Do What You Know & Stomp Out Procrastination
I found this quote on the web today and it really spoke to me.
” You see, in life, lots of people know what to do, but few people actually do what they know. Knowing is not enough! You must take action.” – Anthony Robbins
Twice in the last week I wanted to leave the home office and go bury my head in pillows to avoid dealing with a few irksome issues that were piling up in my business. Both times I managed to talk myself back into the game and force myself to face the issues and get them taken care of.
I am really blessed to love what I do 95% of the time. I’m grateful that the slight 5% that I don’t enjoy can usually be handled quickly – but sure do find ways to procrastinate about them anyways.
Before you ask – yes, I outsource. Even after making excellent use of my virtual team, there are still a few annoying things I have to do for myself.
Procrastination is a terrible thing and I refuse to give in to it any longer. Avoiding what you know you need to do may give you an extra nap but it delivers with it a heavy dose of guilt and regret.
Too many potentially successful entrepreneurs give into procrastination and end up buried under remorse for things they should have done that led to missed opportunities and failed ventures. It wasn’t that they didn’t know what to do – they just didn’t choose to do it.
Have you ever let this happen to you?
The next time you’re tempted to avoid something unpleasant in your business remember this:
Success = Opportunity + Preperation.
Don’t let your next opportunity find you unprepared.
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I Gave Myself a Raise With a New Membership Site
Back in the spring I had a brainstorm for a new membership program. I grabbed my virtual notepad and quickly jotted thoughts out and saved the document on my desktop for later. I love those terrific ‘lightbulb’ moments, especially those bulbs that have great long term income potential.
I already own and partner on several membership programs. They provide reliable income month after month which as you can imagine is quite appreciated.
If I had to rely on hundreds of individual sales for the same income, I’d be working a lot harder and most likely spending more to support my efforts.
I launched my brainstorm (Blog Evangelists) this summer. Once again, I opted to partner with the techno-friendly Lynette Chandler. The launch went well and we continue to add new members to our program so for the last three months we have enjoyed a nice boost in income.
There are all kinds of membership/residual income programs that you can create to compliment your existing business. Coaching or consulting, premium newsletters or reports, access to services, access to software, product clubs and more. I blogged this summer about several work at home moms who are operating membership programs – here’s a partial reprint of the list I included there:
- Alice Seba & Mila Sidman launched All Private Label Content
- Alice Seba launched Outsourcing Sweetie and the Sweetie Saturday Report Club
- Michelle Waters launched Product Sellers Club
- Melody Spier and Kit Singleton launched Virtual Assistants Mavens
- Lynette Chandler & I launched Easy Internet Survey
- Crissy Heron Gipson launched Quick and Easy Newsletters
- Melissa Ingold turned Special Report Club into a paid membership site.
- Jenn Cangelosi owns Toy Auction Profits and Boutique Bargains
- Nicole Dean & Darina Loakman launched Shelancers
- Arika Liddiard launched Yummy PLR
Seeing how others are adding residual income to their businesses is very inspiring to me and I hope it is to you as well.
For Additional Learning: Lynette and I created Membership Site Intensive to teach others how to develop and profit from residual income programs.
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Two Free & Easy Ways to Meet Your 2000 Word Weekly Goal
If you have responded to my challenge to write 2000 words per week for your business, Kudos!
Wait… kudos isn’t enough. I say Boom Chicka Boom!
Making a commitment to generate 2000 words per week is a huge step for many of you and I commend you for it.
I twittered today that trying to get my son to blog was like peeling an apple with my fingernails. Some people just don’t like to write!
Not me, I have always loved writing. I’ve been writing little stories and journaling since I was nine or ten. I enjoy the very act of writing. I have a goofy fetish for smooth writing pens and I get a warm cozy feeling when I sit down to make notes on a fresh sheet of lined paper.
If you’re like me – this new word goal is an exciting project. If you’re like my son – it feels like a weekly commitment to visit the dentist.
Well don’t worry! If you really hate to write – just outsource it! If you don’t have any money for outsourcing right now, here’s a great idea for generating 2000 words from other people for free…
The Email Interview
Choose 10 or 15 people you know who share an interest in your businesses focus and invite them to participate in a quick email interview. Create a list of eight to ten questions (open ended, not yes/no) and send it out asking them to complete it and return to you as soon as possible, preferably this week.
I’ve done this several times. Some people give brief concise answers. Others write long thoughtful replies. When you’ve heard back from everyone you are likely to have more than 2000 words to work with.
You can use these email interviews for your blog, your newsletter or you can compile them into a special report.
If you don’t particularly hate writing, but you find coming up with ideas intimidating, here’s another simple idea:
The Reverse Email Interview
Invite your friends, subscribers and networking followers to submit a list of questions that they would like to see you answer. Then simply take their questions and respond to them.
