Would you like to get more done in less time with your work-at-home business so you can spend more time with your family doing the things that you enjoy most in life? Do you often dream of a balanced lifestyle that brings you success in wealth, health, and your relationships?

It’s time to make those dreams a reality so you can get on living the life that you deserve. The best part… it’s easier than you may think.

The key to increased productivity is to optimize your brain function. The more focused, alert, and efficient your brain operates, the quicker you will be able to get through your daily tasks.

The most effective tool that you can use to optimize your brain is exercise. But you don’t need to spend hours in the gym in order to boost your brain-power and increase your productivity. You only need 10 minutes.

Let’s put it to the test. I challenge you to take a 10-minute quickie break from the computer. Come on now… I know that you’ve got 10-minutes. Trust me, it’ll be worth it.

Here’s a fast and fun home office cardio workout that you can do right now. No excuses! It doesn’t require any equipment, it doesn’t require much space, and it doesn’t require much time.

OK, so how did it feel? Were your legs burning? Was your heart racing? Awesome!

Now it’s time to get back to work, feeling more energized and focused. You needed that break didn’t you? You feel pretty darn good about yourself to… right?

Please do me a favor and take mental notes on how this quickie 10-minute cardio session impacts the rest of your day. How it improves your productivity, quality of work, and time management.

Aside from your home business, I would love for you to share how the quickie home office cardio impacts your family. Did you have more energy to play with your kids or grandchildren?

The benefits of incorporating home office fitness into your workday are nearly limitless. This is a balanced lifestyle approach. You are using quick fitness to improve your business and quality time with your family. You really can have it all, and you deserve it! Begin today and experience a transformation in your business, fitness, and life.

You ROCK! Enjoy the experience!

Scott Tousignant, BHK has been helping busy work-at-home-moms and dads improve their #1 asset (HEALTH) for over a decade. Scott’s balanced and practical approach to fitness helps busy homepreneurs get more done in less time so you can spend more time doing what you enjoy most in life.

Backed by years of experience and the application of his education in human kinetics, Scott created Fat Loss Quickie, the fast fun home office fitness experience that will quickly transform you into the super-focused, highly productive, beautiful person you really are!

Now it doesn’t matter how busy you are… You’ll never have to neglect your health again!

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First, I do have an iMac on my desk – used mostly for media consumption.  I watch internet television and web video as well as listen to hours and hours of podcasts each week.  The iMac wins it’s space because it doesn’t take up much and it runs like a horse, never giving me a moments trouble.

I’ve always used a Microsoft keyboard with the Mac because I hate hate hate the Apple keyboard and mouse that came with it.  But today, Apple won a little more desktop space with this awesome little bluetooth keyboard:

Look at how little space it takes up!  Since I don’t need to use a keyboard on the Mac often – it is easy to slip out of the way and pull out when I need it.

And come on – it is seriously a sexy little thing

Next up – I’ve just become a giddy new iPhone user.

I honestly didn’t plan to use an iPhone.  I’ve been happy with my BlackBerry Curve over the last two years – but then my son introduced me to surfing on his iPod Touch and I had what he calls a ‘nerd-gasm’.  It’s truly amazing.

I’ll miss the ‘real’ qwerty keyboard that the BlackBerry offers.  Thumbing the iPhone’s touch screen is taking some getting used to – but I have already fallen in love with it and the ever enticing AppStore.

Look at how the big screened iPhone in a pink wave case mocks the little BB…

Poor little BB.

What can I say?  I’ve being tempted by the Apple.

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Bartering your valuable skills is a fantastic way to get the products and services you need to move forward with your business goals.  It’s especially attractive with your business budget is tight!

Get What You Need!

Since this is Labor Day Weekend, and since last year’s swap meet was so successful, I think this is a perfect time to revive the fun and open up the comments for you to share what you have to offer and what you’re looking for in return.

Are you a skilled writer in need of a new blog header graphic?  Offer to write a couple of killer articles for a graphic designer in need of content.  Are you a virtual assistant in need of a gift for your best friend’s birthday?  Offer to provide your services in exchange for personal care products.

The options are endless – just make your pitch and see what happens!

Let’s Swap!

Leave a comment below that shares what you have to offer for barter in enough detail that someone can make a decision about it.  If you know exactly what you’d like to barter for, lay that out to.  If you’re not sure, you can say that you’re open to creative offers.

Be sure to include contact information!  Your Twitter user name would be good.

Who knows what sort of swap connections we’ll make this weekend   Let’s go for it!

