Start a Home Business Writing...

If you like to write and want to start a home business, or at the very least make a few bucks, writing may be the way to go. There is a VERY high demand for writers online. Website owners are looking for fresh content. They NEED it. Even those who write most of their own content look for fresh content. It is also a great way to help those who are selling a product or service. They need a good sales copy to promote their products and services.

3 main ways to earn money writing online

One: Freelance writing.

As a freelance writer, you will receive credit for your work. (If you have website or online business, submitting articles to places like ezinearticles.com can be a great way to add incoming links to your site or blog.) Depending on the size of the website you are writing for, the pay for freelancers may be small, or even non-existent. The exposure for your name and business may be all you get for your work. However, a good name is a great beginning to a lucrative and successful writing career.

Two: Ghostwriting.

Website owners hire ghostwriters to write articles for their website or blog, as well as special reports and eBooks that they sell or give away. The downside to this is that when someone ghostwrites an article for someone, they do not receive credit for it. Hence the term “ghost” in the name; the writer is invisible. The person paying for the work will receive the credit for it. This may not be a good thing for someone trying to build a good name for themselves in the writing industry.

On a good note, ghostwriters generally get paid very well for their efforts. The amount will vary from client to client. A beginning ghostwriter can expect to earn anywhere from $7 - $10 for a 450 to 500 word article. Once the writer has established their self and has a few regular clients, they can start charging more.

Three: CopyWriting.

Copy writing is a high paying form of writing. It is also the most specialized form of writing. Generally speaking, ghostwriters and freelance writers do not need any special skills other than being good writers. A copywriter however, needs to have a way with words and sales skills.

A copywriter can find work online writing advertisements and sales letters for the various websites and products found online. A copywriter will write this information in a way that makes the reader feel they cannot live without a certain product or service.

In closing, using a tool such as Writers Market and networking with other writers in forums will help you to find places that hire writers and you will gain knowledge to help you become more successful at your craft. There are also tons of freelance sites out there with job boards to help you find writing work. Once you get a good name for yourself, you may find people coming directly to you in hopes that you can complete a project for them.

Copyright © Home Business Resource Directory

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Choosing the Right Keywords is a MUST!

Choosing the right keywords for your website is VERY important! Especially if you expect to receive any quality traffic. Without the right keywords, people may never find your site even if it has the exact information they are looking for.

Keywords play a big part in the way your site is ranked by search engines. You will want to make sure you use the right keywords to get those rankings up and bring those visitors in.

Tips to consider when trying to choose the right keywords:

1. Using a keyword tool such as WordTracker.com will help you to determine what keywords people are actually searching for in your niche, how stiff your competition might be for certain keyword phrases and can supply you with words you didn't think of.

2. A keyword that is searched frequently is not necessarily a keyword that you should use especially if you have a lot of competition. Think about who your competing with and possibly search for a better, less searched phrase to help target in on your market even better. Once you get more established, then you can take on the big shots.

3. Include several variations of your keyword phrases if possible. Don't go overboard though. People are looking for quality content and if you have articles on your site that has your keywords or phrases in it every other sentence they will most likely leave and never return!

These are just a few simple tips to get you started on the right foot with your keyword selections. You can find tons of information on choosing the right keywords as well as tips for using them correctly on your site by doing a search. Simply type in keyword tools, keyword selection, help with keywords, keyword training, and the like. You will find TINS of helpful information out there!

Copyright © Home Business Resource Directory

Secrets to Finding Your Perfect and Profitable Business

Having your own business is the dream of many. You have the freedom to make all the decisions, hours and you could have the financial security that you desire. It’s all within reach. The first step is finding the type of business that is right for you... A business that you can put your whole heart into. A business that makes you excited...A business that will benefit you financially today and for many years to come. So what is that passion business?

Questions To Ask Yourself to Determine a Home Business

What do you love to do?

What do you desire to do most with your time? This is what will get you up in the morning and keep you motivated to overcome adversity. It’s your sense of purpose, your joy, and your motivation. It is at the core of who you are and it has been with you always.

To find your "business" passion, find a quiet location away from distractions. Close your eyes and imagine yourself working in your perfect job. What are you doing? Write it down.

What is keeping you from doing what you love?

Maybe you had trouble with the first question. Maybe nothing came to mind. If not then answer the following questions. Be sure and write them down. Writing them down makes them gives them more of a reality.

• What would you do if you knew that you would not fail?
• What would you do if money wasn’t a concern?
• Who do you think you are – how do you label yourself?
• What would you regret no doing before you die?
• Lastly, what did you enjoy doing when you were a child?
  

Maybe too many answers have come to your mind. Or, you could be one of those fortunate people who has many things that get them excited. What now? Write them all down and rank them in the order that you find most enjoyable.

Any that you can’t see yourself doing 50 hours a week, or more, for the rest of your life? Cross them off. What’s left? Still too many? We’ll you’re a fortunate person! Hold on to that list and see how your answers fit into the next question.

Is there a type of customer you would find it easy to sell to?

Maybe you like people who:

• Are in a particular occupation or industry.
• With a particular hobby or recreational interest.
• Are in a certain income bracket.
• Are of a specific age, gender or background.
  

For example, maybe you’re an avid rock climber and would love to spend your days climbing but just can’t see a business in it. Maybe you could see yourself selling information and products about rock climbing because you enjoy speaking, and selling, to other climbers. Or, maybe you know enough about the topic to start an information type of business with a website.

