But what action have you taken lately that would make use of all that awesome potential?

Last week I wrote a brief post about how ‘doing’ (actually taking action on a regular basis) can put someone with less natural ability ahead of someone else with boatloads of it.   The post was encouraging to those who feel like they don’t have a lot of natural skill.

An old supervisor of mine used to say, ‘I may not be the smartest or best looking – but guarantee I’ll work harder and have more fun.”

And it was true.  He was the hardest worker and always did seem to have a great time.  He wasn’t the life of the party but he was the life of the business.

Attitude can be added to the list of attributes that beat out natural attributes.

If you haven’t been told over and over again that you have what it takes – let me tell you today: You Do.  It may not be ‘in you’ in the form of some innate skill but you have it available to you in the form of the right mindset and actions.

If you’re one of those ‘born leaders’ that were voted most likely to succeed – but you’re not succeeding – is there a chance that you’ve been told so many times that you have what it takes to be the best that you thought it would just magically occur without effort on your part?

Same advice applies… adopt a new attitude and take some action today.

One of my older brothers is ultra intelligent.  He did well in school without trying.  I’ve always thought of him as a born inventor.  He was always thinking up stuff when we were young.  Good with cars, could build things, was creative and had a real spirit of excellence about him.

Perhaps more than all that – he was a people person.  People were drawn to him.  They just liked him and enjoyed being around him.  And not just young people – folks from all walks of life.

If anyone had a foundation to build on, he did.

But he didn’t.

All the natural ability in the world won’t mean a thing if you don’t DO something with it.

DO Something Today.

Grow your business with these 23 solid tips from Samir Balwani. Samir covers everything from the obvious–start a blog–to the not so obvious–get rid of bad clients. Definitely one to  bookmark and return to again and again.

Wendy’s list of 13 inspirational women entrepreneurs is a real find. Some of these women I’ve been aware of for a while, and some I’ve never heard of, but they are all doing great things and are all worth following.

If you dream of being your own boss, this list of 15 entrepreneurial skills is a great place to start. Like Wendy says, you don’t have to possess all 15 from the start, but you need to either develop themor hire someone who can fill in the gaps for you.

Follow Cindy on Twitter: @cindybidar

This is a guest post from one of my bestest online peeps, Nicole Dean.

Kelly McCausey, your fearless editor, asked me to write about transitions in business. You see, I’ve had a few major changes over the years that she and I have known each other. My husband was laid off from work a few times, I’ve lived in four different homes (3,000 miles apart), and my business has morphed countless times.

Kelly has seen me go from having to drag me onto her WAHM Talk Radio show several years ago to starting my own weekly Online Business Success Podcast. She’s talked me through my fear on countless occasions – from being her “much afraid” friend to becoming an all-out internet marketing expert.

I sat and thought for a bit about which transition I should write about. The transitions are all a blur, actually. Then I saw a greater message that needed to be said today.

Business, in my opinion, is nothing but a series of transitions and decisions.

Actually, I guess that you could define life the same way. You make plans and then keep adjusting as you go – adjusting the plans, but also the path that you’ll need to take to get there from where you are at that moment in time. It’s like childbirth. Sure, you may be like me and write up a three-page birth plan that’s very precise – down to the music that will be played and the clothing that you’ll be wearing and the post-birth medicines (or lack thereof) that you’re willing to take for pain. You should always have a plan.

But, then labor starts and all hell breaks loose. The rules change. Bringing your beautiful baby into the world healthy and whole is still the end goal, but you may have to shift off course a bit from “the plan” to make that happen. That’s life. We make decisions on the fly to get what we want.

I’ve been through a few major hurricanes. In fact, I should say “survived” a few major hurricanes because anyone who lives through one feels the impact, emotionally and financially for months or years afterwards. If I’ve learned one thing from the hurricanes that have ripped up my roof, dropped trees on my house, and cost me thousands and thousands of dollars, it’s this….

You’ve got to be flexible.

The palm tree is designed to bend. That’s how it survives through storm after storm. It sways in the wind.

The pine tree? Not so much. Rather than swaying in the breeze like a palm does, it is rigid and tries to stay straight and tall – until it snaps right in half (landing on your awning) and dies.