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Many new entrepreneurs make the mistake of choosing based on price alone.  I was guilty of this and it burned me bad in my first year of business.  Fortunately a fellow work at home mom rescued me from ‘closed down web host’ hell and helped me get set up on more reliable web server.  That was the year I met Scott.

Scott, who would from then on forever be known as ‘the awesome Scott‘ for his unending patience and reliable, skillful support to me and my friends.

I trusted Scott so much that I eventually went into business with him, launching Mom Webs as an affordable, mom friendly, web hosting option.  That went so well, we went on to launch Reliable Webs in 2008.  Reliable Webs is branded for small business owners and entreprenuers and has enjoyed quite steady growth so far – something I’d like to boost to be up front about it!

I’d like to know what you look for in a web host.  If you’ll leave a comment below telling us what you care about most when it comes to choosing a quality web host and you’ll be entered for 12 months of free multi-domain web hosting from Reliable Webs.

You can transfer an existing website over or use it as an opportunity to launch something new!  This prize is worth $300 – a nice chunk of savings for you if you win.  A winner will be chosen at random on the morning of Tuesday, September 8th, 2009.  You can comment anytime between now and then to be entered.

I look forward to reading your comments!

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How has blogging changed in the years since you started?

I believe that around four years ago blogging had more close relationships. That is, you would create a blog on a certain niche, and within weeks you would already know everyone inside that niche. They would come to comment on your posts, you would comment on theirs and so on. Obviously this was only possible because you didn’t have thousands of blogs on every niche.

As the blogging phenomenon grew we lost some of that closeness.

I don’t think that this is necessarily bad though. It is just how things evolve.

What traffic building strategies would you suggest for a new blogger?

Focus on writing posts that are insanely useful. I call those “killer posts.”

There are thousands of blogs and websites on every single niche these days, so if you want to stand out from the crowd and attract readers you need to make your content top notch.

Once you have that, work on the promotion, as a killer post is only good if people are actually reading and sharing it.

Who’s blog is on your must read list?

There are many. Here are some that I read daily:

• Pro Blogger
• Copy Blogger
• Entrepreneurs Journey
• Quicksprout

What are some mistakes you see newbie bloggers making?

There are a couple that people make over and over again. The first one is to choose a niche just because you see someone else making good money inside it. Instead you should choose a niche where you believe you will be able to create value.

The second one is trying to make money too early in the game. Some bloggers pack their blogs with ads even before they reach a significant audience. As a consequence, new visitors will go away as fast as they came, and the blog will never grow enough to become an authority.

Do you have any tips for coming up with fresh ideas all the time?

I can share what works for me.

First of all you need to have a system to store all your ideas. Some people will use a voice recorder, others a notebook, others yet will just save drafts on their blogging software. It does not matter what you use, as long as you can store all your ideas.

With this step alone you should already have enough ideas to keep going for a while.

If despite using it you find yourself with a shortage of ideas, take a look on websites and blogs on different niches and check what of their ideas could be adapted into your own niche.

Can you explain duplicate content? Is it something bloggers should be worried about?

According to Google itself duplicate content “generally refers to substantive blocks of content within or across domains that either completely match other content or are appreciably similar.”

This is something that bloggers need to worry about because it can affect how many of their posts will get indexed by Google.

There are two things to worry about: internal duplicate content and external duplicate content. Internal refers to having the same content displayed in two or more locations of your blog (e.g., the single post page and the monthly archive). This can be solved by using excerpts on your homepage, category and archive pages.

To avoid external duplicate content problems just make sure that you are not submitting your own posts to other blogs or article directories, and don’t allow other people to republish them. Scrapers might still do it against your will, but Google knows how to handle those most of the times.

Are RSS subscriber counts a valid measure of a blog’s popularity, or is RSS still too underused in the general population to be useful as a measuring device?

I believe RSS subscriber base is a good measure of the reach of a blog. If a certain blog has 10,000 RSS readers, for example, you know that around 10,000 people will be exposed to a post published on that blog.

What the RSS count can not predict, though, is the traffic levels of the blog.

Do you recommend bloggers have an opt-in list?

Yes. Email marketing is one of the most effective communication forms, and it should be used by anyone who is trying to make money online or to build a popular website.

How should  bloggers approach other blog owners about guest posting?

First of all take some time to analyze what kind of content is popular with the audience of that blog. Then write a top notch article around one of those topics. Finally, email the blogger, and make sure to attach your guest post in the very first email you will send. Writing a preliminary email just asking permission to send a guest post for consideration is a waste of time for everyone, and could get you rejected even before you got your shot.

