When it comes to making the leap from employee to full-time entrepreneur, do you follow your heart, your gut or your money?

It’s a hard question and one that I still don’t have the answer for. If it were up to my heart, I would have left my job a week after I started. If I were to follow my gut, I would have left a couple of months ago. It felt right then and still feels right now!

But if I follow the money, well let;s just say at this time I should probably just sit tight. After all my entrepreneur ventures are still no match for my current salary and I have those two growing kids at home to feed.

I decided to enlist some advice on twitter and asked, “When it comes to making the leap from employee to full-time entrepreneur, do you follow your heart, your gut or your money?

Here are some of the responses:

@tracilove:  Follow your heart & trust your gut – but remember that if there’s no $, it’s a hobby (not a biz).

@multitaskingme: Your gut, your heart, your money in that order

@weddingsites: Definitely your heart, it’s just a feeling you get, plus it becomes too much of a struggle juggling multiple jobs and family

@KenClicktoy: Your gut will remind your heart to remember to make money

@chatterboxcgc: Heart and gut definitely! But money is always there in good ways and bad.

@AskWifey: A little bit of all three – smiles!

While I agree that it’s time I follow my gut and heart and move forward, I thought it would be best to develop an exit strategy.

Set a Date: Decide when you would like to makes the transition to running your business full-time and develop a schedule around that date.

Review Finances: Amanda Steinberg from DailyWorth.com says, “If you’re leaving a full-time job, set up a savings account six months before you announce your departure. Commit to adding to it regularly. Save as much as you can. While six months saved in cash is a pipe dream for many of us, it’s a good north star to shoot for.”

Eliminate Debt: You may need to incur more debt as you vamp up your business, so clearing out old debt will give you some wiggle room.

Build Your Credit: Apply for extra credit.  Save those checks that you get in the mail from the bank and those pre-approved loan offers. They will come in handy if need some extra money for business expenses at a later date.

Create Your Vision: Make sure you have a clear vision of what you want to accomplish. Consider getting a business or life coach that can help support you and create a realistic plan.

Talk to Family: Discuss your plans with your family, they make a great support group, so if issues arise you can work them out together.

Networking: Being a full-time entrepreneur may mean spending a lot of time alone. Start connecting with other entrepreneurs by joining support groups on and offline.

Starting a business takes motivation and determination, leaving the security of your full-time job takes courage. To ensure the highest potential of success formulate a plan before making that transition.

For some more great tips, advice and coaching on taking that final step to full-time entrepreneur visit Deborah Bailey’s blog: The Secrets of Success . Deborah is the author of an eBook called “Boost Your Marketing & You Visibility with Internet Radio”. She is also the founder of Deb Bailey Coaching for transitional entrepreneurs and is the host of the weekly Internet radio talk show “Women Entrepreneurs – The Secrets of Success”.

Good luck on making your transition to full-time entrepreneur.

Read more from Stephanie at BizzieMommy.com.

We have all heard them and know that they ring true. So why are some online retailers risking sales by providing less than stellar product images?

Don’t they know that when it comes to online retail, a picture can be worth 1000’s of sales! When consumers shop online they are only able to use one of their 5 senses, sight. You have to show them that your blanket is the softest around, that walking in those shoes is like walking on clouds. Your pictures need to tell a story to draw the consumer to the buy.

To do that you need high-quality, detail specific images. Look at the example below.

What is so amazing about this bag? What information are you getting from this image? Does this image make you want to click that”Add to Cart” button?

Now here we have a series of pictures of a similar bag. You can see inside, you can see the sides and the back and best of ALL you can see how the bag looks on! When it comes to bags this is the one MOST important image for me. I’m a petite girl so big bags look silly on my arm but this single image shows me how it will look.

Here’s another example, which of the two images below grabs your attention. The product alone or the one with the adorable baby!

The product photo with the adorable baby, right? It appeals to your emotions and draws you closer to that “ADD to Cart” button.

You want consumers to click that button and buy your products, so why not take the time to entice them with high-quality, detail-specific images.

In today’s high-tech world, it’s not hard to find a high quality camera that will take stellar pictures. Even the digital point and shoot cameras come equipped with more than 10 mega pixels and most are under $300.

So what if you are not the best photographer? With digital technology you can take 100’s of pictures without spending an extra dime. Invest in quality product images and turn those visitors into buyers.

For more posts like this, visit our eCommerce Blog and don’t miss visiting Stephanie’s BizzieMommy.com

As I approached booth after booth, I would get, “we don’t sell on eBay,” or “we already have an online store”.   I remember thinking; I put all of this work into setting up my business and launching the website only to have to stop short because I can’t find any products to sell.

After walking through a couple of isles, I realized it wasn’t me, designers just didn’t understand how crucial it is to include online retailers in their business model. Here are 5 reasons why you should consider working with online retailers.