Again, this makes for great blog posts, newsletter content and with some smart compiling, they could be a great start towards an information product.
Checking In
If you are in the challenge with me – please chime in here and let me know how you’re doing. Don’t hesitate to ask questions too. If you’re struggling and coming up short of 2000 words, let us know. We may have a great idea just right for you 
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For the Love of 2000 Words
I used to tell my coaching clients to ‘generate content on a regular basis‘ to build traffic and share their knowledge with others – but this spring one of my clients gave me a virtual blank stare and asked me to be more specific.
Just how much content should she be creating and how often is often enough to be considered ‘regular’?
This is what I love about my style of business coaching. I call it ‘client led’. That means that I do not come to coaching sessions with my own agenda – instead, I let my clients run the show. The questions they ask and the projects they want to tackle create our direction and keep things fresh.
In this case my client’s specific question challenged me to put a number on what is otherwise pretty fuzzy advice and to be honest, I’m surprised the question hasn’t come up before.
After some thought, I decided on a number: 2000
I told my client that I think she should generate a minimum of 2000 words per week to be making good progress in the area of content generation. I even challenged her to commit to writing 2000 words per week for the next ten weeks so that she could see what impact it would have on her business.
Having a number to shoot for gave her immediate focus and had an impact on her follow through. She wrote more in the following weeks than ever before. She’s about six weeks into her challenge and I can already see how it is effecting her website traffic in a good way.
So, I started to give other coaching clients that specific number to shoot for as well. The results so far has been quite good. Knowing that they need to reach 2000 keeps them on their toes and in most cases challenges them to write more than they were accustomed to.
Since Alice has given me this privilege of guest blogging here on Internet Marketing Sweetie blog, I plan to use the coming weeks to share ideas for how 2000 words can be ’spent’ to help you to buy the eyeballs (readers and subscribers) you need to build your business.
With that promise, let me challenge you- do you think you can write at least 2000 words a week for the next ten weeks? If yes, leave a comment and let me know that you’re in
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Craft Seller Article Ideas
Crafts hobby or business? The only real identifier on that question is whether or not your run your business like a business. Are you in it for the profit? Or do you just enjoy creating your crafts?
Many crafters run successful online businesses. Website photo galleries show a wide variety of crafts; and e-commerce makes purchasing easy. The trick is to let others know that you and your crafts exist.
A wonderful, untapped method to promote your website is by the use of article marketing. Obviously you have some talent else you would not have the ability to create such beautiful pieces. Share your expertise with others, and in return you’ll realize increased traffic to your website.
Articles provide information; they don’t sell. You’ll be able to promote yourself as an expert in the craft field, which will in turn, bring you more customers. Just remember that article marketing is about informing, not advertising. The increased business is just a nice bonus of the articles.
But what could you write about, right? Pause for a moment and think about what you know, or what you didn’t always know, but because of what you learned you are now able to produce better, faster, prettier crafts?
Does it matter what kind of yarn you use? Write about the selection process. Will just any old sewing machine do? Or would other models make your life easier? Perhaps you’re an expert on craft show displays. Write about it.
Is there some gadget that makes creating your crafts so much easier? Others would like to hear about it. Write about the intrinsic value that goes along with gifting a gift that was produced with your own hands – out of love. Write about family heirlooms. Write about creating memories that will last for decades to come.
You have something valuable to say and others want to hear it!
About the Author:
Kelly McCausey is the host of Work at Home Moms Talk Radio and co-author of Easy Article Marketing. Learn how to promote your business and make more sales through articles.
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Article Ideas to Help Sell Gift Baskets
Article marking is hot. Internet marketing is huge. It used to be that you had to have a website; and then you had to work hard on search engine optimization. Those two requirements are still vitally important yet alone, they are not enough.
The use of articles is a proven method to drive traffic to your website. The benefit is two fold: increased traffic and increased reputation as a SME Subject Matter Expert in your chosen field.
You most definitely can use articles to promote your gift baskets. One word of caution, articles need to be informative, not a sales pitch. Typically at the bottom of the article you have a brief byline such as “Jane Doe is a WAHM who lives in Anytown, US. She is the owner of giftbaskets.com.” If appropriate, you can also include a link within the article as a reference; just be careful not to over do it on advertising.
Here are some possible gift basket article topics to get you started:
Gift giving for the single mom, new mom, sports fanatic, recent graduate or special man. Don’t focus on the actual gift basket, but rather items that particular market would like e.g. mom needs to be pampered, popcorn and a universal remote, a pen set and planner, tickets to a movie and favorite cologne.
