Last week a nice person let me know I had some dead links so I immediately stopped and fixed them all. He was so impressed that I would actually clean things up... Personally.. I was embaressed that I had links that were dead!

Sooo the moral of this story is let's turn this into clean up your websites and add to your blogs week! Anyone want to join me?

Tags: blogs, websites, update, clean, dead links, links, incentive

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Selling on Ebay

2007-06-28T11:10:00.001-07:00

We have touched on Ebay as a work at home business in the past and lately Im seeing it come up a lot again.

If you want to work at home and start making money right away, Ebay is definately the way to go.

If you have a home, you probably have items that can be sold. If you really don't want to part with any of your things you can always go out to the second hand stores and yard sales. It never fails to amaze me how you can place something as innocuous as a deck of cards on ebay and SOMEONE will pay $10 for the privelege of owning them.

Tags: work at home, ebay, selling, powerseller, business

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This weeks paid survey site

2007-06-27T12:33:00.001-07:00

Global Test Market is this weeks survey site. You must be at least 18 years of age to join OR you must be 14 to 17 years of age and have parental or legal guardian permission to join.

It's a great company and I have been with them for many years.. They are one of the few that sends survey invitations out on a regular basis and they have some great paying studies! Give them a shot and make some extra money! Click on the banner below to join!

Tags: paid surveys, money, make money at home, work at home, survey invitations, paying studies

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Secrets of paid surveys

2007-01-23T08:27:00.000-07:00

Lately I've seen a couple of ebooks come out about the secrets of surveys. A couple of times now I have been asked what I think of these books so I decided it would be a good time to just put it all in one spot. Everyone would like to make money taking surveys and get more paid surveys in there mail and of course actuall qualify for the surveys. This is what these ebooks are all about. They basically tell you how to cheat the system.

Here are my thoughts on this.. First and foremost the companies that are commissioning these studies are looking for a certain demographic, honest feedback and in some cases hoping that after the study you will tell all your friends how great their products are. If a big name company is coming out with a new sleepytime babywash they want to hear from mothers of babies not 19 year old single college guys. They want you to actually try the wash on the baby, find out if it helped your baby sleep better etc. On the other hand if they are coming out with a new cologne they may just want to hear from 19 year old college guys and not the widowed 85 year old great grandma. To lie just to get into a study and make a couple of bucks just doesn't sit well with me. I have been disqualified because my mom works at wal mart, I have been disqualified because my daughter is 6 and not 4, I have been disqualified because I don't make enough money or I make too much.. This is just the world of surveys.

Here are some of the things you get with these books.. a list of over 200 survey companies.. I bet a lot of them are actually offer companies but why buy a book for a list. Free list right here: http://www.katieshugs.com/paidsurvey.html

Find out how to easily complete surveys: Simple enough.. use roboform to get the basics..

Learn how to participate in focus groups: Umm why this is included Im not even sure.. join research groups in your area and sign up with all the online focus group companies..

These are just a couple of the promises they make. All of the same information can be found for free online. A lot of it is at my message board in the survey section at www.itsfree.proboards43.com Go into the survey section and then just click on the thread about hints and tips for taking surveys.

Now for the rest of it. I can easily tell you how to cheat and get into each and every study and it really isn't hard. Once you have been taking them for just a few months you do start to see the pattern. I just don't agree that it is the right thing to do so I won't tell you how to do it. Im afraid that is one area where you will have to buy the book.

Will it work? Maybe for a little bit but think about this. When you join a suvey company you immediately give them your age, sex, address, phone number, occupation, marital status, etc. Do you REALLY think that they just toss that information away? No.. they use it to set up their basic demographic profile. This doesn't mean they always use it when they send out a survey though.. So they send you a survey and ask if you are the mother of an infant and you tell them yes... On the next survey a month later they ask for your sex and age again and this time you are yourself, a 19 year old male. The next one comes out and amazing enough you are a 32 year old woman who works in IT and makes 80k a year. You don't think they are going to catch on?

You can make decent money and get into a ton of studies just by being yourself. Of course there are demographics that are more popular to the companies and you won't get into every study but just be honest. Here is a good list of survey companies to get you started. http://www.katieshugs.com/paidsurvey.html That is the important aspect.. stay away from the email harvesters and the offer sites and you will do just fine!

Technorati Tags : surveys, paid, surveys, make, money, taking, surveys, secrets, of, surveys

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Burn Out

2007-01-11T14:12:00.000-07:00

Okay I KNOW it wasn't long ago that I said I needed a break but I was ready to get back to blogging.. did I do it? Not really.. just a post here and there. I did discover that I wasn't alone. A lot of bloggers were feeling the burn out at the same time. Maybe it was the holidays that were approaching. Maybe it was taking a break and then just having to get back in the mode.. I don't know.. either way.. Im going to blog when I can and when the mood strikes this time and not try to make myself feel like it is something I have to do.. I want to feel like it is something I do because I enjoy it again... so here we go!

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Disclosure Policy

2006-12-21T12:24:00.000-07:00

This policy is valid from 21 December 2006

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

This blog abides by word of mouth marketing standards. We believe in honesty of relationship, opinion and identity. The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post will be clearly identified as paid or sponsored content.

The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.

To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.org

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The MLM Paradox

2006-12-07T14:26:00.000-07:00

Some people like the world of MLM's and others hate it and are convinced they are all a scam. As you know, I don't believe they are a scheme but that you have to choose your company wisely. Do all the research, pick a product line that you feel good about and make sure you have a plan.

I wanted to share this article with you because it is SO true and kind of fun too. I think it will be important information for you to keep in mind if you are thinking of making an MLM opportunity your way of making money at home:

5 Paradoxes of MLM

Technorati Tags : work, at, home, MLM, opportunity, make, money, at, home, scam

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Common Sense

2006-11-28T17:17:00.000-07:00

It sounds like common sense when somebody tells you to use common sense when evaluating a business opportunity. And yet, 95% of Internet marketers don't do it. They throw all reason to the wolves and pray for miracles and then wonder why they aren't making any money on the Internet. Honestly, it is hard for me to have any sympathy for these people. But assuming that maybe they just don't know any better and honestly believe that the hype they are fed is the actual truth and gospel, I'm going to attempt to show, by example, how ridiculous it is to believe some of the stuff that crossed their path each day.

I was just going through my email box of one of my accounts and saw a subject that read "The best $6 investment you'll ever make." Now, at first I was thinking that maybe there was some piece of software or tool that only cost $6 and did something useful. I mean after all, not everything that is useful has to be expensive. So, I opened up the email. This is what I found.

The person went on about how if you join this site and spend just $6 to join, you can turn that $6 into millions. And then they began to explain to me how this works, more or less. Bottom line. It was another pyramid scheme. But let's say you didn't know that. Let's say this all sounded legit to you. Think about this logically and use some common sense.

In the offline world, would you even imagine being able to make millions of dollars from a $6 investment? If you have any knowledge at all about starting a business in the offline world then you know it takes thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. But let's say you didn't know that and were naive enough to believe you could start a business for $6. You decide that you want to open up a corner store and sell deli. There just happens to be an empty store front around the corner from you so you don't even have to drive to work. So you go to the landlord and tell him you'll like to "lease" the store. You tell him you'll pay him out of your profits. He then laughs in your face and tells you that it's one month security up front and the monthly lease is $3000.

Do you see where I am going with this? That's before you even buy one ounce of deli meat, which I might add is also going to come at quite an expense. You think Boreshead is going to send it to you and tell you that you can pay them later?

The point is this. Name me one business in the off line world that you can start up for $6 and make millions of dollars from. I'd personally love to hear it. Unless you're either a wise guy or so totally clueless that you think Fred Flintstone is a new brand of cream cheese, then you know that making millions from $6 is just not possible.

When you're evaluating a sales pitch or business opportunity, use some common sense.

It will save you a lot of heartache in the long run.

Reprinted By Steven Wagenheim from his Home Biz Help Center.
Cannot be reprinted without permission from the author and must contain the original resource box including site URL

http://clix.to/homebizhelpcenter
_________________
Sincerely,

Steven Wagenheim
Honest Income Program - 2 hrs daily = $500 monthly income
Complete Internet Advertising Guide

Technorati Tags : work, at, home, business, wah, make, money, at, home, online, business

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Whydowork.com

2006-11-27T13:37:00.000-07:00

Whydowork.com is a great little forum for anyone who is looking to find a good and legitimate way to make money working from home.

The members are always well spoken and very helpful. I am personally not a member of too many forums but I ran across this one last year sometime and I have never been disappointed with the information I have gotten there.

They have sections for articles, scam reports, places where you can ask questions about an opportunity you are looking at, get paid to, data entry, reselling, etc. Most anything you can think of in the work at home world is covered here.

If you are looking for some good work at home feedback or need information give Whydowork.com a few minutes of your time!

Technorati Tags : work, at, home, forum, member, affiliate, why, do, work, make, money, at, home

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I Love PayPerPost

2006-11-21T10:51:00.000-07:00

Are you tired of hearing about PayPerPost from me yet? There is a reason I talk about it so often and so much. It's because I love it! If you are a frequent reader you know that in the beginning I was a little worried that it would turn out to be one big flop. I have been with them for quite awhile now though and it is only getting better and better. They have changed the format a bit and you do need to get each individual blog approved and it is taking a little longer to get your posts approved but that is all just a growing pain.

For anyone looking to make extra money working at home PayPerPost is a very simple and easy way. Just log in each day and look for an opportunity that fits in with your blog, write a post, include the appropriate links and you are done! Easy money. I love that I can have some control over how much money I make on any given day now.

I have tried other blog advertising programs but I must say I love PayPerPost the most! In fact it is the only one I use these days! Give it a shot and make some money at home!

Technorati Tags : blog, make, money, at, home, easy, money, payperpost

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Earn Extra Points!

2006-11-15T15:08:00.000-07:00

You all know I love Clubmom. It is a great website with a ton of useful and helpful information. Right now you can earn extra points for submitting Playskool toy reviews!

Click here: Join ClubMom for FREE today and earn 100 reward points when you review PlaySkool toys.

Technorati Tags : toys, reviews, points, earn, helpful

Antonio!

2006-11-15T09:16:00.000-07:00

Antonio Master Impressionist

Okay so you want to work from home.. Here is a unique opportunity! You can become a Master Impressionist! Im not exactly sure how you make money being a Master Impressionist but it looks like a lot of fun. In this fun video Antonio Master Impressionist performs his greatest feat ever! You will have to watch to see what that is but I guarantee it will bring a smile to your face. Okay so you probably won't make a fortune as a Master Impressionist, Antonio certainly won't, but we all need a break from the mundane working world now and then! Enjoy! You can make some money by joining PayPerPost and writing a blog though!

Are all MLM's a scam?

2006-11-13T14:41:00.000-07:00

This is quickly becoming my newest pet peeve. I was just reading a thread where someone asked if Ameriplan was a scam. There were three responses, two said it was a scam and one said it is a discount plan. Now I know a lot of people who work with Ameriplan and love it. They love the discounts and they love the opportunity to work from home.

Why oh why do some people believe that every MLM company is just a scam?