1. Including online retailers into your circle can boost your brand recognition and sales.
2. Online retailers can help your business grow at a faster pace and can extend your reach to consumers you may not have access to.
3. Online retailers can increase your credibility. As a retailer myself, when I start to see a brand on several sites, I think maybe I should also be carrying that product. As a buyer, when you start to see a product on several sites you think, maybe I should buy that product!
4. Working with other retailers will help generate buzz about your product. The more buzz you receive, the more people will want to learn about your product. This will give you opportunities to talk about your brand to bloggers, in magazine reports and much more.
5. Online retailers are selling your product which means more sales for you!

After the first couple of tradeshows, I learned how to “pitch” myself and my store to retailers. As a result, when I attend the tradeshows now, designers recognize the name. Now I get approached by designers who want to get listed in my store.

If you are still are undecided about working with online retailers then check out what some top designers are saying about their experience with online retailers.

“We enjoy selling through online stores because, with a fixed product description, you can ensure an accurate message about your product’s features and benefits. Our experience shows that physical stores drive traffic to online sales, but maybe more often than not, sales are pushed from online to physical locations where customers can touch and feel the products they found online. The two channels are very compatible and complementary.” Erin Lane – www.SCIchild.com

“I’ve partnered with large online retailers like eBags, as well as, smaller online stores and they each bring something unique to the table. The larger online retailers clearly bring great revenues, exposure and new customers to our brand, while the smaller retailers have helped me to make inroads into very niche communities, like parents who use cloth diapers, parents who are advocates of babywearing, etc.” Jill Cartwritght – www.gogagalife.com

“We went to market in early 2008 and have had great success in traditional retail outlets, but also online with HerRoom.com, as well as, through our own e-commerce site. We’ll be adding more online distributors in 2010. “ Jennifer – www.slimpressions.com

Jennifer James
www.mommytoomag.com
If you are mom blogger than you probably know Jennifer from the largest directory for mom bloggers, mombloggersclub.com. In fact signing up for her website opened up a lot of doors for me. I found most of my blogging friends through mombloggersclub.com. She is an amazing multi-tasker. Not only does she operate mombloggersclub.com, but she also created TheMomSalon.com, MommyToo.com and NAAHA.com.  She has been featured and quoted in a variety of magazines and newspapers. Looking at what she has achieved motivates me to stay the course and continue with my goals.

Maria T Bailey
www.mariabailey.com
You may know Maria from her most recent ventures Newbaby.com and MomTV.com, however she is also the host of Mom Talk Radio, founder of BlueSuitMom.com, CEO of BSM Media, and a National TV Talk Show Host on Lifetime. Maria has over a decade of experience studying the behaviors of moms and being a mom of four further validates her expertise. She has written several books on marketing to moms, her most recent book Mom 3.0 is a valuable resource for anyone interested in marketing to moms.

Beth Feldman
www.rolemommy.com
Beth is the president of Roll Mommy and overseas all of the online content from reviews to interviews. Her mission for Role Mommy is inspiring – helping your children realize their hopes and dreams doesn’t mean you have to give up your own. As a mother of two children I was quickly wrapped up into the role of “mommy” and lost myself in the process. However as I started blog and meet other influential moms the “me” started to uncoil and I began to set goals and plans for myself.

Allison Worthington
www.mrsfussypants.com
Another great influential mom blogger who makes multi-tasking look easy. She maintains her own blog mrsfussypants.com and is also the founder of Blissfully Domestic, co-host of the Blissdom Conference and founder of Worthington Wire. Did I mention she is also a mom to 5 boys? Need I say more?

Tiffany Washko
www.tiffanywashko.com
Tiffany is an avid environmentalist, a freelance writer, newspaper journalist, internet marketer and mother. Her primary focus is on natural lifestyle and green living. She also owns Bento Lunch Box a site I love to look at while imagining to prepare my own lunch before grabbing something at the closest food chain. Like me, she is always thinking of new ways to bring multiple streams of income into the family. It’s great to see someone else achieving the goals I’m striving for.

Jen Singer
www.mommasaid.net
Her website MommaSaid.net launched in 2003 and is now a virtual community bringing in thousands of faithful visitors around the world. Her goal was to create a community for moms on the brink of desperation can go to laugh and linger.  She has been quoted in a variety of newspapers and magazines and has appeared on several television shows. In 2005, MamaSaid.net received the Forbes Best of the Web designation for Parenting Blogs.  If you are looking for parenting advice MommaSaid.net is a great resource. Look for MomaSaid parenting books this fall.

Cindy Rushton
www.cindyrushton.com
An influential Christian blogger who provides information on marriage, mothering, or homeschooling. Her goal is to encourage and inspire moms to follow their calling in life.

Jessica Smith
www.jessicaknows.com
Who hasn’t heard of JessicaKnows.com? While she doesn’t promote herself as a mom blogger she influences and inspires me every day. I hope to build a recognizable brand for myself like she has done with JessicaKnows.com. Last year I participated in her Rock Your Blog coaching and learned so much during those sessions and still talk to many of the participants today.

