Homeschooling WAHM

Four Tips to Make Your Business Eco-friendly

As I mentioned in an earlier post I’m educating myself about whole foods and passing a tradition healthful lifestyle to my children. While thinking of eco-friendly habits we can incorporate into our lives, I realized that one of the great things about having a virtual businesses is that it helps the environment in a variety of ways:

1. Drive Your Car Less. Having to only “drive” down to your home office cuts down on  gas consumption as well as exhaust fumes. And make sure that when you do have to go out to meet a client that you make the most of the trip. Attend to other errands such as picking up the clothes from the dry cleaners, shopping, etc.
2. Healthy Food Choices. When you work from home you can make healthy food choices. By choosing organic, when possible, you not only benefit your body but help the organic farmers to continue providing superior produce.
3. Choose “green” office supplies. When choosing paper for your laser or inkjet printer,  look for the initials “PCW”. It stands for Post Consumer Waste and indicates that the paper was indeed recycled.  Also, looking for remanufactured ink and toner cartridges made by companies such as Nukote and Jetfill.
4. Accounting. Although we may need to save receipts for the tax man, many records can be stored electronically, thus reducing the amount of paper and ink wasted. There are many ways to do that including Quickbooks Online and Freshbooks (www.freshbooks.com).

For more information on how to keep your life as green as possible, you should check out Ecomii (www.ecomii.com) which has a daily ecological tip along with blogs, latest ecological endeavors and much more. And below are two eco-friendly company discounts that I got in my mailbox and thought that you might find interesting.

• Visit http://www.printresponsibly.com and check out their line of business cards, brochures, postcards, pocket folders and more - all produced in their FSC/SFI certified plants. Enter Promo Code: Haropromo to get 25% off any product purchased through PrintResponsibly.com.

Act by September 30th and receive 300 free business cards and an eco-friendly business card holder along with your order! The CEO (and HARO Family Member’s) commitment to sustainability is fundamental to their businesses and practiced at all levels of their organization. That’s the kind of HARO Family Member we love!

• Feeling underwhelmed by the slow and limited QuickBooks Online product? Need your accountant to be able to easily review your QuickBooks file without having to send huge files back and forth? Need to connect remotely? Mac and PC? Here’s the solution that CPAs, accountants and business owners across the country have chosen to save time and money. Swizznet makes it easy to connect with your accountant or remote employees and takes the hassle, time and expense out of business IT.

With Swizznet you get the convenience of secure online anytime, anywhere access to all your applications - including multi-user access to your full version of QuickBooks (Pro, Premier or Enterprise) as well as MS Office, Adobe Reader and unlimited data storage with continuous backup and seamless printing.

Sign up today at http://swizznet.com for your free 30-day trial and get a free document management premium package upgrade for six months (a $60 value) - just enter the promo code: HARO

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I Won a Mompreneur Blog Award!

A couple of days ago I mentioned that I entered this blog into a contest hosted by Homeschool Entrepreneur. And guess what — oh yeah, I kinda gave that away in the title — but I Won!  I’m so excited. This is my first Blog Award, so you have to excuse my outburst.

Anyway, there were a lot of great blogs entered in this contest and I recommend that you check them out at Homeschool Entrepreneur.  I’ve listed the winners below:

Congratulations to all the winners:

Youth Category (under 18)

Sweet Tea {Jesus} and Me

Homeschool Blogs:

Katie’s Homeschool Cottage

Mom Blogs:

For Such a Time As This

Mompreneur Blogs:

Homeschooling WAHM

Brand New (Baby) Blogs:

Gardening For My Family

The Reader’s Choice Award…

. . . will be announced on our blog, HomeschoolEnt.com on Monday.

Thanks to everyone who voted for and encouraged me. I really do appreciate it!

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Real World Education for the Next Generation

I’m so excited to be a part of Rhea’s Beach Retreat! Why? Because I want to give my children a real world education that will prepare them, as the next generation, to thrive. They need to know that they have options beyond the traditional “Go to School — Get a Job” mantra. My prayer for them is that they’ll take their unique talents and use them to enrich themselves while helping others.

Dabbling with home businesses gives young people of all ages many wonderful opportunities to experience Entrepreneurial Education. Plus it gives them the experience they need in case they ever decide to work for someone else but need a work history to land a job.

Ever wonder how you’re supposed to get a job if you’re just out of school and the company requires “work experience”?

As Rhea says:

Not only does having your own small business incorporate reading, writing, spelling, practical math, and relevant skills into your day but it also helps you think creatively and independently while learning to follow the rules.