A scam is where you pay for something and get taken. For instance when you decide one of the "stuff envelopes at home" deals is a great opportunity and fork over your hard earned money to try it out and then find that you are expected to post the same ad you answered and then "stuff" the envelope with the same information telling your customer to do the same thing, that is a scam. Okay I know that was long winded and probably didn't make much sense but you get the idea.

I wanted to pass out this information again because it is GOOD information.. MLM vs Pyramid scheme.. how to tell the difference.

http://katieshugs.blogspot.com/2006/03/mlm-vs-pyramid-scheme.html

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Working at home choices

2006-11-10T16:54:00.000-07:00

I was just thinking. Actually the post about why I love working at home got me to thinking. It is really important that when you are deciding on how you will make money at home that you think about what you want to get out of it. Money is of course one thing you want but what about the lifestyle you want to have.

If you have been reading this blog you already know there is a difference between working at home and having a job vs working at home with your own business.

If you are picking a job keep in mind that you will have to be more disciplined and keep some regular hours.

The same thing applies to a direct sales business. You will need to be organized and schedule regular home parties or flea markets and holiday fairs to keep your income coming in.

Building websites was the perfect choice for me because I wanted to be able to make money even if Im not sitting at the computer. I love the thought of a regular income and having control over how much I make which was what attracted me to Cha Cha but once I gave it some thought I didn't want to be sitting at the computer to make that hourly income. I want to be able to move away from the computer at a moments notice.

I just wanted to give you a few more things to think about when you are choosing how you will make money at home.

Technorati Tags : make, money, at, home, business, job, work, at, home, wahm, holiday, income

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Get The Job

2006-11-10T16:00:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for a job that allows you to work from home rather than starting your own business it can be tough to find a good and honest resource.

There are a lot of companies that hire people to work from home but they can be few and far between. The first place most people go to look is online. The first thing they find is a lot of empty promises. It is important to use an online resource that you can trust.

www.GetTheJob.com is a great resource.

GetTheJob.com posts listings from direct hire companies only; meaning there are no postings from headhunters, third party recruiters or too-good-to-be-true scam jobs.

The best thing about this site is that their database covers the hidden job market as well. You can find positions and jobs in all kinds of different catagories. I gave it a shot and just searched on the term "work from home". I was pleasantly surprised to see the top listing was for an "At home Customer Service Representative" in Utah.

These jobs can be so difficult to find. If you are looking I would suggest you start at GetTheJob.com .

Technorati Tags : work, at, home, working, job, directory, database, hire, companies, jobs, customer, servicePowered By Qumana

Things I love

2006-11-10T15:46:00.000-07:00

What I love about working at home... I think it is important that we remind ourselves of this often... I love that I can get up at 8 am instead of 6 am.. I love that I can stop working and go shopping whenever the urge hits (I actually did just that this morning). I love that I can pick up where I left off at anytime of day and nothing is affected. I love that I can eat lunch in my own home. I love that I can stop and play a game with Katie. I love that I can spend a day reading a book and know that I am still making money. I love that I am here to be a Girl Scout leader and a mom. I love that I can help my friends when they need it. The things to love about working at home are endless.

What do you love about working at home?

Technorati Tags : work, at, home, working, love, game, reading, money, shopping

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Complete guide to buying a house humidifier

2006-11-09T12:06:00.000-07:00

Working at home in the Winter also means lot's of dry air, closed up rooms and heat. If you are like me you will find yourself experiencing a lot of unpleasant symptoms from this type of environment.

Every since we moved to Boise I have suffered from sinus problems and in the Winter is when they are the worst! I constantly feel stuffed up and suffer from sinus pressure when the humidity drops. Most of last year I relied on sinus and allergy medicine. This year I have done some research. I could have used common sense here too but I forgot about that! If the humidity drops and causes you problems the easiest solution of course is to increase the humidity. You can do this simply with a good humidifier.

I found a great website that offers a lot of different styles to fit whatever your concerns are. I never even knew you could humidify your entire house! Take a moment to visit this website and look over the complete guide to buying a house humidifier . I think you will be very pleased with what you find!

Technorati Tags : work, at, home, winter, humidifier, dry, air

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On Track

2006-11-09T11:58:00.000-07:00

Yea, it's Winter again! Since I started working from home this has really become my favorite season. Don't get me wrong, I still hate the ice and when I must drive on snowy, slick streets but when it comes to work, this is when I get the most done. Or so I thought. It seems like since cold weather hit I have busier than ever!

I think what is really happening is that I need to readjust. I need to get back in the habit of sitting down and getting to work instead of trying to keep the same schedule we had over the summer. I'm not sure that makes sense unless you are already working at home and going through the same thing.

What I am trying to say is I got in the habit of doing certain things everyday and on specific days. Now I am still trying to cram everything into a few hours instead of slowing down and taking it step by step.

I have actually been doing better. You will notice a lot more posts this week than what I had over the past two months!

I guess my whole point is that this is something to watch out for in your own home business. It is easy to get off track and not so easy to get back on.

Technorati Tags : wah, work, at, home, forums, make, money

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Affiliate Marketing

2006-11-09T06:23:00.001-07:00

I was just in the wahmscam blog writing about affiliate programs and what is good and what types of programs are not so good. I have already written a lot about this here but there are new types of programs popping up all the time. If you are interested in joining any type of affiliate program it might be good to read!

Technorati Tags : wah, work, at, home, forums, seo, affiliates, make, money

Affiliate Marketing Forums

2006-11-09T06:23:00.000-07:00

Speaking of affiliate programs. If this is an area you are wanting to get into you will want and need to learn a lot of information.

Probably the smartest thing I ever did was join a forum that was specifically about affiliate programs. This makes it very easy to learn new marketing techniques, keep up with the world of SEO and hear what others think of programs you might be looking to try. There will always be programs you haven't heard of and getting information on these programs from people who know what they are doing and have already tried them can be invaluable!

Affiliate Marketing & SEO Forums is just the place to find out everything you need to know to be successful in affiliate marketing.

Technorati Tags : wah, work, at, home, forums, seo, affiliates, make, money

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Choosing a Domain Name

2006-11-07T07:47:00.000-07:00

While we are on the subject of website building here is an interesting twist! When you are choosing the name for your website you might want to pop in to the wayback machine and check out the history of the domain name you are selecting. Read what happened to Katelyn when she built a new website for preschoolers:

http://www.momgadget.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=671#671

Technorati Tags : wahm, home, work, business, webhost, website, building

Choosing a webhost

2006-11-06T11:15:00.000-07:00

If you are ready to start your website and make some money working from home your first step will be to choose a host for your website. This isn't as easy as you might think. There is a lot to consider and I am often asked how you should decide on your host. You will want to spend some time picturing how you expect your site to look in the end and what you want to get from it. This is one area where the cheapest isn't always the best. You can get web hosting for free but there are consequences that go along with it. I recently saw a question about how to insert HTML into a new and popular hosts program. After doing some research I found out this couldn't be done. I can't even imagine not having that ability. When I was choosing my webhost it was important to me that I have sitebuilding software that would be easy to use and it was important for me to have easy built in access to traffic tools and emails.

The bottom line is that you will want to find a host that gives you the tools you need to build your website and that is also within a price range you find acceptable. Think about the space you will need, the tools you will want, and the price you will want. If you are new to all this it can be a little intimidating. I recently ran across a website that can help you figure all this out. You just plug in what you want and need in a webhost and they show you the best matches for your needs:

Find a Web Hosting Provider Now

Technorati Tags : wahm, home, work, business, webhost, website, building

Be careful what you take on!

2006-11-06T10:56:00.000-07:00

Being at home means you are percieved as "not working". This can get you into trouble if you also see yourself as just being an at home mom. We all know very well that just being a mom means you are working your tail off and if you are at home you are also expected to cook, clean, run errands etc. This can keep you on your toes and busy! Now if you throw in an at home business you have doubled your trouble. Now you must do all of the above plus fit in time to work. Let others know you are at home and it gets even better. You will soon be the room parent, the scout leader, the person everyone turns to when they need help and the soccer mom.

At some point you will have to learn how to say "no".

This isn't hard. No one wants to be seen as selfish or unwilling to help out at school or anywhere else. It is something you will have to learn to do though or you won't get anything done in any area.

Personally, I have yet to learn how to say "no".. Let me know how you do it!

Technorati Tags : wahm, home, work, business, scout, parent, no

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PayPerPost updated!

2006-11-03T10:50:00.000-07:00

You might remember awhile back when I decided to give PayPerPost a try. They pay you to write blogs posts about different topics. Way back when I first signed up you could use your blogs as long as they were at least 90 days old and there were a few other rules. PayPerPost has since updated and now you must register each of your blogs.

This is still one of the best opportunities around for bloggers. I wrote 2-3 posts in my blogs and sure enough 30 days later I recieved my payment! Since I was just testing it out I only made around $30 that month but it was more than I had made the previous month from those blogs!

I am still getting the new rules and everything figured out but I am sure looking forward to making more money from PayPerPost!

Technorati Tags : wahm, make, money, blogging, bloggers, payperpost, blogs

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Break it Down

2006-10-30T11:24:00.000-07:00

Life has been crazy! Here is some good work at home advice I plan on applying to myself.

I decided that it was a good idea to start numerous blogs and a numerous websites and that it was also a great idea to become a Girl Scout Troop Leader at the same time... haha..

Well of course these are all good things when you take them one at a time but when you try to do it all at once it is a little bit overwhelming.

So I have all the blogs and I have all the website and I was trying to work on every single one every single day. This wasn't the best idea. It wasn't long before I felt overwhelmed and well if I couldn't work on them all in one day I didn't work.

As you know, it has been awhile since I have posted. Here is what I have finally figured out... break it down... Dedicate one day to each website, two at the most. This will mean they will all get updated at least weekly. If I can write two blogs in one day.. good... if not I won't end up feeling like I am failing in my endeavors.

So that is my new plan. I am going to try to work in little chunks instead of trying to get it all done all at once every day. If you are starting to feel overwhelmed in any part of your life or job.. break it down!

Technorati Tags : work, at, home, business, wahm, overwhelmed, advice

www.freesurveyplace.com

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Johhny Cash and Wahms

2006-09-26T14:58:00.000-07:00

Since I am a huge Johhny Cash fan, this article jumped right out and grabbed my attention. It is so much fun I had to share it with you:

'Hello, I'm Johnny Cash' - Surprising Lessons for New Wahms

By: Carrie Lauth

I've unearthed some surprising bits of wisdom for new work at home moms by listening to Johnny Cash lately. I thought I would share some of these tidbits from the Rockabilly legend.

1) Understand Your Man ...er, target market!

That's right. Do you understand your target market? Are you aware of her needs, desires and driving ambitions? Does your website speak to your target audience? If not, perhaps you should make some changes or your website visitor or customer will be "as gone as a wild goose in winter" too!

2) A Boy Named Sue

Life ain't easy for a boy named Sue...and life ain't easy for a wahm either. In your business you will have those confidence killers, dream stealers, fun suckers...whatever you want to call them. You will have people who try to tell you that you can't achieve your goals, that what you try won't work. Don't let them get you down!

Sue's father told him, "This world is rough, and if you're gonna make it, you've gotta be tough."

How can you get tough in your business?

3) Man In Black- or Branding 101

J.R. Cash didn't don the all black suit because he didn't have anything else to wear. It was his trademark. He wore all black for a reason.

