Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Feeling good about what you do

 
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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Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Real work from home

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 "
 
 
 
Ipsos 
 
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Friday, April 21, 2006

Clutter

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!
 
 
 
 
 
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Thursday, April 20, 2006

Being Thankful

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.
 
 
 
 
 
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Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Work at home pessimists

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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Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Life of a wahm

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.
 
 
 
 
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Thursday, April 13, 2006

New Website

I have been so incredibly busy the past two weeks I just don't know what to tell you about today! 
I will just tell you how things are going on my end. 
For those of you who are regular readers you know that my current goal is to have ten websites up and running by the end of June. 
I currently have the three blogs, two websites and a message board.  My newest website is what has been keeping me so busy! 
My original plan was to have it launched today and then I realized that just wasn't going to happen so I planned to launch it tomorrow.  I don't see that happening either.  So for now I plan to have it up and running early next week.   I have been doing a few pages a day and yesterday I got 15 pages done!  It all sounds like something I should be feeling frustrated with but when you take into account that my original goal was a page a day and I managed to get 15 done yesterday,  I am feeling pretty good about it! 
The new website will be a little bit different avenue for me.  I have done work at home stuff and scrapbooking stuff but this one focuses on free information.
Those of you who know me are aware that one of my biggest pet peeves is people who sell information.  Information especially on the internet was always meant to be free.  This is why I started Katieshugs to begin with.  I hated the fact that people were selling work at home information.  Well lately the commercials about foreclosures and government grants and government auctions where you can by houses and cars for pennies on the dollar are driving me insane.  Again, this is all information that people should not have to pay for.   SO... this is what my new website will be about.  You will be able to access all that same information for FREE... I am pretty excited about it and I hope you will be visiting!
 
 
 
 
Ipsos 
 
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Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Finding Your Niche

Finding your niche is crucial to your success.  Anyone can throw up a website or a blog and HOPE to make some money but if you don't have a niche it just won't work.
You need to offer something that people want.  Recently a lot of blogging communities popped up where everyone could write and use their adsense accounts and make money.  What I saw was a lot of people writing about everything and everyone.  These were the same people who complained often that they had been at it 6 months or so and still hadn't made a dime.  They were having fun though and that is pretty important. 
At the same time I saw people putting up blogs on how to blog, blogs on petcare and childcare, blogs on parenting and motorcycles and they all said they were making money.   Do you see the difference?  The people making money had found a niche.  Something they were happy to talk about daily and providing useful information that other people were looking for.
That is all it takes!  Of course with a blog you have to write daily.  With a website you also need a niche, something to focus on and draw people in.  You can't just set up a website with a picture of your new puppy, give a little information on him and put up some advertising and expect to make money.  It must be an area that people want to read about or learn about. 
Give it some thought.  Think about what you really enjoy or something that you are very knowledgeable about.  Is it something you can teach or share?  If so, you have found your niche!
 
 
 
 
Ipsos 
 
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Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Choosing wisely

I've probably said this before but I think it bears repeating. 
My biggest pet peeve when it comes to working with people who want to work from home is the people who won't listen to reason. 
It seems like you can talk until you are blue in the face about legitimate opportunities and still you get the naysayers who claim everything is a scam.
Everything is a scam because they are looking at programs that promise to make them hundreds of dollars a day.
What they should be looking at and thinking about are the things that will actually make them money. 
When I started out looking for a home based business I was pretty lucky.  I decided right off the bat that I would not pay for a job.  I would not do anything that cost a penny.   This was my own experiement and I was determined to make it happen.
Now of course I did have to pay my website hosting fees and I had to pay to register my domain name but that was it and these seemed like normal fees and pretty darn low for starting a business.  In my searches for other ways to make money from home I also found some direct sales companies that didn't even charge a start up fee.  This is pretty unusual because most direct sales companies will charge a start up fee but you usually get quite a bit for your money.
These fees are not the same as the fees you see everywhere else.  There are a ton of "programs" that charge a onetime membership fee, and there are companies that charge for information which can be found free and there are companies that charge a processing fee and claim you can make money typing or doing data entry for that fee.  Heck there are even places that are charging to sell you a list of the companies that will charge you a processing fee.  It is all pretty crazy. 
I really wish there were a way to get everyone to listen and quit paying for those processing fees, membership fees, upgrades and lists.  
 