It seems that so many adults don’t always make wise decisions because of their fear of failure. Our society is so perfectionist-oriented that making a mistake is considered by some as failure. That is not always true.

And anyone who is anybody has made more mistakes than their peers. They just learned from their mistakes and continued on when others let one mishap steal their success.

Robert Kiyosaki says, “The main cause of poverty or financial struggle is fear and ignorance, not the economy or the government or the rich. It’s self-inflicted fear and ignorance that keeps people trapped.”

“We all have tremendous potential, and we all are blessed with gifts. Yet, the one thing that holds all of us back is some degree of self-doubt… Often in the real world, it’s not the smart that get ahead but the bold.”

Incorporating home business into your daily school routine helps students learn skills that others never value. They won’t believe how much they have learned while having fun AND while making money!

If you want to learn how to motivate your students to strive to develop their potential and learn concepts such as “Passive Income,” find out more about the only live 3-day event of its kind designed to help families develop the mindset of success - Rhea’s Beach Retreat.

Click here for more information.

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It’s time to best for the best homeschooling summer blog!

Hi everyone,

Deb just sent this reminder out to make sure that you vote for the best homeschooling blog this summer. Mine was nominated, so if you’d click on me I’ll be your bestest friend!  And be sure to check out the great blogs that are listed at this link:

http://homeschoolent.com/2009/08/win-a-prize-by-helping-us-find-the-best-homeschool-blog/

Here’s Deb’s note:

Just a quick reminder that you have until midnight tonight to vote for the ‘Reader’s Choice’ winner of our Summer Blog Contest.

Don’t forget, by voting you are eligible for a drawing for your choice of a f*. ree book from Benjamin’s Book Shoppe-and there are quite a few great homeschool books there to choose from. Your chances of winning are really good, so far there aren’t too many entries.

All you have to do is make a comment on which blog you like best out of all the entries. It doesn’t have to be one of the finalists, ANY of the blogs listed in this post are eligible:

http://homeschoolent.com/2009/08/win-a-prize-by-helping-us-find-the-best-homeschool-blog/

That’s it! Just wanted to remind everyone so you didn’t miss out on an easy way to win a free book. Winners of all the blog categories and the Reader’s Choice will be announced in the newsletter set to go out at noon tomorrow,. 9-12-2009  See you then!

Here’s the link again to vote and get your name into the drawing:

http://homeschoolent.com/2009/08/win-a-prize-by-helping-us-find-the-best-homeschool-blog/

Blessings,

Deb

HomeschoolEnt.com

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might. ~Ecclesiastes 9:10 KJV

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Calling all Bookkeepers …

Just a quick note today. I’m not a bookkeeper (and everyone should rejoice at that fact!) but I did receive an interesting email today that I thought might be of help to freelance bookkeepers who are looking for ways to attract clients.  I hope the information proves useful.

Quick question…

…. What’s the one thing your bookkeeping business needs to be
successful?

If you answered accounting software…you’re in a world of trouble.

The answer is…

…Clients.  I hate to say this but without clients, you don’t have a bookkeeping business!

But if you’re like most freelance bookkeepers, your biggest challenge is finding clients for your bookkeeping business.  You know once you have them, you’re on a roll, but you don’t know how to go about finding them in the first place, right?

But the good news is that there’s a new website that focuses entirely on finding you bookkeeping clients and you can test it out at no cost. Keep reading to find out how…

As a member you’ll get:

-       Your own custom bookkeeping website
-       Your own domain name
-       Hosting and email for your bookkeeping website
-       Your own bookkeeping listing on GetBookkeepingClients.com
-       An e-course and monthly ezine to send out to potential clients
-       A new sales letter each month for you to mail out to new businesses
-       5 new “why hire a bookkeeper” type articles that you can use each month in blogs or other promotions
-       250 personalized business cards
-       A new report each month on unique ways to promote your bookkeeping website
-       PLUS: A resource section jammed with over 20 great ways to promote your bookkeeping business

…Sound good so far?

Here’s how you can check this out at no cost …

…GetBookkeepingClients.com will be launched in the
next few weeks.  But before I launch it, I need a few people to
test the waters and give me their honest opinions.

So here’s the kicker…

I’m looking for 5 freelance bookkeepers who are willing to spend some time going through this membership site and check out the mountain of bookkeeping promotional resources that’s there.

Let me get right to the point…

The simple fact of the matter is that I only want people who are truly serious about their bookkeeping business.  So I’m looking for freelance bookkeepers who need to find more clients this fall, but are simply spinning their wheels.

