Last night I was nearly overwhelmed by the number of tweets and links to blog posts that were - ‘ahem’ - opinionated to say the least about Republican VP Nominee Sarah Palin and her speech given at the RNC.

As a conservative voter - I don’t expect liberal voters to agree with me or like the Republican nominees. We have different world views so I expect that we will have different opinions about each other’s candidates. But truly - some of the commentary passing through my Twirl reader was so mean spirited it took my breath away.

Liberals don’t own the copyright on mean spirited talk. Plenty of folks on ‘my side’ of the political fence have crossed the line from discussing issues to attacking people personally as well. I don’t like it any better when it’s aimed at those I disagree with.

I am very opinionated and willing to go to bat for my views - but I choose to spend my time telling you why I stand for what I do and not waste any breath in attacking what you stand for.

Do you know what happened last night? I lost respect for a few people. Not because they disagree with me - I respect (and even occasionally enjoy) disagreement! I lost respect for them because they were just plain mean.

After sorting through my feelings about the opinions shared on Twitter last night it was so fitting that my guest blog post came out on Michael Martine’s blog this morning!

It’s all about being opinionated on your blog. I think the same thoughts and advice can definitely be applied to sharing opinions on Twitter and other social sites.

So tell me Mom… how do the political tweets and blog posts from people you normally only hear business talk from effect your views of them?

Do you enjoy and respect the glimpse into the person’s personal views?

Do you get offended?

Does it make you want to ‘do business elsewhere?’

Or do you compartmentalize the issues and not let it affect you one way or another?

September has arrived and that means that I slow down a bit.

Yes, I know that sounds like opposite world for many of you who have taken the summer to relax and enjoy your kids. I’m not a beach baby and I don’t love basking in the sun - so the fall is my favorite season for getting some R & R.

I work hard all summer long to build momentum when most others are taking it easy and that means when the fall hits, I can take a break and enjoy the forward motion I’ve already created.

It has worked well for me for several years now.

I have one big event coming up in the middle of September and that is Moms Affiliate Expo. (I hope you’re signed up!) After that I plan to take a few mini-vacations to visit some friends I haven’t seen in a long while.

I’m looking at my calendar and planning things out and one of the things I’m thinking about is how many coaching clients to take on this fall. I love coaching. One on one interaction is my all time favorite business activity - but there are only so many hours in a day that I can devote 100% of my attention to so I’ve marked out a few blocks of time and when they have been filled - I am going to close the doors on new coaching clients for the rest of autumn.

If you have projects you need help with, nab a spot while you can

In my recent post about traffic plateaus I mentioned that I know content site marketers who write 30 articles per month for distribution and sees crazy traffic as a result.

Fellow WAHM Carrie Lauth has been inspired (addled?) by this idea and has embarked on a 30 day odyssey to write thirty articles. She’s not climbing on the crazy train alone either - she’s asking for passengers and apparently I’m just as crazy as she is because I bought a ticket to ride.

I have always been a proponent of article marketing. I co-created Easy Article Marketing with Nicole Dean, which happens to be on sale right now for only $20 - so if you need help and direction in the area of writing articles, you should nab it now.

The idea of writing an article a day is daunting - but it goes well with my 2000 words per week for ten weeks advice over here.

I do better with big projects when I have a plan so to give myself a road map - I’m going to create a list of the articles I plan to write between now and the end of September. I’ll pop back and update the list as I go so you can see how I’m doing.

Here goes…

1. My experiences with Google Adsense. (Written. Distributed.)
2. Reading statistics.
3. Good affiliate programs. (Outsourced. Provided to Moms Affiliate Expo Affiliates)
4. Stop Willy nilly advertising.
5. Separating hobbies from businesses.
6. Knowing your target market.
7. Surprising profit points.
8. Internet friendly direct sales businesses.
9. Changing things up.
10. Why $1 Seminars?
11. First steps to Affiliate Marketing. (Outsourced. Provided to Moms Affiliate Expo Affiliates)
12. Judging trends and deciding whether to jump on the band wagon.
13. Participating in blog memes.
14. Are you missing the obvious?
15. Thoughts about creativity.
16. Dropping the blah, blah, blah
17. The more you know, the more valuable you are.
18. Opportunity knocks, can you answer?
19. Are you writing for free?
20. Just get started!
21. Accepting Criticism.
22. Pay someone to promote your Survey.
23. Do you have too many clients?
24. Don’t be afraid to try.
25. How is your Salesmanship?
26. Thoughts about Confidence. (Written. Distributed.)
27. Chronic Starters
28. Reasons to create an info product.
29. Thinking local
30. My experiences in writing 30 articles in 30 days

That’s it - it took me about an hour and a half to make this list… now to tackle it!