What about you? Are you working on your brand?
In a world full of Elvis Presleys and Jerry Lee Lewises, how will you stand apart? And remember, your target market doesn't have to be just like you- Johnny Cash wrote Folsom Prison Blues and connected with inmates when he had never yet step foot in jail!

4) The Legend of John Henry's Hammer

This song has two bits of wisdom:

a) Learn your business and you will succeed

John Henry's Daddy told him to: "Learn to a turn a jack, learn to lay a track,
learn to pick and shovel too." Are you learning all you can about Internet
Marketing so that you can succeed in your business? Do you reinvest in ebooks,
coaching and mentoring, and software like John Henry's hammer?

b) Technology has its place but it can't take the place of humans.

When the steam engine threatened to take the place of men, Johnny proved that in the end, humans are more valuable. Learn to use technology (like autoresponders) but remember that your website visitor is a human and inject some of yourself into your marketing efforts.

5) One Piece at a Time

This ballad is about a man who decides to build a Cadillac. He steals one
piece at a time from the assembly line "and it didn't cost him a dime".
But in the end, it didn't work out exactly like he planned!

Does your website look like a pieced together jalopy?
Are you unwilling to spend any money on your own domain and hosting,
content with a free site cluttered up with ads?

6) In The Jailhouse Now

Please don't throw away your hard work by doing one of the following things:

Spamming
Copying other people's articles or content
Stealing graphics
Clicking on your Adsense ads
Not keeping records and neglecting to pay taxes

It just isn't worth it, and you may find yourself in the jailhouse.
Much better to Walk the Line so you can sleep at night.

7) Ring of Fire

Maybe you've made a bad choice... entered into a shotgun romance
with a business that's not right for you. Don't be afraid to realize this,
chuck everything and start over! Don't beat your head against the wall if,
after working hard on a project, you decide it's just not profitable.
Better to find your match and pour your energies into that.

In this song, June Carter Cash chronicles her growing attraction to John.
Though they were both involved with other people, they were obviously soul mates and ended up making music and growing old together for the next 40 years.

May you make beautiful music with your business!

Article by:

Carrie Lauth is a work at home Mom of 4 who offers a free "No Fluff" ezine for moms new to online business. Get your copy, plus extra subscriber goodies, at www.business-moms-expo.com. And check out her answers to Mom's frequently asked questions about starting an internet business at carriefaq.com

Technorati Tags : johnny, cash, wahm, market, business, website

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Stay at home mommy/daddy zone

2006-09-12T08:09:00.000-07:00

Even though we sometimes consider ourselves "work at home" parents we are still "stay at home" parents too. Working at home means we have double duty. We need to find time to "work" and make money but we also have the responsibility of entertaining our kids. That is afterall why we chose to stay home in the first place!

Somedays it can be easy to find things to do and other days it can be hard. Somedays are great and somedays are horrible. Somedays are fun and somedays are boring. Sometimes we can feel like we are the only ones having those kinds of days and it is nice to find out that we aren't. There are other people living lives with the same hopes, worries and fears.

Whenever you are having one of "those" days, click on over and visit the

Stay At Home Mommy/Daddy Zone blog. Tracey has a great way of making you feel welcome and she has some wonderful stories and ideas to share!

Technorati Tags : stay, at, home, work, at, home, busy, fear, boring, entertaining, parents, duty, kids

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Abusing the "system"

2006-08-16T07:36:00.000-07:00

Summer is almost over! In a way I am relieved. It has been so hard to stay focused and get any work done everyday. There are so many other things to be doing. This week Katie and I went to the river and collected rocks to paint. We have played lots of games, went to the park and the library and just had fun. I wouldn't trade this time for the world but I have felt like I am slacking off. Isn't that why we work from home though? We can do just a little bit of work and still see money come in. At least that is what I keep telling myself. I know though that in the end I will get out of my business exactly what I put into it. Winter will be better. :)

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Truth in advertising

2006-08-10T09:44:00.000-07:00

I've noticed this happening a lot lately in different forums. Today I was reading a forum where someone had asked for ideas on different businesses that can be ran from home. Halfway down the thread was a response from someone about the business they were doing and how great it was. The next response was from someone else who was also in the business and mentioned that he had been seeing and hearing a lot of great things about it in forums. The funny thing was, both of these people who were in the same business joined the forum on the same day and had the exact same number of posts. Coincidence? I doubt it. Someone else besides me happened to notice this fact and questioned it. The original person responded that yea it was funny and it must be because this was such a great forum.

You have to know. If you are new to the forums everyone knows this trick and everyone hates it. All it does is discredit you and cause you to lose a lot of respect. If you want to advertise your business in the forums become a participating member. Help other people in the forums and give good solid advice. Don't use the forums as just a means to advertise and don't make up pretend people. It is always glaringingly obvious.

Technorati Tags : advertising, forums, message, boards, business, work, from, home

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Not gone

2006-08-03T11:28:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to catch up with everyone and let you know I haven't falled off the earth. We have family in town this week, a family reunion and camping trip planned for this weekend and I have been working on helping a friend get his websites up and going and I will be trying to help promote his e-book. I will let you know more about all that when it is up and going! We do have one blog done which you can see at www.carpsvoice.blogspot.com and you can see what it is all about. I expect life to back to somewhat normal after next Monday and will start righting more. In the meantime I will catch up when I can. I hope everyone is having a great summer and appreciate your patience!

Top Level Domains

2006-07-26T07:39:00.000-07:00

A lot of people believe that having a top level domain is the best way to go as far as search engines are concerned. This has sent me off on quite an adventure. When I first started using blogger and gave it some thought I was told it couldn't be done with blogger but you could do it with wordpress. I tried Wordpress and didn't like the fact that I had no way to manipulate the templates (not that I could find anyway). I got frustrated and went back to Blogger and decided I really didn't need a top level domain anyway.
Well here I am again looking into it. Come to find out you can do it with Blogger. You just have to use the FTP function.. Well duh, how easy is that? It actually looks easy enough but when it comes right down to it, I am losing my mind!

I use Homestead for a host and although it is simple to use when you are building a website I have found out that there file system is not quite like the rest. For instance I don't have a /public.html/ file.. Don't know what that is? Me either but I need it to FTP or at least need to know what Homesteads version is.

So anyway.. this is what I am working on these days. A whole new world of learning but I think learning is a good thing. Have a great day!

FREE list of paid survey sites: www.katieshugs.com

FREE information on government grants, auctions, and more! www.freefromscams.com

All new all scrapbooking website! www.scrapbooking4us.com

Technorati Tags : domain, blog, blogging, blogger, ftp, learning

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Advertising

2006-07-25T07:13:00.000-07:00

Once you have your business up and running you will need to advertise of course! Without some form of advertising no one will ever know your business even exists. There are lots of different ways to advertise both offline and online. You have options of free advertising or paying for advertising. There is a great thread at wahm that is all about places you can advertise. Scroll through and see what fits your needs and price: http://www.wahm.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=8618&PN=1

FREE list of paid survey sites: www.katieshugs.com

FREE information on government grants, auctions, and more! www.freefromscams.com

All new all scrapbooking website! www.scrapbooking4us.com

Technorati Tags : advertising, online, offline, work, from, home, business

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Four Tips For Managing Your Life

2006-07-24T08:47:00.000-07:00

Four Tips For Managing Your Life

by Abraham Carter

Good news: from getting organized to maximizing your time, there are some easy ways to stay focused and achieve your goals.

• What Areas Need the Most Work? Watching a reality TV show may be more entertaining than cleaning the green film off the shower stall but it won't keep your home from becoming a biohazard. Establishing and sticking to priorities will help you spend less time worrying about what needs to be done and more time accomplishing your goals. Consider using Sunday evenings, when you normally mourn the end of the weekend, to go over weekly goals and priorities. This is a great way to stay focused on what you want to accomplish without getting ahead of yourself.

• Cut Out the Junk. If you're like many Americans, you keep possessions well beyond their usefulness. When neighbors begin mistaking your garage for abstract art, you have a problem. Consider selling old appliances, clothing and furniture that add clutter to your life; to avoid the hassle of a yard sale, use Web sites such as eBay and Craigslist to sell secondhand goods. One day you may even be able to park your car in the garage.

• Get the Right Equipment. Sometimes you just need the right tools to maximize your results. A good option is Microsoft Works Suite 2006, with something for everyone in the family. Works Suite includes six of Microsoft's most popular home software programs. You can keep a detailed list of your priorities in Microsoft Word 2002; organize upcoming projects and stay on schedule with Microsoft Works 8; and create, manage and track your budget using Microsoft Money 2006 Standard. In addition, the program includes Digital Image Standard 2006, software to help you organize, enhance and share digital photos. Encarta Encyclopedia Standard 2006 comes in handy for research; and Streets & Trips Essentials 2006 helps plan, chart and navigate that road trip you always said you would take. Visit http://www.microsoft.com/works for more information.

• Give Someone Else a Spot. Pledging to be more active in your community is an important goal. Instead of shying away from volunteer opportunities, make a point to reserve one day a month for charities or functions. Nonprofit organizations are flexible when it comes to working with volunteers.

None of these tips will take effect if you don't implement them into your daily routine. It only takes a couple days of procrastination before you're smothered by daily tasks and confused about what to do next. You will change your habits only by being proactive and setting constant reminders. Remember, Rome was not built in a day. By being patient with your progress and approaching your goals sooner than later, you may have some great accomplishments to celebrate.

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Make money scrapbooking

2006-07-20T13:47:00.000-07:00

A fantastic way to earn money from home and one in which I wish I could spend the time to do is to make scrapbooks. You can make scrapbooks with all the great little details, add stickers, borders, embellishments all the fun stuff but leave room for some pictures and journaling. You would be amazed how many people will pay for these books!

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Freelance Jobs

2006-07-19T08:50:00.000-07:00

So Im borrowing from Gayla again... I know, why can't I be original? If I wanted to be honest I should probably be directing you to her article on avoiding summer death of a blog. Summer is definately a time when I can find all kinds of reasons to be out in the sun, at the park, in the garden, anywhere but at the computer working!

However I noticed that she has also written a great article about a place that is helping freelance workers find jobs! So I will let you sit in front of the computer and work, Im going out to the garden.. yeah.. sure I am.. :)

http://work-at-home-mom.blogspot.com/2006/07/new-website-helps-freelancers-find.html

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Be Ready

2006-07-17T06:30:00.000-07:00

Just like in the outside workplace, working at home can be filled with surprises. Have you ever been in a position of working outside the home and you make a new contact, start talking and suddenly find yourself with a new opportunity? This just happened to me as a work from home parent! This weekend I was talking to an aquaintance who has started some websites in the past few months. After talking for awhile about website building he offered me a partnership. He likes to write the material but he doesn't have time for the website marketing and maintenance. This is a great opportunity. I wanted more websites but haven't had time to build them. It is almost the end of July and I am one short of my goal! Turns out that is okay. By working on this new project I will still be able to make money and grow my business. Be Ready for surprises and new opportunities everywhere you turn! Read my blog at www.reviewtheweb.blogspot.com to see the website I will be marketing. It's a whole new venue and Im pretty excited about it!

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MLM's what are they?