So, if that’s you…

…Just hit the “Reply” button up top…

…Fill out the short questionnaire below and send it to me along with your name.

If you’re one of the 5 lucky early bird bookkeepers selected to Beta Test GetBookkeepingClients.com, you’ll get a one week pass to this new membership site at no cost.

Plus…

…You can use all the resources you see there to promote your bookkeeping business and get clients fast.  (Note: the custom bookkeeping website is not part of the Beta Test).

All that I ask in return…

…Is that you write a paragraph or two about the site and send it to me.  If you don’t have time to check out the site or do an evaluation, please don’t respond because I’m looking for serious freelance bookkeepers only.

Here’s the questionnaire:

1.      How long have you been running your bookkeeping business?

2.      How many clients do you currently have?

3.      How many clients would you like to have in six months time?

4.      Do you have your own bookkeeping business website?

5.      What methods are you using to promote your bookkeeping business?

The 5 winners will be selected based on the best answers received and will be announced on September 15th.

If you are selected to Beta Test http://www.GetBookkeepingClients.com, I’ll contact you personally by email and send the login information for your one week pass to the site.

Talk to you soon,

Sylvia Jaumann

http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=N4Pnx&m=1dT9szZjNQZAqz&b=wnf2Hw5euOr8mKeOSI4Hpw
http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=N4Pnx&m=1dT9szZjNQZAqz&b=LlZmwRmS8z.FsO.j4cicHA

P.S.:  The deadline to get in on this is 12:00 PM Saturday, September 12, so time is running out.

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VAs are Instrumental in Running Membership Sites

One thing that I learned about while I was doing my VA training was about a growing niche for Virtual Assistants that involves setup and management of membership sites.

A membership site is one that provides services or products on a regular basis. For example, if you were to visit www.adhdfamilyonline.com you’d find a membership site for adults and children who are working through the challenges created by ADHD in their lives. Most membership sites, such as the ADHD one offer some free content, but the bulk of the information and resources are only available for a monthly subscription.

And the trend seems to be that more and more informational based businesses are heading in the direction of membership sites rather than traditional websites. One reason for this is that besides generating a steady revenue, it also allows them to get to know their clients while providing better content and resources to them.  So, where does a VA come into all of this?

In many cases small business owners might want to create a membership website, but do not have the skills or knowledge necessary to get it up and running. And that’s one way that a VA can be of, well, assistance.  By setting up the membership site and managing it we are able to free up a lot of the business owner’s time to concentrate on doing what they do best — creating products and generating revenue.

Now, the really neat thing about creating a membership website is that it really is dead easy, if you use the right tools.  To be exact, you need three things to create a membership account:

1. A web host such as GoDaddy, HostGator, BlueHost, etc.
2. WordPress (hosted by you)
3. Wishlist

So basically, your virtual boss hosts his Wordpress blog on his own personal server. He then purchase the Wishlist Membership software for $97. You take that software, upload the plug-ins directly into Wordpress and Viola! you now have a membership site.  From that point on your job will be to manage the subscription base, perhaps the billing process and/or answering technical questions (i.e., “How do I access the downloads I paid for?” or “Where can I upgrade/unsubscribe?” etc.).

Wishlist is the key to the transformation process. It’s a WordPress plugin that takes the tech out of techy.  Now, I’m no expert, but from watching the videos it is pretty easy. No code to write or complicated instructions to give you a headache. The best part is, it has all the features you
would want in a membership solution AND it is compatible with all of your other favorite plugins! Plus, they’ve added some very cool features
to make running and managing a membership site a whole lot easier.

Using this plug-in you can manage the unsubscribe/subscribe lists, answer queries, help with billing issues and more. Imagine your virtual boss’ happy face when he realizes that he’s snagged the world’s smartest VA to take these tedious tasks off of his hand. He has a fully functional membership site and he didn’t miss a beat in his business, thanks to you.

So, go familiarize yourself with how the Wishlist Membership works by watching the videos found at http://member.wishlistproducts.com/micro. Not only will it teach you about their software, but you’ll get a good idea of the different tasks you may be asked to handle if you market yourself as a “Membership Management Virtual Assistant.”

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5 Things Serena Williams Taught Me

Serena Williams: On the Line

I just finished reading Serena Williams’ autobiography “On The Line” and I was pleasantly surprised by the business lessons that I learned from her book.  I mean, her book is meant to be an autobiography chronicling her life and the role tennis played in it. It’s a very quick and comfortable read due to the conversational quality that it maintains throughout the book.  Serena is very honest about her faults, failures and motivation to be the best tennis player, and as she matured, best person that she can possibly be.  And from her life lessons she’s taught me a few things too.

