There are plentiful online writing opportunities available today, however, I’ve heard many excuses given for not writing from various people that I network with online that are writers themselves.

Upfront, I’m finding the 3 top excuses are (not in no particular order), time, fear and lack of topic.

These just seem to be at the top of the list for the best logical excuses for procrastinating on that specific blog post that was due yesterday, the article title you thought of in the middle of the night or a website review you want to tackle next week. Just listing a few for examples.

Below are some tips that I’ve gathered for you

* Time – This one (I think) is the all-time, #1 excuse for not writing. I wonder how many other writers and home business professionals would agree.

If writing is a real passion and something you genuinely desire to make money with, then be sure and make the time for writing! Each evening before bedtime sit down and arrange (even small) blocks of time that you set for writing for the next day. Yes, it really is that simple! You can even set a timer for this. Think about all the time that’s spent flipping through the television channels for a full 30 minutes during the evening…or even throughout the day. Most of the time, you won’t find anything on worth while anyway. Use this time to sit down and do some serious writing.

What about writing in the doctor’s waiting room. Of course, for this you will need to have your source of tech mobility with you. For me, it’s my iPad. Love it! It’s my favorite item I own for my business.

What about the social medias? I mean, they are without a doubt keepers when it comes to marketing and socializing/networking; but you also have to be smart about your time spent there as well. Hootsuite is excellent with time management and scheduling.

* Fear – Forget about it! I know you are shaking your head and mumbling “yeah right!” Well, on second thought, think about it; your clients or (anyone else for that matter, unless you choose to share) sees your first drafts. There will always be a fix/edit option! Simply stated, you won’t grow beyond your fear if you are stuck in it. Just work through it and write. Don’t let fear get above your desire for success! Honestly, the more you write, the better you will enjoy it and also gain more and more writing skills.

* Lack of Topic – This is a big one as well for many writers. There are tons and tons of topics to write about. In fact, everything that you look at should give you an interesting topic to write about.

For example; I’m looking at my new lamp (love it) that sits on my desk. I can think of a title for that one right off the bat. “Top 5 Places To Find Novelty Lamps.” Also, looking up at a picture of my handsome grandson that is in my office. Here is a title for that, ” 10 Educational Things You Can Do With Your Grandkids.” Just getting the point across here; there are essentially endless topics to write about.

Also, think about all the junk emails you receive in a day; think about the subject lines of those email messages. The best part about that is you don’t even have to open the email. Most often, those headline subjects are priceless.

Here is something to think about. If you haven’t discovered it yet, the best times to come up with a writing topic are those least convenient moments. For me, and I’ve said it before, although very true, and suppose it will make you think about it. It’s while I’m driving, bathing or in the middle of the night.

Another place where you can find topic ideas is on your iPad. You know those free Kindle-version books that are available online that are in your niche? I get lots of ideas from all those free eBooks. Take time to read them in order to put your own twists on the content that comes from it.

While there are many more places where you can get ideas for writing; I wanted to mention this last one. PLR – (private label rights) content is a no-brainer; except for the editing that is encouraged. In fact, there is a website where you can grab some PLR for 60% off sale price due to closing. They have a nice array of topics you can choose from. The site is: Mom PLR eBooks.

If you market properly, you can make a good income from online writing opportunities.

Tammy has been in the work from home industry for many years and offers Freelance Writing Services and Jobs on her freelance blog. You will also find valuable “writing” articles and tips there as well.

Summer is upon us! This is the time of year to spend quality time outdoors with your kids and family. It’s also time to bring out the grill and patio furniture. Also, if you have a pool, get busy with cleaning it out for some summer fun!

Summer time can be a slow time for some home businesses. Although, It will depend on what type of business you have to determine if you will experience some slack with your business sales and traffic. Kids are home from school, and families go on vacations. Of course, that means many people will be busy during summer months and also spending less time online visiting your blog or website. That usually means a stall with your business.

