Work at Home Moms Articles – WAHM Articles

Yes! You read that right. Two simple kitchen items that are significantly easy on your pocket book as well as excellent cleaners for a host of items around your home. But, what about MORE than general cleaning? You want to do some deep cleaning for the spring season.
The truth of the matter is, you CAN use these simple products to deep clean your home. They do a spectacular job, and you will be pleasantly pleased on the money you will save by not having to buy all those harsh-fumed expensive cleaners.
Baking Soda
Baking soda is much better, less abrasive, and much more effective as well at cleaning some of the most stubborn dirt, stains and grime than you might think. Listed below are just a few of the items that baking soda can get sparkling clean and work wonders with.
1. Baking soda can clean your silverware, making it streak free and super shiny.
2. Baking soda will become your new best friend when it comes to wiping down and cleaning countertops.
3. Kill stubborn carpet stains with baking soda. Sprinkle baking soda liberally over stains, then pour a little white distilled vinegar over top. Let set for a few minutes, then scrub thoroughly.
4. Kitchen sink will remain odor free just by pouring a box of baking soda down the drain once a month.
5. Did you know that baking soda will work wonders when washing your pots and pans? With white porcelain, boil 5 tablespoons baking soda and water for 10 minutes. They will magically look like new! Also non stick frying pans will come clean by boiling them with a combination of 5 tablespoons baking soda and 1 cup water.
6. Keep your brass door knobs shiny clean with a mixture of a little baking soda and warm water to make a paste.
Vinegar
White distilled vinegar has been a household cleaning item for generations. It is excellent for some major spring cleaning.
1. I think everyone knows that windows come streak-free clean with vinegar. Use half vinegar and half water and then wipe them down with paper towels or newspaper. Newspaper actually works the best.
2. To eliminate odors from various rooms in your house, place a bowl of white distilled vinegar in each room overnight. It works like a charm!
3. 1 cup vinegar per 1 gallon of water is excellent for no-shine floors.
4. To keep ants at bay in the spring, spray white distilled vinegar around windows and door entrances, and also anywhere else you may see ants.
5 You know that strong onion smell on your hands after chopping? Get rid of it fast by wiping your hands with vinegar.
6. A mixture of vinegar and salt will brighten up your china, especially those stubborn tea or coffee stains.
There you have it, open your windows to let some fresh air in and kick your spring cleaning into high gear with these 2 simple inexpensive, most used household items.

Article Written By Tammy Embrich

Tammy has been successful in the work at home industry for many years. She is an Internet Marketer, Article Marketer, and Ghostwriter. She offers free job leads for the job seeker, as well as other work at home resources, work at home articles, tips, and more at Work At Home .

Tammy is also a passionate blogger. You can find more articles by Tammy at her Grandparenting Articles and Tips blog, offering grandmother’s experiences, grandparenting articles, parenting articles, brags, recipes, tips, photos, and more.

This week, the WAHM-Articles Spotlight is shining on Tammy Embrich.

Tammy has been successful in the work at home industry for many years. She is an Internet marketer, article marketer, and Ghostwriter.

She offers free job leads for the job seeker, as well as other work at home resources, work at home articles, tips, and more at Work At Home Jobs.

You can find Tammy networking on Twitter, sharing free job leads, more articles, tips, and also engaging in some friendly and business conversation.

Tammy also has a passion for Homemade Crafts, and enjoys crocheting, quilting, embroidery, and more.

You can also find Tammy at her Grandparenting Blog offering grandmother’s experiences, brags, recipes, tips, photos, and more.

You can learn more about Tammy by visiting her grandma blog or by reading her WAHM-Articles.

Is it really that time of year again? Time goes by so fast, especially if you’ve been relatively busy with your home business within the past year.

There are so many things to remember when preparing your tax returns, as well as knowing exactly what is considered taxable. Let’s take a quick look at what may be taxable in your work at home situation.

Here are just a few that I’ve listed below:

1. Monthly Internet bill. I know this is the number one item on my list since I work at home and I have to use the Internet to make my income.

2. Monthly hosting bill if you own your own domain name. This is another important write off for your business, especially if you own several domains/websites and your hosting bill is considerably high.

3. Monthly phone bill. If you own a business and you use your phone to run your business, then yes, you need to write off your phone bill.

4. Business transportation mileage. If you use your automobile for business, such as home parties, this is another important taxable write off. Fuel prices has went up considerably. You need to keep careful track of all your transportation expenses (including gas receipts), and file anything and everything that you can.

5. Advertising expenses. Some people pay for advertising for promotion purposes and some do not. If you do pay for advertising, then you need to file these expenses on your taxes. Depending on the type of advertising, it may or may not be taxable, but it’s always safe to file all expenses.

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There are numerous free organization helpers at your fingertips on the world wide web. However, there is definitely a learning curve to proper organization skills. And I’m still learning just like many others. My desk can literally stress me out when it’s cluttered and that’s probably half the time. Do I know where all my important home business information is? “For the most part, yes!” In retrospect, a tidy desk doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of keen organization. There is so much more if you want to truly experience home business marketing success.