What is your occupation?

Is there a need that you can solve there? What do your customers or colleagues complain most about? Could you start a business that solves that problem? Maybe you work for an alternative health corporation whose web site is always in need of editing, updating and their information, books, brochures, and the like are always behind schedule due to slow editing. Maybe you enjoy editing and have a great attention to detail. You could become a freelance editor and your old company could be your biggest client.

Do you have a hobby, talent or personal interest that could be turned into a home based business?

For example, maybe you’re an expert in breeding and training dogs. You could become a consultant in dog training. You could help people with puppies that still need to be house trained. You could write or sell books on the topic. You could start a blog or website about it. You could conduct podcasts or seminars about dog training You could even record How to train your dog videos and sell them.

Do you believe in a certain product or service that you might enjoy to selling?

Maybe you are an experienced mother and enjoy talking to other moms. Maybe you are a shopaholic and can share frugal shopping tips with readers. Maybe you love to hike and have a great base of knowledge about hiking equipment, you can become an affiliate marketer for a hiking or outdoors line or a store that sells related equipment. These are all opportunities to start your own business.

What is your personality type?

Do you like working alone, or with people? Do you prefer face-to-face contact, or phone and e-mail? Are you self-motivated or do you need to BE motivated? Are you organized? Do you prefer to work hands-on, or delegate? Are you patient? The answers, directly effect the type of business that is best for you. No matter how dedicated you are, if your personality clashes with the needs of your business, chances are you will not succeed. For example, if you decide that you want to be a consultant but you don’t like speaking in front of people, then it may be time to think of a new business idea.

What kind of lifestyle do you have?

Are you single/married? Do you have kids? If yes, are they older or younger? Do you have health issues that may limit you in certain areas? These too will affect your potential business. If your business will require a lot of travel or time away from home and you have a family, you may want to rethink your business idea to see if there is another way you can do it and not negatively affect your family, health, etc.

How much money will your business idea cost?

Will this new business require you to get an office or can you work from home? What form would you like your company to take (sole proprietorship, corporation, partnership, etc.)? Have you researched these options? Will you keep your job and work only part time at your business in the beginning? How will you find the finances to start your new business?

Do you have the determination to work for nothing?

Many businesses, may mean that you have to work on spec at first. Spec means that you create the copy and if the customer likes it, they buy it if they don’t well…you at least have a new piece for your portfolio. If your new business requires you to ease your way into it to gain experience, are you willing to work for free?

Also, there are some businesses that require time in order for a profit to be made. Are you willing to put forth the effort in the beginning for little or no monetary return?

Tips To Help You Make the Right Decision in Choosing Your Business

Do what you know. If you have spent twenty years writing and editing or you love to draw or design, consider how you can take your experience and turn it into a successful business.

Do what you love. This is very important. Success will be hard to find if you detest what you’re doing. Many people start a business to get rich and this is the wrong reason. You may get rich running your own business but if you’re not enjoying what you do then you’ve created an empire of your own suffering.

It’s Okay to do what others are doing. You need to just make sure that you do it better. You don’t’ have to come up with a new idea to be successful. Many businesses, even successful ones, need improvement. Consider what you want to do, evaluate your competition. Then, take the time to research and investigate what you can do differently and better than they do. Maybe you want to own an online store that sells scrapbook layouts. Well there a numerous stores that do that already. Is there a market that you can focus on? A niche? Maybe you can sell scrapbook layouts on a particular subject.

Focus on a niche. Never try to reinvent the wheel just market it to a specialized market. Many businesses have gone broke trying to be all things to all people. Try to identify a niche (one or two areas) that you would enjoy working in and think about starting a business in that realm. Focus on a niche and become an expert in your field.

Business Ideas for You to Think About

Become a Freelance Writer or Designer:

As a freelancer you are paid by the job that you do. You are self employed, which means that you are your own boss. You are responsible for your hours, your benefits, your deadlines, your marketing everything. You are not an employee.

If you think that freelancing is for you, hop online and visit the numerous website that connect freelancers with companies needing your services. You may also want to visit freelance forums and participate in discussions on how to get started as a freelancer.

Information marketer:

Do you know about a certain subject that people would pay for? Think about your skills, experience, and knowledge. For example, let’s say that you have an abundance of knowledge about growing and breeding orchids. There is likely a market for that information both online and offline. You could write a book, articles, newsletter, blogs, mini eBooks, etc. about how to breed a specific kind of orchid. You could even start a weekly podcast on the topic.

Offline, you could conduct seminars at your local recreation center or community education programs. You can charge for the seminar or offer it for free and market your book while you’re there.

"How-to" eBooks are big sellers are the Internet. And people are willing to pay for information rather than go to a public library or search endlessly for it at free sites.

Wholesale/Retail:

Many people make a good living buying things at garage sales and then selling them on eBay. You can sell anything from antiques to clothing. The possibilities are endless. If you’re not interest selling on a site like eBay, you can start your own online store and sell wholesale products that another company will mail directly to your customer. You don't have to stock anything!

Become an affiliate marketer:

An affiliate marketer is someone that promotes and sells a company’s products or services in exchange for a commission. You can sell just about anything that you’re interested in. It’s easy to find a program or product that you believe in and would like to sell, simply search the many online affiliate directories or visit a website of a product you think you would like to sell and look for their affiliate program. Here are a few programs that I have made some money with;

• Affiliate Program that PAYS!
• Clickbank
  
• Cash Crate
• Digi Scrap Kits
• Pay Per Post
• Sponsored Reviews

Researching Your New Business

Focus on filling a niche.

