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Organized Blogging: Better Content in Half the Time

January 5, 2012 By 11 Comments

Guest Post by Monica Crowe

Have you ever sat at your computer on the day you were supposed to post to your blog and been completely stumped about what to write?Believe me. It’s not just you. Writers block happens to the best of us.

But I’ll bet that just as often as you’re stuck for what to write, you also have inspired ideas for blog posts. Yet, if you don’t take note of them, they float off into the ether never to be remembered. Then, on blog posting day, you end up sitting in front of that blank white page with a blinking cursor for longer than you want or need.

Luckily, there is a simple blog post organizing system that will help you to not only corral your ideas as they come to you, but also have a plan in place every time you sit down to write. But first, let’s address the problem of what to write. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Improving your web site Tagged With: , , , ,

8 Secret Fears That Stop Smart Business Owners From Blogging, and How to Overcome Them

October 17, 2011 By 30 Comments
Guest Post by Michelle Shaeffer

Are secret fears holding you back from jumping head first into blogging? Don’t let them! Blogging is nothing to be afraid of, and nothing has done as much to boost my business and my visibility as blogging has.

So let’s talk about some of those fears that might be holding you back from blogging:

1. I’m not sure I have anything to blog about…

Everyone has something to share. If you’re an entrepreneur and you’re in business for yourself, then it’s safe to assume you’re passionate about something, right? Blog about that! [Read more...]

Filed Under: Improving your web site, Making money from home, Marketing/Public Relations, Working at home Tagged With: , ,

15 (more) Actions You Can Take in 10 Minutes or Less to Move Your Business Forward

August 25, 2011 By 18 Comments


In a previous guest post, Michelle Shaeffer shared 10 proven strategies to help you improve your business. The response from readers was overwhelming. In this guest post, Michelle shares 15 more tips.

Guest post by Michelle Shaeffer

1. Write a testimonial.
Think of a product or service you’ve recently received that was fantastic. Now write a testimonial for it and send it to the business along with name, business, URL, and city/state. Include a statement of your permission to reprint it on their site, in their newsletter, etc. If you don’t feel like writing, record it as an mp3 and send. Most (all?!) businesses love to get testimonials or positive reviews and will happily use them on their websites and include your business name and sometimes even a live link to your site.

2. Record a quick how to video and upload to YouTube.
YouTube is a huge source of traffic for many websites.  Using Jing (there’s a free version) or similar program you can quickly and easily create a short how to video with a tip or step by step use of a product or service you offer. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Improving your web site, Marketing/Public Relations, Time mgmt./Productivity, Working with clients Tagged With: , ,

Secrets to Increasing Your Search Engine Rankings

June 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Driving visitors to your website takes more than just having good content. People need to know that your website exists.

Through Working Naked Day, the holiday I sponsor, thousands of people learned about Working Naked… the blog and the lifestyle. But now that the holiday is over, I spend time each day working on my search engine rankings through social media and other methods. I want to keep my site traffic strong.

I could hire someone to handle my search engine optimization (SEO) but that can be expensive. Instead, I downloaded the e-book “50 SEO Secrets for Mom Entrepreneurs” by Holly Klaassen (affiliate link). This e-book offers practical, quick, and effective tips that work not only for moms, but for anyone who wants to increase his or her site traffic.

Holly breaks down the mystery of SEO into 50 easy-to-use tips including:

  • Get traffic from Yahoo. Go to Yahoo Answers and run a search for topics related to your business or niche. Provide helpful and well thought out answers to questions and include a link back to helpful information or articles on your site.
  • Keep urls short. While your urls should be descriptive, they should also be fairly short. The shorter they are, the easier it is for people to remember them, cut and paste them into their blog or an email, or write on a business card.
  • Go after “long tail” keywords. Rather than trying to be found with popular (and competitive) phrases such as “chocolates,” try longer, more descriptive phrases such as “milk chocolate truffles.” [Read more...]
Filed Under: Improving your web site, Internet marketing, Working at home Tagged With: , , ,

Could Your Web Site Use a Facelift?

