Mom Starts Internet Business

One and a half years later...

2008-04-29T23:19:00.000-07:00

It has been over one and a half years since my last post. What happened? Well, life happened. Fortunately for me my learning experience continued to deepen my understanding of business, both online and offline, and the result has changed my life immensely.

After getting my book marketed (www.best-dog-breed-for-children.com) AND continuing to work for other people (www.assistant-for-hire.com) I also found a new opportunity to grow and diversify my income. Following my passion I stepped outside my comfort zone to start what I call a 'real life' business - one that operates face-to-face with clients.

Real estate has been a huge force in the last few years and with it has come a fairly new industry, at least in it's present form: home staging. Of course, big marketers have used staging to sell new developments for many, many years, but staging personal homes for resale is still new.

With a little curiousity and a lot of gumption I went about examining the business to see if 1) there was a market and 2) what skills or education were needed. Looking for opportunities and taking calculated risks has rewarded me with the best of both worlds - I have an automatic income from past writing, regular and interesting work I can do at home with my online business and a rewarding and creativly challenging business in home staging.

I am so thankful for the learning process and to see the fruits of these labours that I hope to share more about my journey. Please give me any feedback you may have - questions, comments, ideas - so my work can help someone else, and if you're still reading this post, thanks for your patience and I hope your life has changed for the better as well!

No News is GOOD News!

2006-08-04T10:08:00.000-07:00

I said I was going to keep up with my posts - and I am! The good news is that my life has undergone a few changes and my business is doing better than ever!

For those of you who haven't been following, I gave myself a year to get an online business to the point of making income. Not only have I done that, I've also dropped a huge amount of my overhead by closing some of the businesses that were more money and energy than they were worth.

Is that a good idea? Well, tax time came (glad that's over) and I realized that having too many businesses on the go is a nightmare when you're doing your taxes. Take this seriously folks - your online business is as much a business as someone with a store front. Anyway, I decided that I should do some pruning so that my really profitable businesses would get more of my attention and I wouldn't be so distracted.

It worked! After clearing my path I made some small but necessary changes to my sites. My Virtual Assistant site used to promote all sorts of services - data entry, typing, answering emails etc. However, 90% of my work has been ghostwriting for websites and newsletters. So I made the changes and picked up some more work. See what you think: New Ad Copy for VA Site.

I also cut the cost of my book about choosing the right dog breed in HALF! I was getting sales at the old price but I wanted to see more action. The truth is I ended up selling more in dollar value AND volume with the change.

So what's the tip for today? Once you've found something that works try to become more focused. Make small changes and see how your customers respond. Above all, become reliable in your field and work hard to show you care about what you do - people respond to that energy.

Finding Business Success - How Many Tries?

2005-11-16T16:10:00.000-08:00

Are you still looking for the 'Right' opportunity?

I have to admit I am still occasionally enticed by offers, however I now know the secret behind successful online business: you'll only find it when you stop looking.

On the flip side, you must BE looking to stumble across it. I know. I've been on all sides of this issue. I've taken small business classes, I've edited books on the subject and helped work on projects about business coaching and have had a business coach. What it all boils down to is that NOBODY can know for certain if a business idea will work, or if it will work for YOU.

What does this mean to those starting out? When you see offers that suggest you can easily make money or start making money quickly you should understand that most of the people who succeed have tried their hands at many other businesses before finding success.

This ability to 'stick to it' and the experience that they've learned from in past endevors makes their efforts succeed. I feel certain that every individual should attempt several online businesses to find a good fit. Don't look at a failure to make money as a drawback - you learn valuable information as you go. And you CAN'T learn it all in a book or a course.

Whatever you try, you should protect yourself from over-investing in any one business until you know it works for you. It is beneficial to learn about the marketing aspects of business but you needn't necessarily choose to do that as your business. You may be surprised when your many efforts eventually show a spark here or there or even become a blazing success.

I hope this gives you a new perspective on finding a business and making a success of it. I appreciate the emails of readers that have thanked me for the information posted. I'll try to do better at keeping up with my reports :)

Time to Catch Up...

2005-06-17T17:42:00.000-07:00

I know it's been awhile - sorry.

The good news is that business has been going very well. However, I've been frustrated looking back at the past year.

I find myself annoyed and discouraged by the costs of learning how to run a business online. Why? Because what works (at least from my experience) is almost FREE to start.