A niche is a specialized segment of people that are looking for your specialized product, information or service. You likely already have a good idea about who your market is or may be. Research it to make sure. Find out if there is a way to narrow the niche even more. Use the following tools to help you research your niche:

• Keyword research
• Take a survey
• Create a Unique Selling Position (USP)
  

Brainstorm with others you trust.

People can give you some great insights...especially when their money is not on the line! You can use friends and family to generate business ideas or you can ask for their input on your ideas. Ask them how you can improve your idea and who might be interested in your products, information or services.

Ask around and Search through online communities.

Forums, chat rooms, social networks, and blogs are a fantastic resource. It is an excellent way to get a feel for your market, get feedback from people in your general niche or people interested in your product, information or service. It is also an excellent way to build relationships with other professionals.

Research your competition.

Look for ways you can gain an advantage over your competitors. Determine how your business will be better and different. Evaluate their website, how can you better position yourself online?

Owning your own business, doing what you enjoy, will likely be the best and most exciting decision you’ll ever make. Don’t wait. Start researching your ideas, and finding the perfect business for you.

Copyright © Home Business Resource Directory

Business Coaching Business

The subject of “business coaching” has had a massive growth in popularity during the last few years. Not long ago, business coaches were a secret weapon, reserved for executives of large corporations. Today, more and more people are taking advantage of what these coaches offer. If you have ever thought about a career as a business coach, this is a great time to get started.

When you hear the word “coach,” you may think of a sports coach, pushing a team to success. A business coach may not wear a whistle around their neck or ask their clients to run around the track, but they do work with their clients to improve their weaknesses, capitalize on their strengths and find success.

As a business coach, you will have a lot of flexibility in the manner you choose to run your business. You may work with clients one-on-one or in a group setting. You can choose to coach your clients in person, via the telephone, email, through a web conference room or even through an online message board. The start-up costs for these various methods are all relatively low and do not require much technical experience.

To become a business coach, you do not need a special license or degree. If you choose, you can search online for courses that offer accreditation or certificates.

The hardest part may be deciding what subject to coach your clients on. It may be helpful to take out a pen and paper and write down topics you have knowledge in, that people may want coaching on.

One option would be to focus on an industry such as internet marketing or direct sales. This type of coaching program could be tailored to beginners or advanced students. Each weekly section could focus on a new topic within the industry, such as how to increase your click throughs or how to find recruits. Another choice would be to focus on an activity that people in every industry could use, such as advertising techniques.

If you have an existing business, you also have the option of tying that business into a coaching program. This works great for service providers. It gives you an additional stream of income, and helps you find potential clients, too. For example, a web designer could create a coaching program on how to increase your site’s activity by tweaking its design. On the other hand, a virtual assistant could create a coaching program on becoming more organized and efficient within your business.

Whether you choose to dive into business coaching full-time or use it to supplement your current income, creating a business coaching program is a great business idea.

Top 7 Ideas on How To Harness the Power of the Affiliate Programs

By Tiana Nelson

Affiliate programs are a powerful way to grow your small business. The basic premise behind the programs is to align your potential referral sources and other interested parties to increase your sales while compensating them for the marketing and referral efforts. There are various compensation models that can be utilized, but the most widely used ones are: pay per lead, pay per sale or pay per click. Which model works best for your business depends on the type of industry you are in and how much you are willing to spend to make it appealing to you and your affiliates. How should you go about utilizing the power of the affiliate programs? Read our Top Seven Ideas below and start harnessing new, but powerful small business marketing tool.

1. Create an appealing affiliate program with competitive compensation. Your main choices are to pay per lead, pay per sale or pay per click.

2. Use a third party provider to track your program and to increase its credibility. Some examples of the third party providers are AffiliateShop and Commission Junction. Affiliate Shop charges a monthly fee and helps you setup the program. They don't charge commissions on your sales. Commission Junction presents your program to their large network of affiliates, but they take a cut of your sales.

3. Publish a press release announcing the launch of your affiliate program. Great places to post your release are PRWeb, PR, or Free-press-release.

4. Submit your program to affiliate search directories. Here are some of the examples: Affiliate Scout and Affiliate Guide.

5. Contact related website that might be interested in working with you on referring potential customers and see if they would be interested in joining your affiliate program.

6. Don't forget offline marketing to potential affiliates. Depending on your business, there could be a multitude of potential referral sources: your customers, business referral sources, or business people interested in earning extra money.

7. Make sure that your affiliate program offers a two-tier compensation. In that case if your affiliate refers another affiliate to you, they would get compensation from the transaction submitted by the second-tier affiliate. This could be a powerful way to continue growing your network.

Now that you are armed with the top seven ideas on how to harness the power of the affiliate programs for your business, you are ready to use this great marketing tool. Also, don't forget about the potential benefits of using other business affiliate programs to earn additional income. If you haven't yet seen our very appealing affiliate programs, check them out on our website. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions and good luck!

About the Author: Tiana Nelson, CMA, CFM is a Business Development Manager at Preferred Capital Alliance, Inc, a Better Business Bureau accredited company that helps small- and medium-size businesses obtain business loans, commercial mortgages, and equipment leases.