Is it more important to post often, or to post really informative “pillar” content, when trying to build traffic?

It is much more important to post killer posts. These are the ones who will build the authority of your site and attract new readers.

What is the most effective way to monetize a blog?

It depends. Some blogs will do better with Google AdSense, while others will do really well with affiliate marketing deals. The key to finding the most effective way is testing, testing and some more testing.

What do bloggers need to know about SEO? Is it really that important for a blog? Or should they concentrate on other marketing methods?

It depends on the objectives of the blogger. If he wants to generate substantial money with his blog and possibly turn into a business, then he will need to learn at least the core SEO principles.

If he is blogging as a hobby, though, then it is better to focus his time on content creating and promotion.

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There are all kinds of great events going on all over the world and I could give a fig about most of them.   But NAMS is proving to be an animal of a different breed and my curiosity is piqued.  After reading comments from many I know and respect, I’ve decided that I just can’t let another NAMS go by.

I can’t sit at home reading tweets from friends who are there – networking, learning and JVing without me!

The next NAMS event is set at the end of January 2010.  It’s located in Atlanta and I’ve just registered to attend so that I could take advantage of the early bird discount. (I saved $500!)

If you’ve been thinking about attending an internet marketing event in 2010, I invite you to consider coming to NAMS.  We can meet and learn together!

And hey, if your seriously considering – seriously consider acting before the end of the month cuz that’s when the early bird price expires.

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I’m thrilled to come back and report that I went for it!

I paid a deposit and signed a lease for this great three bedroom house on Otsego Lake.  It’s way cute and sits right on the east shore where it will enjoy all the afternoon sunshine.

The lake house will add significant financial pressure on my monthly budget – so now is where I get ‘Hungry’!

I’m Not The Only Hungry One

On Monday mornings I meet with Mom Masterminds members and other internet marketing women (our meeting is open to the public) for a regular ‘Breakthrough’ session.  This week I declared the theme to be ‘Double the Trouble’ and we talked about wanting to double our incomes.

In Friday’s post I said:

“I know I can make everything I want happen if I want it bad enough. With the right projects and focused attention, anything really is possible.”

After a season of bring pretty laid back about things, I’m working up a sense of urgency and tackling all of my projects with renewed passion.  I’m determined to make every dollar I can, ensuring that I’ll get to enjoy the lake house as much as possible.

In the breakthrough session it became clear that I’m not alone in dreaming bigger dreams and feeling increased levels of pressure about earning a more substantial income.   Again and again, participating members voiced their agreement and excitement about reaching for higher levels.

Our new goals make us remember what it felt like to be new and hungry for success, sparking the idea to claim the title:  ‘The Hungry Women of Internet Marketing‘.  We’re going to be holding each other accountable to our new goals and taking regular action on them over on the Mom Masterminds forum of course.

Several of us have joined Jimmy’s Affiliatenaire course to ramp up our efforts in affiliate marketing and we’re starting up an MMer accountability group right after Labor Day.  We’ll be meeting in my conference room one evening a week to talk over our lessons and brainstorm ways to apply the information.  I’m so excited about that!

You Work Harder When You’re Hungry And When Someone Else Is Watching!

When Mom Masterminds launched back in 2004, we noticed right away that sharing goals and being held accountable for them helped many members to take more action.  That and being able to mastermind with other smart marketers helps you take smarter action

If you’re hungry like we’re hungry, I invite you to join us there!

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I can’t imagine commuting such distances for work.   It’s not that I hate driving, it’s more that I resent the time spent doing nothing else.

I’m a late bird and that’s putting it mildly.  Lately I’ve been keeping very odd hours.  I’m incredibly alert and productive in the middle of the night so I’ve been staying up several days a week until dawn. It’s quiet.  Distractions are few and far between.  Temperatures are cooler.

I often make late night munchie runs.  A girl needs brain food, right? Most of the time I’m the only car on the road between my place and the all night gas station – or McDonalds

Tonight though, (this morning) I made my trip right at 5:00am and I was definitely not the only car on the road.  Apparently, five o’clock in the morning is beginning of our community’s commuter rush.

The people look tired, almost like they’re still switched off for the night.

After picking out my power snacks, I paid and drove back to my apartment, kicked of my sandals and un-paused the episode of KyleXY I was watching on Hulu when the urge to snack struck – and felt sort of sorry for all those hitting the highway instead.

Working at home really rocks sometimes, you know?