By the way, if you have some crazy in you - let Carrie know that you’d like to be in on this by leaving a comment on her blog.

You know you should have an email list.  Some of you do.  Some of you don’t.

My favorite email marketing tool is Aweber.  I’ve used them for years.  I have ten or so lists set up with them.  The main list is my ‘personal mailing list’ that I use to give things away and stay in touch with those who want to know about new things I have going on or who just want to stay in the loop with what’s happening in the WAHM Community.

Then I have a list just for my Advertising Moms site, which is all about advertising deals and opportunities.

I have a list of work at home moms who are ghostwriters or are interested in becoming a ghostwriter.

I have a list for my upcoming Moms Affiliate Expo and I deliver free interviews and audios to them.

When you hear that ‘the money is in the list’ I can tell you it’s true.  Without these lists, I would not be able to stay in touch with people about the specific targeted topics they’re interested in AND send them offers that speak to their needs.

If you’ve been dragging your feet about email marketing, pick them up and get one rolling as soon as possible!  To learn some more, read this great post about email marketing by fellow Sparkplugging author Susan Peyton.

The C Factor: Creative, Concise, Clear, Complete Communication

Never has it been more important to be a creative communicator on the web today. You have to grab attention and convey the key components of your subject - sometimes in as few words as possible.

There are two groups of internet communicators who struggle in their efforts to get what they want from others - whether that be subscribers, customers, partners or even just an answer to a question. Their problem centers around the number of words they use to say what they have to say. One group uses too few words and the other uses too many.

Do you sometimes find it tough to decide how many words to use? How do you decide whether to keep it tight or go for the distance? I’d love to hear your thoughts on that.

Here are some of the Crucial Tools of Internet Communication.

Sending and Replying to Email

As an new internet marketer I wrote long emails full of details and description. Today, email threatens to take over my life if I’m not careful and I’ve learned to keep things simple whenever possible. You can take simple too far though. Shooting off one liners may be great time conservation effort, but it’s not very friendly. I’m learning that there’s always room for a friendly greeting and a personal salutation.

Writing Articles

Article Marketing remains a powerful tool. There are still many who should be using it to get what they want who do not.

Do you want more traffic? Write and distribute articles. Do you want more sales? Write and distribute articles. Do you want more partners and affiliates? Write and distribute articles!

Whatever you want - write an article that will help you to achieve it and distribute it where your desired market can be found.

The issue of too few or too many words comes into play in the area of article marketing quite often. You generally want to stay somewhere between 350 and 800 words. If an article exceeds 800 words you can split it into two parts with some fine tuning.

Writing articles for the web requires short paragraphs, a clear objective and an avoidance of distractions.

Writing a great article and having it picked up for reprint on another website is like being a ‘guest speaker’ at their ongoing event, so make the most of every opportunity.

Writing Blog Posts

Much of what we can say about writing articles we can say about blogging - but blogs give us latitude in voice and length that we can’t get in an article. If article marketing is like being a guest speaker at someone else’s event, blogging is like being the host of your own. You’re free to be yourself. Put your feet up and relax a little, but don’t forget you’re blogging for a purpose.

Never use more words than you need for a blog post. If you can say what you need to in 150 words, it’s perfectly ok to stop there. If you need 1200 words to get your point across, go ahead.

Posting on Forums and Networks

Posting on forums is not the same as writing an article or blog post. When you post to a forum or network you are stepping out into a community and entering a discussion. If you write in the same voice you would for an article you’re going to be talking to yourself. If you write like you would a blog post you’re going to seem presumptive.

Think about it. Take your time and get to know the culture of the community before you start communicating.

Asking Questions

You’re using too few words when you’re asking a question but don’t give enough information to elicit a useful reply. Before you hit send or submit on any form of communication that asks a question - double check that you have included all of the necessary information.

If you leave something out, some may ask you for the missing info - but most will not. Especially those who are most equipped to give you a good answer - they’re busy and don’t have time to play 20 questions with you. Ask a clear question and you will get a clear answer.

Making Offers

Truly one of the most important efforts at communication that we will ever take on is the Offer. An offer is simply an invitation to act.

You may think you don’t make offers if you’re not selling anything but that’s not true.