9 Tips That Will Improve Your Speaking & Writing Styles

By Darryl Mobley

Being able to communicate effectively is key to be successful. Here are tips that will help your verbal and written communication.

Tips to improve your speaking style

1. Make sure your speech is not wordy, chatty or unfocused. Get to the point.

2. Do not do a lot of hemming and hawing when you are speaking by making sounds like umm or ahhhh.

3. Use the words of personal power, definitive words, words of affirmation. Do not use words like kinda, sorta, maybe, coulda, shoulda, woulda ...those are not the words of leadership. They are not the words of personal power.

4. Stay away from you knows, like you know this or you know that. The key to an effective overall speaking style is to be precise in your language. Say what you mean, mean what you say and say it very clearly. Slang words used inappropriately can blow a whole speech for you.

5. Lead off every talk you give with a powerful headline. This technique works particularly well one on one or in small group speeches. When you use this technique, spend the rest of your time delivering on your headline and then sum it all up in the end.

Another fundamental of effective communication is being adept at writing. It has been said that people who are good thinkers are good writers. This is certainly true in today's society. If your thinking is flabby then your writing is flabby. Therefore, as you improve your understanding of how to write effectively, you will sharpen your thinking skills. Your thinking will become crisper, clearer and more compelling. Your writing will become persuasive and in most organizations a good writer gets promoted.

Tips for writing effectively

1. Make sure that you state your key point, recommendations or conclusions early in the document. Then support the finding or conclusion throughout the rest of your document.

2. Also let the reader know what you want him or her to do after reading the document early in the document. This helps them read with an idea of how to use the information.

3. Write short crisp sentences and paragraphs so as to keep the document reader friendly. We have a rule at my company that our paragraphs on a standard 8 ½ inch by 11inch sheet of paper will not exceed eight lines. The reason is that we have found that people tend to stop fully reading paragraphs that are longer than that. They scan and may miss key points. The longer your paragraph, the less likely people are going to read it.

4. Try to keep most documents to no more than one page--90% of most subjects can be communicated on one page.

© 2008 Darryl L. Mobley

About the Author: For nearly 25 years, super-achievers have praised "Life Acceleration Coach" Darryl Mobley. Darryl Mobley is brilliant when it comes to the strategies and action steps that lead to living a better life. Darryl Mobley teaches people How To Create The Life Of Their Dreams - personally and professionally - with more happiness, more income, better relationships and more success with his How To Create A Life Worth Living™ system. To get FREE tips on "Living a Life Fantastic" go to http://a1.successsubscription.com/

Ebook Writing - How To Write An Ebook As Part Of Your Online Profit System

By Connie Ragen Green

Ebook writing is one way to start selling information products online. Information products are non-fiction topics that people are searching for information about. You can also create audio products and short reports, but writing an ebook will position you as an expert and give you a solid foundation to begin selling online. Here are some common misconceptions about what is needed to write and sell information products on the internet.

People believe they must be an expert in the field they are writing on - Nothing could be further from the truth. If you have personal experience and knowledge in your field you can turn that into a product that will help other people and sell very well online. Also, you can read more books and do research on your topic to become more of an expert over time.

Your product must be perfect before you can sell it. This is another misconception. Get your product out there and then improve it as time goes on. Many large corporations release products they know are defective, and then spend years updating and enhancing them. You can do the same thing. My first ebook was on real estate marketing. I sold it in its original form and then made changes every month for several months. People still bought it from the very beginning and emailed me regularly to tell me how much they had benefited from the information I included in the ebook.

People think that there are already too many people selling information on their topic. If there are others in your field that is a good thing. It means that people are interested in knowing more and will constantly be looking for additional information. If you think about it, you have probably purchased information from more than one source when you were interested in a topic. I know I have bought more than one book at a time on building websites, blogging, training my Yorkshire terrier, and more. You have probably done the same.

So now it is time to get to work. Working with a mentor can help you to jumpstart your online writing empire and make money with your ebook and other information products.

And now I invite you to join me for free weekly teleseminars that will teach you how to write, market, and sell your articles and ebook to increase your visibility, credibility and passive income by visiting http://www.ebookwritingandmarketingsecrets.com/

Three Home Based Business Marketing Secrets

By Scott Oliver

Marketing is the part of business that no one seems to like. Perhaps that's because it's confusing and made to be even more confusing when you begin to read books on marketing and its applications to the business world. So, are there any secrets that actually work and that you can actually apply to your online business? The answer is yes. There are three home based business marketing secrets that you can keep in mind as you begin this adventure into running your own business - and as you become a success.

Less is More

One of the things that marketing professionals don't tell you is that you really don't need to do as much as you think you do. By simply adopting a strategy of telling as many people as you can, treating each customer with respect, and then repeating this cycle, that's going to bring in a lot of new business. Word of mouth advertising may not get as much press as it once did, but it certainly still works when it comes to smaller home based businesses.

You also want to keep in mind that these marketing secrets don't require a lot of time or a lot of money in order to be effective. Something as simple as adding your website address to your emails is just as effective as running a commercial on TV and a lot less expensive to implement. Think about smaller ways to spread the word instead of bigger ways. Target only the customers that have already shown interest in what you have to sell and you're certain to market for success.

More is Less

You also want to remember that a customer on the internet these days is accustomed to seeing a lot of advertisements, so they know when they are being 'sold' something. Instead of focusing your messages on sales exclusively, try bringing the customer information they can use - informational articles, etc.