I recommend that you be the palm. Sway, bend, and give when you feel the wind blow. During times of difficulty and change in your business, adjust and give, without getting firm and rigid – or your business may not survive to see the dark clouds part to send sunshine beaming through.

Now that I’ve stated my philosophy on transition and decision, let me give you a few business examples.

Example #1: You take on a new client. Your gut tells you that it’s just not right but you can’t afford to turn down a client, right? That’d just be silly.

I’ve watched friends begin to hate their businesses. You know the one thing that makes that happen the fastest? Not listening to your gut. Guess what my advice is when working with a client that makes you unhappy? If you’re miserable, no one else is going to hire you. Your passion will be gone and you’ll be giving the “I hate my work” vibe. Dump the chump and get a move on. It’s like a bad marriage. It won’t get any better.

See? Transition is good.

Example #2: You get an amazing opportunity to become a writer for an exciting client, but it would mean leaving your current job (which you really don’t like). The problem? You don’t want to leave your current employers in a lurch and don’t know how they’d find someone else to take over your hours, even though they pay you poorly, gripe about you taking off for emergencies, and the job stresses you out beyond belief.

Hello?! If my coaching client is reading this … you know who you are. My advice to her? Dump them and go for the dream opportunity! As for the old employers, and your guilt about leaving them behind? That’s not a rational fear. There are people in desperate situations who would fall on their knees and thank God for that job who may be a much better fit for it than she was. The new person may deal with crabby people better and enjoy the flexible hours that the job offered. So, jump on that new opportunity and do not dare to look back.

Why do we fear change so much? Transition is a good thing. It means progress.

Me, in my personal life? Well, I’ll share a secret with you. Usually when I’m comfortable, I know that I’m not challenging myself enough. If it’s easy, I need to try something new.

I could remain right where I am right now and be very comfortable in my safe little bubble of running an online business. However, I know that I can do more. I know there are more challenges ahead for me to face. So, when that happens and I am scared, I get a mentor – someone who has been where I want to be and can lead me. I’m currently learning from two mentors who I’ll share about soon on my Nicole Dean on the Net blog. One mentor is helping me to be a speaker and the other is helping me to write and launch a book. Could I do it on my own? Probably. But, it’s much much better for my business to be taken by the hand and led through the experience than to wander in the dark alone.

I urge you to get a mentor, too. It can be me, or Kelly, or anyone who makes you feel inspired and challenged to be the best you that you can be. Whether you go with a business coach or a life coach or a mastermind group – I don’t care which you choose. Just be sure that you have a guide to walk you through the transitions in your business, too.

Now, before I go, I’d like you to do one thing. Close your eyes (not yet, silly) and picture your life one year from now. What would you want that picture to look like?

What about five years from now? What does your business look like? Do you have clients? If so, picture your dream client. Who is that person? Why do you want to work with him/her? Is your business ecommerce? Are you a speaker? A podcaster? An author?

See? Transitions ARE good. Make the decision to make that dream happen and get on the path to that dream today!

Nicole Dean jumps out of bed every morning, excited about teaching others how to make money online. Her goal is to show people that earning a full-time income online is doable – with the right teachers and focus, but you’ve got to take ACTION in order to get there. Nicole is an experienced affiliate marketer, affiliate manager, and PLR site owner – helping people everywhere to discover strategies for making money online.

Learn more about Nicole at NicoleDean.com.

Entrepreneurs come in all forms, and so do the blogs that inform them. Whether your focus is starting a business, marketing it effectively, or developing an active community, you’ll find at least a few blogs here that will be sure to provide you with plenty of inspiration.

WorkHappy.net boasts “killer resources for entrepreneurs” and definitely lives up to it. This blog provides a lot of information about using technology to improve your business, but also includes more general info about topics such as marketing, SEO, and productivity. WorkHappy.net has over 9,600 subscribers. You can also follow founder Carson McComas on Twitter (@Carson).

Startup Nation is written by a fairly large roster of experienced business bloggers and writers, and covers every aspect of running a business. Definitely worth checking out are their “Step by Step” advice guides, which cover several important topics in a (you guessed it!) step by step format.

Escape from Cubicle Nation is written by Pamela Slim, a former corporate manager turned coach who works with frustrated cube-dwellers who want to start their own businesses. Her blog is full of practical advice as well as in-depth posts about motivation and other aspects of life as an entrepreneur. You can follow Pamela Slim on Twitter (@pamslim).