If you experience a stall with your business this time of year, do you tend to get depressed and thus, experience some demotivation? I have been there many times! However, what an ideal time to kick your writing opportunities into high gear!

Don’t get down in the dumps during summer! Instead, especially if you don’t have any kids or summer obligations; take the opportunity to get in deep with your writing. Why not join an article writing challenge? Or maybe, start writing that eBook or online course you’ve put on the back burner for so long, or perhaps do some videos for your home business. For most people online, the opportunities are wide open to take advantage of during slow times.

Above all, DON’T ignore your business during the summer months! Most times, if you do, your business will suffer. And when it’s time to get going with sales, leads and sign ups come this fall, you will fall short even more of much needed traffic for success.

10 Writing Opportunities to Think About

* This is the ideal time to freshen up your blog or website with new writing material

* Get started with writing some eBooks for your business

* Start a writer’s group with your home business associates

* Take a free online course

* Study the writing markets; looking into what the various markets are looking for, guidelines, etc..

* Contact old clients and offer some freebies. This could lead to new client projects

* Prioritize your email list, paying close attention to your top clients

* Write up and schedule some blog posts for the fall and winter months

* Polish up on your resume and cover letters

* Declutter your home office and re-organize

There are all kinds of things you can be doing during the slow summer months that will benefit you and your business. However, don’t let those things take priority over enjoying a fun-filled summer!

Tammy offers more articles on writing and also her freelance writing services at Freelance Writing Jobs and Services.

You can also find Tammy at her Grandparenting Articles and Tips blog.

Work at home ideas are generously scattered throughout the world wide web, however, the main thing you need to do before you start looking is decide what you want to do. You have work at home jobs, (telecommuting), or a business of your own, so you need to do some thinking first.

For work at home jobs, you will work for someone else that pays you a set salary for the work that you do. For most telecommuting, you will of course need certain skill sets, as well as a well written, professional resume and cover letter.

However, for some jobs…there are waiting lists and it may take awhile to land the job you want. There are many home based job categories you can check into. The keys for finding a job online are patience, experience, basic search skills, and the willingness to put forth the effort and put in a hard day’s work for your pay. Search on job boards such as; careerbuilder, genuine jobs, and dice.com.

If you decide you want to run a business you need to decide what type of business you want to get into. You have direct sales or one of your own to consider. Direct sales businesses are ones that are owned by a company that you would be a representative for. If you choose to create a business of your own you could do coaching, you could be a virtual assistant, web designer, or perhaps, sell on eBay and Craigslist.

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I have no website traffic secrets. Now, where have I heard that before in my work at home travels? Ahh yes, I remember it well. A dear friend of mine told me this when I had asked her what website traffic secrets she harbored. While I knew she would never lie to me, still I wondered exactly what she meant, and felt the need to discuss this more. There was much more to her answer to me than, “I have no website traffic secrets.”

After a brief explanation, it was simple, however, the work is certainly not; consistent hard work while adding content to your site tailored to your audience on a daily basis. This is what it takes to yield repetitive traffic and true work at home success.

What I’m referring to is “content.” And lots of it! If you’ve competed in the marketing industry for any length of time and you own a website, then you are well aware of what I’m talking about. You’ve heard the phrase “content is king?” Well it truly is when it comes to website traffic. The more content you add, the higher your site will rank with search engines. Keep reading for more details below.

Newbie Marketer – Newbie Website

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Kids love to make a mess and assemble their own crafty creations. However, guess what Grandma…YOU can be included in their little world too! Be frugal and creative at the same time with a few recycling craft ideas.

It’s a shame throwing little things away such as; old towels, clothes, glass jars, stale bread, blue jeans and old tin cans. How’s that for a combination?!

So, save up the above items for some fun crafts you can do with the grands. You will have tons of fun with them and you will also be teaching them a little something on how to be frugal. Don’t throw these items away, save them for a fun-filled day!

