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There are a couple of resources I mention here over and over again. And perhaps you’ve thought in the past about using one or both of these resources.

Well, now would be a great time to get off the fence and make a decision, because both of them are going to go up in price soon.

I’m talking about Mom Masterminds and WahmCart.

Mom Masterminds is going through some exciting changes. For one, the “graduate” program is expiring, and this means that members will no longer enjoy free membership after one year or 18 months like they do currently.

JOIN NOW if you have been considering joining! You’ll be grandfathered in at the current structure, meaning you’ll graduate after 18 months and get free membership for a lifetime.

Another change at MM is the resources that will be available. MM has long been one of the best deals on the Internet (read: it’s a STEAL). The Premium learning resources will no longer be available as part of membership. These are a few tools that are available for purchase outside MM.

JOIN NOW if you have been considering joining and you will be able to download these resources - collectively worth hundreds (thousands? I haven’t done the math) of dollars - before they disappear.

Note: The price of the monthly subscription to MM once these changes take effect will actually go DOWN… but since the graduation program will be no longer, your actual lifetime price will go UP. Clear as mud?

WahmCart is experiencing a price hike on August 15th - from 29.99 a month to 39.99 a month. Good grief, 39.99 is still a great price for all that WahmCart offers, but again:

JOIN NOW if you’ve been considering joining and you’ll enjoy the current price forever.

Read more about what I’ve said in the past about WahmCart and Mom Masterminds and feel free to ask questions below:

Well, not according to Alyssa Avant of Life From My Laptop. Here is what she said about her recent experiences with coaches.

She has been Tweeting my praises since our coaching session.

If you’re curious, don’t forget to listen to Dr. Daisy’s website review for free here. (Note some of her feedback in the comments too!)

Cause if you love it a lot, you can earn an additional stream of income (or even set up an entirely new business) as a Blog Evangelist.

Preach it, sista!

I joined Blog Evangelists because I want to offer blogging coaching and Wordpress installs as part of my services.

Kelly McCausey, being the High Priestess of Blogging, launched this today to teach people how to become the blogging expert in their communities. If you’re a current service provider, you owe it to yourself to see what she has going on.

She was preaching to the choir when she told me about this project. I love blogging and am willing to sing its praises to anyone who will listen. Blogging is great for business!

I’ve gotten two lessons so far and can see immense value already. I’ll come back in a few weeks and give a more compelling testimonial.

Ok, enough puns. Go check out Blog Evangelists!

Did you know I recently started offering Website Reviews?

It’s amazing how valuable it can be to have a fresh pair of eyes take a look at your site.

Especially if you’re newer to the internet marketing game, you can gain valuable perspective on things with a little coaching.

Dr. Daisy of Dr. Mommy Chronicles gave me permission to share the review I did for her blogs.

She’s an awesome writer - and wants her blog income to show that!

You can download the mp3 link here so you can see how a website review might help your business.

… and yes I know, I say the word “content” funny.

Keep in mind that Dr. Daisy’s websites may look completely different when you hear this because she is already hard at work implementing the suggestions I made!

Another great question from a subscriber:

Hi Carrie,

I have been looking at your site everyday since I came across it.  I signed up for the emails and now they have ended.  The only reason why I haven’t gone for it is because I don’t know what I would sell online. 

I currently  provide a service as a freelance writer but I don’t know how I could make that into something similar to what you do.

Any suggestions?

 

I understand - figuring out what to sell is one of the most important and biggest decisions! Actually though, more important that WHAT to sell is WHO to sell TO.

In other words, choose a target market first then figure out what they like to buy.

You might want to sign up for another of my ecourses here on affiliate marketing. With affiliate marketing, you don’t have to commit to selling just one product. You don’t have to spend a lot of money buying products at wholesale to sell at retail. And when you make affiliate recommendations - you can test out your market and see what they buy.

One more thing: If you are already working as a freelance writer, you have a HUGE advantage. Writing is one of the most important skills to have if you want to make money online.

Perhaps you could start a blog and start writing great content for your chosen market, and slip in affiliate recommendations. See what they respond to.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

Hope that helps!

Carrie
p.s. I also offer coaching if you want someone to help you bounce ideas off. http://www.CarrieLauth.com/hire-carrie.htm

For those of you who have websites in the natural family niche, check out my new directory at Natural Moms Talk Radio.

$10 for a LIFETIME listing. Can’t beat that with a stick!

Here are some of the questions I’ve gotten recently from subscribers. If you want to ask me something about working from home, shoot me an email.

• Do you know how much it costs to get an retail diaper business up and going online?

Running physical product businesses is not my area of expertise, so you might want to contact someone who owns a cloth diaper site. (My friend and joint venture partner Tiffany Washko used to have a cloth diaper business.) 

What I do know is that it’s very inexpensive to launch and market a website. You can do it for under $20 your first month. Read more: internet marketing on the cheap

• I was wondering what have you found to be the best way to keep track of your quarterly sales (for tax purposes)?

