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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: , ,

10 Actions You Can Take in 10 Minutes or Less to Move Your Business Forward

August 10, 2011 By 26 Comments

Guest post by Michelle Shaeffer

Sometimes we’ve only got a few minutes here and there to work on our home-based businesses.  Don’t let this stop you from marketing and building your business network!

If you’ve got just 10 minutes, you can take positive actions that will help you move forward.

If I had to write a 50-page marketing plan and spend 4 hours a day implementing it… well, either it’d never happen… or I’d never get anything else done and never have time to complete the services I need to for my clients and create the products I offer. Or, I’d never get to play with my kiddos and my house would look like a hurricane hit it. There just aren’t that many hours in the day. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Making money from home, Marketing/Public Relations, Time mgmt./Productivity Tagged With: ,

Home Office vs. Corporate Office…an Easy Choice

February 2, 2011 By 7 Comments

Working Naked Day is over, but that doesn’t mean the celebration has to end. You can still enjoy the fact that you have the freedom to set your own hours, follow your own rules and live life on your own terms. Best of all, when your neighbor is scraping ice off his car in below-freezing weather, you can enjoy a cup of coffee while working in your pajamas.

Filed Under: Balancing home/office Life, Marketing/Public Relations, Working at 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 You Learn at Seminars Can Leave You Speechless

September 27, 2010 By

Years ago, when my older son came home from his first day of Kindergarten and I asked him what he’d learned, he said, “My brain is full!” After going to the NAOEM conference last weekend as a speaker and an attendee, I understand how he felt.

During the two days of information-packed sessions ranging from how to market your business to growing your online presence, I was surprised at how much I learned.

Not only did I learn great tips and strategies from the speakers, I picked up a few tips from the attendees as well.  This was no group of slackers!

Before you go to your next live conference, consider these tips: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Making money from home, Marketing/Public Relations, Time mgmt./Productivity, Working with clients 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: , ,

There’s More to Twitter Than Tweeting Your Next Task

September 1, 2010 By

Last week, at a party, I mentioned that Twitter has been invaluable to my business.  A few of my friends said (as they rolled their eyes) that it doesn’t matter if someone’s on their way to the gym or late to get a haircut.

They don’t get it. Others don’t either, unless they use Twitter often.

Twitter isn’t just about letting others know what you’re doing through your tweets. The truth is that unless you’re a major celebrity, not everyone cares where you’re going or where you’ve been.

There are a few ways that you can use Twitter to help you grow your business including:

Drawing traffic to your blog. When you update your blog (which you should do several times a week), tweet your latest blog headline and a (shortened) link. The better the headline, the faster your followers will flock to your site. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Balancing home/office Life, Internet marketing, Making money from home, Marketing/Public Relations, Working with clients Tagged With: , , ,

Research Your Competition and Then Change Your Approach

August 19, 2010 By

Some people welcome competition and see it as an opportunity to improve their business. Others put on blinders, ignore the competition and are happy to run their business as usual. There are a few ways to learn about what works and doesn’t work for your competitors so you can create a business that’s all your own.

  • Research your competition honestly. Never mislead competitors by pretending to be a client. Instead, set up a Google alert with your competitor’s name in quotes. Each time they’re in the news, you’ll receive an e-mail alert. Check out their Web site to learn more about their products, services and business philosophy.
  • Introduce yourself to your competitors. Savvy business people know that there’s enough business for everyone. If a competitor is up to his or her eyeballs in clients, they may send a few clients your way. [Read more...]
Filed Under: Balancing home/office Life, Improving your web site, Making money from home, Marketing/Public Relations, Time mgmt./Productivity, Working with clients Tagged With: , , ,

Increase Traffic to Your Blog With a Podcast

July 21, 2010 By

Guest Post by Wendy Sullivan

Podcasting isn’t terribly different from blogging. One of the top touted ways of drawing traffic to your blog is to guest post on other people’s sites. I’ve found, in my experience, that inviting guests to be on your podcast really draws the traffic.

According to a study posted on Podcasting News (which you should be reading!), half the Internet radio audience is listening to podcasts, as opposed to streaming radio.

When I began my podcast back on May 18, 2008, it was small. My blog was a small-medium political site, with about 800 daily readers, many of whom were happy to tune into my little voice experiment. The first four weeks of Brass Balls Radio – now off the air – brought a couple thousand listeners, thanks to friends linking to us on their own blogs.

For my fourth show, I screwed up all my courage and invited author and columnist Mark Steyn to join me. At the time of recording, he had just walked out of a court in Vancouver after fighting a human rights complaint over an excerpt of his book, America Alone. Mark was very much in the news in both Canada and the United States during this time, and scoring him for my now-defunct show Brass Balls Radio was quite a coup. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Home office technology, Making money from home, Marketing/Public Relations, Working at home, Working with clients Tagged With: , , ,
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