We’re almost at the end of 2006 and I’ve spent some time thinking about ways to improve and grow my business in 2007.  I don’t like to set New Year’s Resolution because everyone knows that they don’t work anyway bit I do try to sit down at the end of the year and review it good or bad and then make changes accordingly.

In years past, I have taken time to do a “brain dump” (it’s a John Reese thing, you can google it for details.) 

So what can we do to ensure we get off to a good start this year in our business? 

Organization and scheduling are so huge.  I’ve written articles on this before (here), but I think it’s worth repeating.

• Get a daytimer.  I think most work at home mom’s already have a one, but if you don’t go get one tomorrow.  Write down all your appointments, when you are able to spend time on your business, when you’re kids have events that you need to be there for.  Everything that is part of your world should be in your daytimer.
• Make a todo list.  In fact make two! Sit down on Sunday evening and plan your week, look at your daytimer and last weeks list.  Write down everything that needs to be accomplished this week.  Then each day re-evaluate and do a mini list from your master list.  I find this really helps me stay on task.  Plus it feels great to be able to cross items off the list.
• Have an overall weekly schedule.  For example, I plan my out days as Tuesday and Thursday.  I always try to schedule my appointments, errands and shopping on those days.  Monday, Wednesday and Friday are my at home work days.  I know I can’t get much done from 4:00 - 9:00 any day as that’s when my kids really need me, and that’s part of the schedule as well.  You get the idea…
• Don’t get bogged down with the small stuff.  E-mail can be a killer.  Set certain times to answer your email and don’t check each one as it comes in.  This will take you off task faster than anything, before you know it your day is over (trust me, I’m bad for this one).  Set time limits for these tasks.

Networking is something else that is really important if you want to grow your business.  You need to get your name and business out there. 

Online Networking

• Join some forums and make regular meaningful contributions to them.  Don’t forget to have a good signature promoting what you’re doing set up in your profile.
• Join some websites that you can meet other business people and advertise your business for free.  I belong to Direct Matches.  You can advertise your business with 100’s of thousands of people for free, make some good business connections for joint ventures and that kind of thing.  I finally set up a MySpace page.  Myspace and mylot are two other free tools.

Offline Networking

• Join some networking groups in your area or even your local chamber of commerce.  These are all like minded business people.
• Get involved in your community and your kids community.  Volunteer for things at school, clubs and sporting events.  This is a great way to meet and network with other parents and WAHM’s.
• Join a fun group for you.  Something you’re interested in as a hobby. It’s a great way to meet people.
• Always have business cards that you can pass out and leave around town at doctor’s offices, in phone booths, on bulletin boards at restuarants and gas stations.  I wouldn’t suggest spending time driving around delivering flyers and cards, just when you see someplace that would be appropriate.

Set realistic, attainable goals with timelines.  Review these goals every three months and see where you’re at.  Don’t keep them a secret!    Sharing them with a friend or in a forum makes you more accountable for them.

Just go do it!  Often we as WAHM’s can procrastinate (no kidding).  We have so many things on the go, ourselves and our businesses are the things that get put on the back burner.  Don’t let this happen to you.  Follow your plan and have a prosperous 2007.

May all your Best Dreams be Realized in 2007!

Tags:2007 New Year WAHM work at home home office goal setting home business time management organization scheduling

Well It’s Christmas Eve.  My company is due to arrive any minute, but I want to send you all a wish for a Very Merry Christmas. 

A few weeks ago I wrote a post Entitled Three Weeks from Right Now talking about how Christmas will come whether or not we are ready, and whether or not we have continued to stress about it.

Today is Christmas Eve and the gifts are bought, wrapped and under the tree.  The meal is ready to be cooked tomorrow with a few final preparations that need to be done yet today.  The house is clean, beds are made and ready for company.  I am actually looking forward to having my family over and enjoying this wonderful holiday with them.

I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and may your

VERY Best Dreams come true in 2007

The version of this famous poem was first published in 1993 by Karen Spiegler ~ Enjoy

Twas the night before Christmas
When all thru the abode
Only one creature was stirring
And she was cleaning the commode.

The children were finally sleeping
All snug in their beds,
While visions of Nintendo 64 and Barbie
flipped through their heads.

The dad was snoring in front of the TV
with a half-constructed bicycle on his knee.
So only the mom heard the reindeer hooves clatter
Which made her sigh, “Now what’s the matter?”

With toilet bowl brush
Still clutched in her hand
She descended the stairs and saw the old man.
He was covered with ashes and soot, which fell with a shrug.
“Oh great,” muttered the mom, “Now I have to clean the rug.”

“Ho-ho-ho!” cried Santa, “I’m glad you’re awake.”
“Your gift was especially difficult to make.”
“Thanks, Santa, but all I want is some time alone.”
“Exactly!” he chuckled, “I’ve made you a clone.”

“A clone?” she asked, “What good is that?
Run along, Santa, I’ve no time for chit-chat.”