IttyBiz is written by the always entertaining (and wonderfully foul-mouthed, er, penned? Typed?) Naomi Dunford. Dunford has made it her mission to help small businesses succeed, and there is a ton of useful advice on her blog that any smart entrepreneur, whether they run an “ittybiz” or a large business, would be wise to heed. You can also sign up for free marketing courses. Be sure to follow Dunford on Twitter Entrepreneur.com’s Daily Dose provides news of interest to entrepreneurs as well as information about marketing, starting a business, and technology.

Entrepreneurs at About.com is written by technology entrepreneur and consultant Scott Allen. The blog covers the latest business-related news as well as tips for entrepreneurs. Allen’s About.com site also features advice about nuts-and-bolts topics such as choosing a business, getting started, and how to manage every facet of your business. You can also follow him on Twitter (@scottallen).

It seems like, whether we planned it or not, we’re all web workers now, so the WebWorkerDaily blog is a must. WWD provides the latest advice, tips, and gadgets to help you succeed as an online business person, with a focus on improving your productivity. Follow them on Twitter (@webworkerdaily).

I kind of think of Seth Godin as the Yoda of the business world (I know, I know, I’m a geek…) so he’s definitely someone you should be reading. His books are full of thought-provoking insight, and his blog offers plenty of the same. You can follow his blog on Twitter (@thisissethsblog), but it’s just a Twitterfeed of his blog posts; Godin doesn’t Tweet.

The Closet Entrepreneur (the DIY source for entrepreneurs) is a fun blog that includes everyday hacks for your small business (for example, recording a phone conversation without spending money on special equipment) as well as plenty of useful advice for common day-to-day issues. You can follow founder Tomas Carillo on Twitter (@tomascarillo).

Whether you work as a writer, designer, coder, or marketing professional (and sometimes, we are all of those things!) Freelance Switch is definitely worth a read. It has a very strong following– over 19,000 people subscribe to the Freelance Switch feed. The blog itself is fantastic, providing plenty of useful advice for freelance entrepreneurs. The site also includes a jobs board, podcast, and forums. Freelance Switch is on Twitter, too (@freelancesw).

Small Biz Survival is all about being an entrepreneur in a small town or rural setting. Truthfully, though, any entrepreneur can benefit from reading this team-written blog. Their posts often focus on customer service and community-building-two things that every entrepreneur needs to excel at to thrive.

Guy Kawasaki’s How to Change the World is for the dreamer inside every entrepreneur. While he occasionally covers more typical issues, Kawasaki writes most often about the big picture and the art of entrepreneurship. Kawasaki is also on Twitter (@guykawasaki).

For information about eCommerce, you should be reading Get Elastic. Get Elastic is a great source for news and information about eCommerce, email marketing, SEO, and social media marketing. This blog has a following of just under 10,000 RSS subscribers. You can follow Get Elastic on Twitter, as well (@getelastic).

If you’ve ever searched for anything even remotely related to internet marketing, chances are pretty good that the name Yaro Starak has turned up. His blog, Entrepreneurs-Journey, has almost 70,000 subscribers, and is one of the “go-to” resources for those who want to make money online. He also founded the Blog Mastermind program, runs seminars, offers eBooks, and produces podcasts. He’s everywhere, including Twitter (@yarostarak).

The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur is for anyone who’s trying to start a business with little to no cash, and with more inspiration than experience. (Sounds like the vast majority of entrepreneurs to me!) Author Michael Michalowicz offers great advice and a light-hearted take on the entrepreneur’s life in his book, his blog, and on Twitter (@tpentrepreneur).

ReadWriteWeb is a great source for internet and technology news, but they also feature many posts on starting and running a web business. It has a huge following, with approximately 275,000 RSS and email subscribers. Check them out on Twitter as well (@rww).

Performancing is all about helping you, as an entrepreneur, build and run a successful blog. There’s plenty of good info here about social networking, marketing, and affiliates. They also provide blogging jobs boards and forums.

Dane Carlson’s Business Opportunities Weblog provides a pretty equal mix of inspiration and practical advice. Carlson is also on Twitter (@danec).

