But, I have made a conscious decision this year that I am going to also make sure that my business is taken care of as well – and while I am still going to be as busy as I can doing everything I need to do every day to grow my business, (sadly, at the expense of my spring housecleaning, but that is another matter altogether!), I know that I can’t possibly do everything that needs to be done.

Time For A Leap Into The Great Unknown!

So, a few days ago, I took a gigantic leap of faith, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that all will work out!

I went ahead and hired a few people to work for me that I can outsource some tasks to – link building, writing articles, and things like that.  While I enjoy writing, and write all my own content for my blogs, I do sometimes have others write articles for me which I can submit to directories or use for content on other sites.

I worry that I won’t be able to afford it, and I worry that I won’t even have enough work for them off the bat.  But, I wanted to give a couple of the people I interviewed a chance to work with me, and I am so glad I did!

It is amazing how it feels to have a bit of the weight lifted off your shoulders!  Knowing that other people are working with you, to help you.

And, I have to say, that the ones I hired all seem like genuinely nice people – and I look forward to having them on my team.

But Can I Afford It?

I will worry for the next little while, because it is going to cost me some money.  But, I had a bit of a revelation the other day, which I would like to share with you, because it could be something you struggle with in your own business as well…..

As I was getting ready to purchase yet another “system” to add to my marketing efforts, I kind of sat back and let myself really think it through.

Did I really need another system to learn?  Why not keep working with what I do know, and keep moving it forward as much as I can?

Because this is really where I believe many of us who are getting into Internet Marketing struggle – and that is always looking for more answers, more strategies, more money making ideas, without really following through with what we already know.

While it is good to always keep learning, there comes a time when you just have to trust that you already know enough that if you just take that knowledge and keep applying it – even though you might not see results immediately – and trust that you can build from it.

Anyways, while what I was thinking of buying was something that would compliment what I already am doing, I held off.

The very next day, I decided that the money I was going to invest into that new “system” would be better spent on having people working with me, doing the small tasks that need to be done, but that we all put off doing while we keep searching for the next “magic” bullet.

So – that is what I am doing.  This week, I will take that money and pay my team of people I hired, and go from there.  I don’t know if I can afford to keep doing it – but I am going to take it one week at a time.  If I see even the tiniest bit of return, then I will take another leap of faith next week and get some more work done.  And, I will just keep going from there, week after week.

If you are at a point in your Internet Marketing career, (if that is the path you have chosen to work at home), where you already have learned enough to get started with something – anything, as long as you get started – then just get started.  And, before you get ready to pull out your wallet and buy that next big thing, make sure you really sit down and decide if it will truly add to what you are already doing.   If it doesn’t – consider taking that money and investing it back into your business.

Perhaps that will be the missing link you have also been looking for!  I know I am really hopeful it will be for me

This post might get long winded, and maybe go a bit all over the place, so I do apologize.  I tend to write as though I am talking, and as happens a lot of the time I am talking, I can go in about 5 different directions by the time I am finished!  But, I will do my best to keep you with me;-)

I have been working online for a few years now – and I am proud of the fact that I have never sold myself out to make money.  What I mean is, I know there are markets, and niches I could go into that would make me very good money.  However, I can’t – in my own conscience – do it.  Not that I am saying that those who do are bad people – but I just know that it isn’t something for me.

At the end of the day, I am accountable to me, and my kids.  Truth is, my number one job is being a mom – that is first and foremost.  And, I can’t let myself go into a market that I myself am not comfortable with.  

But – that isn’t the real point of the post.  The point is, that when you are working online, as it is with any job, you need to be who you are, and you need to be doing things that are in line with your beliefs and your personality.  The experts can tell you to go and do a hundred things – but if you don’t believe that what you would be doing reflects who you are, then you will have a hard time being committed to it.

Now, I might take a lot of heat over this – but, I personally have always had a very hard time going and doing a massive social bookmarking campaign.  I have tried to do it the way the experts say I have to – but I do feel sometimes like I am taking advantage of a service that really isn’t meant to just post links to my personal pages.

Don ‘t get me wrong – I have stumbled my pages, I have “Digged” them, submitted them to tons of others, but I do still have a hard time setting up profiles on hundreds of social sites just for the purpose of building the links back to my site.