 
 
 
 
Ipsos 
 
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Monday, April 10, 2006

Melaleuca

 
Here is what is bugging me today.  If anyone can give me good answers I would love to hear them! 
Melaleuca makes some awesome products.  I love their products and I don't understand why aren't shouting from the rooftops how great they are. 
Instead they have a lot of different teams and these teams advertise everywhere.  You can't visit a wah message board without seeing a thousand advertisements from these teams. 
Here is the catch.  The team members will NOT tell you right up front what company they represent.  You cannot find out this information unless you agree to take a personal phone call.  At one point I agreed to the personal phone call and still couldn't get the lady to tell me what company she was with until I was willing to listen to another conference call.  It just seems very weird to me and I don't like these kinds of business practices.  
Is there anyone who can tell me why they do it this way?  Not just the answer  "we aren't allowed to" but the real reason behind WHY they aren't allowed to disclose the company?
 
 
 
Ipsos 
 
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Saturday, April 08, 2006

Become an expert

I wanted to just mention this briefly.   It doesn't matter if you decide to make money from home by building a website, blogging, going into direct sales or whatever but no matter what you decide to do you need to become an expert at it.
If you are starting your own website and want to make money you need to learn from others what makes a website successful.   You can't just put up a website and hope for the best.  You will need to learn about search engine optimization, you will need to learn the best way to set it up and how to make it look.  You will need to learn how to drive traffic to your site and how to keep it there. 
The same thing goes for blogging, you will need to learn basically the same things.  With either option you will also need to learn how to promote.
If you go into direct sales for any product you will want to become an expert in your area.  You can't just have a party, hand out brochures and hope that people will buy.  You will need to be able to tell them WHY they should buy your product, how it will benefit them and what they can expect. 
So often I see people start a business and just hope that it will all work out.  There is a lot of learning to do but luckily we all have the internet and a ton of experts at our disposal.  Take advantage and read and learn.
 
 
 
 
Ipsos 
 
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Friday, April 07, 2006

What do I do with the kids?

A frequent question that comes up is "What do I do with the kids while I am working?".  It's kind of funny when you realize that this is a question parents have whether they are working outside the home or inside the home. 
The best answer is you do whatever works for you and your kids.  In my case I am lucky enough to have a much older daughter here a few mornings every week and she is great at entertaining Katie while I get some work done.
The rest of the week isn't as easy.  I take frequent breaks to play catch or a board game.  We just finished playing a quick game of "limbo" simply because she had seen it on tv and wanted to try it. 
Yes, the tv plays a part.  Katie has her favorite cartoons like any other kid and I will let her watch while I get work done.  This is where the frequent breaks come in.  I don't want her to spend hours and hours in front of the television. 
I will also let her get on the other computer and play educational games.  
I also try to plan for the largest part of my work day to be when she is at preschool.  This gives me a guaranteed 3 hours a day that I can get work done.  Don't get me wrong, it is tempting to use that time to run errands or take a nap or just have a few minutes of quiet.  If I do that though I lose a lot of work time and I realize I would have to make up that time by taking away from my time with my daughter. 
One of the best parts of working at home is that you can set your own schedule.  Make time during school hours, during nap time and after bed time and you will find that you can get the same amount of work done in those "off" hours that you could get done in the "on" hours.   You have the chance to be creative with your work hours take advantage of it! 
 