1. The importance of having a plan. A real plan. One that you write down and hold yourself accountable. I tend to have fly by the seat of my pants. I have a running list in my head of what I want to accomplish, but let’s face it, between the demands of motherhood, being a wife and working from home, my memory isn’t always up for the challenge. So I plan on going to Wal-Mart this Monday and write down my goals — long-term, short-term and daily.  Serena’s dad had them compile a strategy list (for life, not just tennis) every evening in their journal, something that I plan on following with my own children.
2. The importance of self-talk. Throughout Serena’s book she shares with us the self-talk that she used while at tennis matches. She writes her own self-talk on post-its that she sometimes sticks to her racquet. One example of her self-talk follows:“… It all happens now!!! Release and go. U don’t have to hit every ball hard. Just relax & focus. U don’t have to be perfect. Just be strong and brave …” — Quote taken from “On The Line”
   
   

   Regardless of how much external support we may have in our lives, if we don’t focus our attention on what we want to accomplish and encourage ourselves it will all be for nothing. People who do well in business have to have a healthy ego if they’re going to survive the ups and downs that life throws us. So take a minute and think about why you’re “The Best” and pat yourself on the back.

3. “You don’t drown by falling into the water. You drown by letting yourself stay there.” Serena’s dad has some interesting and valid insights about life and business.  Sometimes as small business owners when we hit a wall (as I did earlier this year) it is so tempting to feel sorry ourselves and stop doing the things that we need to do to fix our situations. We use the economy as an excuse or whatever is  else is our particular challenge to stop striving. But as Mr. Williams stated, you’ll only drown if you don’t try to save yourself. So don’t ever stop reaching for your goal. I know I won’t.
4. Change it up! This a title in her book that I think definitely applies in my life. I’ve been working on a gabillion transcripts — proofreading, styling, typing, etc. for the past two weeks. So I finally got to the point of being unproductive. I didn’t want to listen to anymore transcripts. I was getting annoyed at the “silly” errors I kept finding and just working myself up into a funk.  But that truly wasn’t the problem. The problem was that I was pushing myself to get everything done so that I can do what I want. But in the process I ended up taking longer to finish what I could have flown through with a better attitude. So, I’ve changed it up. I’m proofreading from paper rather than the screen and I’m giving myself play breaks in-between sessions. How do you change up your routine to avoid burnout?
5. Always be charitable. While on a trip to Africa, Serena decided to make donation to the children of Africa through a program called “Build African School”. She decided to donate her money overseas because she her money would get more accomplished there than it would in the United States because things are much cheaper than here. During these challenging economic times we sometimes pull back from sharing what we have with others because of our perception of lack. But really, even when we feel we’re drowning in bills would sending that $10/mo. or $25/mo. stand between us and survival. And in most cases, the answer is “no”. So one of my goals is to select a charity to donate to on a regular basis.

So, although I really can care less about tennis, Serena’s story was an interesting and valuable read for my downtime from doing all of these transcripts.  If you get a chance you should check it out.

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Fun Contest to Win a $100 Gift Card from The Container Store

TOS is hosting a fun “Back-to-Homeschool” organizing contest on their Facebook page.

Here is the information:

The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine wants to see how you spiff up for the school year!

• Does your schoolhouse need cleaning?
• Do you have any ideas for small spaces or decluttering to help you stay organized throughout the year?
• Inspire others or simply gain valuable insight by sharing your story and photos with us!

To participate, visit their Facebook fan page, and if you aren’t already a fan, become one at: http://www.facebook.com/theoldschoolhouse.

To enter, simply send in as many photos as you can of your personalized schoolhouse. Include captions for your photos in as few words as you wish, or create a photo essay. Be creative, have fun, and get excited!

Staff will choose 5 photos on Sept 3rd, and fans will then have until Sept 8th to choose their favorite of the 5. The winners will receive a 1-year subscription to My Audio School and a $15 gift certificate for scrapbooking supplies from Creative Memories.

After the five winners are chosen, TOS will post their submissions to The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine Facebook fan page, where fans will vote ‘thumbs up’ on their favorite of the five finalists for the grand prize of a $100 gift certificate to The Container Store.

View full contest details here: http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine.com/facebook/Spiffed-Up-Facebook-Contest.htm

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