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Coming up with ideas is great, but not all ideas are all that they seem cracked up to be.

Some business ideas are Good.

They involve a specific target market and a much needed product, service or resouce that the market is willing to pay for (or someone else is willing to pay to support – ie: advertise on.)

Some business ideas are Bad.

These ideas are usually too fuzzy on the issue of target market or involve a product that fails to inspire interest.

Some business ideas are Just Plain Ugly.

I’ve come to realize over the last year that there are business ideas that can be made to work by sheer force of will, but that doesn’t mean that they should. Some business projects are just too labor intensive for so little net profit that you end up working for peanuts. I call that Ugly.

Which is Which?

It can be hard to say which ideas are good and which bad. It depends a great deal on who has the idea.

Someone can have a really good idea but lack the skills and experience to make it work. And on the flip side, I’ve seen someone with skills and experience take what looks like a bad idea, sell the heck out of it and make a lot of money.

What about the Ugly ideas? Couldn’t a skilled entrepreneur make anything work? Maybe they could. But they likely won’t since they know there will never be enough profit to be worth their effort.

How do I decide if my idea is good?

You could just run with it and see what happens. There is a lot to be said for learning in the trenches, still – I’m in favor of skipping hard knocks when possible so I’m going to recommend that you seek out other more experienced marketers to bounce your ideas off of before you invest too much time and resources.

I know from experience that I can develop what I think is a brilliant idea on paper. We want our ideas to work and look for ways to make them work. An outsider can usually see the holes in our theories and that’s a good thing. Be open to their constructive criticism. (They’re critiquing the idea – not you.)

Do some quick market research. Hit up Google to see if there are other people doing what you’re thinking about. Don’t be put off by the existence of competition. That should be a positive sign that there is a market for your ideas. If there is a LOT of competition, check out the top sites and ask yourself, “Can I do this at least 10% better than these guys?”

What if I just realized I have a Bad/Ugly Business?

Pat yourself on the back. You’re in good company. I’ve had more than my fair share of ideas gone bad. Some of the richest, most esteemed entrepreneurs in the world have had ideas that crashed and burned. Having a bad idea isn’t the end of the world and having acted on one isn’t the end of your WAH dreams.

Take your bad ideas (or business) back to the drawing board and see how they can be improved. Drop kick any truly ugly ideas to the curb and move on.

It’s called Failing Forward and it works for me

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You have no idea how shamed and humbled I feel about that.

I haven’t fallen for a scam since I was 20 years old. I actually sent $18 and a self addressed stamped envelope to get info on stuffing envelopes for pay.  That was pre-internet of course… but the lesson was learned well and I knew I’d never fall prey to anything like it again.  I pride myself on seeing a scam coming from a mile away.

*grumble, grumble*

So, last week I was surfing rental ads on Craigslist.  There was a house that looked like a perfect fit for us at a great price.  I emailed the owner for info and received this email:

Before we begin giving you more information on the apartment we need to know if you are currently up to date with your credit report. Obtaining your credit rating for free is easy, using the following link:

http://uscreditreportcenter.com/creditcheck.php (The process is free and safe and only takes a minute to fill out).

We have had a large number of defaulting tenants who came from Craigslist, so before we can set up an appointment with you we need to verify you are a credible tenant. Once you have completed the application please e-mail us back.

I thought that their request sounded fair… so I followed the link.  When asked to pay $1.95, I thought – ok, why not? I saw the fine print about canceling within three days and planned to do that.

To make a long story short – after giving them my credit card I was routed to a page with info on how to request a free copy of my credit report from another website.

*grrr*

So I felt foolish but I thought to myself, ‘Ok, fine – I was tricked.  That’s not the end of the world. I’ll just call the number and cancel right now and be done with it.‘

But the phone wasn’t answered.

And the fax I sent brought no reply.

And the email I sent was ignored.

And three days later my card was charged $34.97.

*argh!!*

I should also mention that the ‘landlord’ hasn’t replied to any of my testy emails about their little Craigslist scam.  Upon future exploration I learned they’re not really a landlord.  They have a private registration domain for email but maintain no website on it.  I suspect that they’re posting Craigslist ads for awesome looking houses all over the country – all with an affiliate link for the credit report site.

A call to the bank, a few copies of my fax and emails and the money is back in my account.  Oh – and my credit card had to be canceled and reissued which will affect me in a lot of other areas.  It’s a pain in the neck and I’m annoyed that I had to waste time dealing with it. All my own fault of course!