 
 
 
Ipsos 
 
 
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Thursday, April 06, 2006

Get paid to drive your car

You can find companies that will pay you to drive your car or give you a car and pay you to drive it as well. 
The catch is that you have to put their advertising on your car or drive a car that already has their advertising on it. 
You have probably seen some of these cars in your area.  I have seen cars for Sea World, Red Bull, and a couple of other funny looking ones. 
The trick to getting to do this is that you need to drive a great deal everyday and in an area where lots of people will see the advertising. 
If you are driving on country roads back and forth to work a few miles everyday you probably are not a good candidate for this type of job. 
If you commute a couple of hundred miles everday between two major cities on jam packed roads this might be a good way to make some extra money for you. 
If this sounds like something for you and you want a funny looking car to drive around you can go to: http://www.katieshugs.com/paidtodrive.html
There is a list of companies that look for drivers.  Just fill out the application and hope you get picked!
 
 
 
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Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Work at home blogging

One popular way to make money online these days is blogging.  You can make money from your blogs by using affiliate links such as google adsense or you can make money by selling products just like a website.  A new trend seems to be blogging for others. You write a blog and website owners pay you for your time and efforts.  Typically these seem to be online communities and they are looking for people to write a few times a day about a specific topic. 
Our blogging friend Gayla has found some places that are looking for bloggers.  Take a look, pick a topic and get started!
 
 
 
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Monday, April 03, 2006

No Motivation

 
I don't get it.  I have been sick for two weeks and now I am finally feeling pretty darn good.  However, I STILL have no motivation!  I don't want to really do anything.  I don't want to clean house, I don't want to work, I don't want to do anything but sleep.  I want to curl up in bed with a good book and just rest. 
It is so much easier when you work for someone else.   At least for me it seems like if I have a manager or employees who depend on me I am more inclined to want to be at work even if I don't feel good.  It is easy to let myself down but not easy for me to let others down. 
So here is the lesson:  I think that even if you don't really feel like doing anything you have to do it anyway.  After having two weeks off I have to just force myself to work and let the habit take over again.  Make yourself get off the couch or out of bed and get to work just like if you were going to work somewhere besides home.  Make yourself do the laundry and wash the dishes even if you don't really want to.  Once you are in the habit of doing these things everyday it will just come naturally.   Anyway that is what I am hoping!
 
 
 
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Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Illness

As you've noticed there has been zero activity here for about a week now.  Yep, the inevitable happened, Mom got sick. 
I have been blessed and had lots of good help to get better but it still makes for a pretty miserable week.
It also gave me lots to think about.  For instance, if I were to be working outside the home I would have had to get up every morning and call in.  I also would have felt guilty for no reason.  I would have wondered if they thought I was faking it to take a week off.  On the other hand if I worked outside the home I might have been on salary and continued to get paid.  Not so bad that...
However since I do work from home I still felt guilty.  I felt like I was letting down a lot of people who expect me to be on here everyday.  I felt like I was letting things slide which would result in lower earnings next month therefore letting my family down.  Most of all, I just felt sick and miserable and tired.  The last part won out over everything else in the end.
The biggest thing I missed out on being sick and working from home was zero health insurance. 
Now if we had health insurance I would have been at the doctor by day three with my $20 co-pay in hand and telling him to make me better already.  No health insurance and the thought of shelling out a couple of hundred dollars for him to tell me I had a cold, drink juice and get rest, kept me and my checkbook safely at home to ride out the storm. 
A week later and I almost feel normal again.  We will get sick, it is a part of life.  We don't however have to feel guilty for being sick.  We also don't have to make do or get by.  If we need medical care we should be able to get it without putting our family in any kind of financial jeopardy. 
Our great friend Gayla has found a great program to help cover your medical, dental, vision and other needs.  You can read about it here:   When You Don't Have Health Insurance
 
 
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Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Work at home signs

On WahmScam today I wrote about all the work at home signs you see whenever you drive around town. 

I felt it was a pretty important article and needed to be shared here as well so I am just going to point you in that direction:

http://wahmscam.blogspot.com/2006/03/work-at-home-signs.html

I found this really interesting since I have always wondered what and who is behind all those signs.  If you would just like to skip to the article about the signs itself you can click on the below.