Duct Tape Marketing is all about marketing and branding for small businesses. It has a large following (approximately 132,000 RSS subscribers) and also maintains a Twitter presence ((@ducttape).

On Startups is all about, you guessed it, starting a new business. There are plenty of useful posts here on all facets of starting a business. The blog has just under 15,000 RSS subscribers, and can also be found on Twitter (@dharmesh).

While not technically considered an “entrepreneur blog,” Men With Pens is a blog that is based around providing excellent customer service, communicating clearly, and, to a lesser extent, developing your brand. Pretty useful information for any entrepreneur, don’t you think? Besides that, the Pen Men are anything but boring; opinionated and informative are two words that describe nearly every post on their blog. For a little extra fun, you can also follow them on Twitter (@menwithpens).

Young Entrepreneur Blog is a great resource for entrepreneurs of any age. It provides helpful articles, profiles of successful entrepreneurs, and an “Entrepreneur University,” which provides all of their “how-to” articles in one convenient place. You can also follow them on Twitter (@thebizguy).

Strategy Stew is full of articles about marketing, trends, branding strategy, and other ways of getting your name out there. You can also follow founder Ivana Taylor on Twitter (@strategystew).

Small Business Trends provides updates and information about the trends affecting small business. The blog has a readership of over 112,000 RSS readers. You can also follow them on Twitter (@smallbiztrends).

Sparkplugging. Well, this one’s a no-brainer, right?

I hope these blogs inspire and inform you. Do you have any favorite blogs for entrepreneurs you’d like to share?

• I was rather fascinated and surprised to find out that renaming eMoms to something like eParents would go over like a lead balloon.
• I was astonished to find hair remaining on my head after coming face to face with the booming domain squatting industry (grrrr… don’t get me started).
• And then I found myself somewhat lamenting the changes around here, realizing that in order to grow I had to let go of some things that were deeply important to me.

So I know you’re wondering, and I hate to keep you waiting, so yes, we’ve found a name. And I’ll tell you what it is. Soon. Very soon.

But an unexpected casualty of this whole naming process was that I didn’t know what to do with my own blog on the network with this new name. And this is where I need to tell you that yes, there are going to be bigger changes around here than just a new name.

I was actually having an email conversation about it with Darren Rowse last night; here’s part of what I wrote:

I never liked that my blog was the same name as eMoms at Home – I thought it was confusing. But in order to continue to be the ‘flagship’ blog of my own network, I realized I couldn’t be focused so much on Moms or blogging anymore, which was difficult for me personally. It’s really important to me to continue to provide support to the blogging community and to moms, even though I can’t do it directly anymore.

I really was only able to be OK with that decision by adding some blogs to our network to cover these topics on a more in depth level. And moving forward my own blog will shift focus a bit to be more entrepreneurial, especially because I’m thinking of doing some much bigger things with the site under our new name.

Before you go getting worried, I’m still the same eMom. I’ll still write about internet business. And my kids. Promise. I’ll just be doing that a little less and talking more about business building a little more.

I believe that blogging as a business has changed drastically, even since I started doing it. And I believe there needs to be less focus on monetizing blogs, and instead more focus on building sustainable online businesses that can work for you, while allowing you to actually live life, too. Yeah, that’s probably better expanded upon in a separate blog post. Too much to talk about there.

So what will be changing at eMoms at Home?

Next week, we are going to relaunch this site and…

• We’ll have a new name and a new URL. Everything will be redirected, but we’d certainly love you forever if you could update your bookmarks. (We’d love you even more if you could update your links to our site.)
• The eMoms Original Recipe blog will have a new name, but I will be keeping the same RSS feed address.
• We will be launching 2 new blogs next week, The Home Office Organizer & Believer in Balance.
• Every week for the following 4 weeks after that, we will be adding 2 more new blogs to the “BrandNewName” Blog Network. If you are math challenged like me, that’s 10 new blogs.
• And of course, what rebrand and rename would be complete without the obligatory kickass contests. So be sure to drop by to get free goodies.

But wait, you ask, what the heck is the new name?! Well, remember that I mentioned a conversation with Darren Rowse about this? He knows our new name. And because I truthfully can give Darren boatloads of credit for the success of eMoms at Home, I figured I might just let him tell you.