When you put too many advertisements in outgoing emails or you simply push your company too much, you will turn off prospective customers. Even if they are interested in what you have to say, the more you talk to them about the same things, the more they're going to wonder what the 'catch' is and why they should buy from you at all.

Recognize that your customers are smart and that they WILL respond to you, even if you don't tell them about every sale or every feature for your products. You just don't have to beat them over the head with what you want to sell them.

Use Your Home Based Appeal to Bring People to You

By adding a personalized touch to your marketing strategies, you will begin to pull in more customers, almost without trying. So often, online businesses forget that it's their placement and location that allows them to be unique. Instead of downplaying the fact that you work from home, make sure that your customers know it. Show them pictures of your office and pictures of yourself to make the experience more personal. This is a marketing strategy that works no matter what you are selling. Since people aren't meeting you in person, the personalization will do the 'talking' for you, making a customer more comfortable with you.

Try adding a blog to your website that will introduce the kind of person you are and what you are capable of helping a customer with. Or you might want to include a video of yourself talking about your product or a personal story that relates to your product. The internet can be such an impersonal place, so try to connect with your customer more.

About the Author: Scott Oliver offers free video coaching to help you build a profitable home business FAST. Get an hour of "Website Traffic Secrets" and "Minisite Creation Tactics" for FREE -- immediate access here: http://www.InstantWebsiteBusiness.com

Top Ten Ways to Be a Success

By Dr. Nicole Cutts

What's Holding You Back?

Are you ever frustrated or overwhelmed because you don't know what you want out of life or because you do know but feel like you can't achieve it? If you could accomplish anything you wanted in life, what would it be? What defines your Vision of Success? What can YOU do to achieve this Vision for your life? Are you doing these things? (If not, why not?)

Successful women and men who have attained great heights doing their life's work have used the ten techniques below.

Step 1- Find and Clarify Your Vision of Success:

If you don't yet know what you want to achieve that's okay. There are ways to find out. Ask yourself what you are good at, what you enjoy doing, and what you would be doing if money were no object. Write out an ideal scenario of you having and doing what you dream of.

Step 2- Define your Goals Clearly:

From your ideal scenario of your Vision of Success identify concrete goals. Define them clearly and write them down. Writing your goals down is very important and gives them more power than just thinking or imagining your success.

Step 3- Visualize Yourself Achieving Your Goals:

Before setting off on the path to success you must first be able to see yourself achieving your success. You must believe that you can do it. Your imagination is a powerful creative tool. Once we can vividly imagine something, it often opens the door to manifesting it (Gawain, 1997).

Step 4- Uncover Psychological Blocks to Success:

If you have difficulty with steps one and two you may have internal obstacles preventing you from having or keeping what you want. On some level you may feel undeserving of success and happiness and this may be reflected in a lack of achievement. To uncover these obstacles ask yourself how you truly feel about having what you desire. Is there any guilt attached to this? One way to uncover any blocks here is to write down why you deserve to be successful. This can reveal any feelings to the contrary. Examine where your attitudes about success came from. Write out all you fears and fantasies associated with being successful.

Step 5- Remove Psychological Blocks to Success:

Often just the awareness of negative attitudes and beliefs about success begins the process of letting them go. You can't force change, but there are different tools and techniques that may be helpful. Some of these include: positive affirmations, therapy, success coaching, support groups such as Visions Anonymous, and rituals to rid yourself of the negative beliefs e.g. write them down then burn/tear them up.

Step 6- Make a Clear Plan With a Timeline:

Consider creating a plan that breaks your goals down into 5-year goals, 1-year goals, 6-months, 3-months and 1-month achievements. After completing this plan you can do weekly goals that will put you on schedule for all of the other goal milestones. Be realistic here so you don't get discouraged.

Step 7- Chart your Progress:

It is important to assess your progress at regular intervals. Pick a day once a week or once a month, read your plan and see if you are on schedule. Reward yourself for achieving milestones. If you need to adjust your plan be realistic and do so. Also, be honest with yourself. Visions and goals can change. If you find that you no longer really want this Vision do not be afraid to change your plan.

Step 8- Enjoy Your Success!

Once you have achieved your goals and your Vision of Success it is very important to acknowledge this. Reward yourself, give yourself credit and allow yourself to feel the attendant good feelings. Don't just rush off to your next goal as if you take your success for granted.

Step 9- Cultivate Gratitude:

Having gratitude is important once you achieve your visions. Literally "count your blessings", give thanks, allow yourself to enjoy them, and relish the experience of the success you already have. This increases success by attracting more of what you currently possess. One simple way to do this is to write a gratitude list (listing everything that you feel grateful for).

Step 10- Give it Away:

Out-flowing (giving away our material gifts and talents) makes room for more to flow to us. When out of feelings of fear or insecurity, we cling to what we have, we cut this flow off. You must not only express gratitude for achieving success, you must share this success with others. Share your resources, time and talents. You are also giving it away when you tell your story to others so that they might be encouraged.

To learn more about these ten techniques or other aspects of Success Coaching visit Dr. Cutts' Website and sign up for a complimentary Success Coaching session

About the Author: Nicole Cutts, Ph.D. Leading Success Coach Expert specializes in Transforming People and Organizations for Success. Visit her website http://www.cuttsconsulting.com/ and sign-up for the FREE innovative and forward-thinking newsletter, "Vision for Success."