Want to find out what all those signs are really selling?  Follow the link and read the article.  http://www.cockeyed.com/workfromhome/workfromhome_s.html

 

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Monday, March 20, 2006

Isolation

One thing you should be aware of if you are considering working from home is that it can be very lonely. 
When you work outside the home you generally have co-workers.  Other people you can talk to when you there is a lull in the workday or people you run into around the water cooler, in the breakroom etc. 
When you work at home you are all by yourself.  Oh you probably have little ones running around but they really don't care how your day is going.  It is tough to share a bad day with a three year old.
It is important that you build a network of support.  Find people you can talk to throughout the day. 
Make time to take a break and call a friend or family member.  It will help relieve the doldrums and it will just make you feel like you are connected to the outside world. 
Take the time to find other moms you can connect with or just get out of the house for a cup of coffee once in awhile.  Invite people over now and then. 
It is also important that you make time for your spouse.  Set aside an evening every couple of days or at least once a week when you can connect and feel like you are part of something other than a keyboard.
 
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Friday, March 17, 2006

Working at home and planning

Recently I was talking to someone who was complaining about finances.  This is common we all complain about our finances and very few people make as much money as they would like.  The difference here and what struck me the most was that he was complaining he couldn't afford his phone bill which is one of those things that a lot of us consider essential.  The part that got to me was when he later told me that he regularly has a tab at a local bar that is around $200 a month.  Hmmm do you see what is wrong here? 
Regardless of whether you are just starting to work from home or if you have been working from home for awhile it is important that you have a plan for your money.
None of us like to live paycheck to paycheck and we do all like and need to have some fun in our lives but without a plan nothing good can ever happen.
The Holiday season is a notoriously stressful time in our culture.  I love the holidays and don't want to be stressed so I plan for them all year.  I buy really nice gifts throughout the year when they are on sale and I save all my change during the year.  When the holidays come around the only stress I have is what gift to get my husband. 
You must have a plan. You need to know what you are working for and towards.  Are you saving for a new car, a new computer, a Vacation home Orlando or are you working just to pay some bills? 
Once you know what you are working for or towards you will know how to use your money best.  Is it important in your life that you go out every weekend and have a few beers or could you go out and have one beer and put the extra $5 towards your savings for a down payment on a house?  Five dollars might not seem like much at the time but if you save $5 every week it does add up in the end.  Look at other ways to put away just a little bit of money for what you want and you will feel really good about yourself and your efforts.  It is easy to feel overwhelmed and as if we never have enough money for the things we want but with a little planning you can be very content in your life and with your efforts..
 
 
 
 
Ipsos
 
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Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Squidoo

If you have built a website or if you are using a blog I would strongly suggest spending an hour or so today at Squidoo.
Squidoo is a cool little place and I hope I can do it justice. You will not make a living with Squidoo at this point and they are the first to tell you that but you can increase your website traffic by using it. It is almost like a blog but not quite. 
It is a place where you can talk about your favorite subject.  You are welcome to set it up however you like with links to your own websites and blogs, your favorite websites and blogs. You favorite books and gadgets or just whatever you can think of.
Instead of a blog at squidoo you have a "lens" this is a one page "report" on a topic.  You are the lensmaster of your lens and you can build as many lenses as you like on as many topics as you like. 
When you first set up your lens it will already have "modules" in it.  A module is where you can set up your own links, use the ones provided.  You can add more modules or delete the ones that are you given.
The modules are what will generate traffic and income for you.  You can set up modules for amazon, ebay, a shopping mall etc. 
In addition each lens shows google adsense ads.  Squidoo has set this place up as a co-op.  This means that you will get a portion of the revenue generated from your lens.  Some goes back to the business, some goes to charity and some gets put into the "pool".  You can see the actual formula in the FAQ's
The biggest reason at this point to join Squidoo is for you to share information and generate traffic to your websites and blogs.  Len's get a lot of respect from the search engine.  This is a great way to increase your pagerank if nothing else.  Join Squidoo
 
 
 
 
 
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Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Your wah workspace

When I started working at home my workspace was HORRID.  I had a little tiny desk that was falling apart with things crammed everywhere:  You can see it in the background here.
 