You offer your blog readers an invitation to subscribe to your RSS feed. If your offer is clear and instructions are provided on how to accept it, you’ll get what you want. If your offer is complicated to understand, you won’t. You also offer your blog readers an invitation to comment on your blog. If you never extend a specific invite you’re not likely to get many comments.

If you are selling something, realize that making offers is about more than writing sales letters or making a pitch by email.

We make some of our most important offers in day to day communication. Writing an enticing sentence or paragraph must become as natural as breathing for all of us or we are not going to get what we want nearly as often as we could.

Leavings Comments

Commenting on a blog is so much more than leaving a comment. In many instances it is a first contact with someone you hope to partner with some day. It is an opportunity to be seen by a community that shares your interests.

There is an art to leaving a great comment that compliments the post and shows your experience and interest without coming off spammy or self centered.

To get what you want from blog comments, always take time to get to know the blogging community before acting.

Micro blogging on Twitter

Tell people what you’re doing in 140 characters or less. Talk about being concise!

I love Twitter. To be able to communicate with an interested group of people several times in one day is incredible. There are times when the 140 character limit is frustrating, but for the most part I am

happy to use 100 characters or less to say what I need to.

I’ve joked with friends about all of the books about succeeding with Twitter. We mostly agree that Twitter just isn’t that complicated - however, you can and should be strategic on Twitter to get what you want. If you’re not sure what that means for you, perhaps you should pick up one of those books ;).

Updating Status on Facebook

I don’t update my status often, but when I do I see an increase in activity on my Facebook account. It’s a great way to make a passive statement about a new project. It doesn’t require a reply but it reaches a lot of eyes.

Evaluating your C Factor.

Every single time you set out to communicate - review your effort by asking yourself if you have been as creative as you could be. Your readers like to be entertained. Anything you do to elevate their mood or surprise them with something interesting or new will improve your chances of getting what you want.

When you need to use fewer words but are having a hard time trimming them down - look for ’side issues’ that don’t directly support your primary objective and cut them out without cutting down your message.

When you need input or advice, check your questions and requests to ensure that you’ve provided complete information.

Whatever it is you want to achieve on the internet today - you’ll get it faster and get more of it when you master the C Factor.

P.S.  This post has been submitted to the ProBlogger Killer Titles Group Blogging Project.  Do you have a blog post you’d like to submit?

Wendy is taking input from our readers and looking to make SparkplugU the best learning environment possible. Would you do me a favor and pop over to answer the short survey?

You don’t have to leave your name - but if you’d like to, you’ll be entered for a free Nikon digital camera.

After you answer the survey - I’d love it if you’d tell me what sort of courses you’d like to see ME teach at SparkplugU?  (Leave me a comment!)

I just started a diet three weeks ago.  I’ve lost 13 pounds so far.  Not bad at all, right?  I’m pretty happy with how its going so far.  I have to admit though that I can lose 20 or 30 pounds pretty easily.  I’ve done it dozens of times.  It’s keeping it off and going for the next 20 pounds that causes me heartache.

It is common to reach weight loss plateaus.  You hit a point where what you’ve been doing that helped you lose weight starts to not be enough.  You have to do something MORE to keep on losing.

Today I had a chat with a friend who has reached a plateau in her business.  She is making a little money in a regular basis but her numbers haven’t increased much in the last six months.

FYI, she is a content site owner.  She doesn’t sell anything physical or digital and she doesn’t offer any services.  Her business model is based on affiliate marketing, recommending products and services related to her website topic.

We talked about what she has been doing to promote her site and get traffic. Turns out - she really has been doing the same things she has always done since she started the site years ago.  She adds a few new pages of original content each month, adds a dozen or so pages of well rewritten PLR content and she writes one article per month to distribute to article directories.  She posts to forums, comments on blogs and spends a little time networking each day on sites like Ryze and Ning.

My friend has reached a traffic plateau.

What worked to grow her website traffic at first - is not enough to fuel additional growth.  If she wants to see more traffic, she has to up her game.

The first glaring issue I see is that my friend is not blogging. (WHAT!? Seriously!?)  Yep - she’s one of those stubborn holdbacks from Web 1.0 days.  She believes ‘if you build it - they will come’.  Maybe that was true ten years ago but it sure isn’t true today - especially not if you are operating in a niche that has attracted a lot of competition.  As competitors enter the market and employ Web 2.0 tactics - older sites see their numbers drop.

She has to start blogging.  Blogging will make her site fresher and more relevant if it is done right and that will help her to draw more traffic right there.

