Work at Home Moms Articles – WAHM Articles

Work at home forums are great places to discuss an array of topics like business strategies, tips on marketing, blogging, web development and so forth, but they are also a place to kick off your shoes, hang out and discuss non-business related topics. Some of these topics are considered taboo or they aren’t really appropriate to be discussed on forums because they can cause negativity and backlash.

Religion is a tough topic to discuss without offending anyone. Regardless of what statements are made, someone will find something wrong with it and take it the wrong way. It’s a sensitive and personal subject and each person has their beliefs, views and opinions about it. No matter what is said, you can’t convert or change the minds of what people believe in. One religion is not better than the other so it’s best to leave this subject out of the forums.

Politics is another sensitive topic and discussions on this can quickly become heated. Again, politics is a personal choice where you can’t force someone to see what they don’t want to see or hear. You can have healthy discussions about laws or about healthcare, just don’t start finger pointing and using abusive language towards the party’s members or leader. Remember you’re still representing yourself as a professional business person. Don’t let your emotions get the better of you.

Discussing your health problems on a public work at home forum or any social networking site can be detrimental if you’re a job seeker. It’s a fact recruiters do scour forums looking for potential employees. Recruiters also track what their employees or independent contractors are saying about them. It’s best to be on your best behaviour so you don’t negatively impact your chances of getting a work from home job with any particular company.

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I’ve been working online for almost nine years and I have watched myself and my business grow in different directions. I’ve made some mistakes and I’ve made some great business decisions. All in all, throughout these nine years I have learned plenty.

Business Lesson #1: Social Media
I’ve learned that social media is one hot tamale. If you have a business, you have to be on a social media site. It doesn’t matter which one you choose of the three most popular Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn because each one has its own purpose and place.

My sister, who isn’t very computer savvy, asked if she should move her business into social media. I said to her if she wasn’t savvy enough, she should just stick to what’s working for her offline because there’s going to be a huge learning curve and time commitment. She replied, “But everyone is moving to social media and I think it’s important.” She’s absolutely right and I gave her terrible advice. (Sorry, sis!)

With so many people owning smartphones and with applications to make websites more mobile friendly, social media is king and there’s no denying it.

Business Lesson #2: Be Wary of Fake Experts/Gurus
I’ve learned not all experts or gurus are built the same. They can preach all they want on what works or doesn’t work, but in the end, it’s all about them. It’s fair to be picky and choosy on whom to give your respect to because it has to be earned.

I have quite a few people I respect in my industry. They have proven to me consistently that being a business leader means they don’t dictate, but understand my problems and help me find solutions to fix them. They also show and teach me rather than preach to me. They don’t belittle or make fun of me. Two of the best things about the leaders I respect are their authenticity and their genuinely kind hearts.

You can learn a lot about someone on how they behave and how they engage with others on social media sites.

Business Lesson #3: Don’t Worry So Much
I’ve learned to not let little things worry me because they tend to work themselves out. They always do.

Business Lesson #4: Focus On What You Can Control
I consider myself a positive person and there are things that happen in my business that I can’t control or change. So instead of focusing on the negative, I choose to focus on the things I can control and change.

Business Lesson #5: You’re Happy and You Know It
I’ve learned if at the end of the day you’re happy with what you’re doing and what you have accomplished, then you’re on a continuous path to success. There should be no regrets and if there is, you have the power to change it.

Sophia McIntyre is an Internet Marketer, Article Marketer, Ghostwriter and founder of WorkAtHomeSpace.com, a free resource focusing on work at home companies and jobs, home businesses and other work at home related topics.

No matter what type of business you run, growing is what you set out to do. Nobody in their right mind would start a business and not have the goal of growing and reaching success. While there are a number of ways to do this, one way stands out above the rest and that’s social networking.

Social networking is one of the easiest ways to grow your business. There are rules you need to follow, but it doesn’t take a lot of training and it doesn’t take a lot of time to develop the knowledge.