The mother’s twin,
Same hair, same eyes,
Same double chin.
“She’ll cook, she’ll dust,” she’ll mop every mess.
You’ll relax, take it easy,
Watch The Young & the Restless.”

“Fantastic!” the mom cheered.
“My dream come true! “
I’ll shop. I’ll read.
I’ll sleep a whole night through!”

From the room above the youngest began to fret.
“Mommy?! I scared… and I wet.”
The clone replied,”I’m coming, sweetheart.”
“Hey,” the mom smiled,”She knows her part.”

The clone changed the small one and hummed a tune
As she bundled the child in a blanket cocoon.
“You the best mommy ever. I really love you.”
The clone smiled and sighed,”I love you, too.”

The mom frowned and said,”Sorry, Santa, no deal. “
That’s my child’s love she’s trying to steal.”
Smiling wisely Santa said, “To me it is clear,
“Only one loving mother is needed here.”

The mom kissed her child and tucked her into bed.
“Thank you, Santa,” for clearing my head.
I sometimes forget it won’t be very long
when they’ll be too old for my cradle-song.”

The clock on the mantle began to chime.
Santa whispered to the clone,
“It works every time.”
With the clone by his side Santa said, “Goodnight.

“Merry Christmas Mom. You’ll be Alright!”

Have You Ever REALLY Been In On The Ground Floor of a Phenomenal Home Business Opportunity?

Have you ALWAYS felt like you were never at the right place at the right time, always hearing about the, “heavy hitters,” of MLM that somehow seemed to be the first in and the first to make the BIG BUCKS?

What would you think if I told you it was YOUR turn to find THE BIG opportunity, and that you would be one of the first in the Company with ALL the Big Time MLM’rs?

Let me ask you something else. Are you tired of spending HUGE amounts of money on expensive auto ships of lotions, potions and pills? Is your closet full of “stuff,” you’ll never use?

Welcome to Direct Matches 

Direct Matches is ONLY about PEOPLE! It’s about providing a service that brings people together that are actively looking for business opportunities, jobs, friends, partners and many other connections people are looking for!

Does the word “start up,” scare you? Well, Direct Matches is no start up! Direct Matches has credibility. Direct Matches belongs to the Direct Selling Association, E-Trust, Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce, the US Chamber of Commerce, and they have hired Gerald Nehra, MLM Specialist and Private Practice Attorney on retainer.

The earning potential is the most lucrative in the Industry. Go to: Direct Matches and check out the PRIME-4-REWARD COMPENSATION PLAN!

You can JOIN at the Executive Level for less than $30, and have the potential of making between $2000 and $12,000 per week!

Don’t slam the door to opportunity then sit back and wish you’d taken what could be YOUR BIG CHANCE at amazing income! Don’t let the “Big Boys,” (and GALS) be the first to get in on this ground floor opportunity!

It seems that many people would rather sit back and take a wait-and-see attitude, and NEVER have success in their lives, because they don’t have the heart to be GREAT! If you’ve always dreamed of something more than an average and ordinary life, get involved, have your own business, make it happen NOW!

I’ve only been a member for a few weeks.  I started out as a free member but after I saw the true income potential, I upgraded immediately to an Executive.  I have done nothing to promote myself within the network and I already have people enrolled under me, AND I already have over 100 business contacts with the potential of reaching almost 400 000 people in my network.  What could that do for YOUR Business?

This is truly something you need to check out.  You can sign up for free now.  Just click here: Direct Matches 

Tags:Social Networking WAHM Money Making Online Income Work At Home MLM Network_Marketing

A few weeks ago I wrote about a new piece of software that had been released by Matt Callen called AdSpyTracker.  He released the software at a crazy price of only ten bucks.  

I said in that post that he wouldn’t keep it at that price and indeed he hasn’t.  The price has been raised to $37.  But guess what.  It’s still flying off the shelves!  And I’m sure he’s gonna increase it again.  I can’t say for sure but I bet the price will go up before the end of the year.  This software would still sell even if the price was $97, it’s a great tool.

This brand new AdSense tool can drive your AdSense earnings through the roof…helping you discover the hidden high-paying clicks, locking in on the best traffic-pulling links, and instantly eliminating money-making errors.

The owner of the site, Matt Callen, just gave me permission to give you the link directly to the software page so you can get access to this software at the insanely low introductory price.

YOU Need This!

It is no secret that there is a lot of money to be made with AdSense - but there is also a lot of money to be lost…IF you do not know which ads are generating you the most money!

I do not want to waste too much time with this message, explaining all of the awesome details about this software, but you should know that you can now drop all the guesswork and discover the exact secrets to cracking the AdSense secrets.

With AdSpyTracker, you can track every single click, where they came from, what ad was clicked…and tons more!

And the best part…the price is so low you can’t afford NOT to try it out.

Grab Your Copy!

This site will explain more of the details. Trust me, this software is great!

I really love this and cannot say enough about it. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Enjoy!

Get it Today Before the Price Goes UP again!!