It was so bad that the little table the keyboard rests on was broken and would only pull out a little bit so you had to be very careful.  That little table fell off more than once.  However.. it was what I had and you make do with whatever you have.  I do remember though how uncomfortable it was.  If I needed to take notes it was quite comical. Typically I would just go use the kitchen table and run back and forth or just copy and paste whatever I needed into Word and then later forget where I saved my notes. 
Thank goodness my husband bought me a new desk for Christmas! 
 
Let me tell you!  This made a world of difference!  Not only in my ability to get things done easier and more comfortably but more importantly in my desire to get more done.  It seems like having a good workspace makes me feel more professional even though I am at home.  I suddenly didn't mind working for hours at a time.  I enjoyed it!  I FEEL like I am at work when I have all the little things handy, pens, pencils, my coffee cup, pictures of my kids, etc.
So, I think it is important to have a workspace that you feel good at.  When people walk into my home and ask what I do, I can point to my little area and feel good about it and they no longer look at me like I have lost my mind.   If you feel professional, you are more likely to act professional and more likely to succeed at whatever you are doing. 
 
 
 
 
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Monday, March 13, 2006

Direct Sales

If you are thinking of starting a work at home business in direct sales there are a few things you should consider before joining any company.
Before you sign up make sure you have a sponser you feel comfortable with or that you are joining a team you feel good about.  You don't have to sign up with the first sponser you run across. 
Talk to different people and different sponsers directly.  Ask questions, how long have they been with the company?  What will they do to help you succeed, how will they help you succeed, will they be there when you need help?
Think about your demographics.  For me I wasn't interested in joining Avon as a business because we have a lot of well established Avon reps in my area.  I didn't feel I would be able to build a good customer base.  There was another plan I thought about joining but I found out they had 12 other reps in my area.  This doesn't mean you can't make a business work if there are a lot of other reps in your area but I wanted something different and unique to bring to the community.
Find out what all the expenses are to you.  Are you required to buy a certain amount of product every month or can you just buy what you need.  Find out if there are hidden costs.  Find out about shipping costs, who pays those?  Are business forms supplied or do you need to purchase them.  Can you copy the forms once you have them?
How long does it take for you to get the products once you order them?
How is advertising handled and what can you do to advertise?
Sit down and pretend you are already with this company.  If you write down everything step by step that you envision in your head you will find more questions you will have and then you can ask those questions as well.  The point is that you don't want to just jump into something.  You will want to make sure you are well informed and know what you are getting into and what is expected from you and from the company you are joining.  
 
 
 
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Sunday, March 12, 2006

Working at home in sales

I was thinking yesterday that most of my life has been spent in one kind of sales position or another.  I used to be in sales for Bose Corp and more recently I was the sales manager for a rental car company and for a low vision aid company.  In both of the last two positions I wrote sales manuals that were very succuessful.
One of the most common types of work at home businesses is direct sales.  This can be for any number of different kinds of companies.  If you want to sell there is a product for you.
However what I was thinking is that a lot of people like the idea of sales but they don't know some of the basic concepts.  I would like to share some of these concepts.
If you are going to have a business out of your home AND you are going to invite customers into your home you will want to make sure they are comfortable.   If you are going to have a waiting room in your home you will want to have Office Room Reception Chairs where your clients will be comfortable.  If they feel uncomfortable while they are waiting they will probably feel uncomfortable with what you are offering. 
In your reception area you should also place brochures about your product.  This is a great opener.  Once you are ready to meet with your client you can simply ask it they looked at the brochures while they were waiting.  This gives you two clues.  If they didn't look at the brochures maybe they aren't really interested.  You will know right away that they will be a hard sell and will need more encouragement.  If they did look at the brochures you can simply ask what they thought about the products.  This gives you a fantastic opportunity to overcome any objections. 
In the next installment I will go over more sales tips in depth.  Take this opportunity to think about what you are selling, how to make your customers more comfortable whether or not they are in your home and think about any objections your customers might have to buying your products.. 
 