I have now covered the following:
Selling a physical product
Selling affiliate products
Creating 'Ad Word' sites
Selling a service
Selling my own electronic book.

I've now officially done business in nearly every conceivable venue. While some are doing better than others, I now know exactly what must be done to make each of them profitable.

Can you avoid the cost of learning? I'm not sure. I'll try to tell you more about what I did, but what I really found is that learning is a personal experience. And learning to do business online may not be that different than in the offline world. Most successful professions require an expensive education. You don't need to spend that much, but you will probably need to spend some.

I will update you soon!

Learning at Record Speed...

2005-04-09T22:15:00.000-07:00

Wondering where I've been?

I can't believe I've made it! The learning curve has been tremendous. Funny thing is, learning how to do business, online or offline, is surprisingly like bringing your first baby home.

When you bring them home, you are excited, emotional and unsure of what you need to do. You actually would be scared to death if you had an inkling of what's really in store for you! But the truth is, as you immerse yourself in learning about how to care for this dependant infant, you sometimes come to points where you have glimpses of how much is still ahead of you. It is here where you get lost in self-doubt, or push yourself even harder.

Fortunately, most mothers and fathers have the instinct to keep going. Not so with business owners.

When I say 'I've made it', I mean I've overcome the immense task of learning the basics. Now I can confidently say I've heard most of it before. I am no longer soaking up every new piece of information that heads my way. Just as with mothering, I can now rely more on my own instincts from this point forward. Not to say I don't need more education - children and businesses are a constant learning experience. But I don't doubt my reactions and I can 'feel' when something's not right for me.

I have been pleasantly surprised by some of the truly supportive individuals out there. I have had the good fortune to have attracted clients who are honest and easy to work with. I am learning all the time.

So, now I am completely finished with babysitting. The kids have moved away. My own two children are adapting quite nicely to the more sedate environment. I have a business that is actually making money, and I'm making smart moves with my promotion of it that seem to be paying off.

Someday I will have a nice success story!

Keep up the hard work.

Shannon

Using My Time Wisely...

2005-03-22T23:41:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

Well, the time has come to get down to brass tacks. My babysitting days are almost over and it's time to make some serious money so I can stay home with the kids.

For anyone following my progress, I have now got three (Yes, THREE) businesses up and running in the last six months. My greatest gains have not surprisingly been with the latest project: "Your Virtual Assistant" (http://www.affiliate-start.com/VA/writer.html).

My first site took 6 months to figure out, 4 months to gain an income, and is still waiting to make a profit.

My second site was up within a day (24 hours and free to setup). It took 2 months to bring an income and is also waiting to show a profit.

My third try was up within hours (I built it myself) and turned a PROFIT within the first two weeks (may have even been the first!).

So my realization is that learning requires DOING. If you are still THINKING about starting an online business, STOP - and get MOVING! (Sorry for all the capitals)

I have overcome my fears. I have learned how to spend my advertising dollar wisely and even how to NOT spend dollars (this is the real key to making income :)

I hope you all are having exciting experiences. I'd love to hear them.

Shannon

Looking for Traffic? Look what I found...

2005-03-10T11:22:00.000-08:00

And so it goes, traffic hunting is a never ending job!

However, kudos to two ladies who've opened MY eyes - Check out this site and sign up for the FREE 'Truth About Traffic' audio course: http://internetbasedmoms.com/.

There's a good bit about what NOT to do as well as traffic building methods for newbies and more advanced marketers.

I want to say that I have found a great deal of valuable information for free if I wait long enough. That doesn't mean all free information is valuable, but after awhile you start hearing the same things over and over, which gives perspective. As I try to absorb all the information out there, it's easy to get overwhelmed, but soon you'll start to see patterns in strategies and techniques. The biggest benefit? Instead of trying everything, I just stick to the main REPEATED techniques. I think this is a wise start.

So make sure you sign up for newsletters from some of the top marketers, this will cut down your learning curve quite a bit.

Another bit of advice - hold back! If you're like me, you think it "takes money to make money". True, but before you spend it on every great idea, hang around forums or read some of those newsletters until you trust the author. You may find some ideas are proven and others are just plain a waste of money. I love the Warrior Forum, there's so much honest feedback. A great place to be!