When I added a blog to WAHM Talk Radio my traffic increased 30% within two months.

She needs to increase her efforts to get her links out there on the web.  One distributed article per month isn’t a lot.  I know content site owners who distribute 30 articles per month on a consistent basis and trust me, they see the fruit in terms of traffic.

She doesn’t have to go from one per month to 30 -  but she could up it to five and see five times the exposure and inbound links. To make her multiplied article marketing really work for her she should be sure to use her author box to give links back to different key internal pages on her website instead of only to her home page.

In addition to upping her article distribution count, she should look for topical article directories that may have popped up in the last year or so to make sure she is sending her content out to the best targeted sources.

She needs to look out for guest blogging opportunities on relevant blogs as well as look for chances to be profiled, featured, interviewed and otherwise plugged on other websites and podcasts.

If she just did these few things, she’d see a very respectable boost in web traffic over the next six months.  All of those articles, blog posts and profiles are being seen by more eye balls and all those back links will help her rank better in the search engines.

There’s more she can do.  Lots more - but this would be a great start.

And goodness knows… another plateau surely awaits her.  She’ll have to up her game again down the road as will we all.

Plateaus are not left behind by doing the same old same old.

So what do you need to do today to make it up to the next level for your business?

Additional Resources:

• The Truth about Traffic
• What is Article Marketing?

When I started my home business I didn’t have any plans to quit my day job, I just wanted to make extra money so that I could keep my electicity from being turned off - again.

When I considered my options as a single mom with one eleven year old son I knew that picking up a part time job outside of the home would be more trouble than the tiny extra paycheck was worth.  I’d have to find someone to hang out with Sean and it would disrupt his routine and put a big dent into the time I had to spend with him.

So I looked to the internet.

I got home from my day job by 4pm each day.  I worked Monday through Friday and had regular events and responsibilities a few nights a week and on some weekends.  Realistically, I had about 15 hours a week available to explore a web based business - but I often pushed the clock by staying up late and squeezing in internet time during breaks and lunch at work.

It worked for me.  I managed to start and grow an online business while working full time and spending quality time with my son.

As time passed my day job became more and more flexible.  I probably could not have created the business I did without having some freedom built into my schedule.

Many times other new WAHMs asked me how I found time to do it all and to be honest, I never felt like I was doing all that much.  Between parenting, business and work - I still had time to enjoy myself.  I was very plugged in socially, went to women’s conferences often and enjoyed visits with family.

The moms who marveled at my accomplishments had very different family situations.  Most were married - and face it - men take time!  Also, most of them had more than one child - or their children were far younger than my young teen, requiring more effort and time overall.  And then add a job for some and I wondered how any of them found time to check email every day, let alone work at starting an online business.

I’ve worked with several young moms recently who have pretty full lives.  Husband, kids, job and extended family commitments fill their schedules - yet they dream of finding a way to work at home and be their own boss.

Oh how I wish that these moms could simply quit the day job and get a clean start with a home based business!  Sadly, that’s not usually possible.  Their family budget depends on their regular paycheck.

We’ve discussed whether you can build a business on a super tight schedule before here at WAHM 2.0.  The consensus is that it’s a very tall order.  Not impossible - but very challenging.

As I’ve thought about it lately, I think there is a minimum amount of time that a mom really must have available to devote to learning and building in order to have a chance at getting anywhere and I’m going to put my neck out there and say that that minimum is 15 hours a week.

How you spend those 15 hours depends on your business choice and learning curve.  In the beginning the time will be devoted to learning and networking.  As time passes you’ll spend less time learning and more time doing but you’ll always have to carve out a certain amount of time for networking and staying in the loop with your market and industry.

Everyone I’ve worked with who had less than 15 hours available on a consistent basis have floundered and experienced a lot of disappointment.  And most focused business moms I’ve seen who have been able to commit at least 15 hours have made consistent progress.

What are your thoughts?

How much time have you had to work on your new business and how has that effected your progress?

I am very pleased to give a favorable update to my post last week about me being in a funk.

After pretty much giving in to the funk as much as possible and taking a lot of time away from the computer over the weekend, I sat down at my desk on Monday morning with a fresh attitude.

The last two days have been busy with one on one coaching calls.  Talking with my clients about their projects is always invigorating for me.  The hours have spun by with ease and that is how it should be when you’re doing what you love!

Even though this WAHM says she ’stinks’ at Web 2.0 stuff - I see her excelling in her internet business and am pleased to introduce you to Mel Spier.