There is keeping all your business contacts where you can grab them at a glance, there are article writing and marketing documents to keep track of, client work spreadsheets to keep organized, tax preparation, and much more.

Most home business professionals are on a perpetual mission to polish up their organization habits and skills more efficiently, and I plan to do just that for this coming year. Have I said that before? “Yes!” Been there and done that a hundred times over, and then some.

I’m now in the process of finding “organization helpers.” Wow, have I found some handy gems in my searches! I’m currently experimenting with the very first one on my list of “helpers” below. I’m finding it helpful so far. All of the following are new to me except for numbers 3 and 12. – Google Toolbar has saved me more times than I can count!

Most of these organization tools are free, however some come with a free trial.

1. Nudgemail.com - Basically what Nudgemail is all about is sending reminder emails to yourself to aid with staying focused on what business tasks needs to be done on a daily basis. You can of course have these same daily tasks recorded in a planner, however I’m finding this email program to be of some additional help. You don’t even need to remember a password for it. This is free until the program launches out of Beta.

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When contemplating marketing your home business, the new year is always an important time with reflections and motivation. It’s a great time to celebrate the accomplishments you made in the prior year, but it’s also a good time to think about your plans for the new year ahead.

Maybe you need to completely change your tactics and make some serious changes. Perhaps something has not been working for you and you need fresh techniques. Or what you’ve been doing IS working and you need to find the time to do it more efficiently. Time can be a challenging factor.

Whatever tools you are using, the following 3 tips below are crucial for any home business

1. Social networking – The number one tool you should be using when it comes to marketing. Twitter and Facebook are valuable tools and are easy to use for any type of work at home venture. Keep in mind if your time online is short, (especially if you have little ones at home), you need to make the most of it and the easiest way to do that is to schedule your tweets. Also going over your posts for both networks mentioned above the night before is always a good idea.

2. Offline Marketing – It’s just as important as online marketing so it’s a good idea to do both regardless of the way you go about bringing in more clientele. One of the easiest, least expensive, and best ways to market offline is to use business cards. Create a card that represents you well and tells a brief description of what you offer and then hand them out to potential customers whenever possible. Also, keep in mind word of mouth is the ultimate, number one way of promoting offline. Tell your friends, and they will tell their friends and so on.

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There are many fortunate people that don’t have a concern in the world about gaining weight during the holidays, or at anytime for that matter. Then we have the unfortunate people that seem to gain weight from just looking at all the festive treats.

For most families the holiday season bring lots of family get togethers and festivities to attend. Of course these times are quite the challenge for those individuals who have weight issues. Let’s face it when you’re watching your waistline, it’s hard to resist when you’re presented with all your culinary favorites. But there are many simple things you can do to help prevent yourself from gaining weight this time of year.

Below are a few tips I’d like to share with you about striving to stay as healthy as possible throughout the holidays. Hopefully they will be of some help.

1. Exercise daily. Make sure you do some type of exercise everyday. Walking is ideal, weather permitting of course. Some people power walk and others just walk normally. Either way is good for you as long as you do it consistently. To make it more enjoyable, get a walking buddy to go walking with you. You may also find it helpful to bring along a cd player or a Mp3 player. When the weather does not cooperate, maybe try out some videos or a treadmill.

2. Make water your best friend. Drinking water daily is healthy for a number of reasons. The main rule about drinking water is it keeps you hydrated of course. But it also aids with weight loss and maintenance. Before sitting down to a lavish holiday meal, drink a full glass of water. You’ll be surprised by how less you will consume at each meal. It’s a good idea to do this before every meal you eat, not just at holiday time.

3. Raw veggies and low fat dips. While out at holiday parties always look for those decorative raw veggie trays. Often times these type of gatherings have them. Opt for healthy veggies over high calorie and high fat foods. Chex mixes are also healthful choices.

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About social networking…

For anyone doing business online it is important to incorporate Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and now the Google + social site into your marketing efforts. It can be quite confusing to know just how to get started using each of these. Below you will find a quick overview of these sites and the benefits of using them.

The Benefits of Using Social Network Sites

Creating a business profile allows you to brand yourself and create awareness for your company. You can also like or follow your competitors to get an idea of how they advertise and use these social sites themselves.

The biggest benefit has to be that of increasing customer loyalty and trust. As social media allows you to connect in a personal way, your customers will begin to trust you more quickly and see you as a person and not just a company name.

Facebook

With Facebook you can only have one personal account but you can have as many pages as you wish. These are commonly known as Fan Pages or Business Pages.

With a business page you are able to get a vanity URL when you set up your page. This rule has recently changed as previously you needed to get 25 likes to qualify for the vanity URL. This new rule currently applies to the first new business page you create.

When setting up your business page you want to use your company name and location if your business has an offline connection. If not attempt to get a keyword in the business name as this will help get you found in the search engines.

The point of your Facebook page is to provide your fans and friends with information that is helpful. In this way you can gain trust and they will be more likely to purchase products and or services from you.