 
 
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Friday, March 10, 2006

Blogging for pay

I know this is a topic that has been done to death but recently I have had a number of people asking me if it works and how to do it.  So I thought I would go over a few things.
Yes you can make money money blogging.  In fact there are more ways to make money with a blog than with a website.
I have recently seen a lot of growth in income opportunities and new ways that website owners are using blogs and bloggers.
Two of the newest opportunities I have seen:
Websites offering payment per blog article for bloggers.  Family.com is seeking bloggers to write up to three times a day.  They have huge list of topics they need covered.
Blogitive.com has started an affiliate program that is different than most.  Instead of just placing ads on your blog and waiting for clicks they give you a phrase to use in your blog.  The phrase is your affiliate link.  Instead of paying per click or sale they pay per phrase.  You will get paid as long as your article and the link are approved. 
I have a feeling bloggers are going to see even more opportunities like the above. 
I could spend a few days or weeks writing about exactly how to go about setting up a blog and what you need to do to make money but instead I am going to direct you to a complete series on blogging written by Gayla McCord.  If you are at all interested in blogging this is a MUST read:  
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Wednesday, March 08, 2006

What will you do to make money part Two

Yesterday we talked about working at home in some shady areas.  Today I want to talk about working at home in some legitimate jobs which are also a little different.
This again goes to what you are willing to do and if you are willing to forgo your ethics and values just to make money.
In the world of work outside the home we have jobs that make some people uncomfortable, stripping, escort services, etc.
In the work at home world we have Sex Texting, phone sex, and a couple of others.
Some people would find these types of jobs degrading and others would say they are good honest work.
It is up to you to decide what you think.  The important thing is to be sure you are not giving up "yourself" just to make money. 
It does you no good to work at home unless you can feel good and positive about yourself and your job.  If you are working in an industry that makes you uncomfortable and deflates your self-esteem, you will not be happy at the end of the day and it will show in your work and in the rest of your life.
There are plenty of single moms who are willing to do whatever it takes to stay off of welfare and provide for their kids and I have the utmost respect for them. 
If these types of jobs don't bother you then you may be one of the people that would love it.  Now you know they are out there!  
For myself I can't imagine being a "phone actress", and trying to explain what I do at 5th grade career day.  ;)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Tuesday, March 07, 2006

How will you make money part 1

As I search around for all the different ways people can work from home, one question comes to mind a lot:  "What am I willing to do to make money?"
I know there are ways to make considerable more money from home than what I am currently making but what am I willing to give up to do it?  The answer is "nothing". 
Recently I wrote about affiliate marketing and there was one affiliate program that I mentioned but said I wouldn't talk about because I didn't know much about it.  This was the truth.  I didn't know much about it except that I had signed up with them took a quick look around and didn't see anything that I liked.  This was all over a 5 minute period.   In the meantime I kept hearing other people rave about this program so I felt like I must have missed something and needed to look around more.
A day or so later another wahm who I have a ton of respect for mentioned that she had used this company at one time but felt like a "sleazy used car salesman".  Finally I had validation!  It wasn't just me! 
So this morning I was thinking about all these people who are very happy to sell you an ebook or just access to a webpage and tell you to use this company to place ad's all over the internet.
These are the same people who will also tell you to just write your own ebook and sell it.  Or place ad's on internet classsifieds and sell other people the same information.
You know what?  These people are probably making hundreds of thousands of dollars.
What are you willing to give up to make that kind of money?  Your pride?  Your ethics?  Your value system?
Not me.. I would rather be getting by and feeling good about myself and what I do.  How about you?
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Saturday, March 04, 2006