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I'm still in the countdown to loosing my babysitting income (if this sounds strange, I am actually looking forward to it!) so the push is ON to make this work.

Although I didn't follow through with my previous post about the websites (worried that's a little out of my league right now) I did see the value of finding something related to your marketing efforts that can provide an income while figuring out the affiliate thing.

So I went ahead and created a website offering proofreading services among other things. I offered some free jobs to get going, and I've already received my first payment with another on the way. I've created a newsletter from scratch and had my first subscriber within a day. And get this - I've paid NOTHING for traffic! I think I'm getting the hang of this :)

Here's the site: "Your Virtual Assistant".

Truth is, I think the program I started with, Plug-In-For-Profits is the BEST training tool. However, I think it leads successful individuals into taking further steps into making an income online with their OWN product or service. And speaking of getting good stuff for FREE, I only joined the Warriors Forum because it came as a bonus with the Plug-In-For-Profits system.

If you want to join it yourself, here's the link: WarriorPro
If you want to learn to market from scratch, AND get the forum access for free, go here: Plug-In-For-Profits
Hope everyone's well!

Shannon

On the Home Front

2005-02-16T08:52:00.000-08:00

Well, I got the news yesterday that the children I babysit are moving in March. This is a little frightening as we needed the income. However, I am more determined than ever to get my little businesses off the ground.

I have invested a lot of time as well as some cash into the promotion of my online businesses. Now that I won't have steady income I have to scqelch any new business purchases. But I've been INSPIRED! A remarkable newbie is now in the 'Warriors' forum that I am a regular in. (I highly recommend joining if you want a strong support network for internet marketing). He started by working his business into his community. I have already followed his lead as of this morning.

I called two business (it's a slow start...) offering to setup information websites for them. I guess we'll see if I can really SELL. Obiously I'll need to do more, so my aim is 20 calls per day.

As things progress I'll let you know.

Keep working hard!!

Avoid Business Opportunity Burnout

2005-02-15T15:42:00.000-08:00

I've recently written this article on avoiding the 'burnout' that comes when exploring too many business opportunities. Read on....

Are you anxious to start earning your own income with a great business opportunity? With all the excitement about the ease of creating great income from home and online businesses, you can easily get caught up in a tangled web of half-understood business plans, wallet-fatigue from investments and an email box that is bulging with follow up materials.

If this has happened to you, than you will not be finding yourself building a business, you will only find yourself confused, disappointed and ready to throw in the towel (as well as cancel your Visa!)

The truth is there ARE great opportunities out there. Unfortunately, to work any of them requires you to develop an understanding not only of the service or product you choose to promote, but you have to learn how to market your business, whether online or in the real world.

“Finding Purpose in Your Business”

Now, you may have to dig several holes to find a treasure, and too, you may have to examine several business ideas to find one that works for you. But focus first on investigation, rather than action.

After requesting information on 4 to 10 businesses that appeal to you (remember, you haven’t joined anything, you’re just looking), sit back and decide which opportunities offer the most comprehensive package. If you’re new to the home business world, you have a huge learning curve ahead of you. It makes sense that you’ll do much better with a company that will provide you support, guidance and training in one package.

Be ready to make a defense for your choice. You may not be called upon by family or friends to defend it, but confidence in your decision will help you to keep focused and not second-guess your decision every time another offer pops up. This will be YOUR business. Be certain it relates to you in a positive manner and that you can work with it long term.

“Create Goals”

No business will grow without a plan to grow it. If you have a supportive company, read their materials. Follow their advice. It is in their best interest to provide you with a game plan that brings in sales or clients. Don’t take their valuable knowledge for granted.

As you manage to cover the basic marketing or promoting techniques, you may find yourself once again getting bogged down with offers to assist you with your efforts. Software, agents, programs, all requiring investment and another learning curve to perfect.

By all means, if the company you are working with recommends them than give it a shot. It is not worth your time to sit on the sidelines if perfectly good recommendations are being handed to you.

But at the same time, recognize the need to focus on your business. Learn the programs well, otherwise you will end up with ineffective marketing and money out the window because you have not used your efforts of promotion wisely. Possibly you are not even aware if the money you spent is actually doing anything for your business or not.

“Have Patience”

Good opportunities take time to mature into healthy businesses. That may not be how they are presented, but in truth, even those who are successful are there because they outlasted many others who gave up too soon.