April 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

My site has gone through a few transformations or what I like to call facelifts. The design is cleaner, it’s easier to read and is better organized than before.

The truth is that if a Web designer/friend with a keen eye hadn’t picked apart the old design and made me realize that while the site was good, it wasn’t completely functional, I would have kept it the same. I was so closely tied to my site that I didn’t recognize that it could be better.

Take a close look at your Web site and ask yourself a few questions. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Home office technology, Improving your web site, Working at home Tagged With: ,

5 Things You Need to Know About Your Small Business Web Site

January 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment

picture of a Web site URLOne of my clients just fired her Webmaster.

It was sort of my fault.

She kept complaining to me about how long she had to wait for him to make updates, program the right keywords and put together an opt-in form, so I took a close look at her site. After I read a few pages, I realized why her blood boiled every time she thought about her site. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Home office technology, Improving your web site

If You’re Serious About Business, You Need a Web Site

December 1, 2010 By

Last Friday — I couldn’t stay away from the mall — I met a woman waiting in line who offers a service my clients could use. When I asked her for her Web site address, she told me she doesn’t have one because she works on a referral basis. I tried not to give her a strange look but the thought of someone running a small business without a Web site, threw me.

The bottom line is that if you’re serious about owning your own business, especially one that’s home-based, you need a Web site.  There are several things a Web site can do for you. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Improving your web site, Making money from home Tagged With: , ,

How Not to Use Twitter to Get Results for Your Business

October 1, 2010 By

Twitter is a valuable tool that can help you bring visitors to your blog, spread the word about your business, connect with your customers and more. But as with any tool, there’s a right way to use it and a wrong way.  I’m always looking for ways to make better use of Twitter. Some tips that I’ve tried worked well, while others have failed miserably.

The HubSpot article “The 9 Worst Ways to Use Twitter for Business,” takes an “avoid doing this” approach to making Twitter more effective.  A few of the top Twitter don’ts include: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Home office technology, Improving your web site, Making money from home, Marketing/Public Relations Tagged With: , , ,

What Not to Do With Your Web Site

September 17, 2010 By

My Web site is a work in progress. I make a few changes to it and then a month later I think of a few more things I need to update. Within the next few weeks I’ll be making a few more changes. It never ends.

In “11 Reasons Customers Don’t Trust Your Web Site,” writer Lisa Barone shares common sense tips and easy-to-stop-doing strategies for making your site better.It’s more of a list of Web site mistakes you may be making including:

  • It’s littered with typos. Do your best to find typos and squash them dead. It’s hard to believe what someone has written when every other word is spelled wrong. Also, it looks bad if your phone number is wrong. My number changed recently but I didn’t change it on my site until last week. (Oprah, if you tried to call before, try again!) [Read more...]
Filed Under: Balancing home/office Life, Home office technology, Improving your web site, Internet marketing, Marketing/Public Relations, Working at home Tagged With: , ,

5 Ways Twitter Makes You a Better Person

September 17, 2010 By

Guest post by San Sharma

If you work alone or from home, there’s no denying that Twitter is an invaluable tool, both professionally and personally. As part of a marketing strategy, Twitter can help spread the word about your business. And when you’re feeling disconnected, Twitter can make you feel a part of the world around you.

But in some circles, Twitter, Facebook and social media, in general, is considered a bad thing. “We’re all getting self-obsessed,” some complain. To them I say, Twitter can actually make you a better person.

Here’s some ‘Twitterquette’ to demonstrate how:

  1. Be more open
    Contrary to popular belief, Twitter’s not all about what you had for lunch. But its 140-character limit and the ways in which you can tweet – from your desk or from your mobile phone – make Twitter an ideal platform to share a little more about yourself. Being transparent with your [Read more...]
Filed Under: Balancing home/office Life, Home office technology, Improving your web site, Internet marketing, Making money from home, Working at home, Working with clients Tagged With: , , , ,
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