Tara Crooks
www.taracrooks.com
Most known for her blog Army Wife Network and Army Wife Talk Radio show has motivated and influenced others to follow their dreams and reach their goals. You will often find her speaking and writing about military life.

Kelly Mccausey
www.kellymccausey.com
It only seems fitting to include Kelly in my list of influential mom bloggers, after all I wouldn’t be writing this post if it wasn’t for her. In the five weeks I’ve been interning at Sparkplugging.com I’ve learned to explore controversial topics, balance my time, and investigate other business opportunities.

While it is impossible for me to include EVERY blog that has influenced me. I would love to know what mom blogger influenced you today.

My name is Stephanie Elie and I am a transitional entrepreneur and mother of two children under the age of four. I am the editor of BizzieMommy.com and was recently listed in the Power Moms 50 list by Neilson Online.

Follow Stephanie on Twitter: @BizzieMommy

Have you ever thought of creating a Health Savings Account? I didn’t either until I read the Basics of setting up a health savings account for business owners.

Let’s not forget about managing money, I found a great resource about managing business finances. It is a great credit guide for small business and minorities.

Committing to the transition makes me a little nervous, what if I can’t get all of the work done myself and I have to hire an independent contractor to do some of the work. I have worked as a contractor myself but never the other way around. This is a great informational article about understanding tax requirements when working with independent contractors.

Follow Stephanie on Twitter: @BizzieMommy

I feel obligated to say that I was never the “popular” girl in school, my blog does not bring in thousands of visitors a day and my Twitter and Facebook numbers are not the highest around. However a couple of weeks ago my blog showed up on Nielson’s Power 50 Mom Influencer List and I was floored and excited until I started to hear the negative comments about the list.

Some people were saying they just picked the most popular moms, the moms with the highest twitter followers or the moms that post every day on their blogs.

I was shocked to read a post by one blogger, “It makes me crazy when I see mediocre writers who get more time in the spotlight then they deserve because they know a lot of SEO tricks or market themselves incessantly while fabulous writers are dismissed as lacking influence.”

She even went so far to say that race was a factor in the decision making.

So does popularity automatically make you a power influencer?

In the end I don’t think so. I would imagine that being a popular blogger is great, you get PR reps calling on you all day to promote their product, you get to attend amazing events and you get a ton of traffic coming to your blog which increases your monetization potential. You are basically treated like an “online” celebrity.

Jessica from JessicaKnows.com has been on the receiving end of a lot of negative buzz lately but she is one blogger that I find inspiring and a power influencer. She said, “In my opinion, popularity does not equal influence. You might get everyone reading your blog because you’re funny, but it doesn’t mean they’ll take what you say seriously when recommending anything.” While she might also be labeled as a “popular blogger” she helps out other bloggers when she can.

A popular blog is fun and entertaining to read and on occasion you may even pick up a few tricks of the blogging trade from them. But a blog of influence is a blog that inspires you to do something or take some kind of action. An influential blog is where we turn to when we need blogging advice or help with our business ideas. Or when we are looking for parenting and relationship advice.

When I first began blogging I immediately was sucked into the popularity and traffic game. I was disappointed when my traffic numbers were lower than then shopping and giveaway blogs. I asked myself, where are all the visitors everyone brags about on twitter? I mean how would I be able to influence anyone with such low traffic numbers?

Then I started to receive emails from people that were reading my blog telling me they were actually inspired by all that I’m doing. A blogging friend, Rosina from BabyFriendlyLA.com said she would complain to her husband when she felt overwhelmed but was motivated by all the things that I am trying to do. I have to say I was humbled and grateful for her comments. Because there are days that I’m ready to just throw in the towel. I really just didn’t think I was popular enough to make a difference, to be a real influence.

A new friend of mine Felicia from icompletemeblog.com said, “As a new blogger I initially thought popularity and influence meant the same thing. I mean you have influenced people to believe you are popular, right? And you want to be popular because you want all that traffic coming to your site. But as I grow my online business and look for tools that can really help me, I realized I don’t want just any traffic. I need targeted traffic that will purchase my product. This is where the influence comes in. I feel that in order to be a person of influence you must be able to make people take action (whether good or bad depends on how you want to be remembered). As I grow my business there are some things I just will not purchase regardless of how popular you may be.”

So which type of blog will win over the PR reps? I think when it comes to endorsements and promotion the “popular” blog will always win. After all isn’t that how all of society works, why would it be different online?

However, when looking for support, answers and advice it will be the power influencers that people will turn to. What kind of blogger do you want to be?

At the end of the day it does not matter how popular you are nor does it matter how far your reach is, what matters most is if you influenced someone in a positive way. If your blog post motivated someone else to make a change or take a stand then you truly are a Power Mom Influencer.

Stephanie Elie (@BizzieMommy) is a transitional entrepreneur and mother of two children under the age of four. The editor of BizzieMommy.com and was recently listed in the Power Moms 50 list by Neilson Online.