I know that there isn’t anything really wrong with it – but for some reason, there is just something about it that I feel is a bit “spammy”.

Perhaps that is why I don’t have a huge following on my blog – although it could also do with the fact that I had left it sitting idle for almost a year too…….I do have some RSS subscribers, (Thank you, by the way!), but I am nowhere near the numbers of some of the really big blogs – and don’t know if I ever will be.

Some days, I feel like I am writing to myself.  I don’t know if I am writing any useful content – I hope that I can give some entertainment to some of you, and maybe even offer some advice and tips that can help, but it is difficult to know sometimes if you are really doing things right.

I love to write – and that is the reason I am blogging.  I would love to have a huge following some day, but I will have to find my own ways to build the traffic to my site – methods that I feel comfortable with.  I want my readers to know that I am genuine – when I write something, it will be as honest as possible.  That is who I am – and I am not going to change that.

I know that some people would say that I will be eaten alive in the “Online Marketing World”, but I believe that everyone has their own way of doing things, and I hope that by remaining loyal to who I am, and who I would like my kids to be, then maybe I will be alright and carve out my own little corner on the internet that allows me to make some money, doing something I love.

I am not saying not to take any advice, or follow any techniques you are being taught – far from that!  You will not learn anything new if you aren’t prepared to try what experts are teaching you.

But, don’t follow blindly.  Make sure you are learning techniques that you are going to stick with – or else you will continue running in circles wondering why everyone else has succeeded online, when you haven’t.  The truth is, if you aren’t comfortable with what you are doing – then you won’t keep doing it.

Take blogging for example – I think one of the reasons I had such a hard time committing to this blog in the beginning was that I was being told – “You need to research keywords, write articles around them optimize everything for those keywords, repeat every day for a new article”.  And, that is great for article marketing, and for niche blogs – but for a blog that I really wanted to enjoy, and to offer genuine material for my readers – that just wasn’t something I could commit to every single day.

Now – if I post once or twice a week – I am happy.  I am sure there will be times I will go longer – and maybe some days, I just might have more than one thing to say.  I don’t know – but I will follow my gut on that one.

And – hopefully, I have put this article together in a way that makes sense.  I know there is alot of information out there – find something you love, learn all you can – take what you feel is right for who you are, and start applying it.

That is how you will “make it”.

So – what is it that is holding us back?

Not having confidence in our knowledge, our service, our products or whatever else we need to have confidence in when we are in our own business.

Let me give you my own examples:

I have come to realize that I have been working online for over 5 years now.  I have spent that entire time learning new things, trying new things (some which worked, some which didn’t), and all this time, I have been building up a tremendous amount of knowledge about internet marketing, building an online presence…..

I have spent countless hours learning how to do effective keyword research, finding niche markets, learning everything I could about Wordpress…so much that it would have taken me at least a couple of years in full time training to learn what I know now.

Yet I still was putting myself in the “newbie” category.  I didn’t feel that I had anything I could offer anyone to teach them.

Until I started helping offline businesses around here.  I realized that the knowledge that I have spent so much time learning, trying – failing and succeeding – is useful to others, and I do have alot of information I can share to help people.

That was a huge shock for me!

I have never considered myself an “expert” in anything really, (and I still don’t believe I am anywhere near that status), but the truth is I enjoy learning about internet marketing so much, that I am constantly following with new trends and trying new strategies, which does give me knowledge that is specialized.

Do you do this to yourself?

Do you undervalue what you have to offer?  Doesn’t matter if it is a product you are creating, a service you are providing, or maybe you have a hard time believing in the path you have chosen?

We all go through that – and that is something I have learned.  I hear women talking about how they don’t believe that they can charge more for a product they created because it might not really be good enough.

Or, they doubt if they should take that course, or apply for that job, or in the case for many of us getting into internet marketing – they don’t have confidence that they have what it takes to really be able to work from home, and make a decent living.

You need to stop limiting your thinking like that.  Seriously – do it right from the start.

The truth is, we all have strengths – and if we don’t value what we can offer, or what we can do – then how can we expect others to take us seriously?