You know what annoys me the most?  An affiliate marketer scammed me. I’m an affiliate marketer!  Call me naive, but I didn’t realize that we had this sort of slimy underbelly in the affiliate marketing community.

It’s just wrong.

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When the economy is down and your target market seems to be holding their dollars tighter than usual, what can solopreneurs do to keep business flowing?

Status Check Your Marketing Funnel.

Make sure that you’re doing all that you can to reach as much of your target market as possible.  I’ve actually seen some entreprenuers pulling back from their usual marketing activities becuase they perceive that their market is cash poor and unlikely to respond.   That’s a mistake.

Yes, your market may be cash poor today – but that can change in a heart beat and who will they spend their dollars with but the person who has remained on their radar most consistently?

When there are fewer fish, the answer is not to cast a smaller net.

Widen the top of your marketing funnel.  Seek more ways to share your knowledge and expertise.  Step up your blogging activities, do more guest blogging, seek out podcast interviews and let folks know that you are open to creative joint ventures.

Do You Have To Lower Prices?

My experience with pricing over the last year has been interesting.  I tripled my rates for blog design and continued to book new clients on a regular basis even as other talented designers complained that they have had to drop prices to keep busy.

If I could ask marketing experts I bet I would get a wide range of answers to price question.  Lower prices can motivate someone on a tight budget but you’ll work harder for every dollar.  (And that just might be the way it is for awhile…)  Before you decide to lower prices, you could invest some time into sharpening your sales message to better convince your customer of their need for your products and services in the first place.

And Wait, There’s More!

One great idea is to add something to your package rather than reduce the price of your package.   Think about all of those great ‘free gift with purchase’ offers that have grabbed your attention in the past.   You could create a special time limited ‘bundle pack’ or offer a ‘buy one, get one’ deal.

I’ve been influenced by dozens of special deals over the years.  I’ve bought products so0ner than planned and hired service providers without a lot of advance planning – all because they presented me with a no brainer situation.

I know there are lots of other great strategies… what tips do you have for overcoming tough times?

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“What’s your impression of the economy as it has been affecting your business over the last months?”

This is what you told us:

• 14% – I’m rockin’ it – no worries here.
• 26% – I’m seeing distinct signs of improvement.
• 23% – I’m still feeling it but it’s not as bad as it used to be.
• 35% – It really stinks and I’m suffering.

I purposefully chose to highlight the positive in my title for this blog post, but it’s impossible to ignore that 35% of our readers indicate that they’re suffering.

Your thoughts?  Anybody want to share where they’re at?

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(The survey is over)

We’ll publish results tomorrow

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The NFIB Virtual Summit is an exciting, informal online conference we are hosting on September 15, 2009.  No travel arrangements are necessary – you can attend from the convenience of your home or office!    In case you are not familiar with NFIB – we are the nation’s leading small business association, with offices in Washington, D.C. and all 50 state capitals. We are a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.  NFIB’s mission is to promote and protect the right of our members to own, operate and grow their businesses.

NFIB is proud to be the host of the Virtual Summit because now – more than ever, it is important for small businesses and entrepreneurs to come together to participate in open dialogues about critical issues that are directly affecting your business.

Who should attend the summit and why will it be beneficial to them?

This virtual conference is focused on entrepreneurs and small business owners.  It will give them a chance to meet and network with peers and industry experts.  This conference format is an exciting new way to connect, discuss the issues, learn from experts, and most importantly – find solutions to better your business.

What features/topics will be discussed at the NFIB Virtual Summit?

Inside the virtual “Auditorium” – NFIB, eBay, Google and Facebook will present webcasts on topics including:  “The Keys to Success for Your eBay Sales”, “Digital Marketing and Social Networking”, “Healthcare for Small Business”, and “Focus on the Economy”.

Will there be any Q & A sessions available for those attending that may have questions about topics talked about?

Each of the webcasts in the “Auditorium” will be followed by a scheduled chat session in the “Networking Café”.  Attendees will have the opportunity to ask industry experts questions – live!

Looking at the site I see an auditorium, exhibit hall, networking cafe, resource center and information. Can you explain what those areas are for and how they will work during the conference?

From the main lobby, there are numerous rooms to explore.  You can download free resources into your “virtual tote bag” in the “Resource Center”.  The “Exhibit Hall” will feature sponsor booths including eBay, Google, Solveras, Dun & Bradstreet, as well as our media sponsor, SBTV.  The booths will include prize giveaways, free small business resources, and will be staffed by company representatives to answer any questions you may have.  The Networking Café will be open for people to connect and network, exchange virtual business cards, participate in live schedules chats, as well as contribute to the “Hot Topics” message boards.