I use a very simple, free web based tool you can access here: http://www.bookkeeper-for-you.com

• I do have a couple of questions. First, how much time do you spend on your business while homeschooling? And secondly, What kinds of curriculum do you use with your children that enable them to work independently. As of right now, I simply do not know when I would find time!

So far I have been designing my own curriculum because I like the flexibility of being able to pick and choose the tools I use with my kids. And my oldest is VERY independent and rarely needs even the slightest nudge from me when it comes to his schoolwork. We also do a lot of reading and Bible study together.

As far as working, I generally spend about two to three hours a day working when my kids are with me. I work before they get up, after they go to bed, and during naptime or when they are otherwise occupied happily without me. I work a LOT more when the kids are with their Dad.

It’s a challenge, but for me finding the time is not an option. I’m a single Mom. That tends to be a great motivator.

Everyone has to find a way that works for them. If you really want to launch your business, go ahead and do it even if you can only find a couple of hours a week to build it. You’ll be laying a foundation, learning how to “do” internet marketing, and earning a little money. And if your situation changes and you can spend more time (or you figure out how to open up more time in your day/week), you can boost your business building efforts.

Thanks for the great questions!

Just a quick note to let you know about new PLR goodies available right now.

• Tiffany Washko and I have finished up a shiny new PLR article pack on the topic of Natural Remedies. (And I forgot to tell you about the one we did previously with Natural Product Reviews!)

 

• Alice and Mila are offering these cool “mini memberships” on the subjects of Crafting and Travel.

 

• This one is really HOT: If you struggle to get your newsletter out on a regular basis and market to Moms, you must check out this Quick and Easy Newsletter PLR service. You can download the June version for free this month so take a peek!

Happy PLR shopping.

Are you on Twitter yet? I know a lot of my blog readers are because I recognize them, but Twitter is still new enough not to be on everyone’s radar yet. I think Twitter is a valuable tool for anyone with an internet based business, and I’ll tell you why in a sec.

First, what is Twitter?

Twitter is a social networking site (like Facebook, MySpace, etc) that helps to keep you connected with friends and family and other people you might want to network with.  By using instant messaging, SMS and Web interface you can send and receive short messages from anyone on your list with ease.

Twitter has also been called a “micro blog” because your “tweets” can only be 140 characters long. Just long enough to make a quick point, post a link (for example to your blog or a new page on your site) or mention a bit of news.

Twitter is easier to use than other social networking sites, in my opinion. It’s VERY simple, and there are no silly time sucking apps like you see with Facebook. As a work at home business owner it is not uncommon to miss that office chit chat every now and again.  You can think of Twitter as your virtual watercooler.  It’s nice to be able to talk to others who know how you feel and understand what you are talking about. And using Twitter is really easy and doesn’t take much time from your work.

The best part about Twitter is that you can have the chit chat when YOU have time for it.  If you’re busy working on a project and just need a break, jump on Twitter and “twit” away.  When you’re break is done, no problem, just sign off and come back and catch up on anything you might have missed later when you get a chance.

With Twitter you can search for new people to “follow” (meaning you’ll see their tweets on your Twitter page), and you can also block people you don’t want to talk to.  It’s easy to navigate through Twitter to find people who like the same things you do or may even know some of your friends and family.  Plus you always have the option of blocking anyone you don’t want to communicate with.

As a marketer, it would be valuable to search Twitter for others who have a similar audience as you. When you create a Twitter profile, you are provided a little space for a bio. By using Twitter’s search capability, you can find others who have things in common with you (such as a geographical location or a profession, or a keyword). Then you can connect with them and establish relationships. Twitter is a great way to market yourself and let your friends know when you’ve made a new post to your blog, added a new product or service to your website or even found a news story online that you think they could benefit from.  Just send the URL over Twitter and they’ll have it right there! :) 

My Twitter page is http://www.twitter.com/carrielee My Twitter page has become an important source of traffic for a few of my sites because when I post a new page to my blog or update my podcast, I tweet the link. What’s really cool about Twitter is the reciprocity I see going on. Friends who follow you will tweet news about your business. That’s really cool because your friends have different followers than you, so you can potentially be exposed to a much larger audience.

Are you on Twitter yet? How has it benefitted your business?

My 10 year old son just made me laugh and I thought I would share.

In order to get this joke I’ll remind you that my son does some work for me (for pay) in my business. I get quite a bit of PLR content each month and he assists me in copying and pasting it into various websites I own. Later, I go in and edit the content to make it unique. One of the sites he helps me with is my whole foods recipe site.

So today (and my son loves to cook, he is always baking or cooking something!) he comes to me and aks me for a good chocolate cake recipe. I don’t happen to have one in my cookbooks, so he opens up my laptop to search trusty Google for a recipe.

Then he says,

“I sure ain’t looking on Natural Moms Recipes. I don’t want CAROB.”

This totally cracked me up!

Because not only did he NOT want a “healthier” version of chocolate cake, but he was familiar enough with the recipes on my site since he works on it.

And as a homeschooling Mom, I feel I must defend our use of the word ain’t. We often use that for humor or dramatic effect here. Ok?

What funny things have your kids said because of your internet business?