Before I proceed, the caveat here is that if youre considering starting a direct sales business or are already in DS, please consultant with individual company policies and procedures to determine what methods are permissible for you.

I represent Scentsy and my private website is Thriving Candle Business. Our company is extremely forward thinking when it comes to innovation and ingenuity.  I know there are other direct selling companies who also embrace this philosophy.

My claim to fame (one of them, anyway) is that I have never done a home party or a book party since I started with Scentsy in 2006.  Thusly I know of what I speak when I say that there are plenty of home party alternatives that direct sellers can employ and still be very successful.

Whether you cant seem to get home party bookings or you simply dont have the desire for them, here are some suggestions on other ways you may be able to succeed in your direct sales business.

1. Internet Marketing. If you’re an Internet Marketer, you know of all the various techniques you can use.  The same holds true for direct sales.  If you’re not terribly experienced with Internet marketing but would love to learn, I highly recommend The Complete Internet Marketing Moms Start Up Guide!
2. Vendor Events. Vendor events could consist of a $10 table at a three-hour event or it could be a multiple-day event that could come with a financial investment of hundreds of dollars for a booth.
3. Displays. Set up a small display at a salon, apartment complex, office building, or other location that gets a great deal of foot traffic. We are not permitted to retail out of said locations but are allowed to set up a candle warmer, candle bar, room spray, car candle, scent samples and business cards.  The business owner may want to act as the hostess and collect orders or perhaps customers will just enjoy your products, take a business card and order online.
4. Fundraisers. Ensure it is a win/win situation.  If you can also make enough profit (not just break even) to cover your time and expenses, fundraisers can be a great way to gain additional exposure.  Too often though I see consultants give away the farm to a point where it actually is costing her money to put on a fundraiser with her company  – all in the name of acquiring new potential customers.
5. Advertising and PR. The former comes with a financial investment and the latter is generally free but requires something newsworthy to get noticed.  Both can provide a wonderful boost to your business if targeted properly.
6. One at a time. Most direct sellers will agree that home parties still afford you the opportunity to sell to many in a short amount of time.  If, however, that doesn’t work for you, remember how to eat an elephant  – one bite at a time!

As you see, Direct Sales doesn’t always have to mean One of Those Home Party Deals. Hopefully that will give you a little food for thought and perhaps cause you to take a second look at one of the fastest growing industries today!

I’ve got a line up of really interesting moms who are all doing something to earn an income online.  You’ll get to meet them and you’ll have access to a bundle of really terrific freebies.

Welcome the the WAH World

All the details are here: Totally Free Tuesday

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!

Yeah, you heard me right.  I’m working hard through the holiday break.  (I’m HUNGRY remember?)

Don’t worry, I’ve got my vacation planned for the following weekend.  I’ll be settling into my lake house with lots of relaxation on the calendar.  (My trusty VA is guarding my calendar to keep it clear.)

I was visiting with my friend and life coach, Aurelia Williams earlier today and shared something pretty exciting.  I’ve already met my goal of earning an extra $1000!  Actually, I made an extra $1200 in just nine days.   That took all of the pressure off of my budget this month and puts me well on the path to my long term goal of doubling my income in nine months.

Some new pressure came to light right on the heels of that as I realized how much I’ll need to put aside for my trip to NAMS in January.  I see that as a good thing – I need to feel the burn to keep my motivated.

I have got a LOT done this past week.  I finished up all of the lessons for my Blog Internship course and got a new group coaching program ready to launch, that’s the 42 Day Launch Incubator.  I’m super geeked about the Incubator.  I’m going to be working with other hungry internet marketers as they create their first (or next) information product in just 42 days.

I interviewed 25+ and selected 12 new interns for the Mom’s Talk Network blogs.  This new group will be getting started after my vacation and I can hardly wait!

It’s been a great week and I plan to make this weekend even more productive.

So you go enjoy your weekend!  I’ll be here if you need me

I’ve been using FIVE instant message systems for a long time.  Well, six if you count Twitter.  (I know Twitter isn’t for IM, but it often gets used the way.)

I started out with ICQ way back in the old days but didn’t stick with it.  I moved onto Yahoo and somewhere along the way I started using AOL and MSN messengers because some friend or family member was using it.  Add Gtalk and Skype and I’m a mess.

Yes, I know there are tools that mesh them all together but I don’t think that’s my answer. I just want to be in one place, you know?

I’ve chosen Skype for my primary contact client.  I use SkypeIn for my business telephone line and SkypeOut for the calls I need to make.  I’ve got a lot of my near and dears as Skype contacts and all of the most important numbers saved as well.   I’ve even got a tool on my BlackBerry to keep me in touch when I’m away.

Confession: Gtalk is still on my Gmail screen but I think of it more as ‘extra speedy email’ than instant messaging

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!