Registration is free with the promo code bgg737.   Register online at:  www.NFIB.com/VirtualSummit

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I used to struggle. A lot.

I spent more than a decade suffocating under a burden of debt.  I wore the letters off of my keyboard building my online business – and finally knew the pleasure of being debt free and being able to pay bills on time.  I know what it’s like to build something from scratch, to work hard for little return with an eye for the long game.   I dreamt of a day when things would come easier.

A wise man once told me to plan your work and work your plan.  Stay in the know, make friends and burn only rickety bridges.  Eventually, a good plan develops its own momentum – but take care.  When things start to come easier – you have to be smarter than ever. 

That advice has been ringing in my ears over the past couple of weeks.

Everywhere I turn, there’s another ‘Open Door’.  Offers of partnership from cool people.  Opportunities to go to the next level.  Options for more, new, better this or that…

And not just in my business life.  In my home life as well.

I’m used to limited options.  A single mom in debt can’t get credit from anyone and has a really hard time being approved for things like apartments and satelite dish companies.  Even after paying off my debts, I had to have a co-signer to buy a used car and had to pay a ridiculous deposit to win a chance with a landlord.

I’m not complaining.  I dug that ditch and knew it was my job to fill it back in one heavy shovel full at a time.

Still, it has been a long road.

Then, on a whim this week I filled out an application for a new place – fully expecting the usual rejection… and got accepted.

You could have knocked me over with a feather.  No request for a co-signer.  No extravagant deposits.  No extra hoops to jump through.  Just my own signature.

Don’t plan any housewarming gifts yet – I decided not to go for it.

As exciting as it is to be approached with great projects and as gratifying as it is to know that my credit is starting to heal and I have more freedom to choose… I have decided to stay right where I am for awhile.

I have objectives for this season of my life and business and they haven’t been met yet.  If I power forward and grab all the gusto I can – I’ll most likely find that I’m not fully prepared for it.

Can anyone relate?

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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

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It’s not true that “quitters never win and winners never quit.”

In fact, some of my biggest “wins” were a direct result of quitting. Here’s one example.

In the fall of 1999 I started a Master’s degree program in French Literature. I had a full-time job already, but the Master’s degree was free (thanks to a generous scholarship) and the classes were at night, so I thought I could do both. It didn’t take long to figure out that this was a huge mistake.

While I was capable of doing both, I wasn’t happy doing both. I had no free time, I was constantly stressed out, and (this is the kicker) I was starting to realize that I didn’t even want a Master’s degree in French Literature. What was I going to do with it? I didn’t want to teach French, I didn’t want to write books in French, and the classes were boring me to tears.

At the same time, I felt like I couldn’t quit. I wasn’t a quitter. I had committed to this program and I was going to finish it.

And then one day I had to make a choice. I had a major work crisis on the night before a big paper was due. There was no way to deal with both things. I chose my job, and the following day I quit the Master’s program. My professors were disappointed in me, I felt horrible for letting them down, and I feared that I had made a horrible mistake.

Quitting that program turned out to be one of the smartest decisions of my life.

I ended up getting promoted at work, and then I took some time to figure out whether I wanted to go back to school. I researched the options, I sat in on a bunch of different classes, and decided to apply to law school. To my surprise, I got into Harvard Law School, and I started there in the fall of 2001.

Although I’m no longer practicing law, I have no regrets about going to law school. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience there, I learned things I couldn’t have learned anywhere else, and I made some amazing connections that led to my first opportunity to work from home.

The funny thing is, as much as I’ve never wanted to think of myself as “a quitter,” I’ve quit a lot of things – and each time it was for the best:

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As part of their effort to educate consumers about fraudulent business opportunities, the FTC has produced this video warning.

Signs of a Scammer

We all want to work at home in our fuzzy bunny slippers. After all, that’s why we’re here, right? But we need to be rigorous in our investigation of potential business opportunities. Here are a couple of warning signs you should watch for.

Big Promises

Scammers tend to make big promises. You’ll make big profits in a short amount of time, working only 37 minutes per day from your new beach house. We’ve all seen the infomercials with the talking fox, haven’t we? The old adage, “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is,” is worth remembering here. If you hear these big promises from people who are trying to sell you something, ask yourself if it’s just too good to be true.