1. Old glass jars would make excellent gifts filled with the recipient’s favorite things. It could be homemade candy, peanuts, sea shells, cookie dough mix, rainbow -colored sand, and potpourri. Use your imagination with this idea and fill jars with any number of old favorite things. For the finished touch, tie a festive ribbon and bow around the rim of the lid.

2. Old towels, tablecloths and children’s old clothes is another excellent crafty idea. Have your grandchildren gather up the cloth items. With each grandchild’s guidance on clothing item choices, you can make a quilt, pillow case or scarf out of them. These items would also be cherished memories for your grandkids.

3. Food tin can wind chimes is another fun craft activity both Grandma and grandchild can enjoy together. However Grandpa would have to make the wholes for the string cord. Another job for Grandpa would be sanding down any rough edges of the cans to avoid injuries. Once the cans are sanded, have the grandchildren paint them any color they choose. Have them make them as multi colorful as they wish.

4. Make pot holders out of your grand’s blue jeans. With this, you could also attach small buttons to the finished work. Colored jeans make the most fun and festive pot holders. This would be one of the easiest craft ideas for Grandma to make.

5. Now stale bread may not be crafty, however, it can teach your grands some culinary and fugal skills at the same time. With stale bread, you could get your grandchildren cooking with you. You can make french toast, topping for tuna and other casseroles, stuffing, bread pudding, and other goodies.

With the spring season coming up, pick some rainy days and have some craft, frugal fun with those grandchildren. They will remember those days for a long time to come.

You can find more craft and grandparenting articles and tips from Tammy at Grandparenting Articles and Tips

Tammy also offers freelance writing services at freelancewritersdesk.com.

Over the years that I’ve been in the work at home industry, I’ve grown accustomed to the “trial and error” scenario. Everything I’ve succeeded at, I had to learn myself. I’ve also learned my craft of marketing by never giving up. I don’t throw in the towel easily. And I thank the good Lord up above that I have this particular trait in my character.

Successful network marketing with blogging doesn’t just happen overnight. It takes time to learn what works and doesn’t work for you. I’ve found that getting personal with your marketing tactics gets people curious. They want to know more about YOU, and what makes you different than the rest of the norm. Getting personal and sharing what experiences you’ve had and also sharing what you know on a professional level gets the reader’s attention.

And that’s exactly what you want to achieve, you want your readers to hang on your every word; always clicking onto the next page to read more. Does this sound like a pipe dream to you? It doesn’t have to be! You CAN pull this kind of traffic into your blog.

So how can I produce this kind of reaction in my readers? Have a look in the tips provided below…

*1 Get your message across to your readers with simple words. Avoid using long fancy words within your posts. I know for me personally; if I come upon a post where I don’t know the meaning of some fancy, long words, I usually click away and move on. I usually won’t linger on and read the full article/blog post.

*2 Include attention grabbing titles to your articles and also strong points within them. This is what is really going to attract your audience into your blog.

Here is one example: I wrote a blog entry for my Grandparenting blog. The title itself wasn’t a real attention grabber, however, one point that I made in the blog content itself was a strong one, (about believing in God). It did get a few comments.

http://grandmahomebloggers.com/2012/08/share-family-history-with-your-grandchild/ Share Family History With Your Grandchild

*3 Be yourself and talk in your everyday voice and style in your blog posts. Don’t try to be someone you are not. People come to your blog wanting to know about YOU and what kind of topics, advice or tips you will be sharing with them.

*4 Post content for your specific audience and based on why they are visiting your blog in the first place.

For Example: If you sell jewelry on Scentsy, don’t write a post about pet care.

*5 Create a topic that is controversial in nature; although not one for a heated debate. The topic should be undeniably *you; something that only you could get away with writing about.

*6 Be as open and personal as you comfortably can be in all your posts.

I’m still learning just like all the rest of us. Just be yourself in your blog and updates with fresh posts often.