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?

What is the Actual Cost of Your Blogging – Great post by J. Angelo Racoma about what it costs to be a blogger.  I found it interesting to consider, especially when she compares what is earned from blog ad income to what could be earned doing other work.

ProBlogger is launching a Community – This is exciting news from Darren Rouse and I can’t wait to see what shape it takes.

The Get Started Now Guide to Becoming Self Employed – Excellent post from Zen Habits I found in my Google Reader tonight thanks to my friend Christie. (She’s great about sharing good posts!)  If you’re thinking about being self employed, definitely give it a read.

Free Event for new Work at Home Moms – We’re putting together an incredible one day orientation for new work at home moms, featuring speakers, free learning resources and some really terrific giveaways.  I’ll be sure to tell you more about it as the date draws near but right now I’m actually still looking for a few interesting WAHMs to come and share their story during the event so if you’re interested in being a speaker, shout out to me by email. (kelly@sparkplugging.com)

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

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.

Learn all about it at the Lemonade Movie.

There’s an old saying that goes “The only certainty is change”; however well you think you’re prepared for something, there’s always a surprise waiting for you.

Take the latest addition to my family – the birth of my 2nd daughter, Elissa, about a month ago.

Since I’d been through this before, you’d think that I’d be prepared for the nights with activities like disrupted sleep, half-groggy feedings (the baby, not me!) and feelings of fatigue midway through the day (a cosy 2-hour afternoon nap helps a great deal).

Add to the mix, fun activities like planning for my kids’ college fund (Never too early to start these days…), registering their respective domains (I own both BiancaWee.com and ElissaWee.com – no content up yet though!) and running the day-to-day operations of an online business.

While I’m no “Jon & Kate Plus 8″, I have been a little busy. Which is why this guest post is coming about 4 months after Kelly invited me to contribute a piece.

Dealing with Organized Chaos

Since I’m a “respectable family man”, the days of pulling all-nighters to complete a product, or staying awake for 48 hours to deal with product launch hiccups should be a thing of the past…or are they?

Stress? What stress?

Even if my “To Do” list contains 10 items for the day and only half of them get done, I don’t get insomnia or stress over it like I used to.

In the sometimes hectic pace of the 24-7-365 internet, it’s sometimes easy to forget the main reason why we’ve chosen the “work from home” route, compared to slogging it out in the corporate trenches.

The thing is, “Personal freedom” and “financial indepedence” are just buzzwords, unless you’re walking the talk, and not just talking the talk.

The key to finding fulfilment in online marketing is finding your personal comfort zone and accepting what you can reasonably do in the time you have each day (which might ultimately be 2-3 hours of solid, productive work – waaaay before everyone gets up, or after everyone has gone to bed).

Here’re some tips to Getting what you want and getting what you need to get done.

#1 Identifying the difference between “optional tasks”, “good to have tasks” and “need to complete tasks”

“Optional Tasks”

An optional task is something you can cut out of your schedule and not miss greatly (or possibly scheduling it for “Veg Out” time). This could be watching a re-run of a 5 DVD boxed set of “Sex and the City” or “Gossip Girl”.

It might also include meeting up or chatting with online/offline casual contacts who would like to “get to know you better”.

Having and using the power to say “No” can be a life saver here. Also, if you’ve scheduled your time in a planner, you’ll have a clear idea of what needs to be done, vs letting others take your time away. (a little harsh, but if someone’s using what little time you may have left, they ARE taking your time away).

#2 Identifying good to have tasks

These are tasks which would be useful to you personally, or professionally. It could involve watching clips on YouTube, reading relevant blogs and forums, and attending conferences, workshops, webinars, teleseminars, etc.

These can almost be as enjoyable as optional tasks, although they can do you or your business good too.

Prioritizing these tasks and deciding which ones to take up can again free up time for other more important activities.

#3 Need to complete tasks

Unfortunately, if you’re new to managing your time effectively, these tasks might be the ones that get shoved to the end of the day when you’re running on fumes and down to your last legs.

A comfy bed looks positively appealing compared to the humdrum review of sales reports, or planning out and implementing tweaks to your business to improve traffic and sales conversions.

These are the tasks that feel the most “work” like and can be repetitive, monotonous and yes, boring.

However, if you look at the reasons why you’ve made the choice to work from home or out of a small office, you’ll also realize that a solid 1-2 hour block of time at the start of the day (I like the 6am timeslot, right after I’ve given my daughter her feed), or at the end of the day, can give your business (whether fledgling or established) a huge boost.

It’s not all work though. “Need to complete” tasks should also include activities that are personally meaninful to you (and sometimes, your sanity!) I’d also include setting aside time to spend with my wife and older daughter each day.