Legitimate businesses can back up their claims with proof, and the greater the risk, the more substantial that proof needs to be. A $10 investment requires a lot less proof than a $1,000 investment.

Hard Sell Threats

Scammers trying to sell you on a new business opportunity can’t afford to have you looking too hard at the proof of their claims. In order to distract you from the flimsy “evidence” they provide, they hit you with high pressure sales tactics. If you’re being pressured to buy right now because “space is limited” or because “territories are going fast,” you should take a step back and do some more investigating.

Beware of the scammer who won’t allow you time to sleep on it. They want you to make a decision right now, often telling you that they’re only authorized to offer this “low price” if you sign a contract today. A legitimate business opportunity will still be around tomorrow, so take your time and make sure you’re not being duped.

Real Work At Home Opportunities

Don’t let the scammers scare you away from your goal of working at home, though. There are plenty of legitimate work at home opportunities out there. Take a look at the Sparkplugging authors for example. We have ecommerce professionals and ebay sellers, and crafty types, just to name a few.

A good place to start looking for home business opportunities is Wendy’s post Top 10 Internet Home Business Ideas You Can Start and Run in Your Underwear and the follow-up post 10 More Work at Home Internet Business Ideas You Can Do in Your Fuzzy Bunny Slippers.

While it’s great that the Federal Government is cracking down on these types of scams, remember that you can’t count on them to catch every charlatan out there. Do you research, practice due diligence, and don’t be afraid to walk away from a deal that just seems too good to be true.

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Google has recently made some changes to the interface of their local business directory that will allow you to take full advantage of local search.  Let’s take a look at how you can make it work for you.

You’ve always been able to add yourself to the Local Business Directory by visiting http://www.google.com/local/add.  Click on add new listing and you’ll get this screen.

Be sure to fill out every single field.  Every little piece has an influence on whether you show up when people look for you.  The description field should be filled with your products, services, and the areas you service.  You get 200 characters, you should use them all.

On the next screen you’ll be given the option to claim an already existing listing.  If one of those listings is you, make sure you claim that listing so you can update the info.  If none of them are you, choose add listing.

On the next screen you get to add yourself to Google’s categories.  Instead of being able to type in your categories, you have to pick from Google’s pre-determined categories.  Try to fill all five spots, but don’t put yourself into categories that having nothing to do with your business.  That’s spam and Google may penalize you in the rankings for cheating.  Fill out the rest of the listings and make sure you add pictures and videos.  The more you add, the better off you are.  If you can add videos of you doing your work or talking about your work, even better.  (extra hint: also post these videos on Youtube and your own website)

Now, after you’ve submitted, you have some more work to do (it’s worth it, I promise).  After you hit submit you’ll get a screen that will show you the status of your listing.  In some cases, your listing may be flagged for manual review by a Google employee.  If that’s the case it may take a few extra days for your listing to appear.  There’s nothing you can do to make it run faster, so just sit tight.

After your listing status says Active, you’ll start seeing activity like how many impressions (the number of times your local listing appeared in a search result) and actions (the number of times someone clicked on your listing, requested driving directions to your place, or clicked through to your website).  You can view more detail by clicking on View Report.

Do More

• Make sure you have a strong website that contains lots of local information about your company and your surroundings, like driving directions to your business, local companies you’ve worked with, and local events where you can be found.
• Links to your website from local authority sites are awesome.  Chamber of Commerce, college & university links, and other local sites can help your search rankings improve.
• Get reviewed.  Ask your happy customers to review you on relevant review sites.  For example, a Bed and Breakfast might ask customers to review them on CitySearch.com, TravelGuide.com, or other travel sites.

There can be a lot to finding your local search market.  Let us know in the comments below what kind of questions you might have!

Cory Huff is the blogging & social media specialist for Netbiz.com, an internet marketing firm in Portland, Oregon and one of our very own Sparkplugging Interns!  You can follow him on Twitter at @AGoodHusband

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This is a post from Leslie Truex, one of our WAHM 2.0 writers and author of the Work at Home Success Bible.  I asked her to share some wisdom with us from her experience in writing and publishing a book after many years as a web publisher.

If someone had told me ten years ago that I’d someday be a go-to gal for work-at-home information AND that I’d have a published book for moms who want to work at home, I’d have thought they were nuts. Its cliché I know, but true. First off, I didn’t start out in the corporate world so my business knowledge and experience was nil. And while I got good grades in school, writing terrified me.  And yet, here I am making a living from home and helping others do the same through my website WorkAtHomeSuccess.com and recently published book, The Work-At-Home Success Bible (Adams Media 2009). How did that happen??