2006-07-14T08:18:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile and there are always new people looking to work from home. I wanted to take a moment to revisit the post on the difference between MLM's and Pyramid schemes. It is really important for anyone looking into a business to understand. So here we go!

http://katieshugs.blogspot.com/2006/03/mlm-vs-pyramid-scheme.html

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Internet Marketing Voodoo

2006-07-13T07:18:00.000-07:00

Once you have your business started whether it is online or offline you are now going to have to get the word out. How do you do that? Internet Marketing Voodoo is a website that can definately help you! I remember when I first started my website I kept hearing over and over about Viral Marketing. Now being online anything with "virus" connotations sounds pretty darn evil. However, I found out is actually a great thing and this website explains all the steps you need to take to make it work for you.

Internet Marking Voodoo has information on all kinds of different marketing techniques. You can take all of the marketing techniques they offer and gear them towards making your own products or business standout. This is definately a website to visit, they can help you learn everything about marketing online, offline and tell you why you need to be doing it. What I like best is the "Guest Spots" there are some very well known and talented people who are telling you their strategies and sharing what worked for them. Set aside a day to visit and learn all you can learn!

http://www.internetmarketingvoodoo.com

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Stress

2006-07-11T12:27:00.000-07:00

Stress is something we all have to deal with and sometimes on a daily basis. When you are starting your own work from home business venture you will probably feel a great deal of stress. This will be an ongoing thing. Don't think it won't! You will have ups and downs and they will affect your stress level. There will be times you want to throw in the towel even. Here is a great article on how to deal with stress when those moments hit you!

The Key To Personal Development And Stress Reduction (And Maybe Even World Peace)

by Tracy Carreon -

Wherever you are right now, stop everything (this is important). Take just a moment and sit back in your seat. Now, put your hands on your abdomen with you fingertips barely touching. On your next inhale separate your fingertips by breathing deeply and slowly into your belly, allowing your breath to push them apart. Then exhale slowly so that your fingertips come back together. When you’ve finished, try it again.

There. That’s it…THE key to unlocking the door to your own growth and evolvement, to managing and actually reducing the stress in your life, and to setting in motion a small but resounding ripple in the betterment of the world.

Sound ridiculous? Are you wondering how one deep breath can claim to accomplish so much? The answer lies not in the biological functioning of the breath, but in its ability to focus attention, to bring mind and body into sync and release the present from concerns over the past or future. And when this happens time and space is created for deepening self-knowledge and awareness, which in turn leads to more purposeful, engaged and inspired living.

Sitting quietly for five, ten, twenty minutes a day, following your breath, is a good way to begin creating a personal practice of what is called “mindfulness.” In today’s speed-of-light world, it’s common to feel scattered…for the mind to be thinking about one thing, while the heart reaches toward another and the body hangs out in the space-time continuum. Mindfulness is about bringing all these aspects of the self together. It’s about becoming fully and deeply present, aware of each passing moment. And the simplest, easiest and best place to begin is the breath.

Though it won’t stop there. When you become intentional in the practice of being mindful a deeper process will be triggered. The ability to focus on your own inner experience and to become fully present will begin to flow into every aspect of your life…into your words, and thoughts and actions…into your relationships and work and personal endeavors. You will wake and realize that you are, maybe for the first time, actually experiencing the moments of your existence.

But how does that transfer to saving the world?

Peace, and all roads that lead to it and from it, begin with the individual. Peaceful individuals create peaceful homes, create peaceful communities, create peaceful nations, create a peaceful world.

To truly make progress in your own growth and development…to make the deepest impact possible on the state of the planet, begin with your self. Learn the art of mindfulness. Devote 2…5…10…30 minutes a day to practicing presence. Take time each day to show up fully. Get to know yourself. Create your own personal practice. It can include anything that stills the mind, quiets the heart, calms the spirit, inspires the soul…breathing, meditation, walking, prayer, dance, art, journaling …the purpose is to take time to be in this world of doing, to bring peace to your self so that when you venture into the world you carry it with you like a lantern you pass on to others.

So take another moment, another breath. But this time, breathe like you mean it. It is the key to your own growth, and just may be the key to the healing of the world.

Tracy Carreon MA, is a writer and life coach with a background in education and counseling. Through her website, http://www.writetogrow.com she offers information, products and services designed to inspire creativity, reduce stress and support personal and spiritual growth

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Key points

2006-07-10T07:01:00.000-07:00

Once you have decided what you want to do whether it be a website or something in direct sales or your own idea turned into a business there are a few things you will want to keep in mind.

Check your spelling. This is probably one of easiest things you can do. If you are a poor speller you probably know it. Take the time to check your spelling in a dictionary or at least spellcheck. Keep in mind that spellcheck will give you numerous different spellings for words that sound alike but you still have to pick the right one. If you have a spelling error most people can overlook it but if your website or brochures are loaded with bad spelling, your customers will have a hard time taking you seriously.

Customer Service: Build a relationship. It is great when someone buys something from you or comes to you for a service but it is up to you to keep them coming back. If they have a problem and take the time to bring it to you, fix it. Fix it with kindness and graciously. Don't be defensive and don't show anger even if you feel they are wrong. This is a tough one to do but very important. Remember, bad word of mouth advertising spreads faster than good word of mouth advertising.

Be humble. Yes you should be the expert in your field but you don't have to come across that way. You will get much farther by being humble. If a customer wants to tell you about when they did the same thing and everything they learned, spend some time listening. Things may have changed in the field but you might still learn something. Know one likes a know-it-all or arrogance.

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Would you keep working?

2006-07-07T08:57:00.000-07:00

What would you do if you won the Lottery? There is a new show out called Windfall (http://www.nbc.com/Windfall/money_tracker/) about a group of people who win the Lottery and how it changes their lives. Personally, I have thought about this a lot as I'm sure most of us do. It is the ultimate dream come true for most people.

If I won the Lottery I would keep working at home. Now you are probably thinking "Yeah right!" but it's true. I get a lot of personal satisfaction from the fact that I have been able to work from home and be successful at it. Now of course I would not put in as much time because it wouldn't be such a big deal if I had a bad week or even a bad month. I would spend more time taking the kids on vacations and spending time together to just have fun and build memories. I often think I would buy a home, pay off the van, get hubby a new car and pay off the credit cards and I would do all those things but those aren't the most important things I think about. I try to remind myself every night that when all is said and done all we have is our memories. Winning the Lottery would give me the resources to just have fun with my family and that is what I would want to spend most of my time doing. What would you do? Would you keep working or quit your job? Would you buy everything you wanted or still live conservatively?

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Starting a Home Based Business

2006-07-06T06:49:00.000-07:00

Starting A Home Based Business - When The Going gets Tough!

by Abigail Franks

Starting any business is rich with excitement and anxiety. This is especially true when stepping into a home based business. All the questions about doing everything right and if I'll be successful are in every business owners mind when first starting up. The big difference between a home based business startup and a regular or more "formal" business startup is the comfort level in your own home can work against you getting anything actually done.

Going into a store or an office focuses attention on the things that need done that day. Many typically have those "to-do" lists that outline the goals and objectives of the day. In a home based business however, it's easy to fall into the trap of not separating the business or work part of your life and the home and family part. The sofa or chair where you watch television is right in the other room, almost calling for you to take yet another break. Then there's the refrigerator and snack cabinet.

Running a home based business, especially a startup one demands a certain discipline that works best if you compartmentalize your day. Work during times when you've decided to work and be "home" when you've decided to be home. If you set up a schedule that has you working in your home office from 8 am to noon, be at your desk working during those hours.

Don't fall into the temptation to visit with the family or walk the dog during business or work time. Stay focused. One of the biggest problems with any home based business or working from home is having the flexibility to make changes in your work schedule. When first starting out in your own home business, stay as formal as possible. Keep business hours, or at least stay as close to the schedule you've set as possible. The reason for this is to set pattens in your own personal behavior that allow for the maximum potential for the business success. Later, you can relax a bit and add a little flexibility to the schedule.

The key to a successful business no matter if it's a retail store, a technology related business, home based or office / retail based, is always the same. WORK! Home based businesses don't mean that there's less work. It means the business can be operated out of your home. The WORK part still is critical to your success. We're almost all seen how the corporate world wastes time in endless meetings. In a small business, we too can fall into patterns that keep us from doing the most important thing to assure success, and that's work.

In any home based business, stay focused, develop a schedule, and stay on track to a bright future in your own business!

Abigail Franks writes on a variety of subjects such as home, family, and health. For more information on Home Based Business go to
http://www.home-biz.primo-living.com

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com

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Wah goals

2006-07-05T14:09:00.000-07:00

The question of the week at Wahm Blogger Network is about goals. This is good timing because just today I was thinking again about goals and blogging. I have read numerous times that it is important to write more than once a day in your blogs and update them. I know I can't do that seven days a week but I really do want to start updating at least twice a day on the days I do write. My goal is to post once in the morning and once in the afternoon or even more if the mood strikes or a topic comes up. I am off to a good start with this being my second post of the day on this blog already!

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They are all scams?

2006-07-05T13:36:00.000-07:00

Okay, I just have to laugh. Recently on a message board someone once again asked the age old question. "Are there any legitimate work from home jobs?". Now on this message board awhile back one of the moderators posed a challenge. List all the legitimate work from home jobs you can. He had some rules which meant that direct sales type of opportunities were out. Things like autosurf and all that other type of stuff were out as well. So of course the list conists of things like starting an in home daycare, starting a backyard mechanic service, making and selling gift baskets, ebay, amazon, dog walking, etc. etc. All legitimate businesses you can start at home.

So I directed the poster to that challenge folder. Guess what happened? He/she came back and said there was nothing good in there. obviously his/her first impressions were right and everything is a scam!!!! I am just stunned! I am also laughing my head off. I really think that there are some people who just don't get it! You have to work to make money. There is no magic bullet. I know I have shared this type of thing before but this one was so funny I had to share again!

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Time Management

2006-06-30T07:02:00.000-07:00

Summer is out and for the past couple of weeks I have felt like I didn't have enough time to get everything done. Especially not enough time to spend with Katie. She has spent a lot of time on her own. While school is in session I know that she gets a three hour break everyday to play with her friends and have a good time so I don't feel too guilty about working. Now however, she is bored. Just last night I was thinking that I really need to just stop and set aside a few hours everyday to take her somewhere or play games. So I am up earlier this morning and trying to get as much done as possible. While I was looking for something I found this article which addresses this issue exactly and I want to share it. It sure made me stop and realize that it really is the "important" things that matter and Katie is definately "important"..

TIME MANAGEMENT SECRETS

By Dr. Donald E. Wetmore

I have spent most of the last twenty years researching, studying,
writing and speaking about Time Management and Personal
Productivity. I
have learned a whole lot and my full-time mission now is to share
that
knowledge through my writings, seminars, consulting and keynotes
with
people who want to get more done in less time in their business
and
personal lives.

One important lesson I learned is that there are three simple,
yet
powerful Time Management Secrets. Knowing these will go a long
way to
helping you to better manage your time each and every day and get
more
done in less time and with less stress.