When you feel you have a grip on all that’s involved, go back and review or investigate the business again. Those who are successful KNOW their business. It will also involve you at a greater level as your dedication to your business deepens.

“Be Passionate”

In the long run, you will have the fortitude to develop your business when you develop your passion for it. You will increase in knowledge and be able to apply your passion to related opportunities which will allow you to diversify your business in a way that will contribute to its longevity.

Look forward to building your business, keep focused and you will be certain to attain your goals!

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Shannon and her husband, Cyprian Emmanuel help individuals develop profitable home businesses through their website and newsletter at http://www.Affiliate-Start.com
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This article is free to reprint as long as the authors credits and links remain intact.

Learning Curve Junkie

2005-02-04T10:56:00.000-08:00

I realize that I have become a 'learning curve' junkie.

What do I mean? I mean that with all the work I have to do raising kids and running two businesses, I am absolutely stir crazy when I have finished learning a program, system or project.

I should be happy. My sites are both bringing in traffic, and I've come to a point where I'm not paying out good money for unqualified people. However, I also know that my marketing efforts need time to take effect....and the wait is KILLING me!

Not that I haven't had success. Although I posted when I got my first affiliate to sign up, I did not have the same enthusiasim for the others, but they are there all the same! This is good. I've even come to terms with the fact that some who fly through the sign up process will actually burn up, so I'm willing for the slow starters to start showing me their stuff in time.

I'm also dedicated to widening my marketing pool. I've somehow stumbled across an amazing little tool. I promised not to tell until I had more results, so keep watching, but I can say that I am already impressed.

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Another day, another dollar...isn't that how it goes?

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The kids are maintaining the peace right now (you wouldn't know this, but I've been gone for several looonnng breaks while writing this - now one of the little ones is down for a nap and I'm making soup for lunch while the other three play quietly).

While building my business takes money, we do have to provide in other ways. Unfortunately the babysitting won't last, but on the flip side, my own four year old is off to school this fall. Great changes lay ahead. I am determined to keep pushing my business for at least another year, so we may take in an exchange student or I may find other part-time work or something to help out.

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It's important to stick to your business for at least one year - preferably two, before deciding if it's just not worth it anymore. I have now hit the 6 month mark for my decor store (http;//www.SimpleDetailsDecor.com) and I'm glad I did. Many, MANY times I thought it was a lost cause. Suffice to say, although not fully on it's feet, it is stablizing very well. I feel good about it.

The other business (http://www.Affiliate-Start.com) is less than two months old, but it has taught me more about online marketing than any other thing I have read. My traffic is constant, and more importantly, I'm not paying for PPC right now (it has it's place, but it's quite expensive!). I am pleased at my marketing efforts and I think I've rounded the curve on the learning bit, now it's really time to just stick to my marketing program and see what results.

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Hope everyone's in a good mood today - weekend's almost here!!

Managing Your Time in a Home Business

2005-01-28T15:08:00.000-08:00

Here's the most recent article I've written about home business. Please feel free to use it for your own publications as well, just send me a note to let me know!
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This article is free to reprint with all attachments and authors credits in place. A courtesy copy of the publication would be appreciated.
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“Managing Your Time In A Home Business”

by Shannon Emmanuel

Is your business still an inspiration, or has the pressure of time and responsibilities started to dull your enthusiasm?

Find your best working strategy, and you’ll save time and energy that can be better spent on creative avenues of business and with family.

“Defining Your Space”

Defining your space is admittedly more about organization than time, but there’s an undeniable link between the two. Have you scanned 100 emails to find that important reference code? Are you still sorting piles of necessary documents on your kitchen counter, just so you’ll know where they are?

Here, then, is the reason for creating a specific working area. You may be using the family computer, but make space for a file, incoming mail and a notebook. Enforce the necessity of a cleared working area by providing bins or drawers for other family members, or your own ‘non-work’ related items. (If you choose to organize them as well, all the better, but stick to your priorities.)

If it’s a small business, create at the very least five files. One for Expenses, one for Income (let’s hope!), one for Reference Material, one for Correspondence and one for Projects (or Customers). If you deal with very many clients, or companies, give them separate files, otherwise one should suffice.