Putting it all together

While some may have a moment of self-realization and attempt to shift ALL their time to “need to complete” activities and experience a burst in productivity, this boost might be short-lived.

If it’s a radical change to your lifestyle over the past couple of years, it could send quite a shock to your system and lead to burnout.

Instead, what’s worked for me is making gradual changes to my schedule that I know I can follow on a long-term basis.

If I fall off the wagon when it comes to following my schedule, I take note of it and keep chugging along.

One of the maxims that’s helped me succeed is Vince Lombardi’s quote “It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get back up.”

There’s certainly no reason to get lost in transition.

Andrew Wee blogs at WhoIsAndrewWee.com and is co-founder of the internet marketing resource, InternetMarketingCookbook.com.

“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?

(The survey is over)

We’ll publish results tomorrow

Last week’s Spark an Idea Thursday was about Making ‘Real Life’ Connections With People You Know Online.

Interestingly enough, my Spark an Idea round up post is late because I was away from the home office ;ast Thursday and Friday making several great ‘real life connections’ with women I’ve met online over the last six years

Here’s what our Sparkplugging Author’s have to say:

• Leslie says to attend live events.
• Traci recommends joining the Smart Solopreneurs Meetup Group.
• Lynette says to be the first to reach out to someone else.
• Michelle suggests picking up the phone to talk with your customers.
• Brandie likes to have virtual coffee with people. (I’ve had VC with her before!)

If you’d like to chime in on next week’s Spark an Idea topic – “Spark an Idea about Motivating Others” , we’d love to have you join in.  Grab our image and make your post by 9am EST on Thursday the 23rd, then tweet me to let me know and I’ll include you in the round up post here on Sparkplug CEO.

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

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

If you’re moonlighting at a work at home job, you’re probably working far more hours than the average office worker, and if you’re on your own then good, ergonomically designed office furniture may not in the budget. Here at Sparkplugging we run the gamut from cozy office space to recliner in the living room, but I didn’t see many ergonomically designed workstations or a single Aeron chair in the bunch.

Workplace Injuries to Watch Out For

Repetitive Strain Injuries.

Also known as cumulative trauma disorder, RSIs include such things as tendinitis, bursitis, de Quervain Syndrome, and a host of other syndromes and -itises that, for the modern information worker, cause pain in the hands, wrists, elbows, or shoulders. Surprisingly, the heavy hitter of RSIs, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, has not been shown to be caused by keyboarding or mousing as previously thought, but is now considered to be more of a risk to assembly line workers and those with a genetic predisposition toward narrowed carpal tunnels.

Eye Strain.

Extended computer use is the most common cause of eye strain, according to a study by the Mayo Clinic. Eye strain caused by computer use is so common it even has it’s own name: computer vision syndrome. Despite it’s rather foreboding name, computer vision syndrome is easily treated and rarely results in long term damage.

Lower Back Strain.

Lower back strain isn’t generally caused by working hunched over a computer all day, but it certainly isn’t helped by it, either. Poor posture and chairs with little or no lumbar support both contribute to back pain, and if you do have a back injury, can slow the healing process.

An Ounce of Prevention

There are a few changes you can make to your workplace (and habits) to prevent these and other work related injuries.

• Make sure your monitor is positioned so the top of the screen is at eye level. This will help prevent eye strain and neck injuries.
• Keep your monitor dust and fingerprint free.
• Position your keyboard directly in front of your monitor so your eyes don’t have to work so hard to refocus each time you look away from the monitor.
• Get a good, adjustable office chair which allows you to keep your feet flat on the floor and provides some lumbar support. If that’s not in the budget right now, invest in a footrest and a lumbar pillow to help keep your spine stable while you work.
• Lower your keyboard and mouse. Most desks are 28 to 30 inches high, which is too high for comfortable mousing and keyboarding. Install a keyboard tray on the underside of your desk to bring your keyboard to a more ergonomic level.

Beyond the Office

Maintaining your overall health is as important as the chair you sit in when it comes to preventing RSIs and low back strain, so make sure you are eating healthy and getting plenty of exercise. Carrots might not improve your eyesight, but eating a balanced, nutritious diet will improve your muscle tone, bone strength, and your energy level. Combine good nutrition with regular exercise to strengthen core muscles and you’ll likely find that lower back pain fading away.

One other important thing you can do to prevent workplace injuries is to simply get out of the office. Don’t fall into the trap of working all the time just because you work at home. Take frequent breaks, and make sure you are taking days off, just like if you worked for someone else.

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?

@JessicaGottlieb -  Makes me wonder if I owe anybody any money and would a #followfriday settle the debt? LOL!

@iszuddin – Great attitude!

@andrewwee – Love to see a proud Daddy crowing about a new baby and loving that he registers a domain right away.