Tammy offers free telecommute job leads at Work At Home Jobs

She also offers her Freelance Writing Services at freelancewritersdesk.com

Being a full time work at home mom (regardless of what you think or believe), does have it’s thorny roses. It’s like anything else and also like an outside the home job. No matter what, there will be challenges in whatever you do.

The various social networks are always a great help. If you use the social platforms correctly, YOU too will establish your home business and also build your brand. It takes some hard work and determination to make it in the WAH niche.

When I say correctly, I mean be polite and courteous by putting aside all differences you have with others. Really, it takes a lot less energy than being negative with your social audiences. And it sure don’t help promote your business.

The Tips Below Include positive and social skills that lets you promote your website or affiliate links more effectively.

1. Use Social Networking – There are literally boundless opportunities to connect with the right people that will benefit you the most. Take time to get to know every one of your connections. It just makes good business sense!
2. Keep Up With Technology – Now for a lot of work at home moms, new technology is a foreign language. However, if you’re going to be working on the Internet, you definitely need to keep abreast with all things tech. For example; will a smart phone, lap top, or Ipad help you with your business? In most cases, all the above would be excellent assets with keeping in touch with your contacts and other work at home professionals.
3. Thinking About a Partnership – Now sometimes this is not even feasible due to close friends or family members being involved. However, it may be a perfect work solution and no foreseeable problems are waiting to strike. A partnership business all depends on the various parties involved and their attitudes. The determination to always work hard (for all parties), needs to be practiced. There also needs to be some sort of agreement signed by all parties on how business should be done and also know upfront what’s expected of you at all times. Take time out for some careful thought before getting your feet wet with a partnership business.
4. Stay Away From Bullies – Yes there are indeed a ton of bullies online just waiting to belittle you! What do these bullies want? Most times folks that bully gets a false sense of security. And they sure don’t think much of themselves if they do. It’s called getting their kicks; which is a twisted way of making themselves look good. Stay away from bullies and stick like glue to positive people that will respect you just as you respect them.
5. Seek out friendships and help buddies – For most people, having friends you can rely on and help give you feedback (when you need it) is a necessity. Online friends helps with the work at home isolation or (blues) is sometimes what it’s referred to. Also, it’s always a good motto to treat your online (and offline) friends and buddies the way YOU would like to be treated.

The best time to be social is NOW! Hopefully the 5 tips above helps someone along the way reading this article. Be sociable ! Be successful!

Tammy is a passionate blogger. You can find more grandparenting tips and articles by Tammy Here

You can also find Tammy on Twitter

Are you stressed from all the hustle and bustle of the holidays?

Tired from all the shopping and the crowds…and you have guests arriving at your house for Christmas Eve?

Don’t panic! There is an easy, economical, yet festive solution. Instead of a full meal with all the fixings, why not have some simple holiday appetizers with some punch and wine?

Think about this…most people are busy visiting relatives and friends at several places and probably would be more inclined to really appreciate something light. I remember when I was younger and we had three places to go, and we were stuffed. Appetizers would have been perfect…but, we sat down to a full course meal at each house. With appetizers, you could still set an exquisite dinning area and make it special and meaningful.

Let’s look at some appetizer ideas…

Holiday Barbeque Meatballs

Ingredients

2 lbs. ground beef
1 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup onion, diced
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
2 teaspoons garlic salt
3-4 cups barbeque sauce
1/2 cup grape jelly
1/2 cup brown sugar

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If your children eat at home, did you know that their health is in your hands? Maybe you’ve never thought of it that way in terms of cooking healthy? However, it’s true! You actually have a say in how they eat while they’re at home. You have the option of cooking as healthy as possible.

A lot of moms think that if you give your kids a daily multivitamin and they (at least) eat 3 good meals every day, then they are healthy…Wrong!

You need to remember that certain foods affect the heart and health. By putting forth the effort and creativity, you can actually make better and healthier choices for the heart and over-all health. By simply knowing what kinds of foods and meals to prepare, you are making that first step to cooking smart for your family and also help protect them from heart diseases. Starting to make (even simple) better food choices can lead to a healthier lifestyle for YOU and your whole family.