Remembering why I work from home

 
Today was a great lesson in why I work at home.  I work at home everyday but on the weekends I also work outside the home.  This morning while I was getting ready to go to work Katie wanted to play ball.  I had to explain that I had to get ready for work.  She burst into tears.  Now this isn't a usual occurance so it kind of surprised me.  She told me she wanted me to stay home forever and not go to work.. I felt so bad but I remembered also the days when we would cuddle for just a few minutes and then I would take her to daycare and I wanted to yell.. NO I want you to stay here forever! 
I also had to remember though that for the most part I LIKE working on weekends.  It really is the only time I get away from the house and have some time for me.  I don't belong to a bowling league or any other kind of league or group so I don't have a regular day or evening that I get away.  My getting away is going to work.  I work at a golf course so I get to see the regulars who are like friends and I get to meet new people too.  It is a nice break from sitting in front of a computer all day or even playing balls or barbies all day. 
Getting away is something we all need to do for ourselves.  Whether it be a regular day that you go to the gym or getting out of the house to go to "work" a couple times a week.
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Friday, March 03, 2006

MLM vs Pyramid scheme

 
Today I am going to refer you to a post on another blog because I think it is very valuable information.   There are a lot of misconceptions in the work at home world about the difference between pyramid schemes and MLM companies.  Before you join any program or company I think it is imperative that you understand the differences.  Most direct sales companies are MLM's and if you need to understand how they work so you can be successful in your business.
 

 

 
 
 
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Thursday, March 02, 2006

Affiliate advertising part 7

 
A little bit more about affiliate advertising and blogs.  You can make money blogging by using affiliate advertising within your blogs.  There are as many ways to do this as there are to use the advertising in your websites and even more reasons.
Blogs tend to get indexed quicker in the search engines which means that your blogs will get traffic pretty quickly if they are interesting and if you are promoting them. 
Since blogs are more personal and updated on a regular basis I think people are more inclined to subscribe and return more often than they do for a static website.  Make your blogs about things that people are interested in.  It can be fun to blog about your goldfish but is he really interesting enough to bring people back every day?  Remember, more visitors means more clicks. 
You will still want to place your affiliate advertisements in spots where they are likely to get noticed. 
The best part of affiliate advertising on blogs is that you will have more choices in the types of ads you place. 
If your blog is about your home life you can advertise for everything from toys to gardening supplies.  If you start a blog about nascar you can advertise performance parts, nascar products, and racing gear. 
Give some thought to why people will be visiting your blog and you will be able to make good choices about the types of advertising you offer.
 
 
 
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Affiliate advertising part 6

Now that you have everything in place you need to start promoting.  If you don't have any traffic you won't get any sales.  Please read my post on website advertising here: 
 
I believe it is important to do SOMETHING everyday for your business to increase traffic.  If you are using a blog as a business tool it is even more imperative that you update daily.  Some people say at least every other day, others say 6 days a week, still others say at least once a week.  I try for at least 5 days a week.  With websites it can be something as simple as visiting your favorite message board and putting your website address in your signature.  Remember the more YOU do to increase traffic the faster your business will grow.
 
 
 
 
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Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Affiliate advertising part 5

Before we get too much deeper into this affiliate stuff I wanted to take a moment to tell you about another way to find affiliate advertising. 
There are a lot of places that use the big affiliate programs like cj.com and linkshare.com but there are a lot of companies who also have their own affiliate programs. 
This is especially helpful to know when you are designing your website.  Most likely while you are designing it you will take a look at similar websites to see what they look like, what they have and how they are using advertising.  Click on some of their advertisements and look around the merchants site.  You will probably find a place either towards the bottom of the page or towards the bottom of the side links that says "affiliates". 
If you click on that link you will be taken to a page where you can find more information on being an affiliate for them and how to sign up.
Personally I think these are some of the best affiliate programs out there and I use quite a few of them. 
They tend to send you information right away on new promotions and they also tend to include the links right in their emails which I love.  It is a lot easier for me to work this way than having to go to cj or linkshare and find out if there are any new promotions and links.
Of course some of the merchants you sign up with through the big programs will also send you emails but it doesn't seem to happen as often for me as it does with the companies that I am directly affiliated with.
 
 
 
 
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