“Seldom does an individual exceed his own expectations.”  ~Unknown

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Again, I ended up neglecting my blog – and it seemed that the longer I was away, the harder it was to bet back to it.  It is kind of one of those situations that you start feeling so bad for not doing something for so long, that it just seems easier to bury your head and ignore it.  Sad, I know – and there really isn’t any excuse.  I could offer some – like mentioning how busy I have been (which I have), but that isn’t really a very good reason.

Over the past few months, I have finally figured out how to try focusing my efforts – and to realize that I needed to follow in doing what I truly enjoy – not just what I “thought” was the easiest and best way for me to make money and grow a business I could be proud of.

After signing up with the direct sales company I had chosen as a consultant, I tried to do what was required to start seeing some income from it.  But, since I live in a very small, rural area- it wasn’t as simple as I thought it would be.  People just don’t have the money right now to be spending a lot on photo books and other products that they can get for less money through other sites.

And, that is a hard sell – when you are trying to explain why it is that “your” product is superior, and why it is worth it for them to spend more money for a product they can get cheaper if they shop around.  After talking with other consultants who were feeling much the same way, I realized that I was feeling guilty when people were actually purchasing from me, because I just didn’t believe in my heart that it was the best deal.

I guess that is why I am not cut out for direct sales – that, and the fact that I hate doing parties!  I know when I go to those parties, I always feel obligated to buy something, and I just didn’t want to be making people feel that same way.

So, I have let my consultant status go – I didn’t bother renewing it when it came up in February.

I still really believe the digital scrapbooking, and creating memory books and wonderful keepsakes, is a lot of fun, and is so much easier for many people than traditional scrapbooking.

And, I still believed that I wanted to be able to help others create their own books.  So, I bought a license to software that is very easy to use, which I can offer through my own site.

It may not be as “robust”, or have the bells and whistles and extra embellishments I could offer when I was a consultant with the other company, but it makes products that are just as good, and with a lot more to choose from!
It is far easier for people to use, and the products are SO much more affordable!  (You can see it at www.yourstorybooklife.com).

I have lots more to report, and so many more ideas for things I need to write about.  I am following my heart, and not trying anymore to do the things I have heard I “need to do” to make money – or to grow my business.

And, that has led me into two areas which I can keep doing, and that I know I will enjoy every day.  That is taking my love for online marketing, and putting it with my enjoyment of crafts – and I get to put them both towards growing a business I enjoy doing.

I never realized how much I love internet marketing until I kind of started to move away from it over the past year.  While I don’t make the “millions” that others promise and say they are making – I am doing well enough to know that I actually have learned a great deal over the past 5 years I have been doing this.

Now, I help other small businesses to market themselves online, and I have helped to show some offline businesses in my area how they can benefit from the internet.  I love what I am doing, and I have decided that these are the areas I am going to focus on now.

So, when you come to read my blog – you will learn everything I can share with you about internet marketing – whether you are wanting to make money through affiliate marketing, creating your own products, freelancing, or other ways – or if you have a business (like selling crafts or anything else you can dream up), and you want to learn to market it online.

That is what I know – and what I am going to share with you.  I can point you in the direction to other information that I don’t specialize in – such as finding jobs online, mystery shopping etc. etc…..- if that is what you are most interested in learning.

And I hope you taken the message away from this post I was hoping to convey:  while sometimes you might find that you are “all over the place”, and that you feel like you keep trying things believing that this is “the one” – it can easy to start feeling that you are a failure, and that you just can’t seem to figure it out like everyone else has.  It might be easy to give up – but if you believe in something, and you can find that one thing you enjoy – trust me…it isn’t always going to be the first “great idea” you have…..then you will get there.  And, don’t ever feel bad about the mistakes you have made along the way – that is how you learn, and someday, that information you learned while making those mistakes, will come back and surprise you with how much it can actually help you!

Remember…

“Miracles have been accomplished by people who have kept trying when all hope seems lost.”

And…..

“Success lies in the journey – not the destination.”

I hope you will keep following along, and I promise, I have alot to share with you!

I have been busy getting things set up to do some online marketing to offline businesses in my local area who need help getting a website up and running, as well as helping them with some SEO and other marketing.  I got my first client just before Christmas, and have been busy getting their site finished up and everything set up for them.