The two biggest networking sites right now would be Facebook and Twitter. They are the largest and the ones business owners want to use. They also happen to be the easiest to use.

Each site has it’s own advantages and disadvantages, but in a nutshell they will help you grow your business if used correctly. Ultimately you have to be the one to decide which site you need to use for your business. One may work better than the other for some businesses while the opposite it true for other businesses.

For what I do to grow my business, I prefer Twitter. Which one do you prefer? Leave a comment and let us know.

Social networking is one of the best ways to promote your business and it can be fun at the same time. Some people use social networking strictly for business purposes only and while that’s a good thing to do, it’s not completely necessary.

If you’re only there for business, you may be missing out on so many things that could help you grow your business. By interacting with others you may find something that can help you grow, you might find a product or service you need, or you might even find a business partner to help you expand your business. If you weren’t socializing with others you’d miss out on all of that and so much more.

Not only with socializing with others help you meet others and find things you need or want, but it’s also a good way to build trust with others. When you build trust you’ll be a better business owner and people will want to purchase from you and they’ll refer others to you as well.

So remember the next time you’re on a social networking site like Twitter or Facebook socializing is ok and something you should do. You’ll find you’ll enjoy it and your business will benefit.

Social networking is one of the most important things you can use to grow your business. It gives you the ability to have an advantage over those that don’t use it because you’re building trust. Trust is HUGE when it comes to growing an online business.

If you think about it for a minute, no matter what type of business you run, it’s basically a little mom and pop type business. It’s small and run by one person with maybe an employee or two. This means you have to work hard and more often to make your business a success.

With that said, you have to work that much harder to make it. So making it easier on yourself is a good way to go and that’s exactly what social networking does for you. You have the ability to place your business in front of literally thousands of people within a few seconds when you make your posts. That’s why it’s vital you make every word count, you watch what you say, and you make the most of your time online.

Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Youtube are the best when it comes to making your presence known online. Make your business dreams a reality when you find a way to show people who you are and what you do. The time you spend working it will pay off when you increase your business.

Content is one of the most important things you can use with your business. You’ll find content on your website, your blog, when you post on social networking sites, and article marketing. Content is everywhere and it’s vital to the success of your business.

One thing to remember is the importance of content. It’s also important to remember that content is in places you wouldn’t even think would contain content. Most people wouldn’t think of social networking being part of content, but it most certainly is. Every post you make is tagged with your name and people will remember what you say.

It doesn’t matter if your posts are business related or personal you’ll be remembered for what you say. This is why it’s important to remember this when you make a post. You also need to remember that people will associate what you say with your business, so if you say something personal that’s negative it could look bad on your business. That’s not what you want so you must remember this and watch what you say.

So the next time you make a post on Twitter or Facebook, think about that post before you hit the submit button. Think about what others will think and think about the future and how that post can and will affect your business. Will you lose followers because of it? Will you lose customers or clients because of the words you use? If you answered yes to either or both of these questions, you need to press the delete button immediately.

After deciding social media is a tool you must use for your business, it’s important to choose the right one. If you don’t make the right choice you’ll lose out on valuable exposure.

There are literally hundreds of social media sites to choose from, but how do you know which ones are the right ones? How do you know how many you should be a part of?

Those are important questions to ask because they could be the difference between reaching success and failing. Now I don’t know about you, but failure isn’t an option for me and it’s not a term I want in my vocabulary, so it’s important to make the right choice the first time.

Based on research, one of the most popular social media sites online happens to be Twitter. Twitter has more than 11 million accounts set up. How could you go wrong when you market your business through this valuable tool? Of course the one way to go wrong would be to use Twitter improperly.

So how do you decide if Twitter is the right social media tool for your business? That’s a question only you can answer. The best thing to do is to have a complete understanding of the tool and how to use it. Once you have that information you’ll know if it’s a tool you can use to grow to your business.