Or write about gift giving for the over worked, over booked giver. Focus on convenience. You want to present yourself as an expert in gift giving not in the actual gift baskets.
Don’t overlook the simple fact that articles can increase your bottom line. Whether you use your content for blogs, your own website, newsletters, or you choose to submit them to content banks people are thirsty for knowledge and want your information available at their fingertips. Now start writing!
About the Author:
Kelly McCausey is the host of Work at Home Moms Talk Radio and co-author of Easy Article Marketing. Learn how to promote your business and make more sales through articles.
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Article Topic Ideas for Those Who Sell Baby Products
Your website looks great; your baby products are simply adorable and they’re priced right for the value. Yet you could still use a little more business, right? More and more business owners are using articles to market their web sites.
Do you have a newsletter or blog? If not, you should and then you should use articles to promote your website and your baby products. Articles are a great tool to remind past, present, and future customers about your products or services.
There are a number of ways to let the articles work for you. Share your knowledge as it relates to baby safety and making life simpler for parents. Present yourself as the baby expert and link your website at the end of your articles.
Here are some topics to get you started car seat safety, SIDS, comparison of baby bottle systems, making your own baby food, selecting a baby crib or a stroller, baby shower gift giving, necessities vs. wants, when Mom and Dad don’t agree on child rearing, how to handle a colicky baby, help for the older sibling or what about Fido the dog?
Your articles need to inform; not sell. Of course ultimately you want to increase sales, but if your articles read like an ad, you’ll lose credibility immediately. Help the new parents and they will want to do business with you.
Many work-at-home-mom networks and forums have specific days when you can post articles and inspiration. An article informing parents on the importance of checking for recall information on baby products would certainly help promote you and your website.
Promote your articles where your target market hangs out. There is no shortage of SAHM and WAHM sites. Many would love to have your article content on their website. It is truly a win/win relationship.
About the Author:
Kelly McCausey is the host of Work at Home Moms Talk Radio and co-author of Easy Article Marketing. Learn how to promote your business and make more sales through articles.
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Adding a Podcast Can Improve Business
Adding Podcasting to Help Promote Your Business from Kelly McCausey, Creator of Shoestring Radio & Podcasting
It was in October of 2005 that I first heard the word ‘podcast’. I had been hosting my own independent internet radio show for a year and it was an easy step to add podcasting to the mix. If you’re not sure what internet radio or podcasting is, I’ll give you a quick overview.
Internet Radio is simply audio provided to listeners over the internet. There is a wide variety of music and talk radio available to listen to both as a live feed or as pre-recorded content available on demand. It is generally expected that you’ll listen to the audio while near your computer.
Podcasting is audio provided over the internet via really simple syndication (RSS). Simply put, it’s a process by which you can subscribe to receive the audios automatically with the expectation that you will listen to the audio from a portable device like Apple’s iPod.
Internet radio was already a pretty hot area to be involved in since more and more internet users are accessing the web via high speed connections. But the explosion of podcasting drew a burst of attention to audio on the net.
My talk radio show, Work at Home Moms Talk Radio, has an audience made up of moms who work at home or wish to start working at home soon. As an independent show with a grassroots marketing plan, WAHM Talk Radio was doing well and had gained a steady listenership. After the addition of a Podcast feed, my listenership more than doubled over the next 12 months.
One of the things that I love most about the emergence of podcasting is the Podcast directories that popped up everywhere. This never happened with internet radio. When you submit your Podcast feed to the wide variety of Podcast directories that are out there, you line yourself up to attract the content hungry listeners who are specifically looking for your topics.
Not surprisingly, there are a lot of people out there with hopes to start a Podcast. Hundreds of new programs are being launched every month, everything from pure entertainment to music to business topics. I received several requests for help every week. Most often it’s someone who would like to start a program that will help them to market their products or services.
I soon found I was repeating myself over and over in answering questions both by email and by telephone. The questions that people asked reminded me of my own efforts to get started.
I created a tutorial. I wrote out my own journey step by step. I shared the software used, the equipment tried and trashed (and the better equipment I picked up instead). I shared my tests and trials I held nothing back. Then I recorded the whole thing on audio.
The tutorial I created, aptly named Shoestring Radio, is available to anyone who wants to start their own independent program. Nearly 400 people have taken the course so far. I have been able to personally mentor more than a dozen new show hosts, helping them get their programs launched.
Internet radio and podcasting is a terrific way to promote yourself and let your voice be heard. So go for it, you really can be a Podcast Star.
About the Author:
Kelly McCausey hosts Work at Home Moms Talk Radio and also owns the Mom’s Radio Network, a podcast network for Moms. She does one on one coaching and creates information products, including the Shoestring Radio and Podcasting Audio Course.
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