1. We all have too much to do. Almost everyone I speak with tells
me
they have more to do than time permits. This says a lot of good
things
about you. That you have too much to do means many have entrusted
a lot
to you. People who seldom have enough to keep them busy and are
always
looking for things to do may not have earned this level of
confidence
from others.
2. There is never enough time for everything. If you have too
much to
do, by definition, you will not have enough time for everything.
In fact
you will only accomplish but a tiny fraction of what you will
want to
accomplish in your lifetime. You will leave undone far more than
you
ever get done in this world. Your life is going to be like a
sandy
beach. Take one grain of sand and let that represent all that you
accomplish in your lifetime. The other billions of grains of sand
will
represent all of the other things you might have done.
3. While there’s never enough time for everything, there’s always
enough
time for the important things.

Early in our marriage, my wife and I were both working, our
social life
was packed and we didn’t seem to have a spare five-minute block
of time
in our days. Soon we were to receive our first daughter and a few
weeks
before she came to us my wife and I were agonizing over how to
find the
time to take care of this new addition to our family. Babies,
they take
a lot of time!

But what happened? Jennifer came along and we made the time for
her. Did
we still have a social life? Sure, but it was different.

Three years later, our second child Pam arrived, and once again,
we
found the time to attend to this new responsibility and still
have time
for other things.

While there is never time for everything, there always seems to
be time
for the most important things in life. “Necessity is the mother
of
invention.”

But you don’t have to wait until circumstances come upon you
forcing you
to attend to the most important things in your life. You can do
it now.
Each day in Daily Planning, identify the most important things
you want
to get done in your day. Place a high priority of those items and
leave
undone the less important things.

You won’t get it all done but you will get the most important
things
done.

The secret’s finally out.

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Positive Attitudes

2006-06-28T06:58:00.000-07:00

Here is a great article I found on how to maintain a positive attitude. It was saved in a two year old email and the author was not identified. If you know who the author is please let me know.

8 Ways To Maintain A Positive Attitude
There Is No Obstacle Too Great

1. Become mindful of your thoughts and let them occur without
judgment. As you recognize self-limiting beliefs and feelings,
eliminate them by focusing on positive thoughts about the present
and future.

2. The author Charles Dickens advised, "Reflect upon your present
blessings, of which every man has many - not on your past
misfortunes, of which all men have some." Don't brood over
mistakes, carry grudges, or harbor hate.

3. Worrying is a wasted effort and the breeding ground of doubt.
It will lead you to contemplate potential losses rather than
effective solutions. The antidote to worry is positive action.

4. Adversity comes to each of us in time. Expecting rather than
dreading this adversity can make challenging periods seem less
daunting and will allow you to accept that you possess the
strength to conquer each obstacle as you have conquered obstacles
in your past.

5. Assume that hidden in every setback there is a lesson.
Consciously choose to think of the challenges you face in a
positive way: as a learning experience, an opportunity to
demonstrate your strengths, or the first step on a new path.

6. Think about what you desire, not what you fear. Visualize
future successes with the belief that you will achieve them, and
then take action. When you are working diligently toward a goal,
there will not be time to ponder the obstacles.

7. When negative thoughts and feelings threaten to overwhelm you,
take a "time out" and do something that makes you happy. Letting
yourself be swept away in a favorite activity or meditation will
inspire well-being.

8. Be confident that no matter what adversity you face, you will
be strong enough to remain positive and optimistic. Knowing that
there is no obstacle you cannot overcome will give you that
strength.

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Top ten ways to move your business forward

2006-06-27T08:59:00.000-07:00

10. Every day pick up the phone and provide the best
customer service ever! Remember, customer service is to show you
care. Showing you care often leads to results.

9. Make a goal to meet two new people to share about your business
with today. Everyday. Sharing with everyone is not pushy (that is
kind); going back to the same people over and over can lead you
to feeling pushy and them to feel resentful.

8. Start conversations everywhere.

For example, while in line, ask "Where are you from?" and "what do you do?"

This opens a lot of doors as they will most likely reciprocate with "What do you do?"
After they answer, say "I have my own business with
__________. Are you familiar with it?" The conversation will flow from there. Listen for opportunities.

7. Ask yourself every day, "What do I want to accomplish
today?" and "How will I fit in five contacts
professionally." Don't forget to make a couple of those contacts
new people.

6. Success is a choice. Choose to decide that you can do what
it takes to build a business. Throw out the words "I Can't" You can.

5. Schedule two classes or shows a week. This will keep your skills
and confidence growing. A week without a class or show will cause you to feel like you are starting and stopping. That takes more energy.

4. Deciding that you want to make money is the first
step to earning money. Why else are you working?

3. Whenever you have a cancellation or postponment, choose to work anyway.

Don't let other people change your plans knowing that
work is what will lead to success. Make customer service calls,
do personal shopping appointments, take your family out and meet
new people while enjoying your family, etc.

2. Decide that everyone you share your business with
deserves an invitation to join you in your business. Just ask!
"One of the things I love to do is help others start their own
home-based businesses, too. Have you ever thought about

starting your own business and working from home?

1. Make your motto: "Share, don't push." Sharing is finding
out if someone has an interest in something you have to offer.
Selling is something you do for people who ARE interested in what you have to offer and WANT to know more.

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Paid Surveys and information

2006-06-26T08:11:00.000-07:00

I am beginning to feel like I am about half an inch tall and standing in the middle of a huge forest of giants. All of the giants want to know about surveys and whether or not they are legitimate. Some of the giants are willing to pay for the information and other giants have found a couple of free lists. Im standing way down below and screaming at the top of my lungs that they can take surveys and do it for free and not have to worry about signing up with worthless sites. Every now and then one of the giants looks down and hears me but more often than not they don't hear me. They think, oh this company has over 500 survey companies! I will pay them $40. Another giant says, this list is free and has 300 companies! I will sign up.

It never fails. A week later I see the giants and they are all screaming that surveys are a scam! They are only getting entered into contests and they can't waste their time on that! They paid their $40 and all they got was a LIST..gasp!

Okay so I am ranting and raving.. I spent tons of time researching survey companies, finding the legitimate companies and I yell about it as loud as I can and still hear people complaining that they lost money or they are getting nothing but spam. Now I know I will never reach every person out there who wants to take paid surveys but when these people are frequenting the same message boards that I am and just seem to have skipped over everything I had to say and still forked over their money I have a really tough time not feeling frustrated. On the other hand, if they read what I wrote and still paid money for a list I guess I shouldn't feel sorry for them at all! :)

FREE list of paid survey sites: www.katieshugs.com

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Adsense ready websites

2006-06-23T10:05:00.000-07:00

We have talked a lot about different ways to work from home. One new scheme that I see a lot is to sell people ready made websites with adsense already on them. The basic claim is that you get a couple of hundred google adsense ready websites. Just put them up, add your code and they are ready to go. All of the SEO work is done for you! They also claim they are websites that are "proven" to work.

One glitch in this system is the chance that they are selling the same websites to multiple people. You buy your domain name but the content is the same as hundreds of other peoples.

The second problem is "whose" adsense code is really being promoted?

If this has been a work at home program that you have been giving thought to trying, please take a moment and read this thread: http://www.howtocorp.com/cgi-bin/webbbs_config.pl/read/55186

Technorati Tags : make, money, at, home, work, from, home, data, entry, typing, jobs, free, work, from, home

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Success

2006-06-21T09:48:00.000-07:00

How do you define success? I think this is an important question for any potential work from home parent to ask of themselves before they start. If you are thinking of becoming a work at home parent, what will make you feel successful? If you don't know the answer how will you know when you are a success?

I feel successful because I am actually making money from my efforts but I think for me personally I will consider myself a success when I can quit my weekend job and not worry that I am making less.

I guess this means that for me success is defined by the fact that I don't have to work outside the home. For others success might be defined as being able to effectively help someone else meet their goals or feel better about themselves. Still for others might define their success by reaching a specific goal.

I would like to hear what success means to you. Do you consider yourself successful? Regardless of whether or not the answer is yes or no, why do you feel that way?

Technorati Tags : blog, blogging, make, money, success, wah, wahm, work, at, home, work, from, home

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I want to start a Blog

2006-06-16T09:33:00.000-07:00

If you are thinking of starting a blog to make money there are a few things you should think about first. Be sure you pick a topic you enjoy and like. So many bloggers get started by just writing about their everday lives or rambling in general. It is kind of like the website thing where people feel if they just put up a website people will find it and they will make money. If you don't have an interesting topic who will want to visit? Luckily, humans have a wide range of interests and you can find all kinds of interesting topics. Take a look at other blogs and see what interests you and go from there. Use keywords in your posts when you are blogging. Keywords will help people find you in the search engines. Exchange links with other relevant sites. Random exchanges won't do you much good. Read the terms of service for your affiliate companies. I am always amazed at how many people sign up to use adsense and then complain when they get kicked out because they were using autosurf programs or other content based advertising. Of course they don't know WHY they were booted but if you read the terms it becomes pretty clear. Promote! Find message boards that deal with your topics and become active. Don't just throw out random posts that tell about your site. Actually spend the time to be involved with the community. Have fun. This is the most important of all. If you aren't having fun you won't stick with it.

Technorati Tags : blog, blogging, make, money, advice, how, to

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What time do you start your day?

2006-06-15T09:48:00.000-07:00

What time do you start working if you work from home? I usually start around 6:30 but there have been a few times when I started at 5:30 a.m. and found that I got SO much more done in those first few hours than I do when I start later and have to work around kids. Katie is usually up at about 7:30 so if I get up and get started by 5:30 that extra hour of piece and quiet seems to make a world of difference!

What time do you start and when you seem to get the most done?

Technorati Tags : work, at, home, make, money, from, home, business, websites, direct, sales, advice

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Diversify

2006-06-14T10:19:00.000-07:00

It is pretty easy to get on one topic and get stuck there. I am trying to learn these days to diversify a bit. The best part about it is that I don't get in a rut.

If you are blogging about one topic and have numerous variations on that one topic you will find that you run out of things to talk about frequently.

I believe most of us have interests in more than one area but we fail to take advantage of that. For instance I am not a very political person but I LOVE to express my opinions about this area. It would be an easy thing for me to start a political blog and move beyond the wah stuff.

If you are already blogging take some time today to think about what other things you are interested in besides the topic of your blog. Think about the things you enjoy but don't give much thought to or even something you want to learn more about. Start a new blog and leverage that knowledge!

Technorati Tags : work, at, home, make, money, from, home, wah, blogging, blogs

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Don't put all your eggs in one basket

2006-06-13T05:11:00.000-07:00

We've all heard this before but did I heed this advice? Not very well. One of the most important if not THE most important things you can do after you build a website is get traffic to it. If you don't have traffic, you may as well not have a website.

Recently I've seen the traffic to www.katieshugs.com drop off in a big way. Especially over the past week. At first I put it down to the fact that the weather is nice and not as many people are sitting around their computers. This may still be a contributing factor. I haven't changed any of the things I normally do to drive traffic so this made a little bit of sense but I am talking about a drastic change in traffic levels. Well yesterday when I was at one of the forums where a large majority of my traffic comes from I noticed an announcement had been posted. Turns out they have had some upheavals with members spreading rumors about their moderators and THEIR traffic has dropped by a considerable amount. Well, there ya go! I don't spend a lot of time promoting all over the web like I see others do and I felt comfortable with the traffic levels I had so I never worried much about it. With the decrease though, it is affecting my income a great deal so now I need to be concerned. Just goes to prove, don't put all your eggs in one basket!