Consider setting up your email with similar ‘folders’ to keep everything organized and easy to find. Perhaps you can sub-categorize even further as there is not the physical space issue.

This section could easily go on and on, but for simplicities sake, it would be best to start out with this system. If you’re already well over your head, creating this simplistic organization system may be the best first step, you can refine and itemize the bulk of it easier if you take the time to make these first main files.

“Getting Busy”

We’ve all done it. A moment arises where you have the chance to get some work done and you go to your computer, or workshop or otherwise, and for 5-10 minutes you browse emails or papers, trying to figure out what needs to be done.

With any home business (and this is especially true when children are in the mix) you need, or have created, the flexibility to work when YOU want. So don’t waste time figuring out what you’ll be doing.

If you are so inclined, create a To-Do list. This may be for the day, or week, or just a running list that is built upon as things come up. This creates an easy starting point when you are ready to work. Where did you leave off? What was next on the list? Do you have 10 minutes or 2 hours? You will surely have something waiting to be done.

If you do not feel the need for a written list, at least have a goal for that day. As a work from home mother, I find that one or two main goals are all I need. And there are always emails to check, accounting, etc. for the slow times.

I also have a personal schedule for the week that itemizes my main tasks: writing an article, networking in the forums, checking on orders, etc. This gives me an easy to work from goal map. Although my work periods are broken up, I try to focus on one task a day through to completion.

“Going Up…..”

Once you have your main task ready to go, than try to follow it through to the best of your ability. Not only will you be free to carry on with your day, but you will feel a sense of accomplishment. If your goal is extensive, for instance you’re training, researching or building on something, than break it down into smaller goals.

You will find that a concrete goal will give you the ability to get ‘caught up’ in the process. You had a starting point, you are driven towards the finish. Without the enormity of the full project lying in front of you, you will feel free to focus your attention, enjoy the process more and put quality time into it.

“Coming Down…”

Especially when you are working on a multi-step project, when you finish task for the day, try to slow yourself down by diverting time to some of the smaller tasks; filing, correspondence, telephone calls etc.

If you follow this pattern regularly, you will not only find that both the large and the small tasks get completed, but your ‘work day’ will come to a natural end and you will feel ready to separate it from your family life.

“Creating Balance”

As with everything, balance is key. Now that is easier said than done, so using this as a guide, find your own natural rhythm. Working with children will likely break this system up even further (I know!). If you are on your own, you may find it easier to plug on for the entire project even if it takes you into the night.

Whatever you do, remember your reasons for choosing to work at home. Based on your original reasons, you will find motivation to schedule a working life that benefits you and your family the best.

Enjoy your Day!
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Shannon and Cyprian help others reach their work from home goals on their site at http://www.Affiliate-Start.com. They run several online businesses while raising two young daughters.

New Tricks for Buisness and Family!

2005-01-27T11:06:00.000-08:00

Has it been so long?

With the rain keeping the kids indoors, and my mind becoming slightly dull with the amount of learning to do, I've only been pattering around with the business. Mostly trying to follow where my traffic is from, become more familiar with my resources, and find ways to keep the kids happy and CALM!

I will say that there are times when you have to let your marketing do its thing. To update, I had an excellent sale on my decor site (http://www.SimpleDetailsDecor.com) and I'm noticing quite a lot of traffic coming from my article "Five Ways to Freshen the Look of Your Room for Under $50". I'm happy to say that it has been picked up 3 or 4 times already by web publishers. You can find this article as well as my others at EzineAritcles.com. They've listed me under the 'Expert Authors' (isn't that nice?).

I also received a touching email from a work-at-home-father who read my article on "Work at Home Mothers - Family Strategy". It is so wonderful as I've been receiving personal feedback from my writing - it makes the business environment so much more fulfilling when people connect.
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My solo ad was published today (see my last post) to the newsletter list of 27,000. I will be following closely how the response goes.

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I've managed to find a way to keep the children occupied for the day (well, mostly!)
I find that one planned activity can defuse the entire day.

One day it's a craft (I found a toilet paper roll bull at http://www.dltk-kids.com/ and there are tons of other projects great for different ages). I found that the craft took 1/2 hour or less (after I cut out all the pieces), but they happily played with their creations the rest of the day!)

On another day its baking (I know, sounds difficult, but they actually are completely entertained and don't demand so much attention while I'm working when I've spent this quality time with them).