Soon.

Now, I’m no newbie to being transparent – and I’m also no newbie to getting attacked – but Heather’s level of attack-ness eclipses anything I have ever experienced by a longshot. And I honestly have felt myself holding back as this site gets bigger – thinking that maybe I should be a little less ‘out there’ and maybe everyone doesn’t need to know ‘everything’ I am dealing with behind the scenes – because you know what? It’s getting harder and harder to be public with my flaws.

Heather answered with a story about her skin cancer diagnosis – and knew full well that some people would accuse her of being a drama queen for writing about it, no matter how she brought it up. And they did. But because she blogged about her skin cancer diagnosis, she had a reader mail in and say that she went and got a cancer screening to. And because of Heather’s post, they caught her cancer in time to save her life.

Listening to her answer I had one of those awkward, uncomfortable moments in which I realized that I had been holding out on you. And that even though I knew from experience that blogging transparently is important and really changes people’s lives, I really didn’t want to talk about this past winter. And in that moment, I knew I had to. *Cue skin crawling feeling*

Depression and Working at Home

It took me much longer than usual this winter to break out of my winter funk – I’ve shared that I get pretty bad S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder) in the past – but this year was really freaking BAD. I feel like I haven’t been able to truly open up since last November on this blog like I always have in the past. And I’ve missed making this connection with all of you.

The real reason I started this blog almost 2 years ago was to share my story from years ago of how being clinically depressed while running a home business really messed with my head (points for understatement of the year, perhaps?). It guess it is fitting and appropriate that it comes full circle to talk about it again – though I’m not sure that S.A.D. is the same as clinical depression, for a few months there, it sure felt like it, and I was way outside of my comfort zone.

I really felt like I had to hide it from you. I wanted you to continue to think I was this strong woman who had conquered her demons and that they remained far behind her. What was really happening was that I was wondering every damn day how I was going to continue to grow this business when I didn’t feel like I could take care of myself, let alone 3 children, a home, a blog network, and 8 authors that were counting on me to make this work.

The truth of the matter is that I was shortchanging both of us on a critically important learning opportunity. But I couldn’t share the story with you until I climbed back out of that hole again. I couldn’t talk about the problem until I could find the lesson in it.

I saw a comment in January – I can’t even remember who or where it was said, but someone said something to the effect of, “It’s hard to believe that someone like Wendy would ever have to deal with these kinds of struggles”. I cried when I read that, because I just wanted to reach through this computer screen and scream that “YES, I HAVE F-ING PROBLEMS TOO!! I’M NOT PERFECT!” And I wanted to say to her that if you wait until you think you can “handle” a big business and that you have all the “experience” and “answers”, guess what? It will never freaking happen!!

Thanks, Dooce

So, quite honestly, I hated writing this post. And I’m second guessing publishing it. I hate telling you I don’t have it all together, and I hate the thought that you might think I’m some lame ass lazy poser. But Heather was right.
I loved that some of you thought that I don’t have to deal with struggles, that I am some kind of super-human being. But if I continue to let you believe that about me then I have failed you as a leader, a colleague and as a friend. I mess up, I fall down, I cry (as in right now…), I doubt, and I get scared.

While all this was going on, the site has still grown, I still showed up every day, and I refused to give in and believe in my shortcomings. And I can assure you, while in the midst of the snowiest, coldest, and darkest winter we have had in decades, I felt like I was drowning in shortcomings. But if I can run a business, a blog network, and a family from my basement office while struggling with S.A.D./depression, then perhaps I can also serve as an example to you that maybe you can do more than you think you can do with your own business.

I’m not saying it’s easy. But I am going to say that if I am going to show up here and teach you what it is like to become a business owner, I’m going to be brutally honest with you about it.

This might sound like it’s all stress and misery. It can feel that way at times, but I honestly wouldn’t trade this life for anything on this planet. I get to touch lives, I get to inspire people, I get to make a difference, and I get to help people like you create a business that allows you to follow your dreams while getting more time with your families.

I’m living my mission. For some people its about making money from home. For me, I’m touching God through writing these words. I’m honored to be here, even when I show up with mascara all over my face.

So please, no matter how inadequate you might feel, go out and change the world today. I know you can.