Technorati Tags : wah, work, at, home, forums, website, traffic, computers, income, work, from, home

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Problogger

2006-06-08T06:17:00.000-07:00

Now that you know all my goals for blogging I wanted to share with you some other bloggers goals. I think it is helpful to see all the different directions people take their blogs and find out what they view as important.

Darren at Problogger is currently running a group writing project for bloggers and it is all about goals. There are three different installments this week so far!

It is all very interesting and reading about everyone elses goals has given me even more to think about when it comes to my own.

http://www.problogger.net/

Technorati Tags : wah, work, at, home, work, from, home, blogging, blogs, learning, to, blog

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How lazy can you get?

2006-06-07T06:15:00.000-07:00

How lazy can one person get? If it's me, pretty darn lazy! I am one of those people who is always telling my kids how important it is to practice what you preach but I am also one of the worst at following through with my own advice sometimes!

I have preached often here about how important it is to set goals for yourself. It really doesn't matter if the goals are for your personal life, your working life, etc. We all need goals to tell us what exactly it is we are working towards and help to motivate us.

So why can't I do this? Well I do it. I really do. I was just realizing that I need to do it differently maybe.

One of the goals I shared with you was that I want to have ten websites up by the end of July. So to meet this goal I recently started two new blogs, one is at www.scrapbookingideas.blogspot.com and the other is a secret mystery blog. You will have to find it!

This puts me up to 3 websites, 1 message board and 5 blogs! With about two months left I should have no problem meeting this goal. Now, here is where a new problem comes in. Although all of the blogs are up and running, I don't really feel they are finished. There are a lot of things I would like to do with them to make them more personal and attractive. I want to add some different colors and play around with the fonts a little among other things.

Most everyday I tell myself, I will work on this. Do I? Nope. I keep focusing on just the one goal. Getting everything built and launched.

Now it is great to meet your goals but don't you think it also important to do a job well when you do it? Especially when you consider the number of people who might be looking at your work!

Goals are funny little things when you think about it. Some people can set a goal for themselves and stick to it quite easily. For me, I need to share. I need other people to make me feel guilty and I will feel guilty if I tell you I will do something and then I don't do it.

So, let me tell you my goals so I can stay focused;

Before I can build another website or blog, I must finish what I started.

I will get each blog it's own personality by setting aside the time to go in and change the colors and fonts.

I will learn more about HTML and how it works.

I will spend more time driving traffic to my blogs.

Finally, I will figure out why Technorati hates one of my blogs and get that fixed!

Connie

Technorati Tags : blogs, blogging, goals, websites, make, money, from, home, wah, wahm

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Back to the basics

2006-06-06T09:35:00.000-07:00

The beauty of the internet is that you always have a fresh new audience. There is never a danger of everyone in the world seeing what you have to offer all at the same time and then never returning. It is ever changing and ever growing.

Because of this I have recently been getting a lot of emails with questions of exactly how to make money from home with affiliate advertising and blogs or websites. Since this is my favorite way to work from home I just wanted to put up a link to all the affiliate advertising and blogging information I have written before.

Start at the bottom of this page and read through this month and the next and you should have most of your questions answered or at least have a good understanding of how this works:

Technorati Tags : work, at, home, blogs, websites, affiliate, advertising, make, money, at, home

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My real day off

2006-06-01T09:07:00.000-07:00

I finally got a day off! It was NOT an easy thing to do. I spent most of the afternoon fighting the urge to check and answer emails or update my blogs.

We spent the morning at the doctors office. Hubby has developed Bursitis and it is not getting better so we took him for a steroid shot which cost over $300 and still didn't help. Then it was time to take Katie to school. After she was in school I actually sat down and finished the book I was reading which is only about two weeks overdue from the library.

By the time I finished reading I was definately ready to take a nap but of course that didn't happen. I was too afraid I would forget to wake up before school was out.

With the exception of cooking dinner, snacking all day and watching a couple of shows on tv, that was the extent of my long awaited day off. Hopefully next week will be more exciting!

I really did have to question WHY it was so hard for me to just sit still and enjoy the day off. I know it is important and that we need to rejuvinate our minds, souls and bodies but it was not an easy task! I think it is one of those things that we just have to get in the habit of. Give yourself a break at least once a week right from the beginning and it will be easier and easier as time goes on.

Technorati Tags : work, from, home, wah, make, money, business, get, rich, schemes, scams

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A "Get Rich" program that works!

2006-05-30T06:46:00.000-07:00

Did that get your attention? That is what I want to talk about today. Over and over I see questions that start out with the name of a "program" and then asks if it is legit or a scam.

Think about it, what could it possibly be? I bet if I wrote an ebook and titled it something like "Secrets of working at home, guaranteed to work!" people would be dumping money into my paypal account faster than I could count it just so they could learn my supposed "secrets".

I think overall we are a very trusting group of people and we are inundated with this stuff to the point that we believe it!

I was talking to a friend the other day and had to laugh at myself. I haven't talked to him in awhile and I was telling him how I work from home and that I am happy with the way things have worked out. At one point I explained that I could go golfing and I was still making money!

I sounded just like those commercials! He found it funny too. He said that was something you always hear about on tv but don't believe.

I realized I was further enabling these ebook sellers to make more money. Once my friend tells his other friends that he knows someone who does this, they will be more willing to spend their money!

We want to believe, we drive around our towns and we see the million dollar homes and cars and we have to wonder, "what do those people do?", are THEY the people we see on tv who have nothing more to do than golf, camp and go boating while we are working just to eat?

This all makes us hopeful that there really is a magic formula out there. Something that will let US play and make money hand over fist and not have to work so hard.

Now personally I don't know where those people with the million dollar homes work. I do know that while I am happy with what I make and love what I do, I don't get to live in a million dollar home. I have a very modest three bedroom home with one bathroom.

I also know that there are no magic formulas. Just because you read it on the internet or see it advertised on tv and even if it has a money back guarantee, the most anyone can tell you is that if you want to work from home you need to start your own business or website, or go into direct sales or work from home FOR someone else who is willing to pay you.

There are no big secrets or formulas.

www.katieshugs.com FREE list of survey sites that pay, FREE list of mystery shopping companies, FREE list of Telecommuting companies. Join our message board for daily survey and freebie updates!

Free information on government grants, auctions, lost money and more! Don’t pay for this information! www.freefromscams.com

Visit our all new all scrapbooking website at www.scrapbooking4us.com!

Technorati Tags : work, from, home, wah, make, money, business, get, rich, schemes, scams

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Where do you spend your time?

2006-05-25T09:24:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of readers here who either want to work from home or who are already working from home.

I thought it would be fun if those of us who work from home share with those of us who want to, exactly how we spend our time each day.

If you are already working from home what is your day like? Where do you spend most of your time?

For me, most of my work day is spent on my message board. It seems to take the most time because I have to search out freebies, find and or take surveys and report anything interesting, there is a game section so I have to keep up on the games, answer questions, etc.

Next would be my blogs. They don't take as much time as the message board but are still time consuming. Third would be taking surveys. When I qualify for a survey it can take anywhere from 15 mins to 1/2 hour out of my day.

Where does your time go?

Visit our all new all scrapbooking website at www.scrapbooking4us.com!

Free information on government grants, auctions, lost money and more! Don’t pay for this information! www.freefromscams.com

www.katieshugs.com FREE list of survey sites that pay, FREE list of mystery shopping companies, FREE list of Telecommuting companies. Join our message board for daily survey and freebie updates!

Technorati Tags : Work, from, home, work, at, home, blogging, make, money, from, home

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What do you think?

2006-05-24T10:28:00.000-07:00

I think I have mentioned before that my goal is to have a total of 10 websites by the end of June. I am almost there! I have four blogs, three websites and a message board at this point. That puts me at eight.

Here is the problem. One of my blogs www.reviewtheweb.blogspot.com is a very easy blog to run but it doesn't get much traffic and only has a couple of readers. Somedays it is just a pain to take the time to research the web and find someplace interesting enough to write about. I have been thinking of dropping it.

I have ideas for two other blogs that I want to get started so it really wouldn't put me behind in my goals if I dropped it. I would just have to come up with an idea for another website or message board or blog. :)

What do you think? Should I keep it up? Do you find it interesting?

Visit our all new all scrapbooking website at www.scrapbooking4us.com!

Free information on government grants, auctions, lost money and more! Don’t pay for this information! www.freefromscams.com

www.katieshugs.com FREE list of survey sites that pay, FREE list of mystery shopping companies, FREE list of Telecommuting companies. Join our message board for daily survey and freebie updates!

Technorati Tags : Work, from, home, work, at, home, blogging, make, money, from, home

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Lazy days of Summer?

2006-05-23T11:16:00.000-07:00

Summer is almost here! How will those of us who work at home get any work done when there is so much fun to be had?

As you know I need to have a plan in place and a goal to reach or I just won't do anything. So I am starting to plan and set goals for the lazy days of Summer.

I do have a couple of options. One would be to enroll Katie in some kind of summer activity. Vacation Bible School or something like that where I don't have to be there the entire time. This would give me a couple of hours a day.

What I will probably do though is make sure she has a lot of activities she can do right here. Set up some play dates. Put up a wading pool or a slip n slide. Just things to give her some good activity levels while I get to work.

The other option is for me to just play all day and then work at night after she goes to bed. This one will probably happen a few times as well. I would much rather play than work and one of the benefits of working from home is that you get to set your own schedule! I may as well take advantage of it!

www.katieshugs.com FREE list of survey sites that pay, FREE list of mystery shopping companies, FREE list of Telecommuting companies. Join our message board for daily survey and freebie updates!

Free information on government grants, auctions, lost money and more! Don’t pay for this information! www.freefromscams.com

Visit our all new all scrapbooking website at www.scrapbooking4us.com!

Technorati Tags : work, from, home, wah, wahm, planning, business, kids, playtime

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What it takes

2006-05-22T06:35:00.000-07:00

I want to tell you a story. This is about a lady I met through my website somewhere somehow. I really don't remember how she found me but she did. (You know who you are!)... LOL..

She was just like me when I started. She didn't know where to begin or how to begin or even really have a good understanding of what it was she was getting ready to begin.

However, she did everything right. She asked a LOT :) of questions. She wanted to start a website but she didn't understand how it was possible to make money. She wrote a few times a day and thank goodness she was patient!

Most importantly, she followed through. Once she asked questions and got answers she applied what she learned and to the letter! If something didn't make sense she asked again until it did. She also did research on her own. She started her wah business and puts in a great deal of time with everyday. She continues to do research and learn something new everyday.

She has done all this in just a few short months and I am happy to say, she is seeing results and probably knows more about the blogging world than I do now!

The point of this story is that with time, dedication, persistance and perseverance anyone can work from home. Even you!

Free information on government grants, auctions, lost money and more! Don’t pay for this information! www.freefromscams.com

www.katieshugs.com FREE list of survey sites that pay, FREE list of mystery shopping companies, FREE list of Telecommuting companies. Join our message board for daily survey and freebie updates!

Visit our all new all scrapbooking website at www.scrapbooking4us.com!