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Fall and winter weather is coming upon us. It’s the perfect time to curl up with a warm blanket and relish in these delightful recipes, especially while enjoying the warmth of a crackling fireplace. These are Weight Watchers recipes and I’ve included the points for each one. I’ve also included the direct link to them.

Hearty Turkey Chili

Course: main meals
PointsPlus® Value: 6
Servings: 6
Preparation Time: 25 min
Cooking Time: 58 min
Level of Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

1 spray(s) cooking spray

1 tsp canola oil

1 large onion(s), chopped

2 clove(s) (medium) garlic clove(s), minced

1 pound(s) Turkey, ground, 93% lean/7% fat,

raw 2 medium carrot(s), thinly sliced into rounds

2 Tbsp chili powder

1 Tbsp paprika

1 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp Durkee ground cumin, or other brand

2 medium tomato(es), chopped 1 cup(s) canned tomato sauce

1 cup(s) canned chicken broth

1 1/2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 cup(s) cooked kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 medium green pepper(s), chopped

1/2 tsp table salt, or to taste

1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste

1/4 cup(s) scallion(s), chopped

Instructions

Coat a large pot with cooking spray; place over medium heat. Add oil and onion; sauté onion until soft, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and carrots; cook until garlic is softened, about 1 minute. Add turkey; brown meat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as it cooks, about 5 minutes. Stir to break up lumps.

Add chili powder, paprika, red pepper flakes, cumin, tomatoes, tomato sauce, broth, vinegar, beans and green pepper; bring mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer until meat and vegetables are tender, about 30 to 45 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper; garnish with scallions. Yields about 1 cup per serving.

Recipe, Reviews And Notes Here

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Blogging has become increasingly popular in the past couple of years. There are more and more blogs created everyday on a vast array of topics. Both personal and business.

If you own a website, then you know how difficult it is to get exposure to it. Creating a blog is one of the best resources there is today for receiving that exposure.

Like anything else…it takes hard work on creating interesting content on a new blog and getting traffic to it. Focus on your website or business when creating new posts and always try and add something new everyday. Try and connect with your creative side…we all posess some level of creativity! Give it a try…you just may surprise yourself at what you manage to conjure up.

Topics:

Concentrate on what people may be searching for today on the Internet. A lot of people are searching for content for their existing websites, marketing advice, and/or finding work at home jobs and home businesses.

While some people may be just searching for friendship and are interested in simply having a good time…getting to know others, conversing about current events, funny jokes, and the like. Some people are interested in infant clothing, toys, various baby items, and parenting tips or advice.

For example: If your website focuses on women’s interests…then center your blog around women’s interests, support groups, parenting issues, bargain shopping, household items, recipes, or whatever your website content may be. Try and make your blog posts as interesting as possible to try and keep people coming back for more.

Tips On Getting Comments:

1) Simply invite people to join in on the conversations and encourage them to comment on the various posts within your blog description.
2) If you own a website and message board, and you have advertising space available for other webmasters or business owners…announce a contest on your message board offering free advertising for the person that posts the most comments on your blog. ( I have a good friend that has done this very thing and it’s working great for her.)
3) Give people a chance to self promote their websites or businesses through their comments.
4) Offer something free…for example, a free ebook or some kind of software.
5) Participate in message boards, announcing your blog, and request their opinion. Ask them to place a comment post and share their thoughts and opinions about your blog.

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How well do we know our kids? That’s a powerful question in itself. You may be quick to answer and respond with “real well.” But do you really know them? What are their inner most fears? Their interests? What type of friends do they have or prefer? Can you identify and connect with their best personality traits? And most importantly, what are their specific needs from you as a parent?

Sometimes we just get too busy with our jobs, household duties, and life in general (unintentionally of course), that we don’t spend the time we should with our kids. And consequently, we sometimes fail to pick up on primary things or situations that may need addressing. Staying connected with our kids as we should often times gets tossed aside.

We are all human and from time to time, we all fall short of giving our children the full attention they deserve and need. Perhaps the concept of prioritizing our time is often the solution. Your little ones should be your number one priority, or at least
should strive to be. If you find prioritizing your time and consistently staying connected with your kids challenging at times,  have some basic tips for you that may be helpful.

Below are 5 prioritizing and connection tips that will benefit both you and your children

* Read to them and ask questions - Read their favorite books to them, and then ask them questions. Such as; What did you like about the book? Ask them simple yes and no questions about the book. Ask them what other books they might be interested in and encourage them reading to you as well. This teaches them reading and comprehension skills as well as getting to know them better.

* Meet with their teacher on a regular basis - You may want to keep this private (just between you and their teacher). Make sure and schedule regular parent-teacher conferences to stay abreast on how they are progressing in their studies and if there are any conflicts that need your attention. These meetings are crucial for your child’s learning capabilities.

* Schedule a block of time with your child - If you have more than one child, then schedule time with each one. Use this time to do something special with them, like going for lunch or to the park. Have a talk session. Topics can be school, friends, conflicts, or let them just talk to you, if they choose to. Also talk about future goals and interests. Offer to help with school projects and homework. Showing your child how special they are to you and how much they are loved is crucial.

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