We try for a walk once or twice a week, and on rough days (usually Thursday) they take a nap (4 year olds AND toddlers!)
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Hope everyone is doing well in their endevor. I have another great new program that I would like to test for a week or so and then share with you, so keep in touch!

Solo Ads and Article Announcements

2005-01-13T11:46:00.000-08:00

Are you keeping up?

I've submitted an article titled "What Makes An Entrepreneur" to my Yahoo! Group article announcement lists.

I've found the best solution is to put the free reprint information at the top of the article with a line seperating it from the body. This ensures it is accepted by the announcement lists that require that.

I've put it like this: "This article is free to reprint as long as the links and author credits remain intact. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated"

I've also bought my first solo ad, which is an ad that will be sent out without any other advertisements or articles, to a newsletter group. I chose an 800 member list for mothers who work from home. Check out their site here: http://www.mommyshelperonline.com/mommys-helper-moms-market-ezine.html. My ad will be sent Feb. 17, so I'll let you know the response.

It was recommended that your ad be for a product rather than an opportunity. Fortunately I was able to combine them as I was promoting Host4Profit websites (http://www.host4profit.com/cgi-bin/home.cgi?62544) which cross promotes the Plug-In-For-Profit sites of which I am also a member (http://www.pluginprofitsite.com/main-6909).

P.S. I also ordered a Top Sponsor ad in a home business newsletter that has a subscriber base of 24,000! This ad will appear at the top of their newsletter and cost a bit more that the solo ad because of the size of the list. It will run Jan. 27, so look for an update. I was promoting the Plug-In-For-Profits directly as it is a business opportunity type newsletter. Check my site with this program at http://www.affiliate-start.com.

My First Sign UP!

2005-01-12T09:59:00.000-08:00

Good day!

Well it's happened - I've had my first true-blue affiliate sign up under me - YEAH!

I know keeping in contact will be key to getting affiliates to keep going. Fortunately the program she signed with (SFI - http://www.ezinfocenter.com/8867531/free) has a contact email set up that will send her a personalized email from me, introducing me and the benefits of the program.

This is a great step as it is automated, and pre-written for us newbies - ERROR FREE.

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Still new to blogging, so I've signed up with BlogExplosion.com (http://www.blogexplosion.com/index.php?ref=ShannonE) so I'll let you know if it works or not.

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I'm working the ezine announcement lists, but I have to find a way to easily submit according to their varying requirements. I think I'll just have to read the instruction page before each submission until I've got it down pat! The easiest way to start is using Yahoo! Groups http://groups.yahoo.com/ . I have signed up for 12 announcement lists this way.

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Here's to the Mommies - I've been up since 6:00 am. Today is my day off from babysitting so I only have my own kids. Generally I try to do something outside of the house at some point, but we have a lot of snow right now (a big surprise since Vancouver rarely gets any!). So I'm taking advantage of it. Since it's rare, my kids are loving it and I have more time to get work done - guilt free (of course, with a 4 year old and 18 mth old, I can't sit down too long!)
Kids are already coming back in - aaaahhh! Talk to you later!

Where I'm at and Where I'm Going

2005-01-11T21:40:00.000-08:00

To update:

My sites are up and running. I am also babysitting two children four days a week besides taking care of my own two. I'll let you know how I manage this in another post.

I have used PPC with limited results so far, and they're on hold at the moment as I can easily get the clicks, but not the conversion to sales. I have a newsletter for my affiliate site and I have over 200 subscribers since the beginning of January. I am now focusing my attention on these individuals and others like them who are far more targeted to my service and products than the average browser. I have found great resources for free marketing, and I'll gradually inform you on how they work and what to do.

Right now, quality visitors is my focus.

To start, I've become well versed in the power of creating articles for ezines. The amount of power they have is clearly seen just by the simple fact that as long as you remember to post your articles with your website link (Don't forget the http://) it will count as a link to your site.

I noticed that the first two articles that I posted to sites like IdeaMarketer.com and Ezine Articles.com increased my links by two - four within a day or so. You can check your links at Google by typing link:www.your-name.com in the search engine. Search engines like Google and Yahoo prefer sites that are heavily linked to, and this way you don't have to wait for others to do it!

So I've written 3 for my affilaite business and 2 for the home decor site.

I'll let you know how it goes!