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Blogging ideas

2006-05-19T11:02:00.000-07:00

Blogging is becoming more and more popular everyday. It is a great way to earn some extra money. I think the hardest part of running a blog though is finding things to write about. Even if you have a specific topic (which you should) you need to find new and interesting things to talk about.

There are some ways to make this easier. Join some message boards that deal with the topic you are writing about. There are people who come up with new questions or ideas. Chances are if one person has a question there are many more out there with the same question. Visit other websites with the same topics. You will often find information that is even new to you.

I would love to hear from you all other bloggers about how you come up with new topics! Let me know.. please... :)

www.katieshugs.com FREE list of survey sites that pay, FREE list of mystery shopping companies, FREE list of Telecommuting companies. Join our message board for daily survey and freebie updates!

Visit our all new all scrapbooking website at www.scrapbooking4us.com!

Free information on government grants, auctions, lost money and more! Don’t pay for this information! www.freefromscams.com

Technorati Tags : work, from, home, wah, make, money, at, home, blogging, ideas, topics

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Success

2006-05-18T11:18:00.000-07:00

There was a day last week that I keep meaning to tell you about. It was a great day. An absolutely perfect day. I started out the morning getting just a little work done. Then I spent some time playing with Katie and getting her off to school. Once she was at school I headed to the golf course. I was able to find a friend who would watch her after school so I played a round of golf, came home, made dinner and then set down for a quiet evening. All the while I realized I was still making money. I had found my success!

This was a day when I realized that after listening to all the hype when I was looking to work from home I had found my own way. I did it and I never had to spend money buying lists, paying for advertising, paying for someone else to show me their "system" etc.

I had figured out how to work from home, make money, have some quality time and all with minimal expense. The best part is I get to do it just by showing others how to do it. By telling others about the scams and schemes. By saving other people headaches, hassles and most importantly, time and money.

I love my life and my job!

www.katieshugs.com FREE list of survey sites that pay, FREE list of mystery shopping companies, FREE list of Telecommuting companies. Join our message board for daily survey and freebie updates!

Visit my newest website, Free From Scams! Find out about government grants and auctions, see if you have money waiting to be collected! All FREE information!

Visit our all new all scrapbooking website at www.scrapbooking4us.com!

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Update from last week

2006-05-16T07:48:00.000-07:00

I am going to talk again about the post I made last week, mostly because I would love to hear your feedback. Last week I told you about a post I had made on wahmscam but I didn't go into a lot of detail so I will reiterate here.

Recently on my wahm scam blog I wrote about a company that sells information on how to do "data entry" at home. This isn't your typical data entry but it is technically data entry. I explained what the information tells you to do in order to make money from home.

A couple of weeks ago I recieved an email from the owner of the website telling me that I had defamed his business and he didn't appreciate it. Now I went back and read what I had wrote and I asked some others to read it as well. The consensus was that I had in no way defamed his business and in fact I had been rather kind.

I always try to be objective in my writing but after all it is my opinion and there are some businesses I like and some businesses that I don't like. This applies in life outside of the internet as well. I would never be a stripper but that is how some people choose to make a living and they make a much better living than I do! I have been in sales for a long time but I can't stand high pressure sales people and I would never elect to do business that way. There are tons of people online who will sell you information telling you how you can send out the same letter that enticed you and make a fortune. This is not something I would feel good about.

Each person has to decide for themselves how they will make their living and lead their life. I can't tell you how to do that but with my blogs I try to give you information on each opportunity so you can make that call for yourself.

So I got another email from the owner of this website yesterday telling me if I didn't take down my post he would be forced to take the next step. Legally the posting is just fine. We are all allowed an opinion and we are also allowed to voice it. Ethically, am I hurting his business? What do you think?

www.katieshugs.com FREE list of survey sites that pay, FREE list of mystery shopping companies, FREE list of Telecommuting companies. Join our message board for daily survey and freebie updates!

Visit my newest website, Free From Scams! Find out about government grants and auctions, see if you have money waiting to be collected! All FREE information!

Visit our all new all scrapbooking website at www.scrapbooking4us.com!

Technorati Tags : work, at, home, controversy, make, money, at, home, trials

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When results are great

2006-05-12T10:41:00.000-07:00

I just recieved this email and wanted to share it with everyone. It made me so happy! As you know the past couple of weeks have been a trial with a lot of negativity because of a couple of not so nice people. Getting something like this is a great reminder that you are doing something good and helpful regardless of what a couple of others think.

"i would like to say that ur blog, comments on the scams
(survey and data entry) was a very big help. I and my mom are from
singapore, and we were planning to earn some decent cash from the
internet.
Sad to say, what you have stated in your notes and messages abt scam
were
true, and we were walking right into it. we even fail to get the full
list
of companies they promised.

to tell the truth, we wasted nearly USD 100 to scams, but thanks to
your
advices and notes, we even manage to inform others to avoid these scam
sites
and even promote your website as guides. Your initial list of listed
pay
survey companies was the intial start for us to try on. I hope that if
you
dont mind, could you mail to me the list of 400+ survey companies
list.(i
hope you dont mind)

Anyway just to let you know and hope it will further motivate you, we
like
to say Thank You for your efforts and sincere advice on making money
online.
A group of 8 people in Malaysia are grateful to your dedications"

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www.katieshugs.com FREE list of survey sites that pay, FREE list of mystery shopping companies, FREE list of Telecommuting companies. Join our message board for daily survey and freebie updates!

Visit our all new all scrapbooking website at www.scrapbooking4us.com!

Technorati Tags : make, money, at, home, work, at, home, scams, wahm, wah

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My Day Off

2006-05-11T07:10:00.000-07:00

Last week my husband found out he was going to get one day a week off. Now this is really a great thing because he works seven days a week. We both do. I had also been thinking about giving myself a day off but hadn't really done much about it. This was the perfect opportunity! He has Wednesdays off now so I decided I would take the same day off and we could spend it together.

It turns out that there is a tournament this weekend (he works at a golf course) so he didn't get to start his day off this week. I figured, what the heck, I can still take it off and get some reading done. Yeah.. okay..

Here is how it went instead: I had to see if there was another email from the "mean guy" so I checked that email account. Nope, oh well, as long as I am here I will check my other accounts. I proceeded to answer a few emails and promised to get some stuff done for some others but made sure they knew that this was my "day off" so I wouldn't get to these things right away. There happened to be some great survey offers so I had to do those. They close fast if you don't get in on them right away. I did get accepted into a $25 study.. so I made some money on my day off.. thats okay right?

Again, "as long as I am here" I decided to check some of the message boards and just catch up a little, including my own. More messages, I better answer those.. and.. I can play some of the games on my message board, that isn't exactly work... As long as I am here I can also see if there are any good freebies to be found.. find some freebies.. post those..

Took a break, got to thinking about the freebies at www.katieshugs.com and that they are pretty outdated. I should update those pages to direct everyone to the message board so they know where to find the new and best free stuff.. Did that.

As long as I am here I might as well get the links added to my blogs that I had promised people earlier. Did that.

Now the day is almost done.. Keep in mind that around all the above I had to take a child to the Orthodontist, make breakfast and lunch, take car of baths and getting a little one dressed and I babysat for a couple of hours for a friend!

Yep.. this was my day off... Maybe next week?

Click here and receive a Complimentary Better Homes & Gardens subscription when joining ClubMom for Free today!

www.katieshugs.com FREE list of survey sites that pay, FREE list of mystery shopping companies, FREE list of Telecommuting companies. Join our message board for daily survey and freebie updates!

Visit our all new all scrapbooking website at www.scrapbooking4us.com!

Technorati Tags : make, money, at, home, work, at, home, taking, time, for, yourself

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When someone else doesn't like your work

2006-05-09T09:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was an eventful day! As most of you who read this blog also read my wahmscam blog this will all make sense.

Just in case you don't know, my wahmscam blog deals with all kinds of work at home opportunities. I talk about businesses that I feel are great for the work at home parent as well as the businesses that I feel are downright shady and some that fall somewhere in the middle as far as my opinion goes.

That is the key. It is just my opinion. I do some research to find out what each business is about and how it works and pass on that information to you. I even try to be objective.

Well yesterday I get an email from the owner of one of the businesses. He feels that I wrote about his business in a derogatory way. I was kind of shocked since I always try to never say anything bad even if I really feel it is not a good deal!

I went back and read the article and I hadn't said a single bad word. This guy was kind of threatening and I just couldn't figure it out. He even implied that I have never signed up with the survey companies on my list. In fact he was just plain mean.

So I ended up needing to seek advice about what to do. It seems I really haven't done anything wrong. It is perfectly legal to state my opinions. Whew! Relief.. I hope today will be less eventful!

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Why I don't spend money on advertising

2006-05-08T12:26:00.000-07:00

My sister called me last week. First I should explain that she is getting close to being 40 years old. Throughout her entire adult life she has had the sense that she is "owed" something just because she had a tough childhood. Keep in mind, there are two more of us who grew up in the same house. We both help support our families, we both have a good handle on using common sense and neither of us feel like we are "owed" anything. In fact we both have pretty big hearts and have tried numerous times to help out this other sister.

The other sister has never held a job for more than a few months. So what was she calling about? I haven't talked to her in almost 5 years except for an occasional email from her telling me how tough her life is. Well she wanted our moms phone number so she could call and see if she would buy her a car. Now this is particularly funny because she has never paid a dime on the last car our mom bought her and in fact my mom had just sold her property the day before this phone call in order to pay off that car.

I let her know this wasn't probably a good idea. Anyway we started talking and she was complaining that she couldn't find any work where she lives. Well she could find work but she really needed a car.

Now she is one of those people who really believes that somewhere out there is that one magical way that lets you make money without your ever having to do anything more but go to the bank. I tried to explain to her that she could make money at home. I was doing it why couldn't she? Her response was that you had to have SOME money to start. I explained that I never had any money to start. Okay, in all truthfulness I did pay for an upgrade on my website hosting package. It cost me about $20. Now I am more than willing to send her $20 to start her own business. But what about advertising?

Okay, now here is where I make my point. You have all heard about a lot of my original goals when I started the website, scam free, getting the word out, helping others find work at home, etc. What I have never told you is that I was also determined to show a lot of people that they are wrong. I visited a lot of work at home forums and over and over I heard the same thing, you can't start a business for free, you can't make money if you don't put money into it.

Well here are the facts as I explained them to my sister; I found more than one direct sales business that would let you start for free and I have never spent a dime on advertising.

Obviously if I had spent money on advertising I MAY have seen a profit sooner but I was determined to show that this could happen with no money invested in advertising. I spend a lot of time finding ways to advertise for free but it can be done.

Here are some free advertising ideas to help you too!:

http://katieshugs.blogspot.com/2006/02/top-ten-ways-to-drive-traffic-to-your.html

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Free From Scams

2006-05-05T08:44:00.000-07:00

It is finally done! I have spent a lot of time putting this www.freefromscams.com together and I am so happy it is finished!

Those of you who have been reading know that one of my biggest pet peeves is people who sell information. Now don't get me wrong. People have been selling information forever but we used to call it "writing a book". The difference being that you could always go to your local library and check out the book for free. You had an option.

The internet has always been known as the information highway and it used to be that you could find most information for free.

Luckily we live in a world where anyone can profit from most anything and a lot of people jumped on the information bandwagon and realized they could sell the same information that is out there for free.