They wanted to add a blog and a forum to their site, and they want me to do some optimizing and link building for them too – which is great!  Strangely, I enjoy doing all of this kind of marketing, even if I am outsourcing some of the more tedious tasks.

I never realized just how much the offling business world really doesn’t understand about internet marketing and how to use the internet to help bring them customers that are paying.  And, to use the internet for marketing and advertising – the possibilities are astounding, but for some reason, the offline world seems to think that the internet won’t really help them.

So, I will be busy doing this over the next few months and will see how it goes.  I am offering my experience with writing to do articles and submit for clients, as well as write copy on their sites and set up free reports to give away if they want.

This is just another way that you can think outside the box to find a way to make money from home.  If you have a skill, then offer to help people who don’t have the same kind of skill as you do.  Keep your mind open, and you may be surprised what can happen!

Happy New Year to you all – and I wish you nothing but the best for 2009!!

Marie

Whatever your reasons, it is important to understand them. That way, when you begin to feel discouraged, or think that it can’t be done, you can sit down and think about what made you begin your search in the first place.

Last night, I was reminded why I have been putting so much into building my own business these past 2 years. It hasn’t always been easy, and I have struggled to find what was right for me, and made more mistakes and bad judgement calls than I care to imagine!

At times, I have thought that maybe it just wasn’t meant to be for me – and that maybe it was time to accept going back to work at a J-O-B.

Last night, I was able to remember exactly why I started this journey.

After I had gotten my 3 year old to sleep, I went in to my other daughter’s room. (She is 5. I always lay down with them at night to help them sleep – I know! All the experts are likely hyperventilating – but that is my favorite time of the day, when I can lay with them and watch them go off to sleep. It is probably more for me than them, because I know that soon enough, they won’t need me doing that anymore!)

Anyway! As I went into her room, I could hear her crying. When I asked her what was wrong, she was crying so hard I could barely understand her. She told me she missed Daddy.

He is a truck driver, and unfortunately, has not been able to be around very much. The main reason I had given up my job as a nurse was because I didn’t want my kids to feel like we were both missing in their lives. And, the reason I got started looking for some way I could make enough money working at home, that someday, my little girls could have their daddy at home.

We live in a very small community, so there isn’t much for men as far as good paying jobs, unless you are a banker, accountant – that kind of work. But, I had always figured that if I could be making enough, then my husband could either work online with me or find something around here that he could be home every night.

And – that is still my goal. Not so much for me, as my little girls. And, I know now that no matter what, I will be at home with my kids so that I can be there to comfort them when they need it.

Once you understand your own reasons, it will help make your determination stronger, and will help you get closer to reaching your dreams.

I am just taking a minute to stop by and send wishes out to all of you.  I know that if you are stopping by here, you are most likely interested in learning how you can work from home.

I will keep giving ideas and resources here as I find them, and the guide is almost finished and ready to go on sale!  So, hopefully you will get some ideas from it to help you figure out how you can stay at home with your kids and still be making money.

I am very excited about this site!  I know that it is possible, and I want to be able to show you all how to do it for yourselves!  It is a great feeling to be able to be home, set your own hours and still be making money.  In fact, on Tuesday, I get to be a mom helper for my daughter’s nursery school field trip to the fire station.  It is wonderful to just be able to do that whenever I want.

So, for Mother’s Day, I am making the wish that you all find a way that you will be able to enjoy working at home!

I have been very busy these past few weeks getting the finishing touches put on the Work At Home For Moms Guide – and I am very happy with how it is turning out!

I have had a few reviews come back, and so far it seems to be a hit (fingers crossed!).

I hope to have it up and ready to go in the next few days – if nothing gets in the way.  This will be a great resource for any woman who wants to work from home, and I truly hope that it helps even a few people to be able to achieve their goals.  And, it is not going to be a high priced item either – I promise!

I also have been picking up some great material that I will have the rights to resell, or give away in a membership area.  I have picked up guides that go into a lot more depth about starting a writing business, starting a scrapbooking business – and a couple others.  When I eventually get a member area set up, I will be able to give access to some of these great reports and articles I have put together each month to help get even further ahead.

I am very excited about where all of this will go, and I am looking forward to having you here!