Mel, when did you first decide to look for a way to work from home?

I started looking for a way to work from home in 1999, after getting tired of spending more time at work than at home. However, it wasn’t until 2002 that I actually took the plunge, gave up my job and began working from home.

How did you sort through your ideas for a work at home business?

I looked at quite a few business opportunities as well as basic work-from-home jobs when I first started. Every where I turned, there were people praising this opportunity or that one and the more I read, the more confused I became. So I ended up taking some work-from-home jobs because that seemed like the simplest solution. These jobs were ok but the pay was low, the schedule is crazy and the work flow unpredictable. To earn extra money, I helped family and friends with tasks that I had done in my out-of-the-home jobs like; tax prep, bookkeeping, media relations, etc.

One day, a friend and I were talking and she mentioned that I should start my own Virtual Assistant business since I was doing many of the same tasks that a VA would do. So I started researching what a Virtual Assistant was, what was needed to start and operate that kind of business, and so forth and I found that it was exactly the kind of business I had been looking for. There were very few start-up costs, I could control the workflow and offer services that I felt comfortable doing.

Where did you look for inspiration?

Much of my inspiration came from other women who were successful business owners. It didn’t matter if they were virtual assistants, internet marketers or if they held presentation parties and sold physical products from their living room. I saw these women earning a good living from home, being considered top go-to women in their market and that encouraged me to keep working towards my goals.

Is there anything that you’ve tried that you would say didn’t work for you?

This may seem odd considering some of the clients I have, but I tried my hand at affiliate marketing and found it wasn’t right for me. I do promote a few products that I feel confident in, that I’ve personally used or that I completely trust the person offering it, but other than that, I don’t promote other people’s products.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with affiliate marketing but it just wasn’t right for me. I’m uncomfortable recommending a product that I know nothing about and to be honest, I don’t have the time or inclination to try tons of products just to say “yeah, it’s good, you should buy it”.

Who knows though, I may take another stab at it down the road sometime.

What do you love about what you are doing to work at home today?

There is so much to love about being a VA. I enjoy being able to help business owners create a new products, update their websites, ensure their customers are happy. Helping others has always been a high priority of mine and being a VA allows me to do it from the comfort of my home.

A big bonus for me is not having to put on business attire, commute to work and schedule appointments around a 9-5 job. I love having a job where every day is different. Where one day I might handle customer support all day and the next I’m working on websites or creating products or any number of other tasks.

I love having the opportunity to be home with my children and watch them grow up. My son graduated & recently moved away from home and my daughter will be graduating in just a few short years, so having the extra family time with them has been great and has helped create a solid bond with us.

How are you applying Web 2.0 tactics to your business?

Ok, you got me on this one. I stink at the social networking aspect of Web 2.0.

I do have a myspace, ryze & hub page, but never use them. I don’t twitter, use facebook, squidoo, social bookmarks or any such things. Truthfully, those tactics just don’t appeal to me. I’d much rather spend my time working on website tweaks, writing an article or helping a client or someone who wants to be a VA.

That being said, I do have some things in the works. I’m working on a total site-redesign and will be implementing some audio and video into it. I’m finally going to start a blog after dragging my feet for what seems like forever. Once those are implemented, my next idea is to learn the art of podcasting. At that point, I might take a bigger interest in some of the other aspects of Web 2.0.

What are your hopes for the future?

Overall, I think it’s what most people want, financial security as well as personal growth and empowerment.

I hope that through my new virtual assistant membership program (Virtual Assistants Mavens) that I can encourage and assist others who want to become VA’s; that I can share my knowledge with them so that they might have an easier, more clear and defined path to follow to a becoming successful VA.

I also have a couple goals that are based around my family. I’d like for my husband to have the option to retire within the next 3 years. I don’t think he will want to stay home full-time but I’d like it to be an option. He has worked hard for his family for many years and I’d like to see him relax some. I would also like to train a manager to handle my business for a short-time so that I can take my daughter on an extended vacation for graduation in a couple years.

What advice would you give a new work at home mom?

There is no such thing as “easy money” and if someone tells you there is, they are wrong. It takes a lot of persistence, hard work and dedication to have a successful business. Once you get established, things do get easier but you still have to work at improving and growing your business.

In addition, your actions speak louder than words. It doesn’t matter what you say, if you’re your actions don’t back it up, your business suffers. Your customers are depending on you to do what you say you will do. If you don’t follow through, you lose their trust and their business. And as with anything, bad news spreads faster than good news and soon nobody will want to do business with you.