What are some things you can do and what are the foods you can prepare that will take care of your family’s heart and basic health?

1. The number 1 tip to start off with is to first, start eating healthy. Did you know that 3 large meals is not as healthy as 5 small ones? Eating well-balanced 5 meals per day including plenty of protein, vegetables, fruit and fiber is key for proper nutrition and metabolism. Eating often (in small amounts) helps fuel a healthy metabolism. Where as, If you eat 3 large meals per day, you are more inclined to over indulge, and thus leads to obesity.

2. Less Fat. Start baking, broiling or grilling versus frying various meats. Just doing this one simple thing will substantially cut down on fat. Thus, by using these cooking methods instead of frying will be much better for your family’s hearts and yours of course.

3. When frying foods, use a good non-stick skillet with cooking spray and not oil. Frying in oil adds a lot of fat and just isn’t good for you.

4. Watch your salt intake. It’s best to not even use salt when cooking. You can always use salt at the table. However of course, it’s bad for you. Too much of it can result in a higher blood pressure, swells you up, can cause stomach cancer, can weaken the bones and more. Opt for Mrs. Dash, onion, garlic and lemon juice for seasonings.

5. Choose lean cuts of meat. Poultry and pork are both sources of protein. However, you certainly want to choose the leaner cuts of pork. Trim off all the access fat before cooking. When cooking pork, the leaner types are pork loin and center loin.

With poultry, always choose white meat. It has a lot less fat than the dark meat.

When cooking beef, you need to choose flank, sirloin, tenderloin, rib, and ground chuck. The healthier cuts of meat are of course so much better for your heart health.

6. Watch the dairy in your diet. Most of the dairy in our food is loaded with calcium, which of course is good for us. However, a lot of dairy products are high in fat. Opt for using no-fat skim milk or no-fat buttermil products instead of whole milk or full-cream milk. For yogurts, opt for low-fat or fat-free. I absolutely love most any kind of cheese, although some cheeses are extra high in fat. Try and use cottage cheese or parmesan for less fat.

Remember These Tips Below When Choosing and Preparing Food For Your Family

Whole grain breads
Whole grain pasta
Whole grain crackers
Low sugar cereals
Real fruit
Low sugar ice cream
Lots of water

Try and get your family involved in the meal preparations. This will instill healthy habits in your children in regards to eating smart for optimal, good health.

Encourage your family to engage in some kind of activity at least 3 times per week. This too helps keep the body healthy and strong, and also heart disease free.

Tammy is a passionate blogger and grandmother. She offers free grandparenting articles, tips, recipes, giveaways and much more, along with many more healthy lifestyle topics.

Connect with her on Twitter for more engaging and current-trend topics along with friendly conversation.

Hearing the crunch of brightly colored leaves beneath our feet and the feel of a slight brisker air is a sure sign of my favorite season. I love seeing all the warm colored foliage that garnish the trees and also just taking in that fresh, crisp scent of fall.

Packaged candies, spooky costumes, and jack-o-lanterns will soon by festively lining the shelves of all the stores. Halloween is such a fun and happy time for kids. A fun time to get dressed up and scrounge for free candy. Would you like some ideas that could combine safety and good health along with all the fun for your children?

I have a few tips here you may be looking for

Top Four Safety Tips

* Give your children boundaries of where it is safe to go trick or treating. Limit them to houses with people you know and trust.

* Always have an older sibling or an adult for your child’s escort to go along trick or treating. The best escort they can have is of course you.

* Tell your children to refrain from going to houses without a porch light on.

* Firmly tell your children not to eat any of the goodies until they get home and you have had ample time to inspect. Carefully check your child’s bag of goodies before consuming. Look out for any tears or holes in the packaging, or any discoloration. If you find any suspicious tampered candy at all, it’s always best to throw it out.

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