Tags: google adsense adsense earnings adsense stats affiliate program WAHM make_money

I just have to make a quick post to say Hello to Margaret.  She has FINALLY joined the world wide web.  I went over and helped her set up her very first internet connection this afternoon!

Good for you Marg - I know it’s all as clear as mud right now, but it will become second nature to you very soon - I promise

Wow - I just realized I haven’t been on my blog in a few days.  I have spent the week thus far getting things finished up and ready for Christmas.

I always have my family over for Christmas.  This year it looks like it will be even more fun because I think we’ve got my sister and her family talked into spending the night over so they are here Christmas morning to open presents.  That will be cool!  She has four kids and they are all really close in age to mine, they always have a blast.

Anyway, this week I’ve been trying to get everything done and ready to roll so that I’m not up til 3 in the morning Christmas Eve wrapping presents.  I’m feeling pretty good about it so far. 

• I have finished about 75% of my wrapping
• I finished all the little last minute stocking stuffer kind of shopping today
• I’ve got the teacher presents all finished up
• I’ve started my baking, which I’m not going to do a lot this year and am enlisting the help of M&M’s for the squares.
• I’m getting my carpets cleaned on Friday (been puppy training with Takara for a few months -lol)
• Having puppy gate (more like a four foot gate) installed tomorrow so she can’t get on the carpets anymore when no one is looking.
• Most importantly, I’ve started the fudge. 

Every year I make my Grandmothers very old, very special chocolate fudge recipe.  It started out small 20 years ago, I would just make it for our family.  Slowly over the years it has become a huge tradition with me to make for certain other family and friends.  So much that it seems I’m making fudge everyday for two weeks straight!  Part of the tradition is that I ONLY will make it at Christmas time and never any other time of the year, it stays special that way.  This year I’ve been being asked about it since like Halloween, and I’ve kept everyone waiting until it’s been time - hehe - it’s time now.

So that’s been my week.  I’m sure every WAHM and SAHM can relate to doing the exact same thing.  And it all does end up getting done. 

I’m tired so for tonight I’m off to lala land…Good night to all. 

Tags:Christmas Shopping Presents Wrapping WAHM Ready for Christmas Christmas_Tradition

Well it kind of looks like John Reese has had a bit of a busy weekend.  After dropping his bomb shell video clip on Friday - “The Biggest Myth about Building Wealth”.  He’s been the hot topic at many forums and the comment section on his blog is now the size of an entire e-book!

A follow-up video was released entitled “A focused Flood of Income”.  You can see it on his blog http://www.marketingsecrets.com/newblog/

This clip is 38 minutes long and filled with more great information.  In it, John shares the difference between his definition of Multiple Streams of Income and Multiple Streams of Revenue. 

He then goes on to talk about the 3 Phases of Making Money Online.

1. Exploration - Newbies testing the waters on different thing.  Trying to figure out how making money online works.
2. Mining - After you know how to make money online “mining” many different areas, finding opportunity everywhere.  He says this is the area that most people get stuck in. 
3. Expansion - Is where you find one thing that is really working for you and spend all your time, energy and focus on finding ways to grow that business and make it as big as you possibly can.

John says the phase you want to get to is the Expansion phase.  Most of the people online that are making 50K+/month do it with one business.  Targeting all their efforts to the one focused group of people.

Excellent material, grab yourself a coffee and take the time to listen to it.

One comment on his blog suggested that most people get stuck in the Exploration phase rather than the Mining Phase as John suggested. 

I tend to think that if someone is in the Exploration phase for too long a period of time without any positive results, they tend to pack it in and then the whole idea of making a profit on or offline leaves a sour taste in their mouths.  I think people need to have atleast a small measure of success to continue trying.

Other’s are commenting on - How can we be focused when we are new to IM and don’t know where our focus should be?

When we are newbies we do need to spend time exploring and testing the water.  That being said, it is sooo easy to get sidetracked and taken off task in the early stages.  Every person you talk to, and most sales pages you read have the exact thing you need to make it online (for a price).  I have purchased many products that I “had to have”, and they are sitting on a shelf in my office getting dusty (yep, I even took the time to print them out!). 

I guess my point is that it’s important to stay focused even when we are new and exploring.  It’s going to be 2 - 3 months minimum of focused attention and testing before we know if we’ve got something good with our chosen niche.  Spend the time learning your niche. 

You’ll need to purchase some learning material, that’s a given.  Just don’t go changing your whole focus everytime you read some good sales copy.  Stick to something and give it a fair chance before dropping it for the next latest and greatest.  You should also join a good mentoring group, somewhere you can ask questions or read what people have done, what works and what doesn’t.  I find the forums a very helpful place to learn. 

Still others were commenting on a common problem online ppl have with ADD… Oops sorry, back to topic.  

I just really found the videos refreshing and insightful.  It has certainly changed my plan of attack for the new year.  I would be interested to hear what others think of them.

Tags: John Reese WAHM, Multiple Streams of Income work at home internet marketing online business Make money