It's All About the Schedules

By Tamara Hancock

"How do you do it?"

I get asked this question daily by everyone from friends, to colleagues, to perfect strangers. When most people find out that I work from home, with children - they are impressed. When I let them know that I typically work around 40 hours per week - they are amazed. When they find out that I have five children...well, that's when they are blown away. Inevitably, the next phrase I hear - "Wow, you are my hero..."

There is absolutely nothing heroic about what I do from day to day. My time used to control me. I was tired, stressed out, and wondering what exactly about working from home was good for me and my family. After some time however, it became apparent to me that balancing family, home, and career simply comes down to one simple word. Are you ready? Schedules. I now know every minute of the day, what I am doing, and when I am doing it. Sound complicated? Not really, once you take a step back and look at your day, you'll realize you already live by a schedule for the most part.

So how do you create a schedule? I will share with you what I did. And no, it isn't an overnight process, but anything that is really worth it never is. But, you can trust me, follow these few simple steps, and you are well on your way to being organized - with your time anyway.
Before you can create a working schedule for yourself, you need to define the times you spend during the day doing certain tasks. The easiest and most practical first step to defining this time is to create your family schedule. Why? Because this is the schedule you already keep, without realizing it.

First, figure out what you do in a typical day for your family. Don't make any special effort to be scheduled or organized, just live your day the way you normally do, and take notes. What do you do through out the day? When do you do it? Are there typical things you do every day around the same time? If it helps, keep a notebook, and for the next few days jot down when you - and your kids - do certain things. For example, if your kids are anything like mine, you can set the clock by the time they wake up in the morning. For me, it's 6:30 AM. After they wake up, a chain of events is put into place...diaper changes, change of clothes, get dressed, and breakfast. Take a note of the time, when did you complete this chain of events? For me, it's around 7:30 AM. Track all repeating daily events, include nap time, lunch time, play time, and dinner.
Keep your notebook with you for the next few days; you'll be amazed at the similarities from day to day. Once you locate the similarities, you are going to start creating your schedule. I entered mine into an excel spreadsheet and color coded family events in green. For example, the block of time from 6:30 AM to 8:00 AM on my family schedule is blocked out in green. I know that every morning from 6:30 to 8:00, the kids and I are getting ready to start our day.

Next, you need to analyze the time you devote to your career. Repeat the same steps from above, only this time through, pay close attention to the tasks you complete each day to run your business. Don't necessarily pay attention to the times you do them, but rather WHAT you do. The whole purpose of working at home is to fit your career around your family, not the other way around. Look at your workload, what is it that you do? Are there client calls to be made? Do you spend a large amount of time returning emails, and written correspondence? Do you have your list? Good.

With the list in hand that you just created, look at the blocks of time in your schedule that are now reserved for family time. Do you see large blocks of time between events? On my schedule, between 8 AM and 10:15 AM there is a large block of time that does not have a daily repeated event. Now is the time to fill in your career duties. Let's look at scheduling time to make client phone calls. With your schedule in front of you, look for periods of time in your day when your house might be quiet enough to make a professional call. For me, it's between 10:30 AM and 12:00 Noon - why? This is when my two year old takes a nap, and my three year old has "quiet time". I blocked this time out on my schedule to make and receive calls. Continue through your working tasks, and identify times on your schedule that you can complete them. When can you return emails? What is a good time to research new projects? Do you see things falling into place?

Now, look at your schedule. There may be times left in there that are "free". If that's true, then you aren't done yet - and if it isn't true, you may want to take a second look at the tasks you do have scheduled. The "free" time is the most important time in your day. What is the "free" time for? This is time for your family, for your kids, for your home, and for you. We all made the choice to work from home so that we could be closer to our family. A lot of times it is difficult to draw the line between work and home, especially when they occupy the same space. This "free" time is the time you use to remind yourself why you decided to work from home in the first place. We use the time at our house to build play-dough creatures, color, and play Candy-Land. Sometimes we even go for a walk, or go to McDonalds. "Free" time is also used to clean house, go to the store, and impromptu visits to the library.

Finally, test your schedule out. The most important factor to making it work is to live by it. When your time is up on a certain task, you must move to the next. A schedule doesn't work unless you live by it. I am not saying that every day is going to fall into place, and every task is going to run smoothly every day. The fact of the matter is, we live in the real world and in the real world - things happen. However, when you have a schedule to go by when these "things" happen you will know what you have coming up, and figuring out a time to manage it won't be such a daunting task.

Like I said, I'm nobody's hero. I just took the time to figure out what others need of me, and when I have the time to do it. I now have control over my time, it doesn't control me - and that is an amazing feeling.

About the Author: Tamara Hancock, owns and operates her own small business, and also works as a Virtual Administrative Assistant from home. She designs and maintains several websites, enjoys baking, scrapbooking, and creative writing. She and her husband live in Phoenix, Arizona where they are raising their five children.

I'm A Mom-Trepreneur, And You?

By Tamara Hancock

I love that line on all the doctors' office forms and school emergency contact cards that ask for "occupation". I've been creative in the past and put things there such as "Household Engineer", "Director of Residential Services" and my personal favorite, "CEO of Domestic Relations" but my new favorite title is Mom-trepreneur. It has a nice ring to it doesn't it?