I can tell you that it didn’t happen by design, at least not originally.

Like many young mothers, when I had children I wanted to be home with them, but couldn’t afford it. My work-at-home journey was typical of many moms in that I fell for scams and had a few unsuccessful attempts at a home business. What I really wanted was to work-at-home in a job, but there was woefully little information about telecommuting. What information I could find indicated that only people with very specific skills such as computer programming, editing, and translation were able to work at home.

But I persevered. As technology advanced, so did the opportunities to work from home. I have telecommuted as a social worker (I still do contract work in adoption) and freelanced online doing writing, research, and website maintenance. In 1998 I began to share my insights and discoveries about working at home on a website, WorkAtHomeSuccess.com. The site quickly grew as I added job postings, scam alerts, and resources. The site started as a hobby, but as advertising and affiliate programs came on the scene, I took advantage of them. Pretty soon the site developed into a stream of income.

Since then opportunities to work at home have exploded including telecommuting options. But the information about telecommuting was still lacking. There were a few websites and even fewer books that covered the details about telecommuting.  As a telecommuter who was helping others find telecommuting work, I thought I was a good candidate to write a book about the ins and outs of finding a work-at-home jobs.  I did what the writing books told me which was to write a book proposal and send it off to agents. Unfortunately no agents wanted it. Nor did they tell me why. In the end,  I published the book through POD with small success.

By 2006 there still wasn’t any traditionally published resources that fully detailed how to find a work-at-home job, so I decided to pitch a book again.  This time I studied publishing paying special attention to platforms. Because my website had good traffic and a thriving email list, I had a platform in place (ready-made buyers). Another change to the proposal was in my “voice”. Instead of writing in the dry style of an academic paper, I wrote in the voice of the pajama mama-clad work-at-home mom that I’d become. The query was rejected 9 times but two agents asked for the full proposal and both offered to represent me.

After some tweaking, the proposal went out to publishers and was eventually bought by Adam’s Media. The only change the publisher made was that instead of a book about telecommuting alone, it wanted a complete guide… a Bible (its term not mine) on working at home.

If you’ve been considering publishing a book through a traditional publisher, you may have heard how difficult it is to get an agent or a publisher. My experience wasn’t bad, but that’s because I did my homework. The truth about publishing is that you need more than the expertise and the ability to string words together coherently. You also need a platform and terrific marketing plan.  Publishers need to know that you’ve got an audience and know how to reach them. Traditional publishers offer great distribution, but the big marketing budget is only used for their top writers (Stephan King etc). So if publishers are going to invest in your book, you need to tell them how and where to reach your audience.

Here are a few tips to get you started:

1. Build your platform first. Know your brand and get it out in the world. Use PR, public speaking, article writing, blogging, podcasting, social networking, email newsletters, and anything else you can think of to position yourself as an expert. Use resources such as HARO (HelpAReporter.com) and Pitchrate.com to let reporters know you’re an expert they can interview. (PRLeads.com is a good source to but it’s expensive).
2. Write a proposal that outlines your book including a well-planned out marketing plan. Areas that need to stand out besides the quality of writing are your hook and platform. Further, make sure the proposal as well as the sample chapters reflect your writing style and personality. There are many good books to help with this.
3. Identify agents or publishers that fit your topic. The biggest gripe agents and publishers have about new writers is that they submit books on topics they don’t represent. Writer’s Market (book and online) and other sources have lists of agents and publishers. Study agent/publisher websites and lists of books they’ve already worked on to see if yours will fit.
4. If you’re emailing agents/publishers (only do so if they indicate they accept email queries), send a query letter first as opposed to the whole proposal. Make your query as compelling as possible to generate interest. Again, there are fabulous books (I like How to Write Irresistible Query Letters by Lisa Collier Cool) to help you with this.
5. Understand that rejection is part of the process.  Consider tweaking your proposal and query if it’s receiving lots of rejections. Keep researching agents and publishers. Even JK Rowling got rejections.
6. If you still don’t find a traditional publisher, consider self-publishing. Today Print-On-Demand is affordable and very easy. You can get an ISBN and have your book listed along all the others at Amazon and bookstores. Self-publishing is another way to built your credibility and platform, and could eventually lead to a book deal. Many authors got their traditional book deal through their self-publishing efforts.

I may not have started out to be a work-at-home professional or a writer, but I’m thrilled to be where I am and I’m eagerly looking forward to the future with new plans and projects! Who knows where I’ll end up?

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