They also learned how to market and advertise so now when you search for that information you get a lot of links on places where you can buy the information instead.

I wanted to get the information into one place and for free. So.. we now have www.freefromscams. You can find free information about government grants, government and police auctions, paid surveys, lost money, and more. It is by no means finished and will be a work in progress for some time. However, it is up and running and you can start getting information for free!

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Work at home teens

2006-05-04T10:32:00.001-07:00

This morning I realized that I always seem to focus on work at home opportunities for moms and dads and even grandparents. However there is a whole demographic of people that I have left out! I think this happens frequently and not just with me.

There are a lot of retired people who are looking to work at home and make some extra income, there are people who are disabled for any number of reasons who want to make extra income at can't get out of their homes and just this morning I learned of a whole new group. Teenagers! Now I have to say this one surprised me. I met Xiti on my message board awhile back when he had started a different blog and then this morning I found a message from him that he had started a new blog. A blog for teenagers who want to work from home! I thought this was an amazingly wonderful concept and so unique that I had to tell you about it!

Take a look at Xiti's blog here: http://work-at-home-teens.blogspot.com/ I think you will find it very refreshing and fun to read!

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It's my birthday!

2006-05-01T08:51:00.000-07:00

So today is my Birthday! Guess what Im doing? I really meant to take the day off and do nothing but read. I recently got a new book from the library and I am only about two pages into it.

Working at home means that as soon as a thought comes into my head, I can actually sit down and do something about it. I don't have the excuse of taking care of it tomorrow when I go into the office. Now of course I don't HAVE to act on anything, I can just pretend the thought never happened and go back to reading. It just doesn't work that way. Of course as long as I am already taking care of one thing I may as well take care of something else.. It is never ending.

So here I am working on my birthday. Maybe I will just have to take tomorrow off instead.. :)

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Feeling good about what you do

2006-04-26T12:29:00.000-07:00

Today has been pretty up and down. I always feel like I have done something good when I can help another person avoid a scam.

On one particular message board this week I have had to defend the fact that my websites use google adsense. Well yeah! My websites are all a part of my business and I generate money through google adsense and some other affiliate links.

Now I am not one of those people who try to push those weird data entry affiliate programs. My affiliate links are all for things like clubmom, stores, etc. Yet this one person was having an absolute tizzy fit and claiming that I wasn't being honest or trying to help anyone, I was only trying to make money.

This has really bothered me all week. Today though, there was who wrote a very nice post using a lot of common sense and agreed that it was okay to make money from your website as long as you were giving honest information and such. Whew!

I don't know why I needed this validation but I did. When I started my website I never even knew you could make money. I found the affiliate links that fit in perfectly with my website quite by accident. I also found google adsense by accident. I started the website to prevent others from losing money on those paid survey lists. I wanted to give the lists with the right information for surveys, mystery shopping, paid to drive, etc. I didn't start it as a way to make money but that is what it turned into and I have never compromised my values to do it. Now I feel pretty good!

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Real work from home

2006-04-25T08:46:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago Audrey posted this on my message board at www.itsfree.proboards43.com and it is so true and clear and concise that I wanted to share it with all of you.

"I thought I would share a post I wrote several years ago. I hope you find it helpful. It was written to Melissa, a gal who was going to spend $35 to buy a list:

Melissa,

Save your $35. I'll provide you free of charge in this post, anything that might be in their "book".Let's start with some basics.

There are only TWO things you can do at home, yes, only TWO.You can telecommute or you can run a business. That's it, TWO.

TELECOMMUTING--This means you have been hired by an employer, and that employer is open to having you work at home anywhere from a few hours a week, to full time.Some folks will work mornings in office, afternoons at home. Afternoons at home, allows them to pick up their kids, start dinner etc, all while working also. Some folks work every other day in office. This allows them bring work in, drop work off, be available for meetings etc.You are an employee. You are either paid per hour or per week. The sentence I see most often posted is "I want to work at home, so I have more time with my kids". Find some folks who do telecommute. Their kids are in daycare, as they need to work. They also end up putting in more than 40 hours per week as they want to make sure they put in their 40 hours and make up for those trips to the store, the trips to pick kids up etc.Telecommute positions are very tough to find. Most employers are not willing to have employees working unsupervised. Reason is, just look in office. Truly, how many employees give a job their all? How many work hard even when the boss is away? How many come in a few minutes early and leave a few minutes late on a consistent basis? Now let's compare that to how many make personal calls? How many take a few extra minutes on their lunch? How many stand around the water machine chatting? How many day dream and don't produce as much as they can/should? So, most employers are not willing to allow employees to work at home.Again, speak to some folks who work at home. Ask them point blank what they did to get this job. Most will tell you that they had worked for a long time prior to this arrangement. They will tell you that they know their job inside out. They will tell you that they work over 40 hours per week. They will tell you that they do get "lonely" working all alone. And they'll tell you they do go into the office frequently.

There is no book of companies that allow telecommuting. Those employers who have allowed this have done so with an existing employee. My sister telecommutes for HP. But she had her degree in computer science. She has had tons of company training and she worked there 10 years. So putting HP down in a book and telling you that they hire telecommuters is misleading at best, an out and out lie at worst. And you have to pay for that book.

A BUSINESS--To start there are only TWO things you can sell. You can sell a product or you can sell a service. Look around YOUR town. What do the businesses in YOUR town sell? They all sell either a product or a service. A home business will be no different, you'll sell a product or a service.

If you want to sell a service, look within. What are your skills? Are you proficient with a word processor? If so, you can consider selling your word processing skills. Remember, proficient means near perfect. I can use MS Word, but I could not sell it as a service. Have you done bookkeeping or billing before? If so, this again, is something you can sell as a service. Are your kids older, in school all day? Consider an errand service. Heck, there are many days I feel I live in my car LOL. I always have books with me as I'm forever waiting for someone or something. Do a web search for errand services and view what others are offering and at what fees.

Are you an expert with a sewing machine? If so, offer tailoring and mending as a service. I am only 5'2" and both my kids are 5'. We need everything altered. I would love to bring it to someone's home versus having to go to the dry cleaner, and change in their icky little bathroom, etc.Prefer to sell a product? You have a few choices, yes, only a few. You can make the product yourself. You can purchase from a wholesaler, or you can purchase from a direct sales company. That's it, only those few choices.If you wish to make the products, again, look within. What hobbies do you have? What crafts can you make? Some folks sell hand sewn or hand crocheted items. Some sell homemade soaps and lotions. Some sell homemade jewelry. Are you able to do this?

You can contract with a wholesaler. Look up ________ wholesaler in a search engine. The blank is for whatever product you want to sell. There are wholesalers for just about everything imaginable. Want to contract with a direct sales company? Go to www.dsa.org . They have a large database of their members. Their members range from cosmetic companies, to toy companies, to clothing companies and everything in between. You don't need to pay to access this database.The site you listed provides a books of scams. Home assembly is a scam. Now, there are exceptions. Occasionally a factory that makes items will advertise for local employees. You'll go to the factory, fill out the application, meet with them, and get hired. There will NOT be a fee. You'll drop off and pick up finished products. Assembly-at-home jobs found on the internet are SCAMS. Don't believe me? Find me just two people who do this and make money. Just two. From anywhere in the US. Just two

The site you mentioned speaks of transcribing. Do you have experience and training in transcribing? If not, you are not going to be hired. Again, don't believe me, find me two folks with no experience who were hired to transcribe at home.The site you mentioned spoke of US mail. Chain letters are not legal. All those ads for mail-from-home, order process from home etc; are all a variation of the same scam. You pay money. You get directions to place ads like the one you answered. You then receive a percent each time you scam the next person. You TYPE or PROCESS their ORDER. Nice play on words huh?If in fact, typing at home, assembly at home, processing orders at home were legitimate, don't you think we'd read more about folks doing this successfully?I'm sorry for the length of this. I can almost guarantee you would not have gotten this much information had you spent the $35

Audrey
http://www.scrapping-made-simple.com "

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Clutter

2006-04-21T07:14:00.000-07:00

I am looking around my desk right now and I see a stack of magazines I haven't had time to read, a bunch of mail that I haven't had time to go through and a ton of little notes and free stuff that haven't been sorted yet. I tried to pay the bills today and I can't even find electric bill.

The kitchen table is cluttered, the floor needs vaccumed and there are at least 5 loads of laundry waiting to be done.

Yes, part of it is the fact that it has been a really tough 6 weeks around here and some things have just been neglected but mostly it is just that I can always find better things to do.

Just wondering, if you are a work at home parent what does your desk look like? Is it cluttered or are you very organized and neat and tidy? Share with us!

www.katieshugs.com FREE list of survey sites that pay, FREE list of mystery shopping companies, FREE list of Telecommuting companies. Join our message board for daily survey and freebie updates!

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Being Thankful

2006-04-20T07:12:00.000-07:00

Recently I have had a great deal of things going on in my life. I must say I have been very thankful during this time to be a work at home mom.

I have found that it affords benefits that I wouldn't have if I worked outside the home.

I have been able to work in the mornings and take the afternoons off to get the things done I need to get done and it hasn't had a profound effect on my income.

This wouldn't be the case unless I was on salary somewhere else. Plus if I need to get things done in the morning or even all day long I can do that and then work in the evenings.

It has been a true blessing and I just wanted to share that information.

This is definately something to consider if you want to work from home and it might even give you some motivation to find that perfect source of income for you.

www.katieshugs.com FREE list of survey sites that pay, FREE list of mystery shopping companies, FREE list of Telecommuting companies. Join our message board for daily survey and freebie updates!

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Work at home pessimists

2006-04-19T08:36:00.000-07:00

I think one reason so many people can't work at home is because they just don't believe they can. They start looking for a work at home job and they get hit with all the scams and then give up.

I see three different kinds of people in the work at home sector. There are the type who want to work at home and do their homework and find something legitimate and succeed. There are also the type who are only willing to believe that some money making scheme or program is how you make money at home. These types usually end up losing a lot of money and failing.

Finally there are the people who are just plain skeptical and they let that skepticism stop them. They want to work at home and make some money but they are so positive that everything is a scam that they don't try anything.

A fair amount of skepticism is a great thing to have if you are looking to work from home. It can save you a lot of headaches and money but if you have too much you won't ever get anywhere. At some point you have to give something a try to find out if you can succeed.

Where do you fall in the big scheme of things?

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Life of a wahm

2006-04-18T07:01:00.000-07:00

This whole month so far has been fairly unproductive. At least I feel it has. I probably have gotten as much as possible accomplished but I feel like I have only done about half of what I should.

Between family obligatioins, getting sick and tax time I feel pretty busy but I also feel like I have been slacking off.

I keep reminding myself that I must have my priorities straight and take care of more than just "business" but it sure isn't always easy.

When I started this business I worked a good 12-14 hours a day and I felt okay with that. Last week my husband quit his night job so now I am only working 6-8 hours a day which is a normal workday for most people. I feel better and less stressed when I am not working so much and I am enjoying the time we have together every afternoon and evening now.

Im sure there is a lesson here but I will let you decide how it applies to your own personal situation.

www.katieshugs.com FREE list of survey sites that pay, FREE list of mystery shopping companies, FREE list of Telecommuting companies. Join our message board for daily survey and freebie updates!

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