So what is a Mom-trepreneur? Chances are if you are reading this, you are one. You work from home. You play from home. Most of all, you are the heart of your home. Sound corny? Sure it does, but honestly, look at it this way: As a mom, you bring comfort and happiness to your children, order and peace to your home, and friendship and laughter to your family. As a woman with a strong entrepreneurial spirit, you have found a way to provide for your family and home without sacrificing your time at home. Voila, Mom-trepreneur.

I know, I know, still a little cheesy, but lets step back a moment and take a look at what it really takes to be a Work at Home Professional, and Mom. When you work for yourself, it is next to impossible to take time off, nobody can do the job better than you can, and there is no room for sick days - in fact, getting sick is completely out of the question. As a mom, you work for yourself, there is definitely no substitution for you, and those sick days...well, you get the picture. There is no education that can prepare you for this job, no way to learn all the required tasks ahead of time, and definitely no way to plan for every possibility. Maybe that's why it is so much fun.

Now for those of you who aren't very familiar with me and what I do, I am the very proud mother of five beautiful children under the age of nine. Yes, lets just get this out of the way, I did say five. I love the faces of complete strangers in the store, and the unsolicited comments that I get are priceless. "Are they all yours?" and "wow, you have your hands full". The looks of awe and amazement turn to shock and bewilderment when they learn that I also work full time from home and own a small cake decorating business. And no, I don't have a nanny. The inevitable question always comes next "How do you do it all?"

Glad you asked. I'm a Mom-trepreneur. So what is a Mom-trepreneur, and how do I become one?

First - Build yourself a team.

The secret to success is not a secret at all. Are you ready? I'm only going to say this once...Teamwork. I know. Simple, easy, uncomplicated. My family lives, and works, as a team. We help each other out. We all have responsibilities - all of us, even the baby (her job is to laugh and bring joy to our day-she's only four months old after all). We all work together to accomplish our goals as a family. In order to be successful in any business, be it a traditional "job", or a work at home professional - having a support system, or team, is vital. No matter how hard you try, you can't do it all on your own without burning out. What good are you if you are tired all the time? Any successful entrepreneur in the "bricks and mortar" world of business has a team of hired go-getters. So do you. Your team, however, just gets paid in love, admiration, and in some cases - cookies.

Second - Know your limits.

I know. Easier said than done. A very important part of being a successful Mom-trepreneur however, is knowing when to say "when". This is difficult, I realize that. We all think we can do it all, clean the house, take care of the kids, go on a play date, write 3 articles for the upcoming newsletter, send business cards out to potential new clients, fold the socks, pick up the dry cleaning, oh - and make cookies for the upcoming bake sale at your kids' school. Sometimes, no matter how much you want to say yes, you are going to have to say no. Quality over quantity. There is only one of you, and you need to make sure you aren't wearing yourself too thin. Prioritize. It isn't going to hurt anyone of the socks don't get folded today, but I don't think I'd put off changing that diaper for too long. Put the important things first.

Third - Have fun.

Why did you decide to work for yourself in the first place? Was it to spend more time with your kids? Was it to have a flexible schedule to enjoy life with your family and friends? Just as in the bricks and mortar world of business, again, Entrepreneurs got into what they are doing because they enjoy doing it. Once it becomes too much, too stressful, too overwhelming, you lose the fun. Fun is why you are here in the first place. You love what you do. Don't let anything ruin that for you.

Lastly - Build a support system.

Mom-trepreneurs unite! Find yourself a group of likeminded individuals like yourself who also work from home such as the WAHPM discussion board at http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/WAHPM. Network with them. Share ideas. They are your colleagues. It is entirely possible that someone may have the solution to an issue you've been experiencing. You may be able to swap marketing ideas. Whatever the case, you aren't alone in your business, you have a support system to trade ideas with and lean on when needed, and that is priceless.

That's it. You are a Mom-trepreneur. Welcome.

About the Author: Tamara Hancock, owns and operates her own small business, and also works as a Virtual Administrative Assistant from home. She designs and maintains several websites, enjoys baking, scrapbooking, and creative writing. She and her husband live in Phoenix, Arizona where they are raising their five children.

Home Business Idea For Moms - If You're Looking for A Home Business Idea For Moms, Read This

By: Jenn Lawlor

Your looking for a home business idea for moms....

I'm so glad you're here.

Being a mom myself, I know what it feels like to type into Google "home business idea for moms"...it means you're REALLY looking. You want something you don't have.

Maybe you're desperate to stay home with your little one(s) or you're tired of spending your time working for somebody else, or you're just plain and simple tired of living on too little income and you want something better for yourself and your family.

Well, if you've done any looking so far, you've likely come across all sorts of "get rich quick" opportunities and some look good some don't. But how do you know what's right for you? I know you don't want to waste your time or precious money on something that's not going to get you where you want to be.

I'm going to show you why most home business ideas for moms are NOT good options for 97% of moms, and how TO find a good opportunity.

Most opportunities to work from home fall into two categories:

1. jobs that pay you by the hour to do (often) boring work from home, like uploading photos to the web or typing, etc.

2. network marketing/mlm opportunities that promise full training and support, the promise of 'getting rich' and then when the rubber hits the road they don't live up to your expectations.

But the reason I'm writing this article is not to leave you depressed and without hope. Look, I'm a mom myself who is growing two highly successful businesses online in the network marketing industry. You can too!