Social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube can be excellent marketing tools or they can steal massive amounts of time out of our busy days.  Which way is your social networking leaning?  Are you getting results?  Or just wasting time?

Here’s how to shift from spinning your wheels to generating traffic, making connections, and reaching your goals.

1) Define your goals for each network you’re active on.

Why are you on Twitter?  Is it to connect with specific people?  Build traffic to your website or blog?  Get noticed and build credibility as an expert in your niche?

Why are you on Facebook?  Do you want to build a fan base through your company’s fan page?  What will you do with that fan base once it’s established?  How will you market to them or encourage them to connect with you off Facebook?  Are you trying to reach existing fans and clients or do you want to reach out to new potential clients who haven’t heard of you yet?

For each network that you use, figure out exactly what goals you want to reach and write them out.  If you don’t know your goals, you won’t know when you’re getting results!

2) Brainstorm what you need to do specifically to reach those goals.

If your goal is to build credibility on Twitter, what will you do to reach that goal?  Look at what tips you’re sharing, who you’re retweeting, what RSS feeds you’re sharing and how you’re leveraging your conversations with other tweeters.

If your goal is to connect with new potential clients, are you actively connecting with others using websites like Twellow, WeFollow, JustTweetIt, and similar sites to find targeted people to follow?

Break down your actions into daily, weekly, and monthly steps so you’ve got an easy to follow action plan.

3) Implement your plan.

Now follow your plan.  Set a timer when you login to the network, and see how fast you can complete your steps.  After doing this for a few days you can get a realistic idea of how much time you need to spend daily to be effective.

4) Measure your results & adjust as needed.

Based on your goals, evaluate whether you’re getting the results you want.  Don’t try to evaluate results from a few days or a week of following your plan.  It can take some time to get results.  You’ll need to build connections and be consistent.

If building traffic is your goal, you can use tools like your website statistics, click trackers, and custom landing pages to see if you’re getting more traffic from your efforts.

Adjust and improve as you go.  If you aren’t getting clicks through from Twitter you might need to work on your headlines or join a tribe.  There are always ways to tweak your strategies to reach your goals.

Michelle Shaeffer has been a work at home mom for more than 10 years and loves to share the tips and strategies she’s learned to help other home based business owners balance, manage, and market their businesses. Visit her website here.

Community forums and social media have been around a long time. Along came Twitter and it quickly gained popularity among all users. Some say social networks like Twitter are the new way of connecting and community forums are becoming obsolete.

I was slower in getting into the social media scene. I’ve been around forums for many years and own one myself. Why didn’t I migrate quicker to the growing trend? Lets take a look and see why.

Whether you’re shouting out with quick and short messages on Twitter or engaging in deep discussions on community forums, it takes commitment and time to network. I knew the dedication of being involved in many forums and I wasn’t about to add a new repertoire to my already full plate. I also knew the benefits of diversification. When I felt ready, I chose Twitter because of its simplicity, ease of use and quickness.

I found similarities between Twitter and community forums right away. In a community setting, you can pick and choose what to read based on your interests. In Twitter you can choose carefully who to follow without going too far outside your niche or interests. I instantly felt more connected with forums. I prefer the atmosphere of forums where members come together in a group setting. I also like the instant friendliness that comes from your followers. I think you can build quicker relationships because you can see more of who they really are as a person through their tweets.

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No, I am not talking about Bambi and Friend Owl’s description of being love struck. LOL…well…maybe a little love struck! I am talking about Social Networking. Social Networking is in right now and Twitter is one of the many venues for it.

I love to Twitter. I use it to vent, share, network and promote. It’s FREE. A free way to advertise and promote. Amazing, huh?

Twitter really can be a useful tool in promoting your website or business. Twitter is like having a live mini IM/blog that can reach many people. It can be a great way to get the word out about your product or service. However, you need to make sure that you are not spamming your followers!

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