I am here to EDUCATE you so you can look critically at different opportunities that you come across.

First step is to determine whether you're looking for the stability of a job, or the extra risk and freedom that a home based business can provide. Be honest with yourself. If you're happy making $10-20/hour stuffing envelopes or uploading pictures to the net...then don't bother with the home business arena. Stick with what will make you most happy. And if it's a work from home JOB, then go for it. There's lot of opportunities for you to look at.

My suggestion when you've found something that looks appealing is to get onto some work-at-home mom forums (search through Yahoo Groups to find them) and post asking for other moms experiences with the company. Then you can find out the "insiders" experience before you dive in.

If you're looking to build a business from home that will bring you HUGE cash returns and you're willing to invest a little money and a LOT of dedicated effort in building yourself as an entrepreneur, I want you to know that it's completely possible. I'm doing it right now, but there are a few things you need to know.

To be an entrepreneur, you need to have:

1. The mindset that KNOWS you will succeed- you just need the guidance and support to get you where you want to be.

2. The dedication to actually DOING what it takes to succeed - learning from others, constantly growing as a person, and taking ACTION.

3. money to invest in a decent opportunity that will bring you the rewards you are looking for.

Now, if you're happy with a couple hundred extra each month, then you will look for a low-cost entrance to the network marketing industry. You can successfully do this by finding a mentor that has the time and the skills to show you how to do this. There's many out there, but you'll need to do your research to find them...

Take that to heart, friend. It is AS IMPORTANT that you find a mentor with the skills and time to show you how to succeed as it is to find a product or business to support. I might even go as far as to say...MORE IMPORTANT

On the other hand, if you're a serious entrepreneur who wants to be putting several thousand or multiple five figures in your bank account each month...

I suggest you DON'T look at traditional network marketing. It's just too difficult to do that in the short term.

Look, there's already 97% failure rate in the network marketing industry. It's HUGE!

You don't want to become part of that 97%.

And the quickest, easiest way to keep yourself in the top 3% in the home business arena is to plan on investing anywhere from $3000-5000 in a business and to partner up with a team of marketers who have the skills and TIME to show you exactly how you can start earning a significant income from home...from the get-go.

There's a whole lot more I want to tell you here....but I need to keep this article short.

I provide a whole lot of information about what I'm doing and how I'm helping other women entrepreneurs all over the net, so if you're interested in learning more, you won't have a hard time finding me.

I wish you the very best and look forward to watching women entrepreneurs step up and take a stand in this male dominated online network marketing world!

About the Author: Jenn Lawlor is a online marketing coach. She shows network marketers how to grow successful businesses online using the latest in cutting edge technologies.

Find out more about Jenn's latest business http://www.successdynamo.com/ or take a look at her training videos on youTube: http://youtube.com/freedomdynamo

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jenn_Lawlor

NEW and very LUCRATIVE way to earn MONEY with your Website or Blog!

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AdSense Tips - Top 5 Tips To Increase Click Through Rates

The Google AdSense program is now one of the most popular ways to make money online for webmasters. If you own a blog or a site then by simply adding AdSense you have the opportunity to make good income depending on the levels of traffic your site receives.

However just because your site receives traffic it does not necessarily mean that it will transfer into AdSense clicks as website visitors are now familiar with AdSense and can be very good at avoiding it. Here are some of the best ways to get your site visitors to notice your ads which means that the likelihood of ad clicks increases significantly.

Tip 1: Use More Ads

If your site is suffering from very low click through rates such as under one percent then adding more ads may help. The AdSense program allows 3 ad units and 2 link units. If your page has enough content then seriously consider integrating all these units into your site.

Tip 2: Place Ads Above The Fold

The location of the ads is very important in order to get the most clicks possible. Make sure that you place some ads above the fold on your website. The above the fold area is the part of your site that is first seen when the page loads without the visitor having to scroll down.

Tip 3: Place Ads Toward The Center Of The Page

The center of the page receives the most attention by web visitors so whenever possible center your ads or get them as close as possible towards the center of the page.

Tip 4: Use The Right Colors For Your Ads

Using the right colors in your AdSense ads can make a big difference in helping to blend your ads in with the rest of your site. Make sure the link color in your ads match the main link color on your site. It is also preferable to use a grey color for the ad URL, this will help to make the ad headline stand out more which should help to increase click through rates since most headlines are written to attract clicks.

Tip 5: Place Ads Directly In Your Articles

You need to place ads directly in your content in order to get them noticed more. If you have an article page then add an AdSense unit directly below the title of that article. Also you can use HTML tables to place AdSense units in your article paragraphs and have the text in your articles wrap around the ads.

Make sure that you are not squeezing your content too much so be sure to have enough space for large AdSense units and also enough text so that your articles still look good and readable. It is best to use the 336x280 ad unit as much as possible as it has been shown to be a good performer and also make sure to always remove borders from all ads as this will make the ads blend in better with the rest of your site.

Also remember that advertising works by creating an interruption in the user experience. Consider television and how you are shown ads without notice right in the middle of your favorite shows. This is done to force you to notice the ads so a similar approach needs to be used with AdSense ads to draw more clicks. Put your ads in positions that gently interrupt your visitors without making them want to leave your site. Apply some of these tips to help you get higher AdSense click through rates and make more money from your site.

Shakil is an online researcher, author and a regular contributor to a site that shows people how to make money online. Be sure to visit and also learn about affiliate marketing too.